Now that video seems to be ensconed as a valuable addendum to still photography — and photographers turned videographers have touted the anyone-can-shoot-video hype of how wonderful and easy it all is, regaling us with realms and realms of video footage shot with HD DSLRs — clients now increasingly clamor for video production from photographers.

Stephanie Rausser specializes in commercial shoots involving lifestyle and kids, and finds just that: about every other client who now calls her with an assignment to shoot stills ends up inquiring about video production, too. In an interview with PDN, she says, “It’s way more complicated than people perceive it to be.”

Read the challenges that video brings at: PDN.

Do we really care about a robot that flips pancake? I guess not, but what we do care about is the learning algorithm programmed into it.

This robot is actually learning to flip pancakes by reinforcement learning. The skill is first demonstrated by a human holding the robotic arm and performing the flip a couple of times — and then the robot tries it and learns. It took 50 trials, but the robot first learned how to throw the pancake in the air and then how to catch the pancake without having it bounced off the pan. Some of us probably still haven’t mastered this skill yet!

Forget about the pancake. Think about this learning algorithm eventually embedded into our GPS devices [yeah, why can't my GPS learn my favorite routes?] and, of course, our digital cameras? A camera that learns your preferences, shooting behavior and “idiosyncracies.” Can’t wait.

[PopSci]

Here is this week’s (July 17-23 2010) digital camera review roundup:

• Camera Labs recommend the Nikon Coolpix S8000 [QuickPrice Check] as an “easy-to-use stylish compact with a very capable zoom” only if the price is worth it.
• DigitalCameraReview finds that the Nikon Coolpix S6000 [QuickPrice Check] is “plagued by common problems of the compact ultrazoom class [but] is a reliable, slim, and well-priced point-and-shoot.“
• Steve’s Digicams likes the Pentax Optio I10 [QuickPrice Check] as “a cool looking retro camera that is compact and takes great pictures.“
• TrustedReviews likes the Samsung TL110 / ST70 [QuickPrice Check] with image quality that matches the competition making the ST70 / TL110 “another excellent ultra-compact at a very affordable price.“
• TechRadar finds the metering a bit inaccurate on the Nikon Coolpix S3000 [QuickPrice Check] though it’s still “a nice little camera but not a massive step-up from the S220.“
• Imaging Resource reviews the Nikon Coolpix S8000 [QuickPrice Check] and concludes that “so as a long zoom for casual shooting around town, the Nikon S8000 will do just fine, but leave the action shots to other cameras.“
• TrustedReviews highly recommends the Fujifilm FinePix HS10 [Specs] as “a technological tour-de-force, cramming as many features as possible into one camera.“
• DigitalCameraReview finds that the Pentax X90 [QuickPrice Check] “offers some significant upgrades to the X70. Image quality is good, but video quality is disappointing.“
• DPReview tests the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm 1:4G ED VR, the world’s first ever ultra-wideangle lens to feature optical image stabilization.
• Fujifilm announced new digital cameras, especially the Z800EXR and the F300EXR.
• Panasonic announced a new TS10, FX700, FZ40, FZ100, and LX5.
• Steve’s Digicams heaps praise on the Sony DSC-W350 [QuickPrice Check], “an excellent entry-level, ultra-compact digicam.“
• For more camera reviews, to get a second opinion, and just to read the best reviews on the Web, visit our Reviews Matrix.

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How do you light your subject in the harsh sun? David Guy Maynard shares his technique using hypersync on his speedlight.

This is not the Turing test to try to determine artificial intelligence in a computer, though certainly a subset of it. For if you cannot tell whether it is a human or a computer laughing, you can’t differentiate between the two.

Take the simple test and see how well scientists have programmed a computer to laugh. Can you tell the difference?

Take the laughing test at: Laughter Lab.

[New Scientist]

Sometimes you need to use a cursive handwriting and the ones that come with your computer or word processor are just too fancy or not representative of your style. Now you can take your handwriting and convert them as your own unique digital fonts.

[Bit Rebels]

It mentioned DSLR… plus it will save you lots of time organizing and navigating your tabs.

[TechCrunch]