firehose

With a trial on the horizon following the car crash at last year's ZombieWalk: San Diego, organizers have placed the popular annual event "on hiatus."

You probably didn’t notice a recent change on Facebook in the US. It’s in the friends icon, on the top right corner of the page, next to your name. For years, that icon has been an image of a man and woman, with the man in front.

Now, it’s reversed.

Few people, if any, would have noticed the change if not for a Medium post that Facebook designer Caitlin Winner wrote, explaining the process. That process, by the way, was absurdly simple. This design change was not part of Facebook’s publicized diversity push, nor an overt effort to put gender issues into the public conversation.

Basically, Facebook just hired Winner as a new designer, one of many. She noticed that a man was in front. She decided to change it. No one fought her on it, and that’s the end of the story.

This change is tiny—literally, it’s tiny on the page. But as Winner wrote in her Medium post:

As a woman, educated at a women’s college, it was hard not to read into the symbolism of the current icon; the woman was quite literally in the shadow of the man, she was not in a position to lean in.

It’s notable that Facebook needed a female designer to notice that a man was in front, and take the initiative to change it. It doesn’t mean that men couldn’t or shouldn’t act upon inequality—they most certainly should—but the fact remains that in this case, none did. (The company has made other changes to reflect the global diversity of its users—the notifications globe icon was switched to vary depending on a user’s location.)

Right now, just under a third of all Facebook employees are women, and only 16% of the company’s tech employees are women.

Since last year, the share of women in the company as a whole, and of tech employees, have only gone up one percentage point each.

While visually the change Winner made is small, these small things—tiny images or comments or snubs—can mount up. The microaggressions that women (and people of color) endure daily affect young people’s sense of worth, their belief in their own capabilities, and their place in the world.

Facebook, the world’s largest social media outlet, put women behind men from the outset, likely an unconscious decision that no one thought twice about—because throughout history, women have stood behind men. That should change; and change often starts on a very small scale.

Pat Stay and Rone square off in an epic rap battle where they exchange compliments with each other in this 2014 video by King Of The Dot Entertainment shot at last year’s Hopscotch Celebration in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

via reddit

YouTube user daveachuk took over 400,000 high-resolution images captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope and combined them into an impressive simulation of the Milky Way Galaxy from the telescope’s point of view. They explained in detail how the simulation–which took five months to create–came together over on reddit.

There were two techniques — one was using an astrophotography program called PixInsight (which is entirely scriptable/automate-able, handy when dealing with many gigapixels of data!). Basically, it has a few functions which work by converting an image into wavelets (equations instead of pixels) — you then select features by size (eg objects that are 50 pixels or more across, and it does edge detection on them to find their extent), and then by messing with the wavelet equations, it can stretch the surrounding area to fill in the gap left by removing the features (stars, etc). There about 5-10 parameters for each operation that took many many days of experimenting with to try to get decent results. And then the whole process was repeated for different size/type objects, and then scripted to run through the whole dataset — which also took several days of processing time.

The other technique which worked well for objects which only appeared in one wavelength (eg the distant background stars that were only visible in the blue channel), is to apply a noise reduction filter on that blue part of the image, and subtract that from the original to retrieve the details the noise filter deleted, and those are your distant stars.

via reddit, PetaPixel

Courtney shared this story from Super Opinionated.

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It’s amazing what a Delorean makes possible. Apparently, the folks at IDW got their hands on one and managed to time-travel to the end of San Diego Comic-Con 2016, where a guy named Biff appeared with a trade paperback of their next best-selling property. Not wanting to mess with any timelines, IDW would now like to announce that they will now indeed be doing a Back to the Future comic!

That’s right! Marty McFly and Doc Brown are back, as are all the other characters from the Back to the Future trilogy that we’ve all come to love. The great thing about time-travel stories, is that the possible adventures to be had are infinite, and Back to the Future creator and screenwriter, Bob Gale, will be writing and spearheading the new title, allowing us to see what these characters were up to in between filmed adventures!

Says Gale:

We’ve subtitled this ‘Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines’ because for years, fans have asked questions about things that happened before the events of the trilogy, in between the events of the trilogy, or in our alternate realities. In this series, we’ll finally answer some of those questions, with our focus squarely on the characters everyone loves.

Working on the series with Gale are John Barber (Transformers) and Erik Burnham (Ghostbusters) and artists Brent Schoonover (Batman ’66) and Dan Schoening (Ghostbusters). They’ll break the first issue up into two stories that build on what we know from the films, and will be using rotating creative teams on subsequent issues to bring new stories, settings, and adventures into the Back to the Future universe.

Here’s the synopsis of the first issue according to IDW:

In the first tale of the debut issue, we head back to 1982 and witness the very first meeting between Marty McFly and Doc Brown, before their incredible adventures together began. Then in the second chapter, we head back even farther to 1943 and see how Doc Brown got himself mixed up in the infamous Manhattan Project! This first issue will feature three standard covers, by Schoening, Schoonover, and Amy Mebberson (My Little Pony). Additionally, Back to the Future #1 will join in on the fun of Artist’s Edition Month in October with an original art styled cover by Schoening!

And when is this title set to be available? Well, October 21st, 2015 of course!

In the meantime, IDW’s time travel also revealed that Bob Gale will be at SDCC signing tomorrow at 1PM at IDW’s booth (#2743) with the rest of the Back to the Future team, so if you’re headed to San Diego this week, you should stop by there and say hello!

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The City of Portland wants to get rid of property, and it wants you to know it's getting rid of it.

At a city council hearing last week, Portland financial officials trotted out a new plan—in the works since 2013— focused on transparency, and ensuring the city does a better job of giving notice when there are "surplus" pieces of public land up for grabs.

It was a feel good, if dull, bit of policy—until it became a wake up call about the city's housing crisis.

It turned out the policy staffers had been working on for more than a year would have created a new path to get rid of all sorts of property without so much as a suggestion that all that property might best be used to assuage the city's affordable housing shortage.

"I don't even think the question was asked," says John Miller, executive director of the Oregon Opportunity Network, who attended last week's hearing. "There was a breakdown along the line."

Miller showed up at the hearing with Cameron Herrington, an anti-displacement worker with the group Living Cully. Both men were alarmed that the city would neglect to prioritize its own land holdings as potential havens for cheap housing.

"We have an affordable housing crisis on our hands in Portland," Herrington said at the hearing. "We have ongoing displacement of communities of color, and the threat of mass displacement of other communities in coming years. To us it's a no-brainer."

By that point, the danger was largely averted. Housing Commissioner Dan Saltzman came to the meeting ready to introduce amendments that would force the city to prioritize affordable housing, green space, or "community development" when it's offloading property it no longer needs.

"These are all keen areas of interest," Saltzman said. "Particularly affordable housing."

The new property policy was created in response to outcry over the sale of a plot of land in Southwest Portland. It's coming back before council this morning, and works like this:

When bureaus identify that there's a piece of land they don't need, they can flag it as "excess," and let other bureaus know it's available. If no other bureau wants the property, the city has to let nearby neighborhood associations, other government entities, and anyone who subscribes to a city notice process know that it's considering ridding itself of the land. There's a minimum 45-day notice period, where the city must accept public comment.

If, after that notice, the city still wants to get rid of the property, city council can vote to declare it surplus, and set about selling it.

The main points of that policy changed little in last week's hearing. But amendments Saltzman inserted could be key. First: When a bureau sends word to other city agencies there's a property up for grabs, the Portland Housing Bureau is now required to respond—even if it doesn't want the land. That's to ensure the offering doesn't get lost in the shuffle of day-to-day affairs.

Second, and most crucially, when city council votes to declare a property surplus, "the bureau and Commissioner in Charge shall consider proposing conditions for disposition of the real property for affordable housing, community, or open space use," according to a new clause in the policy.

The city's website lists 31 properties currently designated surplus (that doesn't include land owned by the city's two utility bureaus). The city doesn't even currently track how many properties it considers excess, according to Office of Management and Finance spokeswoman Jen Clodius.

It's not a one-to-one comparison, but failure to prioritize affordable housing projects on city-owned land has been the source of consternation lately.

In early 2014, the Portland Development Commission announced it was selling—at a steeply reduced price—a plot of land at NE Alberta and Martin Luther King, so developers could build a new Trader Joe's. There was immediate backlash from longtime neighbors, who'd watched for years as black Portlanders were priced out of the neighborhood.

The outcry ultimately killed the grocery store deal, and in its place the PDC has agreed to spend $20 million on anti-displacement initiatives in the neighborhood, and use the would-be Trader Joe's for a development that includes affordable units.

As part of that $20 million spending plan, the PDC proposes using $3 million to purchase plots that can host affordable units. The PDC isn't a part of the proposed surplus property rules, but such "land banking" may be an important part of Portland's strategy to combat displacement. There's just not much money to do it right now.

"If we don’t have the dollars, we have the land, is the point right now," Herrington said at last week's meeting. "So let's hang onto it."

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Game Boy cartridge cookies ⊟ 

What a treat – they even fit in the old cases, if you want to keep them from going stale. Ayaka Matsuno has more delicious cookie creations on her Tumblr.

BUY Game Boy World: 1989: A History of Nintendo Game Boy, Vol. I

Steven D. Lenhart’s photo of the Timbers Army tifo display at the Timbers/Sounders match, 28 June.

Mr. Lenhart captures some beautiful moments from these games.

Found at the website, 5 Minutes to Kickoff.

submitted by thunderandthunder to Thorns [link] [3 comments]

Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Researchers in the UK have developed a computer that can scan outer space and classify galaxy types on its own, without any human help. This image recognition AI could help develop robots that can “see” better on their own, possibly helping doctors spot tumors or airport security spot firearms.

Read more...

A grassroots network of reporters in Nepal is alleging that CNN correspondent Sanjay Gupta grossly misrepresented his involvement in the brain surgery of a local girl after the country’s April 25 earthquake.

A CNN video report identified Gupta’s patient as 8 year-old Salina Dahal, but according to the Global Press Journal, Gupta in fact operated on a different girl with entirely different injuries—14-year-old Sandhya Chalise. GPJ reporter Shilu Manandhar tracked down Salina, and determined that she did not undergo any brain surgery at all. Sandhya, who did, is recovering well.

A related CNN blog post, published before the video report, initially identified Sandhya as Gupta’s patient—but it was changed, without any correction or editor’s note, to swap in Salina’s name and misattributing Sandhya’s injuries to her, shortly before the video aired. In the video, Gupta examines 8-year-old Salina Dahal at Bir Hospital in Kathmandu, says she needs surgery, and later—after the report showed operating room footage—tells viewers that he successfully operated on her.

In an interview with NPR last night, Gupta said he requested that change because he believed that he had operated on Salina, not Sandhya. He added that he “cannot say for certain that he was mistaken, as CNN has not yet independently verified the work of The Global Press Journal and its Nepal reporter Shilu Manandhar.” Manandhar’s article reports that a CNN spokeswoman, “after initially insisting that Gupta performed brain surgery on Salina, later released a statement indicating that Gupta might not have been fully aware of who was on his operating table.”

In response to that statement, one Nepal doctor told Manandhar: “A good surgeon knows the identity of the patient he’s operating on,” otherwise he “is not a surgeon, he is a butcher.”

An editor’s note was added to the April 27 CNN.com article today (July 8), acknowledging that “questions have arisen about the identity of the girl who Dr. Sanjay Gupta helped operate on,” and “CNN is looking into those questions and will update our coverage as warranted.”

Straddling the line between journalist and neurosurgeon—between being an observer of the news, and a participant—is something Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent has done with much success so far. He’s won Emmy Awards for his television work while also reaching the highest professional heights as a doctor, with a professorship at Emory University’s medical school, operating privileges at an Atlanta hospital, and a 2009 offer from US president Barack Obama to become the US surgeon general, which he declined.

But the ethics of holding these dual roles have been questioned, most recently when Gupta’s work in Nepal was made public. “As a journalist with medical training, do you really need to film the times when you get involved?” said Connie St. Louis, who directs the science journalism program at City University in London, in an interview with the Guardian in May. “There’s certainly a possible confidentiality issue, as well as the potential for self-promotion. If you film the journalist doing the medical procedure, they become the story.”

CNN did not respond to a request for comment from Quartz.

In order to protect it from the heat of re-entry, the space shuttle is covered in tiles — tiles that needed to be replaced. NASA created a database of those tiles, as all bureaucracies are wont to do. The only problem is that database is nowhere to be found.

Do you ever get that not-so-high feeling? Good news: A slew of West Coast start-ups are determined to help you order pot just as easily as you would a cab or a Tinder hookup. Are kush lovers ready for morning delivery?

Reuters

California Hispanic population outstrips white: Census Reuters SAN FRANCISCO California's Hispanic population now outnumbers the white population, U.S. Census data shows, marking a long-predicted shift in the country's most populous state. Census population estimates released late last month showed that as of ... California is now the second state in which Hispanics outnumber whitesWashington Post (blog) In Long-Predicted Shift, California Latinos Outnumber WhitesABC News Hispanic Californians Surpass Whites As State's Largest Racial Or Ethnic GroupCBS Local Christian Science Monitor all 84 news articles »

MILPITAS, CA—Saying his casual writing style made him “stand out immediately,” sources at Redding Media reported Monday that the informal tone of Michael Yanover’s job application had set him apart from the candidates under serious consideration. “As soon as I read his cover letter greeting of ‘Hey there,’ I could tell Michael was much different from the applicants we’ve brought in for interviews so far,” said head recruiter Anne Peabody, adding that Yanover had quickly captured her attention with the line “This job and me are meant for each other.” “I didn’t even have to get all the way to the end—after he called himself a ‘social media maven’ and a ‘certified data junkie,’ I fast-tracked his résumé to a separate pile reserved for people we won’t be getting back to.” At press time, Peabody had reportedly given Yanover’s application a second look ...

New Zealand is taking a strong stand against internet bullying. Under a new bill outlawing “harmful digital communications,” the country can punish internet trolls with up to three years of jail time.

Passed last week by an overwhelming majority (116-5) of the country’s parliament, the Harmful Digital Communications Bill went into effect on June 6. The new law will require tech companies such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter to ask users to remove flagrant posts within 24 hours, according to the BBC. After that time, the companies will be responsible for removing the posts themselves.

Though tech companies like Twitter and Google have taken measures to reduce cyber bullying, some worry this new legislation is too broad and infringes on free speech. In an editorial published over the weekend, New Zealand’s Dominion Post voiced these concerns:

The penalties at stake are substantial, yet the “communications principles” are too broad— they capture any digital communication that is judged “indecent,” “false” or “used to harass an individual,” as well as a catalogue of other sins.

In New Zealand, anyone who has been convicted of sending digital communications that cause “serious emotional distress” can face a fine of up to NZ$50,000 (US$33,600) or two years in jail. The penalty increases to NZ$200,000 (US$134,500) for businesses in violation of the law. Furthermore, under an amendment to New Zealand’s Crime Acts, inciting or encouraging another person to commit suicide is punishable with up to three years of prison.

William Shatner's novel "Man O' War" has been adapted as a "Cinematic Graphic Novel," and CBR has an exclusive look at the comic in motion.

There are few corporate entities that Americans hate more than cable companies, and Time Warner Cable is routinely the most despised among them. But still, the travails of Araceli King are extreme.

She received 153 automated telephone calls from the company over a span of less than a year, and they weren’t even meant for her, but for a man who previously had her mobile phone number.

Reuters reports that the robo-calls to King, even after she pleaded with the company to stop calling her, will cost Time Warner $229,500 in fines—that’s $1,500 per call—under a ruling from a federal judge in Manhattan yesterday. District judge Alvin Hellerstein said “a responsible business” would have tried harder to remedy the issue.

Time Warner Cable will have to do better than that if it wants to climb out of the basement of US customer satisfaction rankings. A spokesman told Quartz last month that it is “striving every day to make TWC the most reliable, best-value choice everywhere we serve”—but errant robo-calls are still apparently on the to-do list.

“We are reviewing the ruling and our options to determine how we are going to proceed,” a Time Warner Cable spokesperson said in an email to Quartz.

 

These are the first images that show how microscopic particles of plastic, or microplastics, can become food for plankton:

Plankton are tiny organisms that live in water and provide an important food source for other aquatic creatures like fish and whales. When plankton consume toxic plastic debris, it is likely that the animals higher up the food chain will also be contaminated.

In the video above, the U.K.-based production team, Five Films, headed by environmental documentarian Verity White, captured how zooplankton, a species of plankton, accidentally eat plastic.

Zooplankton, which vary in size from 200 millimeters (about 8 inches) to 2 micrometers (or 0.0002 millimeters), usually feast on algae by kicking their legs to agitate the water and then siphoning the water and algae into their mouths. For the film, White and her team put the plankton under a microscope and used fluorescent plastic pellets to observe how the toxic synthetics were imbibed and processed by the plankton.

White created the short film, titled “Ren Kyst – got a spare afternoon?” for the Ren Kyst project, an environmentalist movement that seeks to “clean up close to 40 coastline locations” in northern Norway. The film recently won the Atkins CIWEM Environmental Film of the Year. Atkins CIWEM holds the competition “to enhance our understanding of the causes, consequences and solutions to climate change and social inequality.”

filmsfoodandfandom:

Some of the best twitter reactions to America winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

alwaysstarwars:

Ralph McQuarrie - Yavin 4 Concept Art

The Happytime Murders, Brian Henson’s weird, grim take on a world where puppets and humans live alongside each other, has been in development limbo for years—but it looks like the Jim Henson Company has finally gotten the ball rolling on the project again. Yes, puppet noir may actually be coming to the big screen.

Read more...

Amnesty International wants to remind Irish people that abortion for any reason other than to save a life is still illegal in Ireland—and punishable with jail time.

Using the hashtag #notacriminal, the organization is disseminating figures via social media from a new poll conducted on its behalf by Red C—a research and marketing company based in Dublin—which found that 64% of Irish people surveyed either did not think or did not know that abortion without an identified risk to life is a criminal offense in Ireland. People who are found to have undergone or performed an abortion where without such a risk can face up to 14 years in prison.

The organization is calling for a referendum on an abortion law that was passed in 2013. That’s when the Irish government permitted abortion in “protection of life” situations—the “X-case,” where the pregnant person’s life is at risk, including risk of suicide.

This mitigation of the draconian anti-abortion law followed the 2012 death of Savita Halappanavar, who died of a miscarriage after being denied an abortion for medical reasons in 2012. The 2013 law was considered groundbreaking, considering Ireland has a powerful Catholic majority of over 80 percent.

Amnesty International Ireland‘s polling found that 81 percent of people favor significantly widening the grounds for legal abortion in Ireland.

Only 7 percent of people in Ireland were found to oppose abortion under any circumstances and even among those who do not believe abortion should be legal, only 31 percent agreed with the jail sentence.

Elected prosecutors decide when and how to bring criminal charges—and they are overwhelmingly white and male.

“It’s frustrating on the front end of your vacation to get to an airport and see incredibly long lines,” he said. “It’s one thing when weather causes your plane to be delayed, when it’s things they don’t have control over … but it’s an entirely different thing for their entire system go to down.”

“It just weakens your trust in whether they really can run an airline of this size,” he said.
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