In the past, I have flirted with ideas of attending Lucinda Williams and Leonard Cohen shows in the same town, but each time concluded that the journey was just too long. Faithfull plays San Francisco or Oakland most every year. Is one more show really worth the bother?
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My laptop started making funny noises a few days ago and I knew that wasn’t good. I’m embarrassed to say that my first instinct was to hope they’d just go away.
I also had a quick, guilty thought about an essay by Umberto Eco I read some years back, comparing science and technology. Whereas the former involves a painstaking commitment to gather knowledge and understanding over the long haul, the latter hides the process of its becoming, simply giving the user a raw upgrade of power – instant, godlike. Wow, look what I can do! Technology encourages magical thinking, Eco wrote. And no piece of modern, reasonably priced technology spews magical thinking into the social arena more seductively than the computer.
OMG! Seduction, indeed! We – I – have gotten so used to such dazzling possibility: all human knowledge at my fingertips, plus . . . cool games, great oldies, satellite photos of every square inch of the planet, ten thousand sources of news, video footage of dead celebrities, infinite trivia and the search engines to serve it up to me. Every time my creative process stalls, I can wander into the distraction of my choosing and stay there for as long as I like. As a modern man, this is my entitlement. And this is what the writing process has become for me.
Tensions between the US and Europe continue to escalate, after the EU voted to begin an “in-depth inquiry” into allegations that the NSA and other US security agencies bugged EU premises as well as regularly monitor the communications European citizens. The Civil Liberties Committee investigation – supported by 483 votes to 98 (with 65 abstentions) – sees the EU demand full details from the US on how, exactly, programs like PRISM affect EU member states, in addition to exploring greater protections for whistleblowers like Edward Snowden.
That could include formal “procedures allowing whistleblowers to unveil serious violations of fundamental rights” as well as international agreements for how such people should be handled. As it stands, Edward Snowden – the former NSA contractor who revealed details of PRISM and other spying behaviors – is currently in a no-mans-land of residence, seeking asylum from around twenty different countries but without a passport as it has been rescinded by the US government.
Repercussions for EU-US relations could be significant. Members of the European Parliament have apparently called for potentially extreme cuts in data sharing, “including suspending the current air passenger and bank data deals.” Those are the schemes which see the EU and US share passenger name record data for travelers, as well as tracking potential terrorist financing.
Although the new investigation may seem, at first glance, specifically critical to the US, the EU also wants to know what’s going on with reports that other countries operate their own comprehensive spying schemes. “Parliament also expresses grave concern about allegations that similar surveillance programmes are run by several EU member states, such as the UK, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany and Poland” the EU said in a statement. “It urges them to examine whether those programmes are compatible with EU law.”
The end goal, the EU says, is for a more comprehensive – and fair – data-sharing system to be established, with MEPs demanding that “the final deal must ensure that EU citizens’ access to the US judicial system is equal to that enjoyed by US citizens.”
The Civil Liberties Committee is expected to present its findings by the end of the year, though the PRISM fall-out is likely to worsen considerably before that happens. The US government is yet to comment on the new inquiry.
PRISM fallout: EU votes to investigate US, threatens to cut data sharing is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
We’ve been hearing a lot of chatter about Nokia’s upcoming Lumia device called the EOS, but no solid evidence has come our way besides a few rumors about the device sporting an aluminum body, a waterproof nanocoating, and obviously a huge camera sensor and lens that looks to be the main feature of the phone. The latest rumblings is that we’ll see this device in stores sometime later this month.
In a screenshot taken of one Microsoft Store’s inventory, there’s a Nokia device called the 1020 that’s said to be the 41MP EOS device that we’ve been hearing all about. It shows the handset as being an AT&T exclusive in three colors: black, yellow, and white. Retail price looks to be set at around $600, according to the screenshot.
It’s said that Microsoft Stores will be getting the 1020s on July 22, but will wait a few days before actually putting them on store shelves for purchase. However, this means that you should be able to pick up an EOS as soon as later this month. Considering that Nokia is planning an event for next week, we’d be surprised if we didn’t see an EOS announcement.
However, if you really want one, you may have to get their early in order to snag a unit. According to this specific screenshot of one Microsoft Store’s inventory, there’s only going to be 70 units total per store on average, split amongst the three color choices.
We’ve already seen the EOS leaked and shown off, so if the device looks anything like what we’ve been seeing, we’ll already know what to expect, so we’re merely just waiting to get our hands on the thing and test out this high-MP camera to see what it’s capable of. Hopefully Nokia will treat us with the new device next week, so stay tuned!
SOURCE: WPCentral
Nokia Lumia EOS could hit stores as soon as this month is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Last week I wrote about sixteen young French people, in their twenties, who were in the United States learning about how non-government agencies in our country provide various social services and how they raise the money to fund what they do. This week I want to relate something that happened at the end of that visit.
I was the coordinator for the things they did during their week in St. Louis. On the last night they were here, one of the young French men who was a practicing Muslim asked to talk with me in private. When we were alone, he said, “If I ask you a question, do you promise that you will not get mad at me?” We had been together for a week, and without hesitation I replied, “I think you know me well enough to know that you can ask me any question, and I will not get mad.”
He then asked me another question. “If I ask you a question, do you promise that you will tell me the truth?” Beginning to wonder where this conversation was going, I replied with conviction, but in a kind manner: “You may ask me any question, and I will not get mad, and I promise that I will not lie to you. Now, what is it that you want to ask me?”
The eyes might be the window to one’s soul, but music – music is the key to unlocking one’s heart, as music has proven to be an extremely potent memory trigger for many of us. Some of us associate certain songs with various moments in our lives, ranging from the sad to the joyous, and you can be sure that music is here to stay, just as how it had shaped various societies and empires over the past few millennia. Having said that, artists are always on the lookout to produce new kinds of music from yet untested methods, and it is in this spirit of experimentation that led a certain Benjamin Von Wong to use an entire bunch of SLR cameras so that they can deliver a symphony that is stirring to the photographer’s soul (and other curious onlookers, too, I am sure).
Benjamin Von Wong enlisted the assistance of Nikon Professional Services (NPS) and composer Andrew Kesler, where an estimated $30,000 worth of camera gear (from Nikon, of course) was then used to create a song. All 14 cameras were used in the making of the “Nikon Symphony”, where most of these were part of the Nikon range of the D4 all the way through to the D5200.
The sounds were created by playing with different functions of the camera, and these functions would range from Live View switching on and off to the mirror flipping up and down, where even some of the annoying camera beeps do make their way into this composition.
What are some of the other zany ways that you can think of when it comes to creating new kinds of music via the clever use of everyday items? It would certainly take a creative spark, and I a quite sure that from now on, someone else might want to recreate the Nikon Symphony using other digital cameras to see which version sounds better. Heck, it might even end up as some sort of guerrilla ad warfare, don’t you think so?
Source
[ $30,000 Nikon DSLR “symphony” creates music for the soul copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
A lot of gamers have been begging Nintendo and developer Game Freak for a 3D, open world and real-time version of the money-printing Pokémon series. The upcoming Pokémon X/Y might meet the first two requests, but not the last one. Maybe Game Freak should check out this fan game called Pokémon Generations.
Currently being developed by IndieDB member Xatoku, Pokémon Generations is, er, it’s Ni No Kuni. But with Pokémon. I know that sounds blasphemous, but I think that’s the best way to describe it. Here’s the launch trailer for its latest version:
Here’s a quick combat sequence courtesy of YouTuber wwm0nkey1:
See what I mean by my Ni No Kuni comparison? In Pokémon Generations, movement and timing become key components in battles. You don’t just select an attack and watch its animation play out. It looks like the battles will have environmental components as well. But don’t get too excited yet. The game is pretty much in pre-alpha state, as you’ll see in this in-depth video by YouTuber MunchingOrange:
If you still want to try it out, you can download the launcher on IndieDB. I stopped being a Pokémon fan years ago, but I still wish Xatoku can finish the game so we can finally appreciate the hilarious size discrepancies between pokémon.
[via GoNintendo]
Last week we got our hands on the HTC One Google Play edition and shared our first impressions. Today we dig a little deeper into how this superphone differs from its Sense 5-equipped siblings, with a focus on benchmarks, battery life and camera performance. As you’ll recall, Samsung introduced a Galaxy S 4 running stock Android at Google I/O and HTC quickly followed suit by announcing an unskinned version of its own flagship, the One. The handset, which went on sale in the Play store on June 26th for $599 unsubsidized, is based on AT&T’s 32GB model and features identical specs. As such, it also comes with the same limitations. So, what’s the HTC One like with stock Android? Is it better than the devices running Sense 5? What do you give up and, most importantly, is it worth spending the premium for this Google Play edition? Find out after the break.
Gallery: HTC One Google Play edition
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC, Google
Space is gigantic, so even though we have giant dishes trained to listen to it, we only hear a tiny slice. But scientists manning the Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia stumbled on a few blips worth hearing: four mammoth radio blasts that came from far outside the galaxy.
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Just how popular is 3D broadcast content? Not even a tiny bit, if the BBC’s latest decision is any indication. Following an announcement that Wimbledon matches would be available in 3D, Britain’s top broadcaster has vowed to take a three-year hiatus from producing 3D video. In an interview with Radio Times, Kim Shillinglaw, who heads up the British Broadcasting Corporation’s pilot program, cited the cumbersome process consumers face when gearing up to view three-dimensional footage. She’ll focus on her secondary position as head of science and natural history during the organization’s three-year embargo. A Doctor Who anniversary episode will be the BBC’s final 3D program for the year, giving early adopting Brits one last opportunity to slide on their glasses before retiring them to the “junk drawer” until 3D’s resounding resurgence.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Via: CNET
Source: Radio Times
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