Wacom Inkling

Wacom has produced a new, unique product that we are very excited to try out. It is called the "Inkling" and it has the ability to capture what you draw with a physical ink pen on any plain sheet of paper. You can then transfer your drawing into the computer as vector lines. This is an incredible idea that will be very useful for illustrators, designers, and anyone who likes to doodle. Here is Wacom's promotional video for it.

Here is a comparison of a scan of an original drawing (left) and the vector file (right) that Inkling generated.

You can see it isn't exact, but still pretty impressive. If you click the image above you can see the YouTube review of the Inkling that this still was taken from. The lab will hopefully be adding the Inkling to our checkout inventory soon. Wacom has been releasing it in small batches on Amazon, and we haven't been able to grab ours yet.

How to Reserve Equipment in 90 seconds or less

Thanks to Jesse for this 90-second video walk-through of how to reserve the equipment we lend from here in the lab. You can make your reservation at http://checkout.sas.upenn.edu.

Now Lending Macbook Chargers

We're now lending Mac laptop chargers for you forgetful (or lazy) Mac owners who left yours at home. You can check one out for up to 4 hours at a time. Now that we're lending these in an official capacity, we are allowing borrowers to take them out of the lab as well.

More Flip Videocameras!

The Flip videocameras have proven so popular that we've purchased an additional 10 for our equipment lending program. They shoot Hi-Def video and they hold up to 2 hours of footage. Plus they're super easy to use--just press the big red button to record, then press it again to stop recording. You can charge the battery or transfer the footage to your computer with the built-in USB plug.

Reserve one online now at http://wic.library.upenn.edu/wicfacilities/lending.html

New Projectors Added!

The lab has added two new Infocus IN-104 Projectors to its inventory. You can go to our equipment page here to make a reservation.

Please return Equipment On Time!

Hey guys. Please be sure to return the equipment (video cameras, tripods, projectors, etc.) that you borrow from us on time. When you return equipment late, in addition to racking up some hefty late fines (none of that ten-cents-a-day stuff here in the lab. We charge $25 per day late starting one minute after the due time!), you are depriving your fellow students of the equipment that they need. Other students and staff depend on having that equipment for class assignments, recording performances, and even videotaping weddings. Remember, when you reserve equipment, you get to pick your own return day and time, so pick a time when you know you'll be able to bring it back--you'll save cash, and you won't inconvenience anyone else.

Now Lending Wacom Tablet

We're now lending a Wacom tablet as part of our equipment lending program. This is the Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet, and it you can use it with your fingers as well as with the electronic pen. As with our other equipment, you can borrow it for up to 3 days at a time. It comes with the tablet, the pen, and an installation CD that includes the PC/Mac software drivers and a short tutorial on how to use the tablet.

Ultimately it's really just a fancy mouse, so you can use it any way you like, but here in the lab, we mostly use tablets like this when we're using Photoshop, which can take advantage of the pressure sensitivity of the Pen, and it makes for a much more fluid experience when you're drawing or painting on the computer.

Login with your PennKey and reserve the tablet online at http://checkout.sas.upenn.edu/.

New Video Cameras

Exciting News! We just added 9 new video cameras to our equipment lending program. They're Aiptek Action HD GVS camcorders. Here's what you need to know:

The cameras record to SD or SDHC memory cards (not to tapes) that you will need to provide. Currently, the Computer Connection sells 4GB cards for $16 and 2GB cards for $13. You can figure out for yourself which is the better deal.

The cameras shoot in HD (1080p, 30 frames per second) at about 4GB per hour. They shoot standard definition (more than adequate for most people's needs) at only 2GB per hour.

The cameras also function as 5 megapixel point-and-shoot still cameras. The quality is a little better than you'd get from a 5 megapixel cell phone.

Although they do shoot in HD, and they do a good job, they are not quite the same quality as the Sony and Canon HD cameras we lend, and they don't shoot a very wide angle. But they are much smaller, lighter, cheaper ($200 replacement cost), and easier to use.

If you're curious, you can read the manual online at http://media.sas.upenn.edu/mms/manuals/manual-agvs.pdf

Equipment extensions for TG Break

Hi all. Our online equipment lending system only allows you to borrow equipment for up to 3 days at a time. But since Thanksgiving vacation is coming up, we'll be glad to extend your reservation until Monday, November 30 if you ask us when you come into the lab.

New Equipment Lending System

We've gone live with our new equipment lending system, WebCheckOut! You can get help and find more info at http://wic.library.upenn.edu/wicfacilities/lending.html

The web form you used to use to reserve equipment is gond, and it's been replaced with a snazzy new interface at http://checkout.sas.upenn.edu

We're eager to hear your feedback, so please let us know if you have any suggestions on how we can improve the system further.

(Oh, and we've lowered our late fines to $25 per day!)

Equipment Availability Calendar

We're switching soon (sometime next week if the stars are properly aligned) to a new equipment lending system. Please be patient with us, as these transitions rarely go without a few bumps. :)

One such bump is the loss of our public equipment availability calendar. Although the new system will let you know in real-time whether equipment is available on a given day and time, we will lose the single-view, easy-to-read calendar we've been using up until now. Sorry for any inconvenience!

Equipment Lending

Just a quick apology to those of you who tried to borrow video cameras and audio recorders over the last week. Our system was temporarily broken after a recent mail server upgrade, so we never received a lot of your requests. Sorry about that!! We're back up and running now, so hopefully those problems are behind us. Feel free to start submitting your requests again.

Missing Video Equipment

Hi All. We've had a wildly successful semester in terms of our equipment lending program. Never did we imagine that our video cameras and audio recorders and tripods would generate so much interest!

Unfortunately, we're missing several key parts of the equipment we lent. If you borrowed equipment this year, please check at home to see if you have a power cable/AC Adapter, the top plate to one of the tripods, a user manual, a windscreen for an audio recorder, a USB or firewire/iLink cable, or any other part of a kit that you may have accidentally forgotten to return. We'll be glad to take them back, no questions asked! :)

In the case of some of these parts (notably the power adapters for the video cameras), it has reduced our ability to meet existing equipment reservations, since there is no way to charge the batteries or plug in those cameras anymore, please double check at home before you move out for the summer! Thanks!