Edu

As you gear up to start shipping packages all across the country, you may be tempted to ensure your package gets special treatment by writing "Fragile" on the side. As one former UPS employee Sara Ohlms points out, this will do a world of nothing for your package at best.

Lest you think this is just one ex-employee's personal experience, Popular Mechanics did a study back in 2010 measuring how roughly marked and unmarked packages were treated with sensors inside the packages. The results showed that labeling a box as "Fragile" got worse treatment. Sara attempts to explain:

Why? Well, sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but some people in this world are just terrible. And those people will actually treat your package worse if you write "fragile" on it. Maybe they felt that their ability to do their job was being challenged. "So you think I can't load a package without smashing it? I'll show you!"

If you do want to ensure that your package reaches its destination unharmed, you have options, though: for starters, you can register your item as a "high value" package (though this costs considerably more). Sara also suggests placing your items in a cooler and putting that cooler in a box (which may also cost more since it weighs more, but will protect your package), or dressing it up as a heartwarming gift and hoping that will tug more on the heartstrings than a "Fragile" label. Of course, the data suggests that while there's no guarantee your package will be worse off, getting treated roughly is more likely than getting preferential treatment.

Which Shipping Company Is Kindest to Your Packages? | Popular Mechanics via Cracked

The newest member of Apple's iPad family, the thinner and faster Air, was welcomed by the company with a new commercial shown off during Tuesday's event. The star of that one-minute spot is actually a humble pencil, with the iPad Air only making a dramatic appearance right at the end. The point, as Apple puts it, is that an "extremely simple tool" can also be "extremely powerful."

What you might not have immediately noticed is the identity of the person speaking those words — it was none other than Bryan Cranston, the actor who played the iconic Walter White in the recently concluded Breaking Bad. His soft and reassuring voiceover sounds a million miles away from the steely resolve of Mr. White — though its talk of classrooms and...

Continue reading…

Amazon has gained initial approval for its plan to build a huge greenhouse in the middle of Seattle. The proposal has three transparent domes intersecting to form a five-story complex that will contain offices, dining areas, and retail stores. It's nestled between the company's giant new campus, which consists of three office towers all larger than 70 storys.

Continue reading…

After being caught paying for false praise and negative comments about competitors, Samsung has been fined just over $340,000. The issue first arose internationally in April, when Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced it was opening an investigation into the allegations. That investigation found the allegations were true: the FTC says Samsung used a "large number of hired writers and designated employees" to post in Taiwanese forums. The commission does add that the company did this through a third-party marketing company, just as Samsung originally claimed. Two local marketing firms were fined a combined total of over $100,000 for their part in the marketing ploy.

When news first broke of Samsung's behavior, HTC was presented...

Continue reading…

Trevor's Back! Sir Ben Kingsley spilled the beans on his future with Marvel. Turns out Iron Man 3 won't be his only appearance in the Marvel movie-verse. Hooray!

Read more...

The most exciting thing about this December's new Hobbit film is the appearance of Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug, the fearsome dragon. And these behind-the-scenes photos of Cumberbatch doing motion-capture show just how much he put into the role.

Read more...

At the risk of limiting the audience for this article, I’d say that the featurette below is really best for those who have seen Park Chan-wook’s original Oldboy. Fortunately, that’s probably most of our readers.

This piece is about the stuff Josh Brolin went through to play the role — rapid weight gain and weight loss, and the physical work — but it also shows some footage we haven’t seen before, of the prison in which his character is held captive for 20 years, and of the film’s violence. This is one for the people who continue to wonder just how close Spike Lee‘s film is to the original.

At this point I’ve given up much hope that Oldboy will be particularly good or unique, but I’m still fascinated by it. Part of that is Brolin — the guy commits so thoroughly to his work that I can’t look away.

Oldboy opens on November 27.

OLDBOY follows the story of an advertising executive (Josh Brolin) who is kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement without any indication of his captor’s motive. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment. His quest for revenge leads him into an ill-fated relationship with a young social worker (Elizabeth Olsen) and ultimately to an elusive man (Sharlto Copley) who allegedly holds the key to his salvation.

• ‘Oldboy’ Clip: A Tense Confrontation Between Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen
• ‘Oldboy’ NYCC Poster Puts a Hole in Josh Brolin’s Chest
• ‘Oldboy’ Featurette Has New Footage and Some Solid Sales Pitch
• ‘Oldboy’ Teaser and Posters: A Nightmare Hotel Prepares for New Guests
• New ‘Oldboy’ Images: The Beard, the Octopus, and the Hammer
• ‘Oldboy’ Red-Band Trailer: “You Might Want to Think About What You’re Doing Here”

In most zombie apocalypse scenarios, only humans are converted into the shambling undead. And according to one naturalist, that's why zombie takeovers are doomed to fail. In the war between zombies and nature, nature would win.

Read more...

Fuck This Tree In Particular.

Uruguay is set to become the first country in the world to legalize the sale of marijuana at a market price of US$1 a gram. The bill is expected to pass through the senate in November, bringing the $40 million industry under state control.
Read Full Article at RT.com

Every country is Number One when it comes to something, and this map from webcomic Doghouse Diaries just what all those somethings are.

Read more...

There is seemingly no end to the number of things you can do in Minecraft — and the latest thing is experimenting with quantum physics. A new mod called qCraft, built by none other than Google's Quantum A.I. Lab Team, adds blocks that exhibit quantum entanglement, superposition, and observer-dependency properties. Some of the new blocks can be "activated" simply by looking at them, while others are prone to disappear at any moment.

Continue reading…

To many people, Google Glass already seems like something straight out of Minority Report, and newly granted gesture patents from the company will only reinforce that association. The patents outline an entirely new way of controlling Glass (or any other wearable computing device); one that tracks a user's hand gestures in an attempt to understand what's important or significant. One example cited puts a physical spin on the ubiquitous "like" action used across social media. Google's patent shows a user framing real-world objects with a heart-shaped hand gesture. Using its built-in camera, the wearable device would then analyze the framed content and intelligently "like" the highlighted object or location.

The possibilities would...

Continue reading…

Jon Snow is about to go from knowing nothing to knowing pretty much everything if Fox has its way. Variety discovered the shortlists for the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, which include Kit Harington as Reed Richards, Saoirse Ronan as Sue Storm, and Chronicle's Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch.

Read more...

Somewhere in Los Angeles, a group of executives gather to discuss their next big tentpole film: Boats. This comedic short envisions the cynical development meeting in which merchandising ideas come before story.

Read more...

Four years ago, Marvel announced they had the rights to the classic MarvelMan (a.k.a. MiracleMan, after a Marvel-ous lawsuit forced the publisher Eclipse to change the name) comics, but not Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman's dark and epic '80s relaunch of the superhero. That changed this weekend.

Read more...

At last, we know whom Chris O'Dowd is playing in Thor 2... and it's not whom we thought. Will Harrison Ford join the Blade Runner sequel? Another Star Wars casting rumor gets shot down. Daniel Radcliffe talks Frankenstein. And a Tomorrow People producer warns not to expect a lot of science fiction in the show. Spoilers now!

Read more...

Street Artist Banksy has just released a short film in the middle of his month-long, guerilla-style art residency in New York City.

Read more...

Cookie Monster has been getting around lately. First he engaged in a battle of wits with Loki, and now he's gone on the BBC's Newsnight as their "last word," discussing his decision to come appear on a new show on CBBC. Watch as Cookie Monster has the perfect answer to everything. [Thanks, Tony!]

Read more...

Between returning favorites like Homeland and Eastbound & Down, and promising new shows like Masters of Sex and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, it’s certainly not like there’s any shortage of fun stuff to watch on TV right now. Even so, we can’t help but miss Breaking Bad‘s Heisenberg. We spent five seasons following his journey, after all. The TV landscape feels a bit more empty without him.

Fortunately for those of you suffering from Walt withdrawal, there’s an easy fix. One devoted fan has put together a seven-minute video tribute to the world’s greatest meth cook, covering all five seasons of his epic arc. Check it out after the jump.

Jo Blo’s Nick Bosworth put together the video, titled “The Heisenberg Legacy.” Need we warn you that very major spoilers for all five seasons of the show follow?

• VOTD: Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul Prepare to Read the ‘Breaking Bad’ Finale
• 10 Things We Learned From “Breaking Bad” S5EP16 “Felina”
• 10 Things We Learned From ‘Breaking Bad’ S5E15 “Granite State”
• Final ‘Breaking Bad’ Episodes Will Run Long; Relive Early Days With Cute Flash Game
• ‘Breaking Bad’ Episode “Ozymandias” Gets Perfect 10/10 Rating on IMDb
• POTD: Rian Johnson’s Behind-the-Scenes Photos From Last Night’s ‘Breaking Bad’

Britney Spears called into Z100 yesterday to talk about Britney Spears things (singing, dancing, Vegas, whatever) and after being prompted, said that she watched Breaking Bad ("OMG I love the show") but did not like the ending. (FYI, there is a spoiler about to happen...) "I didn't like it at ... More »

Here’s a Halloween idea for those of you who already did the “Heath Ledger” Joker, the “Heath Ledger Nurse” Joker, and the “I’m Going to Do The Jack Nicholson Joker Ironically While Everyone Else Does the Heath Ledger Joker” Joker. Fashionably Geek featured this New 52 Joker, courtesy of Cinema Makeup School, which is virtually guaranteed to give everyone you love a heart attack on October 31st, or October 26th, or whenever the hell we’re supposed to celebrate Halloween this year. We hate weekday Halloween. 

Morning Roundup is less frightening below the fold, but we have links to SFF podcasts, tips for dressing your pet for Halloween, and some horror movies you may have missed!

[And an epic Rubik’s Cube performance!]

Read the full article

Vince Gilligan always referred to Breaking Bad as the evolution from “Mr. Chips to Scarface,” so it seems only natural that we’d want to know what the writer of 1983’s Scarface thought of it—particularly seeing as we cannot rest until every famous person’s thoughts on the Breaking Bad finale are properly cataloged, for our children’s children. Fortunately, that writer, Oliver Stone, has now volunteered his review, coincidentally at the same time that he’s trying to drum up publicity for the Blu-ray release of his The Untold History Of The United States: “I happen to not watch the series very much,” the riddle wrapped in an enigma topped with a mustache said, by way of announcing that valid opinions are forthcoming, “but I happened to tune in and I saw the most ridiculous 15 minutes of a movie—it would be laughed off the screen ...

Read more

In what promises to be the most fun one can have with Peter Dinklage not involving a hula hoop, the Game Of Thrones star has signed on to lead an R-rated comedy, about a man who cons others into believing he’s a real leprechaun. The script comes from Andrew Dodge, who wrote the upcoming, Jason Bateman-directed Bad Words, about spelling bee kids who are equally schooled in profanity. Now Dodge will write another story about little people with foul mouths in a story that’s described as tonally similar to Bad Santa, in that it involves a man who’s believed to be magic, but is really just kind of an asshole. The movie doesn’t have a title yet, though if they wanted to just go ahead and call it Leprechaun Man that would be fine. Asshole Leprechaun would also work. Basically, anything but Bad Leprechaun; that ...

Read more

As fans of all things medically weird and anatomically odd, we're all about this eldritch illustration by Chicago-based artist Cloey Zikmund. Equal parts creepy and cute, the piece draws its inspiration from the unique collection of specimens housed at the Museum Vrolik in Amsterdam.

Read more...

One of my favorite things I learned in high school, a lesson from my ninth-grade English teacher, was that every time you write a story, you are allowed to place in it a single tear. Shedding more, she said, is “not literary,” and bawls would wash away your grade. I love this lesson because it is wrong. There aren’t rules about this kind of thing. But it prevented a generation of melodramatic teenagers from plinking out prose about crying in the rain. And since I’m pretty sure adolescent tales of “I’m sobbing alone because no one understands me” are the No. 1 source of teacher resignations in America, this was one wrong rule for the greater good.

If someone submitted Beyond: Two Souls to my English teacher, they would be kept after class. There is one scene, early in the game, where crying is used effectively. Here ...

Read more

The tablet market has changed fast over the last several years and tablets now come in all sizes, from those slightly bigger than a phone to behemoths that clock in at nearly 13 inches. What size works best for you?

We've talked about tablets a lot and things are pretty good these days for tablet aficionados, whether you're into iPads, Androids, or something a little more specialized like the Kindle Fire. But now that you can get different sizes of almost every flavor, we're curious:

BitTorrent Inc, the company behind the successful uTorrent and BitTorrent file-sharing clients, has been making huge efforts in recent times to shed the false image that it is synonymous with mass online piracy.

The company’s tools can of course be put to illegal uses, but so can those of a thousand other companies in thousands of cities worldwide. The company has been relentless in its quest to get this message to the masses, but it’s also taking another approach to boosting its image with its tech-savvy customer base.

Anyone who monitors the company’s Twitter feed will see that it regularly retweets items that relate to privacy and freedom, such as the recent NSA whistle-blower scandal for example.

Like many technology companies BitTorrent Inc. has an interest in keeping the Internet both free and open so the news today that the San Francisco-based company is behind a controversial advertising campaign doesn’t come as too much of a shock.

Last week billboards appeared in three major cities – New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles – each with a statement designed to be offensive to anyone who values freedom, privacy and a right to choose.

Your Data Should Belong To The NSA

Artists Need To Play By The Rules

The Internet Should Be Regulated (via)

“These statements represent an assault on freedom. They also, for the most part, represent attitudes Internet culture has accepted. Chips we’ve traded for convenience. Part of the allegiance we’ve sworn to the web’s big platforms and server farms. That’s what you get for going online,” BitTorrent Inc. says of the campaign’s messages.

The company goes on to bemoan general society’s apparent eagerness to accept data centralization and along with it the distribution of personal information to powerful companies and governments who choose to exploit it.

“We’ve chosen to accept surveillance culture: the right of security agencies to violate the Fourth Amendment; to see and store data as they see fit,” the company says.

Interestingly, BitTorrent Inc. also takes a shot at entertainment companies who put content behind paywalls and suggests that all-you-can-eat outlets like Spotify, for example, fail to adequately compensate the artists.

“We’ve chosen to accept walled gardens of creativity: a lifetime of work (our life’s work) locked into digital stores that take 30% of the revenue and streaming services that pay pennies in royalties,” BitTorrent says.

Of course, the campaign isn’t simply a me-too retaliation at the revelations of the past few months and years. BitTorrent Inc. has a business model and several products that really do put the power back in the hands of the individual, from its BitTorrent Bundles through to its DIY decentralized Dropbox alternative, BitTorrent Sync and its “NSA-proof” messenger app.

With these tools and last week’s billboard campaign the San Francisco-based company hopes to capture the imaginations of Internet users who have become weary of entrusting their data to big companies and artists who want to leave the industry machine behind and take their futures into their own hands, as the updated billboards suggest.

“This is the generation that will decide whether the Internet is a tool for control, or a platform for innovation and freedom. We have an incredible opportunity. We can shape the next one and one hundred years of human connection. A free, open Internet is a force for change, creativity; the backbone of a society where citizens are stakeholders, not data sets.

“BitTorrent is built to preserve that Internet,” the company concludes.

Source: BitTorrent Mastermind Controversial NSA Billboard Campaign

The CEO of DreamWorks Animation wanted to see a few more episodes of Breaking Bad, and he was willing to put up a Walter White-style stack of money in order to make it happen. According to Variety, Jeffrey Katzenberg — who as CEO of DreamWorks Animation had no relationship to the series — offered to finance three additional episodes of the show for $25 million apiece. The price would likely have marked a massive profit for those involved, as the average episode during Breaking Bad's previous season cost about $3.5 million.

Continue reading…

Brazil hasn’t been an easy market for Netflix, but the company is now taking some first steps towards the production of original content in the country. Netflix has commissioned a three-part mini series called A Toca, which stars local web video stars and will only be distributed to Brazilian subscribers, according to a Variety report. The company’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos told Variety that Netflix will produce more original fare in Brazil as soon as it has a big enough local subscriber base. Netflix also announced that it will make the Brazilian movie Apenas o Fim available to its subscribers worldwide.

Story posted at: variety.com

To leave a comment or share, visit: Netflix takes first steps towards original content in Brazil

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• How consumer media will change in 2013
• OTT technologies and strategies for broadcasters
• What the shift to the cloud means for the future EPG