firehose

John Legere’s wild, unconventional tactics at T-Mobile seem to be paying off.

Consumers now think the fourth biggest carrier in the US is just as good value as the biggest. T-Mobile has closed the gap with Verizon Wireless in “value perception”, according to YouGov’s BrandIndex.

Legere’s headline-grabbing antics aside, T-Mobile’s resurgence is mainly thanks to aggressive pricing: It has simplified its plans, offers to pay termination fees for people who switch to it from other networks, and offers free global roaming, among other things.

But in the smartphone era, “value” in wireless communications isn’t just about price. Verizon’s persistent place at the top of the table is proof of that. Verizon is generally considered to have had the highest quality mobile network in the US for a while now, but it also charges the highest prices.

T-Mobile, on the other hand, was long considered to have the poorest network of the four, although it has been working to improve it. Consumers are obviously starting to find its low prices and improved network enticing. For the first time in four years, people intending to switch carriers in the next six months named it as their most likely destination, in YouGov’s survey.

As always, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and we’ll have a clearer picture of how things really stand when T-Mobile’s releases its next quarterly numbers in May.

muppetmindset:

No caption necessary.

"I’LL BE BACK." - Kabuki Quantum Fighter (Human - NES - 1991)

requested by thebadassperger

Despite this screen appearing at the end of the game, there was never a sequel.

Apropos to a discussion on Twitter about this Slate article, a discussion of sexism, specifically, my own:

(Quick multitweet spree about to commence in roughly 10 seconds, lasting no more than five minutes. Be prepared!)—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

Parallel to everyone should be able to acknowledge their own racism, I'll give a recent example of my own sexism –—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

I meet a LOT of people these days. If you're a guy, it's almost certain I will not remember you the next time we meet. BUT –—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

If you're an attractive woman? I have a MUCH better chance of remembering who you are. Because I'm straight and my brain responds.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

Is that a sexist response? Hell yes, it is.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

I acknowledge that it's a sexist response; I also work to make sure that my own innate sexism there DOES NOT affect how I treat people.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

(Note that the remembering you means I remember your face, I forget EVERYONE'S name)—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

It's the fact I acknowledge my sexism that allows me to try to correct for it when I am dealing with people. If I tried to deny it –—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

– I would be more likely to screw up my response. So yes, I'm still a little sexist. I keep working on it because that what you do.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

Or should do, anyway.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

Multi-tweet spree now ended.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

And then, the conversational addendums:

To the people going "But that's biology!" Well, guys, surprise: Your sexism can have a (partly) biological root! Who knew!—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

RT @GreyDuck: @scalzi Sexism isn't the biology. Sexism is not trying to be better than just your biology.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

I'm not going to worry too much that I remember attractive women better. I will worry about whether that affects how I treat people.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

Which is to say I don't find "but it's biological!" a sufficient excuse to leave sexism unexamined and unaddressed.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

RT @NeilaK20: @scalzi I need to eat meat when my bloodsugar gets too low. It's biological, but I'm not eating someone's pet. Because I can …—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

@NeilaK20 Also, pets are wiley.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

I will note that, anecdotally, all the "But it's biology!" protestations so far appear to be coming from men.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

NB: Outside the "attractive woman" thing, I will be more likely to remember you if there's something memorable about your appearance –—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

– i.e., I don't ONLY remember attractive women. But it's still a notable bias for me.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

Reminder, however: I WILL NOT REMEMBER YOUR NAME. Whoever you are. I once forgot my wife's name (briefly). I am terrible.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

To everyone asking if/hoping that I will remember you for your cleverness, I may. But remember what the failure mode of clever is.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

NB also that I directly meet/interact with literally thousands of people a year at conventions/signings, etc. Special conditions apply.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

And now, for everyone else, a cat picture. http://t.co/MzTHDTh67b—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) April 04, 2014

William Gill | ihearttrains.tumblr.com


William Gill | ihearttrains.tumblr.com


William Gill | ihearttrains.tumblr.com

Train in vain, William Gill

UPDATE, 2:30 pm: Kenny and Zuke's owner Ken Gordon makes clear Zukin is no longer affiliated with the deli. This article originally listed him as a co-owner—the accurate designation is co-founder. Gordon further notes he doesn't agree with Zukin's comments.

Original post:

Oh, man.

The Portland-corner of the Internet has been up in arms this week, ever since a video emerged explaining that a soon-to-open market in Sellwood will be operated by a woman, Chauncy Childs, who loudly opposes gay marriage on Facebook (it may lead to pedophilia and bigamy! she says) and doesn't think the government should be able to dictate who she serves.

From the Oregonian's story yesterday:

Childs said she is religious and has a libertarian view that government should not be allowed to dictate whom a business does or doesn’t serve.

“We’re not going to refuse to serve anybody,” she said. “But we believe a private business should have the right to live their conscience.”

Predictably, this set off calls to boycott the soon-to-be-opened market. It's also inspired an interesting discussion about how much a business owner's personal beliefs should affect how we patronize them.

Perhaps the most-vociferous voice in the "business owners are allowed to think how they want" camp: Local restaurateur Nick Zukin, owner of Mi Mero Mole and co-owner co-founder of Kenny and Zuke's.

The thought police are alive and well in Portland. "Believe as we do or suffer." No effort to persuade, only to punish. Tolerance is dead.
— Nick Zukin (@extramsg) April 4, 2014

And now: Maybe the ol' Portland Boycott Train is swinging in Zukin's direction? Conversation has been lively on Facebook today, after local culture maven Byron Beck took issue with the restaurateur's response. That led to Zukin defending himself in a still-going comment thread, asking individual people why they'll now be boycotting his eateries, and accusing the lot of Portlanders of being no better than Childs if we'd seek to ruin her for not having the same views.

So how far will this go?

Is it time to boycott @extramsg businesses?
— ByronBeck (@ByronBeck) April 4, 2014

It seems crazy to suggest people can't base their consumption on their own ethics. That could involved how products are sourced and how much employees are paid, obviously, but if you're of the opinion that gay rights is the defining civil rights question of our time, this probably rates. Otherwise this very keyboard I'm writing on would be choked beyond repair with sumptuous Chic-fil-A drippings.

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100% Real Fruit Juice, Enle Li

Knock loud, I’m home.

The Lord of the Rings Costume Design: Elves

Bee and Puppycat successfully kickstarted its way to a nine episode first season, and they promise that it'll be showing up this fall. But in the meantime all we have to console ourselves with is the ten minute first episode! Well, and this production update, featuring new and returning cast members Ken Osborne, Allyn Rachel, Hannah Hart, and Ashly Burch of Hey Ash Whatcha Playin'. Previously in Bee and Puppycat

wilwheaton:

jean-luc-gohard:

afternoonsnoozebutton:

katespencer:

I find it very disheartening that the news coverage of this James Franco story is that he “flirted” and “chatted” with this 17-year-old girl instead of calling him out for what it really is: being a predator. He very clearly tried to have sex with her and was well aware of her age. This is is not, as he called it, “a model of how social media is tricky,” and the media not calling him out his inappropriate behavior is really giving me all the rage today. 

He literally asked if he could book a hotel room for them. What the hell does the media think he wanted to do in said hotel room, bat his eyelashes and play footsie? 

Motherfucker wasn’t tryna take her to the damn sock hop and then to the diner for malts.

Go fuck yourself, Franco. You disgust me.

GameSpy Technologies is shuttering its online matchmaking service on May 31, ending online play for more than 1,000 games that use the company's middleware. Launched as a Quake server search program in 1996, GameSpy soon branched out to host online...

fructose writes: "The Nest Protect has a flaw in its software that, under the right circumstances, could disable the alarm and not notify the owners of a fire. To remedy this flaw, they are disabling the Nest Wave feature through automatic updates. Owners who don't have their Nest Protects connected to their WiFi net or don't have a Nest account are suggested to either update the device manually or return it to Nest for a full refund. While they work out the problem, all sales are being halted to prevent unsafe units from being sold. There have been no reported incidents resulting from this flaw, but they aren't taking any chances."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

supervelma:

Timeless fashion advice from timeless fashion icon, Tracy Jordan, #embroidery #art #etsy #30rock #tracyjordan #fashion #skull

David Letterman hit the airwaves in 1982, but it wasn’t until 1985 that he started his iconic Top Ten List, inspired by a prominent women’s magazine…

(via Mental Floss)

What is Darkscorch? Is it an album of 70s metal songs about pagan rites, wizards, and Sauron? A board game about being a band battling for a record deal? Elaborate maps sketched on graph paper in 10^th grade study hall? Yes. Darkscorch is all of these things.

Read more...

hodad

End of an era

A man who tried to shoot seven puppies was shot himself when one of the dogs put its paw on the revolver’s trigger.

Original Source

I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Amy Hennig to our team at Visceral Games and EA as Creative Director on our Star Wars project.

This is about building something bigger than the sum of its parts, something Rivers preached in figurative terms in Boston with his “Ubuntu” chants

What do you get when you put a washed up loser, an awkward teen going through puberty, and an immortal being into a giant robot? MEGAGOGO, THAT'S WHAT!! A new ongoing graphic novel series from Wook Jin Clark! MEGAGOGO is like if Idris Elba cancelled the apocalypse and then threw a 90’s hip hop BBQ atop a dead kaiju.

Chris Onstad has returned to the world of technology and marketing after a decade-plus stint as the sole creator of Achewood, a sprawling, multimedia comic universe lauded by TIME magazine as its 2007 Graphic Novel of the Year. Prior to building his comics business, Chris worked for DaimlerChrysler RTNA, an Internet and telematics research lab in Palo Alto, CA; he also served as Creative Director for Redline Networks, acquired by Juniper Networks in 2005. Chris graduated from Stanford University in 1997 with a Communications degree focused on human-computer interaction, fiction writing, and film. He served as restaurant critic to the Portland Mercury for two years, is launching his own line of craft-brewed Portland sodas, and still publishes Achewood several times a month. He has written for television, radio, and the stage. Chief among his extracurriculars are cooking, dining out, writing music, fine arts, and the search for a truly American sassafras root beer.

Statements by the owner of the yet-to-open Moreland Farmers Pantry. There’s already a Boycott page on Facebook.

She’s not changing her tone, either, telling the Oregonian that business owners should be able to refuse service to gays.

She said she believes that gay marriage is wrong because it is the start of a slippery slope that could eventually lead to pedophilia and bigamy. But she said those are her private religious beliefs and don’t reflect how the store will operate.

The pitch was for Oliver potentially to occupy the 12:30 time slot currently filled by The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in the event Ferguson does not re-up his contract at the end of 2014, or possibly for Oliver to launch a different show that would be syndicated by CBS, according to sources.