Category Archives: Mind Uploading

Capture your side of the story with Shonin Streamcam - The Wearable Security Camera

Toronto, Canada (PRWEB) August 01, 2017

Shonin Inc, the technology company that empowers people to easily and securely record public interactions, today announces the launch of its flagship product, the Shonin Streamcam. With hate crimes and street harassment on the rise, this new body-worn camera is designed to help anyone document a potentially harmful or uncomfortable interaction with video proof. Everything about the Shonin Streamcam from its iconic design to its ability to automatically upload to the cloud while recording was carefully crafted to help people reliably document their experiences when they need to the most. Starting today, anyone can back Shonin Streamcam on Kickstarter at:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shonin/shonin

Were proud of what we have built, and look forward to making the Shonin Streamcam available for anyone who wants to feel safer as they go about their day, says Sameer Hasan, CEO & Founder, Shonin Inc. Much abuse and injustice still goes unaddressed, and in many cases perpetrators believe they can get away with it because its their word against ours, unless we have video proof. Shonin helps people secure video proof in situations where using their smartphones is not practical.

Born out of the desire to put an unbiased witness on your side, Shonin Streamcam is an easily wearable, rugged and waterproof camera. The Shonin Streamcam device is supported by feature-rich, intuitive software on mobile and in the cloud.

Record Directly to the Cloud in One Tap Through either a direct cellular connection with a SIM card, or while tethered to your smartphones wi-fi hotspot, Shonin Streamcam uploads video immediately to a secure cloud location or broadcasts to live video services like Facebook Live. All without even taking your phone out of your pocket.

Fully Featured Recording video with the Shonin Streamcam is made easy. Designed specifically with urgency and speed in mind, the device sports a large button on the front face of the device. A simple press of the button starts recording and streaming with no precision required. Shonin Streamcam captures your side of the story in crisp, wide-angle video. Video resolution is 1080p to local SD card and 720p when streaming or uploading to the cloud. Streamcam boasts IP67 waterproofing, and before launch, will undergo rigorous impact testing to ensure it can be worn worry-free in even the roughest scenarios.

Great Hardware Goes Best with Great Software The Shonin app lets you instantly view your videos as soon as they have finished recording. Capture video, view video, simple as that. The Shonin app allows you to easily make edits without losing the original raw footage, which is always securely stored until you choose to delete it. With a couple of taps, you can instantly share videos with your friends or on social media. The Shonin app also lets you customize just about everything about the video capture or device behavior, with settings that let you turn off the recording light, adjust the resolution, enable or disable cloud upload, and more. Once selected, settings take effect immediately.

Iconic Design Just like a home security camera, Shonin Streamcams colors, visibility and iconic design can act as a possible deterrent to aggressors.

Specifications

Video - 720p to cloud, up to 1080p to disk

Connectivity - Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and LTE cellular (in Cellular model) Supported bands FDD-LTE: B1/ B2 / B3 / B4/ B5/ B7/ B8/ B12 / B20 TDD-LTE: B38/ B40 /B41 3G WCDMA: B1 / B2 / B4 / B5 /B8

GPS enabled Works with most GSM carriers

Audio - Mic for audio capture, speaker for audio feedback

Waterproofing - IP67 Waterproof

Battery Life - Up to 2 hours of recording time, up to 4 hours with additional battery pack.

Dimensions - 56mm x 56mm x 13mm

StorageExpandable with Micro SD Card 8GB card included

Free Devices for Qualifying Organizations Shonin will offer a limited number of free, as well as heavily discounted, devices to qualifying non-profit organizations.

We want to help non-profits that are on the front lines, driving real societal change, said Sameer Hasan. The work these organizations do is inspiring, and we would love to see their members equipped with the right tools. By providing them with free devices and associated services, we can do our part to help make those necessary changes a reality.

Representatives from non-profit organizations are asked to get in touch with Shonin by emailing ngo(at)shonin(dot)io.

Shonin Streamcam will be available in multiple colors starting at $149 USD ($199 CAD) exclusively on Kickstarter, with worldwide shipping to backers starting in February 2018. Shonin Streamcam will retail starting at $199 USD ($249 CAD) once available to the general public target date March 2018.

About Shonin Shonin creates technology that enables citizens to securely collect, edit and share video proof. Formed in 2016, our mission is to achieve a safer, fairer and more just world through technology, starting with our first product, Shonin Streamcam, the cloud-connected wearable security camera.

Media Contact Sameer Hasan | Shonin Inc. | media(at)shonin(dot)io

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Shonin Streamcam, the Bodycam for Civilians, Launches on Kickstarter - PR Web (press release)

I spend most of my time on Instagram scrolling through the endless supply of crudely made memes on the apps discovery page. Its not exactly what Instagrams founders had in mind when they decided to simplify the process of editing and uploading photos, but start-up founders dont get to decide how people use their services. They evolve organically, like Twitters descent into a digital haven for entry-level white supremacy. So naturally, it was on the discovery page, among Squidward macros and IG baddies slinging FitTea, that I found this work of art:

Did Master P resurrect No Limit Records and put a suburban white teenager from 2001 in charge of their iconic album covers? Nope, this gram is the work of Kyle Mabson AKA @selfies_food_and_pets. Kyle is a musician and DJ who does everything from playing in noise rock bands to being the producing half (along with Fat Tony) of the rap duo Charge It To The Game. Kyle also pops up in the LA comedy scene from time to time as a DJ for Brandon Wardells monthly Teen Party dance party as well as the monthly comedy show by 2 Wet Crew (DJ Douggpound, Jay Weingarten, and Mikey Kampmann).Its these varied interests that translate naturally to his bizarre mash-up Photoshops that arent as random or sarcastic as you might think from first glance.

Spend a few minutes scrolling through Mabsons Instagram and youll eventually spot the repeating themes he touches on: Nu-metal, post-Attitude Era WWE, Disney stars, chain restaurant logos, and stock images ranging from mystical lakes to sterile hotel rooms. Some pieces look like the aforementioned No Limit album covers while others, like this one that includes Sonic the Hedgehog, President Obama, Arbys, Slash, The Indian in the Cupboard, and the Southwestern fertility deity Kokopelli, are something entirely different. Its like you entered an alternate dimension and decided to spend your time looking at the Marriott Seattle web page.

Happy b day

A post shared by Mabson (@selfies_food_and_pets) on Feb 1, 2017 at 2:19pm PST

If Picasso had a Blue Period and a Red Period, then my favorite @selfies_food_and_pets era was the Video Game Period where Mabson birthed a slew of disorientating video games into existence. You ever have a family member get you a supremely wrong video game a la Marge giving Bart a copy of Lee Trevinos Putting Challenge? You ever have a family member give you that gift while you were concussed? His fake video games are kind of like that. Along with the perfect Sega CD, Xbox 360, and 3DO case framing that your Art History major friend will one day explain subtly changes the relationship between you and the piece, I love the smallest details in these Instagrams. The PAL logo in the top right signifying that this nightmare video game wont play on your American TVs? You cant see me, but Im kissing my fingers like an old timey Italian chef.

I talked to Mabson and he told me that he started making these Photoshops, which average out to about one a day, for band fliers until he realized they looked better without any of the concert info. After his first Instagram @dirty_vegas_official was taken down for not actually being the official page of British house band Dirty Vegas, he settled on the ironically named @selfies_food_and_pets. But while his Photoshops occasionally feature living memes like Guy Fieri and DJ Khaled, theres not as much cynically laced randomness as you might think from first glance. Mabson is a metal-loving, classic video game collector whose digital mosaics are built piece-by-piece from obsessions of his life, past and present. And the only non-Photoshops on his Instagram are live videos taken at independent wrestling matches. Ive noticed some copycats lately on Instagram and Facebook who are aping, whether on purpose or subconsciously, Mabsons style but the sincerity is lacking. Its like a member of one of the worlds most famous, fashion-conscious families trading in her heels to rep one of the most famous heel turns in history.

Ling weenie

A post shared by Mabson (@selfies_food_and_pets) on May 11, 2016 at 12:30am PDT

Theres a lot of comedy out there, too much to ever watch or listen to in your lifetime. And yet, our curated timelines with like-minded people make it difficult to feel like the podcast you discovered is really that much of a hidden gem. But Mabsons page reminds me of one of the oldest JPEGS I have on my computer, transferred from one hard drive to another over the last 15 years. Way before iPhones and apps, you had to scour message boards like Ebaums and SomethingAwful for memes before we even used that term. And somewhere along the way, someone posted a D-Generation X yarmulke. This kippah wasnt digitally altered. Someone actually stitched it, then tried to sell it. And you dont enter a house of worship with that covering your head unless youre fully on-board, with no irony in your heart, for HHH and HaShem.

Pablo Goldsteinis a writer from Los Angeles, CA.

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Exploring Kyle Mabson's Masterful Instagram Memes - Splitsider

Credit: Image from Pixabay

What is it? A secure messaging app to send private content and make encrypted calls.

Cost: Free

Device: iOS/Android

How is it of help to journalists?

Security is of utmost importance to digital journalists, especially when sending and receiving sensitive material and private phone calls.

Free messaging app Wire has end-to-end encryption, designed to ensure chats including pictures, videos, text and audio notes remain private and secure.

Enable fingerprint verification if you intend to use the app on multiple devices or send sensitive material to people that you don't want getting into the wrong hands.

Journalists can log in to the same account on multiple devices and keep conversations in sync between them. This allows journalists to give their editors access to their conversations using another device, and delete the app from their phone if they need to, without losing the stored material.

Create an account with your email and phone number to get started, uploading a profile picture if you wish. You'll need to verify your information via your email account.

When your phone contacts download the app and connect with you via your username, you'll be able to start encrypted conversations with them by tapping the circular plus button at the bottom right of the homepage.

You can even control how long others see the media you're sending, and delete messages from all devices should you post it to the wrong chat or change your mind.

You can create secure group conversations with your colleagues in the newsroom or with sources, and hold group calls with up to 10 people.

Record audio notes or capture images and video within the conversation, or simply tap the paper clip button to access files on your mobile device.

Encrypted messages will be stored on the app for 30 days.

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).

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Tool for journalists: Wire, for safely sending and receiving sensitive material - Journalism.co.uk

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.

Continued here:

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

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.

Continued here:

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

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

Microsofts next-generation HoloLens virtual reality headset will come with an AI chip.

The tech titans custom silicon aims to save time by analyzing data directly on the device, without uploading it to the cloud first.

For consumers, that means a faster VR experience without losing mobility.

Were in the business of making untethered mixed reality devices. We put the battery on your head, in addition to the computer, the sensors, and the display, Marc Pollefeys, director of science at HoloLens, wrote in a blog post. Any computer we want to run locally for low-latency, which you need for things like hand-tracking, has to run off the same battery that powers everything else.

With that in mind, Redmond this week revealed that the second version of its Holographic Processing Unit (HPU)responsible for processing information from the HoloLens onboard sensorswill incorporate an AI coprocessor.

This is just one example of the new capabilities we are developing for HoloLens, Pollefeys said. This is the kind of thinking you need if youre going to develop mixed reality devices that are themselves intelligent.

Mixed reality and artificial intelligence represent the future of computing, and were excited to be advancing this frontier, he added.

During Mays Microsoft Ignite conference, CEO Satya Nadella laid out his plan for artificial intelligence, which he likened to the arrival of books and the Web.

It is about your passion, your imagination, and what you can do with technologies that we create, he told the audience, as reported by TechCrunch. We want to democratize AI just like we brought information to your fingertips.

HoloLens smart glasses launched last year, promising rich developers users an augmented reality, in which you see the real world around you, as well as projections powered by a modified version of Windows.

And while some consider the technology dignified, while others worry it makes the wearer look like a huge creepy dork.

Let us know what you like about Geek bytaking our survey.

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Next-Gen HoloLens Adds AI Capabilities - Geek

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

During Israel's 2014 war in Gaza, Israeli army Capt. Libby Weiss was the first to bring foreign reporters into the Hamas tunnels discovered linking Gaza to Israel.

TEL AVIV-Capt. Libby Weiss spent most of the summer of 2014 in a Hamas tunnel, and she wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

Israel's military captured the tunnel, which extended from Gaza into Israel near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, during Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in Gaza. As a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, Weiss was tasked with showing the tunnel to journalists, and she was the first to bring foreign reporters into the claustrophobic space.

Her inaugural tour went to Jodi Rudoren of The New York Times and CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer.

"It was really chilling to be inside there," Weiss said. "There were empty potato chip bags and water bottles strewn about on the ground. It made you realize just how close the enemy was."

For the past six years, Weiss has been on call 24/7 for journalists from all over the world. Reporters turn to her when they want to film Israeli soldiers in action or need a quick comment from the IDF on breaking news.

On Aug. 17, Weiss finally will be turning off her army-issued phone. At 29, she is stepping down from her post and retiring from the military.

Weiss is not your typical Israeli soldier. Born in the United States and raised in Portland, Oregon, she moved to Israel in her early 20s and enlisted in the army soon afterward. She didn't have to join up-at the ripe old age of 23, Weiss could have skipped military service-but the thought of foregoing army service didn't even occur to her.

"There was never any doubt in my mind that I wanted to serve," Weiss said "I saw it as the basic responsibility of anyone who is a citizen, and it was also a way from me to adopt my Israeli identity."

She has worked in the IDF Spokesperson's Unit for practically her whole military career. Since March, Weiss has headed the international social media department, overseeing a team of 14 enlisted soldiers and one junior officer who produces viral content in English, Spanish and French. Their mission: tell the story of Israel's army, and promote a positive image of an army that is often condemned by critics overseas.

Working in a nondescript building in central Tel Aviv, the soldiers sit hunched over a bank of computers editing video footage shot in the field and uploading posts to the IDF blog and the army's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat accounts. Most of the soldiers in the division are immigrants -- from North America, South America and France

Weiss got her start in the unit's foreign press branch, doing media tracking and crisis management. Though she initially signed on for only a year and a half of service, she was soon hooked.

"I was fascinated by the work and understood its importance from Day 1," she said. "I didn't have to think twice about staying on and taking leadership roles."

Soon she was named head of the North American media department, where she spent four years. She quickly worked her way up to the rank of captain.

With her phone constantly ringing, no day was ever routine. Weiss always kept her field uniform and safety equipment at the ready in her car.

Sometimes her work took her overseas. After the 2013 Philippines typhoon and the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Weiss deployed with the IDF disaster relief delegations to those countries.

"Every time disaster struck across the world, Libby was my clear choice for deployment because I couldcount on her completely," said former IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, Weiss' boss and mentor for much of her time in the army.

On assignment abroad, Weiss witnessed some horrific sights -- and some miracles. In Nepal, she saw a teenage boy trapped for many days under rubble pulled out alive and brought for treatment at the IDF field hospital.

"He survived on a bottle of ghee, or clarified butter, that happened to be in an air pocket with him," Weiss recalled.

In the Philippines, Weiss was present for the birth of the first baby born in the IDF field hospital there. His parents named him Israel.

"I became quite friendly with the family, and we are still in touch," she said.

Of all her army experiences, Israel's war with Hamas in 2014 was the most challenging and demanding. Suddenly, Weiss found herself dealing with hundreds of journalists a day rather than with dozens. She did on-camera interviews 10, 20, sometimes 30 times a day. Often they were interrupted by air-raid sirens that sent Weiss and the reporters jumping into ditches to take cover from incoming rockets.

Weiss said the war tested her ability to separate the personal from the professional.

"When you are an Israeli citizen and there is a war, you feel involved. It's here in your backyard. Then add to that being in a military uniform," she said.

"You are exposed and you know about troop movements and military plans before they are carried out, and you find out details that are life changing for people, like when a soldier is killed. It warrants an emotional response on all levels, but as a professional you can't have that."

Growing up as the youngest daughter of Israeli-born parents in Oregon, Weiss never imagined she'd become an IDF officer. And she didn't know she would live in Israel.

"I don't know if I ever saw myself, at least back as a teenager, immigrating to Israel," Weiss said. "But we definitely felt connected to Israel. It was part of our identity. I attended a Jewish day school and my parents spoke to us in Hebrew at home. We saw ourselves as Israeli Americans, and we were certainly Zionists."

After graduating from Northwestern University in 2010 with a degree in political science, Weiss spent a year participating in the Israel Government Fellows, a selectiveMASA Israelprogram run by the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem.

Midway through the year, Weiss decided to make Israel her permanent home, and officially made aliyah once the program ended. Because she was an Israeli citizen from birth due to her parents, all she needed to do to immigrate was go to the Interior Ministry, show her Israeli passport and receive an Israeli identity card.

"Here I was making the biggest decision I had made thus far, and maybe the biggest I will ever make, and it took me 15 minutes and was the least painful bureaucratic process I had experienced in Israel," Weiss recalled.

Nevertheless, Weiss feels she missed out on the powerful emotional experience that most North American immigrants get by taking an aliyah flight organized by Nefesh B'Nefesh alongside dozens of other new immigrants with a one-way ticket to the Jewish state.

"I think I would have enjoyed the significance of deplaning and having the community that welcomes you the minute you touch Israeli soil," she said. "That underscores and reinforces what a big decision it is, that you are now joining-or rejoining-the Israeli people"

Nefesh B'Nefesh honored Weiss last month with its 2017 Bonei Zion Young Leadership Award. She also received numerous other awards during her military career, including the prestigious Presidential Award of Excellence in 2014.

Weiss' parents and older siblings all still live in the United States. They say they are proud of Weiss.

"Once Libby moved to Israel, it didn't really surprise us that much that she joined the military," said her brother, Gil, a Chicago physician. "She had a strong sense of wanting to do what was required of her peers and to carry out that responsibility."

Satellite image of the area from Gaza to Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, where the Hamas tunnels extended.

Now that she's leaving the military, Weiss plans to take some time off and then go into business. She completed the Kellogg-Recanati International Executive MBA program at Tel Aviv University while in the military.

As she begins this next life chapter, Weiss says she has no regrets-either about her time in the army or her decision to move to Israel.

"I see myself as both American and Israeli, and I am appreciative of both countries," she said.

This article wassponsoredby and produced in partnership withNefesh B'Nefesh, which in cooperation with Israel's Ministry of Aliyah, The Jewish Agency, KKL and JNF-USA is minimizing the professional, logistical and social obstacles of aliyah, and has brought over 50,000 olim from North America and the United Kingdom over the last 15 years. This article was produced by JTA's native content team.

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How an Oregon-born immigrant to Israel found a job giving tours of Hamas tunnels - Heritage Florida Jewish News

Net-Connect, a cloud-based software that uses cutting-edge technology to pull and push translated content automatically from content management systems such as WordPress, Drupal, Sitecore and more, simplifies the entire workflow, thus enabling resources to be more efficient

Milpitas, CA (PRWEB) July 27, 2017

Net-Translators, a leading provider of professional human translation and localization services, announced today that it has recently added Net-Connect to its suite of translation management systems. The cloud-based system connects to any content repository, whether it is website, software or marketing content. Net-Connect seamlessly integrates with most content management systems (CMS) and the translations are performed by professionally-trained and accredited linguists. For additional information, please visit: http://www.net-translators.com/net-connect.

Shy Avni, CEO and co-founder of Net-Translators said: "Translation management systems such as Net-Connect support and make the professional human translation services more efficient." He adds, "As thought leaders and innovators in our industry, all of us here at Net-Translators are dedicated to supporting our customers' needs with solutions and tools that enable them to be more efficient, save money and shorten the time-to-market."

Net-Connect offers three core benefits to the user:

1. Increased Process Efficiency The system takes the pain away from sending emails back and forth, uploading files using FTP, dealing with out-of-control file structures and so much more. It ensures that the content for translation automatically makes its way to us and back to you in an organized and structured manner.

2. Shorten Time-to-Market Managing the translation and localization process can be a daunting task. By incorporating Net-Connect into the process, customers are able to automate many of the steps and tasks that could slow down a translation project, thus getting to market faster.

3. Improved Workflow and Collaboration With Globally Dispersed Teams By allowing Net-Connect to fully automate certain tasks, customers will have peace of mind that the entire translation and localization process is running as smoothly and efficiently as possible during all hours of the day. Team members from around the world will be able to communicate and collaborate more effectively. The system also reduces the risk of human errors and unnecessary project delays.

Net-Translators' suite of localization tools also include Net-Proxy, a web-based translation management system that automatically detects website changes and manages the entire translation process for companies, and Net-Cloud, a one-stop translation project management system that integrates with other systems such as CRM, ERP project management, content management, cloud-based online translation and accounting solutions.

Additional information may be obtained by contacting the office nearest you: http://www.net-translators.com/contact-us.

About Net-Translators (http://www.net-translators.com) Net-Translators, a global leader specializing in professional human translations, services customers on 5 continents and in more than 60 languages. Our award-winning website translation process is managed by professional developers and project managers. Our translators and reviewers follow a stringent, comprehensive, multi-stage process to guarantee the highest quality and accuracy. Certified with multiple international standards, including: ISO 9001:2008, ISO 13485:2003 (for medical devices) and ISO 17100 (Requirements for Translation Services), Net-Translators is committed to your international reputation.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/07/prweb14545543.htm

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Net-Translators, A Leading Provider of Localization and Translation Solutions, Announces Net-Connect - Benzinga