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The Simple Tool That Allows Anyone To Be A Hacker
Codefellas S1 EP8: How to Kill Your Boss—WIRED
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Topple settles into his new role as a cyber-spy, but hold on to your tequila sunrise: a hangover from his swinging '70s past leaves him odd-man-out at the co...
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| Time: 02:44 | More in Film & Animation |
Siege Support
When Section 9 launches an assault on the Puppet Master’s headquarters, Department Chief Aramaki watches via a portable computer. It looks and behaves much like a modern laptop, with a heavy base that connects via a hinge to a thin screen. This shows him a live video feed.
The scan lines on the feed tell us that the cameras are diegetic, something Aramaki is watching, rather than the "camera" of the movie we as the audience are watching. These cameras must be placed in many places around the compound: behind the helicopter, following the Puppet Master, to the far right of the Puppet Master, and even floating far overhead. That seems a bit far-fetched until you remember that there are agents all around the compound, and Section 9 has the resources to outfitted all of them with small cameras. Even the overhead camera could be an unoticed helicopter equipped with a high-powered telephoto lens. So stretching believability, but not beyond the bounds of possibility. My main question is, given these cameras, who is doing the live editing? Aramaki’s view switches dramatically between these views as he’s watching with no apparent interaction.
A clue comes from his singular interaction with the system. When a helicopter lands in the lawn of the building, Aramaki says, "Begin recording," and a blinking REC overlay appears in the upper left and a timecode overlay appears in the lower right. If you look at the first shot in the scene, there is a soldier next to him hunched over a different terminal, so we can presume that he’s the hands-on guy, executing orders that Aramaki calls out. That same tech can be doing the live camera switching and editing to show Aramaki the feed that’s most important and relevant.
That idea makes even more sense knowing that Aramaki is a chief, and his station warrants spending money on an everpresent human technician.
Sometimes, as in this case, the human is the best interface.
When disaster happens and you don't have DR
by diegon
Mandy Patinkin: ‘I Behaved Abominably’
Comcast threatens to sue news site for posting public court document (Updated)
UPDATE: Comcast has told Ars that the copyright infringement notice "was sent in error, and we have advised TorrentFreak to disregard it. We apologize for any confusion." An update to TorrentFreak's article confirms that the site received this apology from Comcast. When asked how the error occurred, Comcast said, "we’re looking into that."
Original story follows:
TorrentFreak, a news site that covers BitTorrent and various copyright issues, says it has been threatened with a copyright infringement lawsuit by Comcast for posting nothing more than the contents of a document that Comcast itself publicly revealed in a court case.
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Comics A.M. - Overstock Doubles Down in Graphic Novel Price War
Burned out: tech money is harshing Burning Man's anti-capitalist vibe
At last year's Burning Man, a prominent tech investor was attacked by ninjas. "They were just a bunch of people dressed up as ninjas, riding around on bikes," says Garry Tan, Y Combinator partner and co-founder of Posthaven.com. "They yelled out 'ninja! ninja!' and then they tapped me lightly on the arm." As quickly as they'd appeared, the ninjas were gone. The bikes had been provided by Google as a gift to the festival.
The 28th incarnation of the Burning Man festival kicks off next week, but it’s come a long way from its origins as a performance-art celebration of radical self-reliance. Attendees build their own camps, cook their own food, and the exchange of money for goods is strictly forbidden. You’ll still see the gonzo art that gave Burning Man its reputation — but now there’s another, more business-minded element arriving from the tech world. So many venture capitalists attend the festival that it's said to be the worst week of the year for startups to try to to fundraise.
Last year, Sergey Brin was visible on the Playa wearing a silver bodysuit
Both Sergey Brin and Larry Page are avid Burners, and they've joked about hiring Eric Schmidt as CEO because he was the only candidate who'd been to the festival. Last year, Brin was visible on the Playa wearing a silver bodysuit, and Page has spoken of Black Rock City as a model for the kind of techno-libertarian experimental space he wants to establish.
There’s no official word on whether Brin and Page will be headed to Black Rock for the festival next week, but even if they don’t, there will be plenty of luminaries in their place. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has attended, and there are rumors that last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk made an art car for the festival. This year will also see Burning Man's third on-site TED conference, with speeches by "inspirational change agents" on the theme of paradigm shifts.
Zuckerberg helicoptered in for a day
Smaller companies have also gotten in on the action. Keen.io is an app analytics company that's taken in nearly a million dollars in funding from valley players like Techstars and 500 Startups — but next week they'll be setting up shop as "Amazecamp," with a walk-through aquarium and solar-powered speaker cart. Last year, they were right next to the Facebook camp, and saw when Zuckerberg helicoptered in for a day to help fry some artisanal grilled cheese sandwiches. "They had a really nice setup. You can tell they're well funded," says Michele Wetzler, engineer for Keen.io. "There was a piano."
In 2011, Elon Musk was caught staying at a turnkey RV camp
But as tech players and tech money have headed to Burning Man, the festival has also seen a rise in so-called "turnkey camps" that let users write a check to skip out on camp duties like construction or trash collection. In 2011, Elon Musk was caught staying at a turnkey RV camp, which he paid to have stocked with Gatorade and rum. According to Derek Dukes, a 14-year Burning Man veteran, the situation has become increasingly common as the festival attracts a wealthier and busier audience. "For them, I think it's a resource-allocation problem. They look at the cost-benefit of what it would take for them to navigate the Burning Man process, compared to just writing a check," Dukes says. "It switches it from radical self-reliance to this new model where you show up and someone at the camp is going to look out for you."
"It forces you to think, to pivot, to finish."
The concern that business would spoil the fun was particularly strong among the startup crowd. Chris Messina, widely credited as the godfather of the hashtag, says he thinks Black Rock deserves better. "There's a Silicon Valley culture, and I think there's a give and take with Burning Man there," Messina says, "but I'm frankly afraid of the idea of 'startup culture' (whatever that is) affecting Burning Man. Burning Man seems to be closer to an idealized kind of experience than the high-stress, dog-eat-dog world of Startupville we inhabit."
Of course, that doesn’t mean eager entrepreneurs can’t pick up some life-hacking skills to be used on their businesses when they get back home. "It gets things started," says UX designer John Sutton. "It forces you to think, to pivot, to finish, to gauge satisfaction from the end user."
The anti-capitalist spirit has also made overt networking something of a faux pas. One source described a tech figure asking where he worked within a minute of meeting him, which "took me off guard despite being in the company of many Valley people." But for the most part, the taboo on networking is self-enforced. People are there to break out of routines, not to entrench them. As another Valley Burner put it, "This isn’t South by Southwest."
Adrianne Jeffries contributed to this report.
- Image Credit Keen.io Blog
- Related Items burning man libertarianism anti-capitalism eric schmidt larry page sergey brin elon musk jeff bezos Facebook Google Amazon
NASA Captures Footage of South Pole During Aurora, Makes a GIF
Hadouken! Disney Princesses As Street Fighters
Gorgeous Woodgrain and Black 3DS XL ⊟ Bernard Capulong put...
Gorgeous Woodgrain and Black 3DS XL ⊟
Bernard Capulong put together this look with woodgrain vinyl wrap (3M’s Marine Teak Wood Grain, if you want to try making one yourself). The other decorated device is a Limeade Burst external charger.
BUY Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL consoles, upcoming releases
Wilmington MB earlier today….
Wilmington MB earlier today. Only problem is that this was found on a clearance table…at the card smart store a few doors down.
What should you learn in Games 101?
It's supposed to introduce students to a body of game history / game theory, while also letting them dip their toes into non-digital and digital game design. This is like 4 different classes being merged into one, so it's going to be hard to cover all the bases while accommodating everyone's varying experience and fluency in game design.
Many of the students will already be familiar with video games and board games -- but just as many will be taking this class because their advisor said it was good for learning interaction design, or maybe they wanted what sounds like an easy elective -- or maybe they played Temple Run once (a month ago) and they haven't touched any video games since then, but they sure like playing beer pong and basketball and tag, and those are games, right? (In some respects, the "gamers" might have the most to learn.)
Some pillars of my approach to Games 101:
- All games and game-like things are worth studying as game design. This includes playground games, crosswords, Facebook games, drinking games, gambling games, theater games, hypertexts, sports, etc. If anything, video games are the games that are the most disconnected / isolated from culture and history.
- Critical theory is important for making games. You have to rationalize your design decisions somehow. Reading what Huizinga writes about player types, or what Aarseth says about hypertext, is a way to get everyone on the same page and give you words to use. We'll still be in very different head-spaces, but at least we'll be one inch closer together.
- ... but theory is also political and has been used to gate-keep what "good" games are / what a "good game" should be / what games deserve success. We are now living in an era where video games about teenage grrrls in Oregon (or Korean space lesbian dramas) are commanding a lot of influence among critical circles and mass markets on Steam. This is great progress, but let's keep going.
- We can think of both analog games and digital games as existing on a continuum of "mediated vs. less mediated." A game of Jenga relies entirely on the physical toy artifact that are Jenga blocks, but a game of Werewolf requires no materials other than players. There, we could say Jenga is heavily mediated. Similarly, video games are typically screen-based things running on expensive hardware, but we can also play screen-less games like JS Joust that use the room and players' bodies as the main interface. In competitive play, I imagine players can run countless simulations entirely in their minds, just like professional chess players, and at that point the actual game artifact or "thing" becomes redundant. In video games, this shift has been very recent.
- Fundamentally, game development is simply the process of staring at your screen until your forehead bleeds.
Tentative reading list:
- Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals (2004). Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman.
- Homo Ludens (1955). Johan Huizinga.
- Man, Play, and Games (1958). Roger Caillois.
- "Introduction" from Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature (1997). Espen Aarseth.
- Game Feel (2011). Steve Swink.
- Rise of the Videogame Zinesters (2012). Anna Anthropy.
- "The Interactive Way To Go" by Hikori Mori.
- "to the right, hold on tight" by Anna Anthropy.
- Portal 2 (2012). Valve Corporation.
- Jenga (?)
- Flip cup (?)
- Four Square
- Hide and Seek
- Tag
- Capture the Flag
- Go
- Settlers of Catan
- Chutes and Ladders
- Liar's Dice or Tripps
- Mao
- Pit
- Dixit
- Werewolf
- 9:05
- VESPER.5
- Ultra Business Tycoon 3
- Galatea
- Minecraft
- DimensionU
- McDonald's Game
- Unmanned
- Angry Birds
- Canabalt
- Passage
- Dys4ia
- Papers Please
- Cart Life
- The Artist is Present
- Fruit Mystery
- Candy Box
- Spaceteam
- watch a LoL or DOTA2 match
Sounders Ask Fans To Show Off Their Best "Deuce Face"...Timbers Fans Shit Themselves Laughing
firehosegood work Seattle
In a marketing fail destined for a rivalry week, the Seattle Sounders earnestly asked their fans today to tweet pictures of themselves showing their best "Deuce Face" in honor of newly arrived (and unfortunately nicknamed) U.S. Men's National Team star Clint "Deuce" Dempsey.
You see, during a USMNT match against Jamaica in September, Dempsey rushed in during a brief scuffle on the pitch and showed he wasn't about to take any shit from the Raggae Boyz...by making a face that looked like he was taking a shit.
From the Sounders:
That is when he famously scrunched up his face and made a mocking gesture toward one of his Jamaican opponents in what quickly became known—and celebrated—as “Deuce Face."...The player on the other side of that now-famous face that has been mimicked and made into giant cutout posters by fans at U.S. Soccer matches was Portland Timbers forward Ryan Johnson.In honor of that signature moment, we are offering a signed Dempsey Sounders FC jersey and two tickets to Sunday’s match against the Timbers for the best rendition of Dempsey’s Deuce Face. To enter the contest, submit photos via twitter by using the hashtag #MyDeuceFace. A winner will be selected on Saturday.
Timbers fans on Twitter, naturally, have picked up on the unfortunate hashtag and made it their own. I'm guessing none of them will be chosen to win the jersey.
Before heading to Seattle on Sunday, the Timbers host Real Salt Lake tomorrow night at Jeld-Wen Field. First kick is set for 8 p.m.
Mark Zuckerberg wants to bring the entire world online with Internet.org
firehosegreat
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has just announced that formation of internet.org, a group whose intention is to make the internet available to the entire world. It's a partnership with a number of prominent technology companies — Facebook, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, and Samsung are among the seven founding members — will who engage in a number of initiatives that they hope will bring connectivity to the two-thirds of the world that currently don't have access to the internet.
Developing...
- Source Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)
- Related Items announcement social network mark zuckerberg Facebook
Bob is the new Bill. After a complaint by a neighbor, the Bill...
firehosevia saucie
the bad news is we have redditors in our neighborhood
Bob is the new Bill. After a complaint by a neighbor, the Bill signs were taken down, which spurred a new flip on the “Post no Bills” notice: posting pictures of Bobs, including Bob Marley, Bob Saget and Bob Ross. Redditors are on the scene. (via "Post No Bills" Sign Attracts More Than 60 Bills)
Cali. Girl Says She Texted Man Before Abduction - ABC News
firehosechrist
ABC News |
Cali. Girl Says She Texted Man Before Abduction ABC News A California teen whose mother and brother were killed by a family friend said on national television Thursday that she once confided with the man about troubles with her mother and explained text messages exchanged on the day of the attack. Police say ... Hannah Anderson texted kidnapper DiMaggio, didn't call, she saysLos Angeles Times Kidnapped teen Hannah Anderson speaks outNew York Daily News Kidnapped Teen Says She Texted Friend before KidnappingThe Westside Story Hingham Journal -Washington Times -NOLA.com all 227 news articles » |
Half of All Research Papers Published In 2011 Already Free To Read
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Bradley Manning gets 35 years in prison
US Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in a military prison this morning after being convicted of 20 counts related to his leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, which consisted mostly of diplomatic cables. (He escaped conviction on the most serious charge of "aiding the enemy.") In addition, he will also forfeit all of his pay and allowances, have his rank reduced to private, and be dishonorably discharged.
A reporter present at the hearing said that Manning showed no reaction as the sentence was read, but audible gasps came from spectators in the court gallery. As Manning was escorted from the courtroom by armed guards, a small group of supporters shouted, "We'll keep fighting for you, Bradley!" and "You're our hero!"
The sentence will no doubt be a disappointment to Army prosecutors who wanted a stiffer sentence. Indeed, during closing arguments on Tuesday, prosecutors requested a sentence of at least 60 years. Prosecutor Capt. Joe Morrow told the court that "there may not be a soldier in the history of the Army who displayed such extreme disregard" for his mission.
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Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy, Social World, A Book About Social Media Management by Gary Vaynerchuk
firehose"Even companies committed to jabbing—patiently engaging with customers to build the relationships crucial to successful social media campaigns—want to land the punch that will take down their opponent or their customer’s resistance in one blow."
hi #startupculture, I see you wrote a book that equates serving your customers with punching them in the face so hard that it knocks them out
just letting you know that I'm not surprised at all
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy, Social World is a book by Gary Vaynerchuk about how brands and companies can most effectively manage and grow their social media presence. The book is set to release on November 26, 2013 and is currently available to pre-order from Amazon.
New York Times bestselling author and social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk shares hard-won advice on how to connect with customers and beat the competition. A mash-up of the best elements of Crush It! and The Thank You Economy with a fresh spin, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook is a blueprint to social media marketing strategies that really works.
When managers and marketers outline their social media strategies, they plan for the “right hook”—their next sale or campaign that’s going to knock out the competition. Even companies committed to jabbing—patiently engaging with customers to build the relationships crucial to successful social media campaigns—want to land the punch that will take down their opponent or their customer’s resistance in one blow. Right hooks convert traffic to sales and easily show results. Except when they don’t.
Thanks to massive change and proliferation in social media platforms, the winning combination of jabs and right hooks is different now. Vaynerchuk shows that while communication is still key, context matters more than ever. It’s not just about developing high-quality content, but developing high-quality content perfectly adapted to specific social media platforms and mobile devices—content tailor-made for Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Tumblr.
image via Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook
Five-alarm fire strikes church on Broadway in South Boston - Boston.com
WBUR |
Five-alarm fire strikes church on Broadway in South Boston Boston.com Boston firefighters are battling a stubborn five-alarm blaze that is tearing through a historic church this morning on Broadway in South Boston. The fire was reported at 9:13 a.m. at St. John the Baptist Church, an Albanian Orthodox church, at 410 Broadway. Firefighters battle 5-alarm church fire in BostonAlbany Times Union Fire hits South Boston churchBoston Globe Crews fight large fire at South Boston churchWHDH-TV Ct Post all 19 news articles » |
Florida Town Stores License Plate Camera Images For Ten Years
firehosenever go
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Nextdoor App Lets You Get to Know Your Neighbors, Virtually
firehosevia Snorkmaiden
OR JUST GO
FUCKING
OUT
SIDE
If you long for the days when everyone in the neighborhood knew each other’s names – and business – you’ll either be delighted or horrified by Nextdoor, an app that lets you get to know your neighbors without ever actually talking to them. The app offers a private social network accessible only to those in a certain neighborhood so you can invite people to social events, find babysitters, organize a neighborhood watch or locate a lost pet.
Nextdoor can be accessed through the mobile app or on the web, with over 17,000 neighborhoods currently in its database. The idea is to connect with your neighbors to share important local information, goods and recommendations. Participants can discuss suspicious activity, share numbers for reliable plumbers, notify each other of special local events or report found items like wallets and keys. Every neighbor has to sign in with their real name and verify their address.
In an age when most people communicate through Facebook and Twitter, and nearly all of us have smart phones semi-permanently glued to our palms, apps like Nextdoor can re-forge the connection between neighbors that has degraded over time.
Some may mourn the loss of real, face-to-face interactions between neighbors, and fear that apps like Nextdoor will make it worse – but how else can you get to know the recluse on the hill who’s averse to barbecues but acutely interested in the identity of a local mail thief? Online neighborhood communities could be particularly helpful in emergency situations, as well. Check it out at Nextdoor.com.
[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]
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On Syria, Obama says no rush toward costly interventions - Reuters
BBC News |
On Syria, Obama says no rush toward costly interventions Reuters By Erika Solomon. BEIRUT | Fri Aug 23, 2013 3:43pm EDT. BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called the apparent gassing of hundreds of Syrian civilians a "big event of grave concern" but stressed on Friday he was in no rush to embroil Americans ... US, Russia at odds on who is blocking UN probe of suspected chemical attack in ...Washington Post Initial Western intel assessment: Syrian forces used chemical weaponsJerusalem Post Initial US, allied intelligence finds Syrian forces used chemical weaponsHaaretz CNN -BBC News -New York Times all 2,000 news articles » |
Moonstruck Chocolate Co. needs liquor licenses to sell newest truffle collection
firehosevia saucie
Google Helpouts to let you buy and sell video chats with experts
firehose"Google takes a flat 20 percent cut of whatever experts pull in"
for talking
for _talking_
Google is giving experts a convenient way to profit from their talents online with a new service called Hangouts. It’s still being tested, but Google says it is currently inviting people "with expertise across a number of topics" to sign up in advance of the eventual public release.
Google takes a flat 20 percent cut of whatever experts pull in
Helpouts are face-to-face video calls powered by Google+ Hangouts and will be available on all of that service’s existing platforms. All of the scheduling, payment, rankings, and hunting for customers are managed by the service, and in return, Google takes a flat 20 percent cut of whatever experts pull in. Options will exist to to either charge by the minute, by the session, or give your services away for free.
So far, Google has only listed a handful of categories that would-be experts can sell their services for, including Home & Garden, Computers & Electronics, and Cooking, and before you get the go-ahead from Google, the company wants to see a copy of your qualifications. Last month, TechCrunch reported that Google had partnered with brands like Sears and Weight Watchers during testing, so it’s possible we could see both individiuals and corporations selling their services on Helpouts.
Google isn’t the first to build a functioning market from the supply of expertise on the internet, but its scale and existing Hangouts infrastructure could easily put it ahead of alternatives. So far, there’s been no mention of an official launch date for Helpouts, but we’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything.
- Via The Next WebAndroid Police
- Source Google Helpouts
- Related Items google helpouts expert expertise video chat google hangouts google google plus google plus hangouts
What will happen to the Groklaw archive?
Pamela Jones who has been running the excellent Groklaw blog since 2002, wrote a post yesterday saying the site will shut down.
- The owner of Lavabit tells us that he's stopped using email and if we knew what he knew, we'd stop too. There is no way to do Groklaw without email. Therein lies the conundrum. What to do?
On Twitter, Staci Kramer says the "loss of Groklaw as a news resource would be compounded if archives disappear."
I agree. How can we offer help in making sure that doesn't happen?
How do you send email to someone who has sworn off email?
Update: Thanks to Matthias Bartosik for pointing out that there was an email address at the end of the piece I pointed to. Okay it's early in the morning. ;-)
ilovemusicandweed: thesciencellama: Piano notes made visible...
Piano notes made visible for the first time
Music is beautiful isn’t it? The team at CymaScope visualized the dynamic sounds of the piano’s first strike and the eventual plateau and decay phase of different notes. You can listen to the sounds here and watch as the geometric shapes come to life.
Here is a list of the geometric glyphs for each note
Cymascope - Sound Made Visible
This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.
