This is a sponsored article and was made possible by iBoySoft. The actual contents and opinions are the sole views of the author who maintains editorial independence, even when a post is sponsored. You would think that after all these years, we’d have agreed on a universal file system format. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case, and different operating systems still prefer to work with certain file systems and simply won’t work with others. No matter what your operating system prefers, sometimes you just need to work with a certain type of drive. If your operating system doesn’t support… Read more
macOS and Linux share a common heritage. Unfortunately, that does not mean applications can smoothly transition between the operating systems. To run Mac apps on Linux, you’ll need some sort of virtual machine or translation layer. Run a macOS Virtual Machine (All Apps) The most reliable way to run Mac apps on Linux is through a virtual machine. With a free, open-source hypervisor application like VirtualBox, you can run macOS on a virtual device on your Linux machine. A properly-installed virtualized macOS environment will run all macOS apps without issue. Virtualizing… Read more
REVIEW – I’m always taking photos or video of something so when the chance to try out Sandmarc’s Film Rig came along, well I just had to try it out. There’s only one thing I like more than gadgets, and that’s camera gadgets!
What is it?
The Sandmarc Film Rig is a configurable mounting system for phones, action cameras, and DSLR cameras.
What’s in the box?
List contents – you can remove this heading and section if it doesn’t apply to your review.
Sandmarc Film Rig
Phone holder
Allen Wrench
Design and features
The first thing that you notice when you unpack the Sandmarc Film Rig is that it’s mostly made out of aluminum. The only part that is not aluminum is the knobs on the thumbscrews. There’s just something to be said about a nice sturdy, well-machined piece of gear.
The Sandmarc Film Rig is not only designed to mount various components for filming, but it’s also designed to be ergonomic. The handgrips are plenty large enough for a good grip, even with my large hands. The wide stance of the rig allows for more stable hand-held video.
Each of the top and bottom cross mounts have four slots and three mounting screw holes allowing for an almost unlimited number of configuration options. There’s also a swing arm that also has a slot and a mounting hole in it.
The phone holder is just simply outstanding! Made of aluminum, it opens up to 3.5″ to hold just about any phone. It is spring-loaded so you can mount and unmount a phone one-handed. It has a 1/4″-20 threaded hole in the bottom and back of the mount so you could use it with other things such as on a tripod or monopod.
The mounting holes and slots are all designed for the standard 1/4″-20 screws that are common with most camera equipment.
Although Sandmarc advertises use with DSLR cameras, my Canon 5D Mark IV was too large to fit inside, but I was primarily interested in mounting my Canon M100, which fit very nicely. I can use my M100 to record looking forwards, and I have two action cameras that film both forwards and backwards so when I want to talk to the camera I don’t have to turn everything around.
The entire rig can also be disassembled easily by removing the four screws for the handles. This makes it easier to transport if needed.
The rig definitely makes it easier to get stabilized footage from your phone while keeping your fingers out of the shot.
What I like
Sturdy!
Endless configuration possibilities
What I’d change
Would be nice to have some feet on it
Final thoughts
The Sandmarc Film Rig is a nice little piece of gear. It’s extremely well built and does just what it is designed to do.
Price: $99.99 Where to buy: Sandmarc Source: The sample of this product was provided by Sandmarc.
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NEWS – The Rotofarm by Bace (Dezeen) is a countertop rotating hydroponic planter for anyone who lacks the space to grow their own food. Heck, I have the backyard space to grow a garden and I still want a Rotofarm! Anyway, this innovative device allows you to grow your own plants in a small amount of space because if its circular design. It only requires a 30 cm footprint to grow 1.5 m of plants. And, because it rotates once per hour, gravity doesn’t have its normal effect on the plants, thus they grow faster.
The water and nutrient reservoirs are located in the base of the unit and the light is placed at the center to allow all the plants access to it. The light emulates that of the sun with a little more of the red spectrum to increase the speed of growth. “The light automatically fades on and off at optimal sunrise and sunset times” (Bace video shown below). Rotofarm allows you to adjust the light settings (dimming and timing) via an app to cater to different plant needs. The light can be a bit bright to some people, so the developers created a magnetic cover to reduce the glare by about 50%.
Toby Farmer, who founded Bace, created the Rotofarm according to Dezeen. He plans “to launch the Rotofarm on Kickstarter in September” (Dezeen), but the price was not revealed. This rotating growing technology was initially developed by NASA to be used on the International Space Station (Dezeen).
Check out the above video illustrating the Rotofarm. And be on the look-out for it on Kickstarter soon. Seriously, I want this!
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REVIEW – Having reviewed several dash cams over the last year or so, I wanted to review the Z-Edge Z3D dash cam mainly because it had a remotely mounted rear cam.
What is it?
The Z-Edge Z3D Dual Lens Dash Cam is, as it sounds, a dashcam with two cameras. What makes this dash cam different than some of the other dual-camera dash cams is that its second camera is able to be remotely mounted and it includes a GPS feature.
What’s in the box?
List contents – you can remove this heading and section if it doesn’t apply to your review.
Car Dash Cam
Rear camera
Car mount with built-in GPS
Dual Car Charger
Short Micro USB charging cable
Long Micro USB charging cable
Mini USB cable for rear camera
Cable clips
Wire cable tool
Design and features
The Z-Edge Z3D is a dual-lens dash cam that can record in Full HD (1920x1080p) at 30fps when using both cameras, and 2560×1440 at 30fps when using only the front camera. Both cameras have a 150-degree wide-angle view. The front camera (the main unit) has a mount that includes a GPS antenna, something not normally seen in a dashcam. The cameras also utilize Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) technology that compensates for light/dark spots and balances the exposure. The mount holds very securely and is a bit easier to install than most other suction cup mounts. The rear camera uses 3M tape to mount to the window.
The included 26 foot Micro USB cable for the rear camera is long enough to reach the rear of just about any passenger vehicle. I was able to route mine all the way to the back of my pickup truck topper. It even works rather nicely through the tinted rear window.
The Z-Edge Z3D is also capable of using an SD memory card up to 128GB, most other dash cams only support up to 64GB. When used with a 128GB card the recording time is approximately 720 minutes or approximately 45 minutes for every 8GB of storage.
Like almost every dash cam, the G-Sensor automatically protects video clips as an “Emergency File” when it detects a collision or vibration to protect them from being overwritten as the device records in a loop, overwriting the oldest files when the card is full.
The parking monitor feature allows the device to monitor the vehicle even when the engine is switched off using its built-in battery. If any vibration is detected by the G-Sensor, it will automatically turn on the dash cam and begin recording. Approximately 30 seconds after the vibration has finished, the device will automatically turn off and return to monitoring mode.
The 2.7″ LCD screen is large enough to easily operate the camera.
The GPS function saves the location data to a *.map file that can be used with the Z-Edge desktop software to display the location, speed, and route on Google Maps. At first, I thought this was an odd feature, but after opening the video file in the viewer I found it to be pretty neat. It displays the current time, latitude, longitude, current speed, max speed, average speed, total distance, and location on Google Maps and it updates as the video is played.
Sample Video:
What I like
Rear Camera
Dual Car Charger so you’ll still be able to charge something else
GPS Feature
What I’d change
Would like a dedicated save button for protecting files
Final thoughts
Overall this is a pretty nice dash cam. I think it will be my main dash cam for a while as it has all of the features I want.
Price: $139.99 Where to buy: Amazon Source: The sample of this product was provided by Z-Edge.
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