Kim fuckin’ Gordon
firehose
Shared posts
Watch adorable, tiny bear cubs wrestle at Yosemite National Park
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
Lawmakers Revive Plan to Let Oregonians Expunge Past Marijuana Convictions
submitted by FerengiStudent [link] [19 comments] |
Track
firehosetrains~
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.
AT&T et al challenging net neutrality order on 1st Amendment grounds
firehoseall 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.
Google Fiber’s botched software update locks out users, disables Wi-Fi
firehoseall 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.
Google's Diversity Chief: Mamas Don't Let Their Baby Girls Grow Up To Be Coders
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
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Microsoft was Salesforce.com’s $55 billion suitor, but talks are off
firehosefarts 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.
Hubble Discovers a Fast-Aging Star Nicknamed "Nasty 1"
firehosePLOT A COURSE FOR NASTY 1
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Here’s how badly we’re getting ripped off by our mobile phone providers
firehoseall 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.
Amazon Decides To Start Paying Tax In the UK
firehosewow, how brave
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Google and Gates-Backed Khan Academy Introduces "Grit"-Based Classroom Funding
firehose"34 underserved schools"
34! wow :|
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
India Ends Russian Space Partnership and Will Land On the Moon Alone
firehose!
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Rain in the forecast? No problem for Quintron’s weather-dependent synth
firehoseQuintron 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.
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.)
Galapagos Island Volcano Erupts After 33 Years, Threatening Fragile Ecosystem
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Hot Topic To Buy ThinkGeek Parent Company Geeknet
firehoseRIP
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Google Chrome gains MIDI support
firehoseuhh
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.
IRS system mined for over 100,000 taxpayer records by fraudsters [Updated]
firehoseZZZZZZZZZZZZZZOIIIINNNNKS
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.
A new thing to worry about: Debris from crashing drone hits two in Marblehead
'Russell Madness' is the greatest movie featuring a wrestling dog and a monkey manager
firehosemeanwhile, 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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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
Lying to kids about what a verb is
Magazine covers
It's the fuzz!
RUSSELL WRESTLES LUCHA UNDERGROUND SUPERSTAR JOHN HENNIGAN
You are beyond hope if this hasn't convinced you to watch Russell Madness. It's on Netflix now. Just watch it already.
Khris Davis hit 3 home runs in 2 at-bats
firehosebaseball 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:
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?
Google has patented a potentially offensive way to predict what you like by your accent
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.
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.
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.
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?
Elon Musk Establishes a Grade School
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Robert Rodriguez to Write and Direct Warner Bros.’ Live-Action Jonny Quest - Sim, sim, salabim!
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.—
Do you follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?
Newswire: TV viewers buy what Liam Neeson tells them to buy, according to advertisers
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 ...
Great Job, Internet!: Mad Max: Fury Road B-roll shows off stunts in real-time
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 ...
Looks like HBO is already considering lowering the price of HBO Now
HBO has long argued that the quality of its content, which includes shows like Game of Thrones, True 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:
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.
Do You Realize Mad Max: Fury Road Is A Miracle?
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.'
Design A Jungle Network at RHoKSec this Thurs & Fri in Amsterdam
firehoseGWB
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.