format

A couple weeks ago I told you how to get WonderFox DVD Ripper for free. (That offer has since expired, FYI.) Today, the company is back with a new giveaway, a program that's a fine companion to the previous one.

For a limited time, and exclusively for Cheapskate readers, you can get WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro (Windows) for free. The program normally sells for $29.95.

Update: The link appears to be broken, possibly owing to excessive traffic. I'm checking with the developer and will update again when I know more.

Update #2: The link seems … Read more

Creating icons is a necessary task for software developers, but they're not the only ones who make icons; average Joes and Janes also enjoy customizing their desktops with icons of their own creation. Whether you need to make icons for business or pleasure, Imagicon is a simple way to do it. It has advanced features for more-experienced users, but even newbies will be able to master its basics.

Imagicon's interface is just a small square with a few menus across the top; using it isn't an entirely intuitive process, but we were able to figure it out … Read more

Tablets running Google's Android 3.0 Honeycomb software do an amazing job connecting you to all of your personal online accounts. But how do you remove all of that personal information once you're done with it? How do you literally wipe the slate clean?

In this How To, you'll learn about erasing an Android Honeycomb tablet and restoring it to its factory settings.

Professional camera manufacturer Hasselblad, a storied company based in Sweden that's wrestling with the transition to digital photography, has been acquired by Ventizz Capital Partners.

Specifically, the medium-format camera maker is now part of the Switzerland- and Germany-based private equity firm's Ventizz Capital Fund IV, the companies said today. The firm will provide new capital for a growth strategy, Ventizz said.

"We are proud to have such an iconic brand in our portfolio and are convinced that with solid financial support and a suitable growth strategy, Ventizz can further strengthen Hasselblad's position as the first-class producer … Read more

The new top-end model from medium-format camera maker Hasselblad is now on the market, and it's not cheap: the 200-megapixel H4D-200MS will set you back 32,000 euros, or about $45,000.

The camera actually uses a sensor with a mere 50 megapixels, but with Hasselblad's multishot technology combines six shots into one. That means moving subjects such as fashion models need not apply. But a lot of this very high-end photography involves static subjects such as jewelry, watches, cars, and paintings for reproduction.

Hasselblad announced the H4D-200MS last September at the Photokina show. At the time, the … Read more

If you find your Mac is running slowly, generally there are a few things you can do, including running a general maintenance routine, deleting unneeded files to keep at least 10 percent of your boot drive free, increasing the installed RAM, and quitting unused applications (both foreground and background) that you may have installed. In addition to this, one possible cause of slowdowns is if your hard drive contains undetected bad blocks, and forcing the system to remap them can result in things running smoothly again.

Hard disks are "block-based" storage systems, meaning that their writing surfaces are … Read more

Sure, you've built houses and perhaps even the Death Star with Lego bricks before, but how about a 4x5 large-format film camera that actually works?

It took Birmingham, Ala., photographer Cary Norton more than a year to achieve what seemed like an impossible task. He painstakingly assembled the Legotron, Mark I using a 127mm F4.7 lens that he bought on eBay for $40 and an unknown number of Lego bricks. The camera measures approximately 7 inches by 6.5 inches by 7 inches.

He says that the focal range is limited to roughly 3 feet from about 1.5 feet, which makes it ideal for portrait photography. He's now working on the Mark II, which he hopes will be able to focus to infinity and has plans for a pinhole version, too. Norton has already shot four dreamy-looking photos with this beauty, which can be viewed on his blog, alongside photos of the entire process.

Large-format cameras are typically used by professional photographers and landscape artists, some of whom include Ansel Adams and Russell Wong.

If a 4x5 film camera is too expensive, you know what to do.

(Source: Crave Asia) … Read more

Wide-format printers are cool. I use mine not so much for business purposes, but for printing oversize, suitable-for-framing photos of the kids and family. Sure, you have to buy ink and paper, but overall it's less expensive than buying big prints elsewhere.

If you'd like to get in on the giant-photo action, HP has the OfficeJet 7000 Wide Format Printer for $99.99 shipped. That's after applying coupon code 50PRINTER at checkout.

The OfficeJet 7000 can produce borderless photos as large as 13x19 inches. It relies on a four-cartridge ink system and includes both USB and Ethernet … Read more

Spesoft Free Image Converter is the sort of tool you need when you come across an image file you can't open. It can convert images and even text between more than 75 file types, singly or in batches. It also handles PDFs and other vector files, resizes and rotates images, applies effects, cleans up images, and reduces PNGs without reducing image quality. It can convert about 10,000 files at once, too, so it's robust enough to handle large archives. It even handles OCR. Anything else? You bet: it's free.

Spesoft uses a wizard-based interface instead of … Read more