Drawing on its massive store of customer data, Amazon plans on shipping you items it thinks you'll like before you click the purchase button. The company today gained a new patent for "anticipatory shipping," a system that allows Amazon to send items to shipping hubs in areas where it believes said item will sell well. This new scheme will potentially cut delivery times down, and put the online vendor ahead of its real-world counterparts.
Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street has already earned five Academy Award nominations for its depiction of the over-the-top lifestyle led by corrupt stockbroker Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. However, a little attention ought to be paid to the seamless visual effects work that turned the film's already outsized scenes into spectacles. New York-based effects company Brainstorm Digital released a short clip of highlights from their work on the film earlier this week. If you haven't seen it already, it's definitely something worth checking out.
Go ahead, ask your roommate for their sibling's HBO Go password — as it turns out, HBO really doesn't mind. "It presents the brand to more and more people and gives them an opportunity, hopefully, to become addicted to it," HBO CEO Richard Plepler tells BuzzFeed. Plepler says that HBO is well aware that people share their account passwords, but he views it as a "terrific marketing vehicle" rather than an obstacle. "What we're in the business of is building addicts, building video addicts," he says, "and the way we do that is exposing our product and our shows and our brand to more and more people."
Last night in the NFC championship, the San Francisco 49ers trailed the Seattle Seahawks by six, 23-17, with 30 seconds left in the game. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick had led the 49ers all the way down to the Seahawks' 18-yard line. He took the snap out of the gun, set his feet, and released a flossy little fade to the corner of the end zone, where receiver Michael Crabtree had his hands out. And then Richard Sherman happened.
    
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When NaVorro Bowman was carted off with a torn ACL, NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal tweeted that "Seahawks fans threw food at "Bowman". That sounded very, very bad, especially for a fan base that loves to self-proclaim itself the best in football. But here's the footage, and it's...probably just one jerk?
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Could this object be an alien spaceship nestled under the dust of the moon, or a secret moonbase occupied by humans? Speculation has arisen over new controversial images of a new triangular anomaly, spotted on Google's map of the moon, which has rows of seven light-like dots along its edge that have been likened to an alien base or spaceship. Continue reading for a video and more information.
Mode Analytics put together a fun set of interactive maps that show exactly which counties in the U.S. produce the most college football players. Did you know that Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, is a hotbed of punter and kicker recruiting?
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Sand may look like nothing special from afar, but Dr. Gary Greenberg's microscopic photography shows that these tiny grains are a lot more interesting than once thought. He magnifies grains of sand 300 times with a 3D microscope to reveal a whole new world of color, textures, and shapes. Continue reading for more.
Did you know that James Cameron originally had planned to use an alternate ending in which Bill Paxton and the old lady face off over the million dollar necklace? The film was partially funded by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox, and, at the time, was the most expensive film ever made, with an estimated budget of $200 million. Continue reading for more fun and interesting things you may not have known about the movie.
The white walls of the Chinatown studio were covered with dozens and dozens of Polaroid-style instant photos, each one featuring a celebrity (or something akin to a celebrity) staring back into the camera. Below each stark image was an autograph from the featured luminary. It was quite a collection. One might even call Rick DeMint’s “Portroids” (short for “Polaroid Portraits”) solo exhibit an “impossible” collection, though that might be too much on point.
DeMint has been accosting and photographing celebrities for a decade (and doing so since around 2008 with a Polaroid Spectra camera). For him, it's not a profession; he just likes photography and celebrities and is so non-threatening that a shocking number of stars (among them: Zach Galifianakis, Katy Perry, Questlove, Elijah Woods and Joan Rivers) have stood still — even in the midst of some very busy activity — for him and then autographed their picture. Read more...
More about Celebrities, Photography, Polariod, Film, and Tv
The Jan. 20 Deal of the Day is the Seidio DILEX Case (with kickstand) for Samsung Galaxy Note 3. This case balances next-level, hybrid protection with a slim profile and convenient design. It combines two layers of shock absorbing protection; a compact, silicone core underneath a strong polycarbonate exterior that wraps around the back and impact points.
The Seidio DILEX Case (with kickstand) is available for just $19.95, 43% off today only. Pick from six different color options!
Canada Deal of the Day: Cruzerlite Androidified A2 TPU Case for Galaxy S3
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PARK CITY, Utah — Many films that will debut at this year's Sundance Film Festival from Jan. 16 to 26 won't be available to a nationwide audience for months, but YouTube has already posted a collection of short films online for your binging pleasure.
The video-sharing platform published 15 short films even before their screenings at the annual festival. Ranging in genre from drama and comedy to documentary and animation, the films are competing for this year's YouTube Audience Award
The short film with the most YouTube views between Jan. 16 and 26 will take home the honor. Read more...
More about Youtube, Film, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, and Us
The Seattle Seahawks secured their place at next month’s Super Bowl in New Jersey by winning the NFC championship over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. However, not content just to make it onto the biggest stage in sports, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman decided to use the win to deliver an epic post-game rant that lit up Twitter
See also: The 10 Best Super Bowl Ads of All Time
Ignoring the question from Fox Sports sideline reporter Erin Andrews, Sherman, fresh off a hard-fought win that will pit the Seahawks against the Denver Broncos for the ultimate NFL crown, the footballer delivered an aggressive, over-the-top response, saying: Read more...
More about Twitter, Nfl, Super Bowl, Entertainment, and UsThe man had just lost a football game. He did not know what to say, how to make it clear. Now he would never use the plays that he had saved to use until he knew enough to use them well. At least his khakis fit. They always fit, and they always made sense. Eight dollars is what they cost.
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The chirping between Richard Sherman and Michael Crabtree did not cease with Sherman's WWE-style postgame interview. The back-and-forth continued into the locker room and even on to Twitter. But one question remains: What did Crabtree say to Sherman that got him so fired up?
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ChanoatxWell this movies just bombed.
Twilight star Kristen Stewart is taking the leading role in a reimagining of 1984, the movie adaption of Orwell's classic dystopian novel. Named Equals, the film will feature Stewart alongside Warm Bodies' Nicholas Hoult in what the Associated Press paraphrases Stewart as calling "a slightly updated version of the 1956 film" about love in a world where love really doesn't exist anymore.
Despite popular opinion of Stewart remaining divided at best, the project isn't without credibility. The script is by Nathan Parker, who previously wrote the screenplay for the award-winning sci-fi drama Moon, and it's directed by Drake Doremus, who won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance for the 2011 film Like Crazy. Jennifer Lawrence, who had a...
A small part of doing your taxes might not be so daunting anymore. An official from the United States Department of the Treasury announced today that Americans can now download their tax returns directly from the IRS from the new service Get Transcript. The announcement was made at the White House’s education "Datapalooza," a meeting of hackers and policy leaders that explored how open government data can help the country's education system.
A "jelly doughnut-sized" rock has appeared in front of the Opportunity rover on Mars, and scientists can't figure out where it came from, Discovery News reports. The discovery was revealed by Mars Exploration Rover lead scientist Steve Squyres in a "10 years of roving Mars" keynote at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory last night. "Mars keeps throwing new stuff at us!" he exclaimed, discussing past rover findings, but this time, he meant it literally.
The rock, which scientists have dubbed "Pinnacle Island," appeared in front of Opportunity for one of two reasons, NASA says: the rover flipped the rock as it maneuvered, or the rock landed there after a nearby meteorite impact. Either way, the intrepid Opportunity now has something new to...
It's been a week and I still can't get my experience with the latest Oculus Rift prototype at CES 2014 out of my mind. The Oculus Rift, which made its debut at CES 2013 and then further enchanted reporters at E3 2013, is undoubtedly one of the coolest pieces of technology I've ever seen.
A lot has been written about the Oculus Rift and its virtual reality (VR) experience and what it means for the future of gaming and, after using the latest prototype, dubbed Crystal Cove, I can see whyPutting on the Oculus Rift helmet didn't just take me into a new game experience; it took me into an entirely new world Read more...
More about Virtual Reality, Gaming, Tech, Gadgets, and Oculus RiftWhen Google first announced the Google Glass Project, it was easy to imagine a future where the wearable would eventually become so small, they’d be able to cram the technology into a contact lens. While that technology is still a ways off, Google did surprise us today when they announced an all new project they’ve been working on: “smart contact lenses” — only the aim is different than you probably think.
More for measuring the glucose levels in diabetes patients, the smart lenses are able to monitor patients and notify them immediately when levels drop to dangerous levels. This is done by measuring the glucose found in the subjects tears, giving relief to diabetic tired of pricking their fingers multiple times a day.
Current prototypes are able to generate glucose readings once per second, making monitoring far more frequent, and a lot less painful. Progress is still early, but Google hopes to outfit the contact lenses with tiny LEDs to serve as a warning to the wearer when glucose has exceeded, or fallen below thresholds. Google is already in talks with the FDA, and is currently looking for partners to bring this new technology to market.
We can’t help but wonder as this technology matures, the other areas it could possibly expand to in the future. Google, color us impressed.
If there’s one thing we learned at CES recently, it’s that the age of wearable technology is upon us. At CES, we saw smartwatches, smartglasses, smartbands, and other wearable tech from numerous manufacturers. As the fairly new industry moves forward, so does the need for our smartphones to better communicate with these devices.
Fitness lovers will be excited to learn that Google is working on a new fitness API for Android. This new API will be able to tap into your devices sensors and store the data on your Google profile. The Fitness API will allow applications to view and edit fitness data, fitness tracking, access health information, and access activity data.
This API could become available via a Google Play Services update or in the next version of Android. That’s all we know for now. We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.
Source: Google System
Suzanne Kane, a researcher at Haverford College, found an accurate and thoroughly thrilling method to track a falcon's hunting strategy: strap a camera to the bird and study the results. With the help of some falconers, Kane compiled awesome footage of some falcons taking down prey. Thanks to YouTube, we can watch them. Nature is merciless and fascinating.
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No one truly enjoys public transportation. Every slight annoyance turns into a possibility to ruin your day: loud cellphone talkers, crying babies and passengers oblivious to their blaring music. Unless you're Macklemore, of course.
In preparation for his upcoming Grammys performance, Macklemore and producer Ryan Lewis performed their hit single "Can't Hold Us" to a tough crowd of New York City bus commuters. Smiles, clapping and dancing quickly took over the grumpy passengers, who will now have the song stuck in their head for weeks to come
More about Viral Videos, Nyc, Grammys, Entertainment, and Music
Remember Batkid? Of course you do. Adorable and brave leukemia survivor Miles Scott, 5, wanted to be a superhero for a day, and the Make-a-Wish Foundation put together a grand adventure in San Francisco for him back in November, where Miles got to capture the Riddler and the Penguin
What nobody expected was that hundreds of thousands of San Franciscans would join in and pack the streets, that the entire Internet would be following along, or that the President and Justice Department would get in on the act
The Batkid phenomenon is already the subject of case studies and a forthcoming full-length documentary. Until that hits theaters, however, sit back and enjoy this video that takes you behind the scenes on Batkid day Read more...
More about Us World, Social Good, Us, Make A Wish, and Batkid
When your standard distance-bragging stickers aren’t high enough…
Google will release an update to the mobile version of Chrome, which promises to decrease data usage while browsing by as much as 50%.
Google announced the upcoming changes to its browser Wednesday in a blog post, saying, "Chrome’s data compression and bandwidth management can reduce data usage by up to 50% while browsing the web on Chrome for Android and iOS."
See also: 14 Google Tools You Didn't Know Existed
To reduce data usage, users must enable the data-savings option in Chrome's "settings" menu. After enabling this setting, users will also be able to track the amount of data they're saving each month. Read more...
More about Android, Google Chrome, Ios, Tech, and Apps Software
Best Buy's efforts to combat showrooming and lure shoppers into stores during the holidays with aggressive promotions appear to have backfired.
The electronics retailer announced Thursday morning that sales at comparable stores — stores open for at least 14 months — declined by 0.8% for the nine week period ending Jan. 5. That came in well below estimates as analysts had expected Best Buy's sales to grow this holiday season
Investors reacted by sending the stock down sharply. Best Buy was down by more than 30% at one point in pre-market trading Thursday.
In a statement, Best Buy's CEO Hubert Joly chalked up the disappointing holiday sales to several factors, including supply constraints, worse-than-expected mobile sales and "aggressive promotional activity" over the holidays, which he says "did not result in higher industry demand and had a deflationary impact on our revenue." Read more...
More about Stocks, Best Buy, and Business
After disrupting the TV industry and earning Emmy and Golden Globe wins along the way for its original programming, Netflix has now secured its first Academy Awards nomination with The Square. The 2014 Oscar nominees were announced Thursday morning
The Square, which premieres on Netflix on Friday and details the revolution in Egypt from the 2011 overthrow of military leader Hosni Mubarak through the ousting of Mohammed Morsi in 2013, is vying for the Best Feature Documentary Oscar against The Act of Killing, Cutie and the Boxer, Dirty Wars and 20 Feet from Stardom
More about Films, Netflix, Documentary, Oscars, and Academy Awards
What good would a Hollywood blockbuster be without an officially licensed video game? The movie isn’t set to hit theaters until February 12th, but you can crawl into Murphy’s suit right now guns blazing, helping to rid future Detroit of crime and corruption.
More or less a prequel to the movie, you take Alex Murphy through a variety of training simulations as he and his team attempt to gain funding for the budding “RoboCop project.” Using an RPG-like upgrade system, money gained for completing missions is used to purchase bigger and better weapons — and there are a lot of upgrades.
Gameplay is fairly simple, giving the player a variety of ways to take out enemies. Murphy automatically fires on enemies when the cursor is dragged over them, and using special abilities like “scan,” players can look for weak points, or even disarm baddies in non-violent fashion. Where RoboCop’s duck-and-cover system starts off pretty easy, it quickly gets more intense as levels progress. Later enemies can shoot through cover, which means players will need quick reflexes to keep moving to new cover in order to avoid being blown to bits.
Graphics look crisp and clean, and frame rates remained smooth on our Nexus 5. We also found cloud games saves via Google+ sign-in was a nice touch, allowing players to invest time (and money) into RoboCop without fear of losing their progress down the road.
RoboCop is a freemium title from Glu Mobile meaning you wont have to buy it for a dollar, but that comes with the usual caveats (dealing with separate in-game currencies). But for us, we simply see that as a challenge. You can download RoboCop via the Play Store link below.
Download on Google Play: RoboCop
The man who has brought us so much joy by doing ridiculous, hilarious things to the logos of NFL teams has struck again. Today, artist David Rappocio unveiled his latest collection: each NFL logo re-imagined as a hipster. Smug hipster jaguar is particularly inspired, but there are many more good ones over at Kissing Suzy Kolber.
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