firehose

Mindie is an iOS app that allows users to create and share short, seven-second looping videos arranged to music. Simply pick your favorite track from the service’s large database of music and begin recording. The app is avaialble to download from iTunes.

Make your own music video loop with Mindie!

Pick a song and record a fast and fun video while the music is playing.

You can watch the music videos of your friends and share your art on facebook and twitter.

Pizza roll mosh plate! – "You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire" by @QOTSA http://t.co/wdFVWh6aGX @mindieapp

— Justin Rampage (@JustinRampage) December 9, 2013

“You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire” by Queens of the Stone Age

images via Mindie

simonmonk.com


simonmonk.com


simonmonk.com


simonmonk.com

Trapped

Private-equity firm Cerberus Capital has been trying and failing to find a buyer for its portfolio of gun companies ever since one of its Bushmaster rifles was used in the Newtown, Connecticut school massacre, one year ago this week. Now, reports the Financial Times (paywall), Cerberus has found a way to reduce the embarrassment to its investors without actually selling the—highly profitable—gunmakers.

Cerberus said in December last year it was putting Freedom Group—which dominates the US gun industry—up for sale, after pressure from institutional investors, which include various state pension funds such as California’s teachers’ fund, CalSTRS. Yet, despite the depressingly profitable nature of guns, there has been little, if any interest among potential buyers. The only bid of note came from Cerberus’ own CEO, and this was seen as a “stalking horse”, designed to set a floor price for the asset and tease out other offers. Yet even this bid was withdrawn in July.

The business officially remains up for sale, but the short term-solution, the FT reports, is to let investors pull funds out of Freedom Group while staying invested in Cerberus.  Freedom Group will take on more debt, presumably allowing it to buy back the interests held by pension funds, similar to a share buyback.

That might actually be good for Cerberus’s returns, because the gun business remains an excellent business to be in. Dougherty and Company analyst Andrea James describes Freedom Group as “smart and profitable investment for Cerberus and its investor clients,” noting that the business operating profits are projected to rise 50% this year.  Those earnings would now be spread among fewer Cerberus investors after those who want to get out do so, meaning that those who remain will enjoy an even higher return than before.

But at the same time, the lack of buyers for Freedom Group suggests any association with the firearms industry is toxic. Given the new climate of activism among pension funds, which are one of the biggest sources of capital for the private equity industry, it’s only a matter of time before it affects Cerberus’s ability to raise funds for future investments. Even CalSTRS remains concerned. ““We have not relented from our view that they should liquidate their investment in the company,” an official told the FT.

Cerberus, to be fair, also has a fiduciary responsibility to its investors to divest the asset at a fair price—after all, the returns it generates ultimately help pay for retirement for teachers, firemen, and police officers. According to the FT’s sources, there hadn’t been any interest or activity in the sale process for months, suggesting that anything less than a fire-sale was not achievable.

The silver lining in this outcome for gun-control advocates and other campaigners for ethical investing is that it shows growing pressure on private-equity funds can actually yield a result. Arguably, this is more than can be said for Congress.

The fashionability of facial hair is bad news for the razor industry.

The male shaving sector has slowed down in both the US and Europe this year, and that’s at least in part due to the rising popularity of stubble, according to a recent report from Euromonitor. A move away from a culture of everyday shaving and towards one in which men embrace an artfully trimmed permanent two-day shadow—or, indeed, a full beard—has pinched some of the industry’s largest players.

Energizer Holdings, which owns both Schick and Edge, is among those feeling the stubble effect. The company has cited shrinking razor and blade sales in several of its earnings calls this year. “The weakness in some of the Personal Care categories in the US… are kind of unprecedented,” CEO Ward Klein said last month. “And I’m really talking about razors and blades in particular,” he added.

Procter & Gamble, which bought Gillette in 2005 and currently controls some 60% of the male shaving market worldwide according to Euromonitor, hasn’t been exempt either. Gillette’s financial struggles have forced it to scale back on R&D spending, and it has produced few new products of late, Euromonitor noted back in July. Its newest, the Fusion ProGlide Styler, is almost two years old, and it attempts to cater for the new trends in male grooming by doubling up as both a razor and an electric trimmer. Gillette has also been moving up-market in an attempt to counter weakening razor demand with higher prices.

The winner in this changing landscape appears to be the disposable razor—presumably because, as men shave less often, fewer of them need more expensive high-quality blades. Energizer Holdings’ disposable razor business has grown by 5% this year, faster than expected, the company said in an earnings call last month. Bic, which makes cheap disposable razors as well as pens, has cited double-digit growth in the US. And a number of upstart, hip shaving companies, like Dollar Shave Club, have also jumped on the disposable razor bandwagon. In the US, smaller, unlisted companies increased their market share by a quarter from 2008 to 2012, says Euromonitor, though it’s still small at 3.6%.

Shaving still makes up roughly 40% of the male grooming market, according to Euromonitor, but that’s quickly changing. Sales of men’s toiletries, such as deodorant, are slated to overtake shaving products for the first time ever this year.

Nobody likes to see cats or birds mistreated. Mildly annoyed, though, that's like 40% of the internet right there.

The Guardian

With No Notice, Putin Scraps Kremlin News Agencies New York Times MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin dissolved one of Russia's official news agencies, RIA Novosti, along with its international radio broadcaster on Monday, signaling a significant reorganization in state media at a time when Russia's international ... Putin to Shut RIA in Overhaul of Russian State News Coverage (1)Businessweek Putin Dissolves State News OutletsTIME Russia State News Agency Gets Controversial ChiefABC News Voice of America -RIA Novosti -BBC News all 128 news articles »

“Wookiee Family Portrait” by Maya Gohill

Ltd. Art Gallery will be hosting their third annual Star Wars-themed group art exhibit in Seattle, Washington. Star Wars The Art Show: Episode III will feature a “collection of original and limited edition artwork inspired by the greatest saga ever told.” The group art show will open on Thursday, December 12, 2013 from 6 – 10 PM PST and run through January 2014. You can RSVP for the event online via Facebook.

The opening reception will feature complimentary refreshments from Jameson Irish Whiskey and live set by DJ Hojo!

“Star Wars #3” by Alex Ross

“A Hunter in the Endless City” by Raymond Swanland

“Fiery Figrin D’an” by Louis Solis

Star Wars The Art Show Episode III artwork by Steve Thomas

images via Ltd. Art Gallery and credited artists

mrspoonsi writes "BBC reports: Leading global technology firms have called for 'wide-scale changes' to US government surveillance. Eight firms, Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Yahoo, have formed an alliance called Reform Government Surveillance group. The group has written a letter to the US President and Congress arguing that current surveillance practice 'undermines the freedom' of people. It comes after recent leaks detailed the extent of surveillance programs. 'We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer's revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide,' the group said in an open letter published on its website."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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I can’t recall ever seeing the end of a tether so gracefully reached.

My brother, a businessman who went to Brown and MIT, and I have a running dinnertime argument.  It goes something like this:

He says:

The traditional four-year college system in the United States is broken beyond repair. The US should shift toward the German model, in which more high school students are tracked into a career path, and postsecondary training for the majority of citizens is targeted, vocational education. Why take chemistry in college if you are never going to use it?

She says:

We should actually prepare all students for the possibility of a four-year, broad-based college education. Not some. All. Because the slope of “less than all” is extremely slippery.

The notion of tracking more students into vocational education, given the increasing income inequality, class stasis, and racial achievement/opportunity gaps in this country, sets off alarm bells to me about what the criteria for sorting kids would be: Who would be making decisions about which students are “college material” and who should be headed for vocational education?  How early in a student’s career? Based on what?

How to solve inequality

Those alarms do not seem to register with my brother—which makes sense, as most of our discussions spiral into argument when we reach the third rail of race and class inequality. After college, I became an urban high school teacher while my brother went into management consulting. Our divergent post-collegiate paths both explain and inform our conflicting views on the role of higher education.

And yet, I understand that my brother’s disparaging remark about chemistry stems from frustration: many elements of his educational experience felt disconnected from his interests. Both high school and college students should have many more opportunities for rigorous, hands-on, applied learning toward their interests.

But we don’t need to adopt Germany’s education model to increase applied learning. Given the countries’ vastly different racial histories and demographics, it doesn’t translate. We need a different model, one that puts equity at its center instead of tracking more students away from college. And here’s why.

The wrong people are having this conversation

When I hear adults advocating for more vocational tracking and training for young people, they are usually well-educated, upper middle-class professionals. They are probably as well intentioned as my brother, want the best for the US economy, and want to increase opportunities for other people’s kids. The problem is that they are having this conversation solely about other people’s kids, not theirs.  None of my friends in Scarsdale or Wellesley or Palo Alto want their kids to have more access to vocational education. They want their kids to “go Ivy League” or at least get into the most selective college they can. And why wouldn’t they? When the conversation about increasing vocational education centers primarily on the urban, low-income students I champion, it makes me suspicious–especially since, according a new ACT report (pdf), most first-generation students actually aspire to attend a four-year college.

“Undermatching” low-income students and students of color

My biggest concern about an increasingly vocational focus, in lieu of college preparation, is fueled by the growing body of academic research, most recently by Caroline Hoxby and Christopher Avery, on the phenomenon of college “undermatching” of low-income and minority students. Undermatching happens when students—who on the basis of their grades and test scores, are qualified to attend selective colleges—end up enrolling in less- or non-selective schools or even fail to attend college, even though selective colleges tend to have more financial aid and higher graduation rates.  I have heard and seen countless stories of guidance counselors, teachers, and parents counseling poor students to lower their college-going sights toward less rigorous, less selective, and less broad-based educational options–in many cases, represented by vocational education—largely based on their race and class.  Several reports developed for the Pathways to College Network document these judgments and their consequences for students.

One of my favorite advisees, a Latina valedictorian of a low-performing school in urban New Jersey, was advised by her counselor to apply to the local community college to study medical technology. Instead, she enrolled in academically challenging courses and is now in medical school. Harvard is countering this phenomenon with a new media campaign to raise students’ sights and connect more low-income students to public and private colleges.  Notably, the effort will use social media messages and celebrity videos to counter the pervasive perception that poor kids can’t afford or fit in at selective colleges.

Unemployment gaps

Germany, with its higher percentage of vocational training, does have considerably lower youth unemployment than the rest of Europe.In the US, though, bachelor’s degree earners are winning in the 21^st century economy. According to the 2010-2012 American Community Survey, unemployment rates in the US are 10.9% for adults with high school degrees only, 8.7% for adults with some college or an associate’s degree, and only 4.5% for bachelor’s degree holders.  The National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE) proposes, “High school and postsecondary CTE programs that lead to associate degrees, certificates, and industry-recognized credentials can help young people find skilled employment and give them the option of later returning to school for a higher degree.” Even the NRCCTE implies that vocational education should be not the end, but a means to an end: a higher degree. And recently, there has been a welcome shift in many high schools from stand-alone, traditional vocational education to increased career and technical education (CTE) integrated into a rigorous, relevant college-prep education.

I readily acknowledge that the traditional liberal arts education is not for everyone, and that not all young people want to or will attend college immediately after high school. But we need to ensure that every young person has the academic, social, and financial tools to get to college eventually. Otherwise, we run the risk of sorting students onto a vocational training path of potentially limited options based in subtle and not-so-subtle ways on where they live, where they were born, and how much money their parents make.

I assume I will hear from my colleagues in career and technical education who do champion a larger focus on vocational training.  Also, to those affluent parents who want vocational education instead of college for your children, give me a call. I welcome the arguments, preferably over dinner. My brother, the MBA, is buying—perhaps the ultimate testament to the power and value of higher education for all.

ABC News

Police Officer Fatally Shoots Texas College Student WPRO (SAN ANTONIO) -- A police officer for a university in San Antonio, Texas has been put on administrative leave after the fatal shooting of a student Friday morning. Robert Cameron Redus, 23, was shot and killed by a University of the Incarnate Word police ... PHOTOS: Candlelight vigil pays tribute to slain UIW studentKENS 5 TV all 110 news articles »

andrewblogstoomuch submitted:

Hey, I just wanted to point out that the armor for the new Diablo expansion looks pretty good. The only difference in the promo art is the helmet (which you can make visible or invisible in-game). 

magnolia777 submitted:

This is the new crusader class from the upcoming Diablo III expansion Reaper of Souls. Considering it’s Blizzard the female looks surprisingly good. 

Quick, quick! Someone stand behind me, I think I’m about to swoon!

-Staci

bourbonthret:

The City of Fire- The City

Detail Shots

Washington Post

Domestic case dropped against '127 Hours' figure KULR-TV (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File). FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2010 file photo, Aron Ralston, author and subject of the film "127 Hours," attends the film's premiere at Chelsea Clearview Cinema in New York. By DAN ELLIOTT and P. SOLOMON BANDA Associated Press. Domestic Violence Charges Dropped Against "127 Hours" HikerNBC Bay Area all 419 news articles »

sueslayer:

itstherocketeer:

there’s nothing about this gif i don’t like

everybody collectively forgot how to star wars

Walmart to Install Surface-to-Air Missiles on Store Rooftops to Shoot Down Amazon Drones:

Bentonville, AR — Walmart today announced plans to install mini surface-to-air missile batteries on the rooftops of all 4,786 store locations across the United States. The missiles will exclusively target Amazon Prime Air drones. The new concept called…

There’s something about the health problems of Big Chief Lambreaux that really packs the extra lead into the Treme’ writers’ pencils. Tonight’s episode begins with the Chief in his doctor’s office, brimming over with heartfelt but unjustified optimism. But the Chief doesn’t just say that he feels like a million bucks; he stands at the window, beaming at the wonderful weather: “We get these warm spells in December, sometime, with no humidity.” Since “New Orleans without humidity” is closer than most poets could come to summing up Heaven in four words, the viewer knows that Albert is about to hear disappointing news even before the doctor uses his serious voice to bid him to sit down. He tells the Chief that they’re not getting the desired results from his chemotherapy. (It might go without saying that going through chemo for no reason is the poets’ best definition of what ...

Were it not for Joel McHale basking in awkward moment after awkward moment, this would have been nigh unwatchable.

Considering the true breadth of Lou Reed’s legacy, the guy would actually probably be genuinely honored to know that he’s spawned a pizza-themed band featuring Macaulay Culkin. The Pizza Underground just released their 9-song demo via Bandcamp, and it is exactly what its title implies: a no-concept set of lo-fi covers of Velvet Underground tracks, swapping the original lyrics for lyrics about pizza, recorded live at Culkin’s house last month, with song titles like “I’m Waiting For Delivery Man.” You can hear the whole thing below

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Goldin+Senneby After Microsoft  ::  Carlo Zanni Landscape/Dtp Bliss

Texas Public Radio

Lawmaker Says Snowden May Testify Before EU Parliament Texas Public Radio A European lawmaker says former NSA contractor Edward Snowden is set to testify before a civil liberties committee of the European Parliament later this month. Snowden, of course, is expected to talk about the surveillance activities of United States' National ... and more »

Greg Hardy is a Carolina Panther and a wizard.

The long-coveted "dislike" button may never make its way Facebook. But a Facebook engineer said Thursday that the social network has informally experimented with an alternative to "like": specifically, the "sympathize" button.