Nikon Corp. on Wednesday launched the first digital still camera with interchangeable lenses that also shoots movies.
The D90 single-lens reflex camera, or SLR, takes 12.3 megapixel stills, but can also shoot movies in the high-definition 720p format. It will be available in September for $1,000 without a lens.
Some compact digital still cameras can shoot movies, but only with their built-in lenses. Digital movie cameras also lack interchangeable lenses, except for some high-end professional models.
Compared with a consumer digital movie camera, the D90 will provide extra versatility for a videographer, since different lenses have different looks and applications. The large light-gathering sensor of a still camera also means the camera will work better in low light. However, it captures only mono sound.
Paper saver: A leading printer maker wants to help you do less printing.
Printing an article off the Web often produces several pages of waste, including ads, links and boxes for entering text. So the latest version of a Web toolbar from Lexmark International Inc. blocks such images.
Some of Lexmark’s tools already exist in standard printer settings, but accessing them normally requires several mouse clicks. Lexmark’s free program brings those functions to the forefront. For example, one click converts a Web page into black and white for printing, extending the life of expensive color ink cartridges.
The Web software also extends the “printer-friendly” features many sites offer. Often those printer-friendly versions still carry logos and other graphics; the Lexmark tools let you eliminate those as well.
Although printer companies make much of their money from ink cartridges and other products that consumers constantly have to replace, Lexmark figures it can improve customer satisfaction. Most of the features work regardless of the printer manufacturer.
Lexmark has versions available for both Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox browsers.
The Firefox version offers more functions. While the Internet Explorer tool lets you eliminate images, for instance, the Firefox version lets you remove forms, links and other elements, too.
New Web security: Intercepting Internet traffic, and spying on the communication between two computers, is a gold mine for hackers. Now Carnegie Mellon University researchers hope software they’ve built will make it harder for criminals to hit that jackpot.
The software, a free download for use with latest version of the Firefox Web browser, creates an additional way for people to verify whether the site they’re trying to visit is authentic.
Most browsers already alert users when a site appears bogus. One way is by warning that a site that claims to be equipped to handle confidential information securely hasn’t been verified by a third party, like VeriSign Inc. or GoDaddy.com Inc. Those are two of many companies that sell so-called Secure Sockets Layer certificates, which generate the padlock icon in the address bar.
The problem, the Carnegie Mellon researchers say, is that many people are perplexed about how to proceed once they get one of those warnings about a bad certificate.
So the researchers — David Andersen, Adrian Perrig and Dan Wendlandt — created a program that performs a novel extra step. It can tap into a network of publicly accessible servers that have been programmed to ping Web sites and record changes in the encryption keys they use to secure data.
Any discrepancy can be a sign that hackers are rerouting traffic through machines under their control, a pernicious type of attack known as a “man in the middle.”
The Associated Press
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