Finally: Max Headroom on DVD

A box set of the short lived ABC tv series Max Headroom will finally be been released on DVD on August 10, 2010. It was a show that was ahead of it’s time and it’s a shame it was canceled so soon. I remember being mesmerized by the “graphics” of the Max Headroom character and the near-future post-apocalyptic themes. I’m really looking forward to Netflix getting this one in.

Preorder Max Head via Amazon.

Wingscapes Plantcam Time Lapse Camera

With all the new construction at work, I’ve been asked to equip more web cameras for time lapse shots of the progress. At the end, we will stitch the pictures together into a fast time lapse movie of the building. Not wanting to go with IP cameras again since it will require all of the complicated mounting, running power and ethernet to the sites (usually on the roof!) and the external computer required to capture the images and save them, I looked for an alternative.

Enter, the Wingscapes Plantcam which promises to alleviate all of those problems. This is a time lapse digital camera in a rugged outdoor ready housing. It has an SD card slot to store the images and a selectable interval from every 30 seconds to once per day so it’s very flexible. It also includes a tape measure to measure the distance to close subjects (as close as 11 inches!) for focusing. For aiming, there’s a built in viewfinder and a laser so you know exactly where the camera is pointing. The box includes a articulating arm mount, bungee cords and a strap for nearly all mounting situations. It even includes batteries! The camera quality is quite good (4 megapixels) for a camera this cheap (about $69 from Amazon.com with free shipping!). It’s meant for capturing plant growth but there’s nothing preventing you from using this for just anything you need to compress time.

Link to Amazon.com

Going Paperless with the Fujitsu ScanSnap S300M

scansnapIn an effort to go paperless (ok, more paperless than I am now) I’m seriously contemplating the Fujitsu ScanSnap S300M. I’ve been burned in the past with scanners. The hardware seems to last for ever, but the drivers leave you stranded with each major OS upgrade. I suspect this might happen with this scanner too, but at least it might see more usage than the occasional scan of an old photo.

Link to Amazon.

For larger volumes of paper to scan, consider the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M Instant PDF Sheet-Fed Scanner for the Macintosh for around $400.

Dropbox: Free Personal File Synchronization

Want 2GB of free space that you can access from any computer (Mac/PC), iPhone or web browser? Get Dropbox! Free 2GB accounts synchronize across all of your computers and to your iPhone. Easily share files/folders with any other Dropbox user. The files are stored locally on all machines so you can work “offline” and sync back up when you get a network connection again.

Drying for Freedom

natural_clothes_dryerI’m an advocate for drying clothes outdoors. There are many reasons why I choose to do this but the biggest is the reduction in the utility bill (we have an electric clothes dryer). Even before we installed solar panels on the roof, I would hang laundry outside to reduce our carbon footprint.
Jeff just tipped me off to a new movie coming out in 2010 called Drying For Freedom that explores the growing and reversing trend of drying clothes outside. The trailer mentions that $5 billion (yes BILLION) is spent on just drying clothes in America. What a waste! The movie also exposes the growing trend of communities passing laws that prohibit clothes lines. What this causes, according to the trailer, is to equate power consumption with status. (This sounds awfully familiar!)