Koloid (for iPhone)

You could hardly be blamed for thinking that with the popularity of Instagram, competing camera apps would have shriveled and died. It's true that the filter-and-share app dominates, but an army of others soldier on. Koloid (99 cents, iOS), is unique in that you have to spread "developer" fluid across your image by moving your phone. The results are unique, and unlike anything you can get with other camera apps.

Just about every app has the same photo-taking experience: point, shoot, add filters, share. Sometimes, you might import an older photo from your camera roll. Koloid is different, demanding as the aptly named developer (pun?) "19TH CENTURY APPS SP Z O O" suggests, a more 19th century approach.

A Developing Story
The first screen you arrive on is the viewfinder, which resembles a plate-glass negative from back in the day. The view is locked in portrait orientation, so don't try flipping your iPhone on its side for a wider photo. However, you can switch to a more Instagram-compliant square format from the settings menu.

Take a photo by tapping the camera button at the bottom of the screen. Fans of using the volume button to take a photo are out of luck. Next, select how much virtual collodion developer fluid you want to use. Less fluid covers less space and can leave a ghostly effect on photos. More fluid develops faster, but can overdevelop some areas and even burn the image black.

Shake your phone to deploy the fluid, and then move the collodion around the screen by tilting the phone. This may seem dumb and gimmicky (it?s at the very least gimmicky), but you can get some neat effects that aren't really possible in apps like Hipstamatic and Instagram that are based solely on filters. You can burn out some areas or leave sections undeveloped. It's tricky, made all the trickier by the lugubrious movement of the collodion.

When you?re done, press the Ready button and you'll be presented with the final version of your photo. All the streaks and burns are present in the black-and-white image, but I was disappointed that the image seemed clearer and had more contrast than the one I had been developing. Perhaps that's the result of a digital dip in water to get the collodion off, but it still seems odd. The app sticks very true to its gimmick, sorry, concept, in most other ways?like not allowing you to re-edit pictures?that I wish the final image was exactly the one I developed.

Sharing and Storing
Koloid has its own little gallery built right into the app, though it will save to your camera roll, too. Note that unlike Instagram, it doesn't save a copy of the raw, un-developed image.

You can share directly to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, and Instagram from within Koloid. You can also export images directly from Koloid via email and text message. Unlike Flickr and Instagram, Koloid is just a camera toy; there's no website or larger social service backing it up.

Ready to Develop?
Koloid is fun, and I'm already looking forward to my Instagram friends asking me how I got the effects on my images. It doesn't have a lot of depth, but it delivers on what it promises and the price is reasonable.

I would like to see Koloid loosen up a bit and allow me to import photos from my camera roll, and allow landscape-oriented photos. Just because we're playing at the 1890s, doesn't mean we can't do better.

Koloid needs a little more time to develop (definitely a pun), but it's a fun, cheap addition to your digital camera bag.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/JqSpt41XBRs/0,2817,2420461,00.asp

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Solar Power and Mobile Communications in Rural Africa

Solar Power and Mobile Communications in Rural Africa

In much of the developed world, we shrug at modest improvements in technology. When I hear, "It won't make much of a difference to me," I often think about The Starfish Story* ?- "It made a difference for that one!"

An estimated 1.2 billion people worldwide live without electricity. Small solar cells can provide enough power to light homes and recharge mobile phones, replacing kerosene and generators, providing the "luxury" of electricity for many who may otherwise do without.?

Low power (50 watt) cellular base stations, and low power (25 watt) microwave transmitters, when combined with solar power technology, have the potential to bring the world to the doors of millions of people in third world countries, through the Internet!

I know there are much more important problems in developing countries. AIDS, clean water, adequate nutrition and safety from despotic regimes and those seeking to overthrow them, are issues needing urgent intervention. But electric lighting and Internet connectivity are not small conveniences! A smartphone, tablet, lighting, and a connection to the Internet can bring life saving information to someone in rural Africa! Traveling medical missionaries and others can communicate when they will be near villages. Vaccination clinics can communicate their schedules and information. Information on safe food preparation and safe sex can be distributed more effectively.

Technology can be a huge force for good throughout the world, in ways we've never thought of!

~#~

For more information -?

Selling Solar Panels on the Installment Plan in Africa - Businessweek ~ http://buswk.co/154oRlN

A Tiny Cell-Phone Transmitter Takes Root in Rural Africa | MIT Technology Review ~ http://bit.ly/154oXcQ

* The Starfish Story: You Can Make a Difference | Andrew: Inside & Insights ~ http://bit.ly/154p5cz

Source: http://praccomp.southsidetech.com/2013/06/solar-power-and-mobile-communications.html

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Web companies to disclose surveillance information after deal with U.S.

By Joseph Menn and Gerry Shih

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Several Internet companies have struck an agreement with the U.S. government to release limited information about the number of surveillance requests they receive, two sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

Facebook became the first to release aggregate numbers of requests, saying in a blog post that it received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests for user data in the second half of 2012, covering 18,000 to 19,000 of its users' accounts.

The agreements underscore the pressure imposed on the U.S. government and Internet companies after news leaked last week of a controversial National Security Agency program involving surveillance of foreigners. The disclosure of that program triggered concern about the scope and extent of the information-gathering exercise.

Other Internet companies are expected to release numbers of government requests without breaking out how many originate from the National Security Agency, the sources said.

Google, Facebook and Microsoft have publicly urged the U.S. government to allow them to reveal the number and scope of the surveillance requests they receive, including confidential requests made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Google and Microsoft declined to comment.

(Editing by Doina Chiacu and Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/companies-disclose-surveillance-deal-u-010442116.html

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Riot police advance on protesters in Istanbul park

ISTANBUL (AP) ? Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas on protesters in Istanbul's Taksim Square and neighboring Gezi Park on Saturday, an intervention that came shortly after the prime minister warned that security forces "know how to clear" the area.

Protesters had defied Recep Tayyip Erdogan's earlier warnings to leave, vowing to press on with a sit-in that has galvanized demonstrations around the country and dented Erdogan's international reputation.

Saturday's sweep marked the first time in weeks that police had entered the makeshift tent city in Gezi Park, which has been transformed into a national symbol of resistance. White smoke billowed skyward as a phalanx of white-helmeted riot police marched inside the park. They tore down protesters' banners, toppled a communal food stall, and sprayed tear gas over the tents ? urging those inside to pull out.

Protesters carried someone away on a stretcher.

According to NTV television, police shouted to the protesters: "This is an illegal act, this is our last warning to you ? Evacuate."

In a show of power before thousands of flag-waving party faithful, Erdogan had earlier threatened protesters in a boisterous speech in Sincan, a suburb of the capital Ankara, that is a stronghold of his Justice and Development Party.

Erdogan warned protesters to cheers from the crowd: "I say this very clearly: either Taksim Square is cleared, or if it isn't cleared then the security forces of this country will know how to clear it."

A violent police crackdown on what began as an environmental protest over a redevelopment plan at the park has sparked a much broader expression of discontent about Erdogan's government, and what many say is his increasingly authoritarian decision-making.

The anger has been fanned because riot police have at times used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets to disperse mostly peaceful protesters. Five people, including a police officer, have died and thousands of people have been injured, denting Erdogan's international reputation.

Erdogan, who was elected with 50 percent of the vote for his third term in 2011, vehemently rejects the accusations by protesters and points to his strong support base.

A second pro-government rally is planned for Sunday in Istanbul, though Erdogan has previously said that the rallies were not designed as "an alternative" to the demonstrations at Gezi Park, but part of early campaigning for local elections next March.

On Saturday, Erdogan lashed out at what he called the "plot" behind the biggest street protests in his 10-year tenure.

"Over the last 17 days, I know that in all corners of Turkey, millions and billions have prayed for us," Erdogan said, as he moved about the stage. "You saw the plot that was being carried out, the trap being set." He said his supporters represented the "silent masses."

"You are here, and you are spoiling the treacherous plot, the treacherous attack!" he said, insisting unspecified groups both inside and outside Turkey had conspired to mount the protests centered on Istanbul ? and that he had the documents to prove it.

The crowd chanted in response: "Stand straight, don't bow, the people are with you!"

In his speech, he focused on some protesters who have clashed with polices ? at time by throwing stones and firebombs.

"There is no breaking and burning here, we are people of love," Erdogan said. "If people want to see the real Turkey, they should come here to Sincan."

Erdogan already has offered to defer to a court ruling on the legality of the government's contested park redevelopment plan, and floated the possibility of a referendum on it. But concessions over the park seemed not to be enough

Earlier this week, Erdogan ordered Taksim Square to be cleared of protesters. Police moved past improvised barricades on Tuesday, firing tear gas and rubber bullets and using water cannons to fend off small groups of demonstrators throwing stones, bottles and firebombs. Tear gas was also fired through the trees into the park, although the protesters were not removed.

Taksim Square itself returned to normal right after the end of the police operation early Wednesday. Traffic returned, the protest banners and flags were taken down, and cafes set up their chairs and tables outside again. At night, demonstrators still spill out from the park down the steps, while riot police keep watch from the edges.

Tayfun Kahraman, a Taksim Solidarity member who met with Erdogan in last-ditch talks that lasted until the pre-dawn hours Friday, said the protesters had agreed to continue their sit-in at Gezi Park after holding a series of discussions.

"We shall remain in the park until all of our democratic rights are recognized," he told The Associated Press, insisting that four key demands laid out by protesters in the talks had not been met.

The group has demanded that the park be left intact, anyone responsible for excessive police force resign or be fired, all activists detained in the protests be released, and the police use of tear gas and other non-lethal weapons be banned.

"As of today, with the dynamism and strength that comes from the struggle that has spread to the whole country, and even the world, we shall continue the resistance against all kinds of injustice and victimization in our country," Taksim Solidarity said in a statement posted on its website and later read out in the park. The group didn't say explicitly that it would remain in the park.

As the statement was read out, many among the gathered crowd clapped and began shouting, "This is just the beginning ? the struggle continues!"

Although the most prominent group to emerge from the protests, Taksim Solidarity doesn't speak for everyone occupying Gezi. With many protesters saying they have no affiliation to any group or political party, many could make individual decisions on whether to stay or leave.

But there were few signs of anyone intending to pack up Saturday afternoon, and the daily activity in what has become a tent city continued with little indication of change. Deliveries of bottles of water and food arrived, people lined up for servings of lunch, while others cleared garbage and swept the paths clean after the morning rain.

According to the government's redevelopment plan for Taksim Square, the park would be replaced with a replica Ottoman-era barracks. Under initial plans, the construction would have housed a shopping mall, though that has since been amended to the possibility of an opera house, a theater and a museum with cafes.

Protesters angered by the project began occupying the park last month, but the police crackdown on May 31 saw the demonstrations spread to dozens of cities across the country. In recent days they have concentrated on Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.

Earlier Saturday, President Abdullah Gul wrote on Twitter that "everyone should now return home," insisting that "the channels for discussion and dialogue" have opened ? an apparent reference to the talks between Erdogan and a small group of delegates from the protest.

____

Keaten reported from Ankara. Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/riot-police-advance-protesters-istanbul-park-180359720.html

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Farrah Abraham on Kim Kardashian: I Outshine Her (and I'm Smarter Too)!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/farrah-abraham-on-kim-kardashian-i-outshine-her-and-am-smarter/

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Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn Talks Climate and Carbon

Like any major city near a coast, Seattle likely won't be immune from rising sea levels and other effects of global warming. Mayor Mike McGinn discusses the city's plans for addressing climate change, including his push to divest Seattle's pension funds from fossil fuel investments, and the city council's plan to make Seattle carbon neutral by 2050.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/06/14/191614356/seattle-mayor-mike-mcginn-talks-climate-and-carbon?ft=1&f=1007

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Gustatory tug-of-war key to whether salty foods taste good

June 13, 2013 ? As anyone who's ever mixed up the sugar and salt while baking knows, too much of a good thing can be inedible. What hasn't been clear, though, is how our tongues and brains can tell when the saltiness of our food has crossed the line from yummy to yucky -- or, worse, something dangerous.

Now researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of California, Santa Barbara report that in fruit flies, at least, that process is controlled by competing input from two different types of taste-sensing cells: one that attracts flies to salty foods, and one that repels them. Results of their research are described in the June 14 issue of Science.

"The body needs sodium for crucial tasks like putting our muscles into action and letting brain cells communicate with each other, but too much sodium will cause heart problems and other health concerns," explains Yali Zhang, Ph.D., who led the recent study as part of his graduate work at Johns Hopkins. To maintain health, Zhang says, humans and other animals perceive foods with relatively low salt concentrations as tasty, but avoid eating things with very high salt content.

To find out how the body pulls off this balancing act, Zhang worked with his adviser, Craig Montell, Ph.D., a leading scientist in the field of sensory biology and now a professor at UC Santa Barbara, and graduate student Jinfei Ni to get an up-close view of the fly equivalent of a tongue: its long, curly proboscis. They zoomed in on the proboscis' so-called sensilla, hair-like structures that serve as the fly's taste buds.

Previous research had identified several distinct types of sensilla, one of which attracts flies to a taste, while another repels them. Zhang loaded an electrode with a mixture of water and different concentrations of salt, and touched it to each type of sensilla, using the same electrode to detect the electrical signals fired by the sensilla in response to the salt. He found that up to a point, increasing salt concentrations would produce increasingly strong electrical signals in the attractive sensilla, but after that point, the electrical signals dropped off as the concentration continued to rise. In contrast, the repellant sensilla gave off stronger and stronger electrical signals as the salt concentration rose.

Zhang said the team realized that the taste receptor cells in the attractive and repellant sensilla were likely locked in a tug-of-war over whether the fly would continue eating or go off in search of better food. At lower concentrations, the attractive signal would dominate the repellant signal, sending a cumulative message of "yum!" But at high concentrations, the repellant signal would overwhelm the attractive signal, sending the signal "yuck!"

To further test this conclusion, the team mutated a gene called Ir76b that codes for a protein they suspected was involved in the action of the attractive sensilla. To their great surprise, Zhang found that loss of Ir76b function caused flies to avoid the otherwise attractive low-salt food. The reason for this, he found, was that mutating Ir76b only impaired the responses of the attractive sensilla, leaving the repellant sensilla to win the day. Looking further into the action of the protein produced by Ir76b, the team found that it is a channel with a pore that lets sodium pass into the taste cells of the sensilla. Unlike most pores of this type, which have gates that must be opened by certain key chemical or voltage changes in their environment, this gate is always open, meaning that at any time, sodium can flood into the cell and spark an electrical signal. "It's an unusual setup, but it makes sense because the local sodium concentration outside taste receptor cells appears to be a lot lower than that surrounding most cells. The taste receptor cells don't need to keep the gate closed to protect themselves from that excess sodium," Zhang says.

Long before we humans started worrying about regulating our sodium intake, it was a problem all animals had to deal with, Zhang says, and thus his research has implications for other animals, including humans. Although animal taste buds and insect sensilla have different makeups, he suspects that the tug-of-war principle may apply to salt-tasting throughout the animal kingdom, given that different species behave similarly when it comes to salty foods. Identifying the low-salt sensor in humans could be particularly useful, he says, as it could lead to the development of better salt substitutes to help people control their sodium intake.

This study was funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (DC007864).

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/TwMpfKhNB4A/130613142634.htm

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