Rolandt

On this week’s episode of the SyrupCast, we talk about all the glory of Pokemon Go in Canada, the public release of iOS 10 and a very sweaty HTC Vive experience.

Hosts: Patrick O’Rourke, Matthew Moniz, Jessica Vomiero, and Rose Behar

Duration: 38:06 minutes

Here is how to get Pokemon Go in Canada for iOS and Android.

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nevver:

Mobstr

Since its inception Snapchat, an app based on the concept of time-limited video and photo sharing, has been like the Wild West of social media platforms for youth. Teens don’t have to worry about their parents seeing what they’re up to with the social media platform, because, generally, older people just can’t figure it out.

Of course, because of that, some pretty racy things can go down on the platform between users. But that’s not the issue causing a 14-year-old boy and his mother to sue the platform for what they see as a violation of the United State’s Communication Decency Act.

The issue is Snapchat’s own Discover section, in which publications like Buzzfeed and Cosmopolitan publish original content, which the plaintiffs say is offensively explicit without appropriate warning.

The filing, published by The Verge, gives specific examples of offensive articles such as “I Got High, Blown, and Robbed When I Was A Pizza Delivery Guy,” and “F#ck Buddies Talk About How They Kept it Casual.”

The plaintiffs state that according to the Communication Decency Act, Snapchat should provide a warning about the “offensive content” in the Discover section that would notify the user about parental control protections. It also seeks civil penalties, stating that the charge is $50,000 for each day in violation of the act.

On admonishing section of the filing reads: “Snapchat has placed profit from monetizing Snapchat Discover over the safety of children.”

Snapchat’s terms of services restricts the use of the platform to children 13 and older, while Apple’s App Store rates the app as being appropriate for children ages 12 and older.

A Snapchat spokesperson told The Verge, “We haven’t been served with a complaint in this lawsuit, but we are sorry if people were offended. Our Discover partners have editorial independence, which is something that we support.”

Related reading: Snapchat to introduce new Memories feature in ‘the coming months’

Matthias Melcher, x28’s new Blog, Jul 11, 2016

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Discussion of some of my recent comments on whether a neural network needs domain knowledge in order to learn. As Matthias Melcher suggests, many artificial neural networks will have the benefit of training by human experts. But what of human neural networks? And how does this play into the idea that learning is sequential? "I think," writes melcher, "while artificial networks need some prerequisite input, human neuronal networks use recognizing from the very beginning and require no indispensable prerequisites." This is enabled by thinking of learning as a process of recognition rather than of representation. "Recognition explains the deeper mechanism of learning as not linear/ sequential (not via fixed isolated representations) but as laminar/ all-at-once (multiple connected features of a pattern)."

[Link] [Comment]

Both Jochen and Dennis provided valuable input on how the Workflow app works. I also purchased the awesome Transmit file transfer app.

This has made the iPad Pro even more useful. Expect to see more scribbles in the future. :-)

The Insurance Bureau of Canada announced yesterday that the Fort McMurray wildfire in May caused $3.6 billion in damages.

Many Canadian carriers helped out by donating money or resources to the cause. Samsung Canada has stepped up to assist those in need by a $100,000 financial donation to the Canadian Red Cross and also followed up by giving 200 Galaxy View devices to the Fort McMurray Public Schools as an educational tool, which has a retail value of $140,000.

“The teamwork, strength and spirit demonstrated by Fort McMurray residents since tragedy struck in May continues to be an inspiration for our entire team,” said Samsung Canada’s Mark Childs. “As the focus turns to rebuilding this vibrant community, we are proud to contribute to the Canadian Red Cross relief efforts, and look forward to working alongside the Fort McMurray Public School District Board to help residents get back on their feet as soon as possible and support students to reach their full potential.”

The Galaxy View, which is a TV replacement tablet that launched exclusively with Bell earlier this year, has an 18.4-inch 1080p display, runs Samsung’s octa-core Exynos 7580 processors clocked at 1.6Ghz, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable internal storage and a 5,700mAh battery.

If you travel to cities in North America, you will see spring and summer floral creations with baskets of colourful annuals on street poles (Victoria B.C.) or massive plantings at grade level along major commercial streets (Chicago). But few cities have the  diversity of planting, visual interest, and stunning design like the City of Vancouver  parks and community centres.  Stanley Park has a breathtaking public rose garden, and carefully designed outstanding annual and perennial displays that are worthy of the international attention received from tourists.

Unlike other cities that order in their plants and have them trucked from locations all over North America, the City has Sunset Nursery tucked near 51st Avenue and Main Street. At this private nursery which is not open to the public every plant that you see in Vancouver parks is grown from seed or from a very small plant plug. It only seems natural in a city that champions sustainability that Vancouver would be “LEED”ing by example by growing stock in place instead of importing it.

If you go to the Macmillan Bloedel Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park, the 500 species of plants in that dome have been sourced and cared for by Sunset Nursery. The poinsettia throughout community centres in winter are all grown from rooted cuttings at the nursery. The gardeners at Sunset go through a stringent horticultural apprentice program, and they know their plants. The nursery has also provided workplace  experience for some Vancouver residents with severe disabilities. Those people flourished in their placements.

The nursery has been owned by the City since 1929, and has a large heritage house in original condition on its grounds. This house used to be  occupied by the superintendent  for the nursery, who would be at hand should there be a power outage, security issue or an emergency on site.

The previous superintendent also performed an act of tremendous foresight. A few years ago Sunset Nursery was to be axed for cost saving reasons.  That Sunset Nursery superintendent broke protocol by speaking directly to the Parks Board Commissioners on the importance of the nursery, the sustainability of growing and providing plants locally, and how the culture and management  of extraordinary plants was what made the City of Vancouver  parks and community centres different from any other city in North America.

That person  saved the nursery. The previous superintendent also got a letter of reprimand from her superiors. We all thought we should frame the letter and hang it in a prominent place. Instead of doing the work right, that Sunset Nursery superintendent had done the right work-continuing the tradition of sustainable planting and management of one of Vancouver’s biggest assets-the bounty of plant life that can flourish for the public eye in public places. That is a rare thing, and this Secret of the City makes Vancouver a much better and more beautiful  place.

 

 

Local developer, writer and resident Michael Geller has written a compelling commentary in the Vancouver Courier about Vancouver’s lack of taxi culture.

Talking about taxis is interesting. Everyone has a strong reaction to the topic. I have to admit my bias-I love taking taxis anywhere in the world, but not in Vancouver. I have taken a taxi driven by a famous jazz musician in Chicago, and been driven by the coach of the British Olympic Rowing Team in London. Perhaps the best experience was a cab driver in Nevis that taught me Nevis’ National Anthem during the ride.

In Vancouver, the city regulates taxi cabs. There is a taxi cab detail at the Vancouver Police Department, and you can call 311 and report bad behaviour of cab drivers. I have had cab drivers follow my car home when they felt I had cut them off in my car, and I have had cab drivers refuse to pick up senior citizens because the trip was too short. I am always apprehensive about getting a cab, because there is no uniformity of service.  And I do feel uncomfortable getting in a cab and having the driver talk away on his cell phone while driving. I would much rather walk or take transit.

Thirty years ago I was in Council chambers when then Mayor Gordon Campbell asked the taxi detail the cost of taxi licenses. It was interesting to listen to, because the cab companies would not disclose what the value of each license was. At that time it was assumed that the licenses were trading around $800,000 each. That is a lot of money, but then again, driving a cab is a cash business, and cabs can be in operation for 24 hours a day.

Earlier this year I went to a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre with a friend who is in his 90’s. At the end of the performance, my friend told me he had reserved a cab. He knew the dispatcher, and he was sure the cab would come for him. I later found out that this elderly man waited two hours before slowly walking on two canes back to his apartment which took another hour. The senior had called the dispatcher repeatedly, and been repeatedly  told yes, the taxi was coming. It never did.

 

Part of a mature urban city is a taxi service that is convenient, reliable, comfortable and uniform.  Michael Geller has written another piece on the need to improve Vancouver’s broken taxi system in January 2015 following an SFU City Program discussion on Uber.

Michael notes “Having often waited for a cab, I was not surprised to learn Vancouver has the lowest ratio of taxis per capita of any major Canadian city, and fares are approximately 15 per cent higher. I found it significant that not one new taxi company had been allowed to enter the Vancouver market in 25 years. Compare this with any other retail or service industry.

I have again been thinking about taxis since attending a recent Greater Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon with Peter Gall, Q.C., counsel to the Vancouver Taxi Association. The session was billed as an opportunity for the association to present its solutions to better meet the needs of the public.For many years, the Board of Trade has had concerns about the taxi industry.  Under president and CEO Iain Black, it commissioned a paper that revealed Vancouver would need to add 1,900 new taxis just to meet what is on the road in Calgary.

It went on to recommend a number of changes to the regulatory framework which would allow taxis and ride sharing services to co-exist.While many in attendance at the Board of Trade luncheon wanted to see major changes and improvements, Mr. Gall was protective of the industry, noting that taxi drivers have invested $500 million in the 800 licenses currently in existence.Many challenged this position, noting that in other sunset industries, investors have lost out when their industry became obsolete. Just ask the owners of Blockbuster Video.If Vancouver is to truly become a less car-oriented region, we must improve our taxi system. Hopefully, the province will pay attention to the Board of Trade’s recommendations.”

Lord Stanley (yes, of Cup fame) dedicates Stanley Park:  “To the use and enjoyment of people of all colours, creeds and customs for all time.”

“The Republican Party has become an insurgent outlier — ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.”

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Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks

“Another problem with the net is that it’s still “technology,” and “technology,” as the computer scientist Bran Ferren memorably defined it, is “stuff that doesn’t work yet.” We no longer think of chairs as technology, we just think of them as chairs. But there was a time when we hadn’t worked out how many legs chairs should have, how tall they should be, and they would often “crash” when we tried to use them.”

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Douglas Adams, How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet (via kenyatta)

Technology is stuff that doesn’t work yet – Bran Ferren

@stoweboyd:

The idea that colder temperatures make workers more alert and productive is bogus: research shows the opposite https://t.co/tttEPk0Gd8

— Stowe Boyd (@stoweboyd) July 5, 2016

@stoweboyd:

It’s legal in the UK to require females to wear high heels at work against their will https://t.co/bBayI5PdoF

— Stowe Boyd (@stoweboyd) July 5, 2016

Here’s a really neat solution from the inestimable Dan “PiGlove, mind where you put the capitals” Aldred. If you’re not able to get to another screen or monitor, or if you’re on the move, this is a very tidy way to get set up.

Programming the Pi over USB

A comprehensive video covering how to set up your Raspberry Pi Zero so that you can access it via the USB port. Yes, plug it in to a USB port and you can use the command line or with a few tweaks a full graphical desktop.

This is a really comprehensive guide, taking you all the way from flashing an SD card, accessing your Pi Zero via Putty, installing VNC and setting up a graphical user interface, to running Minecraft. Dan’s a teacher, and this video is perfect for beginners; if you find it helpful, please let us know in the comments!

 

 

The post Programming your Pi Zero over USB appeared first on Raspberry Pi.

Clive Thompson for Smithsonian Magazine gives a quick history lesson on infographics.

[D]ata visualization was rare because data was rare. That began to change rapidly in the early 19th century, because countries began to collect—and publish—reams of information about their weather, economic activity and population. “For the first time, you could deal with important social issues with hard facts, if you could find a way to analyze it,” says Michael Friendly, a professor of psychology at York University who studies the history of data visualization. “The age of data really began.”

Thompson uses “infographic” but really means “data visualization” most of the time, but still a good overview.

And while we’re on the topic of old visualization stuff, you should also check out Scott Klein’s newsletter, Above Chart. The history provides fine context for where visualization is at now.

Tags: history

I have this nice Workflow app. And I was never able to put it to good use. Can you help me build a workflow? What I need is an image upload to vowe.net.

This is what I do on my Mac:

1. Drag a photo to ImageWell
2. Let ImageWell create a random name
3. Resize the image to 640px width
4. Push the image via SFTP to vowe.net
5. Copy the image URL to the clipboard like this

<img src="http://vowe.net/images/ZZ113E0D8F.png" alt="ZZ113E0D8F" width="640" height="480" />

Pick image, resize and convert is easy. I will also be able to do something like convert only if PNG and filesize > 150 kB. Creating a random name, putting the URL on the clipboard and uploading to vowe.net is where I fail.

I first joined Mozilla as an intern in 2009, and after almost 6 years of working at Mozilla full time, I’ve decided it’s time for me to do something new. My last day will be Friday, July 15.

It amazes me to look back and think about how much I’ve grown since I joined as a junior developer years ago. I’m so thankful for the opportunities I’ve had to learn and grow at Mozilla, but more than anything, I value the friendships I’ve built with people around the world. Mozilla is full of talented people who truly care about making the web a better place. Mozilla’s mission is a challenging one, but it’s important work, especially as the web continues to evolve.

I haven’t decided what’s next for me, but I have no plans to leave Toronto. There’s a growing community of technologists and entrepreneurs here, and I’m excited to be a part of it!

Mortgaging your site to a closed-standards vendor gives them, not you, the economic power.

Another Matt from Alley ruminates on Medium’s uncertain future for publishers. I agree that these first couple of publishers probably got a good deal: better than free, they’re guaranteed money regardless of whether Medium makes money or not.

In making the decision to hitch their horse to Medium’s wagon while fording a river, they’re probably betting on Medium not going out of business, which I agree there’s only like a 10% chance of happening. However I think there is a 97% chance that Medium’s business model will change in the future because the path they’re on and these publishers are dependent on will not sustain their current costs or the investment they’ve raised.

The iOS client has been available for a while. I have also used the Android app in private beta for a while and it has been very stable. Now Ello opens up the beta to the public.

More >

It’s an old one, but I love this story about how part of what psyched Kasparov out, and possibly turned the tide, in his famous chess match against Deep Blue was actually a bug.

Silent Circle had expected orders for 250,000 Blackphones from three distributor agreements it thought it had secured, including with Dubai-based BigOn Telecommunications and Kumion in South Korea — but both those deals fell through. In the other instance expected sales of 100,000 Blackphones to America Movil resulted in orders for just 6,000 phones.

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Connecting the next 4bn is about making money. 

• Facebook has entered the next stage of its strategy to connect the next 4bn with the launch of OpenCellular, a base-station product that it aims to give away to anyone who wants it.
• OpenCellular is a shoebox sized device that enables cellular connectivity from 2G to LTE with a maximum cell radius of 10km and a maximum of 1,500 devices supported at any one time.
• With that specification it is clear that this device is aimed at rural areas which makes complete sense as this is where the majority of the 4bn unconnected people live.
• However, what is unclear at this time is how the device will be powered and what will serve as backhaul as rural areas are typically devoid of this type of infrastructure.
• RFM research indicates that OpenCellular is just the beginning and that there are a series of network infrastructure products being developed all of which are aimed at reducing the cost of internet access to mobile devices.
• The main way that Facebook aims to reduce the cost of access is by making both the designs and the software fully available in open source for anyone that wants them.
• I see this as a declaration of war on the hardware industry which makes its margins by keeping the designs and software that make its products superior proprietary.
• To put it mildly, this is bad news for Ericsson, Huawei, Cisco, Nokia and so on.
• If Facebook’s products prove to be just as good, then the industry has a huge problem as their customers will be able to take the designs and have them manufactured by any company in Asia.
• This will put huge pressure on their margins but it will reduce the cost of network roll-out meaningfully thereby achieving Facebook’s aim.
• This is all being done under the banner of connecting the unconnected but just like Google, Facebook is not a charity.
• I suspect that any traffic that is generated by these products will flow through Facebook’s servers at some point giving Facebook a means to monetise the extra traffic generated.
• This is how I think it will aim to earn a return on the money that it is investing in creating these designs, but they will be a long time coming.
• Facebook is firmly upon a path to become the largest ecosystem of them all but it does have a lot of work to do before it will get there.
• It currently dominates two very important segments of the Digital Life pie but this is a far cry from an all-encompassing ecosystem.
• If it can execute on this strategy then I can see a very clear path to Facebook reaching over $40bn in revenues over the next 5-10 years.
• Unfortunately, I think that the market is already giving the shares credit for this strategy before the revenues are likely to emerge.
• This is why I continue to believe that it could miss estimates in Q3 16 or Q4 16 this year which would most likely result in a big correction.
• It is at that point that I would look to pick the shares up for the long-term.

Like any thinking person, I am heartsick about the events of the last few days. Police are killing black men and people are killing police in the nation I love. I want to believe our nation is better than this. And, perhaps in vain, I seek answers and inspiration from our leaders. While these events tear … Continue reading A moment for leadership →

The post A moment for leadership appeared first on without bullshit.

Courtney Milan @courtneymilan
White privilege is something you have. It's not a dirty word. It doesn't make you bad. Use your privilege to try to end racial disparity.

Wile E. Cyrus @danudey
Babies are smarter than you think they are, no matter how smart you think they are.

Hanson Ho @bidetofevil
I would appreciate a trigger warning on Pokemon Go tweets because we don't have it in Canada yet #kthxbai

DB @dlbno
Whoa, I've never seen this angle of the Bat Flip before. Has anyone else? @AndrewStoeten vine.co/v/5a3jdUPXOH0

Wile E. Cyrus @danudey
Pokemon Go on iOS is nice enough to prevent your device from going to sleep, even if it's only showing you the 'servers too busy' screen.

Jonathan Wilson @jonawils
France players now standing in front of the stand doing the thunder clap. Lads, give up, you'll never be Iceland.

Wildlings, White Walkers, dragons, winter is coming to the seven kingdoms of Westeros.

The only way to legally watch Game of Thrones in Canada is to subscribe to HBO through Bell. However, effective August 8th, “CTV in partnership with HBO Canada,” will allow fans to relive Season 1 in all its glory.

There are ten episodes in total and is apparently the first time the Game of Thrones will be broadcasted on network television in North America. The show will be available on CTV and the CTV GO app starting August 8th at 10 p.m. and follow each week thereafter. CTV, which is part of Bell Media, states each episode will “air intact, unedited, and with reduced commercial time to further enhance the viewer experience.”

Season 6 of Game of Thrones just ended and Bell says it was the most-watched season ever of a show in Canadian Entertainment Specialty and Pay history with 1.5 million viewers.

Related: GoT Map helps you navigate the world of Game of Thrones