Ticking News

Assuming that these scientists go forward with their research we’ve come with 5 great uses for the new Photoshop detection tool. [...] Some say, just accept it and move on, while others (like us) long to see realistic images in the media and are on a quest for photo justice. [1]

Farid and PhD student Eric McKee have developed an algorithm that measures the level of retouching in magazine photos, and displays the results as a heat map. [2]

When you find some awesome treasures during your metal detecting extravaganzas you might even use what you find to add to your graphics design, in fact it might help inspire you to do some type of amazing new design that you hadn’t really thought of before. [3]

The researchers developed the algorithm by looking at anatomically impossible images pulled from Photoshop blunder sites. [2]

“The ubiquity of these unrealistic and highly idealized images has been linked to eating disorders and body image dissatisfaction in men, women, and children,” says Dr. Hany Farid, a professor of computer science and digital forensics at Dartmouth. [4]

It’s interesting because in the Kim Kardashian photo, her face looks almost identical even not retouched because lighting and makeup can also have a huge effect. [...] Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life. [...] If you toggle back and forth it looks like he had a stroke. [5]

But good luck getting Glamour to put a surgeon’s general warning on the cover of its Spring Fashion Special, right next to the amazing makeovers and tanning secrets. [4]

Sources:
[1] New Photoshop Detector Shows Where Images Have Been Altered …
[2] Photo Retouching Detector of the Day - TDW Geeks
[3] Metal Detectors, Cool Hobby for Graphics Designers
[4] Does the World Really *Need* a Photoshop Detector? | Who2 Biographies
[5] The Photoshop Detector | The Hairpin

Org, your premiere source for everything Katharine McPhee! [1]

Katharine McPhee is a pop singer and former contestant on American Idol. [2]

Katharine McPhee warmly laughs as she confesses she’s been in “artistic hiding” for the last few years. [3]

Katharine McPhee laughs and exclaims, ‘This feels so wrong,’ as she reflects back on recording a Christmas album on a scorching hot July day in Los Angeles. [4]

Her self-titled debut album was released on RCA Records on January 30, 2007 and debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200; it has sold 381,000 copies to date. [5]

Here we offer the latest Kat news, media, photos, and so much more. [1]

After seven years of illness, she finally entered a three-month rehabilitation program after successfully passing her American Idol audition; her rehab stint ended just before the Idol semifinals started in February 2006. [5]

With several solid hooks embedded in an intricate vocal arrangement, the song connects with countless thousands of teenage girls as Katharine declares her freedom from a dominant boyfriend. [3]

The song was a huge hit, downloaded over 500,000 times exclusively on iTunes. [4]

In this video clip, fans of former American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee get a taste of what Smash has in store for her come February. [2]

Sources:
[1] Katharine - McPhee . Org :: Your Premiere Katharine McPhee Resource
[2] Katharine McPhee - Zimbio
[3] Amazon.com: Katharine McPhee: Katharine McPhee: Music
[4] Katharine McPhee | Free Music, Tour Dates, Photos, Videos
[5] Katharine McPhee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Neil Diamond has been a pop music star since the mid-1960s, writing and singing hit songs such as “Kentucky Woman” (1967), “Song Sung Blue” (1972) and “Love on the Rocks” (1980). [...] His 2005 album 12 Songs was hailed as a return to his early days of songwriting glory and was the basis for one of the top grossing tours of the year. [1]

The August 24 performance was recorded and released as the live double album Hot August Night (the title being the opening words of Diamond’s song “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show “). [...] His songs have been covered internationally by countless performers of all musical genres. [...] Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. [2]

Rock, even soft rock, has never been Diamond’s milieu; it is equally wrong to categorize him as a club singer in the Frank Sinatra/Wayne Newton vein. [...] A hired-gun songwriter in the early 1960s, he wrote the Monkees’ 1967 hit “I’m a Believer” around the time he began his own recording career. [1]

… sales and Top 40 airplay were disappointing, and Columbia dropped Diamond from the label shortly there after. [...] Later in 1962, Diamond signed with the Columbia Records label as a solo performer. [3]

Neil Diamond was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family descended from Russian and Polish immigrants. [2]

Sources:
[1] Neil Diamond: Biography from Answers.com
[2] Neil Diamond - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[3] Neil Diamond - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kansas City mourns the loss of Don Harman, meteorologist of Fox 4 Kansas City Morning Show. [1]

Fox 4 meteorologist Don Harman died Tuesday evening. [2]

Don Harman, the fun-loving weathercaster and personality on Kansas City’s most popular morning show, has died. [3]

Don Harman, the longtime morning meteorologist at WDAF in Kansas City, died yesterday. [4]

Don Harman has been meteorologist for FOX 4 News from 5:00 a.m. [5]

Police were called to Harman’s south Kansas City house just before 5 p.m. [3]

There has been an outpouring of well-wishes from Kansas City viewers on Facebook and Twitter, but on-air talent has so far avoided a direct mention of Harman’s death online. [4]

He helps Kansas Citians prepare for their day by providing accurate up-to-the-minute weather forecasts each weekday morning. [5]

Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life. [1]

He is survived by his wife, Monica, and daughter, Avery. [2]

Sources:
[1] Don Harmon, Fox4 Morning Show has died
[2] Don Harman, Fox 4 meteorologist, has died | Plog
[3] Fox 4’s Don Harman dead at 41
[4] WDAF Meteorologist Don Harman Dies From Apparent Suicide
[5] Don Harman | Kansas City News | fox4kc.com | FOX 4

‘ Horses could soon be butchered in the U.S. for human consumption after Congress quietly lifted a 5-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections, and activists say slaughterhouses could be up and running in as little as a month. [1]

Slaughter opponents pushed a measure cutting off funding for horse meat inspections through Congress in 2006 after other efforts to pass outright bans on horse slaughter failed in previous years. [2]

Horses could soon be butchered in the U.S. for human consumption after Congress quietly lifted a 5-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections, and activists say slaughterhouses could be up and running in as little as a month. [3]

Cheri White Owl, founder of Horse Feathers Equine Rescue, is pictured with one of the 33 horses she is currently caring for, in Guthrie, Okla. [4]

Although most Americans do not consume the meat due to cultural taboos, concerns arise as foreign importers laud the U.S. for its quality horse meat. [5]

Congress lifted the ban in a spending bill President Barack Obama signed into law Nov. 18 to keep the government afloat until mid-December. [2]

WASHINGTON — Congress has lifted a de facto ban on the slaughter of horses, a move hailed by Missouri farmers and state political leaders who say the prohibition had inadvertently caused more harm to the animals than good. [4]

SANTA YNEZ VALLEY - Congress has lifted a 5-year-old ban on funding for horse meat inspections which many are interpreting as a green light for the resumption of horse meat processing. [6]

Although there are reports of Americans dining on horse meat a recently as the 1940s, the practice is virtually non-existent in this country, where the animals are treated as beloved pets and iconic symbols of the West. [2]

Activists warn that slaughterhouses of horses for human consumption could be operating again within a month and are concerned that if the slaughterhouses are to reopen, strapped-for-cash Americans will dump their unwanted animals without looking for more sustainable alternatives. [5]

Sources:
[1] USA - Horse Meat Ban quietly lifted - The Equine Tourism Community
[2] Congress Lifted Ban On Funding Horse Meat Inspections ‘ Horses …
[3] Horses could soon be slaughtered for meat in US
[4] Horses could soon be slaughtered for meat in U.S.
[5] US Congress Lifts Horse Meat Ban
[6] Lifting of Ban on Horse Meat Concerns Animal Rights Advocates …