ANIMATED: Jack Nicholson took some time out tonight for a quick nap

tennants-hair:

slythwolf:

light-brights:

SO I JUST GOT A SHOT OF A RAINBOW AND LIGHTNING IN THE SAME PICTURE????!

thor supports gay rights pass it on

oh my god

Thor… cut it out.

It’s easy to fear the specter of an economy where millions of people end up with low-paid freelance gigs through TaskRabbit or oDesk, rather than finding full-time work. After all, Silicon Valley’s arrogance never ends.

But even that vision puts a gloss on the real problems with slowly recovering US economy. Today, most unwilling part-timers aren’t freelancing. They’re working in restaurants and retail stores, just like they were before the recession. That’s why the big problem with part-timers isn’t the rise of the freelance economy but the lack of demand in the traditional one.

We’re talking about people who are employed part-time but would rather work full-time. (About 18 million Americans work part-time because they want to, about the same today as before the crisis.) Today, 7.5 million people are involuntary part-time workers, a little more than 5% of the workforce. Here’s how the Bureau of Labor Statistics breaks down the two types of part-time workers:

In terms of industries, 1.5 million unwilling part-time workers are at restaurants and hotels; another 1.4 million are at retail stores and distributors; and 1.2 million are in education and health care. Rounding out the top five sectors are 780,000 self-employed workers (where the modern-day valets of TaskRabbit are counted, among freelancers of all kinds) and the 661,000 providers of professional services, everything from lawyers and architects to photographers and veterinarians. Here’s how those five sectors have grown since before the crash:

Those same industries contained the most involuntary part-time workers in 2005, too, except that professional services replaced construction, a sector that has shrunk enormously since the end of the housing bubble. While the number of self-employed, involuntary part-timers has increased since then, it’s been eclipsed by the trend toward part-time employment in the three larger sectors, as you might expect.

Most explanations for the trend are straightforward, too: Companies want to find ways to avoid paying for workers’ benefits (a trend that, incidentally, kicked off well before Obamacare was conceived) and companies don’t have enough business to justify having full-time workers—by far the larger problem, as you can see in the first chart above.

The rosy view is that more and more of those part-timers continue transitioning to full-time jobs as the economy recovers, but that’s been a frustratingly slow process. The dark view isn’t the rise of the part-time “gigwalker“—it’s the rise of the part-time dishwasher.

by @badphysics

Catherine Rampell at the New York Times wonders whether her iPhone, which became much less usable after she upgraded to iOS7, is being deliberately sabotaged by Apple, to encourage her to buy a new iPhone. This is a bit like asking whether or not Apple cares about design. Planned obsolescence has been part of how Apple, and just about every other PC maker, has operated since time immemorial.

It’s important to note that there is no evidence that planned obsolescence is explicitly a policy at Apple. There is no smoking gun here, no incriminating memo. But planned obsolescence is the nature of technological evolution. Hardware gets better, and software developers create new applications and operating systems—like iOS 7—to take advantage of this new power. Naturally, older hardware doesn’t handle the new software quite as well. Regardless of whether you think that discord is driven by some devious scheme to boost profit or it’s the product of useful innovations, the consequence is that whatever smartphone or notebook or tablet seemed so new and shiny one or two years ago suddenly seems slow, sad, jittery and, to the extent that we anthropomorphize our personal computing devices, sick. Our once faithful companion seems lame, half broken—like a miserable old dog that needs to be put down.

Your view of dated devices may inform your views about planned obsolescence. I recently did an informal survey of a handful of iPhone users who had upgraded older iPhones to iOS7, and they seemed about evenly split on its effects on their phones. Half liked the results. They said things like “it’s like having a new phone.” The other half were dissatisfied. Their phones were now running slower. They seemed less functional. I suspect the variability in people’s experiences with upgrades to new operating systems contributes to the impression that the phones that didn’t take to the upgrade are “just broken” or simply worn out. But there’s nothing wrong with most old phones that a simple battery replacement wouldn’t fix. Those phones aren’t inherently broken—Apple broke them with a software update.

There is a way to get around planned obsolescence, whether you believe it’s intentional or not. I’ve been using Apple products for about 25 years. And one of the first things I learned was: Except for small, incremental updates, do not upgrade the operating system of the hardware you are using. Especially if it’s currently getting the job done.

This is why, unlike Rampell, I am using an iPhone 4S whose ability to accomplish everyday tasks I find more than satisfactory. But that’s because I refuse to upgrade it to iOS7. And I won’t be using hardware that runs iOS7 until I buy a new phone.

I cringe when I hear Apple CEO Tim Cook proudly announcing that the mass upgrade of iPhone owners to iOS7 was the biggest, fastest operating system rollout in history. That’s a lot of “broken” phones, and a lot of people who were told they could get a better user experience who are, if we’re being objective about it, having a worse one. It’s also a lot of new iPhone sales for Apple—which, after all, is hardly unique in the way it incentivizes users of its personal computing devices to go for the latest, supposedly greatest thing.

Obama to cite Mass. health care law's slow start MyFox Austin (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta). President Barack Obama speaks in Statuary Hall on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013, during a memorial service for the late former House Speaker Thomas S. By NEDRA PICKLER Associated Press. and more »

"Oh look Maude. Chris Bosh is still being weird."

Major League Baseball filed a petition in Manhattan Supreme Court Tuesday that claims Alex Rodriguez and Sitrick and Company P.R. firm have documents pertaining to Biogenesis, reports the New York Daily News.

These documents, MLB says, were the same that were leaked to Yahoo! Sports in February to link Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun and Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli to Biogenesis. Both men were among those suspended by MLB mid-season.

The league contends that Rodriguez bought these documents that "had been maintained by (Biogenesis owner Anthony) Bosch ... for the purpose of preventing MLB from obtaining those records and from uncovering evidence of Rodriguez’s use and possession of prohibited substances."

A spokesman for Rodriguez said last week that the Yankees third baseman had not bought documents in an effort to obstruct baseball's investigation into the Biogenesis clinic. The Players Union, representing Rodriguez at the time, said at the beginning of the arbitration hearings that Rodriguez would share the documents he had obtained, but that none of the documents relayed to the P.R. firm were found.

Rodriguez's lawyers have said during the arbitration hearings between MLB and Rodriguez that the player purchased over $300,000 worth of evidence. Rodriguez's spokesman said that had not been done in an effort to obstruct MLB's investigation.

Baseball suspended Rodriguez for 211 games in mid-2013. He is the only player with a connection to Biogenesis that appealed his suspension.

More from SB Nation MLB:

• World Series: Red Sox take series lead to Boston | Paper airplanes invade STL

• Brisbee: Are the Cards that bad, or is Lester this good?

• Gold Glove winners | Neyer: New stats lead to new winners

• How to fix the: Twins | Marlins | Astros

• Death of a Ballplayer: Wrongly convicted prospect spends 27 years in prison

On Monday, the family of a man who died of a heart attack during a basketball game soon after he consumed a can of Red Bull filed an $85 million wrongful death lawsuit against the beverage maker.

Cisco announced this morning their plans to open-source their H.264 codec under a BSD license and make it available free for all. Cisco is open-sourcing their H.264 codec without assessing any fees in an effort to push H.264 for the WebRTC real-time communication API...

red eyes - Waxworks (Horrorsoft - Amiga - 1992)

You haven’t lived until you try all of these!

Coxinhas

What is it: Little raindrops of fried goodness usually filled with chicken and a very creamy cheese called "catupiry."
Tastes like: A fried mac 'n' cheese ball, sans noodles, plus chicken.
Conclusion: Why don't these exist in the U.S.?
Get a recipe here.

Flickr: brunobucci

Brigadeiro

What is it: Chocolate truffles made with condensed milk instead of cream and covered in chocolate sprinkles.
Tastes like: A Nutella ball sprinkled with chocolate.
Conclusion: You've been missing out on chocolate rolled into balls for far too long.
Get a recipe here.

Flickr: negativz

Pão de Queijo

What is it: Little rolls of bread with cheese baked into it.
Tastes like: Yup, little rolls of bread with cheese baked into it.
Conclusion: You'll never eat regular bread again.
Get a recipe here.

Flickr: lcloss

Farofa

What is it: Fried cassava flour. It can include egg, bacon, and other add-ons. It's usually sprinkled over rice and beans.
Tastes like: Nothing you've ever tasted. Come on, it's fried cassava flour, but it's still DELICIOUS!
Conclusion: Hands down: Cassava flour is tastier than regular flour.
Get a recipe here.

Flickr: jeanmi

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View Entire List ›

Okay, now do one for the men. It should only take you about thirty two years, which, incidentally, is how long it's been since the first female American Supreme Court justice took the bench for the first time. (HuffPo)

Old Town's all-ages music venue Backspace with cease holding concerts by the end of the month, WWeek reports. Although the spot "will remain open as a coffee shop temporarily," owner Eric Robison says he plans to relocate Backspace entirely, possibly to a site in Northeast Portland. Backspace's final concert will be this Thursday, October 31. [WW; previously] [Photo: Facebook]

SE Hawthorne breakfast spot Blue Pig Cafe officially closed its doors, two years after relocating from its original location on SE Division. Breakfast in Bridgetown was the first to spot the closure; the restaurant's last day was this weekend. [EaterWire] [Photo: Facebook]

Mischief Night

The political action committee trying to wrest control of Portland's water and wastewater bureaus from city council has been billed—by us and others—as a melding of water activists and big industry.

But if that's the case, it's not showing up in the group's campaign money. Portlanders for Water Reform yesterday unveiled another $10,000 in contributions from a Portland property management company—the 735 St. Clair apartments.

The donation comes on the heels of hefty donations from two other property managers, as well as Portland Bottling Company and Siltronic, which makes semiconductors. Absent from the group's fundraising ledger so far: robust signs of grassroots support.

Now it's possible some of the activist folks who'd be interested in giving to the campaign have another horse: A new water initiative announced Sunday nightthat's more in tune with the city's anti-fluoride, pro-reservoir crowds.

The two campaigns are pushing different plans during different elections, but they could compete for some of the same dollars.

Portlanders for Water Reform wants to create a new, seven-member board that would assume control of the Portland Water Bureau and Bureau of Environmental Services. That proposal faces logistical questions, but may wind up on the May 2014 ballot.

The newer campaign, targeted for November 2014 by a group called Cascadian Public Trust Initiative, addresses many activist's concerns more directly. It mandates a citywide vote before new substances are added to Portland's water supply, for one thing—a provision baldly targeting fluoride. And it requires the city to continue fighting the US Environmental Protection Agency's so-called "LT2" rule, which has the city spending $228 million to build new reservoirs on Powell and Kelly buttes. (It's worth noting not all the group's backers think that's a workable notion. Spokesman Nicholas Caleb told me the provision is sort of a sop for those who feel the city hasn't exhausted all its options. "We know there are a lot of people who that was a big issue for," he said. "If the city really did go through every hoop they could, that probably won’t have any effect at all.")

It appeared yesterday the two water initiatives will have little truck with one another. Caleb acknowledged members of his group distrust the business-backed Portlanders for Water Reform. "They see the corporate backers and they say 'what's going on with these guys?'" he said.

Meanwhile, Kent Craford, a chief petitioner for that group, told the Mercury: "On its face, I think anything that brings greater attention to the water/sewer crisis is a good thing."

But he added: "I don't put a lot of stock in it."

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The St. Louis Cardinals' team plane was delayed for nearly seven hours due to a mechanical problem as the team attempted to fly from St. Louis to Boston, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A new plane needed to be called in before the team could eventually get in the air.

The World Series is not scheduled to begin play again until Wednesday, so no games are in danger of being delayed. Furthermore, the team had not been planning on doing any workouts over the off day. However, the Cardinals were forced to sit and wait in the plane while the issue was worked out. The team was originally scheduled to take off at 1:00 pm CT but did not take off until almost 8:00 pm CT.

Manager Mike Matheny said the morale on the plane was good due to having plenty of family on board. The passengers ate dinner, played games, watched movies and browsed their mobile devices.

The World Series will continue Wednesday night as the Red Sox hold a one-game lead over the Cardinals. If Boston defeats St. Louis in Game 6, they will clinch their eighth championship in franchise history.

More from SB Nation MLB:

• World Series: Red Sox take series lead to Boston | Paper airplanes invade STL

• Brisbee: Are the Cards that bad, or is Lester this good?

• Gold Glove winners | Neyer: New stats lead to new winners

• How to fix the: Twins | Marlins | Astros

• Death of a Ballplayer: Wrongly convicted prospect spends 27 years in prison

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