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Just Pen by Piotr Górski and Agata Zambrzycka

Independence is important for everyone. Unfortunately, for a person with such insignificant disability as the lack of thumb seams to be, life is not easy at all. We learn how to write in the earliest years of our life and it becomes an inherent element of our everyday life. When somebody is suddenly deprived of the opportunity to ordinarily use a writing tool, the disability starts to be inconvenient, it deprives of the independence.

woah, this looks useful for lots of disabilities that affect the hand though.  Like idk, but, maybe EDS?  and if you have hand dexterity problems and holding things is an issue (which can be caused by so many things).  I really want to look into this because writing by hand is so important to me, but, well, holding a pen isn’t the easiest thing ever

3) The Borowitz Report

Humor is subjective, so I don't doubt that there are plenty of people who take pleasure from reading The Borowitz Report. And more power to them. But there are way too many stories that are simply too plausible, which often leads them to go viral because there's not a single joke in the story. Day Old Congress Most Hated Ever? Yeah, that's pretty much true. Obama Urged To Apologize For Anti-Fear Remark? Is there anything in that headline that strikes you as implausible or funny?

Perhaps The Borowitz Report is an indictment of modern politics in the most crushing way. Maybe Borowitz is using his platform as a kind of long con that ultimately makes us realize we live in a world that's simply beyond parody. But for the time being, it seems to serve primarily as something to get passed around and mistaken for real news.

Stories like Joni Ernst Says She Used to Wear Bucket On Head For No Apparent Reason honestly give me pause. The post is so incredibly absurd and infantile that I suddenly think I might not be smart enough to understand it. Is The Borowitz Report working on an entirely new level? Is it so bad that it's good? Probably not.

Original Source

It’s no fun playing catchup. In the fall Under Armour overtook Adidas for the first time in sportswear sales, but the athletic apparel and gear company is still far behind Nike. Under Armour is now trying to get up to speed in the digital space, accelerated by its recent acquisitions of the fitness and nutrition-tracking tools MyFitnessPal and Endomondo. In 2013, the sportswear maker also acquired MapMyFitness.

The 100 million new users—80 million from MyFitnessPal and 20 million from Endomondo—and the startups’ respective engineering teams make the case for Under Armour to be considered a tech brand. With these gains, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank says, the company can better engage with customers after they leave the store, and get insights into the health and fitness interests of its customers.

“I mean, in one fell swoop we created the world’s largest connected health and fitness community with 120 million unique members [including MapMyFitness]—and the largest by a factor of two and arguably three,” Plank said on the company’s earnings call. “At the end of the day, the math is pretty simple. The more active someone is, the more likely they are to buy athletic apparel and footwear.”

Now more than ever, lifestyle brands are paying attention to the digital space, but they’re also learning how hard it is to build new technologies from the ground up. The nutrition-logging aspect of MyFitnessPal was one of the major reasons Under Armour was interested in the startup. It’s “something that we thought would be much easier for us to buy than to try to build,” Plank told investors.

Indeed, the company’s two fitness-tracking apps built in-house have had limited success: Under Armour Record and Armour39 are ranked 78 and 689 in the fitness category, according to the app-tracking website App Annie. But perhaps more telling, Google Play notes that the Android version of Under Armour Record has only been installed 10,000 to 50,000 times. (Armour39 is only available on iOS.)

By contrast, Nike’s running app—one of about a dozen apps from the company—has been installed 10 million to 50 million times on Android devices. To be fair, Nike had a head start in the digital race, having released its Fuelband activity tracker back in 2012 (though that gadget’s development has since been discontinued), and the company is also working closely with Apple on wearables.

Under Armour’s reasoning is the same the Italian eyewear maker Luxottica used when it decided to team up with Intel to develop hi-tech smart glasses. It’s why fashion company Opening Ceremony also tapped Intel for its snakeskin-wrapped notification bracelet. And it’s why the luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer is striking up partnerships and looking to acquire tech firms to power its upcoming smartwatch. For these monied lifestyle brands, it’s simply easier to buy a solution than develop the technologies they want in-house.

You can’t stream Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Netflix anymore, because they’ve moved onto bigger and better things—well, smaller and better. …Or smaller and mostly the same, but free! Did I mention free?

We’re excited to officially announce Shout Factory TV! Stream your faves for free. Check it out: http://t.co/2UJHjAqPs2 @ShoutFactoryTV

— Shout! Factory (@ShoutFactory) February 5, 2015

Actually, Shout! Factory TV has a lot more than just Mystery Science Theater, including my personal favorite animated comedy, Home Movies. The free, ad-supported platform is all about the cult classics that Shout! Factory has made its business to curate, and its announced lineup so far includes:

• MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 (beginning with over 30 episodes)
• HOME MOVIES animated comedy series
• THE WEIRD AL SHOW
• IT’S GARRY SHANDLING’S SHOW
• FATHER KNOWS BEST
• DENNIS THE MENACE
• THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS
• THE SAINT
• FRIDAYS
• Gerry Anderson collection (hand-picked episodes from Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Fireball XL5, Joe 90, and Supercar)
• SECRET AGENT
• KEVIN SMITH: SMODIMATIONS
• Steve Martin Stand-Up Show Case, featuring STEVE MARTIN: COMEDY IS NOT PRETTY & STEVE MARTIN: WILD AND CRAZY GUY
• MEL BROOKS: MAKE A NOISE
• THE ERNIE KOVACS SHOW
• Werner Herzog movie collection, featuring 16 acclaimed films and documentaries
• Roger Corman’s Cult Classics (select movie titles)
• The Marx Brother’s A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA
• A ROOM WITH A VIEW (Oscar®-winning film by James Ivory)
• DEATH OF A SALESMAN (Golden Globe® and Emmy® winning film by Volker Schlondorff)
• HOOP DREAMS (A film by Steve James)
• Award-winning films such as THE LONG VOYAGE HOME (John Wayne), THE STUNT MAN (Peter O’Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey), STAGECOACH (John Wayne), Bruce Beresford’s BREAKER MORANT (Jack Thompson), THE RULING CLASS (Peter O’Toole)

For now, it appears that the bulk—if not all—of their content is streaming directly from Hulu and also available to watch there, but you can grab the Shout! Factory TV app and stream Shout’s nostalgia-driven content directly to your TV if you happen to own a Roku streaming box.

(via Daily Dot, image via Screenshot)

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The era of below .500 Eastern Conference teams making the playoffs might finally be over.

As the three-team race for the final seed in the Western Conference playoffs heats up, there's bound to be more attention on the imbalance that exists between the NBA's two conferences. The West has been noticeably stronger for 14 years, but the NBA has remained steadfast in sticking with the current system that sends the top eight teams in each conference to the postseason.

Perhaps that will change sometime soon. In an interview with Warriors broadcasters during Golden State's game with the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, Silver was asked if the league would look into changing which teams make the playoffs. Here's his response:

"Ultimately we want to see your best teams in the playoffs," Silver said. "And there is an unbalance and a certain unfairness. There is a proposal where the division winners would all automatically go into the playoffs and then you’d seed the next 10 best teams. I think that’s the kind of proposal we need to look at. There are travel issues of course, but in this day in age every team of course has their own plane, travels charter. I don’t think the discussion should end there. And as I’ve said, my first year I was studying a lot of these issues and year two is time to take action. It’s something I’m going to look at closely with the competition committee. I do think it’s an area where we need to make a change."

Silver has publicly discussed several changes during his short time as commissioner, from raising the age limit to enter the draft to a potential mid-season tournament.

At the moment, the Suns, Thunder and Pelicans are each above .500 and chasing one playoff spot in the West. Over in the East, the Charlotte Hornets are the No. 7 seed at 21-27 and the Miami Heat are the eighth seed at 21-28. Our own Tom Ziller has offered a proposal to fix conference imbalance.

Courtney shared this story from Super Opinionated.

“[These record labels] broke my heart. They said I could sing, I could write, but that I looked wrong. That was the lowest thing you could say. I didn’t forget.”

- Missy Elliott (x)

It’s been a little over a week since I’ve had my Printrbot Simple Metal and I thought I would share my take on this great little printer. First my background in 3D printing…i.e. what gives me the right to voice my opinion on a 3D printer. I have been the Lead Dream Consultant (i.e. facilities tech) at TechShop Pittsburgh for just about 2 years. In those two years, I’ve had the chance to use/service/build from scratch a few different 3D printers. I’ve also learned a great deal in the matter from ZeGo Robotics in building one of their delta style robots (great robot/printer/cookie decorator by the way). I’ve also had a chance to really see a Makerbot Replicator 2 and 2x be put to hard use by members new and experienced to the 3D printing world. With all that said, in an effort to get a simple to use machine for home use, I sought out the Printrbot Simple Metal (Assembled).

Why assembled some may ask. Aren’t you a maker! Indeed I feel I am. However, having already experienced a full build of a ZeGo robot and countless repairs to our Makerbots, I felt I had done my due diligence and wanted to get down to 3D printing! I had kept my eye on the Printrbot Simple Metal since it’s first days being introduced in a video by Make: . Alas, I missed out on the limited red edition. The choice was easy to make as there are already countless reviews out there and a friend or two had already had great success with one.

After unboxing, always a favorite activity of mine, I immediately plugged it in and got down to business. I did the recommended test that Printrbot suggests. First the cube. They ask you to print the basic cube and adjust the Z height in the gcode terminal. Not too tough having come from the ZeGo bot and Prontrface (a program for controlling the printer). Once you get this dialed in you are ready to go. They recommend printing a fan shroud as well to help direct cooler air to the print. I did this and felt joy as I attached it to the fan mount. I was already making parts to improve what seemed to be an already awesome little printer.

The tool chain turned out to be more simple than I could have ever asked for, yet complex enough to satisfy a seasoned 3D printing veteran. Printrbot recommended to me to use Cura Slicer. Cura had a profile built in for the Printrbot Simple Metal so setup was extremely easy. With the prospect of potentially having a few of these printers for member use at TechShop Pittsburgh, the simple settings were very appealing. The advanced settings were great too and would potentially allow for teaching a deeper understanding of what the printer is doing and what can be changed in order to get better prints.

After the week with the printer. I’ve already gone through a half kg of filament (currently using Makerbot filament because I like the small spools). I will most likely be switching to Printrbot filament in the near future as it’s cheaper and sold by the same company as the bot. I recently acquired an LCD panel for controlling the bot with out a computer and after a quick test, I think I’m falling deeper in love with this printer.

You can’t go wrong on this little guy for $599 +tax. Ease of use and reliability makes this printer a huge contender for the Makerbot line. And to think, we could purchase almost five of these for the price of one Makerbot.

The picture below is of a scan of my head done in Skanect software with a Kinect 360. The glasses and hat were added using Tinkercad. Support was added using Meshmixer from Autodesk and finally it was printed on the Printrbot Simple.

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The fast get faster.

There's some added incentive to performing well in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Draft Combine, according to ESPN:

Three players will win Porsche 911 Carrera cars.

The offer comes from Adidas, which is promising the cars, worth about $83,000 each, to the three fastest players in the combine's 40-yard dash who sign with the company before they step up to the line.

But wait, shouldn't they give the fast cars to the slowest guys? Fast dudes already get to go fast all the time! Let the big men live!

Doing well at the draft used to just be about showing your athletic talent to teams. Now that it's a huge event, you can actually win stuff from doing well.

The cars will have customized cheetah paint jobs, because cheetahs are fast. It's a win-win for Adidas -- they get publicity from this, *and* presumably at least one speedy dude will pick Adidas in hopes of getting a free car, which means one more fast dude wearing Adidas.

SPINNING WHEELBARROWS FOR EVERYONE!

Ghana beat Equatorial Guinea to advance to the Africa Cup of Nations final. It was a bizarre match, with bottles raining down on the pitch, helicopters hovering over and a 30-minute suspension, but whatever.

THEY WON! AND THEY CELEBRATED!

Most important, they put on one of the best celebrations around -- the spinning wheelbarrow.

At some point, your celebration is so good that you should be given a goal to begin the next match. This is that celebration. So as we begin the final it's Ghana 1, Ivory Coast 0.

The Titans and Dolphins also made a few hires Thursday.

Tom Brady was named MVP of Super Bowl 49 after leading the New England Patriots back from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit, yet the hero of the game was probably Malcolm Butler, who had the game-saving interception at the goal line that sealed the Patriots' 28-24 win. Brady said earlier this week that he'd love to give the truck that he received with his MVP award to Butler. However, that may be more complicated than simply handing over the keys to the rookie cornerback.

According to Forbes, the gift could have major tax implications for Brady. The Chevy truck, with a fair market value of $34,000, is considered a taxable prize by the IRS. This means that the car would be taxed at Brady's marginal income tax rate of 39.6 percent, and he would have to pay roughly $13,500 even if he were to hand it over to Butler. Brady would also have to pay a gift tax on the vehicle, since the government only lets you give up to $14,000 in tax-free gifts to another person. Forbes estimates that amount to be $8,000, bringing his total federal tax hit to a cool $21,500.

Kris Richard expected to be named Seahawks DC

The Seattle Seahawks have yet to fill their vacancy at defensive coordinator following the departure of Dan Quinn to the Atlanta Falcons, but it is now very likely that defensive backs coach Kris Richard will be promoted into that position, per a report from Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio.

It was also reported by Florio last month that Richard would probably end up either following Quinn to Atlanta or staying in Seattle, but Atlanta seems an unlikely destination now given the team's recent hires. The Falcons named Richard Smith as their defensive coordinator, and assistant coach Raheem Morris is in charge of the passing game.

A league source told Florio that Quinn tried to convince Richard to join his staff in Atlanta, but Richard apparently declined that invitation with the expectation that he'd be a prime candidate to take over Quinn's former DC job in Seattle.

Titans announce coaching hires

Along with naming Dick LeBeau as assistant head coach/defense, the Tennessee Titans announced a couple other hirings to their coaching staff on Thursday. Mike Mularkey has been promoted to assistant head coach/tight ends, increasing his role in the offense and specifically with the run game. Jason Tucker was also added as assistant wide receivers coach. Tucker, a former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, spent the last six seasons as a wide receivers coach in the CFL.

Greene pleads guilty to lesser charges from October incident

Titans running back Shonn Greene pleaded guilty on Thursday to lesser charges stemming from an October arrest for reckless driving. The lesser charges were failure to exercise due care and parking in a handicap spot. Two other charges from the original incident -- resisting arrest and driving on a suspended license -- were dismissed.

Greene was arrested last fall in Franklin, Tenn., when he fled a mall parking lot after a parking lot enforcement officer approached Greene while his car was parked in a handicap spot. Greene was eventually chased down by police and arrested on multiple charges.

Dolphins hire defensive line coach

The Miami Dolphins have reportedly hired former Oakland Raiders defensive line coach Terrell Williams to the same position in Miami, sources told the Miami Herald's Adam Beasley on Thursday.  Williams would replace Kacy Rodgers, who is now the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets. Williams spent the past three seasons working with the defensive line in Oakland. He had left the Raiders and taken the same coaching job with the University of Florida last month, but apparently prefers to stay in the NFL ranks with the Dolphins.

Serving Up Starbucks®

By: Taking Off

This month we began brewing Starbucks® coffee on board all of its flights around the world. 

This move continues Delta’s effort to partner with high-quality, like-minded brands in an effort to enhance the overall traveling experience for customers. With the expanded partnership, Delta and its Delta Connection partners will serve Starbucks® coffee on more than 5,000 flights per day.

To celebrate, we’re giving away a free flight. No purchase required. Click here for details. 

Selfies were the cause of a deadly plane crash in the United States last year, government investigators have concluded.

Amritpal Singh was likely taking photos of himself while flying a small airplane at night near Denver, Colorado, when he became disoriented by the flash of his cellphone, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The plane plunged into the ground, killing Singh and his passenger, Jatinder Singh, an Indian musician, shortly after midnight on May 31, 2014.

It’s the first time the NTSB has blamed a plane crash on the pilot taking photos. Cockpit photography is increasingly popular among pilots, some of whom have large social media followings for their photos from the air. In December, Quartz detailed the trend among commercial airline pilots, who are generally prohibited from using their phones while flying. Many pilots find the practice harmless, but safety experts say even a few moments of distraction in the cockpit can be dangerous.

One airline pilot featured in Quartz’s investigation posted a photo of himself to Instagram with the caption, “About to land this plane but first, #lmtas,” shorthand for “let me take a selfie.”

As a pilot flying a Cessna 150K aircraft under general aviation rules, Singh was not violating Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations by taking photos in the cockpit. Nevertheless, investigators concluded in their report, “It is likely that cell phone use during the accident flight distracted the pilot and contributed to the development of spatial disorientation and subsequent loss of control.”

The investigators also noted that Singh hadn’t been flying frequently enough to carry passengers at night or in the weather conditions present at the time of the flight, according to his logbook.

Singh had a GoPro camera with him the plane, another common trend among pilots. The camera and memory card survived the crash, and investigators observed Singh and his passengers on flights immediately before the one that crashed “taking self-photographs with their cell phones and, during the night flight, using the camera’s flash function during the takeoff roll, initial climb, and flight in the traffic pattern.” There was no GoPro recording during the short flight that crashed.

OBITUARY: "We blame the Seahawks lousy play call for Mike’s untimely demise" http://t.co/Pl1qmdjTf8 pic.twitter.com/0ustFSsqlJ

— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) February 5, 2015

Stephanie Vedvik blamed the Seahawks for her husband Mike's death in his obituary, then told the Spokesman-Review he would have loved it, too.

"My husband would have thought it was hysterical," she says. "If I had read this obituary to my husband about somebody else, he would have had a laugh."

She adds of the sentiment contained in that last sentence, "It was just so true because my husband would have said, ‘What a dumbass.’"

For the record, the his wife doesn't actually think the Seahawks caused Mike's death. He had recorded the Super Bowl and was planning to watch it later.

Every young quarterback has weaknesses. Russell Wilson's are all on his iTunes.

In three seasons, Russell Wilson has been named to two Pro Bowl teams, made the playoffs every year, and won two NFC titles and a Super Bowl. But, as you can see by this tweet, he still has a lot of developing to do:

"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not..." -Kurt Cobain Nirvana Lead Singer

— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) February 5, 2015

I know. It gets worse:

"Real love, I'm searchin' for a real love Someone to set my heart free Real love, I'm searchin' for a real love"

— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) February 5, 2015

This is a correctable problem, though. Wilson just needs a better understanding of what music to throw at his emotions based on the situation. Let's run through some examples.

1. Life shows you a Sad/Lonely look with Regret possibly coming from the weak side.

Wrong response: "Anytime" by Brian McKnight. This is a panicked reaction, and it's likely to make things worse.

Right response: "Irreplaceable" by Beyoncé. Taking your time to find the defense's weakness is the key to being the strongest you you can be.

2. Life lines up in Question Your Own Self-Agency.

Wrong response: "Jumper" by Third Eye Blind. This is the NFL; you can't get away with the same bad habits that worked on the college level. Dig deep and find those coping skills.

Right response: "Save Tonight" by Eagle-Eye Cherry. Now you're letting the game come to you instead of pressing.

3. Life comes out in Peaceful and Relaxed formation but then audibles to Acknowledging Your Own Mortality.

Wrong response: "Foolish Games" by Jewel. Honestly, you're better off taking the sack here and going to sleep.

Right response: "Jump (For My Love)" by The Pointer Sisters. TAKE THAT, LIFE! THAT'S A TOUCHDOWN AND A TWO POINT CONVERSION!