Four-thirds aspect ratio and the new Olympus E-1:

"Four-thirds is a measurement standard used to describe the sizes of 'Vidicon' tubes first used in video cameras. This style of measurement is now used to describe many of the CCDs used in digital cameras, like 1/2, 2/3, and now 4/3. Using this measurement, for example, a 1-inch tube (24.5 mm) will have an imaging area with a diagonal of about 16mm. Using this formula, a chip with a diagonal measurement of about 22.3mm would be a 4/3-type image sensor.

"Explaining their four-thirds choice, Olympus research found that the Four Thirds concept offered the best size-to-performance benefits of any format. Standardizing on this size allows Olympus to develop a total digital-specific system with digital-specific lenses, flashes, and bodies. By contrast, APS and 35mm-size sensors would require larger lens mounts and lenses. For example, on a 35mm, the lens mount would need to be about the size of one required for a medium format camera, which would make the 35mm a less usable field camera for professionals."

"Why do I say these things?" [Howard] Dean asked a press aide.

--WashPost

Yesterday, whilst waiting to get a haircut at my new favorite retro-style barbershop, I ran into Steve Kilisky, an Adobe buddy from the old days (he's still managing Adobe After Effects), and he mentioned that Acrobat is the biggest moneymaker these days. Sure 'nuff:

"This month marks the 10th anniversary of when that idea, Adobe Acrobat, became a reality. Its effect on the San Jose company has been staggering, and it has become clear that Adobe's future rests on its ability to sell companies on a new way of doing paperwork -- largely without the paper."

Seems as though it's always a bad time to buy a new TV: "Not since the first commercial cathode ray tube TV was developed seven decades ago has here been so much choice in televisions."

Seattle PI: Coalition presses on to save woodland: "The view from this ghost town is a crazy quilt of clearcuts etched across the surrounding hills, as if some giant barber had gone mad with his shears.

"Below, invasive weeds creep across the valley. High-tension wires slice the flank of Bald Mountain, which, true to its name, is mowed nearly treeless. Decrepit buildings mark what's left of this former railroad company town.

"What could environmentalists possibly want to save?"

Tinfoil Hats Uncover the Wellstone Conspiracy: "The most detrimental aspect of conspiracy theories surrounding the deaths of prominent politicians, particularly Democrats like JFK or Wellstone, is the inflation of their actual achievements plus the vast inflation of what they might have done had they lived that invariably follows their untimely deaths."

NYTimes (free reg required): The Corporate Blog Is Catching On: "Once you get to the point where lawyers review everything in a blog, it ain't a blog anymore"

Harry Haun:

“Gregory Peck, in the last almost-60 years, gave us a lot to watch, and, lucky for us, he left a lot of it on film. Throughout, he remained true to his credo — which was advice that Walter Huston had given him early on: “Give ’em a good show, and always travel first class.

“That surely was Gregory Peck: a class actor.”

Christ.

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