SPOTTED: Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora Khan outside family court post marriage counselling

As many would know, B-Town couple Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora Khan is heading for a divorce after 17 years of marriage. On Tuesday, both of them were spotted together outside the Family Court in Bandra post their first mandatory counselling session. The reports of them being separated have been in the news from the mid-2016, following which they had announced a joint statement in March that they were taking a break from each other and hadn’t filed for divorce. But as we had reported earlier that the two have now filed for a divorce with mutual consent, a couple of weeks earlier. They both were spotted here leaving the place in different cars just like some previous occasions with no signs of any reconciliation and here are the pictures.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/12/spotted-arbaaz-khan-malaika-arora-khan-outside-family-court-post-marriage-counselling/
#Malaika_Arora_Khan, #Arbaaz_Khan_Malaika_Arora_Khan_Divorce

This Is Why Facebook And Twitter Are Not Good Platforms To Get News

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter were launched primarily to connect friends, relatives and people with similar interests across the world. Initially, there was an option to share texts, photos and hyperlinks. Facebook later launched news feed and streams to allow large pictures to be shared on your timeline.

Further, the popular networking site came up with video – both in the form video clips and animated GIFs. Hyperlinks, which social networks noticed were rarely clicked, started to become less important with the passage of time.

However, the news feed, which is more like a TV and favors emotion over facts, proved out to be more popular on these social networking sites. Even Twitter worked hard to become a live-streaming hub for sports and TV-style of content. However, you can’t trust this platform when it comes to reading news.

Today, both Facebook and Twitter look less like social networks and more like television. They have started focusing on easy-to-consume videos and clippings over facts and details.

According to Iranian blogger Hossein Derakshan, he witnessed a lot of changes ever since Facebook was launched in 2004. One of those changes was the gradual death of the hyperlink and the open web. But another was the growing primacy of television-style content and the decline of text.

The problem lies with television style of content that favors emotions over thoughts. What matters is not the fact, but how the fake facts or wrong information affects you in the long run.

The TV-style of content is somehow associated with fake news. According to experts, such contents provide you with misleading information, misplaced, irrelevant, fragmented or superficial information that creates the illusion of knowing something when you actually know nothing.

The social networking sites exacerbate this problem because it favors short bursts of content, in many cases without links, and because it is also an emotional medium.

In fact, the reason why certain posts or updates get shared is due to it triggers a strong emotion in the reader which could be fear, hate, or love.

On other hand sociologists feel sites like Facebook and Twitter work to make people feel part of some tribe or group—not just family or friend groups, but ideological groups as well. Moreover the content gets shared not because it’s true, but because it confirms a person’s membership in a group.

There is no doubt that these sites are desperate for readers and revenue, so many media outlets have played into this emotion-first environment by relying on click-bait and trumped-up scandals, essentially adopting the worst aspects of TV. This has further reduced the amount of trust readers will have in those outlets.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/facebook-twitter-not-good-platforms-get-news/
#Facebook, #Platforms, #Twitter

Arctic Paper Design Collection

Arctic Paper has released two new collections of high quality design papers. Both collections come in unique sets developed in collaboration between Arctic Paper, JUNO, Zeitguised, and Göteborgstryckeriet. Please read more below the first image.

Arctic Paper’s two new collections include four shades and two surfaces of the uncoated Munken Design range as well as three shades of the coated Arctic Volume range. The Hamburg, Germany based design agency, Juno was entrusted to develop a suitable visual language that reflects both quality and uniqueness. Inspired by nature, their aim was to create a range of design objects, which serve as the answer to the question of our modern times: “What happens at the interface between our old tactile world and the new digital world?”

In order to produce some unique keyvisuals for both print and film, Juno teamed up with the Berlin-based design studio Zeitguised. In collaboration with the experienced printmakers of Göteborgstryckeriet from Gothenburg, Sweden, they have transformed the two new collections into haptic masterpieces.

Collected in swatch books, the new design paper collections provide a comprehensive overview of all Munken Design and Arctic Volume shades and surfaces. Some additional minimalist sample books with invisible bindings have been created to demonstrate what the papers feel and look like. To know more about both collections, please look at the pictures below or visit the official Arctic Paper website. To find out more about the involved German design studios, please have a look at the website’s of JUNO and Zeitguised.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/arctic-paper-design-collection/
#Arctic, #Paper_Design, #Paper_Design_Collection

‘The Voice’ Recap: Top 8 Revealed After 2 Promising Singers Are Sent Home

It’s official — we finally know our Semifinalists on Season 11 of ‘The Voice.’ Unfortunately, that meant two singers were sent home on the Nov. 29 results show, leaving eight still in the competition. Find out who was eliminated & more in our recap here!

To kick off the show, the remaining 10 contestants on The Voice take the stage with Dolly Partonand Jennifer Nettles to sing the song “Circle Of Love” from the ladies’ special holiday movie, and it’s simply breathtaking. Time to start announcing the results, though: Carson Daly reveals that America’s votes put Brendan Fletcher, from Team Adam Levine, and Sundance Head, from Team Blake Shelton, through to next week’s Semifinals.

The next singers to be called safe are Christian Cuevas, from Alicia Keys’ team, and Ali Caldwell from Miley Cyrus’ team. So, at the very least, all four coaches know they have an artist in the Top 8! After a commercial break, Carson announces that Billy Gilman (Team Adam) and We McDonald (Team Alicia) are moving on, as well.

It’s time for a quick break from the results for a special performance, as Miley joins Dolly and the a cappella group, Pentatonix, onstage for a rendition of “Jolene” that’s absolute perfection! Things get intense quickly, though, as the final Semifinalist — Josh Gallagher from Team Adam — is revealed, meaning Austin Allsup (Team Blake), Courtney Harrell (Team Blake) and Aaron Gibson (Team Miley) are this week’s Bottom 3 and must perform to be Instantly Save by America.

Austin is up first, and gives an amazing rendition of “Tennessee Whiskey” that allows him to show off his country/rock sound perfectly. Next, Courtney gives her last chance performance of “Bless The Broken Road,” keeping it fairly soft until a powerful moment at the end that has the crowd cheering loudly. Finally, Aaron, who’s been Instantly Saved after landing in the bottom two weeks in a row, takes center stage to sing “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” and the simple, acoustic performance is just what fans love from him.

It all comes down to America’s decision on Twitter, though, and after a super close vote, it’s revealed that Aaron is moving on, sending Austin and Courtney home. WOW — three weeks in a row for Aaron! That means that Blake loses two contestants this week, but he’ll still have Sundance on his team for the Semifinals. Meanwhile, Miley and Alicia each have two singers left and Adam has all three.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/voice-recap-top-8-revealed-2-promising-singers-sent-home/
#Adam_Levine, #Blake_Shelton, #Carson_Daly, #Jennifer_Nettles, #Miley_Cyrus

Ranveer Singh: ‘Koffee With Karan’ is a timepass show, no one should take it seriously

Ranveer Singh and Ranbir Kapoor appeared on the third episode of the hit talk show, ‘Koffee With Karan 5’ and the made it quite a riot with their antics.

While the two spoke about everything from s*x and p*rn to competition and relationships, they also made a lot of revelations that shocked everyone. From Ranbir saying that he wants Ranveer and Deepika to stay together and make babies to Ranveer calling Deepika a marriage material, the duo was a laugh riot.

But turns out, Ranveer never meant any of it as he thinks of ‘Koffee With Karan’ as a timepass show. Present at a recent event, when Ranveer was asked to comment on his confessions on the show, he said, “It’s just a timepass show where we all do bakwaas. No one takes it seriously. You also shouldn’t.”

OK!

We are pretty sure that Karan Johar will not be happy on hearing this.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/ranveer-singh-koffee-karan-timepass-show-no-one-take-seriously/
#Deepika_Padukone, #Featured, #Karan_Johar, #RANBIR_KAPOOR, #Ranveer_Singh, #Koffee_With_Karan_5

Six Ways To Trick Yourself Into Hitting A Gym

Yes, we all love the after effects of working out. It gives us energy and keeps us going through the day. It starts our day on a high, and sets us up to tackle the day with enthusiasm. Everything seems to go happy and positive the days we workout. And, of course when you step on the weighing machine at the end of the month to see yourself losing few kgs, it is an unbelievably happy feeling. However, the act of getting up from bed, not pressing the snooze button again and again and again is the toughest part of working out. According to a latest study, there are only 19% of the population who do regular workout every week.

And, if you are someone who is not naturally very active, dragging yourself out of bed in the morning to hit the gym is like going to office on a Monday after a long festive weekend. Many people hit the gym to improve cardiovascular health, build muscle, and to get an awesome body. However, working out has various above-the-neck benefits, too. Exercising can boost brain function as well. Regardless of age or fitness level, studies show that making time for exercise provides some mental benefits as well. There are unexpected ways that working out can benefit mental health, relationships, and lead to a healthier and happier life.

However, hitting the gym shouldn’t be a chore but more often than not you will have to trick or force yourself to working out. Everyone will have their own motivations but below are a host of things that can help you hit the gym. Though the year is coming to an end and you have miserably failed to fulfill your new year resolution, better late than never. (Also read: Five Reasons Why You Need To Set Goals In Life). So, read ahead. Here are few tricks that will motivate you to put on those sneakers and hit the gym.

Get a gym buddy
Nabbing a workout buddy keeps you accountable. You are all the more lucky if your gym friend is one of those self motivated people. He or she will probably call or message you right in the morning and ensure you are up and about. Even if he or she doesn’t do it, working out while having a chat with friends will always motivate you get ready to hit the gym every day. Having a fitness buddy also makes you obligated to show up!

Give yourself a pep talk
Tell yourself before hitting the bed and while waking up that gymming is very important to you. Nothing works like self talk. Imagine getting into your old jeans that has been lying in your wardrobe for years. And, then remind yourself of the target weight you have to reach. After few months, working out will become a part of your lifestyle, something like taking a shower, eating or going to college.

Pack your gear in advance
Prepare yourself before going to bed. You can pack your gym bag, charge your iPod and keep your gym wear ready. With everything ready and waiting, it will be easier to get out of the house. Some regular gym goers in fact say that they go to bed with workout clothes on. This way you get to save around 20 minutes in the morning. Also it saves you from the need to motivate you for packing as well.

Eat chocolate
No, we are not kidding. “What motivates me to exercise on those days when I just don’t feel like doing it is my piece of chocolate at the end of the workout as a reward. It’s often difficult to get started, but once you have finished you will feel so much better, and so will your sweet tooth.”,” reveals Simone De La Rue, a fitness expert who has helped train Sandra Bullock, Anne Hathaway, and Karolina Kurkova. Apparently, promising yourself some sweet as a reward works on your brain and gets you going. So, this is something you can try right away.

Keep your alarm away from bed
We all do this, snooze off our alarm and go back to sleep. Try keeping your phones little away from your reach, may be on your study table. By the time you get your alarm, you will be fully awake this way. In case you need your phone on your side table, you can set multiple alarms. By multiple alarms we mean five or six, starting half an hour before you want to get up.

Turn on some peppy music
For those of you who don’t feel like going to gym even after waking up feeling completely fresh, this trick might work. Add some really motivating songs to your playlist. Anything that get’s you psyched will work. Songs like “You want a hot body?” are made to kill your laziness and push you to gym.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/six-ways-trick-hitting-gym/
#Fitness, #Gym_Buddy, #Gym_Rat, #Motivation, #Weight_Loss

CROATIAN ISLANDS AND THEIR SECRETS

Exploring Croatian Islands by Boat

There’s a place in the Elaphiti Islands where weather-worn netting clings to a rough sea wall. Under the bright, white sun, the orange bleaches its web against rock, while in the distance, the heave and sigh, the ebb and flow, the unhurried rhythm of the ocean continues to pulse in Mediterranean blue.

I hear birdsong overhead, the lap and splash of the waves and the abrasion of knotted rope as my captain – and sailor for the day – secures our sturdy steed in the shelter of the latest harbour.

The sea is playing games with us, as we skip and flip around the Elaphiti archipelago, taunting us with its jaunty waves and urging us to change direction. Less than an hour from Dubrovnik, when I first arrived on Lopud Island, the carless isle seemed small, a natural escape from intoxicating Rome.

Fast forward a few days and Lopud had grown larger. Its hotel and spa, its churches, a beach, the day trippers from Dubrovnik. Now they all stood stark against the contrast with these even quieter islands.

Painted fishing boats on Croatian Islands

Croatian Islands Tour

I’m on the “Three Island Cruise” from Lafodia, although unusually choppy waters have meant that we need to slim it down to two.

Luckily, for one, my guide Matija knows the waters well – and aside from a short stint on the open sea, it’s easy to forget that the elements are not playing along.

Luckily, for two, I have the boat to myself, a luxury in all manner of ways.

Our first island stop is Kolocep (pronounced “collar chep”) before we head on to Sipan (sheep-pan,) calling in at the villages of Sudurad (soo-joo-rad) and Luka Sipanska (you’re on your own for that!)

What becomes apparent within moments is that Matija knows everyone.

What takes a little longer to spot is that everyone doesn’t include all that many people.

Tradition on Croatian Islands

The streets and harbours are quiet but not lifeless. The restaurants serve lemonade and strong coffee at a Sicilian tempo, in tune with the sun.

We see fishing boats and walking tracks, sheltered in olive and pine. We see lapping waves, and rocky shorelines. But we don’t see many people.

After a few hours have passed, it jolts all the senses to arrive in a harbour which holds two people at once, then three.

It’s a stop that offers a stumble into the past, a place where cobwebbed machinery throbs in the indoor gloom.

Traditional architecture on Croatian Islands

“Under the Bell” Cooking

Matija shows me what he calls “under the bell” cooking: a traditional method that involves building a fire on a brick surface, clearing it away, placing food on the cleared space, then a metallic bell, then the glowing embers on top of that.

Designed to deal with meat, potatoes and fish, this method provides heat from all around.

Next up is the region’s liquid gold: the peppery punch that is fresh olive oil. Over 750 000 olive trees grow in the Dubrovnik-Neretva county, with over 40 different types. And for centuries, people have known how to harvest them.

A metallic press sits haunched above circles of matted rope. Below them, a stone ridge that drains to an olive oil collection chamber, a process from another time.

Croatian Islands Surrounded by Magnificent Blue

Swimming Around Croatian Islands

Back on the boat, it’s time to make the most of my sprint through the waves with a dip in that sweet Mediterranean blue.

Matija navigates to a secluded cove, all clear-glass water against creamy-cliffed rock.

He urges me to jump in. To embrace this unspoilt stretch of Croatian coast, the peace, the quiet solitude.

Only as I’m mid-air do I stop to wonder why he isn’t joining me.

As my body plunges beneath the blue, I instantly realise why.

Beautiful it may be. But in early May, it’s shockingly cold.

Only the Scandinavians

I surface, breathless, speechless, awake, alive, maybe even blue.

“How is it?” he calls, but he’s laughing, he already knows the answer.

‘Not even the British go swimming at this time of year,” he adds. “Only the Scandinavians.”

I cast my mind back to the Nordic sub-zero experience that follows a red hot sauna and smile to myself.

“It’s not so bad!” I cry. “As long as you keep on moving…”

Best at the end of summer

And, truly, it isn’t. The colours ripple, the shapes mesmerise. The cool feels refreshing beneath the piercing sun in the early summer sky.

“But everyone swims here later in the summer,” he tells me as I clamber back on board, engulfed in towel and pink rosy skin.

And the beauty of this secluded spot, is that in the Elaphiti Islands, even when everyone’sdoing something, you still have the place to yourself.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/croatian-islands-secrets/
#_Europe, #CROATIAN_ISLANDS, #SECRETS

Jack Hudson Illustrations

With our third feature of Jack Hudson’s creative work, we want to focus on some of his personal illustrations. Born in Birmingham, UK, Jack Hudson is an outstanding freelance illustrator who currently lives and works in East London. Mainly inspired by mid-century designs, human interaction, and adventure films from his childhood, he loves to create distinctively energetic illustrations. With much enthusiasm and a great sense of humor, his colorful work often depicts an interaction between the great and the small things of life. His illustrations could be seen in numerous magazines and books, nationally and abroad. In addition to his commissioned work, he loves to work on self initiated projects and personal illustrations. Please read more below the first picture.

The selected artworks have been produced during the past few years either for diverse exhibitions and publications. For those of you who want to know more about this talented illustrator, please visit his website or follow him on Instagram.

+

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/jack-hudson-illustrations/
#Illustrations, #Jack_Hudson

Iulia Vantur spotted partying with Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and others

While there have been reports of Iulia Vantur and Salman Khan’s breakup, the Romanian beauty is back in town and was recently spotted partying with Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Saif Ali Khan and others.

Amrita Arora, on her Instagram account, posted a picture from the party. She captioned it, “#terracenights #home #noplacelikehome.” [sic]

In the picture, we can also see Karisma Kapoor and Malaika Arora Khan. Here’s another one from the same do…



Few days ago, Iulia was in news for giving statements about how she was not very comfortable in India, and because of which she opted to be back in her country. Recently, it was also said that she would be singing with Himesh Reshammiya in a single.

So, does this mean that all is well between Salman and Iulia, and we might hear the wedding bells soon? Let’s wait and watch.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/iulia-vantur-spotted-partying-salman-khan-kareena-kapoor-khan-others/
#Featured, #Iulia_Vantur, #KAREENA_KAPOOR_KHAN, #Saif_Ali_Khan, #Salman_Khan

Five Ways Honey Should Never Be Consumed

We all know the benefits of honey. Honey contains flavonoids, antioxidants which helps reduce the risk of some cancers and heart diseases. Recent research shows that honey treatment may help disorders such as ulcers and bacterial gastroenteritis. Honey is also anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. However, apparently, the average person consumes eight times less honey per year than medieval Europeans. They even dressed their wounds with the sweet stuff. However, we are yet to catch up.

Human use of honey is in fact traced to some 8000 years ago as depicted by stone age paintings. In addition to important role of natural honey in the traditional medicine, during the past few decades, various clinical investigations by several research groups have proved the same. Honey has been reported to have an inhibitory effect on around 60 species of bacteria, some species of fungi and viruses. One of the best benefits of honey includes relief from cough. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists honey as a demulcent, which is a substance that relieves irritation in your mouth or throat by forming a protective film. Research shows honey works as well as dextromethorphan, a common ingredient in over the counter cough medications, to soothe cough and related sleeping difficulties due to upper respiratory tract infections in children.
Having said that, it is also a very long method to process honey. It takes about 60,000 bees, collectively traveling up to 55,000 miles and visiting more than 2 million flowers, to gather enough nectar to make 500 grams of honey. So, it is better to understand the right usage of honey. Dietician Shikha Sharma tells us the ways honey should never be used on a day to day basis.

Never use honey for baking
Whether you buy processed or raw honey, the worst thing you can do is heat it further by baking it at high temperatures for substantial amounts of time. Some minerals will remain, but the living enzymes available in raw honey are all destroyed by heat. Baking can also alter the taste of the honey and produce a bitter aftertaste.

Never boil honey
Heating honey can turn toxic. While honey is used to alleviate excess mucous and is seen in so many natural cold remedies, any honey that has been heated leads to congestion, weight gain, respiratory problems, skin conditions including acne, and blood glucose imbalances. Make sure your honey is raw, or you will not receive its benefits! Most supermarket honey is pasteurized or heated at a high temperature, thus killing off many of the raw enzymes that make it so healthy in the first place.

Never have honey with meat products
Many use honey as it enriches and adds a subtle flavour to many savoury dishes such as meat casseroles, sauces and dressings. When used in a marinade, honey will help tenderise meat. It also gives a distinctive barbecue flavour to food as it caramelises. That is the reason honey is used by many meat lovers world over. However, it is totally wrong. Honey and meat is a wrong combination. It can upset your stomach and can cause serious food poisoning.

Never have honey with milk if you want to lose weight
Time and again you would have heard people asking you to have honey with warm water first thing in the morning. It not only helps in better digestion and treating irritable bowels syndrome, it helps in losing weight as well. However, honey with warm milk will help skinny people gain some weight. So, for all those trying to use honey or are already using one, to lose weight, you should stop it. Honey when taken with milk has the capacity to slow down your metabolism.

Never feed honey to babies
Many cultures believe in the health benefits of honey and allow their babies to eat it early in their lives. In fact, Ayurvedic doctors also prescribe honey for kids of all. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises parents not to give their babies raw or unpasteurized honey if they are younger than 12 months old. Many researches suggest that honey can cause infant botulism. This type of bacteria produces toxins inside the digestive tract and can lead to serious side effects. While the right age to start giving honey is not yet proven, it is better to avoid it till the age of 3.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/five-ways-honey-never-consumed/
#Consume, #Honey, #Milk, #Toxic, #Weight_Gain

Dudi Ben Simon – Playful Images

Almost one year has past since our first featureof Dudi Ben Simon’s creative work. Time to show you a little more of his playful images. In addition to his professional work as creative director, Dudi Ben Simon loves to experiment with everyday objects to turn them into playful images. Due to clever combinations of different things, the Tel Aviv, Israel based creative mind produces funny illusions. You can read more below the first image of our selection.

For quite some time, Dudi Ben Simon is fascinated by the idea of mixing objects and diverse daily pieces that seem totally disconnected on first sight. Feel free to check out more images below or have a look at our last year’s feature. On Instagram and Facebook you can see much more of his playful images.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/dudi-ben-simon-playful-images/
#Dudi_Ben_Simon, #Playful_Images

50 Cent Mocks Kanye West & Kim Kardashian After Hospitalization: He ‘Ain’t Right’

Shade alert! 50 Cent took to Instagram to mock Kanye West and Kim Kardashian on Nov. 27, sharing a video that poked fun at Yeezy after his hospitalization. The rapper also noted how Jay Z needs to call Ye since he ‘ain’t right.’ See the shocking clip!

Too soon? 50 Cent is known for speaking his mind, whether it bothers people or not. So of course, the rapper didn’t tread lightly when mocking Kanye West on Nov. 27, sharing an edited video alongside the caption, “Man Jay better call this ni**a right now, this ain’t right. Lol.” In the compilation clip, it shows Yeezy onstage giving an impassioned speech about his career. He began, “My role models are Truman, Ford, West,” as the camera pans to an audience member gasping. It then transitions to Ye saying, “I came here to present my new video, I put Ray J in it bro,” showing Kim Kardashian clapping and screaming for her beau amidst a silent crowd.

Of course, 50’s bizarre clip had a big ending, showing Yeezy yelling, “As u probably could have guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for president.” It’s clear 50 is trying to poke fun at all of Kanye’s wild statements and antics over the past year, even addressing how Ye slammed Jay Z for not calling at his Nov. 19 gig in Sacramento. One user clapped back at 50 for doing this after Kanye’s hospitalization, writing, “it’s cowardly to kick a man when he is down.”

Kanye was checked into the UCLA Medical Center on Nov. 21 after reportedly suffering from “temporary psychosis” brought on by sleep deprivation and dehydration. Although many fans thought Yeezy would be released home by now, his alleged “problems go much deeper,” according to TMZ. It’s clear he’s going through a tough time, having recently cancelled a rescheduled Los Angeles gig and the remainder of his high-grossing Saint Pablo tour to take care of himself. So, we’re not sure how fans are going to take 50’s video.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/50-cent-mocks-kanye-west-kim-kardashian-hospitalization-aint-right/
#50_Cent, #Jay_Z, #Kanye_West, #Kim_Kardashian, #Rapping

Randhir Kapoor: Kareena Kapoor Khan will deliver her baby on December 20

The day is not far when the glamorous Kareena Kapoor Khan will enter the phase of motherhood. Yes, the good news that everyone has been waiting for will be out on the 20th of December.

Kareena’s father Randhir Kapoor recently confirmed that the actress is due on December 20 and said, “Kareena has handled her pregnancy very well. We’re all waiting to hold her little one in our arms. She’s extremely healthy and the baby is doing fine. Yes, she is due on December 20. At the moment, we can’t say whether she will opt for a surgery or follow the natural procedure. Her doctors will take a call closer to the due date depending on the baby’s position and Kareena’s health. For now, we’re just preparing to welcome our grandkid.”

The actress has been setting an example for women everywhere. Kareena has been super active all her pregnancy and has also emerged as a style icon for her pregnancy fashion choices.

We are sure you guys too cannot for the good news to finally be announced.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/randhir-kapoor-kareena-kapoor-khan-will-deliver-baby-december-20/
#Featured, #KAREENA_KAPOOR_KHAN, #Randhir_Kapoor

Xiaomi Says Shrinking Smartphone Sales Won't Hit the Company

Sharp drops in smartphone sales for China's Xiaomi Inc will not have a major impact on the company as profit growth will be driven by sales from smart home devices as well as revenue from its software eco-system, a senior executive said.Xiaomi was valued at $46 billion (roughly Rs. 3,14,938 crores) in its last fund-raising in 2014 - making it briefly the world's most valuable start-up at a time when it was China's best-selling smartphone maker and looked set to make a splash worldwide.

But last year it missed its global smartphone targets by 12 percent, while its third-quarter China smartphone sales have tumbled 45 percent, according to research firm IDC - raising doubts that the valuation is still warranted.

Xiaomi's global vice-president Hugo Barra said the company's business model was not based on money made from handset sales per se and that it did not need to raise more funds or see any point in doing so at a valuation of less than $46 billion.

"Basically we're giving [handsets] to you without making any money... we care about the recurring revenue streams over many years," he told Reuters in an interview."We could sell 10 billion smartphones and we wouldn't make a single dime in profits," he added.

Xiaomi, which discloses little of its profit and revenue figures, has increasingly emphasised its range of home appliances such as air and water purifiers, and rice cookers as key earnings drivers.

In April, Xiaomi Vice President Liu De said the firm expects sales of smart home devices to double to 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) this year.

The company has invested heavily in India and Southeast Asia and is making its first forays into the US market - launching next month its first device capable of roaming on the country's 4G networks.

Barra said they are first targeting Chinese users travelling in the US, but are laying the groundwork for direct sales to US consumers.

In January, Xiaomi will also make its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, launching a new product during the event, he said.

Xiaomi's tentative first steps in the US smartphone market come as cash-strapped rival LeEco faces a crippling shortage of funds, which were revealed in a public letter by CEO Jia Yueting months after the company launched its first flagship phones in the United States.

"There's no pressing need to do an IPO or even a private round," said Barra brushing off concerns that Xiaomi could face a similar funding shortage. "We are not a flash in someone's PR pan."

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/xiaomi-says-shrinking-smartphone-sales-wont-hit-company/
#China, #Android, #Hugo_Barra, #Mobiles, #Xiaomi

Groovy, an Open Source Success Story

Apache Groovy is a multi-faceted general purpose programming language for the Java platform. While primarily an object-oriented language with many dynamic language features, it also supports functional programming, static type checking and static compilation. This article looks at some interesting aspects of Groovy’s history and some of the significant guiding principles which help keep it a vibrant open source project.

What is Groovy and why should I care?

There are many available programming languages, and several popular alternatives to Java that are specifically designed to run on the JVM, so what’s so special about Groovy? Groovy is particularly known for its:

• close integration with and low learning-curve from Java


• multi-paradigm support for functional and object-oriented styles


• flexible syntax and productive libraries


• extensibility through metaprogramming


• scripting capabilities


• support for domain specific languages (DSLs)

It’s also one of the most widely used alternative languages for the JVM with downloads of about 12 million per year and steadily rising. But this isn’t an article to sell you on the features of Groovy, rather it describes the role open source played in Groovy’s evolution.

Groovy has been an open source project since its inception. It started life from the desire to be able to program using less boilerplate code like you could using Ruby, Python or Smalltalk but on the JVM platform and using a syntax that a Java programmer would find natural. Without that spark of inspiration, Groovy wouldn’t exist, but that inspiration alone didn’t bring Groovy to where it is today. A number of other factors were crucial, and various hurdles needed to be overcome. Let’s look at some of those factors – different pillars, if you like, supporting a successful open source project.

Building a better light bulb but standing on the shoulders of giants

A key motivator behind many of the early features of Groovy were things that the project members deemed were needed but missing in Java. However, the Groovy team was much smaller than the engineering team behind Java. So an underlying strategy was made to let Java do the things it does well and Groovy would focus on the gaps: Don’t do all things but do the things you do well.

The integration between the two would be kept closer than what other alternative JVM languages had attempted. When new versions of Java came out, sometimes with features inspired by what Groovy had added years earlier, Groovy would just try to move the goalposts out further with the next round of missing features.

Having said that, it is worth noting that Groovy’s addition of static type checking and static compilation to get better compile-time errors and dramatically improve performance does overlap somewhat with Java. Even though Groovy allows seamless interplay between mixed Java and Groovy codebases, many users just didn’t want to leave Groovy and have to revert back to Java yet wanted some of the benefits from Java’s static typing and type checking. Of course Groovy, always wanting to raise the bar further, made the type checker extensible so that you could add your own custom checkers for stricter-than-Java checking if you desire.

As well as building upon Java, many early Groovy features were inspired heavily by features found in Python, Ruby, Smalltalk and other languages – no need to reinvent the concept, just provide a version that is JVM friendly and intuitive to someone with a Java developer mindset. Examples of such features include:

• Groovy’s metaprogramming capabilities and range data type borrowed ideas heavily from Ruby


• the list and map literal notation and the syntax for default parameters were inspired by Python


• the collection processing methods, collect and inject, followed Smalltalk’s naming scheme


• closures came from the world of functional programming

In recent years, the nice observation is that Groovy features have found their way back into languages like C#, Swift, Scala, Kotlin, Frege and even Java. Some examples include:

• Java’s lambda expressions can be thought of as a limited version of Groovy’s closures


• as part of project Coin, Java added strings to switch statements (Groovy allows strings, regex expressions, class expressions and closures as possible targets for a case statement)


• the syntax for the Elvis operator ?: is now used in PHP, Fantom and Kotlin though they test against null rather than applying Groovy truth; numerous languages have instead added a ?? operator for null coalescing including C# and Swift


• the safe navigation operator ?. is now in C#, Swift, Kotlin, Fantom and Ruby (as &.)


• the spaceship operator <=> is now in PHP, Ceylon and Ruby


• numerous dynamic languages have looked at ways to add static typing checking

The fact that Groovy is open source and its design and implementation are out in the open make this exchange of ideas possible; fostering innovation and raising the bar for all open source languages.

Professional leading-edge development

A common characteristic of many (but not all) open source projects is a high-quality codebase and often the pioneering use of good development practices. People interested in best-practice techniques are also often the ones looking for the latest technology that might ease some of their pain points. Groovy has certainly been fortunate to have such individuals involved within its community at various points. Numerous techniques and approaches have been incorporated along the way to keep code quality high, improve test coverage, maintain appropriate compatibility and adopt best-of-breed devops practices to lower the barrier of entry for potential new contributors and minimize the workload for existing project members. Two examples to illustrate the point are:

• every PR that is submitted is tested automatically on a CI server; Groovy’s committers know if a submission would break tests without having to manually apply and run the tests themselves


• Checkstyle was an important additional check on the Java code sources but doesn’t work on Groovy code, so the Codenarc project was created to provide a similar checking framework for Groovy code

It might sound like the project has a heavy-handed set of policies and procedures that developers need to follow but that isn’t the case. Indeed, the project’s governance, i.e. how it is run, is very lightweight. Good practices are embedded within the project artifacts and practices are encouraged and reinforced as needed. As new contributors join the team, existing committers give guidance as to why things have been done a certain way in the past. We’ll come back to say a little more about governance shortly.

One of the commonly heard agile mantras is release early, release often. Certainly Java’s historically very slow release cycle and slow adoption of new features is one of the reasons for Groovy’s existence. Groovy has tried to improve upon that dramatically, by providing new features much earlier and at a much improved pace. Having said that, sometimes technical issues have even slowed Groovy releases, but that is being worked on. Of course, being a language, we don’t want to force our users to have to upgrade every week, so we don’t need to be as aggressive as some other projects.

Keeping it fun

While striving for professionalism and quality, the project team has also taken a stance of pragmatics over theoretical purity. Groovy users want to get things done and have fun doing it; the language shouldn’t get in the way. With this in mind, Groovy has adopted a somewhat agnostic position on how the language should be used. It supports object-oriented and functional styles, imperative and declarative. It strongly encourages quite a few good practices but doesn’t get in the way with the particular style a programmer may choose. It has a somewhat mature approach to how developers should be treated. Try not to let developers shoot themselves in the foot but don’t prohibit them from doing so if they really go out of their way to do it.

Another aspect of project governance that can dampen contributor enthusiasm is a heavyweight approval process. As mentioned before, the Groovy project tries to keep things as lightweight as possible. It doesn’t have an elaborate process for evolving the language like Java’s JCP process. Minor non-controversial improvements to the language, might be proposed, discussed and approved through consensus on the mailing list backed up by a proposed pull request on Github. For larger changes to the language, Groovy has a Groovy enhancement proposal (GEP) process to allow more elaborate considerations to take place. It’s not all plain sailing though. One of the hardest parts about running an open source project is often not about working out what new features you could possibly add but rather deciding what to leave out or resisting the urge to add a feature too early before its implications are fully understood.

When needed, Groovy does have a formal governance structure to fall back on, so we might, for instance, have a formal vote about whether a particular feature should be added or not. The project follows the typical Apache governance modelhaving a project management committee (PMC) responsible for managing the project. So in summary, we strive for consensus within the broader community first, then the committers and finally, if needed, the PMC.

Finally, Groovy has maintained a friendly vibe throughout its community. There are times when there are heated debates and people agree to disagree but on the whole, participants within the community defer to the greater good of the community. All in all, things work reasonably well; Groovy users don’t want to argue endlessly about academic points of theory, they want to get stuff done while having fun. It’s the combination of these factors that has attracted individuals to start and continue contributing to Groovy or to other projects within the Groovy ecosystem.

Longevity beyond any one individual

Individuals contribute to open source projects for a variety of reasons. Some might be fully or partially sponsored by their companies, others might be volunteers who might just enjoy working with a world-wide community of like-minded individuals. Given the varying motivations of these contributors, an open source project has much less control over when any individual contributor may come or go as their individual circumstances change. Over the years, Groovy has seen some major individuals come and go and others whose circumstances have changed the way they can contribute – but the project has adapted when needed and continued to flourish.

Groovy has had over 300 code committers during its lifespan and has averaged over 50 active code contributors per year during the last 5 years – a higher number than at any previous time. For those interested, the top 100 contributors’ ten-year history is available online via Github graphs. Numerous other contributions happen outside code contributions too, including on mailing lists, forums and blogs to name just a few.

Probably the most controversial person to lose from a language is one of its founders and indeed a lot of publicity was raised when Groovy’s founder, James Strachan, a prolific open source contributor moved on from the project to focus his time on higher priority activities. James is famously quoted in 2009 as saying: “I can honestly say if someone had shown me the Programming in Scala book by Odersky et. al. back in 2003, I’d probably have never created Groovy”. Many in the Scala community have gone on to quote and misquote these words over the years. James went on to clarify that he never regretted creating Groovy and after diving deeply into Scala he altered his fondness of the language somewhat and moved on to other languages. In more recent tweets he has praised Groovy and has slides showcasing Groovy in some of his recent talks. He is particularly fond of Groovy’s DSL capabilities in contexts like Jenkins pipelines within a continuous delivery pipeline. Perhaps this tweet captures his current thinking:

The peaks and troughs of sponsorship

Organizations sponsor open source development for a variety of reasons. It might give them a competitive advantage, improve security, foster innovation, motivate staff, improve profit margins and time to market. It’s easy to see why many organizations have some kind of involvement with open source. But more often than not, monetizing opportunities come from as high up the “software food chain” as possible.

Sometimes the link between revenues earned and a general purpose programming language like Groovy can involve several layers. Money might be made from an app or web service or cloud offering that is build using a framework that is written in Groovy, or built using Groovy, or tested with Groovy. It’s for this reason that we should applaud the investments from a number of organizations who have sponsored people to work on Groovy including G2One, Canoo, ASERT, SpringSource, VMWare, Pivotal, and OCI.

Probably the most well-known of these companies within the Java community in recent years is Pivotal. It was a spin-off from VMWare which earlier had acquired SpringSource. Groovy (and the Grails web framework) formed parts of its product portfolio. Very valuable contributions were made as part of this sponsored work and in many cases it was focused on features of particular value to users of Groovy within the sponsoring organization. But, to the credit of the companies involved, no heavy-handed influence was put on the overall governance of the language which allowed it to remain as a general purpose language of appeal to many people.

During the Pivotal sponsorship period, which lasted about 2 years, contributions continued from outside the sponsoring companies and interest in Groovy continued to rise. Later, when Pivotal’s directions changed and their investment in full-time contributors to Groovy (and the Grails web framework) ceased, the Groovy project again adapted and contributions from other sources become paramount again.

The easiest way to see the impact of Pivotal’s withdrawal is by looking at the numbers. During the approximately 2 years of Pivotal sponsorship there were 6 Pivotal code contributors and 111 others. During the 18 months since then, there have been 114 active contributors. This number includes some of the original Pivotal employees who now contribute under new roles in other organization or on a volunteer basis. So with a very superficial analysis, it might seem that the numbers haven’t changed much – in fact, they might be argued to have improved since the second time period being examined is shorter. But that wouldn’t be an accurate reflection of reality. Some of the 6 Pivotal code contributors were working nearly full time on Groovy (some were primarily working on Grails) whereas some of the 111 others may have submitted only a handful of commits for the whole 2-year period.

A slightly better approach to analysing contributions is to look at the number of commits. During the 2-year sponsorship period there was an average of 359 commits per quarter, 158 per quarter from Pivotal staff and 201 per quarter from others. Since then there have been 188 commits per quarter on average. So, there is a noticeable reduction in contributions since Pivotal’s sponsorship ceased, but the current level of commits remains healthy and the number is on the rise again.

We should point out that the number of commits is by no means a perfect metric, either. Indeed, a commit to fix a small typo clocks up the same weight as a complex commit adding a new feature like traits or static type checking – though neither of those was (or would be expected to be) added with a single commit. Perhaps the real worry about the Pivotal withdrawal is that complex features (which can best be tackled by teams) might be difficult to progress with a large number of contributors each having only a small amount of time. This is indeed something that needs to be monitored over time. All we can say is that the signs are encouraging. The number of contributors is increasing and some of the progress that is being made (like the new “Parrot” Antlr-4 based parser) surpasses progress made at any previous time.

There’s no place like home

In the early years of Groovy, it’s home was as part of Codehaus’s portfolio of open source hosted projects. Codehaus was instrumental in providing the necessary infrastructure for Groovy’s early days. It provided us with a full suite of best-of-breed tools: source control, mailing lists, issue tracking, downloads, websites/wiki, continuous builds, and chat, all before Github or cloud CI services such as Travis CI even existed. Having Codehaus take on the burden of hosting and maintaining all the necessary infrastructure for running a successful open source project allowed the project team to focus on just building the best Groovy they could. Codehaus were fairly good at bringing on board useful new technologies, so Groovy adopted distributed version control fairly early on which opened up a better workflow for evolving the codebase. It wasn’t long before the project also started using Github. Over and above the git repo that Codehaus provided, Github’s web-based workflow for cloning repos and creating pull requests significantly lowered the barrier of entry to potential new contributors while at the same time, minimised overheads for the project team when vetting, discussing and accepting new contributions.

At about the same time as Pivotal sponsorship was coming to an end, the Codehaus organization was winding down its open source hosting service. With the closure of Codehaus looming, Groovy needed to find an alternative “hosting service” for its infrastructure needs – just Github alone wasn’t perceived to provide everything we needed. While discussing options within the community, the issue of project governance was raised. Codehaus had a defacto governance that Groovy was operating under. The community wanted to be sure that wherever Groovy ended up, that not only the technical artifacts of the project (codebase, mailing archive, issue archive, etc.) survived the move safely but the governance of the project going forward remained friendly to our existing users and peer projects within the Groovy ecosystem.

It was after numerous deliberations with these thoughts in mind that the Apache Software Foundation became the leading contender for a destination for Groovy. It provided its own similar infrastructure to Codehaus, allowed us to maintain a workflow involving Github that our users were comfortable with and, most importantly, it provided a rock-solid governance model and a strong emphasis on community. Not only did we know numerous fellow developers from within the Apache community already but the degree it embraces community felt a good fit for Groovy. Much to our delight, the move to Apache has shone a spotlight on Groovy and user contributions and downloads have never been higher and similarly language rankings of usage have increased; we had found our new home.

The Groovy ecosystem and community

A discussion about Groovy would be incomplete without mentioning our other main class of users. Our peer projects within the Groovy ecosystem including but not limited to Grails, Spock, Ratpack, Gradle, GPars, Griffon and Jenkins. These projects, and many more like them, provide higher-level services or frameworks that build on top of Groovy. Many users of those projects end up using Groovy, some of them not even necessarily realizing that fact. Without the feedback and support of these projects, Groovy would not be the useful language that it is.

Finally, it would be remiss not to mention the many users of Groovy over the years, many of whom have provided feedback and driven many changes in the language. Groovy today is a vast improvement over what it once was. There are still numerous improvements that we’d like to make and a huge raft of features and ideas that are waiting in the wings. The contributors and community are what will help make those changes become a reality. Hopefully, you have enjoyed learning about some of the pillars which have supported Groovy’s evolution. Why not give the language a try or come visit us.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/groovy-open-source-success-story/
#Governance, #Groovy, #Open_Source, #Opensourceweek, #OSW

Dry Lights – Experimental Film

The Toronto based independent filmmaker Xavier Chassaing has created this experimental film using virtual site-specific installations and surreal performances of choreographed lights in organic landscapes. The result is a mind-blowing 3D film that takes you on a nocturnal trip through an electric desert. Like beacons, countless lights flicker in the night. They are buzzing through the desert like fleeting moments or vague memories. They move freely without a specific destination. More below.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/dry-lights-experimental-film/
#Dry_Lights, #Experimental_Film

REVEALED! Detail about Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Raees’

There has been a lot of anticipation over the soon-to-release trailer of Shah Rukh Khan and Mahira Khan-starrer flick ‘Raees’. It was earlier reported that the trailer will be attached to ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’. Then there were rumours that the trailer will be releasing on SRK’s birthday, November 2, but that didn’t happen either. Of course, the fans have been waiting to witness the trailer. Since the teaser of the film was launched more than a year ago, the excitement over the trailer is certainly high.

But, now there’s some good news for the audiences. The producer of the movie, Ritesh Sidhwani has tweeted something interesting about the trailer.

So, the tweet doesn’t exactly reveal the date and time of the trailer, but it does throw light on the fact that an official announcement on the trailer will be made in the next 48 hours. But before you assume that the trailer will be attached to SRK-starrer ‘Dear Zindagi’, let’s tell you that it won’t be the case. Recently, SRK himself had rubbished these reports by saying, “It’s not coming out with ‘Dear Zindagi’ for sure. I read somewhere about this news and no, it’s not true at all. I don’t know the exact date. Hopefully, it should release sometime in December.”

Hmm, so do we expect it to be out in the first week of December? Let’s wait for the official announcement which will be made in the next 48 hours.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/revealed-detail-shah-rukh-khan-starrer-raees/
#Featured, #Raees, #Shah_Rukh_Khan, #Mahira_Khan

Green Tea May Ease Kidney Damage Caused By Cancer Drug, Says AIIMS Study

Green tea is effective in reducing the kidney toxicity and damage caused by cisplatin -- an anti-cancer drug, the AIIMS researchers have revealed.

The research study has evaluated the usefulness of ECG, a polyphenolic compound obtained from green tea in preventing the damage of kidneys induced by the cisplatin. Side effects of cisplatin may include nephrotoxicity and life-threatening damaged kidney.

The study by AIIMS Professor Jagriti Bhatia from the Pharmacology Department was published in journal 'Laboratory Investigations' recently.

"If this research progresses, it may lead to a new drug which can combat the ill effects of cisplatin," said Bhatia.

Approximately, 30 per cent of the treated patients may develop nephrotoxicity after receiving an initial dose of cisplatin. Cisplatin causes production of free radicals inside cells in kidney which leads to oxidative stress and inflammation.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/green-tea-may-ease-kidney-damage-caused-cancer-drug-says-aiims-study/
#AIIMS, #Cancer, #ECG, #Green_Tea, #Jagriti_Bhatia, #Kidneys, #Pharmacology_Department

Novae – Supernova Short Film by Thomas Vanz

French independent filmmaker Thomas Vanz has created “Novae”, an experimental short film that provides an artistic and poetic take on the astronomical event called Supernova. Using only an aquarium as well as ink and water, his stunning short film is an attempt to present something unimaginably great with just a selection of small tools. Any footage you can see in the video was made in an analogous manner without the use of computed generated imagery or 3D applications. Please read more below the first image.

With inspiration by Kubrick’s and Nolan’s cinematography as well as images of the Crab Nebula captured by the Hubble telescope in 2000, Thomas Vanz’ stunning video adds a poetic take to the scientific vision of a supernova. Do not hesitate and watch the following video. You can find more of Thomas Vanz’ creative work as well as some making-of footage on his profiles on Behance and Vimeo.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/novae-supernova-short-film-thomas-vanz/
#Novae, #Supernova_Short_Film, #Thomas_Vanz

Lady Gaga Praises Kanye West, Hits Out at Trolls

Lady Gaga is not about to let trolls trash Kanye West in the wake of him winding up in hospital.

There are conflicting reports about why Kanye was actually hospitalized, but it seems like it's either exhaustion, or a mental breakdown.

Kanye is probably most well known for speaking his mind.

Whether he's calling Taylor Swift out for being a liar, or trashing Beyonce, he really has no filter.

However, Lady Gaga was quick to point out to her followers that the rapper should not be mocked during this tough time.

In a series of tweets, she went to town on the trolls and extended her well wishes to West.

“It’s not funny to joke about anyone’s possible or not possible mental illness, this is a sensitive time for many,” she wrote.

“Let’s be kind & loving.”

“While I don’t agree with everything he does I hope the public shows compassion and ❤️ for @kanyewest and each other. One love. One Race,” she continued.

While you would be hard pressed to find anyone who agrees with everything Kanye says, Gaga is not letting that come in the way of making sure he is okay.

“@kanyewest i support & love u brother, I see in you bravery & courage to stop this tour & take care of YOU. You are a GREAT artist.”

If you've been keeping tabs on what's been going down, you probably already know that Kanye has been acting erratically for quite some time.

That allegedly came to a head earlier this week when there were concerns about his welfare in the wake of him canceling the remainder of his Saint Pablo Tour.

His wife, Kim Kardashian rushed to be with him shortly after learning what was going on with her husband.

There's nothing quite like have your loved ones around you in times of need.

It's a horrible situation for anyone to be in, but we're sure he has the love and support of his loved ones who will be able to help him back to perfect health.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/lady-gaga-praises-kanye-west-hits-trolls/
#Lady_Gaga, #Praises_Kanye_West, #Trolls

Shah Rukh Khan reveals his character is more like an extended cameo in ‘Dear Zindagi’

A lot has been said about Shah Rukh Khan’s role in Gauri Shinde’s ‘Dear Zindagi’. While a few reports stated that he has a full-fledged role, it was also said that his role is only a cameo. Recently, the actor himself revealed that his character is like an extended cameo.

The actor along with the director Gauri Shinde, and actress Alia Bhatt was in the capital to promote the film. At the media interaction he spoke about being a part of the film, he said, “Because this film has been done so wonderfully by both Gauri (director) and Alia. I hope I don’t let them down. I hope me and my stardom don’t let it down. I have a role which is very important and so are all the others characters.”

“I haven’t been able to assure that a star vehicle of mine will make people come and watch it. I do hear noises and voices sometimes about my decision to do films. I hear that I should be part of other stuff and not just star vehicles. I have done all that in my career but I want to do more and this is one step in that direction,” he added.

SRK further stated that he has never played such a role in his entire career. He said, “I am a support in the film, more like an extended cameo. I am very glad to be in this film. I have never played such a role in my entire career. In the film, many questions about life have been asked which we normally don’t face- about ups and downs of life.”

‘Dear Zindagi’ is slated to hit the screens on November 25.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/shah-rukh-khan-reveals-character-like-extended-cameo-dear-zindagi/
#Dear_Zindagi, #Featured, #Shah_Rukh_Khan, #Alia_Bhatt

The best new art apps of 2016

When it comes to apps for making digital art on your mobile, tablet or laptop, the landscape couldn’t be more exciting right now.

With new apps appearing all the time, and old favourites adding new functionality, digital artists can get creative in ways that couldn’t have been dreamed of just a few years ago.

In this post we round up the best new apps for digital artists in 2016. But if there’s a favourite app of yours we haven’t included, please let us know in the comments below.

01. Corel Painter 2017

The leading digital art tool saw a number of significant updates in 2016

• System: Windows/Mac


• Price: $429/£314 (upgrade $229/£159)

Corel Painter may be the granddaddy of digital art apps, but with every new release they seem to bring something new and exciting to the table. Corel Painter 2017, released this August, is no exception. Highlights include the brand new Texture painting tool; the addition of glazing brushes (squarely aimed at the creation of Manga art); and a sparkling new, cleaned-up interface. Learn more in our review of Corel Painter 2017.

02. Affinity Designer 1.5

Serif’s rival to Illustrator went from strength to strength in 2016

• System: Windows/Mac


• Price: £29.99

Serif’s game-changing rival to Adobe Illustrator has continued to add features and garner fans. In June the latest version, 1.5, beefed things up considerably, with new features including the Symbols feature, enabling you to synchronise multiple instances of the same element and edit them all simultaneously.

The other big news was that the previously Mac-only app landed on Windows, along with its sister tool, Affinity Photo; we’ve also been given sneak peeks of the forthcoming iPad version. Read more about version 1.5 of Affinity Designer here.

03. MediBang Paint

Focused on comic creation, MediBang is one of the best free painting apps around

• System: Android, iOS, Windows, PC


• Price: Free

There are a lot of free painting apps for the iPad and Android tablets, but MediBang Paint is one of the best, and that’s not just because it’s free from annoying adverts. Firmly focused on comic creation, there’s an impressive range of tools on offer, you can save your creations to the cloud, and you can add handy shortcuts to said tools. Learn more in our review of MediBang Paint.

04. Amberlight 2

Create exotic swirling patterns with Amberlight 2

• System: PC, Mac


• Price: $59.99

Developed by the team behind Flame Painter, Amberlight is a user-friendly tool based on particle field algorithms that enables you to generate wonderfully exotic swirling patterns. It’s ideal for space backdrops, motion graphics, illustrations and more. Out this year, Amberlight 2 doesn’t add any extra features, but just improves the experience of using this very focussed tool. Learn more in our full review of Amberlight 2.

05. Hexels 2

Hexels 2 is the perfect tool for pixel art creatio

• System: PC, Mac


• Price: $38 ($19 upgrade)

Fancy making your own pixel art? Hexels is a quirky grid-based painting app that enables you to choose what sort of polygonal shapes you want to be constrained by, helping paint isometric images with ease. Released this year, Hexels 2 beefs up the software considerably, with more professional functionality including the ability to create animated GIFs. Learn more in our full review of Hexels 2.

06. Paintstorm Studio 1.5

Paintstorm is cheap but surprisingly capable

• System: PC, Mac, iPad


• Price: $19

Paintstorm is a cheap but surprisingly powerful painting program for the desktop that allows you to customise your brushes to a high degree. There are a plethora of tools within the app, although the interface is a little clunky so we’d recommend following the in-app tutorials to get the most from it. Learn more in our full review of Paintorm Studio 1.5.

07. Pixelmator 2.2

Pixelmator is a photo editor that works very well as a painting app

• System: iPad


• Price: £3.99

Pixelmator is technically a photo editing app but works great as a painting app too. It’s a very impressive app for the price, offering great pressure sensitivity and responsiveness. Learn more in our review of Paintorm Studio 1.5.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/best-new-art-apps-2016/
#_DIGITAL_ART, #Creativity, #SOFTWARE, #Apps, #ILLUSTRATION

Facebook in Crosshairs as Fake News Battle Heats Up

Hillary Clinton was about to be indicted, Pope Francis endorsed Donald Trump: the battle over fake news is heating up after a White House campaign in which the misinformation industry may have swung the outcome of the vote.

Last week, Google and Facebook moved to cut off ad revenue to bogus news sites. But media watchers say more is needed to stamp out a powerful phenomenon seen by some people as a threat to democracy itself.

One of those people is President Barack Obama, who has warned that fake news threatens the basic principle of freedom of speech.

"If everything seems to be the same and no distinctions are made, then we won't know what to protect," Obama said during a visit to Germany.

The hoaxes of the 2016 election season were in many cases spectacular - "Did the Clintons Commit Murder?" - and created by groups purely out to make money from clicks and ads.

And since Trump's victory, reports have exposed the dark underbelly of operations - run from Macedonia to California - that boast of making easy money with wholly fabricated stories, under such headlines as "Look At Sick Thing He Just Did To STAB Trump In The Back."

An analysis published by BuzzFeed News found that the 20 top-performing bogus stories from hoax websites and extremely partisan blogs generated slightly more than 8.7 million "shares" on Facebook to just 7.4 million from major news websites, in the three months before the election.

Now, the outcry over fake news and its apparent role in the election is prompting calls for Facebook to consider itself a media company, with editorial responsibilities, which the social network has repeatedly rejected.

Arbiters of truth?
Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan argued that Facebook "should hire a top-flight executive editor and give that person the resources, power and staff to make sound editorial decisions."

For Gabriel Kahn, a former journalist who teaches at the University of Southern California, "they're in the same business as pretty much every media company, which is aggregating audiences and using that to sell advertisements."

And Kahn believes that Facebook, by considering itself a "neutral" platform, "allows the media ecosystem to be polluted" with bogus news.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Friday offered additional insight on plans to curb online misinformation while arguing for caution.

"The problems here are complex, both technically and philosophically," Zuckerberg said in a posting.

"We believe in giving people a voice... We do not want to be arbiters of truth ourselves, but instead rely on our community and trusted third parties."

Zuckerberg said nonetheless that Facebook would step up efforts to weed out fake news with "stronger detection," an easier process to report hoaxes and "third party verification" from "respected fact checking organizations."

Tech entrepreneur Elad Gil said it should not be too difficult for a company like Facebook to apply its technical expertise to determine when a news story is fake.

"Intriguingly, a group of undergrads at Princeton were able to build a quick and dirty fake news classifier during a 36-hour hackathon," Gil said in a blog post.

'Click farms' vs ideology
Northeastern University journalism professor Dan Kennedy argued that it is important to differentiate between "click farms" which make money off entirely fake news and politically driven news sites.

"I think Facebook could do a lot to crack down on fake news, and I think that's something everybody could agree on, but if they try to go against the ideologically motivated sites it will inevitably get caught up in the culture wars," Kennedy said.

The prevalence of ersatz news, analysts note, comes in a context of deep distrust of mainstream media, which is often accused of one-sidedness.

Any effort to filter out those voices could "lead to the relitigation of ancient disputes over media bias," said Kennedy.

Reason magazine editor Scott Shackleford said it would be hard to draw a line between filtering bogus news and ideological censorship.

"So a decision by Facebook to censor 'fake news' would heavily weigh in favor of the more mainstream and 'powerful' traditional media outlets," he wrote.

City University of New York journalism professor Jeff Jarvis and startup entrepreneur John Borthwick argued in a blog post that the media and technology industries should work together to help readers establish the credibility of news.

"We do not believe that the platforms should be put in the position of judging what is fake or real, true or false as censors for all," they wrote.

"The platforms need to give users better information and media need to help them."

Even if the online platforms do not turn into media firms, the two wrote in the blog, they should "hire high-level journalists inside their organizations" to "bring a sense of public responsibility to their companies" and "to explain journalism to the technologists and technology to the journalists."

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/facebook-crosshairs-fake-news-battle-heats/
#Barack_Obama, #Donald_Trump, #Facebook, #Hillary_Clinton, #Social, #Fake_News

PM Modi Launches App For Survey On Demonetisation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to people on Tuesday directly for feedback by asking the public to convey their views to him via his App by answering a set of questions. He asked the public to participate in a survey on Narendra Modi App where 10 questions, with various options, have been posed with regard to scrapping of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes. "I want your first-hand view on the decision taken regarding currency notes. Take part in the survey on the NM App," he tweeted.
The questions include "Do you have any suggestions/ideas or insights you would like to share with PM Narendra Modi." Some of the other questions asked are:
"Do you think black money exists in India?

"Do you think the evil of corruption and black money need to be fought and eliminated?

"What do you think of government's move of banning old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes?

"Do you mind inconvenience faced in our fight to curb corruption, black money, terrorism and counterfeiting of currency?"

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/pm-modi-launches-app-survey-demonetisation/
#Modi_App, #PM, #Questions, #Survey, #Demonetisation

Selectologie Boutique Branding by The Bakery

The Russian design studio The Bakery was recently tasked to develop a unique brand identity for a Moscow based women’s footwear boutique. In the form of a unique concept store, they offer a first class service as well as a fine selection of affordable footwear in top quality. The Bakery’s creative team imagined the boutique as some kind of secret place. Please read more about the entire project below the first image.

Selectologie, is a name that suggests a scientific approach or perhaps even a religious cult. Inspired by secret societies and closed clubs, the whole identity conveys a sense of unity, a group of people with secret knowledge and an obsession for fashionable shoes. To visualize this idea of secrecy, The Bakery has developed a brand identity based on a word search puzzle game. The color combination of blue and yellow adds a modern and eye-catching touch to the identity. Just have a look at the images below. For more of The Bakery’s graphic work, please visit their website or check out some older projects on WE AND THE COLOR.

http://www.epaperindia.in/2016/11/selectologie-boutique-branding-bakery/
#Boutique_Branding, #Selectologie, #The_Bakery