firehose

sketchamagowza:

send in the puppies…

ellliot:

essentially

ladybeemer:

I’M LAugHING LOOK AT THE PENCIL CASE I BOUGHT TODAY omg

The Passive Aggressive Raven

The Future

Over the past couple of weeks, rumors have been swirling that Google is working on a cross-platform messaging service called Babel that will tie together all of its existing communication products, from Google Talk and Hangouts to Voice and Google+ Messenger. If the rumors are correct, it will do everything from provide a single, synced conversation list across all your devices, to turn a group discussion into a Hangout video chat with a single touch. From what we’ve heard, it sounds like iMessage on steroids, but what really stands to set it apart is platform independence — all indications are that it will be available on Android, Chrome, iOS, and inside the Gmail web client. If it does everything it's reported to, it could stand to completely change the messaging app landscape, so let's take a look at what we know so far.

Google would be pushing all of its users onto a single platform

Initially, a report surfaced on Geek.com in mid-March claiming that Google was working on unifying its myriad messaging platforms into a single service. Citing "multiple sources," the report said that Google would be pushing all of its users onto a single platform, one that let them "use the same chat window across all of Google’s products with the same features available everywhere." Originally rumored to be called "Babble," the app was said to be scheduled for an unveiling at Google I/O in May.

Since that first report we’ve seen a few leaked images, a few more details, and rumors of a billion-dollar acquisition of popular cross-platform messaging service WhatsApp. The acquisition rumors were promptly denied by WhatsApp’s CEO, but a screenshot of a reference to the service (above), posted by Google+ user Patric Dhawaan appears to check out. On top of examining its metadata, Android Police also pointed to a search of the Chromium bug group that contains multiple references to the name. Adding to the pile of evidence, photos of what appear to be Babel’s Gmail and Android interfaces (below) were subsequently posted by TechRadar, showing a multitude of new blob-shaped emoticons alongside traditional emoji. Judging from the photos, the new app could also add thumbnail images to represent the participants in the conversation, a notable change from Google Talk.

Now that we're reasonably confident Babel is indeed on the way, what exactly can we expect from the service when it gets here? A purported feature list posted by Droid-Life could offer some answers, including references to notification and conversation syncing, photo attachments, and more than 800 emoji characters. There’s no mention of Google Voice, but some, including Droid-Life, have said that the service will be incorporated down the road.

A "first class" iOS experience

Last but not least, it looks like Babel will follow Google Maps and Gmail as a . Rather than take the Apple and BlackBerry approach and tie its messaging service to its own platform, Google would instead be opting to go for maximum market penetration. The tactic has worked out in the past (Google has completely taken over many of our own homescreens), but there’s one core Apple advantage in the messaging space that Babel might not match out of the gate, and that’s integration with your existing SMS service. That could change if rumors of Google Voice integration down the road are true, but the omission would single-handedly keep Babel from becoming a pure iMessage replacement for many, regardless of whatever other niceties Babel brings to the table. At the same time, the tight integration with Google’s existing services (particularly your Gmail contacts) would almost certainly make it an attractive draw compared to other SMS replacement services like WhatsApp and Kik Messenger. Hopefully, with the big reveal rumored to be just over a month away, we won’t have to wait too much longer to see how it stacks up against the competition.

• Source Geek.comPatric Dhawaan (Google+)Android PoliceTechRadarDroid-Life
• Related Items google babel ios android chrome gmail Google

Status Board by Panic is a detailed information dashboard designed for the iPad. The app displays the time and weather, as well as your calendar, email, Twitter, and RSS feeds in an organized, customizable way. Status Board also has two “pro panels” for business use that display graphs and tables, and saavy users can even code their own custom panels using HTML. The iPad app is currently available for download in the iTunes App Store.

via 9to5Mac

Jay El reps the Beantown Mafia.

hey-assbutt-its-a-parade:

finndicate:

vjezze:

Amsterdam is turning rainbow for a visit of the Russian president Putin. The council of the city of Amsterdam has decided to hang out the gay pride flag on all council owned buildings and offices, in protest to Russia’s new anti-gay law.

there’s several of these as well;

pretty sure Amsterdam is now the sass capital of the world

AMC Actually Considering Breaking Bad Spinoff -- Vulture:

Apparently AMC and Sony are earnestly “exploring” a possible show about the shady and wonderful lawyer Saul Goodman, according to Deadline.

Due to what the writer calls "two postage stamp-sized images of gay sex," Apple has refused to release Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples "Saga" #12 via comiXology's iOS app.

Projectophile's Clare has a funny post about the hazards presented by beautiful mid-century modern home designs to children. My grandparents had a proper split-level MCM when I was a kid, and it's a wonder we survived. As Clare says, "I love open, flowing space as much as the next modern girl. But I know it would only be a matter of minutes before my kid flings himself off one of these deadly ledges..."

15 Mid-Century Modern Dream Homes that will Kill Your Children (via MeFi)

Ken Segall’s iPhone Naming: When Simple Gets Complicated argues for the next iPhone to be named “iPhone 6” rather than “iPhone 5S”:

More important, tacking an S onto the existing model number sends a rather weak message. It says that this is our “off-year” product, with only modest improvements. If holding off on the big number change achieved some great result, I might think otherwise. But look what happened with iPhone 5.

This model brought major changes: bigger screen, better camera, greater speed, all on a thinner and lighter body. Yet its improvements were still dismissed by many as “incremental.”

I agree: if Apple’s going to keep using sequential numbers (rather than feature-based names, like the second iPhone being named “iPhone 3G”), they should just give every model the next number. The next iPhone should either be the iPhone 6 or the iPhone Something Else, not the iPhone 5S.¹

The iPhone 4S was a huge improvement over the iPhone 4, but the press and fans shat all over it because it had the same case design and therefore wasn’t “an iPhone 5”.

The 4S shipped during the clear beginning of the current era of Apple pessimism. Apple reduced people’s expectations with the “4S” name at the worst possible time: just as many were starting to think iPhone innovation was slowing, Apple named the new iPhone in a way that suggested, “This isn’t a big improvement.”

It’s a move that they could have made when they were on top of the world, PR-momentum-wise, much like when they released the iPhone 3GS, a similarly substantial improvement over the iPhone 3G that was similarly underrated by the public. But when the 4S was released, Apple no longer had that much positive momentum.²

A year later, when Apple did release a model named “iPhone 5” that was far better than the 4S and had an external redesign, the inertia of Apple pessimism was so strong and the press had become such petulant children about Apple products that they shat all over it even though it was a huge update that gave them everything they asked for, plus more.

Now, Apple pessimism is even stronger. No matter what they release and no matter how well it sells, they won’t win over the press, the pundits, the stock market, or the rhetoric. Not this year. They could release a revolutionary 60-inch 4K TV for $99 with built-in nanobots to assemble and dispense free smartwatches, and people would complain that it should cost $49 and the nanobots aren’t open enough.

Since they’re not going to meaningfully improve their PR momentum anytime soon, they might as well at least avoid trying to make it worse. This is not the time for Apple itself to suggest to the world that it’s slowing down innovation on its most important product.

Regardless of how big of an improvement the next iPhone is, Apple should just call it the iPhone 6 and give the finger to anyone who questions whether the name fits.

---

1. Plus, since the “5” and “S” characters are so similar, a “5S” model would be more awkward than usual. ↩

2. To make matters worse, they heavily focused the iPhone 4S’ marketing on Siri, a feature labeled “beta” that not only lived up to that label, but is fundamentally disappointing to most people’s expectations even when it works reliably. ↩

“

In January, the USPTO had told Apple that it was bouncing the trademark application for the phrase “iPad Mini” because it judged the second word to be “… merely descriptive of a feature or characteristic of the goods.” That objection has been withdrawn, as have others that said Apple submitted unsatisfactory examples of the proposed trademark.

But the USPTO continued to hold Apple to one requirement from January: It must waive any exclusive rights to the word “Mini.”

“If applicant does not provide the required disclaimer, the USPTO may refuse to register the entire mark,” the letter said. The agency recommended Apple amend the application with a disclaimer reading, “No claim is made to the exclusive right to use ‘MINI’ apart from the mark as shown.”

”

- U.S. patent office retracts rejection of Apple’s iPad Mini trademark - Computerworld

“PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Napoleon and Rojo spread goodwill whenever they visit people in the hospital. They’re big, hairy ambassadors with a special gift to make people smile. Napoleon is an alpaca. Rojo is a llama.”

- Therapy llama spreads cheer in Portland | KOIN 6 News

“The new multipurpose rss reader, live stream, mashup, aggregation web application”

-

selfoss - the open source web based rss reader and multi source mashup aggregator

another self-hosted RSS reader; PHP, GPLv3, RESTful API, responsive design, slightly easier installation than TTRSS and SQLite support, extensible to non-RSS sources (ie. Twitter feeds, RSS via Readability, email, logs, etc.)

Dating Tip #100: Make her pay for everything. Especially if payment requires an item of high sentimental value. 

CBS CEO Les Moonves is the latest TV exec to publicly entertain the idea of halting free broadcast TV if streaming provider Aereo is allowed to continue its service. Responding to a question about News Corp. COO Chase Carey’s threats to make Fox cable-only, Moonves told The New York Times that he "wholeheartedly supported what Chase said." He explained that CBS was in preliminary talks with cable operators in the New York - Connecticut area (currently the only area in which Aereo operates) about what the switch would take, emphasizing his reluctance to take such a drastic approach. "Frankly, we don’t think it will get to that point," he explained.

Broadcasters have been upping the rhetoric since Aereo's legal victory

Aereo’s business, which lets subscribers pay for an individual physical antenna that captures broadcast TV signals for streaming over the internet, stands to upend the TV industry, and broadcasters have been upping the rhetoric since Aereo’s legal victory earlier this month. An appeals court ruled that Aereo’s system doesn’t infringe on broadcasters’ copyrights, prompting Fox’s Carey and Univisiion chairman Haim Saiban to threaten taking their networks off the airwaves. While the option would be a logistical and legal nightmare for networks, chances are good we’ll see similar tough talk from the TV industry in the weeks and months ahead.

• Via CNET
• Source New York Times
• Related Items law cbs legal broadcast tv copyright les moonves aereo

dcblogs writes "The unemployment rate for people at the heart of many tech innovations — electrical engineers — soared in the first quarter of this year to 6.5%. That's nearly double the unemployment rate from last year. The reasons for the spike aren't clear, but the IEEE-USA says the increase is alarming. At the same time, U.S. Labor Dept. data showed that jobs for software developers are on the rise. The unemployment rate for software engineers was 2.2% in the first quarter, down from 2.8% last year. This professional group warns that unemployment rates for engineers could get worse if H-1B visas are increased. The increase in engineering unemployment comes at the same time demand for H-1B visas is up."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Fox bans the sale of unlicensed Jayne hats from Firefly:

lol good luck with that

(via Old School Dungeon fabric by quietlyscheming for sale on Spoonflower - custom fabric, wallpaper and wall decals)

Popapp looks cool. It's also a great gift for all of your friends and family that think they "have a great idea for an iPhone app". They draw the various app views on paper, snap a photo and then wire up the controls. It's simple but clever.

Since the stabbing that wounded 14 people at a Houston-area college Tuesday, one person on social media has been taking some of the credit for apprehending the 21-year-old suspect from Lone Star College.

Vancouver Sun

Alleged Rape of Girl Who Killed Self... ABC News Share. 0. A Canadian minister of justice is seeking answers in the investigation into the alleged rape by four teenagers of Nova Scotian teen Rehtaeh Parsons, who hanged herself last week after what her mother says was months of bullying. Rehtaeh Parsons ... Teenager commits suicide after photograph of her 'being gang-raped' goes viralTelegraph.co.uk Canadian girl, 17, dies following suicide attempt after family says she was raped ...New York Daily News all 101 news articles »

In honor of NASA’s Curiosity rover, a Los Angeles-based team of artists calling themselves The Desert Wizards of Mars is building an 8-passenger replica of the rover: the Mars Rover Art Car. In a nod to Curiosity, the art car will be loaded with sensors including a weather station, remote camera, and GPS, though unlike NASA’s rover it will have a camp stove. The Mars Rover Art Car will debut at Burning Man 2013, and afterwards the car will serve as an educational tool. The Desert Wizards of Mars are raising funds for the project on Kickstarter.

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

San Francisco Chronicle

Knicks win 1st Atlantic division title since 1994 Knicks.com NEW YORK (AP) The New York Knicks romped to their first Atlantic Division title since 1994, getting 36 points from Carmelo Anthony and beating the Washington Wizards 120-99 on Tuesday night for their 13th straight victory. Anthony put this one away with ... Schmeelk: Knicks' Offense Has Been Spectacular — And It Can Continue To BeCBS Local Wizards' struggles on road could make this an ugly tripWashington Examiner all 71 news articles »

doctordonna10:

castielsunderpants:

mattykeehl:

gallifrey-feels:

echoingdaydreams:

dandeleijons:

mrdecomposition:

i-wanted-to-rp-so-i:

wholocked-me-in-my-mindpalace:

improbablenormality:

johnisnothisdate:

catatonicconundrum:

adolfi:

Hitler flirting with Eva Braun.

I don’t know how this makes me feel

It makes me feel very uncomfortable

You know what’s so uncomfortable about this? It shows that perhaps one of the most evil men in history, was a human being. That, on occasion, he could be nice, even flirty. That’s not all. You want to see evil people as evil, screaming horrible stuff over a desk with 20 microphones with 20, 000 people saluting them. The evil is clear and recognizable then. This shows a completely different image, it scares you because that means that evil isn’t a stereotype, that evil is not recognizable, that evil could be anyone. It scares you because this shows that could be lurking inside anyone and you’ll never ever know. Maybe in you? 

i reblogged this literally like 2 minutes ago, but i want this version because of that comment ^

That comment is one of my favorite post commentaries, because it’s completely right. People aren’t inherently evil. Like good, it’s a role they grow and live into. We have just as much potential to destroy as this man exhibited. And it’s a very eye opening experience to realize that.

does anyone even remember that one time hitler attended that luncheon between world leaders, some guests of which even included china’s socialist leader as well as Stalin. And then when they were ordering, everyone was gladly ordering impressive dishes one after the other, but Hitler placed an order for barley tea and a pheasant (considered a peasant’s meal by standard). When he was questioned as to why he would order something like this in something as grand as a world leader’s congress, he replied,

“I don’t smoke when my people cannot smoke, and I cannot eat when my people are going hungry.”

He wasn’t evil for its own sake, let’s try to remember that despite the countless murders, but for a moment, he did actually believe he was doing something for the good of his countrymen.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE

No, he’s right. Hitler, though extremely wrong in his views, did everything for what he thought would better the lives of his people. It was wrong. It was disgustingly, horribly wrong. But he did not do it because it was evil and he was evil. He did it because he believed it would help Germany and those who needed a better life. Those who don’t understand or even try to understand the human brain will always label men like him as ‘evil’ because it is easier to accept. But he wasn’t ‘evil.’ He felt love and loyalty and responsibilities. He simply took these aspects and morphed them into a twisted, violent thing. 

Tumblr is probably the only place we could have this conversation and not be lynched.

oh my god reblogging if only for the last comment

this is literally the best thing on tumblr

Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham		www.phdcomics.com
title: "A Game of Tenure" - originally published 4/8/2013 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!