firehose

Courtney shared this story from Super Opinionated.

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The Globe and Mail

San Francisco approves health warnings on ads for sugary sodas, other drinks The Globe and Mail Saying sugary sodas and some other drinks contribute to health problems, San Francisco supervisors voted unanimously to approve health warnings on ads for such beverages. The soda industry in said it might sue to block the ordinance, while supporters ... San Francisco approves health warning on ads for sugary drinksFox News San Francisco to Require Health Warning on Soft Drink AdsCPAPracticeAdvisor.com San Francisco strikes a blow against sugary sodasWXII The Triad RTT News -Bellingham Herald all 299 news articles »

We know that geckos stick to walls because of the van der Waals force, but these are the first videos that let us see the power of a single “hair” on a gecko’s foot. We can see the fiber stick on, increase its grip, and drag an object.

Read more...

A chap named Jan-Oliver Ohloff from Germany has shown off some photographs of his fantastic new gaming table. It contains a 40-inch plasma TV and (apart from the actual TV) was built by hand. It cost around 400 euros ($450) in total - 100 euros for the used plasma TV, and 300 for the materials.

In a recent comedy sketch, CollegeHumor proposes the idea of using friends as a better kind of selfie stick. The video touts the features and advantages of having friends take photos instead of using a device that makes a person look like, “the world’s saddest wizard.”

Reuters

New Hampshire Republicans call on Fox, party to change debate rules Reuters WASHINGTON A group of New Hampshire Republicans wants Fox News and national party leaders to change the first televised presidential debate in August, saying limiting it to 10 candidates "would undermine the very nature" of the primary process. Debate outcry leads to new forumsCNN GOP adds two 'forums' to Aug. 6 debate amid pressure over criteriaPolitico (blog) Union Leader to host Presidential candidates' forum Aug. 6The Union Leader Miami Herald (blog) all 147 news articles »

The Amtrak engineer driving Train 188 when it crashed last month in Frankford, killing eight and injuring more than 200, was not using his cellphone during or before the deadly derailment, the National Transportation Safety Board announced this morning.

In a recent video produced by Moonbase, photographer Alex Cornell shares how he captured, processed, and shared stunning images of a flipped iceberg in Antarctica. Cornell walks through the equipment he worked with on location, the steps he took to process the image in Lightroom, and even his strategy for releasing the images to the media.

Cornell also shares some video footage of the iceberg for the first time.

via FreshBump, Lost at E Minor

PHOENIX—In an attempt to clarify the rights and obligations of those possessing firearms, the Arizona State Legislature approved a new law Wednesday declaring that a gun owner ceases to be responsible for a bullet once it has been fired from a weapon. “It simply makes no sense to hold people accountable for a round of ammunition that is no longer inside their gun, and this legislation clears this up once and for all,” said bill co-sponsor Sen. Steve Smith (R-Maricopa), observing that no one can reasonably expect an individual to exert control over a bullet or a bullet’s ultimate whereabouts once it has exited a gun’s barrel. “How can you be liable for a projectile that may be lodged as far as 5,000 feet away from where you’re standing? That’s ridiculous. Now, if we’re talking about ammunition that’s in the chamber of ...

One of the major sticking points of the Trans-Pacific Partnership 12-nation trade deal has been the United States’ attempt to include protections for drug prices. American negotiators seem to have given up (paywall) on part of that plan, which would have allowed drug companies to appeal prices they felt were too low when set by governments elsewhere. But according to a leaked document published in the New York Times (paywall), they’re still angling to require governments to disclose how they arrived at price controls and reimbursement rates for specific drugs—a proposal that is profoundly disliked by public health officials, and by other countries involved in the negotiations.

The American negotiators may have a tough time lining up support for the so-called “transparency annex”—in large part because the United States has drug prices that are hugely out of step with the rest of the world.

For example, here’s what private insurers paid on average in 2013 for Copaxone, an expensive drug for multiple sclerosis according to the International Federation of Health Plans (pdf). Private sector prices in England, Switzerland, and New Zealand are based on what the public sector pays:

Drug makers claim the prices are kept high in order to cover the cost of research. They’re higher in the United States in part because the biggest government payers aren’t permitted to negotiate prices. Other countries, notably potential trade pact signatories like New Zealand, are more muscular negotiators that hide the way they formulate their drug reimbursement rates in order to maintain leverage with the drug makers.

Pharmaceutical companies are fighting intensely on this trade deal (they’ve lobbied far more than other industries with something at stake in the pact). Brand-name makers want as much price protection as they can get, while generic drug makers are unhappy that the pact would weaken restrictions on direct-to-consumer drug marketing. (The restrictions are common around the world but do not exist in the United States, where heavy marketing is a major way drug companies keep branded sales up even when there are cheaper alternatives available.)

Though the step back from outright price protection means the TPP likely won’t be as good a deal for drug makers as it might have been, opening up pricing methodology to these companies and adding a dispute-and-appeal mechanism to the process, as the US proposes, may give them more opportunities to push prices upward around the world.

 

Maker Media Secures $5 Million in Funding and Adds Veteran Technology Journalist Rafe Needleman as Editor in Chief.

Maker Media has secured $5 million in funding, a move that follows the beta launch of the MakerSpace digital community and continued growth in Maker Faire as the company’s platform expands to serve the worldwide maker movement. 

Along with the funding, Maker Media has hired Rafe Needleman as editor in chief to lead its editorial team and content strategy. Most recently, he was editorial director of Yahoo Tech.
Maker Media is a platform centered on content, community and commerce. Maker Media content includes online publication Makezine.com, Make: magazine and Make books. Maker Media’s community consists of Maker Faire, the MakerSpace social platform and Maker Camp. The company’s commerce unit, Maker Shed, offers electronics, kits and tools for makers.
The investment in Maker Media comes from a syndicate of investors including Twitter founder Evan Williams’ Obvious Ventures, media and entertainment investor Raine Ventures, Azure Capital, and previous investors OATV and Floodgate, and debt funding from Square 1.

The strategic investment marks the next step in Maker Media’s evolution to build its Maker Faire business and platform serving the maker movement. Maker Media will use the funding to continue to invest in the people, technology and infrastructure required to reach a broader global audience with its digital platform and popular Maker Faire events. The funding will also be used toward building Maker Media’s technical and editorial teams driving video, mobile, and online initiatives. 

To further expand its media and content business, veteran technology journalist Rafe Needleman joins Maker Media as editor in chief. Needleman brings more than two decades of industry experience to Maker Media’s editorial operations. Prior to his stint as editorial director of Yahoo Tech, he held leadership roles at CNET, Red Herring, Byte, and Infoworld. 
Maker Media has seen explosive growth in Maker Faire and remains a bright spot in media. In 2014, there were more than 130 Maker Faire events and 781,000 attendees worldwide, a figure expected to reach more than 1 million attendees in 2015. Make: magazine’s growing worldwide print distribution reaches 300,000 and its online properties — including Makezine.com, Maker Faire online, Maker Shed and Maker Camp — reach nearly 4 million monthly unique visitors.

“Maker Media is on a mission to inspire and develop more makers, and we are excited to continue to invest in people and technology to do even more on a global scale,” says Maker Media CEO Gregg Brockway. “We’re at an inflection point for the broader maker movement. The investment speaks to the growth and promise of Maker Media as a platform offering makers around the world content, commerce and community opportunities.”

“Maker Media is a uniquely diversified media company. It has a great collection of interlocking media properties, events, and products, all in support of a growing and powerful community of makers,” says Rafe Needleman. “I’m excited to join the company to expand the scope of coverage even further at a time when the DIY movement and the intersection of technology are taking off around the world.” 

Read more & MAKE post.

The consortium of global airlines is trying to squeeze your carry-on bag. On June 8 the International Air Transport Association (IATA) proposed a new minimum size it wants member airlines to allow on board. Its 55cm x 35cm x 20cm (22 x 14 x 8 inches) yields a volume of 38,500 cm³. That’s 39% down from the previous IATA standard of 56cm x 45cm x 25 cm— the equivalent of four soccer balls’ worth less volume.

The change comes as airlines are reducing their limits for bag size anyway and collecting more and more fees from passengers who check their bags. Aircraft manufacturers, for their part, are still engineering new ways to increase overhead bin capacity.

The reduction is a result of the “IATA Cabin OK” program which seeks to certify certain luggage as meeting IATA requirements. Tom Windmuller, an executive at the group, says it’s intended to make sure flyers have confidence that their bag will be allowed on board. In the process, the aim is to improve airline performance by reducing the time it takes to board a plane. Airlines aren’t obligated to adopt the IATA policy, but in a video on the IATA website, Windmuller says “30 or 40″ airlines are “interested,” with a dozen saying they’d accept the requirements as is.

The proposed baggage size is smaller than the current limits on American Airlines, Delta, United, Southwest, British Airways, EasyJet, Lufthansa, Air France, and Emirates. Only EasyJet and British Airways allow carry-ons as large as the old standard for economy class passengers.

On the one hand, this means that if you buy an “IATA Cabin OK” certified bag, it will definitely be small enough to fly on any of those airlines. On the other hand, it means that if you’re already fighting one of these airlines over the size of your carry-ons, the new dimensions are only going to make it worse.

All the white puppy wanted to do was share his French toast. Cinnamon, a cute character created by the same Japanese company responsible for Hello Kitty, posted tweets like this every day. Normally, these morning messages would be met by followers gushing about how cute the attached picture was, or fans wishing him a “good morning.”

Cinnamon’s online life in recent times, however, had become tense. “You look like a piece of soap, get diarrhea,” one user wrote in response. Another Tweet -- since deleted, but preserved by other users -- said “Please kill yourself with that knife.” For the last few weeks, the dog character had faced abuse like this daily, every innocuously cute post met with a sea of “shut ups” and “die.”

Many imagine Japan as a land stuffed with adorable characters. Hello Kitty has become a global ambassador of all things “kawaii,” while recently John Oliver featured a segment on his show devoted to the country’s use of mascots for -- nearly everything. Yet the situation isn’t always so cuddly. Cinnamon’s recent Twitter interactions marked the first significant time a huggable character has been the victim of cyberbullying in Japan. And it hasn’t just been a few isolated comments, but a steady stream of nastiness from hundreds of Twitter users. It has inspired reactions from well-known pop singers and warranted coverage in multiple national newspapers and on TV. The Cinnamon saga struck a nerve with people in a country where bullying -- both digital and physical -- is an issue on the rise.

The critter at the center of it all, though, is neither new or obscure. Sanrio, Japan’s premier producers of cute characters (think Hello Kitty and My Melody) created Cinnamon in 2001 as the flagship character of their “Cinnamoroll” series. He’s featured in cartoons and comics, and became one of the company’s most popular entities. Walk by any branch of Tokyo Tomin Bank, and chances are you’ll see a stuffed Cinnamon in the window. In this year’s annual Sanrio character ranking, early polls (these are very serious affairs) projected Cinnamon to finish third overall, ahead of Hello Kitty.

Yet glancing at the replies to Cinnamon’s daily tweets reveals a lot of people wishing ill on the character and his various friends. There’s no definitive starting point for the bullying -- various mean-spirited comments have long slipped into Cinnamon’s stream, but were the sort of isolated trolling every high-level Twitter account expects -- but sites such as Naver Matome report it really got going over the last three months, escalating drastically near the end of April. A drawing of Cinnamon standing in front of some colorful flowers, for instance, prompted digital shouts of “shut the hell up, I just ate lunch!” and “you look like you smell bad.” A tweet featuring the character holding a pile of the dessert he’s named after had commenters wondering why he was holding a plate of pink poop (a theme riffed on in similar Tweets). The insults keep going, and even an act as simple as showing off a new umbrella resulted in someone telling him to “suck my dick.”

Nearly every Sanrio creation has a Twitter account, where new drawings get uploaded daily, but only Cinnamon has attracted cyberbullying. Users even noticed this discrepancy -- while relatively new characters such as Gudetama (a lazy anthropomorphic egg) and Kirimi-chan (a hunk of fish meat) received warm messages, a Cinnamon tweet from the same day drew comparisons to the movie The Human Centipede. Users have tried to spam other Sanrio character’s feeds in the past with mean-spirited messages, but nothing came out of it. Yet by early May, every new tweet by Cinnamon was met by a mix of people trying to be clever with their insults, generally nonsensical threats and those relying on sub-playground approaches (“die,” “shut up,” “you’re ugly,” “go away”).

Why Cinnamon? Many Japanese Twitter users have been speculating about it (Naver Matome gathered many of their thoughts online), and the consensus seems to be that it’s all for the likes. Early jokes at the expense of Cinnamon -- such as an image of Cinnamon being targeted by a fighter jet -- raked in favorites and retweets. Tweets poking fun at the dog-like creature, along with parody accounts posing as official, did well, inspiring more users to try to replicate that success. These early examples, though, were far more good-spirited than what came after. The tweets, in an effort to stand out, got meaner and meaner, eventually dissolving into what would constitute bullying against a human.

Whatever the reason, the abuse hurled Cinnamon’s way got worse as May dragged on. Fans of the character first offered words of encouragement to Cinnamon (“don’t take all this too seriously, Cinnamon!”) and eventually started pushing back against the bullies, talking to them directly. Sanrio addressed the issue head on, by posting a cartoon where Cinnamon’s friend Chiffon addressed Twitter in place of Cinnamon. “I’m here to protect Cinnamon, and you should protect your friends too!,” is how Anime News Network translated it.

The same day, Sanrio blocked over 200 accounts that had been harassing the character. This only enraged the anti-Cinnamon crowd, and resulted in one popular user claiming to receive a message from Sanrio telling him to come out to their offices, which he documented on Twitter. He faked it -- Sanrio never contacted him -- for the likes. The abuse kept coming.

But it also resulted in the story getting more widespread media attention. Dozens of Japanese web sites wrote about it, followed by newspapers such as the Chunichi Shimbun and the Tokyo Shimbun covering it as well. Government-backed channel NHK did a report on it, and soon celebrities were coming out to support Cinnamon. TV personality Arie Mizusawa expressed her happiness at Sanrio taking action, while former members of the pop group BiS took to Twitter to back the character. An online news video summed it all up neatly.

Cinnamon might be a fictional character, but what the floppy-eared puppy endured is a very real issue in Japan today. Bullying has long been a problem in Japanese schools and workplaces, attracting plenty of attention from the media. Earlier this year, The Japan Times reported that the number of cyberbullying cases in the country was on the rise (as was all bullying). It’s an issue that has affected thousands in Japan, and which has been a topic of discussion for quite some time. There have even been songs written about it -- pop-gone-death-metal outfit Babymetal wrote a song with a title that translates to “No More Bullying.” Cinnamon isn’t a real person, but he’s famous enough (and the situation strange enough) to act as a microscope on cyberbullying. It revealed how many people are ready to pile on somebody for praise, and how many others hate seeing someone being picked on.

Cinnamon’s online life hasn’t completely returned to normal. Mean comments still appear, and larger flare ups still happen, such as when he drew a picture that some simply described as “bad,” others “garbage” and still more “like sperm.” Fans, though, have also come out in higher numbers to counteract the negativity with simple messages of “good morning Cinnamon!” and “so cute!” while also shouting down the mean users. Cinnamon might never fully be able to draw or enjoy his breakfast in peace ever again, but at least he’ll have plenty of people on his side.

euchre:

portlandheart:

flowerboyandrew:

blackinkandletters:

scumbugg:

exhale-the-darkness:

I found this song I started working on last year before I started hormones, and I decided to sing a duet with my Pre T self. It isn’t amazing. I recorded this on GarageBand and the song is cheesy and dumb but I still think the voice comparison is pretty neat. 

All I Want - Kodaline (cover)

Pre T vs 6 Months on T

This is actually amazing. Our bodies are amazing. And this experience is amazing. I am so proud of you, Nik. I am so proud of everything you have accomplished and how far you’ve come.

HOLY fuck this is cool ?!

this is making me ugly cry jesus christ

Wait but I want this recorded to listen to all the time. How do I get it???

This hits me in all kinds of places. Very cool. I’m glad the creator decided to share.

And so it begins… pic.twitter.com/FSDI7W0bMK

— Gillian Anderson (@GillianA) June 9, 2015

Ok sure, fine, whatever, chairs are cool but THE SCULLY BOX IS BACK!

First apple box. @thexfilesfox #XFilesRevival pic.twitter.com/zRzs5kjggb

— Gillian Anderson (@GillianA) June 9, 2015

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Courtney shared this story from Super Opinionated.

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hinaflower:

being in group chats

itwbennett writes: At Apple's WWDC 2015 event yesterday, Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, announced that the company planned to open source the Swift language. Reaction to this announcement so far has sounded more or less like this: Deafening applause with undertones of "we'll see." As a commenter on this Ars Technica story points out, "Their [Apple's] previous open-source efforts (Darwin, WebKit, etc) have generally tended to be far more towards the Google style of closed development followed by a public source dump." Simon Phipps, the former director of OSI, also expressed some reservations, saying, "While every additional piece of open source software extends the opportunities for software freedom, the critical question for a programming language is less whether it is itself open source and more whether it's feasible to make open source software with it. Programming languages are glue for SDKs, APIs and libraries. The real value of Swift will be whether it can realistically be used anywhere but Apple's walled garden."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

pmon3y69:

idealisthymnal:

So a guy from the local paper stopped me at graduation while I was photographing some of my friends, and asked me to retake the picture so he could photograph me taking it, and it somehow ended up on their website.

Great way to capture the ending of Senior year, right? Well, until you see the photo I was actually taking 

why does this not have an infinite amount of notes

BREAKING: LeBron James is really good.

LeBron James has, of course, been completely dominating the NBA Finals. But what you may not have realized is that his performance through the first three games of this series has been historic:

LeBron's 123 points this series are the most points scored through the first 3 games of an #NBAFinals (41.0 PPG) pic.twitter.com/65b8fuCC1I

— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) June 10, 2015

James is doing more than just scoring. He's had a hand in the vast majority of Cleveland's offense, scoring, assisting on or creating nearly 70 percent of Cleveland's points:

LeBron James has scored, assisted, or created 200 of the Cavaliers' 291 points through the first 3 games of the #NBAFinals. Beyond unreal.

— Synergy Sports Tech (@SynergySST) June 10, 2015

In conclusion:

OED Word of the Day: booze cruise, n. Originally: a boat trip on which the passengers drink a considerable amount of alcohol

becker&mayer! and SmartLab Toys seeks an experienced sales leader in the Retail Sales channel, with book, gift, and toys experience, to join our sales team.

The National Accounts Manager plays a critical role in growing revenue and market share in pa...
Employer: Becker&mayer!/The McEvoy Group
Location: Bellevue, WA (Seattle area)
Posted: 06/09/2015

Pomegranate Communications is seeking a driven individual to assist in the acquisition and organization of Pomegranate’s publications. This person will work onsite at the company’s offices in Portland, Oregon.

Pomegranate Communications is a leading pub...
Employer: Pomegranate Communications
Location: Portland, Oregon 97230
Posted: 06/09/2015

Shumpert looks exactly like one of those statues from Easter Island. According to ancient alien astronaut theorists, it is unlikely that the aliens would appear on TV playing NBA basketball. But the same theorists are quick to recall that the Roswell incident just came out of nowhere, and it is possible that the aliens are abducting NBA players to find out the name of the company that builds the best flying saucers. They needed the information since their flying saucer was totaled when it smashed into the ground somewhere around Roswell.

One theorist suggests that Shumpert is not an alien at all. He's just one of many guys who love the alien look, and he's sporting a hair-do that's in vogue and everyone is raving about on alien planetary systems.
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