In the May 23 issue of PC Magazine, I took you behind the scenes of "The Insurgents," a full-length feature film made entirely with digital equipment—from a high-def Panasonic camera to a souped-up Mac running Final Cut Pro and a host of special effects software. Well, it looks like all that digital gear did the trick.
This month, in its world premiere at the 13th annual Internationales Filmfest Oldenburg (“The Sundance of Germany” –Variety), "The Insurgents" took home the coveted German Independence Award, chosen by audiences as the festival’s Best Feature. Not bad for a film made for less than $200,000.
Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Scott Dacko (at right), "The Insurgents" is a Chinese-box of a thriller starring John Shea ("Missing, Lois and Clark"), Mary Stuart Masterson ("Fried Green Tomatoes," "Benny and Joon"), Henry Simmons ("NYPD Blue," "Lackawanna Blues"), Juliette Marquis ("This Girl’s Life"), and Michael Mosley ("Bella," "Kidnapped").
Keep an eye out for the movie's stateside premiere. It’s up for festival spots on both coasts, and at Sundance itself.
Thanks to PC Magazine senior writer Cade Metz for this post!
Remember when digital cameras were big and clunky and annoying to carry around? Uh, yeah, me neither. But what's this on the left? Only the ginormous Sony Mavica MVC-FD90, a digital camera that looks like it could eat a soda can.
My brother gave me this camera 3 years ago after purchasing it in 2000 for $626.95 plus $49.95 for an extra battery. I've seen Mavica's online for up to $1300 list. Now you can buy one on Amazon for about $99 or on eBay for anywhere from $25 to nearly $200. Today, you could buy a D-SLR, such as the Olympus Evolt E-330 for less than $1,000.
Disney: the company that brought us Snow White, Bambi, and the Mix Max Personal Media Player...? Yep, Disney is targeting pop-culture-savvy kids with an upgraded version of its media player with more memory; it's also introducing a smaller player, the Mix Micro, and the multimedia Mix Max Player, which will play movies, music and television shows and display photos.
Disney media will come on small preloaded memory cards, but the Mix Max will also play your own movies and music. The player will come in a number of color schemes and Disney themes, including the floral-themed Tinker Bell, as well as the customary ice-blue and silver-chrome unisex models. Bundled with the Mix Max, Disney will be shipping stereo earbuds and a wrist strap so the kids (uh huh, don't pretend like you won't use it too) won't drop it as they jam out to tunes from "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast."
If Disney material doesn't do it for you, the device (with a 2.2-inch color LCD) features 512MB of internal SD memory, upgradeable to 2GB; it can store around 240 songs and 5 hours of video. Speaking of video, your movies or TV shows will stream at a respectable 30 frames per second, but only in WMV format. The Mix Max will also play onlyMP3 and WMA music files, but can be used to download music from any Windows Media DRM 10 content provider via USB.
To keep the kids busy on long drives, the Mix Max ships with a rechargeable battery that Disney claims will offer 2 hours of constant video playback and up to 8 hours of audio playback.
Disney will offer the Mix Max Player for $99.99, but there is a catch: Those wonderful Disney movies will run you a cool $19.99 each, so keep that in mind when you budget this out. Look for the Disney Mix Max this October.
It's hard to believe that Elmo has only been tickling young kids for ten years. Fisher-Price is celebrating Elmo's anniversary with the latest model, known as "TMX Elmo".
TMX Elmo features interactive tickle spots on his chin, tummy and toe. Just tickle Elmo once on any of these spots, and he'll begin to laugh and slap his leg! Then, he'll fall down, sit, and rock himself back up to a standing position! The real fun is if you keep on tickling him, he will repeat the same pattern but surprise you with other movements, such as falling back and kicking his feet or hitting the floor with his hand and laughing hysterically. Gee, sounds like me when I'm in a laughing mood!
Watch Elmo's epilepsy moments in CNN's video. TMX Elmo is recommended for ages 18 months and up, operates on 6 AA batteries, and is virtually sold out everywhere! But if you can get Elmo, he sells for $40.
Gearlog wants to know, what is Elmo really laughing about? We decided to ask the crew at Ziff Davis, and here are their snarky, yet serious replies:
Because no one knows that underneath his fur, he's naked! -Jeremy Kaplan, Senior Editor
Aibo thought he could best me. Aibo was wrong! And now, Aibo has met his grisly end. There can be only one. Hear me, I am Elmo! Mwahahahahaha! -Laarni Ragaza, Senior Editor (Hardware)
He's laughing at all the idiot parents that are going to simultaneously go broke ($40?!?) AND insane (cute at first. . .then they'll be asylum-bound) from buying this toy for their toddlers. -Dave Foster, Graphics Director
At Rosie O'Donnell's career path since she left him behind? -Whitney Reynolds, Assistant Producer
Clearly the laughter itself. Forced to repeat the same mechanistic actions over and over for the delight of small children, Elmo has clearly retreated into a nihilistic state where only the laughter remains. Or maybe it's just the expected bidding wars on eBay? -Mark Hachman, News Editor
He's laughing that every year there seems to be a new crop of uncles, aunts, and grandparents ready to buy the latest evil model for their new 1-year old. -Joel Santo Domingo, Desktop Analyst
Someone told him a dirty joke involving American Girl dolls. Or he found out Bert and Ernie were both mentioned in the book, The Confession by former N.J. gov. James E. McGreevey. -Terry Sullivan, Digital Camera Analyst
Elmo is laughing at you, because you're shelling out $40 for a glorified flip-over puppy. Only the laughter is more annoying that the traditional yip-yip-yip. Or because the previous model was "Toking-me Elmo," and the ganja's finally kicked in. -Michael Steinhart, Senior Editor/Writer
Someone told him that there will be no more Sony battery recalls. Orhe saw Fisher Price's second quarter earnings. -Cisco Cheng, Laptop Analyst
He's laughing because Bert is taking the fall for all of his evil activities. BERT IS EVIL - The Only Official Evil Portal. Bert is just a patsy; Elmo is the true evil mastermind. -Neil J. Rubenking, Security Analyst
Elmo the megalomaniac is cackling uncontrollably because he is controlling the minds of children all over the world—buy branded toys, collect them all, one is not enough, merchandising is fun! -Blogging Molly, Web Producer
He's laughing with the evil single sibling who bought one for their niece/nephew to drive their sister CRAZY! -Scott Schedivy, Photographer
Now it's time for our Gearlog readers to tell us what Elmo is freakin' laughing about!!! Post your comments.
Anyone who reads Gearlog regularly knows that I love LED products. And it just so happens that ThinkGeek is also selling this Round LED Lantern. Forget bulbs, candles, and oils--LEDs are the way to go in this day and age!!
The Round LED Lantern easily collapses when not in use (although I'd probably display it in my apartment all year round!) and the LED inside can either change colors continuously or be stopped on a single color. Me like! The lantern is made from plastic and suited for both indoor and outdoor use. It measures 8 inches in diameter.
The included 4.5V battery is said to last for up to 100 hours. Get it at ThinkGeek for just $15.99.
In light of the report this morning in the New York Times that Hewlett-Packard conducted feasibility studies on planting undercover spies in CNet and Wall Street Journal, and because we're offended they didn't think to infiltrate Gearlog (although we're wondering if Associate Editor Kyle Monson is a mole, shown here), we've decided it's high time we put together a buying guide of the best and worst gadgets for corporate cloak-and-dagger covert ops.
THE BEST SPY GEAR:
If your directive explicitly states infiltrating a team of dorito-munching, cola-swilling programmers, the Camera 35mm Can-Shaped is a perfect gadget to bring along. It looks like a can of Coke, but just "take a sip and snap" as the product description says, and you're well on your way to your very own Watergate.
We're not sure if HP's "feasibility studies" were by-the-book, but if they were, they may have been based on the International Spy Museum Handbook for Practical Spying. If we wanted to, say, infiltrate our brethren at Engadget, we'd start by studying this book (and we'd study it while playing appropriate music, of course).
Every spy needs their very own Spy Video Car. Why? Because it's great for hiding a camera inside, and then you can see the images it takes through a private LCD screen built into your headset. But what if you prefer spying at night? Then the car's infrared night-vision system will make your mission possible.
But if a video car just doesn't suit your spying needs, try this Spy Plane instead to capture aerial shots. This remote control plane can snap up to 26 digital photos at a resolution of 72 dpi. And it can reach heights of 1,000 feet! In case, well, your enemies are super tall. Then remove the camera from the plane to download your photos to your laptop or PC.
And every professional spy needs a watchdog. The Sony AIBO has a camera and can walk under the corporate boardroom table virtually unnoticed. No longer in production, but available on eBay.
THE WORST SPY GEAR:
And when you've retrieved all those classified documents as you planned, there's no better way to declare victory than by dressing your pooch in an official "Mission Accomplished" MA-1 Flight Jacket.
Prefer not to rely on robotics? Then go the old school way and use this Office Espionage Kit. It includes a micro listening device for those "I wish I were a fly on the wall" moments, two discreet mirrors to use for snooping over cubicle walls, a book of spying tips, and a two-in-one invisible ink pen and decoder so that no one will discover your spy notes. Yeah, like that really works!
A good spy knows that you don't want to draw attention to yourself, especially with a noticeable camera hanging off your ear. So stay clear of the Deja View Camwear Model 100.
Do you have a knack for balancing objects? If so, then your next challenge should be our third product in Gearlog's "Geek Your Cube" series.
Product: Floating LCD Clock and Shuttle from ThinkGeek.com
Description: Where would we be without ThinkGeek? For one thing, we'd be far less caffienated. We also wouldn't have silly office toys like the Floating LCD Clock and Shuttle. It's a clock! It floats! Why? Because things that float are cool! The unit looks something like a mutant desk lamp, and comes with a 120V power brick that weighs about as much as an actual brick.
Set-up Precautions: The manual includes a lot of warnings that you shouldn't put the lamp near your computer, your monitor, your credit cards, or your pacemaker, because the levitation effect is not achieved through magic, but rather through a powerful magnet that has the potential to destroy everything you love. I made sure to put the clock in the far corner of my cubicle (and to hit any coworkers who thought it would be funny to try to make my iPod float.)
How It Works: Making the clock float took a little bit of practice of getting it into just the right place without it sticking to the top of the magnet base, but after a lot of beeping, clattering, and cursing, the clock was successfully suspended in mid-air! I could just leave it to dangle in place, or flip the switch on the back to start it rotating clockwise or counter-clockwise. Having a floating clock is a little pointless, but it did attract a lot of attention in the office when it was on.
For Space Nuts: If a clock is too mundane for you, ThinkGeek also sells a space shuttle add-on that's slightly harder to get floating, but much cooler looking when it's aloft. The back of the product's box showed other things that could be made to float with the base, like spheres or cars (because cars rotate gently in mid-air all the time!), but no other accessories are available for sale on ThinkGeek at this time.
Overall: The Floating LCD Clock and Shuttle is more or less the perfect geek desk toy: it's essentially pointless, but has looks that make people stop and say, "What is that?" The base unit and clock sell for $89.99, and the shuttle add-on sells for $24.99.
Stay tuned tomorrow for yet another way to geek your cube!
Thanks to Assistant Producer Whitney Reynolds for this review!! She didn't have to utilize her Japanese-translating skills for this post, but I'm sure I'll find something else for her to translate!
This one isn't a big surprise: Sprint today announced they'll be selling the Blackberry 8703e, the same QWERTY keyboarded Blackberry with high-speed EV-DO data that Verizon Wireless announced last week. The Sprint 8703e will be available October 1 for $349.99 with a two-year contract. It has the same specs as the Verizon version -- the same bright 320x240 screen, the same DSL-like high-speed data and the same potential to be used as a laptop modem. Sprint is plugging the 8703e's GPS navigation services, though, which Verizon didn't promote.
The 8703e is the first Blackberry with both high-speed data and a full keyboard on Sprint or Verizon. Savvy and patient Blackberry watchers are keeping their eyes out for the rumored upcoming "Qwerl," the full-keyboard version of the Blackberry Pearl. RIM has said that the Pearl platform will appear on all major carriers, but that may mean waiting six months, though. And yes, that's a picture of the Verizon 8703e on the right, but trust me, the Sprint one looks almost identical.
Now, you can be your own Ken Burns with your own old home movies.
Today, Pinnacle Systems, well known for its video editing software, Pinnacle Studio software, has announced two new hardware devices (in two packages) that will allow consumers to digitize their analog movies (such as movies captured via VHS tape or Hi8 cassette) and convert them into digital formats for burning DVDs, posting on the web and creating video podcasts. But the devices are well equipped to handle newer formats such as miniDV tape and the ability to import a variety of digital video formats, such as MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.
The USB products are Pinnacle Studio MovieBox ($99) and MovieBox Plus ($149) and PCI products Pinnacle Studio MovieBoard ($79) and MovieBoard Plus ($149). Both the USB and PCI product provide the same functions. It just depends whether you like to have the devices connected externally or internally to your computer. The Plus packages have Composite video, S-Video, Stereo audio and IEEE1394 (firewire) inputs and outputs. The non-Plus packages have the same inputs, but only the IEEE1394 (firewire) has both inputs and outputs.
In addition to these hardware devices, the company has updated its Studio software to version 10.6, which now allows for better high def editing and new tools for better managing files from a variety of imaging devices. But perhaps most importantly, they've enhanced the software's stability. The software will retail for around $70.
There's nothing quite like free over-the-air HD broadcasting, but the problem is finding a tuner that works and one that doesn't come with 2-pound AC adapter. The Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro stick is a USB HD tuner no bigger than a typical flash drive. On one end you have your USB connection. On the other side is a coax connector, where you can attach the largest antenna you can find. Luckily, Pinnacle does include a rabbit ear and a miniature remote with this package. The devices are small enough that you can put the tuner in one pocket and still have room for the remote. The antenna might poke a little, so I'd put that some place that won't hurt as much
By pointing the antenna to a nearby window, you can receive up to 20 digital channels and 5 HD channels, depending on your location. Pinnacle demonstrated this device in our 11th floor Manhattan offices, which is not a bad place to be for this type of device. The reception isn't perfect, as you would expect, but heck, what did you expect with on-air broadcasting. The included remote allows you to do time shifting, or you can record your shows using Pinnacle's included software or Windows Media Center 20005 Edition. You can record in multiple formats, such as direct-to-DVD, DivX, H.264, and Sony PSP formats. Prices start at a reasonable $129.99
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