HDR (high dynamic range) imaging allows photographers access to a greater range of light levels between the darkest and lightest areas of an image. If you’ve ever taken a picture of a sunset over the mountains and bodies of water, you might notice that the area where the sun appears is very bright and washed-out, while the mountains and streams are very dark. HDR techniques can fix this and make the rock and water much more visible, while toning down the sun. When done right, and HDR’d image looks a lot more like what you can see with the naked eye.

On Wednesday, Apple released their highly anticipated 4.1 software update for the iPhone 3G, 3GS, and 4. The upgrade offers various features for all iPhone users, but you must either jailbreak your phone or own the latest iPhone 4 in order to take advantage of the new HDR photography option.

But, never fear. If you’re like me and own a 3G or 3GS, and you want to shoot HDR, there’s an app for that. In fact, there are several.

The one I’ve used for this piece is called “Pro HDR.” It works for iPhone 3GS or newer, and can be purchased for $1.99 via the App Store. It’s not perfect, but for two dollars worth of smartphone software, it does the trick pretty well.

Below are three pictures depicting my MacBook Pro and part of my dining room. The first is overexposed, so that you can see the dining room. The second is underexposed, and while the dining room is very dark, you can easily make out what I have up on my screen. (Click any image for a larger version):

Using Pro HDR, I was able to combine the images and use the best parts of each, all right on my iPhone.

If I wanted to, I could also use Pro HDR to further edit the end result by manually adjusting brightness, contrast, saturation and other image elements.

All in all, I would recommend Pro HDR to casual users who want to improve the look for their “mobile uploads” folders on Facebook. If you’re looking to take particularly stunning photos, I’d suggest investing in a real camera that can’t make phone calls.

Image courtesy the Daily Mirror

Newsflash!

According to rock star Prince: “The internet’s completely over.”

I guess it’s time for us Web journalists to pack up our netbooks, shut down our blogs, and go back to dead-tree news, just as God intended.

The 52-year-old rocker sat down this week with the Daily Mirror‘s Peter Willis for a rather bizarre, though not un-Prince-like interview, during which he proclaimed to the reporter:

The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.

Let me write that down. Numbers…are…bad. Got it.

Still, I shouldn’t make too much fun of Prince.

All general weirdness aside, I learned a long time ago that even if someone is misguided in his opinions (understatement of the year here), he usually has a decent reason or two for feeling the way he does.

It should come as no surprise that Prince, like many artists who struck it famous before the Napster Age, is a big opponent of internet file-sharing. Although he regularly gives away innumerable free copies of his own CDs, the artist takes an ethical stance on blatant piracy. Basically, he’d rather give his fans a gift than have them pry it from his hands. That’s an opinion I can respect.

Most recently, Prince gave the Daily Mirror copies of his forthcoming CD, “20TEN,” to insert into the paper this Thursday as a free gift to subscribers. Obviously, “20TEN” will be released in CD-format only, and will not be licensed to iTunes, Amazon MP3, or any other internet-media stores.

Unfortunately for Prince, however, just because he says the internet is a dead medium, that doesn’t make it in any way true.

He’s free to avoid iTunes–more power to him–but he must understand that as long as he produces listenable music, people will distribute it online.

Even the iTunes Store stopped using digital-rights protection technology in 2009, partly because Apple executives finally realized that DRM is virtually useless–there’s always a workaround.

If UK Daily Mirror readers get their hands on “20TEN” on July 8th, you have my word that someone, somewhere, will start distributing it by the 7th.

It’s the internet. On this playing field, smart, pimple-faced, pro-free-information teens have the advantage.

Last weekend, my friend Brianna “Spacekatgal” Wu made headlines worldwide after security officials at Yankee Stadium turned her away from the Yankees-Red Sox game because she had her iPad with her. Undeterred, she got back in line and sneaked the iPad in anyway.

During the game, she posted about the incident on the IGN forums:

The security people told me [iPads were] not allowed and I was turned away at the gates. Why on earth would they have this policy? Terrorism concerns? I couldn’t get an answer. I snuck it in under my jacket. I bring it to Fenway all the time and they don’t care.

Smaller than most laptops, the 9.5″ iPad looks like a larger version of the 4.5″ iPhone

Yahoo! Sports soon picked up the story, as did CNN, Fox News and CNET. Even as I write this blog entry, I’m seeing new headlines about the matter pop up on Google News.

So far, Yankees officials haven’t said why iPads or laptops are banned, other than that they pose “safety and security” issues–at least, according to several vague reports. My best guess as to why the devices are really banned is that they might prove distracting to fans who want to watch the game. But having used the iPad, I don’t see how it, with its 9.5-inch screen, is all that much more distracting than a smartphone. In fact, unlike the 4.5-inch iPhone, the iPad can’t take pictures or place calls.

I scored an exclusive interview with Wu earlier today. Here’s what she had to say about the ban and the subsequent media frenzy:

Q: So exactly what happened when you got to the security gate at the stadium?
A: When I went through the gate, the security guard asked me “Is that an iPad?” I thought she was just another person curious about iPads, because they’re so new. I get this several times a day. I told her it was an iPad, and she told me it was not allowed in the stadium. I asked her, “Can you tell me why?” and she said it was because of the camera. I told her the iPad doesn’t have a camera, and she just kept saying, “It’s not allowed in.” I realized debating the point was useless.

She told me that there was a bar across the street, and I could rent a locker and put my stuff inside. Given the drunken fight I’d just witnessed on the street outside that bar, I didn’t want to do that. I decided to sneak it it. I exited the gate and put the iPad under my jacket in my husband’s backpack, and went into another gate.

I was pretty nervous about security inside the game confiscating it when I started posting about the event on the IGN board, but I quickly realized they didn’t care.

Q: Why do you think they didn’t want you to bring the iPad in with you?
A: I guess the iPad could be distracting, but no more so than I find all the drunken people at a baseball game. I’ve never seen someone pick a fight because they were using their smartphone.

I think it sucks. I’ve been to Fenway about 10 times, and it’s a really relaxed atmosphere. In contrast, the overbearing security at Yankee Stadium put me on edge a bit, and I’m not talking about the iPad policy. There were people guarding every section, inspecting tickets. It just seemed unnecessary and Big Brother-esque.

Q: This issue has stirred up quite the media circus. Do you think this will lead to Yankees officials rethinking their ban?
A: I really don’t know. I think the Yankees are the Microsoft of baseball, and aren’t especially receptive to public opinion. I doubt anything will change.

Q: Fair enough. But I can’t be the only one wondering this: Why would you even want to bring an iPad into a baseball game? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of being there?
A: I got bored. When the Yankees play the Red Sox, it’s always a 4 hour game. I tune out in the middle.

It seems like at every game I’ve every been to, many other girls also bring things to keep themselves entertained. Kindles, a book, their smartphones. I think many people just want something to do during the lulls in the action.

Q: What kinds of things do you do to occupy yourself during these lulls?
A: I actually Facebook with my friends and tell them about the baseball games. I can usually count on a sarcastic comment or two from you, News-Geek.com, about my love for the Yankees. I sometimes post pictures from my phone. It’s just the way people my age operate, live-blogging the fun parts of our lives.

I read comic books, I read the news, I post on the IGN board, I Facebook. I have the 3G model, so there’s almost nothing I can’t do.

Q: Do you take your iPad with you everywhere you go?
A: I am never without my iPad. I also have a Macbook Air, and I carry it in my purse with me. I like to be connected, and I like to sneak in work wherever I can. Some girls carry bags with beauty products; I carry my computer.

Q: Don’t people at games or elsewhere ever get annoyed with you for distracting them with your iPad?
A:Quite the opposite. I constantly have strangers asking to use it, and asking questions. It’s a novelty, and there’s a lot of curiosity about it. One time, I had one stranger ask to demo it, and they immediately went to the Bank of America app to log into my bank account! It really freaked me out!

I’ve never had someone complain, though after reading so many hundreds of negative comments [following the incident at Yankee Stadium], I suspect some people might be rolling their eyes at me.

Q: Is there anywhere you wouldn’t take your iPad?
A: There is literally nowhere I wouldn’t bring my iPad. It’s 1.5 pounds, why be without it? It hasn’t left my side since I bought it, except when I run outside. I’d bring it to a wedding, a zombie outbreak, I’d even want to be buried with it.

Q: A wedding? Would you use it during the ceremony?
A: No, but I’d probably sneak off at some point and check my Facebook.

Q: You have some pretty strong opinions about this stuff. Do you think the Yankees owe you an apology, or at least a better explanation for why they ban iPads and laptops?
A: No, of course not. We all put up with arbitrary rules all the time. That would be incredibly entitled of me, even through I think their policy is stupid.

Q: Do you think you’ll risk smuggling your iPad into Yankee Stadium again?
A: Probably not. Knowing the policy, I might just leave it at home and surf on my iPhone instead. I don’t want to be a jerk to the team I love so much.

People have to understand: We came all the way from Boston to see this game. We were on foot all day, touring the Natural History Museum. I had my iPad with me, of course. I had no idea about this policy. I bring the iPad to Fenway all the time and they don’t care. But knowing the rule, I wouldn’t want to break it again.

Q: Are you surprised by all the media coverage?
A: I am beyond surprised by the media coverage. People have e-mailed me stories from all over the world, and in 7 different languages so far. I’ve already seen over 50 stories that mention me by name. My sneaking the iPad in has been discussed on CNBC, and ESPN. I cannot believe it.

Maybe the coverage took off because of all of the juxtaposed social issues involved. The iPad is the new, trendy status symbol, and you’re pitting it against baseball, a slow-paced, traditional game. Mix that with the Yankees, who are both the most loved and the most hated team in baseball, and you have a story with a lot of interesting angles.

But the coverage is still very strange to me. I posted this to the IGN board, to a subsection we call the Mac GB, or “General Board.” We’re a small subset of the giant forum, and a close-knit group. I’m very fond of most of the people I post with. I’ve bought and sold Macs with them, we discuss Apple news every day, we play Steam games together, we solve each others tech problems and so on.

I feel like it’s not just me who’s gotten the attention, but all my Mac friends on the Mac GB as well.

Q: Now that this story has hit media worldwide, have you found that bloggers, reporters and commenters tend to support you in your defiance of the Yankees?
A: Judging from the comments, I think most people think I’m a stupid girl who doesn’t appreciate sports and should leave her iPad at home. There must be 1,000 comments saying “Just watch the game!” The response has been incredibly negative towards me. I have never been one to worry about upsetting other people, though. I’ve found all the negativity highly amusing.

I think MatLu, my friend on the IGN board, said it best: “There’s nothing more American than seeing a stupid rule and then proceeding to immediately break it. That’s how this great country started. Bri was just doing what comes naturally to all Americans, especially for Bostonians. It’s American instinct.“ ♦

Fascinating. So what do you guys think?

GEEKWARE creator Nicola Harper turns obsolete electronic waste into popular fashion accessories (image courtesy of GEEKWARE)

A former waste-management engineer in Edmonton, Canada, Harper collects old electronics from landfills and recycling centers, cleans them, dissects them, and then reassembles them into “GEEKWARE,” her popular line of home/office products, gadgets, and jewelry. (Fellow tech nerds might recognize Harper’s circuit-board necklaces from the ThinkGeek superstore. They’ve ordered about 500 of them from her already.)

GEEKWARE is a one-woman endeavor and Harper’s day job. She left waste management in 2004 to focus on her products. She still works with trash all day (actually, let’s call it “e-waste”) but now she’s able to sell it back to the very people who might have thrown it away in the first place. How’s that for recycling?

I can’t wait for iPhones and all the current technologies to become ‘old’ so that I can take them apart and craft with them. – Nicola Harper

I had the pleasure of interviewing Harper earlier this week. Here’s an excerpt from our chat, followed by a slide-show featuring some of her products.

Q: You’ve spent your entire career working with waste in one way or another. I have to ask: What gets a girl excited about digging around in garbage?
A: I’ve always been curious about where our garbage goes to and what happens to it after it gets there. Whilst taking my undergrad degree in civil engineering [at Nottingham University in England], I realized I could actually be part of the solution and decided to study waste-management engineering in Canada.

It was a super exciting job! You get to design landfills and recycling plants to ensure that waste is disposed of efficiently and with the least damage to our environment.

Q: How did this lead to GEEKWARE?
A: I used to visit so many landfills in my old job and get really frustrated by the amount of waste piling up. I really wanted to do more–to get my hands on all of that waste and actually make something out of it rather than watch it get crushed for recycling.

I now run GEEKWARE full-time as a one-gal operation. I started out doing small local craft fairs, selling a few recycled artwork pieces made from wine corks and diskettes. Now I have a full line of products that I make out of my home-based studio and sell world-wide through the Web site. I’ve gone from selling a few items at a Christmas show 6 years ago, to making and packing up to 100 orders a month.

Q: You have quite the interest in geek culture for someone who doesn’t possess too many high-tech devices herself. Why is that?
A: It’s true that I’ve never owned a cell phone and my computer is 10 years old (though it still runs well enough for me to use it for 5 or more hours per day). I don’t wear a watch, either.

But, I’m really fascinated by technology in terms of culture, economics, and, well, waste. I marvel at the speed at which newer models of things come along and how fast the older ones become obsolete when there’s not really anything “wrong” with them. I like seeing how they are made, and taking the technology apart and seeing what’s inside. I also love working out how I can repurpose the pieces into something else, giving them a new usefulness.

I’m not really interested in what the technology itself can do. (That is to say, I don’t care about iPhone apps, etc.) Rather, I’m more fascinated by how the technology is made: How is it held together? What screws did they use to manufacture it? How many different types of plastic did they use? Is it recyclable? These kinds of things interest me.

Q: You make an array of cool products, from vintage film-reel clocks to floppy-disk notebooks. What other products can we expect to see in the future?
A: Look out for more customizable Mac products. I have some ideas in my head for monogrammed Macbook cuff links and earrings. I can’t wait for iPhones and all the current technologies to become “old” so that I can take them apart and craft with them!

I get such a kick out of people liking my creations. I’ve had couples order cufflinks for their entire wedding parties, and it makes me so happy to think of the joy I’m bringing to people’s lives.

The main thing (for me, as an all-in-one new-media journalist) that older models lack is built-in video capability, but even that is changing. This past December, Qik, a company striving to bring video technology to the mobile world, released an application that turns even my first-gen’s still camera into a useful video tool.

Here’s a video I shot with Qik last month. My only complaint is that I would prefer more frames per second since these doggies are fast, but all in all, I’m quite pleased. This app makes my “classic” first-generation phone feel a bit like a 3GS light, so to speak. Obviously the 3GS, which is built for video, does a better job with it over all: The camera in general takes clearer, more vibrant photos. The video, also, is clearer and less jerky.

You can see the need for a better frame rate and quality even more so in this video I shot at a hibachi grill near my house:

The frame rate for the default Qik video resolution of 200×152 is only 15 frames per second, which is half that seen in film. Shooting anything larger will kick the rate down even further, producing a choppier shot akin to old security camera footage. That said, the application is only $0.99 and hosting is absolutely free. If money is the only obstacle between you and a shiny new 3GS with video–or if you, like me, are too lazy and attached to your older model iPhone to make the switch–you might be better off with Qik. As noted above, you won’t get the same quality or clarity, but you will get usable video.

If you’re a 3GS-less journalist or anyone else looking for a quick, on-the-fly option for raw video production, I highly recommend this program. If not, well, why are you using your cell phone to shoot to begin with?

All in all, I give Qik for the iPhone 4 out of 5 stars. It’s cheap, reliable, accessible and all-in-all a well-programmed piece of software. I’d prefer a frame rate of at least 24 FPS, but 15 isn’t terrible.