Russia-based face-changing application “FaceApp” took social media by storm last summer, as people used its filter to find out how they’d look like when they get old. Now, the app is back again with a gender-swapping function that transforms photos of faces into a different gender, and the filter has gone viral.
FaceApp may be a fun tool, but such facial recognition apps raise security concerns, and they could pose a threat to your privacy. Late last year, the FBI even issued a warning about the app, which enjoys access to millions of photos, calling FaceApp and some other apps developed in Russia a “potential counterintelligence threat.” To dispel doubts, FaceApp has clarified that photos will be deleted after editing.
“Photos remain in the cloud for 24 to 48 hours after you have last edited them,” the company claims, adding that it only uses third-party cloud providers to process its photos — such as Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Liberty Times 照片︰自由時報記者簡榮豐
(Eddy Chang, Taipei Times)
來自俄國的臉孔轉換應用程式「FaceApp」去年夏天席捲各大社群媒體，使用者紛紛透過它的變老濾鏡，查看自己變老的模樣。現在，這個程式又回來啦。不過這次是推出性別轉換功能，將臉部照片轉換成不同的性別，變性濾鏡近日推出後一夕爆紅。
雖然「FaceApp」很有趣，但是此類臉部辨識應用程式仍引發安全疑慮，還有可能對你的隱私造成威脅！去年底，美國聯邦調查局就針對掌握數百萬張臉部照片的「FaceApp」提出警告，說這類由俄國開發的程式具有「潛在情資威脅」。為了消除疑慮，該公司澄清說照片在編輯後將被刪除。
Photo courtesy of a netizen. 照片： 網友提供
該公司並宣稱︰「照片被編輯後，只會停留在雲端伺服器二十四至四十八小時。」還強調，只使用第三方雲端供應商來處理照片—像是Google Cloud Platform和Amazon Web Services。
（台北時報張聖恩〉
A: Guess what’s included in Google Taiwan’s 2024 most searched words. B: Let me guess: Taiwan’s victory in the WBSC Premier 12 championship must be on the list. A: Wow, good guess. “Premier 12” is at No. 10. B: What are the other most popular searches? A: No. 9 to 6 are: Ticketing platform “Tixcraft,” Taiwanese film “The Pig, The Snake and The Pigeon,” Olympic gold boxer “Lin Yu-ting,” and the “Yuanta ETF coded 00940.” A: 猜猜看，Google 2024台灣搜尋排行榜，有哪些關鍵詞？ B: 我猜「棒球12強賽」一定超熱門吧。 A: 你好強，12強真的排在第10名！ B: 其他熱門搜尋有哪些？！ A: 第9至6名是︰「拓元」售票、電影「周處除三害」、奧運拳擊金牌「林郁婷」、元大ETF「00940」。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: Which words ranked highest for Google Taiwan’s most searched words of 2024? B: No. 5 to 1 are: “US presidential election,” “Olympics,” “Ko Wen-je,” “typhoon” and “earthquake.” A: I heard that Google also released a list of most searched word meanings. B: Yeah, the most popular searches included “M3,” “APT” and “release without bail.” A: Let me google their meanings now. A: Google 2024 台灣搜尋排行榜，前幾名是什麼？ B: 第5至1名是︰「美國總統大選」、「奧運」、「柯文哲」、「颱風」、「地震」！ A: 我聽說Google還有一個搜尋字義的排行榜。 B: 對啊前幾名是︰「M3」、「APT」、「無保請回」。 A: 讓我搜尋一下他們是什麼意思。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Stonefish may not be the most impressive-looking animal in the sea. In fact, this fish is so skilled at camouflage that most people wouldn’t notice it if they swam past it. Despite their unremarkable appearance, stonefish are the most venomous fish in the ocean. Stonefish come in various shades of brown, red, yellow, and orange. Their rough skin texture and blotchy color pattern give them a remarkable resemblance to stones, which is where their name comes from. This feature helps them blend in with their surroundings exceptionally well. Stonefish are notable for their 13 highly venomous spines which protrude
「雙手合十／合掌禮」(namaste) or 「碰肘／擊肘」 (elbow bump): 新冠肺炎流行逐漸改變現代社會的某些社交禮儀，歐美許多名人政要開始以「雙手合十／合掌禮」(namaste) 或「碰肘／擊肘」(elbow bump) 替代握手。 《今日商業》報導英國王儲查爾斯以「雙手合十」代替握手。 Coronavirus update: Prince Charles spotted greeting people with namaste (Business Today , March 12, 2020) 另外，《商業內幕》報導：疫情期間美國總統川普在白宮舉行新冠肺炎記者會，想和居家照護公司LHC集團執行副總葛林斯坦 (Bruce Greenstein) 握手，葛林斯坦婉拒，示意改用擊肘。 President Donald Trump attempted to shake hands with a home health care company executive . . . but the man turned the president down and offered him an elbow bump instead. (Eliza Relman, Business Insider , March 14, 2020) 「雙手合十／合掌禮」源自印度，也流行於泰、緬等國家。「碰肘／擊肘」則是 2006 禽流感、2009 豬流感後逐漸流行。疫情逐漸改變我們的生活方式，包括打招呼等社交禮儀，也出現了微妙的變化。 「拱手禮」(fist-and-palm salute) 至於華人社會傳統上也有雙手互握合於胸前「拱手禮」(fist-and-palm salute)。公益網站 Just Quarantine 提到： Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen demonstrating social distancing through use of a traditional Chinese greeting (fist & palm) instead of shaking hands in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 因應新冠肺炎疫情，2020 當年總統蔡英文與來訪賓客保持安全距離，拱手 (fist &
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