Dan Jones

The Humble PC & Android Bundle 13 runs for two weeks before attending a Friday the 13th movie marathon on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 at 11 a.m. Pacific time.

Now you don't have to open Gmail or Google+ to use Google Hangouts: just go to hangouts.google.com in your favorite desktop browser and check the new standalone web app for Google Hangouts. The site redirects to talkgadget.google.com, so you can use this URL too.

"We are launching another way to use Hangouts today. From our new site you'll be able to take advantage of the best of Hangouts in the browser, along with an inspiring image to get you through the day," says Google's Jordanna Chord.

It's actually a slightly different interface for the Hangouts feature from Gmail, except that Gmail has been replaced with a wallpaper you can't change, the Hangouts roaster is bigger and there's a navigation menu.

There are many Google+ Photos features that are missing from Google Photos. You can remove a few features from the list: reordering photos in an album, changing the album's cover and editing the timestamp for photos.

Just click the new "edit" button when opening an album and reorder photos using drag and drop. You can also add photos from other albums.

Open a photo, click the info icon and then click the edit button next to the date and time if you want to change them.


Another recently added feature: changing the album cover. Open a photo from an album, click the 3-dot menu icon and select "use as album cover".


{ via +GooglePhotos }

How this hacker can virtually 'kill' you, and what to do about it

Vacant Bathrooms "Too Small" So Parents Let Kid Poo in the Airplane Aisle | The Nanfang:

What the heck? What is wrong with people?

Google has announced a new project today that aims to make it easy for residents of certain cities to make the switch to relying on solar energy instead of standard electricity. Project Sunroof is your one-stop shop for finding out how solar energy can work for you.

No, Google isn’t installing solar energy panels on homes itself, rather it’s guiding people through the process. Using Project Sunroof’s tools, Google will give you information on where to install panels on your roof, how much it will cost, how much it could save you in energy usage and who to contact in taking the next steps. All of this is computed using Google’s massive data bank and with things like 3D mapping data.

Google is initially giving residents in the San Francisco Bay Area, Fresno, CA and Greater Boston, MA a chance to see how solar energy could work for them. If you live in one of those areas, give it a shot and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Sorry to upset you with bad news, but a person like Lenny B. Robinson deserves to be recognized and remembered.

Lenny B. Robinson aka Route 29 Batman was one of the good guys. According to the Washington Post, he was killed in a highway crash along I-70 in Maryland last night when he pulled over with engine trouble.

If you are unfamiliar, Robinson was a wealthy 51-year old Maryland man who became well known for dressing like Batman and driving his black Lamborghini (and later a Batmobile replica) to local children’s hospitals where he would hand out toys and cheer kids up with a visit from the Caped Crusader. In fact, he was on duty right ’til the end:

Robinson had just stopped at a gas station, where he met a family whose children were interested in his custom-made car, Maryland state police in Hagerstown said. Robinson gave the kids some superhero paraphernalia before leaving about the same time as his new acquaintances. When they saw him pull over, they did the same and witnessed the 10:30 p.m. accident, state police said.

RIP.

Android Marshmallow isn’t set to be released until this fall, but along with announcing Android M’s full name, Google has also announced the release of the final developer preview along with the final Android 6.0 SDK.

Releasing the final developer preview along with the final Android 6.0 SDK should enable developers to ensure that their apps will function flawlessly once Marshmallow drops. Though not much has changed in the final developer preview, there have been minor updates to the Fingerprint API and the user permissions interface.

For more information on the final Android Marshmallow preview and 6.0 SDK, visit the source link below.

Fears Windows 10 will blow data caps:

Oops

Anti-Piracy Group Hits Indie Creators For Using the Word 'Pixels'

This waitress doodles on a receipt. When she opens Facebook 2 hours later, she almost faints.:

Awesome story.

Flying Spaghetti Monster found off Angolan coast: Reports | NH Voice

Anything for the ‘za.

image | twitter | facebook

Google Play services 7.8 has finally been rolled out to every single eligible Android user as of today, and we all have access to the new features. And this update is a big one. Introduced is the new Nearby Messages, which is an API we’ve covered before. It allows Android devices to act as beacons for other nearby devices, which opens doors for some great app ideas.

Another feature is the Mobile Vision API, which consists of two APIs. The Face API is a big improvement over the previous facial recognition system. It can find faces in all orientations and single out specific parts of the face, including seeing if you’re smiling. The Barcode API can read multiple barcodes in real-time.

Lastly, Google Cloud Messaging has been updated and improved, as well as prepped for the upcoming Android M release. It will feature high and low priority messages in the next version of Android. If you want to check out more details or download the SDK, hit the source link!

Sometimes you're trying to download a desktop software and you're searching Google for things like [chrome download], [latest java], [install itunes], [get skype]. The top result is usually the official download page, but there are various other download sites. Some of them might offer outdated versions, others might install their own software and even download adware or malware.

Google now shows a special card for software downloads. There's a big logo, the name of the organization that develops the application, the download URL and a link: "go to download".

The new card might seem redundant, but some users will find it reassuring. It also works for operating systems.


Just in case you're thinking that Google always picks the URL from the top search result, I found an example which shows that's not the case. When searching for [download audacity], Google's card links to SourceForge instead of Audacity's official site and that's not a good idea.

Thanks to Joey Martell for premise submission.

Remember the timeless classic children's book from a few years ago, "Go the F*ck to Sleep"? If you don't, you should check out this dramatic reading by the one and only Samuel L Jackson. A family member e-mailed me the link to that video for the eleventieth time the other day and it got me thinking. What other tongue-in-cheek kids' books do I wish were out there? Here are five. If any publishers are reading this, feel free to contact me. I can write these.

How to Wipe Your Butt


This one may be a challenge to put together. The last thing someone wants to buy is a picture book of kids wiping their butts. On the other hand, I really wish my kid knew how to wipe his own butt and would probably buy a book that helped him learn. If I had a dollar for every time my son ran into our living room without pants on while we had company to loudly tell us that he needed me to wipe his butt, I would have seven dollars - which would probably be enough money to buy this book.

You Probably Shouldn't Eat That Rock (Alternate title: Don't Put That in Your Mouth!)

Tired of your kids licking the plug sockets? Wish Jimmy would quit eating pennies? Here's a colorful set of rhyming couplets aimed to explain to kids why the only thing they should put in their mouths is food. Here's a sample:

As tempting as it may be to put a rock inside your mouth

It is dirty and hard and won't digest if for some reason it goes south

Your tummy cannot break it down and turn it into poo

Yet it will still come out from the place that other softer things tend to

Don't Call Fat People Fat (And Other Obvious Things You Shouldn't Point Out)

Kids don't understand complicated things like being politically correct, or being considerate of other people's feelings. And while it may not be completely futile to attempt to explain things like empathy to a toddler, sometimes we just need to be blunt, up front, and point them in the right direction. Enter the book “Don't Call Fat People Fat (And Other Obvious Things You Shouldn't Point Out.)”

It would be an interactive picture book where the toddler is asked to describe the picture on the page. A sliding cardboard piece will reveal alternatives to calling people fat, short, pregnant, bald, and smelly (scratch and sniff page).

Stop Hitting Your Sister or I'm Putting You on Craigslist

This one is another rhyming couplet book with amusing pictures. Here's a sample.

If you hit your sister one more time, I think you'll have to go

I'll post your face on Craigslist and price you rather low

I'll ask whoever buys you, be it a Misses or a Mister,

To remind you daily, that you'd still be home, if you hadn't hit your sister

Please Just Be Quiet for 15 Minutes

“Please Just Be Quiet for 15 Minutes” is a book designed to help children identify when either mommy or daddy are about to lose their shit. Signs like mommy repetitively rubbing the bridge of her nose or daddy gently banging his head against the wall or mommy not bothering to pour the wine into a glass before drinking it or the sound of daddy gently sobbing through the bathroom door are ALL signs that maybe… just maybe for the love of god you should please just be quiet for 15 minutes.

The second half of the book will include fun activity suggestions of what kids can do silently for fifteen minutes. Activities like "Seriously, I don't care if you look for buried treasure behind the drywall, or make magic potions out of the chemicals under the sink, as long as you do it quietly and somewhere besides here."

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How about you? What childrens' books do you wish exsisted? Let me know in the comments, and don't forget to come say hello on the Ask Your Dad Facebook Page!

According to Aduro, their Surge Slim Protector's 540-joule energy rating will safely power a half dozen Japanese electric piston masturbators...or any other AC device...in home or office environments. Two USB ports at the top of the outlet army also combine to deliver 2.4 amps of power to the likes of tablets and smartphones.

The Surge Slim Protector saves space with its wall-mountable design, and once plugged in flashes an indicator light if the source outlet is not properly grounded. In addition to supporting up to 7 devices' electrical demands, the surge protector has Safety Shutdown technology that allows its thermal fuses to power off your system to protect against fire or other damage during power surges and spikes. An EMI/RFI Filter also reduces AC line noise interference.

Get your gaggle of Aduro outlets for 52% off retail value for a limited time from Dude Exclusives.

Pharmacy giant Rite Aid has announced that it will begin accepting mobile payments beginning August 15. The company has announced that NFC-based payment systems will be supported including Google Wallet, Apple Pay and the upcoming service, Android Pay, which will arrive with Android M. Other tap-and-pay services, such as NFC credit and debit cards, will also be welcomed.

The support will be available through all of the company’s stores across the country, which total a whopping nearly 4,600. The move is another step forward in advancing mobile payments, which have great potential, but have yet to become fully mainstream. It also places Rite Aid toe-to-toe with Walgreens, which has been one of the strongest supporters of mobile payments. With more chains hopping onboard, we’ll cross our fingers that mobile payments continue to grow in popularity.

Since the release of my new book, The Pixar Theory, I honestly haven’t given much thought to expanding these Pixar-related connections because…vacation.

So, I’m back and here’s something potentially interesting for you to seek your teeth into. A few weeks ago, a regular visitor to the site (cheers, @ThomastheBrainEngine), brought me some interesting evidence of toys being “self-aware” in Monsters Inc, a la Toy Story.

In Toy Story, we learn that toys are sentient. They move around on their own when we’re not watching, and their entire lives revolve around the children who love them.

One of the main tenets of my theory, which tries to unite the Pixar movies, is that toys are alive because in the Pixar universe, human imagination is like a battery, and it gives life to ordinary things (maybe even cars).

I argue that this is the same concept as monsters powering their society with the energy of children in Monsters Inc. But despite a few cameos (like Jessie and the Luxo ball), there’s nothing tangible linking Toy Story and Monsters Inc, especially if you consider Jessie’s appearance in Monsters Inc., to only be an easter egg, not a hint to something more.

But ThomastheBrainEngine presented a fascinating thought that I had not yet considered: what if we do see evidence that the world of Monsters Inc. has sentient toys? 

So I looked into this, and the evidence is solid, believe it or not. And it all hinges on the movie’s first scene.

Mr. Bile, can you tell me what you did wrong?

This opening sequence introduces us to the basic mechanics of how monsters scare children. The monster, Mr. Bile (Phlegm), sneaks into a child’s room and attempts to scare him, but the kid wakes up and sees him. We see that Mr. Bile is actually more scared of the child than vice versa, and he trips and falls for comedic effect.

This, of course, is a simulation. A demonstration of how not to scare a child, so that the movie can cut to Sulley, our main character, who is the best scarer at Monsters Incorporated. The simulation we just watched was at the factory, and it’s our set up for everything that happens next in the movie (notably, that the worst thing you can do is let in a child by leaving the door open).

Something that has bugged a lot of people, including myself, is a major goof (or series of goofs) that transpires during the simulation. When Mr. Bile walks in, we get a clear shot of the room’s layout and where everything is located. The soccer ball is under the bed, the toy train and its tracks are at the foot of the bed, and one of the books near the window hangs over the edge.

But as the scene changes, everything moves around. The soccer ball inexplicably moves to the side of the bed. It’s in a totally different location, and it eventually shows up again at the foot of the bed, where the train tracks have disappeared. Instead, there’s a bunch of jax in its place. Mr. Bile steps back on the soccer ball and falls on the jax (see above) like we’re watching a better version of Home Alone 3. We even see that the books on the toy box have moved a little bit, but they return to their original spot toward the end of the scene.

It’s nitpicking, but I’ve always been annoyed by how overtly obvious these goofs are. I’ve sat through a dailies session at Pixar, where the director and a group of animators will scrutinize every single aspect of what’s on the screen. Even for a movie that was made in Pixar’s early days, it’s strange to think that they could make so many continuity errors in just a couple of minutes, and the movie’s first few minutes at that.

Granted, these goofs happen all the time, and some are caught too late in the game to be considered worth the effort of fixing them. But they’re usually separated and scarce, not gathered in a cluster.

So, what if this entire scene wasn’t a goof at all? What if we were meant to see them? They’re certainly hard to miss, after all.

The idea is that the toys moved on their own because the rules of Toy Story bleed into Monsters Inc. Part of any good simulation would be to make sure monsters are prepared for anything that could happen. If toys are able to come alive and possibly protect their sleeping owner from an invader, then it makes perfect sense for these simulations to include these variables.

Without those toys interfering, Mr. Bile probably would have been able to successfully leave the room and escape before the child could get up and go through that door. So part of the simulation could be to move the toys around, like they would in a real situation, in a way that conspires against the monster pulling off a scare. In this case, that meant moving the ball to where he would fall on a bunch of conveniently placed jacks that weren’t there in the first place.

It’s definitely possible, at least. The monsters controlling the simulation are creating atmospheric effects (the curtain moving like wind is blowing it, the child moving around in reaction to realtime events). If toys could move, too, then the monsters could simulate that experience.

Would toys really do this, though?

I don’t think it’s a stretch based on what we’ve seen in Toy Story. Woody breaks the rules and unites Sid’s toys against him just to get back to Andy. He goes to incredible lengths to make Andy happy, so I’m pretty sure he’d also go pretty far to protect Andy from a terrifying monster.

It might not happen every time with every kid who has toys, but it could happen enough to warrant a response from Monsters Inc. When you watch Monsters University, you see that the higher ups are teaching the monsters tons of useful tips and facts about this profession, ranging from how the doors work to how monsters can adapt to any given situation.

They have to prepare the monsters to be so stealthy, not even the toys know they’re there (which is possible, since we see that the toys do sleep when Woody has that nightmare in the first movie).

This also solves another major inconsistency that was brought on by Monsters University. If monsters have to go to college to get jobs as professional scarers, then why is Mr. Bile having such a hard time? And why is he doing this, anyway, if he has experience and a college education?

Well, if you watch Monsters University again, you probably won’t notice any of these instances of toys getting in the way. And that’s probably because introducing them as a variable is when you get into the expert mode of scaring. This would make scaring so hard for monsters that it wouldn’t be a critical point of the simulator until you actually got the job, explaining why Mr. Bile is sort of talented, but he ends up falling on his face, despite the rigorous standards of professional scaring established by Dean Hardscrabble in MU.

To sum up, I think this evidence is pretty strong, mostly because those goofs I pointed out just seem overwhelmingly obvious. It is possible that the monsters controlling the simulation could be moving the toys around from the control room just to make things harder for Mr. Bile, not because toys are expected to come alive. But that just seems sort of harsh.

Mr. Bile walked into that room and surveyed everything as he was trained. Mixing things up for no good reason in a scenario that wouldn’t possible happen just to make things harder undermines how the monsters are trained in Monsters University. It’s like testing high school students on a different subject with information you never taught them—OK, wait, that happens all the time.

Let me know if you’re convinced or unconvinced and we can hash it out in the comments. If you’re interested in the Pixar Theory (that is, how all the movies may be connected and why) enough to read an entire book about it with all of the clues and arguments I’ve collected over the past few years, don’t forget to check out my book, which is available now in print and as an e-book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.

I’m Jon and thanks for reading this. You can subscribe to my posts by clicking “Follow” in the right sidebar. Or just say hey on Twitter! @JonNegroni

Filed under: Pixar

UFO theorists think they've seen a woman on Mars

Makes any refrigerator look like your favorite 80′s gaming console!

If anyone is confused about picking toys in Target now that they’re removing gender labels, this flowchart should help. http://ift.tt/1J0mNmE