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Asus unveiled PadFone 2

Asus' original PadFone took an Odyssean twelve months to find its way from announcement (and re-announcement) to a retail release, so it's no surprise to see its successor making a debut so soon after the first units hit store shelves. The PadFone 2 maintains the Android smartphone trend toward bigger and better screens, by stepping up to a 4.7-inch 720p IPS display, and also bumps up the megapixel count on the camera, moving to a 13MP shooter. The backside-illuminated sensor is provided by Sony, making it likely the same one as seen on the Xperia T. The PadFone's processor has also been beefed up in a major way, as there's now a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 with 2GB of RAM at the heart of the new device.

'Samsara' creators Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson discuss the digital filmmaking divide (video)

In 2012, however, the beauty of celluloid may well present more problems than it's worth, according to the duo. "It's at a level that you'd really have to think hard about not doing it now going out in digital," says Fricke. "There's a lot of issues shooting film, getting film stock in and out -- we went to 25 countries, there's a big price to pay shooting in film because you have to deal with exposed film / unexposed getting it in, you can't take it with you. Like when we made Baraka 20 years ago, we could carry it with us or check it in, they wouldn't X-ray it, and it just doesn't work like that anymore. So it's very challenging." Magidson adds, simply, "The issues with film are only getting harder, not easier."

RED SCARLET Promotion just for 7,100 $

SCARLET-X W/ SIDE SSD AND LENS MOUNT (BATTLE-TESTED) camera package is the latest addition to the DSMC line, capable of capturing 5K stills and 4K motion footage. With advanced capabilities such as HDRx alongside a native 13.5 stops of dynamic range, SCARLET-X is the perfect hybrid camera for cinematographers and photographers alike. Upgrade your sensor, add modules, and embrace a system defined by Obsolescence Obsolete. Made in the USA.

$7100 instead of the regular $11,900. Scarlet Brain, Side SSD and Canon Mount.

Bangkok's Batcat Museum: 50,000 pieces of toy history

For anyone over 30, it’s a bit of a disappointment to head into any big chain toy store nowadays. Cheaply manufactured gizmos, designed to appeal to the broadest demographic, line the shelves and you have to search high and low for anything unique or special. What happened to the cool toys of our youth? Well, it turns out a lot of them have ended up in Bangkok's Batcat Toy Museum. What began as a hobby for 39-year old Somchay Nitimongkolchai has morphed into an epic display of toys, figurines, costumes, masks, collectibles and life-sized maquettes covering two floors.

Amazing collection.

Baumgartner Leaps From 24 Miles, Breaks Sound Barrier

Felix Baumgartner jumped from a capsule dangling from a balloon at 128,120 feet today, breaking the record for the highest altitude skydive in history. Baumgartner’s top speed was officially Mach 1.24, or 833.9 miles per hour, making him the first human to break the sound barrier outside of an aircraft. Even though Baumgartner detected a problem with a heater designed to keep his visor clear, he leapt from the capsule anyway, parachuting safely to earth

Canon EOS 7D Magic Lantern Alpha Available

This is a long story. The workings of single-DIGiC cameras are already well understood. We know how to forge FIRs and we can execute code using this method. Our code gets executed without any interruption to the cameras proper function, we can hook into startup code and simply restart the camera or update the bootflag needed for execution of autoexec.bin. Same applies to autoexec.bin if the bootflag is enabled.

Visit the download page for Magic Lantern

Network A lets video viewers choose their own adventures: one clip, 800 permutations

Bedrocket Media bills itself as a "next generation media company" backed by New York heavyweights from the world's of internet and television. "The old order – with its big, high-cost studios and gatekeepers – is crumbling, and the future belongs to nimble content creators who can take advantage of the seismic changes happening in the industry. We see a unique opportunity to become 'cable in the cloud,'" said Bedrocket CEO Brain Bedol.

Neat!

Levitating Barbecue! Electromagnetic Induction

At the Palais de la Decouverte in Paris, they showed me this experiment where a 1kg aluminium plate is levitated above a large coil of wire that is being supplied with 800A of alternating current at 900Hz. This is by far the best demonstration of electromagnetic induction I have ever seen.

After Steve: Apple's ten big post-Jobs moments

It's been a busy, bumpy year for Apple since Steve Jobs passed away last October 5. On the up side, the company won a massive jury award against Samsung for patent infringement, and in April it became arguably the most valuable company in history when its market capitalization passed $600 billion for the first time. At the same time, Apple made some rare U-turns in response to flaps over the EPEAT environmental standard and the mapping software on its newest iPhone.

20 graphic designers to follow on Behance

Looking for inspiration? We've put together a list of some of the best graphic design portfolios on Behance.com, the 'showcase and discover' creative network for designers.

Microsoft Confirms Office for iOS March 2013

Microsoft has already said that Office Mobile will be supported on iOS, Android and Windows smartphones, although the company hasn't said before now whether the app suite would be Web-based or platform-native.

Mac classics: Why BBEdit rules

Revolutions in technology come in waves only a few years apart. That BBEdit is still an essential tool more than two decades after its initial release is remarkable. BBEdit’s relevance is due in part to the company’s focus on its users' current needs, and in part to its attention to larger trends.

Amazing article by Andy Ihnatko. Useful!

Cool iOS concept.

Back when I had a jailbroken iPhone, one of my favorite Cydia tweaks was a hack called Switchy, which came to life based upon an initial forum post mocking up a more advanced app switcher for iOS. I’m hopeful, then, that the same will prove true for this new switcher concept posted over the weekend, which might be the best looking, most attractive and most functional app switcher we’ve seen yet. Read more at http://www.cultofmac.com/195051/this-is-the-awesome-radically-redesigned-app-switcher-we-want-for-ios-7/#d7OTkjrbhdf8PMLl.99

QRmovie puts adaptive, animated QR codes in film

The very mention of QR codes will likely incite groans in the least cynical of technophiles. What once was a tangible and exciting example of two-worlds colliding, bringing the physical world into the digital realm with funky barcodes and smartphones, now illustrates what can happen when we’re not really quite sure how to implement a fledgling technology. Football teams with QR codes on their shirts? I rest my case.

Super Cool!!!