DEMAND for Sony camcorders with the so-called NightShot feature has shot up
after a men鈥檚 magazine in Japan reported that the camera can see through
people鈥檚 clothing if it is used in daylight.
The camera records images in the dark, for example wildlife or street scenes,
by emitting invisible infrared light, which reflects off the subject. The image
sensor in the camera then converts the infrared into a visible image.
Infrared, which is a natural component of daylight, would spoil normal
shooting, so NightShot filters it out during the day. A 鈥渘ight vision鈥� switch
moves the filter out of the way for filming in the dark. But according to the
men鈥檚 magazine, if this night vision switch is left on in daylight, the camera
can see through clothes to pick up infrared from underwear and flesh.
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When the discovery made front-page news in Japan, an embarrassed Sony said it
had halted production and would change the design. In the meantime, shops are
laughing as they sell off their stocks of camcorders featuring NightShot to
people who would never have bought one otherwise.
But be warned if you are thinking of doing the same. Strictly in the cause of
science, Feedback joined a bunch of engineers who had obtained one of the
cameras and were pointing it at some obliging female volunteers in and around a
TV studio. For most of the time, the pictures showed no more underwear than was
visible to the naked eye. It seems at least some of the effect may be in the
eyes of the beholders at that men鈥檚 magazine.
WALLACE SAMFORD, formerly the world鈥檚 most notorious spammer, has suddenly
got himself into the good books of some of his erstwhile enemies. He has started
a website at http://www.sanfordwallace.com that is totally unrelated to
spam.
Among other things, Sanford puts out music on the site under the name of DJ
Spammy. Even 鈥渟pamkillers鈥� such as Cabal Agent No 1 (people who make it their
life鈥檚 quest to discomfit spammers tend to have pseudonyms like this) have given
the site their seal of approval.
鈥淟ooks like he really is into the music thing,鈥� Agent No 1 tells fellow
spamkillers in a recent posting on the Net. 鈥淭he music isn鈥檛 half bad either, if
you鈥檙e into techno or house music.鈥�
Perhaps Chris Knight, who is currently being sued as allegedly responsible
for the odious WorldTouch spam
(Feedback, 11 July, and
This Week, 8 August, p 13),
should take note.
THANK YOU Dieter Britz for telling us about a friend who visited the
mountains of Brunei. She was interested to discover that there were two guided
tours per day鈥攐ne in the morning and one in the afternoon鈥攖o Sunset
Point, a noted beauty spot.
The tour organisers publish a wise disclaimer, though: 鈥淣o sunset viewing on
the morning tour.鈥�
SINCE WE reported on the 鈥渟alt鈥檔鈥檝inegar flavoured salt鈥� being marketed by
Saxa (18 July), several readers have written in to tell us about a similar
product in New Zealand.
It seems that a few years back the New Zealand government passed a retail law
which prevented supermarkets from selling 鈥渙rdinary鈥� milk, in an attempt to
protect local corner shops and home-delivery services. The big stores, however,
were allowed to continue selling 鈥渇lavoured milk鈥�, presumably on the grounds
that this was considered to be a confectionery rather than a food.
The supermarkets hit back in the simplest possible way by producing and
selling 鈥渕ilk-flavoured milk鈥濃�攐rdinary milk with milk powder added. This
was so similar to 鈥減ure鈥� milk that people happily bought it as such. A few
months later the government was obliged to repeal the law.
A POT of Yoplait yoghurt can kill animals, says the San Jose Mercury
News. The Californian newspaper reports that the Animal Protection
Institute claims thousands of skunks die each year when they get trapped in
discarded Yoplait containers while attempting to lick the remains of the yoghurt
out of them.
Protesters have caused such a stink over this that Yoplait has designed a
new, more skunk-safe container. So if the next pot of yoghurt you buy is
labelled 鈥渟kunk-friendly鈥�, you will know why.
AS A peer review journal, Nature is usually the first to report the
research that appears in its pages. Just occasionally, however, the magazine
gets scooped.
Thus a 鈥渘ews鈥� item in the journal at the beginning of August reported that it
rains more often at weekends than on weekdays. But this wasn鈥檛 news to Feedback,
who enjoys dipping into the humour magazine The Annals of Improbable
Research.
In the March/April issue of that journal, David Schultz of the National
Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma, reported the same phenomenon. Will
Nature reprimand its referees for failing to notice prior
publication?
BOOTS, the great British store, is nothing if not frank about the
pharmaceuticals it sells. The notes accompanying its Hayfever Relief Nasal Spray
openly confess: 鈥淎s with most medicines, this nasal spray can sometimes cause
side effects. These are minor, such as sneezing.鈥�
MEANWHILE, Brian Beckett鈥檚 doctor recently prescribed him some Proctosedyl
ointment, which has been developed by Roussel Laboratories to treat 鈥減ain,
irritation and itching鈥� of the skin.
鈥淲hat about side effects?鈥� asked a leaflet that came with the ointment. It
went on to warn that 鈥渟ome patients may suffer from itching and pain鈥�.