Review: Walter Isaacson's 'Steve Jobs'

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;"></span><br /> <div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;"> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="199" mce_src="http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/4388/jobsbiography1026.jpg" src="http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/4388/jobsbiography1026.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; height: 332px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 8px; max-width: 640px; width: 225px;" width="135" />I've just finished a marathon session of reading all the way through<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/steve-jobs/id431617578?mt=11" mce_href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/steve-jobs/id431617578?mt=11" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">Steve Jobs</span></a> on my iPad -- and I'm sure Jobs would have appreciated the odd harmony of people reading his life story on a device he helped create.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> After reading his biography, I'm no longer convinced that Steve Jobs would have liked me if we'd ever met in person. At least not at first. More likely, he'd have torn me a new one in our first meeting and told me that I sucked and everything I did was worthless. Then, in our second meeting, he'd have parroted my ideas back at me as though they were his own. It was apparently one of his signature moves, and it probably would have made me want to throw a chair at him.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> But even if I had been provoked that far, he most likely would have just bellowed that I should have thrown a better chair.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Reading biographies is perhaps a different experience for me than it is for most people, since I spent most of my Master's thesis examining the concept of truth in biographical works. Most of the memoirs, autobiographies, and biographies I've read have fallen into one of two categories. Either the text was something designed to lionize its subject and make him or her seem larger than life, or else the writer had taken pains to focus on only the parts of the subject's life that fit into a clean narrative arc while leaving everything else on the cutting room floor, an approach that leads to easy and almost cinematic storytelling but leaves out much of the facts.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Neither approach to biographical writing strikes me as particularly true; in fact, almost every biography I've read seems to contain about as much actual <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">truth</span> as an episode of <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">Star Trek</span>. The tendency to over-praise or over-dramatize is both pernicious and pervasive throughout the various forms of biographical texts.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Walter Isaacson's 656-page profile of Steve Jobs falls in neither category. It is quite possibly the <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">truest</span> biography I've ever read. In the process of telling the unvarnished truth about Steve Jobs, it dispels much of the myth and magic surrounding the man and his legacy. It does not depict Steve Jobs as the information age's equivalent of Moses descending from Mount Sinai with an iPad in each hand. It would have been easy for some misinformed hack to portray Jobs that way in a quick cash-in "unauthorized" biography soon after Jobs's death, but it also would have been closer to fiction than biography.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> What Isaacson gives us instead is a portrait of a man with keen insight, brilliant powers of observation, and a stubborn determination to "put a dent in the universe." However, the biography also depicts a man with deep flaws, some of which arguably contributed to his early death. It humanizes a man who's spent much of the past decade as a living legend in multiple arenas, and it gives valuable insight into the <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">person</span> Steve Jobs was, not just the icon he became.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> After reading his biography, I get the sense that no matter how brilliant Steve Jobs was or how many fundamental shifts in our landscape he spearheaded, in the end, he was as human as the rest of us. It's a testament to Isaacson's skill as a biographer that readers can at last obtain the picture of Steve Jobs as a human being rather than a legend.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Jobs's reputation as a control freak was legendary, yet he relinquished all control over the contents of his biography. It's a surprising move from a man who insisted on so much control over all of his life's projects -- the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad were all born and thrived partially because Jobs refused to cede control over them. Jobs explained his motivations to Isaacson for his atypically hands-off approach to the biography. Partially it was because he wanted his children to know him better, flaws and all. It was also because he wanted to make sure that only someone possessed of all the facts about his life would write his story. "When I got sick, I realized other people would write about me if I died, and they wouldn't know anything. They'd get it all wrong. So I wanted to make sure someone heard what I had to say."</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Jobs's biography manages to allow him to get the last word in many debates. Many of the people who have toasted both him and his achievements will find themselves bearing the brunt of his last barbs against them. Some, like Jobs threatening to go "thermonuclear" on Android, have already been outed. Others are a bit more deeply buried within the text, but once found they're both candid and a bit stunning.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> "IBM was essentially Microsoft at its worst," Jobs said, reminiscing about the early days of the personal computer revolution. "They were not a force for innovation; they were a force for evil. They were like AT&T or Microsoft or Google is." My jaw dropped at this quote, but another later on in the book was more alarming. Immediately after heaping praise on his successor, Tim Cook, Steve said, "Tim's not a product person, per se." Considering that at many other points in the book Jobs heaped scorn on people like Bill Gates or John Sculley whom he also considered more concerned with profits than product quality, his unfiltered opinion of Cook's product sensibilities definitely raised an eyebrow.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Much of the biography will be familiar to hardcore Apple enthusiasts. Chapters on the birth of the Macintosh will be familiar to anyone who's read Andy Hertzfeld's recollections at folklore.org, and if you're a regular TUAW reader there won't be too much in the chapters about the iPod, iPhone, or iPad that you haven't already read. Older Apple fans will likely find the earliest chapters about the founding days of Apple not much more than a refresher course. But I suspect that few people will be able to read the entire book and<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">not</span> discover some surprising fact about Steve Jobs that they didn't already know.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> If you come into <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">Steve Jobs</span> already hating him, the biography gives you plenty of reasons to hold onto that opinion. If instead you view Jobs as a personal hero, there are plenty of episodes within his life story that might make you reconsider that opinion. Isaacson doesn't shy away from describing Steve Jobs's darker moments or personality deficiencies, some of which border on the downright despicable. To put it lightly, Steve Jobs was not a "people person."</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> One of his ex-girlfriends read about Narcissistic Personality Disorder in the DSM and said, "It fits so well and explained so much of what we had struggled with, that I realized expecting him to be nicer or less self-centered was like expecting a blind man to see." Even his closest friends, like Apple design guru Jonathan Ive, noted that Jobs often exhibited a vicious and unnecessary lack of empathy for those around him. The fact that so many people all over the world have been lauding him since his death, both friends and dogged competitors, speaks to the complex and paradoxical nature of Steve Jobs, a man whose greatest goal was to establish empathy between people and technology but who often displayed precious little empathy of his own.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Isaacson's biography of Jobs isn't a character assassination by any means (though I do wonder why the first third of the book dwells so often on Jobs's body odor during the 1970s). That said, I still feel terrifically sorry for any employees who find themselves at the mercy of a supervisor who uses <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">Steve Jobs</span> as a managerial handbook, just like the legions of young would-be entrepreneurs trying to emulate the callous Mark Zuckerberg they saw in <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">The Social Network</span>.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> If anyone comes away from reading <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">Steve Jobs</span> thinking that being a leader makes it okay to be an asshole, they'll have missed about 99 percent of the point. Anyone can cut an employee to shreds or throw epic temper tantrums at the slightest provocation, but replicating Jobs's intuition, perfectionism, dedication, and vision is arguably something that only one person in seven billion can manage to pull off.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">Steve Jobs</span> is at its core the study of the man himself, but along the way it's also a fascinating history of the genesis, near-death, and resurgence of Apple. It also describes the birth, near-death, and ascendancy of Pixar, with fascinating details I've never read before. As the book follows Jobs through the personal computer revolution, the birth of the Macintosh, his "wilderness years" at NeXT and Pixar, and his return to Apple and subsequent paving over of the landscape for the music industry, cell phones, and tablet computing, Steve Jobs's biography also offers incredibly detailed insights into how our world shifted from the hobbyist computing era of the mid-'70s to the ubiquitous techscape we live in today. Steve Jobs didn't enact any of these revolutionary changes singlehandedly -- his biography takes pains to make that clear -- but he was most assuredly at or near the center of all of them.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Though the book makes his flaws obvious to readers, it also makes clear that we would be living in a very different world if Steve Jobs hadn't set out to put a dent in the universe. Anyone with even a passing interest in Apple's history, and anyone who's ever wondered how so very much about the technology landscape has changed so fundamentally in just 35 years, owes it to themselves to read this book.</div> </div> </div>

Review: Walter Isaacson's 'Steve Jobs'

I've just finished a marathon session of reading all the way through Steve Jobs  on my iPad -- and I'm sure Jobs would have appr...

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Buying Guide: Best compact camera 2011: 25 reviewed and rated

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 24px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px; max-width: 640px; padding: 0.6em;"> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="90" mce_src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Fuji%20X100/Fuji%20X100%20review%20-%20lens-200-200.jpg" src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Fuji%20X100/Fuji%20X100%20review%20-%20lens-200-200.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 640px;" width="120" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Finding the best compact camera for your needs is never going to be easy because the compact camera market is a very crowded place.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> There are literally hundreds - if not thousands - of digital compact cameras out there, waiting for you to ogle them, to scratch your heads over them, and eventually hand over your hard-earned cash for them.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Once the transaction is complete and you're unboxing your newest purchase, a nagging doubt enters your mind: did I make the right choice?</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The right choice, of course, depends on what you want from your digital camera. Maybe you're looking for a high-end compact camera to use on your DSLR's day off, or perhaps you want something more basic to help someone else get started in photography.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Whichever compact digital camera you might be looking for, we've pulled together a selection of what we believe are the 25 best compact digital cameras on the market now.</div> <ul style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; list-style-type: square; margin: 0px 0px 24px 1.5em;"> <li style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;">Best DSLRs for video: under £500</li> <li style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;">Best DSLR: top cameras by price and brand</li> </ul> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Best compact cameras 2011: High-end</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Fujifilm Finepix X100<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £999 Specs: 12.3MP, 23mm fixed-focus lens, hybrid viewfinder</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Fuji turned plenty of heads with this retro-tastic beauty, which makes use of a revolutionary hybrid viewfinder that combines an optical and an electronic viewfinder in one screen.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Looking to captivate hardened DSLR users, it offers plenty of control with an aperture ring, shutter-speed dial and raw mode.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Fuji X100 review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Canon PowerShot G12<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £539 Specs: 10MP, 5x optical zoom lens, 720p HD video</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> When it comes to the high-spec compact camera market, Canon has set the standard with the G-series, and raised the bar again with the PowerShot G12.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The Canon G12 offers full manual control and raw shooting mode as well as smart auto, which lets the camera take charge.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Add to this image stabilization, HDR capability and multi-aspect shooting, and you can see why this compact camera gives interchangeable lens cameras a run for their money.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Canon G12 review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Nikon Coolpix P7000<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £489.99 Specs: 10.1MP, 7.1x zoom lens, 720p HD video</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="P7000" class="aligncenter" height="189" mce_src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Nikon%20Coolpix%20P7000/nikon_p7000_7-420-100.jpg" src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Nikon%20Coolpix%20P7000/nikon_p7000_7-420-100.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 640px;" width="252" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The P7000 offers the full manual control that you'd expect from a pro-level camera, but comes with the automatic functions of a compact camera.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The Nikon P7000 has 18 different scene modes to help you capture everything from fireworks to museum visits, automatically corrects red-eye, and it even has a smile timer.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> This could be the best compact camera for you if you don't want a DSLR in your bag.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Nikon P7000 review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £458.99 Specs: 10MP, 3.8x optical zoom Leica lens with 24mm wideangle</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="DMC-LX5" class="aligncenter" height="189" mce_src="http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/6251/panasoniclumixlx5top142.jpg" src="http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/6251/panasoniclumixlx5top142.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 640px;" width="252" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> With its f/2.0 Leica lens and high ISO capabilities, the Panasonic LX-5 is a great low-light companion.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Its video mode allows you to record in HD, adjust the aperture or shutter speed when you're in creative mode, or have the camera take control in iA mode.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> You can even hook up this compact camera to an HD-enabled TV directly via the HDMI port, making this the best compact camera for any budding filmmakers out there.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Panasonic LX5 review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Olympus XZ-1<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £399.99 Specs: 10MP, 4x optical zoom lens, maximum aperture f/1.8</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> This might be the most stylish of the pro-level compact cameras, but the Olympus XZ-1 has substance to back it up.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> There's full manual control with a range of nifty features, such as a histogram, but it also has a full range of automatic settings and fun 'art modes'.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Add to this its bright Zuiko lens and HD video mode, and the Olympus XZ-1 is worth a long look.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Olympus XZ-1 review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Best compact cameras 2011: Ultra-compact, high-end</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Canon PowerShot S95<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £399 Specs: 10MP, 3.8x optical zoom lens, weighs 193g</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Since its launch in summer 2010, scarcely a bad word has been uttered about the Canon S95. You've got full manual control via the lens ring, or you can let the camera decide with smart auto.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The lens boasts a maximum aperture of f/2.0, you can make HD videos or shoot in raw. All of this - along with outstanding image quality, even in low-light - and the Canon S95 still fits in your pocket.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/compact-cameras/canon-powershot-s95-905262/review" mce_href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/compact-cameras/canon-powershot-s95-905262/review" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;">Canon S95 review</a></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Nikon Coolpix P300<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £299 Specs: 12MP, 4.2x optical zoom, 1080p HD video</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The Nikon P300 might give the Canon PowerShot S95 a run for its money with an f/1.8 lens and slightly higher resolution, but do bear in mind that it doesn't have raw capability and its sensor is slightly smaller.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> If you can live with that, though, Nikon might be on to a winner of the pocket-sized camera wars with a compact camera that records excellent still images and video for less than £300.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/compact-cameras/nikon-coolpix-p300-927281/review" mce_href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/compact-cameras/nikon-coolpix-p300-927281/review" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;">Nikon P300 review</a></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Samsung EX1<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £399.99 Specs: 10MP, 3x optical zoom, Schneider-Kreuznach lens, rotating screen</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="Samsung ex1" class="aligncenter" height="190" mce_src="http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/9158/samsungtl500420100.jpg" src="http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/9158/samsungtl500420100.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 640px;" width="252" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Samsung's EX1 led the way for pocket-sized, low-light prowess: f/1.8 lens, a large sensor and a maximum ISO 3200.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> It comes with full manual mode, records 720p HD videos, records raw files for extra editing flexibility and comes with HDR capability, and it even has a range of filters to let you get creative.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> What's that? You'd rather that the camera did the hard work? It's got a fully automated setting, too!</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our hands on Samsung EX1 review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Best compact cameras 2011: Travel compacts</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Nikon Coolpix S9100<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £299.99 Specs: 12MP, 18x optical zoom, 1080p HD video with stereo sound</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The potential for blur with an 18x optical zoom is high, but the Coolpix S9100 does have sensor shift and electronic vibration reduction in place.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> There's an ISO 3200 setting for low light situations and an easy-to-use panorama mode that lets you pan vertically or horizontally, as well as a heap of automatic settings to make life easier and a bundle of special effects to let you get creative.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Canon PowerShot SX230 HS<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £270, 12MP, 14x optical zoom, full manual option</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="SX230" class="aligncenter" height="189" mce_src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Canon%20PowerShot%20models/Canon_PowerShot_SX230_IS/Press_Images/image_PowerShot%20SX230%20HS%20FSL%20PINK_tcm14-813005-420-100.jpg" src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Canon%20PowerShot%20models/Canon_PowerShot_SX230_IS/Press_Images/image_PowerShot%20SX230%20HS%20FSL%20PINK_tcm14-813005-420-100.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 640px;" width="252" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The Canon SX230 is a great little compact camera for still images, but it seems to have been taken to heart extra warmly by the video crowd.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The PowerShot SX230 HS lets you record 1080p HD videos with stereo sound, in high-speed bursts or super slow motion.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> As for stills, the Canon SX230 enables you to take full control of your pictures or implement the smart auto mode with 32 different scene options. There's even a GPS function so you can track exactly where you took your pictures.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Canon SX230 HS review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £339 Specs: 16MP, 16x optical zoom, 3D and sweep panorama technology</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> If you fancy venturing into 3D territory, the Sony HX9V lets you go there with both stills and video. Video is 1050p full HD, too.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> There's also a GPS function to record your location, and if you're new to taking pictures there are in-camera instructions.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> This compact camera does miss out on Aperture and Shutter Priority modes, but it does allow you to shoot fully manual. I reckon this could be the best compact camera to have if you're about to go off on safari!</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Sony HX9V hands-on review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Casio Exilim ZR-100<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £299.99 Specs: 12.1MP, 12.5x optical zoom, panorama function</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> If its 12.5x zoom isn't enough, the Casio ZR-100 can virtually double this with its multi-frame SR zoom, which combines multiple shots to create one super-close, but sharp, image. Or you can get great landscapes with a 24mm wideangle shot.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> This Casio camera also boasts an HDR function, high-speed continuous shooting at 40 frames per second, and you can fiddle all you like with your photos in manual - or stick to automatic modes.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £369.99 Specs: 14.1MP, 16x optical zoom, touch screen</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> With GPS, HD video and 3D technology, the Panasonic TZ20 really does seem feature-packed.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> This Panasonic camera offers full manual capability as well as auto features that can be accessed via the rear touch screen.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> 'Intelligent zoom' means that the 16x optical zoom can be boosted to 21x with surprisingly good results, compared to what we're used to from digital zoom.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Panasonic TZ20 review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Fujifilm FinePix F550 EXR<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £329.99 Specs: 16MP, 15x optical zoom lens, raw or raw + JPEG option</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="FinePix f550" class="aligncenter" height="190" mce_src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Camera%20Announcements/2300_F550EXR%20Black%20Front%20-420-100.jpg" src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Camera%20Announcements/2300_F550EXR%20Black%20Front%20-420-100.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 640px;" width="252" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The Fuji F550 EXR gives you close-up and wideangle options, can geo-tag your images with its GPS function, has a ludicrously high maximum ISO of 12,800, makes HD video and even offers a panorama mode.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Combine all of that with its SuperCCD EXR technology (better sensitivity, dynamic range and resolution) and you should be well on your way to taking brilliant images.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Fuji F550 EXR review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Best Compact Cameras 2011: Super-zooms</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Canon PowerShot SX30 IS<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £429 Specs: 14.1MP, 35x optical zoom, zoom framing assist</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The Canon SX30 has an impressive 24-800mm focal range, which it backs up with zoom framing assist to help keep distant objects in the shot.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Smart Auto mode offers 28 different scenes, but full manual lets you take control. The Canon SX30 also lets you record 720p HD videos, get creative with a miniature effect, and snap away in low-light with confidence.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Canon SX30 IS review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Nikon Coolpix L120<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £249.99 Specs: 14MP, 21x optical zoom, 720p HD video with stereo sound</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The Nikon L120 features a staggering 35mm equivalent focal range of 25-525mm, giving you wideangle and great zoom capability. You can get as close as 1cm in macro mode, too, making the Coolpix L120 the ultimate long-distance and super-up-close weapon.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The vibration reduction feature is great at reducing camera blur as well. You can push the ISO to 6400, and of course there's video: 720p HD.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> If you know someone who wants to try a bit of everything with their camera, this could be the best compact camera for them.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Nikon L120 review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Olympus SZ-30MR<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £299.99 Specs: 16MP, 24x optical zoom, multi-recording allows simultaneous still and video capture</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Does the Olympus SZ-30MR do it all? Olympus thinks so, and we're inclined to agree.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> This compact camera offers an amazing 26-600mm (35mm equivalent) super zoom lens that should take care of most shooting situations.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> To that, you can add dual image stabilization, SLR-rivaling 9 frames per second continuous shooting, a fun (if slightly pointless) 3D stills mode, and - of course - 1080p HD video.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> And you can even capture stills at the time as shooting a video. Nifty!</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX100V<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £429 Specs: 16.2MP, 30x optical zoom, sweep panorama mode</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <img alt="HX100V" mce_src="http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/3451/sonyhx1003420100.jpg" src="http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/3451/sonyhx1003420100.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> This is one of the newest super-zooms out there, and Sony has packed in the features so it can compete in a busy market, from GPS to 3D stills, along with 1050p full HD video.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The Sony HX100V can shoot 10 frames per second, its sweep panorama makes capturing vistas easy and there's even in-camera editing.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Sony HX100V hands-on review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £399.99 Specs: 16MP, 30x optical zoom, manual mode</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Whether you want full control or prefer the camera to make the decisions, the Fuji HS20 gives you the options.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Its EXR technology helps to get the best out of every picture, and you can choose JPEG or raw formats.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> There's also a sweep panorama mode that's great fun to use. Simply find a panoramic view and wave your camera through the air to create a great-looking panorama.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/digital-slrs-hybrids/fujifilm-finepix-hs20-955473/review" mce_href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/digital-slrs-hybrids/fujifilm-finepix-hs20-955473/review" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;">Fuji HS20 EXR review</a></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Best compact cameras 2011: All-rounders</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Fujifilm FinePix Z90<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: 149.99 Specs: 14MP, 5x optical zoom, touch screen</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Coming in six different colours and with its quirky sliding cover, the Fuji Z90 is a stylish-looking camera.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Its touch screen makes for easy image and video capture, and there's an easy upload facility to put pictures directly on to FaceBook or YouTube.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Digital image stabilisation helps to prevent blur, and there are some in-camera editing functions, too. This is the best compact camera for the fashion-conscious, Facebook-conscious teen.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Fuji Z90 review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Pentax Optio S1<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £129.99 Specs: 14MP, 5x optical zoom, in-body recharging system</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> With a maximum ISO of 6400, autofocus tracking, some cool effects that you can apply to images, in-camera editing, and 720p HD video, this compact camera offers a whole heap of nifty features for your money.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The pictures aren't bad, either. With a great price-point and a solid level of tech built-in, the Pentax S1 is the best compact camera for someone just getting to grips with how to use a camera.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Canon IXUS 220 HS<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £199 Specs: 12.1MP, 5x optical zoom lens, HS system for low-light shooting</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <img alt="IXUS 220 hs" mce_src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Canon%20IXUS%20models/IXUS%20220%20HS%20FSL%20HOR%20RED%202-420-100.jpg" src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Canon%20IXUS%20models/IXUS%20220%20HS%20FSL%20HOR%20RED%202-420-100.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> A stylish stainless steel body conceals a camera capable of decent low-light shots, a Smart Auto mode with 32 different scenes, the ability to shoot without flash, HD video with super slow motion and high-speed burst options, along with a host of creative options, from fish-eye to toy camera effect.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> If you only want to own one camera and don't want to spend the Earth, the Canon IXUS 220 HS is the best compact camera for you and should be at the top of your list.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Canon IXUS 220 HS review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Samsung PL120<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £149.99 Specs: 14.2MP, 5x optical zoom, dual image display</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The Samsung PL120's front screen allows you to preview self-portraits to make sure you get them just right and it shows animations to keep little ones' attention when you switch on the children mode.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Add to that its range of effects, video mode, and in-camera editing function, and what you're looking at is a great heap of fun packaged into a quality camera that is the best compact camera for anyone with a young family.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Best compact cameras 2011: Waterproof cameras</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT3<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £369.99 Specs: 12.1MP, waterproof to 12m, freeze-proof to -10° Celsius, shockproof to 2m, dust-proof</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Panasonic's go-anywhere camera has a 4.6x optical zoom Leica lens, 3D photo capability and an optical image stabiliser.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> There's a built in GPS function, as well as an altimeter, a compass and a barometer. Whether your hazard of choice is sky- or scuba diving, you could do a lot worse than this little gem!</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Read our Panasonic FT3 review</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Olympus TG-810<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £269.99 Specs: 14MP, waterproof to 10m, shockproof 2m, crushproof to 100kg</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <img alt="TG-810" mce_src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Camera%20Announcements/Olympus%20TOUGH%20TG-810%20price-420-100.jpg" src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Camera%20Announcements/Olympus%20TOUGH%20TG-810%20price-420-100.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Not only can the Olympus TG-810 be dropped in the sea, trodden on and withstand temperatures of -10° Celsius, but its GPS can record where you took your pictures, some of which you might have shot in 3D, and then you can upload them to your PC wirelessly using Eye-Fi connectivity.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> And don't forget its 5x optical zoom and HD video mode, either. I'm not sure how much wi-fi you get in the jungle, but if that's where you're head this should be the best compact camera for your journey!</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX10<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" />Price: £319 Specs: 16.2MP, waterproof to 5m, shockproof to 1.5m, withstands -10° Celsius</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <img alt="DSC-TX10" mce_src="http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9904/dsctx1042090.jpg" src="http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9904/dsctx1042090.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="420" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> This camera won't look out of place beside the pool, and if you drop it in, it's no big deal.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The Sony TX10 also happens to have a 4x optical zoom lens, takes panoramas and 3D images, and records HD videos.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> It's a great combination of stylish and practical and will suit anyone who wants their camera to look as good as they do, and take pictures to match.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Related Links</span></div> <ul style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; list-style-type: square; margin: 0px 0px 24px 1.5em;"> <li style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;">Canon vs Nikon: which DSLR should you buy?</li> <li style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;">Best DSLR: top cameras by price and brand</li> </ul> </div> </span></div>

Buying Guide: Best compact camera 2011: 25 reviewed and rated

Finding the best compact camera for your needs is never going to be easy because the compact camera market is a very crowded place. T...

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Gary Marshall: ISPs are now the internet police

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 24px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px; max-width: 640px; padding: 0.6em;"> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="150" mce_src="http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/4567/newzbin200200.jpg" src="http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/4567/newzbin200200.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 640px;" width="200" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> And so it begins. BT has been ordered by the High Court of Justice to block access to Newzbin2, a site largely devoted to sharing illicit copies of files.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> It's the first time BT has been ordered to use its Cleanfeed porn-blocking system to block non-pornographic content.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> It won't be the last.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> And it won't do a damn thing to stop piracy.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Slippery slope</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The term slippery slope is banded about all too often, but this time it's justified. This is not a case of a firm being ordered to stop breaking the law. It's a firm being ordered to stop<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">other people</span>breaking the law. Today it's BT and Newzbin2; tomorrow, inevitably, it'll be other ISPs and other websites.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Worried yet? Let's ratchet things up a notch. How about ISPs being ordered to block sites that break the law in other countries? As The Guardian reports, a court ruling about<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">Star Wars</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>costumes opens the door for English people and organisations to face legal action for breaking other countries' copyright laws.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> It'd be funny if it weren't so serious: anyone with even a passing knowledge of how piracy works knows that going after specific sites is a giant game of whack-a-mole. But there's more to this than piracy. Blocking copyright infringement sets a dangerous precedent.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Copyright cops</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The BT ruling is worrying because it turns ISPs into censors, and of course copyright infringement isn't the only kind of content people would like to block.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> We've had calls to ban sites that espouse extreme political views, sites that promote anorexia, sites that discuss ways to commit suicide. If BT can block Usenet archives, why can't it block everything that anybody thinks is unpleasant or undesirable - like WikiLeaks, or anti-Scientology sites, or anything that isn't appropriate for under-fives?</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Crazy? Look at Australia, where child-protecting politicians seriously proposed an outright ban on all online content that wasn't suitable for children. If it wasn't behind an age verification system, the politicians said, ISPs should block it completely.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> As we reported in PC Plus: "Such mandatory filtering would be based on the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) blacklist, which, if the leaked version posted on Wikileaks is genuine, includes a dental surgery, a dog kennel and a travel agency."</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The legislation has been delayed on the grounds that it's completely bloody insane, but it may still make its way to the statute books in 2013.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The only difference between Australia and the UK that I can see is that their politicians shout "we must protect the children!" while our politicians seem more concerned about protecting corporations.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> As I wrote a few weeks ago: "This week, bad things include MP3s and streaming football matches. Next week, who knows?"</div> </div> </span></div>

Gary Marshall: ISPs are now the internet police

And so it begins. BT has been ordered by the High Court of Justice to block access to Newzbin2, a site largely devoted to sharing illic...

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Gary Marshall: Why banning porn won't protect children

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/computing/internet-and-broadband/images/adsl-broadband-cable-200-200.jpg"><br /><P>Maybe it's because I'm the father of a wee girl, but my reaction to the government's <a href="">ISP porn-blocking plans</A> wasn't an immediate cry of "Nanny state! Nanny state!"</P><br /><P>There's some awful stuff out there, and I don't think kids should see it any more than I think <EM>The Human Centipede</EM> should be shown on cBeebies. </P><br /><P>I think I'm pretty consistent on this. I don't think seven-year-olds should play <EM>Call of Duty: Black Ops</EM>, and I don't think Frankie Boyle is the best choice of entertainer for your four-year-old's birthday party. </P><br /><P>If reports are correct, the government wants ISPs to adopt a scheme rather like the ones mobile phone networks already have. My mobile phone operator, Orange, has an adult content filter. I didn't know it was there until I tried to access that notorious cradle of filth, Boing Boing. To see the blog post I'd requested, I had to call Orange and ask for the adult content filter to be lifted. </P><br /><P>It wasn't a big deal. The girl in the call centre didn't ask why I wanted the bar removed, and if she thought I was calling from inside a bin bag full of ball gags she didn't let on. </P><br /><P>So there you go: a porn filter is no biggie.</P><br /><P>Maybe that's true on mobile, where you don't generally share your phone and you probably PIN-lock it too. Shared connections are different.</P><br /><P>A firewall for filth won't work, and it could easily be a force for ill.</P><br /><P><STRONG>It's all pointless</STRONG></P><br /><P>The first and most obvious problem is that sites will find ways around it, and sites that shouldn't be blocked will be.</P><br /><P>The second problem is that it sets a precedent. If ISPs filter legal pornography – they already filter the illegal stuff – then what other legal things can we get them to block? Sites that include bittorrent links? Places where people plan anti-government protests? Places offering advice about drugs, or sex, or anything else tabloids and lobby groups might disapprove of?</P><br /><P>And of course, there's the biggest problem of all, the hole in the digital dyke nobody can plug.</P><br /><P>Other parents.</P><br /><P>As a parent, I'm well aware that it's my responsibility to keep my kids away from filth. The problem is that I can't ensure that <EM>you</EM> keep <EM>your</EM> kids away from it. </P><br /><P>At the height of the <EM>GTA IV</EM> controversy, I was on a radio phone-in show when a bloke called in with a Ban This Sick Filth rant. "I think it's terrible that my grandson plays this stuff," the man said. How old was the kid? "Seven." Who'd bought him <EM>GTA IV</EM>? "Me." </P><br /><P>How do you filter idiocy like that?</P><br /><P>Research into kids' experiences of online porn find that most of the stuff younger kids see is shown to them, or sent to them, by somebody else – usually other kids. If one parent doesn't filter, if one parent couldn't care less what his or her little darlings do online, then sooner or later those little darlings are going to share what they see; if one child finds a way to get round the filter, that information will spread faster than nits.</P><br /><P>I can censor my computer. How do I censor your kids?</P>

Gary Marshall: Why banning porn won't protect children

Maybe it's because I'm the father of a wee girl, but my reaction to the government's ISP porn-blocking plans wasn't an imme...

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Biometric Technology, Are They New Toys For Children?

<br /> <p>As a mother, I can truly understand how parents across the world feel about their children. The parent-child relationship is a universal one. It crosses languages, barriers, and borders and speaks the same language of love and protection. All parents have the same goal - to protect their children from the problems of the world. Obviously, most parents would like their children to grow to be model citizens and they would never want their children to be associated with anything criminal. Fair enough... but (and of course there is a but to everything, isn't there?) there are two sides to everything. The knife that we use to cut fruits and vegetables could also be used to kill! Does this mean that we should stop using it?</p><p>I believe it all depends on how people look at things. We can choose to be positive and to look at all the positive aspects of life, or we can choose to be pessimistic and to be threatened by every fly that passes by. (Flies can carry germs!)</p><p>Recently, I have been reading countless accounts of parents who are paranoid about fingerprinting their children, and so far I haven't been able to understand what the real issue at hand is. We have made numerous technological advancements to make our lives easier. We believe that now, in the 21st century, we are more civilized than man has ever been. So why are we not able to accept certain changes which come due to new technology? Is it because we are inherently pessimistic and cynical? I'm sure that when Marie Curie discovered Nuclear Physics her intentions were clearly not to create nuclear bombs. Humanity has benefited greatly from the development of nuclear science. Still, every time we hear the word nuclear we think of bombs and wars. It is the pessimistic nature of modern man that guides our thought process in this way.</p><p>It is true that fingerprinting has been used in the past for identifying criminals. However, the technology has evolved just as most technologies tend to do. It is rare to see someone today with a car phone or with a computer the size of an entire room. These technologies have evolved, and certainly for the better. Today, fingerprinting is generally used as a device to accurately identify people. In fact, there are a number of other biometric technologies available. Such technologies include signature readers, retina scanners and DNA samples. These have all been used to identify criminals at some point or another. But DNA is also used for many scientific tests and the study of DNA has advanced so greatly that medical science could not possibly think of doing away with it. If you were being treated for a sickness and your DNA needed to be analyzed for a possible genetic disorder, would you choose to die instead because DNA sampling is used to identify criminals? Of course this is an extreme example, but I doubt that anyone answered "Yes, of course!"</p><p>We show our children TV shows like Star Trek, The Jetsons, etc. All children have seen doors slide open and computers accessed by using fingerprinting technology "in the future". Why can't we realize that "the future" could be now, if we would only allow it to happen?</p><p>Parents are concerned that their child's fingerprint will be stored in some kind of database. To be honest, I was also concerned about this at first. However, I felt that I should gather extensive knowledge about the technology before I shot it down without a second thought. I have done online research and contacted reputable firms that offer biometric technology like M2SYS, Motorola, NEC (citations to these websites are given below) etc.</p><p>M2SYS they are an American reputable leading company in fingerprint biometric technology and most of their clients are private firms, school, gyms, banks, clinics, etc.<br /><br>Motorola and NEC are big multibillionaire companies that produce high-fi biometric technologies for big government agencies all around the world.</p><p>These companies confirmed what really happens when an individual is fingerprinted. It basically breaks down into an initial enrollment process and an identification process. During initial enrollment, an individual scans his fingerprint for the first time. The biometric software recognizes certain unique, key points of this individual's fingerprint. These points are then converted into a series of numbers, or a binary string. Then, each time the individual scans their fingerprint for identification, an algorithm is used to determine if the binary numbers match up with the fingerprint. If they do, then voila! The software provides instant and secure identification.</p><p>If you are still scratching your head at this point, you are not alone - I was too. Most of us will never understand the entire science involved in biometric identification. But what is easy to understand is this: every software company uses a different algorithm. There is not some magic, all-encompassing fingerprint algorithm that every company uses within their software to identify people. This means that if you had two children attending schools in different districts that were both using fingerprint identification by different biometric companies, and you accidentally sent them to the wrong schools (Mondays...) there is no way that either child could be identified. Their prints are not stored in some common database. All that is ever stored is a binary number associated with points of their prints that can only be accessed by the company that has provided the biometric software. These companies are not even associated with the government. They are mostly private technology companies just looking to sell their software solutions.</p><p>Biometric technology can be beneficial to our children by improving the security at schools and increasing the overall safety of our children, all with binary numbers which are useless to anyone but the private biometric company. I would advise every parent to do some research into the realities of biometric identification and to unveil the myth behind the infamous fingerprinting technology.</p><p>Of course if we want to think negatively, nothing is one hundred percent foolproof. Computers make our lives easier but they can be hacked too. However, if the biometric software is hacked, the thief would be disappointed that all he would receive were the useless strings of numbers. As one company put it, it would be easier to steal fingerprint data from something a child had touched than to design an intricate reverse algorithm; all to retrieve a useless series of points of a fingerprint.</p><p>Life is full of possibilities if we think positively and are open to new technology. I, for one, am more interested in my child safely growing up in a world full of amazing technological advances that my generation could never have even dreamed. I believe that this world is possible if we don't hinder its progress by bashing advancements that we know nothing about. In the end, we may all have different opinions, but I am asking that we all gather knowledge about each new technology before we ruin a great possibility for our children.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p><a href="http://www.m2sys.com" target="_new"> <a href="http://www.m2sys.com" target="_new">http://www.m2sys.com</a></a> <a href="http://www.nec.com" target="_new"> <a href="http://www.nec.com" target="_new">http://www.nec.com</a></a></p><p>AUTHOR?S NAME: Nancy Williams<br> OCCUPATION: Administrative Associate</p> <br />

Biometric Technology, Are They New Toys For Children?

As a mother, I can truly understand how parents across the world feel about their children. The parent-child relationship is a universal...

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