Legibility, of course, is a matter of degree, but given that NYU computer science professor Ken Perlin’s tiny font can fit 500 words into a 320 x 240 pixel rectangle, I am surprised at how readable it remains. “My design,” he explains, “assumes that screen pixels are horizontal striped as RGBRGB, as are most LCD screens these days.”
When I first saw Jessee Rosten’s iPad portrait light array I will admit that I wrote it off as a goofy publicity stunt (which it seems to have done well at), but further analysis may have altered my opinion a bit. Who, in their right mind, would waste that much money on something that could be accomplished with better gear? Who cares? Seriously, if you’re putting together a photo shoot with a bunch of friends and you need some interesting lighting, why not borrow everyone’s iPad and mount them on some plywood for an interesting effect? Is it the best use of the technology? No way! Did it produce an interesting effect? I think so.
Working on a low-budget indy project and need a dolly shot, but would rather hack something up than spend funds on expensive gear? Maker J.G. Pasterjak’s DIY camera dolly built from scrap angle, skateboard wheels, and allthread might do the trick.
Console modder extraordinaire Ben Heck presents this post-Portal take on Evan Booth’s classic gaping hole costume.
Luke and his son Max Geissbuhler from Brooklyn, NY, sent a camera attached to a weather balloon up into the stratosphere! They call themselves the Brooklyn Space Program. [via FREEwilliamsburg] From the pages of MAKE Weather Balloon Space Probes in MAKE Volume 24 by John Baichtal, illustration by James Provost, pgs. 54-55. Check it out […]
Here’s how to take photos of electronics, or anything really, using a foot pedal… (video overview above) and tutorial here.
My friend Jon Singer sent me a link to this fellow’s homebrewed Panaplex display, using a jam jar as the vacuum chamber. Panaplex is a kind of gas-discharge plasma display tech related to the Nixie tube. The builder, Lindsay Wilson, explains the basic setup for his display: The entire thing is based on using a […]
