Whyday

It's just bad In order to make anything (search, for example) work in Apple's Mail.app, I have to turn it off and on again. I won't run down all its issues. I'm too tired of it, and…

The 3 Best Vintage Lenses For Portrait Photography

Portrait photography is a genre that often requires softer results than extremely sharp image quality. It also requires one to have a wider aperture, as well as some lens character, to make your images appear different. While there are many modern portrait lenses on the market,…

“I believe in an old-fashioned virtue called Doing...

“I believe in an old-fashioned virtue called Doing the Freakin’ Work. Read the book, not the summary. Write the piece, not the prompt. Suffer like the artist you are. It ain’t easy, but if it were easy, it wouldn’t be worth doing.”

This Ping Pong Robot Can Beat Elite Human Players

Sony’s AI division has designed a robot that can beat elite human players at table tennis. From the paper: Evaluated in matches against elite and professional players under official competition rules, Ace achieved several victories and demonstrated consistent returns of h…

I had somehow missed (or forgotten) that Greta Gerwig is...

I had somehow missed (or forgotten) that Greta Gerwig is writing and directing an adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew, one of The Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. Filming has wrapped and it’s out in theaters on Nov 26.

A group of “unauthorized users” have...

A group of “unauthorized users” have accessed Anthropic’s Mythos AI model, which the company recently said they couldn’t widely release because it was too dangerous. Whoopsie doodle! Maybe don’t use guessable paths for your powerful cyberattack model?

Border Message

The Single Best Third-Party Portrait Lens

When it comes to photographing a person, there are several things one must keep in mind: to capture their essence and to showcase them in good light. While there are many ways one can make appealing portraits, it must also be remembered that it sometimes also relies on the kind…

“Even the Weather Felt Expensive”

Filmmaker Noah Hawley was invited to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s Campfire retreat in 2018. Reflecting on the experience recently for The Atlantic, Hawley writes that today’s super-rich have stopped “pretending that the rules of human society apply” to them. The Jeff Be…

Wow, this interview! “I’ve never had an...

Wow, this interview! “I’ve never had an interview quite like this one with Charlize Theron.”

“In a new book called “Israel: What Went Wrong?,”...

“In a new book called “Israel: What Went Wrong?,” [Israeli professor of Holocaust & genocide studies] Omer Bartov argues that Zionism has morphed into an ideology of extremism that led to genocide in Gaza following the Hamas attacks of October 7th.”

OM System Now Makes Infrared Photography Easier Than Ever With This Camera

Infrared photography has been popular amongst photographers. It allows image-makers to capture light that the human eye is unable to see, thereby resulting in photographs that appear quite surreal. While there are various ways one can invest in infrared photography, some can be…

Lessons from a 1969 documentary on Nazi-occupied France...

Lessons from a 1969 documentary on Nazi-occupied France on how fascism takes root. “A former undercover British agent recalls that working-class French were eager to help him and to shelter him. Those who were wealthier preferred to stay out of it.”

A new short story from Jeff VanderMeer (Annihilation,...

A new short story from Jeff VanderMeer (Annihilation, etc.) called Constellations about a mission that has crash-landed on a distant planet.

The Single Best APS-C Camera for Street Photography

Street photographers often want a camera that can withstand anything. It is not only the design that helps them shoot for longer hours, but also offer colors that are outstanding. While full frame cameras achieve this, they are expensive as well. To help those who need a budget…

Finally! The Trailer for the Coyote vs. ACME Movie.

We thought this day would never come. But we kept the faith and now we can begin to reap the rewards: there is actually a trailer for the Coyote vs. ACME movie and the movie itself is actually coming out on Aug 28. Quick recap of the situation so far: Ian Frazier wrote a st…

Well, here it is at last: the new Boards of Canada album...

Well, here it is at last: the new Boards of Canada album is called Inferno and it will be released on May 28. Pre-order or pre-save the album.

Jamelle Bouie on the truly unprecedented open corruption...

Jamelle Bouie on the truly unprecedented open corruption of the Trump regime. I’ve found it useful to think of DJT’s 2nd term primarily as a heist: a theft of money & power from the American people by a con man who finally found the perfect score.

Ursday

Fresh new nightmare 404 Media: This AI Tool Rips Off Open Source Software Without Violating Copyright. It begins, "For a small price, Malus.sh will use AI to ingest any piece of software you give and spit out a new version of it that 'liberates' it from any existing copyright l…

nikitonsky is being grumpy

nikitonsky: There are many ways to illustrate that things belong together or are related to each other. They are commonly known as “gestalt principles” (top) What happens when you ignore them all? You get a UI that is absolutely undecipherable (bottom). Just one hot mess of…

The Best Way to Protect Your Camera Gear

Hey pros! Listen up! Our photography insurance program is designed to be there when photographers really need it! We're giving you more than the competition can in different ways! Here's a little-known fact: the warranty of your camera or lens doesn't necessarily cover what happ…

The Olympus Lens That is No Longer Holding its Value

The Olympus system has had some wonderful lenses over the years for wildlife photographers. The company has introduced incredible options, including 150-600mm, 50-200mm, and 12-100 mm, amongst others. It now appears that while there are multiple options, some lenses are losing t…

We’re in the Era of Peak Photography Laptop

Believe it or not, I haven't owned or used a laptop since before the pandemic. In 2019, I bought a 27-inch iMac and it has been my main machine for several years. Then I ended up buying a 12-inch iPad Pro some years ago hoping that it would replace my need for a laptop. And like…

Is the best literary film adaptation of the last 50...

Is the best literary film adaptation of the last 50 years: a) The Silence of the Lambs, b) The Princess Bride, c) The Return of the King (LoTR), d) Apocalypse Now, or e) Jurassic Park?

A French corporation was recently found criminally...

A French corporation was recently found criminally liable for enabling terrorism. “The court in Paris has just ruled that cynicism and an exclusive focus on profits can constitute a crime.”

Micro Four Thirds Never Had a Better Lens for Street Photography Than This

Street photography is a genre that requires one to be quick, sharp, and be able to make poetic images as well. While there are many systems that create stunning photographs, the Micro Four Thirds is a good option given how you can get results that interesting. If you are someone…

The Leaf Sheep Slug: The Animal That Eats Sunshine

This is an animal called the leaf sheep: It’s a species of slug that is partially solar-powered, like a plant. Leaf sheep are kleptoplastic organisms that steal chloroplasts from algae, store them in their bodies, and then can rely on photosynthesis for their energy needs…

Everyone Is Blaming AI for the Water Crisis. We’re...

Everyone Is Blaming AI for the Water Crisis. We’re Looking at the Wrong Culprit. “One drive to the work I do on the Colorado River used more than 20 times the water of everything I did with AI in 11 weeks.”

The Accursèd Alphabetical Clock . “This clock...

The Accursèd Alphabetical Clock. “This clock displays the current time alphabetically.” Totally deranged…I love it.

Criterion x Every Frame a Painting: The Edges of Wuxia

Every Frame a Painting’s Taylor Ramos & Tony Zhou are back with a video essay about pushing the boundaries of genre in Tsui Hark’s 1995 film The Blade. One reason filmmakers like to work in a genre is that it gives us a pre-made box: a set of expectations, tropes, and b…