firehose

Authorities in Union County have issued an arrest warrant for an internet celebrity in the homicide of Joseph Galfy, Jr. in Clark, New Jersey.

The U.S. Marshal Service has been “unable to locate” two former participants in the federal Witness Security Program “identified as known or suspected terrorists."

Founded just to cover the SCO/Caldera UNIX lawsuits back in 2003, Groklaw has proven itself a great place to read and discuss many of the major tech trials since. And today, it turns ten: "We made it. A decade of Groklaw as of today. Who'd a thunk it? Not I. When I started, I thought I'd do a little fiddling around for a couple of months to learn how to blog. But then all you guys showed up and taught me some important things that I didn't know, and vice versa I hope, and here we are, on our 10th anniversary, still going strong, together on a very different path than I originally imagined. The important moment for me was when I realized the potential we had as a group and decided to try to surf this incredible wave all of you created by contributing your skills and time. I saw we could work as a group, explain technology to the legal world so lawyers and judges could make better decisions, and explain the legal process to techies, so they could avoid troubles and also could be enabled to work effectively to defend Free and Open Source Software from cynical 'Intellectual Property' attacks from the proprietary world." This despite a smear campaign by SCO and nearly shutting down in 2009. And it's archived in the Library of Congress.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Oregon Humane Society | Events | Pug Crawl:

Google Wallet is a nifty idea (buy things in stores using your phone) that hasn't really taken off yet, but that's only because the company's giant tentacles haven't fully unfurled yet.

I did not have high hopes for Marvel and Disney's upcoming Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. cartoon, and now I discover I overestimated it grossly. As this first look reveals, the cartoon is presented as a reality show where Hulk, Red Hulk, She-Hulk, A-Bomb and his son Skaar live together. This is the stupidest fucking thing I have ever heard of.

Read more...

Famous Authors’ Handwritten Outlines for Great Works of Literature via Flavorwire

James Salter’s outline for Light Years.

J.K. Rowling’s spreadsheet plan for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Joseph Heller’s chart outline for Catch-22.

What New York City Would Look Like on Other Planets via Wired

-Mercury 

-Earth

-Mars

-Saturn

-Neptune

Everyone at pre-school is going to be so jealous.

It takes more than four hours and costs more than $27 to smuggle KFC into the Gaza Strip. But some people will do just about anything for a taste of the Colonel's finest.

Swing is a new app for the Mac that enables easy file upload and link sharing. It's primarily a menubar application. Upload a file with Swing and get a link on your clipboard. It's very similar to CloudApp or Droplr.¹

Here's the kicker though: It uses the ADN file service. That's pretty cool. Now, if this takes off I'll need a way buy more ADN file storage. But I like this trajectory.

Here's a linked image from Swing and ADN:

https://files.app.net/1/73926/a7n5SRQ9Ro8gtTZG...

That's a pretty darn long link but Swing also provides its own link shortener.

http://swng.it/2GyKQt

WheezyJoe writes "A story on NPR reports that the TrackingPoint rifle went on sale today, and can enable a 'novice' to hit a target 500 yards away on the first try. The rifle's scope features a sophisticated color graphics display (video). The shooter locks a laser on the target by pushing a small button by the trigger... But here's where it's different: You pull the trigger but the gun decides when to shoot. It fires only when the weapon has been pointed in exactly the right place, taking into account dozens of variables, including wind, shake and distance to the target. The rifle has a built-in laser range finder, a ballistics computer and a Wi-Fi transmitter to stream live video and audio to a nearby iPad. Every shot is recorded so it can be replayed, or posted to YouTube or Facebook."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Remember Retro-Bit, the company behind the nifty handheld NES / SNES, the RetroDuo Portable? Once again, the company is looking to make your outdated gaming habits a little more convenient, this time with a line of wireless controllers for vintage consoles.

There are three controllers in the Hypermode series, one for the Nintendo 64, a hybrid controller the NES and SNES, and finally one for the Sega Genesis. Each uses a 2.4GHz receiver to connect to its respective console, and all three have turbo functionality. The N64 controller also features a slot for a Rumble Pak. Furthermore, the NES / SNES and Genesis controllers can also be used on PC or Mac.

The N64 controller is slated to launch this summer, while the other two are planned for this fall. Each will cost $30. Distributor Innex will be showing the controllers at its booth during E3. We'll do our best to swing by and check them out.

In the meantime, we pose a simple question: Where's our wireless Saturn controller?

Continue reading Retro-bit bringing wireless controllers to retro consoles

Retro-bit bringing wireless controllers to retro consoles originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 15 May 2013 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Compilariz has created a delightful compilation video of animals sneezing, beginning with the classic video of a baby panda sneezing and startling its mother.

via Tastefully Offensive

Today’s I/O keynote was Google in all its glory. Expansive, overly dramatic, nerdy, impressive, self-unaware, exhausting. It’s no accident that, relatively speaking, Android was nowhere to be found.

Oh sure, there were the usual perfunctory activation numbers, and a new feature or two, and even a product announcement: the native Android Samsung Galaxy S4. But the S4 cost $649; only the Chrome Pixel was given away for free.

Google is a web company, and the I/O keynote was about the web and web services. Music, photos, search, messaging, Google Now, maps, Google Play game services: all available on the web and/or cross-platform.

Services are where Google excels, and it’s where they make their money. It’s why they make the most popular iOS apps, even as their own OS competes for phone market share.

Apple, on the other hand, makes money on hardware. It’s why their services and apps only appear on their own devices; for Apple, services and apps are differentiators, not money-makers.

Look again at the Mobile Hierarchy of Needs:

Apple invests in software, apps, and services to the extent necessary to preserve the profit they gain from hardware. To serve another platform would be actively detrimental to their bottom line. Google, on the other hand, spreads their services to as many places as possible – every platform they serve increases their addressable market.

So what about Android? I remain convinced that Android was, first and foremost, defensive. To own the bottom of the pyramid is to own access to the top, where Google’s profit lies. Android ensured that no one company would ever monopolize the bottom of the pyramid like Microsoft did for PCs.

In fact, Sundar Pichai said almost exactly that:

Most of you in this audience have lived through the PC revolution. An incredibly important revolution in our lifetime. It started around 1980, but if you take a look back, for over 25 years, most people in the world used one operating system, which was Windows. And in terms of hardware form factors, it evolved from desktops to laptops over a long period of time.

This, from Google’s perspective, was a very bad thing. Windows firmly controlled the pyramid, to the detriment of web-based competitors (Hi Netscape!).

But fast forward to about seven years ago.

Google acquired Android in 2005 as a defense against Windows Mobile dominating smartphones just as Windows dominated PCs. When the iPhone arrived in 2007, Google quickly pivoted Android to defuse the new threat. And they were hugely successful.

With the advent of smartphones. there’s been an explosion of devices. Phones and tablets and increasingly new types of devices. People are adopting these devices at an amazing pace because it has a profound impact on their daily lives…the world has changed pretty dramatically just in a span of six to seven years.

And no one company controls that world, thanks to Android.

We are very very fortunate at Google to have two platforms…Android, and Chrome… Android and Chrome as I said before are really designed for people to build amazing experiences on top. We at Google are working hard on top of these platforms. We call this the best of Google. We are building products like search, maps, youtube, Google Now, and many more new things that you will hear about later today. So we are working hard on top of these platforms to push the journey of computing forward.

For Google, Android was a detour from their focus on owning and dominating web services; it ensured that those services would be freely accessible in this new world of computing, including on the iPhones and iPads that were used liberally in nearly every keynote demo. And, now that Android is successful, Google is back to focusing on “the best of Google”.¹

1. This was almost certainly the reason for Andy Rubin’s departure

Philly.com

Louisiana: 2 Arrested in Shootings at New Orleans Parade New York Times The police in New Orleans arrested two brothers and charged them both with 20 counts of attempted murder in connection with a shooting spree at a parade on Sunday that left 20 people wounded, 3 of them in critical condition. Akein Scott, 19, was arrested ... 2nd arrest in New Orleans shooting; $10m bail for 1st suspectCNN Brothers Arrested in Mother's Day Parade ShootingABC News 2nd suspect arrested in Mother's Day parade shooting - USA TodayUSA TODAY CNN International -CBS News -New York Daily News all 183 news articles »

2 candidates tied in mayoral election in Philippines flip coin to decide winner The Republic MANILA, Philippines — What do you do when two candidates running for mayor in the Philippines get exactly the same number of votes? You get them to toss a coin. Marvic Feraren and Boyet Py both received 3,236 votes for mayor of San Teodoro town in ... and more »

Swinton

petermorwood:

I love you - not now, the press is here!

I love  you - there’s a guy with a telephoto lens!

I love you - and he hasn’t anything better to shoot….

I love you - and I love you too….

Owls. Love ‘em.

ABC News

Boston suspect's handwritten confession NBCNews.com Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote a message inside the wall of the boat where he hid while attempting to evade police after the bombing. NBC's Pete Williams reports. Share This: facebook · twitter · googleplus. Related Videos; Transcript of this ... Boston suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev 'left note in boat'BBC News Mike Bello on Tsarnaev's note in the boatBoston.com (blog) Watertown Sgt. Says Instinct Took Over In Shootout With Bombing SuspectsCBS Local KREX News Channel 5 all 232 news articles »

florianholzer:

Tilda Swinton

Today, a quick one on isometric pen and ink mountain ranges.

Draw in the ridgeline of the mountains. Add bumps and wiggles and allow the path to wander.

With the ridgeline in place, take lines off from the angles in the ridgeline. Basically anywhere your ridgeline changes direction you can draw a ridge ciming off. These should be steeper near the crest and smooth out towards the edge to show sharp peaks.

Here I’ve laid in shadows with some basic hatching. Use lines far apart for a lighter shadow and closer hatching for deeper shadows. Keep your deeper shadows to the top of the ridgeline (where it’s steepest) and in valleys and crevasses. You can also skip the hatching and import the lineart into a digital editing program and shade your mountains there.

For more tutorials, check out the Tutorials section.

Italian design firm Do the Mutation is creating high-fashion (and high concept) "mutants," using individualized 3-D-printed masks. This blend of a science fiction aesthetic with cutting-edge design is creating something new and unique.

Read more...

After four years of service, NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler telescope has suffered a second serious malfunction — one that threatens to permanently end the mission. Controllers on the ground can no longer control its orientation. It looks bad, but NASA isn’t giving up hope.

Read more...

theodp writes "In 'The Design That Conquered Google,' The New Yorker's Matt Buchanan reports that 'cards' — modeled after real cards — are set to become one of the dominant ways in which Google presents certain types of information to users. The power of a card as a visual-organization metaphor according to Matias Duarte (lead designer of Android), is that 'it makes very clear the atomic unity of things; it's still flexible while creating a kind of regularity.' Hey, maybe that Bill Atkinson was really on to something with that dadgum HyperCard software of his back in the '80s!"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

BBC News - Star Wars and Doctor Who fans clash at Norwich convention:

Trouble flared at the fourth Norwich Sci-Fi and Film Convention at the University of East Anglia, organised by Norwich Star Wars Club.

Police were called after members of the rival Norwich Sci-Fi club arrived to get autographs from two Doctor Who actors at the event on Sunday.

…

Jim Poole, treasurer of Norwich Sci-Fi Club, said there was a history of rivalry and disputes between the two clubs, which both hold their own conventions in the city.