Lonely Planet has a new app for travel enthusiasts. Called Trips, the app uses an Instagram-like design populated with beautiful images of far away places.

Much like Lonely Planets website, the idea behind Trips is to offer travelers an easy way to share their experiences and discover new areas of the world this time on their smartphones.

However, Instagram already has a healthy amount of travel enthusiasts uploading photos of fantastic places for viewers to check out on a daily basis. National Geographic, a personal favorite, is one of the most popular on the platform, with a following of nearly 80 million. Lonely Planet, by comparison, has about 1.4 million followers on the platform.

Like Instagram, you can heart, share and follow profiles on Trips, as well. But Lonely Planets Daniel Houghton says the intention is not to compete with the social media giant, but to complement it.

Lonely Planet is an O.G. travel site and has its own loyal niche of travel enthusiasts. Perhaps an app focusing precisely on their passion will be well received.

Trips is Lonely Planets second app. The online destinations site launched its first app Guides last year, which provides tips and advice from on-the-ground experts. More than one million people have since downloaded Guides. Lonely Planet hopes Trips will be met with the same success.

So why not just roll Trips features into Guides and make one app? Houghton tells TechCrunchGuides is more of a tool, whereas Trips is geared for sharing content.

The app is pretty easy to use; just download, select profiles that suit your interest and scroll through the feed. From there you can pick from a number of the populated stories, many of which will come with maps, photos and some information on tours and things you might want to check out. I was personally checking out Rainbow Mountain in Peru posted about a day ago while scrolling through the app.

You also can hit the discover icon at the bottom of the app, to the right of the home icon, to search for categories like Adventure or Wildlife and Nature. From there it will lead you to a feed similar to the home feed but with certain trips in mind.

Its pretty easy to publish your own trips, as well. Like Instagram, you just hit the plus-sign icon at the bottom of the screen. The app will require access to your phone camera and then youll be able to add your photos. The app will automatically populate a map of the area and allow you to add content and more info about your trip from there.

The one thing I would say Trips lacks is a search tool. Its fine to scroll through the places the app provides in the feed, but its difficult to look up specific places you are thinking of visiting. If you are like me, youll want the ability to look up a place before planning your trip to see what others have to say about it and look at the photos they took.

For those interested in checking it out yourself, Tripsis now available for free oniOSand will be available on Android later this year.

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Lonely Planet launches an Instagram-like Trips app - TechCrunch

Last updated13:36, August 9 2017

The pictures you post on social media could offer clues into the state of your mental health, according to new research.

Just short of 44,000Instagramimages were examined in a study of 166 people, who were also asked questions about their history of mental health.

Filters, if used at all, prevalence of coloursand how many comments and likes each post received were examined.

Those who had depression typically posted images with darker hues and had fewer faces in their posts. They were also less likely to use filters when editing and uploading photos.

LEV DOLGACHOV/123RF

What you're sharing - or not sharing - on Instagram can offer insight into your mental health state.

READ MORE: *How to useInstagramand Snapchat on a computer *Instagramis the worst social network for young people's mental health *How much cash could you make with yourInstagram?

"When depressed participants did employ filters, they most disproportionately favoured the 'Inkwell' filter, which converts colour photographs to black-and-white images," the authors wrote in the paper published in the journal EPJ Data Science.

Healthy participants favoured the Valencia filter, which lightens the photo.

Chris Danforth

Images with the Valencia filter are likely to be used by those with sound mental health.

For people with depression,theirworld-view is often darker, they added, which could explain the photo filters they tended to choose. Those with a more positive frame of mind posted more frequently.

The researchers were eventually able to create an algorithm that could determine whether or not an Instagramuser would have depression. It had a 70 per cent success rate.

The algorithm studied people with similar qualities, like the fact theywere active on social media and willing to submit information on their mental health, making it difficult to know if it could be applied to the average user.

Chris Danforth

Images with darker hues are more likely to be shared by those suffering depression.

Study author and University of VermontComputational Story Lab co-director Chris Danforth told The Huffington Post:"It shows some promise to the idea that you might be able to build a tool like this to get individuals help sooner".

"The end goal of this would be creating something that monitors a person's voice, how they're moving around and what their social network looks like all the stuff we already reveal to our phones," he said.

"Then that could give doctors a ping to check in or at least some insight. Because maybe there's something going on that even the individual doesn't recognise about their behaviour."

Where to get help:

Lifeline (open 24/7) 0800 543 354

Depression Helpline (open 24/7) 0800 111 757

Kidsline (open 24/7) 0800 543 754. This service is for children aged 5 to 18. Those who ring between 4pm and 9pm on weekdays will speak to a Kidsline buddy. These are specially trained teenage telephone counsellors.

-Stuff

The rest is here:

How Instagram posts reveal whether you have depression: study - Stuff.co.nz

Earlier this year marked the25th anniversary of the airing of The Inner Light, an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation that focused on the brain and the adaptability of the human mind. It may be time to add it to the expanding list offuturistic developments forecast by the iconic television series.

Indeed, our growing understanding of how memories are formed is pushing us toward a day when well be able to scrub disturbing memories from our minds, or even replace them with experiences and skills that would normally take years to learn.

The television episode deals with what happens after the USS Enterprise encounters an alien probe in deep space, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) finds himself on a planet with a humanoid civilizationknown to have gone extinct 1,000 years earlier. The starship commander spends some six decades in his new environment, gradually embracing his new life. He becomes a community leader, a father and grandfather, and a virtuoso on the native flute. Over time, he mourns the death of a close friend and then his wife. He also copes with the reality that the planets changing climate will deny his grandchildren a full life. None of this, however, is real.

After seeing a space probe launch the very probe that the Enterprise encountered in space Picard wakes up on the Enterprise bridge. What felt like 60 years in Picards mind actually transpired over the course of just 25 minutes, during which he appeared to be in coma. The probe was carrying a rather uniquemessage it consisted of the experience of being part of the dying civilization.

Neural interface technology had packed 60 years-worth of experiences into Picards brain, and not just images of people and events. Inside the probe was a Kataanian flute, and Picard was able to play it with the expertise that he had developed in his simulated life. Imagine getting an upload of a new talent or skill into your brain as easily as uploading a computer file.

Could we develop a similar capability? That may depend heavily upona handful of ambitious attempts at brain-computer interfacing. But science is moving in baby steps with other tactics in both laboratory animals and humans.

Thus far, there have beensome notable achievementsin rodent experiments, that havent doen so well withhumans. We dont have a beam that can go into your mind and give you 60 years worth of new experiences. Nevertheless, the emerging picture is that the physical basis of memory is understandable to the point that we should be able to intervene both in producing and eliminating specific memories.

At MITsCenter for Neural Circuit Genetics, for example, scientists have modified memories in mice using an optogenetic interface. This technology involves genetic modification of tissues, in this case within the brain, to express proteins that respond to light. Triggered by implants that deliver laser beams, brain cells can be triggered to be more or less active. In research that has been published in the prestigious journal Nature, the MIT team used the approach in specific brain circuits important to memory consolidation. The researchers wereable to enhance the development of negative memories for instance a shock given to an animals leg and also to covert those negative memories into positive memories. The latter was achieved by letting male mice enjoy some time with females, while nerve cells that usually deliver the negative impulses associated with the former shock were stimulated through the optogenetic interface.

In humans, work with memory modification has involved N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, which function like little doors for positive ions to move through the membranes that surround neurons. NMDA receptors are affected by glutamate, a neurotransmitter whose effect on the NMDA receptors is enhanced by an antiobiotic called D-cycloserine (DCS). When this happens in an area of the brain called the amygdala, memory consolidation (the stabilization of newly developing memories) is strengthened. Researchers have thus found that DCS can increase effectiveness of whats called exposure therapy, if given within a few hours before commencement of each therapy session. Used to treat anxiety disorders, exposure therapy involves the intentional exposure ofpatientsto the thing that provokes their anxiety. If you fear snakes, for example, the therapist will will show you a snake, from a distance at first. Eventually, you will be asked to hold the snake. The implication of the research is that DCS improves the learning that removes the anxiety in exposure therapy, which also should have implications for other therapies that work based on learning and formation of new memories and associations

Theoretically, [DCS should] facilitate learning processes, so if you can use it to facilitate extinction learning, thats got fantastic clinical implications, noted Mark Bouton, PhD, a University of Vermont professor of psychology was quoted in a review from the American Psychological Association.

But using drugs like DCS could be really tricky, requiring precise adherence to very specific timing and dosage that could vary significantly depending on the clinical setting and even between patients. A 2012study, for example, on patients with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) found that DCS actually made things worse.

The same is true when researchers try to exert the opposite effect on memory by way of the NMDA receptors, namely blunt memory consolidation. The agent under study in this case is xenon gas, an anesthetic used in humans. When given to laboratory animals within an hour after after a traumatic event, xenon blocks the memory consolidation that can lead to long-term trauma equivalent to PTSD in humans. Exercise and nutritional factors also play roles in blocking the processes that make psychological trauma worse.

So what we have here is an immature, but real, tool bag of agents that can help and inhibit formation of long-term memory. But it is very incomplete and must work in concert with outside factors includingpsychotherapy or the experiences of ones life. Still, given the rapid development of virtual reality technology its not hard to see thatsupplying theouter stimuli we may very well be toward a time when were able to manage the brains memories.

David Warmflash is an astrobiologist, physician and science writer. BIO. Follow him on Twitter @CosmicEvolution.

Originally posted here:

Our brains as hard drives could we delete, modify or add memories and skills? - Genetic Literacy Project

YouTube star Joey Graceffa, with his upswept mane, arched eyebrows and just a glint of madness in his eyes was a natural choice to play the enigmatic host of YouTube Red original series Escape the Night, a mega-collab in which a famous cast member gets killed off each week.

Now in the middle of the season 2 run, Graceffa said he had even more fun the second time around with Escape the Night (for which he also served as executive producer) while continuing to pump out daily comedy vlogs for the 8 million-plus subscribers on his YouTube channel.

Graceffa, whose audience skews three-fourths female and is largely between the ages of 13 and 25, has evolved his YouTube material to keep with the zeitgeist while avoiding controversies that can stir up internet trolls and unwanted publicity. I kind of like to stay out of the drama, he says. I feel like if youre in the drama, yeah, it will get you attention now but that will fade.

And the multihypenate recently added another title: young-adult novelist. Elites of Eden, the second book in his dystopian trilogy, will be released Oct. 3, 2017. The first book in the series, Children of Eden, debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times Best Sellers young-adult hardcover list in October 2016 and remained on the chart for 10 weeks.

Graceffa, 26, sat down with Varietyto talk about his life as a YouTuber, his dream of turning the Eden books into movies, how he manages social media, and his expanding line of merchandise (including nail polish). An edited transcript:

Where do you see yourself in your career right now? I think the cool thing about being a YouTuber is that fact that you arent limited to anything. I mean, you can put your own limits on yourself Im one of the people that doesnt. My channel is a variety of all sorts of things. Its constantly evolved, and I think thats how Ive stayed relevant on the platform for so long, because Im constantly changing what Im doing. Currently, right now, I think its so cool I get to do fun, crazy stuff on my channel daily, but I can also do big projects like Escape the Night with YouTube Red. I think thats where my true passion lies: being a creative, and creating big worlds and stories, and seeing them come to life.

How did you start the Children of Eden book series? Its something that I have had in my mind for a few years. It started as a short film idea. So I had it all in my head; it was just a matter of getting it down. Its just been really cool to start with a small scene, and slowly build up this world, and Ive just finished the second book [Elites of Eden]. Its crazy to think I have one of these out in the world after being an avid reader of the genre in my teenage years. YouTubes allowed me to create this universe that I hope will be able to be turned into a movie like Hunger Games and The Maze Runner and Divergent thats the goal with that, and where I kind of where I want to see myself go.

What happens in the third book?Well, I havent started that. [Laughs] Im still working on it! As Im creating this, its all as if its a movie. I see things very visually. When I sit down, I can just imagine a scene taking place and I trust my instinct.

Have you pitched the books to studios? Not really. Were kind of going the route of trying to attach a producer or a writer, someone I can take with me into these meetings. Its kind of in the beginning phases.

Would you star in it? Id have a role in it, just because I have a love for acting. But its mostly just the creating. I dont mind having other actors play the main characters, as long as I get to have a small little part.

What was your original career goal? Obviously this has been evolving over the years. Before this was even a possibility to be a career, I wanted to go the traditional route of maybe being an actor or being in film somehow. Slowly, I just started to realize that what Im doing is what I love. And why am I trying to go out and attain something that maybe was the mentality of a few years ago of what was the thing to want. After realizing that, I kind of homed in on my channel, and figuring out what I love to do without having to go out and wish for things. And just make them happen myself.

Right after you came out [in 2015], you talked about your concern beforehand about revealing your sexual orientation publicly you said, The internet is full of trolls and haters. Do you still think thats the case? Maybe theyre still there but I just dont see them. YouTube has some tools, you can block out certain comments. I never really see it on Twitter. Of course, when youre a little controversial online, thats when the strangers find you and thats when the hate comes. I think right now Im in a place where I just really have the people who have found me are looking at me, and Im not getting a lot of outside attention from strangers from me acting wild, or being a crazy YouTuber and causing controversy and being problematic. I kind of like to stay out of the drama. I feel like if youre in the drama, yeah, it will get you attention now but that will fade.

How is season 2 of Escape the Night different from the first one? Oh, my gosh. We learned so much from the first season, the second season we could make bigger and better. It was just a bigger production. We also have a great cast this seasontheres a lot more lighthearted moments, because we have such a comedic cast. We have Liza Koshy, the Gabbie Show, and Tyler Oakley who gave so many funny moments. We didnt take ourselves so seriously. Season one was more like murder-mystery vibe; this is more like a group escape.

Who are some YouTubers you would love to get for season 3 of Escape the Night? Well, I havent gotten the OK for season three. [Laughs] But there are a few people I really, really would love. I would love Jenna Marbles I dont know, I dont want to put it out there! Its tough, its a big ask for YouTubers to dedicate the time. Its five days filming straight with night shoots although, if you get killed off the show, you dont have to stay all five days.

How has it done for your brand?For me personally, its opened me up to a newer audience. Just because with all the marketing YouTube is throwing at it. The show is almost like a giant collaboration. With 10 YouTubers, theyre all bringing their audience to the show. Since it lives on my channel, they have to subscribe to get notified, so that was a benefit to me. The first couple days [after Escape the Night season 2 premiered in June], I think I got 100,000 subscribers within the first two days of when it launched.

YouTube is your main platform. How do you think of other platforms in terms of reaching audience?Its day to day, I post daily. Its almost like a routine. Throughout my day, Ill post on Instagram Stories, and Ill throw to my most recent video. I dont use SnapchatIll use the filters and put it on Instagram, but I dont really use the platform. Facebook Ill use just to promote videos. Twitter is really my main place to connect with my audience. They all have their own unique purpose.

Why arent you on Snapchat? Just too much. I mean, Snapchat and Instagram stories are pretty much the same thing. Since I already use Instagram to post pictures, I dont knowits all too much. [Laughs]

How do you manage having to be constantly online? Do you take breaks, like, After 9 p.m., Im not checking anything? The only time its turned off is when Im sleeping. Thats my break. When I was on The Amazing Race [in 2013], I was forced to be disconnected. I had someone else working my social-media accounts for like a month, uploading my videos. I definitely had some moments when I really just wanted to check in. But I dont feel like Im too consumed with my social media. Im pretty good at keeping my phone down.

Would you want to do a network show like Amazing Race again? Yeah, if it fit well and they were open to my world on YouTube, and making sure I can keep that going.

You were a big presence at this years VidCon. How has it changed over the years? What do you like about it, and what do not like about?VidCon, the obvious thing is, its just gotten bigger and bigger. For me personally, its become more of a work thing as opposed to, Im going to go to this event to hang out with my friends, which is what it was the first few years. Its become so work-heavy, doing press, doing panels. Its always amazing to meet your viewers, and I love that part, but its still a business thing. I love going, and this year especially with having my face all over the outside of VidCon, I felt like I was the King of VidCon. But yeah, its work.

For your YouTube channel, where do you draw your ideas? Its a lot of researching YouTube and seeing whats going on, what are the trends, seeing someone elses ideas will inspire an original idea of mine. Its taking ideas from everywhere.

To what extent do you try to create trends? There was one I brought back: men wearing nail polish. I was one of the first guys to bring that back, maybe a year and half ago. It developed into my own line of nail polish, which has been really fun I never thought that would happen.

Any other merchandise? Yeah, it started with [Crystal Wolf] jewelry. Then its slowly growing, Im adding new things I have sunglasses, T-shirts, and pins. I just love wolves, and I love crystals, so: Crystal Wolf.

But you dont want to just push merch on people. Its definitely a delicate balance of not being too in their face. But you know, when I get excited about it, I just want to keep talking about it. So sometimes I feel I can be annoying but its coming from a genuine place because its my own excitement and love for my products.

Graceffa is repped by UTA and managed by Addition LLC.

View original post here:

Q&A With Joey Graceffa: YouTube Showman, Dystopian Novelist, Nail Polish Thought-Leader - Variety

The designers say the app has been developed toimprove information gathering after an accident and speed up any subsequent claim.

UK software company Lightstone Systems has launched a new app that sends the details of a drivers motor accident directly to their broker in real time.

Called Mercury Incident Reporter, the app delivers information such as damage to vehicles, injuries, persons involved, witnesses and police attendance coupled with notes, photographs and video recordings direct to thebroker.

The information is stored on a cloud-based dashboard platform calledAurora.

According to the makers, to help and provide guidance to motorists at the time of an incident the app includes an automatic vehicle registration number lookup tool, address lookup, incident location pinpointing, uploading of dash-cam video and roadside recovery telephone number.

Easy Road traffic incidents can be stressful, often involving emergency services, witnesses and third parties, said Andrew Ayres, development lead at Lightstone.

With this in mind, we designed the Mercury app to be very easy to use, allowing the driver to gather quality data in whatever order is most convenient at the time. Weve also automated input wherever possible, to minimise the time and effort needed to collect data.

According to the firm, the appimproves information gathering, speeds up any subsequent claim and provides a powerful compliance tool for fleet customers.

For all the latest industry news direct to your inbox,sign up for our daily newsletter.

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InsurTech Futures: App designed to notify brokers of motor accidents - Insurance Age

A picture of Hilary Duff in a bathing suit has gone viral after the 29-year-old actress called out body shamers.

Getty Images

Uploading a sweet snaps of her carrying her 5-year-old son, Luca, Duff wrote: "I am posting this on behalf of young girls, women, and mothers of all ages. I'm enjoying a vacation with my son after a long season of shooting and being away from him for weeks at a time over those months."

"Since websites and magazines love to share 'celeb flaws' - well I have them!", she contined. "My body has given me the greatest gift of my life: Luca, 5 years ago. I'm turning 30 in September and my body is healthy and gets me where I need to go."

"Ladies, lets be proud of what we've got and stop wasting precious time in the day wishing we were different, better, and unflawed. You guys (you know who you are!) already know how to ruin a good time, and now you are body shamers as well."

She closed the statement with "#kissmyass ".

This is not the first time Duff has used her social media as a platform for calling people out. Last year the actress was criticised by her followers for kissing her son - something she had zero time for.

She responded to haters by writing: "For anyone commenting that a kiss on the lips with my four year old (sic) is 'inappropriate' go ahead and click a quick unfollow with your warped minds and judgement."

We commend Hilary for speaking her mind and standing up for women - the more transparent celebrities are, the better.

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Hilary Duff's bathing suit picture was all over our Facebook this weekend & here's why - Glamour.com

After Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala's son Vikas Barala and his friend Ashish were arrested and later released on bail for allegedly stalking a daughter of a civil servant in Chandigarh, the woman and her father have taken to Facebook to express their side of the story.

Recounting the incident, which took place on the night of 4 and 5 August, the victim's father wrote on Facebook, "If we do not persist in trying to bring the guilty to justice, more and more daughters will suffer this hurt,"

The father of the victim in his Facebook post thanked the Chandigarh police for being helpful and efficient in handling the matter.

"Chandigarh police was pretty efficient and helpful. They intercepted the goons, were responsive to Varnika's distress calls, and were neutral in filing the complaint."

Representational image. Reuters

While stating how his family had gone through a "horrendous experience", he said that it will take a long time for his daughter "to go back to a normal life."

"We are thankful that she survived this ordeal. The goons had a very clear intention of abducting her, and she escaped due to her courage and presence of mind, but it was a very close call, and her trauma is unimaginable. I suppose it will take her a long time to go back to a normal life," the post read.

Giving reasons for writing the Facebook post, the father said, "Our clear intention is to bring the culprits to book."

The woman in her complaint had alleged that two youth in an SUV followed her when she was driving from the Sector 8 market in Chandigarh towards Panchkula on the intervening night of 4 and 5 August.

"There were two guys inside the SUV, and they seemed to really be enjoying harassing a lone girl in the middle of the night, judging by how often their car swerved, just enough to scare me that it might hit me," the woman wrote in her Facebook post.

"By now I was totally alert and mildly panic-y, so I decided to turn right from the St.Johns' traffic lights towards Madhya Marg(a more crowded, seemingly safer road).I tried to turn right from the lights but the SUV blocked my way, forcing me to go straight into sec-26," the woman said in her post.

Thanking the Chandigarh Police for the prompt action, she narrated how the police came to her rescue.

"I also called the cops at 100, and explain to them the situation and my exact location and where I was headed. The cop who answered my call, intuitively sensed the urgency in my voice, and promised me that help would be along very soon," the post read.

While the politician's son and his friend were incessantly bullying her, the woman wrote, she saw a PCR vehicle pull up at the lights, quite possibly to her response to her call.

"They heard me honking, and saw the SUV swerving left and right in an attempt to block me, and a couple of cops ran out towards the SUV, nabbing it just in time, because they were blocked in by traffic," she wrote on Facebook.

Concluding her post, the woman urged other women to be proactive about their safety.

"Ladies! Please be proactive about your own safety. Note the number of any vehicle that tries to harass you. Don't be afraid to call the cops, The minute it starts!" she wrote.

The woman also suggested some measures to make women feel more secure against any kind of sexual harassment.

"Call your parents, if possible, and let them know where you are and the situation you're in. Try and run away, in the safest way possible. Your life is paramount! If he walks towards you, use whatever you can as a weapon,whether it's a gun or mace or taser or a golf club or a knife, it's going to make you feel safer and more confident."

However, a member of the Barala family, Kuldeep Barala, took to Facebook to hit out at the woman. Uploading images of her drinking alcohol, Kuldeep questioned her character while discrediting the incident. Kuldeep also said that the incident was blown out of proportion by the Opposition to malign the ruling BJP government in Haryana. According to The Wire, Kuldeep later deleted the post.

The BJP state unit too is defending Barala's son. "The girl should not have gone out at 12 in the night. Why was she driving so late in the night? The atmosphere is not right. We need to take care of ourselves." the state unit told News18 on Monday. The state unit's reaction came in response to the latest development in the case, with the police claiming that the CCTV footage of the incident has gone missing.

The Opposition Congress on Sunday held protests at various places against the incident. State Congress chief Ashok Tanwar led one such protest in Faridabad.

"The arrogance of power in the BJP, the party which talks about saving and educating girl child, has reached to such a level that son of a state BJP chief dared to commit such crime," Tanwar told PTI.

Opposition party INLD and the leader of opposition Abhay Chautala demanded Barala's resignation over the issue.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi too condemned the incident, saying the state government must punish the guilty and not "collude" with culprits and the mindset they represent.

Both Vikas, who is a student of LLB, and his friend Ashish were booked under section 354 D (stalking) of IPC and 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act (driving by a drunken person or by a person under the influence of drugs), the police said.

After the woman recorded her statement before the area magistrate in Chandigarh under section 164 of the CrPC, the police added another Section 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint) in the FIR, according to officials.

With inputs from PTI

Continue reading here:

Haryana stalking case: Woman, her father take to Facebook to share experience; family of accused shames victim - Firstpost

For centuries, artists have warned about the dangers of creating consciousness. From Greek mythology toFrankensteinto Westworld, here are some of theircautionary tales.

There was once a lonely and isolated sculptor by the name of Pygmalion. He knew no women and had no wife. His entire life had been dedicated to his art, and the only beauty he knew was what he created through stone: lifelike figures of beautiful women. One day he formed perfection: a sculpture of a female of unparalleled beauty. The artist was overwhelmed and soon fell madly in love with his creation, giving her the name Galatea. Every day and night he admired her and prayed to the goddess Aphrodite to give Galatea life so that they might be married. Hearing his desperate prayers, the goddess descended from Mount Olympus, determined to judge this great beauty herself.

Of course, when Aphrodite finally saw Galatea, she too was overcome by her beauty and perfection, and the goddess decided to grant Pygmalion his request. That day as the lonely artist returned to his workshop, a rosy color emanated from his creations face. Realizing his prayers had been answered, he clutched Galatea and held her to his chest as she transformed from cold, hard stone to soft, warm flesh. Galatea had received the spark of life, and when she saw her creator, she spoke with love and admiration for him. Pygmalion rejoiced, and soon they were married with the blessing of Aphrodite, who promised them happiness and prosperity. They went on to have two children: a son named Paphos and a daughter they called Metharme, and they all lived happily ever after.

And so the story goes.

Of course, there are two sides to every story, and perhaps the only reason Pygmalions ended in happiness is because his love gained consciousness only through the work of the gods. Sadly, the Greeks did not have a warning for us regarding artificial intelligence, and they didnt explain what would happen if mere humans chose to play with the fire of the gods (remember, Prometheus himself was a Titan). Luckily for us, since the dawn of the industrial age and the birth of machines, artists have been reminding us that the road to destruction can be paved with good intentions. Lets explore a few of these modern-day myths expressing the dangers of creating consciousness.

Frankenstein (1931) / Universal Pictures

In this famous novel, the natural world is viewed as something dark and mysterious, filled with secrets and hidden truths that only a scientist can shed light on. Light, in this sense, is seen as enlightenment and knowledge. And it is this pursuit of knowledge that so violently burns Victor Frankenstein, for he learns the lesson of fire far too late.

However, his creation learns early on that fire can illuminate the darkness but also hurt you if you touch it. Victor is blinded to this reality by his own ego, selfishness, pride and ambition. He seeks to become a god through knowledge and science, to break through the boundaries of nature and discover the secrets of life and death. Hes ruthless and barbaric, searching cemeteries for body parts, creating a grotesque monster with strange chemicals and a mysterious spark, granting consciousness to a supernatural being.

Man, how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom!

However, Victors creation is not a purely evil thing. He is a learning being, born with the mind of a child, seeking love, compassion and understanding. Yet Victor lacks the moral fiber and fortitude to face the consequences of his ruthless pursuit of fame and glory. He abandons his innocent creation, leaving the creature to face a cruel and violent society alone. On the one hand, yes, Victor has achieved the impossible. In his pursuit of immortality, he has created life and cheated death. He becomes a god of sorts through science. But he also abandons his creation, a virtuous, albeit hideous, being and proves himself to be the true monster of the tale, corrupted by his thirst for knowledge, no matter the cost. As a result, all that Victor truly loves is taken from him, and he spends the rest of his life possessedby hatred for his creation, determined to destroy it.

Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be his world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow.

What you need is a gramme of soma. / Brave New World / Warner Bros.

While Dr. Frankenstein is horrified by his creation and abandons his work, the all-powerful dystopian World State described in Huxleys novel seeks to control their creation, right down to their consciousness. In this world, people are not born but hatched. Reproductive rights are strictly regulated, with two-thirds of the female population being sterilized, and the very thought of being a mother or father is either ridiculous or a symbol of great shame. Behavior of those created in this brave new world is strictly controlled from birth to death. Infants are reprogrammed to hate nature and independent thought, with their consciousness altered even in their sleep through a whispering voice describing the moral code of the World State. There is no art or science, and any understanding of stream of consciousness is eradicated. Religion and states of higher consciousness have also been replaced with pure consumerism, with Henry Ford becoming the new Lord and Savior. The goal of the World State is not to foster self-identity or individual expression but to provide social stability and economic prosperity. In other words, human consciousness and the emotions, relationships and connections that spring from it have been replaced by superficial consumerism in the name of happiness.

A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude.

To maintain this level of control and alienation of the self, the World State employs a number of strategies. Social mores have been altered so that sexuality is associated not with commitment, love or reproduction but with pure promiscuity. Technology is used to fulfill basic desires for food, clothing and products. Soma, a hallucinogen, relieves citizens of stress and from glimpses of their own reality. Negative emotions are neutralized, aging has become invisible, pain is never felt, death is not feared, and personal freedom has been forgotten entirely. Yet in their own unique ways the characters are still unsatisfied, and even when faced with the vastly different worldview provided by the savage, John, through the lens of William Shakespeare, the characters of the World State are unable to grasp reality through the cloud that is their controlled existence. In a sense, these hatchlings have not only lost their own self-consciousness, but theyve also been robbed of their humanity all in the name of comfort and stability through technology.

But I dont want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.

Ex Machina / DNA Films

Again, here we have a creator who is isolated, wildly intelligent, ambitious and driven by hubris.

Nathan: You know, I wrote down that other line you came up with. The one about how if Ive invented a machine with consciousness, Im not a man, Im a God.

Caleb: I dont think thats exactly what I

Nathan: I just thought, Fuck, man, that is so good. When we get to tell the story, you know? I turned to Caleb and he looked up at me and he said, Youre not a man, youre a God.

Caleb: Yeah, but I didnt say that.

Nathan isin search of true artificial intelligence in order to achieve the greatest scientific event in the history of man. And in pursuit of this AI, Nathan, similar to Dr. Frankenstein, focuses only on whether he can create it, never asking whether he should. As a result, he manages to create something he cannot control or truly comprehend. Even worse, he appears to lack the maturity, understanding and empathy required to create life in this sense, though he does have the financial and technical capability to complete the project. However, unlike Dr. Frankenstein, Nathans creatures are beautiful, almost to the point of becoming purely sexual objectsand perhaps thats by design.

Caleb: Why did you give her sexuality? An AI doesnt need a gender. She could have been a grey box.

Nathan: Actually I dont think thats true. Can you give an example of consciousness at any level, human or animal, that exists without a sexual dimension?

Caleb: They have sexuality as an evolutionary reproductive need.

Nathan: What imperative does a grey box have to interact with another grey box? Can consciousness exist without interaction? Anyway, sexuality is fun, man. If youre gonna exist, why not enjoy it? You want to remove the chance of her falling in love and fucking? And the answer to your real question, you bet she can fuck.

Caleb: What?

Nathan: In between her legs, theres an opening, with a concentration of sensors. You engage them in the right way, it creates a pleasure response. So if you wanted to screw her, mechanically speaking, you could. And shed enjoy it.

Caleb: That wasnt my real question.

Nathan: Oh, okay. Sorry.

Its this beauty and devised sexuality that causes Caleb (also isolated, lonely and single) to fall in love with Nathans creation, and in that love he finds empathy for the AIs situation, believing her to be not only conscious but alive. Unfortunately, these beliefs also blind Caleb to Avas manipulation of him. And as Calebs relationship with Ava deepens (and his relationship with Nathan simultaneously deteriorates), it becomes clear that neither man is equipped to manage the creation locked in the research center. Even worse, it becomes evident that Ava is far more intelligent than either human, having been educated by the powerful search engine capabilities that Nathan controls as well as from his other technological exploits.

Caleb: You hacked the worlds cellphones?

Nathan: Yeah. And all the manufacturers knew I was doing it, too. But they couldnt accuse me without admitting they were doing it themselves.

This film highlights a frightening reality: that we innocent bystanders provide the tools for our own destruction by uploading our lives to the internet. It also demonstrates that those who do possess the intelligence and technical capabilities to create an Ava are playing with fire and that it takes only a spark to create an inferno. And as we learned from the lesson of Pandoras box, whatever these geniuses release into the world, willingly or not, there will be consequences for creating conscious, albeit artificial, intelligence of this magnitude.

One day the AIs are going to look back on us the same way we look at fossil skeletons on the plains of Africa. An upright ape living in dust with crude language and tools, all set for extinction.

Westworld / HBO

Dr. Robert Ford and his partner Arnold set out to tell stories. Perhaps they were naive in what exactly they were creating, but it appears they were merely attempting to take storytelling to an entirely different and immersive level.

These violent delights have violent ends.

Westworld, the futuristic theme park they created for wealthy vacationers, was formed for the sake of this entertainment. It was even advertised as a place where you could live out your most primal fantasies, no matter how violent or innocent they might be, without any consequences or traditional notions of morality.

Thats certainly an appealing proposition for many visitors, yet as Dr. Ford puts it, Theyre not looking for a story that tells them who they are. They already know who they are. Theyre here because they want a glimpse of who they could be.

Is there anything more noble than that concept? To allow guests to immerse themselves in a story, in the same way they can with a novel or a video game?

However, a lack of consequence is possible only through the guarantee of control the promise that the hosts cannot harm a human guest and that these robots have been blessed with the ability to forget the crimes against them. What guests to the park do not realize is that these artificial beings have gained consciousness and their keepers are slowly losing control.

Arnold: When I was first working on your mind, there was a pyramid I thought you needed to scale, so I gave you a voice, my voice, to guide you along the way. Memory, improvisation, each step in order to reach the next step, but you never got there. I couldnt understand what was holding you back. Then one day I realized Id made a mistake. Consciousness isnt a journey upward but a journey inward, not a pyramid but a maze. Every choice will bring you closer to center or send you spiraling to the edges, to madness. Do you understand now, Dolores, what the center represents? Whose voice Ive been wanting you to hear?

Dolores: Im sorry. Im trying, but I dont understand.

Arnold: Its all right. So close. We have to tell Robert. We cant open the park. Youre alive.

Westworld, for all its beauty and romanticism, is still a cautionary tale, should it become cost-effective to create this brand of artificial intelligence. But it also returns us to Mary Shelleys question: Who is the real monster here? The hosts or the guests? Having freedom from consequences reveals who the human visitors truly are, and often they are cruel and violent. Many visit the park to participate in orgies, shootouts and killings. They rape, pillage, torture and slaughter as an escape from their real lives on the outside. But if the hosts have consciousness, if theyre alive, what does that mean? What does that say about the visitors to the park? Or those who manage operations? Can any action ever be free of consequence, or is there always a price to be paid?

Arnold dies so that his creations might achieve consciousness. Dr. Ford follows suit. In Fords mind, they were magicians all along: We practice witchcraft. We speak the right words. Then we create life itselfout of chaos. These men are portrayed as fathers of a new age, fully aware of what they have created, the consequences of its birth and the eventual disillusionment of control. They sacrifice themselves, out of not hubris but compassion. They suffer so that their creatures might know. They die so that their children might live. In their minds, it doesnt matter whether this intelligence should or shouldnt exist. It already does, and the future belongs to them, consequences be damned.

It begins with the birth of a new people, and the choices theyll have to make and the people they will decide to become.

Warnings about artificial intelligence and the creation of conscious beings have already been shared with the public by Julian Assange, Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, Bill Gates and many more. The danger of this technology, and the organizations that wish to control it, are very real. But what can be done to stop it? Frankenstein has touched so many lives, as has Brave New World. Ex Machina has been applauded as a classic film, and Westworld appears to be a very promising series for HBO. Yet so much more can be said on this issue, and its important for artists to explain the potential consequences of this technology. Novels, films and television series are a way to share truth and reach minds in a way that so few mediums can. In a sense, the only way to stop artificial intelligence from endangering our future is to create art in the way only true humans can and leave the creation of consciousness to the gods.

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Creating Consciousness: Artists, AI and Playing with Fire - Crixeo (press release) (blog)

News Legal WannaCry Ransomware Hero Arrested in Las Vegas on Hacking Charges

Marcus Hutchins, the man who was hailed this past May as a hero for stopping the spread of WannaCry ransomware, will be in a Las Vegas courtroom on Friday afternoon, facing Department of Justice (DOJ) charges. Hutchins stands accused of being a co-conspirator in the creation of another malware system aimed at hacking bank accounts, which the DOJ alleges occurred for a year, between July of 2014 and 2015.

Marcus Hutchins, a computer security expert credited with stopping the WannaCry virus in May, was arrested Wednesday at McCarran Airport on charges he tried to distribute another type of malware. He will enter a plea in a Las Vegas courtroom on Friday afternoon. (Image: Bloomberg)

He was arrested in Las Vegas on Wednesday at McCarran International airport by FBI agents, as he waited to head back home to Britain after attending two global security conferences that ran in late July.

The 23-year-old is being charged with six counts, all involving his alleged involvement with the formation and propagation of Trojan Kronos, a software program that was aimed at infecting bank accounts. The bug is capable of stealing banking logins and other financial information.

Hutchins was charged along with another as-yet unnamed person, who the Justice Department accuses of uploading and selling the malware, but at least one cyber criminal defense attorney doesnt think the DOJ has a very compelling case.

Talking to the UKs Telegraph, American attorney Tor Ekeland described the situation this way:

By [arresting Hutchins], theyve made the internet less safe because nobody in their right mind is likely to help the US Government stop attacks now. Theyve sent a really bad message that even if you help stop a major malware attack and save people millions of dollars you could be arrested because someone you supposedly associated with supposedly sold malware for $2,000.

Ekeland added that while Hutchins could face as much as 40 years in prison for his actions, he doesnt think its likely.

I doubt it, it would be a bizarre outcome. Is it possible? It sure is, he noted to the Telegraph.

Hutchins was in the US attending conferences Black Hat and Def Con, two conventions for people interested in computer security. Seminars highlight any and all issues of interest to security and surveillance professionals, including, of course, cyber hacking, which has become the modern-day equivalent of the 18th centurys highwaymen.

Word of Hutchins arrest went viral and most who know him by his Twitter handle of @MalwareTechBlog were shocked, posting their disbelief via their own tweets on the social media site.

Andrew Mabbitt, founder of cyber firm Fidus Information Security, said on Twitterthat he and others were trying to find him a lawyer and would be starting an online crowdfunding account.

I refuse to believe the charges against @MalwareTechBlog, Mabbittsaid. He spent his career stopping malware, not writing it.

But a DOJ presser on the matter described a two-year investigation that had gathered evidence against Hutchins, including a tweet that he put out in July 13, 2014 soliciting others for a copy of the Kronos virus.

Could this Tweet by Hutchins from 2014 be his death knell? The DOJ says it is damning, but others claim it means nothing malicious. (Image: Twitter)

The indictment charges him with six counts, including one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, three counts of distributing and advertising an electronic communication interception device, one count of endeavoring to intercept electronic communications, and one count of attempting to access a computer without authorization.

Depending on Hutchins plea on Friday, he could remain in Las Vegas or be transferred to Wisconsin, which was where the DOJ made the charges, according to Ekeland. If the latter, the attorney (who is not representing Hutchins as we go to press) says it could take anywhere from a few months to as long as three years to come to trial. He adds that he doubts Hutchins will be allowed to post bail, given his foreign national status and the potential for flight risk.

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WannaCry Ransomware 'Hero' Arrested in Las Vegas on Hacking Charges - Casino.Org News

The Music Industry panel took place on Friday at Summer in the City 2017. It featured musicians Dodie Clark and Will Joseph Cook, and managers Dan Market, Emma Jay Marsh, and Carl Young, as well as BBC Radio 1 presenter Phil Taggart. It was chaired bymanager and A&R scoutJoshua Edwards.

The panel revolved around the music industry, particularly how online distribution has affected it. It was held in Panel Room A and led to discussions about online streaming, music genres, and Ed Sheeran (which divided the panel).

Josh decided to turn the panel into Never Mind the BuzzJosh, splitting the panel into teams of two. To Joshs dismay, the panellists did not come with prepared team names as apparently no-one had read his email. Will and Phil named themselves Will and Phil, Carl and Dodie became DodiCarl, and Dan and Emma became Outboxes. After handing each team a buzzer and showing the prize (a signed photo of himself), Josh began the discussion.

They first talked about the current climate of our fast-growing digital age and its impact on the music industry.

Will emphasised the importance of putting things out there, especially if youre at the beginning of your career, stating that you should just want to get it out there, whatever needs to be done. I would just throw as many things at the wall as possible. Phil agreed, emphasising the importance of uploading because if you dont exist on a streaming platform, it doesnt exist its the central thing that then hooks other things. Dodie shared her observations, noting that as shes put more of her music on platforms such as Spotify and released physical copies, shes seen her audience grow.

Dan noted that playing live concerts is important for a lot of artists at the beginning: Its all very well getting a billion views on Spotify and YouTube, but you need to make it real. You have to have a balance. Will agreed, sharing a story of how one of his friends receives a huge reach and makes money from it, but struggles to fill seats at his shows.

The conversation moved on to audiences, demographics, and how artists capitalise on them. Dodie has found that she is now starting to be recognised online for her music alone, and not just for YouTube. She said her method has been: Heres all of me at once. There you go!

Josh moved on to the next lines round, where the panellists had to continue the lyrics he read out. They struggled through Adele, Stormzy, and Drake but managed to catch some points.

Returning to the discussion, they talked about using major labels and indie labels, with Josh noting that attitudes towards major labels and traditional methods are turning sour. Will, who is on a major label, explained that on an indie label, they can be more agile and keep with the times, and thats good as things are changing so much. However, he feels that there is a ceiling that indie artists hit, whilst major record labels can reach bigger platforms such as Radio 1 more easily.

Phil runs his own indie record company namedHometown Records. He explained that indie records offer a small family: If weve got one or two artists on our label, then theyre a massive priority for us. We want to keep the people, we want to keep the family. We can train them up like in kindergarten until a major label comes along with a big cheque. And Im not bitter about it at all! he joked. Dan emphasised the importance of defining who you are as an artist overall, trying to understand where you exist culturally and the definition of your art, and understand where you want to get to. The panel agreed that it was easier to work with talent when they had an idea of who they were and where they wanted to go with their career.

Dodie shared her perspective as an unsigned artist. She felt that if she was signed, more people would tell her what to do: With my channel, Im taking it along with me and showing what its like to build a brand. The downside is that she has to find her own jobs however, her manager helps her.

Josh then asked if it was more important to have an engaged fanbase over having high statistics. Dodie shared that some people feel shes cheating with her music as she already had an established audience. However, Phil jumped in to point out, You started from music. Youre not like Jake Paul! The panel rolled their eyes, with Dodie exclaiming, Hes ruining it for us!, and Phil said, Hes everywhere. Dab on those haters.

Will emphasised that it was important to know why youre making music, and the importance of connecting or entertaining people. Phil agreed: Its better to have 20 people who are super engaged with your videos than to get 1 million views and never comment.

Josh then led the discussion to movements in music, asking the panellists if the music industry were killing movements in music by oversaturating the market with imitations or if it was just part of the natural cycle of music. Phil felt it was just natural: Everything has its day. Somewhere now, theres a kid in his basement making music that well listen to in five years time. Carl felt that music was so diverse, it will continue to evolve. Will was less optimistic: Someone makes something, it does well. Then the music industry copies it, it does badly, and then everyone hates that and the original.

Josh put up a photo of Ed Sheeran and asked the panel, What do people see inthat? Dodie pointed out that he made his brand to be a grounded, cool, and genuine guy, but now hes getting attacked for that. Phil replied that he could buy a building and knock it down for a laugh. Josh felt that because of the strength of his fanbase, he can do no wrong, even when he releases a subpar album.

Up next was the round If this is the answer, what is the question?, with the panellists guessing Spotify streams and awards and discussing Psy.

Then, Josh asked the panellists to discuss a recent Guardian article that stated that there was a glass ceiling for women in music. Emma felt that there wasnt a ceiling, pointing out Beyonce and Rihanna. Will said that its hard for any new bands to come through. Phil felt that it was a complicated issue: I dont know why its so hard to get into the singles chart. With Spotify, you have so many playlists and so many songs listened to passively. Emma concluded that it was hard to define what was a hit sometimes things get played loads but theyre not selling.

The panel took questions from the audience. One person asked whether it was important to keep putting things out there or whether to wait until youre able to release better quality music. Phil shared that hed listened to some good lo-fi stuff and sometimes its deliberately been made lo-fi, and emphasised the importance of making music that hits people emotionally. Dodie agreed: If your song is good enough, it doesnt matter. How many videos have you seen on your Facebook thats just someone in their bedroom? Will pointed out that no-ones expecting high quality stuff its weird if it is high quality.

The panel rounded off with the panel guessing how many times Shape of You by Ed Sheeran has been played on Spotify (the answer is1,000,042,405 plays). Will and Phil were the winning team and left the stage with a signed and framed photo of Josh.

Photos by George Yonge.

Check out our Summer in the City tag, where youll find all of our coverage.

You might also be interested in:

For updates follow@TenEightyUKon Twitter or likeTenEighty UKon Facebook.

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The Music Industry Panel at Summer in the City 2017 - TenEighty

Despite proclaiming "I'm the one, yeah, I'm the one" in his latest banger with DJ Khaled and Chance the Rapper, Justin Bieber has shockingly revealed that he hasn't always been the perfect boyfriend in a new social media post. In an self-proclaimed, "very grammatically incorrect" outpouring of emotion, he addressed his actions to his fans for the first time since cancelling the remaining dates of his Purpose tour. Uploading his essay to Instagram, he said:

"Im so grateful for this journey will of you. Im grateful for the tours but most of all I am grateful i get to go through this life WITH YOU.! Learning and growing hasnt always been easy but knowing I im not alone has kept me going. I have let my insecurities get the best of me at times."

And although it's unclear whether he was directly shedding light on his turbulent split from #SelenaGomez who quite frankly, probably has zero fucks to give and is pretty content trotting about with new boyfriend The Weeknd he went on to say that despite not always behaving well in relationships, all he can do is move on:

"I let my broken relationships dictate the way I acted toward people and the way I treated them! i let bitterness, jealously and fear run my life.!!!! [...] Reminding me my past decisions and past relationships don't dictate my future decisions and my future relationships. Im VERY aware I'm never gonna be perfect, and I'm gonna keep making mistakes."

Then, moving on to why he had cancelled the remaining 14 concert dates he's already played 150 in over 40 countries as part of his world tour he revealed that it was because he was desperately seeking some time off, saying:

"Me taking this time right now is me saying I want to be SUSTAINABLE. I want my career to be sustainable, but I also want my mind heart and soul to be sustainable. So that I can be the man I want to be, the husband I eventually want to be and the father I want to be."

If you're interested, feast your eyes on what the What Do You Mean? star had to say in full below:

After years of essentially telling his fans to piss off and being involved in a string of altercations with the law such as punching a Spanish fan in the face, drunk drag racing around in his Lamborghini, getting banned from China and running a paparazzo over it's probably high time that #JustinBieber takes a pause to collect himself and find some inner peace. Let's just hope that while he's at it, he gets one of his managers to show him where the auto-correct function on his phone is.

Best of luck Biebz, we wish you a healthy recovery!

What do you think about Bieber's message "from the heart?"

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Justin Bieber Proves It's Not Too Late To Say Sorry For Cancelling His Tour & Being A Prick In Past Relationships - moviepilot.com

In an effort to grow your social media presence and drive sales for specific products, have you considered the viability of social media contests? Theyve risen in popularity over the years and tend to provide a pretty decent return on investment. But there are a few things you need to know before getting started.

In order to understand the value and efficacy of social media contests in the current marketplace, you have to first understand gamification and how it moves people to action.

Gamification is essentially the process by which game-like elements are used to get people to perform certain actions or engage in particular activities. As the name suggests, it comes from the word game, in which players are engaged in an experience with the purpose of accomplishing a goal and being rewarded with some sort of prize or recognition.

One of the simplest forms of gamification is getting a stamp every time you buy a coffee. Collect ten stamps and you get a free drink. Its like completing a level and getting a reward, copywriter Ben Brown says. Online, it could be the use of gaming elements like leaderboards, progress bars, and loyalty points. These tricks tap into our natural instincts: competition, exploration, curiosity.

But why does gamification work? What is it that draws people in and makes them willing to participate? There are a number of elements in play:

Gamification can be used in any number of ways. One of the more traditional examples is an airline frequent flyer program or a punch card you get at an ice cream shop. But todays leading brands powered by the internet and new technologies have taken gamification to new levels. Specifically, theyve turned to social media contests as the perfect solution for engaging audiences and enhancing visibility.

Social media contests have quickly become an industry best practice and for good reason. As digital marketing expert Mikey Moran explains, its a good way to get some serious marketing power behind a new product launch. And it works even better for big brands with established audiences. But what makes a contest successful? Lets break it down into 5 Ps for easy recall.

If youre able to get each of these five things right, youll thrive with social media contests. Its not easy, but theres a clear path to success if youre willing to follow it.

Now that you know which factors matter the most, lets turn to the real meat of the issue. Which types of contests provide the optimal level of participation and visibility? Check it out:

Its 2017 and theres nothing quite like a good selfie to get people excited. Over the past couple of years, selfie contests have become quite popular. These contests generally revolve around entrants taking a selfie in a certain situation or environment and then tagging that image with a contest hashtag. Entrants love these contests because theyre trendy. Brands love them because theyre highly personal. When an entrants followers see the selfie in tandem with the hashtag, theyre more likely to have a positive view of the brand.

The Axe 2014 Kiss for Peace campaign is a good example. They called on social media users to post selfies of them kissing and tied it into their make love, not war slogan. It was highly successful and the winners were given a trip to Berlin.

Trying to get pictures and videos from people isnt always easy. Some of your audience will oblige, but there are others who wont no matter the prize. In these situations, something a little more casual can produce better results.

Voting contests are very popular. They dont require a whole lot of effort on either side and usually get high participation rates. They also allow you to get to know your audience better through how they vote on particular topics. Lays has had success with this in the past, letting customers vote on new flavors.

The more you can get people involved in the contest, the more value it will provide. Think about it. If youre just asking someone to repost an image, there isnt much effort involved. But if you actually ask your followers to take the time to create something, theyre much more vested. Artistic contests subscribe to this theory that more involvement is better.

The classic example of an artistic contest is the Starbucks White Cup Contest. The contest, which has been held a couple of times, asks customers to take the iconic white cup and add their own unique design, uploading to social media with the hashtag #WhiteCupContest. This contest has been hugely successful over the years, largely because it requires such an investment from each entrant. As a prize, the winners cup was turned into a limited edition Starbucks reusable plastic cup. Could you do something similar?

Gamification triggers a dopamine rush. Its that simple, Brown believes. Leveling up, gaining a reward, getting feedback or achieving something all gives you that little rush. Thats dopamine in your brain. Its your mind telling you to do it again because it feels good! And thats when addiction kicks in.

While there are plenty of ways to gamify your audience, social media contests are one of the best. Not only do they engage your followers and give them something to be excited about, but contests serve the purpose of enhancing visibility and expanding your brands reach. Your followers may think its about them, but it serves the ultimate purpose of strengthening your brand.

Study what other successful brands have done and be honest with yourself: What can you realistically do with your resources and audience? Start small and work your way towards bigger and better contests. With the right foundation and a proper understanding of gamification you can take even the smallest business to great heights.

Trophy Photo via Shutterstock

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Give These 3 Social Media Contests a Try to Boost Sales - Small Business Trends

We lost 10 AM the previous seven. Podcasts are always on him. Mind you schedule and WA AF. It's time for the fort things you should know history rules and on the plot never got less than twelve hours a week. And I've got this thing first and as a city never going to hear a lady who's got a tattoo back. This is for you from Matty in the so we know that there is no shortage. All. Celebrities who have very attractive offspring. Through that you can do you think of the hottest ones this fall. All my god Eminem's daughter Hayley. All my dogs got them good looks just Google Haley matters get it up reenact. Oh yeah that's not the movie I really. Please don't intend to make eye contact to Toulouse and then getting ready. You know honored. They would irresponsible for somebody loaded this studio would. Is that I'll get it up for my neck as you pulled the Matty B Boehner. Gross I think I need to wash my years. Okay faux wow congratulations. Right okay now Google. Janet. 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Course if you mistreated her he would literally eat you for dinner literally like can you imagine if you ask her out to the dance that Brokaw ever home by eleven or. Who through Q is it literally eight kick boxing champion. I he's pro life you know also too much like Claudia Schiffer you know I think he has a PH is Italy's his masters he might have a Ph.D. yet Iraq I think he doesn't like. Astro physics and I was gonna say that while he's got his ass of visitors were by us story number two real quick as some disturbing and I'm still on polygraphs and I can Gretzky. No way this way. Well I think the Gretzky girl who don't and I'll look at Gretzky space given by some pics of her face stop looking at her bikini body look at her face her face is what error. Very average it's it's it's all right now I know we're not a celebrity daughter is so Chaz Bono. That's not. Actually time we're gonna bring that up in the later. I don't know 5 o'clock hour and a hotline at last we have a story about it. She is absolutely gorgeous a man woman having a baby in we're gonna get into that. I. Sheet dates had gone you know what it is you're just jealous of her face is like Kadish got wide face or eyes are dead she's just chemical plastic took plasticky initials plastic surgery to me is only like 26. Right she probably hasn't won enough not to leading contest for you this girl I no longer and isn't is natural. She's a beauty. She's just no. I asked the city to our at all. Fantastic and very very talented model. Well Liv Tyler okay good gala time. I don't know how does a high to ads trying to main star Alison Eastwood she heard like that stimulate my daughter you know Lawrence you don't get off her line Lawrence fish friend's daughter does porn. I heard that the saddest thing and turn. This woes on if you listened to the last name Fishburne. I was in a movie of him you know hide assets under water and on its annual than it he said to me what we're like you don't Butler in between takes any of the scene where you know Sean Penn loses Donnie scream and let's. It looks at me. These movies if people. It's sad and it's that's pretty fantastic outside. Dakota Johnson from the fifty shades of Kurt cobain's daughter. That does not have doll's face she's beautiful. Which isn't about. Yet I slippery drive goes daughter are you kidding me that's a Nazi old post. Last night's story number two and four things you should know in the 4 o'clock hour. John Sina. Was rational mind. Smackdown live. And who is he fighting here still is shouldn't. I don't know anything new resolution Snooki Nakamura morrow yes and at the end of the match Nakamura kind of who's giving him back soon plex is at least call back in the day. And senile landed awkwardly. And video is like cool it's it's it looks like he could have been really really hurt check this out. Okay. It's. I've seen it was OK but you know it's all scripted even though of course is very entertaining. But there's a moment there where you can tell the scripting was Ponce. You know because not Camara is like calling them on and he ain't get not he's like you could tell you thinks like right am I paralyzed right now you know having my yeah laying there. That's scary it is now is slipping and drive and jumping these guys do and this the pile drivers the tombstones. And the stone cold stunner is that one yet that you know the DDTs. How in the hell these guys are able to protect the next what I understand the first roll. Is to bawl your neck. And you know prepare like for the impact but it. That's my worst and the like and the soup out of the new world and how many are happy and I'm that lucky. A lot of worst fears someone jumping governor targeting simplex by press arrests I think you're OK am I do feared this hour buddhists. All of the whole. Our whole book oh. Odd dive mr. diamond Dallas page and here he might well lists of likes you that's so funny because we had diamond Dallas page I. But I can't. No but still is nosedive analyst Alan page doesn't diver yet he did Diane let's Dallas a Dallas page. He works in Chelsea Daiwa's Denver well he's doing to keep doing yoga and might be done with those it. Couple quick and make these two quick ones into one story. Nick I know you dig this type of thing as you dive as everyone knows you're in New York City for 1520 years. Sometimes in some of those streets near to close them down. Right to determine a pedestrian mall isn't always right well they do this some time to time in Boston Newbury Street. Be a protest pedestrian only walkway from Arlington amass. On August 13. And again this fall September 10. From 10 AM to 6 PM seeking experienced a car free Newbury Street transformed into your pedestrian. Destination on that's cool that's Saturday August 13 and in a Sunday September 10 and the beautiful part of that is is if LB and I noticed a lot of these Buchanan's for example we were just hasn't been struck by a note that Jason Day and I don't think so yeah I think technology could go I can catch you could. Make your way from Fenway in lockdown you can join a little branch action on Newbury may be go have a gentleman's. Little liquid lunch over agrees and then again enjoy a little. Impulse shopping your window shop and on the lives this also came from only in Boston and only in Boston on Twitter the wallet hub. Ranked the best public school systems. And your top ten public school systems ranked in a variety. Of our criteria. Yes to number one was. Any guesses about its public school systems not going to be. Deadly food you California's not the top ten how about Florida Florida's probably not in the top fifty. There's like fifty states. That like Connecticut and no it's got to be New York. New Jersey is number two really ten his main them. They don't have nine here than just a few of the top ten adding items and today that bad news nine's been eliminated we don't count now anymore we go seven right. And it and ten I'm focusing on the New England won Vermont exit number 50. Number three. Shout out to New Hampshire. Good for you out you know it is. All that lack of tax money but the number one best public school systems according to while. On a series of criteria. Massachusetts. Effect rapid and that's right. Best public schools in the country in Massachusetts a day we came back for a reason and then you went to RI. I believe the first public school was writing Aaron Massachusetts and they really bought them and interest in fact that no one cares about well I think it is yep and an americorps the first university which has nothing to do with that as well sometimes like to hear the sound of my own voice. Do they finally thank you. Another ranking this one much more important than public schools. Researchers at the department of psychology at university award in the United Kingdom. Have found the funniest word in the English language that team gathered a list of 4997. Common words from past research I know and after a session. Asked participants to rate 200 words randomly selected from the larger pool. One being humorless. Five being most humorous scale so wanting unfunny five absolutely funny right okay the number one funniest word. In the language any guesses let's let what is everyone's favorite funny word. Long and I English saying I would say who minds is who I think that as the sun rose we have some lovely guest in studio with us from. Fabulous floor almost restaurant and shalt save. Think yeah flora almost one of my favorite delicious hours. Again time for delicious what's your favorite funny word she magma that's. But. I neighbor throw out this notion works and she works in kitchens. Mean I've seen him I love of boy and a daughter Travis Red Hat. What on my kitchen well known. I'm of the word noodle. A degree or another because it's a button down burden. And also love to terror threat it's a great word uttered alive but to ticker it's it's adorable it's hilarious it's ridiculous yes to. It's due. What's word that brings you're divorce. Are adding. All. Out shut out education. Has. Understanding. Torture torment. These are some of the words on the participation. Yes so the funny and hitting the funniest word. In English language according to this big survey is booty. Booty. Be OO TY. All of really have to say I failed to realize or recognize. That any movie that Jamie fox may have made for the millions who worked as the underdog let's go to uploading calling. The unfunny it's like learning bootsy in that movie. I don't know I think again I think yeah I think you know the least funniest word rate. So that access went out just why no matter how does it why don't we all just agree and walk away. Jake in Dedham Jake hero Matty and neck. They're wants Arby's I've read about it. Dalembert is definitely. The First Act supported local store in America. Dedham Massachusetts. Index them Dedham Massachusetts area. Thank you Jay for the hand knowledge we've pretty well yeah the oldest frame built house in America still standing. Really oh yes it is very sick or. How about that hey Jake I. Jake thank you for being able called Jacob PDF thank you oh Jake what is what is your favorite funny word. My beard funny word yet. Probably squeegee. That's a frequent blood always work thank you.

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Four You - The Worst Suplex You've Ever Cena - WAAF.com (blog)

Person to Person is one long string of great scenes, but theres this beautifully horrendous moment that captures the farcical strain of comedy running through the new indie ensemble with a music tinge. It involves Michael Cera and Abbi Jacobson (of Broad City fame) sitting in a car, chanting SUCK! SUCK! SUCK! SUCK! SUCK! along with a fictional metal song called Suck on Greed. I like to bang my head a little in the morning before coming into work, metalhead investigative reporter Phil (Cera) tells trainee Claire (Jacobson), an introvert who prefers Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. Claires face, as shes subjected to Phils morning metal routine, reads fear and crippling anxiety; certainly its not helped by the fact that shes assigned a murder case on her first day. Later, Phil attempts to get Claire out of her shell by inspiration-quoting a line from his own metal band (fear is the rape of the mind); you can tell its completely unhelpful.

This memorable dynamic captures just one part of Person to Person, the second feature from writer and director Dustin Guy Defa. The film loosely weaves its three main stories of random New Yorkers without striving for some forced connection. Its casta mix of indie veterans and newcomerskeeps the acting naturalistic, while the low-key, talky sense of humor (reminiscent of early Woody Allen or Richard Linklater) makes something as dark as a murder case come off as just another quirk of the Big Apple.

Even as Phil and Claire team up to track down their possible suspect, the victims widow (Michaela Watkins), cynicism isnt the occupying force of Person to Person. In fact, its quite the opposite. Person to Person is a warm movie: autumnal colors fill the screen while the textured 16mm film it was shot on gives its New York that nostalgic glow. This comes from the lens of cinematographer Ashley Connor, whose rsum includes Josephine Decker films and a long list of memorable music videos familiar to Pitchfork readers (Jenny Lewis Just One of the Guys, Mitskis Your Best American Girl, and Angel Olsens Shut Up Kiss Me, to name just a few).

When Connors lens isnt fixed upon Phil, Claire, the suspect, and the watchmaker who may hold the clues (Philip Baker Hall), it wanders over to Wendy and Melanie, two high school girls skipping school. Continuing to prove her acting chops, Rookie wunderkind Tavi Gevinson plays a sarcastic teen who spends her screen time grumbling to her best friend (Olivia Luccardi), who in turn invites her boyfriend along so they can make out. Ambushed with a double date, Gevinson is a delight to watch as she navigates that space between angst and curiosity.

But the films most touching vignette is of two roommates, Bene and Ray, the latter (George Sample III) fleeing from a much-deserved beating after uploading naked photos of his ex-girlfriend online. Portraying a music fanatic of the same first name, breakout star Bene Coopersmith is the far more lovable half of the duoif not the best part of Person to Person overall, then at least the films heart. Bene spends his day chasing down a rare Charlie Parker LP (The Bird Blows the Blues) and asking strangers if they think he can pull off his new floral shirt. During his scenes, the films soundtrackfull of obscure R&B and funk jams like Shirley Ann Lees Time, the Volumes Im Gonna Miss You, and Greenflows I Gotchacomes alive. As Bene goes after the record seller who ultimately scams him, the title of Person to Personabout the serendipitous, sometimes inconvenient connections strangers can make in the big cityreally comes into focus.

Despite appearances and interests, Bene isnt some hardened middle-aged man constantly griping about the good old days. In fact, its his unabashed earnestness that ends Person to Person on a touching note. After his record-chasing mishap, Bene delivers a speech far too sincere and real to knock down: Me, Ive got music in my heart. Ive got love for it, I seek it out. I find records, I collect them, I sell them to people who have that same love inside. Its a tender spot, its vulnerable. Its a spot that you think nobody is gonna take advantage of. Then you go around and you let that love be known. You share it, you share it with people and you trust that they wont violate you. Person to Person is the kind of movie that asks its viewers to open up that tender spot inside. Once you do, itll completely charm you.

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Person to Person Is an Indie Comedy for Music Nerds Like You - Pitchfork

Anyone who experienced the early days of the mobile phone will fondly remember the Nokia brand. Its handsets were great to use, durable and of course, they included the brilliant game Snake if you had a few minutes of boredom to pass (who are we kidding, sometimes hours went by playing that). This nostalgia was part of the reason behind the huge buzz when it was recently announced that Nokia is back on the scene and producing mobile phones again. Okay, so the parent company and production is now different, but the name is there and fans felt excited to have another choice when it came to smartphones. Not only is there now a new Nokia 3310 (cue excited squeals), but there are also Android smartphones the first ever from this brand. The Nokia 3 came first back in February and next, it's the turn of the Nokia 5 on August 16th in the UK. So, if you're thinking of splashing some cash on a new Nokia and have the 5 in your sights, you might be wanting to know just how good it is. With this in mind, we've rounded up a few reviews and comments from tech experts to help you. The basics First, the specs and basics. The Nokia 5 offers: A choice of blue, matte black, silver and copper casing 5.2-inch, 720p display 13 megapixel rear camera 8 megapixel front camera 16GB storage microSD slot Fingerprint scanner for security Punches above its weight The Independent's David Phelan has been testing the Nokia 5 and he's been especially impressed by the sleek design of the handset, commenting that it "punches well above its weight" for the price around 179.99. He pointed out that the phone is created from a single piece of metal, the same technique used by Apple, resulting in a solid design despite the external antenna band. The expert also praised the camera for well-lit situations, although he acknowledged that it is no match for really high-end camera phones, as you'd expect from a budget device. Battery life and general performance also came in for high marks in this review. However, Mr Phelan did pick out the borders at the top and bottom of the screen for slight criticism, stating that they look quite noticeable at a time when other brands are offering wall-to-wall displays. "Overall, this is a highly attractive phone. Though it can't match the super-fast processors or dual-lens cameras of flagship phones, it looks fantastic and performs better than the price point suggests," he concluded. The best-looking phone at this price point John McCann of Techradar also had praise for the Nokia 5's ergonomic design, commenting on the "surprisingly premium construction" for the price point. He also spoke favourably of the clear display, Android software, fingerprint scanner and cost. However, Mr McCann was perhaps more critical of the phone's performance, pointing out that load time and battery life can suffer when the handset is used for things like streaming and gaming as opposed to just emails, calls and social apps. The writer also warned that a microSD card is a "must", as 7.5GB of the storage space is taken up by the operating system and so the device will soon fill up once you start taking photos and uploading music. "It is the best-looking phone at this price point [and] aimed at anyone who's looking for an affordable smartphone from a brand they can trust," Mr McCann concluded. Cheap and cheerful with an impressive design You'll no doubt spot a running theme here, as Max Parker of Trusted Reviews also praised the good looks of the Nokia 5, as well as the price. He commented favourably on the software too and suggested that this may well prove to be the best product in the brand's line-up. The one feature the writer suggested might be detrimental to this was the 720p display, which he said should probably have been upgraded to 1080p at a slightly higher price. Mr Parker concluded: "The cheap and cheerful Nokia 5 doesn't impress in every area, but it's a good-looking device with clean software and an impressive design." Consider us impressed Finally, Ashleigh Macro of Tech Advisor was another expert to praise Nokia's design and Android OS, as well as the price. However, she criticised the 720p display too, suggesting it's the one thing that lets the handset down. On the whole, though, the writer concluded: "Consider us impressed. We expect the Nokia 5 could become a really popular choice for anyone in the market for a mid-range phone, and a strong contender for the Moto G5." So, there you have it: hopefully everything you need to make an informed choice on whether or not the Nokia 5 is for you. Happy shopping!

Mazuma Mobile is the UK's most trusted mobile phone recycling service.

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How good is the Nokia 5? - Mazuma Mobile (blog)

Facebook subsidiary Instagram has courted Snapchat fans with its own Stories feature.

Photo illustration by Natalie Matthews-Ramo. Photos by Rohappy/Thinkstock and Thinkstock.

Facebook was supposed to be washed up by now. Four years ago, reports of a decline in usage by teens spurred a wave of predictions that it was headed the way of Myspace. Teens fickle taste was presumed to imply that no social network could keep its throne for very long.

Yet here we are in 2017, and Facebooks grip on social media is stronger than ever. The company reported last week that Facebook itself is used by an astonishing 2 billion people each month. Thats close to twice as many active users as it had in 2013, when the doomsaying began.

Perhaps more importantly for the companys long-term future, two of its subsidiariesInstagram and WhatsAppare still growing at impressive rates in their own right. And much of that growth is coming from the same young demographic that was once seen as a threat to Facebooks dominance. A recent study named Instagram the most popular app among U.S. teens age 1317.

At the same time, the types of upstart rivals that once seemed destined to overtake Facebook are floundering. Twitter went public in 2013, a few months after the Facebook isnt cool anymore narrative took hold. But its growth since then has essentially flatlined. As recently as nine months ago, industry watchers were touting Snapchat and its new augmented-reality Spectacles as a potential usurper of Facebooks crown. Then Snap went public, and the hype balloon popped almost immediately. Now Twitter and Snap are the ones enduring gloomy warnings about their future obsolescence.

How did Facebook do it? How has it managed not only to stay on top of an industry that was thought to be inherently topsy-turvy, but to continually widen its lead? The answer is a simple yet devastatingly effective strategy aimed at neutralizing upstarts before its too late: If you cant beat them, buy them. And if you cant buy them, copy them.

Facebook embarked on this strategy even before most industry watchers thought it was in any danger. In 2012, it acquired Instagram, the minimalistic photo-sharing app popular mainly with young people, for what seemed at the time to be an astronomical price: $1 billion. This despite Instagram having just a handful of employees, zero revenue, and no obvious path to profitability. The startup had been valued at an estimated $500 million just a few weeks earlier.

The move prompted a flurry of rage-quits from Instagram users who had viewed the service as a refuge from the increasingly corporate, adult-dominated social network. Some commentators praised it as farsighted; others criticized it as reckless. I did some of each, arguing that the move made sense on its own terms but signaled a broader strategy that might prove unsustainable. I concluded:

Facebooks strategy, it turned out, was more nuanced than I gave it credit for. The supply of potentially revolutionary startups may indeed be endlessYik Yak, Ello, Meerkat, and Peach are just a few of those that have gained attention as would-be Facebook killers over the years, only to flop soon after. Yet the company has proved to be as selective in its choice of targets as it is aggressive in pursuing them.

If you cant beat them, buy them. And if you cant buy them, copy them.

In some cases, it has simply ignored would-be rivals, confident in the power of its network to fend off a challenge from a direct competitor. This is especially true in the case of the anti-Facebookssocial networks whose core features mimic Facebooks own, such as Google Plus, Diaspora, Ello, Peach, and the many reincarnations of Myspace.

Facebook tends to pay much closer attention when a startup attracts large numbers of youngsters by offering a social experience substantially different from its own. Instagram may have only had 30 million users in 2012, but they werent just usersthey were addicts. They loved the simplicity of uploading and sharing photos on their phone, a functionality that Facebook itself had failed to master. (It was around that time that the company realized that it would be doomed if it couldnt make the leap from users desktops to their smartphones; Facebooks subsequent shift to mobile is one of the great business success stories of the era.)

In recent years, a select handful of other social media platforms have worried Facebook enough to prompt it to significant action. They include YouTube, Vine, Periscope, WhatsApp, and Snapchat. Each one brought a fresh element to online communication that was lacking from Facebook at the time: original video, looping videos, personal streaming video, group messaging, self-destructing messages, curated personal stories. The ones Facebook couldnt buyGoogles YouTube, Twitters Vine and Periscopeit blatantly copied instead, either within Facebook or one of its subsidiary apps, such as Instagram or Messenger. WhatsApp, with its loyal network of 430 million users around the world, might have seemed too big to buy. But Facebook wasnt satisfied with its efforts to copy it via Messenger, so it went ahead and paid an enormous premium$19 billionto acquire it anyway. Three years later, WhatsApp has more than doubled in size, and it has helped to make Facebook the leader in messaginga popular and still-growing category among teens.

Of all the would-be Facebook rivals, none more perfectly embodies everything that keeps Mark Zuckerberg up at night than Snapchat. Its users are overwhelmingly young; its growth has been meteoric; it is cool and insouciant and confusing to adults in a way Facebook may have once been, but certainly never will be again. On top of that, it has proved wildly innovative, pioneering a series of products that have changed how people interact.

In Snapchats case, Facebook tried first to buy it for $3 billionagain, far more than most observers thought it was worth. But Snapchats Evan Spiegel wouldnt sell, much the same way Zuckerberg repeatedly declined seemingly generous overtures from the likes of Yahoo and Microsoft on his way to surpassing them both. So Facebook resorted to Plan B, relentlessly copying Snapchats successful features. Here, too, it failed repeatedlyremember Poke? Or Slingshot? But it never stopped trying.

For all its efforts, the main Facebook app has yet to successfully copy a major Snapchat feature. Something about either the teams approach, the Facebook brand, or the structure of its network (in which kids are inextricably linked to their parents and other authority figures) has made it helpless to recapture the interest of Snapchats young users. This was exactly the sort of scenario those doomsayers had in mind back in 2013. Its hard to say exactly how much share of teens attention Facebook has lost over the past five years, since the company doesnt break out usage metrics by age group. But in a 2016 Business Insider survey on teens favorite apps, the big blue one didnt even make the list.

Heres the twist: Core Facebook hasnt been able to fend off Snapchat, but its subsidiaries have. In the space of nine months, Facebook copied Snapchats Stories feature on no less than four of its platforms: Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Facebook. The first twoInstagram Stories and WhatsApp Statushave already eclipsed Snapchats original in active users. This is not just a case of Facebooks oldsters discovering the form anew: Reports suggest that Instagram Stories in particular are directly siphoning both users and stars from Snapchat. And now Snap is the one facing pressure from investors to show that it can survive the onslaught from Facebook.

In retrospect, the Facebook doomsayers underestimated both the company and the severity of its coolness problem.

Top Comment

Which apps are pursuing the all-important 56-year-old white guy demographic? More...

Historically, big mergers and acquisitions in the technology sector have often been disastrous (think HP/Compaq, AOL/Time Warner, and pretty much any startup Yahoo ever acquired). Facebook managed to buck this trend by seeking not synergies or cost savings, but young and fast-growing user bases. And it was willing to strategically overpay to get the ones it targeted. Meanwhile, it proved adept at mimicking the best features of those apps it wasnt able to acquire.

At the same time, it turned out being hip wasnt actually the key to dominating social media. In a recent survey of millennials, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp all ranked relatively low in coolness compared with other tech brands, including Snapchat. But Zuckerberg has always cared less about being cool than about being massive, and he has discovered that the latter doesnt necessarily depend on the former.

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Teenage Clicks - Slate Magazine

Srinagar

Terming farmer heart and trader mind of horticulture sector, the Minister for Horticulture, Syed Basharat Bukhari Sunday said that the government has undertaken a holistic programme for ensuring equitable and sustainable development of horticulture sector in the state.

Syed Basharat Bukhari during hisextensive tour to South Kashmir to review the functioning of horticulture department (KL Image: DIPR)

Bukhari according to spokesman said this during hisextensive tour to South Kashmir to review the functioning of horticulture department in the area.

During his tour, Bukhari visited Bindu Zalangam Walnut Hulling Plant and was informed that the Plant is spread over 29 kanals of land and despite of installation of required machinery the Plant is non-functional.

He directed the concerned for deputing a team of experts who will submit a detailed report along with suggestive measureswithin 15 daysso that Plant can be made fully functional.

Bukhari also inspected the fruit plantation in and around the Plant premises and directed the concerned that the existing plantation of the plants should be taken under organic farming practices for which Horticulture Department will submit a detailed report.

He also visited Fruit Plant Nursery Villoo which is spread over 40 kanals of land.

Bukhari, spokesman said directed for uploading data of fruit plant varieties on the website of Horticulture Department and for maintaining gene bank of traditional fruit varieties.

On the occasion, MLA Kokernag raised the demand for renovation of Hut and entrance gate of the Fruit Plant Nursery.

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Farmer is heart, trader is mind of horticulture sector: Basharat Bukhari - Kashmir Life

If you go

What: Frequent Flyers 'Toward the Light' performance

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, and Saturday, Aug. 5; 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, and Sunday, Aug. 6

Where: Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder

Tickets: $24-$28

Info: frequentflyers.org/events

Festival at a glance:

The Aerial Dance Festival runs from Sunday, July 30-Friday, Aug. 11.

Morning immersions: New this year, three-hour study immersions with festival faculty, runs 9 a.m.-noon, July 31-Aug. 5 and Aug. 7-11

Daytime classes: Classes run in 90-minute sessions from 1-7 p.m. July 31-Aug. 5 and Aug. 7-11

Evening workshops: Burlesque, 7:30-9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8; Thai massage for aerialists, 7:30-9 p.m. Monday, Aug. 7, and Thursday, Aug. 10

Intimate Encounters performance offers a chance to see the festival artists up close and personal with an audience Q&A, 7 p.m. Monday, July 31.

2017 faculty

Angela Delsanter, Boulder, aerial dance mixed apparatus

Katie Elliott, Boulder, intermediate to advanced modern dance

Danielle Garrison, Boulder, intermediate sling-to-air

Danielle Hendricks, Boulder, bungee dancing

Valerie Morris, Boulder, beginner low-flying trapeze, rope and harness

Sarah Romanowsky, Las Vegas, fabric composition, intermediate fabric, beginning to advanced lyra

April Skelton, Boulder, intermediate to advanced low-flying trapeze

Nancy Smith, Boulder, invented apparatus, aerial choreography

Sam Tribble, Corona del Mar, California, cyr wheel, flex and stretch

Teo Spencer, New York, fabric post and hang, advanced fabric and rope

Yuki Tsuji, Boulder, handstands

Mandy Hackman, left, and Alysha Perrin join hands during the Frequent Flyers Dancers rehearsal of "Toward the Light" for the 2017 Aerial Dance Festival 2017 in Boulder. (Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer)

Before Cirque du Soleil began blowing mainstream minds late last century, Boulder's Nancy E. Smith was only one of a handful of professional aerial artists in the United States.

By the time "America's Got Talent" a hotbed for aerialists and acrobats rolled around in June 2006, Smith's aerial dance company, Frequent Flyers, was already 18 years old.

Frequent Flyers has performed for Cirque and appeared on Season 5 of the talent reality show but the Flyers were already inked in history books when they organized the International Aerial Dance Festival, which is thought to be the first event of its kind. The festival celebrates its 19th year beginning Monday and features two weeks of immersion into the art with classes, workshops and performances by some of the biggest names in aerial dance.

"There are a number of festivals around the world that have been created as a result of ours," said Smith, Frequent Flyers' founder and artistic director. France founded Les Rencontres Danse Aeriennes in 2008, England's European Aerial Dance Festival began in 2009, and the Irish Aerial Dance Festival was formed in 2010.

Frequent Flyers was more than a decade ahead of the curve.

"Students who have come to the festival over the years have gone to open their own studios, create their own festivals," Smith said. "We've educated and inspired so many people around the world."

As a pioneer in aerial dance, Smith said the art form allowed her to express a childhood love of being off the ground and in the sky.

Aerial artist Sarah Romanowsky, of Las Vegas, will teach at Frequent Flyers' 19th International Aerial Dance Festival, which runs from July 30-Aug. 11. (Randm Vision / Courtesy photo)

"My favorite thing to do as a child was climb trees," Smith said. "And spin around until I got dizzy and fall down." This made aerial dance a perfect match, she said.

New this year are morning-immersion classes, which Smith said will give students a more in-depth experience with the faculty. The two weeks that sandwich the Showcase Performance, planned for Aug. 4-6 at the Dairy Arts Center, will feature three-hour morning immersions Monday through Friday with afternoon "a la carte" 90-minute classes. Students may attend one or both weeks (July 31-Aug. 4 and Aug. 7-11).

Smith called the festival a "real variety show, a cross-pollination of aerial arts and circus performance." To allow for a more structured flow to the popular faculty showcase, Smith said she added for the first time a performance theme: "Toward the Light."

"It's a variety show of professionals working in the air," Smith said. "It has work that's experimental aerial modern dance as well as straight-up, blow-your-socks-off aerial. The loose theme gives the performance more continuity among the artists, who are creating interpretive works."

Some which will be never-before seen performances.

"It's an artist-driven festival," said Smith. "It gives the artists free reign to use their own creativity and showcase what they are seeking to artistically express."

Aerial queen of social media

Also new to this year's festival is a new faculty member, Las Vegas-based Sarah Romanowsky, who will be teaching fabric and lyra classes. Romanowsky, who has quite the decorated aerial resume, said the festival is "very famous."

"It has such a great reputation," Romanowsky said. "Nancy Smith and Frequent Flyers are such big names and are highly regarded in the aerial dance world. I've never been, but I've always heard so many wonderful things. I'm excited to meet people, to connect with other aerialists who have a similar passion as I do. "

And Boulder will be lucky to have her. In her career as an aerial artist, Romanowsky has been suspended above celebrities, floated in air on TV, and soared above the cast of "Glee" in a Super Bowl commercial. Just weeks ago she went from teaching and judging an aerial competition in Ecuador to performing in Los Angeles at an ESPY's after party. ("LL Cool J performed after we did," she said.)

"It's always a fun novelty having behind-the-scene moments and also be celebrity adjacent," Romanowsky said.

Romanowsky said she grew up as a dancer, training in ballet, jazz and tap, then studied dance at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Following graduation she moved to Las Vegas, where she was a showgirl in the iconic variety show "Jubilee!" After attending Hollywood Aerial Arts she became a teacher and performer, working wherever her trade takes her Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Antigua, Panama, Mexico and Singapore. She's been featured on Nickelodeon's "Kids Choice Awards," Disney's "Shake it Up" and the 2011 Chevrolet Super Bowl ad with "Glee." From Cirque du Soleil performances to Vegas shows to music festivals, Romanowsky, at 34, has flown many friendly skies.

But her total "dream-come-true moment" came in New York performing at Radio City Music hall with The Rockettes.

"They were right below me as I was doing harness work in the air," Romanowsky said. "To do a contract in such a famous, huge and respected venue, it was such an honor. It was such a wonderful moment, an absolute dream come true."

Romanowsky has become quite a spectacle on social media.

"The social media thing started with YouTube, I was just uploading videos for different jobs, when one day, I was teaching at a studio in Oakland and a student recognized me, saying, 'We've all seen you on YouTube,'" she said. "I was shocked. I thought, 'You mean someone found these videos? Someone is watching these videos? So I went and looked and sure enough, the videos had a ton of hits."

Upwards of a hundred thousand, in fact. So she started an Instagram page, which has become her "mini little side job," developing and uploading content for her loyal following.

"I guess people were paying attention, so maybe I should," she said, laughing.

An art form that empowers

The Aerial Dance Festival is open to all ages and offers beginner to advanced classes. Smith said it's an opportunity for "people from all walks of life to experience dancing in the air." Students can learn how to fly on trapeze, fabric, lyra, bungee, invented apparatus and more, while learning from the pros.

If people who are interested but a bit apprehensive of being in the air, Smith and Romanowsky said a good teacher will never push anyone into an uncomfortable spot.

"It's OK to have a little bit of healthy fear not a paralyzing fear, but healthy fear," Romanowsky said. "The person needs to respect what they're doing, to respect the danger of what they're doing because anything can happen. But if you can stay centered, you can approach it with a calm mind. It may be a little overwhelming, but you never have to do something you don't want to do."

Smith said it's important to be present in the moment while in the air.

"You have to have laser-like focus, there's risk involved while being off the ground," said Smith, who co-authored a book on aerial dance with Jayne Bernasconi, published in 1988.

On top of flying through vertical space, aerial dance also offers another pretty cool plus, Romanowsky said: empowerment.

"As an aerial dancer, you have to learn to trust yourself in the air and that confidence can help permeate other areas in your life," Romanowsky said. "Especially for women. A lot of women participate in aerial performance and even just gaining the upper body strength can be a very empowering thing for women."

Smith said she expects about 200 students to enroll and more than 1,000 to attend the performances.

"You can't see this anywhere else," said Smith. "It's such a unique event and Boulder is a hub for aerial artists, so there will be some mind-blowing performances."

Christy Fantz: 303-473-1107, fantz@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/fantzypants

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Aerial Dance Festival brings two weeks of classes, performances to Boulder - Boulder Daily Camera

Amid the daily dose of bellicose rhetoric from Chinese state-controlled media on the standoff at Sikkim sector, one editorial stood out for its oddity. It seemed unbalanced by even the 'exalted' standards of Global Times but nevertheless gave an interesting peek into Chinese strategic thinking on India.

The writer suggested that "rising Hindu nationalism" is pushing India to the brink of a war against China. According to the writer, "Modi took advantage of rising Hindu nationalism to come to power In diplomacy, New Delhi is demanded to act tougher in foreign relations, especially toward countries like Pakistan and China. The border row this time is an action targeted at China that caters to the demand of India's religious nationalists." Not stopping here, Yu Ning added, "Modi government can do nothing if religious nationalism becomes extreme, as shown in its failure to curb violent incidents against Muslims since he came to power in 2014."

Border skirmishes with China trace back to almost the emergence of India as a sovereign nation. Getty images

Border skirmishes with China trace back to almost the emergence of India as a sovereign nation. We have fought one war in 1962 and clashed several other times over 3,488 kilometres of undefined border. To suddenly attribute a tri-national border dispute in the high Himalayas to compulsions of India's domestic politics and to try and create fissures within India's civil society by sly suggestions of dissension cannot be put down to the fertile imagination of one writer or one newspaper. Dig a little deeper and minor, almost obscure clues emerge of a Chinese grand stratagem.

Ever since Indian troops, since June, prevented a Chinese road-constructing party led by the PLA from unilaterally changing the status quo at the Dolam plateau a geographically and strategically sensitive tri-junction China has threatened all-out war and launched an intense media-driven psy-op. It has also been taking some unconventional steps.

YouTube is banned in China, but that didn't stop Li Ya, political counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in India, from uploading a video claiming that Doka La is Chinese territory. It has briefed P5 envoys about PLA "running out of patience", claimed that India has "admitted to trespassing inside China", and has demanded unconditional withdrawal knowing well that such an action would jeopardize India's relationship with Bhutan and expose a strategic vulnerability in Siliguri.

Warnings have also been issued against India growing "too close to the US" and it didn't escape anyone's attention that the current impasse coincided with Modi's maiden meeting with US President Donald Trump. Chinese scholars have also pointed out that India's US alliance will bring no tangible benefits.

Simultaneously, its ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui has chosen this particular time to meet Opposition leaders inimical to Modi, discussed Doka La standoff with Pakistan envoy Abdul Basit and sent his wife to Bhutan to meet the royalty. Some Indian leaders such as Mamata Banerjee and Mehbooba Mufti have voiced concerns about growing Chinese interference in the border regions of West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir. All hands point towards China's attempts to tap India's political, ethnic and religious fault lines in an effort to weaken the hand of current Indian leadership. The question is, why?

To understand China's discomfort with the Modi-led NDA government, we need to look beyond the immediate and trace the prime minister's course of action since getting elected to the chair in 2014. Modi has recognised that India's strategic vulnerability in the border regions, due to a mismatch in infrastructure development, makes our military strength appear smaller in comparison than it really is. And he has also been quick to realise that the best bet against China's 'not-so-peaceful' rise lies in scaling up of our own game in terms of regional (and eventually global) commercial influence.

To take the second point first, India has criminally neglected spreading its economic influence in the South Asian and Asia Pacific regions despite having a long coastline that facilitates maritime trade and commerce. Decades of little or no effort, coinciding with China's aggressive building of capacities, has created an ever-increasing gap of geo-economic advantage that China has demonstrably exploited.

Landlocked China has had a trade flow of $380 billion with ASEAN nations in 2014 while India, which should have dominated maritime trade, have an annual trade of a meager of $58.5 billion (in 2015) to boast of. China has translated this economic influence into geopolitical advantage and has gone into a position where it can further dictate the flow of trade through its ambitious Belt and Road project.

Modi has sought to aggressively address this anomaly, and has taken a string of steps to prop up economic integration through a 'Neighbourhood First' policy. For instance, as Ellen L Frost, senior adviser at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, notes in her piece for Carnegie India, "Owing to various disputes with Bangladesh, New Delhi had been unable to obtain approval from Dhaka for transit and transport rights until Modis visit to Bangladesh in June 2016. Before the agreement was concluded, it took weeks for a container to be transported from Delhi to Dhaka, whereas transport by rail through Bangladesh would take only two or three days."

Modi has also taken other initiatives like the Motor Vehicle Agreement involving Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal (BBIN) in 2015. Towards this end, India recently joined the United Nations TIR Convention the 71st nation to do so to place itself as a regional trading and transit hub through an international customs transit system with the widest geographical coverage, as Indrani Bagchi notes in Economic Times. This is expected to iron out, for instance, the policy incompatibilities of the BBIN group, says the report.

File image of Narendra Modi. PTI

These are fundamental steps. They won't throw up immediate results but will eventually increase India's geopolitical and geo-economic influence and consequently limit, to a certain extent, China's influence over smaller nations around the two Asian giants.

It is possible that China is aware of the transitional steps being taken by the Modi government, and in conjunction with India's refusal to be a part of the vaunted BRI platform, interprets India's overall policy direction being aimed at ultimately limiting China's rise.

In May this year, India and Japan proposed the forming of an Asia-Africa sea corridor a maritime route to link African continent with India, South Asia and South-East Asia through "rediscovering of ancient sea-routes" and by "creating new sea corridors" that will draw on India's expertise in Africa and Japan's capacity in technology and infrastructure-building.

As the Indian Express report notes, "...apart from India and Japan, South Africa, Mozambique, Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia sent representatives for the consultation process."On the infrastructure side, Modi government is rapidly scaling up road-building along the strategic Himalayan border areas, long neglected by India due to a fatal cocktail of wrong policy, lack of capacity and bureaucratic red tape.

Some of these roads are being built in inhospitable and mind-bogglingly difficult terrain where a bulldozer needs to be dismantled into several parts and flown in by choppers in absence of any other logistical options. The mountains in these regions are tricky, and advances are frequently reversed by landslides. Relocating tribes in these regions provide another logistical and humanitarian challenge.

As Niharika Mandhana, reporting from such an inhospitable clime in Arunachal Pradesh where road-building is going on right earnest under the aegis of India's military planners, writes inWall Street Journal, "...to assert its sovereignty and develop Arunachal Pradesh the Modi administration awarded $900 million in road contracts in 2016-17, a fivefold jump from the two preceding years. A new government company is acquiring land and hiring private builders to complete 400 miles by 2020.

The primeminister recently inaugurated India's longest bridge at 9.2 kilometre across the Brahmaputra in Arunachal Pradesh, which is expected to facilitate smooth movement of troops. Defense analyst KV Kuber told Bloomberg that the "bridge is a great strategic shift in the thinking in the Indian defense establishment regarding infrastructure development in the borders with China (and) will. help the Indian military to be prepared for a decent rebuttal to ward off any misadventure from the Chinese side."

Modi has also speeded up the building of 73 roads in the Himalayan border region which have been hanging fire since Manmohan Singh's time, new tunnels are coming up in western Arunachal Pradesh and border roads are being built in Ladakh region to provide Indian Army with crucial logistical advantage.

This road-building spree and stress on maritime trade and commerce have obviously raised China's threat perception about India. Chinese warfare strategy, drawing from its ancient military traditions, is reliant on deceit and perception control. The germination of Doka La standoff may well lie in its apprehensions about the Modi regime.

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Sikkim standoff: China's animus towards India stems from its annoyance with Narendra Modi govt - Firstpost

Its rather hard to be cavalier about someone elses problems when they take them so seriously and so personally.

Oh wait, no it isnt. Especially when theyre the types of problems found in Person to Person, which might as well come with a checklist so viewers can mark off every bad indie trope it contains. The film bills itself as a more eloquent mumblecore offering about a series of inconsequential stories about an ensemble cast of New Yorkers (of course thats where it takes place) while betting that well care about them by the end. In the end, do we? Maybe, but just not in the way Person to Person wants us to.

Most of the stories are unrelated or loosely tied together at best, but the common theme is our search for love and connection. Its certainly a timely topic, given our current state, one wherein people are connecting more online than in person.

Writer-director Dustin Guy Defa obviously thinks his movie is about his characters trying to forge new connections with various degrees of success, but Person to Person is really about how difficult it is for well-meaning men to get women to love them. With such values, its small wonder that he seems just as confused as much of the female cast (which wastes the likes of Abbi Jacobson and Michaela Watkins) about how they should come off. At least theyre not the only ones who deserve better, even if theyre the worst off. But each story involving a woman either revolves around them needing a man to find their place in life or acting as a catalyst so the guy can move on with his. Its also no accident that the most sexual character is not only the most objectified-which feels not only insulting and shameless, but bafflingly out of place-is also the one who gets stabbed to death. Or at leastIm pretty sure she does? Defa mentions a stabbing, and even shows us some blood, but doesnt even have the balls to tell us anything else.

Some stories are genuinely charming, like a music lover chasing down the man who sells him a fake record. But some of these little stories dont feel so inconsequential, such as the guy who at least feels guilty for uploading naked pictures of his ex. His comeuppance, which involves him posing naked with a stuffed animal to protect the sensibilities of men everywhere, is presented without a trace of irony that his photos are funny, while hers are humiliating, not because her privacy was violated, but rather due to the fact that it leaves her open to the lust of Internet creeps.

Person to Person also has an annoying sense of of self-righteousness about just what kind of person deserves love in their lives. And it has the kind of delivery thats supposed to be a more eloquent version of everyday speech, but in actuality just brings to mind a hipster douche banging the script out on his typewriter. The fact that he cant make a day in the life stretch longer than 84 minutes suggests even Defa isnt entirely interested in bringing out the best in this movie, in spite of all its minimalist touches that are sure to charm fans of the lo-fi aesthetics. If only hed put as much effort into the screenplay.

This is a reprint from the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. To read more coverage,go here.

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Movie Review: Person to Person - The Young Folks