What are these scuba divers doing on the street in the middle of Bergen, Hordaland, Norway? And why are they chasing this Google Street View car with such a ferocious attitude? Why?
Buzz this if you can, Google. [Kuvaton]
The miracle of the English language is that sometimes you get to use the same old words and make a sentence never seen before. This is one of those times. And supposedly, it's true. Koreans + Sausage + iPhone.
I don't know how legit this is, and why the person in the video is playing a Taiko Drum game on the iPhone that isn't available in the US. But our dear Rosa just confirmed, through first hand wiener testing, that unwrapped hot dogs work. She also says her iPhone smells like meat, which, to be fair, might have been the condition it was in before she did the test.
Convenience store sales of sausages are supposedly up 39% over the same period last year. [Hani - Thanks Sang!]
Your furry buddy is barking and pawing at the door. Is he acting up or did you forget to walk him again? Don't bother telling me "but honey! I thought you took him out," when you could've checked the Dog-e-Minder.
The Dog-e-Minder is a waterproof, three-button device which attaches to your pet's collar and keeps track of when he was walked, fed, or given medication:
Each button has a symbol related to an activity. The "fire hydrant" symbolizes walk time, the "dog bone" represents feeding time and the "RX" symbol records the last time medication was administered. When you perform any one of these activities, simply hold the corresponding button down for three seconds and the current date and time is saved. To view stored information, just press the appropriate button once, and the display shows the last time the task was completed. When idle, the Dog-e-Minder also acts as a dog identification tag, displaying important pet name and owner contact information.
The device comes in black, blue, pink and red and can be ordered now for $20. It's a nice deal, so we're thinking of getting one for each of the interns to keep track of feeding times. [Dog-e-Minder]
Panasonic's camcorder game was pretty strong in 2009, and now we have the full list of prices to go along with the specs for the three HD cameras and three standard-def cams we saw early in January. Here's the rundown on all six models:
The zoomy HD cams start at $499.95 for the HDC-SD60, $529.95 for the HDC-TM55 and moving on up to $699.95 for the HDC-HS60.
The standard definition line starts at $249.95 for the SDR-S50 up through $349.95 for the SDR-H85 with the SDR-T50 in between at $269.95.
PANASONIC ANNOUNCES PRICING FOR 2010 STANDARD DEFINITION CAMCORDERS AND COMPACT-SIZED HD MODELS
SECAUCUS, NJ (February 9, 2010) – Panasonic today announces pricing for its compact High Definition models, the HDC-TM55, HDC-HS60 and HDC-SD60, and its full-featured standard definition camcorders, the SDR-H85, SDR-T50, SDR-S50. All six models will be available in mid-March 2010.
The Panasonic full-HD camcorders will be available for suggested retail prices (SRP) of $529.95 for the HDC-TM55; $699.95 for the HDC-HS60 and $499.95 for the HDC-SD60. The three Panasonic HD camcorders feature a 35.7mm wide-angle lens and a powerful 25x optical zoom. And with Panasonic's new Intelligent Zoom feature, the new HD camcorders can extend to a 35x zoom. Intelligent Zoom corrects image degradation in ordinary digital zooming to deliver stunningly clear HD quality, even with the zoom fully extended. All camcorders record to SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Cards, while the HDC-TM55 also has 8 GB* of internal memory and the HDC-HS60 has a Hard Disk Drive that holds up to 120 GB.
Panasonic's standard definition camcorders will have SRPs of $349.95 for the SDR-H85; $269.95 for the SDR-T50; and $249.95 for the SDR-S50. These camcorders may be small in size, but they have impressive features: a 33mm wide-angle and a long, powerful 78x ultra zoom – giving them remarkable range for capturing video both far and wide. Panasonic's new camcorder models are packed with enhanced features to help make shooting quality video easy, including the new Active mode for the Advanced O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer), helping to suppress blur even if the user is moving and when the long zooms are extended. Like the HD camcorder models, these models all record to SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Cards. Additionally, the SDR-H85 has an 80 GB hard disk drive, and the SDR-T50 has 4 GB of built-in memory.
For more information on all Panasonic LUMIX digital camera models, please visit www.panasonic.com/dvc.
* GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes.
Panasonic announced three HD camcorders back at CES, and now the HDC-HS700 and -TM700 round out the family. With 3MOS sensors that offer high-quality HD image in low-light situations, they won't be cheap but you'll get what you pay for.
Back in December, we deemed the HDC-TM300, the predecessor to the TM700, the best camcorder you could buy over $1000. The TM700 retains the 32GB solid state drive, the 3" touchscreen LCD, the SD card capability, and the full 1080/60p recording HD recording of the TM300 while including some distinct improvements: increased zoom (12x optical and 18x Intelligent Zoom); wider-angle recording with 33mm capability; and more advanced image stabilization.
The HDC-HS700 largely sports the same specs, except it boasts a beefy 240GB HDD and adds a little extra bulk in which to house it.
Both the HS700 and TM700 can take 14.2 MP still images and have 46mm Leica Dicomor lenses. The prices for the camcorders will be announced a month before their release, and while they won't be cheap, we expect them to maintain the high quality of last year's models. Check the release for full details.
PANASONIC'S NEW 3MOS HD CAMCORDERS PRODUCE TRUE-TO-LIFE COLOR AND EXCEL IN LOW-LIGHT ENVIRONMENTS
New 35mm Wide-Angle Leica Lenses, 18x Intelligent Zoom and Manual Controls Make HS700 and TM700 Perfect for Professional-Quality Video Shooting
SECAUCUS, NJ (February 9, 2010) – Panasonic today introduces two additions to its 2010 line of camcorders, the Panasonic HDC-HS700 and HDC-TM700, both Full High Definition (HD) 3MOS camcorders with 1920 x 1080 resolution. The new Panasonic HD camcorders combine 1080/60p recording – allowing them to capture expressive video without detail loss or Moiré pattern – with an advanced 3MOS system that produces vivid, true-to-life colors and excels in darkly-lit environments. The new HDC-HS700, records both to its large 240 GB* Hard Disk Drive or to an SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card. The HDC-TM700 has 32 GB of built-in memory as well as capability to record to SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Cards, and is the successor to last year's popular and award-winning HDC-TM300. Both models have a 35mm wide-angle Leica lens and a manual ring for creative flexibility.
"For video enthusiasts looking for a feature-rich, high-performing, yet affordable High Definition Camcorder, Panasonic's new TM700 and HS700 3MOS models will be a hit this year," said Chris Rice, Product Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. "Last year's TM300 was extremely popular and won several honors and awards for its video quality and performance, so with the improvements we have made with the TM700/HS700, including extended zoom, wider-angles and a more advanced image stabilization system, we are excited to give consumers the ideal tool they need to capture their memories with superb quality."
The high-sensitivity 3MOS system provides an effective video image pixel count of 7,590,000 pixels (2,530,000 pixels x 3) and separates the light received through the lens into the three primary colors – red, green and blue – processing each independently. The sensor shoots 14.2-megapixel still images (in Still Image mode) and 13.3-megapixel still images from recorded video. Even with this high pixel count, newly developed technology increases sensitivity and reduces noise by one-half to achieve vivid images with minimal noise. As a result, Panasonic's 3MOS system enables excellent color reproduction, high resolution, rich gradation, and lets the user capture vividly colored images in bright or darkly-lit places.
The Panasonic HDC-TM700 and HDC-HS700 HD camcorders feature the newly designed, large-diameter F1.5 (46mm) Leica Dicomor lens, which provides the superb image rendering and not only suppresses ghosts and flare, but also minimizes the distortion and degradation of contrast and resolution. In addition, its 35mm** wide-angle capability makes it ideal for many different shooting situations, such as self-portraits, group photos, and landscape shots.
Both models feature a 12x optical zoom lens, which is further enhanced by Intelligent Resolution Technology to extend the zoom to an 18x Intelligent Zoom. The Intelligent Zoom corrects image degradation in ordinary digital zooming, extending the camera's zoom ration to approximately 1.3x, while maintaining the image quality, thus delivering stunningly clear full-HD images***.
Both models feature a 3.0" touch-screen LCD that allows users to navigate by selecting icons on the display. These models also have a manual ring allowing creative flexibility, so users have intuitive control of the zoom, focus, aperture, shutter speed and white balance. An Electronic View Finder, earphone terminal and microphone terminal allow for even more control. The HDC-HS700 records to its 240 GB HDD, which can store 102 hours of recording (in HE mode). When combined with Panasonic's new 64 GB SDXC Memory Card, the camcorder provides an additional recording time of 27 hours and 30 minutes. The HDC-TM700 has a 32 GB built-in memory for 13 hours and 40 minutes of recording (in HE mode).
Other features of the Panasonic HDC-HS700 and HDC-TM700 include:
* Power O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization) – Uses gyro sensors to detect hand-shake to reduce blurring. When the camcorder is held, it moves at low frequency due to the breathing of the operator or other slight movement. POWER O.I.S. corrects even the slightest movement approximately five times more effectively than the previous version.
* iA (Intelligent Auto) – Function that automatically selects the most suitable shooting mode at the press of a button, and this year iA adds Face Recognition, which finds the faces of registered people and automatically optimizes the focus and exposure for them. In addition, the camcorder continues to track this subject as the person moves anywhere within the LCD frame. Up to six faces can be registered.
* Smile Shot – Feature that automatically takes a still photo during video recording when it detects a smiling face.
* 5.1-Channel Surround Sound System with Zoom Microphone – Uses five microphones so when voices/sounds recorded from front, right, left and back are played back on a 5.1-channel home theatre system, viewers are surrounded by clear, detailed sound. The Zoom Microphone lets users zoom the sound only to hear the subject while continuing to record a wide-angle shot.
* Wind Noise Canceller – An evolution from the previous wind noise reduction system, this advanced function automatically detects and suppresses wind noise only, to ensure only the natural sounds of the shooting environment remain.
* Auto Power LCD – Automatically adjusts the brightness of the LCD screen according to the shooting environment. In dark places, the screen brightness is reduced to 1/3 the normal level to minimize the possibility of disturbing nearby people. In bright outdoor places, the screen brightness is increased to twice the normal level.Pricing and availability for the Panasonic HDC-HS700 and HDC-TM700 will be announced 30 days prior to shipping date. Both will be available in black.
* GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes. Usable capacity will be less.
** 35mm-lens equivalent.
*** Approximately 810 TV lines. 1920 horizontal pixels x 1080 vertical pixels.
Hate having a bunch of blades whizzing in circles above your head? Yeah, me too. That's why I love the idea of cooling off in the gentle breeze produced by the bladeless LoftWing ceiling fan.
How could a fan built out of "lightweight 6061 aircraft aluminum" and using a "German-made electric motor" not be appealing? The LoftWing can be customized in whatever odd pattern or color scheme your little heart desires and pricing details are available on request.
For once the Florida heat is a good thing, because it gives me an excuse to try this thing. [LoftWing via New Ideas via Oh Gizmo!]
We're looking for experienced writers to work at Gizmodo. Is this you? Are you either in China/Taiwan/Japan/Hong Kong or the Silicon Valley? If so, read on.
Here's what you need to apply. First, experience. If you're looking for a junior position, hold out a bit longer for our other job calls. This is a full time position and the pay reflects that. Second, you NEED to be in one of those two locations. Either you're somewhere in Asia, or you're somewhere in the SF Bay Area/Silicon Valley.
If you think this is you, send in an application with the appropriate subject, either "Asia Writer" or "Silicon Valley Writer" to jobs@gizmodo.com. Include a short resume, relevant experience (where you've worked before, basically) and anything else you think will get make you attractive to us.
Remember, no attachments. And no sending them to me, only to jobs@gizmodo.com. If you send them to me I will delete it, and make a frowny face in your direction because you didn't follow instructions.
We keep talking about this awesome comment system of ours, but why should you bother using it? How do you even use it? Here's a little guide. If you've got questions it doesn't cover, just ask. I'm here to help.
Hold it! I said I'm here to help, but before you rush off to type up a "HELP! I don't know what I'm doing!!!" comment or email, I would greatly appreciate it if you would read through some of these pointers, frequently asked questions, and random tidbits of information. You might just find an answer to your questions. The page will even be updated as we go to make life easier.
Getting Your Commenter Account
So here you are, eager to start contributing, but you can't figure out how to get a commenter account. The secret is to hit the "login" button in the upper right hand corner of the page.
You'll be offered the choice of logging into an existing commenter account or creating a brand new one at that point. It's a quick process and we only ask for the basic information we really need.
As soon as you've completed that step, you're ready to start commenting.
But Wait! Why Aren't My Comments Showing Up?
I said that you're ready to start commenting right after signing up for a commenter account, but that doesn't mean that you'll be charming everyone right away. Initially your comments won't appear to anyone except moderators and starred users (more on those later). They'll see your witty lines framed in pink.
This isn't because we don't like you or because we're some kind of elitist snobs. We simply use an audition process in order to reduce the number of spammers and trolls on the site. Basically, a starred user or moderator will approve your account after they see a few comments which are particularly great or show that you are in fact a real (and awesome) human being.
I'm approved! Now What?
There's some excitement to seeing that "such-and-such has approved this comment" message. Take a moment to do a little dance, make a little love, and refresh your memory of our commenting guidelines so that you don't meet the banhammer right away. Of course, general blog commenting guidelines and etiquette apply, too.
It really boils down to this: Be reasonably nice and polite. Don't be an annoying self-promoting spammer. Don't spout too much filth. (We all get a little bit dirty now and then after all.) And for goodness' sake don't post "FIRST! FRIST! 1st!" or any variation of that.
Sure, there could be other reasons for getting banned—and we've had a talk or two about them— but those are the key offenses.
If you happen to get banned, you'll see a message on your profile page explaining that your account is no longer approved for commenting.
Wait! I Have a Profile?
Your profile page is located at http://gizmodo.com/people/YOURUSERNAME. You can also access it by clicking on your username in the upper right hand corner of the site. (Keep in mind that you have to be logged in for your name to actually show up there.)
On this page you can see all your commenter activity—your comments, your replies, your private messages, and your friends. You can also use this page to change personal settings such as your contact email address (in case you forget your password and need to reset it) and your displayed username. Keep in mind that you can add a profile picture while playing with those settings. Just click on the rather obviously titled "Edit my Profile" link and you'll see the option.
Other things to be found on your profile page are options to change your password and your comment viewing settings using the—again, very obvious— "Settings" and "Change Password" links.
What Are Those Hearts About?
I've gotta admit that I was confused the first time someone told me that he "hearted" me for something. It felt a bit dirty to be honest.
Turns out that "hearting" is how one adds friends using this comment system. You just click on the little heart next to another person's name and boom-ba-boom, you're done. Now you'll see that person listed on the "Friends" section of your profile.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star...How Do I Get One?
You saw those pretty little stars next to some commenters' names and you want one. You don't even care what it does, you just want one.
Ok, easy to accomplish. You just need to blow away the moderators with some great contributions in the comments and they'll reward you with a star. On some days it's easier than on others, but it does help to pay attention to some of the starred users like Kaiser-Machead, Gordonium, OCEntertainment, Jux, MagicalTrev, Otko, Prostate of Grace, Norwood, OMG! Ponies!, and GitEmSteveDave. Sure, they're not always the ideal commenters—some of them have lost their stars once or twice—but they give a pretty reasonable idea of how to actively participate in the community.
What Superpowers Does My Star Bring?
Your yellow badge of honor comes with some extra features. Your comments will automatically be promoted to "featured" status and you'll be able to promote others' comments.
What, you want more? Ok. You'll also be able to see and approve new commenters. Their comments will show up in pink—just as yours once did—and you'll be able to give them a thumbs-up to approve their accounts. Alternatively, you can also approve them simply by replying to one of their comments.
How Can I Make My Comments Pretty Oh So Pretty?
Our comment system allows you to use a handful of HTML tags. With them you can turn text bold, italic, or into links.
The trick is simply to surround the text in these tags like this: <b>bold</b>
<i>italic</i>. Ta da!
For links, you can either just paste the URL in as is ( http://gizmodo.com/ ) or if you want to have a fancy link text then you paste it into tags like so: <a href="http://gizmodo.com/">and type your link text here</a>.
Back Up. What's This Featured and Promoted Comment Business?
We have a tiered commenting system here at Gizmodo. This means that great comments—those promoted or made by starred users—will show up first. You can even choose to not see any comments except for these featured ones by hitting the corresponding link at the bottom of the page.
When you're viewing all the comments, you'll be able to tell the difference between featured (or "promoted") and regular comments by looking at the color of the text. Gray comments are plain unpromoted ones while the solid black ones are promoted.
What's Going on With Those Hashtags?
#broken, #whitenoise, #tips, #lifechanger, #whateveryouwant. You'll see plenty of hashtags in the comments. Each of those tags links to a corresponding tag page which is like a forum of sorts. You can contribute to one of those pages by using the box right next to the Gizmodo logo. Just enter whatever tag you want to use, be it #tips or some silly secret tagpage you decide to create.
What Can I do in #whitenoise?
Speaking of tagpages, I love to lurk in #whitenoise, Gizmodo's open forum section. There's always something fun like copyright law discussion, betting, fake rumors about the Gizmodo staff, bug reports, poetry, frustrations, and some sentimentality. The regulars in there are a great bunch and incredibly welcoming.
Check that tag out when you're in the mood for some off-topic talk with fellow Gizmodo readers.
Oh, Have I Got Some #tips For You...
What's that? You've got a tip other than "Hey! This doesn't work!" Great, because we love to get tips. Be it through our tips at gizmodo dot com address or through the #tips tag. You'll often see a "Thanks, Random Person!" at the end of a post as indication that one of your fellow reader sent us the information for that particular post. It's a nice ego boost for you and it's a great help for us.
Of course, sometimes it's also just plain fun to browse through the #tips tagpage to see what your fellow readers are getting excited about.
No, Really. This Doesn't Work!
Ok, sometimes things break. We try to fix them as soon as possible, but sometimes we might not be aware of a problem. A great way of making us aware is to head to this page and file a report. Be as descriptive as possible and include your OS and browser details.
Of course there are times when you think something is wonky, but aren't sure if it's really a bug. The #whitenoise and #broken tags are great in those cases. Odds are that someone will jump to tell you that something's not a bug or we'll realize that there's an issue of sorts. Recently a few commenting bugs have been noticed and diagnosed thanks to some #whitenoise comments, so the method does work.
What Else?
I use the Gizmodo commenting system each and every day and it's easy to overlook some things which may be confusing to new (and old) commenters. To make up for that, I'll be peeking in on the comments of this post and updating things with any significant questions. So if you've read the darn post and still have questions, ask 'em now.
Update: See? Told you I probably forgot something. A section on basic HTML tags has been added.
In Afghanistan, Marines might soon be able to snap together a 6.5-feet tall wall of armor for themselves in under ten minutes, using no tools or equipment. Inside, they'll be safe from bullets and frag from grenades, mortars, and rockets. Badass.
The Marine Corps has already spent $800,000 to buy 14 kits of McCurdy's Armor, the portable wall system developed by Dynamic Defense Materials. The kits are named after Ryan McCurdy, a Marine who was killed in duty in 2006 while pulling a wounded friend to safety.
The walls are also stackable, making them as easy to transport as they are to assemble. Once in position, four soldiers can assemble an individual panel in less than ten minutes, after which multiple panels can snap together in a U-, V, or J-shape, depending on what's preferable for the situation. The walls also feature ballistic windows that open and close, allowing Marines to fire back when necessary.
It's not clear if and when these will be deployed widely in the field, but given that the current alternative is stacking a bunch of sandbags, hopefully Uncle Sam's ready to put in another order. [DDM via National Defense via PopSci]
This screw-in coffin seems very economical, both in saving ground space and not having to have heavy equipment to lower your family members into the ground. Cemeteries have limited ground in meatspace, so putting people in edgewise just makes sense.
Best of all, that lid comes with a religion-appropriate top, so that any Duckist can show off the proper symbol for their faith. [Random Good Stuff]