Hasta La Gadget!

We are in NYC for the launch of the new Sony A9 (Alpha 9) full-frame mirrorless camera, which is based on Sony’s latest A9 CMOS image sensor. A Sony G Master FE 100-400mn (f4.5-5.6) was launched at the same time and is present on most media photo material.

The new 24 Megapixel sensor can handle data 20X faster than the last generation sensor according to Sony, and the extra performance enables continuous shooting at 20FPS with up to 241 RAW5/ 362 JPEG6 images in this burst mode.

The sensor also has a powerful auto-focus (AF) tracking system with 693 AF points and 60 tracking operations per second. Photographers were excited about the overall performance of the camera and how it uses it mirrorless architecture to go past traditional DSLR cameras restrictions.

The Sony Alpha 9 (model ILCE-9) has a 5-axis (in-body) image stabilization system that is equivalent to 5 shutter steps, which is huge. For action shots in good lighting, the shutter speed can reach 1/32000 seconds, which is critical for sharp photos even in fast action scenes.

Sony has also integrated a silent shutter, which is extremely useful when shooting wild life. Cristina Mittermeier, a well-known wild life photographer was on stage to share her experience capturing photos using the new Sony A9 camera.

[launch event in progress, we will update the page as we go…]

Sony A9 Mirrorless Camera with G Master Lens , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

For Condé Nast Traveler, by CNT Editors.

When you think of beautiful surf, your mind may not necessarily envision Africa — but it should. The continent is home to paradisiacal stretches of sand and water, whether on the Atlantic or Indian Oceans, or even near freshwater lakes. These standouts span from the Ivory Coast to the Seychelles, and all the way down to South Africa.

1. Bazaruto, Mozambique

A dune-filled island off the coast of Mozambique, Bazaruto sits within a marine park in the Indian Ocean. Known for its prime snorkeling, diving, luxury digs like &Beyond Benguerra, Bazaruto also offers easy fly-in access.

2. North Island, Seychelles

Otherwise known as “Sunset Beach,” North Island in Seychelles is where giant tortoises graze in the grass, the sea turns pink as the sun sets, and the West Beach Bar buzzes with the low hum of famous voices ― celebrities like George and Amal Clooney, and Prince William and Kate Middleton have honeymooned here, and if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for you.

3. Diani, Kenya

Kenya’s Diani Beach, about an hour south of Mombasa, is part resort, part zoo — you’ll probably spot colobus monkeys swinging around, and camels strolling, which you can hire for rides when you’re not bathing in the clear sea, sunning, or perusing crafts from local vendors.

4. Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast

The original capital of Côte d’Ivoire, the colonial town of Grand Bassam suffered a decline from its heyday as a seaport until the 1930s, but that led to its revival as a resort town beginning in the 1960s, and now it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Palms line its biscuit-colored shore, and you’ll be hard pressed to beat its Ivorian seafood.

5. Santa Maria, Cape Verde

Flat, dry and dotted hotels, cafes, and restaurants ranging from the low end to the high end, Santa Maria, on Sal Island in Cape Verde, is a windsurfers haven with pool-blue waters.

See the rest of The Best Beaches in Africa on CNTraveler.com

More from Condé Nast Traveler:

The Friendliest and Unfriendliest Cities in the World

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The Most Beautiful Island on Earth

The 40 Best Cities in the World

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For years, humans have attempted to decode life’s biggest mysteries. Mysteries like the Bermuda Triangle, Jack the Ripper, Stonehenge, people who eat cereal without milk, and, of course, flirting (in no particular order). I know what you’re thinking, “Flirting isn’t rocket science!” Correct. It’s much, much more confusing.

Flirting is like putting together IKEA furniture — you can picture what it’s supposed to look like, but somehow the process never goes as planned.

Should I call? Where should we go on our first date? How do I know she’s not just using me for my extensive Beanie Babies collection? These are the questions we ask ourselves all the time. And as someone who has gone on a date or four in his lifetime (not to brag), I feel as if I’m starting to find some answers. LOL, slow down. I’m not calling myself a dating expert, but let’s just say I know my way around whatever it is you think makes someone good at dating. And I’m here to help.

So fear not. Here’s some foolproof advice from a guy’s perspective, so you can tell whether he’s into you, or you’re in too deep.

1) He Texts You Just to Say Hi

I’m a guy. I also own a phone, and sometimes I text on it. So I think I’m pretty qualified to speak on this topic. Is he texting you about a homework assignment? For a favor? Did he find a way to control climate change? Discover a cure? No? Interesting. Then why is he texting you? Bingo. Expect a proposal within the week.

2) He Wants to Meet Your Parents

For dinner, for coffee, at Yom Kippur services, it doesn’t matter. The bottom line is that if he wants to meet the people who gave you life, he’s thinking long term. Expect a proposal within the week.

3) He Only Buys Foods That Start With the First Letter of Your Name

Sure, you might think this one is obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people miss the signs. Every guy does it. Katie, he’s not just cooking kale kabobs with ketchup for fun. Are you blind? (Expect a proposal within a week)

4) He Builds a Time Machine & Travels Back to Ruin All Your Exes’ Lives

I know, I know. How cliche, right? But it needs to be said. Newsflash: if you’re with a guy and he tells you that he quit work to build the world’s first functional time machine in order to go back and ruin the lives of everyone in your past who did you harm, then he probably wants to get to know you more. Just a thought. I cannot believe how many girls misinterpret this one.

5) He Joins NASA Then Names a Newly Found Planet After You

90% of the time I’d say that this is a good indication of someone being into you. I’m not saying that he’s ready for a commitment, but at this stage I think it would definitely be worth exploring. Maybe start talking on the phone or something.

6) He Finds a Magic Genie & Wishes For You Two to be the Only Ones Left on Earth

Jealousy isn’t a good look on anyone. But you have to admit it’s kind of cute when someone vanishes living creatures from our planet entirely just to spend more time with that special someone. It’s like a classic Disney fairytale but with way more murdering. If this happens to you, don’t overthink it.

7) He Develops A Way to Ensure Immortality, Connecting You Together for Eternity

And people say that chivalry is dead. Pshh. Take it from me, if you find him in his secret basement laboratory one evening concocting a way to keep you alive forever, he might like you. Perhaps not like-like you, but you never know where relationships can go!

8) He Buys You Flowers

Sometimes you just can’t beat the classics.

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<span class="articleLocation”>(Reuters Health) – The risk that surgery patients will become chronic opioid users may be similar after minor procedures or major operations, a U.S. study suggests.

Three to six months after surgery, new chronic opioid use was about 5.9 percent with minor operations and 6.5 percent with major surgery, the study found. The rate was just 0.4 percent in people who didn’t get surgery.

A history of chronic pain appeared to be a better predictor of post-operative opioid use than the type of surgery, the study found. Compared to patients who didn’t become chronic opioid users after surgery, people who did were more than 50 percent more likely to have had arthritis or chronic back pain before their operations.

“This study shows that new chronic opioid use after surgery may be one of the most common complications after surgery,” said lead study author Dr. Chad Brummett of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

“Given that the rates of new chronic use did not differ between major and minor surgery, this suggests that patients continue to use their opioids for reasons other than the pain from the surgery,” Brummett added by email.

Addressing patients’ acute pain during their recovery from surgery may be a way to prevent them from becoming a statistic in the opioid epidemic, he suggested.

About 50 million people have surgery that doesn’t require an overnight hospital stay each year. The new findings suggest that more than 2 million people may become chronic opioid users after these operations, researchers note in JAMA Surgery. Adding inpatient procedures might make the tally of post-operative chronic opioid users even higher.

For the study, researchers examined insurance claims data from 2013 to 2014 for about 36,000 adults ages 18 to 64 who had not used opioids in the previous year, at least until the month prior to surgery.

About four in five patients had minor surgical procedures for things like removing varicose veins or hemorrhoids or treating carpal tunnel syndrome. Roughly one in five had major operations like weight-loss surgery, hernia repair or hysterectomies.

Patients commonly need pain relief in the days or weeks after surgery. Researchers defined “persistent opioid use” as filling prescriptions for these narcotics between 90 and 180 days after surgery.

People who smoked before surgery were 34 percent more likely to become persistent opioid users after their operations, the study found. With alcohol and substance use disorders, the odds of opioid use after surgery were 34 percent higher.

The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove how certain types of surgery or a history of certain habits or medical conditions might cause chronic opioid use.

Other limitations include the potential for some chronic opioid prescriptions to be for conditions or operations not included in the study, the authors note. Some surgeries might also have been misclassified as major or minor procedures.

Even so, the findings add to evidence suggesting that prolonged opioid use after surgery might not be due to pain from operations, the authors conclude.

“Smoking and substance misuse have been previously associated with use of greater dosages of opioids and opioid misuse due, in part, to shared neurobiological mechanisms,” said Dr. Michael Hooten of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota.

“In this particular study, the findings suggest that patients with pain prior to surgery were possibly treating other non-surgical sources of pain during the postoperative period using (drugs) initially prescribed for postoperative pain,” Hooten, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

SOURCE: bit.ly/2pbrc3n JAMA Surgery, online April 12, 2017.

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Mathew Jerrett expresses his love for his wife and daughters through photography. The Brooklyn dad captures their ordinary moments at home for a series he calls “The Sleeping Ladies.”

Jerrett and his wife Melissa are parents to 10-month-old, Lucia, and 7-year-old, Peony. After photographing Lucia’s birth, he continued taking pictures of the tender moments he observed between the newborn and her mother.

“It’s a right–of–passage as a parent to take photos of your kids and show people I think,” Jerrett told The Huffington Post. “It’s seems automatic. Something just happens when we become parents where we just just like to take and share pics of them.”

Though “The Sleeping Ladies” focuses more on Lucia, the dad said he plans to upload a series of his favorite photos of Peony from over the years. And of course, both series prominently feature their mother.

“I’m so proud of Mel as a mom,” Jerrett said. “I love hearing people’s kind words about Mel when they see the photos. And we’re both so in love with Lucia and Peony, so I hope people can see and feel that from the pictures.”

Though not a professional photographer himself, the Aussie-born father told The Huffington Post he loves portrait photographers like Jock Sturges and Bill Henson, as well as celebrity portrait artists like Annie Leibovitz and Norman Jean Roy. 

“It’s a great learning experience taking photos of Mel and the girls while looking at such great photographers like these,” he said. “I found early that it takes a discipline to edit the photos for example. Instead of posting all pictures that I take or even all that I like, I try to only post one or two pics every couple of weeks.”

Keep scrolling to see some highlights from “The Sleeping Ladies.”

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