Bcstevieb

Over the weekend, Banksy stenciled a genius new artwork on a wall on Vyse Street in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham, UK.

Then last night, someone added red noses to the reindeer.)

Fantastic work by #Banksy to demonstrate the homelessness crisis in our city. We're working hard with partners to try to prevent and #endhomelessness but if you're concerned about someone sleeping rough, pls @Tell_StreetLink so we can offer them help and support #BanksyInBrum https://t.co/8XMDtP64vF

— Bham City Council (@BhamCityCouncil) December 10, 2019

• Update 1: 2019/12/04 8:28am PST
  Marmalade Game Studios has released Monopoly on the Play Store

Electronic Arts released an adaption of the classic board game Monopoly for Android back in 2011, but that version was de-listed years ago, presumably due to expiring licenses. A new version of Monopoly for Android and iOS was announced last month, and now you can pre-register for it on the Play Store.

The new version is developed by Marmalade Game Studio, which has already published mobile versions of other Hasbro classics, like The Game of Life and Battleship.

Monopoly for Android now available for pre-registration on the Play Store (Update: Out now) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

The business end of KOKUYO Beetle Tips highlighter looks a bit like a rhinoceros beetle's horns, hence the name. Three-way refers to the fun you'll have with the highlighter when you make three different kinds of marks with it.

Amazon sells a colorful 5-pack for $6.98.

[via]

Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous two weeks or so. Today I have a survey app from Facebook, a website builder from Envato, and a social podcast app from Breaker. So without further ado, here are the most notable Android apps released in the last two weeks.

11 new and notable Android apps from the last two weeks including Facebook Viewpoints, Milkshake — Website Builder, and Breaker—The social podcast app (11/16/19 - 11/30/19) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Odeith is an artist in Portugal who paints ultra realistic murals. His portfolio has many examples of his work.

His Instagram account also has lots of photos of his paintings.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ODEITH (@odeith) on Oct 14, 2019 at 9:36am PDT

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A post shared by ODEITH (@odeith) on Jun 12, 2019 at 10:06am PDT

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A post shared by ODEITH (@odeith) on Apr 15, 2019 at 9:28am PDT

Artist Allison Hoffman, aka Crafty is Cool, is an absolute master of pop culture amigurimi ("a portmanteau of the Japanese words ami, meaning 'crocheted or knitted,' and nuigurumi, meaning 'stuffed doll'"). She can crochet like nobody's business and each of her pieces are a work of art (previously). Now, she's taken to creating the real star of The Mandalorian, the new Star Wars series on Disney+, big-eyed Baby Yoda!

But, she's only made one and you can't just buy it outright. If you want it, you'll have to bid on it on eBay. Allison writes, "I’ve gotten so many requests for the finished baby that this is really the only way I could fairly sell him! Thank you all! I have to make another for my husband so that he doesn’t buy this one..."

As of this writing, the bidding is already up to $305. If that's too rich for your blood, well, hope you can crochet, because she's made its pattern available ($7) in her Etsy shop.

We must protect the asset! Who even is he? Or she? Or what? Who cares? Its adorable. This pattern instructs you how to make a life-size stuffed baby inspired by Baby Yoda/Yiddle with easy to find supplies and simple techniques. Everything is photographed and explained in easy to follow step by step instructions. You should know basic crochet skills, but now is a good time to learn.

The Baby is 14" tall and weighs 2 lbs. He's got a little removable robe. Crochet him you must.

Earlier this year, our APK guru Cody discovered signs of Verified SMS coming to Google's Messages app. At the time, we didn't know what the feature was exactly or how it'd work. With it starting to go live now, we've discovered that it doesn't work for all numbers, just businesses, and specifically those registered with Google.

In the Messages app, you'll find a new toggle in Settings -> Verified SMS.

Google Messages rolls out Verified SMS to protect you from spam and phishing (APK Download) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

The eyes. Oh the dog in this video clip is melting my heart.

“Hey! More scritches!”

This gorgeous dog (Shepherd? Tervuren?) is an absolute supermodel.

Enjoy the video:

Hey! More scritches!

Don't know the original uploader or the name of the doggo, but will update when I can figure it out.

I love you doggo you deserve all the skritches.

[source]

Tom Waits is 70 years old this year! I'm sure he'll commemorate his seven decades of theatrical weirdness and lyrical genius in a suitable sublime way, surrounded by friends and family. We can raise a glass to the man and spin a few of our favorite Waits recordings (Glitter & Doom live, in my case). If you're so inclined you can also invest in something new.

Come onWomen Sing Waits offers an all-star, all-female roster of singers, lending their voices to new interpretations of some of Tom Wait's most loved songs. When I first heard that the record was going to be a thing, I was terrified that Scarlett Johansson was going to sing on it. Thankfully, this is not the case. Instead, we get the towering voices and artistry of Rosanne Cash, Patty Griffin, Aimee Mann, Phoebe Bridgers, Joesph, The Wild Reeds and other notables. My wife and I added it to our collection a few days ago and it's been on constant rotation ever since. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.

Image via Dualtone

Try not to die of cuteness from watching these four fluffy puppos strutting to "Stayin' Alive" on an airport autowalk. I don't know the full story here but this is quality content that needs to be shared far and wide.

Welcome to the roundup of the new Android games that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. Today I have an awesome hack-and-slash game where you'll raise an undead army, a new Sword Art Online release that ties into the anime, and the latest Football Manager titles from Sega. So without further ado, here are the more notable Android games released during the week of November 18, 2019.

22 new (and 1 WTF) Android games from the week of November 18, 2019: Undead Horde, Sword Art Online Alicization Rising Steel, and Football Manager 2020 Mobile was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Printers are universally terrible, but Google Cloud Print was a noble (and largely successful) effort to make them better. The service allowed people to connect printers to their Google account, allowing print jobs to be sent over the web effortlessly, instead of dealing with drivers and other time-consuming utilities. Sadly, Cloud Print will be laid to rest next year, with the service completely shutting down in January 2021.

"Beginning January 1, 2021," Google said in a support document, "devices across all operating systems will no longer be able to print using Google Cloud Print.

Google Cloud Print will shut down after 2020, following 10-year beta period was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Perfect material for a pretentious video game trailer, or the closing montage of a movie where everyone dies.

The official audio for Never Gonna Give You Up (Pianoforte).
From the new album The Best Of Me. Buy/Listen: https://RickAstley.lnk.to/BestID
Limited edition formats available on Rick's store: https://RickAstley.lnk.to/storeID

It's still not as good as the legendary cover that Slayer performed in 2011.

After three years of regular security updates and patches, the OnePlus 3/3T is now receiving its final update in the form of the October 2019 security patch.

more…

The post The October 2019 security patch is the final update for OnePlus 3/3T appeared first on 9to5Google.

People make fun of me when I talk about extending my wrists' duty cycle, but I earn the vast majority of my living with the parts of my body north of my chin and south of my elbows, and those are all pretty fragile, easily-damaged parts of your body.

Ergnomic Trends' list of "8 Best Hand and Wrist Exercises for Computer Users" were largely familiar to me, but I'm seriously loving "thumb touches."

Thumb touches help to increase coordination in the thumb and forefingers, and also help to reintroduce blood flow back to the area:

1. Hold your hands outwards with your palms facing the ceiling

2. With your right hand, slowly bring your thumb to touch the tip of every finger

3. Repeat on the other hand

4. Return to the starting position

5. Repeat five times with both hands

Preventing Injury: 8 Best Hand and Wrist Exercises for Computer Users [Ergonomic Trends]

(via Four Short Links)

Lots of people are fine with allowing a helpful wiretap into their lives. I am not one of them. None of them. So, when I heard that Cortana was being sent out to pasture by Microsoft, I was pretty excited. The dismantling of surveillance apparatus that’s slimed its way into our daily lives always leaves me feeling a little frisky.

From Gizmodo:

That’s according to a support article Microsoft posted to several regional markets this week, though a spokesperson later clarified to Gizmodo that only users in the following areas can expect to say goodbye to the voice assistant: Great Britain, Australia, Germany, Mexico, China, Spain, Canada, and India. Despite dropping the app in these regions, Cortana itself remains “an integral part” of the company’s business model to incorporate “conversational computing and productivity” into its products according to the spokesperson, so Microsoft doesn’t appear to be closing the coffin on it entirely.

According to Gizmodo, at least in North America, we’ll have to put up with the company’s post-Clippy assistant on our smartphones until January 31, 2020.

Cortana’s death has been a long time coming. Last year, Microsoft’s CEO admitted that the company’s virtual assistant could keep up with the likes of Alexa or Siri.

Score one for those of us who don’t want our gadgets listening in on us. I can only hope that Halo’s Master Chief will be able to quickly deal with the loss of his long-term companion and move on with his life.

Image via Wikipedia Commons

Welcome to the roundup of the latest Android games that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. Today I have the early access release of Minecraft Earth in the US, the first Western release for Square Enix's Romancing SaGa 3, and a quirky title about a ball on a string from the same people behind Kids. So without further ado, here are the more notable Android games released during the week of November 11, 2019.

22 new Android games from the week of November 11, 2019: Minecraft Earth, Romancing SaGa 3, and Il Filo Conduttore was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous three weeks or so. Today I have the release of Disney's new video streaming service in the US, a Spotify app for children, and the launch of Google's Stadia app. So without further ado, here are the most notable Android apps released in the last three weeks.

17 new and notable Android apps from the last three weeks including Disney+, Spotify Kids, and Stadia (10/26/19 - 11/16/19) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Oh, I am seriously here for this DIY-maker-recycling project that's all about giving street kitties safe homes. Wow this is cool.

Making feral cat shelters from an old cooler.

Says IMGURian @petsncharge, “Cat Tested and Approved Shelters.”

We designed and built these durable cat shelters-Donating to the many Rescues that need them for the Homeless Cats they care for...TomTom Tests each new Design

So cool. Watch the whole video.

Cat Tested and Approved Shelters

This is the QA tester!

Hold on to your cute little butts there, babies, we're about to go through an automated mechanical car wash.

Oh yes it's ON.

Baby seeing car wash for the first time

More random videos here for your baby in a car wash enjoyment.

Sometimes it's happy, sometimes it's super sad.

The moment when the collective decision is made; you're about to see one of those, but for people.

During the early 20th century, Kutol Products was the world's biggest manufacturer of wallpaper cleaning products. But once coal heating in homes was replaced with oil, gas, and electricity, dirty wallpaper became less of a problem and Kutol was in trouble. So in 1956, they pivoted. From Smithsonian:

Joseph McVicker was trying to turn around the struggling company when his sister-in-law read an article about how wallpaper cleaner could be used for modeling projects. Sister-in-law Kay Zufall, a nursery school teacher, tested the nontoxic material with children, who loved molding it into all kinds of shapes. She told McVicker of her discovery and even suggested a new name: Play-Doh...

Originally available in white only in 1956, Play-Doh soon expanded to include basic colors red, blue and yellow. It is now sold in a panoply of hues, including Rose Red, Purple Paradise, Garden Green and Blue Lagoon. The Putty line includes metallic and glittery tints. The recipe has gone through minor modifications over time. At one point, the amount of salt was reduced so the product would not dry out so quickly. But, for the most part, the mixture has remained the same.

A species of mouse deer called the silver-backed chevrotain was thought to be lost to science after 30 years of no sightings, but a video camera in a Vietnam forest captured one as it foraged for food.

From The Guardian:

The pictures of the rabbit-sized animal, also known as the silver-backed chevrotain, are the first to be taken in the wild and come nearly 30 years after the last confirmed sighting.

“We had no idea what to expect, so I was surprised and overjoyed when we checked the camera traps and saw photographs of a chevrotain with silver flanks,” said An Nguyen, a scientist and expedition team leader at Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC).

Image: YouTube

BigBread's No Destination is a "game" in the classic spirit of Desert Bus, and you don't even have to make the occasional steering adjustment. Just sit and enjoy the journey, looking out of a train coach at the procedurally-generated hills and woods of wherever it is you are.

It's just the first entry I've checked out from from the 2019 ProcJam -- "Make something that makes something" -- and there are dozens more experiments, artworks and according-to-Hoyle games to enjoy.

An endless train ride, a sitting simulator.
Just a relaxing time

Left mouse button to sit in a seat
Right mouse button to hide the cursor
wasd to move around
spacebar to get up
escape to quit / close the game

Welcome to the roundup of the latest Android games that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. For this game roundup I have a boatload of games since I was off last week. The standouts include a new augmented reality Angry Birds release, a quality 2D platformer, and the latest stand-alone expansion for The Quest series, plus many more. So without further ado, here are the more notable Android games released before and during the week of November 4, 2019.

39 new Android games from the week of November 4, 2019: Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs, Soul Chase: Another World, and The Quest - Basilisk's Eye was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Okay. This dog is ONE year old. One.

How big is he gonna get?

“This is Maverick, he belongs to one of my clients,” says IMGURian @jcequine.

“He recently turned 1, and I just wanted to show you how big he is!”

He's big.

“I'm 5 foot 6!”

Wow.

Video:

This is Maverick, he belongs to one of my clients. He recently turned 1, and I just wanted to show you how big he is!

[via]

Adventure World in Japan has a program raising emperor penguins.  In order to prevent parents from crushing babies, the staff cares for newborn chicks.  But to prevent chicks from imprinting on humans as their parents, which would discourage them from mating with other penguins when they mature, staff wear penguin disguises on their heads and one of their hands:

(Via Mulboyne.)

Mary Cain, a middle-distance runner, reports that her male coaches' constant demands she get “thinner, and thinner, and thinner” hurt her health and career. The crux of the problem: she joined a program operated by Nike, whose priority is selling shoes, not training athletes.

The New York Times:

The problem is so widespread it affected the only other female athlete featured in the last Nike video ad Cain appeared in, the figure skater Gracie Gold. When the ad came out in 2014, like Cain, Gold was a prodigy considered talented enough to win a gold medal at the next Olympics. And, like Cain, Gold got caught in a system where she was compelled to become thinner and thinner. She developed disordered eating to the point of imagining her own death.

“America loves a good child prodigy story, and business is ready and waiting to exploit that story, especially when it comes to girls,” said Lauren Fleshman, who ran for Nike until 2012. “When you have these kinds of good girls, girls who are good at following directions to the point of excelling, you’ll find a system that’s happy to take them. And it’s rife with abuse.”

It's a big warning to young athletes: Nike doesn't need all of its mannequins to be winners. The head coach, Alberto Salazar, would weigh her in front of her teammates and humiliate her if she failed to reach his arbitrary targets.

Consider how even after years of constant scandals, this sort of abuse still thrives at the place two opposed goals meet. An athletic requirement (reasonable weight management) justifies a marketing demand (“thinner, and thinner, and thinner”) that undermines and even destroys the athlete.

And here's what Nike got out of it: two print ads, as far as I can find in 2019, and two TV spots it has already removed from YouTube.

A lobster catcher in Maine rescued a deer that somehow got swept out 5 miles off the shore, in the ocean.

Ren Dorr, who is the captain of this lobster fishing vessel, told reporters he and his shipmates encountered the juvenile buck drifting away from the coast, and they “couldn’t let the poor guy suffer and drown.”

Ren Dorr, FACEBOOK

Ren Dorr, FACEBOOK

[PHOTOS on the captain's Facebook page.]

Shipmate Jared Thaxter told ABC News the crew had to circle around the deer in the water a few times to position safely and grab him.

The men “grabbed him by the spikes and maybe a leg or two and just dragged him in."

After the young deer was on the boat, Thaxter says the crew gave the little guy some space, and let him rest.

The crew told reporters they then sailed back to shore, about 30 minutes, and dropped the deer on the beach and then “sailed back out to haul.”

"It was a great feeling once they helped him back into the water, headed in the right direction, and to see him finally touch land," Thaxter told ABC News.

There are photos posted on Facebook.

Video below from CNN.

[PHOTO: Ren Dorr, FACEBOOK]

The Avontuur's cook, Lasse Scharz, is accustomed to making food under less-than-ideal conditions. In this video, the camera is fixed to the ship, so we don't see it rock. Instead we see Scharz comically leaning as plates fly off the counter as if enchanted.

[via Neatorama]

Image: YouTube