Aereo, the broadcast-over-IP startup, has released an Android app for its service. Legal challenges notwithstanding, Aereo continues to expand into new markets, including Detroit later this week.
Aereo's software has been available on iOS since its inception (alongside a Web app and Roku channel) giving iPad, iPhone, and Apple TV users access to its channel lineup from their couch or on-the-go. Adding Android support gives access to additional mobile users, but it comes with a big caveat: Android 4.2+ is required.
It's unclear what limitation exists to keep the app from supporting more Android variants, but with roughly 12 percent of devices running a compatible version of Android, it's unlikely that this will have a big impact on the service's user base. For those of you in the right markets—and with the right devices—you can download the app from Google Play and sign up for Aereo's plans for as little as $8 a month.
For years, Android users have dreamed about taking advantage of the millions of music videos on YouTube and using the app as a music player on their devices. The YouTube app has always made this extremely difficult since it is one of the only Android apps that is completely incapable of multitasking. If you start a video and leave the app, the video shuts down—it doesn't even save your spot. It looks like that's about to change, though, and you'll finally be able to be use YouTube as a multitasking-capable music player. Android Police ripped apart the latest YouTube APK and found a new setting titled "Background Audio."
The new option says that YouTube will "continue playing audio when the app is running in the background or the screen is switched off," so you'll be able to start a video, leave the YouTube app, and the video will continue to play. The text is in the newest release of YouTube for Android, version 5.2.27, but it is not currently enabled. Android Police managed to edit a few files and force the new option to show up in the above screenshot.
5.2.27 also brings a few under-the-hood changes in preparation for the coming offline support, but that feature is not enabled yet, either. Usually, hidden features like this take a few updates before they are fully finished, but it's great to see that Google is working on them. We should expect background audio and offline support to roll out to everyone within the next update or two.
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "BBC reports that Jofi Joseph, a senior National Security Council staffer who was a key member of the White House team negotiating on Iran's nuclear weapons program, has been fired ... after a months-long probe into a barrage of tweets that included caustic criticisms of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and top NSC officials, especially Ben Rhodes – whom he accused of dodging questions about Benghazi. Joseph, who posted under the now defunct Twitter name @NatSecWonk, gave a lacerating commentary on anything from policy to personal appearance. 'Was Huma Abedin wearing beer goggles the night she met Anthony Weiner,' he tweeted, referring to the scandal-hit former New York mayoral candidate and his wife, a former aide of Hillary Clinton. He tweeted that Mrs Clinton 'had few policy goals and no wins' in the Middle East. He said Chelsea Clinton was 'assuming all of her parents' vices,' and targeted figures such as Republican commentator Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney's wife Ann for their looks and weight. Many in the foreign policy community reacted with shock to the revelation that Joseph was the mystery tweeter because Joseph was well known among policy wonks and his wife, Carolyn Leddy, is a well-respected professional staffer on the Republican side of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 'What started out as an intended parody account of DC culture developed over time into a series of inappropriate and mean-spirited comments,' said Joseph in an apology. 'I bear complete responsibility for this affair and I sincerely apologize to everyone I insulted.'"
One hosts ‘@midnight.’ One hosts ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’ (and soon ‘The Tonight Show’). Two men enter the bowling alley. One man leaves. Well, technically eight men leave, because they were on teams of four and they weren’t bowling to the death.
In the middle of November, India will come to a standstill as the country’s greatest-ever cricketer and sportsman, Sachin Tendulkar, walks out to bat for the last time after 24 years of play. It will be a milestone in Indian history, such is the nation’s appreciation of Sachin. His is a career that has been blessed by enormous talent—both statistical and aesthetic—but also by good timing. He has played cricket at a time when the Indian economy opened up to the world, making him richer and more visible than any of his forbears.
This innate sense of timing would also seem to extend to his farewell. His final Test match will be his 200th, a record. (No other player has even managed 170.) The game will also be played at the Wankhede Stadium in his beloved hometown of Mumbai. It feels almost pre-determined that he will score a century (which would be another record, his 52nd in Tests) or hit the winning runs. And if the governing body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) could arrange that, it would, because every other aspect of Sachin’s retirement match has been expertly choreographed. It has also been an ugly demonstration of India’s dominance of the cricket world.
Before cricket became a big-money game and television rights were worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Test series were scheduled on an ad-hoc basis, effectively when the weather looked decent. There was a sense that teams should take turns to play each other, but this was not rigorously enforced. This changed only with the advent of the International Cricket Council’s Future Tours Programme (FTP), essentially a giant calendar, which committed each international team to play a home and an away series against every other team over five years. It was a necessary development. Every team wants to play one of the richer sides—England, Australia or India—all of the time, because these teams bring the big broadcasting dollars. These countries are able to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for four or five years of television coverage. Cricket’s smaller teams, such as New Zealand or the West Indies, raise no more than 10%-20% of these sums. There is little reward (beyond the spreading the love of the game) for Australia in touring Bangladesh, so they try to avoid it. The FTP compels them to do their part.
But the BCCI, comfortably the most powerful organization in world cricket, is growing increasingly restless with its commitments under the FTP. According to the FTP, Sachin’s 200th Test should have been in South Africa as the second of a three-Test series. Instead, the tour was scrapped with only weeks to go, and replaced by two home games against the West Indies. When this was announced, Sachin requested that his last game be staged in Mumbai so that his mother, who has never seen him play international cricket, could watch.
According to the BCCI, the blame for the cancellation of the tour lies firmly at the door of Cricket South Africa (CSA), which published the schedule before the Indian board had approved. The idea that such a minor slip necessitated the cancellation of the series is nonsense—the real reason is political. In June the CSA appointed Haroon Lorgat as its new CEO, much to the BCCI’s disappointment. In his previous role as chair of the global governing body, the ICC, Lorgat sought to contain the BCCI’s influence. The chance to kick some sand in the face of the CSA, which will be forced to bear the loss of the India tour, combined with the lucrative opportunity to host Tendulkar’s final Test, proved irresistible.
This is a hugely significant moment in the power politics behind world cricket. The BCCI has broken from the pack, and, so far, there has been no attempt to herd it back in. The ICC is helpless, as it has no legal authority to enforce its own fixture calendar. Its chief executive has spoken impotently about the need for its members to exercise power responsibly. The BCCI was not even identified by name. The CSA, clearly flustered by the audacity of its opponent, has withdrawn Lorgat from future negotiations with India. The players have been reduced to pawns in a game.
The only two organizations with the financial heft to make the BCCI pause for thought are the English and Australian boards. Both would undoubtedly prefer it if the current dispute could be resolved amicably, or at least brushed under the carpet. But given the likelihood that they too will eventually end up in conflict with the Indian board, a gentleman’s agreement to stand side by side when this happens may not be a bad approach.
Nor should they be fearful. Despite the swagger evident in its recent moves, the BCCI has had a bad year. Its new sponsorship deal is worth 40% less than its predecessor; it banned a group of players for match-fixing in the Indian Premier League; and the son-in-law of the BCCI president was arrested for illegal betting. This backdrop is part of the reason why Sachin’s final Test is so important to the Indian board. It will be a feel-good event to push all of this into the background. His career deserves a fitting swan song that lives long in the memory. But equally memorable should be the process of how he came to be playing in Mumbai, in front of his mother. The future of cricket requires it.
overheard at work: "Critical Angel Mass will be the title of my next album."
We derive upper bounds for the density of angels dancing on the point of a pin. It is dependent on the assumed mass of the angels, with a maximum number of 8.6766*10exp49 angels at the critical angel mass (3.8807*10exp-34 kg).
perpetually endorsing WebFaction to people who want VPS features but don't want to pay for or maintain a VPS
Node and Ghost on WebFaction [Link]
WebFaction just rolled out their easy installers for Node.js and the new simple blogging platform Ghost.
Ghost looks great and hosting it yourself sounds even better.
Like I said, WebFaction does have one-click installers, but it's just the stuff you want.
In today's Who-Knew-This-Existed we have a round sink with two built-in cutting boards, a colander, and a prep bowl that all —wait for it— spin. Yup, it's a lazy susan sink, and the faucet is installed right in the middle. So, let's discuss: genius small space idea or totally impractical?
Gail Dines, PhD Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies, Wheelock College, Boston, MA. Author of Pornland: How Porn has Hijacked our Sexuality, July 2012.
'In other words, Silicon Valley needs the rest of the country to survive, as taxpayers and consumers.'
What if instead of filing for an IPO or getting acquired by Yahoo, the endgame for any startup was to become autonomous — to become wholly independent of the land that birthed it? What if Silicon Valley became its own city-state filled with citizens ferried about by Uber cars, living in rented homes rented on Airbnb? This is the vision of Balaji Srinivasan, co-founder of genetics company Counsyl and Stanford lecturer.
"We didn't securitize mortgages, order bailouts, [or] start wars."
In a talk titled "Silicon Valley's 'Ultimate Exit'" hosted by startup accelerator Y Combinator last week, Srinivasan outlined his idea for a self-sustaining, insulated "experiment" where we'd live under a government run by Silicon Valley. He describes this fictional society as "opt-in," as if it were the latest feature of one of the Valley's many startups. "We didn't securitize mortgages, order bailouts, [or] start wars," reads one of Srinivasan's slides. Valleywag's Nitasha Tiku points out that Uber doesn't own its own cars, and Airbnb doesn't own its own houses and apartments. "This is the Tea Party with better gadgets," she writes. What about taxes? Infrastructure? Basic services? "You can't 3-D-print a highway, or develop a cancer treatment with a Fitbit band," notes New York Magazine's Kevin Roose, a reference to public services like the CDC, fire department, and police that such an experiment would forsake.
In other words, Silicon Valley needs the rest of the country to survive, as taxpayers and consumers. Now if only Srinivasan's fantasy sounded more like Larry Page's "Google Island," or Elon Musk's planned Mars Colony, which he cites, he could persuade some people to at least crowd-fund the idea. In the Valley, marketing is everything.
The most exciting thing about this December's new Hobbit film is the appearance of Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug, the fearsome dragon. And these behind-the-scenes photos of Cumberbatch doing motion-capture show just how much he put into the role.
Women are forced to pretend to be men. They're feigning this toughness. They're miserable. Study after study has shown that feminism has made women less happy. They're not happy in the work force, for the most part. I would guess 7 percent [of women] like not having kids, they want to be CEOs, they like staying at the office all night working on a proposal, and all power to them. But by enforcing that as the norm, you're pulling these women away from what they naturally want to do, and you're making them miserable.
McInnes says that the "natural" order is that men are tough and women are on earth to shape life, which is basically just religious talk without the God thrown in, a lazy argument gesturing toward evolution by someone who doesn't understand evolution. And in any case, has humanity ever been interested in doing what's natural? Show me naturally occurring pants and then we can talk about humans being interested in following nature.
I've never been a fan of the Vice aesthetic as imagined by McInnes, and I hated his memoir with a burning passion, but this douchey rant really identifies McInnes as someone to be safely ignored. If he's throwing around flimsy ideas like this, he's got nothing left to offer.
Reading Hawkeye month to month instead of in trade is an awesome experience, but it can sometimes be rather confusing for readers, especially in the most recent arc in which Matt Fraction played a bit with the timing of each issue. It was only during the recent Hawkeye #13 that the full timeline of events [...]
i dunno man, klingon sexuality is always portrayed kinda meh, all crawling around and growling and being awkward and then punching each other but if it was "vulcan on the streets, pon farr in the sheets"? sheeeeeeit
Looking for the perfect sleazy geek tee to wear on your next sexy away mission? We've got you (mostly) covered.
"a botched update rollout combined with useless or nonexistent process guidelines. During the deployment of the new code, however, one of Knight's technicians did not copy the new code to one of the eight SMARS computer servers. Knight did not have a second technician review this deployment and no one at Knight realized that the Power Peg code had not been removed from the eighth server, nor the new RLP code added. Knight had no written procedures that required such a review."
huuuuubspouuuuut
An anonymous reader writes "Investment firm Knight Capital made headlines in 2012 for losing over $400 million on the New York Stock Exchange because of problems with their algorithmic trading software. Now, the owner of a Python programming blog noticed the release of a detailed SEC report into exactly what went wrong (PDF). It shows how a botched update rollout combined with useless or nonexistent process guidelines cost the company over $172,000 a second for over 45 minutes. From the report: 'When Knight used the Power Peg code previously, as child orders were executed, a cumulative quantity function counted the number of shares of the parent order that had been executed. This feature instructed the code to stop routing child orders after the parent order had been filled completely. In 2003, Knight ceased using the Power Peg functionality. In 2005, Knight moved the tracking of cumulative shares function in the Power Peg code to an earlier point in the SMARS code sequence. Knight did not retest the Power Peg code after moving the cumulative quantity function to determine whether Power Peg would still function correctly if called. ... During the deployment of the new code, however, one of Knight's technicians did not copy the new code to one of the eight SMARS computer servers. Knight did not have a second technician review this deployment and no one at Knight realized that the Power Peg code had not been removed from the eighth server, nor the new RLP code added. Knight had no written procedures that required such a review.'"
'FDA officials don’t think that antibiotic residue is the big problem that has stumped the agency since 2007, when pet owners started reporting their animals were suffering gastrointestinal and kidney problems after eating the popular jerky treats.
Instead, it’s likely that the recall of Nestle Purina PetCare Co.’s Waggin Train and Canyon Creek Ranch treats, plus Del Monte Corp.’s Milo’s Kitchen Chicken Jerky and Chicken Grillers home-style dog treats simply resulted in fewer treats being available. Three other smaller retailers also recalled the treats because of the problem.
In fact, FDA officials remain as uncertain as ever about the source of the problem that has led to reports of illnesses and warnings about the possibility of Fanconi syndrome and other kidney problems in animals that ate jerky treats.'
"video games, they’re a pretty complex activity. It’s not just boom-boom-boom. You have to coordinate your movements, plan ahead, and so on. And I can, well, see how this brings even a certain intellectual satisfaction. Isn’t this what — almost, I’m ready to say pathetically — life is about? That you discipline yourself, do something with full dedication, and then find a certain satisfaction in it? What’s bad about it? I’m for it."
He later joked that it was no coincidence that the YouTube hit by “that idiot, Psy” broke 1 billion views on Dec. 21, 2012 — the same day the Mayans predicted the world would end. “Maybe the Mayans were right,” he told his friends. “Maybe this is the end of the cultural world, with such bullshit.”
someone's really thinking like Schneier here, which also means it's right on the precipice above a vat of tinfoil
An anonymous reader writes "Security guru Bruce Schneier is, among other things, a world renowned cryptography expert, author of several popular books, and a second-order internet meme. He is also an outspoken critic of the NSA, in particular the massive NSA surveillance programs disclosed over the summer by Edward Snowden. Schneier has been involved in reviewing the leaked documents and has put in effort to determine which cryptosystems should still be considered safe. I'm a big fan of Bruce Schneier, but just to play devil's advocate, let's say, hypothetically, that Schneier is actually in cahoots with the NSA. Who better to reinstate public trust in weakened cryptosystems? As an exercise in security that Schneier himself may find interesting, what methods are available for proving (or at least affirming) that we can trust Bruce Schneier?"
' "I think they're going to provide a little bit of the innovation creativity side of the picture," (Aneesh Chopra, the Obama administration's former chief technology officer and now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress) said.'
"it's not like Sean Young set some unachievable replicant acting standard in 1982"
I always say that if Ridley Scott wants to hire me for Blade Runner 2 to play Rachael, I am absolutely available. —Katy Perry
(I am actually in total favor of this, and I say that not just because I giddily bought Prism this morning. I also say that as someone who's resigned himself to the fact that if Ridley Scott is going to make Blade Runner 2—which he shouldn't, but which he keeps threatening to do—then he could do a lot worse than having Perry be Rachael. She could totally pull it off, looks-wise, and it's not like Sean Young set some unachievable replicant acting standard in 1982.)
