Microsoft Announces the “Surface Studio” All-in-One PC with the Flexibility of a Tablet

Microsoft has expanded its family of Surface products and recently announced its latest addition—the Surface Studio. Reminiscent of the much-beloved Apple iMac, this all-in-one device goes a few steps further than its competitor and is a powerful combination of a PC and tablet that moves like a drafting table.

The 28-inch Surface Studio boasts the “world’s thinnest LCD monitor ever built” at just 12.5 millimeters (about .5 inch) thick. This display has an impressive 4500x3000 resolution and features “True Color” technology to give you the most accurate color reproduction possible—for designers and photographers, this is an especially impressive feature. In addition, the Surface Studio will allow you to switch between color spaces (such as CYMK and sRGB) as you work.

Microsoft’s tagline for their newly-launched endeavor is “Turn your desk into a Studio,” meaning that however you want to work and play, it’s seemingly possible to have it all. Their simultaneous touch-screen can be adjusted to a 20-degree orientation, and the device also supports a variety of accessories, the most notable being the Surface Dial. This hockey-puck-like peripheral can be placed directly on screen to adjust features like volume, brush size, color, and more.

The Surface Studio is now available for pre-order with a starting price tag of $2,999. It will be released on December 15, 2016, just in time for the holidays.

Loving Big Dog Always Carries His Little Pup Friend on His Back

Ever since Lulu met Blizzard as a little puppy, she took to him as if he was her protective big brother. "She started sleeping on his back for warmth and comfort," their human, David Mazzarella, told The Dodo. Soon, the St. Bernard's back became the vehicle from which Lulu saw the world. Whether they are sightseeing their hometown of Mt. Vernon, Washington, picking pumpkins, going for a hike, taking a bath, or watching TV, Blizzard carries Lulu on his shoulders through it all. "He doesn't seem to mind at all," Mazzarella said. In fact, Blizzard will stop during walks and wait patiently for Lulu to jump up onto her favorite spot. It often takes several tries.

You can follow the beautiful friendship of Blizzard and Lulu on Instagram. 

10,000 Books Create a Literary River on the Streets of Toronto

As part of Toronto's Nuit Blanche, anonymous Spanish collective Luzinterruptus staged their Literature vs. Traffic installation, shutting down one of the city's busy streets and overflowing it with 10,000 books. Previously installed in Madrid, New York, and Melbourne, the piece is a commentary on the normally clogged, traffic-ridden city arteries. By allowing the street to flow with the written word, the city is giving back a vehicle-free space, if only for an evening. Typical of their thought-provoking work that often deals with themes of environmentalism, each book was illuminted by small lights, creating a twinkling effect that bounced from the pages of the literary river.

With books donated by Salvation Army, a squad of over 50 volunteers worked tirelessly over 12 days to pack Hagerman Street in downtown Toronto with pieces of literature. "Thus, a city area which is typically reserved for speed, pollution and noise, will become, for one night, a place for quietness, calm and coexistance illuminated by the vague, soft light coming out of the lighted pages," the artists explain via their website. "The books will be there for those who want to take them so the installation will recycle itself and will last as long as users want it there. Cars will eventually fill their space but for many of those who walked by this place that night, the memory of those books that took that same space will improve their relationship with these surroundings."

Spectators were encouraged to engage with the participatory artwork and to take books home with them, which left the piece dismantled after about 10 hours. Beyond the implications about traffic and congestion in urban areas, the installation also revalues the printed book in an era that is going increasingly digital. By looking through the phsyical material and selecting their preferred reading materials, the discarded books were reclaimed by new owners. 

Tiny Home Housing Program Gives Low-Income Families the Opportunity to be Homeowners

Many Americans dream of owning their own home, but it’s not always feasible—especially for those who have low incomes or were recently homeless. With these obstacles, ownership might seem like an unattainable goal, but the Tiny Homes project in Detroit wants to change that. Started by a non profit called Cass Community Social Services (CCSS), it aims to give this group of unlikely homeowners the opportunity to have their own place.

The Tiny Homes project is run by Reverend Faith Fowler, who saw property in a different light after her mother died—she realized that it’s something passed down within families. If one member of the family owns a home, by extension, others can have access to this symbol of stability for generations to come. “We were looking for a way to help homeless and other low-income people gain an asset,” Fowler explained to Upworthy.

Tiny homes are a hot housing trend, partly because they aren’t as expensive as larger structures. CCSS makes it even more convenient for families to eventually own a house by making their unique program rent-to-own. To get started, prospective tenants are identified by shelters and neighborhood canvassing. These groups find people who are ready to move but can’t afford to buy a home. There’s a review and interview process, and if the tenant is selected, they enter into a year-long lease on the tiny unit.

The rent for these homes is no more than a third of the tenant’s monthly salary, with the price equaling to a dollar per square foot. A 325-square-foot house, for example, would be $325 a month in rent. After seven years of making payments—along with mandatory financial coaching and home-ownership classes—the tenant officially owns their tiny home.

So, how many tiny structures can CCSS build? As of now, the Tiny Homes project has enough property to construct 25 of these single-family homes that are between 250 and 400 square feet large. Each house will have its own unique facade, and no two homes will look alike. “We want to instill a sense of pride in the residents,” Fowler said. “Most people will be coming from situations where everyone had the same bland setting (shelters in particular). We also believe by having so many styles in a concentrated area that others will be drawn to the neighborhood.”

The initial six units are now in construction, and the first house was completed in September of 2016. They share a border with the CCSS campus, allowing for a mixed income community of program participants, students, and staff of the CCSS.

Rare Hand-Colored Photos From 19th Century Shanghai

Photography offers a visual key to the past, and thanks to one particular photographer named William Saunders, we're given a glimpse of life from over a century ago. Saunders first went to Shanghai as an engineer in 1860, returning to open his photography studio in 1862. Located close to the bustling Astor House Hotel, a hub of social life on the 19th century Bund, the studio was in operation for over 25 years. As one of the first photographers in Shanghai, Saunders enjoyed not only the privilege of a booming business for seated portraits, but the ability to capture rare images of life in the late Qing Dynasty.

He was the first known photographer to produce hand-colored photographs of China, which were made for Western export. Through his expert eye, we can see a Shanghai that was beginning to emerge as an international commercial force. Saunders' portraits display a great esteem for locals and their culture, with subjects often placed next to props to denote their social status or profession. He was also fascinated with Chinese technology, showing off the ingenuity found in society even prior to sweeping industrialization.

Life in the Qing Dynasty: The Photographs of William Saunders is the first exhibition devoted to his work. Around 40 of his images will be on view from November 4-12, 2016 at the China Exchange in London. These 19th century albumen silver prints hail from the Stephan Loewentheil Historical Photography of China Collection, which is the largest private holding of late Qing dynasty photographs.

These men are posing with a traditional man-powered wheelbarrow. The driver stands in the rear, all three confidently gazing into the camera.

This woman, a resident of Shanghai, allowed Saunders to photograph her unbound feet, which feature prominently in the composition.

This group portrait of a Chinese theater troupe demonstrates the elaborate costumes worn on stage.

Saunders often photographed people who were immigrants to Shanghai. Here, the woman on the left, is wearing a traditional headscarf that makes us understand she is from Guangzhou. He has posed her next to a Cantonese (Guangzhou) vase to highlight her origins. Instead, the women and girl on the left are from the Keangsoo (Jiangsu) province, close to Shanghai, as indicated by their hairstyles.

This image embodies the mixing of cultures that was occurring in Shanghai. Sitting on a Western chair and positioned in the classic composition of a Western portrait, this woman wears the traditional silk dress of Guangzhou.

The image on the left is a street vendor who sells feather dusters, the plumage collected from cooks. Conversely, the portrait on the right shows a man dressed as a Qing dynasty official. These contrasting images highlight the wide variety of clientele Saunders served during the 25 year history of his studio.

In this image, Saunders highlights the clever trick this Chinese worker used to avoid paying a tax levied against the taxi driver for driving over certain bridges. Instead of paying, he simply dismantles his taxi into a rig that can be carried over the shoulder—avoiding the toll.

This family is dressed in the tradition style of Ningpo (Ningbo), on the coast south of Shanghai. While the mother and daughter avert their gazes, the young boy seated to his mother's right looks directly into Saunders' lens.

Kodak Developed a New Smartphone Designed Specifically for Photographers

Most smartphones put text, email, and social media above all else, but the Kodak Ektra has a different priority—it’s built with photographers in mind. Designed for both enthusiasts and experts, the phone fuses Kodak’s rich 128-year legacy in photography with stunning technological innovation.

The Ektra promises high quality images by boasting a 21-megapixel fast focus camera sensor as well as a 13-megapixel front-facing camera with phase detection auto-focus. Using a custom-built camera app, it also features a SLR-style scene selection dial that optimizes the camera for a variety of settings; including: landscape, portrait, macro, sport, night-time, panorama, and bokeh. If users can't decided on one of those categories, there’s a “smart auto mode” that will select the best condition for the photograph.

There are many features that professional photographers will love to see on a smartphone. Luckily, Ektra has a manual mode where ISO, focus, exposure, shutter speed, and more can be adjusted. Better yet, the changes can be previewed on the screen before the image is even shot.

Editing photos is another prioritized feature on the Ektra. The mobile device includes editing software from Snapseed and has tools to manipulate images in the same capacity as desktop computers. And once a picture is ready to be shared with the world, integrated social media and a print app are available to make sure the work can shine on or offline.

The Kodak Ektra will be launching soon in Europe.