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Posts Tagged ‘Testing’

US students failing AP exams due to iPhone photos not being supported by the testing portal

21 May

According to a report from The Verge, high school students across the United States are failing their Advanced Placement (AP) exams due to the College Board’s online testing portal not accepting photos captured in the default HEIC image format.

Back in March, the College Board, the entity that creates the curricula and exams for AP courses, announced exams would be online rather than in-person since schools across the U.S. were being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While this proved beneficial in many ways – most notably the online exam is only 45-minutes while the in-person exams run three hours – it seems the rollout is not without a few hiccups.

AP exams require long-form answers. With in-person testing, these answers are completed and turned in on paper. Online though, the College Board allows students to either type up and submit their responses or write them by hand and submit an image of the handwritten work as a JPG, JPEG or PNG file.

A notification on the AP exam page of the College Board’s website that links to an explainer on how to properly submit images of written responses.

The problem is, iOS devices and a few newer Samsung phones are set to capture the more storage-friendly HEIC files by default, not JPEGs. As a result, students are seeing a perpetual loading screen, which stays up until the 45-minute time limit of the exam is up. Once the time is up, a screen reading ‘We Did Not Receive Your Response’ pops up, confirming nothing was submitted.

A graphic created and shared by the College Board showing students how to change the default image file format on their iOS devices.

The Verge reports enough students at one Los Angeles high school encountered the issue that the school forwarded a message sent to it from the College Board explaining how to troubleshoot the issue to prevent image submissions from being denied. But that message, as well as the below tweet from the College Board explaining how to change the default capture image format on iOS devices, doesn’t help the students who have already taken their exams and were unable to submit their work to no fault of their own and, as a result, are being forced to re-study for a make-up exam.

In a statement to The Verge, the College Board says ‘less than 1 percent [of students were] unable to submit their responses,’ and notes ‘[It shares] the deep disappointment of students who were unable to submit responses.’

In addition to the explainer on how to change the default file format on iOS devices, the College Board has also opened up a backup email submission process that requires students who encounter the HEIC error to send their responses via a unique email address ‘immediately’ following the exam. This option isn’t retroactively available for the students who were unable to submit their responses the first time and have had to reschedule a makeup exam.

The Verge’s coverage details a number of anecdotes from high school students who have encountered this file format compatibility issue, so head on over for more information.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Tetenal to offer ‘Magic-Box’ single-roll film developing kits for testing the waters

26 Nov

The revived photochemistry company Tetenal has announced the impending release of a one-roll development kit for those wanting to try out film photography or those wanting a kit to take on-location. The Magic-Box series will include all the chemicals needed to process a roll of negative film, a transparency film or 23 sheets of 8x10in color paper, with the chemistry arriving in pre-measured quantities.

Available only in German-speaking regions at first, the company says it will extend distribution in time, as it gets production up to speed. The new company, Tetenal 1847, has risen from the ashes of the former Tetenal business after employees got together to take on the company after it faced collapse at the beginning of the year. The new business has an online store already and is beginning, it says, to work on new products – including tablet form photochemistry. In fact, though, the old Tetenal used to produce tablet chemicals as well as one-shot processing kits some time ago, but it is great to see them come back to life again.

According to the website Emulsive prices for the new Magic-Box kits will be:

  • TETENAL Magic Box RA-4: €14.95
  • TETENAL Magic-Box E6: €15.95
  • TETENAL Magic-Box C-41: €12.95

The kits aren’t listed in the online store but will be found in German retailers. For more information see the Emulsive report and the Tetenal website.

Press release:

{pressrelease}

Discover the Magic of developing your own film and colour papers with Tetenal Magic Box.

New Products for analog photography from Tetenal 1847.

In the meantime, the employee-based initiative to save Tetenal has developed to a more than 40 people strong and still growing StartUp, in order to continue Tetenal ?s pivotal role in the analog photography industry. Out of the old Tetenal, the new company, Tetenal 1847, has formed with the claim to develop innovative and new products for analog photography.

Vinyl records and instant photography have shown that a new demand for “nostalgic” products has formed with a target audience that did not grow up with these very technologies initially. This is the case with analog photography as well. Be it a camera found on the grandparent ?s attic, or bought directly from the used equipment dealership, cameras, film and the overall “style” of shooting connected with it are increasingly in demand again. “The fascination of analog photography does, however, not end with the exposure of the film”, says Carsten Gehring, who together with Stefania Grimme has taken over leadership of Tetenal 1864 GmbH. He points out that the team in Norderstedt have made it their expressed goal to proliferate the fascination about analog photography even to households not previously associated with developing film. This claim is clearly visible on the new products leaving the factory in Norderstedt as well: “Magic-Box – Discover the magic of film development.”

The Magic-Box C-41 and Magic-Box E6 contain pre scaled concentrates to develop exactly one colour negative or colour slide film in 135 or 120 formats conveniently at home. The product line is completed by the Magic-Box RA-4 for 23 8×10 sized colour enlargements on photographic paper.

For the time being, the products are being launched in the German speaking market but will successively be made available in other markets as well.

This, however, is not the end, but merely the beginning. Product developers in Norderstedt already are working on the next innovation – tabletized photochemistry. Already leaked here and there, and even part of Tetenal ?s rich history, these tablets will again simplify developing film substantially.

Something is developing in Norderstedt again. This time, literally.

{/Pressrelease}

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Instagram hidden-likes trial goes global after months of regional testing

16 Nov

After testing it across several regions earlier in the year, Instagram started hiding ‘likes’ for accounts based in the United States last week. Now, the Facebook-owned company has announced on Twitter it’s rolling the test out on a global scale.

The trial is part of an initiative aimed at making users focus on the quality of the content they are posting rather than on how many likes their posts are receiving. Those users included in the trial won’t see a like-count on other people’s images and videos, but can still see the numbers for their own posts.

Instagram says feedback on the trial so far has been positive but the company is aware that removing like counts constitutes a fundamental change to its platform and therefore is expanding the test to ‘learn more from our global community.’

It is also aware of the importance of like counts for some of its users, such as influencers who use followers and likes as a currency in sponsorship negotiations, and says it is ‘actively thinking through ways for creators to communicate value to their partners.’, without specifying yet what these ways could be.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Instagram CEO says it will start testing hidden ‘likes’ in the US starting this week

10 Nov

After testing it in numerous other regions, including Brazil, Japan, Canada and Australia, Instagram has confirmed it will start hiding ‘likes’ for accounts based in the United States this coming week.

The confirmation comes from Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri during the below interview at WIRED25. In it, he says certain users in the United States will have ‘private likes’ as soon as this week. Based on how Mosseri addresses the crowd, it appears as though the rollout will be random.

While elaborating on why Instagram is looking to test this, Mosseri said:

‘It’s about young people. The idea is to try and depressurize Instagram [to] make it less of a competition [and] giving people more space to focus on connecting with people that they love [and] the things that inspire them.’

It very much seems as though this is a work in progress, far from being set in stone, so initial feedback will likely play a major role in whether or not this feature — or mores the lack of a feature — sticks around.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Adobe is testing a live-streaming feature for its Creative Cloud apps

09 Nov

Select Adobe users who have access to the company’s Fresco digital painting and drawing app are currently testing a new live-streaming feature that enables them to broadcast their work in real-time. The live-streaming feature was announced at the Adobe Max conference and recently detailed by The Verge, which reports that Adobe views this as a way to make creators and its products go ‘viral.’

The live-streaming feature will be built into Adobe Creative Cloud apps, according to the company’s Chief Product Officer Scott Belsky. With it, users will be able to launch a live stream of their session and share a link with others either privately or on social media platforms. Viewers will have the ability to leave comments during the stream.

Other details, such as which live-streaming platforms will be supported and which Creative Cloud apps will get the feature, remain unclear at this time. Only select users have access to the beta feature in Adobe Fresco; the company hasn’t provided a time frame for when it plans to deploy the feature for all users.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Drone registration and pilot testing will be mandatory in the UK

07 Nov

Even though no solid evidence has been presented in regards to drones being involved, incidents at both Gatwick and Heathrow airports, which saw thousands of flights grounded and delayed for days, have inspired the United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority to enforce more regulations. The government agency is requiring all operators over the age of 18 to pass an online pilot’s test and register their unmanned aerial vehicle by November 30th.

This deadline applies to remote pilots flying model aircraft weighing between 250 grams (.55 pounds) and 20 kilograms (about 44 pounds). Exemptions to these mandatory rules have been granted to the following organizations:

  • The UK Drone Association (Arpas UK)
  • British Model Flying Association
  • Scottish Aeromodellers’ Association
  • Large Model Association
  • FPV UK

Besides registering the drone, owners must obtain their flyer ID which requires taking and passing a theory (pilot) test. Adults and children under 13 can still fly but they must pass the test, and kids must be registered to fly by a parent or guardian. The drone’s main operator must be 18 or older and is responsible for ensuring every person flying their aircraft is both registered and has passed their theory test.

Registration is relatively inexpensive at £9 ($ 12). Similar to U.S. rules, drone owners will be given a unique ID that must be affixed to their drone in a way that’s easily identifiable. Anyone caught flying a drone that is not registered could incur a fine of up to £1000 ($ 1290).

DJI has recently created the Mavic Mini, which weights under 250 grams, to circumvent registration requirements. While operators of these lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles many not need to register with the Federal Aviation Administration, Civil Aviation Authority, or other similar agencies (always check your local laws), remote pilots still need to abide by standard aviation rules or face the consequences if caught.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Lens Rentals celebrated Halloween by testing its rental gear for ghosts and good vibes

02 Nov

In the spirit of Halloween, the team over at Lens Rentals decided to do a little experiment to see if any of their gear was haunted. However just one item in, the plan took a very Roger-esque turn, pivoting from a ghost-hunting endeavor to tearing down the very pieces of gear he was originally using to look for paranormal activity.

After someone had remark that some of its photography gear was used to record various paranormal shows and another individual showed concern of whether or not any of Lens Rental’s gear was haunted, Cicala and his trusty sidekick Aaron decided to put their gear to the test unlike they’ve ever done before.

The array of paranormal-detecting devices Roger and Aaron purchased.

After hunting down an array of various paranormal-detecting devices (and purchasing a dozen 9-volt batteries), Roger and Aaron got to work setting up their testing area. At the suggestion of those more familiar with the paranormal, the duo set up what was supposed to be a pentagram (looks more like a random geometric shape in our book) with multiple ‘Ghost Detector’ modules around the perimeter and burned a candle in the middle to get the paranormal juju flowing.

Clearly someone used that mic pack under sketchy circumstances.

After letting the candle work its magic, the pair put a Sennheiser microphone in the center and used both the ‘Ghost Detectors’ and the EMF detectors to see which how it reacted. Sure enough, the wireless mic pack was haunted (according to the two detectors, at least). The pair also tested their microwave (definitely haunted), as well as their coffee maker (which was thankfully spared by the spirits). It was even discovered that Aaron was haunted too. As a result, it turned out their previous testings couldn’t hold up, as there’s the chance Aaron himself was causing the bad vibes.

So, Roger and Aaron decided to instead direct the various paranormal-detecting devices they purchased to test out the Lens Rentals gear. We’ll let you see the full teardown of the gadgets over on Lens Rentals’ blog post, but suffice to say the Ghost Detector Array, EMF Meter and Ghost Magnet were all relatively cheap pieces of tech that mostly consisted of random PCBs and (in the case of the Ghost Magnet) motors.

The inside of one of the EMF detectors Roger and Aaron purchased.

Considering all of the paranormal devices are now torn down, it’s safe to say Lens Rentals will no longer be offering a spirit-cleansing add-on for future rentals. So you might want to be careful and bring a Shaman along with you on your next photo shoot just in case.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Instagram is officially testing hiding like-counts to put focus on content

03 May

If you’ve ever listened in to a conversation among a bunch of keen Instagram users you’ll have noticed that the discussion tends to circle a lot more around likes and follower numbers than the actual images and content that is being posted.

It looks like Instagram has identified this focus on stats as a problem and it was recently revealed that the company is considering hiding the like count on images and other content.

Now a field-test has been launched with users in Canada who won’t be able to see like numbers on the photos of accounts they are following during the next several days. You can still see the likes on your own content, though.

At its F8 developer conference Instagram parent company Facebook confirmed that it is considering a roll-out to its entire platform. In the affected accounts a message is displayed to make users aware of the test.

‘We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get. During this test, only you will be able to see the total number of likes on your posts.’

The fact that Instagram likes are an important currency in the social media influencer industry has likely contributed to the obsession with the metric and resulted in people trying to cheat the system and followers being offered for payment.

Instagram’s attempts to keep those kind of activities under control and put the focus back on content can only be a good thing but if the latest test will be expanded to all users will likely depend on the reaction of the users in Canada.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Healthy.io uses your smartphone’s camera for medical lab testing at home

25 Apr

Thanks to the attached mobile computing power your smartphone camera can be used for more than just taking holiday snaps. A product from Israel-based company Healthy.io is a prime example. Dip.io uses a smartphone and a dipstick to perform urine tests that can detect ten indicators of disease, infection, and pregnancy-related complications.

The system is very simple from a user point of view. You capture a photo of the dipstick against a color and Dip.io does the rest. The app uses machine learning to color correct the image, considering camera make and model, lighting conditions and a variety of additional variables. The app then performs an instant analysis.

In clinical trials undertaken in the process of receiving FDA approval, Dip.io was capable of matching the accuracy of professional laboratories. This is achieved at a considerably lower cost and less inconvenience to the patient as the system removes the need for visits to a physician and lab referrals. In addition, it does away with waiting time for the results.

The makers of the system say that this could encourage more patients to undertake regular screenings which could save them dialysis or even a transplant by detecting signs of kidney problems early.

According to an analysis by York Health Economics Consortium, in the UK alone the new technology could result in early diagnosis of more than 33,000 cases over five years and estimated savings of more than £670 million ($ 867 million). Healthy.io is currently running a pilot program with the pharmacist Boots UK. Women who suspect they have urinary tract infections can use the system to self-test and receive treatment from a pharmacist without seeing a doctor or visiting a lab. The results of the pilot are expected to be announced in May.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Instagram appears to be testing new video control feature

30 Mar

Nearly six years after launching video sharing on its platform, at appears Instagram is finally working on adding the ability to fast-forward through videos in your timeline.

Discovered by app researcher Jane Manchun Wong, the new feature makes it possible to skim through videos in your timeline. Until now, videos in your timeline timeline would simply play from beginning to end and repeat themselves. Now, it’s possible to effectively fast-forward through videos with a little swipe of your finger, as seen in Wong’s GIF below:

It’s perplexing it’s taken this long for Instagram to implement an otherwise common feature, but that seems to be the ongoing theme for Instagram.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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