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Add Depth Effects to your iPhone camera with this new app

Thanks to Depth Effects for sponsoring The Loop this week. Now everyone can get beautiful Portrait Mode photos with their iPhone. Depth Effects gives you the power to apply a striking depth of field to any photo. Get DLSR-quality focus and bokeh with simple controls. Also, Depth Effects is the best app for anamorphic depth of field and cinematic bokeh.

deptheffects_squaread3

Daredevil rescue of skier dangling dangerously from lift

Denver Post:

A man who got tangled in an Arapahoe Basin chairlift Wednesday morning and was hanging unconscious from his neck was cut down by a professional slackliner who climbed up a lift tower, slid approximately 30 feet across the lift’s cable and cut him free with a knife tossed from ski patrollers.

Follow the link, watch the video. Best watched in full-screen. This is a remarkable save. You can see the knife tossed up to the climber after he was unsuccessful in kicking the hanging skier free. Incredible.

Amazon’s Alexa in your home

At the CES show this week a raft of appliance and home electronics makers said they have added Amazon’s voice-controlled virtual assistant, Alexa, to products ranging from TVs to robot vacuums. For non-techies, CES is the annual Las Vegas geek fest where these companies converge to show off their latest and greatest gizmos and features to more than 100,000 attendees.

We don’t know where this is going yet, but it’s clear that Amazon wants to be the hub in your home, and third-parties are buying in. Siri still seems to be the assistant you carry with you, but not the one that controls your surroundings.

Free 2017 Parks Canada Discovery Pass

Canada is celebrating its 150th Birthday in 2017 and this free pass is a great way to visit some of the most beautiful national parks in the world.

The Dog Factory: inside the sickening world of puppy mills

I hope there’s a special place in hell for people who abuse animals and another for those who willingly buy animals from such places. I’ve had several dogs and cats in my life (I got my latest one a few weeks ago, a 5-year-old cat named Wallace who is “The World’s Clumsiest Cat”) and every one of them has come from the local version of the SPCA. WARNING: The story includes some disturbing and heartbreaking images of abused animals.

In 2017, cars are at the frontier of technology

“Cars at the frontier of technology” is both a good thing and a bad thing. At least for those of us in North America, cars are still an important part of life and not just a way to get from point A to point B. But the increasing reliance on technology, to drive sales if nothing else, may be outstripping both a driver’s and our government’s ability to comprehend the direction we are heading.

The evolution of Disney animation

I love Disney movies but I bet most of you are like me and look fondly upon even the animation styles of the early films, crude as they seem to be by today’s standards.

Add Depth Effects to your iPhone camera with this new app [Sponsor]

Now everyone can get beautiful Portrait Mode photos with their iPhone. Depth Effects gives you the power to apply a striking depth of field to any photo. Get DLSR-quality focus and bokeh with simple controls. Also, Depth Effects is the best app for anamorphic depth of field and cinematic bokeh.

deptheffects_squaread3

Sierra PDF problems get worse in 10.12.2

I don’t use PDFs enough or in this way for this to be an issue but in reading the article, you can see how this will affect many developers.

Mac malware of 2016

This is a long and complicated post but might be of interest to those of you who deal with these issues.

Apple’s 2016 in review

I don’t agree with everything Chuq says but he’s a guy who has been in the trenches at Apple so what he writes is at the very least interesting and worthy of discussion.

Best alternatives to Apple TV

I don’t use my Apple TV enough to bother to look for alternatives but I’m curious if any of you use alternatives or additions to the Apple TV and why.

A billion dollar gift for Twitter

Hard to argue with this list but having Dorsey respond with, “Yeah – we really need to add editing” isn’t encouraging.

Evolving iPad desktop usage

I’m always interested in how others manage to use their iPad full-time. I love my iPad and use it every day but there is no way I can make it my full-time machine.

Depth Effects for your iPhone camera

Thanks to Depth Effects for sponsoring The Loop this week.

Now everyone can get beautiful Portrait Mode photos with their iPhone. Depth Effects gives you the power to apply a striking depth of field to any photo. Get DLSR-quality focus and bokeh with simple controls. Also, Depth Effects is the best app for anamorphic depth of field and cinematic bokeh.

deptheffects_squaread3

4K HDR Blu Ray – Is it worth it?

With CES coming in a few days, there will be a tsunami of news and PR about 4K HDR Blu Ray being the “next big thing”. But, unless you are a serious cinephile (and have serious money to burn), you can probably ignore the vast majority of 4K HDR news out of the 2017 CES.

Carrie Fisher, gone

This is very difficult, a body blow. Of course I remember Princess Leia, but when I think of Carrie Fisher, I think of Wishful Drinking (book and HBO special) and her great arc on 30 Rock.

And then there’s this.

Damn.

HandBrake 1.0.0 Released

Back in the day, Handbrake was an indispensable tool for ripping CDs. Now, I use it regularly to re-encode videos for the Apple TV.