Shared posts

08 Sep 04:53

Schrodinger cat tattoo

By NemiMakeit
I hope you like it


03 Sep 16:01

September 2, 2017: Informing and Updating Dark Matter Fans!

by Joseph Mallozzi

I’d like to express my appreciation to everyone who reached out over the past twenty-four hours or so to express their anger, sadness, and gratitude after hearing about the cancellation.  As I wrote on twitter: “I am both touched and astounded by your passion, your loyalty, and your white hot relentless rage.”

Today, I’d like to try to shed a little light on the circumstances surrounding Dark Matter’s premature demise and let you know what’s next.  Before I proceed, however, I’d like to apologize in advance if this entry feels slightly unfocused. Between the stress of the move, the cross-country flight, the jet lag, the time change, the news of the cancellation, the furious attempt to acknowledge the online response, the noisy air conditioner in my new place, and the gauze-like bedroom curtains that do nothing to shield us from the blazing night-time lights of the Roger Center, I’m a little tired.  But here goes…

As we rolled through Dark Matter’s third season, I was feeling cautiously optimistic about a renewal.  Although the ratings had dipped, it wasn’t a huge fall, ultimately less than 10% off last season’s numbers when all was said and done. Compared to the industry average (the last stats I saw pegged the average drop-off at 25%!) I thought we were looking pretty good – especially when you factor in time-delayed viewers (the DVR crowd).  Dark Matter was consistently ranked at the top of cable percentage gainers in overall viewers and the key demos.  And, perhaps most heartening at the time was the fact that we were nevertheless one of SYFY’s most-watched shows in 2017.

Working against us was the fact that we weren’t a SYFY original.  We were an acquisition.  For those not in the know, an original is a series that is developed by the network and, more importantly, owned by the network, allowing them to monetize the show through things like international sales, streaming, etc.  The network pays a lot more but presumably reaps the benefits down the line. Ideally. An acquisition, on the other hand, is a show that will cost a network considerably less, but doesn’t offer those alternate revenue streams because there is no ownership stake.  Due to the costs of originals, networks may go the acquisition route to round out a programming schedule.  Also, at the end of the day, audiences generally don’t base their viewing habits on whether or not a show is an original series or an acquisition.  They watch what they like.  And the more who watch, the higher the ratings.  And the higher the ratings, the more broadcasters can charge advertisers.  So, at the end of the day, there are pros and cons, risks and rewards to both approaches.

Dark Matter was an acquisition and, as such, didn’t have the type of money typical of an original series.  As such, we had to run a very tight ship – producing on the page and running a highly efficient production.  This way, we made sure that as much of the money we had ended up onscreen:  

So, despite the fact that we were an acquisition, our ratings were holding (and, I pointed out, really delivering in the +3’s and +7’s delayed viewers).  From a creative standpoint, we were ending the season in a BIG way: a space battle and an alien invasion.  Season 4 would promise to be all about that massive alien armada and the burgeoning android insurrection.  Androids and Aliens!  I mean, how much more SYFY scifi can you get than that?!

When we found out we were on the bubble, I offered to fly down to SYFY’s L.A. offices and take them through what we had planned for season 4: “Androids! Aliens! Dr. Shaw! Sarah! Kyrden! Wexler! TWO’s daughter! FIVE’s sister!”  They thanked me but informed me that the decision would not be based on the show’s creative, so there was no point in going down to pitch.

If it wasn’t creative then, by process of elimination, one would assume it was financial.  I’d heard that SYFY had invested in a lot of original programming for 2017-2018, and the recent announcement of their supernatural slate would seem to confirm as much.  The production reached out to see if there was anything we could do to help on that front but, again, it was a no-go.

What do?  Well, I knew that Earpers had been instrumental in getting a pick up for their show, so I rallied Dark Matter fans to make some noise.  And they did in a big way.  But still, we remained on the bubble.

The nature of the show I created and developed over many years wouldn’t allow for a nice, neat wrap up at season’s end.  Dark Matter’s narrative was designed as a series of set-ups, developments, and payoffs, with multiple parallel storylines that would eventually cross and converge.  Season 1 begins with our crew discovering they are criminals and ends with them being hauled off to prison.  Season 2 begins with them inside the Hyperion-8 galactic prison and ends with their failing to head off a corporate war and deny a former ally.  Season 3 begins with the crew facing off against that former ally amidst the backdrop of corporate war and ends with the alien invasion. Season 4 will begin with our crew, and humanity’s, response to the alien threat… The fact that I have a five year plan (rather than just making it up as I go along) means I know exactly where the various stories are headed.  I know all the answers to all of the questions.  And having that foreknowledge allows for a much more satisfying narrative when all of the pieces of the puzzle finally fall into place. It also means that no matter how much I could try to wrap things up in a season finale, many questions would remain unanswered.  Still, I figured as a final alternative, I could try my damnedest and offer fans some degree of closure by pitching SYFY a 6-episode miniseries to wrap it up.  This, unfortunately, was not an option either.

We, on the Dark Matter production team, tried our damnedest.  And you, the fans, tried your damnedest.  We ALL tried our damnedest.  And still we were cancelled.

So, where does that leave us?  Besides cancelled of course?  Well, as many of you have pointed out, there are other options we could pursue, although finding someone to step in and take SYFY’s place is easier said than done (for reasons I’ll save for another blog entry).

For now, know that we’re doing everything possible to save the show.  It may take weeks before we have our answers but I promise to let you know as soon as I hear anything.  In the meantime, do you part by keeping Dark Matter alive.  Tweet, retweet, post and respond!  Let ’em know what they’re missing!

You ready to do this?

 


Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter, science fiction, scifi, SF
01 Sep 20:57

September 1, 2017: Dark Matter Cancelled

by Joseph Mallozzi

It is with great sadness that I confirm the news.  Syfy has cancelled Dark Matter after three seasons.

To say that I’m incredibly disappointed would be an understatement.

I’ll save my comments and field your questions in a future blog entry.  For today, I just want to extend a heartfelt thanks to my amazing crew, my wonderful cast, and to all of you, our incredible fans.

You all deserved better.


Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter
30 Aug 14:04

How to Become a Full-Blown Privacy Fanatic With Purism's Librem Laptop

by Dell Cameron on Gizmodo, shared by Virginia K. Smith to Lifehacker

Concerns over online privacy and security are increasingly changing the way consumers spend their money and behave online. According to a Pew Research study conducted one year ago, 86 percent of internet users have now taken at least some steps to conceal their digital footprints, though many say they would like to do…

Read more...

26 Aug 16:18

Jag gör tibetansk kefir. Du kan också!

by Martina

tibetansk kefir

Såhär ser min kefir ut. Den är ganska god och växer bra så jag tror den trivs!

Vad är tibetansk kefir?

Här är en finare bild på själva grynen.

Tibetansk kefir är egentligen en svamp med ursprung hos tibetanska munkar. Munkarna arbetade med att mjölka kor och getter, och vissa lata munkar orkade inte skölja rent mjölkkannorna efter varje mjölkning. I dessa kannor började svampen att växa, och de såg att mjölk som kokades i dessa smutsiga kärl hade andra egenskaper än den från de rena kärlen. Den smakade annorlunda och hade positiva effekter på matsmältningen. Tusen år senare blev, vad som kom att kallas “kefir” erkänd som hälsoprodukt även i väst.

tibetansk kefir

Kefirsvampen i elektronmikroskop

Hälsoeffekter av tibetansk kefir

  • Återställer mikrofloran i tarmen då den innehåller ca 50 olika stammar med över 100 miljarder bakterier.
  • Läker ut magkatarr och magsår
  • Normaliserar blodtryck
  • Stärker immunförsvaret
  • Hjälper vid ledvärk
  • Avgiftande
  • Förbättrar sömnen

Jag har undvikit lactobaciller ett bra tag och dessutom tagit bort alla mejerier från min kost, men vem kan säga nej till kefirens påstådda fördelar? Jag ville verkligen ge den en chans, särskilt som den har en sån imponerande mängd bakterier!

Titta här!

tibetansk kefir bakterier

tibetansk kefir jäst och bakterier
Imponerande lista va? En sånhär uppsättning bakterier går inte att hitta i någon probiotika vad jag vet.

Olika typer av kefir

Kefir är en hel vetenskap. Jag gör mjölkkefir som växer av laktos men det finns olika sorter, till exempel vattenkefir som växer av socker. Bakterierna konsumerar både socker och laktos så det blir inget kvar i den färdiga kefiren.

Jag valde mjölkkefir för att det var den jag fick tillgång till. Om jag hade fått en annan sort hade jag börjat med den. Det finns grupper på facebook där folk skickar kefir hejvillt till varandra, och det går att köpa online. Mjölkkefiren kan också växa av kokosmjölk och sojamjölk även om jag inte riktigt förstår hur.

Processen

mjölkkefirgryn
Jag är verkligen ingen expert på kefir, men mina växer så det knakar så något rätt gör jag trots allt 🙂

Såhär gjorde jag

  1. Jag la 3-4 matskedar kefirgryn i en glasbehållare och täckte med 5-6 dl ekologisk, fullfet, ohomogeniserad mjölk. Man kan ha i en skvätt köpe-kefir eller grädde också för att få det tjockare, men det har jag inte testat ännu.
  2. Jag täckte glasbehållaren med en ren duk som jag satte på plats med en hårsnodd.
  3. Sedan lät jag det stå i rumstemperatur ca 40 timmar.
  4. Därefter hällde jag över kefiren i ett durkslag av plast med en djup tallrik under. Man ska inte använda metall, så det har jag undvikit.
  5. Jag rörde försiktigt med en träslev tills bara grynen var kvar i durkslaget och all kefir amnade på tallriken under. Den separerar lite i kefir och vassle, men det rör man ihop efteråt.
  6. Det var första kulturen. Jag hällde tillbaka grynen i en ren glasbehållare och fyllde på med ny mjölk för att starta en ny kultur, som skördades efter 48 timmar. Man ska inte köra mer än 48 timmar för därefter börjar vissa bakterier dö. Man kan skörda redan efter ett dygn, men beroende på tidpunkt får man olika smak och konsistens.

Hur jag äter min kefir

kefir smoothie

Första veckan åt jag bara några matskedar för jag var rädd att den skulle störa min ketos, men det gör den inte så nu äter jag mer.

Jag häller kefiren i min mixer, fyller på med lite frysta blåbär, kollagen-pulver, stevia och MCT-olja. Mixar på high speed och häller upp till mig och Mattias som en morgonsmoothie. Det är mycket uppskattat då Mattias har saknat sin lågfettkvarg från Lidl, men det här tycker jag är en bättre, godare och framförallt nyttigare ersättare.



Jag kan inte påstå att jag fått några märkbara hälsofördelar ännu, men jag är fortfarande nybörjare. Jag tänkte ge kefir-experimentet åtminstone en månad innan jag utvärderar, och jag tänker att så länge det inte stör min övriga diet så är det bara att köra på.

Har du testat kefir ännu? Vilken sort gör du och vad har du fått för effekter? 

Dela inlägget!

Inlägget Jag gör tibetansk kefir. Du kan också! dök först upp på Martina Johansson.

14 Aug 15:39

What did the letter Arya find say?

by Dan Selcke
05 Aug 18:44

In Which I Photomanipulate a Picture of Krissy Into a Terrifying Shark-Like Version of Herself

by John Scalzi

Me (to Krissy): Hey, you know how I have a photo program to even out skin tones and otherwise do some tweaking?

Krissy: Yeah.

Me: So, I took one of your pictures and ran it through the default setting four or five times and came out with… something terrifying.

Krissy: What does that mean?

Me: Well, here, look:

Krissy: What the fuck.

Me: Right? Like, this is a picture where if you saw it on Tinder, you’d be all “My libido says to swipe right, but my brain says to swipe left and then chuck the phone as far away as I can.”

Krissy: I’m creeped out, and that’s me.

Me: So can I put it up online?

Krissy: Hell, yeah. And send it to me. I’m going to make it my Facebook photo.


31 Jul 19:02

Hi Mr. Gaiman, I gave my best friends 9 year old a copy of Stardust and she said she liked it a lot but was very shocked to read a bad word, but she knows not to say it out loud so she is okay that you put it in there. I just wanted to let you know :)

Thank her for pointing it out to me. (It’s meant to be printed in small letters, so everyone knows it was said very quietly by a star who was at the end of her tether.)

24 Jul 06:59

Steven Moffat Puts the Doctor Vs. Doctor Who Name Debate to Rest

by Katharine Trendacosta
Oakfairy

What!? NO!!

It has vexed fans for years that some people call the main character of Doctor Who “Doctor Who” instead of just “The Doctor.” Well, departing showrunner Steven Moffat has some good news for the side which has insisted for years that either name is correct.

Read more...

20 Jul 05:45

John Bradley (Sam) talks about a big Easter Egg from “Dragonstone”

by Dan Selcke
12 Jul 04:33

New The Dark Tower trailer

by Patrick


This is looking better and better! =)
30 Jun 15:43

SwiftKey får inbyggt stöd för animerade GIF-bilder

by Lars A
SwiftKey får inbyggt stöd för animerade GIF-bilder

Skarpa versionen av SwiftKey har fått inbyggt stöd för att infoga animerade GIF-bilder. Animationerna återfinns på samma skärm som piktogrammen – det går att växla mellan de två genom ikoner längst ned.

I nuläget går det dock inte att söka efter GIF-bilder, utan bara att bläddra i fördefinierade kategorier. De är å andra sidan många till antalet och SwiftKey antyder att en sökfunktion kommer att implementeras längre fram.

Senaste versionen innehåller även stöd för fler genvägar för fysiska tangentbord.

Inlägget SwiftKey får inbyggt stöd för animerade GIF-bilder dök först upp på Swedroid.

23 Jun 19:16

10th Anniversary Edition: Cover Reveal

by Pat

Hey there everybody,

As I’ve mentioned before in various places, we’re doing a 10th Anniversary edition of The Name of the Wind later this year.

Today we get to show off the cover:

It’s by Sam Weber, the same guy that did Gaiman’s Norse Mythology.

The new edition isn’t just wrapping paper on the same old thing though. This new edition of the book has a lot more to offer.

Such as more than 20 illustrations inside by Dan Dos Santos.

A few of those illustrations have been floating around for people to see before this, and I showed some of them off during the recent fundraiser…

But in case you haven’t seen them yet…

Aside from that coolness, the book will also have not just one new map of the world, but two. Both of them much more detailed, and both of them illustrated by good friend and frequent collaborator Nathan Taylor.

There’s also a bunch of supplementary appendices where I go all the way down the rabbit hole and talk in some crazy detail about things like my currency systems, worldbuilding, the commonly used calendar, and the spread of the Aturan Empire. (These are also featuring illustrations by Nate Taylor.)

There’s other stuff too, The folks over at Book Riot talk about some of it too. (They got to show off the cover a little earlier today.)

I’ll go into more exhaustive detail about the contents of the book in a couple weeks, in a blog where I’ll get to tantalize and amaze y’all with some more of Dan and Nate’s beautiful art.

For those of you who are curious, the book comes out October 3rd. If you wanted, you could call your local bookstore and pre-order a copy. Y’know. If you’re into that sort of thing…

And for those of you who are thinking, “Why are we getting this book instead of book three?” I answered that question in some detail in a video Q&A I did for my charity last year.

Here’s a link to the part of the video where I answer to that question.

So…. There you go folks. All the news that I have to share right now.

If any of you have any follow-up questions, you can ask them in the comments below. Or, alternately, I’ll be doing some livestreaming tonight (Friday the 23rd) at about 11:00 CST. If you show up for that, you can ask your question in person, and I’ll probably be able to answer it in a little more detail. (Because talking is faster and easier than typing things out.) After I’m done with questions, I’ll probably play some Fallout….

Later space cowboys,

pat

15 Jun 19:31

D-vitamin som ersättare till Kalcium!

by Martina

kalciumDet är många lågkolhydratätare som är föräldrar som kontaktar mig och är bekymrade över hur barnen ska få i sig kalcium, när man inte äter så mycket mjölkprodukter på LCHF/paleokost. Det ska jag tala om nu!

Det som ger mer kalcium i kroppen är faktiskt inte kalcium i sig utan D-vitamin! Sköldkörteln producerar calcitonin som reglerar koncentrationen av calcium i blodet. Om sköldkörteln producerar för mycket calcitonin minskar mängden kalcium i kroppen eftersom förhållandet är omvänt proportionellt. Calcitonin hämmas av calcitrol, den aktiva formen av D-vitamin (vitamin D3).

Mer D-vitamin ger alltså mer kalcium och det förbrukas vid stress och tas från skelettet som på sikt urholkas

Kalcium och magnesium – kroppens bromssystem

Dessa två ingår båda i kroppens bromssystem men verkar mot varandra. Magnesium får den glatta muskulaturen att slappna av och kalcium får den att dra ihop sig. D-vitamin och magnesium är alltså bättre tillskott än kalcium för hög bendensitet och ökat välmående!

Tillsatt kalcium kan ge otrevliga bieffekter som kärlkramp eftersom det får den glatta muskulaturen (till exempel hjärtat) att dra ihop sig. Bättre är att skippa det helt och hållet, tillsätta magnesium och solljus/D-vitamin. Människan är troligen inte anpassad för att dricka en annan arts mjölk ändå, så att se mjölk som något nödvändigt ur hälsosynpunkt känns inte alls logiskt.

Urkalkat sketett har inte heller med den här mineralen att göra, varför det hjälper föga att tillsätta den. Det är dels hormonellt och dels brist på fysisk rörelse. Styrketräning hjälper mer än det mesta!

Stress minskar kalcium

Magnesium och zink minskar stress, varför det är bra tillskott när man tränar. All belastning på immunförsvaret betraktar kroppen som stress. Dock har kroppen reserver för att hantera det och det är också just den biten man kan stötta med bättre sömn, meditation, näring snarare än att äta mjölkprodukter eller kalktabletter.

Dela inlägget!

Inlägget D-vitamin som ersättare till Kalcium! dök först upp på Martina Johansson.

09 Jun 20:50

Netflix to Sense8 Fans: Nope, We Aren't Bringing It Back

by Alex Cranz

You’ve heard this one before. A show with a passionate fanbase gets abruptly cancelled, so fans respond with floods of letters, props, and Twitter pleas. Sometimes they get what they want. Star Trek, Quantum Leap, and just recently Timeless were all brought back from the brink thanks to fan campaigns. But Sense8,…

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24 May 05:10

Our Top 10 Favorite Polyamory Memes of All Time

by Page Turner

It’s an unspoken rule of the Internet: Something doesn’t really exist until you meme it.

Without any further ado, I present the 10 polyamory-related memes that I have encountered that made me smile the most. 

10. It Only Works on Paper

a picture of a person kneeling down and rolling out a roll of paper. The text over the image reads: "Polyamory only works on paper." Me: *Gets paper*

History of Meme (Only Works on Paper)

   » Read more

The post Our Top 10 Favorite Polyamory Memes of All Time appeared first on Poly.Land.

23 May 20:44

Click here to support Neil Gaiman Will Do A Reading Of The Cheesecake Factory Menu If We Raise $500K For Refugees by Sara Benincasa

Click here to support Neil Gaiman Will Do A Reading Of The Cheesecake Factory Menu If We Raise $500K For Refugees by Sara Benincasa:

lauraspuppy:

Help refugees. Make Neil Gaiman read the Cheesecake Factory menu.

This is completely full of win. 

Madness. Pure madness.

23 May 04:29

Twitter Changed Their Privacy Policy, So Update Your Settings

by Susmita Baral

Twitter introduced an updated privacy policy on Wednesday that has users worried about how their private information is being tracked, stored and used. In the policy, the micro-blogging platform announced its plans to discontinue a privacy preference it previously honored, store your cookies for a longer period of…

Read more...

22 May 20:00

Balloonicorn

by SophieCorrigan
"Balloonicorn" by: SophieCorriganBalloonicorn
20 May 12:00

Vitruvian Groot

By BlancaVidal
Hi Groot!


18 May 17:10

Supernatural Is Crossing Over With Scooby Doo Next Season

by James Whitbrook

I guess when you are fated to run until the end of time itself, at some point an animated crossover is a natural turn of events. Announced at the currently ongoing CW Upfronts presentation, the 13th season of Supernatural—unlucky for some, but clearly not the Winchesters—will feature an all-animated episode, which will involve Sam and Dean meeting up with the Mystery Team’s beloved mascot.

There’s currently no word on whether or not other Scooby Doo characters will be showing up, but there is a first look at the animated forms of the Winchester brothers, done in that old school Hanna-Barbera style:

Amazing. You do you, Supernatural, after 13 seasons and counting you deserve to go buck wild every once in a while.

13 May 06:03

Hi, I read that you've dealt with with impostor syndrome in the past, and I'm really struggling with that right now. I'm in a good place and my friends are going through a lot, and I'm struggling to justify my success to myself when such amazing people are unhappy. I was wondering if you have any tips to feel less like this and maybe be kinder to myself, but without hurting anyone around me. It's a big ask, I know, but any help would make my life a lot less stressful

The best help I can offer is to point you to Amy Cuddy’s book, Presence. She talks about Imposter Syndrome (and interviews me in it) and offers helpful insight.

The second best help might be in the form of an anecdote. Some years ago, I was lucky enough invited to a gathering of great and good people: artists and scientists, writers and discoverers of things. And I felt that at any moment they would realise that I didn’t qualify to be there, among these people who had really done things.

On my second or third night there, I was standing at the back of the hall, while a musical entertainment happened, and I started talking to a very nice, polite, elderly gentleman about several things, including our shared first name. And then he pointed to the hall of people, and said words to the effect of, “I just look at all these people, and I think, what the heck am I doing here? They’ve made amazing things. I just went where I was sent.”

And I said, “Yes. But you were the first man on the moon. I think that counts for something.”

And I felt a bit better. Because if Neil Armstrong felt like an imposter, maybe everyone did. Maybe there weren’t any grown-ups, only people who had worked hard and also got lucky and were slightly out of their depth, all of us doing the best job we could, which is all we can really hope for.

(There’s a wonderful photograph of the Three Neils even if one of us was a Neal at http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/08/neil-armstrong.html)

11 May 18:29

Brace Yourself: There’s About to Be an Electronics Travel Ban for U.S.-bound Flights

by Susmita Baral

It looks like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is about to roll out a laptop ban on flights from Europe to the United States. The ban will be officially announced on Thursday, reports The Daily Beast, citing unnamed European security officials.

Read more...

11 May 04:17

Microsoft’s Latest Workplace Tech Demos Creep Me Out

by Alex Cranz on Gizmodo, shared by Cheryl Eddy to io9
Image: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo

If you’re an employee under the heel of a giant corporation you should probably be terrified by the vision of the future of connected gadgets that Microsoft just revealed at its Build developer conference here in Seattle.

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Two demos from today’s keynote stood out, both for being entertaining and for revealing a potentially frightening future for anyone working for a big employer with the will to micro-monitor its employees.

The first featured cameras watching employees on a construction worksite. The cameras are tied into the cloud, where artificial intelligence monitors everything in real time, noting identities of employees as well as identifying almost every single piece of equipment on the worksite.

That is undoubtedly cool, especially as the AI can instantly notice when someone is on the worksite that shouldn’t be, or identify when someone is using dangerous equipment in an ill-advised fashion.

It is also, you know, terrifying. Microsoft’s demo purposely focused on a construction worksite, where accidents are too common, and a smart AI overseer sort of makes sense. Spotting OSHA violations or trespassers quickly and then relaying that information to an employer via mobile notifications could genuinely save limbs and lives.

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But my brain immediately started conjuring a scenario that was much more oppressive—One where these cameras were in some open office where people come to work in skirts or button downs from Dillard’s. Not a place where security or safety is a primary concern, but instead, a place where employers obsessively monitor employees in some misguided attempt to maximize profit by chewing up and spitting out the fleshy cogs in their machine.

With a surveillance system like this you couldn’t invite your friend to stop by for lunch because your boss would know, a notification instantly appearing on their phone. There’d be no long lunches or grabbing extra office supplies from the closet. Take a too smoke breaks or have a bout of indigestion that leaves you on the toilet longer than usual? The AI would be able to notice so quickly that your boss could meet you in the hallway with a bottle of Pepto Bismol.

In this screenshot an employer is getting a notification because this guy hasn’t set a jackhammer down correctly. (Image: Screenshot)

The little bit of autonomy many employees still have in the office would be eradicated if this system were moved away from construction worksites and into more traditional offices.

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This further illustrated by the other big demo of Build’s Day 1 Keynote. It focused on Cortana, and how it could now be everywhere, instead of just lashed to your laptop or phone. The demo shows a woman chatting with a Cortana-powered Invoke speaker in a set intended to represent her home. Then it reminded her she had a meeting, so she hopped in the car, where it promptly told her traffic was going to make her late and notified her workplace, then slotted her into a meeting already in progress.

Image: Screenshot

This sounds wildly cool and convenient, but there was one thing Microsoft left unsaid. This woman was logged into her home and car with her workplace ID, which means potentially her employers could now have access to data from her home and car life. If work-life balance is of any concern to you, the fact that your home speaker system might one day tell you to hurry up and get to the office because you’re late and you’re chronically late should be alarming.

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These demos illustrate the trade-offs inherent in a world in which we use more and more connected gadgets. You have to give up some of your privacy in order to reap the benefits of a network of devices tuned to you and your whims. But the realities of these trade-offs start to feel worse with Microsoft because despite its array of consumer products, like the Surface Pro and Microsoft 10 Home, Microsoft is in the business of working with businesses. Those are its primary clients, and it’s very much who Microsoft spent the majority of today’s keynote speaking to. You are not the business model, your company is. Asking consumers to give their data to a big faceless corporation like Google so it can sell ads is one thing—but asking them to also give all that data to the people who sign their checks is another.

07 May 16:26

Easy To Remember

by DoctorRoboto
"Easy To Remember" by: DoctorRobotoEasy To Remember
03 May 13:23

Feast Your Eyes On The First Defenders Trailer

by Charles Pulliam-Moore
GIF
Netflix

We’ve seen Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist all individually do battle with the evil that plagues Netflix’s corners of the Marvel Universe. Now, for the first time we get a look at all four of them fighting together as the Defenders they were destined to become.

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A newly resurrected Elektra’s back and she it seems as if she’s brought a whole mess of well-dressed, evil ninjas with her. Defenders hits Netflix August 18th.

03 May 09:26

Jelly – en smartphone med 2,45-tumsskärm och Android Nougat

by Lars A
Jelly – en smartphone med 2,45-tumsskärm och Android Nougat

Jelly är en smartphone vars nisch är en väldigt, väldigt liten skärm – tänk Nokia N73. Panelen är blott 2,45 tum och erbjuder 240 x 432 pixlar.

Kinesiska tillverkaren, som söker finansiering på Kickstarter, menar att Jelly är världens minsta 4G-smartphone. Enheten kör Android 7.0 och har tillgång till Google Play.

Inte oväntat rör det sig om budgethårdvara: en fyrkärnig 1,1GHz-processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB lagring, en bakre 8MP-kamera, en främre 2MP-kamera, GPS, samt Bluetooth 4.0. Det finns dubbla SIM-kortsplatser och företaget säljer även en billigare modell med 1GB RAM och 8GB lagring.

Batteriet når 950mAh. Det kan jämföras med 1100mAh i Nokia N73 som hade samma skärmstorlek, men körde Symbian. Batteriet är löstagbart.

Tillverkaren har redan nått sitt rätt blygsamma Kickstarter-mål på 30 000 dollar. Pro-modellen med 2GB RAM och 16GB lagring kostar 95 dollar.

Inlägget Jelly – en smartphone med 2,45-tumsskärm och Android Nougat dök först upp på Swedroid.

30 Apr 21:02

How Scene Transitions Make The Matrix Tight As Heck

by Rhett Jones on Sploid, shared by Beth Elderkin to io9
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GIF source: Warner Bros.

The Matrix is one of those movies that’s tough to see with a fresh pair of eyes. Not only is it the kind of film that burns itself into your memory but the subsequent sequels were so messy that it’s easy to forget just how tight the storytelling in the first film is. One of the biggest reasons for this is its flawless use of scene transitions.

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YouTuber Patrick (H) Willems takes us through the three distinct acts of the film and shows how the Wachowskis use big overall transitions and tiny subtle ones. For instance, the first act is structured around eight scenes that rotate between Neo being in a public situation and him waking up somewhere in the next scene. Like when he first meets Trinity at the hilarious goth raver club. The scene climaxes with a track by The Prodigy building momentum as Trinity whispers her final words to Neo. What at first sounds like part of the song is actually the sound of an alarm clock going off and we cut to Neo smacking it as he wakes up at home. This smooth structuring of scene transitions and playing with loud/quiet, up/down, in/out dynamics occurs throughout the film. It’s a lesson in filmmaking technique but it’s also just great writing. The transitions keep the movie going at a solid pace and they also have thematic meaning.

Check out the full clip below and you’ll see just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

[Patrick (H) Willems via AV Club]

27 Apr 13:46

Det här gäller när roamingen inom EU upphör i juni

by Lars A
Det här gäller när roamingen inom EU upphör i juni

För snart två år sedan fastställdes att roamingavgifterna inom EU/EES kommer att slopas från och med juni 2017. Den 15 juni träder de nya reglerna i kraft och det kan vara läge att ta upp vad som faktiskt gäller.

Precis som nämndes 2015 kan operatörer ”förhindra missbruk” genom att ta ut avgifter, trots att roamingavgifterna upphör. Tanken är att kunder inte ska kunna använda roaming permanent för att exempelvis dra fördel av ett annat lands lägre priser.

Om du till större delen (mer än 50 procent) använder ett abonnemang i ett annat EU-land under en fyramånadersperiod har operatörer rätt att ta ut en avgift. Det är värt att tänka på innan du låser dig till en svensk operatör om du planerar att bosätta dig i ett annat EU-land längre tid än så.

Operatörer har vidare rätt att sätta en gräns för datatrafiken. Om du har ett abonnemang med obegränsad data i Sverige kan du inte kallt räkna med att kunna surfa obegränsat inom EU. Kolla med din operatör vad som gäller.

Ifall en operatör går med förlust på grund av roamingen kan de avslutningsvis söka tillstånd hos Post- och telestyrelsen (PTS) för att ta ut en särskild avgift för roaming som täcker upp förlusten.

Inlägget Det här gäller när roamingen inom EU upphör i juni dök först upp på Swedroid.

27 Apr 07:50

(Don't) Stop Asking Neil Gaiman How You Can Watch American Gods

by Evan Narcisse
Original image: Starz

All Neil Gaiman wanted was to help fans watch the upcoming TV adaptation of his book American Gods. So he took steps to make sure they knew where they could do that. Then things went horribly wrong.

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People all around the world are excited for the upcoming TV adaptation of American Gods. Seeing as how it’s being aired on an American premium cable channel, folks were concerned about how they could see it. Gaiman, a smart and kind biscuit if ever there was one, tweeted out a handy chart a few weeks back:

The questions kept coming, though, but the beloved writer of Sandman, Neverwhere and Coraline answered them in good humor.

These help-desk interactions became a burbling undercurrent on Gaiman’s timeline, like the sound of a brook outside a cottage window.

Until yesterday, when this tweet happened.

Then the gates of heck opened.

Yes, Chris, it is quite amusing, isn’t it? If this all turns out to be new gods Media and Technical Boy teaming up to torment the one who created them, then we can only hope this plotline becomes part of the American Gods TV show.