filter

'Dark trade' in Web-censoring tools exposed by Pakistan plan

For years, Silicon Valley companies have quietly conducted a lucrative trade selling software and equipment to countries that restrict dissent over the Internet. But the recent dust-up involving an Internet filtering plan by Pakistan has turned the spotlight on a controversial business that may have a difficult time remaining secret much longer.

Broad public backlash appears to have prompted Pakistan officials to back off plans this week to build a system that will enable them to easily filter and block Internet content seen by the more than 170 million people living in the country. But Pakistan isn't the first … Read more

Pakistan pulling plug on controversial Internet filter--report

Pakistan may scrap a controversial plan to block and filter the Internet nationwide.

A member of Pakistan's National Assembly told the internationally affiliated newspaper Express Tribune that the Ministry of Information Technology had decided to withdraw the plan.

The legislator--Bushra Goha, who represents the country's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region--said she was informed by a senior ministry official that the plan is being withdrawn "due to the concern shown by various stakeholders."

Officially, the MoIT has neither confirmed nor denied the report, according to the paper. A spokesperson said to expect a statement on the project's future Tuesday.… Read more

Pakistan's Internet filter has the Valley buzzing over who's bidding

It's the bid that dares not (publicly) speak its name.

Friday was the deadline for companies to file their applications to win a piece of a Pakistani project that has stoked controversy stretching from to South Asia to Silicon Valley.

In late February, Pakistan's National ICT R&D Fund, which represents the government, began inviting bids to help create a "national-level URL filtering and blocking system." The system was described as a way to protect the public from "undesirable content."

Many countries have deployed web filtering and blocking systems at the Internet backbones … Read more

PhotoDirector offers a simple workflow

CyberLink PhotoDirector is an all-in-one photography workflow program that lets you manage, retouch, enhance, share, and print your digital photos. With its intuitive workflow and nondestructive editing environment, it appears to be a great choice for beginners and intermediate users. Plus, with the possibilities furnished by the robust DirectorZone.com community, it might even work for more-advanced users as well.

One change you'll notice from the last version is that the PhotoDirector interface is now split into five main viewing panels as opposed to three: Library, Adjustment, Edit, Slideshow, and Print.

The Library presents all of your digital photos … Read more

Counterfeit Nikon filters on the loose?

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but when it comes to protective filters for lenses, it may not be such a good thing. A photographer thought he scored a good deal but was not amused when he found out his newly bought 77mm Nikon NC filter was far from authentic.

The difference was quite apparent when he compared it with an original filter sold by an authorized Nikon dealer. Some giveaways that your filter is a counterfeit include a Nikon logo and inscriptions that are less vibrant; duller colors on the packaging; and, the most obvious--an instruction manual looks like it was printed on a cheap printer. … Read more

VLC Media Player gets face-lift, new features

The Open Source VLC Media Player has been a longtime favorite here at Download.com, and a recent update gives the Mac app a complete overhaul to the interface.

VLC Media Player (Mac or Windows) made a name for itself as the open-source alternative to default players from both of today's major operating systems. On Windows users would grab VLC to play files not supported by Windows Media Player and for Mac users, it was often the only way to play Windows-only media file types. VLC Media Player is not the only option for free video playback, but its … Read more

Instagram update brings new features, filters, UI

Love Instagram? Everybody's favorite photo-tuning app just got a little better--and more than a little worse.

The first thing you'll notice in version 2.1, which hit the App Store last Friday, is the interface: it's a bit prettier, but gone are the text labels identifying each of the five main buttons.

This wouldn't be a huge deal except that the buttons themselves have changed. In place of Feed, there's now a Home icon. Popular has given way to a star, and News is now a heart inside a speech bubble. Huh?… Read more

Nikon's imminent D800 could offer high-sharpness option

It looks like Nikon's highly anticipated D800, a large-sensor SLR that supplants the three-year-old D700, will cater to photographers who want to leave behind that mixed blessing of digital photography, the antialiasing filter.

The job of that filter is to remove moire artifacts--wavy lines and other visual distractions that can occur when an image sensor's grid of pixels captures an image with repeating elements such as fabric patterns. The antialiasing filter works by slightly blurring the image, which is convenient when moire is a problem but which degrades sharpness in the many situations where it's not. … Read more

Photo editing powerhouse

Photogene2 is the successor of a favorite photo-editing app of ours on iOS, and this completely rebuilt version is definitely worth checking out. To start off, a redesigned interface offers intuitive controls for exploring Photogene2's many editing options.

Photogene has a bunch of editing tools and effects you can use with your images. Either take a snapshot with your iPhone camera or grab an image from your photo library to get started. From there, the app features a radial menu on the bottom that divides up Photogene's main functions, including crop, rotate, color adjust, effects presets, and retouching … Read more