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The strange world of the 808 Car Keys Micro Camera
They have no viewfinder, no way of focusing, no controls beyond a power button and a multi-function shutter button (and two other seemingly useless buttons). They come with no manual, no readily identifiable manufacturer and you don’t really know what you’re going to get until you turn them on — yet they sell in their thousands. They are the 808 Car Keys Micro Camera.I first heard about them from This Camera is an Adventure on MetaFilter, then someone suggested one as a solution to my Halfbakery idea “Tiny high quality digital cameraâ€. So I bought two:
- a #3 from ebay seller liangmin9888. Total cost $14.59 shipped from Hong Kong.
- a #16 from ebay seller elehomegood. Total cost $40.99 shipped from Hong Kong.
I chose these sellers for their high reputation, and they didn’t disappoint. The cameras? They’re no Leicas.
The #3 is supposedly the best of the standard resolution cameras. They have a large yellow timestamp permanently inscribed in the corner of any image or video. The one I have is loaded with lens aberrations, and makes a Lomo look like a view camera. Still, I see some potential in it.
The #16 is a bit better. It still is miles behind my phone camera, and it only takes slightly soft 0.9 megapixel images. No video samples yet, but here’s a squinty picture I took in Lakefield today:
Lakefield, rather wonkily by 808 #16 I do feel a bit self conscious about using such a covert camera, but I’ll see what I can do with them.
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And that’s that …
There’s something satisfying when your computer tells you, “The software was installed definitely.” I’d forgotten how ropey the translations were on Epson software, and I got this as I installed my new Epson WorkForce WF-7520 printer.
Haven’t had enough time to really dig into it, but it seems quite a fun unit. Duplex printing and scanning up to A3/Tabloid. Wireless printing (including AirPrint direct from an iOS device). Scans to flash storage, which is available as a network share. All good stuff.
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My very standard bicycle is not a standard bicycle to the city
I
havehad a nice BASIL basket on the back of my bike:
With that, it has hadall three of Syd’s requirements. But there’s a problem; with the basket on, it doesn’t fit into my bike locker:
These Cycle-Safe lockers taper down to a narrow point, so basically anything other than a stripped-down bike won’t fit. The city says of the lockers:“Most standard bicycles will fit insideâ€? Grah. If there’s something more standard that a Dutch bike with a basket on the back, I don’t know what it is. I have to go back to my makeshift solution — a too-tall basket lashed on with bungees — and deal with it biting my bum as I ride. Sigh.
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wind and solar … with heavy tree cover
As seen in Birkdale Ravine: wind and solar powered LED lighting in an area with heavy tree shading. Not just any wind turbines, VAWTs, no less. In the words of Modern Toss’s Drive by Abuser, “How’s that working out for you, yeah?”
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A not-very-good golf joke
Mike Mike Weir Mike Weir Still (image nicked from Canadian Family magazine)
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TCA is online
Radio Amateurs of Canada may seem a bit slow at times, but they’ve quietly gone and put their magazine The Canadian Amateur online. It has a decent interface, definitely up there with Exact Editions‘ work:
The files are downloadable as PDF, too. They look pretty decent on my e-reader:
(and yes, that is really an article about making a contact over 121km using a 5mW laser)I don’t think any of the editions before 2012 will be going online. It would be nice, but RAC is severely limited in resources. The almost total lack of fanfare is a contrast to the ARRL’s digital QST, which is much announced but not actually available yet …
