isight
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Gawker updated with more camera support, desktop time-lapsing
Gawker, the clever app for recording, sharing and combining time-lapse movies, has been updated to version 0.70 with some unique features. It is now compatible with non-iSight cameras, including even DV cameras, and can record from up to four cameras simultaneously (when you consider the power of using other cameras through Bonjour, this gets pretty interesting). The ability to capture desktops as well as a countdown timer have also been added.Gawker is an open source project and available from its home at SourceForge.
iSale 3.1 adds eBay interactivity, prepares for upcoming site changes
iSale, the application our own Scott McNulty dubbed 'the Delicious Library for eBay auctions', has been bumped to version 3.1 with some very useful site interactivity and significant changes under the hood. iSale 3.1 can now relist unsold auctions and allow you to watch how many people have looked at and are watching your auction - right from within iSale. An improved widget can also display the watch count, hit count, highest bid and feedback from the highest bidder. Last in this new version is a localized and active links preview for English, German and French languages. Under the hood, iSale has been tuned for an upcoming change to eBay's communication standards which goes live on July 1st.For a refresher, here's a list of the other features iSale already offers: beautiful auction templates, a 'funky pinboard' with photos of auction items, one-click locating of buyers with Google Maps, 'Smart Date' simplified auction scheduling, description importing from Amazon and eBay, Address Book/Mail integration, .Mac syncing, iCal scheduling and much more.iSale 3.1 is a Universal Binary, offers a three-auction demo and sells for $39.95 USD. Upgrades from iSale 2.x are $14.90 USD.
Rig of the Day: Many Macs
Check out this well-appointed desk. Flickr user dsiercks shows off a pair of Powerbooks, two iMacs (one with iSight, one without), one Powermac G5 (with an iSight of its own) and twin displays. We'd say you can get some work done with that set up."workstation" posted by dsiercks. If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We'll select an image every day to highlight.
iChatUSBCam is universal
iChatUSBCam is now a Universal App. Now, if you're wondering why you would want to run a program that enables iChat to use a USB webcam on an Intel Mac since they all ship with built in iSights, wonder no more!This little app lets you set a bunch of things on your iSight that are usually not available. What's more, iChatUSBCam let's you broadcast your screen to someone over iChat, which is pretty cool.iChatUSBCam costs $9.95 for an individual license and $24.95 for a three pack.[via Macworld]
Gawker - record, share, combine time-lapse movies with an iSight
Gawker is a really interesting open source app that takes a very simple, yet powerful, approach to capturing time-lapse videos from an iSight camera - be it your own or someone else's. As you can see in this image, Gawker can utilize smart networking abilities of Bonjour to see if any other Macs on your network are running Gawker with an iSight, or you can enable iSight access over the web. You even have control over image quality, resolution and fps.Check out the project's examples page for some intriguing samples of what this software can do, such as sped-up footage of snow melting in Colorado and a PowerBook hard drive replacement.After a little tinkering, I must say Gawker is darn slick and drop-dead-easy to use. But before you ask: I'm not sure if other cameras are compatible. Head over to Gawker's project page for more information.
Spy on friends and family with your iSight-enabled Mac
This post could also have been titled: "how to lose family and friends quickly with your iSight-enabled Mac." A poster over at macosxhints discovered that you can start a new video recording session in QuickTime Pro on an iSight-enabled Mac (for that low-profile surveillance look), and invoke Fast User Switching while the QT Pro session keeps on recording. For more stealth surveillance, you can set your display to shut off and, aside from the green light, most people will be none the wiser.Ethics and exclamations of 'how dare you?!' aside, I wonder if this 'built-in webcam' feature is going to inspire a new niche of unique video recording software.
iAlertU MacBook alarm software available in beta
We've been seeing posts and vids (and getting tips) on a program called iAlertU all week, but were a little skeptical of software that claims to use the tilt sensors and camera in your MacBook Pro for triggering an alarm if someone tries to snatch your lappie. Skeptical, that is, until a beta version of the application was released today,. While feedback so far indicates that the code is still pretty buggy, the program seems to actually work, with users generally pleased about the overall operation (for the five minute usage limitation of the beta, anyway). Developer Slapping Turtle says that once all the kinks are worked out, a non-time limited version will be available for $10, which seems like a good deal once key features are implemented -- most importantly, headphone jack and other overrides, because even the most dim-witted thief may somehow stumble upon the "force restart" key combo in mid-heist.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Rig of the Day: Serious video editing
Could you put together a sweet holiday DVD for grandma and grandpa with this set up, or what? Flickr user and TUAW reader trancepriest shows off his Power Mac G5, two huge Cinema Displays, iSight, video editing keyboard, a couple of cameras and other cool looking stuff that I can't even identify."hi8-to-dvd closeup" posted by trancepriest.If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We'll select an image every day to highlight.
Rig of the Day: Drool
Today's rig of the day has us drooling. This shot by Flickr user The Real Dexta features two 30" cinema displays, an iSight, a 15" Powerbook, a 1TB LaCie RAID (yikes), a dualie 2.7 G5...and an iPod sock. It's the sock that puts it over the edge for me (mostly because I still use my grey one, too). There are more goodies buried in there, click around the plethora of notes to see what you can find."dexta_computers" posted by the real dexta.If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We'll select an image every day to highlight.
Rig of the Day - Livin' Large
Today's TUAW Rig of the Day entry (the inaugural entry, at that) is Flickr user visualseed's killer multi-display set up. We're talking about three 30" Cinema Displays, one smaller display, a Powerbook and a DV camera with three lenses, each the size of my leg. A G5 sits in the corner, as well as an iSight, a tablet and...what's that...a Dell?!? We'll just let that slide. I guess a pro photographer needs to diversify."Mac set up and more" uploaded by VisualSeed.If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We'll select an image every day to highlight.
SiteFlex stand offers a simple solution for your iSight
Granted this isn't a new product, but if, like me, you've got a free-standing iSight camera and an older Cinema Display, it's indispensable. None of the mounts that come with the iSight fit the older Cinema Displays (the kind with rounded transparent frames). So it can be frustrating to position the camera where you want it. Enter the SightFlex by MacMice. The SightFlex is basically a long Firewire cable inside a metal gooseneck tube. You just plug the SightFlex into the iSight, place the small base anywhere on your desk, and bend the flexible gooseneck so the camera is positioned where you want it. I was happy to find that the SightFlex is just the right height to hold the iSight behind my 23-inch Cinema Display so I can look directly into the camera while I'm working, and the five foot Firewire cable is long enough to reach the G5 under my desk. The only downside is that now I have no excuse for avoiding video chats on a bad hair day.Have any of you tried the SightFlex? How do you like it?
Widget Watch: take a quick pic with iSnap
Here's something you don't see every day: a widget that makes use of your iSight. To be specific, the iSnap widget is a one-trick pony: it takes a snapshot using your iSight camera. You're able to customize the resolution, and resulting file location, and while the DashboardWidgets.com page says the widget includes documentation, I'll be darned if I can find it.I'm already in another state for the holidays sans-iSight so I don't have a way of testing this widget. Feel free to post your thoughts if you get around to tinkering with it though.
