On 06 October 2020, at 6 pm UK time, 1854 Media reveals a new film capturing an exhibition of 400 photographs ascending 130,000 feet into the stratosphere. Vivid images slowly scrolling across a framed-screen, exhibited for all of humanity against the backdrop of the world below — nebulous clouds, deep sky, and the soft outline of the earth.
Drawn from Portrait of Humanity, a movement seeking to prove there is more that unites us than sets us apart, the exhibited images showcase the many faces of communities across the world. Individuality, community and unity, are the focus of the featured works, drawn from the 2019 and 2020 editions of the award (the 2021 edition is open for submissions until 22 October 2020). The exhibition celebrates humanity in its countless variations. And while the global pandemic forces museums and galleries to remain closed, the film should remind us of our universal bonds, despite being forced apart.
1854 Media has partnered with Sent Into Space to broadcast a message of peace and unity from humankind to space — and possibly even our extra-terrestrial counterparts. The exhibited images also translate into binary code and are beamed through the universe at the speed of light. These are messages, which could continue on an infinite journey for the rest of time — or until another civilisation receives and decodes them.
Sent Into Space’s work spans a number of industries, conducting award-winning viral marketing stunts, advancing scientific understanding of our planet, testing cutting-edge satellite and avionics equipment, inspiring future generations of scientists, engineers and astronauts or scattering ashes on a breathtaking final journey. With a unique mix of engineering, creative and marketing skills and a client list including some of the world’s biggest companies, their growing team is pushing the boundaries of photography at the edge of space.
The full 45-minute film will be screened on 06 October 2020 at 6pm UK time via this link.
Control channel: TLS-DHE-RSA-WITH-AES-256-GCM-SHA384
In the past few years, we’ve covered most of the well-known VPN services, with the exception of AirVPN. A popular choice among privacy advocates, AirVPN was founded by “a very small group of activists, hacktivists, hackers in 2010.” While it doesn’t quite rise to the level of privacy and anonymity we’ve seen from other services, AirVPN is a very good service.
“Why are gaming phones still a thing?” That’s what my colleague Michael Simon pondered after the recent releases of the Asus ROG Phone 3 and Lenovo Legion Phone Duel, and it’s a fair question to ask.
When the Razer Phone created the “gaming phone” market in 2017, it rolled out with unique features rarely—if ever—seen in smartphones: a high refresh rate screen, binned processors, copper vapor chambers, and in-your-face “gamer” aesthetics. But in the years since, many of those “gaming” features have trickled down to mainstream phones like the Samsung Galaxy and various OnePlus models. Again: Why are gaming phones still a thing?
Netflix's adaptation of Mart Crowley's 1968 play about a gay birthday party that goes off the rails features hard liquor, sharp tongues and broad types.
(Image credit: Scott Everett White/NETFLIX)
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Google is set to launch the next generation of Pixel phones at its Launch Night In event at 2pm ET on Wednesday. Google has already teased that two phones will be releasing: the Pixel 5 and the Pixel 4a 5G, which is a 5G-equipped version of the 4a that launched earlier this year. But while the Pixel 5 is supposed to be a surprise, we already know a lot about it. Keep reading to find out about the new display, design, camera and more.
Pixel 5: Design and display
Each new Pixel phone has previously introduced a new design language for Google’s handsets. Recent renders shared by Evan Blass have suggested, however, that the Pixel 5 is going to take its inspiration from the Pixel 4a, with a hole-punch camera, slimmer bezels, and a square camera array. Not that we’re complaining—the Pixel 4a is one of the nicest handsets designs Google has ever shipped.
Yes, that is a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano in your laptop bag. You probably just didn't realize it because the laptop weighs barely two pounds.
The ThinkPad X1 Nano is officially the lightest ThinkPad ever built. Lenovo said it managed to squeeze the weight out of the Nano by using a combination of carbon fiber and magnesium-aluminum in the die-cast chassis. "New technology and materials" in the keyboard and cooler also shave off some ounces. The ThinkPad X1 Nano will be available before the end of the year with prices starting at $1,399.
Lightweight typically means less performance, but Lenovo taps Intel's new 11th-gen Tiger Lake CPU to power the ThinkPad X1 Nano. The company didn't say which specific chip, but it is a Core i7 with Iris Xe. That tells us the laptop's maximum of 16GB of LPDDR4X is configured for dual-channel, as you can't get get an Iris Xe badge without the higher-performance memory configuration.
The first foldable PC, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 FoldRemove non-product link, goes on preorder Tuesday, the company announced, and is due to ship by the end of the year. The price: $2,499. Perhaps not too much to ask for the right to be among the first—and the ThinkPad X1 Fold is really a long list of firsts. We’ll highlight just some of them here, and list the specs at the end.
ThinkBook may be Lenovo’s lower-cost option for small and medium-sized businesses, but the line is nevertheless keeping right in step with the times by offering the latest Intel Tiger Lake and AMD Ryzen 4000 CPUs. Announced Tuesday, all models are due to ship over October and November, with prices ranging from $549 to $939. For this story we're focusing on the ThinkBook 15 Gen 2 i, which offers a unique and handy new feature.
Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 2 i: The earbud drawer
Buy Lenovo’s ThinkBook 15 Gen 2 i and you’ll probably never lose your Bluetooth headset again. Lenovo has cleverly created an optional drawer in the 15-inch laptop that lets you store and charge wireless earbuds. Not any earbuds—just Lenovo’s own, which you have to buy—but it’s still a nifty idea.
"We're thinking about it as an archive of well wishes, but an archive that shouldn't exist, that exists because of a terrible structural inequality that we all face," says artist Sam Lavigne.
(Image credit: Sam Lavigne and Tega Brain)
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Editor's Note: As of 9:00 PM, Microsoft says that the service outage has been resolved. "Any users still experiencing impact should be mitigated shortly.," the company said in a tweet. The original story follows.
If you’ve been unable to connect to Microsoft’s services, you’re not alone. Microsoft is suffering through an outage that has taken down Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and others. If you are connected, don’t be tempted to disconnect just to see what’s going on, Microsoft warns.
Microsoft’s Office.com portal health site shows that Outlook.com still remains down, though other consumer services remain unaffected. The Microsoft 365 service page, showing the status of Microsoft’s business services, notes that Microsoft Teams may also be affected, along with its related services.
If you’ve been unable to connect to Microsoft’s services, you’re not alone. Microsoft is suffering through an outage that has taken down Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and others. If you are connected, don’t be tempted to disconnect just to see what’s going on, Microsoft warns.
Microsoft’s Office.com portal health site shows that Outlook.com still remains down, though other consumer services remain unaffected. The Microsoft 365 service page, showing the status of Microsoft’s business services, notes that Microsoft Teams may also be affected, along with its related services.
NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Rev. Al Sharpton about racial justice in an election year. Sharpton has written a new book called: Rise Up: Confronting a Country at the Crossroads.
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The Dell XPS 13 and XPS 13 2-in-1 will get Intel’s hot new 11th-gen Tiger Lake CPU. Announced Monday, Dell said both models will go on sale September 30. The XPS 13 9310 will start at $999, and the XPS 13 9310 2-in-1 will start at $1,249.
The Dell XPS 13 9310 looks the same on the outside, and that’s a good thing. It features a taller 16:10 aspect ratio. Its 13.4-inch screen comes in three flavors: Ultra 4K+ with touch, 1920x1200 with touch or 1920x1200 without. All three are rated at 500 nits’ brightness and feature blue-reducing Eyesafe technology, Dolby Vision and 178-degree wide-angle viewing.
In the latter half of 2019, unprecedented flooding consumed the streets and homes of Grand-Bassam — Ivory Coast’s first colonial capital, now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once bustling roads became passable only by canoe. Historical sites saw serious damage. According to a World Bank Study, West African nations are losing as much as $3.8 bn a year to coastal erosion, and Ivory Coast is the worst hit. The country has lost $2 bn to the rising sea levels, equating to nearly 5 per cent of its GDP.
Now at risk of erasure, the eclectic mix of traditional and modern culture breathing life into Grand-Bassam is the subject of Ngadi Smart’s latest series for Atmos magazine.
Speaking to British Journal of Photography after making the Portrait of Humanity 2020 shortlist, the Sierra Leonean artist describes a city defined by dichotomy. Arresting colonial ruins — crumbling evidence of the former French rule — hark of functionalism and adaptation: western town planning’s response to a tropical climate. However, the indigenous N’zima people who live amongst it embody a much deeper, and more permanent, history.
“Indigenous people share a spiritual, cultural, social and economic relationship with their traditional lands,” Smart explains. “But with the lack of investment in environmental infrastructure and implementation, the future of small communities and cultures such as this one is threatened — and this happens all over the world.”
Taking the format of a fashion editorial, Smart’s series, entitled Freedom, sees local models showcase the sustainable clothing and accessories of ethical local designers and artisans — fierce, even regal, as the models’ vibrant palettes clash against the backdrop of decrepit 19th and 20th century architecture. From the hand and feet ornaments inspired by Ivorian traditional raffia wear (worn by Guro and Yacouba people during dance ceremonies) to contemporary clothing designs by Kader Diaby of the emerging Ivorian brand Olooh Concept, the shoot celebrates the cultural fusion “imprinted in the Bassam way of life.”
Smart’s celebration of the nuances of West African identity can be found in equal measure in the recent Queens of Babi, which documents the opulent underground drag community of Abidijan, Ivory Coast. With LGBTQ+ acceptance in the Ivory Coast greatly lacking, for two years, until 2018, members of the drag community in Abidjan would meet discreetly in an undisclosed bar to hold drag balls — until the adversities they faced overwhelmed them, and they had to disband.
Evidently, the intrinsic need to create, express and celebrate themselves never waned. Queens of Babi features Kesse Ane Assande Elvis Presley, or ‘Britney Spears’ to friends, and Mohamed, aka ‘Baba’, parading in magnificent costumes they conceptualised and crafted from scratch. “The reporting of LGBTQ communities in Franco-African societies is also not readily and commonly published,” says Smart. “One of the particularities in West Africa is that LGBTQ mobilising at the community level is relatively new. In Abidjan, there are no real LGBTQ organisations and the members I photographed told me they were often unable to go into certain neighbourhoods for fear of being assaulted, or losing their life.”
Smart’s mission, then, is to change the way that African identities — in all their multifaceted glory — are perceived, accepted, and protected. “For too long, Black bodies have been the subject of exoticism and dehumanisation within the art world,” she says. “There is an obvious shift in interest in Black pride and African pride thanks to the generation of young creatives currently emerging from the continent. As African creatives, we now have the tools to tell our own story, and do it in our own way.”
Shōtengai is a style of Japanese shopping street popularised in the early-20th century. Typically covered and pedestrianised, they are lined with essential shops, restaurants, and a mix of small retailers selling items such as second-hand books, traditional snacks, and vintage memorabilia. Beyond their practical role, shōtengai have become important social spaces for local communities. But, for many, their prosperity was short-lived. Since the 1960s, the arrival of shopping malls and increasing modernisation prompted the steady decline of an estimated 15,000 across the country.
But one such street, located just beyond Kyoto’s Imperial Palace, has curbed the trend. On a Saturday afternoon in mid-September, Masugata Shotengai is bustling with people old and young, shopping for their dinner, browsing for second-hand clothing, or queuing up to buy Kyoto’s famous wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets).
Last week, the historic street also became home to Kyotographie’s first permanent space, Delta. Three years in the making, and launched in conjunction with the eighth edition of the festival, Delta functions as a cafe, exhibition space, and community hub, with plans to host a year-round programme of workshops and events. Named after the nearby Kamogawa Delta, a famous landmark where the Kamo and Takano Rivers merge, its concept is in tune with the festival’s mission to create connections between opposites: East and West; tradition and innovation; underground and mainstream.
In the middle of a global pandemic, Kyotographie is one of the few photofestivals that have been able to open this year. After postponing from April, the festival opened on 19 September, presenting a programme of 10 exhibitions curated around the theme, ‘Vision’. “We never thought to cancel,” says Lucille Reyboz, photographer and co-founder of the festival, alongside her husband and lighting director Yusuke Nakanishi. Japan declared a state of emergency in April, but from around mid-May the country’s coronavirus regulations were eased, allowing for exhibitions and outdoor events to open with restrictions. Still, the country’s borders remain closed to foreign visitors, who usually compose around 30 per cent of the festival’s footfall, and the Franco-Japanese couple admits that, initially, they were concerned. “Most of our funding comes from private companies, and with everyone facing financial difficulties, our budget was vanishing,” Reyboz explains. “But, we quickly found an opportunity for our local community. Of course, we feel sad that the international artists and guests cannot be here, but it has made our connection with the local community stronger. Maybe this was the perfect time to open the new space.”
Founded following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster to re-energise the community, Kyotographie has retained a significant social-dimension. This year is no exception, and the work on show reflects this. Born with tibial hemimelia, Japanese artist Mari Katayama chose to have her legs amputated at the age of nine. At Kyotographie, her striking self-portraits, curated by Simon Baker, explore ideas of identity and performance and address the representation of disabled bodies in Japan.
Elsewhere, Atsushi Fukushima’s decade-long project, Bento is Ready, documents the painful reality of Japan’s ageing population, and, next door, Marjan Teeuwen’s Destroyed House addresses the decline of cultural heritage in the country. The Dutch artist spent three months inside a disused machiya (wooden town house), reassembling the original material to create a dynamic installation. The work has been immortalised using photography, but the installation will be demolished, along with the machiya, in the coming months.
Other notable exhibitions include a retrospective of Hong Kongese artist Wing Shya, displayed in a former-kimono factory, and a conceptual show by Ryosuke Toyama, who employs analogue techniques to explore the lives of young craftspeople in Japan, presented in the grounds of a Buddhist temple.
In line with the festival’s aim to reconnect with the local community, Kai Fusayoshi presents a huge outdoor exhibition in multiple locations across the city. A well-known local photographer, and the endearing owner of bar Hachinomiya, Fusayoshi spent his early years as an anti-war activist, before extensively documenting the streets of Kyoto, since 1974.
Pairing artists with international curators and occupying unexpected venues are central to Kyotographie’s aim of creating links between opposites, and nowhere is this more clear than in the work of Senegalese artist Omar Victor Diop. Diop exhibits his project Diaspora as part of the main programme, and the festival also commissioned him to create a new series in collaboration with the shop owners along Masugata Shōtengai. The artist travelled from Dakar to Kyoto at the end of 2019 and spent 10 days working with the shopowners along Masugata Shōtengai. The resulting collages are hung proudly along the arcade, transforming the street into an exhibition space.
“I was genuinely surprised to see that there are probably more similarities between my Senegalese culture and the Japanese culture than there are differences,” said Diop, in an interview with Claude Grunitzky, published in the festival catalogue. “The moment that struck me most was the morning, with the same rituals you would see in a Dakarois market, the smiles and the small talk between the merchants, the little attention paid to the regular customers. This made me feel like I was in Dakar.”
Masugata Shōtengai holds sentimental value for Reyboz and Nakanishi. They have been shopping there for over 10 years and were already familiar with many of the shop owners, so it was important to involve them from the beginning. “We didn’t want to impose on the space, and we wanted to keep the spirit of the street alive,” says Reyboz. “We were interested in Diop’s transcultural approach, which is part of the DNA of the festival, but the result exceeded our expectations. In a time like this, these photos are so full of love and generosity.”
For Nakanishi, the pandemic feels like a second wake-up call, following the devastation caused by the Fukushima disaster, and has only acted to reinforce his commitment to the festival. “Coronavirus has taught us that it’s time to prioritise local communities,” he says, explaining that the decision to set up the festival in Kyoto was partly to divert from the country’s Tokyo-centric consciousness. “There is a reason why we are a photography festival, and not focused on contemporary art or film. Photography shows what is happening now. It can communicate directly, and influence the way the people see the world,” he continues. “We want to show work that will make people think more independently. Because if we can’t change one mind, we can’t change society.”
The Lenovo Flex 5G is the first laptop capable of tapping into 5G networks—Verizon’s, in this case—and unleashing cellular download speeds that will leave your Wi-Fi router in the dust. Even better, the Flex 5G’s battery will last you all day, and then some.
The Flex’s crazy battery life comes at a price, though. This 14-inch, 2-in-1 laptop ($1,400 at Verizon) tips the scales at nearly three pounds, while its Snapdragon 8cx 5G CPU chugs during some everyday computing tasks. We were less than impressed with the Flex 5G’s shallow keyboard. Finally, you’ll need to consider Verizon’s still-sketchy 5G coverage area (in just 36 cities so far), as well as the slew of competing 5G laptops that are poised to go on the market.
After two years of waiting, Nvidia’s ferocious GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards are here, starting with the highest-end options. Now that the dust has settled, enthusiasts may be wondering: Should I buy the $700 GeForce RTX 3080, or the $1,500 GeForce RTX 3090? We’ve reviewed several models of each, and after hours of hands-on testing, we have the answers you need.
Bottom line? It depends on what you’re planning to use them for. Here are our quick-hit recommendations.
Some of us just never got over our love of pens and pencils, and Samsung’s latest Note 20 phones are here to scratch that itch. They cost a pretty penny ($1,300 for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra), but now you can do even more useful things with the S Pen stylus, assuming you can sort out the myriad features Samsung bundles with the phones. Here are eight awesome features of Samsung’s new S Pen to get you started.
Air Actions
Air Actions, one of Samsung’s signature S Pen features, is back on the Note 20 with even more functionality. You can use the S Pen button to launch the camera (long-press) and snap photos (short-press). It also supports more apps including, Samsung AR Doodle, Samsung Gallery, Snapchat, and Spotify. The gestures vary by app, so make sure to check the details under Settings > Advanced features > S Pen > Air actions.
It feels like a minor miracle that there are so many high-quality shows coming to the small screen this season. Four NPR critics share their picks to keep you entertained during a challenging year.
(Image credit: William Gray/Showtime, James Pardon/Dancing Ledge/BBC ONE/AMC, James Minchin/CBS, Niko Tavernise/HBO, Niko Tavernise/Netflix, Eiki Schroter/Netflix)
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Former Washington Post leader Len Downie is well-placed to offer a look at 50 years in news — but he also writes of times he had to weigh the public's right to know against national security.
(Image credit: Public Affairs)
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Renowned ballerina Misty Copeland's new kids' book Bunheads draws on her own childhood experiences — if your kids love dance, it's just the thing to keep them going until classes come back.
(Image credit: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers)
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Nézet-Séguin says Verdi's Requiem helps him feel connected during the pandemic. Ken Tucker reviews Mickey Guyton's EP Bridges. Dan Alexander examines the president's sprawling business interests.
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Rita Wilson about her recovery from COVID-19, and about her campaign to get 200 million Americans over the age of 50 to get flu shots this year.
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No graphics card spits out gaming frame rates as fast as Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3090, and its massive 24GB of GDDR6X memory makes it an insanely good value for creators—yes, even at its staggering $1,500 baseline price. We already covered all that in our exhaustive Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition review. But pushing this much performance takes a lot of power, and a lot of power needs heavy-duty cooling. Can beefy custom coolers tame the RTX 3090 more effectively than Nvidia’s own card? That’s what we’re examining with this review of the $1,589 MSI RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio.
Nvidia’s Ampere-powered $1,499 GeForce RTX 3090 is the ultimate price-is-no-object graphics card. It chews up games and spits out frames for breakfast, as we covered in depth in our comprehensive Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition review. You need a pixel-packed monitor to get the most out of it, though—like a 3440x1440 ultrawide display.
Here’s the thing though: Most gamers shouldn’t buy the GeForce RTX 3090. Even at full 4K, it’s only 10 to 15 percent faster than the $700 GeForce RTX 3080, which costs less than half as much. The gains are even less at 1440p resolution, where your CPU and other parts of Nvidia’s GPU architecture become the performance bottleneck, rather than raw shading power. Sometimes, the GeForce RTX 3090 isn’t tangibly faster than the RTX 3080 at 1440p despite its steep price premium. This card is better suited for creative professionals who can utilize its massive 24GB memory buffer. The fearsome gaming performance is more of a nice extra for some off-hours playtime.
