NYC’s Day and Night Combined in Stephen Wilkes Photography
For this Thursday we’ve made a series that captures a transitioning of day into night within a single photograph. In fact, this is going to be about a fine art project Stephen Wilkes has produced about New York in the beautiful patches of day and night. “Day to Night embodies a combination of my favorite things to photograph; people on the street melded with epic cityscapes, and the fleeting moments throughout the day and night,” noted the author. Well, we should admit that these exceptionally well done photographs add a surreal dimension to various iconic New York places. To split the landscapes from AM to PM and create such a surrealist effect, Stephen kept his camera at a fixed angle for up to 15 hours, then weaved and blended the shots into one frame. Let’s now contemplate all the bustle of the city within these breathtaking shots. Hope, those of you who have never been to NY will have the time to make it up to see this in person.
The Flatiron, NYC
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Coney Island
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The Highline, NYC
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Central Park, NYC
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Park Avenue, NYC
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Times Square, NYC
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Washington Square Park, NYC
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Gramercy Park, NYC
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DANCING NEBULA
When the gods dance...
Thursday, December 1, 2011
NYC’s Day and Night Combined in Stephen Wilkes Photography
CAN'T KISS OSCAR
Oscar Wilde's renovated Paris tomb was unveiled on Wednesday, complete with a new glass barrier to shield the monument to the quintessential dandy's life from a torrent of admiring kisses.
Kiss upon lipsticked kiss in honor of Wilde, who died penniless aged 46 in a Paris hotel room in 1900, had worn down the elegant tomb in Pere Lachaise cemetery, as grease from tourist lips sank into the stonework.
Wilde's only grandson Merlin Holland and British actor Rupert Everett accompanied French and Irish officials at the ceremony, held under bright winter sunshine on the tree-lined alleys of the famous burial ground.
The tomb, designed by modernist sculptor Jacob Epstein with a flying Assyrian-style angel, survived almost unscathed until 1985, except for the angel's notoriously prominent genitals being hacked off.
Then, the expense of cleaning operations to deal with increasing graffiti on the tomb led the descendants of Wilde and of his friend and executor Robert Ross to try, successfully, to get it listed as a historic monument.
But in 1999 the graffiti was replaced by a much more worrying phenomenon when someone had the idea of planting a large, lipsticked kiss on the tomb, sparking a craze for Wilde's many admirers visiting Paris.The hope was that fines of thousands of euros for defacing the tomb would deter fans of the author of "The Importance of Being Earnest".
The glass should now shield the tomb, with well-wishers already having planted rosy red kisses on a nearby tree.
Holland, whose grandmother changed the family name to avoid public scorn after Oscar was jailed by a London court for the Victorian "crime" of homosexuality, said he would have loved all the fuss.
"I cannot express in words my gratitude to the Irish government and the people of Ireland for what they've done," Holland said.
"The royalties on Oscar Wilde's works disappeared many many years ago, and there's no way I could possibly have raised the money to do this myself."
"If my grandfather had been here he would have loved the attention. The attention has always been given over the last 30 years with notes and then lipstick but now art has to triumph over what the French call 'degradation'.
"Maybe one day we can take it down when the memory of kissing Oscar is gone," he said.
Everett, who came out as gay in the 1980s and starred in the 2002 film version of "The Importance of Being Earnest", described the dandy Irishman as his "patron saint" and "one of the last great vagabonds" of the 19th century.
"I find him very inspiring and touching, not just for his genius, also for his stupidity, in a way. He was a human being, and made mistakes like everyone else," Everett said.
He related Wilde's trial and how he was caught out trying to explain his attitude to the lips of boys and men before being convicted of homosexuality in 1895 and sentenced to two years prison with hard labor.
"Kisses for Oscar Wilde were not just signs of love, he associated them with danger, even death," said Everett, who has written a screenplay about Wilde's final years with which he hopes to make a directorial debut next year.
"He has the perfect blend of brilliance and silliness, of pride and humility ... from the dress circle to the drains, his life was his greatest work of art and an inspiration to anyone who's ever felt outcast."
Wilde left London in 1897 after finishing his prison term and never regained the creative impetus that had made him a hugely popular, if controversial, playwright.
As he died of meningitis in a Paris hotel, he famously remarked: "My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One of us has got to go." He was initially given a "sixth class burial" outside Paris.
His friends, in particular his literary executor Ross, managed to annul Wilde's bankruptcy, buy a plot at Pere Lachaise and have Wilde's body transferred to its more dignified and appropriately Gothic surroundings.
Ross's own remains were in 1950 placed inside the tomb, which is a big draw but nevertheless fares better than the nearby much-abused grave of Doors singer Jim Morrison, who died in Paris in 1971 at the age of 27.
Black Rhinos Lifted to Safety From Poachers
Black Rhinos Lifted to Safety From Poachers
(Green Renaissance - www.greenrenaissance.co.za)
In an astonishing sight, 19 endangered black rhinos were lifted by their ankles over the South African landscape in an effort to save them from dangerous poachers.
The World Wildlife Fund’s Black Rhino Expansion Project has moved 120 of the animals so far to one of seven participating partners’ land to protect them from being hunted. Each of the project partners has agreed to keeping a security system to prevent poachers from attacking the rhinos — of which there are only 1,1915 left in South Africa and about 4,880 left across the African continent.
See More Photos Here
The relatively new technique is actually gentler on the rhino than any other transportation mode previously attempted. The two-ton rhino is put to sleep for no more than a 10-minute helicopter ride to a safe location. A doctor then awaits the rhino’s arrival and is there to wake up the animal after its short journey.
Poachers killed 274 rhinos by September 2011 in South Africa alone, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The hunters are especially interested in the animals’ horns, which is a prized commodity in Asian medicine where it is ground into a powder and used to treat various illnesses.
Occupy movement's next stop? Foreclosed homes.
Occupy movement's next stop? Foreclosed homes.
After being evicted from parks and public spaces, the Occupy movement is set to move into foreclosed homes.
Organizers said Tuesday that they plan to help families across America fight foreclosure and eviction next week by "occupying" those properties. Some of the families will be moving back into their vacant properties, while others will resist eviction, said Peter Kuhns, an organizer with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, which is organizing some of the actions in Southern California.
“The original intent of Occupy Wall Street was to protest the excess of the big banks and Wall Street banks, so it seems like a pretty natural step for people to protest foreclosed properties,” Kuhns said. “Foreclosures are one of the biggest aspects of the economic crisis created by Wall Street bankers.”
Protesters also plan to disrupt foreclosure auctions across the country, where troubled homes are sold to investors and other cash buyers or repossessed by lenders. A website for the actions has been created, detailing in videos the histories of some homeowners facing foreclosure.
More than 30 foreclosed properties will be declared as "occupied" Tuesday, Kuhns said.
At least two of the homes will be in Southern California -- one in Los Angeles County and another in the Inland Empire, Kuhns said.
This is not the first incident of homeowners resisting foreclosure led by the group. Rose Gudiel, a homeowner in La Puente, refused to leave her property in September despite an eviction order, insisting she qualified for a loan modification. She ultimately won that modification.
Your Android Phone is Spying On You, Use custom ROM To Protect your Privacy
Your Android Phone is Spying On You, Use custom ROM To Protect your Privacy
In this digital age, privacy is more important than ever. Just because you “don’t have anything to hide,” does not mean that you shouldn’t value your privacy or fight for it when companies do things like this, especially with something as personal as your cell phone.
An Android developer recently discovered a clandestine application called Carrier IQ built into most smartphones that doesn't just track your location; it secretly records your keystrokes, and there's nothing you can do about it. Is it time to put on a tinfoil hat? That depends on how you feel about privacy. In the nearly 20-minute video clip, Eckhart shows how software developed by mobile-device tracker Carrier IQ logs each keystroke and then sends them off to locations unknown. In addition, when Eckhart tried placing a call, Carrier IQ's software recorded each number before the call was even made.
What is Carrier IQ, exactly?
The software is hidden inside phones there is little you can do to detect that it’s even installed, let alone remove it, and it tracks everything. Keystrokes, browsing and surfing habits, Google searches, and basically every single thing that you are doing on your phone and every button that you press is logged by this software. Jump to 9:00 in the YouTube video below for the proof this is basically a keylogger running on your phone that you didn’t know about.
The company that’s creating this software claims that the point of the software is to deliver “analytics” about devices to the carriers to help them provide better service to their users. But is recording every keystroke really necessary for that information? Does not telling the users about this and making it near-impossible to opt out seem a bit fishy to anybody else? This software is on almost all Android phones made by the big names (HTC, Samsung, Motorola), and is even on BlackBerries and Nokia devices, as well."Our action was misguided and we are deeply sorry for any concern or trouble that our letter may have caused Mr. Eckhart," the company said in response to the EFF's letter. "We sincerely appreciate and respect EFF's work on his behalf, and share their commitment to protecting free speech in a rapidly changing technological world."
But Eckhart's new video seems to refute at least some of those claims. In one part of the clip, he shows how an entire SMS message--"hello world"--was recorded by Carrier IQ's software. In another example, he demonstrates how a Google search, his location, and other key information is recorded by Carrier IQ's application, even though he was on Wi-Fi and a page secured by HTTPS.HTTPS? Nothing Is Safe From Carrier IQ
For those unaware, the S in HTTPS stands for secure. It's what keep your passwords and other sensitive data safe when sent across the web. It's provides encryption for said information, so whilst it's traveling through the airwaves, it's safe and snuggly, away from the awful people who want to steal your info.Just because a website is using a secure connection doesn't mean it's one-hundred percent safe from end-to-end, though. You see, some information, including usernames and passwords, can still be sent plain text. For example, the username and password can be used in the address of the site, like www.mysite.com?username=MYNAME&password=MYPASS (Trev's example). Sure, it's encrypted while going down the tunnel, but guess who gets to see the raw link? Did you guess Carrier IQ? If so, go get yourself a cookie. You earned it. [Source]
Carrier IQ says in this public statement that it is “not logging keystrokes or providing tracking tools” and that its software is used to track performance, but the video proves entirely otherwise: this app is sitting in between you and the Android OS and is making a note of everything you do. Secure websites don’t help. Even using Wi-Fi doesn’t help. Your phone use is being logged by this software, and there is no way to easily opt out.
Devices Without a Cellular Network Aren't Safe, Either
Let's think about the name of this thing for a minute - Carrier IQ. So, it's probably safe to say that this is all about the carriers, right? If that were true, then why would CIQ remain active once a device no longer has carrier service?Let me back up for one second, CIQ claims that its services are stopped the second the SIM card is removed from the device, which is all fine and dandy... if you're on a GSM network. Those of us on CDMA networks aren't so lucky, though, because we don't use SIM cards. Thus, even when a device is deactivated from its network, it continues to send data back to the carrier, CIQ, and whoever else whenever you're on a Wi-Fi connection.
Ensure your Privacy : Use custom ROM To Protect your PrivacyUnfortunately, there is no easy way to protect yourself. There’s no switch that you can turn off in the settings of your phone or software that appears in your app drawer that you can simply uninstall. As far as the GUI of your phone is concerned, Carrier IQ isn’t even there. But it is there, hiding in the background, making sure that you don’t even know it exists. And for many, that’s just not cool. Your phone is a deeply personal device and contains lots of things (emails, photos, text messages) that many would consider totally private. Why should this company have access?Best way, root your phone and there are many guides available for the different devices. The best place to look for information on rooting is the XDA Forum. Search on the page for your phone name and go to the “General” forum for the device. There, you should find threads with guides on how to root and get the phone ready to install custom ROMs. The process varies widely phone by phone, so we can’t give you a definitive guide here, but XDA is generally on top of the best rooting processes for the major devices.The next step is to find a ROM that supports your device that does not have Carrier IQ installed on it. Your best bet is to look for “AOSP” or “Vanilla” ROMs. These are versions of Android that have built entirely from the open source code for Android that’s released by Google each time a new version comes out. These ROMs will be free from carrier and device manufacturer tinkering, and won’t have Carrier IQ hiding in the background.
Another great custom ROM solution is Cyanogenmod. Cyanogenmod has some nice additional tweaks and features above stock Android, and is definitely the most well respected and most frequently updated custom ROM out there. Additionally, it’s available on most popular Android devices out there. The developers are even working hard on the next version, based on Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich.A simple Guide : How To Install CyanogenMod 7 On Samsung Galaxy S II Using ROM Manager is Available here.
How Republicans are being taught to talk about Occupy Wall Street
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Republican Governors Association met this week in Florida to give GOP state executives a chance to rejuvenate, strategize and team-build. But during a plenary session on Wednesday, one question kept coming up: How can Republicans do a better job of talking about Occupy Wall Street?
"I'm so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I'm frightened to death," said Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist and one of the nation's foremost experts on crafting the perfect political message. "They're having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism."
Luntz offered tips on how Republicans could discuss the grievances of the Occupiers, and help the governors better handle all these new questions from constituents about "income inequality" and "paying your fair share."
Yahoo News sat in on the session, and counted 10 do's and don'ts from Luntz covering how Republicans should fight back by changing the way they discuss the movement.
1. Don't say 'capitalism.'
"I'm trying to get that word removed and we're replacing it with either 'economic freedom' or 'free market,' " Luntz said. "The public . . . still prefers capitalism to socialism, but they think capitalism is immoral. And if we're seen as defenders of quote, Wall Street, end quote, we've got a problem."
2. Don't say that the government 'taxes the rich.' Instead, tell them that the government 'takes from the rich.'
"If you talk about raising taxes on the rich," the public responds favorably, Luntz cautioned. But "if you talk about government taking the money from hardworking Americans, the public says no. Taxing, the public will say yes."
3. Republicans should forget about winning the battle over the 'middle class.' Call them 'hardworking taxpayers.'
"They cannot win if the fight is on hardworking taxpayers. We can say we defend the 'middle class' and the public will say, I'm not sure about that. But defending 'hardworking taxpayers' and Republicans have the advantage."
4. Don't talk about 'jobs.' Talk about 'careers.'
"Everyone in this room talks about 'jobs,'" Luntz said. "Watch this."
He then asked everyone to raise their hand if they want a "job." Few hands went up. Then he asked who wants a "career." Almost every hand was raised.
"So why are we talking about jobs?"
5. Don't say 'government spending.' Call it 'waste.'
"It's not about 'government spending.' It's about 'waste.' That's what makes people angry."
6. Don't ever say you're willing to 'compromise.'
"If you talk about 'compromise,' they'll say you're selling out. Your side doesn't want you to 'compromise.' What you use in that to replace it with is 'cooperation.' It means the same thing. But cooperation means you stick to your principles but still get the job done. Compromise says that you're selling out those principles."
7. The three most important words you can say to an Occupier: 'I get it.'
"First off, here are three words for you all: 'I get it.' . . . 'I get that you're angry. I get that you've seen inequality. I get that you want to fix the system."
Then, he instructed, offer Republican solutions to the problem.
8. Out: 'Entrepreneur.' In: 'Job creator.'
Use the phrases "small business owners" and "job creators" instead of "entrepreneurs" and "innovators."
9. Don't ever ask anyone to 'sacrifice.'
"There isn't an American today in November of 2011 who doesn't think they've already sacrificed. If you tell them you want them to 'sacrifice,' they're going to be be pretty angry at you. You talk about how 'we're all in this together.' We either succeed together or we fail together."
10. Always blame Washington.
Tell them, "You shouldn't be occupying Wall Street, you should be occupying Washington. You should occupy the White House because it's the policies over the past few years that have created this problem."
BONUS:
Don't say 'bonus!'
Luntz advised that if they give their employees an income boost during the holiday season, they should never refer to it as a "bonus."
"If you give out a bonus at a time of financial hardship, you're going to make people angry. It's 'pay for performance.'"