One of the coolest things for readers using the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is the stock Smart Rotation feature. While most smartphones use the accelerometer to adjust the screen orientation, Smart Rotation actually uses the camera to detect your face-to-screen angle and adjusts accordingly. Now, if only there was a way that all Android users can continue reading an article or text without sporadic and unexpected 90-degree turns of their screen. Wait, there is!
There's absolutely nothing better than seeing the look of pure and utter shock on someone's face, and that is why I absolutely love this. It is by far one of the best pranks ever, and one of the best videos that I've seen in a while. Seriously. If you've ever used the drive-thru, you've gotta watch this.
There's no shortage of uses for steel wool, but the majority of them tend to be on the pyromaniacal side, like DIY fireworks. This trick by Mike Mikkelson is no different—it uses a homemade reusable "wool cage" to create a spinning vortex of light, like in the photo below. You can do this with just a piece of steel wool on a cable, but Michael wanted something he could easily reuse no matter how many shots he took, so he built a small cage to house the steel wool out of chicken wire, a small ...
After everyone updated their shiny Apple devices to iOS 6 a few months ago, they were shocked to find that their beloved YouTube app was missing. As it turned out, Apple decided to kick YouTube off their list of pre-installed stock apps. The new YouTube app (found in the iTunes App Store) is definitely better than the native one from iOS 5, but it's lacking a direct upload to YouTube option. Sure, you could upload videos from your iPhone's Camera Roll, but the options are limited as to what y...
When it comes to the quality of a photo, lighting can make or break it. Too much light, and your subject looks washed out. Too little, and you can't even tell what your subject is.
When you have a lot of equipment, dragging it everywhere with you can be a pain, especially when the weather's bad. Sure, you can put it in a camera bag, but a lot of them don't protect your stuff from water, and waterproof cases can get expensive.
With all of the advancements in the smartphone world, we can virtually use them for anything. You can use your smartphone as a mobile hotspot, an Xbox controller, a car locator, and a security camera. Heck, you can even turn it into a Swiss Army knife. And now you can even use it as a wireless mouse for your computer!
There are tons of ways to make a macro lens for your smartphone, but if you need one for a DSLR, it's not quite as simple as using a magnifying glass or a drop of water. If you have an old kit lens, though, you can turn it into a macro lens in no time—all you have to do is remove the front element. For this hack, Juha Loukola over on PetaPixel used a Canon 38-76mm lens, but says that the process should be pretty much the same for other lenses.
With the Samsung Galaxy S III being a hot commodity, it's no surprise that your friends might try unlocking your fancy password-protected phone. While some friends have good intentions when using your phone, there are those certain friends who get into the phone to do this... The worst scenario might be that you leave the phone around a group of friends, come back and find that all of your social media accounts have been hacked. When you yell out to your friends asking who did it, no one make...
There are plenty of tank robots out there, but how many of them can recognize 3D objects and map their environment? Tanky, the tracked mobile robot, can do all that and more while rolling around on his bicycle chain treads. Created as a Master's thesis project, Tanky is made almost entirely of parts you can find at your local hardware store. It was built in two "layers" with the motors, electronics, and batteries on bottom and the processing unit, a laptop, on top. The motors came from cordle...
Zombies. That's the first thing that comes to mind when I see footage of a once heavily populated area turned completely desolate. Either that or you stumbled across a Ke$ha concert...BURN.
You can do a lot with water guns. Have trouble waking up? Make a water gun alarm clock that (almost) no one could sleep through. Prefer real ammo? Turn your water gun into an airsoft BB gun. And if you don't have one, you can even make your own.
If you bought the new iPhone 5 or upgraded your old one to iOS 6, you may be having issues when you try to upload photos to Facebook. After updating, the first time you try to share an image from the Facebook app, it will ask you to allow access to your Camera Roll.
As useful as they can be, 360-degree photos are a total pain to create. The process usually involves taking a bunch of pictures with expensive equipment or software, and not just anyone can do it. But a new iPhone app called CupChair changes everything—it lets you take 360-degree photos with nothing but your iPhone and a cup.
The new iPhone 5 was just revealed yesterday, and it's 18 percent thinner and just 1/5 the weight of its 4S predecessor. It's also taller with a larger screen, which gives you a fifth row for apps now. As far as speed is concerned, it has a speedy A6 chip and can tap into wireless 4G LTE networks for fast Internet. Both the iSight and front-facing FaceTime cameras were improved, too. The only downside seems to be the tinier "Lightning" connector, which replaces the standard 30-pin connector w...
A spectrometer is a device that splits light into all of the different colors it's composed of that can't be seen with the naked eye. It does this by using a prism to refract or bend the light. Jeffrey Warren over at Public Labs created a tutorial showing how you can make your own video spectrometer and create spectra like the one pictured below. Any guesses as to what the subject is? Believe it or not, that's what whipped cream looks like when viewed through a spectrometer. You can do this w...
Everything is documented these days, thanks to the Internet and mobile devices. Most people who own a smartphone use it to take lots of pictures. If you're one of those people, an app called Scoopshot can help you turn some of those photos into extra cash. Scoopshots lets you post your pics so that news organizations can pay you to use them. Companies can also post tasks, so if someone is looking for a particular photo in your area, you can accept the task, go take the photo, and earn money f...
As if the world needed one more reason to be obsessed with Shark Week, Volkswagen has teamed up with Discovery Channel to create this awesome "underwater car" that's actually a mobile shark cage.
Technology is awesome. You can use your iPad to record music or even turn your tunes into a solar system, but sometimes being plugged in all of the time can leave you nostalgic for simpler times. This new concept by Joelle Aeschlimann brings together the best of both worlds by turning your iPad into an old-fashioned, hand-cranked music box. The artist created three different music boxes, each one with its own unique song and visualization. The music boxes were made using wooden cylinders with...
As deeply as smartphones are integrated into our daily lives, it's no surprise that people are finding ways to use them to stay healthy. From detecting cancer and radiation to diagnosing STDs, phones have come a long way, baby.
You probably already know that your digital pictures have quite a bit of information embedded in them. What you might not know is just how much personal information is included in that metadata, including your camera information, and in some cases, even the precise GPS coordinates of where you took the picture.
Light art is a cool way to express yourself… or just make some pretty cool light images. Starting out with light art can be tricky, but as long as you have the right equipment and the determination, you'll be making a light art masterpiece in no time.
It's not brain surgery, but teeth whitening systems still hits the pocket books hard. However, there is a cheaper alternative to have the whitest teeth in the neighborhood, and it's called Photoshop. With Adobe Photoshop, you can have whiter teeth in seconds! Really. It's definitely the best tooth whitening remedy for those behind the camera lens. But remember… Photoshop is only a digital cure. You still might have to hide that smile in public… or consult a dentist.
This software tutorial shows how to make stop animation movies with Windows Movie Maker and a digital camera. Learn how to shoot the frames of motion with your camera, import them into Windows Movie Maker and turn them into a stop motion animated movie.
This tutorial video will teach you to make photos into 3d masterpieces using simple software and a regular camera. Pretty soon, you'll have eye-popping results that will amaze all of your friends.
Helpful tips on how best to use a game camera for property protection.
A bokeh lens gives a soft and unique lighting style, and can be created at home. This photography lesson teaches you how to use paper and tape on an aperture camera lens to craft your own. Improve your art with this DIY construction tip!
Garry's Mod is an excellent utility for those who are creating Machinima, or who enjoy seeing Half-Life 2 characters perform funny movements. This video shows you how to move a ragdoll around using the mysterious G-Man as a dummy.
Watch this piano tutorial video to learn how to play Avril Lavigne's "When You're Gone" on piano or keyboard. The method of instruction used in this how-to video is playing at full tempo, then at half, with the camera covering the whole keyboard so that viewers can learn by watching. This video is probably better for intermediate pianists who want to learn how to play Avril Lavigne's "When You're Gone."
This video will show you how you can take UV (ultraviolet) pictures with any basic camera. In a few easy steps, you too can be seeing the world in a whole new way.
Learn how to use 2 flashes by watching this model shoot in a small space using two off-camera flashes with Gary Fong Whaletails attached.
Instructions on how to set aperture and shutter when using the Gary Fong Whaletail light diffuser.
Sean Astin hosts AFI's filmmaking tutorial series, LIGHTS, CAMERA, EDUCATION! Here, we explore "The Pitch" or presenting your ideas for your film script.
Advanced welding machine normally used for jewelery repair. Short clip showing how microscopic TIG welding repairs eyeglass frames by fusing metal surfaces directly to each other. High definition footage shot with a mixture of HV10 and HV20 cameras.
An Indy Mogul viewer shows you a simple editing trick for making objects and people disappear in your movies.
Lidar, a technology first used by meteorologists and aerospace engineers and then adopted in self-driving vehicles, has slowly crept into consumer electronics over the last five years. If you have a Pro model iPhone or iPad, there's a good chance it has a lidar sensor, and you're likely using it whether you know it or not.
Apple just announced its new iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max models. This year, the 15 and 15 Plus models have a lot in common with the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, but there are still some pretty incredible features that the Pro lineup sports that the regular lineup doesn't.
If you regularly run into issues opening images that use the .heic extension, the easiest solution is to convert the file into a more compatible format. Using apps like Photos and Preview on a Mac makes the process simple, but macOS Monterey just streamlined the process so that you don't even have to open an app anymore.
Apple's next big iOS update is ready for your iPhone, and it's out just a little bit more than a month after the iOS 15.0 update was released — and 14 days after iOS 15.0.2. The hottest feature you'll find in iOS 15.1 is definitely SharePlay, but what else is hiding within Oct. 25's new firmware?
Whenever you need to digitally share large bodies of real-world text, you'd likely show a photo of it or manually type everything into the document or chat. But iOS 15 has a much better way for your iPhone.
