GeekSugar

How to Make Vintage-Looking Photos With a Scanner

GeekSugar — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:32:34 -0800

It's like the better our cameras get, the bigger our urge to make pictures look old and vintage-y.

First there was Poladroid to make your photos look like now-defunct Polaroids, and now I've found a tutorial from Make that teaches you to turn an old flatbed scanner into a scanner camera that produces noir-ish black and whites, like in this dog picture.

Are you into making your photos look rad and old? What's the fascination, do you think?

Portable Scanner DocuPen Brings Out Inner Bond

GeekSugar — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 07:00:59 -0700

One of my favorite parts of spy movies, aside from hotties like Daniel Craig, are the fabulous gadgets that aid the spy in hunting down the bad guys and uncovering deep dark secrets. When they're not saved in encrypted files, those secrets are often hidden on manuscripts and if the spy is lucky, he'll have a nifty scanner ring, camera or locket to record his findings.

I'm no 007, but the prospect of using a Docupen portable scanner was pretty alluring. The actual pen is much smaller than I expected: It's obviously as wide as a piece of paper and as thick as about three Bic pens. After loading the software onto my computer, I whipped out my copy of this month's Technology Review, selected a color page (it's actually a color scanner!) and whipped out the pen.

To read my review and check out the scan,read more

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It took me a few tries to actually scan a document - mostly because I am impatient and was sliding the pen down the page much too fast - but the final result was a clear, colorful scan . There was some text that looks slightly italic in the scan but I assume that's due to my shaky hands because the main image looks as clear as a scan from the stationery office scanner.

From what I've read, the scanner can store up to 200 scanned documents, which makes it ideal for a paralegal, lawyer, writer, teacher or anyone who has to deal with a mess of documents everyday. It has controls for black and white, 24 bit color, 12 bit color, high resolution, standard resolution (I used standard resolution) and of course battery level and power. It costs $299.99, which is to par to a regular scanner, but clearly, a regular scanner cannot fit in your purse or hidden jacket pocket.

High Tech Grocery Cart: Love It or Leave It?

GeekSugar — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:00:12 -0700

How would you like it if grocery carts had touch screens and barcode scanners that you could use to get nutritional info and environmental impact info from about various foods? The Technology Services Company, EDS, outlined in a recent paper that grocery carts with computer screens would be a practical and cost-effective solution to consumers who like knowing about the foods they consume- even though most said they preferred reading labels directly from the box. Considering the fact that people steal shopping carts minus any high tech trinkets, I can only imagine how crazy thieves would go over these! What do you think about high tech grocery carts? Useful or something you think we can wait for?
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Daily Tech: Picture Peek at Windows 7

GeekSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:15:18 -0700

Picture peek at Windows 7 - Crave
Will Google blend search and music with One Box? - CNET
Windows 7 is more popular than Harry Potter - PC World
GE shows off pocket-size ultrasound scanner - Crave
Twitter's chief talks about lists, traffic, and money - NYTimes
Plane torn apart over lost cell phone - Switched
MahTweets is an impressive customizable Facebook and Twitter client - Lifehacker
BlackBerry Storm 2 dummy arrive at Best Buy and Verizon stores - Gizmodo
5 things you might not know about Rock Band’s Abbey Road extras - Wired
It's giveaway and game time on GeekSugar! Be sure to log in and play our Best Video Game Ever bracket! - GeekSugar

Are You More Tech Savvy Than Your Boss?

GeekSugar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:15:23 -0700

Have you found yourself in this situation? Your boss is either a bit of a technophobe or just doesn't understand how email/her BlackBerry/the office scanner works and asks for your help every time she turns on the device? One writer at Marie Claire confesses she has to help her boss with even the most mindless tech issues - and she's not alone. After swapping war stories, the writer and her friends doubled over with laughter from tales of bosses adding "www." to the front of email addresses, trying to use the computer's calculator function by tapping the numbers as if they were on an ATM screen, and the inability to silence a cell-phone ring.

It makes sense; many of our superiors rose through the ranks working in far less technical environments. (Can you imagine working without a computer!?) But it's still a strange feeling. As the writer says, "Aside from technology issues, I'm not used to teaching my boss something she doesn't know."

Have you had to deal with a similar situation? Do you have a funny story? Share it in the comments after taking the poll.

Vintage Geek: An Original Series Star Trek Tricorder

GeekSugar — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:47:36 -0700

Hold onto your spacecraft seatbelts, trekkies, because Amazon has got quite the Star Trek treat for you. For only $45, you can get your hands on an authentic Tricorder role-play replica.

This battery-operated handheld communicator comes with working lights and sound effects taken from the original Star Trek and includes a removable scanner accessory for far away missions. Used by Star Trek's Starfleet to check out unfamiliar territories and take examinations of living things, the mid-23rd century Tricorder was a paramount item in Starfleet travels.

Geek Tip: Let Amazon Find Your Printer Refills

GeekSugar — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:00:42 -0700

I know I boasted about being out of the printer game, freeing up the desk space for more efficient things a few months ago, but it appears I'm back in - my boyfriend and I decided that we really needed a scanner, and Ta-Da! Our scanner came with a printer (bonus: it makes my Fandango outings a lot easier).

So now it looks like I will be back to shopping for one of the most annoying things to shop for ever: printer ink refills. However, Lifehacker tipped me off to the best place to find refills: Amazon's Ink and Toner Finder. Simply select your printer manufacturer and the model, and Amazon will return results for everything that will work in your printer, even generic brands, so you get the best savings!

Protect Your Info With Your Fingerprint

GeekSugar — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:30:35 -0800

Although there are other ways to secure your passwords and data that live on your computer - like say a password manager or even (yikes) a notebook - I can't think of a cooler or more futuristic way to protect all your personal info than with your fingerprint.

This Eikon To Go digital privacy manager for your Mac or PC, keeps all your stuff under wraps from prying eyes by locking your laptop, and will only unlock when you put your unique fingerprint on the reader.

But if you aren't the computing on-the-go type, you can also pick up Eikon's desktop fingerprint scanner to lock away all your files at home as well. The best part? The mobile manager is only $50 dollars. It's the perfect gift for the business traveler that really needs some protection - of the digital kind, of course.

Daily Tech: New OLPC Ad Strikes a Chord This Holiday Season

GeekSugar — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:10:16 -0800

Skills: the right to education
by olpcfoundation

OLPC has just come out with a new ad which sheds light on the importance of getting laptops like the XO to children in developing countries. - Gizmodo
A new finger scanner, which was developed by two students at a Chinese university, detects high blood-alcohol levels. - Wired
Good news and bad news. The iPhone 3G will be coming to Wal-Mart, but it won't cost $99 as previously announced. You can expect the 8GB version to cost $197 and the 16GB version to be $297. - CrunchGear
Steve Jobs's decision to pull out of Macworld was solely based on politics and not his health. - The Boy Genius Report
Ninety-two-year-old Kirk Douglas is probably the oldest celebrity blogger on the Internet! - Switched
We're not only giving away one Palm Centro this holiday season - but seven - thanks to our friends over at Palm! Be sure to log in for your chances to win! - geeksugar

I'd Take My "Looking Glass" With Me Everywhere

GeekSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:00:29 -0700

I have come to realize how handy it is to have an iPhone attached to my hip at all times. Because of its fast Internet and cool apps, I can find almost anything, anytime, anywhere. But realistically, as awesome as it is, my iPhone can't tell me absolutely everything. It certainly can't show me how to get to my three o'clock meeting via a 3D-floor plan, scan objects for fingerprints, and wirelessly transfer photos from my computer.

But if this picture into the future above is any indication, we might be able to learn things we never have before with something called a "Looking Glass" – similar to the "Magical Windows" discussed months ago – which seems to be a mobile computer complete with a camera, scanner, touch screen, WiFi accessibility, and photo analysis - all in one sleek device in a form we all know and (most of us) love.

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To see why I would be the first on my block to pick up my own "Looking Glass", read more.

Just imagine sitting down to lunch with the girls, and whipping out your "Looking Glass" to find out how many calories are in that basket of onion rings, or holding up the device to the stars, and having it tell you what constellations are in your sky. Amazing, right? I thought so, too. Here's to the future.

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