The legacy Steve Jobs has left us in the guise of the iPhone continues to amaze us in the types of applications and solutions it inspires. When technology converges, incredible solutions are born. And when that technology involves the powerful Internet and the elegant iPhone user interface, a novel, simple and elegant solution arises.

In this case, researchers at Boeing and MIT have designed a controller for a small UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) using the iPhone. The solution is elegantly simple: tilt the phone in the direction you want the plane to travel or raise it to make the plane fly higher, with the view from a camera on the plane transmitted back to your phone’s screen. Or tap a point on a map on the screen, and have the plane automatically fly to the designated spot. Of course, this is all accomplished remotely through the Internet, with the plane flying above a field on the MIT campus in Cambridge and the person controlling it in Seattle, some 2,500 miles away.

This control system is so intuitive that an inexperienced person learns to fly the plane after only a few minutes of instruction. The system can be adapted to fly any airplane, commercial or military.

via physorg

Creativity, it turns out, has to do with using the right side of our brain, the hemisphere that is visual. To recap, the left hemisphere is verbal, logical, language-based, and rational. The right hemisphere, by contrast, is visual and “sees.”

The stages of creative thinking are apparently quite predictable and involves 4 steps:

1. Saturation: We use our left hemisphere to define the creative challenge. It may involve reading a photography book on various techniques, etc.

2. Incubation: Just “knowing” does not automatically mean that we can do it. This is when we need to walk away from the problem that our left hemisphere can’t solve by itself. Do something physical and shift to the right hemisphere by letting our brain mull over all the information we have read.

3. Illumination: The Ah-ha moments spontaneously come when we least expect it. An unrelated activity (exercising, taking a shower, driving or even sleeping) often triggers the solution to our problem.

4. Verification: The left hemisphere reasserts itself to test and complete the creative work, whether in a laboratory, on a canvas, translated into words or as a beautiful picture.

Adapted from How to Think Creatively.

Fujifilm FinePix X10

“This camera feels great in the hand, but more importantly it feels great as a camera to use, with extremely quick focusing and shutter response it’s very easy to get candid street shots.”

We’ve added another Fujifilm X10 [QuickPrice Check] Review in our Reviews Matrix.

ePHOTOzine has posted their review of the Fujifilm X10, a premium prosumer compact camera with 12 MP resolution (on a 2/3-in. EXR CMOS image sensor), a F2.0 4x optical zoom (28-112mm equiv.) lens (not interchangeable), 2.8-in. (460k-dot) LCD, PASM, Fly-by-wire manual zoom ring, Optical Viewfinder, Electronic Horizon Leveling Gauge, built-in popup flash, a hot shoe to attach an external flash, 360° Motion Panorama, and Full HD 1080p Movie 1920×1080 pixels at 30fps with stereo sound.

You can read the Fujifilm X10 Review @ ePHOTOzine.

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“The Samsung ST96 is a simple compact camera [that] is easy to operate and takes nice snapshots.”

We’ve added another Samsung ST96 [QuickPrice Check] review to our Reviews Matrix.

LetsGoDigital has published their review of the Samsung ST96, an ultra slim point-and-shoot digital camera with 14.6MP (1/2.3-in. BSI CMOS), 5x wide-angle optical zoom (26-130mm equiv.), Optical Image Stabilization, 2.7-in. LCD (230K-dot), Program AE, Smart AUTO, Scene Modes, Panorama, Magic Frame, Smart Filter, Ultra Slow-Motion, and Full HD 1080p Movie 1920×1080 at 30fps. The ST96 uses the microSD/microSDHC memory card.

You can read the Samsung ST96 Review @ LetsGoDigital.

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Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

“The most obvious market for this pumped up PowerShot is the family user, wildlife watcher or sports fan, or even concert go-er.”

We’ve added another Canon SX40 HS [QuickPrice Check] Review to our Reviews Matrix.

PhotographyBLOG has posted their review of the Canon PowerShot SX40 HS, an ultra zoom digital camera with 12.1MP resolution (1/2.3-in. CMOS), a whooping 35x ultra wide-angle optical zoom (24-840mm equiv.), optical image stabilization, Zoom Framing Assist, 2.7-in. Vari-Angle LCD (230k-dot), EVF, Smart AUTO, PASM modes, Scene Modes, Continuous Shooting 8 shots @ 10.3fps, Super Slow Motion Movie (240fps), Color Accent, and Full HD movie (1920 x 1080) @ 24fps. Both the optical image stabilizer and optical zoom are available during movie shooting.

You can read the Canon SX40 HS Review @ PhotographyBLOG.

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There’s an interesting article by Dan Havlik over at PDN on how Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Larry Price prefers to use his Olympus E-P3 with the 12mm pancake lens to keep his photography as discreete as possible. He finds it unobstrusive and that allows him to fit into many uncomfortable situations and to capture revealing moments without attracting attention.

Another photojournalist, Karim Ben Khelifa, took some shots with his iPhone for fun — and found that his editor wanted more. The iPhone allows him to be invisible, not tagged as a photojournalist and ignored. Perfect for capturing images quickly.

And then there’s photojournalist Michael Kamber who eschews the big DSLRs for his Leica M9.

What’s your story? Have you ditched your traditional mirrored DSLR for a mirrorless DSLR? Let’s hear about it.

Read the article at: PDN.

"McAfee Security Journal: Security Beyond the Desktop" Examines Threat Landscape

Hacktivism (such as the recent threat from hacker group ‘Anonymous’ to remove the City of Toronto from the Internet), cyberespionage (such as the attack that targeted three Canadian government departments earlier this year), and malware (such as Stuxnet and Duqu) are growing in sophistication, frequency, and reach. Enterprises are feeling increasingly threatened and concerned about their ability to maintain IT security defenses that are strong enough to protect proprietary information.

McAfee today announced the 2011 edition of McAfee Security Journal, a publication that discusses current trends and case studies to help IT security executives and personnel to make better-informed security decisions. Titled “Security Beyond the Desktop,” this edition urges executives to consider preemptive measures to stay a step ahead of the threats, and discusses a number of security concerns that many of them are still wrestling with, including the consumerization of IT, employees’ mobile connectivity, cloud-based apps, and lack of awareness on the part of non-IT employees.

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Olympus E-PL3

Just Posted! Olympus E-PL3 Review

The Olympus E-PL3 scores high marks with lightning fast AF, very good image quality, a tiltable LCD and manual modes. It’s an interchangeable lens camera that, once you’ve taken the time to set it up the way you like to work, will delight the beginner or enthusiast photographer.

[ Read more in our Olympus E-PL3 Review... ]

An open letter to Canon from safetyhammer on Vimeo.

Why does your DSLR shoot video? How many photographers know how to shoot videos? And yet, all the latest DSLRs seem to focus on their video capabilities instead of their still photography capabilities. This tongue-in-cheek open letter to Canon was bound to be written as more and more photographers begin to realize that their beloved DSLRs have been morphed into… videocamcorders.

By the way, great bokeh.

Shot on a Canon EOS 60D with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM