PZIZZ
Pzizz is a relaxation therapy that aims to tackle sleep deprivation. Pzizz is a Windows and Mac OS X program designed to generate configurable audio tracks to help the user gain a specific body state. The software is free but in order to use it you must purchase pzizz modules. The current modules are Energizer and Sleep. The software claims to be unique in the fact that the tracks are generated on the go and each track is different in the voice and audio. A user can set adjustable presets for each module. The user can customize things such as track length, if it has voice or music and the volume levels of the voice or music. The software can also generate a WAV or MP3 file for on-the-go listening.

Energizer
The energizer module is designed to allow the user to have a short nap between 10 and 60 minutes. The nap is designed to leave the person feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. The time period can be extended to 90 minutes for use with polyphasic sleep patterns.

Sleep
The sleep module is designed to play soothing tracks to help a person get to sleep. The tracks play between 10 and 60 minutes.

There is also an option of purchasing hardware for Pzizz that currently only operates with the Energizer module. Users cannot adjust volume of voice / music independently of each other. This hardware has pzizz preinstalled and is ready to go.

Kate’s Opinion: I am in love with pzizz! It is such a great concept and I love how easy it is to use. The hardware makes it extremely simple for less tech-savvy people to use, and it is very cute! The only downside is that the hardware only works for the energizer module, and it would be great to be able to use it for the sleep one as well. The software is easy to use and it integrates well with iPods and MP3s. One of the major features of the software is the ability to select the audio features that you prefer and custom pzizz to your own specifications. I love it!

HEALING RHYTHMS GUIDED TRAINING PROGRAM

Healing Rhythms is the first biofeedback training program that brings together the most prominent leaders in the field of health and wellness and combines their guidance with on-screen graphics. This package aims to create a happy mind and a healthy body. Healing Rhythms combines effective biofeedback training with guided meditation and breathing techniques, allowing you to transform the rhythms of your mind and body as they play together on-screen.

This package aims to optimize sleep patterns, reduce stress, increase well-being, and achieve optimal health as you rediscover your body’s natural healing rhythms.

Healing Rhythms is a 15 step whole-body training program that includes:
• iom biofeedback hardware and finger sensors
• 30 unique breathing and meditative relaxation exercises lead by the most prominent leaders in health and wellness
• 15 interactive biofeedback events that let you watch your mind and body at play on screen
• Grapher Mode where you can monitor your body’s physical and emotional response in real-time, helping you to change and improve your reactions to stress.
• A 4-color, 98 page training manual to help you integrate these skills into your daily life

Kate’s Opinion: This product is really well put together, as it is visually stunning and the audio is extremely soothing. The use of multiple experts is interesting and if this is practice is something that you follow - then this product is ideal. I am not one for meditating, and I found that the product was a little over the top for me. I like the fact that it is designed to encourage personal time to relax and unwind, and because it is talking you through these precesses, this seems to come naturally. However, I found everything just a little too long winded, and my impatience for the stages counteracted the relaxation process. One thing that is extremely cool are the fingers sensors, which monitor your heart rate and sweat secretion, although these too are a little finicky and require you to sit very still!

PRODUCTS SHOWN

Pzizz
Brainwave Ltd
$29.95 US per module – Energizer and Sleep (download only)
$49.95 US for both (download only)
$147 US Hardware

Healing Rhythms
The Wild Divine Project
$299.00 US
($129.95 US – software only)

When you think of photography, the first thing that springs to mind for many people is the camera’s glass lens — whether it’s a big lens or a small lens, that lens is always there. In fact, you can’t even TAKE a picture without the lens there to focus the image coming into the camera….or can you?

Welcome to the world of pinhole cameras. For many years, people have created their own makeshift cameras using nothing more than a lightproof box and a tiny pinhole to allow the image in. An extremely small hole in the side of a thin piece of material has a lens effect, allowing light rays to pass through to the film on the other side without dispersing in all directions. In other words, a very tiny hole acts as a lens — a lens without focusing or zoom capabilities, but a lens nonetheless.

Pinhole cameras can be constructed in a variety of ways, usually from scratch with available materials, but those who want to play around with pinhole photography don’t necessary have to build their own gear from scratch…in fact, many Digital SLR users can jury rig their own pinhole camera in just a few minutes with little more than a tiny drill bit, because the lens hole cover will often serve just fine as the location for the pinhole.

Before you start the mini surgery required to make this work, the first thing you want to do is make sure your camera will fire without the lens included: some digital SLR cameras will not allow you to press the shutter unless there’s a lens installed. Simply take your lens off, turn the camera on and press the shutter button (switch to manual shooting mode). If the mirror moves out of the way and a picture is taken, you’re good to go. If the camera simply won’t shoot without a lens, this technique is not going to work without a bit more hacking…which I won’t recommend. This is meant to be a quick and dirty (and minimally-damaging) trick.

To modify the lens hole cover, you need to make sure that you find the very center of the cover — having it off-center will affect the quality of the images. One way to do this is to slide a ruler across the diameter of the cover until it’s clearly at its widest point and then mark a line across it….do that from several different angles, and then the point where they intersect will be the center.

To drill the hole, you need to exercise caution. Your best choice is a tiny hand drill with an exceptionally tiny bit. I used a tiny modelmaker’s drill holder from Lee Valley Tools (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=41753&cat=1,180,42337) with a tiny tiny bit. You can do it with a regular drill but you have to be very careful not to go all the way through the cap if your drill bit is too big…you only want something the size of a pinprick, ideally. If you get most of the way through, you can put the final pinprick hole in with…well, a pin. (If you’re over-eager and drill all the way through, you will have to figure out a way to make the outside of the hole light-fast again, potentially with a piece of stiff tape or aluminum foil —something that you can put a pinprick hole in that will hold the shape of the hole after the pin is removed.

Once the hole is in place you simply screw the lens hole cover back on and mount the camera on a tripod — you’ll need longer exposures for proper pictures thanks to the smaller amount of light coming into the camera. (In fact, you might not even be able to see anything through the camera’s viewfinder — the images will reveal themselves through long exposures.)

1. Explain that many people resist shooting RAW because they believe that they will have to manually adjust each image in Adobe Camera RAW.
2. Demo how to set up the default settings or Auto settings in ACR. I will only touch on this very quickly and explain it in more detail in later segment.
3. Demo the setup of the “Image Processor” and show how it can produce both Hi-Res Photoshop files and Web ready JPEG images automatically.
4. Explain that you can still go back and do adjustments on your “special images”.