Shared posts

10 Dec 11:12

Unicorn duct tape

by Rob Beschizza

At the outset, let me address the likelihood that this post will eventually be visited by someone who has unspeakable plans for a unicorn, is holding a unicorn hostage, or who intends to affix a unicorn to ducting for less nefarious reasons. First, it's duct tape with a unicorn design (Amazon). As in pictures of unicorns are printed on the tape. Second, duct tape is in fact no good for use with ducting. Third, no special tape is required to immobilize or silence unicorns: any good store brand will do.

Unicorn Duct Tape [Amazon]

10 Dec 11:12

British road barriers, modeled on children, stare into you

by Rob Beschizza

A town in Buckinghamshire, England, has repositioned road barriers made to look like children after a resident said they were too creepy. The toddler-sized safety posts were designed to be more attention-grabbing than the standard poles, and are.

There are eight of the child-shaped bollards outside four primary schools in Iver and Iver Heath. Iver Parish Council said the bollards cost £5,395, excluding installation. In September, local resident Jonny Baker said the bollards were "creepy and hideous". "I look out of my window every morning and these are what I see. They're absolutely terrifying," he said.

Here's video of the bollards.

09 Dec 00:29

Google shares best new Assistant apps created for 2017 Developer Challenge

by Abner Li

For many, the best use of Google Assistant on Android and Home is to control smart appliances, ask questions, and issue commands. However, the company has also been hard at work building an app ecosystem — just like the Play Store — through Actions on Google. At I/O 2017, Google announced a Developer Challenge and the winners are now in.

more…

09 Dec 00:24

This $6 folding phone stand may be the best gift you buy all day

by Jared DiPane

Treat your phone or tablet to a new stand today!

How many times have you set your phone down on your desk, only to bury it under some papers and waste five minutes trying to find it? Stop doing this to yourself and pick up one of iXCC's portable aluminum phone stands for just $5.99 at Amazon. You'll need to use coupon code HWHWODI2 to save $4 on the purchase, dropping it from its regular $10 price.

The stand is fully foldable, so you can pack it with you in your bag and it will take up next to no space. The aluminum used is super durable, and this thing is built to last.

  • Fully Foldable - With fully foldable design, it'll save you plenty of space and make it easy to carry with in travel
  • Universal Compatibility - Compatible with 4 to 10 Inches devices like iPhone 6 6S 7/7 Plus, Galaxy S8/S7/S6/Note6, LG, Sony, Google Nexus, iPad mini/pro/Air/Air 2, Samsung Tab , Kindle, even in some protect case
  • Multi-Angle adjustment - This multi-angle stand holds device in best position for you which is ideal for watching videos, reading, video recording, facetime or hands-free operation
  • Anti-Slip Silicone Pad - The whole body is built solid and durable with aerospace aluminum. The anti-slip pad and feet works perfectly to keep your devices in place while in use and protect your devices from daily scratches and sliding

You may want to consider picking up a few of these for your friends and family. They make great gifts, regardless of which phone or tablet they are using.

See at Amazon

09 Dec 00:24

Google Home Mini regains touch controls with v1.30 update

by Joe Maring

Thank you thank you thank you 👏

Shortly after the Google Home Mini was announced on October 4, it was discovered that there was an issue with the smart speaker's touch controls. Essentially, the top part of the Home Mini that acted as the area for these controls was far too sensitive and resulted in the speaker recording and sending audio back to Google 24/7.

This was obviously a pretty big problem, but rather than recalling thousands of Home Minis that had already shipped to retailers, Google chose to disable the top touch controls altogether via a software update.

However, after a couple months of being on the market, this functionality is making a return.

According to Android Police, the v1.30 update for the Google Home app re-enables touch controls on the Home Mini, but rather than touching the top of the speaker, you'll long-press either the left or right side of it.

A quick tap will continue to adjust volume like usual, but a long press will end calls, pause/play music that's playing, and (most importantly) silence alarms without having to shout at your Home Mini at 6:00 in the morning.

The v1.30 update is rolling out now, so be sure to keep an eye out for it over the coming days.

08 Dec 14:52

A crabtivating journey: Street View joins a crab migration of millions on Christmas Island

by Camilla IbrahimGoogle Australia & New Zealand.

From herds of elephants in Kenya to penguins in Antarctica and frogs in the Amazon, the Street View Trekker has met some charming characters on its journeys around the world.  This week, Street View is venturing to Christmas Island, a remote Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, to join more than 45 million local residents for their annual trip from the forests to seas. Christmas Island’s famous, endemic red crabs have begun their once-a-year migration

Crabs 1
Red crabs marching in the rainforest.

For most of the year, these land crabs stay burrowed in Christmas Island’s lush damp forests to preserve body moisture and protect themselves from harsh sunlight. But each year, they emerge from the forest shelter to march to the sea to spawn near the coastal waters. These bright red residents wait patiently for a precise alignment of the rains, moon cycle and tides to commence their journey. They’re starting to paint the town red and Dr. Alasdair Grigg on behalf of Parks Australia, is carrying the Street View Trekker to collect imagery of this yearly miracle for all to see. The migration concludes on the ocean shores when the highest density of crabs spawn and lay their eggs in the sand—a finale forecasted for December 13.

  • Crab 2
    Parks Australia Ranger, Dr Grigg, holding a female crab carrying eggs in the abdomen.
  • Crab 3
  • Crab 4
  • Crab 5
  • Crab 6

The volume of red crabs presents unprecedented conditions for the Street View image capture. As crabs crowd the roads, boardwalks and beaches, each step must be taken with care. Fortunately, crabs have right of way on Christmas Island, and Parks Australia has built walls and fencing along roads to direct the crossers to safety.

GIF

Whether you’re in Ballarat, Bogota or Berlin, soon you’ll be able to experience the Christmas Island crab migration, and its grand finale (the spawning) on Street View. We invite you to join this marvelous march—and see why Sir David Attenborough calls this phenomenon one of the “most astonishing and wonderful sights.” You can expect to see the imagery from this collection on Street View in early 2018.

08 Dec 01:21

Toys R Us is bankrupt, but top execs are cleared to receive $16 million in bonuses

by Mark Frauenfelder

A Justice department attorney representing the people owed money by Toys R Us doesn't believe the bankrupt corporation should pay lavish bonuses to the same executives who drove the toy store chain into the ground.

From Judy Robbins filing:

“It defies logic and wisdom, not to mention the Bankruptcy Code, that a bankrupt company would now propose further multi-million dollar bonuses for the senior leadership of a company that began the year with employee layoffs and concludes it in the midst of the holiday season in bankruptcy. Apparently, this Christmas, Toys “R” Us intends to deliver not only ‘children their biggest smiles of the year’ but the insiders, too.”

Nevertheless U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Keith Phillips approved the payouts.

From CW39:

Because Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy in September, it must now must get court approval for many of its basic business decisions.

These new bonuses will be in addition to another $8.2 million in retention bonuses paid to some of these same executives before Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy. They would be required to return the retention payments should they quit the company within a year of receiving them.

07 Dec 16:45

Some Google searches are now answered by selfie videos from celebrities

by Joe Maring

Available first on mobile with Mark Wahlberg, Gina Rodriguez, Seth MacFarlane, and others.

Google's always testing out new features here and there for making its many services as great as can be, and the latest one has to do with its bread and butter, Google Search. In a blog post that was published on December 7, Product Manager Rami Banna announced that some searches on Google will now showcase selfie videos from your favorite celebrities.

This is something that's launching first on mobile, and when asking something such as "Can Will Ferrell really play the drums?", you'll see a video that you can play in which Will Ferrell answers that question directly through a selfie video. This is something that seems to have come completely out of left field, but after messing around with it for a couple minutes, it's actually kind of fun.

You can pause a video once it starts by tapping on your screen, and swiping through the cards near the bottom or letting the video finish playing will take you to the next question.

Celebrities that you'll find video responses from include Priyanka Chopra, Will Ferrell, Tracee Ellis Ross, Gina Rodriguez, Kenan Thompson, Allison Williams, Nick Jonas, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Seth MacFarlane, Jonathan Yeo and Dominique Ansel.

The video responses don't show up when asking questions via Google Assistant, but they work fine when searching through the main Google app.

Oreo update rolling out to Android Wear, already available on Watch Sport

07 Dec 16:44

Check out this hand-knit Pac-Man Icelandic peysa

by Rusty Blazenhoff

This woolen Pac-Man sweater, an Icelandic peysa, popped up in my Facebook feed on Wednesday and it made me squee with delight. It's the handiwork of my friend Christine Clarke.

She told me that her husband, Doctor Popular, designed the sweater in knittingpatterns.is and, after some tweaking, she knit it up for him.

"I told him that if he designed a sweater, I'd knit it for him. But since he never knitted before, it was really difficult to implement his original design, so I ended up making a lot of modifications that didn't really affect the look but made a huge difference in how easy it was to knit."

And knit it, she did...

Christine told me she has been working on the sweater on and off for months, "I started it early February of this year, and of course I only finished it now."

If you'd like to knit one for yourself (and you're roughly the same size as Doc Pop), they've been kind enough to share the pdf pattern with us. Download it here. Christine says spent about $80 on yarn "because I had to get all the different colors, so even for a small accent (like the white), I bought a whole ball of it, so I'll have to think of a different project for all the leftovers."

Can't wait to see what's next!

photos by Christine Clarke and Doc Pop

07 Dec 12:48

Your 2017 Wrapped by Spotify is a musical year in review with a new custom playlist

by Ryne Hager

One of the best things about the music streaming service Spotify is the platform's incredible ability to customize itself to the listener. Its automatically generated playlists are second to none, making it easy to find new music you like. The holidays are also a special time for Spotify listeners, as we get to look back at the last year's listening habits in the form of customized playlists, and this year Spotify has turned it into an interactive experience: Your 2017 Wrapped

The new Your 2017 Wrapped is an animated analysis that plugs itself into your Spotify account data and provides you with some fun facts about your personal listening habits.

Read More

Your 2017 Wrapped by Spotify is a musical year in review with a new custom playlist was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

06 Dec 23:20

YouTube Rewind 2017 recaps top memes, trends as top 10 videos of the year revealed

by Abner Li

With 2017 ticking away, YouTube has posted its annual Rewind mashup for the year to recap the top videos, events, and more. This video features many hit moments and contains the largest amount of talent of any Rewind. The Google site has also revealed this year’s top 10 trending videos.

more…

06 Dec 23:19

Portal Knights console game now available on Android for $4.99

by Joe Maring

Portal Knights brings big screen RPG action right to your phone.

Gaming on Android has come a long, long way over the years, and a prime example of this is the new release of Portal Knights. Developed by 505 Games, Portal Knights is an action RPG with a large 3D sandbox, 4-person local multiplayer, and a lot more.

If the game sounds familiar to you, that's because Portal Knights was first released onto Steam Early Access for PC in February of 2016. Portal Knights then made its way to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in May and was then followed up by a release on the Nintendo Switch in November.

You'll certainly notice a downgrade in graphical performance on the Android port compared to its console counterparts, but all the main gameplay components are still here. You can travel back and forth between randomly generated worlds, battle enemies and large bosses, take part in random events, mine resources, and build a custom home for your character.

Portal Knights will only work on Android 6.0 or later, and in order for the game to load and run larger maps, you'll want to make sure you're using a device with at least 2GB of RAM.

Portal Knights is available on the Google Play Store now for $4.99.

HQ Trivia is coming to Android just in time for Christmas

06 Dec 23:19

Best music player apps for Android

by Richard Devine

Get the best music experience on your Android phone or tablet with these great apps

Over the years music fans have gradually changed how they listen to their music, and what they listen to it on. With the rise of the smartphone, it's only natural that now the one device we carry with us everywhere is also our primary media player. On Android, we're also fortunate that there's a huge community of developers that create apps that can better the experience we're provided by the folks who made our phones.

The Google Play Store has many music-related apps to choose from, but some do stand out from the crowd. It'd be impossible to look at all of them, so here we've chosen some that we think are some of the best there is. Let's take a look.

DoubleTwist Cloudplayer

We've talked about DoubleTwist a lot around these parts and with good reason. DoubleTwist became a favorite of Android users that had deep roots in the iTunes ecosystem and still is. The base app has been replaced on this list by Cloudplayer, a newer offering that looks great and has hooks into some of the most popular cloud storage services to deliver your music.

We're not talking about hooking into streaming services, either. Create your own cloud streaming library with your own music, a Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive account, and DoubleTwist Cloudplayer. Access to these is unlockable via an in-app purchase, but the basic app is free. And the basic app will also play your lossless FLAC files.

That in-app purchase also unlocks AirPlay support and the equalizer tools to help you get the most from your music. And like the older app, you can still use it to listen to radio and podcasts, too, as well as now having support for both Android Wear and Android Auto. A pretty well stocked one stop shop for all your audio needs.

Find DoubleTwist on Google Play

Google Play Music

Not just a music player, but we have to include Google Play Music. While it doesn't have the deep customization or power features of something like Poweramp, it offers what many others do not; that huge cloud library for your own music. After all, without the music to listen too, what good is a killer music player?

That's not to say Google Play Music isn't a good music player, because it is. Being a Google product it integrates perfectly with your device – including the sweet lock screen artwork. But the real value is in that cloud storage. It means you can take your music collection with you on whichever Android and iOS device you own. Sure, you need to offline some of that from time-to-time, but it's always with you.

Google also has its own store and streaming service built into the same app making it a superb one stop shop for all your musical needs. What it lacks in features compared to others it makes up for the inconvenience.

Check out Google Play Music for yourself!

Shuttle Music Player

Shuttle is perhaps one you've not heard of before, but one that's definitely worth your attention. Unlike a heavy duty app with has tons of settings and customizations, Shuffle offers a portion of that with a much more lightweight look and feel.

It comes with a sleep timer, gapless playback, a choice of a few different themes, built-in equalizer and much more. And for the Materiyolo kids out there, it's pretty much perfect in how it looks. It comes in free and paid versions, but with the paid version just $0.99, it also represents fantastic value for money.

Grab Shuttle from Google Play

Amazon Music

Google isn't the only provider on Android offering an all-in-one store, cloud and player solution. Amazon has its own thing going on and combines its Prime Music streaming service with its music store and a decent looking music player all in one. If you're a Prime subscriber in selected markets you'll have Prime Music and so you'll need this on your phone. Amazon also offers you a cloud locker, much like Google, to access music you already own on any of your devices, and the app will play anything you have stored locally.

It doesn't offer some of the techy stuff that audio nerds will find in some other apps on this list but it does give you lyrics. Sing along while you're on the bus to work!

Take a closer look at Amazon Prime Music

GoneMAD Music Player

GoneMAD boasts over 250 customizations, so needless to say we're not going to talk about them all, here. Add to this over 1000 themes and what you've got is a music app that really can be tailored to suit your own personal tastes. On the techy front it boasts gapless playback, support for a whole bunch of formats including lossless audio, smart playlists, an equalizer, multi-window and much, much more. You can even go back to the old UI if you don't like how it looks right now.

The app is free to download for 14-days and after that, if you like it and want to keep using it, you'll need to buy the full version. And you might just want to do that.

Check out GoneMAD on Google Play

Rocket Music Player

Rocket is another hugely popular music player for Android with a bunch of good reasons to choose it. You've got a stylish minimalism mixed with a 5-band equalizer, folders support, Chromecast, video and podcasts and much much more.

That's just in the free app. If you upgrade to Premium you also get a bunch of different themes, support for lossless audio, a 10-band equalizer and a whole bundle of other features to perfect your audio experience.

Grab Rocket Music on Google Play

Pulsar

Not everyone has the budget to pay for a monthly subscription to get access to a decent music player, which is why Pulsar makes our list. Absolutely free, this pared down, Material Design app aims to get you to your music without any hassle involved.

Pulsar is absolutely free and even better, free of all advertisements. It doesn't offer many in-depth features but does include a pretty solid equalizer. It automatically syncs missing album artwork, has a home screen widget, Chromecast and Android Auto support, and access to Last.fm for playing the radio if that's your gig.

Find Pulsar on Google Play

Apple Music

An entire generation grew up depending on Apple for their Music needs thanks to iTunes. While you may not have a lime green iPod anymore, you can still access your library from your Android phone with Aplle Music.

Your subscription will give you access to streaming music services, but your Library will still hold all the music you already know and love. You can purchase and download music right to your phone, edit which items show up in your library when you open it, and you can add music to your Library if you listen to them while music is streaming.

For anyone who has already bought into the iTunes ecosystem, this is a great option to keep everything nice and streamlined. And for $9.99/month after the free trial, the streaming features are highly competitive.

Check out Apple Music on Google Play

Your picks?

There are plenty of great music players available for Android, but these are our picks for the best of the best. Do you have a suggestion that should have made this list? Is your favorite player here? Let us know about it in the comments below!

Updated December 2017: We've updated this post with new music player apps that are awesome on Android.

06 Dec 23:18

Smart Text Selection finally available in Google Chrome

by Joe Maring

More than three months later, Smart Text Selection finally makes its way to Google Chrome.

Android 8.0 Oreo introduced a lot of new features for our favorite mobile OS, and in my opinion, one of the most underrated ones in Smart Text Selection. This is something that's been available since 8.0 Oreo was released in August, but now on December 6, the stable version of Google Chrome is just now being updated to support it.

Smart Text Selection is coming to Google Chrome as part of the v63 update that's rolling out to the Play Store now, and as long as you're running either 8.0 or 8.1, it should work without any problems.

As a quick refresher, Smart Text Selection suggests different actions based on certain text that you're highlighting/copying. If you highlight an address, you'll get a new prompt that takes you right to Google Maps and automatically fills in said address. If you do the same with a phone number, you'll get a prompt to take you to the dialer. It's not a mind-blowing feature, but it is one of the more practical ones found in Oreo.

Now that we're talking about it, have you been using Smart Text Selection?

06 Dec 23:14

Victims of mysterious attack at US embassy in Cuba now have "brain abnormalities"

by Mark Frauenfelder

Twenty-four US government officials and their relatives were subject to a series of unknown, invisible attacks on the US embassy in Cuba starting last year. Doctors who examined the victims say the people have suffered brain injury as a result.

From The Guardian:

Medical testing has revealed the embassy workers developed changes to the white matter tracts that let different parts of the brain communicate, several US officials said, describing a growing consensus held by university and government physicians researching the attacks. White matter acts like information highways between brain cells.

Loud, mysterious sounds followed by hearing loss and ear-ringing had led investigators to suspect “sonic attacks”. But officials are now avoiding that term. The sounds may have been the byproduct of something else that caused damage, said three US officials briefed on the investigation.

The discovery casts doubt on the theory that the attacks were sonic waves. The Guardian spoke to Elisa Konofagou, a biomedical engineering professor at Columbia University, who told the paper that acoustic waves don't affect white matter tracts in the brain.

“I would be very surprised,” Konofagou said, adding that ultrasound in the brain is used frequently in modern medicine. “We never see white matter tract problems.”

Image: Stevenbedrick at English Wikipedia

06 Dec 23:12

A grumpy cat crashes an outdoor nativity scene, making for a really funny photo

by Rusty Blazenhoff

No doubt you've heard the stories about cats smothering babies where they sleep. Well, there's a tabby cat in New York City that has perpetuated that rumor in a whole new and hilarious way when it decided to sleep where baby Jesus is supposed to lie. According to The Dodo, photographer Brooke Goldman wanted to sleep in last Sunday but instead walked her boyfriend to the train station as she had promised.
“I was pretty out of it... I was trying to get home as fast as possible to go back to sleep and wasn’t ready for the day at all.”

But then she spotted this cat quietly perched in this outdoor nativity scene's "manger" and snapped this funny shot.

Let's get a closer look at our new "lord and savior"'s face, shall we?

"Bah humbug!"

photo by Brooke Goldman

Previously: Behold the Hipster Nativity Set

06 Dec 01:12

30 new and notable (and 1 WTF) Android games from the last week (11/28/17 - 12/5/17)

by Matthew Sholtz

Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android games that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Games

Carcassonne: Official Board Game -Tiles & Tactics

Android Police coverage: Asmodee Digital has released 'Carcassonne – Tiles & Tactics,' complete with asynchronous online multiplayer

Carcassonne: Official Board Game -Tiles & Tactics is the latest Carcassonne digital board game adaptation to arrive on the Play Store.

Read More

30 new and notable (and 1 WTF) Android games from the last week (11/28/17 - 12/5/17) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

06 Dec 01:07

Watch: Mama dog protects pup in the most adorable way

by Carla Sinclair

A woman off camera is talking, with a tone that sounds kind of harsh, and this mama dog doesn't seem to like it too much. She wraps an arm around her pup as if to shield it from the human, and then uses both arms and even her body to shield the pup even more. She's the cutest mama dog I've seen in a long time.

06 Dec 01:05

Update

by Bill Crider
Things could change, but I suspect this will be my final post on the blog.  I met with some doctors at M. D. Anderson today, and they suggested that I enter hospice care.  A few weeks, a few months is about all I have left.  The blog has been a tremendous source of pleasure to me over the years, and I've made a lot of friends here.  My only regret is  that I have several unreviewed books, including Lawrence Block' fine new anthology, Alive in Shape and Color, and Max Allan Collins' latest collaboration with Mickey Spillane, The Last Stand,  which is a collection of two novellas, "A Bullet for Satisfaction," an early Spillane manuscript with an interesting history, and "The Last Stand," the last thing that Spillane completed.  It saddens me to think of all the great books by many writers that I'll never read.  But I've had a great life, and my readers have been a big part of it.  Much love to you all.
05 Dec 15:38

Ready, set… Files Go! A faster way to clean up, find and share files on your phone

by Caesar Sengupta

Every day, millions of smartphones run out of space. While phones with 16GB or 32GB of storage are becoming more popular, many phones around the world have much less storage, often as low as 4GB. And with the barrage of images, videos, apps and documents that keep piling up, at some point it becomes a mess—it's hard to find what you need when you need it, and your phone slows down and starts crashing. We all eventually reach that point where we have to choose what to keep or delete.


That’s why we’re excited to introduce Files Go, an app that takes a mobile-first approach to freeing up space, finding files faster and easily sharing them with others.

FilesGoScreen

Free up space on your phone and find files faster

Files Go helps you:

  • Free up space. Get personalized suggestions about which files to delete, whether it’s unused apps, large files, duplicate files or low-resolution videos and memes detected using Google’s latest mobile vision technology

  • Find files faster. No more navigating through a maze of folders. Find exactly the stuff you want with smart filters that automatically organize your images, videos, apps, documents and more.

  • Backup files to the cloud. If you want to keep a file forever, select it from the Files menu and back it up to Google Drive or any other cloud storage app.

  • Share files offline. Transfer directly from your phone to a nearby friend’s phone without using any data. The file transfers are encrypted, fast (up to 125 Mbps) and free.

FilesGoAnimation
Transfer files securely between two phones, fast and data-free

We’ve been testing Files Go for a month, and the average user is saving 1GB of space and has shared many files with others without using data. Starting today, we’re opening up Files Go globally on the Google Play Store for all phones running Android 5.0 (Lollipop) and higher. Free up more space and share files faster—give Files Go a try!

05 Dec 15:36

Beautiful textile sculptures of dogs

by Andrea James

Looking for a lovely way to honor a special pooch in your life? British sculptor Helen Thompson, aka Holy Smoke, creates textile sculptures of dogs that really capture the essence of dogness. (more…)

04 Dec 19:14

16 new and notable Android apps from the last week (11/28/17 - 12/4/17)

by Matthew Sholtz

roundup_icon_largeWelcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Apps

Datally: mobile data-saving & WiFi app by Google

Android Police coverage: Google's 'Triangle' data-saving app renamed to 'Datally', is now available globally

Now that it is out of beta status Google has decided to rebrand their data saving application Triangle with an all-new name.

Read More

16 new and notable Android apps from the last week (11/28/17 - 12/4/17) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

04 Dec 18:23

Swimming in a liquid sand hot tub

by Rusty Blazenhoff

Science YouTuber (and former NASA engineer) Mark Rober explains how when you add air "in the just the right way" to sand, it "basically becomes a liquified soup." It sure does!

Watch and learn.

02 Dec 22:52

10 of the Most Covered Songs in Music History

by Bill Crider
01 Dec 14:28

Spectacular photos of an active volcano in Bali

by Rusty Blazenhoff

You may have heard that Mount Agung, an active volcano in the Indonesian island of Bali, started erupting Saturday. It just so happens that my friend Kyle Kesterson is currently traveling there. He's staying in Ubud, about two hours away from the volcano. On Wednesday, he shared his experience of getting to and witnessing the eruption, alongside some really stunning photos:
While I appreciate the concern for my safety as messages have been pouring in about Mt Agung’s current eruptions the last few days, FEAR is the common underlying theme. Those who know me, know that even the slightest whiff of fear must be faced head on and transformed into excitement. So at 2am, my fearless friend Valeria and I found a bold and curious taxi driver to drive us 2.5hrs in the direction of Mt. Agun, cameras in hand. As we pulled up around 4:30am, we saw the glow from the magma lighting up the slow billowing ash entering the atmosphere. Underneath it, our entire horizon was made up of the ghostly shape of this restless, commanding, all powerful giant. We sat, stunned in the deepest sense of awe, underneath the clearest Milky Way and longest shooting stars I’ve ever witnessed. Instantly, I was small. Weak. Absolutely nothing against the formidable nature of nature. Nothing, but a spectator and participant in this collision of living energy. Fear would have kept me tucked warmly in my sheets with the illusion that I was safe to begin with. But stepping through it, with complete reverence and heightened to the situation and ready to act, I am forever changed and more alive.

Later, he wrote,

Up until now, the news has been overly sensationalized with how they are reporting on Mt Agung’s activity. Life right at the base of the volcano was calm, people carrying on with their daily duties. No panic. No hysteria. It was surprisingly calm. However as of yesterday, rocks and debris have started to fall from the sky in the surrounding villages, starting to make the threat very real. Now people are starting to truly be displaced. There are a couple effective organizations helping with this process. Please join me in sharing a few dollars to help these people.

photos by Kyle Kesterson, used with permission

Previously: Artist Kyle Kesterson draws the faces he sees in things

01 Dec 14:23

These are Google Play's best apps, games, and movies of 2017

by Harish Jonnalagadda

These are the most popular apps, games, and movies on Google Play in 2017.

Google has published its Best of 2017 list, highlighting the most popular apps, games, movies, books, and songs of the year. Pic Tools' Photo Editor turned out to be the most popular app of 2017, followed by weather forecast app What The Forecast?!! and Cartoon Network's Boomerang service.

Game of Thrones is once again the most popular TV show on Google Play (for obvious reasons), followed by Rick and Morty and The Walking Dead. Kendrick Lamar's single HUMBLE edged out Ed Sheeran's Shape of You to claim the top spot in the music category, and last year's animated hit Moana beat out Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in movies.

Most popular new apps of 2017

Most popular new games of 2017

Top five streamed songs of 2017

Top five movies of 2017

Top five TV shows of 2017

Top five books of 2017

Looking for the full list? Hit up the Play Store from the link below to find the best apps, games, movies, books, and movies for your region.

Google Play's Best of 2017

01 Dec 00:43

YouTube stars gone wild

by Rob Beschizza

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXntoTverSg&feature=youtu.be

YouTube stars Alissa Violet and Ricky “FaZe” Banks were ejected Saturday night from a Cleveland pub. FaZe ranted on his stream. Violet, selfying her way to hospital, sported a fat lip. The couple immediately went on an online offensive, identifying the Barley House and claiming to have been innocent victims of its bouncers. What happened next is all too predictable: their army of millions of social media fans formed an "unrelenting internet harassment campaign," issuing insults, death threats, some even driving hours to intimidate staff in person.

Violet’s fans view her not as just a celebrity but one of their closest friends. She posts daily videos about her life in Los Angeles, photos of recent modeling shoots, jokes, and personal stories on Twitter and Snapchat. She tends to her legion by faving tweets, shouting out fans, and making her followers feel like they’re intimately involved in every detail of her life.

Her online army dedicates an enormous amount of time to watching her videos, commenting on her posts, and setting up stan accounts in her likeness. When they saw someone had hurt her on Saturday night, that fanbase didn’t ask questions.

But the Barley House has the receipts, and, it turns out, the gumption to post them in public: security footage recorded that night that shows the pair instigated all the trouble, were ejected without harm, then got into a fight outside with other patrons. Banks even appears to throw a glass into the crowd.

After a crazy few days of cyber bullying including death threats to our employees, our website being hacked, our social media channels forced to be privatized, and false online review efforts to punish our reputation, we finally get the opportunity to put the facts together of what really happened and clear our name of Ricky Banks' and Alissa Violet's accusations towards Barley House.

It seems almost a caricature of the narcissistic, talentless YouTube star — the sort of inexplicable fame that turns everyone over the age of 18 into an out-of-touch curmudgeon.

But what's interesting is that hardly anyone over the age of 18 even knows about these people. Neither the media nor mainstream America is watching the massive, invisible personality cults of YouTube form. It's inconceivable to us that children (let alone ourselves) would watch losers like Violet and Banks jabber on, every available hour they have.

The rambling vanity of YouTube's angry alt-right nerds gives us a mistaken impression of the medium's power, especially given the obvious danger of their IRL brethren on the far right. But if this is what a pair of bullshitting numpties like Banks and Violet can summon, imagine what a person with genuine charisma and drive could do. Soon, a YouTuber is going to take an audience of millions places.

01 Dec 00:39

Microsoft Edge officially launches on Android

by Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Following weeks of testing, Microsoft has officially launched its Microsoft Edge mobile apps for iOS and Android.

We recently saw the Microsoft Edge app quietly drop its beta tag on Android, and now Microsoft is making it official. The browser is now out of preview on both iOS and Android, launching in full for everyone.

Microsoft initially launched Edge on iOS and Android in preview in October as a way for Edge desktop users a way to easily sync their passwords, favorites, and reading list between devices. You can also quickly pick up where you left off with a "Continue on PC" feature, which opens the page your looking at on your phone on your PC. While the app still very much looks like Edge, it runs on the required WebKit rendering engine on iOS and the Blink rendering engine on Android, rather than Microsoft's own EdgeHTML engine.

Microsoft says that, at launch, Microsoft Edge for iOS is available in the U.S., China, France, and the UK. Edge for Android is available in the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, India, and the UK. Additional markets will be added over time.

If you want to dive in, you can grab the latest versions of Edge for iOS and Android at the App Store and Google Play now.

See at the App Store See at Google Play

29 Nov 19:36

Why the Can Opener Wasn't Invented Until Almost 50 Years After the Can

by Bill Crider
29 Nov 19:32

Whimsical plant embroidery that extends beyond the hoop

by Andrea James

Embroidery artist Veselka Bulkan creates all sorts of lovely and creative embroidered works that play with the form, like these plant-themed pieces that refuse to stay inside the hoop frame, sometimes even extending to another. (more…)