Tomb workers explained

News on pyramid workers and their social standing

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com Egypt discovers workers’ tombs near pyramids Burial sites are next to king, suggesting laborers were paid and not slaves updated 4:08 p.m. ET, Sun., Jan. 10, 2010 The thousands of men who built the last remaining wonder of the ancient world ate meat regularly, worked in three months shifts and were given the honor of being buried in mud brick tombs within the shadow of the sacred pyramids they worked on. “If they were slaves, they would not have been able to build their tombs beside their king’s.” He added that the workers were rotated every three months and the burial sites were for those who died during the construction.

Control in God Mode

Neat tip and trick.

clipped from jkontherun.com How To Enable Windows 7 Secret God Mode God Mode is a simple folder that brings all aspects of Windows 7 control in a single place. It collects all of the Control Panel functions, interface customization, accessibility options, just about every aspect of controlling Windows 7 into a single place.

No Such Thing as Free

Excellent excellent read / article. Especially that last couple of paragraphs regarding suggestions of hidden cost from cell phone companies legislation. Sounds good to me.

Just ask yourself when you’re shopping for a new cell phone:
“Do you want an iPhone, or an HTC Hero and a 50-inch plasma TV?” LOL I LOVE IT!

clipped from www.pcmag.com Your Free Phone Cost $240 11.19.09 Think you’re getting a cell phone for free? No way. Your free phone cost you at least $240. T-Mobile wants you to know that. But is anybody listening? The toys aren’t free. Their prices are invisibly baked into your phone contract and then squeezed out of you if you try to get out of the contract early. T-Mobile, My Heroes introduced the first plans that let you strip out the phone subsidy. If anybody cared about long-term prices, Sprint and T-Mobile would both be doing much better than they are right now. The iPhone 3GS and the HTC Hero on Sprint both look like they cost around $200. But over two years, with an unlimited talk plan, the iPhone costs $1,200 more. Yeah, sure, the iPhone is great, but is it $1,200 better than a Sprint phone? Really? Do you want an iPhone, or an HTC Hero and a 50-inch plasma TV? Americans will ignore useful information and take the “free phone,” which costs them more in the end.

Touch Screen

clipped from www.pcmag.com Windows 7: Inside Multitouch what makes Windows 7 so exciting is that no computer operating system ever incorporated native support for multitouch before. The new breed of multitouch laptops and desktops with touch screens don’t need extra downloads or plugins– multitouch just works Vista offered single-touch capabilities in tablet mode, and pen input is quite common as well. But as much as Microsoft would love to paint multitouch as a natural progression in its operating systems, its Apple that was the real democratizer of multiple-input touch screens. Optical sensors are set up around the screen creating a grid. The screen reacts when your finger, pen, stylus, or any other implement break one of the beams pen, stylus, or any other implement break one of the beams; you don’t actually have to physically touch the surface to get a response. there’s no question that this interface can change the way we look at computing.

Holy Lumix!

Pocket cameras not always easy on the pocket book. Been following Panasonic Lumix cameras for awhile. Don’t own one but maybe some day…..

I still wouldn’t trade it in for a DSLR…. yet.

clipped from www.pcmag.com Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 CHECK PRICES $900 – $1500 Amazon $899.95 Amazon Marketplace $1499.99 EditorVery Good By�PJ Jacobowitz With image quality that rivals capable D-SLRs and a body not much larger than a super-zoom camera, the 12.1-megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 ($899.95 direct, with lens) is the most compact model in Panasonic’s line-up of Micro Four Thirds cameras. Panasonic’s first two entries into the space, the $799 Lumix DMC-G1 and the $1,499 GH1, weren’t much smaller than traditional D-SLRs. The GF1 is more comparable in size to the $800 Olympus E-P1, which features great image quality but a painfully slow autofocus. The GF1 doesn’t perform as well as the E-P1 or D-SLR competitors in low-light conditions (ISO 1600 and higher), but in brighter shooting situations, image quality is top-notch.

Death of a DSLR? Phooey!

Author predicts the death of the DSLR based on historical events with cameras. In my opinion, many SLR users did not give up the SLR for a pocket 110. I hardly see a DSLR user giving in totally to a rangefinder or (point and shoot) camera regardless of its upgraded features.

I will say however, that the article sheds a new light for me on a question that I’ve had. As a SLR and DSLR user, I’ve been wondering why Nikon (specifically) has chosen to upgrade their 10 and 12 mp cameras (and with video) rather than come out with a new camera with say… 15mp. There are point and shoots out now that are capable of 12mp at a price in the same neighborhood as a DSLR with 10mp. It’s an uneasy feeling waiting for that 15mp DSLR and watching everything around it ‘upgraded’ for image quality. Is Nikon trying to appease the masses and draw in crowds of people to DSLR by offering their old flagships as new flagships with video capabilities? Thereby keeping the DSLR alive?

If so, than w

clipped from www.gearlog.com Here’s a news flash: Cell-phone cameras be damned, because a significant segment of the population is actually prioritizing sharp, well-exposed images over ultimate convenience. Since the introduction of the first Canon Digital Rebel in 2003, this quality-conscious segment has been turning to interchangeable-lens digital SLRs (DSLRs) to take the best possible photos. Wednesday�October 28, 2009 Death of the DSLR Camera In the past few months, digital camera manufacturers have finally begun to ship non-DSLR cameras that can meet the needs of the quality-minded photographer. This has been largely driven by Olympus and Panasonic and their Micro Four Thirds system, which obviates the need for the mirrors in SLRs that are used for the optical viewfinder. Most digital camera sales still tend towards compact units; as nice as the Micro Four Thirds cameras are, they don’t slip into your pocket. they’ll become marginalized as more and more people turn toward more convenient alternatives