The best Twitter interface, in my humble opinion, is (currently) Hahlo: a web application designed for the iPhone that uses the Twitter API to offer an alternative skin for the service. There’s a lot I like about the way Hahlo approached the UI. So much so, that I started missing those features when Twittering from the desktop.

That’s where Fluid comes in. I’m certainly late to the game here, but Fluid is a pretty handy little Mac application. It allows you to create Site Specific Browsers for web applications you use. These SSBs are then available as a dock icon or menu bar item, as if they were standalone desktop applications.

Each SSB has its own preferences and User Agent settings, and they’re conveniently untethered from your main browser of choice, able to be command-tabbed to, and unsusceptible to browser crashes caused by other sites. Fluid uses Webkit for its rendering engine, which enables it to work with iPhone web apps.

It rocks in combination with Hahlo, but also for other often-used web apps. Thought I’d mention it here for other potential late-to-the-gamers.

Use Fluid with other apps? Do tell.

Olympus, Nikon and Canon have announced firmware updates. Canon’s firmware update for the Canon WFT-E3/E3A wireless transmitter will now make it compatible on the 50D. The firmware update for Nikon D80 and D200 corrects the problem of light flashing empty, inspite of it being fully charged, commonly known as the ‘Dead Battery Syndrome’. Meanwhile, firmware v1.1 for the Olympus E-520 and E-420 improves the brightness level of AF target points in the Viewfinder.

Vivitar's European arm has gone into administration, making its 26 staff in France and the UK redundant after its parent company in US sold the brand name. Vivitar's parent company, Syntax Brillian, entered Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in July and sold the Vivitar brand name to Sakar, a consumer electronics manufacturer in August. Under the sale agreement the name, along with intellectual property and goodwill was sold, leaving Vivitar France S.A. unable to continue to trade under the Vivitar name.  

So, the friendly folks at Sumo offered us a free beanbag chair, in exchange for a review. This isn’t normally a practice I’d take part in, but heck, we needed a beanbag chair (and who doesn’t?). As it turns out, Sumo has been sending chairs to other interweb friends and colleagues as well, and this makes us feel slightly less shameful to be blogging about free products. Now onto the review.

We received the Omni chair, which is really a giant pillow that can be manipulated into various seating configurations. We liked this because the office is tight on space, and multi-purpose seating options are welcomed. The covering of the chair is a bit like a nylon windbreaker — not exactly cozy, but yet easy to clean and a step up from the shiny, uncomfortable beanbag coverings of childhood memory.

My 2.75 year-old, Jack, gave it a thorough toddler test: spreading it out flat on the floor, then repeatedly “cannonballing” into it. It was a big hit, and it (and he) held up nicely. Again, the vinyl covering is key for clean-up if you have kids around.

The Omni is a nice addition to the BitCave, and we thank Sumo for sending it. But beware, if you order the Midnight Blue version, they’ve been known to swallow people whole. Just FYI.

Photokina is now over for another two years, so as we return to some semblance of normality it's time to reflect on what Photokina 2008 tells us about the state of the industry and to look at some of the emerging trends in digital cameras and digital imaging in general. We've updated our show report to include not only our thoughts on the exhibition itself but also our usual top 10 pick of the products on show.

Just posted! Our new lens review of the Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50mm F2.0 Macro. With the excitement of Photokina over, it's back to the daily grind at DPReview.com's subterranean nerve-centre, and first off the review production line comes Olympus's stalwart short tele macro. We've long sung the praises of this lens in our camera reviews, but what do our studio tests reveal about it's true capabilities?

Photokina 2008: The Metadata Working Group, an alliance between Adobe, Apple, Canon, Microsoft, Nokia and Sony has published its first guidelines on the use of image metadata. The guidelines suggest methods to increase interoperability and storage of shooting settings and other associated data in digital images. It aims at standardizing the availability of metadata across all applications and devices, making it easier for users to create, organize and share their pictures.

After some previous hosting issues, we're happy to be up and running again, now with Media Temple. There are dusty corners to clean up still, but most everything is happily buzzing along on mt's (dv) service. Many thanks to the folks over there for helping me transition several domains and a lot of legacy stuff -- particularly Chris Lea.

Prior to the move, my email had been broken for 2 days. Everything is fine now, but I'm pretty certain some email was lost along the way. If you sent something in the last few days that was urgent, you might want to send it again to be safe.

We now return to pushing pixels, moving other domains, cleaning up broken things, worrying about the economy, and waffling on the Oxford Comma.

Photokina 2008: Eye-Fi has announced enhancements to its range of WiFi-enabled SD cards. Upload speeds from camera to computer are now twice as fast, and existing owners will be able to avail themselves of this benefit by simply downloading a firmware update. Also from October 5th, users will be able to add on features such as web sharing, geotagging and hotspot access to their cards. In addition, Apple’s MobileMe and AdoramaPix have been added to the list of supported online services.

Photokina 2008: Lens maker Tokina is working towards adding autofocus motors to its Nikon-mount versions, which will enable AF with the budget D40/D40x/D60 bodies. The first optic to benefit will be the popular AT-X Pro SD 12-24mm F4 (IF) DX wideangle (gaining a 'II' suffix in the process), and a motorised version of this lens is being exhibited for the first time at Photokina; more lenses in the lineup are expected to be updated in due course.

Photokina 2008: Kodak has designed a new line of advanced CCD image sensors to power the latest medium format DSLRs, including the Leica S2, Sinar HY6-65 and Hasselblad H3DII-50. The Leica S2 features the KAF-37500 37.5MP sensor with an imaging area of 45mm x 30mm, bringing in a completely new format; interestingly it also includes a novel slimline infrared filter, which we'd guess could eventually find its way into a future Leica M sensor. The Sinar Hy6-65 sports the KAF-31600 34.6MP sensor with an imaging area of 46mm x 35mm, and the Hasselblad H3DII-50's KAF-50100 50MP, 48mm x 36mm sensor sets a new benchmark in medium format camera resolution.

Photokina 2008: SanDisk has today introduced new Compact Flash cards which offer increased storage capacity and faster read/write speeds. The Extreme III CompactFlash card now comes in a 32GB version with a speed of 30MB/s, and the Extreme IV CompactFlash card now comes in a 16GB version with a speed of 45 MB/s. In addition, the rest of the Extreme IV range has been upgraded to a read/write speed of 45MB/s.

Photokina 2008: Adobe has lifted the lid on Creative Suite 4, the latest version of its huge design and production suite. Of most interest to photographers will of course be Photoshop CS4, which brings some interface changes (tabbed windows) as well as 64-bit Windows support and OpenGL support to use graphics cards to speed up operations (and provide nifty zoom and rotation tools) and a new non-modal approach to adjustment layers. We've been using Photoshop CS4 in Beta form since May and will bring you more extensive coverage of all the new features once Photokina is behind us.

Photokina 2008: Lensbaby has introduced three new lenses for selective focusing, and has named them the Composer, the Muse and the Control Freak. The Muse and Control Freak replace the current Lensbaby Original, 2.0 and 3G lenses. The Composer is first of its kind and is based on a ball and socket assembly, offering greater precision and ease of use. All the lenses feature a new Optic Swap System allowing the user to choose from four interchangeable optics (double glass, single glass, plastic and Pinhole).

Photokina 2008: Fujifilm says its new Super CCD EXR technology will allow its next generation of premium compacts to produce high-ISO images "superior to the F31fd," while also offering improved dynamic range in other shooting conditions. The technology is already fully developed and will be integrated into the first camera in time for a spring 2009 launch.

Photokina 2008: Pretec has today introduced the highest capacity and fastest CompactFlash cards in the world. Under the highest capacity come the 64GB and 100GB, 233X CF cards with a read and write speed of 35MB/s. And the 333X CF cards in 32GB and 50 GB capacities have broken the record of the fastest read and write speed with 50 MB/s. Both the cards will start shipping this month.

Photokina 2008: Sigma has also announced the introduction of a number of existing products in new mounts. These are the 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM medium telephoto lens for the Four Thirds System, the APO Tele converter 1.4x EX DG and APO Tele converter 2x EX DG for Sony cameras, and the 4.5mm F2.8 EX DC Circular Fisheye HSM and 10mm F2.8 EX DC Fisheye HSM lens for Sony and Pentax. In addition, the EM-140 DG macro flash will also be made available for Sony and Pentax users.

Photokina 2008: Sigma has today announced a new HSM version of its popular 24-70mm F2.8 EX DG lens. This large aperture standard zoom is considerably more compact than its predecessor, thanks to a brand new optical design which features 14 elements in 12 groups, including three aspherical, one ELD and two SLD elements. The HSM focusing motor promises fast and silent focusing coupled with full-time manual focus, and the minimum focus distance is 38cm allowing a maximum magnification of 1:5.3. The lens will be available in Sigma, Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony mounts.

Photokina 2008: Sigma has today announced the SD15 digital SLR as a successor to the SD14, which was originally announced in Photokina 2006. The SD15 uses a 14Mp Foveon X3 sensor, and incorporates a new True II processor for improved image processing speed, operation and performance. This camera also features a larger 3.0” LCD than its predecessor.

Photokina 2008: Sigma has announced the DP2, a large sensor compact camera that will sell alongside the DP1. The new model's specifications are largely identical to the DP1's but it comes with a 41mm (35mm equiv.) lens, rather than the 28mm equiv. lens of its sister model; the new lens is also a stop faster at F2.8 as opposed to F4. The DP2 additionally includes the True II image processing engine that appears in the new SD15 DSLR, which the company says offers improved processing speed, operation and performance.

Photokina 2008: Leica has today unveiled a brand new autofocus DSLR system designed for professional users, which is configured around a 30x45mm sensor (i.e. 56% larger than 35mm full-frame). The S-system will utilize an advanced new dual shutter, with both an in-body focal plane shutter for fast lenses, and in-lens leaf shutters for high flash sync speeds. The first camera, the S-2, will feature a 37.5 megapixel CCD sensor in a weatherproof body which is similar in size and handling to conventional 35mm-type DSLRs. The new ‘Maestro’ image processing system provides twice the operating speed of current medium-format backs, significantly reduced power consumption, and allows production of in-camera JPEGs. The company has also developed a range of nine new lenses, including macro, ultra-wideangle, and tilt-and-shift designs. New images added.

Photokina 2008: It's finally here and so are we (actually some of us have been here since Saturday). Cologne, Germany is playing host both to the Photokina 'World of Imaging' exhibition and the largest (to date) roving contingent of the dpreview staff. Many of the stands are still being built but we've already managed to post some images live from the stands. Over the next couple of days we'll be posting live from the floor of the show to bring you the highlights of the show without the need for you to elbow excitable Europeans out of the way.

Sadly missing is -ms-border-radius. #

Jonathan Hennessey and Aaron McConnell's The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation is a sweet, quick, thoroughgoing history of the US Constitution. I'm a Canadian and most of my grounding in US Constitutional law began with Schoolhouse Rock -- an engaging source to be sure, but sorely lacking in detail. Hennessey and McConnell do great work in picking up where Schoolhouse Rock ends, using a little sprinkling of humor and a lot of illustration to explain such abstractions as the three-fifths compromise, the electoral college, pocket vetos and other critical historical and contemporary elements of constitutional law. The section on the Bill of Rights is especially good in presenting the balanced case for each amendment, debunking the cheap talking-points on both sides of each right's debate.

I only have one criticism of this book, and that is that it stops short of the last eight years' worth of lawmaking and debate, failing to address the Patriot Act, the FISA courts, and other modern constitutional challenges. Still, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better primer for bringing the kids, foreigners and forgetful in your life up to speed on the niceties of the supreme law of the USA so that you can have these discussions. The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation