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Saturday, March 21, 2015

Forgotten History:Pictures of Europeans Placing African People in Human Zoos

All photos and post article credit and owned by the writer's sources: http://atlantablackstar.com
by: G. Thorpe

In the late 1800s to well into the 1900s, Europeans created “human zoos” in cities like Paris; Hamburg, Germany; Antwerp, Belgium; Barcelona, Spain; London; Milan; Warsaw, Poland; St Louis; and New York City. These were popular human exhibits where whites went to watch Black people who were on display. The Black people were usually forced to live behind gates and in cages similar to animals in a zoo today.
Some of the Black people were kidnapped and brought to be exhibited in the human zoos. Many of them died quickly, some within a year of their captivity. A large number of visitors attended these exhibitions in each city daily. For example, the Parisian World Fair featured a human zoo that exhibited Black people, and 34 million people were drawn to the exhibition in just six months.
Below are several photos showing the horrible reality of Black people who were forced to live in human zoos.
belgium zoo
This is a “Peoples Show” in Brussels, Belgium, where the young Black girl is fed by the white spectators.
Ota-Benga-at-Bronx-Zoo
Congolese pygmy  Ota Benga was on display at the Bronx Zoo in New York City in 1906. He was forced to carry around chimpanzees and other apes.
human-zoo03
One of the many human zoos in France.

Sarah’s Story A Colonial Showpiece
A 20-year-old girl from South Africa known as Sarah “Saartjie” Baartman was recruited to work in a Paris zoo because of a genetic characteristic known as steatopygia — protuberant buttocks and elongated labia. Whites went to the zoo to look at her buttocks and at other naked Black women with the same shape.
human_zoos_or_negro_villages
This is one of France’s many “Negro Villages.” It was said the village would often display Blacks to dehumanize them and compare them to animals.
negro village

This is another “Negro Village” in France. It was called “The World Fair,” where nude or semi-nude Black women and children were presented in cages.



Black Africans are shown participating in archery in 1904 in St Louis at an event whites organized called the “Savage Olympics Exhibition.”
Human-Zoo-or-Negro-Village
A “Negro village” similar to PT Barnum’s exhibition of Joice Heth, an enslaved African-American who was blind and almost completely paralyzed. Barnum lied to the visitors saying she was the 160-year-old nurse of President George Washington.
Pygmies were made to dance during numerous exhibitions to entertain visitorsPygmies were made to dance during numerous exhibitions to entertain visitors 
at zoos in both Germany and England.
This is a Somalia village, which was demonstrated in Luna Park, St. Petersburg
This is a Somalia village exhibit at Luna Park in St. Petersburg, Russia.
woman and child
A Black African mother is shown with her child in a “Negro Village.”

At the Parisian World Fair, this was a part of the 1931 exhibit that was so successful that it drew 34 million people that year.







black women and child at negro village
A Black mother and her child at a “Negro Village” in Germany.  This exhibit was known to be very popular and was even visited by conservative statesman Otto von Bismarck.
credit/source: http://atlantablackstar.com/2014/09/09/13-shameful-pictures-europeans-placing-african-people-human-zoos/

Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer teams up with Intel and Google for smartwatch

credit/by: Roberto Baldwin
0319_tagThe biggest criticism against most smartwatches is that they don’t really solve a problem beyond not having to take your phone out of your pocket and that they’re ugly. Today, TAG Heuer, Intel and Google hope to fix at least one of those problems.
The partnership was announced at the Baselworld watch fair. The Swiss watchmaker will produce an Android Wear-powered smartwatch running Intel hardware that it says will launch at the end of 2015.
While features were not announced, the watchmaker is known for its sports-based devices so expect a very fancy, very sporty smartwatch with the usual Android Wear attributes.
The partnership gives TAG Heuer partners to help it enter the already crowded smartwatch market while Intel and Google get to associate with a firmly established Swiss watchmaker that’s been in business since 1860.
In a statement TAG Heuer CEO, Jean-Claude Biver said, “Swiss watchmaking and Silicon Valley is a marriage of technological innovation with watchmaking credibility. Our collaboration provides a rich host of synergies, forming a win-win partnership, and the potential for our three companies is enormous.”
Unfortunately, beyond the partnership announcement and launch timetable, we don’t even know what the watch might look like or the cost. All that information will be announced later, along with the actual features of the watch.
Still with TAG Heuer designing the device, it can’t possibly be any uglier than some of the smartwatches already on the market.
Intel is already partnering with watchmaker Fossil and launched the Mica smart bracelet with partner Opening Ceremony; today’s news is just another company the chipmaker is associating itself with in the wearables market. It’s hoping these allegiances and devices give it strong foothold in the wearables market so it doesn’t get left behind as it did in the mobile market.
source: http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2015/03/19/swiss-watchmaker-tag-heuer-teams-up-with-intel-and-google-for-smartwatch/

Monday, March 16, 2015

Ferdinand Magellan’s discovery of the Philippines

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credit:Manila Bulletin

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Photos credit:http://murtaughexplorers20112012.wikispaces.com/file/view/magellanmap.gif/284277520/magellanmap.gif
On September 20, 1519, Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer working for Spain, led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe in search of valuable spices, bringing his crew of 241 men, and a fleet of five ships – Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Victoria, and Santiago. Trading in spices during those times brought immense wealth to European nations.
There were two records of the journey. The first was a journal by Italian passenger Antonio Pigafetta, and the second, a series of interviews with survivors by Maximilianus of Transylvania. Magellan’s expedition was undertaken because the Spaniards were looking for alternate routes to the east; wanted to discover lands, spices, and gold; and wanted to expand Spanish territory and spread Christianity.
Magellan’s travel was long and arduous, and only two ships survived it. He discovered the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America and became the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean. His remaining ships arrived at Homonhon island in Samar on March 16, 1521, named it Isla San Lazaro, erected a cross, and claimed it for Spain. The islands were later named Filipinas (Philippines) in honor of King Philip of Spain. The first Catholic mass was celebrated on Limasawa island in Leyte on March 31, 1521, by Spanish friar Fr. Pedro Valderama. Among those present were Rajah Siagu and Rajah Kolambu who forged a blood compact with Magellan. Fr. Valderama baptized the two rajahs and 400 natives on April 14, 1521, in Cebu where Magellan erected a huge cross – the famous “Magellan’s Cross” – and gifted the converts with the Sto. Niño images as peace symbol.
Magellan was killed by poisoned arrows on April 27, 1521, during the Battle of Mactan by natives of the island led by local chieftain Lapu-Lapu, who refused to recognize Spanish authority. The battle was considered the first Filipino resistance against foreign invaders, and Lapu-Lapu was hailed a hero.
Magellan was credited with leading the first expedition that proved that the world is round by sailing from east to west. After him, five more Spanish expeditions followed between 1525 and 1542, starting Spain’s colonization of the Philippines in the next three centuries.
Born in Oporto, Portugal, in 1480 to members of Portuguese nobility, Magellan served royalty at an early age. In Lisbon, he learned cartography (mapmaking), astronomy, and celestial navigation (steering a ship based on positions of the stars). He joined the Portuguese fleet sailing in 1505 to East Africa, and went to Malacca (Malaysia) and to Moluccas (Indonesia). In 1513 Magellan was wounded in a battle in North Africa. In 1517, he went to Seville to work for Spanish royalty.
credit/source: https://ph.news.yahoo.com/magellan-discovery-philippines-160409694.html

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Apple Watch starts at $349, launching April 24

credit/by 
Price range from $349 to the low-end Sport to... $17,000?
photo:http://arstechnica.com/
SAN FRANCISCO—On Monday, Apple finalized and solidified the release plans for the Apple Watch, telling customers to get ready to line up for the wearable device on April 24. The cheapest option, the Apple Watch Sport, will start at $349 for the 38 mm model and $50 more for the 42 mm model.
Meanwhile, the stainless steel Apple Watch will start at $549 for the 38 mm model, and that price will balloon all the way to $1,049 "depending on the band you pick," Apple CEO Tim Cook told the San Francisco crowd. The stainless steel 42 mm model will cost $50 more. Both models will be available for pre-order from Apple Stores and Apple's website beginning April 10; select stores will also begin hosting Apple Watch previews on that date. A far more lucrative Apple Watch Edition, priced "from $10,000" with solid-gold cases and custom-designed bands, will be made available in "select retail stores" in the near future as well.
"[Apple Watch is] the most personal device we have ever created," Apple CEO Tim Cook said. "It’s not just with you, it’s on you. Since what you wear is an expression of who you are, we’ve designed Apple Watch to appeal to a whole variety of people with different tastes and preferences."
photo:http://arstechnica.com
A brief “real-life” demonstration of the Apple Watch by Apple’s Kevin Lynch ran through a lot of features that the company had previously revealed at an event in September 2014, though this time with a better sense of exactly how the device's various functions might work in the real world. Users can enable voice recognition, meaning that saying “Hey Siri” to the watch will turn on a voice-powered search, and they can tap on the screen and turn the Apple Watch’s dial to navigate through various apps. Lynch demonstrated calling an UberX car via Uber, opening a flight boarding pass via Passbook, and sending “stickers” via WeChat.
Lynch showed off a location-sensitive notification about a hotel reservation, and in the case of the W Hotel chain, its Apple Watch app functioned both as a check-in device and as a digital room key. He also pretended to make a payment at a Whole Foods store by double-tapping his Apple Watch button—apparently the default way to bring up Apple Pay—and then holding his phone up to a credit card kiosk. His demo took advantage of iOS 8 features like voice messages and Handoff.
photo:http://arstechnica.com
“We believe Apple Watch will be integral to your day, so we’ve designed it with all-day battery life,” Cook said to reassure heavy users about the Watch’s real-world use, the other big question mark the device has faced before its launch. “In a typical day, you can expect 18 hours.”
The September event covered at length the watch's integration with iOS, including the "QuickBoard" notification system, the separate WatchKit API, and the quirky "Digital Touch" way of sending notes and pictures to and from Apple Watches. Today’s event recapped much of that information, again showing us features like the watch’s health and fitness suite and the dial-like interface used to find and “Digitally Touch” a user’s friends. We also saw a few more animated watch faces, including a bouncy one of Mickey Mouse tapping his feet as time ticked away. On Monday, Cook demonstrated the ability to quickly swipe to common apps in a feature he called “Glances,” which was met with tiny text on the top and bottom of a default screen to hint at what those swipeable updates might be.
We got a brief demo of the watch in September, including a look at features like the "digital crown" and its basic GUI. We're hoping to go wrist-on with Apple Watches that are connected to actual iOS devices—meaning models from the iPhone 5 on up—by the end of today, and we'll bring you our impressions when we do.
source: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/03/apple-watch-launching-on-tktktk-starting-at-349/

CHARACTER


Character
photo:yahoo.com
The TRUE COLOR and CHARACTER of a Person shows
 when Nobody is Looking
by: Nature's Eye: naomispenny.blogspot.com

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Huawei Watch is powered by Android Wear, and Brings Serious Style To Android Wear

credit/by: 
Huawei has announced its first Android Wear smartwatch at Mobile World Congress. The watch features a 42mm round face with a 286 ppi 1.4-inch AMOLED touchscreen, and will be sold in gold, silver and black with various designs for both men and women. It’ll also offer more than 40 customizable watch faces.
Tech features include a heart rate monitor, 4GB of storage, 512MB of RAM, a 6-axis motion sensor and a a Qualcomm 1.2GHz processor. It will pair to any Android phone using Bluetooth L and will be available in over 20 countries across the globe.
huaweiwatchfeatures 730x372 Huawei Watch is powered by Android Wear, and its stunning
photo: Ben Wood/twitter.com
As part of a whole line of wearables announced by Huawei today, the new Android Wear watch, the Talkband N1 and Talkband B2 will connect to the Huawei health ecosystem to track and monitor your activity in one place.
The watch is slated to arrive mid-June 2015 – just a few months after the Apple Watch is expected to ship. No word on pricing just yet.
source: http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2015/03/01/huawei-watch-is-powered-by-android-wear-and-its-stunning/

Monday, March 2, 2015

10 Content Creation Tools for Bloggers

photo:pinkpot

credit.by: Chaitra

WHY DO WE NEED CONTENT CREATION TOOLS?

From coming up with ideas to presenting them to the reader, creating good-quality content regularly is a long and challenging task. Although creating content is still the work of the mind, there are a few tools that make the process easier. 

Personally for me, these tools have been life changing, as they save me a lot of time by providing easy methods to present my ideas in a clear and appealing way. 

TEXTUAL CONTENT:

1. Text Editors: Any content management system that you may be using like wordpress or blogger, provides you with a rich text editor to write and edit your content in a fuss-free way. Alternatively you can use offline word processors such as Microsoft word (Windows), Apple Pages (Mac), EverNote etc. Editors provide you with a set of features like font & color pickers, spellchecker etc. and formatting tools that help you create error-free and beautiful looking content. This awesome webinar by Regina gives a complete lowdown on using Apple Pages to create digital content.

2. WordtoCleanHTML: If you have tried to copy a blog post that you drafted in Evernote or Microsoft word into your blogging platform editor, you know what a nightmare it is. All the formatting disappears and the beautiful content you created suddenly gets wild and ugly. WordtocleanHTML comes to the rescue by providing an easy way to convert your content into HTML that preserves the formatting of your text.

3. Google keyword planner: Multiple blogs have been written about the importance of having the right words in your content : a match between the keywords that people search for, and the words you use in your post can multiply your audience and reach. Google keyword planner helps you identify the right keywords and generate relevant combinations, so that you can write great content without compromising on your writing style. Here is a great tutorial to get started with Google keywords planner.

4. Font resources: Depending on the content you are creating, you might need different fonts to embellish your text. Google fonts and Dafont are great places to find a variety of fonts that you can easily install and use in your projects.  

5. Google docs: If you are working in a collaborative environment, Google docs is an excellent choice to create, edit and share content within your team in real-time. It provides a web-based word processor that can be accessed by multiple people at the same time thereby making collaborations a lot more fun and easier. 

GRAPHICAL CONTENT:

6. Canva: This is an awesome tool that helps you create beautiful graphics without requiring the skills of a designer. It provides an easy drag-drop interface to integrate text and images into beautiful layouts thereby helping you create all kinds of visuals - blog graphics,  flyers, cover images, etc. in an easy and quick way!

7. Skitch: This app is great for creating annotations and markups for graphics. Taking screenshots and editing them is so much more easier with skitch. 

8. Thinglink: This tool is a recent discovery and it is so darn awesome. With this you can make your graphics interactive by embedding links / icons in them which are activated on hover. This is useful for sharing social media links or embedding short and quick information in graphical content.

9. Infogr.am: Infographics are one of my favorite content forms as they provide a quick and intuitive way of grasping a lot of information in a short time. Infogr.am is a great tool that you can use to create infographics by importing and visualizing data in various forms such as charts, graphs, venn diagrams, etc.

10. Place it: When I was setting up my Etsy shop, I wanted to showcase my designs on real-world devices. Okay, it took me at least 10 cups of coffee and pulling out my hair before I figured that these kind of graphics were called mockups. I finally created these mockups via a time consuming process on Adobe photoshop. A few days ago, I found this tool - Place it which creates fancy mockups of your images on all possible real-world environments that you can think of in just a click - and I was like - ?! 

There are several alternatives to these tools, but these are by far the most easy to use and distraction free in my experience. I would love to hear about your favorite tools for creating content. Happy Sunday! :)

What tools aid your content creation process?
credit/source: http://frame.bloglovin.com/?post=4209778307&group=0&frame_type=p&context=&context_ids=&blog=11805513&frame=1&click=0&user=0