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.

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From:: DPreview

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.

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From:: DPreview