THE NATIONAL ID CARD CHALLENGE: Asks Iranians Who They Really Are

Two popular Instagram pages have been asking Iranians post these photos - and many are embracing the "KarteMeliChallenge" ("national ID card challenge"). The black-and-white, expressionless ID photos stand in stark contrast to colourful, fun, style-conscious snapshots that people have put…

RUSSIA’S CLANDESTINE FASHION SHOWROOMS

One night during Paris Fashion Week, I was standing in a Marais street chatting to an acquaintance who works in sales for a number of high-end labels and showrooms. A couple of stylish Russian-speaking men walked past and exchanged hellos…

VIBRAM: A Falsely Adverised Barefoot Running Shoe ?

If you were one of the 70 million Americans who purchased a pair of those weird-looking "barefoot running" shoes, you may be entitled to some cash. Vibram, the company behind FiveFingers shoes, just settled a $3.75 million class action lawsuit…

FRIENDS & INFLUENCE FOR SALE ONLINE

This past week, I bought 4,000 new followers on Twitter for the price of a cup of coffee. I picked up 4,000 friends on Facebook for the same $5 and, for a few dollars more, had half of them like…

THE CHINESE PARIS: A Fake, Dark And Empty City

Only in China can you find pieces of Athens, Amsterdam, New York, London, Venice, and Washington, DC, all within the same national border. The country is littered with the romantic monuments and historic urban centers of world cities, re-created with…

THE ART OF SAMPURU IN JAPAN

“Since moving to Japan, a lot of things have struck me as weird (I mean different) but one of the things I was intrigued with was the plastic food samples in front of restaurants. Sometimes in a display case, sometimes…

AN “ORIGINAL” PICASSO ONLINE FOR JUST $450 ?

Bargain hunting online? How about an original Rembrandt for $900 (“you can clearly tell its age by the paper,” the seller of this etching attests), or a signed piece in ink by Matisse for $1,250. (The artist’s work is, the…

HURRICANE SANDY IN NEW YORK : Real & Fake Pictures

Tropical storm Sandy churned towards an anxiously quiet New York City on Monday, bringing 85 mph winds and storm surges that could lash 50 million people along the East Coast. With Hurricane Sandy approaching the New York metro area, the…

IS THE ‘EARLIER MONA LISA’ A COPY ?

Some critics of the painting claim that the ‘Earlier Mona Lisa’ is a copy of the ‘Mona Lisa’ in the Louvre. The Mona Lisa Foundation points to the following reasons as to why it is not a copy: Apart from…

HOW NEWSPAPER USES PHOTOSHOP TO IMPRESS YOU

Using Photoshop to make actresses and models look unrealistically attractive is bad enough. Using it to make a part of the world that has enough problems as it is look even more apocalyptic ! The Kronen Zeitung is Austria's largest…

BRIGHT BLIND : The Fake Window Blinds Light

Does your room have a small window and is lacking light?  Is the lack of light depressing you?  How about this awesome fake window with blinds light to brighten up your room and put in you a better mood? The…

PHOTO MANIPULATIONS IN THE URSS

Contemporary news agencies are often blamed for photo manipulations. It started long ago in fact. Back in the times of WWII graphic artists learnt to distor reality and show what they wanted to show but not what really had happened.…

THE CHINESE FAKE PARADISE

ver the past three weeks, I’ve had the pleasure (or, in some cases, displeasure) of frequenting the top Shanghai fake markets – Science and Technology (S&T) Museum, Nanjing Rd, Qipu Rd, and Yu Yuan Gardens. I purposely left out the…

THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS HEALTH MYTHS

ou’ve Always Heard That…You Shouldn’t Cut Off the Bread’s Crust. It’s Full of Vitamins. The truth is: In a 2002 German study, researchers found that the baking process produces a novel type of cancer-fighting antioxidant in bread that is eight…

BRUCE SARGEANT AND HIS CIRCLE: Figure and Form

rtists in the 20th century used to be multifarious in their activities, often taking their work through different stages or periods of evolution; Picasso and Max Ernst are two good examples of this. In today’s inflated art market this is…

THE 5th DIMENSIONAL CAMERA, a fictional device

he 5th Dimensional Camera project began in October 2009, as a collaboration between EPSRC, Nesta, Royal College of Art, Superflux and scientists from the Quantum Information Processing Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (QIP IRC). Whilst investigating the science, the team came across…

SHANGHAI NEW TOWNS

A decade ago, a selection of western architects and urban planners was invited to participate in design competitions for thematic core areas in Shanghai. The proposed designs were then translated into a Chinese context and partly realized. They make part…