firehose

The Syrian Electronic Army, a pro-regime collective of hackers, has done it again, only this time the target they’ve compromised is an organization with close ties to the president of the United States.

We accessed many Obama campaign emails accounts to assess his terrorism capabilities. They are quite high #SEA http://t.co/ARgGLX8IjN—
SyrianElectronicArmy (@Official_SEA16) October 28, 2013

In a statement on Twitter, the SEA said it “accessed many Obama campaign emails accounts to assess his terrorism capabilities. They are quite high.” Quartz has confirmed with the campaign staffer whose compromised email address is included in the posting that her account was hacked over the weekend, along with “lots” of other volunteers for Obama’s Organizing for Action grass roots campaign organization.

“We’ve taken measures to correct it,” says Suzanne Snurpus. “And we’ve all changed our passwords and added an extra layer of login security.” That “extra layer” is Google’s two-step authentication, which helps prevent unauthorized logins by linking an email address to an existing cell phone number.

Snurpus says she isn’t sure what damage the hackers managed to do before they were detected and shut down, but today all the shortened links in Obama’s Twitter account (with 39 million followers) managed by Organizing for Action were for a time redirecting to a video created by the Syrian Electronic Army. It’s not clear what, if any, sensitive information the SEA was able to access by hacking into the email accounts of volunteers for a not-for-profit campaign organization, even if it’s associated with Obama.

This story is developing, and we’ll update as we learn more.

World's fastest certified civilian jet sets new around-the-world speed record:

A Gulfstream G650, which with a top speed of Mach 0.925 is the world’s fastest certified civilian jet, has added to its list of world records by completing …

Suggesting that it kind of likes getting Emmys, Netflix has made it clear that it intends to keep its critically acclaimed breakout hit House Of Cards going beyond its original two-season order. Though that may sound like an obvious plan, the sort that probably doesn’t even need explaining in a fourth wall-breaking monologue that makes use of folksy Southern analogies, it wasn’t always as straightforward as a hound dog huntin’ for a soup bone. Netflix only locked the cast and crew down for 26 episodes, and recently co-executive producer Rick Cleveland had even said he believed the series would definitely end after the upcoming second season, because “Kevin Spacey likes to do movies, and Robin Wright likes to do movies.”

But like a stuck pig conversatin’ with a crowin’ rooster on a tin roof covered in corn oil, Cleveland wasn’t really speaking on solid ground, seeing as ...

Read more

RocketJump has made “Mexican Standoff,” a comedy sketch overflowing with surprises. It stars filmmaker Freddie Wong and comedic duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele of Key & Peele. “Mexican Standoff” was written by Matthew Arnold, Will Campos, and Brian Firenzi.

Two cops get more than they bargained for when they face down a ruthless criminal…

music by John Robert Matz

video via FreddieW

Lou Reed, 1974

All set

The Internet Archive has officially released a tool that will let decades-old software run in your browser, along with a catalog of noteworthy, fun, or notorious games and applications. The Archive team has spent two years creating and troubleshooting a JavaScript port of the MESS computer software emulator, giving users of any modern browser an almost instantaneous way to run anything from Atari games to the very first spreadsheet application. To make it more useful, the group has also launched the Historical Software Collection, which cherry-picks the most important and interesting titles from its archives.

As the Internet Archive notes, preserving old software isn't a matter of just keeping its physical storage safe. Archivists...

Continue reading…

Thank you for the generous $1200 stimulus package$800 Making Work Pay credit gift we just received from you. You know, traditionally it’s been the obligation one generation to help the next generation along. Parents help out their children, even their unborn children, by saving a little start up money so that the next generation has enough to start out when they leave the nest.

However, thanks to modern economics, it is now possible for parents to get help from our children and grandchildren, even the unborn. Our administration has engineered this by borrowing money from China and then letting you, our grandchildren, pay their children and grandchildren back. They thought it was a good idea and we hope you will think the same. It might seem selfish to you when you read this, but we think we deserve the money. You see, we got into a little bit of a bind.

Initially we had this real estate boom where our houses became worth more and more even though it was really the same houses. Some people got rich by selling them to each other and other people got rich by borrowing on their house. It was like having our own ATMs where we could just print money. Yet rather than spending the money on infrastructure, businesses, or schools, we used the money on granite counter tops, ATVs, new furniture and clothes, trips to Disneyland; most of it was bought on credit. The $1200$800 would cover a fewcouple months of payments, though we might have to sell the ATV again.

Now I think it should only take you about 2 weeks of work to pay the money back. Well, maybe 4 weeks considering the interest, or 8 weeks if you don’t get a well paying job. Let’s make it 10 weeks because taxes will probably be higher to fund the social security trust fund we need to fund our retirement (sorry, we spent that too!).

So thanks a bunch,
Our generation

Bo Jackson's iconic Air Trainer 1 gets an off-field lifestyle makeover from Nike Sportswear with a brogue-inspired look for the mid-top trainer. Sporting an upper of perforated brown leather with smooth obsidian leather paneling, the kicks feature the likes of houndstooth lining, a contrasting white midsole, a gum rubber outsole and old-school lowercase "nike" embroidery at the midfoot strap and tongue. The premium Velvet Brown/Obsidian release is now available via Korea's Kasina.

Click here to view full gallery at Hypebeast.com

If you’ve built an electric vehicle in the past few years, you probably owe [Charles] a couple of beers. Now you can feel more indebted to him after you read his 17,500-word, 10-part post covering everything you need to know about electric go-kart design. You’ll want to grab a sandwich to keep you company.

You probably recall the Chibikart from posts earlier this summer, which is one of an endless list of EV projects [Charles] has up his sleeve. He’s been teaching MIT students how to build EV karts for a while now, and this total-recap “2.00gokart” novel is [Charles's] way of sharing the wealth. This is more than a simple how-to guide, though. Instead, it reads like a teacher’s edition of GoKarting 101, with a few brief and important histories, walk-throughs of how the class evolved, exhaustive links to vendors, graphs, videos, and plenty of reference and documentation.

If you have even the slightest interest in electric vehicles, do yourself a favor and give it a browse. There are a couple of videos after the break, and if you need some more motivation, check out the EV skateboard that uses a lot of the same parts.

Thanks [Charles]

Filed under: green hacks, transportation hacks

Overly Suave IT Guy [via]

Previously: Best of 10 Guy

 
Goggle-eyed comedian Mantan Moreland is most famous for being chauffeur “Birmingham Brown” in the Charlie Chan movies, for his supporting role as one of Lucifer Jr.’s “idea men” in Vincente Minnelli’s all-black musical Cabin in the Sky, and for playing the hapless mailman in the “sick humor” cult favorite, Spider Baby. You know how some people are just so naturally funny that the minute you see them, you’re primed for laughter? Mantan Moreland has always had that kind of effect on me.

I can’t tell you the number of times I have inflicted King of the Zombies on unsuspecting friends in the 1980s. It’s a terrible, terrible film, but his scenes are hilarious. I’ve watched it a lot. Too many times!

The Beastie Boys must’ve been Mantan Moreland fans, too, as there is a particular punch-line from one of his rude-n-crude “party records” of the 1970s sampled in a song called “B-Boys makin’ with the Freak Freak” from 1994’s Ill Communication album. The line—“Shit, if this is gonna be that kind of party, I’m gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes!”—is (inexplicably) hilarious on its own, but here’s the entire routine from Mantan Moreland’s album “That ain’t my finger!”
 

 
It starts a bit slow, but stay with it.
 

 
Below, Moreland is basically the star of King of The Zombies, but he’s not given top billing, the white actors are. My favorite scenes are when he gets hypnotized into believing that he’s a zombie and the scene where he leads the zombies into the kitchen to be fed. He says a line in the scene that begins at the 54:00 minute mark that I have used as a “catchphrase” for decades: “As I member, I has privileges.” No one ever knows what I mean when I say that, but I laugh.
 

This 9 lb, 1-foot-diameter "multi tool" was designed as a calling card by the F.W. Holler Company of Solingen, Germany, who were seeking to make a name for German knife manufacturers in Solingen (who had a centuries-long reputation for knifemaking) among the emerging market for Swiss Army Knives. It has 100 "blades," including a .22 revolver. And a straight razor.

It’s hard to tell by photos alone, but this multi-tool is much larger than your typical Swiss Army knife. Its handle is about 10 inches long, 6 inches wide and 4 inches deep, which makes a lot of sense when you realize how many different types of blades have to fit into it. To start, there’s two dagger blades, a serrated bread knife, a few pairs of shears, a couple of saw blades, a corkscrew, a lancet (for boils?), button hooks, a cigar cutter (hey, why not!), mechanical pens and pencils, and even a piano tuning fork (whew). Really, the only thing the knife is missing is a bottle opener, since the bottle cap we know today wasn’t invented until 1892.

The tool weighs in at around 9 pounds, and with everything fully extended, the object reaches about a foot in diameter, which makes this much more a suitcase knife than a pocket knife. Miller says it takes about 25 minutes to fully open the gadget, and even when you take your time, it’s a dangerous task. “I’ve cut myself on that darn straight razor,” he says. The Smithsonian acquired the knife in 1986 after it was donated by James F. Parker. While alive, Parker was well known in knife collection circles—he owned his own cutlery company and served as the first president of the Knife Collectors Association. Miller says the first time he saw the object he couldn’t believe it was real. “I was particularly impressed with the revolver,” he recalls. “If you bring this knife to a gunfight, you’re OK.”

The Craziest Multi-Tool Ever Made Kills in 100 Different Ways [Liz Stinson/Wired]

Sholly Fisch discusses the now-ongoing "Scooby-Doo Team-Up" starring Batman, Ace the Bat Hound and more DC characters! Plus, exclusive art!

Here are some silly Halloween postcard comics i made.  Just click through!

The New Yorker

In April 2013, Reed underwent a liver transplant in Cleveland. Afterward, he claimed on his website to be ‘bigger and stronger’ than ever. On October 27, 2013, Reed died at the age of 71.

Link (Thanks, Jack Bz)

Some universities have doctoral programs in the Industrial Arts.The most popular instructor in this subject was died in 2000.

Link

Disney, which has long fought against the expansion of casinos in Florida, is bringing to an end some licensing deals that have been viewed as hypocritical to that anti-gambling stance: slot machines, online slots and lottery tickets featuring Marvel and Star Wars characters. The New York Times reports the announcement, made over the weekend, comes [...]

Beginning Wednesday, the streaming anime website Crunchyroll will offer digital manga from Japan’s biggest publisher, Kodansha — some of them on the same day they’re released in Japan. The service will kick off with 12 series, including Attack on Titan, which is one of the top-selling manga in the United States right now, Fairy Tail, [...]

The Portland (Maine) Press Herald also ran a story recently about a structure on a barge showing up there, and photographs taken by the newspaper look similar to what is being built in the San Francisco Bay. Plus, the barge being used in San Francisco and the barge in Maine are both owned by the same company, By and Large, which is leasing a large hangar adjacent to the Treasure Island pier on which the San Francisco barge is docked. I found that Tim Brandon, who was said by the Treasure Island Development Authority to be tied to By and Large, was also tied directly to Google. Now, a report from KPIX -- the San Francisco CBS affiliate -- suggests that the Treasure Island project may not be a floating data center at all. Rather, KPIX -- owned by CNET parent CBS -- reported that the project is going to be a floating Google Glass store, and that the plan might be to tow it into San Francisco's Fort Mason for some indeterminate time.

OnlyMrGodKnowsWhy

Blah blah Somerville blah blah (#zerolikes challenge)

Re: at-large candidates: my neighborhood has lots of signs up for Medeiros and a few for Dempkowski, FWIW

My next-door neighbors have a GIANT banner on their house for Bob McWatters, which makes me want to vote for Bremer just for spite. Except that Bremer kind of drives me crazy.

Welcome to Somerville Patch's 2013 election guide.

Below, you'll find the names of candidates running for seats on the Somerville Board of Aldermen and the Somerville School Committee.

We asked every candidate the same three basic questions, and we posted their responses without editing them, giving candidates the opportunity to address you, the voter, directly.

Here are the three questions we asked:

1. What are the two most important issues facing Somerville right now, and what would you do on the Board of Aldermen/School Committee to address those issues?
2. Tell us about your background. (For instance, you could talk about what makes you qualified to serve on the Board of Aldermen/School Committee, you could tell us about your professional and/or public-service career, and you could let us know about your time in Somerville, your family background and anything else you think is relevant.)
3. Why should Somerville residents vote for you?

To view the responses, click on the candidates' names below. Candidates whose names are in italics ran in the preliminary election, held on Sept. 24, but did not receive enough votes to move onto the final election on Nov. 5.

See where to vote in Somerville here. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Board of Aldermen 

Alderman At Large (four serve on the Board of Aldermen)

• John Connolly (incumbent)
• Dennis Michael Sullivan (incumbent)
• William White (incumbent)
• Carol A. Dempkowski
• Sean Fitzgerald
• William A. Medeiros
• Mary Jo Rossetti

Ward 1

• Maureen Bastardi (incumbent, not moving on to Nov. 5 election)
• Elio LoRusso
• Matthew McLaughlin

Ward 2

• Maryann Heuston (incumbent)

Ward 3

• Suzanne W. Bremer
• Stephen A. Delani (not moving on to Nov. 5 election)
• Matthew Desmond (not moving on to Nov. 5 election)
• Robert J. McWatters

Ward 4

• Tony Lafuente (incumbent)

Ward 5

• Courtney K. O'Keefe (incumbent)
• Mark Niedergang

Ward 6

• Rebekah L. Gewirtz (incumbent)

Ward 7

• Katjana Ballantyne
• Joseph A. Capuano

Somerville School Committee

Ward 1

• Stephen P. Roix (incumbent)
• Kenneth M. Salvato

Ward 2

• Dan J. Futrell
• Michael D. Nionakis

Ward 3

• Adam W. Sweeting (incumbent)

Ward 4

• Christine Theberge Rafal (incumbent)

Ward 5

• Ward 5
  • Laura Pitone
  • Ross Richmond
  • Caroline Shea Rosas (not moving on to Nov. 5 election)

Ward 6

• Paul Bockelman (incumbent)

Ward 7

• Caroline "Carrie" Lynch Normand 

Mayor

• Joseph Curtatone (incumbent)

Original Source