Pentax’s Optio WG-1 GPS point-and-shoot satisfied geotaggers out of the box, but owners of its K-5, K-r and 645D DSLRs have had to make do with third-party taggers like the PhotoTrackr or Eye-Fi. The new hotshoe-mounted O-GPS1 module fixes that oversight by recording latitude, longitude, altitude, Coordinated Universal Time and shooting angle. Everyday snappers might find an extra hotshoe attachment cumbersome, but astro-photography enthusiasts could well be enticed by the device’s interesting “ASTROTRACER” function. This helps you take clearer photos of celestial bodies by using the in-built sensors to calculate a star’s movement and then employing the camera’s shake reduction system to compensate. Sounds clever, but be advised: this module is only for Pentax DSLRs — and only for very specific models at that. You’ll get full functionality with the K-5 and K-r cameras, and geotagging (no ASTROTRACER) with the 645D. Oh, and you’ll need to make sure your camera’s firmware is up-to-date. Peer carefully through that lens and you’ll see the O-GPS1 heading for a July landing, priced at 0.

[Thanks, Iddo]

Pentax releases O-GPS1 add-on for DSLRs, appeals to astronomy nuts originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Having a tattoo often seems like a fantastic idea at the time. And while many tattoos do genuinely stand the test of time, some simply don’t. Regardless if it is because of an oversight on the part of the tattooist, a hasty choice (having a partner’s name tattooed on you, possibly?), or any other reason, tattoo removal services remain in demand by many. If you are going to look into having one or more tattoos of any size or shape faded out, you’ll want to consider laser tattoo removal for sure.

Research has shown that almost half of those between the ages of 18 and 40 have a tattoo or several tattoos. The problem here is the fact that a majority of those who have tattoos have later figured out that they don’t want them anymore. The most common complaint to tattoos is dissatisfaction, which has led to a latest increase in tattoo removal. It is been verified in the past that women research their elimination alternatives more than men – due to the fact that men have much less of a stigma when it comes to tattoos.

In the event of infection or if someone just doesn’t like their tattoo, you will find techniques to get them eliminated. Skin grafting and dermabrasion are excellent examples of tattoo removal, though probably the most well-liked and most common these days is laser removal. Laser removal is considered to be the fastest and by far probably the most favored. With this surgical treatment, the laser being utilized will zap the metal ions that are located within the pigment of the tattoo, fracturing the ink into very small pieces that the body can easily dispose of.

There are a number of fantastic points about laser tattoo removal, though you will find some negative points as well. In some instances, where infection is included, the surgical treatment is going to be a little different. First, you’ll be required to get the infection out of the place before the tattoo can be eliminated. Based on how critical the infection is, you might wind up staying in the hospital for a few weeks. For this very reason – you must always make sure that the equipment is clean and sterile before you actually get a tattoo.

Laser tattoo removal can be very painful, based on the area that you’ve done the tattoo on. Nearly all surgeons will use numbing ointment and local anesthetics before they do the removal, so you experience little to no pain.

Before you choose to get a tattoo eliminated with laser removal, you must definitely make sure that you choose a surgeon you can trust.

Oh dear, oh dear. How utterly delightful! It seems that the major members of the Canadian Recording Industry Association have been a bit hypocritical over the last… oh, 20 years. It seems they’ve included a truly enormous amount of tracks on compilation CDs without paying the artists a dime, instead putting them on a “pending list.” This list is somewhere around 300,000 items long, and a class-action lawsuit is underway in which the plaintiffs are calling for (and this is the best part) the same statutory damages the recording industry has pursued with individuals: $20,000 per song. Ironisterical!

That’s $6 billion in damages if the industry plays by its own rules (or more), and so far they’ve admitted that they do in fact owe $50 million. It’s not quite an admission of guilt, but let’s say that during a rash of candy store robberies, you admitted to robbing half. You better believe the other half will be on the judge’s mind as he raises that gavel.

Actually, to be honest, I don’t expect the $6bn figure to fly, given that this is not only a different court but a different country from that where the RIAA’s ridiculous damages were awarded. Even if they end up owing “only” fifty mil, I’ll be happy to see them pay it.

The suit is in Canada, and has to do with Canadian royalties law, but I guarantee there are people scouring the RIAA’s records right now looking for a willful oversight like this. Oh man, I would die laughing if the RIAA went under on piracy charges.

[Correction: $6bn not $60bn. Still.]

In what may be considered an enormous oversight on Apple’s part, tilt-to-steer racing games require weak technology lovers to hold their arms up in the air for tens of minutes. Tens! No iPhone owner possibly has that kind of upper body strength. A company called CTA Digital knows this and has thankfully developed a racing wheel accessory.

There are two versions: one has a base with a suction cup mount that allows you to attach it to a tabletop or other flat surface, while the other version is just the wheel. That one defeats the purpose, as you’d have to hold it in the air. With the weight of your iPhone and the added weight of the steering wheel, you’d run the risk of breaking both your arms.

Here’s a video, just in case you’re not convinced yet:

Looks like it works pretty well, as evidenced by the kid in this video running into just about every siderail in Need for Speed.

No word on pricing yet, although CNET seems to think it’ll cost about $20. I’d guess $20 for the standalone wheel and $25-$30 for the wheel with the suction-cup base. Now you all know how Wii owners feel. Picture this times a hundred.

Steering Wheel for iPhone 3G and iPod Touch [CTA Digital via CNET]

Claims of the day
Oh dear. Apple and the Federal Government have both lost all connection with reality. I mean, it’s not like there was much to begin with, but this is like a policy debate Godwin. It seems that the activities you and I think of as simply illegal and/or unwanted (jailbreaking and P2P software), are a clear and present danger to this country and everyone in it.

The chairman of the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform says (of Limewire, though his phrasing suggests a wider application):

At any time your computer is connected to the Internet, other computer users with similar software could simply search your hard drive and copy unprotected files.

It’s also true that if you leave your door unlocked, people might walk in and take things. That’s actually a growing problem here in Seattle. But you don’t hear anyone saying we should ban doors.

In a similar but unrelated incident we posted (I wanted to get my two cents in), it was revealed that Apple has more than simple greed in mind when it argues against jailbreaking. It’s not just that you’ll use free voice apps. It says that with a jailbroken phone,

…a local or international hacker could potentially initiate commands (such as a denial of service attack) that could crash the tower software, rendering the tower entirely inoperable to process calls or transmit data. Taking control of the BBP software would be much the equivalent of getting inside the firewall of a corporate computer — to potentially catastrophic result.

Well, it’s much easier to do things like that with a computer. And they come jailbroken. And just as a parting shot, they suggest that a jailbroken phone allows the user to mess with the phone’s Exclusive ID number, allowing it to make calls anonymously. Cue Apple:

This would be desirable to drug dealers

Yes, anonymous calls, not unlike those made from pay phones. This garbage is the biggest load of FUD I’ve seen in a long time. I’m not advocating for the right to hack cell towers, but the arguments being given against jailbreaking and P2P are like saying “the hammer is a potential murder weapon. Therefore we must ban hammers.” Screw that. The more they take these illegitimate stances, the more people will wonder what they’re trying so hard to hide that isn’t drug-dealing, tower-hacking, vital-national-security-comprimising bullshit.

[image credit: Mercer Mayer in his scariest book]

So the New Yorker, of all places, has a few salient facts on the Apple case. I’ll just report them here and let them lie because, as someone once told a man with a broken nose, this is China.

The first report is from the Southern Daily where a journalist claims to have seen the surveillance footage of the interrogation and that nothing untoward happened – no beatings, no torture. However, he was interrogated.

The second report says that the employee’s manager suspected the employee, Sun Danyong, of lying and that Sun himself asked fro his home to be searched. The manager is now being hounded by Internet mobs and is unable to return to his house.

The third report says that FoxConn CEO Terry Gou is under investigation by the IRS for tax evasion. It looks like a smear job.

Finally, we currently understand the situation with the phones. A group of phones were mailed to Cupertino and one went missing. This is absolutely ludicrous. At this stage in the game this is on par with admitting you let your kids play in the street after they fall down a well – sure they weren’t hit by a car but this shows an alarming lack of oversight. If a shitty iPhone – probably the Chinese one without Wi-Fi – is worth interrogating an employee over why not chain the iPhones around someone’s neck and put them on a plane to SFO.