Incredible space photos like those from NASA don't look as stunning straight out of the telescope. They need significant processing, and a crucial part of that is sharpening. Coming to you from Unmesh Dinda with PiXimperfect, this fascinating video explores the APF-R plugin, developed by award-winning astrophotographer Christoph Kaltseis. APF-R stands for Absolute Point of Focus, and it's designed to enhance photo details without creating halos or artifacts. This technology has been used by space agencies with telescopes like the James Webb, and now, you can use it in Photoshop. The plugin allows for non-destructive editing, meaning you can adjust the radius and detail level without permanently altering your image. This feature is crucial for astrophotography, where preserving original details is vital. The video shows how APF-R compares to Photoshop's built-in sharpening tools. The plugin offers multiple rendering methods, each suited for different types of images. For instance, the "Center Weighted" method provides a balanced sharpening effect without making the image look overprocessed. Dinda explains how to fine-tune these settings to achieve the best results, making it clear why this plugin is a game-changer for photographers looking to enhance their images with precision. One notable feature of APF-R is its ability to work with different image types. The video demonstrates how the plugin enhances not just space photos but also landscapes and portraits. For portraits, APF-R can bring out skin textures and eye details without creating the unwanted halos that traditional sharpening methods often produce. Dinda also shows how to combine APF-R with other Photoshop tools, like Smart Sharpen, for even better results. This versatility makes APF-R a valuable addition to any photographer's toolkit. The plugin's cost is $50, which Dinda considers a bargain given its advanced capabilities. There's also a Creative Bundle subscription that includes APF-R and 20 other tools, offering great value for those looking to expand their editing options. Dinda provides discount codes in the video description, making this sophisticated tool more accessible. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Dinda.

Byd has grown rapidly in China over the past few years, becoming the country's best-selling car brand and the world's biggest selling electric car brand. Byd opened its first electric car factory in Southeast Asia on Thursday in Thailand. Byd also took over a former Ford Motor Co. plant in Brazil and has been looking for a site for a Mexican plant. Europe's first automotive plant is under construction in Hungary. Byd's second-quarter sales jumped to a record 982,747 vehicles, up more than 40 per cent from a year earlier. Although the company's sales in Europe have been sluggish so far, it is making a big marketing push in the region to replace Volkswagen as the main automotive sponsor of the European Championship. According to a recent Fortune report, officials said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to announce the agreement for BYD to build the plant at a signing ceremony on Monday in Manisa province, where the plant will be built. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Byd representatives declined to comment. Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mohamed Fatih Kassir said in May that he was in advanced discussions with BYD and Chery on investment in Turkey. The new plant will improve BYD's access to the European Union, as Turkey has a customs union agreement with the EU. The European Union this week announced temporary punitive tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China, with BYD imposing an additional 17.4 percent tariff on top of the existing 10 percent tariff. Other Chinese carmakers have been hit with higher tariffs. Investing in Turkey would strengthen the presence of Chinese carmakers in Europe at a time of escalating trade tensions.

At the Apple Developer Conference held earlier, the iPhone 16 series will be equipped with iOS 18 has been revealed. At the event, Apple showed off a series of convenient interactive experiences brought by Apple Intelligence, including a more powerful Siri voice assistant, Mail app that can generate complex responses, and Safari that aggregates web information. These upgrades will no doubt make the iPhone 16 line even more attractive. In order to use Apple Intelligence, a new feature of iOS 18, the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro series are equipped with A18 chips. An external blogger found in Apple's back end that the iPhone 16 series will use the same A-series chip, and the back end code mentions A new model unrelated to the existing iPhone. It includes four iPhone 16 series models, and the four identifiers all start with the same number, indicating that Apple is attributing them to the same platform. The new iPhone will have a stainless steel battery case, which will make it easier to remove the battery to meet EU market standards, while also allowing Apple to increase the density of the battery cell in line with safety regulations.

On the afternoon of July 8, local time, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health issued a notice stating that an 18-year-old girl in the country died of diphtheria. The Ministry of Health asked Nghe An Province and Bac Giang Province to take urgent action to control the epidemic. Diphtheria is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, which is mainly transmitted through droplets and can also be indirectly transmitted by contact with objects containing Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Severe cases may show symptoms of poisoning throughout the body, complicated by myocarditis and peripheral nerve paralysis.

US politicians are advocating for steep tariffs, echoing the protectionist Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922. Despite potential international retaliation, risks to global economic rules and a shift from post-World War II principles, US politicians have promised to increase trade barriers against China, causing concerns for the sustainability of global economic harmony. A century ago, the Republican Congress passed the Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922. This post-World War-I effort to protect the US from German competition and rescue America's own businesses from falling prices sparked a global wave of tariff hikes. While long forgotten, echoes of Fordney-McCumber now reverberate across the US political landscape. Once again, politicians are grasping the tariff as a magic talisman against its own economic ills and to contain the rise of China. The Democratic Party of the 1920s opposed tariffs, because duties are harmful to consumers and farmers, but today both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump favor national delivery through protectionism. Trump promised that his second term, if elected, would impose 60-percent tariffs on everything arriving from China and 10-percent tariffs on imports from the rest of the world, apparently including the imports covered by 14 free trade agreements with America's 20 partners. He initially promised 100-percent tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs), but when Biden declared that he was hiking tariffs on EVs from China to 100-percent, Trump raised the ante to 200-percent. On May 14, 2024, the White House imposed tariffs ranging from 25 percent (on items such as steel, aluminum and lithium batteries) to 50 percent (semiconductors, solar cells, syringes and needles) and 100 percent (electric vehicles) on Chinese imports. US government officials offer "national security" and "supply chain vulnerability" as the justification for levying high tariffs. To deflect worries about inflation, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai declared, "first of all, I think that that link, in terms of tariffs to prices, has been largely debunked." Contrary findings by the United States International Trade Commission and a number of distinguished economists, as well as Biden's own 2019 statement criticizing Trump's tariffs - "Trump doesn't get the basics. He thinks tariffs are being paid by China… [but] the American people are paying his tariffs" - forced Tai's office to wind back her declaration. The fact that prohibitive barriers to imports of solar cells, batteries and EVs will delay the green economy carries zero political weight with Trump and little with Biden. Nor does either of them worry about the prospects of Chinese retaliation and damage to the fabric of global economic rules. Historical lessons - unanticipated consequences of the foolish Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922 and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 - are seen as irrelevant by the candidates and their advisers. The US' lurch from its post-World War II free trade principles offers China a golden opportunity. On the world stage, China will espouse open free trade and investment. China will encourage EV and battery firms to establish plants in Europe, Brazil, Mexico and elsewhere, essentially daring the US to damage its own alliances by restricting third country imports containing Chinese components. Whether the fabric of global economic rules that has delivered astounding prosperity to the world will survive through the 21st century remains to be seen. Much will depend on the decisions of other large economic powers, not only China but also the European Union and Japan, as well as middle powers, such as Australia, Brazil, Chile, ASEAN and South Korea. Their actions and reactions will reshape the rules of the 21st century. If others follow America down this costly path, the world will become less prosperous and vastly more unpredictable. If they resist, the US risks being diminished and more isolated. The author is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute of International Economics. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn