firehose

"Mouse Guard" creator David Petersen discusses the recently-announced second volume of the Eisner-winning "Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard" and what readers can expect from the series in May.

In the heartwarming photo series “Le Petit Prince,” 12-year-old Lukas is depicted leading the active life of an ordinary boy: playing basketball, skateboarding, and so on—all activities he cannot perform in real life due to muscular dystrophy. The series was created by Matej Peljhan, a Slovenian photographer and psychologist who specializes in photographic therapy. Peljhan focuses on people with special needs in his professional work due to his own life experience—he lost an eye and an arm in a childhood accident and endured years of rehabilitation as a youth.

via PetaPixel

Popular cross-platform messenger WhatsApp has found a home on hundreds of millions of smartphones, and in the process has surpassed some other widely-used communication tools. On stage today at D: Dive Into Mobile, WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum said the company now boasts a bigger base than Twitter, which claims 200 million monthly users. And the company now processes some 18 billion messages a day, while by comparison, Facebook is processing a mere 10 billion. Unlike Twitter and Facebook, the app has also eschewed traditional advertising, and is transitioning to a $0.99 annual subscription model across all platforms.

"You don’t want to be interrupted by ads when you’re chatting with your loved ones."

"We do have a manifesto opposing advertising," Koum said at today's event, according to a report in All Things D. "We’re so bombarded with ads so much in our daily lives and we felt that smartphones aren’t the place for that. Putting advertising on a device like that is a bad idea. You don’t want to be interrupted by ads when you’re chatting with your loved ones."

Despite the move to a paid model, Koum said that WhatsApp hasn't seen a drop in users. All that said, we don't know exactly how many users WhatsApp has, or even how many more people are on it than are on Twitter — Koum wouldn't say. But WhatsApp's momentum is undeniable, which has led it to be the subject of frequent acquisition rumors. (Those rumors have been quickly shot down by company.) "Our goal is to build a sustainable, independent company," Koum said. "We want to build a business."

• Source All Things D
• Related Items facebook twitter all things d whatsapp dive into mobile Facebook

As an amended version of CISPA nears a vote on the House floor, the White House has once again stated that it has fundamental problems with the cybersecurity bill in its current form. In an official policy statement, the Obama Administration said that lawmakers had not addressed several issues regarding information-sharing and privacy, and that "if the bill, as currently crafted, were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill." Instead, it urged a continuing dialog between Congress and the President in order to create a more acceptable version.

Specifically, the White House remains concerned that CISPA does not require companies to "take reasonable steps" to strip personal information when sharing user data with the government or other businesses. This has been a major point of contention between CISPA supporters and civil libertarians, who worry that the bill would give companies immunity for swapping user data inappropriately. The White House says that an amended CISPA should "incorporate privacy and civil liberties safeguards" into its text, but it also worries more generally about limiting the liability of companies when they're faced with a potential security problem. "Even if there is no clear intent to do harm," the statement reads, "the law should not immunize a failure to take reasonable measures, such as the sharing of information, to prevent harm," it writes.

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"The law should not immunize a failure to take reasonable measures... to prevent harm."

The White House has already indicated that Obama isn't likely to support the bill as written; the National Security Council raised similar concerns with it last week. However, while this isn't good news for CISPA, the bill has a long road before it gets to Obama's desk. After passing out of a House committee, it's set to come up for a vote as soon as tomorrow, after which it will still need to pass through the Senate — something it failed to do last year, effectively killing it until it was reintroduced in February. As before, several tech companies and lobbying groups have expressed support for the legislation, and Obama himself has pushed for legal changes after issuing an executive cybersecurity order earlier this year. Right now, though, CISPA will need to change before it gets his support.

• Source White House (PDF)
• Related Items cispa cybersecurity white house obama obama administration civil liberties bill house of representatives legislation

“

And so we come to the Boston false-flag theorizing, which is even stupider because all that happened was that an asshole built a bomb and set it off to hurt people, which assholes have done before and will do again. But the falseflaggers are out to explain that, no, this was military-grade ordnance that was used (based on no evidence whatsoever) and that this happened because the Gubmint wants to put more restrictive laws in place to interfere with your civil rights. Of course, the government has been doing that for decades and they haven’t felt the need to bomb anybody because they know perfectly well that they can just restrict civil rights by passing laws and nobody will say boo to a goose, most of the times, because “it’s not my problem” trumps civil rights concerns for ninety percent of the population (just ask any black person about how nobody seems to care when their civil rights are trampled), but whatever, bombs away, am I right?

But falseflaggers don’t care because their theories aren’t about logic or reason or anything at all. Their theories are about making tragedies that happen to other people about them. It’s a fundamentally narcissistic response to tragedy – to not only ask “how does this affect me” but to twist the facts of the event to create a narrative so that you are more likely to be affected. It’s an asshole move, plain and simple, and falseflaggers deserve to be treated like assholes, because they’re assholes.

”

- Mightygodking dot com » Post Topic » #firstworldimaginedproblems

Google Inc. hired a top cybersecurity official from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known for developing technologies that helped create the Internet and stealth fighter plane.

Everyone arrives late to parties. This is not universally true, but it is close enough that it is common practice to invite people to arrive to a party at 8pm that you actually intend to start at 9pm. 

This norm of tardiness can be ascribed to culture, as partygoers are much more punctual in Germany than in, say, Brazil. But we think game theory - the same framework behind the prisoner’s dilemma - does a much better job explaining why people persistently arrive late. Partygoers arrive late because they face a dilemma in which arriving late tends to maximize their enjoyment of the party.

An illustration of the dilemma faced by two prisoners who committed a crime together. If they remain silent while being interrogated, the case against them will be weaker, resulting in a short sentence. A prisoner could reduce his sentence by ratting out his fellow prisoner, but if they both confess, then they will both receive longer sentences. Since the prisoners cannot be sure of what the other will do, the rational choice is to confess.

Here is an example. For simplicity, let’s imagine a three person party hosted by Joe. Joe invites his two friends, Frank and George, to his house. The three are good friends, but they haven’t seen very much of each other lately and would like to spend as much time as possible together at the “party.” Joe is not the most entertaining host, however, so the party won’t be very fun until all three of them get to Joe’s house.

This is what happens based on whether George and Frank each arrive on time:

Here are the same results described with numbers representing their enjoyment of the party from 6 (least enjoyment) to 10 (most enjoyment):

The best outcome is for Frank and George to both arrive on time so that everyone spends the most possible time together enjoying the party. However, both Frank and George want to avoid the awkwardness of arriving before the other friend arrives. Given that they can’t predict what the other will do, here is what their options look like for deciding whether to arrive late or on time:

George’s options if Frank is on time. If Frank is on time, George should arrive on time as well to maximize his enjoyment of the party.

George’s options if Frank is late. If Frank is late, then George should arrive late as well.

As we can see, there is no single right decision for George to make. Depending on what Frank does, the utility maximizing decision could be coming on time or arriving late. Frank faces the same dilemma. 

So what happens? Absent any wildcards - like Frank having a history of always showing up late - our money is on both George and Frank showing up on time. Since the party only consists of 3 close friends, the level of trust and accountability between the friends is high. Arriving late would feel disrespectful to the other friends.

At a large house party, however, we would expect the exact opposite. Since the level of trust and accountability is lower among a bigger group, the partygoers will have less faith in everyone else arriving on time and feel less guilty about being late. Humans have a bias toward risk aversion, so people will tend toward arriving late to avoid the awkwardness of being the lone, on-time arrival. 

Being “fashionably late” to a party isn’t about appearing popular. It’s a utility-maximizing decision predicted by game theory.

This post was written by Alex Mayyasi. Follow him on Twitter here or Google Plus.

(via Twitter / fal7afairuz: Fox News contributor Erik Rush, …)

Ow. Quittit.
Ow. Quittit.
Ow. Quittit.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Birds, GIF of the Week

The dream of a stock Android phone that isn't too big to use with one hand was almost realized by the HTC First, but we may see some other options on the market in the near future, as well. According to a report from PC Mag, Motorola is working on new smartphones that will run 'stock' Android and will be smaller than the giant Android devices that have been dominating the market for the past couple of years.

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PC Mag spoke with Jim Wicks, Motorola's chief of design, who said that these new phones are the result of collaboration and influence from Google, as opposed to the other devices that Motorola has released in the time since Google acquired the company. "It will be the unadulterated version of Android, and I feel really good about our embracing Android and being the best Android experience," said Wicks when speaking about the new devices, adding "there's a sweet spot for consumers that we're currently exceeding in the market. There are some people that like a big display, but there's also a lot of people that want something that's just about right. I think 'just right' is important, and we're designing so we don't disappoint those people."

"It will be the unadulterated version of Android, and I feel really good about our embracing Android and being the best Android experience."

Wicks also touched on included software with phones, more commonly called bloatware, and said that Motorola's phones will be as bloatware-free as possible. That, of course, may change once carriers get involved, so we'll have to see how much bloatware Motorola will be able to keep off these new devices. With regards to the design of the new phones, Wicks said that bezels will be made as narrow as possible, and the phones will have scratch- and drop-resistance built into their designs. Specs will also allegedly take a back seat to consumer experience, as Wicks said that Motorola was "getting away from the spec wars that are just about specs and not about consumers. "

A singular brand expression to go along with a new line of devices

As we've seen recently from other smartphone manufacturers, such as HTC, Motorola says that it will be streamlining its product line and producing fewer devices this year. It plans to drive a "drive a more singular expression of our brand across multiple carriers," so we may not see a disjointed lineup of Droids, Atrixes, and other randomly-named devices coming from the company. The new, Google-influenced phones are expected to start to hit shelves by the second half of this year.

Motorola has struggled to sell devices in the years since the debut of the original Droid, and it has lost money each quarter since Google acquired it last year. Rumors of a Google-influenced "X Phone" have circled for months, with many hoping that Google would be able to incorporate Motorola's engineering with better-designed and more interesting devices than the company has produced in the past. While it doesn't seem like these new, smaller-sized stock Android phones are part of the same thread as the X Phone, they are attacking a market that has largely been ignored by the other players: unencumbered devices that can actually be used in one hand. This could be just what the company needs to gain marketshare in a fiercely competitive market.

• Source PC Mag
• Related Items android stock smartphone Motorola Google Cellphones

Mondrian and Rothko, Modern Art Desserts

It's hard to call yourself a cable provider if HBO isn't in your lineup, and today Google has addressed that glaring hole in Google Fiber's channel listing. Subscribers in Kansas City (and eventually Austin) can now add a $20 HBO package to their monthly bill to fill their thirst for Game of Thrones and Girls. Aside from the core HBO channel, the bundle also includes HBO2, HBO Signature, HBO Family, HBO Latino, HBO Comedy, and HBO Zone. Cinemax is also arriving on Google Fiber today, with a similar package demanding a $10 premium on top of Google's cable bill. A $40 premium option nets you all the premium TV a human could want, with Starz and Showtime thrown in alongside the above channels.

• Source Google
• Related Items hbo fiber cinemax google fiber

“It’s the ShizNICK! Flyer #1” by Zac Gorman

It’s the shizNICK! is an upcoming Nickelodeon themed art show at iam8bit gallery in Los Angeles featuring artwork from over 60 artists. The show’s opening night extravaganza will be on Friday, April 19th from 7 to 11 PM PDT and run until Wednesday, May 1st. You can RSVP for the event online via Facebook.

NICKELODEON has had a lasting cultural influence, far deeper than any other cable channel. So join us for “It’s the shizNICK, where OVER 60 ARTISTS pay homage to the good ol’ days of the network that ruled our youth. There’ll be paintings, prints, sculptures, plush – featuring your favorite characters, places and things that helped to shape your pre-pubescent brain. And perhaps some surprises, too…

A list of featured artists:

Aled Lewis, Amanda Visell, Becky Dreistadt, Ben Butcher, Bobby O’Herlihy, Brandy Lynn, Darick Maasen, Dave Cooper, Dave Crosland, Dave Kloc, Desiree Fessler, Dimitri Simakis, Drew Wise, Edison Yan, Ferris Plock, Gabe Swarr, Gerald de Jesus, Hellen Jo, Jacopo Rosati, Jim Mahfood, Jim Rugg, Joe Vaux, John Harvatine IV, John Sumner, Johnny Ryan, Jorge R. Gutierrez, Jude Buffum, Julia Pott, Kate Ward, Kelice Penney Kyler Martz, Leba, Luke Pearson Lynne Naylor, Maré Odomo, Marlo Meekins, Matt Taylor, Matthew Houston, Maxime Mary, McBess, Meghan Stratman, Mike Yamada, Nan Lawson, Nathan Jurevicius, Nicole Gustaffson, Phil McAndrew, Plastigod, Priscilla Wong, Ron Regé, Jr., Señor Chips, Shawnimals, Steve Courtney, Stevie Lewis, Sukho Lee, Susie Ghahremani, The Chung!!, Two Rabbits, Valeriya Volkova, Will Guy and Zac Gorman.

“You Can’t Hide Forever” by Dave Crosland

“Darth Plankton” by Joe Vaux

“Protector of the Forest” by Zac Gorman

“Turn the page, wash your hands” by Darick Maasen

“You Eediot!” by Jim Rugg

“Legends of the Hidden Temple” by Jude Buffum

“Pete is a Punk” by Kyler Martz

“It’s the ShizNICK! Flyer #2” by Zac Gorman

images via iam8bit, Cartoon Brew and credited artists

via Cartoon Brew

fuckyeah-nerdery:

tanahi:

myriad-fantasies:

buzzfeed:

This dog was unable to gaze at his beloved cat due to some menacing potted plants, but true love won in the end.  

Because I’m sure people need some cute things today.

Thank you for the cute things, Aaron. This helped a lot. :)

The feels, all of them.

Pressure Cooker:

AP: Person briefed on probe says Boston explosives made of pressure cookers with metal, ball bearings.

“Not only would I allow you to make Monkey Island fan games, but I would encourage it. Label them as such, respect the world and the characters and don’t claim they are canon.”

- If I Made Another Monkey Island

“According to her grandmother, Lillian Campbell of Somerville, Krystle had just moved to the town a short time ago. She had been living with her grandmother to help her through an illness for the past couple of years. Krystle recently left a job as a manager at the Summer Shack for a job at another restaurant in the area.”

- BREAKING NEWS: A second victim has been identified…

fat-birds:

fat-birds:

The Trouble With Tribbles….. by thingamijig on Flickr.

this is my other favorite post to reblog periodically

I don’t think I need to explain why

When is hard apple cider not considered hard apple cider? When it's taxed like wine or champagne. America is in the midst of a cider revival, but antiquated tax laws make it a risky business for entrepreneurs, critics say. Not to worry: Sen. Schumer is on the case.

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Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles and Marlene Dietrich

For April Fools, sex toy maker Lelo introduced the Gäsm, a totally sustainable vibrator. But response to the joke was so strong that the company is considering creating a real version. Though it probably won’t have any recycled tires.

Logitech4873 spent 62 hours rendering an interlocking, Jenga-like stack of tumbling, penile, rubbery thinngums falling in slow motion: "The reason for the excessively long rendertime was the use of high quality indirect lighting, SSS materials (Sub-Surface Scattering) and the high quality of the motion blur."

I'm so sorry (via JWZ)

In light of this afternoon's tragedy at the Boston Marathon, many across the world scrambled to contact loved ones through calls, texts, and social media. Cellular providers had beefed up their networks in advance of the Marathon, but even with the extra capacity the networks became flooded, leading to reports of users being unable to make calls.

There was confusion this afternoon when the Associated Press reported that cell service in the city would be intentionally shut off as police looked to prevent any possible cellular activation of another explosive. However, the news organization basically retracted its original story and found no such shutdown was ordered. The carriers said heavy usage caused connection delays—but service remained available in the city throughout the day.

"Verizon Wireless has not been asked by any government agency to turn down its wireless service. Any reports to that effect are inaccurate," Verizon spokesman Tom Pica told the IDG News Service in an e-mail.

Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

The team behind the Pebble smartwatch released a "proof-of-concept" SDK last week, letting developers create their own watch faces and rudimentary apps. A few are already available on the Pebble forums, but the most impressive so far is a surprisingly playable version of Tetris. Once you get your head around pressing down to move right and up to move left, it's almost like you have a miniature Game Boy with a slightly better screen on your wrist. Installing Pebblis is a simple matter of clicking a download link on your phone, at least if you're using your Pebble with an Android device — iPhone owners will need to wait for an official app update, however, or try a direct Bluetooth workaround.

• Via Engadget
• Source Pebble Forums
• Related Items game app sdk smartwatch tetris pebblis watch face Pebble Pebble Misc.

Google has released documentation for the Mirror API, the interface that programmers will use to write apps for Glass. The contents include everything from a quick start guide to in-depth developer guides and best practices, and starter projects and libraries are available for download.

Developing…

Email is vicious. You get 100’s (or 1000’s) of emails competing for your attention every day. Why bother? Why care? Why not just throw in the towel? Well, the reason is simple — because email has been around forever and it’s not going anywhere...

Last month Google announced that Netflix was now available on ARM-based Samsung Chromebooks thanks to the use of HTML5 video — and now the streaming service has outlined its larger plans to eventually move to the format for all computers. Currently, Netflix primarily uses the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in when streaming video to web browsers, but Netflix's Anthony Park and Mark Watson point out in a blog post that the current solution really can't stand. Plug-ins don't play well with with most mobile browsers, they can be cumbersome for users, and perhaps most importantly, Microsoft itself may not develop a new version of Silverlight beyond the current release.

The solution is HTML5 video, but that relatively young technology requires further development to meet the needs — and DRM requirements — of a service like Netflix. According to the blog post, Netflix has been collaborating on three W3C initiatives that together will provide the required functionality for streaming video services. Dubbed the "HTML5 Premium Video Extensions," they include an extension that will allow the company to handle its delivery streams via JavaScript, another that will allow DRM encryption (perhaps the biggest obstacle for HTML5 video's broad adoption), and a cryptography extension that will allow Netflix to make sure any communication between its JavaScript code and servers remains secure.

According to Netflix, the Chrome OS version of Netflix uses the first two extensions in the suite already, but the third hasn't been built into Chrome at the moment so Netflix is using its own plug-in instead. Once Google builds that third extension into the browser, however, the door will be open for Netflix to start testing HTML5 video on a wide array of computers.

• Source The Netflix Tech Blog
• Related Items netflix streaming video html5 silverlight drm encryption plug-in Microsoft Google