The Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis recently pulled a prank on unsuspecting taxi passengers by singing a live play-by-play of their ride through the cab’s radio. The passengers were told by the driver that it was a new GPS system that he was trying out. Ylvis had a camera installed into the cab so that they could see everything that was going on. You can turn on the captions to hear what the taxi driver and passengers are saying.
video via UploadingFriend
This is my first guest post, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to tour production facilities of Portland-based companies who make and manufacture. Full disclosure about me: I own and operate my own clothing company and boutique, Mag-Big. Due to this, I am deeply interested in our city's abundance of makers with viable, serious businesses.
I am starting my tour with North St Bags, which has a brick and mortar showroom and production facility on 23rd/SE Clinton. North St is a bag company with a focus on convertible products for all weather use. Bicycle panniers that convert to back packs, for example, showcase owner/designer Curtis Williams' proprietary designs and aesthetic elements. These bags are distinguishably North St, and can be seen all over Portland. They are also manufactured across the country with an extremely impressive outreach and growing customer base. I was able to ask proprietor, Curtis Williams, some questions about the growth of his company.
How did this all start?
Williams: I was always fascinated by how things work and how they’re made. My background is in theater and event design, but I was always drawn to smaller, DIY projects. After school I moved around a bit and wound up in Berkeley, CA, working as a volunteer at a non-profit bike/sewing/wood shop.
I was dissatisfied with cycling packs on the market at the time, as well as the back pains caused by my messenger bag. I wanted a more stylish backpack that I could clip to my bike as a pannier. After making many bad bags, I came up with the precursor design to our current convertible model.
Before I knew it, friends were asking me to make bags for them, and I became hooked. Then in late 2009, I made the move to Portland and began making bags full time. I found an Industrial Juki sewing machine on Craigslist for $200, and worked from the basement of my first home on Woodward Ave.
What makes your company unique?
We are a tight-knit team of makers creating innovative, dual function bags and accessories for simpler commuting. We cut and sew all of our products from scratch in our studio in SE Portland, and source most of our materials from US manufacturers.
How many stores are carrying your products right now? Do you have stockists across the country?
I have about 16 bike shops that stock our line regularly, and a growing list of new accounts as well. Most of these are in Portland, but also New York, Philadelphia, Austin, Los Angeles and Minneapolis. I’ve also just signed on our first international shop in Mexico City.
Our best (and oldest) account is with Community Cycling Center on Alberta St. They’ve stocked our bags since June of 2010.
How many sewing machines do you use to create your products? How did you train yourself and your staff to use them? Do you frequently add new machines or new skill sets?
We have nine industrial sewing machines in regular use (including the $200 Juki I started on). We also have an automatic kick-press, pneumatic hot knife, and an array of cutting tools, enabling us to cut stacks (multiple layers) of fabric for better efficiency.
We utilize a method called Lean Manufacturing, which aims at reducing waste such as unnecessary movement, rework, extra inventory and overproduction. We’re constantly shifting our processes based on the workload. We’ll look at adding a machine or process only if there’s no other way to achieve the same level of efficiency—usually in order to launch a new product.
How many staff members currently comprise your company?
I have four people on staff (part time). Their hard work makes North St. what it is, and I cannot thank them enough. I also have one outside sales rep and a small army of mentors, advisors, colleagues, and friends who have helped me tremendously along the way. I’ve been working on North St. full-time for over four years, and it has grown more than I ever imagined when I started.
What typical challenges do you face as a company out of Portland?
Portland has always been a leader in the Outdoor & Athletic industry, bringing in lots of designers and ideas, but the resurgence of soft goods manufacturing is still pretty new. It’s not like in New York or Los Angeles, which have well established fashion districts. Finding good equipment, affordable materials, or production talent can be a challenge.
What about Portland makes you want to have your company here? Is "Portland" part of your brand?
I chose to relocate to Portland for its thriving and forward thinking bike culture, but I also found an amazing community of small-batch manufacturers. Making products at any scale in the US can be tricky business, but this a great town to be doing it in. “Handmade in Portland” is a popular label all over the country, especially in the bike industry. Our products are Portland made and Portland tested.
Do you have any new products coming out that you're excited about?
We do have a new backpack/pannier bag, currently in the prototype phase. It’s a totally new concept, and we’re pretty excited about it. It’s based on our very solid Route Seven Pannier design, but with a padded strap, enabling you to wear it like a messenger bag. We’re actually looking for some bad-ass bike commuters to help us test it out. Details and a sign-up link can be found on our blog. I hope to launch the new bag in March 2014.
Earlier this week, a Bitcoin user in Pennsylvania reportedly received a letter from his bank, Firstbank, asking him to stop sending money to Coinbase, a popular wallet for storing the virtual currency.
"We respectfully request that you no longer perform transactions with this company or other companies of this kind," the letter says. "If there should be a reoccurrence of this type of activity, we will regretfully be forced to close your account."
Bitcoin is not illegal. It’s been praised for its many legal uses by the people in the FBI, Treasury Department, and Congress. Investors have plunged millions into startups providing Bitcoin services. So why would Firstbank be worried about one of its customers using a Bitcoin wallet?
In fact, banks around the country from MasterCard to the Internet Credit Union are still wary of the virtual currency. Even Bank of America’s analysts, who believe Bitcoin could become a "major means of payment," are worried about a crackdown.
Banks are still wary of the virtual currency
In the US, the virtual currency is subject to money transmitter laws at the federal level and in 47 states. The rules are not always clear, however, because they are written for money transmission services, not virtual currencies. The regulations are also in flux. New York is considering a special "
As a result, many Bitcoin companies have not registered at either the state or federal level. Only 35 Bitcoin companies have registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the bureau of the US Treasury Department that has taken the lead on Bitcoin regulation, and the agency has reached out to several dozen more that it believes need to register. At the state level, regulators are getting many inquiries but not many registrations, according to the commissioner of banks in Massachusetts. "There are plenty of companies for whom the regulatory burdens are just too onerous to get licensed, and plenty of companies out there simply not getting licenses," says Marco Santori, who monitors regulatory affairs for the nonprofit Bitcoin Foundation, the currency’s semi-official trade organization. "It's a risk-tolerance decision for them." FinCEN issued guidance back in March that defines the types of Bitcoin businesses that must register as money transmitters with the federal government. On top of that federal requirement, 47 states require businesses that transmit Bitcoin to get licensed as money transmitters. The exceptions are Montana, New Mexico, and South Carolina, but Bitcoin businesses can’t simply move there — they must be registered in every state in which they do business. Bitcoin companies are starting to feel the weight of these rules. The federal registration requires companies to maintain due diligence on their customers, assign a compliance officer, and a few other things that take a few hours a week and are basically free says Charlie Shrem, founder of BitInstant, a company that speeds up Bitcoin transfers. "State law is where it gets sticky," he says. Becoming compliant in the whole country costs between $5 million and $10 million and takes a year, he estimates. "Operating a money transmission company is a criminal offense without a license, therefore jail time," he says. "It's only recently where Bitcoin companies are starting to realize they can't fly under the radar anymore." Shrem and others, especially the new crop of venture-backed Bitcoin startups, have invested the time and money into compliance. Well-known companies such as BitInstant, Coinbase, and the Tokyo-based exchange Mt. Gox are all registered with FinCEN, for example. ItBit, a Bitcoin-trading platform based in Singapore, hopes to get licensed in the US sometime next year. "We find that it's so valuable that we're willing to make that investment," says CEO Richmond Teo. So far, enforcement of anti-money laundering laws against Bitcoin companies is unheard of. But more cautious companies are waiting to enter the US, and some are even leaving the country due to the perceived threat of regulation. "It's not the current on-the-books regulation in the US that suppresses the technology," says Erik Voorhees, whose company Coinapult, which lets users send Bitcoin by email and SMS, moved from the US to Panama. "Rather, it's the uncertainty regarding how the US government will treat Bitcoin tomorrow.""There are ... plenty of companies out there simply not getting licenses."
Enforcement of anti-money laundering laws against Bitcoin companies is unheard of
GOG.com is kicking off its holiday sale today and will be offering discounts on more than 600 video games in its DRM-free game library between now and 8:59 a.m. ET on Dec. 29, the company announced.
To kick off the sale, GOG is offering post-apocalyptic role-playing games Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel for free during the first 48 hours of the sale. Due to the Fallout franchise rights changing hands from developer Interplay Entertainment to Bethesda at the end of this year as the result of last year's litigation settlement, GOG will no longer be able to sell the games after 2013. Players who purchase these games from GOG before the end of the year, however, can keep them.
Three types of daily deals will be offered during the two-week sale. Each day of the sale, registered GOG.com users will receive Mystery Boxes containing free games and other gifts, as well as notices on special sales. Well-known YouTube gaming channels, to be announced throughout the sale, will also showcase games each day that will be available at 75 percent off for that day only. Furthermore, the GOG.com community can vote on one of two game bundles to go on sale at 80 percent off each day.
All games included in the sale are covered by GOG.com's recently-announced 30-Day Money Back Guarantee program, which will refund gamers in full if games will not run on their computer.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Texas-based studio Terminal Reality, known best for its work on Nocturne, BloodRayne and Ghostbusters: The Video Game, has reportedly shut down according to a Facebook post from former employee Jesse Sosa.
"For those that have known me for a long time know that I was at TRI for 10 years," wrote Sosa. "TRI seems to have finally shut down. A lot of different emotions are passing through me at the moment. I left there when I saw things going downhill but I have always kept up with them and hoped for the best. Now that they're gone, I'm just kind of feeling nostalgic it seems"
The studio most recently released the multi-platform The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, which shipped in March, while maintaining a business licensing its Infernal Engine to other companies.
No official announcement has been made from the studio as of it. Polygon has reached out for comment and will update when more information is available.
When Cliff Harris tried to book an ad on a big games website for his government simulation, Democracy 3 the last thing he expected was a rejection on the basis of controversial content.
Democracy 3 is a statistical strategy game that allows players to tinker with income tax rates and social security policies, in order to maintain a balanced economy and a happy populace. It is a game of prudence for people who enjoy the challenge of reason and compromise.
His series of ads for the game, featuring either a vaguely socialist, centrist or capitalist figure, says it's the "ultimate political strategy game." But the ad was rejected by GameSpot, owned by CBS Interactive, because the company said, "we cannot promote any politics as this is a sensitive topic."
Harris, whose company is called Positech, had tried to book the ad using CBS Interactive's online advertising portal, similar to services used by the likes of Reddit, Facebook and Google, with which he has run the ad without any problems. The ad (below) failed to pass approval.
"I was quite insulted and offended really," Harris told Polygon. "I made a game that is about tax policy and interest rates and I think it's quite a responsible game. Anyone who found their kids learning about the way governments are run whilst they were gaming would think it was cool. So I thought, this is unsuitable? You're kidding me."
He said that some online commenters have told him that the version of the ad he had used, which features a man wearing Soviet-style garb, may have rung alarm bells. He said this version has a slightly higher click-through rate than the others. But he won't be resubmitting the capitalist version, or appealing the decision.
"I spend a lot of money on advertising, especially for an indie," he said. "If they've vetoed the ad on such a ridiculous basis I don't think they deserve the business. There's tons of people who have had a fortune out of me like Facebook and Reddit. They don't care."
Democracy 3 was launched six weeks ago and has been Harris' fast-selling game to date. Players are given control of a Western-style democracy and apply policies that will allow them to retain power. Many players use the game to test out their own political leanings, and the game allows players to lean pretty far in any direction or to take a moderate approach. Either way, all players find that success is impossible without compromise.
A spokesperson for CBS Interactive told Polygon that the company is looking into the matter.
San Francisco Chronicle |
Calif. prostitutes may gain victim compensation KSWO A Minnesota National Guardsman faces federal fraud charges in connection with the theft of names, Social Security numbers and security clearance levels of roughly 400 members of his former Army unit in Fort Bragg, N.C. The. Questions and answers about Calif. sex worker ruleWatertown Daily Times all 37 news articles » |
In Hours, a New Orleans man (the late Paul Walker) must ride out Hurricane Katrina in a blacked-out hospital while simultaneously keeping his newborn daughter’s respirator running. The long wait for help to arrive is broken up into smaller increments by the respirator’s faulty back-up battery, which needs to be recharged with a hand-cranked generator every couple of minutes. One survival story splinters into dozens of tiny survival stories, with Walker’s character dashing around the hospital for supplies, timing himself with a wristwatch so he can get back in time to charge the battery.
Survival stories are ultimately stories about time—the one obstacle the survivor can’t overcome, but must instead endure—and Hours foregrounds this aspect of the genre, perhaps a little too bluntly. But take away the on-the-nose title and some half-hearted stabs at symbolism (Walker’s character’s name, Nolan, has to be pronounced with a Louisiana drawl for full quasi-metaphorical effect), ...
firehosemy people, my people; never go
"Duck Dynasty is usually at its worst in its retrograde depiction of gender roles, and this is no exception, as the heavily made-up Jessica, clad in the finest designer camouflage, is reduced to dragging a poop-covered hog through the woods. Another running bit has Willie struggling to find the perfect gift for his wife, only to end up buying the same present his brother Jase does for his spouse."
Toward the end of this year’s Duck Dynasty Christmas special, there’s a brief Claymation sequence featuring Uncle Si, the gnomic sage of the Robertson clan. It’s a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been. A full Claymation episode would have been something different, but Duck Dynasty isn’t in the “something different” business. It’s in the business of providing reliable comfort viewing for its improbably huge audience, and on that level, “O Little Town Of West Monroe” delivers. It’s exactly what you’d expect.
Although it’s ostensibly reality television, Duck Dynasty’s stock in trade is a semi-improvised cornpone brand of family situation comedy. Reality is in short supply; for instance, there’s no real reason to believe this episode was actually shot during the Christmas season. (An early scene is set in a Walmart festooned with holiday decorations, but since that particular retail outlet is a sponsor of the show, it’s easy to ...
This picture of Maggie Smith as The Doctor is amazing. And just one of some insanely great casting suggestions.
    
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firehosesupergroups aren't what they used to be
firehosevia willowbl00
Mental health problems are, y’know, health problems. Treat them the same way, or shut up.
YES I NEED FOR EVERYONE TO SEE THIS
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submitted by MaxFenig [link] [294 comments] |
A newly-released NASA visualization shows the process of the sun’s magnetic field changing polarity, with the positive and negative poles switching throughout the course of the 22 year magnetic solar cycle.
firehosevia THANKGODYOUREHERE
Dang, wrong franchise...
Submitted by: Unknown
firehosevia THANKGODYOUREHERE
FRAMED is a game where you aren't just playing, you're directing the story itself. It's broken up into, well, frames, as though you're reading a comic or sitting in an editing suite.
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I guess I’ll just reblog some satans while I wait
It takes the average McDonald’s worker seven months to earn what its CEO makes in just a single hour.
While executives at many top companies make top dollar, the typical employee at corporations like McDonald’s, Gap, Target, and Walmart still earns minimum wage, or something barely above it. The disparity is alarming. CEOs of American companies now earn some 270 times what the average worker makes.
Personal finance website Nerd Wallet took it upon itself to calculate the pay disparity (using Glassdoor and annual company statements) at over 100 fast food and retail companies, and then highlight the 10 companies that paid their CEOs the most. By estimating total CEO compensation—which includes not just an executive’s salary, but also stock options, bonuses, etc.—Nerd Wallet managed to output an approximate hourly wage for these top execs and pit them against the $7+ that typical fast food and retail employees make.
The calendar graphic above makes it clear just how extreme these disparities are.
Such discrepancies have caused a lot of uproar. Thousands of fast food workers went on strike last week in the US to protest low wages. Similar protests erupted back in August. US president Barack Obama pledged last month to support the Senate proposal to raise the federally mandated minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10.
