Jaguar claws Arizona woman who climbed zoo barrier to take a selfie

A jaguar clawed an Arizona woman who climbed over a barrier to take a picture at the Wildlife World Zoo near Phoenix, officials said, and the zoo assured animal lovers the big cat would not be put down.

Cellphone video of the incident showed at least one gash on the woman's left forearm as she writhed on the ground in pain on Saturday.

"I hear this young girl screaming: 'Help, help, help' ... and the jaguar has clasped its claws outside the cage around her hand and into her flesh," witness Adam Wilkerson told Fox 10 television.

Wilkerson's mother distracted the jaguar by pushing a water bottle through the cage, and Wilkerson said he pulled the woman away. Cellphone video later showed the animal chewing on a plastic water bottle.

The identity of the woman, in her 30s, was being withheld, said Shawn Gilleland, a spokesman for Rural Metro Fire, the agency that responded to the incident.

She was taken to a hospital and treated, then later returned to the zoo to apologize, Gilleland said.

"She wanted to take a selfie or a picture of the animal, and she put her arm close enough to the cage that the cat was able to reach her," Gilleland said.

The zoo's statement said the female jaguar never left its enclosure, and that the incident was being fully investigated.

"We can promise you nothing will happen to our jaguar," the zoo said on Twitter, responding to public concerns the animal might be put down.

The barrier surrounds the entire exhibit, creating a buffer of several feet (metres) from the enclosure, zoo spokeswoman Kristy Morcom told Fox 10

"There is climbing involved. It's not something that is easily done," Morcom said. "These are wild animals and those barriers are put there for a reason.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Love selfie

A couple takes a selfie at the “Hugs from the Heart” art installation at Bonifacio High Street in Taguig on Wednesday, a day before Valentine’s Day.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Oppo R17 Pro, more than just a low-light marvel

MANILA - The Oppo R17 Pro does not have the fancy pop up cameras of its more famous sibling, the Find X, but it makes up for the lack of design bling with cameras that challenge some of the best in its class.

The R17 Pro is not exactly the Chinese brand’s flagship. It uses the Snapdragon 710 chipset instead of the 845 that is found on Android flagships. But other than that, it ticks off a lot of checkboxes that qualify it as a powerhouse. And when it comes to camera performance, it can give Huawei, Samsung and Apple a run for their money.

DESIGN AND SPECS

Looks-wise, the R17 Pro doesn't really stand out among midrange and upper-range phones. It’s not bad looking, but it also uses a design that’s very similar to every other phone launched last year.

It has a curved glass and metal build, a gradient colored back, a 19:9 screen and a notch on the display. Oppo however has kept the notch on its 6.4 inch display to a very small “water drop” to provide more screen real estate.

The AMOLED screen has a 2340 x 1080 resolution. It’s very sharp, bright and has really nice contrast even in daylight. The fingerprint sensor is also built into the screen and is fairly fast. There's also a face unlock feature that worked well except in very dim light.

The phone has 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. It also uses two 1,850mAh batteries, which combine for 3,700mAh of juice. Oppo said splitting the battery in two results in faster charging, and they weren’t kidding. You could fully charge this beast in around 40 minutes. Ten minutes and you get from zero to around 40 percent.

The phone has a good solid, premium feel. On the left side are the volume keys, while on the right is the power/lock button. At the bottom is a USB-C port and the dual-SIM tray. It doesn’t support microSD cards, but the 128GB storage should be enough for most users.

There is no 3.5mm headphone jack, but Oppo was nice enough to include headphones that can plug into the USB-C port. If you want to plug in your high-end headphones, you will need a dongle for the R17 Pro.

CAMERA

What sets this phone apart is its camera system. It has 3 cameras at the back. One is a 12MP shooter that can change its aperture from F1.5 to F2.4 depending on the shooting conditions. A second, wide angle camera can capture 20MP images at F2.6.

A third camera can supposedly shoot 3D images. Dubbed as time of flight (TOF) 3D stereo camera, it supposedly could capture 3D images by circling the camera around an object or person. This feature was not available on the test unit, but other reviewers who have tried it said it was buggy and caused the camera to crash.

The two other cameras produced really good photos. Like a lot of phones today, the R17 Pro uses artificial intelligence to recognize subjects and makes adjustments to focus, white balance, color saturation and other imaging factors. It can recognize faces, people, group shots, food, indoor scenes.

Travel blogger Kara Santos used the R17 Pro during her winter trip to Sapporo, Japan and was surprised that it could even recognize snow. Its HDR mode is also better than a lot of other phones.

But the phone really excels in low-light situations. Night shots taken with the R17 Pro are brighter and show more detail than shots taken with other phones. While other smartphones will tend to have a halo around lights and wash out subjects in high contrast low-light environments, the R17 Pro retained features and details of scenes and subjects.

This can sometimes results in night photos looking more vibrant than normal, but if you like your photos to “pop” you will love this phone.

The default mode of the 25 MP front camera feels too near for a selfie. But you can put it in portrait mode that widens the background a bit. The selfie camera also has a smart beauty feature.

You can get good bokeh effects on both the front and back cameras, but like in many other smartphones, this feature can result in photos with backgrounds that look comically blurred and gimmicky.

Interestingly, you can change the setting after you take a pic, make it monochrome or change the type of light setting--natural, film light, etc.

The R17 Pro, which sells for P38,990 is a solid offering from Oppo. But it also faces pretty tough competition on this price range from the triple camera Huawei P20 Pro and quadruple camera Samsung Galaxy A9.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Oppo F7 shoots for midrange dominance with selfie cam

MANILA - The front facing camera used to be seen as a smartphone’s secondary camera. But today, more and more smartphone brands are shifting the focus, literally, to the front.

Like many other brands, China's Oppo is betting on consumers who care more about great selfies than taking good snapshots. 

On its mid-tier F7, Oppo packed the front camera with a huge 25 megapixel sensor and loaded it with AI features, which it says will ensure that users always get the best self portrait.

DESIGN AND SPECS

The F7 is a pretty good looking phone. Like most new releases, the phone features a screen with a 19:9 ratio. The F7 also sports a notch at the top, which houses the phone’s selfie camera. 

Unlike some midtier phones however, the F7’s body isn’t made of glass and metal but of coated plastic. Despite that, it can hold its own against other phones in this price range in terms of aesthetics. 

Our black (diamond black according to Oppo) review unit looked almost as good as the glass-backed and metal-framed white Zenfone 5 we reviewed earlier. You wouldn’t know just by looking at it that the F7 was made of acrylic instead of polished glass. 

That said, the shining shimmering back of the F7 is also an avid collector of fingerprints and smudges. Since it’s plastic, it’s also more susceptible to scratches, so you will definitely need a case or protector for this phone.

On the back is a 16MP camera with a bright f1.8 lens and the phone’s fingerprint sensor. Unlocking the phone with your index finger is easy and fast. The F7 also features “Facial Unlock” which I found to be equally fast even when the angle isn’t optimal.

With 4GB of RAM, you also won’t notice any lag with memory-hungry apps, and with 64GB of storage, you can pack the F7 with a lot of apps, photos, video, music and other files. 

If you like playing demanding games like PUBG, this phone won’t let you down. The F7’s Mediatek Helio P60 chipset is more than capable of handling large apps and is a decent alternative to Qualcomm’s midrange offerings. The F7 also has a feature that accelerates games so 

It would have been better though if the F7 came with a USB-Type C port which allows faster charging compared the older micro USB standard. Other midrange phones like the Zenfone 5 and the Huawei P20 Lite already use Type C connectors, after all. 

CAMERAS

While other midrange smartphones like the P20 Lite and the Zenfone 5Q now feature dual cameras front and back (for a total of 4 cameras), Oppo has opted to keep it simple on the F7 by using just a single camera on each side. 

Despite having just one camera up front, the F7 took pretty good selfies. As mentioned earlier, the Oppo F7’s front shooter packs 25MP under the hood, which so far is the biggest for any smartphone. The closest competitor would be the Vivo V9 released last year, which uses a 24MP sensor for selfies.

If you want a good profile pic but don't want to fiddle with image editing apps, you’ll be glad to know that Oppo put 6 levels of beautification on the F7’s selfie shooter. 

But you can also just turn on its AI that lets algorithms determine how to make a user look his/her best. Video selfies also benefit from instant beautification if you want to go on video chats or do live feeds on social media. 

The rear camera is no slouch either, at least for phones in this price range. Colors are more saturated than usual, which will probably appeal to a lot of millennials. But if you want even greater saturation, you can turn on the F7’s "Super Vivid" mode to really make the colors pop. 

Be warned though that turning on Super Vivid will also cost you the finer details of your shot. 

The Oppo F7 also takes good HDR photos. High contrast environments are not a problem for the phone. However, just like with the Super Vivid feature, details get lost in the image processing.

Which brings us to the the main issue with the F7’s rear camera. The pics look good on the phone, and even on an HD computer monitor. But zoom in 5x or so and you’ll see that it doesn’t capture a lot of the finer details.

But that’s probably asking too much for a phone in this price range, and which is obviously meant to cater to people who like taking photos of themselves. If you care about selfies more than anything else, this smartphone may just be the gadget you need. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Oppo debuts F7, promises AI-enhanced selfies

MANILA - China's Oppo debuted its F7 smartphone in the Philippines late Thursday, promising consumers the best selfies aided by artificial intelligence.

The F7's 25-megapixel front-facing camera can recognize 269 spots on the user's face to highlight their best features. A "beautification feature" can enhance the profiles of up to 3 people in a single frame, Oppo said.

Priced at P17,990 for the 64 gigabyte model and P21,900 for twice the on-board storage, the F7 will go up against Vivo's V9 and Huawei's P20 Lite, all offering top-end camera specifications and full-screen displays at the near P20,000 price point.

"The F7 will surely be a hit among Filipino smartphone users and selfie enthusiasts,” said Oppo Philippines public relationship manager Eason de Guzman.

The rear camera has 16 megapixels with f/1.8 aperture.

Since 2014, Oppo has sold 4 million smartphones in the Philippines, said its marketing director Jane Vann. The company is present in 31 countries, most recently in Russia and Japan. 

The F7 has a 6.23-inch screen with full HD resolution at 2280x1080. It runs Android 8.1 with 4 gigabytes of RAM, powered by an octa-core processor. Oppo said over-all performance is "80 percent higher."

More than specifications, Vann said, Oppo products "make (consumers) feel great and that's how we connect with young people."

Eason said the F7 is the first to use a Sony IMX576 sensor which allows smarter light adjustments and background enhancements, among others.

The F7 had 25,133 pre-orders as of 6 p.m. Thursday, Eason said. Its predecessor, the F5, sold 33,000 units on its first week of release.

The Oppo F7 is available in an eye-catching "solar red," black and silver.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Los Angeles museum celebrates the art of the selfie

GLENDALE - There's an art to taking the perfect selfie -- from the angle, to the focus, cropping out that pesky outstretched arm and above all, the smile.

In a celebration of self-portraits in the social media age Tommy Honton and Tair Mamedov are set to open the Museum of Selfies in Los Angeles this Sunday -- an interactive exhibition exploring the history and cultural phenomenon of snapping a photo of yourself.

And for those who think if a moment wasn't photographed, it might as well have not happened -- the good news is that at the Museum of Selfies, selfies are compulsory.

Event planner Lori Nguyen, 45, said she doesn't take selfies very often because "I'm not, like, super young." 

But another visitor, Nina Crowe, said she takes "one a day." 

Neither missed the chance to snap several at the Museum of Selfies, including at an exhibit mimicking the rooftop of Los Angeles' tallest building. 

In reality there's a backdrop photograph of the "ground below" printed on a small platform, from which sprouts a tube that looks like the building's antenna complete with a red signaling beacon.

Add a selfie stick, an "I'm afraid of heights" grimace and a click -- and the result is very realistic.

The exhibition begins with mirrors, perhaps the most basic kind of selfie. But Honton and Mamedov view the concept as something more than just a simple photo.

"The selfies have a surprisingly rich history, and go back as far as people have been making art," Honton explains. 

"Rembrandt did hundreds of self-portraits, Albrecht Durer five, Van Gogh dozens. I mean they did their portraits too, what's the difference?" he said. 

"Yes, artistic technique and scale is one thing, but in reality, if cell phones and cameras had existed, everyone would have taken them."

Another selfie museum opened in the Philippines in 2015, but there's no sign it stayed open. Meanwhile in Glendale, a Los Angeles suburb, the exhibition is just the latest in the city's stream of quirky museums focusing on everything from rabbits and death to neon and velvet.

'SELFIE MAGNET' 

The show is full of fun facts about the trend: women take pictures of themselves more than men, for example.

In Sao Paulo, 65.4 percent of selfies are taken by women -- in New York, 61.6 percent. In Moscow, the divide is even more extreme, at 82 percent.

There aren't statistics for Los Angeles, but Ally Bertik admits she is a frequent selfie-snapper.

"It shows off my good side. And I get to show people like 'hey, this is where I am, maybe you guys should check it out too, this is what I’m doing.' It's just a fun way to like spread you know what I’m doing, show people where I’m at," she explained.

Wandering through the museum, guests will be able to pose with Colette Miller's "Angel Wings" and a work by Darel Carey, who creates multi-dimensional rooms using plastic tape -- a concept the museum describes as a "selfie magnet."

There are pieces by Brazil's Rob Vital, German-Canadian Joseph Nowak, Italy's Michele Durazzi -- and a copy of the Russian government's recommendations for taking a selfie safely, created following several accidents and as many as 12 selfie-related deaths in the country.

Also featured is David Slater's controversial monkey selfie -- which became embroiled in a legal battle over who has the copyright to photos taken by monkeys using his camera.

In a corner, meanwhile, are three statues resembling Michelangelo's "David" -- painted blue with a pink cell phone -- and a Game of Thrones-esque throne created using selfie sticks.

You just "can't avoid" taking a selfie there, says Mamedov, a Russian actor who arrived in the US four years ago.

The Museum of Selfies will be open in Glendale initially for two months. Its founders are open to extending its LA run and taking the exhibition to other places around the US, if not the world.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huawei launches 4-camera, near bezel-less Nova 2i

MANILA - Chinese electronics giant Huawei on Monday announced its first near bezel-less handset that packs four cameras, joining a slew of mid-priced offerings that offer a flagship experience.

Viewed from the front, the tall, nearly 6-inch screen of the Nova 2i is similar to the 5.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S8 with tiny top and bottom bezels.

The Nova 2i has dual cameras on the back and the front, promising clear and rich-colored selfies that Huawei's twin camera setups have been known for since 2016's P9 series.


See an unboxing of the Nova 2i in the slideshow below:

 
FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Huawei loaned ABS-CBN News a black version of the Nova 2i, which also comes in gold and blue.

The device feels solid in the hand, though as with aluminum phones, it can be a bit slippery. 

It comes with a clear frosted plastic case. The cases that came bundled with premium Huawei phones get scratched easily and this one appears to be of the same quality.

The fingerprint scanner is typically fast for a Huawei phone and is easier to reach compared to Samsung's most recent flagships.

 The screen is very bright even at just half its full capacity and the tall screen provides immersive viewing. If you're coming from a high-end Samsung phone or a newer iPhone though, the screen's lower quality is noticeable.

Performance was zippy with no noticeable lag, notwithstanding EMUI, Huawei's skinned version of Android. The device can easily go for more than a day on a single charge.

While there is no Leica branding, the dual cameras produced rich colors, deep contrasts even in low light and are comparable to the photo-centric P series.

It tends to oversaturate colors, which is not a bad thing if you like your Instagram posts in vivid color.

CAMERA SAMPLES

The purple tint on this flower arrangement shot looks overblown, but it keeps the details on the stems and the chicken wire that keeps the blossoms in place.

The camera takes very decent indoor shots with dim lighting. In this shot of Huawei's Beijing headquarters, you can still see light reflections on the near mirror-polished floor with some noise.

The Nova 2i's shooter is almost flagship quality in good lighting. In this hotel lobby shot, the details on the chandelier, wall carvings, staircase and carpet are visible.

 Here are the Nova 2i's key features

Height: 156.2mm
Width: 75.2
Depth: 7.5mm
Weight: 164g
Colors: Graphite Black, Prestige Gold, Aurora Blue
Build: metal
Screen: 5.9 inches
Screen Type: IPS
Resolution: 2160 X 1080 (FHD+)
Screen colors: 16 million
Screen Pixel Density: 407 PPI
Processor: Huawei Kirin 659 CPU, Octa-core 4* Cortex A53 2.36 GHz + 4*Cortex A53 1.7 GHz
Operating system: EMUI 5.1, Android 7.0
RAM: 4GB
ROM: 64GB
microSD: supports card up to 256GB
SIM 1：nano SIM Card
SIM 2：nano SIM Card or microSD
Front camera: 13MP+2MP, F2.0 wide aperture
Rear camera: 16MP+2MP, F2.2 wide aperture
Data interface: micro USB
Capability: 3240mAh (Minimum value), 3340mAh (Typical value)
Charging time: less than 150 Mins
Talk time: up to 20 Hours
Standby time: up to 550 Hours

Huawei said the Nova 2i will be available starting Oct. 21 for P14,990. Those who purchase on launch day in any of 6 concept stores will get a free JBL speaker.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Saudi King Salman embraces 'selfie' on tour across Asia

JAKARTA - Saudi Arabia's King Salman has embraced the "selfie", taking part in a number of light-hearted self-shot pictures and videos during his tour of Asia that contrast with the pomp and formality of most of the octogenarian monarch's trips abroad.

In the first days of a lengthy regional tour, the king has appeared with top-ranking officials in Indonesia and Malaysia in pictures and clips that have been shared online millions of times.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo shared on Facebook a video of himself dining with the king at the presidential palace in Bogor, near the capital Jakarta.

In the video, both men comment on the visit, the first to Indonesia by a Saudi king in nearly five decades, and give viewers a rare peek into a state event.

As Widodo holds what appears to be a phone camera, the king is seen dining on soup and using gold-colored cutlery before commenting in Arabic on his 12-day visit to Indonesia, the longest leg of his month-long tour of Asia.

"I'm very happy to be here in Indonesia and with the Indonesian people," King Salman says to the camera, as an interpreter sitting behind him translates into Bahasa Indonesia.

The king was also photographed posing for a selfie with former president Megawati Sukarnoputri and her daughter Puan Maharani, who is a member of Widodo's cabinet.

Indonesia has a high concentration of Facebook and Twitter users, and selfies are a mainstay of social media in the world's fourth most populous country.

Earlier this week, Salman was seen in a selfie posted on Twitter with Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia, during the first stop on his sweep across Asia.

Though rare, Salman has made occasional appearances on social media before, including when he posed last year for a selfie in Qatar with a teen who survived cancer.

The king is travelling with an entourage of several hundred people and nearly 500 tonnes of luggage, including two gold-coloured escalators.

After Jakarta, the delegation is set to take a break in the resort island of Bali, where up to four hotels and 300 luxury cars have been booked for more than a week, according to local police and a tour agency association.

Salman is also set to visit Brunei, China, Japan, the Maldives and Jordan.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Snap! Selfie-seeking tourist bitten by Thai croc

BANGKOK - A French tourist was bitten by a crocodile inside a Thai national park as she tried to get close to the fearsome animal to take a selfie, an official said on Monday.

The incident took place on Sunday afternoon in Khao Yai, a popular national park filled with dense jungle hiking trails and waterfalls three hours north of Bangkok.

"She wanted to take selfie with the crocodile who was lying down near a stream," a park official told AFP, asking not to be named because he did not have the authority to speak to the media.

"It was startled and bit her on the leg."

The official said two crocodiles had made their home on that particular section of the park for years with warning signs laid out.

"I guess that she wanted to see it for real," he added.

Local media posted pictures of park rangers dressed in camouflage carrying the 47-year-old victim strapped to a stretcher, a thick bandage wrapped around her knee.

Another shot showed a ranger pointing to a pool of blood close to a sign saying in Thai and English "Danger Crocodile No Swimming".

The victim was taken to hospital for treatment and is expected to recover.

Siamese crocodiles were once ubiquitous across South East Asia but their populations have been decimated in the last century by hunting and habitat loss.

They are currently listed as critically endangered on the IUCN's red list.

In Thailand there are just a handful of wild populations left in central and western national parks.

Most tourists will only see them in crocodile parks, many of which have been criticised by animal rights groups for controversial feeding practices.

ju-jta/tm

source: news.abs-cbn.com

6 tips to look good in selfies

MANILA - Are you a fan of taking selfies? In-demand lensman Mark Nicdao has a few tips on taking quality self-portraits that will present you in literally the best light.

On "Kris TV," Nicdao coaches host Kris Aquino on things to consider when taking selfies. These include adequate lighting.

"Kung saan may pinakamalakas na ilaw... Halimbawa, window lighting pag nasa bahay ka. Tapat ka lang sa ilaw," he said.



The best natural lighting for taking selfies, Nicdao added, is around 7 a.m. or 5 p.m. He called this the "magic hour."

If you're taking a selfie with someone or a group, Nicdao advised to have the person with the longest arm or reach hold the camera. This will make you appear farther from the lens.

Nicdao also had tips to look more slim in your selfies.

If with a group, stay behind your friend. You can also extend your chin to avoid the appearance of a "double chin." For women or men with long hair, you may also opt to place your hair on the sides of your face.

Before you take a mirror selfie, Nicdao advised to study your best angle.

Agreeing with Nicdao's tips, Aquino added: "Normally naman, hindi mag-se-selfie pag malungkot ka, eh. Ang ma-si-share mong selfie, happy ka, so you're sharing good times with people... In taking a selfie, you have to feel beautiful."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Lazada holds 'flash sale' for 'selfie' addicts

MANILA - Online retail giant Lazada will be holding a "flash sale" on Thursday, shining the spotlight on the Nubia Z5 S Mini --dubbed as perfect smartphone for "selfie" addicts.

The smartphone will go for P8,990 during the flash sale, which will start at noon on Feb. 12.

It will be available to both desktop shoppers and those using the Lazada mobile application available to both iOS and Android users.

The S Mini comes packed with a 4.7 inch HD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, one GB ram and 16 GB rom (expandable to 32 GB thru micro SD cards). It also boasts of a 13-megapixel front camera and 5-megapixel rear camera.

The company says that it is the world's first smartphone to pack a 13-inch front camera that incorporates the control and photographic fidelity of a DSLR camera and lightning-speed 4G support.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Tips for taking that 'perfect' selfie

MANILA - Taking "selfies" using your smartphone can be easy and at the same time, difficult because the photographer will have to take into consideration various factors.

In an article titled "Why We Hate Selfies" published on the British website The Guardian, writer S.E. Smith noted that the "artist" will have to consider "the setting, the lighting, and the framing to create an image that expresses a mood, experience or feeling."

Smith, in the write-up that tackles the relationship of selfies being dismissed as a low form of art and the women's penchant for such, also noted that those taking selfies may also find the need to include other elements, such as "animals, peoples, or landscapes."

Having said that, the mobile arm of ABS-CBN has taken the time to compile a list of tips for those wanting to better their selfies, using a simple 13-megapixel smartphone camera found in the latest O+ USA 360 Extreme.

According to the list, one important factor is to always keep a smile. "Show off your pearly whites and charm everyone with your eyes," it wrote.

The list also suggested to take advantage of the technology available, nowadays, that allows anyone with a smartphone to easily snap a photo: "Shoot multiple selfies to capture that perfect angle."

Also, the list noted a technique called "Fresh Eyes," wherein one closes their eyes and opens them before snapping the photo. "You'll be surprised at how fresh you look in the photo," it said.

To learn more about the ABS-CBNmobile and O+ 360 Extreme partnership and how to avail of the smartphone bundle, visit www.abs-cbnmobile.com.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Student's 'selfie' death an accident: probers

MANILA, Philippines - The death of a student who fell down a flight of stairs at the Rizal High School while taking selfie photos was accidental, the Pasig City police said yesterday.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Mario Rariza said that according to investigators, several witnesses – including the classmates of victim Christine Rosello, 13 – testified that there was no foul play involved in her death.

According to Rariza, Hanah Jane Calces, a classmate of Rosello and the owner of the cell phone the victim used to take selfies, was some distance away when Rosello fell nine steps from the third floor and landed on the second floor platform of the school building.

“The victim was observed drinking an energy drink while taking a selfie and all of a sudden she fell off the stairs, catching her classmate and other students by surprise,” Rariza said in an interview.

She died while being treated at the Rizal Medical Center.

According to Rariza, Rosello’s family said she had been experiencing dizzy spells days before the accident.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Swedish start-up launches touchless selfie app

STOCKHOLM -- Selfie fans, your life just got a little easier. A Swedish tech start-up has launched an app for Apple devices that lets people take photos of themselves without having to touch their screens.

Using touchless technology which it says is ideal for taking "selfies" or "groupies," Crunchfish's GoCam app lets users trigger photos or videos from a distance with just hand gestures.

Photos can be triggered from a distance of up to three meters, it says.

The company, based in the southern Swedish city of Malmo, says the free GoCam app will be initially available in Sweden and Australia.

While gesture recognition has become more popular thanks to products such as Microsoft's Kinect for video games, the power-hungry technology has yet to become mainstream in computers or mobile devices.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

And Merriam-Webster's word of the year is…

MANILA – Merriam-Webster has announced its Top 10 words this year -- and “selfie” is not included in the list.

The American dictionary publisher took a more academic approach and declared “science” as its 2013 Word of the Year.

The results are said to be based on around 100 million lookups a month.

“It is a word that is connected to broad cultural dichotomies: observation and intuition, evidence and tradition,” said editor-at-large Peter Sokolowski in a statement released on Merriam-Webster’s website, referring to the word "science."

“A wide variety of discussions centered on science this year, from climate change to educational policy. We saw heated debates about ‘phony’ science, or whether science held all the answers. It’s a topic that has great significance for us. And it fascinates us—enough so that it saw a 176% increase in lookups this year over last, and stayed a top lookup throughout the year,” Sokolowski added.

Landing in second place after “science” is “cognitive,” followed by “rapport,” “communication,” “niche,” “ethic,” “paradox,” “visceral,” “integrity” and “metaphor.”

Merriam-Webster associate editor Kory Stamper noted how a lot of people searched for “niche” to know how the word is pronounced.

“The spike in lookups may well be entirely related to the pronunciation of the word. Is it ‘NITCH’ or ‘NEESH’ or ‘NISH’?” Stamper said. “It’s a happy reminder that people do use the dictionary to check spellings and pronunciations of words.”

Last month, the Oxford Dictionaries selected “selfie,” a self-portrait usually on a smartphone or webcam, as its word of the year.

This after the term gained momentum as a social media buzzword, the dictionary said in a statement.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Selfie' beats 'twerk' as word of the year

LONDON -- "Selfie," a self portrait usually on a smartphone or webcam,was selected word of the year on Tuesday by the Oxford Dictionaries, based on a 17,000% rise in its usage from a year ago.

"Selfie" was chosen after it "gained momentum throughout the English-speaking world in 2013 as it evolved from a social media buzzword to mainstream shorthand for a self-portrait photograph," Oxford Dictionaries said in a statement.

The spike in popularity of the word, whose origin can be traced back to an Australian online forum in 2002, was based on "language research conducted by Oxford Dictionaries editors," the publisher said.

"Selfie" beat a number of other buzzwords of 2013, including "twerk" referring to dancing in a sexually provocative manner and which was popularized by singer Miley Cyrus at the MTV Video Music Awards last August.

"The Word of the Year need not have been coined within the past 12 months and it does not have to be a word that will stick around for a good length of time," Judy Pearsall, editorial director for Oxford Dictionaries, said.

"It is very difficult to predict accurately which new words will have staying power, and only time will tell if these words have lasting significance," she added.

"Selfie" has spawned a raft of spinoffs, including "helfie" for a picture taken of someone's own hair, "belfie" for taking a picture of your own posterior and "drelfie" for a self portrait while in a drunken state.

The word's usage was based on statistical analysis of the Oxford English Corpus, which is a structured set of texts stored electronically, and specifically the New Word Monitor Corpus, Oxford Dictionaries said.

It said that the New Monitor Corpus collects around 150 million words in use each month, using automated criteria to scan new web content using the English language worldwide.

This is used to track and verify new and emerging words and senses on a daily basis, and the firm has a dedicated team of editors whose job it is to add new words to the Oxford English Dictionary and OxfordDictionaries.com using this data.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com