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03 Jul 05:59

Diddy avoids felony charges over UCLA kettlebell attack

by Peter Berkes

The rap mogul will not face felony charges stemming from a fight with UCLA coaches.

Good news came for Diddy on Thursday night, as the Los Angeles District Attorney's office has declined to file felony assault charges against him, according to Variety.

Diddy was involved in a fight with UCLA strength coach Sal Alosi on June 22, and reportedly swung a kettlebell at an intern. The incident reportedly came after Diddy took exception to Alosi yelling at his son, Justin Combs, a junior defensive back for the Bruins, during a practice that he was watching from the sidelines. The two then reportedly got into an argument in Alosi's office, which then turned into a fight that spilled into the weight room, at which point the kettlebell in question was brandished. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured in the fight.

Diddy's camp claims the whole thing was self-defense:

"The various accounts of the event and charges that are being reported are wholly inaccurate," Nathalie Moar, a rep for Combs Enterprises, said at the time. "What we can say now is that any actions taken by Mr. Combs were solely defensive in nature to protect himself and his son."

He was later arrested by campus police and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, battery, and making terrorist threats, but he will avoid felony charges altogether. Diddy's not totally out of the woods yet though, as he may still have misdemeanor charges filed against him by the City Attorney's office.

The UCLA staff said they didn't want to go through a court battle over this, which may or may not have contributed towards the District Attorney declining to go forward with felony charges.

03 Jul 05:59

tastefullyoffensive: (photo via joeblad)

Courtney shared this story from Super Opinionated.

03 Jul 05:58

I almost made a grown man cry today

Courtney shared this story from Feminist Ideals from a Fiesty Feline:
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

tygermama:

princess-oliver-jonas:

at work I called out his coffee order and he was like “that’s not how women usually call out my name ;) ;) ;)” so I just blinked and said “I’ll try to sound more disappointed next time then” then walked away

😎😎😎😎😎

oh my god, you goddess

03 Jul 05:57

Not at Glastonbury 2015

03 Jul 05:57

Vinyl records are still riding that big comeback wave, sales up 38% in a year

by Megan Geuss

On Thursday, Nielsen Music released its 2015 US mid-year report, finding that overall music consumption had increased by 14 percent in the first half of the year. What's driving that boom? Well, certainly a growth in streaming—on-demand streaming increased year-over-year by 92.4 percent, with more than 135 billion songs streamed, and overall sales of digital streaming increased by 23 percent.

But what may be more fascinating is the continued resurgence of the old licorice pizza—that is, vinyl LPs. Nielsen reports that vinyl LP sales are up 38 percent year-to-date. “Vinyl sales now comprise nearly 9 percent of physical album sales,” Nielsen stated.

Who's leading the charge on all that vinyl? None other than the music industry's favorite singer-songwriter Taylor Swift with her album 1989, which sold 33,500 LPs. Swift recently flexed her professional muscle when she wrote an open letter to Apple, criticizing the company for failing to pay artists during the free three-month trial of Apple Music. Apple quickly kowtowed to the pop star and reversed its position.

Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

03 Jul 05:56

Open source full-sized BB-8 Robot featuring Raspberry Pi #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

by Jessica

NewImage

Via Make.

When the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer was released, the internet was buzzing about this new round droid.

With a renewed interest in practical effects, our curiosity was piqued. “Are they going to actually make one?” This question was answered at the Star Wars Celebration. Our curiosity became an obsession as we watched BB-8 roll around and size up R2-D2. The ball droid was real, and hackers and Makers around the world thought they had the answer as to how it worked. Concept art, 3D prints, and prototypes started popping up on YouTube and we knew we had to throw our hat into the ring.

Since there are others trying to crack the BB-8 we wanted to work quickly on our proposed solution. With the help of ServoCity and their online CAD models, we quickly leveraged the Actobotics line to build the inner structure. For some of the detail pieces and internal components, we turned to 3D printing to give us quick results. The Loveland CreatorSpace provided us a base camp and excellent resources to complete this build.

The inspiration for our mechanical build was the Sphero. We had a hunch when the first videos were released that Sphero was involved somehow. We popped one open and began to replicate the mechanism. To add the head and motion we took cues from an older Sphero model. The original Sphero has a singular upper support, whereas Sphero 2.0 has two passive upper wheels to main-tain support. Our design combines aspects of both, using upper wheels for stability and a central support to attach the head via magnets.

The shell is 2 custom-molded ⅜”-thick polycarbonate hemispheres. We decided to go this route to ensure roundness, strength, and enough thickness to mount LEDs in the moving shell.

The team behind our build consists of four Makers with a shared passion for robotics and Star Wars alike, and their obligatory dog companion. I was responsible for the mechanism that brings the BB-8 to life. Pamela Cortez, another SparkFun engineer, developed the brains of the droid, which consist of Raspberry Pi and Sphero. She also focused on giving our BB-8 a voice, which includes some Easter egg sounds from your other favorite droids! The aesthetics of the robot, including the floating head and movie-worthy details, were applied by Allison Cavis and Maurice Woods, two artists-turned-engineers whose sculpting and casting experience make the droid’s appearance unmistakable.

Read more.

NewImage


998Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!

03 Jul 05:07

Newswire: 30 Rockefeller Plaza is now called the Comcast Building

by Katie Rife
firehose

all carriers suck forever

In what would make for a hilarious episode of 30 Rock were the show still on the air, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the building that houses NBC’s world headquarters, has been renamed. The building, affectionately nicknamed “30 Rock,” joins arenas everywhere in expressing its allegiance to its new corporate masters. But rather than proclaim its love for smoothies, razors, shitty pizza, or online bargain shopping, the building now touts a company name usually hissed through the clenched teeth of rage-filled consumers in their third hour on hold. Yep, they’re calling it the Comcast Building.

New signage was unveiled on the building last night, a change that was covered by company shill Lester Holt on the NBC Nightly News. This is actually the third incarnation of the 70-story skyscraper; it was first named for its original owner, RCA, and was renamed in honor of new tenant GE in 1988. Whether ...

03 Jul 05:04

A Tiny Kitten and a Baby Owl Happily Snuggle and Play Together at Japanese Cafe

by Lori Dorn
firehose

BREAK THE INTERNET

Snuggle

A tiny calico Scottish Fold kitten named Marimo snuggles and plays with an equally tiny baby owl named Fuku at the Hukulou Coffee House in Osaka, Japan. While the cafe is primarily focused on all things owl, the kitten is certainly getting a great deal of attention, particularly from Fuku.

Kitten and Owl

Kitten Kiss

Owl and Kitten

Side by Side

Kitten and Owl Playing

images via Hukulou Coffee

via RocketNews24

03 Jul 05:01

What To Expect From Aliens When We Make First Contact

firehose

mulder no

Given the vastness of space, it may only be a matter of time before we make contact with intelligent extraterrestrials. But how might an alien civilization react to such a monumental meet-and-greet, and can we possibly know their intentions? Here’s what we might expect.
03 Jul 05:01

The Doctor Who Collects Scalps

firehose

Doctor Who Google alert beat

Dr. Carlos Wesley's gruesome method to fight baldness.
03 Jul 04:59

Photo

firehose

it's fukken hot out



03 Jul 04:57

conceptofcorruption: i can honestly say this is the best...





conceptofcorruption:

i can honestly say this is the best purchase i have ever done

03 Jul 04:53

Coming Distractions: Everybody wants to kiss Nicole Kidman in the new Werner Herzog trailer

by William Hughes

Werner Herzog’s films aren’t normally known for their strong elements of romance; mouth-to-human-contact in Grizzly Man, for instance, was less about kissing, and more about being eaten by a bear. Which makes it a little surprising to watch the trailer for the director’s new historical epic, Queen Of The Desert, and see how many famous fellas are trying to plant one on Nicole Kidman’s stately lips.

Kidman plays Gertrude Bell, the influential writer, archaeologist, and spy, who worked with T.E. Lawrence—played here by a doe-eyed Robert Pattinson—to radically shift the balance of power in the Middle East at the dawn of the 20th century. From the trailer, though, it seems like that very complicated process was mostly a matter of riding on horses, having stern conversations with doughy Brits, and sharing flirty looks with guys like James Franco and Homeland’s Damian Lewis ...

03 Jul 04:40

Inclusionary zoning bill dies in Oregon Senate

firehose

'House Bill 2564 would have killed Oregon's 16-year-old law prohibiting local governments from requiring developers to provide affordable units in large construction projects.

While it would not have mandated affordable-housing construction across Oregon, it would have enabled local governments to set local policies requiring construction of cheaper homes.

Only Oregon and Texas have bans against the policy, known as mandatory inclusionary zoning. In Oregon, Republican lawmakers passed the prohibition in 1999 as leaders across the Portland area considered whether local governments should be required to provide a "fair share" of affordable housing regionally.

Proponents of the repeal say it's necessary to combat rising home prices and economic, racial and ethnic segregation. But homebuilders and real estate agents say government officials shouldn't burden the private sector with addressing a social challenge.'

03 Jul 04:37

Re: Paizo Products: Paizo Blog: Meet the Iconics: Rivani

by Liz Courts (Community Manager)
firehose

welcome to gamer culture

So, out of 29 posts in this thread, ten of them discuss her appearance in some fashion, from desiring more fanservice to "wanting to nail her" and comments on those.
Can we steer the conversation away from this? There's plenty of other things to discuss about Rivani *besides* her appearance.

03 Jul 04:37

pluripresence, n.

OED Word of the Day: pluripresence, n. Presence in more than one place at the same time
03 Jul 04:35

Reddit In Chaos After Allegedly Firing AMA Coordinator Victoria Taylor

firehose

reddit isn't for redditors

Taylor has yet to make any substantial statement on her apparent dismissal, but if you have any more information about what the hell is going on over at Reddit, you can send me an email here.

Update 10:15pm:

As of right now, the following default (i.e. major) subreddits have shut down, according to Reddit user Greypo, “in protest of the admins’ lack of communication with the moderators and ignoring their opinions, ideas, and requests. The firing of Victoria was the catalyst.”

We’ll update this list periodically, but you can see a more complete list (including non-default subreddits) here.

Update 12:10am:

To the three subscribers of /r/sexwithbears, we are so sorry for your loss.

03 Jul 03:57

WITCH Summer Soirée Tickets, Portland | Eventbrite

firehose

nice acronym

The Women in Technology Creating Heroes (WITCH) second event will be held on July 16th at the Jaguar Land Rover R&D Labs in NW Portland. These events give us the opportunity to share our experiences, make new friends, provide informal mentorship, and strengthen Portland’s community of women in technology. Come celebrate summer with snacks and drinks, network, learn about all the groups serving women in computing and technology in PDX, and hatch fun plans for future collaborations!

Doors will open at 5:30, and at 6:00pm we'll have a quick welcome by organizing groups and sponsors. Food and drinks will be provided, so please RSVP so we can plan accordingly. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
(Permalink)
03 Jul 03:57

Archie's Weird Mysteries - The Jughead Incident - YouTube

firehose

jughead no
JUGHEAD YES

That time Mulder and Scully investigated a UFO in Riverdale and confused Jughead for an alien imposter because he eats tons of food without gaining weight, an alien dog orders the destruction of Earth, and Jughead saves Earth by taking the alien dog out for hamburgers and telling a dad joke.
(Permalink)
03 Jul 03:57

Bo Duke tweets photo of Dylann Roof in protest after TV Land dumps ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ - The Washington Post

firehose

followup

Schneider is not the only “Dukes” cast member to defend the show in recent days. In a Facebook post, Ben Jones — a former Democratic congressman from Georgia who played mechanic Cooter on the show and runs three “Hazzard”-themed museums — rallied round the flag.

“I THINK ALL OF HAZZARD NATION UNDERSTANDS THAT THE CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG IS THE SYMBOL THAT REPRESENTS THE INDOMITABLE SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE WHICH KEEPS US ‘MAKIN’ OUR WAY THE ONLY WAY WE KNOW HOW,'” wrote Jones — in all caps. “THAT FLAG ON TOP OF THE GENERAL LEE MADE A STATEMENT THAT THE VALUES OF THE RURAL SOUTH WERE THE VALUES OF COURAGE AND FAMILY AND GOOD TIMES.”

He added: “WE ARE NOT RACISTS. WE DESPISE RACISM AND BIGOTRY. AND WE THINK THE PEOPLE WHO ARE CREATING THIS ‘CULTURAL CLEANSING’ ARE THE REAL BIGOTS IN THIS STORY.”
(Permalink)
03 Jul 03:56

Unemployed Oregonians Get Benefits Raise . News | OPB

Oregonians who receive unemployment benefits just got a raise.

At 3.9 percent, it’s the biggest raise they’ve seen since the great recession.

The maximum unemployment benefit someone can receive in Oregon is now $567 a week.

Craig Spivey with the Oregon Employment Department says that adds up to about $78 a month more than last year, “This actually is the largest raise in the weekly benefit amount that we’ve had for some time,” he said.
(Permalink)
03 Jul 03:56

Sources: Google offered Cuba expansion of web access | Miami Herald Miami Herald

Google executives have proposed to the Cuban government a way to expand Internet access on the island quickly and massively, but Cuban authorities are skeptical of the plan, several sources familiar with the proposal have told El Nuevo Herald.

The sources said the proposal would make the Internet available through wifi connections and cellular phones, much like Google Ideas executive Brett Perlmutter suggested during a recent visit to Havana. The sources asked for anonymity and declined to provide further details.

“Cuba has a big opportunity to jump its infrastructure directly into mobile phones, without going through all of the fixed cables that are being installed in African countries,” Perlmutter told the digital magazine On Cuba during the visit.

Companies such as Google and Facebook are competing to close the world's so-called “digital gap” and expand connectivity in less developed countries — which in the long run would expand the markets for their own products and applications — through new systems like those that use drones or balloons.

One official Cuban source said the Google executives met with “commercial authorities, and they have been talking. This is seen as a process.” Another source in Cuba said Google offered to pay for almost the entire cost of the proposal.

A Google spokesperson told El Nuevo Herald that the company “is working to help the Cuban government think through their publicly stated goal of improving Internet access. We have not given money to Cuba to develop Internet connectivity.”
(Permalink)
03 Jul 03:56

Robber killed in shootout with ex-anchor's husband at motel

firehose

the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun

After grabbing her husband’s briefcase, the man started shooting at de Caro. Russell ducked behind the furniture and de Caro fired back, hitting the man.

The robber was killed and de Caro was wounded.

“It was a gun battle, and Chuck was bleeding heavily, but he didn’t stop firing because the man was firing on him,” Russell told The New York Post.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Russell said her husband was shot three times and was recovering at a hospital but she did not immediately know his condition.

“He’s in a lot of pain,” she said. “He took three shots, including a couple to the abdomen. But magically, his organs were not affected.

"He’s my hero. He saved my life,” Russell added.

Albuquerque police did not release names of those involved, and a spokesman, Officer Tanner Tixier, said it appeared to be a random robbery attempt.

A former special forces officer, de Caro said he called upon his training to protect his wife.

“I was determined to save my dream girl’s life — even if it cost my own,” he told The Post.

Both de Caro and Russell have concealed carry licenses.
(Permalink)
03 Jul 03:56

RT @gabrielolinto: #this http://t.co/ByzErYxz0z

by Pai Osias
firehose

via Osiasjota

03 Jul 03:53

"But once you’ve mined the earth and milked the service industries, what is there left to frack? Us,..."

firehose

via ThePrettiestOne

“But once you’ve mined the earth and milked the service industries, what is there left to frack? Us, that’s what. Heard of Kwasi Kwarteng? He’s a rising star in the Tory party. Always a danger signal, this. To qualify as a rising star in this context you have to make Judge Dredd look like the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Kwarteng’s suggestion, which has gone down very well with literally everyone I hate, is that a young person who hasn’t got a job and therefore hasn’t paid any national insurance contributions should get their unemployment benefit in the form of a repayable loan. Even if someone was out of work for the entire seven years between 18 and 25, he says, “the total sum repayable would be £20,475 – considerably less than the tuition fees loan repayable by many of his or her peers”. The clincher, there. You might be unemployed, but think yourself lucky you’re not going to university.”

- Ian Martin, Guardian comment piece – Fracketeering: how capitalism is power-hosing the last drops of value out of us all (via gingerautie)
03 Jul 03:52

I should print this picture out immediately and put it in a...

firehose

via Osiasjota: "Mulder no"



I should print this picture out immediately and put it in a fucking frame.

03 Jul 03:51

The most important skill in software development

by John
firehose

via Osiasjota

Here’s an insightful paragraph from James Hague’s blog post Organization skills beat algorithmic wizardry:

When it comes to writing code, the number one most important skill is how to keep a tangle of features from collapsing under the weight of its own complexity. I’ve worked on large telecommunications systems, console games, blogging software, a bunch of personal tools, and very rarely is there some tricky data structure or algorithm that casts a looming shadow over everything else. But there’s always lots of state to keep track of, rearranging of values, handling special cases, and carefully working out how all the pieces of a system interact. To a great extent the act of coding is one of organization. Refactoring. Simplifying. Figuring out how to remove extraneous manipulations here and there.

Algorithmic wizardry is easier to teach and easier to blog about than organizational skill, so we teach and blog about it instead. A one-hour class, or a blog post, can showcase a clever algorithm. But how do you present a clever bit of organization? If you jump to the solution, it’s unimpressive. “Here’s something simple I came up with. It may not look like much, but trust me, it was really hard to realize this was all I needed to do.” Or worse, “Here’s a moderately complicated pile of code, but you should have seen how much more complicated it was before. At least now someone stands a shot of understanding it.” Ho hum. I guess you had to be there.

You can’t appreciate a feat of organization until you experience the disorganization. But it’s hard to have the patience to wrap your head around a disorganized mess that you don’t care about. Only if the disorganized mess is your responsibility, something that means more to you than a case study, can you wrap your head around it and appreciate improvements. This means that while you can learn algorithmic wizardry through homework assignments, you’re unlikely to learn organization skills unless you work on a large project you care about, most likely because you’re paid to care about it.

Related posts:

03 Jul 03:50

Photo

firehose

via Toaster Strudel



03 Jul 03:48

Photo

firehose

via Toaster Strudel



03 Jul 03:48

Photo

firehose

via Toaster Strudel