Is this photo from the Syrian conflict too baroque to be real?
Photo by Elias Edouard for Getty Images.
A reader sent Der Spiegel an email arguing that this photo and the series that come with it was too baroque, elaborate to be actually untouched. It had to be a fake for it looked a little bit too much like Jesus being taken down from the cross.
Here’s the email by Hans-Peter Stricker:
“I have serious doubts that the two photos accompanying the article ‘The Manbij Experiment’ on pages 93 and 94 of the print issue are 'real.’ I myself and every other layman I pointed this out to immediately noticed that 'something’ wasn’t right about these two pictures: They seem 'too beautiful to be true,’ too arranged, too composed, too much baroque 'Descent from the Cross’ and 'Pietà’…”
“Coincidentally, they are from the same photographer and the same agency. Was nobody at SPIEGEL suspicious? Was the authenticity of the pictures verified?”
“Please take this inquiry seriously and not too lightly. I expect a serious answer. And am very curious to know.”
“Best regards”
Spiegel educated Hans-Peter on its process before publishing photos. A team of reviewers would always make sure that the photos published in Der Spiegel weren’t fake. Elias Edouard, 21, freelance photographer was confronted by Der Spiegel with the reader’s suspicions, to which he replied:
“I can understand that readers mistrust images, but I also hope that they not only consider the authenticity of the photos, but that they also empathize with what the Syrian people have been experiencing living under constant fire the past 19 months. I hope that my series helps open people’s eyes.”
Thanks, Ed, for doing the right thing.
Is this photo from the Syrian conflict too baroque to be real?
Photo by Elias Edouard for Getty Images.
A reader sent Der Spiegel an email arguing that this photo and the series that come with it was too baroque, elaborate to be actually untouched. It had to be a fake for it looked a little bit too much like Jesus being taken down from the cross.
Here’s the email by Hans-Peter Stricker:
“I have serious doubts that the two photos accompanying the article ‘The Manbij Experiment’ on pages 93 and 94 of the print issue are 'real.’ I myself and every other layman I pointed this out to immediately noticed that 'something’ wasn’t right about these two pictures: They seem 'too beautiful to be true,’ too arranged, too composed, too much baroque 'Descent from the Cross’ and 'Pietà’…”
“Coincidentally, they are from the same photographer and the same agency. Was nobody at SPIEGEL suspicious? Was the authenticity of the pictures verified?”
“Please take this inquiry seriously and not too lightly. I expect a serious answer. And am very curious to know.”
“Best regards”
Spiegel educated Hans-Peter on its process before publishing photos. A team of reviewers would always make sure that the photos published in Der Spiegel weren’t fake. Elias Edouard, 21, freelance photographer was confronted by Der Spiegel with the reader’s suspicions, to which he replied:
“I can understand that readers mistrust images, but I also hope that they not only consider the authenticity of the photos, but that they also empathize with what the Syrian people have been experiencing living under constant fire the past 19 months. I hope that my series helps open people’s eyes.”
Thanks, Ed, for doing the right thing.
My stance exactly on skeuomorphism
Too much whimsy can be irritating and Apple’s products in the past few years were skewed towards skeuomorphism. A touch of rebalancing away from such contrivances is probably in order. But a bit will enliven drab software. You would hope, therefore, that Mr Ive does not throw the simulated baby out with the digitally enhanced bathwater.
Babbage sums it up well.
My stance exactly on skeuomorphism
Too much whimsy can be irritating and Apple’s products in the past few years were skewed towards skeuomorphism. A touch of rebalancing away from such contrivances is probably in order. But a bit will enliven drab software. You would hope, therefore, that Mr Ive does not throw the simulated baby out with the digitally enhanced bathwater.
Babbage sums it up well.
Future First Person Shooter. I found this video on View Source which is a “daily email newsletter that contains just one video clip and a short description”. Quite cool blog.
Future First Person Shooter. I found this video on View Source which is a “daily email newsletter that contains just one video clip and a short description”. Quite cool blog.
New work by autistic savant Gregory Blackstock, who draws stunning, obsessive visual lists. A fine addition to The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs.
[gallery]
New work by autistic savant Gregory Blackstock, who draws stunning, obsessive visual lists. A fine addition to The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs.
Hurricane Sandy reveals a life unplugged
Hurricane Sandy reveals a life unplugged
For a swath of teenagers and preteens on the East Coast, the power failures that followed Hurricane Sandy last month represented the first time in their young lives that they were totally off the grid, without the ability to text, play Minecraft, video-chat, check Facebook, or send updates to Twitter.
Interesting story with a lot of testimonials. If you weren’t in the US, it’s a good way to understand how people lived through Sandy.
Hurricane Sandy reveals a life unplugged
For a swath of teenagers and preteens on the East Coast, the power failures that followed Hurricane Sandy last month represented the first time in their young lives that they were totally off the grid, without the ability to text, play Minecraft, video-chat, check Facebook, or send updates to Twitter.
Interesting story with a lot of testimonials. If you weren’t in the US, it’s a good way to understand how people lived through Sandy.
Next Nature writes:
Anheuser-Busch, parent company of the American beer brand Budweiser, has been canning water for victims of the disaster. The company temporarily converted one of its manufacturing facilities from churning out bland beer to life-giving water. The result is uncanny: A beer can with the familiar eagle logo of Budweiser, now filled with essential, non-alcoholic water. In a world where corporations often have more power than governments, it is not surprising that in times of crisis they respond faster than “official” organizations, and are better equipped to do so.
Big beverage companies have always-on logistical pipelines much better equipped to deliver water aide than ad-hoc government systems, and such efforts are a canny use of local marketing budgets.
One day I’ll write out some longer thoughts regarding relief marketing. It’s a tangled subject.
*No word on whether anyone noticed a taste difference. (Via NextNature.net)
“Non-alcoholic water.” Pretty great.
[gallery]
Next Nature writes:
Anheuser-Busch, parent company of the American beer brand Budweiser, has been canning water for victims of the disaster. The company temporarily converted one of its manufacturing facilities from churning out bland beer to life-giving water. The result is uncanny: A beer can with the familiar eagle logo of Budweiser, now filled with essential, non-alcoholic water. In a world where corporations often have more power than governments, it is not surprising that in times of crisis they respond faster than “official” organizations, and are better equipped to do so.
Big beverage companies have always-on logistical pipelines much better equipped to deliver water aide than ad-hoc government systems, and such efforts are a canny use of local marketing budgets.
One day I’ll write out some longer thoughts regarding relief marketing. It’s a tangled subject.
*No word on whether anyone noticed a taste difference. (Via NextNature.net)
“Non-alcoholic water.” Pretty great.
DuckDuckGo is not your typical Google killer
A start-up taking on Google in search is much like a raft taking on a cruise ship as a vacation option. But Weinberg is not delusional. With money lining his pockets from selling a start-up for $10 million, Weinberg bet there was a place in the market for a product capitalizing on users’ emerging annoyances with Google — its search results gamed by marketers; its pages cluttered with ads; every query tracked, logged and personalized to the point of creepiness
Google still is bigger and better than any other search engine on this planet. But as the author of this article cleverly points out, Google is not flawless. Paul Graham said that start-ups don’t reinvent the wheel, they nail the experience, they make X “done right”. Google was originally doing search right. Now Google is the giant and it needs disruption.
Enters DuckDuckGo:
So: DuckDuckGo does not track users. It doesn’t generate search results based on a user’s previous interests, potentially filtering out relevant information. It is not cluttered with ads. In many ways, DuckDuckGo is an homage the original Google — a pure search engine — and its use is soaring, with searches up from 10 million a month in October 2011 to 45 million this past October. The growth has attracted attention and cash from Union Square Ventures, the venture capital firm behind Twitter.
The article is a good read and the guys behind it are solid. Will it be enough to kill Google? Perhaps but change the name please.
DuckDuckGo is not your typical Google killer
A start-up taking on Google in search is much like a raft taking on a cruise ship as a vacation option. But Weinberg is not delusional. With money lining his pockets from selling a start-up for $10 million, Weinberg bet there was a place in the market for a product capitalizing on users’ emerging annoyances with Google — its search results gamed by marketers; its pages cluttered with ads; every query tracked, logged and personalized to the point of creepiness
Google still is bigger and better than any other search engine on this planet. But as the author of this article cleverly points out, Google is not flawless. Paul Graham said that start-ups don’t reinvent the wheel, they nail the experience, they make X “done right”. Google was originally doing search right. Now Google is the giant and it needs disruption.
Enters DuckDuckGo:
So: DuckDuckGo does not track users. It doesn’t generate search results based on a user’s previous interests, potentially filtering out relevant information. It is not cluttered with ads. In many ways, DuckDuckGo is an homage the original Google — a pure search engine — and its use is soaring, with searches up from 10 million a month in October 2011 to 45 million this past October. The growth has attracted attention and cash from Union Square Ventures, the venture capital firm behind Twitter.
The article is a good read and the guys behind it are solid. Will it be enough to kill Google? Perhaps but change the name please.
Republicans shift stance on taxing wealthy
Republicans shift stance on taxing wealthy
After the election, policy comes back into the spotlight. Report by the Financial Times.
Republicans shift stance on taxing wealthy
After the election, policy comes back into the spotlight. Report by the Financial Times.
Editorial update
Hello there,
There wasn’t much new content on the blog for the past few weeks and I am sorry about that.
On the sidebar you will see new links, one to the Facebook page, one to the Twitter account and another one called Past Warston where you will be able to access the old version of Warston with all of the articles.
Sorry for the inconvenience, the delivery of news worth sharing shall now continue,
Ulysse.
Editorial update
Hello there,
There wasn’t much new content on the blog for the past few weeks and I am sorry about that.
On the sidebar you will see new links, one to the Facebook page, one to the Twitter account and another one called Past Warston where you will be able to access the old version of Warston with all of the articles.
Sorry for the inconvenience, the delivery of news worth sharing shall now continue,
Ulysse.
New exoplanet found, rather close to Earth
New exoplanet found, rather close to Earth
“The planet, therefore, is not only the closest to Earth ever discovered, it is just about as close to Earth as any exoplanet can be.”
A quote from an insightful article in The Economist.
New exoplanet found, rather close to Earth
“The planet, therefore, is not only the closest to Earth ever discovered, it is just about as close to Earth as any exoplanet can be.”
A quote from an insightful article in The Economist.