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BAD NEWS FOR selfie-stick lovers. Museums in Paris, the most tourist-filled city in the world, are moving towards banning the popular devices because of the hazard they pose for crowds and artworks.
Inside the famed Palace of Versailles just outside the French capital, guards are telling visitors to put away the telescoping rods that allow users to take a smartphone picture of themselves at a distance. A formal rule change will soon prohibit the poles outright.
The management of the Louvre — the world’s most visited museum — is watching with increasing wariness the burgeoning use of the selfie sticks being waved around within centimetres of priceless paintings.
There’s no ban there yet, but “their use must respect the rules,” which include not pointing objects at the paintings or sculptures, a spokeswoman said.
The Pompidou Centre, which houses modern art exhibitions, is “heading towards a ban but the decision has not yet been made,” its management said.
Already several other big museums in the world have this year started banning the extending rods, including the Smithsonian in Washington, the MOMA in New York, and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
The measures were taken as use of the cheap, telescoping rods, some of which can extend to 1.5 metres (five feet) in length, becomes a ubiquitous and worldwide trend. It is not unusual to see tour groups waving a forest of the aluminium poles holding smartphones aloft in some high-density tourist sites.
’Bothers people’
In Paris, a ban on them inside museums would have a significant impact.
The City of Light is a prime destination for fans of culture and history. Together the Louvre, Versailles, the Pompidou Centre and the Musee d’Orsay attract more than 20 million visitors per year.
Safety — for other visitors passing by in often crowded spaces and of the fragile paintings, sculptures and palace furnishings — is cited as the reason for the move against the selfie sticks.
Many tourists seem understanding of the need for restrictions on the poles.
“I think that in shared spaces, outside like here, it (a selfie stick) is fine,” said Juliana Lepoutre Garavini, a Brazilian outside the Louvre. “But in the museums I think it bothers people a little.”
Alyssa Pasqua, an American visitor from Hawaii, said she uses a selfie stick but would not mind a ban inside museums — “because I feel like sometimes these things are dangerous… You can hit someone with it, because sometimes I’m accidentally like ‘oh my God!’.”
But Ezad Asri, a tourist from Malaysia, insisted he wanted to be able to maximise his precious time in Paris’s museums.
I want to take the picture of the stuff inside the museum to take to our country, to my country, Malaysia, to show to my people what’s inside the museum.
For museum managers, finding a balance between the understandable desire of people to photograph their visit — which also generates publicity on social networks — and to ensure safety and optimum foot-traffic flow is difficult.
Paris’s Musee d’Orsay, for instance, prohibits all photography inside. Many other museums permit non-flash snaps as long as no tripods or monopods are used. Almost all refuse entry with unwieldy objects such as non-collapsible umbrellas, baby carriages and bulky backpacks.
France’s culture ministry has published a non-binding charter that recognises that accommodating shutterbug museum visitors is “sometimes problematic” but makes no mention of selfie sticks.
What do you think? Is this a good move? Is it something we should do here?
Poll: Should selfie sticks be banned in Irish museums?
- © AFP, 2015 Additional reporting Christina Finn
A person who travels in space for the Chinese space program is called a Taikonaut.For America and the rest of the world its Astronaut and for Russia its Cosmonaut.
@Padraig: nobody travels in space its all fake
Lol! Alt-Right conspiracy theorists are funny.
@Breas: <——- a man with good discernment.
@OpenBorders No alt right, Just a guy with his own opinion. Which seems a tad silly.
@OpenBorders:
I don’t think you can really say much when you have set up a profile specifically to invoke a reaction.
@Pádraig Ó Raghaill:
Hey. Paddy. While you’re here…..I’m not a Zionist. You know this.
@Charlie Fogarty:
I thought we settled that – no need to rehash – I believe I even said you have discussions unlike many
@Pádraig Ó Raghaill:
I just take umbrage with being considered a Zionist when my support of Israel differs greatly to that mode of thinking. It’s important to differentiate between them.
…or a Coconaut!!!
What’s a Irish one called ???
The whole lot of them??
Surely not. Who’s going to make all our stuff?
@WJH: Why? Sure the Chinese are a great bunch of lads!
I hear they want to go to the sun at night as well
That was north Korea dude… But easy mistake they appear similar.
A Great Bunch Of Lads
That’d be awesome if it happens
They already own half of Canada and Africa!
China look set to dominate this sphere for the foreseeable future:
Soon they will be the only nation to have in-service, proven moon landing technology. By 2025 China will also likely have the only remaining Space Station in orbit with the ISS due to retire. They are already pretty far ahead in the race to capture a Near Earth Object and return in to an Earth orbit. NASA started their project this year on a shoestring budget as they prioritise a Mars 2030 run. The first nation to return an asteroid will lead the way in develop methods and technologies to mine such asteroids.
Essentially they are the only people actually trying to begin a space exploitation program. NASA are stuck on a vanity project, ESA doesn’t have a real budget and the Soviets are only interested in selling rockets anyway. They can do this because their system has advantages for long term infrastructure development over systems with elections. I really don’t see how they’d catch up at this point anyway.
@John Considine:
“the Soviets” ? C’mon comrade.
@Charlie Fogarty: I like how the only part of my reply worth of comment was my use of “Soviet” as opposed to Russian….
China’s relentless march towards becoming the next true Superpower? Let’s not worry about nonsense like that. All post in defence of Comrad Putin!!!
Sometimes you guys are just *too* transparent man.
@John Considine:
It was the funniest part. You’re framing the whole thing this as if the race hasn’t already been run. Any progress into space exploration is a positive now, regardless of who does it.
Who cares who owns the moon? I hope they are planning on building a base.
Who is ewe guys?
Sounds very interesting, It would be great to see the results and what type of minerals and compounds are found. Maybe E.T too
Good for them.
Apparently we’re all on a big ball, rotating at a speed of 1000mph and further rotating around a Sun, at 67,000mph. In addition, all of that is hurtling through an infinite universe at speeds up in the 100s of 1000s of mph – yet I feel absolutely zero vibration, lateral movement, or rotational pull from all of it.
Do you ?
Yawn…. No response on the last article you posted with the exact same comment so thought you would try again? What is wrong with you?
@Roibeard O Beachain: I like to question what I’m instructed to believe, is what’s wrong with me.
An admirable quality in a world teaming with MSM controlled automatons, if I do say so myself.
@Patrick Mac: ‘I like to question what I’m instructed to believe’
Unless it comes from a conspiracy website,then you won’t question it at all.
@Patrick Mac: Ha ha not this crap again! :-)
@OpenBorders: what website is it your referring to. I don’t need any website, book, TV set, radio to tell me that when I go outside, sit/stand still and do my best to detect, or feel motion I fail every time.
You can try it yourself if you wish. Stand away from the computer, go outside and ask yourself:
“where is the motion” ?
Go ahead, do it now, then report your findings.
Inertial frame…
@ Patrick Mac. I went outside. I observed the motion of the stars in the sky. The speed is almost imperceptible because the Earth rotates at only once per 24hrs. This is half the speed of the hour hand of a clock so I wasn’t expecting to have to hold on for dear life. But its very real all the same. Go outside and check yourself.
@Patrick Mac:
Yeah I don’t get science either.
@Paraic McDonagh: you’re ignoring the other two, additional trajectories Paraic:
*** rotating around a Sun, at 67,000mph
*** hurtling through an infinite universe at speeds up in the 100s of 1000s of mph
Why did you feel nothing from those, either ? More importantly, who, or what, carries out the task of steering planet earth through the infinite universe at such extreme speeds, huh ?
If you can answer this then you will be a rich man indeed.
Paraic, he’s a known troll so don’t waste your time.
Patrick i thought you were gonna go watch miles from tomorrow?
Scientists rarely become rich men. The reason you don’t feel anything is because space is a vacuum and so there is no resistance to the earth spinning or moving so that’s why you don’t feel anything. Simple really.
@Patrick Mac. Tell me this; when you’re on a train, do you expect your tea to splash into your face at 70mph when you tilt the cup to your mouth?
…If I was sitting next to you, it would.
@Paraic McDonagh: sorry, that’s not comparing like with like, Paraic.
He is Patrick. You could travel 60, 000 kph on a train and not feel a thing. Take away sound, windows and vibration from the track and you wont know you are moving ( if the train’s velocity is constant ) A sudden change in the trains velocity and coffee is getting spilled all over you or a lovely fat women has signed your death warrant….
Ha ha! You don’t notice anything because you are traveling at the same speed!
Your atoms are vibrating if that helps
Their mission will be as Fake as the US one in 1969. I wonder will the show the earth spinning from the moon. maybe they could place a video camera on the moon and show us the earth spinning 24/7
How can it spin if it’s flat?:
China already put a rover on the moon in 2013 called Jade Rabbit.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yutu_(rover)#
You do realise that optical reflectors were placed on the moon by Apollo astronauts which anyone can bounce a laser off and are therefore verifiable? How do you purpose those got there if the moon landings were fake?
Charlie, you can spin a plate. Same principle, just bigger. The Earth sits on a big wobbly stick. Or on four elephants on the back of a giant turtle. Depends who you ask.
Padraig, odd name for a dog.
Trump will want to get there first to brand it Trump Moon.
How high is the moon -Ho Hi is a China man? Ho low is his brother.
@Bennythekid:@Bennythekid:who is his brother how low is his cousin
Wonder how they will take all of China to Mars?
*The moon
Lol
Look at the south China sea…I don’t trust these medieval s (umbags
The Earth is Flat!!!! This is not a piss take..
Apparently the Chinese have admitted that there was no sign of the NASA every been on the moon! No Apollo Missions!! All a big Masonic lie..
Yes and they want to buy Donald Trump for a Trillion Dollars and have him run it for them……
Is his wife’s name She Qisong!!!!!
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