Detail of a diptych of Jean Carondelet, 1517
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"Called Qcut, the project comes from a former Mozilla designer who’s partnered with a veteran..."
Called Qcut, the project comes from a former Mozilla designer who’s partnered with a veteran of the fashion industry. Qcut is hoping to make jeans that’ll come in around 400 different sizes, one of which it should be able to automatically determine as the proper fit for any woman who buys a pair. Qcut says it can do that using just five numbers, which you likely already know: your normal pants size, your height, your weight, your shoe size, and your bra size.
"Women’s bodies change in all sorts of very predictable ways based on height," Qcut CEO Crystal Beasley says. For instance, "If you have two women that are 5’10", the one that has the bigger shoe will have a longer leg."
”- Qcut wants to make you the perfect pair of jeans using data and algorithms | The Verge
max read on Twitter: "Wonderful peek at gamergaters struggling with rhetorical complexity, irony, subtext, context https://t.co/MwS3g0GSHe"
Chris Randall on Twitter: ".@m242 was such a dick when he owned the NIN domain. Check this seizure-inducing redirect from 1996. http://t.co/ZhGDgNNfnI"
Action Bronson has dinner with Mike Ditka, Ditka hates every last second of it
firehose'I used to be a chef. I hurt myself in the kitchen. I broke my leg, and I just somehow became a rapper.
(This line of conversation actually causes Ditka to drop a napkin.)'
Vice has a show where brilliant chef-turned-rapper Action Bronson goes around the world and eats delicious foods called "Fuck, That's Delicious." It is great, because Action Bronson is great and delicious foods are great.
Today an episode was released where Bronsolino eats hot dogs across the globe, and part of that involves a visit to Chicago, to go to recently closed sausage emporium/heaven Hot Doug's -- "each dog is specifically hand-crafted, like a snowflake, or like p---y" -- and to The Wiener's Circle, famous for having extremely rude interactions between staff and customers. He also takes a detour to eat at Mike Ditka's Steakhouse, where he meets Ditka, and we learn that Mike Ditka and Action Bronson have literally nothing to talk about.
The two sit together, with Ditka's wife, for about two minutes, and say enough words that I feel comfortable transcribing them all here, along with pictures of Ditka being incredibly tattooed that he has to spend time with an overweight, tattooed, heavily bearded rapper.
Ditka: "Now, what is this for? You have a food show?"
Bronson: Yeah. We have a food show on Vice... you know... Vice is a big media network... I'm sure they already told you the name...
(Note: It is clear Ditka has never heard of Vice, does not know the name of the show, and hates Action Bronson.)
Bronson: Me, I'm... I used to be a chef. I hurt myself in the kitchen. I broke my leg, and I just somehow became a rapper.
(This line of conversation actually causes Ditka to drop a napkin.)
Ditka: I got a singer here, but he doesn't do rap. He does Sinatra.
Bronson: I love Sinatra too. That's my grandfather's music.
(Silence. Food comes. A hot dog arrives.)
Ditka: If you can pick it up, you're a good man!
Bronson: (picks it up) Yup!
Ditka: Go!
(More food comes. Everybody eats in silence.)
Bronson: This is great stuff! Do you eat like this every night?
Ditka: No.
(A slew of people say hello to Mike Ditka.)
Bronson: You're nobody in Chicago when you're sitting next to Coach. When you come to New York, I'll take you out.
Ditka: (A look of silence, disgust, and dispair so profound that I literally have to show you a photo to describe it, because no amount of words can capture how disinterested and offended Mike Ditka is by the idea that if he were to go to New York, he would have to spend a night hanging out with Action Bronson:)
SCENE
Adrian Peterson receives $4,000 fine, probation on plea deal
firehose'defers a ruling on Peterson's innocence for two years'
Adrian Peterson's plea deal has been accepted, resolving his legal trouble but clouding his immediate NFL future.
Adrian Peterson has signed a plea of no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless assault, paving the way for his return to the NFL. The plea was accepted by Montgomery County judge Kelly Case. Peterson was indicted in September on a felony charge of reckless or negligent injury to a child. The indictment stemmed from an incident this past spring when he allegedly beat his four-year-old son with a switch.
Pro Football Talk reported the details of Peterson's plea bargain Tuesday. By accepting the deal, Peterson will have to go on probation, pay a $4,000 fine and perform 80 hours of community service. The plea reportedly includes no reference to family violence or violence against a minor. The deal also defers a ruling on Peterson's innocence for two years. Peterson forfeits the right to appeal.
Peterson was placed on the exempt/commissioner's permission list in September under the pretense that his status with the NFL and Minnesota Vikings would be revisited once his case had been resolved. The list allowed the Vikings to sit Peterson indefinitely with pay, but only after making a special request to commissioner Roger Goodell. Peterson can only be removed at Goodell's discretion.
It's unclear how Goodell will interpret Peterson's plea deal. The running back could be activated from his long leave only to sit under a suspension without pay. He could also theoretically suit up to play Nov. 16 when the Vikings visit the Chicago Bears after their Week 10 bye. Complicating matters is Peterson's reported admission to a court staffer that he "smoked a little weed," which could subject him to further punishment under the league's substance abuse policy.
Whatever action the league takes will likely be heavily critiqued after an offseason of off-field drama. Peterson's indictment was revealed after the league had absorbed criticism for how it handled the highly publicized domestic violence cases of Ray Rice and Greg Hardy.
The poor Cowboys didn't really think through this hashtag
firehosecowboys suck
Say #CowboysUK out loud.
Dallas is using the hashtag "#CowboysUK" for their trip to London to play the Jaguars.
Next tweet will be from London ✌️#CowboysUK pic.twitter.com/katJYXLA86
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) November 4, 2014
The Internet, like SB Nation's Eagles blog Bleeding Green Nation pounced on it.
The Cowboys couldn’t have picked a more accurate hashtag #cowboysuk http://t.co/BKiBMydK9Q | pic.twitter.com/yNAODX69Hm
— BleedingGreenNation (@BleedingGreen) November 4, 2014
And more people started to notice ...
Above is a list of articles that embedded that #CowboysUK tweet.
This great moment in hashtag history is now out of the bag.
@dallascowboys y'all suck
— jer〽️aine (@Jefrancis1235) November 4, 2014
Hahaha! Yes, they do. #CowboySUK
— AzulesFundamento (@Josefino72) November 4, 2014
DIY: destroy your organization w/ a hashtag... RT @dallascowboys: Next tweet will be from London ✌️#CowboysUK pic.twitter.com/dsMNWmJAHy
— Brian J. Gill (@bgill09) November 4, 2014
.@dallascowboys social media had time to think it over and still went with #CowboysUK hashtag for this week. Tally ho.
— Bob Ley (@BobLeyESPN) November 4, 2014
Vikings players ready to welcome back Adrian Peterson
firehosethis fucking league
Adrian Peterson could soon make his return to the Vikings, and his teammates would welcome him back as they look to contend for a spot in the NFL playoffs.
The Minnesota Vikings could be making one of the biggest midseason acquisitions in recent memory if Adrian Peterson is reinstated to the team. The All-Pro running back has missed the past eight games after his Sept. 12 arrest for child abuse charges.
While dealing with legal issues involving the case, Peterson was placed on the NFL's exempt/commissioner's permission list, but after accepting a plea deal Tuesday, his court battle is over. Still, there's been no decision on if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will remove him from the exempt list this season, allowing him to be reinstated to the Vikings.
Several of his teammates in Minnesota weighed in Tuesday on Peterson's potential return, voicing their support for the running back to rejoin the Vikings, according to ESPN. One of those players, tight end Kyle Rudolph, spoke up about what it would mean to have Peterson back in the locker room:
"We all know the kind of person he is," tight end Kyle Rudolph said. "We've stood behind him this whole time. You'd be crazy not to welcome him back into that locker room. It would be a big pickup for this locker room being we have so many young guys. Any time you can have a veteran back in that locker room, the leader that he is in the locker room, out on the practice field, would be huge for us.
"Guys have chatted amongst each others, and I don't think there's anyone in that locker room that would need to hear from him. We all know the kind of person Adrian is, and I feel like he's proven that over his time here."
It helps that Peterson has been in contact with the team during his absence. Before the Vikings beat the Falcons in Week 4, Peterson passed along a pregame motivational speech for head coach Mike Zimmer to give to the team. He's also given advice to rookie Jerick McKinnon, who has taken over the No. 1 running back spot while Peterson has been out.
McKinnon has had a fine debut season, rushing for 445 yards and 5.0 yards per carry, but he's been held out of the end zone so far, with Matt Asiata taking over in goal-line situations. Although the Vikings' running game is currently 12th in the NFL in rushing yards per game (119.3), the offense is ranked near the bottom, at No. 29.
At 4-5 and winners of two straight, the Vikings aren't out of the playoff picture. The return of Peterson could be the boost they're looking for to continue that momentum after their Week 10 bye week.
AC/DC Drummer Charged in Attempted Murder-for-Hire Plot - Yahoo Music
Rangers complete glorious butt goal assist against Red Wings
firehosebounce a quarter off that ass
Sweet assist for the butt goal.
There have been many butt goals chronicled here at SB Nation, and this butt goal is up there with the best. Good job, New York Rangers:
That's team work.
Thank you, NHL, for continuing to give us butt goal magic. It began in Dec. 2013, and the collection of butt goals has grown exponentially since. Still, it's hard to match one of the greatest butt plays of all-time, the butt fumble.
Cindy Cohn, digital rights freedom fighter, named EFF executive director
Cohn's elevation, effective in April, is part of a major management overhaul to the San Francisco-based group whose budget has blossomed from $1 million annually in 1999 to about $9 million this year, the group announced Wednesday. Cohn, who has been litigating the constitutionality of the NSA's electronic eavesdropping since 2006, succeeds Shari Steele, the EFF's top executive the past 14 years.
"Cindy is one of the smartest lawyers I've ever known, and a great strategist," EFF co-founder John Gilmore said in a statement. "Cindy truly understands what makes EFF successful, and we're thrilled she will lead the organization."
Qcut wants to make you the perfect pair of jeans using data and algorithms
It's puzzling how difficult it can be to find a pair of jeans that fits you properly — and that seems to be particularly true for women. That's why a new company that's launching with a Kickstarter campaign today is hoping to find women the perfect fit using nothing but some information they already know along with a few algorithms, rather than having them try on a dozen pairs first.
"Women's bodies change in all sorts of very predictable ways."
Called Qcut, the project comes from a former Mozilla designer who's partnered with a veteran of the fashion industry. Qcut is hoping to make jeans that'll come in around 400 different sizes, one of which it should be able to automatically determine as the proper fit for any woman who buys a pair. Qcut says it can do that using just five numbers, which you likely already know: your normal pants size, your height, your weight, your shoe size, and your bra size.
"Women's bodies change in all sorts of very predictable ways based on height," Qcut CEO Crystal Beasley says. For instance, "If you have two women that are 5'10", the one that has the bigger shoe will have a longer leg."
It sounds strange that those five data points are enough, but Beasley points out that Qcut is just taking someone's existing pant size and running with it. "It does seem crazy, right? Just on the face of it," Beasley says. "But if you think of it, we start where other manufacturers stop." Qcut is effectively taking your pants size and then altering the shape based on how it believes it'll end up landing on your body.
The way that it comes up with those alterations isn't explicitly new either. There have been algorithms for determining proper fit based on measurements like these for over a decade, including some that appeared in patent filings that Qcut's innovation chief worked on at other fashion companies. Beasley says that Qcut just needs to take those algorithms and update them for modern body shapes. It plans to take body scans of 5,000 women and analyze them for the new data it needs.
Qcut believes this model won't work with traditional storefronts
If these ideas and processes sound like an obvious application of existing knowledge, that's because in many ways they are, Beasley explains. The problem is that tailoring sizes this way isn't usually economical — particularly not for the average clothing retailer that needs to deal with store space. The difference for Qcut is that with Kickstarter and later an online storefront, Beasley thinks it's possible to finally make it all work.
That said, Qcut's ambitious plan will only work if it can hits an appropriate scale. It's looking for $75,000 to get off the ground, but the real goal is to build a production factory of its own — and that'll take upward of $500,000. Qcut also has the much bigger dream of eventually offering sizing services for other small designers, allowing them to easily ensure perfect fits for their customers, though that's all dependent on how well the operation can scale in the first place.
On Kickstarter, Qcut is selling jeans for around $130, but they'll likely go up to $170 once the campaign ends. That means you'll really have to value a perfect fit over searching around for one that's good enough — but that's certainly not outside the range people have shown they're willing to pay for a good pair of jeans.
More U.S. measles cases have been reported in 2014 than any year in the past two decades.
firehosevia ThePrettiestOne
More U.S. measles cases have been reported in 2014 than any year in the past two decades. Indigenous circulation of the virus was declared eliminated in 2000, but travelers abroad can bring it into the U.S. A false sense that there is little or no threat is one key reason for declining U.S. vaccination rates.
herbshuttle: sparklegenocide: Oh you biggest fuck you ever
firehosevia Rosalind
compromisedanalintegrity: thespiritfox: We lost Earl Ragnar,...
firehosevia Rosalind
We lost Earl Ragnar, our favorite Beta fish.
& we were sure to give him a viking’s funeral as such a magnificent fish as he deserves.
See you in Valhalla my friend.
Sail, Ragnar. Sail.you set your little girl’s dead fish on fire in front of her eyes this is incredible
The "I'm not sexist/racist/ableist but..." of election day:
firehosevia ThePrettiestOne: "As a government worker at large, I can only regret I can only like this once."
Woman in Philadelphia Abduction Found Alive, Kidnapper Arrested, FBI Says - Yahoo
Election 2014 firsts - Yahoo News
firehose1. That's definitively not not an "election first"
2. Ha ha~
3. Every other story about a woman in this article is a republican woman defeating a democrat
Rent Rises Faster Than Income, Study Shows - Real estate news - Boston.com
Interstellar Is the Best and Worst Space Opera You'll Ever See
firehose"a predictable, stale melodrama about how absent fathers are actually super great and women exist to channel love"
Wayne Brady battled depression, says he hit rock bottom this year - CBS News 8 - San Diego, CA News Station - KFMB Channel 8
firehoseIs Wayne Brady gonna have to choke me up, damn
Somerville Startup Launches Kickstarter Huge Fighting Robots | BDCwire
firehosemeanwhile, in Somerville
Will.i.am's Puls smartwatch is the worst product I've touched all year
firehosethe latest installment of "Will.i.am's ____ is the worst ____ I've _____ed all year"
Musician, producer, and just generally positive dude will.i.am has dipped his toes more than once into the personal technology world. His latest venture is a wearable smartphone called the Puls, sold under his i.am+ company. The Puls is a fully independent smartwatch — it has its own SIM card and doesn't rely on being connected to a smartphone to work. Will.i.am introduced it to the world on a stage at Salesforce's Dreamforce conference last month in front a bunch of devotees to CRM.
I got a chance to use an early production model earlier today. It's objectively the worst product I've touched all year.
The Puls is a stiff cuff that you wear around your wrist. It has a curved touchscreen on its surface and sensors to measure your activity. Instead of Android Wear (or a full version of Android), the Puls runs its own operating system that relies on swipe gestures to navigate. It's a thick and inflexible device that is not comfortable to wear. In fact, the unit I used didn't even close around my wrist and needed another spacer to do so.
The Puls feels like a Kickstarter project that never should have made it to production
The screen is small and grainy and the operating system is neither responsive or intuitive. There are a few preinstalled apps for Twitter, Instagram, contacts, and more, and the Puls has a full dialer for making phone calls. It also has a full QWERTY keyboard, which requires two presses to type a single letter (one to zoom in, a second to actually input the letter). It's unsurprisingly terribly frustrating to use. The Puls' feels like a Kickstarter concept product that never should have made it to production.
Will.i.am's Puls smartwatch photos
Previous NextThe Puls' main pitch is that it can determine your emotion and mood via your voice. It comes with an app called Vibe+ that listens to you for twenty seconds and then determines your emotions based on the intonation in your voice. It works with 32 different languages and is the result of 20 years of research and development by Beyond Verbal, the company that makes the app. It rewards you for being positive with different gems that display on the Puls' screen and points that can shared with other users to "spread positivity." Beyond Verbal will be bringing the Vibe+ app to iOS and Android devices early next year. It's pretty awkward to have to speak random things to your wrist for twenty seconds (the app doesn't require you to say anything specific) and I'm having trouble picturing anyone using this in the real world.
That's probably fine anyways, since nobody should really buy the Puls watch. AT&T and O2 in the UK are going to be selling it in the coming weeks for an unspecified price, but it's safe to say that you should probably just spend your money elsewhere. Will.i.am will get over it.
Connecticut Unable To Get An Election This Morning
firehosevia Kara Jean: "Hartford is like your well-meaning fuck-up drunk uncle. You have a soft spot for him but must admit that he is in an embarrassing state of decrepitude."
Update: new development; see end of post. Elections never run flawlessly, and it’s not unusual — and no, not an indication of wholesale fraud — to hear of voting machine glitches and snags. We’re quite willing to accept that there’s nothing nefarious going on when one or two touch screen machines screw up, though that’s also a good argument for good old optical-scan ballots, too. And then there’s more unfortunate applications of Murphy’s Law on Election Day, like how the Georgia secretary of state’s “find your polling place” website crashed this morning. Again, that seems like a glitch, not frauding, although that one looks a lot hinkier in the context of the state maybe losing tens of thousands of new registration applications.
Now we can add to the list of great election planners the city of Hartford, Connecticut, where several polling places were not ready to go when polls were supposed to open at 6 AM They didn’t yet have the official voter registration books. In testimony at a hearing today to determine whether polls should remain open late to make up for the late start, witnesses said that as many as 10 or 11 polling places opened late by anywhere from a few minutes to an hour and a half at the latest. Depending on the sites, some allowed people to enter provisional ballots, with their names and addresses to be matched against the lists later, while at others, some voters just gave up and left:
The moderator who was a voting site observer testified the moderator at the site was trying to determine what to do without having the lists and then determined that voting would not be allowed without the lists.
He said 20-30 people left without voting. The moderator kept lists of the people who were turned away. Some did however come back and vote later.
John Gale testified that he was at the polling place shortly after 6 a.m. and said there were angry voters at the United Methodist Church on Farmington Avenue in Hartford who were not able to vote. He observed voters leaving without having voted.
Gov. Dannell Malloy filed a complaint to extend voting hours so that those who might have missed voting early in the morning could come back later. Normally, polls close at 8 PM; the complaint asks for them to stay open an additional hour. Bill Bloss, attorney for Gov. Malloy, said that over half of the city’s 24 polling places opened late or were not able to start voting at 6 AM; state law requires registrar books to be at polling places by 8 PM the night before the election.
The hearing was still going on as we wrapped up here; process addicts can catch the action online. Again, no allegations of dirty tricks, just a fine example of the many things that can go wrong in trying to get an election to work.
In a radio interview, President Obama urged Hartford residents to make sure to go back and vote, frustrating though the process might be:
Obviously, the man is trying to steal the election! It’s not known whether any New Black Panthers are available to hold doors open for voters in Hartford.
Update: There’s been a decision on Gov. Malloy’s request for extended voting hours, and it seems pretty darn paltry: Two polling places in Hartford will stay open an extra half hour, to 8:30 p.m., and anyone in line by 8:30 at those locations will be able to vote.
Ballots cast after 8 p.m. must be held on the side in accordance with federal law. The judge is also ordering that the Secretary of the State’s Office investigate why such a well-publicized election had the issues to begin with.
Someone please tell us what “held on the side” amounts to, in terms of whether the votes will actually be counted? The judge appears to be excessively concerned that somebody might try to sneak some Black Panther votes in:
The judge said the reason that voting was only extended for 30 minutes was so that those who could not vote this morning would have enough time to return and vote, but not enough time for additional persons who couldn’t vote earlier to go to the polls.
Sharpest legal mind of the 21st Century, we think. Couldn’t he just request post-8 p.m. voters to pinkie swear that they were really there in the morning?
Characters make choices which they cannot take back. The...
firehosevia Kellygo
(spoilers)
For educational purposes only.
And you can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/tonyszhou
One man’s failed quest to buy wired Internet from TWC or Verizon | Ars Technica
firehoseAll carriers suck forever
mingdoyle: Hey locals! THE KITCHEN #1 is coming out on November...
firehosevia ThePrettiestOne
attention Boston bros; Ming Doyle beat
Hey locals! THE KITCHEN #1 is coming out on November 12th, and I’ll be signing it at New England Comics in Harvard Square!
ravingsbyrae: spottieottiefroalicious: thechanelmuse: Lmaooo...
firehosevia ThePrettiestOne
Lmaooo this is the greatest! Check out #DudesGreetingDudes and Elon James White’s twitter. There’s a whole lot more.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
The greatest thing ever.