GoKawiil
Tech News
The Public Domain Review, a nonprofit publication, has shared a collection of historical photographs depicting elaborate sand sculptures created on the beaches of Atlantic City between roughly 1880 and 1920. The images document a once-popular seaside art form that flourished during that era. Alongside the feature, the outlet appealed to readers for donations, noting it operates without ads or paywalls.
A photography guide explains that Apple's new iPhone 18 Pro has a slightly wider variable aperture (f/1.48 vs f/1.78) than its predecessor, theoretically producing shallower depth of field. However, it outlines four techniques—Portrait mode, Macro mode, shooting close to a subject, and using the telephoto lens—that let owners of older iPhones create similar background-blur effects without upgrading.
Emily Oberg, founder of fashion brand Sporty & Rich, revealed she tested AI-generated imagery to cut costs on e-commerce photo shoots, which typically run upwards of $200,000 twice a year. She said the results looked flat, lifeless and overly perfect, with models appearing 'dead in the eyes,' prompting her to return to using a full human team for future shoots.
A senior consumer tech reviewer wrote a tongue-in-cheek first-person account of using a crossbody phone strap, a carrying style popularized in Europe and among younger users. She humorously details wearing it with everyday casual outfits, using it for quick texting and tap-to-pay, and even repurposing the phone's flashlight as reading light in dim bars.
There is no single button in iOS that resets the Camera app back to its original settings, according to a new how-to guide. Instead, users who want to undo accumulated tweaks or clean up a second-hand iPhone must manually revert each camera option one by one.
The developer behind the MartyPC emulator commissioned a 5.6-gigapixel die photograph of an NEC V20 CPU (fabricated by second-source manufacturer Sharp) to extract its microcode. The goal is to replace MartyPC's existing V20 emulation core, which was essentially a modified 8088 core rather than a true cycle-accurate model, with one based on the chip's actual internal logic.
The Public Domain Review has spotlighted photographer John Margolies' extensive documentation of American vernacular roadside architecture, including motels, diners, and novelty buildings. The nonprofit outlet accompanied the feature with an appeal to readers for donations, noting it operates without ads or paywalls.
An essay examines the 'deadpan' style of photography, popularised by artists like Andreas Gursky, which mimics scientific or documentary imagery through flat lighting, even focus, and square framing. The piece argues that despite its appearance of neutrality, deadpan photographs like Gursky's '99 Cent' are carefully composed and manipulated works, not raw records of reality.
Kodak engineer Steven Sasson built the first digital camera in 1975, a bulky device that shot low-resolution black-and-white images and took over 20 seconds per photo. Despite pioneering the technology, Kodak ultimately collapsed because it clung to the film-based business model that had made it successful, rather than embracing its own invention.