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27 May 17:26

themanhattansilver: Kim fuckin’ Gordon



themanhattansilver:

Kim fuckin’ Gordon

27 May 06:56

Photo



27 May 05:17

Watch adorable, tiny bear cubs wrestle at Yosemite National Park

by Bill Hanstock

The true winner: ALL OF US.

OH MY GOODNESS

OH, MY EMOTIONS

COME JUMP INTO MY ARMS, TINY BEARS, FOR YOU HAVE ALREADY WRESTLED MY HEART ... AND WON

(h/t Department of the Interior)

26 May 23:52

Lawmakers Revive Plan to Let Oregonians Expunge Past Marijuana Convictions

26 May 23:20

Track

firehose

trains~

Track:

Track is your rail travel companion, providing you with real time travel information on trains in the UK.

…enter details about each of your journeys into Track. From that point onwards Track will keep an eye on all of your trains, let you know if you can make your connections, show you when you are delayed and give you help and advice when a train is cancelled.

App Store

26 May 23:12

AT&T et al challenging net neutrality order on 1st Amendment grounds

by Jon Brodkin
firehose

all carriers suck forever

Remember how Verizon argued in 2012 that net neutrality rules violate its First and Fifth Amendment rights?

While Verizon itself isn't challenging the Federal Communications Commission's latest net neutrality order, AT&T and the other Internet service providers that are suing the FCC have resurrected this argument.

In a statement of issues that AT&T intends to raise when the case moves further into the court process, the company said last week that it plans on challenging whether the FCC’s net neutrality order "violates the terms of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and the First and Fifth Amendments to the US Constitution." The First and Fifth Amendment will be used to attack the FCC's decision to reclassify both fixed and mobile broadband as common carrier services, as well as the FCC's assertion of authority over how ISPs interconnect with other networks.

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26 May 23:12

Google Fiber’s botched software update locks out users, disables Wi-Fi

by Jon Brodkin
firehose

all carriers suck forever

Many Google Fiber customers have been reporting that a software update turned off their Wi-Fi and prevented them from logging into the Google Network Box's administration panel. Customers can still get online using Ethernet connections.

Customers in Kansas City and Provo, Utah have been affected and took to Twitter and sites including DownDetector.com to describe the problem.

I'm not eradicating disease with my @googlefiber internet connection, but it would sure be nice for it to work after a 24-hour-long outage.

— Sam Hartle (@Sam_Hartle) May 22, 2015

We have had way more outages with @googlefiber than we ever had with @comcast. Google needs to step up its game.

— Austin Graff (@AustinLGraff) May 21, 2015

A DSLReports forum member from Kansas City wrote yesterday, "Having an issue today with my network box. It lost my custom IP address scheme and went back to default. Now I can't access the advanced menu." A few hours later, the customer had been able to talk to Google Fiber support. "GF Support had to factory reset my network box so I could get in. They acknowledged that a software update this morning caused the issue," the customer wrote.

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26 May 23:11

Google's Diversity Chief: Mamas Don't Let Their Baby Girls Grow Up To Be Coders

by samzenpus
firehose

"There's this perception that coding and computer science is ... a 'brogrammer' culture for boys, for games, for competition" ... 'Google feels that reeducation is necessary.'

every damn time

theodp writes: Explaining the reasons for its less-than-diverse tech workforce, Google fingered bad parenting for its lack of women techies. From the interview with Google Director of Diversity and Inclusion Nancy Lee: "Q. What explains the drop [since 1984] in women studying computer science? A. We commissioned original research that revealed it's primarily parents' encouragement, and perception and access. Parents don't see their young girls as wanting to pursue computer science and don't steer them in that direction. There's this perception that coding and computer science is ... a 'brogrammer' culture for boys, for games, for competition. There hasn't been enough emphasis on the power computing has in achieving social impact. That's what girls are interested in. They want to do things that matter." While scant on details, the Google study's charts appear to show that, overall, fathers encourage young women to study CS more than mothers. Google feels that reeducation is necessary. "Outreach programs," advises Google, "should include a parent education component, so that parents learn how to actively encourage their daughters."

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26 May 23:09

Microsoft was Salesforce.com’s $55 billion suitor, but talks are off

by Peter Bright
firehose

farts all around

Salesforce.com's shares spiked last month amid reports from Bloomberg that an unspecified company was in talks to buy the Software-as-a-Service firm. There was a repeat earlier this month when Bloomberg reported that Microsoft was evaluating a bid for the firm, but had not started talks. CNBC is now reporting that talks between the companies have, in fact taken place, but that they've also come to an end with no agreement being reached.

According to "multiple people familiar with the situation," Microsoft was offering around $55 billion for the cloud company. Salesforce's founder and CEO Marc Benioff wanted to push the price higher still, apparently as high as $70 billion. CNBC's sources claimed that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was hesitant to commit to a deal with such a high price and impact on Microsoft.

Even at $55 billion, the acquisition would have been Microsoft's largest by far. The company's biggest purchase to date was $8.5 billion on Skype in 2011, with the Nokia devices unit, bought in 2013, coming in at second place at $7.2 billion. The previous record holder, the $6.3 billion purchase of aQuantive in 2007, was disastrous. Five years after that takeover, Microsoft had to write down almost the entire purchase price.

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26 May 23:05

Hubble Discovers a Fast-Aging Star Nicknamed "Nasty 1"

by samzenpus
firehose

PLOT A COURSE FOR NASTY 1

An anonymous reader writes: Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Astronomers have uncovered surprising new clues about a large, rapidly aging star whose behavior has never been seen before. The star is so strange in fact that astronomers have nicknamed it "Nasty 1," a play on its catalog name of NaSt1. Wolf-Rayet stars like NaSt1 are typically large, rapidly evolving stellar bodies that form by shedding their hydrogen-filled outer layers quickly, exposing a bright hot, helium-burning core. Nasty 1 is unique because it contains a disk like structure. "We were excited to see this disk-like structure because it may be evidence for a Wolf-Rayet star forming from a binary interaction," said Jon Mauerhan of UC Berkeley, lead author on the new Nasty 1 paper. "There are very few examples in the galaxy of this process in action because this phase is short-lived, perhaps lasting only a hundred thousand years, while the timescale over which a resulting disk is visible could be only ten thousand years or less."

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26 May 23:03

Here’s how badly we’re getting ripped off by our mobile phone providers

by Cyrus Farivar
firehose

all carriers suck forever

It is hard to overstate how much I love the British mobile provider Three and how I wish it would come to the United States.

My fellow Americans, let me (again) re-iterate how badly we’re all getting overcharged: Three offers a 30-day prepaid plan with unlimited data, unlimited texts, and 200 minutes of domestic calling, all for £20 ($31). That’s about one-third less than what I pay right now Stateside.

Last month, I traveled to the United Kingdom for a reporting trip on the new Welsh drone startup behind the Zano handheld drone. Before I left California, I had my new Ars UK colleague Sebastian Anthony go to a Three shop, buy a SIM, and send it to me in the mail (or post, whatever). He didn’t have to register it or show an ID. When I landed at Heathrow, I could just pop it in, and boom, I was off and running.

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26 May 23:03

Amazon Decides To Start Paying Tax In the UK

by Soulskill
firehose

wow, how brave

Mark Wilson sends word that Amazon will begin paying corporate taxes on profits made in the UK. The company had previously been recording most of its UK sales as being in Luxembourg, which let them avoid the higher taxes in the UK. But at the end of last year, UK regulators decided they were losing too much tax revenue because of this practice, so they began implementing legislation that would impose a 25% tax on corporations routing their profits elsewhere. Amazon is the first large corporation to make the change, and it's expected to put pressure on Google, Microsoft, Apple, and others to do the same.

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26 May 23:01

Google and Gates-Backed Khan Academy Introduces "Grit"-Based Classroom Funding

by samzenpus
firehose

"34 underserved schools"

34! wow :|

theodp writes: Their intentions are no doubt good, but some will be troubled by Google and Khan Academy's recently-concluded LearnStorm initiative, which pitted kids-against-kids, schools-against-schools, and cities-against-cities in a 3-month learning challenge for prizes based not only on students' mastery of math skills on Khan Academy, but also their perceived 'hustle' (aka 'grit'). "Points are earned by mastering math skills and also for taking on challenging new concepts and persevering," explained a Khan Academy FAQ. A blog entry further explained, "They've earned points and prizes not only for mastering math skills but also for showing 'hustle,' a metric we created to measure grit, perseverance, and growth. They competed over 200,000 hours of learning and 13.6 million standards-aligned math problems. In addition, thanks to the generosity of Google.org, DonorsChoose.org, and Comcast's Internet Essentials, 34 underserved schools unlocked new devices for their classrooms and free home internet service for eligible families, increasing student access to online learning tools like Khan Academy." Apparently funded by a $2 million Google grant, the Google, Khan Academy, and DonorsChoose grit-based classroom funding comes on the heels of the same organizations' gender-based classroom funding initiative. Supported by some of the world's wealthiest individuals and corporations, Khan Academy's Board members include a Google Board member (Diane Green), spouse of a Google Board member (Ann Doerr), and the Managing Partner of Bill Gates' bgC3 (Larry Cohen); former Board members include Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt.

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26 May 22:42

India Ends Russian Space Partnership and Will Land On the Moon Alone

by samzenpus
An anonymous reader writes: The Russian space program has experienced numerous accidents and delays recently, leading Indian officials to call into question its long term viability. Now India has decided to pull out of a partnership with Russia for a mission to the moon. According to the Examiner: "Previously, India was scheduled to launch a Russian lander on one of its rockets and send it to the lunar South Pole. Now, according to a story in Russia and India Report, India will go it alone, building its own lander to touch down on the lunar surface within the next few years.

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26 May 22:28

Rain in the forecast? No problem for Quintron’s weather-dependent synth

by Nathan Mattise
firehose

Quintron beat

Weather feels inherently musical. The light percussion of rain eases many to sleep; the deep bass of thunder demands attention.

“The weather by itself is kind of an acoustic experience every day,” says Mr. Quintron, New Orleans’ new age musical Wonka. Over his career, Quintron has built a reputation as a DIY-synthesizer creator. Some of his instruments—like the Drum Buddy beat machine—have been picked up by musicians as big as Wilco and Fred Armisen. But his latest creation sits squarely in “one of a kind” territory, even if the basic concept existed forever.

Quintron performs with the Weather Warlock at St. Maurice Church in New Orleans

Now on tour, meet the Weather Warlock. Its sound combines the trance-iness of monastic chant, the pulsing of electronica, and bizarre voicings reminiscent of The Flaming Lips. Quintron says he always had the idea, long wanting to create a weather-controlled drone synthesizer. But the musician only dedicated himself to it fully when illness (later revealed to be lymphoma) required him to cancel tours in favor of rest and treatment in 2013. The experience strongly influenced what the Weather Warlock grew into. Hosted through weatherfortheblind.org, the synth streams constantly so that anyone who could benefit from drone musical healing may access it around the globe. (The site's name references a circadian rhythm sleep disorder suffered by many visually impaired persons.)

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26 May 22:24

Galapagos Island Volcano Erupts After 33 Years, Threatening Fragile Ecosystem

by samzenpus
An anonymous reader writes: Wolf volcano in the Galapagos islands has erupted for the first time in more than 30 years, sending lava flowing down its slopes and potentially threatening the world's only colony of pink iguanas. The Galapagos National Park says that currently there is no risk to tourism operations, but the Environment Ministry is notifying tourist operators to take precautions. A tourist boat passing by took an amazing picture of the eruption.

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26 May 21:32

Hot Topic To Buy ThinkGeek Parent Company Geeknet

by timothy
firehose

RIP

jones_supa points out the news (also at Ars Technica, and -- paywalled -- at the Wall Street Journal) that clothing and music retailer Hot Topic has announced plans to buy Geeknet, parent company of ThinkGeek and ThinkGeek Solutions, for $117.3 million. ThinkGeek Solutions is a distributor of video-game themed merchandise through licensed web stores. Hot Topic Inc. will pay $17.50 per Geeknet share. Privately held Hot Topic, based in Los Angeles, has more than 650 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Geeknet will become a Hot Topic subsidiary. This news inspires some nostalgia here; ThinkGeek was for a long time one of Slashdot's sister sites under the umbrella of VA Linux, and I had some fun years back helping to set up the ThinkGeek booth at LinuxWorld in New York.

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26 May 21:32

Google Chrome gains MIDI support

by Mark Walton
firehose

uhh

The humble Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) protocol—which allows a wide range of musical hardware and software like synths and digital audio workstations (DAW) to communicate with each other—is over 30 years old at this point. Due to widespread support, though, it remains the primary connection protocol in the audio production world. Now, thanks to Google, built-in MIDI support is available in the Web browser, opening up a raft of creative possibilities.

Google's Chrome browser (from version 43) includes integrated MIDI hardware support, which previously required installing specialised software like the Web MIDI API. Websites that make use of Chrome's MIDI support are able to communicate directly with connected MIDI devices such as drum machines and keyboards, allowing users to control things like Web-based synthesizers with a preferred MIDI instrument.

Since MIDI support was rolled out to the Chrome beta channel in April, a number of different Web-based synths and DAWs created in HTML5 and other languages have popped up, showcasing some of the different musical possibilities for the technology. While the current crop of software can't yet compete on latency with dedicated software, and there are some audio quality hiccups here and there, it's impressive to see what can be done with a browser and HTML5.

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26 May 21:31

IRS system mined for over 100,000 taxpayer records by fraudsters [Updated]

by Nathan Mattise
firehose

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZOIIIINNNNKS

In an official statement issued today, the IRS announced that it has shut down an online service to obtain tax records after determining that "unusual activity had taken place on the application, which indicates that unauthorized third parties had access to some accounts on the transcript application." An initial review of that activity revealed "access was gained to more than 100,000 accounts through the Get Transcript application," according to the IRS statement.

After the IRS disclosed more information, it became clear the user data was not obtained because of a direct hack of government systems. Rather, weak authentication used by the IRS to protect access to taxpayer data is likely at fault. The attackers were able to acquire taxpayer records using stolen personal identifying information, possibly pulled from online financial fraud marketplaces.

The Get Transcript application, a feature of the IRS' site that allows taxpayers to download tax return and tax payment transaction data, was apparently targeted by financial fraudsters between February and mid-May. The service was shut down last week as the IRS investigated the activity, which may have been linked to the fraudulent filing of tax returns and transfer of tax refunds. Attempts were made to access over 200,000 accounts; roughly half failed because of incorrect information inputted during the IRS' authentication process.

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26 May 21:31

A new thing to worry about: Debris from crashing drone hits two in Marblehead

by OnlyMrGodKnowsWhy

WBZ reports on an incident during Marblehead's Memorial Day parade.

Original Source

26 May 21:19

'Russell Madness' is the greatest movie featuring a wrestling dog and a monkey manager

by James Dator
firehose

meanwhile, in Portland

Unless you have kids or a penchant for animal sports movies you probably didn't know that Air Bud is still a thing. The late-'90s movie about a basketball-playing golden retriever spawned a ton of sequels and now its own production house. The latest movie is Russell Madness, and it's about a wrestling Jack Russell terrier that has a monkey manager who may or may not be inhabited by the spirit of a family's dead grandfather.

Let's go back a bit here.

The Ferraro family inherits an old wrestling arena in Portland and moves from San Diego to take claim of it. Their grandfather had one caveat: they need to turn a profit for one year, and if they do, they can sell the derelict building. Initially they plan to flip the place, but life takes an unexpected turn.

Meet Russell the Jack Russell terrier. He's named Russell because the pet store people are lazy. He never gets bought because he pees on kids ... seriously.

russell

Also, at night they turn off the lights and leave him in this glass box without food or water, making it the worst pet store in the history of existence.

pet store

Russell escapes, sleeps in an alley, gets a free sausage and runs to the ring because he's being chased for his sausage by a bulldog. Then this happens:

dog choke hold

Russell might have killed this dude. We don't know, because "Big Vic" is never seen again.

Hunk, the talking monkey who was Grandfather Ferraro's pet/partner, brokers a contract to represent Russell after this fight. The whole business deal is strange, largely because it involves a dog and monkey and also Hunk is ripping off Russell by demanding he's paid in bananas -- which are no good to a dog.

Hunk the talking monkey rides a segway during an egg-drinking montage.

hunk

John Ratzenberger from Cheers plays a nasty Vince McMahon-esque character and Fred Willard is a dog wrestling commentator. None of it makes sense and all of it does. At one point the dad, Hunk and Russell go on the road for a wrestling tour. Upon arrival the monkey tells dad, "Remember, what happens on the road stays on the road." Which suggests they got up to some serious shit.

Dad returns home after a meet and greet to find Hunk the talking monkey eating his anniversary dinner with his wife.

dinner

This all happens in the first 45 minutes of the movie. It's just moment after moment of jaw-dropping, mouth-agape wonder. At this point we won't spoil the shock ending, so instead here are some great moments.

Monkey tea party

tea party

Lying to kids about what a verb is

Magazine covers

magazine

It's the fuzz!

RUSSELL WRESTLES LUCHA UNDERGROUND SUPERSTAR JOHN HENNIGAN

john morrison

You are beyond hope if this hasn't convinced you to watch Russell Madness. It's on Netflix now. Just watch it already.

26 May 21:18

Khris Davis hit 3 home runs in 2 at-bats

by Bill Hanstock
firehose

baseball is the least interesting part of baseball beat

Thanks, instant replay!

During Monday's game against the Giants, Khris Davis hit a home run off Tim Lincecum, but -- with both the home plate umpire and San Francisco catcher Andrew Susac watching his feet -- appeared to skip over home plate entirely without touching it. Whoops!

Your browser does not support iframes.

After discussion with Bruce Bochy, Davis was called out by the home plate umpire, but a lengthy video review determined that he did, in fact, hit a home run, seeing as it went into the stands and everything.

Later in the game, Davis hit ANOTHER home run, and made sure he touched home plate THIS time:

khris davis again

So, to recap: Khris Davis hit a home run, had it taken away, then reinstated, then hit another home run later. Three home runs in two at-bats! That's technically accurate!

What do you think? Did he touch home plate on that first home run, or did he miss it?

26 May 20:54

Google has patented a potentially offensive way to predict what you like by your accent

by Mike Murphy
Perhaps you are in the mood for a wiener schnitzel?

If you say “tom-ay-to” and I say “tom-ah-to,” Google may someday suggest a tall latte for you and a nice cuppa tea for me.

In a patent awarded today, Google outlined a voice search system that would assess users’ accents and predict their preferences for restaurants, places, and movies based off that accent.

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accent search
(US Patent and Trademark Office)

The patent says that the results would use data from users with the same accent who have written reviews or shown interest in particular products or places online. Google would then apparently display “accent-influenced search results” that predict the best options for you within a particular category:

For example, if English-language speakers with a French-language accent show a preference for a particular result for the query terms “restaurants in Scranton” than do English-language speakers with a Russian-language accent, a search engine will be more likely to select that particular result for another user who provides a voice query in the English language with a French-language accent.

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(US Patent and Trademark Office)
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(US Patent and Trademark Office)

While Google’s existing voice search software has already started to come to grips with accents from around the world, it doesn’t currently take that accent into account when serving up search results. Google’s patent suggests that it would should show more content that relates to a user’s assumed place of origin when accent search is turned on.

The patent implies some pretty big assumptions—that Germans prefer to eat German food, regardless of where they are in the world, for example. One would like to think that Germans aren’t always looking for sauerkraut, the British aren’t always looking for a nice cuppa, and Americans don’t always crave a cheeseburger. But perhaps Google knows us better than we know ourselves.

{{inline-ad}}

While there’s no guarantee that the features described in this patent will actually be added to Google’s voice search—the company wasn’t immediately available for comment but has often said that a patent does not necessarily mean the company plans to develop the product—it could be an interesting addition, as long as you can turn it off.

There’s also no mention in the patent of how granular the accent recognition would be: Would Google only show thin-crust pizza joints for New Yorkers searching for restaurants, and direct Chicagoans to the deep-dish pies? Would it know the difference between a hoagie, a hero, and a sub? Or a pop, a soda, and a Coke?

26 May 20:46

Elon Musk Establishes a Grade School

by Soulskill
HughPickens.com writes with news that Elon Musk has established "Ad Astra," a small, private school for grade-school-age kids. His goal for the school is to eliminate actual differences between the grades. The school had only 14 students for the past year, but will likely expand to 20 next September. Musk says, "It's important to teach problem solving, or teach to the problem and not the tools." As an example, he says teaching kids about tools should be more about taking an engine apart and learning about neccessary tools as the need arises, rather than just dumping information on them about a bunch of tools in an abstract way. "Musk's approach to delete grade level numbers and focus on aptitude may take the pressure off non-linear students and creates a more balanced assessment of ingenuity."

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26 May 20:21

Robert Rodriguez to Write and Direct Warner Bros.’ Live-Action Jonny Quest - Sim, sim, salabim!

by Teresa Jusino

hadji and jonny

After years in development, an adaptation of the Hanna-Barbera classic show, Jonny Quest, may now actually see the light of day as a live-action film, with director Robert Rodriguez at the helm.

Many of us probably grew up either seeing re-runs of the original show, or with TV and comic revivals in the 1980s and ’90s (not to mention video tributes like this one). It tells the story of a kid named Jonny who accompanied his scientist dad all over the world having adventures with their bodyguard, Race Bannon, and Jonny’s friend, Hadji. Despite only running one season (not because of ratings, but because it was too expensive to make), it was hugely popular for ABC in 1964, and continued to make lots of money in re-runs.

This isn’t the first time a live-action film has been attempted, either. Back in 2010, there was supposed to be a film adaptation starring Zac Effron and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Race Bannon and directed by Peter Segal. Before that, Richard Donner, of Superman fame, was attached to a version.

Now, the director of the child-friendly action-adventure Spy Kids franchise (oh, and also Machete) is going to be directing as well as rewriting a script by Dan Mazeau (which made The Black List) with Terry Rossio (Pirates of the Caribbean) for Warner Bros.

My only request – can it still have The Rock as Race Bannon? Because that would be awesome.

(via The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood)

—Please make note of The Mary Sue’s general comment policy.—

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26 May 20:19

Newswire: TV viewers buy what Liam Neeson tells them to buy, according to advertisers

by Sam Barsanti

Americans love to buy things, but sometimes choosing which things to buy is a little too hard for our hamburger-stuffed brains to handle. That’s where ads—or “advertisements,” as they’re known in the industry—come in. If that word sounds familiar, it’s probably because the concept of advertising was recently popularized by the hit TV show Mad Men, in which a secretive man who drinks at work is tasked with writing flashy slogans that will get people to buy things.

Mad Men may not be real, but people who appear in ads and tell us what to buy certainly are. They can be British vacuum cleaner inventors, cartoon animals with cereal addictions, or even celebrities. Of all the celebrities who tell people what to buy, though, nobody is more effective than Liam Neeson—at least according to a recent study conducted by the TV ratings fans at ...

26 May 20:19

Great Job, Internet!: Mad Max: Fury Road B-roll shows off stunts in real-time

by Caroline Siede

Last month some B-roll footage from Avengers: Age Of Ultron made its way onto the internet, and now it seems that might become a trend for all summer blockbusters: A kind soul at the JoBlo Movie Trailers YouTube channel has uploaded almost 19 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from Mad Max: Fury Road. Not only does the B-roll capture director George Miller chatting with his actors between takes, it also gives a sense of what those famously CGI-lite stunts looked like in real time. And it turns out they’re almost as impressive in their raw form as they are in the final cut.

For those who just want the action highlights: At the 53 second mark there’s footage of the automotive caravan speeding through the desert with Tom Hardy (or more likely his stunt double) strapped to the front of a car. Starting at 2:42 there are shots ...

26 May 20:19

Looks like HBO is already considering lowering the price of HBO Now

by Adam Epstein
Game of Thrones HBO Now

HBO has long argued that the quality of its content, which includes shows like Game of ThronesTrue Detective, and Veep, is unmatched by its rivals. To that end, it put a premium price on its new online streaming service, HBO Now: $15 per month, about double the price of Netflix.

But it seems like HBO already may be considering a change. First spotted by Cut Cable Today, HBO is asking customers who opted out of signing up for the service after their free trial ended to take a survey about whether a different pricing structure might lure them back:

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(Cut Cable Today)

The first two options are the equivalent of $10 a month, while the third option—$100 for a yearly subscription—would be the same as Amazon Prime (which includes access to Amazon’s Netflix-like streaming video service Instant Video) and would work out to nearly the same as Netflix on a per-month basis.

The survey is, of course, merely meant to gauge public opinion, and shouldn’t be taken as definitive proof of HBO’s plans. (An HBO spokesperson tells Quartz, “HBO Research conducts surveys all the time on a wide range of topics. The questions should never be interpreted as suggesting a strategic direction.”) But HBO brass have claimed to be flexible, and the survey is further evidence that the company is serious about that.

In addition to Now’s pricing, HBO will, at some point, need to figure out what to do with its budding sister channel Cinemax. An HBO spokesman told Quartz in March that the company had no plans to offer an equivalent Cinemax service (or to fold Cinemax shows, like the criminally under-appreciated The Knick, into HBO Now), but left the door open to doing so down the road.

Should HBO begin offering pricing tiers, it might be a good opportunity for it to leverage Cinemax into reeling in more subscribers to the service. Shows like The Knick don’t have nearly the popularity or the value of something like Game of Thrones, but together, Cinemax’s growing slate of original series—plus its catalog of hundreds of popular movies—might be a legitimate hook for consumers who are on the fence.

For instance, the hypothetical $99 yearly subscription could come with access to Cinemax shows. Call it an extra gift for agreeing to be an HBO customer for 12 months, instead of on a month-to-month basis.

HBO hasn’t disclosed how many people have signed up for HBO Now in the streaming service’s first month-and-a-half of existence. Apple CEO Tim Cook said HBO Now is “extremely popular” in the Apple app store, but provided no data to support that assertion. HBO was originally targeting the roughly 10 million people in the US who pay for internet, but not cable TV.

A reduction in price for HBO Now wouldn’t signal that HBO executives are wrong about their content—the high opinion they have of their shows is corroborated by the network’s considerable awards prowess and its soaring torrent problem, among other measures.

It would, however, say something about how much consumers are willing to pay for it.

26 May 20:18

Do You Realize Mad Max: Fury Road Is A Miracle?

by Rob Bricken
firehose

'Look, I know it makes sense to normal people that you would only let the creator of Mad Max make a new Mad Max movie, but Hollywood studio executives are not normal people. They’re cocaine-addled lunatics who are terrified at the idea of losing potential box office revenue. From that viewpoint, hiring Miller is a legitimately risky decision. He’s woefully out of practice, his last action film was mediocre anyways, he’s 70 years old… there’s no reason to suspect he could make a summer blockbuster, let alone a modern summer blockbuster, let along a goddamned action movie masterpiece. There are plenty of other movie directors out there who, while they may make crappy movies, still make movies that almost always make money. As nightmarish as it is to consider, from a studio exec’s point of view, it would have been more fiscally responsible to give Fury Road over to a Brett Ratner or a Len Wiseman or one of their ilk.

But not only was Miller hired, he was given a massive $150 million budget and, more insanely, he seemingly also had complete creative control. You know who gets that deal? Practically no one. Maybe guys like Chris Nolan, who have churned out enough summer blockbusters over the years that the studio doesn’t feel the need to second-guess their every decision.'

I’m serious. Mad Max: Fury Road should not exist. It should never have gotten made. It certainly shouldn’t be as awesome as it is. And yet somehow, against all odds, this impossible cinematic masterpiece is in theaters right now, in defiance of reality itself.

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26 May 19:53

Design A Jungle Network at RHoKSec this Thurs & Fri in Amsterdam

by lishevita
firehose

GWB

An indigenous community in Ecuador would like to build a wireless network that will cover a million acres of land in the Amazon. We’re going to use this to run a Taarifa instance to track pollution and illegal encroachment in their area. There are some challenges, though. Hardwood trees block radio signals. There are no roads. Heavy rains may dislodge equipment. Animals may eat your infrastructure. There are bugs everywhere. Heat and humidity shorten the lifespan of digital equipment. Sound like a fun challenge? We think so!

This is a theoretical challenge. We Do not expect you to find a jungle and WiFi it. Though if you want to WiFi vondelpark we are not stopping you! The situation is thus… The Cofan have legal rights to their land. They are being infringed on two sides. On one side loggers are cutting down their trees, but there is no way to report this. More seriously, large petrochemical firms are sinking tar test pits all over that protected river hunting ground. Because this cannot be reported the companies dig with impunity. We MUST stop that. The water pollution is killing children… That is the line.

This project involves finding a solution that provides enough of a network to report back to a local server which will then sat link over the data. You can see the problem. It is a fascinating challenge that can do real good. We need hackers, network people, eco warriors and a few ex mil types that know about rough conditions would be useful.

There is no electricity supply, you are 10 hrs from civilisation… Give us some plans. Mock up hardware, do a presentation… For this one just help! The Taarifa challenge may be the platform… Hint go talk to them.

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