Looking for those long lost relatives?

Mark it on the calendar.  April 2, 2012 the National Archives will release the 1940 Census Records.  "The digital images will be accessible free of charge at NARA facilities nationwide through our public access computers as well as on personal computers via the internet."

If you are interested in learning more about Census records, read more at the National Archives.

Wacom Cintiq 24HD

Check out this awesome new peripheral that is going to be available soon to use in one of our studios!

The Wacom Cintiq 24HD is a graphics tablet with an LCD screen built in so the user can draw directly on the screen. There are many cool features highlighted by the official promo video seen here.

Photography Tutorial: A Quick Guide to Understanding Your DSLR Camera

Read more here:
Quick Guide to Understanding your DSLR camera

Video Contest

 

The International Cartographic Association (ICA) is hosting a video competition where contestants would express their vision on modern cartography by producing a video 2 minutes or less in duration onto YouTube.
A cash prize will be awarded to the amount of €300 to the winning video.  Deadline is 1 June 2012.

More Great Mac Software

How about some more great Mac software! Today's Mac software spotlight comes to you from across the pond in the UK. The company is Realmac Software and they make four great utilities: Courier (file sharing), RapidWeaver (website creation), LittleSnapper (designer scrapbook), and Analog (photo filters). Check out their website:

http://www.realmacsoftware.com/

Photoshop Tutorials

Here are a number of websites that have great Photoshop tutorials:

photoshop.com- http://www.photoshop.com/
Photoshop Tutorials- http://photoshoptutorials.ws/
psdtuts- http://psd.tutsplus.com/
Photoshop Star- http://www.photoshopstar.com/
Layers- http://www.photoshopstar.com/
Best Photoshop Tutorials- http://bestphotoshoptutorials.net/

Other related Photoshop websites:
Smashing Magazine- http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/photoshop/
NAPP- http://www.photoshopuser.com/

English Wikipedia anti-SOPA blackout

January 18, 2012 the English Wikipedia will blackout for 24 hours.
English Wikipedia statement from Sue Gardner, Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director

Look out . . . . Rogue Amoeba!

OK, a rogue amoeba . . . ? It's a "strange name" for sure but this little guy has some "great software" for Mac. Check it out:

http://rogueamoeba.com/

4K Handheld Camcorder

For about five thousand dollars, you could own the new GY-HMQ10 handheld camcorder from JVC.  "The GY-HMQ10 is able to output 4K images to a monitor or projection screen in real time with virtually no lag, JVC claims."  Read about it here:  JVC's Newest 4K Handheld Camcorder

Now That's Thin!

Yesterday, Samsung unveiled an extremely thin TV at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. At 4 millimeters thick and 55 inches in size, the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV is sure to turn some heads.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/worlds-thinnest-oled-tv-for-its-size-receives-strong-accolades-from-tech-crowd/

Media events on campus Jan. 10

Two events here highlight media related items. One is the Winter Faculty Institute which will feature Renee Hobbs, founding director of the Harrington School of Communication and Media at the University of Rhode Island, speaking on "Transforming higher education through digital and media literacy." This shows how important multimedia is becoming in higher educaiton. The other is 'Introduction to Film and Video Collection' workshop here in the Library, one of the topics is "How can more media be incorporated into teaching?" This is open to students as well as faculty and staff. While this does not cover our area, some may be interested in knowing about incorporating films into teaching, which could translate into short clips in Powerpoint etc.
Rich

Lost & Taken

Lost & Taken is a great resource for free Hi-Res textures to use in a variety of digital projects. These large textures range from antique paper, to canvas cloth. I personally use them as backgrounds and overlays.

There is also a pack of 100 textures for $15 by the same person, well worth the price.

Roku Streaming Stick

Roku has a new product coming out that will make Internet streaming to your TV much easier:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/roku-slims-down-with-new-internet-streaming-device-design/