Photo: DimaBerlin (Shutterstock)

When it gets dark, you may notice your phone’s screen turn more orange to prepare you for sleep. Our body expects to see only blue light during the day, according to the theory. So if we block out blue light at night, we should relax and feel more tired when it’s time for bed.

It’s true that using your phone before bed is likely to interfere with your sleep, but can a change in color really reverse that effect? Not likely after new research that confirms what experts have been saying for years.

What we recently learned

In the new study, college students were assigned one of three conditions: inserting their iPhone in the hour before bed, using their iPhone with the night shift turned on, or using their iPhone without the night shift. There were no differences between the three groups in terms of sleep quality as measured by an activity tracker.

“Taken together, our study results in combination with the previous literature do not support blue light filters (such as night shift) as interventions to improve sleep, regardless of whether they are based on sleep characteristics (e.g. duration of sleep, latency of the onset of sleep, onset of melatonin or minutes) are measured while sleeping with quick eye movements, ”write the investigators.

College students are notoriously sleepless, however, and researchers wondered if the participants were perhaps so tired they could easily fall asleep no matter what they did on their cell phones. When they looked at the people who had more than the average amount of sleep – in other words, those who were less likely to be deprived of sleep – they found a difference in sleep quality between people who used their phones before Bedtime, and those who didn’t, but once again using Night Shift didn’t seem to make a difference.

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What we already knew

Night Shift (and its androids and computers equivalents) is based on science that made sense but wasn’t rigorously tested when it was first introduced in the real world. Here’s a Lifehacker piece from 2016For example, when these modes were just beginning to take hold and we found that while science backed the idea that blue light could interfere with sleep, we didn’t know if the orange hue of your display would actually fix the problem.

Today blue light has an even worse reputation, but the science that supports it hasn’t really emerged. Opticians and ophthalmologists keep trying to tell us The blue light from screens doesn’t have any serious health effects and they don’t recommend night mode as a panacea for smartphones that interfere with our sleep.

In short, use the night mode to relax in the evening American Academy of Ophthalmology saysHowever, you should still put your phone away for an hour or two before bed so it doesn’t interfere with your sleep.

Photo: Halfpoint (Shutterstock)

Creating a petition to complain about an injustice is easy and it may be cathartic to sign one, but not all petitions have the ability to make change. Here are the factors that experts say will make the difference between petitions that make a difference and those that don’t.

Does the petition have a clear goal?

A petition is probably best thought of as a letter from a group of people to a specific entity asking that entity to do a specific thing. The idea is that the person or company receiving the petition reads it, notices the huge list of names below, and considers whether they should take any action other than what they had planned.

In order for the petition to achieve anything, it must actually have a goal. Make sure the petition is clear about what specific action it is, and make sure that goal makes sense in the context of the larger problem. For example, after Cecil the lion was killed by a hunter, Some petitions have asked the airlines to stop transporting endangered animals. This is a concrete change in policy related to hunting tourism, as opposed to the petitions asking the hunter to lose his dental license or other petitions that had no clear aim at all.

Is the petition for a person who can achieve the goal?

Change.org recommends that the petitioners identify a “decision maker” as the target of a petition. Naming a person means having an email address and the name of the person on the petition to better get their attention. When looking for the decision maker, the organizer has to find out who actually makes the relevant decisions. Sometimes the person you need to reach isn’t a well-known politician or CEO, but someone in a lesser-known job who still has the authority to make changes.

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Does the goal of the petition have any cause for concern?

Since the goal of a petition is to get the decision maker to change their mind, it helps to see who signed the petition. For example, the mayor of a city in Texas might not care what the people of Ohio have to say about local laws. And a for-profit company will care more about the opinions of its customers and prospects than about people who are completely outside of their target audience.

When a problem is big enough, it can be helpful for the decision maker to know that people from all over the country are interested. With many smaller problems, however, it is not important how many people sign a petition, but who they are.

There are many ways to make a difference

Even if a petition doesn’t achieve its stated goal – or if it doesn’t have a specific goal – it doesn’t always mean that the petition is a waste of time. Sometimes while collecting signatures, the petition organizer helps supporters of a cause to find each other. (This often means collecting the signers’ contact information, so make sure you land on a mailing list.)

A petition can also show that there is enough interest in a subject to be worthy of media coverage, and that the coverage can in turn be part of a campaign to put pressure on an individual or group. That way, a vague petition may not lead to immediate action, but it could be a sign that a larger movement is brewing.

However, there is more to a petition than what happens after it is signed. Sometimes there is a petition that can be read by those who sign it. It is more like a sharable article than a letter to an opposing unit. and sometimes signing and sharing a petition can be a person’s small step in taking action on an issue that is important to them.

Whether you choose to sign a petition with no clear purpose is up to you. However, if you have a specific, immediate change you want to make, look for petitions that have a clear goal and a workable way to achieve it.

You can now add a “closed caption sticker” to Instagram Stories that will automatically translate your audio into closed captions without the need for third-party apps. This is a helpful tool for developers and audiences as it makes videos with live subtitles more accessible for people with hearing impairments and for those who prefer to watch with the sound off.

Unlike the automated subtitles in live IGTV videos, the new subtitle stickers are more like intentional video elements than simple text at the bottom of the screen. However, you can also go for the simple subtitle look if that’s your preference. As with other Instagram stickers, you can change the position, color, size and font of the label and edit the text that is labeled. This is useful when the app hears a word wrong. You can also use the Pen tool to draw below or above the screen captions.

To start with, subtitle stickers only work for English and are therefore only provided to iOS and Android users in predominantly English-speaking countries. According to Instagram, the sticker will soon be able to be used in Instagram Reels videos as well, and could be incorporated into other types of Instagram video content in the future.

How to add caption stickers to Instagram Stories (and finally Reels)

Image: Instagram

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1. Open the Instagram app and record a new story or reels video. You can also choose a video stored on your device to publish instead.
2. While editing the video, select the sticker icon from the editing options above.
3. Choose “Captions” from the list.
4. Place the sticker where you want it to appear. A preview of the text is displayed while the video is playing.
5. If necessary, tap a word to edit it and use the sticker editing options to change the label design and layout.
6. When you’re done editing, publish the video. The subtitles will appear automatically when your video is played.

[TechCrunch]

Photo: Freedomz (Shutterstock)

Graduations are a big deal as they can only be photographed once in most contexts. Once your graduate has passed the stage to get their high degree, there is no way you can do anything because you missed the crucial moment.

No matter how awkward your loved ones look in their hats and clothes, you will want to capture the milestone to the fullest. Here are some tips for great graduation photos.

Increase your ISO and try to isolate your subject

Graduation ceremonies are usually sprawling affairs. Using a telephoto lens, the primary purpose of which is to take pictures of people far from the camera, is certainly the best option. This will help you wade through the crowd and focus the shot on your preferred subject unlike any other graduate you may not know.

In addition, telephoto lenses are good at blurring the background of an image so that your subject really shines. They’re also good for portrait photography, which is essentially what you want, albeit at a distance. How Notes on rental lensesThis type of lens is especially flattering for your subject.

This effect can also make facial features appear more proportional. Add to that the beautiful bokeh from taking photos with a long lens and you have a great tool for portrait photography.

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Another key if you are using a digital SLR camera – and especially if you are not an expert – is improving your ISO performance. The ISO refers to the sensitivity of your camera to light. When using a long lens or photographing a fast-moving subject, such as a portrait. For example, a sprinter or even someone walking across a stage, a higher ISO setting will help produce razor-sharp images.

If you’re shooting in daylight, a lower, but still somewhat high, ISO is recommended, but becomes even more important in low-light conditions, such as in a cave-like gym. Digital Photography School Details of some best practices:

Sure, when the light is bright, you can keep the ISO at 100 or 200 and get sharp, well-exposed images. But when the light starts to fall, you need to increase your ISO with confidence. This allows you to take bright and clear photos of 300mm, 400mm and more.

Another piece of advice, especially for laypeople who may not have fancy lenses, is to set the camera to automatic settings. If you do, then you can also try using an auto focus lens that allows you to sit back and just enjoy the process.

And of course you should (or not) consider the flash. Nikon recommends Only use it when you are near your drawer and indoors – two conditions that likely won’t apply to your graduation ceremony at the same time.

Unless you’re relatively close [read: in a classroom], don’t bother to use a flash. The flash won’t reach your subjects, so it won’t help with exposure and can drain your batteries.

Pointers to good pictures to take

Good photographers – even the amateurs – capture the subtle moments. So you need to strike a healthy balance between stealthy portraits of the day’s celebrations and staged photos.

One point that needs to be highlighted, at least thematically, is that this is a degree, which means that the equipment of such an event – the cap and gown, school, diploma, etc. – should be a focus. Basically, there are a number of different things you should try, all of which are in the broader portraiture category. Take portraits of the graduate with family, friends, and whoever you see fit. Try to include the school’s campus as recommended by Mimeo photos, what says:

Entrances and porticos are ideal. You won’t regret having that one picture in front of your school’s sign or mascot statue.

For taking real portraits, experts recommend using longer lenses for them too. For people who take photos with full-frame SLR cameras, this means “lenses with focal lengths between 70 mm and 200 mm”. according to DP Mag. As photographer and writer Jack Crosbie Lifehacker relates, longer lenses “make things look flatter, which is more flattering on people’s faces.” On the other hand, people make wider lenses look bigger and disproportionate to reality, on occasion.

Even then, think of all the big, solemn events that usually define a day, like throwing hats, crossing the stage, and partying with friends.