I just read on the makezine blog that the magazine is out.  Ladyada took it apart and there's pictures up.

I don't have any more infos.... That's why I'd like to have one under my soldering iron ^^

Well either way I'd like to get one to play with if I'm able to.  But I just want to know how excited I should be

I've been wondering what the street date is for this magazine, all I could find was "September".  And will the special covers be available in Canada?

And any more details, are they individual pixel or is each whole logo or image on the cover a single controllable unit (like a dot matrix LCD vs a device-specific LCD with all the possible images already there)?

I'm interested in the more technical side.  Years ago, I built something similar with a pic chip to tell me when someone posted a comment on my website.  It was a pain because it was serial, so it needed external power and a data cable.  And the PC side software was very kludgy and limited.

I've throught about remaking it with an ArduinoBT so I'd only need a wall transformer to plug it in anywhere in the room.  But I'd want a lot more functionality from the PC software (ambient orb stuff like stocks, weather, etc).  But web scraping scripts are so tedious to write and for the cost of an arduinoBT, I could buy an original ambient orb.

So I'd love to see what you come up with, especially on the PC end to send data to your orb.

I just came around this.
http://www.fleurey.com/weblogs/franck/index.php?2007/03/11/127-telecommande-ir-pour-nikon-d70-fabrication
It's in french, but maybe it can help you. It's an IR remote for the Nikon D70.

These Sony tiny cameras don't have an IR receiver at all.  For what it's worth, I'd much rather buy the Nikon D80 (D70 has been replaced) than the Sony.

Really... we've also got a W80 and that has been an excellent camera - no troubles over the year and a half or so that we have had it. "Beach" mode is funny though - everything comes out blue, even sand.

The camera was fine until it broke.  It's about 10 months old.  The screen is visibly cracked inside, but the camera was not dropped.  It was taken in a carry-on on a plane and when we got off the flight, it was like that.  Maybe the pressure change caused it, but there's no way it should.  Also the outside plastic over the screen is completely fine, it's the screen itself inside that is cracked.

I forget what happened to W60, but there was also one before that where the lens assembly fell off the camera.

The reason I hate Sony is it's proprietery, they take that silly non-standard memory.  Which seems to be working for them in this case because we're locked into another Sony or we have to rebuy the memory.

If you can compromise on something between a DSLR and point-and-shoot-compact, I can highly recommend Sony's H-series. I have a H9 (now superseded by H11) and it really is good. Great quality, and you just can't beat the 12x zoom that a larger body gives you.

I was playing with one of those in the store, and I do love that zoom range.  For me, I could probably compromise on that except that I'd just get the fullsize DSLR anyway (and just because of not having to carry 10 pounds of lenses with me, that H-series still looked tempting.  The person its for wants something to carry everywhere in her purse though, so the H series is too big for her.

Has an "automatic" mode for point-and-shoot, turn the dial to adjust separately or together the apeture/ISO/shutter/EV. Uses memory stick pro-duo, not sure if that's the type of memory stick you have, or if you have the old memory sticks.

Yes, it is the pro-duo.  The old camera was a W80, and before that a W60.  It's been a very bad track record as far as how long these cameras last too.

Only problem is there is no remote / external port (that I can find - let me know if anyone knows about it), so I don't think you can trigger the camera in any way besides pushing the button on the camera body.

That's something I was wondering about too but forgot to ask.  I'm pretty sure the W series doesn't have an external port either.  

I also like 3D photography which I do right now with a pair of disposable film cameras, so I'm kind of tempted to buy 2 of the same subcompact digitals since $20 for 2 cameras+2 developing does add up fast.

Not Sony Based, but there's a firmware hack that allows to run scripts

That's the program I'd heard about before.  It does sound interesting.

Personally, I hate Sony, but the original camera was bought with no input from me.  If it were my choice, the new camera would be a Nikon D80, but the person it's actually for doesn't want a big camera.

I guess at this point it's betwen a Canon SD-series or a lower end Sony just to use the memory we've got.

Due to a broken LCD screen, I'm looking to buy a new digital camera, and I was thinking I should get something more hackable this time.  The intervaluino is kind of an inspiration, along with other remote triggering projects.  I've heard of a Canon-based project to completely replace the firmware with something much more hacker friendly.

I'm not going to be the main user though, so it really has to be one of really tiny pocket cameras or the main user won't take it with her.

The last 2 were Sony (not my choice), so we have 10 gig of memory sticks and 2 batteries which give a strong incentive to buy Sony again.  The budget is around $300, but if the camera doesn't take Memory Stick, then 8 gig of memory has to come out of that budget.

Anyone have some suggestions?

Would people have any interest in a section here where people who have ideas they don't know how to implement could be matched up with developers who have some spare time or don't have any projects of their own to work on.  I'm sure there's a lot of people who would like working on a project that catches their interest but they might not have thought of on their own.