Enhanced Lineup of DVD Video Cameras
Panasonic is releasing three new DVD video cameras. The flagship model VDR-D300 is the first DVD video camera in the world to be equipped with both 3CCD and optical image stabilizer (OIS) technology, while its sister model, the VDR-D250, is also equipped with the 3CCD system. The VRD-D150 comes with a remarkable 30x optical zoom. In order to ensure easy transfer of videos, Panasonic’s cameras are compatible with a wide variety of formats and multiformat recording (DVD-RAM/-RW/-R) is possible.
Panasonic’s OIS assures clear pictures by compensating for hand movement while shooting, via gyro sensors that detect the amount and direction of movement and compensate accordingly. Panasonic’s 3CCD reduces noise while increasing horizontal color resolution and luminous gradation to render sharper, more detailed images.
The 30x optical zool on Panasonic’s VDR-D150 model is the most powerful zooming capability offered in a home-use digital video camera, it also features low distortion. Optical zoom, as opposed to digital, does not adversely affect image quality.
Panasonic’s new line-up of cameras host a number of features aimed at making operation hassle-free. For instance, all cameras are equipped with a joystick control for easy access and menu navigation, and the D300 and D250 also come equipped with easy off functionality that helps preserve battery life by switching the camera off when not in use and automatically switching it back on when pre-shooting activities, such as unfolding the LCD viewfinder, are performed.
Better Understand How to Use the Net
At www.calgaryeducation.org/freetutorials.htm everyone can learn how to use the Internet more effectively. The Free Tutorials at the site are basic lessons about the Internet. These tutorials have been developed by the Calgary Public Library and CalgaryEducation.org in Canada. There is a narrated soundtrack for learning by listening as well as text balloons to read.
The tutorials are in Macromedia Flash format, so the free Macromedia Flash Player is needed to view the tutorials. The tutorials offered include web browsers, search engines, e-mail and resumes. Even people who have been using the Internet for a while can benefit from a quick run through of the lessons. For example, if you’d like to retrieve articles from the electronic archive of a news website, that is only available by subscription, just do a “Domain Restricted Search” at a major search engine. Don’t know how? Check out CalgaryEducation.org’s Search Engine tutorial.
Learn How to Read and Speak Better
A new free interactive language arts website for children has been launched by alphaDictionary.com. Dr. Goodword’s Word Wizard Club is for children ages 7-13. The website is designed to help children learn how to read and speak better, using the insights of teachers and professional linguists.
Dr. Goodword’s Word Wizard Club offers free membership to children who like to play with words. The central feature of the Word Wizard Club is the Goodword Junior, an amusing interactive word-of-the-day, featuring funny examples, cartoons and sounds. Unlike other daily words, Goodword Junior contains age-appropriate definitions written by alphaDictionary’s linguists and lexicographers, and also contains helpful general tips on spelling and usage to help the child beyond the individual word.
Each word is linked back to the Word Wizard Club pages, where crosswords, word searches and other games and puzzles based on the Junior Goodwords will encourage vocabulary building and retention in enjoyable ways. The club also offers ways for children to write their names in a dozen different languages and access humorous authoritative articles like “How Is a Hippo Like a Feather?” written by Dr. Goodword (Dr. Robert Beard). The new website enables links to the alphaDictionary website with dictionaries, grammars, and other language resources for more than 300 languages. To get started click to www.drgoodword.com.
Receive Both Internet, Traditional Phone Calls
PhoneGnome owners can make and receive both Internet and traditional telephone calls using their existing broadband Internet connection and telephone service, by using an ordinary telephone, dialing ordinary phone numbers. PhoneGnome seamlessly ties together the PhoneGnome owner’s existing home phone service and existing broadband Internet connection by providing owners a fully automatic, plug-and-play installation. No technical set-up or configuration is needed and there is no disruption of emergency phone services. For further information visit www.PhoneGnome.com.
