I was just telling my wife last week (somewhat jokingly) that I "needed" one of these pens. How about a RT-branded one? ;)

I feel like every sample movie on the Lomo website looks like a music video (in a good way). Their tutorial on how to create digital movies suggests using a flatbed scanner to digitize each frame individually. Seems like a real pain in the rear. I would find the camera more enticing if they offered a deal in which they processed a roll and gave you a CD with the frames as individual files. Still, it would be fun to play around with.

I think this is an important part of it. The Ford Ecoboost V-6 is rated at 17/23 mpg, which pickup probably buyers think is great. I suspect its mere existence is one of the reasons Ford is dropping the Ranger here in the U.S. It certainly seems like it would be a good way to prop up sales of the company's most important vehicle.

Great catch. I hadn't even noticed that.

Almost 190 inches long? Does that make this the longest Ferrari ever? The greenhouse on that thing is seriously huge. Though I think it might answer a trivia question: Where did Buick steal the Reatta front end from?

There are some pretty Soviet watches out there, no doubt. But day windows are not common or, unless they were made for export, not in English.

Yeah, the overwhelming popularity of the diver watch puzzles me a bit. They're nice and all -- and I don't begrudge anyone who likes them -- but they don't quite look right with a suit, at least to my eye.

Regarding factory-installed tape decks, the Times story cites industry-watchers and iSuppli specifically on the Lexus angle. (Though I couldn't easily put a finger on any kind of iSuppli report about it.) It wouldn't surprise me if there was leftover inventory or something among other carmakers. That certainly would be expected among orphan brands like Mercury.

With poorer handling and braking, sure.

Hilarious! This might be my favorite RetroThing comment ever.

Here's the LACMA blog item mentioning it, though it is short on details: http://lacma.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/chris-burdens-metropolis-ii-on-its-way-to-lacma/ I suspect it will take a while to move and install.

Really slick, especially considering the price. I gotta say, music apps are the one area where it's clear to me that smartphones and tablets aren't just about consuming content. You can make some fun stuff with them.

So in a random poll of two Retro Thing editors, Victrola wins. Unfortunately, I sort of assume interest in that name will not be confined to vintage technology fanatics. I do wonder how low the bottom is. About one-third of the trademark auctions have no reserve, which makes me wonder if you could pick up a Crustquick or Permastrate for $500.

Those are some nice Accutrons! Day and date indicators are must-haves for me, which is why I am partial to Seiko 5s myself (though I would be willing to make an exception for the above Bulova).

Old Original Bookbinder's was a restaurant in Philadelphia. It's now an Applebee's. (There actually was a Bookbinder's as well. It confused the heck out of tourists when both were still operating.) The Windrift in Avalon, N.J. is still there though. Great beach town.

I should note that my terrible camera work -- a small point-and-shoot sans tripod -- makes the screen look somewhat worse than it is. The whole tennis picture in particular looks blurrier than it is in reality.

It is true that projected film looks softer than the digital projection systems now being installed in most theaters. I imagine that standard def mimics that softness nicely.

Some thoughtful responses! (And thanks, DouginPDX, for the detailed rundown on improving SD viewing. I actually have been meaning to re-adjust my settings.) I should say that I think high-def TVs look great. But I also think it's wasteful -- and a sign of our throwaway society -- to toss a perfectly good TV in the recycling bin. (Even though I might end up doing it anyway). When I was a kid, it seemed everyone had 20- to 30-year-old TVs. Thirteen years seems about the half-life to me. In the end, I will get a high-def set, probably sooner rather than later. While I love me some Hulu, a PC-only solution doesn't quite fit my lifestyle. But it's worth noting that we've reached the tipping point, in a way. From what I can gather, only about half the households in the US even have HD sets. But over the past year or so, broadcasters have focused solely on improving the experience of HDTV owners, at the expense of standard-definition viewers. That's not a complaint; it's just a fact. And it's probably going to push fence-sitters like me into buying.

I love the cadence of that 1905 joke. "What's delaying my dinner?" They would never write it that way today.

Thanks for the link. That's an interesting read. As the linked news story notes, at least some of these discs were recorded at 33 1/3.

That is fortunate! It sounds totally bonkers. And I mean that in a good way.