7일(현지시간) 아르헨티나 부에노스아이레스에서 열린 프로미식축구팀 마이애미 돌핀스의 국제 치어리더 오디션에 참가한 지원자가 기량을 뽐내고 있다. 이번에 선발된 후보자들은 오는 5월 마이애미에서 최종 오디션을 통해 마이애미 돌핀스의 치어리더로 입단할 예정이다. 사진=마이애미 돌핀스·TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com) 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

7일(현지시간) 아르헨티나 부에노스아이레스에서 열린 프로미식축구팀 마이애미 돌핀스의 국제 치어리더 오디션에 100명이 넘는 지원자가 몰렸다. 이번에 선발된 후보자들은 오는 5월 마이애미에서 최종 오디션을 통해 마이애미 돌핀스의 치어리더로 입단할 예정이다. 사진=마이애미 돌핀스·TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com)　 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

타쉬 오클리와 데빈 부르크만이 7일(현지시간) 호주 본다이 비치에서 채널 ‘E!’의 프로그램 ‘The Hype’의 촬영을 위해 사회자 크세니야 루키치와 함께 대화를 나누며 대기 중에 있는 모습이 미국 연예매체 스플래쉬닷컴에 포탁됐다.사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com)　 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

5일(현지시간) 오스트레일리아 시드니에서 열린 ‘2016 시드니 마디그라 게이&레즈비언 축제(Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade)’ 참자가들이 가슴을 드러내고 축제를 즐기는 모습이 미국 연예매체 스플래쉬닷컴에 포착됐다. 세계 최대 규모의 동성애 축제중 하나인 마디그라는 1만2500명의 참자가와 20만명이 넘는 관객들이 모여 시드니 중심가에서 댄스파티 등 거리행진을 하며 밤새 축제를 즐긴다. 사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com) 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

?It is common for the authors to include epilogues, however, yours was especially sincere and full of countless thank you-s. Humans are quite similar in genetic aspects(you even mentioned that the reason Kenya became a powerful nation in track-and-field is because it did not lose the talented ones to other sports). Sport is a way of exploring the inner-conscience, so enjoy. Such conclusion seemed a little bit cliche-tic in the first place, pardon me, but as I thought about it more and more, it seems to be a really valuable conclusion. It has been already two years since you wrote the book. If you have the chance to write the epilogue once again, what are the changes that you would want to make? -Haha…well, I think maybe I would try to make that sentence a little less cliche! And I always appreciate feedback, so there is no need for pardon whatsoever. For me, sport is the ultimate lens through which to examine human biological diversity. You can watch the opening ceremony in Rio this summer, and there will be Michael Phelps next to a 1500-meter runner as they walk in, and Phelps will be 18cm taller, but both men will be wearing the same length pants, because of the bodytypes that are advantaged in their respective sports. I find that beautiful and remarkable, if a bit cliche. I really didn’t think so many people would be interested in the book, so I didn’t have an audience in mind so much when I wrote the epilogue, it was more sort of wrapping things up in my own mind. So that’s why I mentioned a wide range of characters from NBA players to Steve Jobs, and discussed the idea of genetic engineering for a perfect athlete. It was just addressing many different things I had been thinking about, almost like I was talking to myself. I think if I could do it again, I would have made a more explicit section of the epilogue where I said: “Here, in short, are aspects of this research that have most influenced how I work outside of sports,” and suggest how they might apply to other people. For example, when I’m trying to learn something new now, I sample a range of techniques first, and pay attention to my learning rate, or “trainability” as I call it in the book. It pays off to spend some time up front finding the method in which you are most trainable. You may be behind at first, but it’s the best way to go. And using some of the information about how athletes “chunk” information to make quick decisions, I’ve applied some of that to learning information quickly, and I can now memorize full hour-long lectures even though I don’t think I have a special memory. So I think I would have taken some time to give a bit more of the practical, utilitarian background. I would still like to do that! ?You worked as a researcher in Alaska near the North Pole, wrote articles while traveling on a yacht... you have been consistently involved in environment and sports-science. You are now working as a journalist for Propublica. Your TED lecture ‘Are Athletes Really Getting Faster, Better, Stronger?’ from 2014 was watched by a quite large number of people in Korea as well. You seem like a person who is consistently interested in new things and inflamed by new topics. Do you have a personal life moto? Is there a specific field that you are especially interested in and working on in these days? -When I lived on the boat, a large research vessel, I was actually doing science, not writing articles yet. I wasn’t a journalist yet, and still thought I would be a scientist. But the more science I did, the more I asked myself: “Am I the type of person who wants to spend my whole life learning or two things new to the world? Or am I the type who wants to learn things new to me more often?” I decided I was the latter, and later realized you really can connect dots that even the scientists haven’t, because they have to focus very narrowly. I jumped from being a scientist to a journalist, and then from all sorts of different jobs. I left a fulltime job in Washington D.C., to take a temporary six-month job as a fact-checker at Sports Illustrated. I don’t know that I have a motto, but just as the development of the best athletes involves diversification prior to specialization, I want my experience to be very wide early in my career. When my learning curve begins to flatten, I want to be somewhere else. That’s difficult, because the pressure is to create a brand and stick to the same thing. But I just can’t. I think we too often progress in life by continually moving more and more toward what we are comfortable with. I want to spend my entire life forcing myself to try things and engage with ideas that I don’t find entirely comfortable. It’s the same with physical training. If you lift the same weight the same number of times every day, you will maintain your muscle, but you won’t force it to change for the better. Right now, I just finished a long story about drug cartels in Mexico, which was a new field for me, and fascinating to understand how those organizations get very good at doing very bad things. It definitely made me wonder about how leadership is structured in organizations, so I’ve been reading some of the psychology about that. And I’m also taking a fiction writing class, because, again, I want to get out of my comfort-zone, and force myself to try a kind of writing that I’m not comfortable with. It’s working! ?Your book was selected as a New York Times bestseller. Moreover, the photo of your book with President Obama was a hot issue as well. I wonder, had the President ever mentioned about the book himself or wrote you an email or mentioned in his SNS about the book. -The President never wrote to me, as I think he probably has a pretty busy schedule! Interestingly, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mentioned in an interview that she was reading The Sports Gene as well. I enjoyed that, because she and President Obama are from different political parties obviously, and I was glad to think that perhaps people with very different viewpoints might be interested in it. I did see one interview online where President Obama was speaking with a runner who visited the White House, and told her some things about talent, and it made me think he had definitely paid attention to what he read in my book, as it sounded like it was straight from the pages. ?There was this video of you having a heated conversation in MIT with Malcom Gladwell, the founder of 1 million-hours-law. Are you still in an argument with him? -He and I still do discuss it, because we run together. But we have become very friendly. That doesn’t mean we agree, but my feeling is that he has gravitated somehwat more toward the evidence I’ve presented. I give him a huge amount of credit for being willing to change his mind when presented with evidence. He contends that the point of the law or “rule,” as he phrased it, was to show the importance of hard and sustained work. But that was never in question among scientists in the area, and I think the way that it has been applied is often a mistake. As I noted in my book, the scientist who did the actual work that led to the law has been pretty upset at what the public thinks it is. So I hope I helped correct that for people who are interested, although I certainly can’t reach as many people as Gladwell. ?You answered that ‘Phelps will be 18cm taller(than EL GUERROUJ), but both men will be wearing the same length pants, because of the body types that are advantaged in their respective sports. I find that beautiful and remarkable, if a bit cliche’. Could you explain further about why is that ’beautiful and remarkable‘? -In the early part of the 20th Century, there was an idea that there was an ideal way for all humans to be, and that anything different from that was bad. It deviated by fault or error. Instead, now that we better understand biological variation, it’s clear that tremendous variation is an essential part of evolution. There is no “perfect form,” only those that fit more readily into one environment or task than another. As such, I see sports as a celebration of humanity‘s physiological diversity. Some people have asked me if all these specialized body types take away some of the magic of sports for me. On the contrary, I think sports is a grand stage for appreciating biological diversity. Sports are simply contrived environments that we’ve created to test our psychology and biology. To me, the wider the range, the more interesting, and the more power sport has to appeal to everyone. I feel the same way about culture. I love the Olympics because it mixes cultures on a scale I don‘t think is really replicated just about anywhere else, and I like to see how that manifests. In short: at times human diversity is divisive, but in sport, it’s part of the celebration of achievement. Who is Epstein? He was born in Chicago, Illinois on the 31st of January, 1980. He majored in Environmental science and astronomy in Columbia University. He worked as an environmental research worker in the Artic Circle near Alaska. He also worked at the a seismological laboratory and charted the submarine topography of the Mediterranean ocean. As a sport-illustrate senior contributor, he is a celebrated journalists who writes sports-science and Olympics stories through careful research and checking, such as breaking the story that the Yankees‘ Alex Rodriguez, the tycoon of baseball was tested positive for steroids. He included his experience of being a varsity track-and-fields runner with teammates who came from Jamaica and Kenya and of working in the sports scenes in his book ‘The Sports Gene’, 2013. President Obama’s picture of buying the book at the bookstore was sensational. Also, Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state also recommended her acquaintances to read the book. Now he is working at the public benefit media ‘Propublica’ as a journalist and recently covered the story of the Mexican drug cartel’s local relief activity. Senior reporter Byong Sun Nim bsnim@seoul.co.kr

Can a genetic test tell whether my child who seems to be talented in sports will be able to succeed as a professional? When is the best time to select the right sport? If the child puts in efforts of more than 1 million hours, will he/she have the ability that no one can possibly think of challenging? There might be a quite large number of parents with such questions. David Epstein, the American sports-science journalist who published ‘The Sports Gene’ in 2013 advised through the e-mail interview that ‘There is no such test like that at the moment. It is actually best to experience diverse kinds of sports in one’s adolescence and choose a certain sport when one comes of age, being able to check one‘s degree of achievement and concentrate fully on the choosen sport’. Apart from certain sports such as golf and gymnastics, too much of either early or immersion education is not recommendable in sports. Following are the Q&As. ?First, I have to confess that I was personally touched by the well-done research and committed interviews. I guess that the time for writing took much longer than you had expected. Also, what were the reasons that you decided to write this book and how much are you satisfied with the outcome? -The research time for the book did indeed take longer than I expected. The topic was so complex, and there was, unfortunately, a lot of poorly done science I had to sift through to find the best work. (I was lucky I had a science background that helped with that.) For the first year, I did not write a word, I only tried to read 10 scientific papers a day, every day. As far as why I decided to write the book, it really came out of my own experience as an athlete, and as a sports spectator. I grew up in an area outside of Chicago where I ran on high school track teams with a lof of Jamaican immigrants. We had so many amazing sprinters, and when I realized Jamaica was an island of 2.5 million people, I wondered what could possibly be going on there to make so many fast sprinters?! And then in college, I moved up to run longer distance, and now I was running against Kenyan athletes, and learning that they weren’t just Kenyan, they were all from one small minority tribe, the Kalenjin. So, again, I’m wondering: What in the world is going on over there? Those questions combined with things I would see on television, like a women’s softball pitcher striking out the best Major League hitters. As soon as I saw that, I made an estimate calculation of the speed of her pitch and the closer distance of the mound to see if there was less time to swing, and there wasn’t, so I wondered why the men couldn’t hit it. So I just kept keeping all these questions in my mind, and when I had the opportunity, I wanted to go as far toward answering them as possible using the best available science. So really it was my own curiosities, and I didn’t know that so many other people would be interested. ?Your book‘s greatest strength may be that the readers can go through your experience as a varsity track-and-field player for 800 meters and also the interviews with Barry Bonds and Jennie Finch. Your theory of knowledge bulk was really intriguing as well. So, what you really wanted to say is that one cannot choose between nature and nurture. Concentrated workouts are important, however, there is no need to put in 1 million hours of work. One can experience diverse kinds of sports while he/she is young and then once he/she comes of age, he/she can choose one specific filed and put in his/her efforts. This is what you offer as an advice for parents who have kids that seem to be talented with sports. Is it right? -That’s right. The science has moved past the question of “nature or nurture,” and on to attempting to figure out what the balance of nature and nurture is in any specific situation. Without both genes and environments, there are no outcomes at all. So the real quest is to understand the interplay of nature and nurture, and how we can best use it. And this is important, because some people asked me after the book came out why scientists even study genetics if we can’t change it. The answer is that we can alter environments so that people get more out of their genetics. That’s why I use that quote toward the end of the book by J.M. Tanner?who was the world’s expert in body growth and development, and was a worldclass athlete: “Everyone has a different genotype. Therefore, for optimal development, everyone should have a different environment.” The more we understand about nature, the more we can help tailor the nurture to help everyone get the best out of themselves. As far as putting in hours of work, you’re exactly right. There is no magic number of hours. When I went through the work about the 10,000-hours rule, I expected to find something amazing I could write about. But what I found was work filled with statistical problems that needed to be addressed, because it’s actually damaging the development of athletes. The actual research shows that the typical route to success in most sports?and in fact many other activities?is to have a “sampling period,” where the learner has exposure to a wide variety of skills early, before then focusing in and specializing. That’s why I added an afterword to the book, and you can see, on pages 416 and 417, I added the charts with the aggregate data that show the development path of elite athletes. They sample sports early, and practice less and in a less technical manner early on than their peers who plateau at lower levels. There are exceptions, of course, and golf may be one because it’s a very unusual endeavor, in which the athlete is not time limited and does not need to predict the actions of others. But the fact is, most performers who go on to become elite do not follow the Tiger Woods path of early specialization. They follow the Roger Federer path; his parents forced him not to focus on tennis too early, and to continue playing badminton, basketball, and soccer before he could specialize. That’s the norm for those who become creative adult athletes. (And, by the way, there is evidence the best musicians do this as well.) Still, even looking at the data, people often don’t believe me. They send me messages: “Ok, maybe in some American sport that’s true, but never in soccer!” Well, luckily for me, shortly after the German national team won the World Cup, this study came out showing that they followed this exact pattern as well. The best players spent more time in unstructured activities as kids, and put off full specialization until after their less skilled peers. The study is called “Practice and play in the development of German top-level professional football players.” As an aside, Malcolm Gladwell and I had a public debate about this, and he conceeded that he didn’t expect people to take the 10,000-hours so seriously. You can see it here on YouTube. He and I have become running partners, so we continue to discuss on our own time! ?What was the most difficult part of writing the book? Even though you are an investigative reporter, it would have not been easy to do interviews while traveling since you would have to check the sources and work on the drafts on the plane. -Well, I didn’t have to do too much on planes, because I took a long time to write the book. When I chose my publisher, my priority was not the best financial offer, but the publisher that would make me an equal partner in determining how long I needed in order to write the book. In some ways, I still felt rushed, but I didn’t want to be on the normal timeline of one year or 18 months, because I knew I needed to learn a lot of material. So that was ok. It was a challenge, though, to arrange some of the interviews. In the last chapter of the book, I tracked down a man who was living as a reindeer farmer in the Arctic, and didn’t speak English, and it took me a while even to figure out that he was still alive and I should go visit him! Really, though, there were two aspects that stood out as very difficult: 1) If I wanted to give an honest examination of the top, I had to write about race and gender, and those are very sensitive topics. I got my CV ready just in case I had to find a new job. 2) I learned that some of my own intuition about the world was incorrect. I learned how hard it is, even faced with the data, to change my mind about certain things I believed for a long time and wanted to continue believing. It just took me some time to come to terms with that and write honestly about the data. For example, the chapters about genetic diversity in Africa, and about how physiology influences the willpower to train, were at first hard for me to digest intellectually, because much of the information was contrary to my intuition. But, in the end, that is why we have science, because we can’t rely on our intuition. --------------------- Two-thirds of Koreans have the gene which can pass through the doping(prohibited substances) test? David Epstein’s book ‘The Sports Gene(Translated version p.213)’ contains dangerous content that can instill a false belief on a quite large number of athletes in this nation. Swedish scientist Jenny Jakobsson Schulz, utilizing data from both Sweden and Inha University Hospital in Incheon, found out a scandalising fact. Those who have a pair of the gene mutant ‘UGT2B17’, which has the ability to cheat the most common anti-doping screening test ‘T/E ratio’, were more commonly found in East asia. The team actually mentioned that especially two thirds of Kroeans have this mutant. The T/E ratio test which searches for the ratio of testosterone to another hormone called epitestosterone views the ratio of 1:1 as normal and if the ratio goes above 4:1, than that there is a possiblity of doping. The research team determined that a lot of people have a gene that influences how they excrete testosterone in their urine, and they can dope without the T/E ratio changing, so they will still pass the test. They recommend that for drug testing to be more effective, it would have to be genetically tailored. On the 23rd of the last month, I requested an authority from Korean Anti-Doping Association(KADA) about how much of this is true and how much information do the domestic researchers and the KADA have on this news. Epstein further explained on this by answering “When I too asked anti-doping officials about this work, some of them said, ‘Oh no, it’s fine, that’s not right.’ Or, ‘That’s very rare.’ But it is right, and it’s not rare, so they are in denial.” “The good news, though, is that the T/E ratio test is becoming less important, as technologies like the biological passport are taking over.” He added, “Christiane Ayotte, one of the top anti-doping scientists in the world, was more honest. She told me, ‘This is one reason why I can’t retire until we have a better screening test than the T/E ratio.’. KADA Education-PR deputy answered on the 3rd, ”T/E ratio is just a primary testing method and is not used as a decisive material for the doping judgement. For example, we use secondary test methods such as IRMS, and also a biological informational system with diverse information for making the final conclusion. So, passing the T/E ratio test does not mean that one can avoid the doping test.” Senior reporter Byong Sun Nim bsnim@seoul.co.kr

할리우드 배우 벨라 손이 3일(현지시간) 미국 캘리포니아주 말리부의 주마 비치에서 사진 촬영 도중 티셔츠가 말려 올라가 비키니를 입은 상체가 드러난 모습이 미국 연예매체 스플래쉬닷컴에 포착됐다.사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com) 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

폴란드 출신 모델 조안나 크루파가 충격적인 누드 광고사진을 찍었다. 미국 연예매체 스플래쉬닷컴은 2일(현지시간) 조안나 크루파가 전라의 모습으로 털이 깎인 채 피를 흘리고 있는 양을 안고 있는 동물보호단체 PETA의 ‘울:벌거벗은 진실(Wool: The Naked Truth)’이라는 광고사진을 게재했다. 크루파는 아무것도 걸치지 않은 누드에 상처입고 피를 흘리는 분장으로 보는 이로 하여금 경각심을 일으키게 하고 있다. 사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com) 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

1일(현지시간) 일본 도쿄에서 ‘2016 미스 유니버스 재팬(Miss Universe Japan)’ 선발대회가 열렸다. 미국 연예매체 스플래쉬 닷컴은 이번 미인대회에 출전한 참가자들의 수영복 사진을 공개했다. 왕관은 기사현 출신의 여대생 나카자와 사리가 차지했다. 사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com) 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

러시아 출신 팝스타 나디아 볼리아노바(Nadia Volianova)가 미국 로스앤젤레스 베버리힐즈호텔에서 열린 아카데미상 수상자 디너 파티에 과감한 노출 패션을 선보였다. 미국 연예매체 스플래쉬닷컴은 28일(현지시간) ‘100인의 스타 오스카 갈라 파티(Night of 100 Stars Oscar awards viewing gala)’에 나디아 볼리아노바가 속살이 보이는 핑크색 레이스 드레스에 과감한 앞트임으로 맨다리는 물론 팬티까지 아슬아슬하게 보이는 의상으로 참석해 주변의 시선을 모으는 장면을 포착했다. 사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com) 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

‘셀러브리티 리햅’ 스타 메리 캐리가 25일(현지시간) 캘리포니아 스튜디오 시티 공원에서 운동하는 동안 놀라운 유연성을 보여주고 있다.사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com) 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

제니퍼 로페즈가 25일(현지시간) 캘리포니아 웨스트 할리우드에서 열린 아메리칸 아이돌 XV 결승진출자 파티에 도착해 포즈를 취하고 있다. 사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com) 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

페이스북 최고경영자(CEO) 마크 저커버그(32)가 경호원들과 함께 조깅하는 모습이 포착돼 관심을 끌고 있다. 지난 25일(이하 현지시간) 독일 일간지 타게스 슈피겔등 현지 언론은 이날 베를린 시내에서 조깅 중인 저커버그의 모습을 사진과 함께 보도했다. 저커버그의 조깅까지 언론의 주목을 받고있는 것은 얼마 전 수니파 급진 무장세력 이슬람국가(IS)의 협박 때문이다. IS 측은 저커버그와 잭 도시 트위터 CEO 얼굴에 총알이 박혀있는 영상을 공개하며 "당신 사이트는 물론 이름도 사라지게 하겠다"는 살해 협박 메시지를 공개했다. 이에 IS 타깃이 된 저커버그의 경호가 한층 강화된 것. 이날 저커버그는 5명 이상의 수행단들과 함께 시내 조깅에 나섰으며 상의는 유니폼처럼 입고 다니는 회색 티셔츠를, 특히 한 손에는 아이폰을 들고 뛰었다. 보도에 따르면 캘리포니아주 팔로알토에 있는 저커버그의 집은 16명의 경호원들이 지키며 혹시 있을지 모를 테러에 대비하고 있는 것으로 알려졌다. 지난 21일 스페인 바르셀로나에서 열린 삼성전자 갤럭시 S7 언팩 행사에 깜짝 등장해 화제가 된 저커버그가 베를린에 나타난 이유는 상을 받기 위해서다. 이날 저커버그는 독일 최대 미디어그룹 악셀슈프링거에서 제정한 ‘악셀슈프링거상’ 수상자로 선정돼 시상식에 참석했다. 이날 강연에서도 저커버그는 인공지능(AI)과 가상현실(VR) 분야의 무궁무진한 가능성을 또다시 강조했다. 　 사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com) 박종익 기자 pji@seoul.co.kr

24일(현지시간) 필름 페스티벌에 참석한 사진작가 데이비드 라샤펠이 영화배우 이본느 스치오를 번쩍 들어올리는 장난을 치다 레드 카펫 위로 넘어지는 장면이 미국 연예매체 스플래쉬닷컴에 포착됐다.사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com)　 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

영화배우 에밀리 라타이코프스키가 23일(현지시간) 미국 비버리힐즈에서 열린 제18회 의상디자이너 조합상 시상식에 참석해 포토월에서 포즈를 취하고 있다.사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com) 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

트랜스젠더 모델 어맨다 레포어가 2016 밀라노 가을/겨울 패션위크에 메릴린 먼로 코스튬을 하고 등장한 모습이 미국 연예매체 스플래쉬닷컴에 포착됐다.사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com)　 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

삼성전자 프레스 행사에 깜짝 등장한 페이스북 최고경영자(CEO) 마크 저커버그의 행동 하나 하나가 연일 언론과 네티즌들의 주목을 받고 있다. 지난 22일(이하 현지시간) 미국 워싱턴포스트등 외신들은 저커버그의 사진 한장이 소셜네트워크서비스(SNS)에서 으스스한 미래를 예고하는 상징으로 패러디되고 있다고 보도했다. 저커버그가 직접 페이스북에 공개한 이 사진은 지난 21일 스페인 바르셀로나에서 열린 월드모바일콩그레스(MWC) 삼성전자 갤럭시 S7 언팩 행사에 깜짝 등장하는 자신의 모습을 담고 있다. 당시 삼성전자 측은 가상현실 헤드셋인 기어 VR을 관객들에게 시연 중이었으며 저커버그는 그 사이 무대에 올랐다. 흥미로운 점은 당연히 가상체험을 즐기는 관객 누구도 IT 최고 스타가 옆으로 걸어가고 있다는 것을 몰랐다는 점이다. 이 사실을 즐기듯 저커버그는 웃으며 관객 사이를 지났으며 그 모습은 공개된 사진에도 담겨있다. 그러나 네티즌들은 이 사진이 디스토피아(dystopia)를 상징하는 것 같다며 SNS에 촌평과 함께 패러디 사진을 올렸다. SNS에는 현대문명의 발달을 신랄하게 비판한 영국 소설가 올더스 헉슬리의 소설 '멋진 신세계'(Brave New World)가 언급되거나 영화 '메트릭스', 애플의 유명한 1984년 '슈퍼볼' 광고 등이 회자됐다. 당시 영화감독 리들리 스콧이 제작한 이 광고는 조지 오웰의 ‘1984’ 이미지를 사용해 지금까지도 화제가 되고 있다. 네티즌들은 "사진에서 진짜 눈을 가지고 있는 것은 'IT 지도자' 저커버그 한 명 뿐이다" , "이미 좀비의 시대가 왔다" , "저커버그가 이제는 우리 뇌까지 훔치는 것처럼 보인다"고 평했다. 한편 이날 행사 후반부에 등장한 저커버그는 “가상현실은 차세대 플랫폼이 될 것”이라면서 “이것이 기어 VR을 내놓은 삼성과 페이스북이 협력한 이유”라고 밝혔다.　　 박종익 기자 pji@seoul.co.kr

미국 연예 매체 스플래쉬닷컴은 23일(현지시간) 성인영화배우 출신 정치가인 메리 캐리가 공화당 젭 부시 후보의 중도 하차와 관련 “Bush Is Out”이라 쓰여진 팬티를 입은 모습을 공개했다. 정치적 입장 보다는 풍만한 가슴을 드러낸 채 야하게 다리를 벌리고 있는 모습에 더욱 눈길이 간다. 사진=TOPIC / SPLASH NEWS(www.topicimages.com) 온라인뉴스부 iseoul@seoul.co.kr

-오픽 시험 소개부터 오픽IH 학습비법까지 오픽의 모든 것을 담은 시험 전략 가이드 오픈! ‘무료 레벨 테스트 제공’ 겨울방학의 끝자락인 지금, 2016 상반기 채용에 대비해 오픽(OPIc) 시험을 준비하는 이들이 많다. 오픽 초보부터 오픽IM2 및 오픽IH 레벨을 위해 공부하는 학생들을 위해 영단기가 ‘오픽 시험 전략 가이드’를 무료로 공개했다. 외국어학원 1위 영단기(2016 소비자가 뽑은 가장 신뢰하는 브랜드 대상 2년 연속 수상_영어교육부문)가 만든 ‘오픽 시험 전략 가이드’는 상반기 대기업 채용 필수 스펙인 오픽을 준비하는 이들에게 도움을 줄 만한 내용을 총망라했다. 오픽 소개부터 IH 달성 위한 학습비법까지 오픽의 모든 것을 홈페이지에서 무료로 확인할 수 있다. 오픽 준비생들은 영어 스피킹 시험의 양대산맥인 토익스피킹과 오픽의 차이점을 보며 비교해볼 수 있고, 오픽의 장점, 오픽 대표 문제 유형, 2주 안에 오픽IH 달성하기 등 실용적인 내용을 보며 오픽 시험을 단기간에 대비할 수 있다. 특히 본인이 작성한 답변을 녹음해서 올리고 무료로 평가를 받을 수 있는 ‘오픽 레벨 테스트 게시판’도 마련됐다. 업로드 된 답변은 영단기 오픽학원 및 오픽 인강 대표강사 지니강 선생님이 직접 듣고 레벨을 평가해준다. 또, 오픽답변 원고 첨삭 서비스 및 개인별 맞춤 학습 커리큘럼 추천도 제공된다. 오픽 시험 전략 가이드 내의 오픽 레벨 테스트 게시판에 자기소개나 답변을 녹음해서 업로드 하면 참여자 중 추첨을 통해 오픽 프리패스 2주 수강권을 증정하는 ‘오픽 레벨 테스트 참여 이벤트’도 진행 중이다. 이벤트는 오는 2월 28일까지 진행된다. 오픽은 미국의 언어 전문평가기관인 ACTFL이 출제하고 크레듀가 주관하는 영어 말하기 시험으로, 대기업 신입 공채를 비롯해 임직원 인사고과에 활용되며 많은 취업준비생들과 직장인들에게 필수 스펙으로 자리잡았다. 실용 영어를 중시하는 대학 및 기업/기관이 늘어나면서 토익과 함께 오픽을 준비하는 이들이 증가하고 있는 추세다. 영단기는 오픽 응시생들을 위해 ‘오픽 시험 전략 가이드 공유 이벤트’도 진행한다. SNS에 오픽 시험 전략 가이드를 공유하면 참여자 전원에게 오픽 스타강사 지니강 선생님의 오픽 트렌드 리포트 인강을 무료로 제공한다. 취업 기본 스펙인 오픽IM2부터 서류전형 프리패스 스펙인 오픽IH까지 2주로 달성 가능한 영단기오픽인강에 대한 자세한 내용은 영단기 홈페이지(www.engdangi.com)에서 확인할 수 있다. 나우뉴스부 nownews@seoul.co.kr

삼성전자 프레스 행사에 깜짝 등장한 페이스북 최고경영자(CEO) 마크 저커버그의 행동 하나 하나가 연일 언론과 네티즌들의 주목을 받고 있다. 지난 22일(이하 현지시간) 미국 워싱턴포스트등 외신들은 저커버그의 사진 한장이 소셜네트워크서비스(SNS)에서 으스스한 미래를 예고하는 상징으로 패러디되고 있다고 보도했다. 저커버그가 직접 페이스북에 공개한 이 사진은 지난 21일 스페인 바르셀로나에서 열린 월드모바일콩그레스(MWC) 삼성전자 갤럭시 S7 언팩 행사에 깜짝 등장하는 자신의 모습을 담고 있다. 당시 삼성전자 측은 가상현실 헤드셋인 기어 VR을 관객들에게 시연 중이었으며 저커버그는 그 사이 무대에 올랐다. 흥미로운 점은 당연히 가상체험을 즐기는 관객 누구도 IT 최고 스타가 옆으로 걸어가고 있다는 것을 몰랐다는 점이다. 이 사실을 즐기듯 저커버그는 웃으며 관객 사이를 지났으며 그 모습은 공개된 사진에도 담겨있다. 그러나 네티즌들은 이 사진이 디스토피아(dystopia)를 상징하는 것 같다며 SNS에 촌평과 함께 패러디 사진을 올렸다. SNS에는 현대문명의 발달을 신랄하게 비판한 영국 소설가 올더스 헉슬리의 소설 '멋진 신세계'(Brave New World)가 언급되거나 영화 '메트릭스', 애플의 유명한 1984년 '슈퍼볼' 광고 등이 회자됐다. 당시 영화감독 리들리 스콧이 제작한 이 광고는 조지 오웰의 ‘1984’ 이미지를 사용해 지금까지도 화제가 되고 있다. 네티즌들은 "사진에서 진짜 눈을 가지고 있는 것은 'IT 지도자' 저커버그 한 명 뿐이다" , "이미 좀비의 시대가 왔다" , "저커버그가 이제는 우리 뇌까지 훔치는 것처럼 보인다"고 평했다. 한편 이날 행사 후반부에 등장한 저커버그는 “가상현실은 차세대 플랫폼이 될 것”이라면서 “이것이 기어 VR을 내놓은 삼성과 페이스북이 협력한 이유”라고 밝혔다.　　 박종익 기자 pji@seoul.co.kr