The Digital Picture Converter offers one of the easiest ways to convert old-school 35mm slides and film negatives into a digital format.

There are other alternatives to do this task, like using a normal scanner or a commercial service, but those are expensive and/or take a lot of time.

How does it work:

Slides and negatives are placed into a tray that aligns each properly; the touch of a button scans the image instantly.

It has a 5MP CMOS sensor that provides 10 bits per color channel for data conversion, and uses fixed focus and automatic exposure control and color balance, resulting in clear digital images without loss of resolution.

Of course it uses the USB power from your computer as power, and it also works to transfer the photos to the PC. Additionally, it comes with custom software that lets you edit the images.

Priced at $100.

Source

You may not be familiar with crystal gyrosensor technology, but it’s been used for years in optical devices like digital cameras and camcorders for image stabilization and also in ‘quartz’ clocks, oscillators and resonators.

The photo shows a practice golf putter currently being commercialized by Infics Inc. of South Korea. A small attachment with an LCD screen is fitted to the putter. It accurately measures the trajectory and speed of the swing, as well as impact data. The golfer is then able to view this information on a color LCD screen fitted to the non-contact side of the putter. For example, when the putter hits the back of the ball, the Gyrosensor is able to gauge how much the putter angles to the right, how much it follows through in a straight line, and how much it angles to the left. This allows golfers to obtain factual data on their swing habits.

The development of this technology is also opening up possibilities for things like a 3D mouse that you simply move through the air rather than over a surface like a mouse pad, and in automatic cleaning robots that ’sense’ what areas of a floor have been cleaned and how to get back to their docking or charging stations.

[Source: Ceatec]

The ThunderBolt is a handheld device that provides lightning warning by detecting thunderstorm activity up to 75 miles away. Once the ThunderBolt detects a storm, it will calculate the actual distance in miles and display warning information on its LCD display. The unit will then monitor the storm and provide updates every 15 seconds on the distance, approach speed, intensity, and ETA to your exact location. From the ThunderBolt web site…

ThunderBolt Storm Detector analyzes thunderstorm and lightning activity independently from any broadcast weather source, eliminating time delays in reporting dangerous weather warnings with real time weather data.

It’s due for release in January 2006 and you can find a lot more details at the ThunderBolt web site here.

[via Gizmodo]

If you’re someone who’s friends and family use the phrase ‘tin-foil-hat‘ when they describe you, then perhaps you’d be interested in this product from the UK’s Sensory Perspective. Their Electrosmog Detector will detect the invisible EMF signals in your vicinity and provide an audible signal representing the level of radioactive nastiness. With that, you can either start applying the tin foil to the walls or find the best place to keep your cup of coffee so it won’t get cold.

More info to be had at the Sensory Perspective web site here.

[via Gizmodo]

Astrobiologists, who search for evidence of life on other planets, may find a proposed Neutron/Gamma ray Geologic Tomography (NUGGET) instrument to be one of the most useful tools in their toolbelt. As conceived by scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Md., NUGGET would be able to generate three-dimensional images of fossils embedded in an outcrop of rock or beneath the soil of Mars or another planet. Tomography uses radiation or sound waves to look inside objects. NUGGET could help determine if primitive forms of life took root on Mars when the planet was awash in water eons ago.

This pisses me off to no end. I thought of something similar back in 2001 but never did apply for a patent.

[via The Raw Feed]