Category: Cool

Linux on Laptops

Tux!

Lets suppose that your tired of your current operating system and want to try something new. It happens, nothing wrong with that. The problem is that you’re a laptop owner and as we all know laptops are a delicate little box of hardware. Part computer, part monitor, and part strange alien technology that breaks when you look at it wrong. You have a friend that said ‘Get Linux, it’s kewl!’ Well, you know darn well that your sleek exotic beast was barely able to take an install of Microsoft Windows let alone some free OS made by people with more time that you ever remember having. Face it, Microsoft has enough programmers to build an Egyptian pyramid (hey, Gates is going to die someday…) So the notion that free software is going to install might be as crazy as open source XP. But as with many things on the ‘net, other people have forged into this unknown territory and have left notes as to their experiences.

This is an index of information and documentation of interest to those who now use or are considering using the Linux operating system on a notebook or laptop computer.

All in all a very handy site if your thinking of making the switch and want to push your laptop into a new dimension. Heck, I’m downloading Debian right now and have a 20GB drive ready to go into my Toshiba Satellite. Live free, use Linux! 🙂

Linux on Laptops

laptop, linux, OS, cool

Panoramic Camera Made From a Flatbed Scanner!

Last December I posted a note about the Panoscan digital panoramic camera and Mr. Sharpless was kind enough to make a comment about how he had built a few cameras that did pretty much the same thing but at a far lower price. Well I asked if he had a web site and I just got a reply saying that he was inspired to put a site up about his creations.
Thank you!!!

My “ScanCams” are panoramic cameras made from old flatbed document scanners and photographic lenses. They take images one vertical line at a time while rotating under control of the scanner’s electronics and drive motor. An attached laptop computer decodes the scan data and records formatted image files, using software I developed.
This kind of camera can have very high resolution and can make very wide images – up to 360 degrees or even more. The vertical field of view, and hence the angular resolution, depends on the lens focal length and the length of the linear image sensor.

I’m used to using a swing lens camera, I use a Russian Horizon 202pretty often, so the ‘limitations’ of such a camera are familiar to me. I don’t have a problem with the whole moving lens thing, it can make for some cool effects.

On the right is my second ScanCam, and the only one currently operational. Its CCD is 42mm long — the length of the diagonal of a 35mm film frame – and it uses Pentax screw mount SLR camera lenses. The sensor has 10,600 pixels, giving an effective resolution of 49 megapixels over the 35mm frame. I usually scan at one-half, one-third or one-quarter of the maximum resolution – roughly 12, 5 or 3 megapixels per frame.

GHAA… 49 megapixels per 35mm frame? Oh yeah… I am eyeing the screws in my HP 7400c scanner even as I type this…
So have a look at his site and go out and build one yourself! Make some art, why don’t ya… 🙂

TKS Digital Scanning Panoramic Camera
panoramic, photography, scanner, cool, digital, DIY

Store the Force

Vader USB

The whole custom USB memory device trend is taking longer to catch on than I had thought it would. This is the latest batch, Star Wars inspired memory units. So far this is falling in the same catagory as all the other ones, looks nifty but the storage capacity is far too small to be of any practical use. I suspect that some one is selling smaller (older) USB memory drives for very cheap and because the margin would be pretty good those get used in the cool custom cases.

May the USB Memory be with you my Young apprentice

USB, memory, Star Wars, storage

Just when you thought you’d never see a usb thumb drive/camera/webcam/digital audio recorder/camcorder…

The Octave Multipod does it all except find itself.

Octave 5 in 1 device OK, is it just me, or is it realistic to think that this thing would make a crappy digital camera/voice recorder/webcam/video cam/USB dirve? Why does everybody think that if something is smaller, it has to be better…… I guess I’ll never get into the multi-use micro gadget craze. I do however like the single use micro gadgets. I guess I’m just fickle that way.

The Multipod is a digital camera, web camera, video camera, audio recorder and 128MB portable storage device. It does all of this in a three-quarter ounce shell case that’s the size of a disposable cigarette lighter.

On the other hand, it would be handy to have the use of any one of these gadgets at any time, and not have to carry 5 different items to do it. (See?….fickle!)

Anyway, Ocatve.com has it for $150 and I bet they selll quite a few of them too!

GRIN

Great Images In NASA

If you looking to burn some time or test out that new printer you bought, take of look at the ‘Great Images In NASA’ site. They have everything from photos of computers, robots, rockets, space craft, astronauts, and historic photos of all kinds. There are even some Soviet photos in there.

GRIN is a collection of over a thousand images of significant historical interest scanned at high-resolution in several sizes. This collection is intended for the media, publishers, and the general public looking for high-quality photographs. Please note that downloading these image files may take some time, although searching and browsing should be relatively quick

Great Images In NASA

NASA, photos, space, history