Cameras

As humans, it’s only natural to take a look at the sky and perceive to see an object, a face, an animal. Computers, too, are capable of this perception. However, they may be capable of finding things that the human eye can’t, or just might not notice. In a project called “Cloud Face“, Seoul, South Korea-based Shin Seung Back and Kim Yong Hun of aptly-named ‘Shinnseungback Kimyonghun‘ have pointed cameras up at the sky and let complex algorithms detect faces in the passing clouds. The results, to say the least, are rather interesting. The project aims to “examine the relation between computer vision and human vision”. Here’s an animation showing a “face” behind detected in a series of cloud frames: It can be a bit tricky to make out the “face” in some of the images. If that’s the case, try moving away from the screen, tilt your head, and squint your eyes! The faces are really quite visible when seen from afar, as shown in the image above. You can find other works by Shin Seung Back and Kim Yong Hun on the Shinnseungback Kimyonghun website, which include cat-like features in human faces (and vice-versa), the fours seasons depicted by one million related photographs, and more. Image credits: Images by Shinnseungback Kimyonghun and used with permission

Need a chuckle? Look no further than the latest bizarre photo fad to sweep across the Internet. Called “Cat Beard,” the meme involves shooting a self-portrait with your face above a cat’s head. If you can nail the right perspective, you get a humorous photograph that looks like you have a strange beard covering your face (and a frown as well). The photo above was contributed to the meme by Instagram user Cee Please. Here are some other Cat Beard photographs that have been created so far: Photograph by Dave Rudolph: Photograph by Sam Chapel Photograph by Zulfadli Isa Photograph by Julia Budaeva Photograph by @mr_seltzer Photograph by @bestill_foramoment Photograph by Briana Nguyen Photograph by Jaume Carrió Photograph by Annie Sibthorp A quick search on Google Trends reveals that “cat beard” has become quite a trend in 2013 (though the term did exist for a number of years before): If you’d like to participate in this latest meme with your own cat, just tag your photo with the hashtag #catbeard on your favorite photo sharing service. Instagram currently has over 1000 photographs with that tag. There’s also a new website dedicated to featuring Cat Beard photos. (via Know Your Meme via Laughing Squid)

We just published the DxOMark Mobile Report for Samsung's new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4 on connect.dpreview.com. DxO's imaging experts have analyzed 14 aspects of mobile imaging including detailed image quality assessment, flash performance, autofocus reliability and more to calculate a final score. This report will be integrated into our full review once it is finished but for now click through to find out how the Samsung Galaxy S4's camera performed in the DxOMark lab tests.

We've just added three studio comparison pages to our previously-published preview of the Pentax MX-1. The MX-1 is Pentax's flagship compact camera, and something of a departure for the manufacturer, offering a fast F1.8-2.5 zoom lens, full manual control and a high-class, metal body, to compete with more established peers like Panasonic's LX7. Click through to go to the new pages in our preview, and see for yourself how the MX-1 compares to its rivals.

B&H has Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 available for $93.95 with free shipping.

Using discarded tin cans found on the hot Arizona desert ground, David Emitt Adams has created timeless pieces he calls Conversations with History. The cans are branded with tintype pictures, reflecting ties to the very locations the cans — some of which have been sitting out in the sun for over forty years — were found. In the words of Adams, “The deserts of the West also have special significance in the history of photography. I have explored this landscape with an awareness of the photographers who have come before me, and this awareness has led me to pay close attention to the traces left behind by others.” The cans “have earned a deep reddish-brown, rusty patina. This patina is the evidence of light and time, the two main components inherent in the very nature of photography,” he continues. Creating the images on the surfaces on the tin cans involve a rather labor-intensive process called “wet-plate collodion” — which dates back to the 19th century and involves . It’s an interesting process, and one that produces remarkable works of art. “These cans are the relics of the advancement of our culture, and become sculptural support to what they have witnessed.” David Emitt Adams is represented by the Etherton Gallery in Tucson, Arizona. See more of his work on his website. (via JunkCulture) Image credits: Images by David Emitt Adams and used with permission

The Memorial Day weekend sales are just around the corner, and already B&H Photo has taken an early start by offering the 64GB Sony SDXC Class 10 UHS-I for $36.50 with free shipping. You can buy up to ten cards at this per unit price. (I do not know when this expires). Expiring most likely at 1am eastern on Thursday May 23 in 2013 is another Woot-OFF. Camera gear are typically offered, but prices and product names are not known before hand, so YMMV... Expiring on May 24 in 2013 at 9am central time is a Woot Plus Camera Sale that includes new-condition Samsung NX1000 with 20-50mm for $300 and new-condition Pentax K-01 two lens kit (18-55, 50-200) for $400. Shipping is a flat $5 for everything you buy from Woot during a central time zone calendar day. Expiring May 28 in 2013 is a 20% off coupon discount for REI members that includes the $400 GoPro Hero3 Black edition. If you are not an REI member, a lifetime membership has a $20 one-time fee, so you can still save by getting the GoPro Hero3. This is an intermediate level deal, more details. Thanks to one of our readers for the email alert! Expiring on May 31 in 2013 is a Calumet 25% off sale on most of their house brand products including their lighting products, tripods, monopods, bags and cases, ProSpecs and more. Look for the red sale sign at the Calumet Front Page. This is an availability alert, not a deal. If you are interested in the Olympus E-M5 but do not want to get any of the zoom lenses included in the standard kits, a new option has arrived at B&H Photo, a Limited Edition Olympus E-M5 with the 17mm f1.8 non-pancake prime lens going for $1400 with free shipping. For the latest camera specials and in-stock alerts, check the Cameras Deals blog. Republication of this RSS feed on any website or blog or app is prohibited and violates the terms of use of this RSS feed. This text comes from the RSS feed of 1001noisycameras.com. This full-text RSS feed is provided as a service to our loyal readers for their personal use. Republication fees start at $1000 per month and will be billed to violating websites.

Wal-Mart plans to use big data about a customer's usual shopping to automatically create shopping lists for them on its mobile app.That's one of the tools the world's largest retailer plans to use to improve the in-store shopping experience as it looks to mobile-influenced purchases outpacing e-commerce sales, said Gibu Thomas, Wal-Mart's global head of mobile, in a CTIA Wireless keynote speech Wednesday."The future of retailing is the history of retailing, of a personalized interactive experience for every customer delivered through a smartphone," Thomas said. Citing independent studies of the U.S. market, Thomas said in-store buying influenced by mobile use was on track to be about twice as big as e-commerce sales by 2016.Mobile already drives about one-third of the traffic to Walmart.com, spiking to more than 40 percent during the holiday season late last year, Thomas said. The store's smartphone app also boosts buying: Customers who have the app make more trips to Wal-Mart and spend as much as 40 percent more there, he said. A majority of Wal-Mart's customers have smartphones.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Verizon Wireless is partnering with singer and actress Jennifer Lopez in creating a U.S. retail distribution company that will offer Verizon's devices in stores and online destinations designed to appeal to Latino consumers.The new company, Viva Movil, is majority owned by Lopez and represents a partnership between her, device distribution company BrightStar and Moorehead Communications, Verizon's largest mobile retailer. Its first store will open at an undisclosed location in New York on June 15. By year's end, Viva Movil will have 15 stores around the country.At a press conference Wednesday at CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas, the partners said they are aiming at what they described as a huge and growing U.S. Latino market of 52 million.Latinos in the U.S. have a population growth rate of 43 percent, far above that of the overall population, and have unique characteristics as consumers, said Lopez, who is also Viva Movil's chief marketing and creative officer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Saving a destination in Google Maps makes it easier to navigate to and also lessens the chance for error when entering or trying to remember an address. Nick BarberSaving a destination on Google Maps makes it easier to navigate to it later. The starred waypoint will sync with all of your Google accounts. Destinations can be starred from a mobile device running Google Maps or from the Web. After searching for an address or location, click on the pin for the destination and switch on the star icon. Starred destinations will be synched across all Google accounts and devices. Starred destinations are easier to find and will type ahead on both mobile and desktop versions of Google Maps. Starring locations is a good idea for local errands and for vacations and business trips to other states and countries. When traveling to a place with unreliable mobile data reception or expensive data rates, it’s also a good idea to save an offline version of Google Maps. Once in the application on a mobile device, press the options button and select “make available offline.” Pan and zoom the map until the area to be downloaded is highlighted. Click “done” and the map will be downloaded to the mobile device and be able to be used when mobile data isn’t available. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here