So I ended up doing a blog the other day about the Samsung ST550 and well I ended up buying one. Good thing I did to because it's awesome! So I took it for a nature walk and here are some of the pictures that I took yesterday at Phillipe Park in Safety Harbor, Florida. Enjoy the pictures and to make it more effective listen to this promo song by the band "Soft". There CD Gone Faded comes out on October 23rd.

Since we are now in the fall season, the first thing that comes to mind is Pumpkins. Right? Pumpkins are a trademark of the fall season; however have you ever wonder the history of the pumpkin and the Jack-o-Lantern. Well here is a little history on the Jack-0-Lantern.

History of the Jack-o-Lantern

People have been making jack-o-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack o lanterns.

Steve Dahlke

On that note let's talk about a Pumpkin carving expert and his works. Steve Dahlke has been carving for 20 years. His love for carving started when he was only 19 years old. When Steve was 19, he was already creating scary faces and works of art on pumpkins weighing approximately 60 lbs or more. In 1989, his carving took first place at the pumpkin weigh off in Elk Grove, Illinois. Steve enjoys carving all types of pumpkins but his specialty is carving pumpkins weighing well over 500 pounds. Here is some of his work.











Reference: Pumpkins and More: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/pumpkins/history.html

How would you like to print out your photos on the go. Now you can with the Polaroid PoGo - short for Polaroid-on-the-go - is a pocket-sized, ink-free digital photo printer that produces full-color photos wirelessly from Bluetooth-enabled cell phones and via PictBridge from digital cameras. Weighing only eight ounces, Polaroid PoGo™ provides consumers with a convenient solution for sharing digital images trapped on cell phones and digital cameras. Connecting via Bluetooth or PictBridge, Polaroid PoGo uses a revolutionary ZINK Zero Ink Zero Hassles Printing Technology to produce borderless, full-color, 2-inch by 3-inch prints in less than 60 seconds.

The paper that it uses produces water-resistant, smudge-proof, tear-proof, photos complete with a sticky backing just in case you want to adhere them to something. You get the PoGo printer, connection cable, AC adapter, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and 10 sheets of Digital Instant ZINK Photo Paper to get started. Polaroid claims that you can get 15 prints from a single battery charge.

You can get your own Polaroid PoGo Instant Mobile Printer at Amazon for around or less than $49.99. You can alsol get the Zink Paper for about $19.99

The days of standing in front of the mirror or asking some stranger to take a picture of you and girlfriend are over with the new Samsung ST550. The ST550's breakthrough 1.5" Front LCDSelf Portrait of you and your friends without leaving anyone left out to hold the camera. It also features Children Mode for fun, engaging, and simple animation that captures those special expressions only kids can make. This camera also has a brilliant 1,152K High Resolution before you take your first shot? How about the ST550's vibration and audio feedback technology that reacts to your touch? After all, you don't want any of life's special moments to pass you by. And with the ST550's super clear 800 X 480 display and innovative Haptic sensor technology, your camera will let you know what you're doing with every click, swish and hum of the controls.

ST550 Samsung compact includes a technology called Smart Gesture User Interface. This means that you can tap the camera or make a hand gesture to get it to perform certain tasks. Tilt it to one side, and the Samsung ST550's Smart Gesture UI will start the perfect slide show without a single touch. It also does 720p HD quality videos at 30 frames per second so now you can be in HD. This scene recognition technology in the camera actually chooses from 16 different settings ranging from landscape to portrait automatically. So you and your camera capture the best picture for the best scenario setting. Another feature of this camera is the innovative Smart Face Recognition technology actually remembers faces it sees frequently and then prioritises them when focussing and exposing future shots. The Samsung ST550 can store up to 20 recognised faces in the cameras’ internal memory

This camera is retailing about 299.00 and up.

So you have a project that you want to work on but you need a certain idea in your mind. So you start your search for vector graphics and it is becoming a pain. So you lose your creativity because you have spent hours looking for free vector graphics. Well no more. Here is a list of general free vector websites to stock up on your vectors and get your creativity on.

Vector Brand Logotypes

Vector Wallpapers

Free Vectors Art Graphics

Bittbox

123 Vectors

Free Vector Downloads

DryIcons – Free Vector Graphics

CoolVectors

Honda unveiled the U3-X, a stool with a unique directional wheel system that allows it to travel diagonally, as well as right, left, forward, and backward.

Honda's machine has a one-wheeled, "8"-shaped body on which the rider sits and changes direction by leaning forward, backward or sideways. It is something that would be used more for inside than outside like the segway.The U3-X moves at a maximum speed of 6km/h, about the pace of brisk walk.

The self-balancing U3-X, weighing in at less than 10kg, is powered by a lithium-ion battery and runs for an hour per charge. The U3-X device is able to readjust itself so that instead of riders having to constantly balance themselves, the robotic unicycle does the compensating for you. Honda's U3-X also includes balance control technology that allows the device to respond to how its load shifts and readjust balance accordingly while on the go.

What do you think of think of Honda's new U3-X unicycle?

Fall has to be the most colorful and peaceful filled seasons. While I guess this is my opinion but I agree with it. There are so many variations of colors and styles of leaves when autumn arrives. It gives a chill and yet peacefulness to the landscapes. So how do you capture these images and moments? Here are some tips to getting the best images for your fall photography.

1. Use a Polarising Filter

The saturation of colours that you get with one of these is fantastic. It is particularly useful in getting lovely blue skies but you’ll find that it decreases some of the haze that you often get at this time of year also. Using a polarizing filter will eliminate glare from the leaves and thus deepen the colors.

2. Shoot in the Golden Hours

While you can get great results at any time of the day - Shooting Autumn colours at the end of the day just before sunset when the light is golden. This accentuates the reds and golds even more than normal.

3. Don’t ignore the Overcast Days

Some people keep their cameras in their bags on days where the sun isn’t shining - but they can actually be the best days. I like overcast days because they help create a mood that you can’t get on a sunny day - plus the images are nice generally nice and rich.

4. Look for Contrasts

One way to accentuate the colours in your shots is to think about framing your shots in such a way that the different colours contrast with one another. Golden leaves on a blue sky - a red leaf on a lush green grass etc.

5. Avoid Shooting Into the Sun

Shooting into the sun will result in shadows, lower saturation of colours and lens flare (which further reduces the impact of colours. On Sunny days - keep the sun at your back. If you do have to shoot into the sun use a lens hood or shield your lens with something to avoid lens flare.

6. Play with White Balance Settings

Sometimes Auto mode with White Balance won’t give you the most vibrant results. Warm up your colours by increasing the colour temperature a touch (not too much). You can do this by increasing the kelvin numbers or by selecting a setting like ‘cloudy’ if your camera has semi-auto settings. Read more on White Balance here and here.

Reference: Autumn Fall Photography by: Darren Rowse

Museum Day is a one-day event where participating museums and cultural institutions across the country offer free admission to Smithsonian magazine readers and friends with a Museum Day Admission Card. Museum Day is an outstanding way to celebrate the country's cultural offerings, encourage the dissemination of knowledge and promote your venue nationwide.

Celebrate Art by attending and checking out a museum in your area. The Smithsonian website will help you find a venue located near you. This a one day event and it will be happening on Sept 26th 2009 and you shouldn't let it pass you by. Here is the link to get your admission pass for Museum Day: Admission Pass

Simplify Media is a FREE program that allows you to connect to your computer and listen to your music collection while your not at home. It also allows you to share your music library with up to 30 people. You can browse and play all your favorite music with itunes, winamp, WMP11 on Vista and Frontrow and Rythembox. They also have a iphone app that works on the iphone and the ipod touch. So you have full access even on your phone. Smiplify Media can also send all your shared information to a UPnP enabled devices like the Xbox 360.

This is a great option for people who have gigantic collections of music and want to listen to it while on the go.(wink). Its also good for people who like to share their collections with others. This is also a great app for those with an iphone and ipod touch. Check it out. Simplify Media for more information.