Rexfeng

A 30 Sep item from The New York Times’ City Room blog reveals the origins of the Yankees’ world famous logo: It was designed by Tiffany & Co. as part of a silver shield-shaped Medal of Valor depicting a woman placing a laurel wreath on a policeman’s head. It also contained the by-now-familiar interlocking letters…

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After years of resistance, Apple's iPhone 6 announcement last week officially signaled the Dawn of the Era of Huge Screens.

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Adam Voorhes knife laurel. Read how he did it here.

Here are some new photos of Mr. West teaching during the fall session at L.A. Trade Technical College. [ more › ]

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A friend sent me this link, with the quip, “So simple the HIG is less than 3 pages.” I pointed out there’s a title page, so let’s be honest and call it 4.

One line that stuck out to me:

Note that the Apple Pay sheet always displays text in all capital letters.

I wonder what the deal is with that? I’m guessing it’s a legacy shit sandwich from the existing credit card processing infrastructure.

The Goldster hits what he calls the best dim sum restaurant in all of SGV. Quite the statement, but Shi Hai depends on its quality ingredients for a change.

This week, Jonathan Gold doles out accolades for Shi Hai, a Hong Kong newcomer that opened last July in Alhambra. Touting the high quality ingredients (shoot, even the cucumbers are delicious) to the impeccable preparations, the Goldster declares this the best dim sum restaurant in San Gabriel Valley:

The first time I went to Shi Hai, I was pretty sure I had stumbled into the best dim sum restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley. The stuffed meat dumplings were first-rate, gooey domes of sticky rice flour encasing a teaspoon or so of sweet, crumbled pork, and the tiny almond-crusted shrimp balls were unusually light and crisp. There were translucent rice noodles, steamed to that knife's edge between solid and liquid, wrapped around crunchy, freshly fried crullers that in turn were stuffed with a kind of shrimp mousse, an excellent version of a congee-house classic.

In the meantime, Patric Kuh gives three stars to Kris Yenbamroong's Night + Market Song, lauding the young chef's efforts in Silver Lake:

I prefer Yenbamroong's cooking when it's more straightforward, a taut style that despite its casualness reflects detailed care. After years of enjoying Thai food as a known quantity, I've found myself excited to learn about new flavors when I go to Song. The first time I tried the larb tod was reason enough to return. Fashioned from a mix of pork liver and blood (and as robust as you'd imagine), the meat is deep fried as slider-size patties, the juices oozing onto a bed of shredded cabbage that's been scattered with fried garlic bits and pork cracklings

The Elsewhere: Midtown Lunch announces Commissary's (and POT's) new lunch menu, Oh Hei There checks out another near-final meal at b.o.s., KevinEats goes to Pine & Crane, and Table Conversation goes to Bombay Cafe.

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Early last month, Spanish artist Pejac (previously) created a fun silhouette artwork commemorating the 40th anniversary of French high-wire walker Philippe Petit’s daring walk between the Twin Towers in New York. In Pejac’s version, a tightrope walker painted in black acrylic on an interior window is shown walking along an airplane contrail several miles away in the sky. The fun optical illusion caught the attention of Sasha Bogojev over at Hi-Fructose who discovered the artist has been creating similar silhouette artworks since 2011. Seen here are a few of our favorites. Photos by Paco Esteve and Silvia Guinovart courtesy the artist. (via Hi-Fructose)

Side-by-side comparison from The Onion.

[Posted this 30 minutes ago thinking it was a new story, but it’s from 2011. ZDNet’s “Related Story” widget fooled me, sorry about that. Still interesting to me re: the Lynch angle.]

Good to know the guy who was responsible for Flash Player at Adobe is now in charge of the software for Apple Watch. The optimist’s angle is that Kevin Lynch was just doing his part as a team player. But his evangelism for Flash Player for mobile devices looks downright silly in hindsight.

Ed Bott:

Those contract prices include a $450 subsidy by the carriers, who are not in the business of giving money away. And they make sure they recover that subsidy. In some cases, they end up charging you hundreds of dollars more than you would lay out if you simply bought it outright.

After you add that device to your shopping cart, you then have to select a monthly plan and agree to pay the price of that plan for two years.

And guess what? For the three carriers that dominate the U.S. mobile market, the monthly prices for contract plans are significantly higher than those you will pay if you buy the phone outright or finance the full retail price.

The FTC ought to step in and force the carriers to clearly tell you the true price you’ll pay for your phone over the course of your two-year contract. And kudos to T-Mobile for being the only U.S. carrier with honest pricing.

Elmar Mock, inventor of the Swatch:

The Apple Watch is by far the most attractive of the smartwatches. I would definitely wear it. Don’t forget that the early smartphones did not immediately replace conventional mobile phones. When the iPhone first launched, Blackberry was sure that consumers would notice the lack of a keyboard and Nokia was convinced that the big screen would put users off…

A small change can make a huge difference—and it looks like the new Smash Bros. has a tweak that'll definitely change the way the game plays.

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Despite a nearly half-decade-long run, developer Harmonix has made the decision to shutter the Rock Band Network, effective immediately. As a showcase for Rock Band Network authors to share their music with potential fans, the Rock Band Network...

What's the deal with airline food, anyway?

The high-pressured environment on airplanes attenuates everyone's sense of smell, which has a profound effect on the way food tastes. Which is why it's extra weird that someone in Germany has started a subscription service that brings airplane food right to your door once a week. The menu, which covers stuff like ricotta cannelloni, looks suitably coach, or maybe just a few notches above that since it's provided by the same people who cook for Lufthansa.

Meals cost almost $13 each — slightly less for the vegetarian option — but the good news is that you can just put the whole frozen meal in the oven and heat. Maybe just make sure your seatbacks and tray tables are in their fully upright and locked positions before you sign up, and maybe also that you have a giant bottle of sriracha ready to go.

[Springwise]

Read more posts by Hugh Merwin

Filed Under: airline food,

[Photo: Facebook]

Here's an oddity: singer Christina Milian (of Dip It Low fame and featured with Ja Rule on Between Me & You) is partnering with LA's Chicken & Rice as a brand ambassador to help produce franchises across the country and even globally, according to this Facebook post. The New York street meat rip off opened last year with a truck that eventually found a brick & mortar on the northern edge of Downtown.

How weird is that the budding chain plans to open in places like Vegas (in front of New York, New York), Orange County, and even back to New York? And how did this fledgling operation in L.A. manage to snag the trademark for chicken & rice before anyone in New York?
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· All Chicken & Rice Coverage [~ELA~]

Filed under: Concept Cars, Hatchback, Mini, Design/Style

Mini just doesn't want its Rocketman concept to die. It unveiled the truly mini model at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, and since then, there have been countless on-again, off-again rumors about the possibility of it going into production. If the latest talk proves true, a smaller vehicle like the Rocketman might make it into the automaker's lineup after all, as competitor to other stylish city cars like the Smart ForTwo.

According to the company's head of design, Anders Warming, speaking to Auto Express, Mini likes the idea of having a smaller model in its lineup, but it has to figure out a way of actually making it work. Warming is clear that the next iteration of the Rocketman concept (or whatever it's called then) won't be seen until a design is ready.

There are still plenty of challenges keeping a production Rocketman off of the city streets of the world, and chief among them continues to be finding a platform. But Mini is at least considering it. "At the moment, we don't have the right tech solutions, but we are working on it. We don't yet have a final solution, you could say," said Warming to Auto Express. He also thinks the final version would drop the concept's carbon fiber in favor of more aluminum components.

The other key is getting the interior just right, and Warming's plan is to keep things simple. "Driving in the city is stressful enough, so we need a reduction in the number of elements," he said to Auto Express.

If Mini can jump these hurdles, then a city car like the Rocketman might make sense in the lineup. After all, the standard Mini Cooper is growing with every new generation. But with no platform or design ready, it might be a few years before we see a production version, if at all.

Mini Rocketman back on the table, might go aluminum originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Sep 2014 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that promise Apple made about not turning your data over to police in iOS 8 ? It's not a lie! But as iPhone security experts point out, that does not mean police can't access your data. It's actually not even that hard.

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Filed under: Coupe, Europe, Supercars

Plans change, and hopefully as an idea evolves along the way, it gets even better by the end. That mantra appears to be the case with the Vencer Sarthe supercar that is finally heading into production for the 2015 model year. It has had some significant changes over its two years of development.

We first saw the Sarthe back in 2012 when Vencer first announced its supercar, and the model made its world debut last year. The Dutch builders didn't let that stop them, though, and they have continued to tweak things up until this just-announced production version.

The general idea behind the Sarthe is the same. The supercar takes its name from the famous Circuit de la Sarthe Le Mans race course and claims design inspiration from endurance racers of the '80s. The basic engineering still features a carbon-fiber body, chrome-moly chassis and a V8 stuck behind the driver to spin the rear wheels.

However, Vencer claims that there are over 100 changes compared to the earlier prototypes, including a different engine. Instead of the original, naturally aspirated 510-horsepower V8, there's a 6.3-liter supercharged V8 with 613 hp and 618 pound-feet of torque. With no computer assists, a Torsen limited-slip differential is there to help with traction. While not mentioned in the release, photos show a six-speed manual gearbox.

The exterior also gets some pretty radical changes, especially in the back. Instead of being smooth, the rear pillars now include air intakes, and there's an electrically deploying rear wing. The engine cover is redesigned, and the side air inlets are larger. The interior goes for absolute minimalism, with a central screen for the instruments, a few buttons and the gearshift.

Vencer claims to be building its first customer cars now in Vriezenveen, The Netherlands, and European prices start at 270,882 euros ($349,832) before any applicable taxes. Scroll down to read about this Dutch supercar in its latest evolution.

Continue reading Vencer Sarthe supercar emerges out of The Netherlands

Vencer Sarthe supercar emerges out of The Netherlands originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From Mallory Ortberg, a hilarious send-up of the comments you see all too frequently on recipe sites.

"I didn't have any eggs, so I replaced them with a banana-chia-flaxseed pulse. It turned out terrible; this recipe is terrible."

"I don't have any of these ingredients at home. Could you rewrite this based on the food I do have in my house? I'm not going to tell you what food I have. You have to guess."

"I don't eat white flour, so I tried making it with raw almonds that I'd activated by chewing them with my mouth open to receive direct sunlight, and it turned out terrible. This recipe is terrible."

"Could you please give the metric weight measurements, and sometime in the next twenty minutes; I'm making this for a dinner party and my guests are already here."

These are barely exaggerated. I once saw a comment on a pesto recipe where the person substituted bay leaves for the basil and used other ingredients in the place of pine nuts and olive oil, then complained how bad it tasted and how terrible the recipe was. Oh, the literal humanity. (via nick)

Tags: food   Mallory Ortberg

Tesla Motors founder/CEO/madman-in-chief Elon Musk is feeling bullish on self-driving cars: He just told The Wall Street Journal that his all-electric car company will have autonomous vehicles six years from now, and they'll run circles around foolish human drivers.

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Greenland has been covered in dark ice this summer. Why is that such a problem? Because dark things absorb more heat than lighter colored things, causing the dark ice to melt faster than white ice would. Eric Hotlhaus explains.

There are several potential explanations for what's going on here. The most likely is that some combination of increasingly infrequent summer snowstorms, wind-blown dust, microbial activity, and forest fire soot led to this year's exceptionally dark ice. A more ominous possibility is that what we're seeing is the start of a cascading feedback loop tied to global warming. Box mentions this summer's mysterious Siberian holes and offshore methane bubbles as evidence that the Arctic can quickly change in unpredictable ways.

This year, Greenland's ice sheet was the darkest Box (or anyone else) has ever measured. Box gives the stunning stats: "In 2014 the ice sheet is precisely 5.6 percent darker, producing an additional absorption of energy equivalent with roughly twice the US annual electricity consumption."

Perhaps coincidentally, 2014 will also be the year with the highest number of forest fires ever measured in Arctic.

Tags: Eric Holthaus   global warming   Greenland

A real one-star cioppino.

Botto Bistro, a Bay Area Italian restaurant that gives zero fusilli about its standings on Yelp, has now turned to asking customers to trash them with one-star reviews, all in protest of the site's alleged ability to manipulate rankings. How this will look to Yelp users who aren't in on the joke isn't clear, exactly, but so far it's working: 83 of its 148 reviews now give the fewest stars on offer. The complaints stay pretty tongue in cheek, however: "My food arrived before I wanted it to come. It was too hot to eat. It brought back all kinds of terrible memories of eating in Italy," and "I can only give this place one star. To do otherwise would show them disrespect."

Chef and co-owner Davide Cerretini says he respects the concept of Yelp, "but the blackmailing thing is ferocious," referring to the site's policy of shuffling around good and bad reviews in exchange for advertising, a practice the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals just ruled legally defensible. Cerretini is committed to taking away "the only power" the social-networking site has. "I'm going to be one of the most unreliable restaurants," he says. After the launch of the Hate Us on Yelp campaign, which offers discounts and cooking-class giveaways, an annoyed Yelp sent Botto Bistro a cease-and-desist noting it's "received complaints from the community that you may be offering incentives in exchange for reviews" that violate Yelp's terms of service.

Cerretini's reply? He said he's "received complaints from the community that you may be removing reviews in exchange of vague explanations to loyal customers," violating Botto's terms of service as well. "I'm surprised we are still around on the site," he adds.

[Inside Scoop SF]

Read more posts by Clint Rainey

Filed Under: barbaric yelp, botto bistro, california, yelp

For the first time, iOS users can now purchase bundles that include multiple apps for a single, reduced price. The feature was announced back at WWDC, and with yesterday's launch of iOS 8, the first bundles are already appearing in the App Store. They cover everything from games to productivity to fitness, and should give new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners a way to quickly fill up their app catalog starting tomorrow. Want to catch up on Angry Birds in a hurry? $1.99. Gameloft's entire Modern Combat series is a bit pricier at $9.99.

Bundles can be cheaper (or even free) depending on if you already own a packaged-in app. You can find out what you'd normally pay buying everything separately below the bundle price. Often you'll save only a buck...

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Kerbal Space Program has a whole lot of numbers and variables behind it that influence how your spaceships work and where they go. Well, what better way to keep track of them than with this NASA-inspired flight computer?

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