According the the filings in a lawsuit brought by Equal Justice Under Law against Harris County, Texas, 77% of the inmates in Harris County Jail -- largest in Texas, third largest in America -- are there because they couldn't make a bail payment of $5,000 or less. (more…)
Virginia authorities handcuffed a middle school student and charged him with larceny for "stealing" a milk carton from the school cafeteria earlier this year. The child has also been suspended from school.
From September onwards, Netflix will become the exclusive US pay TV home of the latest films from Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm and Pixar. And we’re excited to be bringing you new and exclusive Netflix Original movies including Mascots from the master of low-key comedy Christopher Guest (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind) and War Machine, from acclaimed Australian director David Michod and starring Brad Pitt, in the serio-comic tale of the U.S. military adventure in Afghanistan.
Get Ready for Summer on Netflix US [netflix.com]
Disney and Netflix giveth, and they taketh away. In the long list of titles Netflix will be adding and removing next month, one noticeable loss is some really great ‘90s Disney movies. From E Online:
Hercules, Mulan, Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hunchback of Notre Dame II (actually from 2002) will all be gone off Netflix in June. Hercules, an underrated classic if you ask us, will no longer be available come June 1. On the plus side, you still have time to enjoy the Hunchback of Notre Dame series and Mulan until June 24. Not every Disney animated movie will be off Netflix next month, so this situation could be worse. Tarzan, Robin Hood, Lilo & Stitch and Emperor's New Groove will still be around for your viewing pleasure. For now…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h37iuBD4azI&feature=youtu.be
The Isis River, which flows through the English university city of Oxford, has inspired many place names that include "Isis," including "Isis Close." (more…)
You already know it’s good to keep your CPR chops up to date so you can help a human, but dogs and cats can benefit from CPR too. The guidelines are similar—just do the compressions while the animal is on their side.
Pets don’t commonly have the same type of cardiac arrest that humans do, so you’re less likely to meet a dog who needs CPR than you are a person. Still, this is the right thing to do for a dog who is unconscious after drowning or if they do have one of the rare health conditions that requires it. Send someone to call an emergency vet clinic, and proceed.
The basic steps are:
For a rule of thumb, the rhythm of Stayin’ Alive (about 100 beats per minute) is a good speed for dogs and cats as well as for humans.
Once you’ve watched that video, if you’d like more information you can read the technical guidelines written for veterinarians, or check out this segment from the Hallmark Channel that gives some extra tips on how to handle very large and small dogs.
Dog CPR - How to Resuscitate Your Pet | First Aid for Life
Pebble's fortunes have soured somewhat as more powerful wearable devices have hit the market, but now it's teasing a big announcement. On May 24th (tomorrow) at 10AM EDT, we'll get the details. What ever could it be? Since we're talking about Pebble, it could really only be a new version of the watch.
The last device launched by Pebble was the Time Round, and before that it was the Time.
Read MorePebble Teases Something Big On May 24th, Probably A New Watch was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Amazon has quietly ended its price protection policy on all products except for televisions. The change to the company’s policy comes at a time when a handful of startups have launched to help consumers automate the process of requesting refunds when prices change on online sites, including Amazon and dozens of other e-commerce stores. For example, newcomer Earny recently debuted… Read More
Apple, which last week rejected a mobile game called Liyla and The Shadows of War for its political undertones, has decided to approve it after all. The monochrome platformer, which tells the story of a young Palestinian girl living in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict with Israel, was kicked back during Apple's app review process because it contained content that "is not appropriate in the Games category." The company has a storied history of censoring mobile games that touch on politically or culturally charged subjects, including games highlighting Chinese factory conditions and violence against children.
Palestinian developer Rasheed Abueideh, the creator of Liyla, posted a screenshot of text he received from Apple outlining...
Your blacks and your whites clothes can be are tricky items in the washing machine. The good folks at Consumer Reports have some tried-and-tested tips to stop your black clothes from fading and your white clothes from becoming dingy.
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-make-yo...
Pat Slaven, Textile Engineer at Consumer Reports, has some simple recommendations that anyone can follow.
Check out the full video for other tips, like using the sun to naturally bleach your whites—it’s an awesome demonstration.!
Keeping Black Clothes Black & White Clothes White | YouTube via Consumer Reports
A dozen or more companies are currently cranking away on the idea of truly wireless earbuds, but so far no one has nailed the execution. That isn't stopping a Seattle-based company called Human Inc. from making its own very weird take on the idea.
The company recently raised $5 million and is pouring that into the development of a project called Sound. They are wireless, egg-shaped, over-the-ear headphones, and they look like a prop that belongs in a bad SyFy original movie.
Ben Willis, the company's co-founder and CEO, says in a statement that "the Sound program will fundamentally transform the way the world experiences both audio and interpersonal communication." To be fair — and setting the design aside for a moment — what the...
A man who goes by the single name of Obaidullah was never convicted of of a crime, yet remained in Guantánamo for 14 years, even after charges against him were dropped in 2011. From The Guardian:
US forces captured Obaidullah during a raid in Afghanistan in July 2002 when he was about 19. They found about 20 unactivated land mines buried in a field near his home. Authorities later concluded he was part of a bomb cell linked to al-Qaida, an allegation his lawyers have denied.
He was charged in the military tribunals in September 2008 with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, which appeals courts have said cannot be pursued as war crimes at Guantánamo for conduct that occurred before 2006. The government dismissed the charges in 2011 and his lawyers have been pressing for his release ever since.
Of the 80 remaining prisoners being held at Guantánamo, 28 are cleared for release.
An energy group comprised of retired U.S. military officials and business executives has come out in favor of removing regulatory barriers for autonomous cars at the federal level.
Currently, all autonomous cars on public roads must have a driver able to take over at any time, but federal approval of Level 4 autonomy would allow cars on the road without a human inside.
See Also: Will autonomous cars lead to even more congestion?
The group, called the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC), claims that on top of lowering accidents on the road, autonomous cars may reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil imports.
92 percent of cars run on oil at the current time, but ESLC believes government intervention to help the rise of hybrid or fully electric cars could reduce that to 50 percent by 2040.
“Ultimately, we should allow Level 4 cars on roads as soon as they are as safe as today’s vehicles,” said Robbie Diamond, CEO of Secure America’s Future Energy (SAFE), of which ESLC is a division.
There is some evidence to suggest that autonomous cars are already safer than humans in cars, if we take the number of accidents per miles that Google has reported and compare it to human drivers.
States currently have different laws in regards to autonomous cars, some let Google, Tesla, and Uber test on public roads, but others continue to block access. ESLC’s call on Washington to change autonomy at the federal level would alleviate those issues, and allow cross-country tests.
The proposal from ESLC comes a few weeks before the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) draft guidelines for deployment of autonomous cars. It is the first draft that could legalize autonomous cars on highways, similar to the UK’s recent legislative decision, announced during the Queen’s Speech.
Other lobbying groups in D.C. have pushed for relaxed regulations on autonomous cars, including groups backed by Uber, Ford, and Google. Millions have been invested, but so far we haven’t seen much progress.
The post Energy group calls for slashing autonomous car regs in US appeared first on ReadWrite.
Google’s plan to eliminate passwords in favor of systems that take into account a combination of signals – like your typing patterns, your walking patterns, your current location, and more – will be available to Android developers by year-end, assuming all goes well in testing this year. In an under-the-radar announcement Friday afternoon at the Google I/O developer… Read More
Spotify has announced some big changes to its family plans, now scoring you up to six premium accounts on a single plan for just $14.99 per month. This follows in the footsteps of Apple Music and Google Play Music, making it more affordable for families. Previously, you could have up to five accounts on a plan, and it ran upwards of $30 per month for all of them.
Premium for Family is now $14.99 for 6 accounts! Your family can enjoy Britney, Bach and Bon Jovi at the same time. https://t.co/PvzBoeGbYg
— Spotify (@Spotify) May 23, 2016
The one big exception for this is that the plans are not being offered in Canada currently. New customers will be able to sign up to the new plan and take advantage of the price point, and existing accounts will also be converted to the new pricing structure. Does this excite you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Kobo, the e-reading service owned by Japan’s e-commerce giant Rakuten, has notched up one more key brand among those that turning to the company to build out their e-books business in a collective bid to compete against the might of Amazon and its Kindle empire. Waterstones today announced that has partnered with the Canadian company to handle all of its e-book business. As part of… Read More
Amazon is currently running a promotion on its online retail store that sees the 7-inch Fire tablet discounted to just £39.99. The tablet itself comes with an IPS display, 1.3GHz quad-core processor and both front and rear facing shooters. It's an entry-level device for the product line, so don't go expecting top of the range performance, but if you're looking for a capable tablet you really can't go wrong for under £40.
You'll be able to pick up the 7-inch Fire tablet in black, blue, tangerine and magenta and is Wi-Fi capable to connect to your home network. The 16GB is also discounted and can be purchased for £49.99. If these offers weren't enough already, Amazon also has the Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote available for just £34.99.
The UK is on its way to becoming a cashless society, with payments in physical currency making up less than half of all consumer purchases for the first time last year. This is according to a new study from Payments UK, and reported by The Guardian, which says that the number of contactless payments made in 2015 tripled compared to 2014. A separate study released last week by the UK Cards Association estimated that one in seven transactions in the UK are made using contactless methods, which include NFC-enabled debit cards and smartphone services like Apple Pay.
“It took almost eight years for monthly contactless spending to reach half a billion pounds — now it’s grown by the same amount in just four months," Richard Koch, head of...
The UK's National Obesity Forum (NOF) has come out with a scathing report this week that condemns the common advice handed down from authorities to eat a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet. It argues that "eating fat does not make you fat" and joins a growing wave of backlash against the established dietary wisdom of the past four decades — which was initiated by the US Dietary Goals that began in 1977 and concurring UK guidelines in 1983. In response, Public Health England, the body responsible for issuing diet advice, has said that "calling for people to eat more fat, cut out carbs and ignore calories is irresponsible."
A year ago, the United States made its biggest shift in policy since the start of its national dietary guidelines by d...
Sitting in front of a screen all day can wreak havoc on the spine. Our posture changes, and that can cause some serious long-term damage. Dr. Eric Goodman, creator of the Foundation Training program, offers these three no-equipment exercises to help.
The exercises (The Founder, Lunge Stretch, and an unnamed third one) promise to both reduce your back pain as well as improve your posture over time. Goodman helpfully explains the correct technique for each step, as well as exactly which part of your muscle should be feeling stretched or activated when you do a step. It’s great at letting you know if you’re doing it right or not.
http://lifehacker.com/fix-your-postu...
Before you start, do note that if you have chronic back pain or are already seeing a physiotherapist, you should check with them first. You might also want to start with this other wall-based posture-correction exercise, which is simpler to do than Goodman’s methods. If you notice pain during those, you’re better off checking with a doctor before trying the Foundation Training exercises.
Better Posture In 4 Minutes | Foundation Training Via Reddit
Earlier this year Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios filed a lawsuit against the makers of a Star Trek inspired fan film, accusing them of copyright infringement.
The dispute centers around the well-received short film Star Trek: Prelude to Axanar and the planned follow-up feature film Axanar.
Among other things, the Star Trek rightsholders claim ownership over various Star Trek related settings, characters, species, clothing, colors, shapes, words, short phrases and even the Klingon language.
While the legal battle has barely got going it now appears it will soon end. During a Star Trek fan event on Friday, director J.J. Abrams announced that the case will be over soon, thanks to Star Trek Beyond director Justin Lin.
“We started talking about this realizing that this is not an appropriate way to deal with the fans. The fans should be celebrating this thing,” Abrams said.
“Fans of Star Trek are part of this world. So Justin went to the studio and pushed them to stop this lawsuit and now, within the next few weeks, it will be announced this is going away, and the fans will be able to work on their project,” he adds.
The news is welcomed by Axanar director Alec Peters, who posted a short message on Facebook a few hours ago.
“A huge THANK YOU to JJ Abrams and Justin Lin for their announcement last night that Paramount is dropping the suit against Axanar,” he writes.
However, the case isn’t completely over yet. The parties are still working on finalizing a settlement agreement and no official paperwork has yet been filed in court.
A settlement means that the case won’t be dismissed outright, but that the parties are coming to an agreement they are all satisfied with. Whether they intend to release any details on the nature of their agreement remains unclear at this point.
When Paramount and CBS filed the lawsuit earlier this year they accused the makers of exploiting the Star Trek franchise, so it’s likely that they are looking for financial compensation.
Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
Google's new Android app revamps the clipboard for scientific field experiments. The app, called Science Journal, measures and records data in real time, and then converts that data into easily readable graphs and charts.
Users can store several projects in the app, and use tools like an accelerometer, plus light and sound meters, in order to gather information for their projects. For example, a user could record their running pace everyday for a week, and then chart their progress on a line graph. While the number of sensors available to use is still small, Google says it will work with people in the science community to continually improve the app.
Google is also selling "hands-on learning kits" to...
I like volcanic eruptions for the same reason I like a lot of things that make me feel insignificant: they evoke a sense of wonder. Volcanic eruptions — even the slow drizzly lava flows — are astonishing. Our world has these weird pimples that shoot forth liquid rock and toxic gasses! This is sometimes deadly, but also very beautiful. I mean, yes: volcanic eruptions can be terrifying natural disasters. They can cool the weather for months or years by releasing particles into the sky. Pompeii and Herculaneum were both buried by Mt. Vesuvius, along with the citizens who choked to death on fumes.
Horrifying as they may be, I can't dismiss their beauty. Maybe it's the use of color — the shooting bright yellow that fades as it cools. Maybe...
Google has unveiled a new chip for Project Soli, which reduces the footprint of the chip and makes it more efficient. The technology is being demonstrated inside of a smartwatch. Since you don't have to actually touch the display more information is able to be shown on it.
Soli allows you to expand the interactions beyond just the watch. You'll be able to interact around the watch as well, which is split into two different zones. With this, you'll be able to navigate the elements of the watch by simply moving your hand closer to the watch. Rubbing your fingers together will let you change the time, move between messages and more.
Moving your hands closer or further from the watch will change the amount of information that is displayed, with more appearing as you get closer to the watch.
Beyond wearables, Google worked with JBL to show how Project Soli could work in the living room. You'll be able to control the speaker by moving your hand closer or further from the speaker. Virtual knobs can be used to turn it on, change the tracks, and waving at it will turn it off.
Development kits for Project Soli will be available in 2017. They will be low-power module designs, and allow you to bring Soli to your hardware and see what it can do.
At Google’s I/O conference today, Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) research unit offered an update on its interactive textiles project unveiled last year, Project Jacquard. ATAP’s Ivan Poupyrev announced that the company was collaborating with iconic clothing company, Levi’s, to launch a “connected” smart jacket aimed at urban cyclists… Read More
"How are you going to interact with an invisible computer?"
When you hear a question like that posted in a conference room at a major tech corporation like Google, you expect you're going to be in for an hour or two of technophizing with few tangible results at the end of it.
But then somebody sets a smartwatch on the table in front of you. You snap your fingers in the air just a couple of inches away from it. And the digital watch face starts spinning.
Ivan Poupyrev, who posed that question (and many more) works at Google's ATAP research lab and is the technical project lead for Project Soli, which is designed to prove that we can embed tiny radar chips into electronics so that we can use minute hand gestures to control the...
Google's Project Ara is starting to feel way more real with the announcement that a developer device will be coming later this year. And if that doesn't whet your appetite enough, Google has just uploaded another teaser of Ara and all the possibilities that a modular phone can bring. Some of the modules shown off include an e-ink screen displaying the weather, an array of microphones, a touch-sensitive square that seems to hail an Uber (and can probably be customized to do any number of things), and of course the camera. So while we'll always get excited for new iPhones or Android flagships, this video is just another sampler — a taste that something truly groundbreaking could be on the horizon. And after all this time, it seems like...
We've spent a lot of time this past year wondering if and when Google would bite the bullet and just build its own Android phone for consumers to take on the iPhone directly — there have been hints and leaks, but nothing real. And in true Google fashion, the reveal was nothing like what we expected — the company announced today that it's moving the ambitious Project Ara modular smartphone team out of the ATAP research lab and into its own proper unit within Google, under new hardware chief (and former Motorola president) Rick Osterloh. And a consumer Ara phone is coming in 2017 as well, which marks the first time Google has ever built its own phone hardware — the company's Nexus phones have been built by partners like Huawei, LG, and...
Just when you think you’ve seen every ridiculous example of a bogus DMCA-style takedown, another steps up to take the crown. This week’s abomination comes courtesy of Fox and it’s an absolute disaster.
In last Sunday’s episode of Family Guy titled “Run, Chris, Run“, Peter and Cleveland play the 1980s classic Nintendo video game Double Dribble. Peter doesn’t play fair though and exploits a glitch in the game that allows his player to shoot a three-point goal every time. The clip is available on YouTube.
Perhaps surprisingly the game glitch is absolutely genuine and was documented in a video that was uploaded to YouTube by a user called ‘sw1tched’ back in February 2009.
“This is an automatic shot my brothers and I found on the NES Double Dribble back in the 80’s when it was released. I know others know this also, but as long as you release at the right point it is automatic. The half court shot I took at the end goes in 80% of the time, but i didn’t want to keep recording….HAHA,” sw1tched wrote.
Interestingly the clip that was uploaded by sw1tched was the exact same clip that appeared in the Family Guy episode on Sunday. So, unless Fox managed to duplicate the gameplay precisely, Fox must’ve taken the clip from YouTube.
Whether Fox can do that and legally show the clip in an episode is a matter for the experts to argue but what followed next was patently absurd. Shortly after the Family Guy episode aired, Fox filed a complaint with YouTube and took down the Double Dribble video game clip on copyright grounds. (mirror Daily Motion)
Faced with yet another example of a blatantly wrongful takedown, TorrentFreak spoke with Fight for the Future CTO Jeff Lyon. Coincidentally he’d just watched the episode in question.
“It’s most likely that this is just another example of YouTube’s Content ID system automatically taking down a video without regard to actual copyright ownership and fair use. As soon as FOX broadcast that Family Guy episode, their robots started taking down any footage that appeared to be reposted from the show — and in this case they took down the footage they stole from an independent creator,” Lyon says.
“The problem with an automated DMCA takedown system is that robots can never know the difference between fair use and copyright infringement. It is not hyperbolic to call this mass censorship,” he continues.
“Instead of copyright holders having to prove a video is infringing, their scanning software can take it down automatically, and then it falls on the creator to prove they had a right to post it. Creators are discouraged from filing counter-notices to stand up for their work, facing lost revenue and permanent bans from online platforms. This erodes fair use and free speech on the Internet.”
The entire situation is indeed bewildering and utterly ridiculous. The original Double Dribble game came out in 1987, some 12 years before the very first episode of Family Guy aired in 1999. The clip of the glitch was uploaded by sw1tched more than seven years ago. Then somehow Fox came along, copied it, put it into their TV show, claimed copyright on it, and then nuked the original clip from the Internet.
You couldn’t make it up. Nor would you want to.
Update1: The folks at Takedownabuse.org are featuring this story in a petition.
Update2: The video has now been restored
Update3: A Fox spokesperson sent in the following comment: “The video in question was removed as a result of Fox’s routine efforts to protect its television show Family Guy from piracy. As soon as we became aware of the circumstances, the content was restored.”
Update 4: YouTube user Hamza informs TorrentFreak that a clip he recorded of the game Tecmo Bowl was also used in the same Family Guy episode. It too was taken down and later restored.
Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
Everyone wants to live in Stars Hollow, the perfect Connecticut town where the diner owner is your secret soulmate and you never have to pay for french fries.
It's been 10 years since we were all forcefully yanked from Gilmore Girls' idyllic setting and thrust back into the dreary world we call home, but the nightmare will soon end. Netflix's revival of the series, which will consist of four 90-minute "movies" corresponding to each season, feels closer and closer every day. Now it even has a title, which is Gilmore girls: A Year in the Life. (Yes, I am confused by the letter case choices as well.) Additionally, A Year in the Life is the name of a 1986 miniseries about what happens when your mom dies.
this title is bad but who cares
T...
Bookish social network Goodreads has unveiled a new service to sell users discounted ebooks. Goodreads Deals is an opt-in features that analyzes user data (looking at individuals' favorite reads and authors, etc), before emailing out relevant ebooks when they go on sale. "If one of the authors you follow has a not-to-be-missed promotion on an ebook," says the company in a blog post announcing the service. "We'll make sure you don't miss out."
The service works with Apple iBooks, Google Play, Amazon's Kindle Store and more
Goodreads Deals is currently only available to US users, but offers ebooks from a number of different outlets, including Apple iBooks, Google Play, B&N Nook, Kobo, and, of course, Amazon's Kindle Store. Currently the...
