Il soldato gigante al funerale di Kim Jong-il, trionfo di Photoshop?
Il tormentone di fine anno? La foto del soldato gigante al funerale del Caro Leader nordcoreano Kim Jong-il. Potete individuarlo nell’ingrandimento qui sopra, evidenziato dal circoletto rosso. In effetti si può osservare una persona in divisa militare che svetta sopra le teste dei compagni per almeno oltre un terzo dell’altezza. Da qui un rapido calcolo e la stima dell’altezza di quasi 2 metri e mezzo per quello che sembra un ennesimo mistero del regime nordcoreano. In realtà la risposta è molto semplice: uso sfrenato di Photoshop.
Manca la certezza e probabilmente non l’avremo mai, ma tutto conduce a pensare che il soldato abnorme ai funerali di Kim Jong-il non sia altro che il frutto di un precipitoso e abbondante uso di Photoshop per accrescere il numero di individui alla parata dell’ex leader recentemente scomparso per via di un infarto. E così, di clic in clic, è scappata una “strisciata” di mouse oppure un valore digitato ed è apparso il gigante.
Certo può anche essere che il soldato enorme esista davvero, non sarebbe affatto impossibile pensare a un uomo di oltre 2.4 metri, inoltre si deve anche tenere conto della grande riservatezza del Regime di cui poco si sa. Tuttavia nel rispetto dello spirito esibizionista e spesso anacronistico – file di persone piangenti sotto la neve, addirittura gazze ladre appostate sulla tomba – una persona così grande e imponente avrebbe forse meritato la prima e non l’ultima fila?
L’ipotesi Photoshop rimane la più valida e la più verosimile, d’altra parte è costume aumentare la folla a colpi di mouse anche per eventi meno dimostrativi e meno istituzionali. Di sicuro farà orecchie da mercante la Associated Press, che ha diffuso la foto e che ora gongola sonoramente. Autentiche e molto più sorprendenti sono le gigafoto, scoprile tutte.
Sab 31/12/2011 da Diego Barbera
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Article source: http://www.tecnocino.it/articolo/il-soldato-gigante-al-funerale-di-kim-jong-il-trionfo-di-photoshop/35953/
Apple lead designer Jonathan Ive knighted for the New Year, how’s your 2012 looking?
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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/31/apple-lead-designer-jonathan-ive-knighted/
Porsche Design theme ported to BlackBerry 9900 / 9930, saves you a small fortune
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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/31/porsche-design-theme-ported-to-blackberry-9900-9930-saves-you/
Dropbox Automator triggers monotonous tasks with the uploading of a file
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Mobile Miscellany: week of December 26, 2011
This week may not have been incredibly packed with news in the mobile world, but it was still easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of December 26, 2011:
US Cellular prepping for Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy S II
Neither device has been announced for US Cellular yet, but a peek at the company's ESN system shows both the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy S II listed. Granted, this doesn't make for a promise -- and never does, until it's made official by the carrier -- but it's a pretty strong indication that it's at least in the works and will most likely be coming out in the near future. [AndroidCentral]
Nokia 801t Symbian Anna phone announced for China Mobile
The Nokia 801t has become official for China Mobile and is expected to arrive by the end of the month. The TD-SCDMA device offers Symbian Anna, NFC, a 680MHz CPU, an 8MP EDoF camera with dual LED flash and a CMMB TV antenna. [Engadget Chinese (translated), MyNokiaBlog]
ZTE introduces Fashion TV Android phone
If you've looked at the ZTE Blade -- also known as the San Francisco -- and loved everything about it besides the look, perhaps this version may be of interest. It's called the FTV phone, named after the OEM's team effort with Fashion TV. Frankly, it's a ZTE Blade with a paint job and a few new Fashion TV-related apps and wallpapers. Heck, it even has diamonds; don't get too excited, though, since they're just clip art-style drawings of diamonds included as part of the new exterior. Bling, indeed. No pricing or availability has been set yet. [UnwiredView, GSMArena]
Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/31/mobile-miscellany-week-of-december-26-2011/
Skype gifts NYC with NYE WiFi, so you can miss the ball drop while Skyping the ball drop
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Caso Garanzia Apple, dopo la multa arriva la class action?
Si prospetta una vera e propria stagione di fuoco in Italia per Apple: dopo la non così salata multa di “appena” 900.000 euro per il comportamento illegittimo della garanzia estesa a un solo anno, sembra che le associazioni dei consumatori si stiano accordando per organizzare una giga-class action contro Cupertino. Il motivo è sempre lo stesso: Apple offriva solo un anno di garanzia. Ma c’è un’aggravante che rende possibile l’azione legale di massa: stiamo parlando dell’AppleCare Protection Plan ossia del piano di estensione della garanzia che ha fatto sborsa indebitamente da 69 a 249 euro gli italiani per un periodo di copertura che spettava loro per legge.
Ci sono davvero tutti i presupposti per un risarcimento di massa salatissimo per Apple ed è difficile immaginare una via di fuga sicura e semplice per gli americani, perché sono stati letteralmente scoperti con in mano la pistola, con tracce di polvere di sparo e con un alibi inesistente. Insomma, il contrario di un delitto perfetto. Ed è proprio l’AppleCare Protection Plan che ha fatto crollare il castello di carte (e di furberie).
La multa di 900.000 euro commissionata dall’Antitrust a Apple per comportamento commerciale illegittimo è una briciola nei confronti della possibile class action che attende i californiani. Le più importanti associazioni che tutelano i consumatori ossia Adusbef, Codacons e Federconsumatori si stanno muovendo per una class action di proporzioni epiche. Si raduneranno tutti i consumatori convinti e dunque teoricamente truffati nell’estendere la garanzia del proprio prodotto di un anno così da raggiungere i due anni che invece sono stabiliti dalla legge come periodo minimo.
Si è sostanzialmente pagato per qualcosa che spettava di diritto, è questa la sintesi. E la somma in ballo è enorme, basti pensare che va dai 69 euro per AppleCare Protection Plan per iPhone 4s allo stesso periodo di estensione di 12 mesi per un Macbook Pro fino a addirittura 249 euro. Restiamo in attesa di sviluppi, se nel frattempo qualcuno di voi rientra nella casistica, si prepari per far valere i propri diritti.
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Article source: http://www.tecnocino.it/articolo/caso-garanzia-apple-dopo-la-multa-arriva-la-class-action/35931/
Slime molds could hold key to new kinds of intelligence, help Statue of Liberty walk
See that yellow amoeboid slime mold? It's up to something. A team of Japanese scientists at Future University Hakodate led by professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki has found evidence that physarum polycephalum -- or grape-cluster slime -- are capable of navigating mazes and can organize their cells to find the most direct route. Nakagaki and others believe this could be the key to designing bio-computers capable of solving complex problems. According to Nakagaki, the slime's cells appear to have a kind of information-processing ability that allows them to "optimize" the route along which the mold grows to reach food while avoiding stresses -- like light -- that may damage them.
Over at Kyushu University, researcher Atsushi Tero told the AFP news agency: "Computers are not so good at analysing the best routes that connect many base points because the volume of calculations becomes too large for them. But slime molds, without calculating all the possible options, can flow over areas in an impromptu manner and gradually find the best routes." Tero and other researchers have expressed hope that slime mold networks could be used in future designs of new transportation systems, electric transmission lines and understanding the human nervous system. Just remember, if you're going to coat the interior of the Statue of Liberty with some pink slime you found in the sewer, make sure you play some upbeat music to go along with it. It's just a good idea in the long run.
Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/29/slime-molds-could-hold-key-to-new-kinds-of-intelligence-help-st/
1 million Galaxy Notes shipped worldwide, US fans throw money at their screens
Samsung Electronics Ships over 1 Million Units of Galaxy Note Globally
Samsung's flagship smart device Galaxy Note has reached 1 million global shipping.
Samsung Electronics said on the 29th that it has shipped more than 1 million units of Galaxy Note globally. The worldwide sales of Galaxy Note are also on the rise in Europe and Asia including France, Germany, Hongkong and Taiwan. The rapid global sales of Galaxy Note are notable since it is creating a new market for something between smartphone and tablet pc. The speed of the global sales is expected to accelerate further next year when it will be available in the US.
Recently, Financial Times reviewed highly of Galaxy Note, commenting it as"a happy medium for consumers who want to carry just one device, rather than both a smartphone and a tablet and whatever other portable gadget they pick up on their way out".
A Samsung official also said "1 million global shipping of Galaxy Note means it has well positioned itself as a market creator," also adding "Samsung will continuously strengthen its leadership in the global smartphone market as well as create new markets with innovative devices."
Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/29/1-million-galaxy-notes-shipped-worldwide-us-fans-throw-money-at/
Verzo Kinzo unboxing and impressions (video)
Yes, the Verzo Kinzo is real! That Americano-Czech Android smartphone with mid-range specs that went on sale in November with a ludicrous $459 price tag only to be hastily relaunched earlier this month for a slightly more digestible $359 is not a giant farce. (Well, maybe it is.) It left the ethereal world of rendered computer graphics and landed in our mitts just in time for the holidays. To be specific, we received the pricier $384 Verzo Kinzo Plus GPS package, which includes a voucher for Sygic's off-line navigation app and a gaudy, Star Trek-inspired car holder. After spending a few days with the handset we are able to report that it isn't particularly impressive in this day and age but isn't completely horrible either -- not to mention the faux-Vertu packaging and branding which are rather, well... unique. So why not grab some leftover eggnog, and join us after the break for our unboxing and impressions?
It matters not if your device is mediocre when the packaging is fancy -- that's clearly the takeaway here, with a massive box containing layer upon layer of foam, translucent plastics and other refinements. Once you're done peeling everything away you're left with the Kinzo smartphone, a leather case, a manual, the aforementioned Sygic voucher, V-MODA-like earbuds, a micro-USB cable, Li-Ion battery, Euro-spec USB AC adapter, Verzo-branded microSD adapter with case and a snazzy stainless-steel USB car charger. Strangely, the North American USB AC adapter and carholder ship separately in a generic package.
After you've recovered from all the unboxing drama, you're basically presented with a bulky device that's a cross between the EVO 4G and the Nexus One. Just like the box it came in, the Verzo Kinzo is massive -- at 131.62 x 72.36 x 12.30mm (5.18 x 2.84 x 0.48 inches) and 155g (0.34 pounds), it makes even the Galaxy Nexus look small. Most of this heft comes from the slab-like design and a bezel that's wider than a 10-lane freeway in LA. The handset isn't really that heavy, but its shape isn't particularly hand-friendly, especially since the sides are wider in the middle and taper towards the ends. Angles and lines are everywhere, with motifs reminiscent of diamond facets. It's almost elegant.
Other than the 4.3-inch WVGA glass-capacitive touchscreen, most of the smartphone is made of molded plastics with noticeable flash lines and gate marks, and is finished using a two-tone gunmetal-colored paint scheme. Despite the sea of cheap materials, build quality is decent and the Kinzo feels solid (it's manufactured in Taiwan). In front you'll find the earpiece, sensors and a VGA front-facing camera, plus the usual four capacitive buttons (menu, home, search, back) and a mic. The back features a 5 megapixel AF camera and flash, along with Verzo's and designer Novague's logos. A micro-USB connector and speaker live on the bottom edge, and the power/lock key is at the top. The left side is home to the 3.5mm headphone jack and a volume rocker, with nothing on the right.
The battery door conceals slots for a standard SIM and for microSD storage, plus the aforementioned 1,530mAh battery. A Verzo-branded 8GB card comes pre-installed. Spec-wise, the Kinzo's guts are last year's glory with a 1GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 3630 CPU, PowerVR SGX 530 GPU, 512MB of RAM, unlocked tri-band HSPA (2100/1900/850MHz) and quadband EDGE radios, plus WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, AGPS and the usual bevvy of sensors (light, proximity, accelerometer, compass). Everything works as expected -- call quality and network performance are perfectly adequate on ATT. While we didn't put the battery through our usual array of tests, we didn't have much trouble using the handset for an entire day. The 4.3-inch 800x480 TFT display provides reasonably good contrast and surprisingly nice viewing angles but turns into a mirror at the first hint of direct sunlight.
We took the camera for a spin and while the 5 megapixel AF module appears capable enough the software is a mess. Pictures snapped with the Kinzo are systematically overexposed, washing out colors, although dropping the EV to -2.0 usually improves things. Even our better images lacked detail, and while not terrible, low-light performance only matches last year's crop of mid-range cameraphones. The flash is also rather weak. But our biggest complaint is with the continuous autofocus, which is slow and inaccurate. While Verzo chose to use the default Android camera app, it removed the feature wherein tapping the on-screen shutter key initiates autofocus, holding it locks focus (allowing to reframe) and releasing it actually takes the shot. Video recording is a complete disaster, resulting in systematically corrupt MP4 files. While it supports up to 720p, it only captures 12fps using a 4:3 aspect ratio and extremely low-fi AMR audio, regardless of the resolution setting.
On the software front, it's back to the future with a mildly customized version of Android 2.2. Yes, FroYo. In late 2011. Weep now. The skin is subtle, with changes to the layout of the dock at the bottom of each homescreen, and cosmetic tweaks to the app tray. You'll also find that some menus, like the settings, have been rearranged slightly and while the number of homescreens can be adjusted between three and seven, the dock can't be edited. Beyond the standard set of pre-installed Google apps, the handset includes a bespoke date / time / weather widget and a file manager. Strangely, the TellMe app demoed in our video was removed from the Kinzo during a factory reset, and we've been unable to locate it in the Market or on Verzo's website. This app provides a way for users to communicate with the manufacturer directly by suggesting and voting on improvements to the device.
Sygic's offline navigation app doesn't really offer much more than Google's free navigation app -- other than the ability to work offline off course, which is a significant feature. We only learned after making our video that Sygic doesn't support streaming maps over the network at all, requiring instead that the data be downloaded and installed ahead of time using a separate app (Sygic Downloader, duh). Once we sorted this out, using the app was a rather unpolished experience, with some UI elements missing localized strings and displaying such informative text as "menu.main.settings" and "button.quit". Performance-wise, the Verzo Kinzo generally feels responsive enough, but with a Quadrant score of about 1,250 it's nothing to write home about. We occasionally ran into some issues with touchscreen sensitivity, but this looks like it's software-related.
Ultimately, we can't recommend the Kinzo. It's too little too late, especially in a world where a new Xiaomi Phone costs less ($310), and spending a little more buys you a new Meizu MX ($398), both unlocked dual-core handsets running Gingerbread -- not to mention that worthy devices like the Nexus S and Galaxy S II are readily available on the used market. We can only hope Verzo further drops the price to $259, improves the materials, fixes the camera and updates the OS. No matter what, please spare us the over-the-top packaging and branding next time. We're just not hip enough.
Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/29/verzo-kinzo-unboxing-and-impressions/