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Major League Baseball takes Snapchat to the dugout during games
Snapchat isn't new to sports coverage, but with Major League Baseball this season, the social channel is making a big push at the ballpark. The collaboration between the app and the league kicks off next Friday (March 11th) when MLB will allow players to use cellphones in the dugout for the first time. Before, during and after Spring Training games, players will be permitted to post their own snaps and selfies. Oh yeah, there's a special selfie stick for the occasion: the SnapBat. Yes, really.
Thanks, Obama: Now you can take selfies in the White House
We've seen President Barack Obama take a few selfies in the White House before, but until now the practice has been strictly forbidden for visitors on the public tour. Well, today that 40-year-old ban has been officially lifted. From now on, you can use a smartphone or a compact camera with a lens no longer than three inches to take photos inside the building. (Yes, this includes selfies.) While the rules have been relaxed somewhat, there are still plenty of gadgets on the "Prohibited Items" list. These include selfie sticks, tablets, GoPro-style action cameras and any snapper with detachable lenses. Texting, calls and livestreaming are also forbidden -- so no Periscoping while you walk down the entrance hall.
Artist adds poop emoji to selfie sticks to remind us of mortality
As depressing as it may be, selfie sticks are inescapable despite how many places ban them. It's a sad truth of the future we live in. But! An enterprising artist by the name of Pablo Garcia has figured out a way to "reduce vainglory and self-importance" by adding pixely emoji to the reviled smartphone accessory. It's a bit more difficult than it looks, though. Garcia says he employed elements of anamorphosis, a technique to distort an image so that it's only visible from a specific angle, to make sure the smiling pile of poop, thumbs up and party horn appear correctly when shot from the smartphone's extended perspective. Is there some bigger message or implication here? "Perhaps it's a sober reminder of your mortality in the midst of your vainglory, or simply a pile of poop with eyes," Garcia writes. There you have it folks: sometimes a rose really is just a (smelly) rose.
Nikon legitimizes the selfie stick once and for all
Like 'em or loathe 'em, selfie sticks have probably done enough to ensure that they won't be a passing fad. "Proper" camera makers have pretended that they don't exist, but Nikon has broken ranks to announce the N-MP001. This particular wand of narcissus has been designed to work with the company's latest Coolpix point-and-shoots, comfortably carrying cameras weighting up to 14 ounces. Unfortunately, top level engineering and Nikon branding comes at a price, specifically $59.95, a far cry from the $7 selfie sticks you can grab on Amazon. Just remember that, no matter how luxurious the stick, the number of locations where you can safely use them gets shorter by the hour.
Selfie sticks are banned at Coachella and Lollapalooza
If you're heading to either music festival this year, you can leave that selfie stick behind. Both April's Coachella and Lollapalooza in July have added the rods to their prohibited item lists. At Lollapalooza, the rules stipulate no "GoPro attachments like sticks, selfie sticks & monopods." Coachella said that "Selfie sticks / narsisstics" won't be allowed in, showing a healthy lack of self(ie)-awareness... and spelling skill.
LG's new midrange smartphones are made for selfie sticks
LG's already said it's bringing a new wearable to MWC, but it's also got a shoebox full of phones to showcase too. Like previous MWCs, the phone company has transplanted features from its flagship smartphone to models with smaller screens... and price tags. The biggest of the four new midrange phones, called the Magna, has a 5-inch display and 5-megapixel front-facing camera, alongside an 8-megapixel on the back. LG's even bought those back-of-phone buttons to these new models, barring the smallest 4-inch LG Joy. We've summarized the rest of the family after the break, but in an arguably depressing sign of the times, LG's also tweaked the sensitivity of its gesture recognition to incorporate selfie stick users. You can't stop the selfie. Unless you ban them.
