By philcooke
Fascinating new research provides more insight into why efforts at changing organizations usually meets with resistance from older leaders and employees. Up to now, most have attributed the resistance to the fact that older employees have invested in current ideas and aren’t interested in new ideas. But the Wall Street Journal reports the finding was […] continue…
From:: Phil Coke
It’s looking more and more like Flickr will soon find itself under the control of a new owner. It’s no secret that its parent company, Yahoo, has been struggling as of late, and now the latest word is that Yahoo is on the auction block and taking offers for its businesses.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo sent out letters to potential buyers in recent days, asking that they submit bids over the next two weeks for Yahoo’s businesses and holdings.
There are reportedly about 40 companies interested in snatching up part or all of Yahoo. Potential buyers include Verizon, Time, Microsoft, IAC/InterActiveCorp, private equity firms, and more. Yahoo originally acquired Flickr back in 2005 for around $25 million.
The letters asked the companies to name what they wished to buy and at what price. April 11th is reportedly the deadline by which the offers must be submitted. The fact that Yahoo has set an April deadline means that Flickr could potentially be owned by another company by the annual shareholder meeting around June of this year, the WSJ writes.
In the hands of a good owner, Flickr could thrive and live on as a dominant photo sharing option. In the hands of a bad one, it could go the way of MySpace and other once-powerful Internet services that have withered away from neglect and lack of innovation.
Image credits: Header illustration based on photo by Mark Moz
From:: Petapixel
It’s official! Quicktime for Windows is no longer supported by Apple. What does this mean for all the filmmakers out there who rely on the ProRes line of codecs?
Nowadays, many cameras are capable of recording to the popular ProRes codec in various flavors. The codec is being used widely throughout the industry due to its robust set of features and its capability of being integrated flawlessly within a wide range of workflows. Every major NLE system can handle the *.mov file containers.
Two weeks ago, the security company Trend Micro published an article in which two major security flaws were uncovered. The article came along with an “urgent call to action” to immediately uninstall QuickTime from Windows machines to maintain data security.
According to Trend Micro, there are two primary reasons for their vigorous statement, first:
Apple is deprecating QuickTime for Microsoft Windows. They will no longer be issuing security updates for the product on the Windows Platform and recommend users uninstall it. Note that this does not apply to QuickTime on Mac OSX.
More importantly:
Second, our Zero Day Initiative has just released two advisories, ZDI-16-241 and ZDI-16-242, detailing two new, critical vulnerabilities affecting QuickTime for Windows. These advisories are being released in accordance with the Zero Day Initiative’s Disclosure Policy for when a vendor does not issue a security patch for a disclosed vulnerability. And because Apple is no longer providing security updates for QuickTime on Windows, these vulnerabilities are never going to be patched.
And now, Apple have confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that they are not going to support Quicktime for Windows anymore. So what does all this mean for us as filmmakers? Well, it is quite a shock, because as of today you end up continue…
From:: Cinema 5d
By DL Cade
Facebook’s engagement numbers have been slipping, and a new report from the Wall Street Journal points to one way the social media behemoth intends to try and win back users who are sharing less and less through the platform: a stand-alone camera app.
The report cites “people familiar with the matter” who claim that Facebook’s “friend-sharing” team has developed an early-stage camera application that’s a bit like Snapchat and Periscope put together.
Like Snapchat, it opens directly onto a camera (instead of a feed, like Instagram) although there’s no mention of any time limit on photos shared; like Periscope, it would allow users to live stream video they were capturing through Facebook Live.
Those who have been paying attention to Facebook’s app attempts for the past several years will remember that this is not the first (or second) time Facebook has tried creating a photography app. Both “Poke” and “Slingshot” were both meant to take on Snapchat but never managed to gain any substantial traction. Plus there was the Facebook Camera app that launched back in 2012 and died in 2014.
This new app, if it ever comes to fruition, will have an even more crowded app marketplace to deal with. Unless it can offer some novel or interesting to potential users—and, perhaps, even if it can—few are inclined to believe it will make have a substantial impact.
(via Bokeh)
Image credits: Photo illustration based on Diplomacy in a Digital Age by Marc Muller
From:: Petapixel
Over 100,000 Instagram users and some of the world’s best known media organizations were fooled for over two years by someone pretending to be a front-line war photographer. The entire stranger-than-fiction story was revealed recently by BBC Brazil after a lengthy investigation.
According to the BBC’s report, so-called ‘Eduardo Martins’ posed as a Brazilian UN photographer by using a collection of images stolen from other photographers’ websites and from news organizations. Stealing with care he built a body of striking work that brought him to the attention of BBC Brazil, Al Jazeera, the Wall Street Journal, Getty Images and many others, and amassed him over 120,000 followers on Instagram.
‘Eduardo’ posted tear-sheets of his work in print and recounted stories of his encounters and ‘humanity’ in the face of chaotic and violent scenes. He was able to keep the ruse going by never speaking to anyone in person, and sending only recorded or emailed messages. His photographs were placed with Getty Images and tales of his exploits made print with some of the world’s biggest newspapers.
An interviewer at the BBC became suspicious, however, and started to ask questions that revealed other Brazilian war photographers working in the same zones had no idea who Eduardo was. As the war correspondent community is tight knit and journalists in conflict zones inevitably know one another, alarm bells began to ring.
Enquiries with the UN also established that no one with that name was on its books as a photographer, and that neither were other UN photographer friends that Martins referred to—including some that Martins mourned in his posts after they were ‘killed’. Amazingly the UN even followed him on Instagram.
A court has ruled that federal drone laws trump local drone regulations in instances where the two are in conflict, setting a new and very important precedent for commercial and recreational drone pilots alike. The ruling was passed down by US District Judge William G. Young during a legal case involving the city of Newton, Massachusetts, and its drone regulations that are even more restrictive than the FAA’s rules.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the lawsuit was brought by Newton resident Michael Singer, who challenged four Newton provisions including a requirement to get permission before flying a drone over private property. The city had argued that the FAA allows for the local co-regulation of civilian drones, but Judge Young ruled otherwise, in part because the local regulations were sometimes in direct conflict with the FAA’s.
For instance, whereas the FAA allows small drones to be operated below 400ft, the city of Newton’s provisions banned the operation of drones below that altitude if they were over private property. This left pilots only one legal option: get permission from each property owner over whose property the drone would pass. Otherwise you’d either be violating Newton’s laws or the FAA’s regulations.
Referring to this particular law, Judge Young stated, “This thwarts not only the FAA’s objectives, but also those of Congress for the FAA to integrate drones into the national airspace.”
Newton drone provisions that weren’t challenged by the lawsuit have been left in place, and the city has indicated that it may appeal the ruling.
From:: DPreview
| Photo: Apple |
Most iPhone launches involve some sort of shortage because demand frequently outstrips supply, but if you’re excited about Apple’s new flagship iPhone X and the impressive camera equipment inside, the news is worse than usual. According to both the Wall Street Journal and Fast Company, manufacturing difficulties surrounding the phone’s Face ID hardware could lead to serious shortages and shipment delays come November 3rd.
Many photographers and photo enthusiasts are very excited about Apple’s newest smartphones. According to Apple’s keynote, both the iPhone 8/Plus and iPhone X boast bigger image sensors, and the iPhone X in particular features OIS on both the wide angle and telephoto lenses built into the back of the phone.
Add to that some image processor advances and a seriously powerful new video encoder that Apple built into the A11 chip, and there’s good reason to be impressed by the performance of the iPhone 8 Plus so far, and expect even better performance out of the iPhone X.
But even if you pre-order your iPhone X on October 27th, the day the phone goes up on Apple’s website, this Face ID manufacturing snafu could mean availability is severely limited for months. Similar manufacturing issues with the iPhone 7 Plus dual camera module kept that phone in short supply well into December.
Bottom line: if you’re holding out on buying the iPhone 8/Plus in favor of the iPhone X, don’t be surprised if your wait extends well past November 3rd.
From:: DPreview
