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Dan Lewis on a gambling institution as elusive as it is downmarket. It's all to do with licensing, naturally. Read the rest

Photokina is only 13 days away, and a lot of companies are already announcing their goods for the show. Canon will be announcing a new DSLR, some new lenses and a few PowerShot cameras. We have conflicting reports of when these announcements are being made. We were initially told that the NDA’s expired on September 5, 2014 in Europe. However, a good source tells us they don’t expect to see the EOS 7D Mark II announced until midnight on September 15, 2014, which is a day before Photokina begins. If anyone can shed light as to when the announcements are, please let us know.

Canon EOS 7D Mark II Specifications
Below is the expected specs of the Canon EOS 7D Mark II, we haven’t had anything to say that these are not the real deal. There could still be some surprises, especially around the sensor.

• Kit lenses: 18-135 IS STM and 15-85 IS (no STM)
• CF, UDMA mode 7 + SD, UHS-I
• GPS is in the camera
• No WiFi
• Fixed LCD, with no touch function.
• 20.2MP APS-C Sensor
• Dual Pixel CMOS AF
• Dual DIGIC 6 Processors
• 65 AF points “All Cross-type”. Dual cross on the center point.
• f/8 on center point at least, could be on more points.
• 10fps
• ISO 100-12800, ISO Boost mode 25600 and 51200
• 1080p/720p both get 60fps
• Servo AF for video shooting.
• Anti-flicker mode, eliminates flickers under flickering lights (e.g. fluorescent lamps).
• Spot metering size 1.8%
• Built-in flash
• Mic and headphones connectors
• Can sync time between 7D II cameras.
• Lens electronic MF
• About 100% coverage OVF
• New Battery – LP-E6N
• New Battery Grip BG-E16

New Lenses
It looks like 3 new lenses are coming. Surprisingly we will not be seeing the announcement of the EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS replacement, unless Canon does a “development” announcement.

• EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM Pancake
• EF 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
• EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II

New PowerShot Cameras
We can only confirm the announcement of a 1″ sensor camera from Canon that will be about the size of an “S” series camera. There’s a chance we’ll finally see the SX60 HS and a replacement waterproof/shockproof camera.

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It turns out that this close-up video of slow motion skateboard tricks is all I've ever wanted out of life.

I had no idea that's what they were doing down there. It's a symphony of footwork!

Tags: skateboarding   slow motion   sports   video

 Sony has indeed added to its lineup of camera tech add-ons for smartphone devices today, with not one, but two new devices in the QX series of accessories. The QX1 and QX30 join the existing QX10 and QX100, with the QX1 offering interchangeable lenses as revealed in a leak earlier, and the QX30 offering 30x optical zoom. The two new Sony accessories both offer ways to improve your photo quality… Read More

Summer already turns New York’s subway platforms into fetid saunas. Climate change may make them dangerous. A draft report from a panel convened by Governor Andrew Cuomo, obtained by Capital New York, warns that climate change could make stations "dangerously hot for riders." This is in addition to the more obvious threat of flooding that climate change poses.

"dangerously hot"

Heat from the trains, their brakes, and the air conditioners used to cool the cars combine to make platforms far hotter than the temperature above ground. "Just because the way the station is designed. It's a steamer," Richard Barone, the transportation director at New York’s Regional Plan Association, tells Capital. The problem can’t be solved by putting air...

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There is such a thing as a free Facebook lunch.

When it comes to Silicon Valley, those fabled, vast, all-you-can-eat cafeterias and magical-looking dining areas helmed by in-house chefs aren't really so much of a job perk these days so much as they are "kind of expected." So you can probably imagine the Valley's outrage at the news that the tax man wants all of those fruit baskets, whey shakes, millet pasta buffets, and then some figured into employees' yearly federal withholdings, and may even demand back taxes "that can amount to 30% of the meals' fair-market value," according to lawyers.

The Wall Street Journal notes that the development comes from the IRS and the Treasury Department listing "employer-provided meals" as one of their top tax priorities for the next fiscal year. Probably speaking for most, a tech employee at Weebly tells Fortune the plan is a slippery slope that "doesn't make sense" because, next thing you know, "you start taxing free coffee as well." Still, however entitled six-figure-earning twentysomthings can sound when their supply of unlimited chia smoothies gets threatened, the issue apparently isn't all that legally clear cut, either. The IRS says free food qualifies as a fringe benefit, like a company car, while start-ups argue it's exempt if "reasonable lunch breaks aren't feasible," a case certainly helped by those labyrinthine campuses (the Googleplex's vastness requires 29 restaurants). Anyway, Silicon Valley legendarily knows how to lawyer up, so both sides seem to agree on the inevitability of this being arbitrated in over several days in court, lunch breaks and all.

[WSJ, Fortune]

Read more posts by Clint Rainey

Filed Under: free lunches, corporate meals, facebook, google, news, silicon valley, taxes

When pizza's on a bagel, you can eat pizza anytime.

It's 2 a.m., you're wasted, and you can't decide if you'd like to face-plant into a greasy slice, or buy a massive bagel to use as a pillow on the cab ride home. Now, you can have the best of worlds: Starting tomorrow, Black Seed will open from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. on Thursday through Saturday, with a limited menu that includes two different kinds of pizza bagels (a $6 cheese pizza with basil, and a $7.50 pepperoni option), and bagels by the bulk, with cream cheese on the side. Note that this doesn't mean that Black Seed will stay open for regular dinner service: It'll close between 4 p.m. and the start of the 10 p.m. late shift. So the answer is no — you can't eat these particular pizza bagels anytime.

Read more posts by Sierra Tishgart

Filed Under: dreams come true, bagels, black seed, new york, news, pizza

Seeing random tweets in your timeline, like tweets favorited by people you follow? Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has offered up one reason why:

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The company has adopted a new name, CVS Health, and stopped selling tobacco products in an effort to redefine itself as a health care destination for consumers.

Diablo III's patch 2.1 for the PC introduced new endgame content: Greater Rifts. These are tiered, higher level dungeons with a 15-minute timer and with a boss at the end who almost always drops awesome loot. And there's a smart way to finish these dungeons and get huge amount of legendaries.

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From Matter, a list of things to enjoy now before climate change takes them away or makes them more difficult to procure. Like Joshua trees:

The Joshua trees of Joshua Tree National Park need periods of cold temperatures before they can flower. Young trees are now rare in the park.

And chocolate:

Steep projected declines in yields of maize, sorghum, and other staples portend a coming food crisis for parts of sub-Saharan Africa. But here's what will probably get everyone's attention in the developed world: Studies suggest cacao production will begin to decline in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, the source of half of the world's chocolate, by 2030.

And cherries:

Eighty percent of tart cherries come from a single five-county area in Michigan, all of which is threatened.

But as noted previously, we've got plenty of time to enjoy jellyfish:

Important cold-water fish species, including cod, pollock, and Atlantic Salmon, face a growing threat of population collapse as the oceans heat up. Studies suggest a radical fix: Eat lots of jellyfish, which will thrive in our new climate.

Also, The Kennedy Space Center, Havana, Coney Island, the Easter Island statues, and The Leaning Tower of Pisa will all be underwater sooner than you think.

Tags: food   global warming   lists

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A California field, not growing almonds.

As many continue to note, the almond craze is having unpleasant consequences in California in particular, where the demanding little nut is usurping water, harming fauna, and potentially wrecking the infrastructure. California is under a drought so world-historically bad that the state is considering adding a new level — D5 — to the four-tier scale to categorize it, but the almond is having a banner year anyway thanks to safeguards by the state, like ensuring 1.1 gallons of water for every gallon of almond milk produced. All said, it's surprising that Dunkin' Donuts chose now, of all times, to roll out an almond milk option in about 75 percent of its 7,821 stores.

Who knows, maybe almond-milk Dunkaccinos and Coolattas can muster excitement equaling the Cronut-worthy line over the holiday weekend for the grand opening of L.A.'s first location, but hit or flop, just stocking almond milk means a lot more demand. In fact, being out front on this one as the first chain to offer it nationwide is apparently all part of the Dunkin strategy to "differentiate themselves by staying on top of consumer trends." The brand will be Almond Breeze, in a vanilla flavor you can presumably mix into brewed coffee, blend into a frozen drink, or steam for lattes. No word yet on what additional cost it might carry, and in any case, the price you put on agricultural devastation is also up to you.

Related: Your Almond Consumption Is Killing California's Salmon and Honeybees

[Businessweek]

Read more posts by Clint Rainey

Filed Under: the chain gang, almond milk, almonds, california, dunkin' donuts, news

If WiFi can track a heartbeat through walls, why can't I get internet in my corner bathroom? Jason Cole was trying to figure that out too, but unlike me, he's a PhD student in physics. So he mapped his own apartment and assigned refraction values to...

One of six astronauts currently on board the International Space Station, geophysicist Alexander Gerst spends much of his free time staring out the window as the world zooms by 205 miles below, camera in-hand. Since arriving at the ISS in June of this year Gerst has taken tons of photographs that document hurricanes, floods, dust storms, and oil fields.

One of his favorite things to shoot are the shadows cast by clouds, something that appears surprisingly dramatic from space. Dense cloud formations can create long shadows that stretch for thousands of miles across the Earth’s surface as they eventually disappear into a black horizon. You can see new photos from Gerst daily on Twitter. (via Stellar)

Could a Santa Barbara–style burger possibly be better than a Shackburger?

Earlier this summer, a burger chain you'd probably never heard of unexpectedly nabbed top honors in a Consumer Reports burger-chain survey, besting Five Guys, Steak 'n Shake, and even the West Coast's much-vaunted In-N-Out. In fact, the winner was another California creation: Habit Burger, or "the Habit," claims to be a Santa Barbara institution, founded in 1969 and, at the moment, in rapid expansion mode. When I heard the first East Coast location just opened in New Jersey, I decided to trek out for lunch and see if this place's burgers were as outstanding as I'd been led to believe. In retrospect, I probably should have just gone to my nearest Shake Shack.

After gassing up the car, reaching the Bronx in 20 minutes flat, and then crawling across the GW Bridge for 25 excruciating more, I navigated the suburban barrens and endless stretches of car dealerships of Bergen County to find the restaurant, which opened last month in a suburban complex called the Fair Lawn Promenade, built on the site of an old Eastman Kodak facility. It was a Sunday, but the place was bustling at 11 a.m., just after opening.

Everyone in line was talking about the Original Double Char, an ad for which is conveniently posted on the door. This burger is a big deal: It made the 10 o'clock news, and at a cost of $4.80, it's almost $2.50 less than a comparable model at Shake Shack. It's also $2 cheaper than the cheeseburger at Five Guys. (Habit Burger's subcompact Original Charburger, with a single patty, is even less expensive.)

After ordering, I was handed a standard-issue vibrating pager that would buzz when my food was ready. But after I paid, a screen next to the cashier lit and displayed the following message: "Don't forget to visit our pepper bar!" I did not forget, and in fact, the pepper bar does not disappoint. The self-service area is stocked with jalapeños, peperoncini, and pickled banana peppers along with a variety of hot sauces.

The open kitchen was frenetic, resembling a racetrack pit stop with fast-food: Eight cooks efficiently worked the grill to assemble orders in components. A manager supervised the flow while pouring Hood milk into the milkshake mixers. A friendly girl bounced around the dining room, asking guests if they needed anything else while wiping down newly vacated booths.

But I wasn't there for cheerful service or pepper bars. I was there to eat the burger that bested In-N-Out in a national taste-off. So, here's the Double Char. It's swaddled for display like a Shack Burger, with a bit of everything peeping out a little as a kind of showcase. That lower tier of iceberg lettuce accounts for maybe 20 percent of its total height.

I also ordered the Santa Barbara-Style burger for the sake of comparison: It's two grilled patties, cheese, avocado, lettuce, and tomato. Instead of a proper bun, it's all served on grilled sourdough and comes with a few delightfully anachronistic flourishes.

Look closer. When was the last time you got a burger that came with a twisted slice of orange on the side?

I can appreciate a frilly garnish, but sadly, the beef — the most promising aspect of the Consumer Reports survey —  was an issue with both burgers. The patties used at Habit Burger are small — three ounces — and are aggressively seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, but those things aren't the problem. The meat is lean and overworked, so the burgers were gray, stiff, and dense. There's a reason old-school hamburger academics prefer more loosely packed, coarsely ground patties smashed on a hot griddle, so as to maximize Maillard-reaction-crispness. The method results in a more consistently delicious burger. That's not to say flame-grilled hamburgers are bad; they're just harder to pull off.

The Habit's didn't work for me. Here's the Santa Barbara burger's patty. Those with gentle constitutions may wish to look away.

As for toppings, American cheese and caramelized onions were as effectively flavorful as ever. But the avocado on the Santa Barbara burger ranged in texture from soft to mushy. So, as you eat, the bright-green sludge squeezes past your fingers faster than a stomped-on tube of toothpaste.

The fries were another letdown. Though they were promisingly served in a paper boat bearing the slogan "There's no substitute for quality!" these fries were brittle and tasted as if they had been adrift on the surface of a deep-fat fryer for too long. The $1.95 price tag was appealing, but their cafeteria-esque flavor was not.

As I got back into my car, disappointed in everything except the milkshake I was finishing, I noticed a wrapper had flown off one of Habit Burger's outdoor tables and onto my windshield. "Season the burger," it implored. "Love the burger. Hashtag the burger. Be the burger. Crave the burger." There was, however, no command to actually eat the burger.

A second Garden State location is scheduled to open by the end of the month, reps say, and while the chain's chief marketing officer says there aren't any plans to open in Manhattan just yet, he tells us that the Habit is "constantly looking for locations" in New York and New Jersey. If the chain is really going to take over the East Coast, they might want to spend more time on perfecting their patties, too.

Earlier: Burger Chain No One’s Ever Heard of Takes Top Honors in National Survey

Read more posts by Hugh Merwin

Filed Under: the chain gang, fair lawn, habit burger, hamburgers, new jersey, tempura green beans, the habit burger grill

 Google Forms, the service in Google’s online office suite that helps users collaboratively create web-based forms which can be shared with others, is finally getting a professional makeover thanks to the addition of themes. The company announced the new, custom themes today, which users are able to further edit by selecting their own fonts and colors, choosing a background, as well as… Read More

New Noho food market Brazilia Cafe continues the spread of multi-disciplinary dining, packing in several types of eateries under one roof like a high-end food court. For this iteration, the flavors of South America are channeled, with dishes like Acai bowls, Jamon sandwiches and a specialty coffee service. If it looks familiar, that's due to the Costa Group, which designed early adopter Eataly; here, they're decking out the 3,000 square foot space with oak parquet flooring, stone counters and Italian furnishings. [ more › ]

Apparently, the world needs another smart lightbulb, and Elgato's going to sell it to you. Called Avea, the $50 bulb connects to your iDevice directly using Bluetooth (no external hub needed), and lets you set the mood in any room with an appropriate...

"I go to the comments, and it's mainly spam, it's people self-advertising, people that are trying to provoke, people who reply to all these...just all this stuff that, to me, it doesn't mean anything." This is rockstar Let's Play-er PewDiePie explaining why he's removing comments from his insanely popular YouTube channel, which recently surpassed 30 million subscribers.

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Ever wondered which nation like beer best? Which prefers to sip at a glass of wine? Or which one slams back the most spirits? Well, this map shows exactly that.

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How many laps of a roll of tape do you usually need to find the starting edge with your fingernail? Three? Four? You won't even need fingernails with with this clever roll of electrical tape that features a wavy double-stripe pattern making the starting edge impossible to miss—all you need to do is spot the break in the stripes.

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Owen Williams, reporting for The Next Web:

An alleged breach in Apple’s iCloud service may be to blame for countless leaks of private celebrity photos this week.

On Monday, a Python script emerged on GitHub (which we’re not linking to as there is evidence a fix by Apple is not fully rolled out) that appears to have allowed malicious users to ‘brute force’ a target account’s password on Apple’s iCloud, thanks to a vulnerability in the Find My iPhone service. Brute-force attacks consist of using a malicious script to repeatedly guess passwords in an attempt to discover the correct one.

If anyone is still questioning the legitimacy of e-sports, today should be a bit of a wake-up call. The lead photo on the front page of today's New York Times is of this July's $10 million Dota 2 tournament, The International. That's right: The Gray Lady has taken note, running a story on the rise of e-sports on the front page of its Sunday edition. The accompanying article is the first in a series exploring how competitive video gaming has developed into a spectator sport. The Times certainly isn't the first big media company to pay attention to e-sports: ESPN broadcast a preview of The International on one of its cable channels, and, of course, Amazon just purchased Twitch for $970 million. Even with all of this attention, however,...

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Upsilon Circuit is an upcoming PC game from Legend of Dungeon developers Robot Loves Kitty, but you might never get the chance to play it. In fact, only eight people will ever be playing the game simultaneously, and once one of those players dies,...

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Klei's cooperative Don't Starve expansion, Don't Starve Together, has the potential to bring you and your friends closer than ever before. That's when they'll least expect an axe in the face. Don't Starve Together is unique in that it encourages...

As Governor Cuomo continues to mull over the current statewide moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, some disturbing fracking-related news has come out of Pennsylvania: fracking has contaminated private drinking wells a previously undisclosed 243 times over six years, according to the state's Department of Environmental Protection. [ more › ]

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The post Listing Price Drops Will Help Drive a Fall Surge in Home Sales appeared first on Redfin Real Estate Blog.