Digital Technology

The Photographic Resource Center at Boston University is commonly referred to as the PRC. For the next six weeks, an apter acronym might be VSRC - as in Visualization Sciences Resource Center. "Visualization sciences" (who knew there was such a thing?) is what one of the eight artists in "Syntax" holds a master's degree in. But in a sense, visualization sciences is what they all practice. The show runs at the VSRC - er, PRC - through May 10. Visualization sciences is a more comprehensive, and perhaps more accurate, term than photographic resource to describe the contents of "Syntax.

NEW YORK — The saxophonist on the subway platform is wailing out — could it be? Yes, it actually is — the music from Wagner's "Siegfried. " Four giant Wagner-themed banners hang from the balcony of the Metropolitan Opera House. Wagnerians visiting from Europe can be heard in heated debate at restaurants all the way down in Greenwich Village. There is no mistaking it: The "Ring" cycle has returned to New York City. The Met has been rolling out new productions of the four "Ring" operas individually over the last two seasons, but only in recent weeks has the "Ring," as...

"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" is a paradox: a film that uses the digital technology of the future to build a hand-tinted, hyperstylized fever dream of the past. Filmmaker Kerry Conran has made a soaring action adventure that's both a glorious labor of love and, in the end, irrelevant. No one has really been asking for a fusion of "Independence Day," Fritz Lang's "Metropolis," and an old Buck Rogers serial, but here it is anyway, and the only thing keeping it from greatness is a good story.

Mike Libby's Insect Lab studio is full of butterflies, beetles, and dragonflies with the gauzy wings and iridescent colors of Mother Nature's finest work. But look closely. The 3-inch beetle with the brilliant green carapace is implanted with mechanical components, a cyborg of tiny cogs, wheels, gears, and springs. Libby combines real insect bodies with the inner workings of old wristwatches, sewing machines, and typewriters in an ingenious and artful blend of nature and technology.

Mike Libby's Insect Lab studio is full of butterflies, beetles, and dragonflies with the gauzy wings and iridescent colors of Mother Nature's finest work. But look closely. The 3-inch beetle with the brilliant green carapace is implanted with mechanical components, a cyborg of tiny cogs, wheels, gears, and springs. Libby combines real insect bodies with the inner workings of old wristwatches, sewing machines, and typewriters in an ingenious and artful blend of nature and technology.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Eastman Kodak Co. will stop making digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and digital picture frames. Founded in 1880, Kodak was known all over the world for its Brownie and Instamatic cameras and its yellow-and-red film boxes. But the company was battered by Japanese competition in the 1980s and was later unable to keep pace with the shift from film to digital technology. The Rochester, N.Y., company, which sought bankruptcy protection last month, will phase out the product lines and look for other companies to license its brand for them.

Francis Ford Coppola is turning big-screen movies into a live, interactive experience. The filmmaker showed an audience at the Comic-Con fan convention Saturday portions of his upcoming creepy tale "Twixt," a film whose theatrical release will be preceded by a national tour in which Coppola will oversee a different version each night. Coppola says digital technology allows him to add scenes, lengthen or shorten sequences, shuffle the action around, alter music and make other tweaks depending on how that night's audience is responding to the film.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Kodak's moment has come and gone. The glory days when Eastman Kodak Co. ruled the world of film photography lasted for more than a century. Then came a stunning reversal of fortune: cutthroat competition from Japanese firms in the 1980s and a seismic shift to the digital technology it pioneered but couldn't capitalize on. Now comes a wistful worry that this icon of American business is edging toward extinction. Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, raising the specter that the 132-year-old trailblazer could become the most storied...

EVENTS Brockton: When you're at "Michael Cooper: A Sculptural Odyssey, 1968-2001," look closely at "Trainer Tricycle III. " The frame of the child's tricycle is a handgun, making a statement about violence in our society. On view through May 13. Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St. 508-588-6000. Dedham: Bowl Your Heart Out is a bowling tournament benefiting Children's Hospital Boston Team Miles for Miracles. Teams of four play two games each. The top four scores will advance to the final round.

Peter Jackson is making his hobbits and dwarves march double-time in his "The Lord of the Rings" prequel, which he's shooting in a faster film speed than the Hollywood standard. Jackson hopes the 48-frames-a-second rate — twice the 24 frames that has been the custom since the 1920s — will help bring about a gradual transition to faster speeds that can bring more life-like images and action to the screen. Digital cameras allow for shooting at 48 frames or faster, reducing the blurry effect known as strobing that can come with 24-frame filming.

EVENTS Brockton: When you're at "Michael Cooper: A Sculptural Odyssey, 1968-2001," look closely at "Trainer Tricycle III. " The frame of the child's tricycle is a handgun, making a statement about violence in our society. On view through May 13. Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St. 508-588-6000. Dedham: Bowl Your Heart Out is a bowling tournament benefiting Children's Hospital Boston Team Miles for Miracles. Teams of four play two games each. The top four scores will advance to the final round.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Eastman Kodak Co. said today that it will stop making digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames, marking the end of an era for the company that brought photography to the masses more than a century ago. Founded by George Eastman in 1880, Kodak was known all over the world for its Brownie and Instamatic cameras and its yellow-and-red film boxes. But the company was battered by Japanese competition in the 1980s, and was then unable to keep pace with the shift from film to digital technology.

Peter Jackson is making his hobbits and dwarves march double-time in his "The Lord of the Rings" prequel, which he's shooting in a faster film speed than the Hollywood standard. Jackson hopes the 48-frames-a-second rate — twice the 24 frames that has been the custom since the 1920s — will help bring about a gradual transition to faster speeds that can bring more life-like images and action to the screen. Digital cameras allow for shooting at 48 frames or faster, reducing the blurry effect known as strobing that can come with 24-frame filming.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Kodak's moment has come and gone. The glory days when Eastman Kodak Co. ruled the world of film photography lasted for more than a century. Then came a stunning reversal of fortune: cutthroat competition from Japanese firms in the 1980s and a seismic shift to the digital technology it pioneered but couldn't capitalize on. Now comes a wistful worry that this icon of American business is edging toward extinction. Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, raising the specter that the 132-year-old trailblazer could become the most...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Is Kodak's moment past? The glory days when Eastman Kodak Co. ruled the world of film photography lasted for over a century. Then came a stunning reversal of fortune: cutthroat competition from Japanese firms in the 1980s and a seismic shift to the digital technology it pioneered but couldn't capitalize on. Now comes a wistful worry that this icon of American business is edging toward extinction. Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, raising the specter that the 132-year-old trailblazer could become the most storied casualty...

Francis Ford Coppola is turning big-screen movies into a live, interactive experience. The filmmaker showed an audience at the Comic-Con fan convention Saturday portions of his upcoming creepy tale "Twixt," a film whose theatrical release will be preceded by a national tour in which Coppola will oversee a different version each night. Coppola says digital technology allows him to add scenes, lengthen or shorten sequences, shuffle the action around, alter music and make other tweaks depending on how that night's audience is responding to the film.

Susan Maushart, a divorced mother of three teenagers, noticed how digital technology, from Facebook to online gaming to constant text messaging, had fractured her family into independent fiefdoms. Connected only to their devices and their online “friends,’’ the Maushart family had stopped eating together and rarely held real-world conversations. As Maushart puts it, “I started considering . . . the possibility that the more we connect, the further we may drift, the more fragmented we may become.’’ After rereading “Walden,’’ about Henry David Thoreau’s famous two-year...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- A novelty item just four or five years ago, the digital camera is shaping up as the most popular electronics gift in 2004, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. It was runner-up last year to the DVD player, the number one gift since 2000. Catapulted by cutthroat competition, digital technology is transforming the $85 billion global photography industry by creating new ways of capturing, developing, and storing pictures. Millions of Americans who waited patiently for the quality and convenience to leap forward and the prices to roll back...

Susan Maushart, a divorced mother of three teenagers, noticed how digital technology, from Facebook to online gaming to constant text messaging, had fractured her family into independent fiefdoms. Connected only to their devices and their online “friends,’’ the Maushart family had stopped eating together and rarely held real-world conversations. As Maushart puts it, “I started considering . . . the possibility that the more we connect, the further we may drift, the more fragmented we may become.’’ After rereading “Walden,’’ about Henry David Thoreau’s famous two-year...