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My favorite Fussball-Trikot: Marvin Compper Fussball Trikot bestellen

Honduras first appeared in a World Cup in 1982 where they managed draws against Spain and Northern Ireland but they could not beat Yugoslavia to make it to the round of 16. Their ascent was started with a last minute withdrawal by Argentina from the 2001 Copa America and Honduras was chosen to replace them. They went on to finish third in the tournament, if any of Argentina’s local rivals thought it was a relief that Argentina withdrew.

Joma and Honduras have revealed their home and away shirts:

Honduras 2010 World Cup Shirts

Source

World Cup 2010: South Africa Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira Warns His Players Ahead Of Namibia Encounter (Goal.com)
Bafana Bafana head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has warned his players to focus tonight when they take on Namibia in an international friendly.

Namibia/South Africa: Warriors to Shine Against SA (AllAfrica.com)
THE Brave Warriors match against World Cup hosts South Africa is more than a stadium inauguration friendly it’s made out to be. Today marks 99 days until Africa’s first World Cup kicks off at Soccer City on June 11 when South Africa plays Mexico.

Hiddink linked with Ivory Coast (The Australian)
GUUS Hiddink could get the chance to weave some more World Cup magic.

World Cup 2010: Brazil Legend Cafu Trains With South Africa Ahead Of Namibia Friendly (Goal.com)
Brazilian legend Cafu attended coach Carlos Alberto Parreira’s session in preparation for Wednesday night’s friendly international between South Africa and Namibia at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

Election candidate murdered – Ethiopian opposition (AlertNet)
Source: Reuters * Opposition says candidate stabbed, another beaten * Suspect arrested – govt spokesman By Barry Malone ADDIS ABABA, March 2 (Reuters) – Six men stabbed to death an Ethiopian opposition …

International Friendly Preview: Ivory Coast – South Korea (Goal.com)
Crashing out of Angola 2010 with a big yoke of disappointment, Ivory Coast’s national team still finds it hard to lure support from local fans, who had grudgingly hung their hopes on Didier Drogba and co. during the continental tournament.

South Africa : Inspection Tour Gives SA the Kind of PR That Money Cannot Buy (AllAfrica.com)
Johannesburg — WHOEVER dreamt up the idea of taking an aircraft full of bloodthirsty local and international hacks on a whirlwind inspection tour of the facilities that will be used during the Soccer World Cup should be first in line when they start doling out the bonuses after the tournament.

US firm files suit in Ethiopian Airlines crash in Lebanon (Zawya)
BEIRUT, Mar 02, 2010 (AFP) – Relatives of passengers killed in an Ethiopian Airlines crash in Lebanon last January have filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit in a US court against plane-maker Boeing, their attorney said on Tuesday.

Ethiopia aid ’spent on weapons’ (BBC News)
Aid money intended for famine victims in Ethiopia in 1984-85 was taken by rebels to buy weapons, the BBC learns.

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My favorite Fussball-Trikot: Fussball Trikot bestellen

from: Terrins Site

Gaillard should sneak onto the Knicks’ bench. He’d probably play 15-20 minutes and no one would know the difference.

H To The Izza, E To The Boue! Jay-Z Loves Him Some Arsenal

H.O.V.A. may run a musical and clothing empire but his expertise in those areas apparently doesn’t translate to the world of soccer. The Sun has revealed that Jay-Z is an Arsenal fan. In the words of the Guardian Knight in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, “He chose poorly.”

The Gunners have offered Jay and his lovely wife BEYONCE free VIP hospitality seats whenever they fancy seeing a game at the North London club’s Emirates stadium.

Club bigwigs contacted the rapper after reading in my pages that he is a big Arsenal fan.

… And the Jiggaman said: “I’d like to thank the club for their kind offer.

… He added: “I’m glad Arsenal now know it’s them I support.”

What’s not to like about a team that runs around playing “sexy football” but can’t finish the job? A hip-hop star shouldn’t want to be seen supporting anyone that can’t climax while pouring Cristal on their bitch. How long before Arsenal is sponsored by ExtenZe? Maybe Jay and Arsene Wenger can do a Cialis commercial where they sit in bathubs holding hands.

Note: Perhaps the Roc should look closer to home. Check out this post on Jay-Z and a potential MLS linkup. It’s just an idea but a damn solid one. Take some time and check out Nutmeg Radio. They’re new and have a different take on the beautiful game as well as some solid soccer gear.

What’s Next? The Dogs With Bees In Their Mouth And When They Bark They Shoot Bees At You?

Hilarity ensues when a Panamanian soccer game is interrupted by a swarm of bees. Skip to 1:05 and enjoy!

What you don’t see are the killer whales swarming while drunk chimps exchange meat for sex before rushing in with spears and stones on the flank. They filmed everything. Their first movie may suck but the second will be a rallying cry. Animal revolution is closer than you think.

And As Promised, The Wanking

Say a heartfelt goodbye to BBC presenter Kristian Digby who David Carradine’d himself this weekend. Of course we don’t want to celebrate anyone dying besides Guy Fieri or that girl from the Progressive Insurance ads. Our condolences go out to his family and friends but it’s hard to feel bad for people that go out like Carradine. At least there weren’t any ladyboys involved. Our tribute:

Read on. We assure you that future wanking will be much happier and sooner than you think.

FREE TARKAN!

With the Wold Cup approaching, several players including Elena Dementieva, Flavia Pennetta and Tatiana Golovin talk about being soccer fans and play keep-up with a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour soccer ball.

Our friends at China Sports Tour are working on a great project. Before reaching out to the outer space, they’re bringing teams from around the planet to compete in a youth football tournament. Please see below their media release.

The first international youth soccer tournament in Beijing reveals details today.

The tournament, named The Great Wall Cup of Beijing, will be hosted by the Beijing Municipal Sports Administration, and undertaken by the Beijing Football Association, the Olympic Sports Center and China Sports Tour. In the first year of the event, the committee will invite teams from all over the world, both boys and girls, in the age categories 14, 16, and 18, as well as eight local teams. The event is considered to be the first ever international youth soccer tournament of this scale to be held in Beijing. International clubs and teams are welcome to register now.

The current status of Chinese soccer teams is unusual, according to Sports Minister Mr. Liu Peng, who states, “The shortage of reserve talent is the key reason for its low level.” The government has already realized the problem and started to focus on youth development. Promoting the international youth soccer tournament is a way to give local youngsters opportunities to communicate and practice with international teams so they can improve their technique and social skills.

“Chinese young players have little chance to play against foreign teams,” says Mr. Yang Junsheng, the president of the Beijing Football Association, “That is the reason why we fully support this event. We hope this tournament can serve as a kind of festival for all young players who participate in it. We sincerely hope this event will also draw more public attention to youth soccer. The Great Wall Cup of Beijing is not only a platform for Chinese youngsters to learn and experience the most advanced soccer skills, but also a window to show Beijing and China to the young generation of the world. We sincerely hope that through the Great Wall Cup, not only can Chinese players learn from other teams, but also first time visitors can have the opportunity to learn the spirit of the city, to experience the culture, the people and the fun.” By using the top sports facilities in Beijing and promoting a combination of culture, sports and travel, the tournament will satisfy participants and make them feel fulfilled by taking part in the one-week event.

Beijing, as a dynastic city, has become a preferred place to host popular international sports events, especially after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. However, a youth soccer tournament has never been hosted there before. Inspired by the successes and great impact of the youth soccer tournaments in Europe, such as the Gothia Cup and Norway Cup, the Great Wall cup is trying to attract boys and girls from all over the world who love this amazing sport, offering them the opportunity to spend a week to enjoy the tournament and experience something unique. “Beijing has become an international city; it has already hosted several big-name events drawing public awareness, yet we do not have any youth sporting events. The Beijing Football Association sincerely hopes to take this opportunity to make the Great Wall Cull of Beijing a symbol of the Post-Olympics Beijing,” Mr. Yang explained.

One highlight of the one-week program of the Great Wall Cup of Beijing is called ChinaTouch. ChinaTouch is a workshop that provides foreign players the opportunity to learn and experience Chinese culture and art. The workshop will be held in the hotel lobby all week so every participant can take part. “Teams can learn basic Chinese, calligraphy, and practice kung fu with our kung fu master,” says Shine Liu, the managing director of China Sports Tour. “We arranged this workshop to allow international teams to experience something new and unique. It is easier to learn and make new friends in a happy atmosphere.”

Mr. Shine Liu also explained more details of the event: “Not only do we want to add fun and cultural elements to this tournament, but we are also trying to create more opportunities for talented players professionally, and that is why we have the ‘Meet the Future Star’ event. Professional coaches, scouts and sports agents from China and other Asian countries will be invited to observe the games, they will pick the players they like, and we will help them to arrange a face-to-face conversation so that they can better get to know each other, and to see if there is any possibility of future cooperation.” Besides these activities already mentioned, a grand opening ceremony, a closing banquet, and a Leaders’ Party will be held during the week.

Teams will also have a selection of sightseeing opportunities. They will get the chance to take a one-day trip to the famous Great Wall, visit the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, the Drum and Bell Tower, the Bird’s Nest, the Water Cube, take a tour of old Beijing Hutongs and enjoy a lakeside dinner.

“Inviting international teams to join the Great Wall Cup will make this the biggest international youth soccer event in China ever,” states Mr. Shine Liu, “We feel really honored and excited to be the organization exclusively authorized to promote the tournament internationally.” Back in the late 90s, a youth tournament named “The Four Asia Tigers” was considered to be the most influential youth soccer event in China. Mr. Shine Liu commented, “Unfortunately, the Four Asia Tiger tournament only lasted around three years, and it was Asia-wide only.”

The 2010 Great Wall Cup of Beijing will be held from July 25th-31st at the Beijing Olympic Sports Center Football Park, just across the street from the Bird’s Nest. This tournament will become an annual event in the future and aim to be one of the biggest international sports events in Beijing along with the China Open and the Italian Super Cup.

The Great Wall Cup of Beijing is now looking to cooperate with all kinds of organizations and companies worldwide. Sponsorship packages are also available for companies who want to use this as a platform to introduce their brand and products to China and the world. “The tournament welcomes companies and organizations to join the Great Wall Cup of Beijing together with the teams. With the Beijing Football Association’s support, taking part in the event will definitely help companies to open a window to the Chinese market,” Mr. Shine Liu revealed, “As an international event that is supported and organized by the Beijing Municipal Sports Administration and the Beijing Football Association, media exposure will be inconceivable. Newspaper, portal website and TV media will come in great numbers to report on the tournament and the stories behind it. We believe we will give our sponsors and partners a great return. By participating in this exciting event, companies will not only increase their brand awareness in China, but also build a solid foundation with potential business partners in China. The organizing committee has been talking to Chinese portal websites, national TV stations and influential newspapers. They have all showed great interest in the Great Wall Cup and would like to broadcast, interview and report on it because this is the very first international youth soccer tournament in China, and all media know the importance and significant meaning of the event.” For more information and details about the tournament sponsorship packages, please contact Mr. Shine Liu at shine@chinasportstour.com.

Teams from America, Switzerland, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria and Cameroon have already shown interest in coming for the 2010 Great Wall Cup of Beijing. The team registration fee will be waived for teams registering before Feb 28th, 2010. For more information, please visit http://www.thegreatwallcup.com, or email info@thegreatwallcup.com.

Author’s Note: This post is one in a series of posts that breaks down the 2010 Soccer MVP Tournament competition. Be sure to look at the final results to review how ‘Inside’ was crowned champion.

There is an old expression that goes, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Today people usually use this expression when asked how one should be behave when visiting a foreign country or visiting someone’s house. Basically, you won’t go wrong if you follow the lead of the locals or homeowner, respectively.

This expression holds true in soccer as well. When playing soccer, if a player emulates his/her favorite professional player or team, chances are he/she will become a pretty good soccer player.

With that said, ‘Inside’ is by far and away professional players’ most used surface and easily won the ‘Popularity Among Professionals’ discipline (see table below).

‘Inside’ won both competitions that were used to measure popularity. The first competition counted the number of touches that took place in one half of an English Premium League game. The second competition examined the number of goals that were scored over a month in professional leagues across the world.

Touches

For this competition, I broke down only the first half the Chelsea vs. Arsenal game that was played February 7, 2010. The touches were broken down by the four main disciplines already examined in this competition. They were receiving, dribbling, passing, and shooting. For each discipline I examined which foot surface was used to perform the skill. They are inside, outside (laces), outside, and bottom. The table also includes touches made with the thighs, chest, and head.

When counting touches, I followed these rules and protocols:

I only counted the touches that were shown on TV.
On 50-50 balls or when the ball ricocheted off player like a pinball , I did not count those touches.
It was easy to differentiate between inside touches and all other touches. It was harder to differentiate between a top (laces) and outside touches, especially when dribbling.
I categorized all headers under ‘receiving’ unless they were shots on goal.

The results speak for themselves.

For both receiving and passing categories, ‘Inside’ had more touches than all other surfaces combines (including the non-foot surfaces). Chelsea’s 55% receiving percentage is a little low because of the number of headers they had (27)
Of all the touches in the game, nearly two-thirds of them were made with the inside-of-the-foot (62% and 63%)
Even with dribbling, ‘Inside’ was the most popular surface, 41% and 44%, respectively.
In this game, ‘Laces’ was the most popular surface. However in the goal-scoring competition below, you will find a surprising but clear winner.

Goal Scoring

For a five-week period, I looked at all the goals shown on the major soccer highlight shows including Fox Sports Report, Gol TV, La Liga, Sky Sports, and Hallo Bundesliga. I usually looked at several shows a week. When the same goal was shown on multiple shows, the goal was only counted once. In addition, if it was not clear what surface was used to score, the goal was not counted.

In what I’m sure will surprise many, ‘Inside’ won every single week, During the week, the percentage was over 50% once and never below 44% for goals scored with the inside-of-the-foot. Those are impressive percentages. (I included headers because they accounted for a good portion of the goals.)

Conclusion

There should now be a new soccer expression that players should follow and coaches and parents should promote. It is, “When on the soccer field, do as the professionals do and use the inside-of-the-foot.”

The other disciplines evaluated in this competition were: structure, receiving, dribbling, passing, shooting, and ease of learning.

I taken Fotos in the last weeks – please tell me if you like them:

Fotoabzüge Gratis entwickeln Fotos entwickeln – Einfach sparen und 50 Gratis Bilder abstauben. Tolle Video-Anleitung für alle, die nicht wissen wie man Fotoabzüge online bestellen kann. Kann man nur weiterempfehlen!

from: Zis Site
Nikos Site

Brigitte Stelzer / Splash News

Nancy Pelosi is protecting Rep. Charles Rangel, who failed to pay taxes on his Caribbean villa, among other miscues. But the ethically challenged congressional baron is endangering the Democrats’ control of Congress.

Today's Democrats should remember Dan Rostenkowski. The former Democratic Chicago congressman was the kind of guy who would have made an all-Madden team for pols. Growing up, his home doubled as a meeting house for precinct captains. He attended Catholic schools, fought in Korea, then became a made man in the Richard Daley machine. Dispatched to Washington, he learned the inside game from masters like Lyndon Johnson and Tip O’Neill, and by the 1980s had become chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Parochial, crusty, inarticulate, and tough, he sat for decades atop Washington’s pyramid of power—until the Gingrich Republicans made him a symbol of Washington’s decadence. Skewered for keeping “ghost” employees on his payroll, using government money to buy presents for friends, and abusing privileges at the House bank, he lost his seat in the 1994 Republican landslide. “The Rules Kept Changing,” observed Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Royko, “Dan Rostenkowski Didn’t.”

Charles Rangel would make the all-Madden team, too. The son of a maid, he went to work at age 8, won a Purple Heart in Korea, and rose through the Harlem Democratic machine. Since entering Congress, he has spoken blunt truths: declaring that if congressmen’s sons served in uniform, America would never have gone to war in Iraq. He has taken care of the little guy, assiduously bringing home federal bucks to his impoverished district. And in the Rostenkowski tradition, Rangel has taken care of himself as well, using rent-controlled apartments given to him by a Manhattan developer,and failing to pay income tax on a three-bedroom villa in the Dominican Republic (where he’s been pictured napping).

A Democratic source says party pollsters are picking up rumblings that the Rangel scandal is starting to register with the public.

To understand why the Rangel scandals are so dangerous for Democrats, you need to understand something about midterm landslides: They’re usually composed of three parts. First, the other party’s activists are highly motivated. Second, your own activists are highly unmotivated. Third, independents want to burn Washington to the ground.

There’s nothing Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi can do about the first problem. The stimulus, the bank bailouts, the auto-takeover and the health-care push have convinced large numbers of aging white people that Obama is Mao Zedong, and they’re not going to change their mind anytime soon. The best response to the second problem is to pass health-care reform and give Keith Olbermann something to get excited about. But perhaps most crucial of all is responding to problem No. 3.

Independents are the most fickle, the most cynical, and the least ideological people in the American electorate. When they’re unhappy with the state of the country, they tend to stampede the party in power—less because they disagree on the issues than because they decide that the folks running government must be malevolent and corrupt. In Washington, congressmen violate ethics rules all the time. But when independents get in one of their sour moods, these infractions become matches on dry tinder. In 1994, the scandals concerning Rostenkowski and the House bank helped sweep the Gingrichites into power. In 2006, according to exit polls, the scandals surrounding mega-lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Rep. Mark Foley did more to lose the GOP control of Congress than did the Iraq war. Pelosi became speaker, in fact, by running against the GOP’s “culture of corruption” and promising the “most ethical Congress in history.”

Now Republicans are hurling those phrases in her face. Democrats, who in April 2006 held a 17-point advantage as the party less “influenced by lobbyists and special interests,” have seen that margin dwindle to eight points, according to the Pew Research Center. The National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee has begun running ads against Democrats who accepted donations from Rangel, and two of the party’s most vulnerable congressmen, Alabama’s Bobby Bright and New Hampshire’s Paul Hodes, have called for Rangel to step down as chairman. Call them the canaries in the coal mine.

New York Shitty Day Starter: Autumn

From West Street.

Miss Heather…
From The New York Shitty Photo Pool: Autumn in Greenpoint
These lovely photographs (which capture the feel of the season impeccably) come courtesy of algul siento. Great shots!

Miss Heather…
New York Shitty Day Starter: Oh Oh Oh!
Yes, I realize this is incredibly juvenile, immature, sophomoric, and so forth. But someone has taken to writing this missive of personal woe on West Street between Greenpoint Avenue and Calyer …
Greenpoint Photos Du Jour: Kindness Counts
It's been a while since I have hit you up with some blue chip dog shit signage. Well, as it happened today I encountered quite a bounty whilest strolling down Greenpoint's less-than-gold coast. Here t…

My favorite Football-Trikot: Arne Friedrich Trikots kaufen

from: Zis Site
Aframs Blog

They've come from places like Virginia Beach or Kadena Air Base the last three or four years, reluctant at first to come to Zama American and its girls soccer team, but finding that winning — as the Trojans have been doing the last four years — tends to be the elixir for whatever ails them about leaving “all that” behind. Click here to read the story of the latest such transfer, junior striker Taylor Cave.

The first international youth soccer tournament in Beijing reveals details today.

Watch Slovakia vs Norway live streaming Soccer of International Friendlies on your Computer on 3 March, 2010. Join now to watch live match on the most reliable web-TV.

Match schedule:
Date: 3 March, 2010
Time: 16:00 GMT
Status: Live/Repeat

International Friendlies
Live TV Link-1
Slovakia vs Norway

Interchangeable Magnetic Photo Cube You Make in Minutes

I taken Pix in the last days – please tell me if you think they are good:

From here Tell me if you like them – i love to discuss the photos with you!

If you are like me, you just moved out into a new apartment or house. Furnishing your new place can get expensive, so of course you are looking for the best deals. Electronics can add up to be quite expensive, and many of us are on a limited budget. Therefore, something has to be done to bring the price within your price range. I have explored many options to acquire electronics without spending a fortune. I've tried buying used, buying low-grade, and waiting in huge lines for sale items. These methods are very risky though. Used electronics can prove to be defective in a short time. Low grade electronics can fail prematurely, and waiting in those huge lines many times results in going home empty handed when the store runs out of the product.

Recently, I have explored a new way to save money on electronics that sometimes proved to be out of my price range. You are probably wondering what this method is by now. What would you say if I told you that a great deal of money can be saved when buying electronics in bundles? Let me guess. You would say “Buying electronics in bundles is just a way to get more dollars flying out of your wallet when it looks like you are getting a lot of items for your money.”

Well, recently I was in the market for a digital camera, and, like usual, I was looking for the best deal I could get. I found a HP M425 digital camera bundled with a HP photosmart A616 photo printer to print the pictures captured by the camera. Then, I realized the price was actually lower for the bundle than other places wanted just for the camera. Totaled together after the rebate it comes to just 89.99, and they even throw in free shipping. If you buy either the digital camera or the photo printer separate, you will pay more for it alone. The deal is found here at the time of writing. Yes, I know it is remanufactured, but I have never had a problem with remanufactured electronics. That is the best deal for a bundle of electronics that I have ever come across. I have also bought a home theater bundle and computer bundle. I saved money, but they were not as good of a deal as this.

Buying electronics bundles can be a great way to save money and get a good value for a group of similar items. Research the products before you buy an electronics bundle and see if the deal is really worth it. I have seen bundles where you pay the exact same amount as if you buy the items separate and one where the price was actually higher. Usually this is not the case, and you really can get a better value for your dollar. So next time you are in the market for electronics or any other goods, do some research on what bundles are available for the product.

from: Bobbies Blog

NewsHenri Cartier-Bresson Magnum Photos photography photojournalism Visual Arts
Magnum Photo Archive On the Move
10:36 am Friday Feb 5, 2010 by Kelsey Keith

Magnum Photos, the cooperative photography agency established in 1947, has a blue-chip pedigree (founders included Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson) and a gigantic scope (a photojournalism collection amassed from across the globe in the 20th century). The archive comprises more than 180,000 images known as press prints, physical copies once circulated to newspapers and magazines before the digital age. Now the organization is moving forward with a one-two punch: after selling its entire photo archive to a collector, Magnum is recreating itself as an authoritative media entity online. After the jump, view an exclusive slideshow of eight photos from the archive.

Click through for our image gallery courtesy of Magnum Photos.

So, what’s to love about Magnum online? The agency’s digitized image archive includes over 400,000 images online, and multimedia section In Motion contains over 100 photoessays by Magnum photographers, like the recent essay on Haiti before the earthquake and a feature on BBC news program The Shipping Forecast by Mark Power. Photographer Spotlight profiles one of the agency’s professional lensmen at work, and the robust Magnum Store specializes in rare and limited-edition photography books.

Read more about the sale of Magnum’s historical archive to Texas computer tycoon Michael Dell at The New York Times, plus details on the first public exhibition of hundreds of thousands of photo prints.

One Response to “New Dollicia Bryan Photo Shoot”

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Pentax Optio 7.0 Megapixel Digital Camera Review

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Digital cameras offer an assortment of features, and shopping for one can prove to be overwhelming. Digital cameras come in an array of colors and styles, and offer various lenses, megapixels, and resolutions. Before buying your new digital camera, it's helpful to determine your needs and wants in a new camera.

The first step is to determine how much money is in your budget for a new camera. How much you are willing to spend on a camera? Prices can range from a low $20 to well over $6,000 for the high tech models. Regardless of your wants and needs, your budget will play a major factor in deciding what to purchase.

What kind of photos will you take with your camera? Do you plan only to use it to take photos of the kids, special holidays, and maybe vacations? Is the camera a gift for a young person? Is the digital camera for business? Do you want to take high quality photos to sell? Do you need zoom capabilities?

You might want to buy an addition memory card for the camera. This is especially true if you plan to use your camera often away from home and need the extra storage space for more photos. A 512 MB memory card will hold a lot of photos.

Do you have a computer that is equipped to upload the images to once you have taken your photos? Be sure that your computer is compatible with the camera you want to buy. You will also want to consider a printer and photo paper if you plan to print your photos.

The resolution of the digital camera ideally should be high. The higher the number of megapixels, the higher the resolution. A higher megapixel means a better quality photo. The higher resolution is a must if you plan on enlarging photos. Having a high resolution will allow for enlarging photos without compromising quality and prevents you from ending up with a grainy and fuzzy photo.

Digital cameras offer both built in memory storage and memory cards. Ideally, you would want to have a memory card that can be removed. A memory card is a removable storage device, whereas the built in memory is not removable or exchangeable. Having a removable memory card allows the owner to remove a memory card when full and put in a fresh card to hold more photos. A built in memory storage system will only hold so many photos and once it is full, it cannot be removed to be able to take more photos. The images must be uploaded to your computer and the memory emptied before any new photos can be taken.

Digital cameras come both with and without an LCD display screen. The LCD display screen is a small screen on one side of the camera that allows you to look at what you are photographing without having to have the camera next to your eyes. LCD display screens come in sizes from inch to over two inches, with the average size being 1.5 inches. The LCD screen causes the camera to use more battery power.

Digital cameras use up a lot of battery power. While they do have the AC adapter for the camera, making use of it is really only feasible while uploading photos to your computer. It's helpful to have a supply of rechargeable batteries on hand when using the camera.

Other things to take into consideration when shopping for and buying a new camera are the zoom lenses and tripods. Some cameras come with built in zoom lenses and others offer the ability to add various zoom lenses to your camera. Again, having these options depends on what you plan to use the camera for. Tripods are also available and are great for taking family photos.

Armed with these resources, you can decide what you need and want in a digital camera before you purchase. While there are many digital cameras to choose from, the best camera is the one that fits your needs and wants.

from: Teris Blog

Lean and Six Sigma Coexistence

Lean Six Sigma has been shown to be an effective combination of two methodologies for process improvement across many sectors. This article addresses how Lean and Six Sigma complement each other, the differences between both methods and how to manage the merger of the two systems.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising for the Xbox 360, Released 20th Oct 2009: An in Depth Review

here

The Xbox 360 is one of the most popular game systems this Christmas. Below are ten gift ideas that might just be the thing for the Xbox gamer on your list this year. In general these gifts will not be hard to find at retailers such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, GameStop, and others.

The first thing that I would recommend for the Xbox 360 gamer is wireless controllers. Avoid the tangle of cords, the pulling game systems into the floor, and tripping hazards by simply buying wireless controllers. They cost about $50 but are well worth the money.

Madden NFL 2009 by EA Sports for the Xbox is the latest in the long line of Madden games. This is the classic football game to own. Madden NFL is available for about $60. Also by EA Sports is NCAA Football 2009 which is a popular offering as well.

Guitar Hero is another game line that has taken the nation by storm. The game is played with a guitar where the gamer is to play along with songs. Numerous variations of this game are offered running in the range from $40 without the guitar to packages up to $200 with various instruments. The game with a guitar will cost about $70 to $100.

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground is another popular game. This game is based upon the famous skateboarder, Tony Hawk. This game will cost around $40.

Call of Duty: World at War is an awesome shoot 'em up game based in World War II. I personally think the Mature rating is a bit too much, but it is a Mature rated game. This game costs about $60.

Halo 3 is the latest version of the futuristic war game. Great game for science fiction lovers. Game is rated Mature. Halo 3 will cost about $60. Many stores in my area are out of this item (it is on my son's list!) but I did find it online.

For the Xbox 360 games on your list who loves the fighter plane games, Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation may be the game for you. Fly current military aircraft such as the F-15 Eagle for only about $30.

The basketball fan on your list will love the NBA 2K9. NBA 2K9 will cost about $60.

Tom Clancy's EndWar is a depressing thought. World War III rages across the globe and you must battle to turn the tide. Well, if World War III comes the good guys need to win, so get on the Xbox 360 and practice up with this great game. EndWar costs about $60.

If all else fails, consider buying the Xbox 360 gamer on your list a gift card for popular game locations such as GameStop, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and others.

Merry Christmas!

from: Inisss Weblog
Careys Blog

Product Description
Continuing the tradition started by its stylish predecessor, the FinePix Z10fd, the FinePix Z20fd is a new, ultra-glam digital camera packed with useful features that let you face it, beam it, blog it and now roll it with a new MPEG-4 movie recording mode for the movie-crazed among us…

Add to shopping cart in amazon.com

Fujifilm Finepix Z20fd Digital Camera Review

Customer Reviews

Consumer Rating:This Fuji is a top performer, January 16, 2010

“seattlecrow” live in Seattle, WA USA, review “ujifilm Finepix Z20fd Digital Camera” in amazon.com: This product (Fujifilm Finepix Z20fd) is excellent. I’ve used FujiFilm products all my life and they’ve never failed to impress, this is no exception. I had experience with its 7MP predecessor, so trusted that it would be quality.

Photos are crisp and clear, even in low light conditions without flash. The manual setting allows you to play with all the photographic parameters, although a professional would hate to have to go through several menu options just to adjust the ISO setting. For anyone else, this won’t be a problem.

The menu is clear and easy to use. Switching the factory programed lighting settings (party, portrait, night, beach, snow, etc.) can be done very quickly. And shutter response time for action shots is very good. There is a delay though, when taking photos in low light with or without flash.

This camera has 10 Megapixel and 3x optical zoom with many options to make sure you GET the shot you like including certain lighting or no red eye display!

The Fuji z-20 is just what I was looking for. I give it 5 stars. $99 and free shipping, a deal.

Availability
The Fujifilm Finepix Z20fd 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom is now available for pre-order at Amazon.

You will find the Fujifilm Finepix Z20fd cheapest through Amazon at this link. Fujifilm Finepix Z20fd 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Product Details

10-megapixel sensor captures enough detail for photo-quality 18 x 24-inch prints
3x optical zoom with Picture Stabilization; 2.5-inch LCD display
Face Detection optimizes focus/exposure for up to 10 faces; Blog Mode copies 640 x 480 version of image for easy upload
Wirelessly transfer images to IrSimple-equipped devices, including other digital cameras
Stores images on xD or SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)

photographs

We are a loosely assorted group of Mac Managers and Macintosh Business enthusiasts throughout the world (San Francisco, New York, Paris, London and Hong Kong) that try to keep each other (and you) apprised of many of the things going on in the Apple Enterprise Community. If you feel you could add anything to the site, we'd love to hear from you!

Afro-Brazilian Cinema Set to Break into the Mainstream

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I actually have the credentials to be a total cinema snob. I got a piece of paper from Webster University that says I can be. It was mostly an accident that got me this piece of paper. I love movies. I have always loved movies. It comes from my dad who loves movies and used to sit me down and tell me to watch certain movies because he figured I would like them and, most of the time, he was right. This is how I became fans of “Fail-Safe,” and “The Wild Bunch.” I also saw the suite of Man With No Name movies by Sergio Leone that starred a young Clint Eastwood in a poncho and bad dubbing.

Apparently if you attend a school like Webster University, which has a large theater and film and media department then you get the chance to watch a lot of movies. You spend a lot of time dissecting moves the way scientists will dissect a frog. You take a lot of film history classes. You also get to take classes that meet once a week with names like “Film Theory and Criticism: The Films of Martin Scorsese.” This class would get together, watch “Raging Bull” or “Taxi Driver” and then discuss it like the end of the world depending on us discovering religious symbolism in “Taxi Driver” and then write a four-page paper about it. Also, apparently, if you take enough of those classes you can graduate with a Certificate in Film Theory and Criticism. That's what I got and that was my minor and that's why I am, essentially, still not gainfully employed to this day.

In each of these classes there was always the Cinema Snob. You have probably run into these people before. These are the types of folks who sit around watching “Citizen Kane” for fun. While I too appreciate that movie and have watched it more than once I am also willing to admit that it isn't exactly a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat romp like some other movies. It is long and ponderous and way too serious about itself.

These were the folks who couldn't seem to watch a movie in its historical perspective. I have a good friend who is like this. He watched the movie “Birth of a Nation” in a film class and could only talk about how bad the plot was. When I tried to stress that the fact it had a plot was still relatively revolutionary at the time and that the movie was complicated and had an epic feel and that was revolutionary fell on deaf ears. Yes there are terrible flaws in this movie including its shocking and bald-faced racism, but you can also appreciate the movie in its perspective. This is a movie that had huge, epic battle scenes that had never been filmed before. It was one of the first to use the camera to some effect rather than just letting it sit passively by.

There are those who, I think, sometimes lose sight of the fact that movies are to provide some kind of escape and should still be fun. I run into too many people who seem to want movies to change their lives or their perspective on the world. They want deep characters and complicated plots. These are all good things. These are things that elevate movies into the realm of cinema and art, but they don't have to be there every time. I think a movie can still be fun.

I have brought up a certain movie time and again in my writing that I hold up as an example of a guilty pleasure and loving a movie just because it is fun rather than, oh, good. This movie is the Bruce Willis vehicle called “The Last Boy Scout.” This movie, when looked at logically, makes little sense, is not even the tiniest bit even remotely possibly, could never happen and has the characters doing things that they just could not survive. If Bruce Willis' character were a real person in real life there is no way he would be alive by the end of this movie. This is a movie that has a character shot through the hand in one scene and then throwing a football while riding a horse a second later. I am fully and freely admitting this is a very stupid, silly movie.

Want to know the other thing about this movie? If you can literally shut down your brain for a while and stop trying to be logical or make sense out of it is a movie that hits the ground running and never stops. I mean this movie opens with a football player carrying a gun onto the field and shooting the other team and ends in a football stadium with a sniper getting chopped up by helicopter blades. The bad guys are really bad. The good guys are good enough for you to cheer for them. Then the bad guys get their comeuppance and they get it good.

I saw this movie on video with a bunch of friends in college. None of us was expecting a good movie. We were looking for a movie to make fun of. We didn't get a good movie but we got a movie that was so earnest in its badness and willingness to baffle us with B.S. that we were all swept up into the story and cheering by the end.

The movie “Desperado” is still one that can spark arguments between me and one of my friends. Again, this is a movie that makes little sense. Not one second of this is believable in the real world. However, I am an old comic book fan. I am a guy who believes a radioactive spider-bite can make you able to stick to walls and give you a “spider sense.” Therefore a guy with a guitar case full of guns who never runs out of bullets isn't much of a stretch for me on the believability scale. I laughed and cheered and had a blast watching this movie. My friend thought it was the dumbest thing he has ever seen.

There are just those who think that everything you do should somehow enhance your life. If they aren't watching a television show with profound writing or reading some ridiculously complicated book that somehow gives them deeper insight into the inner-workings of their psyche or the world around them then they feel like the time isn't well spent. This same attitude, logically, gets applied to movies. I, personally, feel that entertaining yourself and letting yourself forget about the world for a while is worthy cause and that being entertained is enough of a reward.

Of course, as I say this, I have recently been asked by a certain online magazine to be a movie critic to review DVDs and have those reviews linked to Rottentomatoes.com. Once I start reviewing these movies it may turn me into one of these cinema snobs. I think too many movie critics turn into cinema snobs and, in some ways, that makes sense. If you had the job of reviewing movies then you might want to have some quality and you might get a little jaded.

Still, I hope I will always believe that there is room for movies that are fun and not profound. I think there is room for “National Treasure” and “Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.” Not everyone has to be a literal adaptation from the original source and not all of them have to change the world. They can just be fun.

from: Shannas Site
Alaricos Blog
Amares Weblog

Accelerometers are devices that tell the camera which way up it was when you took a shot and allow auto-rotation of images.

When the camera can’t see the GPS satellites, which is nearly always, the camera uses the accelerometers to track your movements and mark the location based on the estimates.

The Casio Exilim EX-10HG hybrid GPS camera comes with integrated maps that can help photographers navigate as well. The Casio Exilim EX-10HG hybrid GPS camera comes with integrated maps that can help photographers navigate, by plotting locations on a map and even display direction to the spot.

Digital Camera Watch has reported that the Casio Exilim EX-10HG hybrid GPS camera can also display the distance from the current position to marked spots.

There is no information available as to when the camera will come to market.

Reviews

Review Index – (updated 18 January’10)

Steve’s Digicams
“Keeping in mind this camera is intended for the entry-level market, it earns a “C” from me. I never really connected with this camera. Little things like a very short battery life, tons of waiting for images to process and a slow proprietary xD storage card contributed to this. Bigger issues include a weak flash, and in my opinion a lack of any vibrancy in our sample images, along with a good amount of noise that found its way into a lot of our spontaneous snap-shots. The FE-5020 can capture nice pictures, but this involves some work; like carrying around a monopod or only shooting subjects in near perfect lighting.”

How to Create a Simple Animation with Adobe Flash CS3

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Flash is being used more and more online, in fact, most of the ads you see on this page are made from flash. Here is a basic lesson on how to animate motion using flash.

First open up flash on your computer, it takes a while to load so be patient
Second, click create blank document, or press f2. You can also scroll over the file tab and click “New”
Draw something basic. Use the circle or square tool to draw a circle or circle.
Highlight the object with the hand tool. It should show up a bit pixelated, this means the object is “un-grouped” or “broken”. You cannot create a motion tween with the circle in this state. Press Ctrl-G to group the object. Now its ready to tween
Look up above the platform (the place where your drawing). You should see a bunch of frames. There should be one frame with a black dot in it on the left. That's called a key frame, and the current frame your in, and the first frame of your animation. Right Click on frame 10 and click insert key frame. If you did this correctly you should see the circle in all frames from frame 1 to 10.
Move the circle in a different position in frame 10.
Left click the first key frame and click “add motion tween”
Press enter and watch it move!

from: Chayas Weblog
Ingalls Weblog
Daes Weblog

(RM)900

UK EXPRESS CAMERAS LIMITED

We are Europe best camares sales we are located in united Kingdom we deal in sales of brand new camares and lenses of various kinds and types.We ship to all part of the world via Ups and Dhl E press all which takes 2-3 Working days to be delivered.
All the cameras we sell are all brand new with the complete accessories in original factory sealed box 100% original and comes with 12 months international warranty and 6 month good return policy..

Below are list of our Cameras and Lenses.

Company Name :UK EXPRESS CAMERAS LIMITED
Address: 3RD FLOOR, 110 ST. MARTINS LANE,
WC2N 4BA
Registered No. : 03804588
Phone Number : +447024053553
Status:.Large unquoted company
Contact Name Mrs RAgredson Amanda

E-mail : ukexpresscameras@live.com
E-mail :ukexpresscameras@yahoo.com

Below are list of our Cameras and Lenses.

SONY CAMCORDER CAMERAS:

Sony HDR-XR520 Videoa Camcorder $700usd
Sony DCR-HC46E (PAL) Camcorder :$210usd
Sony DCR-HC96E (PAL) Camcorder :$350usd
Sony DCR-HC26E (PAL) Camcorder :$170usd
Sony DCR-DVD755E (PAL) :$320usd
Sony DCR-DVD705E (PAL) Camcorder :$250usd
Sony DCR-DVD605E (PAL) Camcorder :$150usd
Sony DCR-HC36E (PAL) Camcorder :$120usd
Sony DCR-DVD805E (PAL) Camcorder :$400usd
Sony HDR-HC3E (PAL) Camcorder :$500usd
Sony HC3 (NTSC) Camcorder :$650usd
Sony DCR-PD170 (NTSC) Camcorder :$1400usd
Sony DCR-PC1000 :$600usd

PANASONIC CAMCORDER CAMERAS:

Panasonic GS180 (PAL)Camcorder :$200usd
Panasonic GS500 (PAL)Camcorder :$380usd
Panasonic VDR-D250 (PAL) Camcorder :$260usd
Panasonic GS17 (PAL)Camcorder :$100usd
Panasonic GS27 (PAL)Camcorder $140usd
Panasonic GS57 (PAL)Camcorder :$230usd
Panasonic VDR-D300 (PAL) Camcorder :$450usd
Panasonic NV GS-200 3CCD digital camcorder :$120usd
Panasonic GS47 (PAL)Camcorder :$120usd
Panasonic VDR-D150 (PAL)Camcorder :$150usd
Panasonic SDR-S100 (PAL)Camcorder :$380usd

NIKON LENS:

Nikon 10.5 mm DX f/2.8 G IF-ED AF LensOur Price: $300usd
Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor Close-up Lens Our
Price: $380usd
Nikon 12-24 mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens
Our Price: $550usd
Nikon 17-55 mm f/2.8 G IF-ED AF-S DX Zoom Lens-Nikkor
Our Price: $700usd
Nikon 70-200 mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Lens
Our Price: $770usd
Nikon 200-400 mm f/4G VR IF-ED AF Zoom Lens
Our Price: $3,300usd
Nikon 24-120 mmf/3.5-5.6G AF-S VR IF-ED Nikkor Lens
Our Price: $350usd
Nikon 24-85 mm f/2.8-4.0 D Internal Focus Autofocus Lens
Our Price: $250usd
Canon 400mm F5.6 L USM AF Lens Our Price:$750usd
Nikon 28-70 mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S Zoom-Nikkor
Our Price: $800usd
Nikon 300 mm AF-S VR f/2.8G IF-ED Nikkor Lens
Our Price: $2,300usd
Nikon 300 mm f/2.8D ED-IF II AF-S Lens
Our Price: $2,200usd
Nikon 300 mm f/4 ED-IF Auto Focus Silent Wave Nikkor Lens
Our Price: $700usd
Nikon 45 mm F/2.8 Manual Focus Nikkor Lens
Our Price: $1,000usd
Nikon 50 mm f/1.8D Nikkor AF Lens
Our Price: $450usd

NIKON CAMERAS:

Nikon D80: $450USD
Nikon D40X: 300USD
Nikon D90: 550USD
Nikon D300: 800USD
Nikon D3: 980USD
Nikon D700: 900USD
Nikon D200 Body Only :$650
Nikon D70 Body Only : $350

CANON LENS:

Canon 10-22 mm EF-S f/3.5-4.5 USM Wide Angle Lens
Our Price: $390usd
Canon 100 mm EF f/2.8 Macro USM Lens
Our Price: $270usd
Canon 100-300 mm f/4.5-5.6 USM EF Lens
Our Price: $150usd
Canon 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6L EF IS Lens
Our Price: $900usd
Canon 135 mm EF f/2.0 L USM Lens
Our Price: $600usd
Canon 15 mm EF f/2.8 Fisheye Lens
Our Price: $480usd
Canon 16-35 mm f/2.8L USM EF Zoom Lens
OurPrice: $800usd
Canon 17-40 mm f/4 L USM EF Lens
Our Price: $450usd
Canon Zoom lens – 70 mm – 200 mm – F/2.8 Lens
Our Price :$800usd
Canon 17-55 mm f/2.8 EF-S IS USM Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Our Price: $850usd
Canon 17-85 mm EF-S f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens
Our Price: $280usd
Canon 180 mm EF f/3.5 L Macro USM Lens
Our Price: $920usd
Canon 24-105 mm EF f/4L IS USM Lens
Our Price: $800usd
Canon 28-300 mm f/3.5-5.6L EF IS USM Lens
Our Price: $1,300usd
Canon 28-90 mm f/4-5.6 III AF Lens
Our Price: $600usd
Canon 300 mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens
Our Price: $2,100usd
Canon 400 mm EF f/4 DO IS USM Zoom Lens
Our Price: $4,100usd

CANON CAMERAS:

Canon EOS 500D Camera :$570usd
Canon EOS 450D Camera :$450usd
Canon EOS 400D / Rebel XTi Body Only Digital Camera :$300usd
Canon Digital Rebel XT / EOS 350D Digital Camera :$260usd
Canon EOS-5D Body Only Digital Camera :$820usd.
Camcorder DC 20 :$300
Canon Camcorder DC 10 :$400
Canon Camcorder XL2 :$2500
Canon Camcorder XM2 :$1400

NOTICES: All price are negotiable depending of the quantities order for and If there is any product you are interested to buy which is not listed above,kindly reply back with the product name and model,and we are going to soft that out from our warehouse.

LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR CONTACT AND LONG BUSINESS CO-OPERATION WITH US !!

The Panasonic SDR-H90 Digital Camcorder records the rarest moments in your life with exceptional clarity. It is a perfect selection for taking with you where ever you go. The unit has a fine exterior. It measures 5.3 x 10.7 x 6.7 cm and weighs 300 grams.

This full fledged camcorder is with a 1/8 inches CCD sensor of 0.8 megapixels resolution. Its lens is so powerful featured with motorized drive where you can perform optical zoom up to 70x. Digital zooming up to 3500x is also supported. The lens has focal length of 1.5 – 105mm and the system is with a filter of 37mm diameter. The unit also supports Digital photo mode enhanced with Shooting Programs like Spotlight, portrait mode, surf & snow, low light and sports mode.

Its still camera functionality is also notable. The minimum required illumination is 6 lux in Low Light Mode and 2 lux in Colour Night View Mode. 1/25 to 1/800 seconds is the shutter speed range supported in the unit. Further, the images are captured without blurs with its advanced optical image stabilization. Automatic and manual focusing is possible in the unit. White balances options like Auto, Indoor, Outdoor and White set are provided in the unit. The images are saved in JPEG format. Pictbridge feature allows you to print directly with a compact printer. Further, it supports movie recording in MPEG2 format. HDD of 80 GB, Dolby Digital and AudioLayer 2 are additional benefits from this elegant unit. You can extend the storage capacity with flash cards.

Other features in Panasonic SDR-H90 70x Digital Camcorder are USB 2.0 compatibility, Built-in speaker, Backlight compensation, DPOF support, PictBridge support, Intelligent Scene Selector, Dolby Digital AC-3 recording, Face detection and YouTube capture mode.

This elegant black digital camcorder has a 2.7 inches widescreen LCD that supports up to 123,200 pixels. AV and hi-speed USB are the interfaces supported in the unit. The package includes accessories such as AC Adaptor, AC Cable, DC Cable, Rechargeable Battery Pack, AV Cable, USB Cable and VideoCam Suite V2.0 software. For efficient working, it requires a power supply of DC 7.2V to 9.3V.

Panasonic VDR-D200 DVD Camcorder with 30x Optical Zoom Review

I make movies from this camcorder in good result, but feel snapes with noice. I think it’s not too much resulation. If you can spend more mony then you buy high resulation Panasonic or Sony camcorder else it’s enough choice in your budge.

Panasonic VDR-D200 DVD Camcorder with 30x Optical Zoom Feature

Features powerful 30x optical zoom and up to 1000x digital zoom
Advanced Optical Image Stabilizer eliminates blurry images caused by hand-shake
1/6-inch CCD, Pure Color Engine, MPEG2 Engine produce, and Leica Dicomar lens combine to produce outstanding color and detail
Records directly to DVD-RAM, DVD-R, and DVD-RW discs; includes SD card slot for additional storage of digital stills
0 Lux Color Night View feature lets you shoot in complete darkness

Panasonic VDR-D200 DVD Camcorder with 30x Optical Zoom Overview

Panasonic’s vision of the digital future is driven by the needs and aspirations of its business customers and millions of consumers around the world who use its products every day. The company shares their dream to live a fuller life by providing ways of working smarter and enjoying the rewards of technological advances.PRODUCT FEATURES:Powerful 30x optical zoom;High-performance image processing Pure Color Engine;Capture even complex motion with precision: high quality MPEG 2 Engine;Easy viewing on a TV – no cables to connect;Choose the media you want with multi-format ease: DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R;Select the recording mode to match your needs: XP, SP, LP Mode;Easy operation with One-Touch Navigation & Joystick Control;Index screen for simple searching: Quick Search & Access with Disc Navigator;Capture crisp, vivid images even in dim lighting: MagicPix.

Panasonic VDR-D200 DVD Camcorder with 30x Optical Zoom Specifications

With the Panasonic VDR-D200 DVD camcorder with 30x optical zoom in your hands, you’ll have some of the most exciting technologies to be found anywhere in a home-video camcorder. Featuring a powerful 30x optical zoom, an advanced optical image stabilizer, and Panasonic’s pure color engine and MPEG2 engine, the VDR-D200 will give you the results and performance that have previously only been possible in professional camcorder systems.

A Powerful 30x Optical Zoom
With one of the most–if not the most–powerful zooms offered in any home-use camera, the VDR-D200 will make those distant images you’ve long been craving to record yours for the asking. While many camcorders can offer 30x of digital zoom or more, the image degradation of digital zoom renders most distant images virtually unrecognizable. Digital zooms basically enlarge the dots at the center of the image, producing grainy images. In fact, the larger the zoom, the grainier the image. An optical zoom, on the other hand, not only offers magnification without the image degradation, it also focuses quickly, so you’re ready to shoot right away. (But if you really insist on zooming in on your distant subject, the VDR-D200 also has the ability to achieve up to 1000x in digital zoom mode.) And while cameras with high-powered zooms typically require a big and complicated lens, the VDR-D200 is light and compact enough for you to carry with you easily.

Reducing Hand-Shake with Panasonic’s Optical Image Stabilizer
Anyone who has ever recorded home video knows how difficult it is to take perfectly stable shots. Hand-shake is one of the biggest problems with home video. Panasonic has created a unique solution to this problem–an optical image stabilizer system that corrects the problem before the CCD imaging stage, so that it has virtually no effect on image resolution or field of view. With this one-of-a-kind system, you’ll get automatic hand-shake correction every time you shoot.

Panasonic’s Advanced Color Engines and High-Quality Optics
At the heart of the system is a 1/6-inch CCD, Panasonic’s innovative Pure Color Engine and MPEG2 Engine that together offer superb color reproduction and performance. In short, the Pure Color Engine converts the CCD output signal from a complementary color signal into an RGB signal at an early stage and extracts the low-frequency luminance component from the RGB signal. This innovative process will help you achieve superb color reproduction for all your shots, including your high-zoomed pictures. Panasonic’s MPEG2 engine is a wide-range, high-precision search engine that produces smooth, beautiful motion pictures. By using the same variable bit rate technology that Panasonic developed for its high-end Diga DVD recorder, the MPEG2 engine will enhance your LP recordings with nearly twice the resolution captured with standard video cameras.

But none of this technology would be worth a hoot if Panasonic didn’t outfit the VDR-D200 with some of the finest optics you’ll find in any camcorder. Leica AG of Germany is the manufacturer of fine cameras and lenses revered by generations of photographers. The Leica Dicomar lens featured in the VDR-D200 was developed specifically for digital video cameras. Drawing on Leica’s renowned optical technology, this advanced multi-coated lens captures clear, crisp, finely nuanced images with outstanding detail and contrast.

Straight to DVD: No Computer Necessary
One of the VDR-D200’s most exciting features is its ability to record directly to DVD-RAM, DVD-R, and DVD-RW discs. With a DVD-RAM disc, you can record up to tens of thousand times and view your results without any finalizing process. You can also record repeatedly on DVD-RW discs. While you can record only once on DVD-R discs, they can be played back on almost any kind of DVD player or recorder. The camcorder automatically finds a blank section on the disc for recording. You never need to search for blank disc space, and there’s no worry about recording over a previous recording by mistake. With this versatility, you’ll have the option of recording on whichever kind of disc works best in your DVD player or recorder.

With DVD’s high-speed data transfer, you can dub your recordings–even large volumes–quickly and easily onto a DVD video recorder’s hard disk drive for the editing process. You can also do some polished editing using just the camera itself. For example, you can delete scenes right on the spot or change the scene sequence to create your own scenarios. It’s also easy to change the sequence of the scenes you’ve recorded, and then play them back. And the camcorder’s USB 2.0 compatibility means that you can upload a motion picture data to a PC at high speed over a single USB cable. Even if your PC has no DVD drive, you can transfer the data to a PC seamlessly and quickly.

The Finer Details
The VDR-D200 has a shutter speed range of between 1/60 and 1/3000 second. With a 0 Lux Color Night View feature, you can shoot video in total darkness. This function shoots four frames per second using the LCD monitor as a light source. Pictures are clear and sharp, thanks to the hand-shake compensation provided by the O.I.S. Light from the LCD is gentle and easy on the eyes, so you can snap shots of sleeping children without waking them up. Automatic functions, such as several scene modes, make it easy to take the perfect video shots, and a 2.5-inch LCD monitor makes it easy to keep track of your subjects. A built-in stereo microphone lets you record in Dolby Digital stereo, giving your movie a true-theater touch. The VDR-D200 also lets you capture still images at a resolution of up to a remarkable 1640 x 480 pixels. An SD Card slot for additional storage of your stills is included.

What’s in the Box
VDR-D200 camcorder, battery pack, AC adapter, strap, AV multi-cable, USB cable, lens cap, and software CD-ROM.

Available at Amazon Check Price Now!

Customer Reviews

SV – S.V – USA
So far I am quite satisfied with the camera’s performance. I have taken many still shots with satisfactory results. Video footage of sporting events with very good results. Also I found it pretty easy to transfer videos to my PC.

It takes bad pictures…… – Jane Eyre Supergirl – Augusta, GA!
I was so excited to buy a camcorder that recorded straight to DVD AND took pictures…….Well, the picture quality is AWFUL! I have gotten maybe 20 nice pics out of over a 1000……..The problem is its SO low in pixels. We hear about 5MP cameras and up, this camera has less than 1MP!!!! I bought this before I knew anything about megapixels……..You have to have 5 or more for the prints to be decent. All of my prints from this camera are bad! And they are only good for email. That’s it. The camcorder capabilities are fair. My problem is that it doesn’t work well on the computer, and it does NOT play immediately in all dvd players. You HAVE to buy the very expensive RAM discs for editing….Overall, I definitely would NOT buy again and I would not reccommend to a friend. I wish I had spent all that money on something else…..

Good buy for the money – Short Poet –
I purchased this camcorder with the express intention of capturing every single football game that my sons’ have played. This fulfilled that, what sold me on this particular model was the 30x optical zoom and the fact that it recorded directly to dvd and could be played back on a regular dvd player.

The only drawback to this system was the editing. The software is very limited, and if you use anything but a dvdram disc you cannot use this editing software, nor can you use any outside software to edit the movies to a greater degree as most software does not support the VRO format most dvd camcorders record in.

So in short if you are merely looking for a camcorder to record moments directly to dvd and have no aspirations of doing alot of editing, clipping and splicing different scenes together than this is a suitable camcorder, by far one of the best deals for a dvd camcorder as far as ability picture and price. But if you are looking for a device that lets you have more options for editing afterwards I suggest looking at the true digital camcorders available that have their own hard drives as those record in formats that are compatible with the editing software that is on the market right now.

Currently I am still doing my homework trying to decide which digital camera would be the best for me to use, but this was a viable camera to use for their games and came in handy on other occasions as well.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Jan 20, 2010 10:30:05

Night Art Photography

I taken a lot of Pix in the last days – please tell me if you like them:

NIKON D40 X billig kaufen Tell me if you like them – i love to discuss the photos with you!

Capturing and commemorating precious moments in time has been a need for humans since ancient times. All over the world Prehistoric men have meticulously painted countless cave walls depicting either hunting and sporting events or other significant moments of their time. Later civilizations across the globe operated in similar fashions constructing either elaborate paintings or laborious sculptures. Each painting or sculpture afterward would strive to appear more and more detailed as if attempting to attain that life-like quality of each moment being projected. Battlefield paintings are littered throughout countless history books and journals in multiple languages with the sole purpose of endeavoring to convey a message in which words alone could not express. It is impossible to imagine how much information has been lost in translation throughout time without the truly marvelous invention of the camera and photography. If important events such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence or the pilgrim's first Thanksgiving feast with Native Americans had been captured on film would they hold more important places in the minds and hearts than they do now? People may never know, but the importance and raw power of photography cannot be denied. Whether viewing a portrait or just a moment caught in time, never has the imagination been captured nor have emotions been pulled to the surface as by the captivating image of a photo.

It is important and necessary to understand and explore the origins, the historical figures, and advancements involved in photography's history before people can appreciate just how far this field moved and exceeded all expectations.

“Photography” is derived from the Greek words photos (”light”) and graphein (”to draw”). The word was first used by the scientist Sir John F.W. Herschel in 1839. It is a method of recording images by the action of light or related radiation, on a sensitive material (Bellis, n.d.). Photography has played a crucial role in various societies the world over not only as an intricate art form but also as a significant part in our way of life. From its early beginnings to its key figures of inventors and innovators who ushered in the critical and the amazing technical advancements which have made photography the phenomenon it is today.

William M. Ivins was Curator of Prints at the metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from 1916 until 1946 and published a documentary on photography in 1953 which distinguished between the relationship of traditional techniques of hand-drawn printmaking (the woodcut, metal and wood engravings and lithograph) and photography. Ivins noted that historically, printmaking was not usually practiced as an art form as they are practiced today, but as a means of distributing visual information. Ivins argued that once you begin to examine prints (or pictures) in functional terms you discover that without them very few modern sciences would exist; technologies, archaeologies, and ethnologies. Each of these is dependent upon information conveyed by exactly repeatable pictorial statements (Crawford, 1948).

The idea of photography existed long before the camera was invented. The human urge to produce pictures that amplified the faculty of memory by capturing time is at the theoretical base of photography. Artist and inventors have sought after ways to expedite the picture making process and ultimately concentrated on how to repeatedly capture an image directly formed by light since ancient times. Around the fifth century the Chinese philosopher Mo Ti discovered that light reflecting from an illuminated object and passing through a pinhole into a darkened area would form an exact, but inverted, image of that object, offering a prototype of the pinhole camera. By the 10th century the Arabian mathematician Alhazen demonstrated how the pinhole could be an instrument and that images formed through the aperture became sharper when the opening was made smaller.

Leonardo da Vinci noted in 1490 the earliest surviving description of the camera obscura (dark chamber), which was a device designed to reproduce linear perspective. This was a prototype of the photographic camera and essentially a large dark room in which an artist physically entered. Light would emit through a small hole in one of its four walls and produce a distinct but inverted image onto the opposite wall which could be traced. The camera obscura was popular with artist because it could automatically modify a scene by compressing form and emphasizing tonal mass according to pictorial standards (Hirsch, 2000). In 1589 it was discussed that the use of mirrors could theoretically reverse the image that was reflected backwards into the camera obscura which is now the basis for modern-day single lens-reflex camera. By the 17th century camera obscuras were in frequent use by artist and also made portable in the form of sedan chairs (Bellis, n.d.).

Early in the 18th century the rising commercial class longed to procure the status of being commemorated in much the same pictorial style as of the rich. Multiple inventors had commercial incentives to harness the camera to portrait making, as less training would decrease the costs of making a picture. Machine-based systems for multiple copy production were on the threshold of replacing the outdated handmade methods. One such machine was the physionotrace invented by Gilles Louis Chretien in 1786. This device combined two inexpensive methods of portraiture, the cutout silhouette and the engraving. The operator would trace a profile on a glass using a stylus connected to an engraving tool which duplicated the gestures of the stylus onto a copper plate at a smaller scale. Although it was not a camera, the physionotrace reduced portrait making to a systematic mechanical operation and inevitably expanded the portrait market to the middle class.

In regards to the actual process of photography it was in 1727 Professor J. Schulze surmised that by mixing chalk, nitric acid and silver into a flask images would begin to appear in the presence of sunlight. He noticed a darkening on the sides of the flask which were exposed to direct sunlight and purely by accident was the initial creation of the first photo-sensitive compound (Bellis, n.d.).The first to experiment with in the production of images was Thomas Wedgwood from 1800 to 1802 using white leather impregnated with silver nitrate. It was known at that time that most chemical compounds of silver darkened on exposure to light. Wedgwood was able to produce reversed impressions of objects but was unable to make his pictures permanent by removing the unused silver salts after exposure. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was the next experimenter and in 1816, even though he was able to produce reversed prints on this material and faint pictures on it in a camera obscura, he had little more success due to the paper eventually darkening. In 1822 he directed his attention to the problem of sensitizing metal plates. Niépce discovered that by coating a pewter plate with a varnish he could produce copies of engravings by placing them in contact with strong light and his coated plates and enabled him to etch his plates and them for printing. This process was later improved by his partner Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre who, after Niépce's death in 1833, established a workable process by exposure to the vapor of heated mercury.

“I have found a way of fixing the images of the camera! I have seized the fleeting light and imprisoned it! I have forced the sun to paint pictures for me!” These were the historical words of L. J. M. Daguerre spoken to Charles Chevalier at his Paris optical shop and reflect the driving desire to make permanent images through the action of light. (Hirsch, 2000, 10). Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, inventor of the first practical process of photography, was born near Paris, France on November 18, 1789. A professional scene painter for the opera, Daguerre began experimenting with the effects of light upon translucent paintings in the 1820s. In 1829, he formed a joint venture with Joseph Nicéphore Niépce to improve the process Niépce had developed to take the first permanent photograph in 1826-1827.

After several years of experimentation, Daguerre developed a more convenient and effective method of photography, naming it after himself – the daguerreotype. In 1839, he and Niépce's son sold the rights for the daguerreotype to the French government and published a booklet describing the process. The invention was announced to the public on August 19, 1839 at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris and his process was used widely in Europe and in the United States. Daguerre's daguerreotype process required long exposure time and made portraits virtually impossible until in 1840 John Goddard cut exposure time in half by treating the plates with bromine and iodine. With this innovation and the development of new lens designs, made possible the idea commercial portraiture. The daguerreotype process went out of use to the general public in the 1850s due to tight patent restrictions which affected application and eventually became obsolete by 1860 (Coe, 1978).

During this time an English scientist, William Henry Fox Talbot, independently devised a camera based imagining process in 1834 using the light sensitivity of silver salts. He invented the salted paper print which was a printing-out process that allowed him to make images without the use of a camera of botanical specimens engravings, pieces of lace, and even solar photomicrographs. By first coating sheets of ordinary writing paper with sodium chloride, letting them dry, and then recoating them with silver nitrate he formed silver chloride which was more highly sensitive to sunlight and reduced exposure time tremendously producing spontaneous images without chemical development. In 1841 Talbot accidentally discovered a process for negative development that he patent under the name calotype. In this process, an exposed sheet of iodized paper was transferred to a darkroom and brushed with gallic acid until a potent negative was developed. It was then that the negative was contact-printed onto unexposed, salted paper in sunlight to form a positive. This process formed the foundation for silver-based photographic systems still in use today.

The negative-positive principle of the calotype process designed by Talbot and the popular daguerreotype were both truly remarkable for their times but not without limitations. A new process evolved from both but without their limitations and would eventually take their place and was referred to as wet-plate photography. It was a photographer's axiom that paper negatives advantages were outweighed by their disadvantages with their resolution limited of fine detail. It was realized that if glass was used the problem would not exist but it simply was not absorbent to carry the coating of light sensitive salts. In 1839 Sir John Herschel was able to produce an image on glass by precipitating silver chloride onto a glass plate and was later perfected by Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor in 1847 by using egg white albumen coated on the glass providing a suitable medium for sensitive salts. A new material for development called collodion was discovered by Frederick Scott Archer in 1851 formed through dissolving a form of gun-cotton in ether. A glass plate was covered with collodion and plunged into silver nitrate and then the wet-plate was loaded into and exposed in a camera. Immediately after exposure the plate was developed, fixed and washed. The collodion negative could record fine detail and subtle tones and also had the advantage of being more highly sensitive than either the daguerreotype and calotype processes. In contrast the gelatin dry plate was first developed by Dr. Richard Leach Maddox who used gelatin instead of ether vapor of the wet collodion plate due to his poor health. It was later perfected by Charles Bennett in 1878 by reducing exposure times drastically, retaining their properties, being easily manufactured and very sensitive.

Pertaining to film and photo depth, one of the most popular photographic novelties which went on display at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 was the stereoscopic photograph. The mildly dissimilar vantage points provided by the eyes are combined in the brain to give an image in depth. If two photographs of a scene are taken from points of view separated by two about two inches, and are then viewed so that each eye receives only the image appropriated to it, the result is an apparently three-dimensional picture. This principle was first introduced by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1832 but was not until Sir David Brewster in 1849 introduced an improved device using lenses that the stereoscope became really practical (Coe, 1977).

Another important milestone in photography is that of the photography of action. The early photographic processes were all relatively insensitive. It was impossible at that time to record moving objects without producing a blur on the plate. Specially designed lenses were utilized by Thomas Skaife in his cameras to pass 200 times more light than conventional landscape lenses. Skaife's 'Pistolgraph' camera was introduced in 1856 and after adding the required lens and a shutter powered by a rubber band allowed permitted exposures sufficiently brief to stop the action of slowly moving subjects. Sir John Herschel's name is synonymous with the term 'snapshot' which describes an instantaneous photograph. But it was Eadweard Muybridge who pioneered the process of motion picture photography using gelatin dry plates in the 1880s and eventually led the likes of Professor Etienne Marey and Ottomar Anschutz to document true animals in action. These individuals were often referred to as chronophotographers (Rosenblum, 1997).

Around the mid 1890s public interest began to peak over the publication of the results of chronophotography. This brought about the demand for the development of hand held cameras to replace the traditional and larger stand cameras. Even though small hand held 'detective' cameras were in circulation they were quite awkward and still required multiple cumbersome pieces of hardware that were an inconvenience to everyone but the most enthusiastic of photographers. Even though the dry plate relieved photographers from making their own plates they still had to process and print them requiring knowledge and necessary skills for the dark room. This was answered by the American bank clerk George Eastman who invented the Kodak camera. Eastman felt that photography was too complicated and stated that; “It seems that one ought to be able to carry less than a pack horse load.”(Coe, 1978, 13). Though there were some 'detective' cameras that were reasonably small most were bulky. He developed a rolling mechanism and combined it with lightweight sensitive material and decided to construct a camera that would be small and simple to use. In 1888 the first Kodak camera with a celluloid roll-film was developed.

Around the 1850s, photography was viewed by some as a new medium of communication and became hard to discern between art and industry. Eventually it became apparent that photography was considered a business with a widening division of purpose between amateurs and professionals. The latter were motivated by market forces to develop profitable products while the amateurs pursued their personal inclinations and claimed the moral high ground of art, beauty, truth, relegating the professionals to the corner of crass commercialism. Many of England's most notable photographers abandoned their amateur status and turned professional. During the 19th century realism became a force in the arts. Realism sought to counter the idealized subject matter of Romantic and Neoclassical painting with direct and frank views of everyday life. As the public became acquainted with photography's veracity and ability to give significance to everyday experiences, their expectations about how reality should be represented and what subjects were worthy of depiction changed. Ironically photographs became artistic when they looked less photographic by utilizing retouching methods to appear more like a painting. Paintings, on the other hand, were thought to be more artistic if they portrayed more photographic detail. This contradiction resulted in neither medium being valued for its own inherent qualities. (Hirsch, 2000).

The evolution of the camera has advanced beyond all expectations from the digital mega pixel masterpieces we have today to their most earliest ancestors, the camera obscura. Dating back to ancient times, the camera obscura consisted of a pinhole in a contained box. The pinhole would allow light to pass through and project an image on the adjacent wall thus allowing artist to trace the captured image as it appeared at that moment. Niépce, Wedgewood, Talbot are credited with the first portable camera obscuras but it was Daguerre who designed the first cameras to be commercially produced on any practical scale.

The folding box camera, T. Ottewill's folding camera, and portable “dark tent” cameras all gave way to user friendly handhelds such as the momentograph and detective cameras in 1886, the unusual photosphere with its bell-shaped body and hemispherical shutter, the American Tom Thumb camera in 1889, and the Key camera. These box-form cameras eventually became less popular after 1890 and were replaced with collapsing and folding strut cameras.

Kodak sold these forms of cameras in which glass plates or roll films could be used. For a brief time a type of camera was introduced to appear as anything but a camera. The first 'concealment' camera to receive any publicity was Thompson's Revolver camera in 1862 which resembled a pistol. Another was Marion's Parcel Detective camera of 1885 which was supplied in brown paper and tied with a string to appear as a normal parcel and Ross's Photo scope in 1892 mimicked binoculars. Kodak cameras are credited in 1885 with introducing the ingenuity and the marketing of film development roll-film designs. In 1908 still photography was made practical by Audobard and Baradat with 35-mm film due to its small size and handling convenience. The development of Kodachrome, the first multi-layered color film took place in 1936 as did the development of Exakta which pioneered 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras. In 1963 Polaroid developed the first instant color film while Instamatic was released by Kodak. Also in this year Nikon released the first purpose-built underwater camera thus changing the way the world viewed oceanography. As the world approached the millennia major advances in the field of computer technology swept the many nations and major advances in film development also transpired in the field of photography. Computer programs such as Adobe Photoshop was released to the public in 1990 and changed the way photography was perceived by allowing users to edit their own pictures. In 1992 Kodak introduced PhotoCD which permitted users to store their pictures on compact disc. In light of this new technology and with the arrival of digital cameras Kodak ceased all production of film cameras. And most notably, the cutting edge technology most familiar to the public is that of camera phones. These multifunctional cameras hit the market from Japan in 2000 and are changing the field of photography and availability unlike anything seen before (Greenspun, 2007).

Through the course of time and painstaking trial and error, the expansive field of photography had grown immeasurably from the exclusive dreams of a handful of visionaries determined to rival the skilled painters and bring to the public what only was available to the wealthy at that time. Cameras and photography have transformed from an artful pastime into an essential way of life touching it in all aspects the public could have never envisioned nor can foresee what will be next in its future.

Through presenting the history of photography in this research it is paramount to stress the importance and necessary to understand the origins of photography and appreciate the many designs that the camera has undertaken since its birth. The field of photography would have undoubtedly fell short in practical use, technological discoveries, and the art community would most likely have suffered a tremendous amount without the inventors and innovations of its past. The advancements involved in photography's history are all but unparalleled in its ingenious technology and reigns as a true marvel for all inventions. Far though as foreign lands may be and alien that other cultures may seem, with a better appreciation of photography our world could be closer captured instantly in snapshot.

References

Bellis, M. Historyof Photography and the Camera. Retrieved June 24, 2008, from www.about.com

Web site: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blphotography.htm

Coe, B. (1977). TheBirth of Photography: The Story of the Formative Years 1800-1900. New York: Taplinger Publishing Company.

Coe, B. (1978). Cameras: From Daguerreotypes to Instant Pictures. New York: Crown Publishers.

Crawford, W. (1948). The Keepers of Light: A History and Working Guide to Early Photographic Processes. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Morgan and Morgan

Greenspun, P. (2007, January). History of Photography Timeline. Retrieved June 24, 2008, from

http://photo.net Web site: http://photo.net/history/timeline

Hirsch, R. (2000). Seizing the Light: A History of Photography. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Rosenblum, N. (1997). A World History of Photography. New York, NY: Abbeville Press.