New Android app that looks just like the iOS version.
firehose
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15 May 19:09
New Android Google Maps mobile app is the iOS app
New Android Google Maps mobile app is the iOS app:
15 May 19:08
Face Off: Skull-A-Day vs Street Anatomy, A Skull Art Exhibition in Chicago, Illinois
by EDW Lynch
firehoseOH SHIT SKULL APPRECIATION DAY
“Face Off: Skull-A-Day vs Street Anatomy” is an upcoming exhibition of skull art hosted by anatomy-themed art blogs Skull-A-Day and Street Anatomy. The exhibition will be on display at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago, May 31 to August 25, 2013.
Skull-A-Day and Street Anatomy have joined forces to bring together the greatest collection of skull art, to celebrate the 3rd Annual Skull Appreciation Day!
Tertiarymatt, firehose likes this
15 May 19:08
The New Yorker Launches 'Strongbox' For Secure Anonymous Leaks
by Soulskill
firehose"Strongbox is actually just The New Yorker's version of a secure information-sharing platform called DeadDrop, built by Aaron Swartz shortly before his death. DeadDrop is free software."
Today The New Yorker unveiled a project called Strongbox, which aims to let sources share tips and leaks with the news organization in a secure manner. It makes use of the TOR network and encrypts file uploads with PGP. Once the files are uploaded, they're transferred via thumb-drive to a laptop that isn't connected to the internet, which is erased every time it is powered on and booted with a live CD. The publication won't record any details about your visit, so even a government request to look at their records will fail to find any useful information. "There’s a growing technology gap: phone records, e-mail, computer forensics, and outright hacking are valuable weapons for anyone looking to identify a journalist’s source. With some exceptions, the press has done little to keep pace: our information-security efforts tend to gravitate toward the parts of our infrastructure that accept credit cards." Strongbox is actually just The New Yorker's version of a secure information-sharing platform called DeadDrop, built by Aaron Swartz shortly before his death. DeadDrop is free software. 
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
15 May 19:07
Fossil Crinoids. I could stare at this for days.
firehosevia Rosalind
Fossil Crinoids.
I could stare at this for days.
firehose likes this
15 May 19:07
rurone: midwest-monster: norsegays: astrolope: People being...
firehosevia Rosalind
People being angry about ~dem gays~ on Target’s Facebook.
I just want to give my two cents on this and tell you a story.
A couple weeks ago, I was hired at Target. I have a job at Target. Not a big deal right?
It is a big deal because i’m a transman.
It doesn’t take a genius to conclude that it’s hard for me, my brothers, and sisters to get a job. There are legal restraints regarding the job and if you don’t pass, it’s hard to be taken seriously at a job interview.
Right on the application, it asks what your preferred name is. It also asks if there is anything that target should know. I put the fact that I am a transman, expecting not to get a call because usually when you put that down, people will throw out the application. I got TWO interviews.
At the interview, they asked me about it. I told them I am on hormones and they told me that they didn’t care. Not in the sense that they don’t emotionally care, but that it didn’t matter. I was male and that’s all that mattered. They also told me that they give sex same couples benefits in states that do not recognize them as a married couple.
At my job orientation, I was not misgendered once. Even my supervisors who weren’t sure of my gender avoided pronoun use, which I found only happens when you’ve had pronoun training. They gave me a name tag with my preferred name and didn’t ask questions. I felt safe and respected, which is huge for a trans* person.
TLDR: Target is amazing not just for the LGB, but also the T. Shop there for the rest of your life.
This rules.
This is really good to hear.
firehose, Tertiarymatt and -1 others like this
15 May 19:03
hboscar: fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment: writers-bloc: Never...
firehosevia Snorkmaiden
#fyb
Never drop a book in the bath again! An 8 year old’s invention.
NO BUT THIS IS VERY VERY RELEVANT
WHAT?! awesome…
15 May 18:41
visualgraphic: 1-color letterpress business cards printed on...
firehosevia Rosalind
Tertiarymatt, firehose likes this
15 May 18:41
handa: Alter Edit | Identity Design - Alter Edit
firehosevia Rosalind
baron, Tertiarymatt and 2 others like this
15 May 18:41
All content you post on Google+, even if not public, is run through Google search and autotagged
firehoseVic Gundotra: "You always have the option to tell Google if you want your content to have this amazing feature, and if we get it wrong you can always x it out."
AMAZING FEATURE
All content you post on Google+, even if not public, is run through Google search and autotagged:
Edit: “You always have the option to tell Google if you want your content to have this amazing feature, and if we get it wrong you can always x it out.”
That’s a little… scary?
Showing off a photo of the Eiffel Tower that was auto-tagged with image search.
A little menu in the corner of each card shows auto-added hashtags, when you click on them it shows you ranked related items from Google search and social sources.
15 May 18:36
kateordie: cerebus92: What happen when Pepper Ann tries to buy...
by allthethingsineed
firehosevia Rosalind
Tertiarymatt, firehose likes this
15 May 18:29
The Original Southern Spirit
by kalexander
These days, many people consider bourbon the South’s spirit of choice. But long before Southerners were sipping corn whiskey, they enjoyed glasses of locally made fruit brandy. During the colonial and antebellum years, planters routinely set aside acres for orchards—not just to fill pies, but to fill their copper pot stills, too. As late as 1872, there were more than 1,800 active brandy distilleries in the Southern states, the majority in Georgia, Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Brandy gave way to whiskey in the twentieth century. But today, in Lenoir, North Carolina, three men are bringing back a centuries-old tradition. Kenny Greene, Keith Nordan, and Chris Hollifield launched the Carolina Distillery in 2008 and released their first batch of Carriage House Apple Brandy a year later.
The recipe comes from master distiller Hollifield’s ancestors, some of whom were bootleggers and moonshiners in the area. It begins with fresh cider, made from apples grown in nearby Wilkes County. The men ferment the cider, 1,000 gallons at a time, before distilling it in a custom-made, 250-gallon copper pot still. The brandy spends a year in charred white oak barrels before they bottle it, dipping the neck of each bottle into a vat of hot green wax to form a distinctive seal. And though it may be distilled from apples, there is nothing fruity about the final product. It is more akin to an aged whiskey than a fruit liqueur, subtly sweet with a dark caramel flavor and an 80-proof bite.
Carriage House Apple Brandy is currently distributed in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee, and will soon hit shelves in Kentucky and Florida. What’s more, says Hollifield, an unaged apple brandy and a peach brandy are on the way. Check your local liquor store for a boozy, barrel-aged taste of Southern history.
Apple Brandy Old-Fashioned
Hollifield suggests that you enjoy his apple brandy neat, at room temperature. “It needs to be at room temperature for the best flavor and aroma,” he says. But it works well in a simple cocktail, too—a drink like the original Old-Fashioned.
2 sugar cubes
2-3 dashes bitters
2 oz. Carriage House Apple Brandy
Place the sugar cubes in a rocks glass and shake two or three dashes of bitters onto them. Crush the cubes with a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon until the sugar is almost dissolved. (Add a few drops of water if necessary to dissolve sugar.)
Add the brandy and stir until sugar is well blended. Add ice—preferably one large chunk—and stir to chill. Enjoy.
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15 May 18:22
Possible Graphene Alternative Made From Hemp Waste
by Unknown Lamer
MTorrice writes "A low-cost chemical process can turn hemp fiber into carbon nanomaterials. Researchers used the materials to make devices called supercapacitors that provide quick bursts of electrical energy. Supercapacitors made with the hemp nanosheets put out more power than commercial devices can." According to one of the authors, "Hemp bast is a nanocomposite made up of layers of lignin, hemicellulose, and crystalline cellulose ... If you process it the right way, it separates into nanosheets similar to graphene." Perhaps the process could be applied to related plants (hops?) too. 
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Tertiarymatt likes this
15 May 18:09
Square introduces $299 stand aimed at replacing cash registers
by Casey Newton
firehosefull circle
Square today unveiled a new piece of hardware designed to replace traditional cash registers in the businesses that use the company to accept payments. Square Stand, which can be pre-ordered for $299 starting today, features an integrated card reader for processing payments. The stand connects to receipt printers, barcode scanners and other peripherals. It will become available in July online and at traditional retailers including Best Buy.
Jack Dorsey, Square's co-founder and CEO, said the stand marked an improvement on clunky point-of-sale systems that have dominated sales counters for decades. Merchants are fed up with existing solutions, he said.
"They have to deal with these ugly systems that they don't know how to use," Dorsey said. "Nothing works together, nothing is seamless, nothing feels like it fits. It really takes away from their aesthetic. We thought we could do a lot better."
Eventually, the stand could appear at Starbucks, which already accepts Square payments at more than 7,000 locations. Dorsey said he has already been in conversation with Howard Schultz, Starbuck's CEO, who sits on Square's board.
"He's been very, very excited about it," Dorsey said.
Square's second step into the hardware business
This is the second piece of hardware the company has introduced, following the iconic square card reader that allows merchants to accept payments via their smartphones and tablets.
The stand works with Square's Register application, which lets customers who have provided Square with credit-card their information to pay without bringing physical wallets into the establishment. It is compatible with iPad 2 and 3, but won't be available for iPads that use the Lightning connector until later this year.
- Related Items payments e-commerce Square
15 May 18:09
New Google Play services brings Google Plus-powered friends, leaderboards, achievements to Android, iOS and web
by Christopher Grant
firehosefuck you!
By Christopher Grant on May 15, 2013 at 12:17p
Google today announced Google Play game services, a first-party suite of gaming-specific services that joins similar services on other platforms, like Apple's Game Center and Amazon's GameCircle. Available as a free SDK (software development kit), developers will be able to add the services to their games with support extending as far back as the three-year-old "Froyo" release of Android, version 2.2.
The service uses the company's Google+ social network to power leaderboards, both social and public; an achievement system similar to the one on Apple's platform; the ability to save game states in the cloud; and real-time matchmaking. The entire suite of services also work across the Android, iOS, and "web" platforms, with the exception of the real-time matchmaking component with remains Android-only "for now."
While the most recent version of Android, dubbed Jellybean, shipped nearly a year ago, over 70 percent of all Android phones operate an earlier version of the operating system. Eager for developers to implement the service into their games, it was important that it work on as many Android devices as possible, a problem complicated by the platform's gradual upgrade cycle.
Greg Hartrell, lead product manager for the Google Play game services, told us that the strategy was both user and developer focused. "It's user focused in the sense that we're trying to reach out to the largest number of users," Hartrell said. "And for developers, they want to maximize the size of the audience and the quality of the audience. Both of those things drove that decision." They also drove the decision to offer the services outside of the company's Android ecosystem.
To further extend the potential reach of the Google Play game services, Google is also offering them to iPhone and iPad developers through a native iOS SDK and even web and "other platform" developers using a wide-ranging cocktail of "REST APIs, with libraries for JavaScript, Java, Python, Go, Dart, PHP, and more."
"At Google, we want to make our services available to as many folks as possible," Hartrell said. When asked why the real-time matchmaking service didn't meet that goal, he said, "We always strive for a cross-platform approach, it just happens that this time around for that feature, it's starting Android-only for now."
Over two years after Apple, a company not known for its proactive approach to gaming, launched its Game Center service and nearly a year since Amazon launched GameCircle services for its Android-based Kindle lineup, it's difficult to see Google's entry as anything but late. From Hartrell's perspective, it's anything but.
"Google Play is just over a year old now and within that year we can all see incredible momentum being created around delivering this foundation to developers to design and develop and distribute their apps," he said.
Adding game services to the overall Google Play package took his team "several months" but what's being announced today isn't the end of Google's ambitions for gaming. "We still believe it's the early days for game services but I personally think it's a really solid start," Hartrell said. One obvious area for development would be a standalone application to track a players progress across games, outside of the confines of an individual title.
The opportunity for Google is even greater following GREE's closure of OpenFeint last November, one of Android's most popular cross-platform gaming services. While Apple's Game Center services provide a stable foundation for iOS developers, those looking for a similar solution on Android have had few choices before now.
"Apple just makes really, really good tools and Game Center is definitely one of those tools. It just makes it really easy to add achievements, leaderboards, iCloud or multiplayer," Jordan Schidlowsky, CEO at Noodlecake Games, the team behind the iOS and Android hit Super Stickman Golf 2, told Polygon. "It's imperative for Google to offer this service because it is something that's definitely needed on Android." Noodlecake has added Google's new services to Super Stickman Golf 2, bringing it to parity with its Game Center-backed iOS release.
"Apple's solution, compared to what Google brought out today, is a mixture of Game Center, iOS and Facebook," Niccolo de Masi, CEO at Glu Mobile, told Polygon. "Google has rather elegantly brought out a Google-only ecosystem that ties together, and works really quite elegantly." Glu has updated its Eternity Warriors 2 game to support Google's new game services; the iOS version uses Game Center.
"This is definitely at feature parity with what Apple is doing with Facebook and Game Center and actually probably goes beyond that in terms of how well connected all the different pieces of what Google announced this week are," he said.
15 May 18:05
"The graph becomes more and more powerful each day."
firehoseAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
' "We will be bringing conversational search and 'hot wording' — as I call it, 'no interface.'" Can simply say "okay Google" and have Google speak back the answer.
That sounds like Google is always listening to you. Is that cool? '
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
"The graph becomes more and more powerful each day.":
“Starting today, we will anticipate your next question, and not only will we give you your answer along with a trend line.”
“Sometimes the answer you’re looking for is a song or video your friend sent you, or an upcoming meal or flight… you should simply be able to ask Google.”
“You can ask Google like you would ask a friend.”
11:02:48 AM PDT
“We will be bringing conversational search and ‘hot wording’ — as I call it, ‘no interface.’” Can simply say “okay Google” and have Google speak back the answer.
That sounds like Google is always listening to you. Is that cool?
OR MAYBE YOU JUST ASK YOUR FUCKING FRIEND ABOUT THE SONG AND YOU TALK TO A HUMAN BEING ABOUT THE FLIGHT
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
DYSTOPIAN MOTHERLODE
Rosalind, Tertiarymatt likes this
15 May 18:00
Former THQ president Jason Rubin has spoken about the struggles Metro: Last Light developer 4A Games went through to get its game to launch. In a post on GamesIndustry International, Rubin extolled the efforts of the Ukrainian studio, citing a relatively meager budget, cramped working conditions, and extreme logistical troubles as major adversities.
According to Rubin, the game's development budget was "less than some of its competitors spend on cut scenes, a mere 10 percent of the budget of its biggest competitors." That budget apparently didn't extend to swanky office equipment, with 4A's staff sat "elbow to elbow" at card tables and on folding chairs. Upon seeing 4A Games in person, Rubin wrote, he wanted to buy them proper office chairs, but the logistics were something else.
"When 4A needed another dev kit, or high-end PC, or whatever," Rubin wrote, "Someone from 4A had to fly to the States and sneak it back to the Ukraine in a backpack lest it be 'seized' at the border by thieving customs officials. After visiting the team I wanted to buy them Aeron office chairs, considered a fundamental human right in the west. There were no outlets in the Ukraine, and our only option was to pack a truck in Poland and try to find an 'expediter' to help bribe its way down to Kiev."
In the end, the offices were too cramped for the wider Aeron chairs anyway.
Ex-THQ president Rubin discusses cramped Metro working conditions
by Sinan Kubba
firehosechrist
According to Rubin, the game's development budget was "less than some of its competitors spend on cut scenes, a mere 10 percent of the budget of its biggest competitors." That budget apparently didn't extend to swanky office equipment, with 4A's staff sat "elbow to elbow" at card tables and on folding chairs. Upon seeing 4A Games in person, Rubin wrote, he wanted to buy them proper office chairs, but the logistics were something else.
"When 4A needed another dev kit, or high-end PC, or whatever," Rubin wrote, "Someone from 4A had to fly to the States and sneak it back to the Ukraine in a backpack lest it be 'seized' at the border by thieving customs officials. After visiting the team I wanted to buy them Aeron office chairs, considered a fundamental human right in the west. There were no outlets in the Ukraine, and our only option was to pack a truck in Poland and try to find an 'expediter' to help bribe its way down to Kiev."
In the end, the offices were too cramped for the wider Aeron chairs anyway.
Continue reading Ex-THQ president Rubin discusses cramped Metro working conditions
Ex-THQ president Rubin discusses cramped Metro working conditions originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 15 May 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
15 May 17:50
Check out this cool (and detailed) geological map of Skyrim
by Joseph Bennington-Castro
A scientist has set out to create a geological map of Skyrim. It's kind of rough at this point, she admits, but it's still pretty awesome.
    
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firehose likes this
15 May 17:50
Photos Comparing Biopic Actors and Their Real-Life Counterparts
by Justin Page
Daniel Day-Lewis (Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln)
A large collection of photos have been placed side-by-side by redditor banana_rhino comparing biopic actors and their real-life counterparts. A second photo album has been started by banana_rhino where even more comparisons are being created via suggestions from other reddit users.
Anthony Hopkins (Alfred Hitchcock, Hitchcock)
Ben Kingsley (Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi)
Ashton Kutcher (Steve Jobs, Jobs)
Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar Hoover, J. Edgar)
Kristen Stewart (Joan Jett, The Runaways)
Aaron Taylor-Johnson (John Lennon, Nowhere Boy)
Helen Mirren (Queen Elizabeth, The Queen)
Joaquin Phoenix (Johnny Cash, Walk the Line)
images via bananarhino
via reddit
15 May 17:48
Google's new Photos service knows when you're smiling, where you're at, autotags and stores everything indefinitely
firehosefucking christ
"Machine learning algorithms have been trained by people to find good aesthetics, and it can boost based on social signals — more shots of your wife, for example. Sounds wild, but also... crazy."
Google's new Photos service knows when you're smiling, where you're at, autotags and stores everything indefinitely:
Google can sort out blurry shots, duplicates, badly exposed shots, shots of landmarks. “Are people happy? Smiling? Might make the highlights.”
15 May 17:48
Google rolls out new Hangouts app, which stores your private chats indefinitely
firehosechrist
Google rolls out new Hangouts app, which stores your private chats indefinitely:
“Of course we give you the ability to turn off history, and delete those things. But having this ability is amazing.”
Or longer, presumably.
Conversations can be long lasting — can scroll back in time many months or a year.
15 May 17:44
Abercrombie & Fitch Rebranded In Skid Row
When the headline: "Abercrombie and Fitch Would Rather Burn Clothing Than Donate to Those in Need" caught Greg Karber's eye, he knew that he had to gave a “brand readjustment” to Abercrombie & Fitch.
15 May 17:43
For A Soviet Traveler In 1955, A Handy Map Of Prohibited Areas In The U.S.
If you were one of select few private Soviet citizens granted permission to visit the United States in 1955, you could take in a Cubs game or ski Jackson Hole, but if you wanted to sample Memphis barbeque or check out the factories in Youngstown, Ohio, you’d be out of luck.
firehose likes this
15 May 17:43
How A Con Man Cost Google $500 Million
Meet the career con man who made a fortune selling illegal pharmaceuticals online—and pulled off a federal sting that forced Google to pay $500 million.
15 May 17:43
The Sad Demise Of The White House Yacht
When the USS Williamsburg was commandeered by Harry Truman to be the President's personal yacht, she became one of the world's most famous ships. But now the celebrated boat is rusting away in an Italian shipyard - and could be scrapped within a few years if a last-minute attempt to save her fails.
