filters

In an unsurprising but still shocking move, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs resigns as CEO but remains with the company as chairman. Tim Cook is promoted from chief operating officer to chief executive officer.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

I'm probably going against the will of the people here, but I sighed heavily this morning when I read in The New York Times that Facebook plans to release filters to give photos artsy effects.

You know what I'm talking about--the shots with the heavily darkened corners that old cameras produced, the desaturated colors from faded Polaroids, the sepia tones and cyanotype blues from 19th-century photography techniques, the wacky hues when one type of film was processed with another type's chemistry, the smeary Vaseline-on-the-lens look of old portraits.

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with this kind of … Read more

D-Link announced today the integration of OpenDNS technology into its select routers, which will enable you to block unsafe and inappropriate Web content, such as adult and phishing Web sites.

The company says that with OpenDNS technology, D-Link routers offer consumers the ability to mange content filtering and security services from anywhere over the Internet.

The new feature is called OpenDNS parental controls. It divides Web sites into more than 50 categories, allowing parents to choose their desired filtering level from "high" to "minimal." This can also be further customized to include certain categories of sites … Read more

Taking pictures with your smartphone can be a fun and easy way to share moments with friends and family. With Magic Hour for Android you can improve or make variations on your photos with the app's easy-to-use features. In just a few steps, you can give a photo an antique look, a more professional feel, or maybe something more artsy for your blog. Magic Hour offers a free filter market, and you can even make your own and share it with others. Here's how to get started:

Step 1: Download Magic Hour from the Android Market. … Read more

CyberLink PhotoDirector 2011 is an all-in-one photography program that lets you manage, retouch, enhance, and share your digital photos. With its intuitive workflow and nondestructive editing environment, we think it's a great choice for beginners and intermediate users. Plus, with the possibilities furnished by the robust DirectorZone.com community, it might even work for more-advanced users as well.

PhotoDirector is split up into three main viewing panels: Library, for managing and sifting through your photos; Adjustment, for retouching and enhancing; and Slideshow for turning your stills into moving masterpieces.

The Library presents all of your digital photos in an … Read more

Lightbox for Android is a camera replacement and social photo browser app that automatically syncs all of your pictures to your Lightbox.com account. If you like, you can even choose to make any of your photos publicly viewable on your Lightbox.com photo wall as well.

When you first download and install Lightbox, you'll notice that two new icons pop up in your app drawer: Camera by Lightbox and Lightbox Photos. Don't freak out, though. These are just two different entry points to the same app--one brings you straight through to the photo browser, while the other … Read more

Vignette is a versatile camera replacement app that's equipped with nine different shooting modes, and a huge menu of effects and frame styles to modify your photos. Because it offers options both before and after snapping, Vignette gives you a virtually unlimited number of photographic possibilities.

Before shooting, Vignette lets you choose from nine different shooting modes: Normal, Blind, Fast shot, Steady shot, Self timer, Time lapse, Strip, Grid, and Double. The Strip and Grid modes are especially fun, as they mimic the 4-in-1 prints of novelty Photobooths. And Time lapse is a unique interval shooting mode that, frankly, … Read more

PicPlz for Android is a camera replacement app with a strong social component. Similar to Instagram, its rival and the leading social photo app for iPhone, PicPlz lets you snap, add filters to, and share photos from your mobile device, all in one fell swoop.

First thing to know when using PicPlz is that you need an account to get started. That's because PicPlz, more than just a camera app on your phone, is connected to a full Web-based service that backs up your photos online and posts your photos to its PicPlz network. It's important to note … Read more

As its name suggests, Camera360 is an all-around, effects-heavy camera app for your Android mobile device. Depending on how complicated you want to get, it could serve as a power-packed replacement for your device's stock camera app.

Camera360 rolls the functionality of several different camera apps into one. It lets you wrap frames or scenery around your photos, or add whimsical effects like Ghost, Infrared Thermal, or a Warhol-like Four-Color Poster. And, of course, there's also a long menu of filters to choose from, including two different HDR filters, Black & White, Retro, and Lomo styles among many … Read more