Nikon D700. PHOTO: NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE |
Camera packs features at a less-hefty price This is the latest salvo landed in the pitched battle between Nikon and Canon for the hearts, minds and wallets of serious photographers. Nikon’s D700, priced at US$2,995, packs the considerable abilities of the company’s hefty US$5,000 flagship, the D3, into a more svelte 1kg device. It uses the same 12.1-megapixel sensor and processing electronics, similar weather-resistant sealing and a magnesium frame. Both digital single-lens reflex cameras use “full frame” sensors the size of 35mm film, letting a wide-angle lens really see a broad view. Larger sensors are also more sensitive. The cameras shoot low-grain, colorful, sharp pictures at a light sensitivity setting of ISO 6,400, and they can operate at up to ISO 25,600 with less impressive results. The D700 will compete most directly with the aging Canon 5D. It lacks a few of the features found in the D3, including a bigger, longer-lasting battery, an extra memory card slot and a faster frame rate. But it adds a mechanism to shake dust from the sensor and the welcome convenience of a built-in flash. |
EyeClops Night Vision goggles. PHOTO: NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE | Worried about things that go bump in the night? Then keep your eyes open
Do you have a child who is afraid of the dark? Here’s a US$80 solution, from your local toy store. EyeClops Night Vision goggles (www.jakkspacific.com) use infrared LEDs that shine a wide beam of infrared light up to 15m away. The reflected light is invisible to the eye but not to the onboard camera, which displays the images in a single-eye viewfinder in stark monochrome. According to Nelo Lucich, the creator of the goggles and a vice president at the toy manufacturer Jakks Pacific, it was the affordability and brightness of the 17 LEDs that made this type of toy feasible at its price. Powered by five AA batteries that last about three hours, the entire device straps onto your head with thick rubber straps, like wearing a heavy mask and snorkel, giving you a look that is guaranteed to send the dog into the next room, and the cat up a tree. This could be great fun on Halloween — not only do you look creepy, but you can see where you’re stepping.
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Pinnacle Studio 12. PHOTO: NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE | Some postproduction pizazz for the digital video artist
Giving your digital movie the feel of opening credits in a 1970s action movie is now a drag-and-drop affair with Pinnacle Studio 12, the latest version of the video-editing software. The program’s new Montage feature has animated text and bright graphics and can play multiple clips simultaneously. It comes with 80 templates that make up 11 themes to perk up those home productions. The feature is in all three versions of the program: Pinnacle Studio (US$50), Pinnacle Studio Plus (US$100) and Pinnacle Studio Ultimate (US$130), available in stores or at pinnaclesys.com. The software works with Windows XP and Vista, and the two high-end versions can burn video to Blu-ray discs. The Ultimate edition includes several professional plug-ins for more picturesque pizazz, like a green-screen feature for adding special effects and the Red Giant Software Magic Bullet Looks tool, which lets you simulate the visual appearance of classic movies and film stocks. All three Pinnacle editions offer direct Web uploading to release the finished video quickly into the wilds of YouTube. |
Dell Studio laptop. PHOTO: NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE
| Colorful and well connected, a laptop that stands out
It’s summer, so why shouldn’t one’s laptop match one’s hot-pink bikini? Dell’s Studio line comes in seven colors and offers some impressive computing power inside. The laptops, which start at US$799, use Intel Core 2 Duo processors and have up to 320 gigabytes of hard drive space. Optional Blu-ray or DVD recording drives ensure you can watch a movie under your beach umbrella, while built-in Wi-Fi, cellular broadband and Bluetooth keep things connected. The Studio line comes in two sizes with 15- and 17-inch screens, and, like most Dell computers, the laptops can be modified and configured online at www.dell.com. Dell also offers color-coordinated accessories like bags and mice. The laptops weigh about 3.5kg and are about 2.5cm thick. They include a card reader and optional HDMI video output, and run Windows Vista.
You can opt for a staid graphite gray if colors like plum purple and ruby red fail to match your corporate color scheme. But Crockett and Tubbs from Miami Vice will especially enjoy the flamingo pink version. |
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
Taiwan’s post-World War II architecture, “practical, cheap and temporary,” not to mention “rather forgettable.” This was a characterization recently given by Taiwan-based historian John Ross on his Formosa Files podcast. Yet the 1960s and 1970s were, in fact, the period of Taiwan’s foundational building boom, which, to a great extent, defined the look of Taiwan’s cities, determining the way denizens live today. During this period, functionalist concrete blocks and Chinese nostalgia gave way to new interpretations of modernism, large planned communities and high-rise skyscrapers. It is currently the subject of a new exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Modern
March 25 to March 31 A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for her clothing business. Without clients and budget or labor constraints to worry about, Wu Li drew freely whatever image came to her mind. With much more free time now that her son had found a job, she found herself missing her home village in China, where she
In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan, all of which strengthened Slovakia’s position within the European Union. However, the latest developments in the country suggest that the situation is changing rapidly. As such, the presidential elections to be held on March 23 will be an indicator of whether Slovakia remains in the Western sphere of influence or moves eastward, notably towards Russia and