Technology

The patchwork groups sharing gender-affirming underwear patterns

Published

2 years ago

March 11, 2022

Mel Martinez’s dad had an uncommon (and really a lot unofficial) title within the Air Pressure: sew bitch. A long time later, that title — given to the various males whose duties included stitching — has now grow to be one thing of a rallying cry for queer sewists like Martinez, who put gender affirmation on the middle of their creations. Martinez and lots of others are updating their craft to subvert establishment designs that don’t fairly match, constructing, as an alternative, a world of underwear, lingerie, and intimates wherein all people (and physique) is welcome.

“I’ve at all times been actually explicit about the way in which garments match; I’ve very delicate pores and skin and a few pores and skin allergic reactions and a few sensory stuff,” says Martinez, who makes use of each they and she or he pronouns. Within the realm of underwear, which means it usually takes her months to seek out the excellent pair. So, realizing how one can use a stitching machine, they ultimately simply determined to make their very own.

In relation to getting dressed, gender affirmation can imply a myriad of issues: a celebration of oneself and one’s physique, practical — and maybe unconventional — tailoring, and, in fact, consolation. However there’s not loads of accessible info on the subject on the market, Martinez says.

They’re proper: communities like Sew Queer and The Sewcialists (which shut down in 2021) have served as digital gathering areas for queer individuals who wish to make their very own intimates. But it surely’s a pieced-together effort of sharing info and sample hacks — worlds away from the mainstream stitching firms who’ve been mass-producing patterns for generations of (principally) ladies. Queers are looking for one thing usually ignored: binders, gaffs, lingerie for trans ladies, boxer briefs for nonbinary people; designs which have merely by no means existed within the universe of McCall’s or Simplicity patterns.

Whereas typical, gendered bra patterns are a dime a dozen, Emilia Bergoglio, a queer sewist in Tokyo, Japan, noticed that there have been “mainly zero sources” when it got here to stitching binders. It led them to put in writing a weblog submit titled “The Nice Binder Story” for The Sewcialists as half of a bigger sequence known as All Chests Welcome, which cobbled collectively information and how-to’s from a various array of hobbyists.

“Binders are important for a lot of trans people, and they aren’t low cost,” they are saying. “Typically it’s not possible to seek out one thing that totally represents who you’re out there, so stitching helps you with that. You may create it your self. The match, the material, the silhouette — it’s very empowering.”

The Sew Queer weblog has an identical web page of sources extra particularly aimed toward queer stitching, stuffed with hyperlinks to tutorials, Fb neighborhood teams, patterns, and advised supplies — which vary from posts just like the Floozy Doozy DIY Underwear Strap On Hack, which comes with an entire sample accessible for buy, to a Fb group hosted by Rad Patterns, the place people can share sample hacks, changes, and alterations to higher match their wants. It’s a small however rising Rolodex of significant info.

The queer neighborhood has been rooted in a do-it-yourself mentality for generations, making their very own garments, media, music, and so forth, says vogue historian Valerie Steele — who, in 2013, curated the FIT exhibition “A Queer Historical past of Style: From the Closet to the Catwalk.” As a result of clothes is without doubt one of the clearest types of nonverbal communication, it has been important in enabling under-the-radar queer dialogue.

“While you begin vogue, you notice there have been all these hidden histories — hidden a minimum of to most of the people now, not essentially to individuals on the time,” she says. “If you happen to have a look at your sexuality, your gender, your sexual orientation, your sexual presentation to the world — all of these issues are associated to your identification, and vogue may be very a lot about that interface between your feeling about who you’re and who wider society thinks you’re.”

From this standpoint, it was clear to Martinez that the queers who might sew are sometimes making their very own underwear. The queers who couldn’t wanted another. That’s what led Martinez to start out Aqua Underwear, a boxer transient (for now) model that started mid-pandemic out of her residence in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah. “At that time, lots of people began speaking to me about their underwear frustrations. Underwear isn’t essentially an off-the-cuff dialog you may have with individuals, however once they discover out that you just make underwear, abruptly it’s like, yeah, everybody needs to speak to you about underwear!”

Martinez was tapping right into a market that exploded through the pandemic; ladies’s lingerie alone was value $42 billion in 2020, and is anticipated to achieve $78.66 billion by 2027. After all, these statistics don’t embody the nascent classes like gender-affirming and gender-expansive underwear that makers like Martinez focus on.

It’s a distinct segment whose progress is pushed by neighborhood want, says Rae Hill, founding father of Origami Customs, which affords customized, hand-sewn lingerie. Hill estimates that gender-affirming objects now make up 85 to 90 p.c of their gross sales.

“My neighborhood actually knowledgeable the route that the corporate grew in,” they are saying. “We’re not reinventing the wheel. These items exist already. And I believe individuals actually wanted to really feel good and secure about the place they had been coming from, realizing that it is a queer and trans firm, that it’s moral manufacturing, that they really feel good buying it and that it suits — measurement inclusivity, physique inclusivity — that they’ll message us. Every little thing is admittedly made on a one-on-one foundation.”

After all, hyper-customized items don’t come low cost. Hill companions with over a dozen neighborhood organizations so as to present low- and no-cost choices (Martinez additionally runs a pay-what-you-can program).

Whether or not customized or selfmade, queer sewists world wide in the end share the identical purpose: serving to individuals really feel snug in, as Bergoglio places it, “their chosen pores and skin.”

“I believe it comes down to simply feeling relaxed with your self,” Hill says. “I actually hope that [our pieces] may be an entry level for individuals beginning to play with their gender — actually, we attempt issues on and see how they really feel.”

Technology

Fujifilm’s new X-T50 has a film simulation dial — and a questionable price

Published

5 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Press Room

Fujifilm’s new X-T50 has a film simulation dial — and a questionable price

Fujifilm has just announced a pair of new cameras at the company’s X Summit Sydney event. There’s the medium format GFX100S II, which frankly falls outside my scope of interest (and budget). The more mainstream of the two is the X-T50, which is a followup to — but not a replacement for — the X-T30 II, which will remain in Fujifilm’s lineup moving forward.

The X-T50 is a hodgepodge of the camera maker’s new and old tech. Let’s start with the new. The body has a fresh, more rounded shape that’s unlike anything else in the X-Series lineup, and there’s a film simulation dial right on the top, a first for any Fujifilm camera. You get several preset film sims to circle between and can choose your own for the three customizable slots — though you can’t set these to custom film recipes. Still, the dial goes to show what a vital part of Fujifilm’s appeal that these simulations have become over the years.

The X-T50 has a dial for switching between the company’s signature film simulations.

Image: Fujifilm

The X-T50 includes the same 40-megapixel sensor as the X-T5 and X-H2, plus the accompanying fifth-gen processor, so this camera offers a substantial increase in both resolution and autofocus performance compared to the X-T30 II. And it also gains a 7-stop in-body image stabilization system; the far less expensive X-T30 II lacks IBIS altogether. Continuous shooting is limited to 8fps with the mechanical shutter, whereas the X-T5 and X-H2 can both hit 15fps. For storage, there’s a single UHS-II SD card slot. Video performance has also been dialed up significantly:

The X-T50 is a far more capable video camera than the X-T30 II.

Image: Fujifilm

But there are still some older hardware elements to this camera. For one, you’re stuck with the last-generation battery that isn’t nearly as long-lasting. And disappointingly, the electronic viewfinder is also unchanged from the X-T30 II. You do at least get the same 3-inch, 1.84-million dot rear LCD with two-way tilt as on the X-T5.

The X-T50 slots into a curious spot when it comes to pricing. If you’re buying the body alone, it’s $1,399.99, which is $500 more than the X-T30 II. But again, Fujifilm doesn’t consider this a replacement for that camera. It gets its own unique place in the lineup, which now looks like this:

The X-T50 uses Fujifilm’s last-gen battery with far less stamina than the newer design.

Image: Fujifilm

Some of the upgrades that come with stepping up to the X-T5 include water resistance, a nicer EVF, dual SD slots, better continuous shooting performance, and the newer battery with superior endurance.

Fujifilm’s kit lens is also getting a notable revamp. The company’s well-regarded 18-55mm glass is being replaced by a new, lighter 16-50mm f/2.8 – 4.8 lens that now features water resistance. (The X-T50 itself doesn’t have any official water resistance.) Fujifilm believes this lens does a better job resolving that 40MP sensor compared to the ancient 18-55mm. It’s also a constant length, so all the zooming now happens internally without the lens having to extend. Sold on its own, the new 16-50mm lens costs $699. The combined X-T50 kit runs $1,799.99, so you’re only paying $400 for the lens in that scenario.

Technology

Freak robot made in China can learn, think, work like humans

Published

5 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Press Room

Freak robot made in China can learn, think, work like humans

Sometimes, you have to see it to believe it.

And in rare cases, like this one, it freaks out observers watching. In the ever-expanding world of humanoid robots, a new star is rising, and its name is Astribot.

The Chinese company’s latest creation, the S1 model, is turning heads with its astonishing speed and precision.

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S1 AI-powered robot (Astribot)

Astribot S1: How it’s breaking speed records

Imagine a robot that can move at a blistering pace of approximately 32.8 feet per second and handle a payload of 22 pounds per arm. That’s Astribot’s S1 for you. It’s like watching a superhero in action. Only this one is made of wires and metal.

The S1’s capabilities are not just impressive; they’re record-setting. The robot’s dexterity is showcased in a video where it performs tasks with such finesse that it can delicately shave a cucumber.

WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?

S1 AI-powered robot (Astribot)

It can even engage in the art of calligraphy.

S1 AI-powered robot (Astribot)

That’s not all. It can also open and pour wine and flip a sandwich in a frying pan.

S1 AI-powered robot (Astribot)

And for those who hate ironing and folding laundry, the S1 does that, too.

S1 AI-powered robot (Astribot)

MORE: ELECTRIC HUMANOID ROBOT POISED TO SHAKE UP THE JOB MARKET

What sets the Astribot S1 apart from other robots?

The S1’s ability to mimic human movements sets it apart from other robots. This robot is a learner, an imitator and a potential pioneer in robotics. The questions it raises are as intriguing as its abilities. Does it have a lower half? Can it walk, or is it destined to remain stationary? These are the mysteries that have yet to be answered.

S1 AI-powered robot (Astribot)

MORE: THE SHAPE-SHIFTING UNDERWATER ROBOT PIONEERING THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA

The backstory of the Astribot S1 robot

Founded in 2022 in Shenzhen, the Astribot maker Stardust Intelligence has roots that trace back to the Tencent Robotics Laboratory, Baidu, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, with its founder, Lai Jie.

The S1 took a year to evolve and is expected to hit the market later in 2024. The robot’s name, inspired by the Latin proverb “Ad astra per aspera,” reflects its journey and commitment to AI robot technology.

S1 AI-powered robot (Astribot)

MORE: HOW AI IS PAVING THE WAY TO SMOOTHER STREETS USING AUTONOMOUS ROBOTS

Kurt’s key takeaways

As Astribot prepares to launch the S1 robot, the world watches with bated breath. Will it revolutionize the way we think about humanoid robots? Will it outshine its competitors and set a new standard in the industry? Can the U.S. keep us with this Chinese technology? Only time will tell. But one thing is certain: the robot wars have begun and Astribot’s S1 is leading the charge.

As humanoid robots become more adept at tasks traditionally performed by humans, how do you feel about the potential impact on employment and job security? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Technology

Samsung mocks Apple’s crushing iPad Pro ad with its own ‘UnCrush’ pitch

Published

12 hours ago

May 15, 2024

Press Room

Samsung mocks Apple’s crushing iPad Pro ad with its own ‘UnCrush’ pitch

On one side, responses included creatives like Hugh Grant and anyone who spotted a slightly-too-on-the-nose representation of Big Tech’s steamroller approach to art, copyright, and the past, powered by the might of generative AI tools. On the other there were the people ticked off by the knowledge that there was any backlash at all.

In response, the Samsung Mobile account on X posted this video with the hashtag “UnCrush,” which Ad Age reports was created by BBH USA and directed by Zen Pace. It shows a woman stepping over debris and spilled paint reminiscent of the end of Apple’s big hydraulic press incident and taking a seat to hum and play notes on a guitar assisted somehow by notes displayed on her Galaxy Tab S9 and the power of Galaxy AI.

A still from Samsung’s 2017 Galaxy S8 ad mocking the notch on the iPhone X.

Image: Samsung

No matter which side you’re on when it comes to the great iPad ad political divide, it’s a little fun to see Samsung trying to find a weak point in Apple’s armor again. Samsung’s marketing department used to practically specialize in this stuff, which the company’s lawyers’ argued: “drove Apple crazy,” but it seemed to run out of gas after deleting ads about iPhones dropping the in-box charging adapted. More recent attempts, like a browser-based Galaxy test drive for iPhone owners, just haven’t had the same punch as mocking that distinctive notch.