Fetish: 50 Mirror Self Portraits with Cameras In Sight

Whoa, what camera is that?

One of my favorite photograph sub-genres is the mirror self portrait, with camera in sight. I suppose I have a fetish for these shots. These are the best I could find. I saw one like this on an aggregation site popurls.com. And followed the link to Flickr.

Then I found a few more and before I knew it, I found a group called Self Portraits in Mirrors and eventually ended up with 50 of these shots. And that’s when I realized I was obsessing over them. I don’t know why they’re interesting to me. Perhaps it’s the contrast between man and machine. And the expressions, they’re generally candid and, no pun intended, reflective, with no one else around; not even another photographer. Just the gaze of a sensor through a fine piece of focusing glass. Some of the shots go a step further, TTL viewfinder to the eye, giving the subject a cyborg look, the bio-mimed curves, faux leather and lens somehow matching the human facial structure and eyes. Plus, they look beautiful.

My favorite of the bunch are from a series from a Flickr user named Chile, shot for Anastasia Volkova Photography.

Which of these are your favorite?

[In no particular order, photography credit and thanks to chiie, julianne.hide, hamedmasoumi, demibrooke, etwood, pinkspleen, multiget, tacoekkel, paranoicafierita, stallio, dc-white, cesarastudillo, einfachalex, okko pyykkö, vanguardist, elanacxliv, okko pyykkö, kennymatic, r.s.m.b.Sees, james the photographer,
meg rorison, jovivek, voxefx, pmarkham, melissa rudik, lucas de vries,
sarchi, ingorrr, melissa rudik, -amy-, ooOjasonOoo, beard papa, , ooOJasonOoo, josh holmes, kooshan jazayeri, starry eyed ali, johannarudd, th nuzi, twak, morvai, fledsbo, skiidolley, androgynousectomor, john zhang, mrok1970, teezilla, chocolate candy, chiie, mafafamisguito, chiie 2, chiie 3, mtgroseth, sarcomical, moonjadis, special thanks to Andi Wang for collating the images.]

Save our Children, Combat Thieves With Fake Mold

Lunch_bag_2

Here’s a way to protect your kids from the school bully: Anti-theft lunch bags, adorned with artificial green splotches to make food look moldy. Just tell your kids not to eat lunch around their teacher, or you might be getting a visit from Child Protective Services.

Novelty store The. is selling these bags of rancid awesomeness in packs of 10 for $25.

Lunch_bag_5

Product Page [via Design Sponge] (Thanks, Christina!)

Photos: The.

Engadget Podcast 131 – 01.30.2009

That’s right folks, the Engadget Podcast is back for more. Once again, you’re treated to the smooth tones of pure gadget goodness, though this week, our compatriot Paul Miller has been felled with a totally minor illness. Taking the controls in Paul’s battle pod this round is Engadget Mobile editor Chris Ziegler. Hear Josh, Nilay, and Chris pontificate on the finer points of the week’s big stories, including (but not limited to): RIM’s new BlackBerry Curve 8900, Obama’s old BlackBerry, Windows Mobile 6.5, a possible new Kindle, and Josh’s inner-most feelings about childcare. Enjoy!

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel
Special guest host: Chris Ziegler
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: Blitzkrieg Bop

00:02:22 – Apple vs. Palm: the in-depth analysis
00:10:23 – Obama BlackBerry alert: it’s a BlackBerry
00:16:00 – T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8900 review
00:38:10 – Seemingly real Windows Mobile 6.5 screenshots trickle out of leaky internet faucet
00:54:24 – Amazon to host press event at library, innocently whistling when asked about the Kindle 2
01:02:48 – Verizon Hub hands-on and impressions

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Engadget Podcast 131 – 01.30.2009 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Will Katy Perry kiss a Grammy and like it?

To get ready for the show, warm up to this year’s top contenders in one free and continuous playlist featuring Coldplay, Katy Perry, Lil Wayne, The Jonas Brothers, Radiohead, Duffy, Brazilian Girls, and many more.

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will air on Sunday February 8 at 8 p….

Originally posted at Crossfade

Tiny turntable/speaker/mixer

Turntable Speaker Mixer (Credit: UrbanOutfitters)

This portable speaker for your MP3 player does more than just amplify sound. The Turntable Speaker Mixer is shaped like a tiny turntable and, aside from blaring out your tunes, can be used to add preprogrammed sound effects to your music.

This novelty speaker comes with a built-in …

GigaPan Releases Camera Rig for Automated Panorama Photos

Gigapan_0130

Of the hundreds of photographs from President Barack Obama’s inauguration, David Bergman’s 1,474 megapixel panoramic shot was breathtaking for its scope and level of detail.

The photo was made up of 220 Canon G10 images stitched together for six and a half hours on the GigaPan software, a new project that looks to construct high-resolution panoramas.

Now the project has released the GigaPan Epic, a robotic camera mount that automates the process of taking different images to compose the ultimate shot. That means photographers can capture detailed panoramas with almost any point-and-shoot digital
camera and without worrying about missing details while clicking the different photos that will be ultimately stitched together. 

"The potential applications for
the Epic are limitless," said Henry Hillman Jr., founder and CEO of GigaPan Systems in a statement. "Our beta users have taken fantastic panoramas not
only of President Obama’s Inauguration, but of Yankee Stadium, Chicago
skylines, Hawaiian landscapes and thousands of extraordinary images."

The GigaPan Epic mount comes with the GigaPan software. It costs $380. A second model, GigaPan Pan Epic 100, designed for larger digital camera models is expected to be available soon for $450.

Photo: (cogdogblog/Flickr)

Rumor: iPhone App Store Will Feature $20 Games Section

Iphonegame

Apple might be planning to create a premium game section in its iPhone App Store.

Game blog PocketGamer.biz claims receiving a tip from anonymous sources, who said Apple will be introducing a new section to its App Store, where it will sell $20 games.

Typically games in the App Store cost no more than $10; many are even free. Though there’s very little to substantiate PocketGamer’s rumor, it’s a highly valid one: Apple recently touted the iPhone as a serious gaming console, calling it "the future of gameplay."

The idea of more complex, premium games in the App Store corroborates with Wired.com’s analysis that the next-generation iPhone will be beefed up for serious gaming.

Rumour: Apple planning $19.99 games section on App Store [PocketGamer.biz]

See Also:

Photo: JasonEscapist/Flickr

Verizon Hub hands-on and impressions

We had a chance to get our grubby mitts on Verizon’s new VOIP / home phone — the Hub — and we thought we’d give you a little preview of what’s in store if you’re planning on busting out the credit card. The device, which we’ve seen floating around in various forms since January of 2007, is a combo of a cradled wireless handset and 7-inch, resistive touchscreen display. It’s an interesting play for a sector of the market that’s all but forgotten (and maybe for good reason). If you want to hear some thoughts on the device, follow the bread crumbs beyond the break.

Continue reading Verizon Hub hands-on and impressions

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Verizon Hub hands-on and impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ditch the Zune, Microsoft. Bring me Xbox Mobile

(Credit: Microsoft)

Matt Rosoff, a CNET Blog Network blogger who writes “Digital Noise,” said in a recent blog post that he spoke to Microsoft’s marketing director, Adam Sohn, earlier this week, and Sohn told him that although Zune sales were poor, Microsoft still plans to release a new set of players before the 2009 holiday season. According to Rosoff, Sohn said “they’ll be a surprising step up from the current models.”

Great. But I don’t know why Microsoft plans to waste its time with the Zune. According to its latest quarterly filing, Zune platform revenue decreased $100 million, or 54 percent, during the last quarter. Considering iPod unit sales were up 3 percent during the same quarter and Apple enjoyed $3.3 billion in revenue, I’m not convinced Microsoft’s plan to offer new Zune models is a good idea.

Instead of wasting our time and its money on the Zune, I’d like to see Microsoft ditch its attempt to make progress in the personal music player market and tackle the handheld gaming space. Why not? It could transfer all its funding and development costs to that division and in the process, jump in on one highly lucrative market.

Originally posted at The Digital Home

5 Stupid Reasons To Delay The DTV Transition

The House is re-examining a bill to delay the transition to digital television, a switch which has been years in the making. The mainstream media echo chamber, meanwhile, is uncritically parroting some extremely stupid reasons to delay the transition.


1. The transition will disproportionately affect elderly people.


This is false. According to a January 22 report from Nielsen – the most recent report available – people over age 55 are actually more prepared than the general population as a whole. Only 4% of older folks are unready, compared to 5.7% of the general population and 8.8% of folks under age 35.


2. Old people are idiots.


I’m shocked the AARP hasn’t gotten up in arms about the portrayal of everyone over 60 in this nation as a bunch of drooling infantile idiots, who think their TV is a magic box with little people inside, and when the little
people stop dancing, they will sit in a pool of their own pee and cry. The infantilization of older Americans by the anti-transition crowd has to stop; it’s simply disgusting.


More after the jump.