Hasta La Gadget!

The above image is a view of Paris taken from the Boulevard du Temple. It was taken in 1838 by Louis Daguerre, the inventor of the daguerreotype photography technique. This main contain the first ever photo of a human, right there in the lower left-hand corner.

There were most like more people walking wandering through the streets of Paris that day, but due to the lengthy exposure times of the early photographic technology, a person would have to stand perfectly still to show up in the image.

Someone named Hokumburg brought the photo to the attention of NPR, writing, “To achieve this image (one of his earliest attempts), [Daguerre] exposed a chemically treated metal plate for ten minutes. Others were walking or riding in carriages down that busy street that day, but because they moved, they didn’t show up. Only this guy stood still long enough–maybe to have his boots shined–to leave an image.”

Hokumburg contends that, while “primitive forms of photography” had already been around a while, this mysterious fellow is “the first human being to ever have his picture taken.”

If you look closely, you can also see a bit of what appears to be the man shining his shoes.

Have you ever wondered if the naked stranger on Chatroulette had too much cholesterol in their diet? Well, soon that worry will be a thing of the past thanks to one MIT Grad student. Ming-Zher Poh has devised a way to automatically (and accurately) read basic vital signs using technology as simple as a built-in laptop webcam.

The tech works by measuring and analyzing slight variations in brightness produced by the flow of blood through blood vessels in the face. When compared to a commercially-available, FDA-approved blood-volume pulse sensor, the system produced pulse rates that agreed  within three beats-per-minute.

Which is not bad for a dinky webcam. Conceivably, this technology could be developed into an app utilized by any smart phone with a camera.

In other real-world applications, Doctors could help diagnose patients around the globe via the internet.Vitals could be remotely detected in patients where the very process of taking readings might
be uncomfortable such as with burn victims or newborn babies. Poh has even put forward that this tech might one day be used in a bathroom mirror that could tell the mirror-gazer various vital signs including heart rate, blood pressure, and blood-oxygen levels. 

This is Cigar Guy. If you haven’t met him yet. You will soon, and then you’ll begin your roller coaster meme love affair, one that will inevitably leave you disappointment, alone, frantically scouring the Internet for LOLcats.

Why is Cigar Guy the most famous guy in the world all of the sudden? Simple. He’s kind of goofy looking and he was standing in the general vicinity of Tiger Woods when the really cool above shot was taken by a Daily Mail photographer about to get beaned in the head by a stray golf ball. That’s Cigar Guy on the right. He’s the guy with the cigar.

Now Cigar Guy is the subject of a seemingly endless parade of Photoshop works. He’s appeared on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band alongside John, George, and Ringo and has not-so-subtly been pasted on the body of a victorious Muhammad Ali.

Oh well, anything that takes the spotlight off of Tiger for a moment can’t be all bad, right? check out an example after the jump.

Let’s end the week with something really wonderful, shall we? Check out the SLR Pinhole Lens from Photojojo. It’s a sublime little combination of hi- and lo-tech, bringing the simplicity of a pinhole camera to the body cap of your Canon or Nikon D-SLR. Pretty clever, right?

Of course, the fact that you can create a similar effect using an actual pinhole makes us wonder whether this thing is really worth the $50 Photojojo is asking. Though, as the site points out, the thing has been created using lasers. And lasers are pretty neat.

Also, this thing also does its job as a body cap, keeping your camera sage from harmful dust, so two birds for one arguably over-priced stone.

[Cap tip to Gizmodo]

Hot on the heels of a new Flip Camcorder from Cisco/Pure Digital, Blue Microphones–a company probably best known in many circles for its low-cost podcasting mics–has introduced a new accessory specifically for the device that has become synonymous with the pocket camcorder space.

The Mikey for Flip plugs directly into the bottom FlipPort-enabled Flip cams. The device features two condenser capsules, which provide “professional-quality stereo recording,” according to Blue. The mic has two volume settings (Loud and Automatic), an input for additional mics, and a slot for a tripod.

The mic uses one AAA battery, rather than drawing power directly from the Flip itself. The Mikey will run $69, and Blue will give press a sneak peak at this year’s CES.

The thing looks like it’s about a third the size of the Flip cam itself, so, even with Blue’s claims that the device is lightweight (the battery will certainly add some, but not a lot of weight to the setup), it will ultimately detract from the portability of the Flip–which has always been one of the device’s biggest selling points.

That said, sound quality has long been a concern with the camcorder. If your video requires more than the base sound quality, the Mikey will likely prove a good option.