Category : Photos/Photography

(BBC) In pictures: Easter celebrations around the world

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Posted in Easter, Globalization, Photos/Photography

Good Friday commemorated across the world – in pictures

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Posted in Christology, Globalization, Holy Week, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Photos/Photography

(Church Times) Wedding photographers and clergy at odds, petition suggests

Ed Lloyd Owen, a society wedding photographer, described the initiative “as a storm in a teacup”: he had not signed the petition and did not intend to, he told the Church Times this week. He saw the issue as a matter of co-operation.

“There is always going to be some friction between two people trying to do their jobs and getting in each other’s way slightly,” he said. “It’s overcome by simply making sure you speak to each other. I also observe the rule of no flash and don’t go near ‘the bubble’. I wear smart clothes (usually tails) and rubber-sole shoes, only move during hymns, and use silent cameras with long lenses.”

His view was not far from that of the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams, who told The Sunday Times this week: “While some vicars can be a complete pain and over-controlling to a degree, clergy too need to be able to do their jobs.”

It was reasonable, he said, for officiating clerics to ask photographers “not to be intrusive during a service when something significant is supposed to be taking place at the spiritual level”.

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Posted in Church of England, Marriage & Family, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Photos/Photography

In Pictures Epiphany 2024 Celebrations Around Europe

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Posted in Epiphany, Europe, Photos/Photography

(BBC) Pictures of Christmas 2023 around the world

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Posted in Christmas, Globalization, Photos/Photography, Religion & Culture

Our thanks to Bonclarken Conference Center

Posted in Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Photos/Photography

(WSJ) Fake Nudes of Real Students Cause an Uproar at a New Jersey High School

When girls at Westfield High School in New Jersey found out boys were sharing nude photos of them in group chats, they were shocked, and not only because it was an invasion of privacy. The images weren’t real.

Students said one or more classmates used an online tool powered by artificial intelligence to make the images, then shared them with others. The discovery has sparked uproar in Westfield, an affluent town outside New York City.

Digitally altered or faked images and videos have exploded along with the availability of free or cheap AI tools. While celebrity likenesses from Oprah Winfrey to Pope Francis have drawn media attention, the overwhelming majority of faked images are pornographic, experts say.

The lack of clarity on such images’ legality—and how or whether to punish their makers—has parents, schools and law enforcement running to catch up as AI speeds ahead.

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Posted in * Culture-Watch, --Social Networking, America/U.S.A., Blogging & the Internet, Children, Education, Ethics / Moral Theology, Law & Legal Issues, Marriage & Family, Photos/Photography, Science & Technology

Another Vacation Photo

Posted in * By Kendall, Harmon Family, Photos/Photography, Travel

A Vacation Photo

Posted in * By Kendall, Harmon Family, Photos/Photography

NASA Reveals Webb Telescope’s First Images of Unseen Universe

The dawn of a new era in astronomy is here as the world gets its first look at the full capabilities of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

The full set of the telescope’s first full-color images and spectroscopic data, which uncover a collection of cosmic features elusive until now, released Tuesday, are available…[there.

“Today, we present humanity with a groundbreaking new view of the cosmos from the James Webb Space Telescope – a view the world has never seen before,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “These images, including the deepest infrared view of our universe that has ever been taken, show us how Webb will help to uncover the answers to questions we don’t even yet know to ask; questions that will help us better understand our universe and humanity’s place within it.

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Posted in Photos/Photography, Science & Technology

(Washington Post) In Photos-Easter 2023 Scenes from Around the World

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Posted in Easter, Globalization, Photos/Photography

(NYT) Making Deepfakes Gets Cheaper and Easier Thanks to A.I.

It wouldn’t be completely out of character for Joe Rogan, the comedian turned podcaster, to endorse a “libido-boosting” coffee brand for men.

But when a video circulating on TikTok recently showed Mr. Rogan and his guest, Andrew Huberman, hawking the coffee, some eagle-eyed viewers were shocked — including Dr. Huberman.

“Yep that’s fake,” Dr. Huberman wrote on Twitter after seeing the ad, in which he appears to praise the coffee’s testosterone-boosting potential, even though he never did.

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Posted in Anthropology, Ethics / Moral Theology, Photos/Photography, Science & Technology

(NBC) This is so beautiful and not to be missed: whale-watching boat off California coast accidentally catches birth of a new whale

Posted in * General Interest, Animals, Energy, Natural Resources, Photos/Photography

(CBC) 13 pictures of Epiphany 2023 celebrations around the world

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Posted in Epiphany, Globalization, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Photos/Photography

BBC–In pictures: the World celebrates Christmas in 2022

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Posted in Christmas, Photos/Photography

Our Faithful and Energetic Puggle Has Died

Posted in Animals, Harmon Family, Photos/Photography

2022 Vacation Photos (II)–Lake Greenwood, South Carolina

Posted in * South Carolina, Photos/Photography, Travel

2022 Vacation Photos (I)–Lake George

Posted in * By Kendall, Harmon Family, Photos/Photography

We took a long Weekend for our 35th Anniversary

Posted in Harmon Family, Marriage & Family, Photos/Photography

(Reuters) In pictures: Easter 2022 celebrations around the world

There are 25 in all.

Posted in Easter, Globalization, Holy Week, Photos/Photography

(Guardian) In pictures: Good Friday around the world

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Posted in Globalization, Holy Week, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Photos/Photography

(Reuters) Celebrating the Epiphany around the world

Take a look at them all (30 total).

Posted in Epiphany, Globalization, Photos/Photography

(BBC) In pictures: the World celebrates Christmas in 2021

People across the world are celebrating Christmas – one of the holiest times in the Christian calendar. However, for the second year in a row, there are smaller crowds at church services and other events because of the continuing coronavirus outbreak. Here’s our snapshot of global festivities….

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Posted in Christmas, Globalization, Photos/Photography, Religion & Culture

(Reuters) Deepfake anyone: AI synthetic media tech enters perilous phase

“Do you want to see yourself acting in a movie or on TV?” said the description for one app on online stores, offering users the chance to create AI-generated synthetic media, also known as deepfakes.

“Do you want to see your best friend, colleague, or boss dancing?” it added. “Have you ever wondered how would you look if your face swapped with your friend’s or a celebrity’s?”

The same app was advertised differently on dozens of adult sites: “Make deepfake porn in a sec,” the ads said. “Deepfake anyone.”

How increasingly sophisticated technology is applied is one of the complexities facing synthetic media software, where machine learning is used to digitally model faces from images and then swap them into films as seamlessly as possible.

The technology, barely four years old, may be at a pivotal point, according to interviews with companies, researchers, policymakers and campaigners.

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Posted in * Culture-Watch, Anthropology, Blogging & the Internet, Corporations/Corporate Life, Ethics / Moral Theology, Photos/Photography, Pornography, Science & Technology

Yet More Vermont Vacation Pictures

Posted in Harmon Family, Photos/Photography

I bet you Guessed it, Yes We went to Lake George Also

Posted in Harmon Family, Photos/Photography

Still More from Vermont

Posted in Harmon Family, Photos/Photography

Vermont vacation Photos

Posted in Harmon Family, Photos/Photography

Because–Puppies make life Better!

Posted in Animals, Harmon Family, Photos/Photography

(CNN) in Pictures–Memorial Day 2021 in the USA

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Posted in America/U.S.A., Death / Burial / Funerals, Military / Armed Forces, Photos/Photography