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A year ago on Unclutterer
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 01:09 PM PST
| A year ago on Unclutterer Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:30 AM PST 2011 2010 - Getting organized for the new year
At the start of every year, I get a new notebook and copy all of my lists from the old notebook into the new. The lists help keep me organized, but the process is a terrific way to prepare for the next year. - Unitasker Wednesday: Inflatable meal
In this holiday season, we wanted to invite all of you to join us for a (virtual) meal. Come on in, grab a seat, sit down, and let’s enjoy a meal together. 2009 - Uncluttering isn’t for everyone
As much as your uncluttering strategies and techniques have made a positive change in your life, don’t think about your way of living as being better than how other people choose to live their lives. Think of an uncluttered life as being easier for you. - Unitasker Wednesday: Fingertip oven mitts
That’s right, fingertip-only oven mitts do not look safe in the least. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that they look unsafe. And, all you can do is grab a plate with them. You certainly couldn’t use them while grilling, reaching into boiling water, or removing a pan from the oven. 2008 Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland's Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today. | You are subscribed to email updates from Unclutterer
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YP: 30 Percent Of Search Queries Now Coming From Mobile
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 01:02 PM PST
| YP: 30 Percent Of Search Queries Now Coming From Mobile Posted: 16 Dec 2012 08:26 AM PST Local search provider and online ad network YP has released its end of the year review report (.pdf). The data are drawn from a huge volume of queries on its PC destination site, its mobile site and apps, as well as its broader advertising network. YP says that 30 percent of its overall query... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.  |
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Gun Control: Don't Fall for the 'Mental Health' Diversion
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 11:54 AM PST
| Gun Control: Don't Fall for the 'Mental Health' Diversion Posted: 16 Dec 2012 11:27 AM PST Take a look around the right wing blogs and news sites, and watch Fox News, and you may notice that there are suddenly a lot of conservatives arguing that the real problem that leads to gun violence is mental illness -- and that the solution is "better mental health care." While it's true that the US does need better mental health care, your first clue that this is a dishonest diversionary tactic instead of a real argument is that the right wingers parroting it are the very same people normally vehemently opposed to any and all government involvement in health care. There's a reason why so many right wingers are using the "mental health" excuse - to distract attention away from the real problem: there are more than 290 MILLION guns in America, almost one for every single man, woman, and child. The right is so in love with gun culture that they'll even make dishonest arguments that contradict their own values, to pull attention away from this issue. There is no real evidence that mentally ill people are more likely to commit gun crimes. Columbia University psychiatrist Paul Appelbaum has found that less than 3-5% of American crimes are perpetrated by mentally ill people, and for crimes involving guns the percentages are even lower. In fact, the mentally ill are far more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators: Focus on Mental Illness in Gun Debate Is Misleading. Research by John Brekke and Cathy Prindle at the University of Southern California shows that individuals with schizophrenia are more likely to be assaulted by others than to commit violent crimes themselves, Metzl said. By blaming people who have mental disorders for violent crime, the threats posed to society by a much larger population - the sane - are overlooked."The focus on so-called mentally ill crime obfuscates awareness of a far more important set of risk predictors of gun violence: substance abuse and past history of violence," said Metzl, a professor of psychiatry and sociology. "By blaming people who have mental disorders for violent crime, the threats posed to society by a much larger population - the sane - are overlooked." One possible explanation for the tendency to blame mental illness for violent crimes is the fact that the debate around gun control has become so politicized that bringing up mental illness is one of the few ways to even talk about the issue, Metzl said.
And for the right, it's become a way to confuse and obfuscate the issue, in order to hang on to their precious, precious guns.  | | Power Line's Hinderaker: Schools Should Be More Like Biker Bars Posted: 15 Dec 2012 06:15 PM PST Over at Power Line, John Hinderaker has posted his ideas for how America should best address the problems presented by horrific crimes like the Newtown school shootings: The Sandy Hook Murders: What to Do? | Power Line. Hinderaker's keen legal mind zeroes in on a certain problematic Amendment to the US Constitution. No, not the Second Amendment, silly ... the First! I think the answer, for most such murderers anyway, is that they want to go out in a blaze of notoriety. Typically people who have made little impression on the world in life, they want to become famous in death. Shooting themselves won't achieve that goal, but shooting lots of others will. I think they inspire one another: the Aurora movie theater killer probably helped to motivate the Oregon mall murderer, and the Oregon mall murderer probably helped to motivate the Sandy Hook killer. If this is true'and I think it represents common sense'then one practical response to the school/theater/mall murderers presents itself: we could ban all news coverage of mass shooting incidents. If newspapers, magazines, web sites and above all television and radio stations were prohibited from making any reference to mass shooting crimes, then the goal that these criminals seek -- fame; in effect, immortality -- would not be achieved. It is reasonable to expect that mass shootings would decline as a result. In a less restrictive version of the same approach, we could allow news outlets to cover such crimes, but prohibit them from mentioning the name of the killer or displaying his image. This, too, might reduce the number of mass murders. The only flaw in my proposal is that it would be unconstitutional.
Well, don't let that stop you. Hinderaker is savvy enough to realize this isn't going to happen in America, ever, so his next best right wing solution (since those pesky constitutional amendments are off limits), can be summed up in two words: MOAR GUNZ! Within the realm of constitutional options, the most practical remedy I can think of would be to require that a certain number of teachers or administrators in each school be trained in the use of firearms and armed at all times. That would probably deter most school shooters. It is curious, but true, that even those killers who do not intend to survive their crimes never seem to open fire in the presence of another armed person. No one tries to shoot up a biker bar.
Yes, we are now being treated to the spectacle of a right wing blogger arguing that America's elementary schools should be more like biker bars. Because, as we all know, nobody ever tries to shoot up a biker bar.  | | Short Film: Varanasi, India: 'Beyond' Posted: 15 Dec 2012 03:59 PM PST "BEYOND" is an exclusive documentary featuring photographer Joey L. Set in Varanasi, India. The documentary by filmmaker Cale Glendening follows Joey and his assistant Ryan as they complete their latest photo series- "Holy Men." Almost every major religion breeds ascetics; wandering monks who have renounced all earthly possessions, dedicating their lives to the pursuit of spiritual liberation.Their reality is dictated only by the mind, not material objects. Even death is not a fearsome concept, but a passing from the world of illusion. Created by: Cale Glendening, Joey L., Ryan McCarney
Directed by: Cale Glendening
Edit/Color: Chris Dowsett, Cale Glendening, Joey L., Megan Miller, John Carrington
Graphic/Titles: James Zanoni
Original Score: Stephen Keech,Tony Anderson
All Photographs: Joey L.
Guiding/Translation: Raju Verma, Tejinder Singh Special Thanks: Jesica Bruzzi / BH Photo, Kessler Crane
-- http://caleglendening.com
http://joeyL.com
 | | Harvard School of Public Health: More Guns = More Homicide Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:32 AM PST Some facts from the Harvard School of Public Health about the correlation between gun availability and homicides: Homicide - Firearms Research - Harvard Injury Control Research Center - Harvard School of Public Health. 1. Where there are more guns there is more homicide (literature review). Our review of the academic literature found that a broad array of evidence indicates that gun availability is a risk factor for homicide, both in the United States and across high-income countries. Case-control studies, ecological time-series and cross-sectional studies indicate that in homes, cities, states and regions in the US, where there are more guns, both men and women are at higher risk for homicide, particularly firearm homicide. Hepburn, Lisa; Hemenway, David. Firearm availability and homicide: A review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior: A Review Journal. 2004; 9:417-40. 2. Across high-income nations, more guns = more homicide. We analyzed the relationship between homicide and gun availability using data from 26 developed countries from the early 1990s. We found that across developed countries, where guns are more available, there are more homicides. These results often hold even when the United States is excluded. Hemenway, David; Miller, Matthew. Firearm availability and homicide rates across 26 high income countries. Journal of Trauma. 2000; 49:985-88. 3. Across states, more guns = more homicide Using a validated proxy for firearm ownership, we analyzed the relationship between firearm availability and homicide across 50 states over a ten year period (1988-1997). After controlling for poverty and urbanization, for every age group, people in states with many guns have elevated rates of homicide, particularly firearm homicide. Miller, Matthew; Azrael, Deborah; Hemenway, David. Household firearm ownership levels and homicide rates across U.S. regions and states, 1988-1997. American Journal of Public Health. 2002: 92:1988-1993. 4. Across states, more guns = more homicide (2) Using survey data on rates of household gun ownership, we examined the association between gun availability and homicide across states, 2001-2003. We found that states with higher levels of household gun ownership had higher rates of firearm homicide and overall homicide. This relationship held for both genders and all age groups, after accounting for rates of aggravated assault, robbery, unemployment, urbanization, alcohol consumption, and resource deprivation (e.g., poverty). There was no association between gun prevalence and non-firearm homicide. Miller, Matthew; Azrael, Deborah; Hemenway, David. State-level homicide victimization rates in the U.S. in relation to survey measures of household firearm ownership, 2001-2003. Social Science and Medicine. 2007; 64:656-64.
More:
Twelve Facts About Guns and Mass Shootings in the United States
The Geography of U.S. Gun Violence - Neighborhoods - the Atlantic Cities  | You are subscribed to email updates from Little Green Footballs
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iPad for Sarah this Christmas – Santa Monica, CA Gifts – Santa’s List
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 11:47 AM PST
| iPad for Sarah this Christmas – Santa Monica, CA Gifts – Santa’s List Posted: 16 Dec 2012 01:48 AM PST | | Is P.C.P the New SEO? Posted: 16 Dec 2012 12:50 AM PST For years, optimizing a website was quite a simple affair. Through the course of search engines indexing sites, there were various algorithm updates too, but till Panda and its good friend Penguin came along, things like link building were quite easy to achieve. Article sites, blog comments, forum posts etc. and etc., these and other elements were [...] The post Is P.C.P the New SEO? appeared first on Search Engine Journal. | | [Infographic] Search Engine Market Share November 2012 Posted: 16 Dec 2012 12:39 AM PST A new infographic by Chitika insights reveals the latest trends in search, with Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask and AOL as the main players. The results are a bit different than revealed in comScore qSearch analysis, where Google Inc. ( GOOG ) sites led the explicit core search market in November with 65.4 percent market share. [...] The post [Infographic] Search Engine Market Share November 2012 appeared first on Search Engine Journal. | | [Infographic] Key Engagement Elements: Content PR Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:34 PM PST Defining the various disciplines that makeup a communications company or effort is not something many media outlets undertake to do anymore. What’s the difference between this kind of marketing or that? Is PR part of advertising or marketing, or vice versa? What is traditional public relations versus content PR? A recent infographic by Calysto Communications illustrates the differentiation [...] The post [Infographic] Key Engagement Elements: Content PR appeared first on Search Engine Journal. | You are subscribed to email updates from Search Engine Journal
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Get a free copy of my book
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 11:45 AM PST
| Get a free copy of my book Posted: 15 Dec 2012 01:00 PM PST 
This holiday season: Buy the comic book or audio editions and we’ll send you a free, signed paperback copy. From now through December 31st, email a receipt of your comic book or audio edition purchase to edi...@wordofmouth.org and we’ll mail you a signed paperback edition for free. (Sorry, but we can only ship our free paperback copies to U.S.-based addresses.) The comic book edition is the action-packed, condensed, and illustrated version of the Word of Mouth book. It’s all the fantastically useful word of mouth ideas from the full book in a format that’s even easier to read, implement, and share. Buy it here. The audiobook edition is the most convenient and mobile way to learn all of the practical, actionable ways you can get more people talking about you. For your commute, your big road trip, or your morning workout — this is a great way to learn the essential word of mouth skills. Buy it here. | 
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Mejor juego descargable de 2012 según los lectores de Vidaextra: 'The Walking Dead'
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 11:21 AM PST
| Mejor juego descargable de 2012 según los lectores de Vidaextra: 'The Walking Dead' Posted: 16 Dec 2012 08:31 AM PST 
No descansamos en domingo, y todo porque continuamos con los resultados de los mejores juegos de 2012, esos que vosotros habéis decidido, viendo ahora la categoría de juegos descargables.
Los recientes premios VGA 2012 nos dejaron claro que iba a ser uno de los títulos del año, y así ha sido. ‘The Walking Dead’ se ha impuesto a sus rivales como mejor juego descargable de 2012 con bastante claridad sobre el resto al alcanzar 617 votos. Tan solo el inclasificable ‘Journey’ le ha hecho un poco de sombra con 563 votos, mientras que en el tercer puesto tenemos toda una grata sorpresa. Sí, ‘Alan Wake’s American Nightmare’ se ha alzado con el bronce gracias a vuestros 400 votos, por encima de otros títulos con más papeletas para estar más arriba (o eso creíamos) como ‘Fez’ (sexto puesto con 116 votos) o ‘Trials Evolution’ (cuarto puesto con 199 votos). No deja de sorprendernos, a su vez, que un trabajo con tantos claros y oscuros como ‘Deadlight’ se haya alzado con el meritorio quinto puesto con 181 votos. Aquí, después de todo, sois vosotros los que decidís. No nosotros. 
La lista ordenada quedaría así, por si con tanto gráfico, número y porcentaje os liáis, que es probable. 01. The Walking Dead (617)
02. Journey (563)
03. Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (400)
04. Trials Evolution (199)
05. Deadlight (181)
06. Fez (116)
07. Mark of the Ninja (110)
08. Retro City Rampage (94)
09. Sine Mora (86)
10. Dust: An Elysian Tail (64)
11. Renegade Ops (60)
12. AwesomeNauts (57)
13. Hotline Miami (48)
14. Zack Zero (35)
15. Spelunky (21) No menos sorprendente es ver a títulos que tanta satisfacción nos han producido este año tan abajo, como ‘Mark of the Ninja’ (séptimo puesto con 110 votos) y ‘Dust: An Elysian Tail’ (décimo puesto con 64 votos), o ese popurrí de guiños llamado ‘Retro City Rampage’ (octavo puesto con 94 votos). Dos de disparos se quedaron muy abajo. Por un lado el shoot’em up ‘Sine Mora’, con 86 votos, y por otro el shooter ‘Renegade Ops’ con 60 votos. Cerrando la clasificación el MOBA ‘AwesomeNauts’ con 57 votos, el políticamente incorrecto ‘Hotline Miami’ con 48 votos, el español ‘Zack Zero’ con 35 votos, y abajo de todo el ‘Spelunky’ de XBLA con 21 míseros votos. Se ve que su elevada dificultad crispó a más de uno… Y es que al igual que el original sólo los verdaderos exploradores pueden con él. Pero no os vayáis, que aún quedan más categorías por desgranar. Mientras, repaso de lo que hay. Más en VidaExtra    | | Surge una imagen de 'Capcom Arcade Cabinet'. ¿Otra reedición de clásicos de Capcom en formato digital? Eso parece Posted: 16 Dec 2012 08:01 AM PST 
Cuando eres una compañía tan grande como Capcom, a pesar del deterioro de su imagen estos últimos años, te puedes permitir rescatar clásicos cada “equis” tiempo. Colecciones de sus trabajos hemos visto unos cuantos, y parece que hay uno más en camino: ‘Capcom Arcade Cabinet’. A falta de confirmación por la compañía de Osaka, esto hay que tomarlo con pinzas de momento, pero es innegable que con la carátula que se ha filtrado de su supuesta edición para Xbox Live Arcade esto no vaya a ser cierto. Es Capcom. Y le sobran clásicos a reeditar cuando quiera y como quiera. Todo viene a raíz de una imagen que ha aparecido en la página oficial de Xbox, que ya ha sido retirada, pero que captaron desde el sitio francés Videogames Pockett. Lo curioso es que no solamente se da por sentado que acabará llegando tarde o temprano a Xbox 360 vía Xbox Live Arcade, sino también a PS3 y PS Vita (Playstation Network), Nintendo 3DS y Nintendo Wii U (Nintendo eShop), PC (Steam), e incluso Android e iOS. Pero hasta 2013 nada. Imaginamos que Capcom se pronunciará pronto. Mientras, no faltan los primeros nombres tomando en cuenta la imagen filtrada. Clásicos como ‘1943’, ‘Commando’ o ‘Ghosts’n Goblins’. Aunque una duda nos asalta: ¿habrá DLCs para completar la lista? Porque aquí Capcom puede tener un filón importante para agrandar su producto. Ya veremos. 
Vía | NintendoLife > GoNintendo > Videogames Pockett    | | Los 'Lemmings' se van de marcha por el mundo real Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:22 AM PST 
¿Qué tienen en común los ‘Lemmings’ y la saga ‘Grand Theft Auto’? Bastante más de lo que uno pudiera pensar de antemano. Son obra del mismo estudio, Rockstar North, antiguo DMA Design. Hoy por hoy la compañía británica apuesta por otro tipo de temática, pero en los noventa causó furor con unos diminutos seres con alma de kamikaze en un videojuego que mezclaba la estrategia y los puzles para intentar salvar al mayor número de roedores posibles en cada fase. Una odisea en según qué situaciones, porque había que estar al tanto de diversos frentes, que a los ‘Lemmings’ o se les dan órdenes o van a su bola, y esa bola siempre tiene escrita la palabra “muerte” a cada paso. Si venimos a hablar de ellos ahora es porque Pipoca Effects, a quienes conocimos recientemente gracias al fenomenal vídeo que titulamos “La dura vida de un Goomba vista en primera persona”, vuelven al ataque, en esta ocasión con los ‘Lemmings’ como protagonistas dentro de nuestro mundo. Y claro, no paran hasta que se les dice lo contrario. Os dejamos con el vídeo, ya veréis lo que hacen.    | | Así fueron los Premios Xataka 2012 Posted: 16 Dec 2012 02:23 AM PST 
El pasado 29 de noviembre tuvieron lugar en la sala Shoko de Madrid los Premios Xataka 2012 y queremos contaros qué tal fue el evento, el cual contó con la colaboración de varias marcas. Nintendo y su Wii U Nintendo no quiso perderse el evento, y aprovechando que lanzaba de forma oficial su Wii U justo el día después, trajo algunas unidades para que todo el mundo pudiera probarlas. Allí pudimos jugar a algunos de los primeros títulos de la consola, pero también se llevó a cabo un concurso entre todos los que la probaron, el ganador del cual se llevó una Wii U a casa. HP llevó un asiento de conducción HP es una de las marcas que no suele perderse ni una edición de los Premios Xataka, y este año, además, pudimos jugar al 'F1 2011' en el asiento de conducción que montó la compañía. Había premio para quien consiguiera el mejor tiempo, concretamente un HP Spectre XT. Mountain y su sobremesa conectado a tres monitores Mountain también estuvo presente con sus equipos. Pudimos ver algunos de sus últimos productos, como el Mountain F-11 Ivy o los equipos SLiM, pero lo más llamativo es el set que montaron con un sobremesa conectado a tres monitores. También realizaron sorteos cuyos premios fueron un par de SSD Kingston HyperX 3K y un Mountain F-11 Ivy. Qualcomm y el corazón de los gadgets 
En la zona de Qualcomm pudimos comprobar de lo que son capaces sus últimos Snapdragon, tanto los de un núcleo como los de dos y cuatro, que la marca tiene en marcha para dispositivos Android, Windows 8 y Windows Phone 8. Si queréis ver fotos del evento podéis hacerlo en Flickr gracias al tag premiosxataka2012. También podéis echarle un vistazo a los distinto álbumes.    | | La historia de Atari, Valve fabricará hardware y los juegos de 2012. Lo mejor de la semana en VidaExtra (XIX) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 01:13 AM PST 
Una de las cosas que nos gusta hacer el domingo es echarle un vistazo a los posts más interesantes que hemos publicado en VidaExtra durante los últimos siete días, así que vamos allá. El domingo que viene volveremos a repasar lo mejor de la semana en VidaExtra.    | | Square Enix vuelve a mostrar en vídeo su motor gráfico de la próxima generación Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:01 PM PST 
Tras sorprender a propios y extraños con la demostración del Luminous Engine durante el pasado E3, los personajes de la demo técnica Agni’s Philosophy vuelven a mostrarnos de lo que será capaz la próxima generación en términos gráficos. Si hace poco os mostrábamos un vídeo en el que algunos de los elementos de aquella demo se variaban en tiempo real para demostrar la potencia del sistema, ahora son las caras de dos de sus protagonistas las que se muestran en vídeo para correr la misma suerte a manos de los desarrolladores. Cambios en la iluminación, las texturas, el pelo… mejor lo vemos, que ya sabéis eso que dicen de las imágenes y las 1.000 palabras. Vídeo | YouTube Vídeo | YouTube En principio todo lo que se muestra sería en tiempo real, es decir, ese nivel de detalle es el que podríamos ver en personajes y NPC de la próxima generación. No sé vosotros pero yo tengo muchas ganas de ver qué sale de todo esto, y es que si bien es cierto que a ‘Portal’ nunca le han hecho falta grandes alardes gráficos para ser una obra maestra, llegar a este nivel de detalle, teniendo en cuenta la corta vida de esta industria, es todo un logro. Vía | AGB
En VidaExtra | Square Enix habla sobre su demo técnica de la próxima generación y asegura que los juegos se verán así de bien    | | El nuevo tráiler de 'Splinter Cell Blacklist' nos muestra un nuevo protagonista: la iluminación Posted: 15 Dec 2012 10:31 PM PST 
En forma de diario de desarrollo Ubisoft vuelve a mostrarnos los avances de ‘Splinter Cell Blacklist’, esta vez centrándose en el trabajo realizado con la iluminación de sus escenarios, programada punto por punto para conseguir resultados más espectaculares en vez con procesos automáticos. A nivel visual, tal y como veréis a continuación, luce realmente bien, aunque preocupa un poco que todo ese conjunto de filtros, destellos y efectos acabe lastrando lo que de verdad importa, tener claro en todo momento qué es lo que tenemos delante. Bueno, eso y si realmente las consolas de hoy en día podrán dejar el pabellón bien alto frente a la edición de PC que parece mostrarse. Vídeo | YouTube Aún sin fecha oficial, sólo con la seguridad de que su ventana de lanzamiento será 2013, ‘Splinter Cell Blacklist’ llegará a PC, PS3, Wii U y Xbox 360. Lo mostrado hasta el momento es bastante prometedor y muchos ya sueñan con el retorno de un Sam Fisher que, a pesar de parecer un árbol de navidad con tantas luces repartidas por el cuerpo, podría devolver a la saga al camino que nunca debería haber abandonado. Vía | VG247
En VidaExtra | ‘Splinter Cell: Blacklist’ nos explica sus novedades en un extenso vídeo de 10 minutos. Merece la pena    | | Mejor juego de lucha de 2012 según los lectores de Vidaextra: 'Tekken Tag Tournament 2' Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:01 AM PST 
Continuamos nuestra andadura por los mejores juegos de 2012, una lista que habéis confeccionado vosotros mismos con vuestros votos, pasando ahora a la categoría de lucha. Final Round. Fight! Hemos tenido que esperar doce años, desde el original en su versión doméstica, para recibir en consolas de nueva generación el ‘Tekken Tag Tournament 2’, el cuál nos ha dejado, sin duda, un mejor sabor de boca que el ‘Tekken 6’. Su victoria, eso sí, no ha sido tan fácil. Ha estado más reñida que cualquiera otra categoría, porque ha ganado el primer puesto con 491 votos, mientras que el segundo se ha quedado a tan solo tres de igualarlo. No me digáis que no ha sido un duelo vibrante, ¿eh? Casualmente el segundo, con 488 votos, también tiene algo relacionado con la saga de Namco Bandai, aunque ha sido desarrollado por Capcom. ‘Street Fighter x Tekken’, con el 18% del total de vuestros votos, se ha quedado a las puertas de la gloria este año. Habrá que ver qué suerte corre su crossover invertido, el desarrollado por Namco Bandai. ¿Logrará alzarse con el premio del Torneo del Puño de Hierro de Vidaextra? Aún habrá que esperar mucho para eso, así que regresemos a la Tierra. Y es que antes de mirar el gráfico con los resultados, toca hablar del tercer clasificado, el cuál se ha quedado a poco más de un centenar del éxito. ‘Dead or Alive 5’ ha gustado, puesto que 390 votos lo avalan, aunque no ha sido lo suficiente. No ha logrado propinarle un buen power blow a sus rivales. 
La lista ordenada quedaría así, por si con tanto gráfico, número y porcentaje os liáis, que es probable. 01. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (491)
02. Street Fighter x Tekken (488)
03. Dead or Alive 5 (390)
04. Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale (387)
05. SoulCalibur V (371)
06. Marvel vs. Capcom Origins (282)
07. Skullgirls (102)
08. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus (66)
09. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown (49)
10. Arcana Heart 3 (25) El trabajo de Team Ninja también ha visto su puesto peligrar por muy pocos votos de diferencia. Nuevamente otros tres, y en este caso el rival es uno de los que más ampollas ha levantado este año. ‘Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale’ se queda en una meritoria cuarta plaza con 387 votos, un poco por encima de la quinta iteración de una vaca sagrada de la lucha. ‘SoulCalibur V’ se queda en el puesto de la rima que tanta gracia nos hace con 371 votos, y a partir de aquí se desinfla la categoría. El punto de inflexión llega de parte del ‘Marvel vs. Capcom Origins’, con 282 votos, esto es, el 11% del total, y eso que no es un producto de nuevo cuño, sino la reedición de dos clásicos dentro de un pack bastante comedido, y tras él, a mucha diferencia de votos, se queda el original ‘Skullgirls’ con 102 votos, demostrando una vez más que es muy difícil hacerse un hueco en esta categoría con un juego de lucha clásico, sea en 2 ó 3 dimensiones, con luchadores completamente nuevos. Otra vez será. Cierran dos reediciones (a su modo), con dos grandes de la lucha como son ‘Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus’ con 66 votos y ‘Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown’ con 49 votos, los dos para Playstation Network y Xbox Live Arcade, y el no tan conocido por estos lares ‘Arcana Heart 3’ con tan solo 25 votos. Habrá que ver lo que nos depara el próximo 2013, y que no llegue la sangre al río. Pero no os vayáis, que aún quedan más categorías por desgranar. Mientras, repaso de lo que hay. Más en VidaExtra    | | Capcom y Seow Zong Hui nos muestran más de 'Street Fighter x Mega Man', desvelando algún que otro detalle interesante Posted: 15 Dec 2012 10:31 AM PST 
Dos títulos gratuitos, y de marcado carácter retro, son los que más están dando que hablar este mes de diciembre. Por un lado el español ‘Maldita Castilla’, y por otro el ‘Street Fighter x Mega Man’. El primero se encuentra disponible desde la página oficial de Locomalito desde el pasado día 12, mientras que el segundo, alianza conjunta entre Seow Zong Hui y Capcom, hará lo propio desde Capcom-Unity el próximo 17 de diciembre a modo de homenaje para el incombustible Mega Man. Tanto él como la saga ‘Street Fighter’ cumplen 25 años, de hecho, pero ya sabemos que el trato de Mega Man no ha sido el mismo que el de Ryu y compañía… Y es que ha tenido que llegar el citado Seow para darle el empujón a Capcom y finalizar un nuevo ‘Mega Man’, pero con el toque añejo que tanto nos encanta, y con algunos de los luchadores más representativos del juego de lucha a modo de jefazos. Hace un par de días los vimos en dos extensos vídeos, y ahora toca uno mucho más corto, pero en el que sus responsables nos comentan más detalles interesantes. Algunos considerados spoilers, cuidado. Aunque hay uno que salta a la vista que no se puede obviar: ¡sale nuestro Vega! Vídeo | Youtube    | | Frases míticas de videojuegos, géneros que antes molaban, el merchandising más raro que hayamos comprado y más en VidaExtra Respuestas Posted: 15 Dec 2012 10:01 AM PST 
Llega el momento de darle un repaso a las mejores preguntas que se hayan lanzado dentro de los últimos siete días en VidaExtra Respuestas. Una selección bastante completa que nos llevará a recordar algunos de los mejores momentos que hayamos tenido con el mando en las manos. Empezamos. Hasta aquí la recopilación de hoy, volveremos dentro de siete días con más enlaces preguntas y respuestas de la comunidad. Imagen | DevianArt    | You are subscribed to email updates from Vidaextra
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Finding the Treasure Troves of Content for Facebook (and Google+)
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 11:18 AM PST
| Finding the Treasure Troves of Content for Facebook (and Google+) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:44 PM PST 
Let’s face it. Facebook (and Google+) love pictures. It ranks at the top of the news feed food chain above text posts, videos, and links. It’s the primary reason that many people visit Facebook in the first place. They want to see pictures of little Timmy sliding into third base, the places that their friends and family are visiting, and cats. Don’t forget the cats. Unfortunately, many businesses have focused on cats (or similar Facebook-friendly images) as their source of content. It simply doesn’t have to be that way. It’s the lazy approach to find things that make us laugh and then post them on our business Facebook pages in hopes that other people will laugh as well and like, comment on, or share the image. What’s worse than the laziness factor is that it’s insincere; it’s like trying to fit in at a party where people are frolicking in order to spring a sales pitch on an unsuspecting soul while in line for a drink. What’s worse than the insincerity is that it simply doesn’t work. Sure, people may like the picture of the Sistine Chapel that your sister posted. They may even share it. You may even be able to loosely justify it by saying that it’s improving your branding. These are fine delusions, but they don’t address the core problem you have with your Facebook page. You aren’t actually becoming anything to your fans other than another interesting page that posts content that they occasionally see and rarely enjoy. If Facebook (and Google+) are mostly visual platforms and you want to capture some of the “magic” without being a poser, you’ll want to find the various treasure troves of content to post. Here are some… Finding Images for Facebook (and Google+) 
One of the most annoying practices that businesses employ on Facebook is that they talk about anything other than their business. Don’t get me wrong, it’s much more annoying (and completely useless) to post a feed-based flurry of links to your website every day. Still, if you’re going to post images (and you should), there are places to find them that will improve your overall presence by staying interesting while also staying on point. In this example, we’ll look at a local Ford dealership. What do they do? They sell and service Ford vehicles as well as used vehicles of other manufacturers. There’s no reason for a Ford dealership to post pictures of cats. They have plenty of content available to them that would serve them much better. - Google – The obvious choice. It’s the other form of the lazy person’s approach, but it works and can still help you to stay on point. Search for specific cars. Search for engines. Search for images from the various car shows around the world. When you find something you like, post the image with a unique description. Be sure to add a localized or otherwise-relevant spin to the description. For example, if you’re posting an image of a concept 2015 Mustang, you could ask a question such as, “Is this different enough to make it stand out from the current body style?” or simply make a statement such as “We can’t wait to get these here in Fond du Lac!” As always, you’ll want to post a link to the source, but only after you’ve included the image. You don’t want this to be a link post with a preview generated, so add the link to the description after you’ve already selected the image. This works on both Facebook and Google+.
- Shutterstock – There are various paid image galleries that offer different packages. These are particularly useful when you’re posting content to your website or blog about the local area. In this example, we used Shutterstock to find interesting images of Wisconsin, the home state of the dealership itself. This gave us very sharable content (23 shares from a dealership’s website isn’t too shabby) on the website itself as well as a dozen images that we can share on the dealership’s Facebook page spread out over time if necessary or posted as an album.
- Your Store – This is quite possibly the most under-utilized source of content for most businesses. It’s also the most useful. Sure, there are plenty of businesses that are starting to post images of their happy customers, but it’s not really super-engaging content. The buyer and anyone who knows them might like or share the image, but it’s not going to get liked, commented on, or shared by anyone else. However, there is plenty going on other than the customers. In the example of the Ford dealership, there are often “cars with a story” coming through service. It could be a Ford with 300k miles. It could be one that just came back from a trip in the mountains and is now covered in mud. It could be an interesting or funny bumper sticker, a cool modification that someone made to a motor, or even something very simple like a silly outfit the boss wore to work today. There’s content floating around the store every day. You just have to keep your eyes open for it.
- The Area Around You – Every place has something photo-worthy. Whether you’re in a bustling metro area or a desert wasteland, there are things happening or interesting scenes that can be captured with your smartphone. Do it. I couldn’t tell you how many times I would stop in every city I’ve been to in order to take a picture of something cool had I managed a localized social media profile in that city. Take advantage of your surroundings and you’ll find treasures that your localized fans will recognize and enjoy.
- Your Imagination – This is rarely used as well but when it’s done right, it’s awesome. By using your imagination, you can explore both the store and the local area and manufacture scenes that would make for great posts on Facebook (and Google+). For example, you can go to the roof of the dealership and take a picture of the lot itself, then apply tilt-shift manipulation to the image for a really cool final product. The image above was a normal image, but when tilt-shift is applied, it makes it look like it’s a miniature car.
You don’t need cats. You need effort, imagination, and a willingness to be interesting with what it is that you do best. Don’t try to fit in on Facebook (and Google+). Try to stand out. Related articles | 
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CALM Act is in Effect Now: Commercials Cannot Be Louder Than Television Programming
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 11:11 AM PST
| CALM Act is in Effect Now: Commercials Cannot Be Louder Than Television Programming Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:00 AM PST This week the CALM Act (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation law) went into effect. The law, which was signed by President Obama in 2010 after a bipartisan effort towards its passage, limits the volume of TV commercials. The law went into effect Thursday, December 13th. So when commercials interrupt your favorite TV program, they should not be any louder than the show you are watching. If you are still hearing super-loud commercials, you should report them to the FCC at its website, http://www.fcc.gov, or give them a call at 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-225-5322). Here The Today Show anchors discuss the new law: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | Giant Gollum Installation at Wellington Airport in New Zealand Posted: 15 Dec 2012 08:00 AM PST  New Zealand's Wellington Airport has a giant Gollum installation. The sculpture is suspended from the roof and is shows Gollum grasping for juicy sweet fishes. The impressive installation was designed by Richard Taylor and Weta's workshop supervisor Rob Gillies. The airport terminal also now welcomes arriving passengers with a sign that says, "The Middle of Middle-earth." Taylor said in a statement, "We have had a long and wonderful relationship with the Wellington Airport team, who continually focus on presenting an exciting gateway into our city. We are thrilled to once again be creating something with Wellington Airport that will bring delight to the many visitors coming to our fabulous city." Take a look: Photo: Weta Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | Dr. Schar Celebrates World's Largest Gluten-Free Pizza Posted: 14 Dec 2012 08:41 PM PST  The Dr. Schar Group is celebrating the creation of the World's Largest Gluten-Free Pizza, which was officially entered in the Guinness World Records in Rome, Italy on Dec. 12, 2012. The company sponsored the 100% gluten-free creation, called Ottavia, in support of an awareness campaign of celiac disease and gluten-sensitivity. Dr. Schar supplied more than 9 tons of its gluten-free flour for the monster pizza. The pizza measured 131 feet in diameter and weighed in at 25.6 tons (51,257 pounds). Here is a list of the raw materials and ingredients used to make the enormous pizza: - 9.9 tons of Schar gluten-free flour mixed with 2,480 gallons of water
- 5 tons of tomato sauce
- 4.4 tons of mozzarella cheese
- 1,488 pounds of margarine
- 551 pounds of salt
- 275 pounds of parmesan cheese
- 220 pounds of lettuce
- 55 pounds or vinegar
- 298 gallons of yeast
Photo: Dr. Schar/Business Wire Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | Disney Toy Soldier Trains for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Posted: 14 Dec 2012 08:00 PM PST This determined toy soldier is training to make the auditions for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. His training includes running, push ups and carrying barrels. Take a look: Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is held from 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight on select nights at Magic Kingdom Theme Park. The event runs through December 21, 2012. Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | Video for Taylor Swift's Trouble I Knew You Were Trouble Posted: 14 Dec 2012 07:45 PM PST Taylor Swift released the video for her new single "I Knew You Were Trouble" which also stars Reeve Carney as the boyfriend who is bad news. Taylor just turned 23 years old on Thursday. She tweeted about the video, "The video. Starring the unbelievable @ReeveCarney, directed by the amazing @AnthonyMandler. I'm so proud of this one." It's a different kind of video for Taylor, with an interesting, gritty look. She wakes up in a kind of post-apocalyptic landscape and remembers the relationship that got her there. But she blames herself for falling for a bad boy -- all the signs were there when he walked in the door. We quite like it. Take a look: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | Barbara Walters Interviews One Direction, Harry Styles Admits His Fondness for Older Women Posted: 14 Dec 2012 07:31 PM PST  Barbara Walters interviewed One Direction, naming them some of the most fascinating people of the year. Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson gamely answered questions from the veteran interviewer, who has interviewed everyone from Fidel Castro to Vladimir Putin. Each lad introduced himself, gave his age and his hometown. Barbara shared the story of how they met. They were all contestants on X-Factor. Simon dinged them individually, but turned them into a band and signed them to his label. In two years they have generated $160 million in income from albums and touring. Barbara didn't take it easy on them. Harry, who is now dating Taylor Swift, was asked, "You have been linked to older women. How old is older women? 23?" Harry said yes and 83 year old Barbara joked, "I may kill myself!" She asked Zayn how he does his hair (the band claimed that they help him with it). They all agreed that Niall is the cutest band member. Barbara grilled them about wanting to do a Justin Timberlake and warned them that boy bands don't last long. They all denied that they want to go solo, and said they enjoy being a band. Hey, it's a Barbara Walters interview. The questions are going to be tough. Take a look: Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames. Photo: Donna Svennevik/ABC Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | Ubisoft and Toys R Us Launch Social Game on Facebook Posted: 14 Dec 2012 07:24 PM PST  Toys R Us has partnered with Ubisoft to launch Toys R Us Towers, a new social game that can currently be played on Facebook. The game will also soon be available on apps for mobile devices. The game will have real-world benefits in the form of coupons that can be redeemed at Toys R Us stores and toysrus.com. In Toys R Us Towers players become an employee at Toys R Us, where they manage their own toy store. Players can build different toy departments and attractions. They can also progress seven different levels from trainee to CEO. Players can also spend their own money to purchase "premium currency" in the social game, which Toys R Us says can be spent on "additional energy, premium toy departments, boosts and more." You can find the game here on Facebook. Photo: Toys R Us Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | Video: Beagle Plays With Christmas Ornament When Owners Are Gone Posted: 14 Dec 2012 07:00 PM PST A beagle named Suzy was videotaped when her owners were gone. You can see Suzy watching out the window to make sure her owners were gone. She then goes and grabs an ornament off the tree and starts playing with it. Suzy has the best time with the Christmas ornament, chasing it all over the living room and jumping on all the furniture. Take a look: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | | Kristen Stewart Wears Erdem to On the Road NY Premiere Posted: 14 Dec 2012 06:44 PM PST Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst and Sam Riley hit the red carpet for the New York premiere of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Kristen says she never knows what she wants to do next until it's right in her lap. It takes that certain "it" and a compulsion to take a film role. Kristen wore pale blue, high waisted shorts and and matching bra top which was covered by a sheer overlay. The spring ensemble was by Erdem. She accessorized with bright coral pumps by Christian Louboutin. Co-star Sam Riley, who is British, says Kristen is great, but he knew nothing about the Twilight films that made her famous. He said Kristen explained the plot to him, which he found pretty "far out," which is a hilarious comment. The whole thing seemed to puzzle him greatly. Kirsten Dunst says she was a latecomer to the film, and was a bit nervous but she loves the director Walter Salles. Kirsten dressed much more conservatively for the premiere, wearing a dress by Beckley dress and a navy jacket by Band of Outsiders. Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest  | You are subscribed to email updates from ShoppingBlog.com
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Element Case's Ronin case for iPhone 5: Lightweight luxury
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 11:08 AM PST
| Element Case's Ronin case for iPhone 5: Lightweight luxury Posted: 15 Dec 2012 03:00 PM PST  A few weeks ago I received a PR blast from Element Case about their new Ronin case for iPhone 5 ($199.99) and just had to write a short post about it due to its unique and gorgeous design. The case uses a combination of nickel-plated aluminum, exotic wood, and leather in a design that is stunning, yet featherlight. Design What can you say about a case that comes with its own case? With a $200 iPhone case, you'll want to make sure that your iPhone 5 and the Ronin case are getting protection. That's why the Ronin comes with a leather protective wallet as well. When I say that the Ronin is lightweight, I mean it. It registered a scant 0.6 oz (17 gm) on my postal scale. As with many of the Element Case products, the Ronin requires some installation smarts. You need to remove one screw with an included tool, pull open the case, wrap it securely around your iPhone 5, then tighten all of the screws on the case. Once that's done, you install a leather backplate. Two are included with the Ronin -- one that's "genuine leather" and the other that is made of Ultrasuede. There are "rash strips" that need to be installed on the outside of the case to keep it from scuffing the finish of your iPhone 5; extra strips are included should you they need to be replaced. Element Case also includes a cleaning cloth and screen protector for your iPhone in the box, as well as extra screws. The leather protective wallet is a nicely designed piece of work as well. It's slender, made of two colors (brown and black) of leather, with a Velcro closure to keep your iPhone and Ronin nicely protected. The leather backplates are interchangeable; Element Case provides a tack sheet onto which you can stick the backplate that's not currently in use. That's a nice touch, something I guess you should expect with a $200 iPhone case! Functionality iPhone cases are all about two things: protecting your iPhone and making it look nice. Up until this point, I hadn't seen a case that would make me actually cover up the iPhone 5. The Ronin changed that. I did have one gripe about the case; for $200, it sure requires a lot of installation. Many people who can afford to pay that much for a case probably have no mechanical skills at all, so there may be a booming cottage industry for installing Element Cases. The instructions were too generic; they were for another one of the Element Case lines, and rather than just removing one screw I found I needed to remove two. The rash strips took a little bit of work to install properly, and I found that the edges that wrap around the beveled sides of the iPhone 5 just wouldn't stick down. Fortunately, the case covers those so uneven edges aren't visible. The exotic wood used on the Ronin case is a bit darker than that seen on the Element Case website, but it still looks beautiful. I installed the Ultrasuede back on the iPhone 5 as I liked the lighter color, and it has a wonderful warm feeling to it. One thing I noticed almost immediately when holding the Ronin/iPhone 5 combo is that the slightly curved edges of the wood make the case much easier to grip than an uncased iPhone 5. The Ultrasuede backplate also reduces the annoying buzz of the iPhone in vibrate mode when it's on a table top to a still-noticeable rumble. Conclusion While the Ronin obviously isn't for everyone, it will appeal to those with a sense of luxury and has a certain steampunk cachet to it. It's certainly the most unique iPhone 5 case I've seen to date, and the construction of the Ronin is top notch. If you're looking for a luxurious Christmas present for the iPhone 5 owner who has everything, you can't go wrong with the Element Case Ronin. Pros - Unique. I challenge you to find another case that is made of nickel-plated aluminum, wood, and leather.
- Extremely well-made. The amount of care taken in both design and manufacturing is obvious.
- Curved wood sides make the Ronin a joy to hold.
- Luxurious feel and look.
Cons - A bit out of the price range of the average iPhone 5 owner.
- Installation can be a challenge.
Who is it for? - The iPhone 5 owner who wants a classy case that protects while complementing the design of the smartphone with steampunk good looks.
Element Case's Ronin case for iPhone 5: Lightweight luxury originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 15 Dec 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments | | Walmart offering iPhone 5 for $127, 4S for $47, iPad for $399 Posted: 15 Dec 2012 02:00 PM PST  If you're planning on picking up some Apple goodies for your loved ones this holiday season but haven't yet done so, Walmart may be your new best friend. As 9to5Mac reports, the retail chain is offering some pretty hefty in-store discounts on several brand new gadgets starting today. The full list of deals reads as follows: - 16GB iPhone 5 - $179 (with new two-year contract)
- 16GB iPhone 4S - $47 (with new two-year contract)
- 16GB iPad (newest version) - $399 (plus a $30 iTunes gift card starting December 17)
Target stores are also jumping on the iPhone discount bandwagon, but in a slightly different way. The retailer will offer Virgin Mobile's prepaid 16GB iPhone 4S for $399 (down from $449) starting on December 16 at Target Mobile stores. Walmart offering iPhone 5 for $127, 4S for $47, iPad for $399 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 15 Dec 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments | | Around Me offers holiday update with many new features for travelers Posted: 15 Dec 2012 01:00 PM PST  One of my favorite local points of interest apps, Around Me (free), received a rather substantial update that will bring a smile to holiday travelers and anyone looking for close-by gas stations, eateries, shopping venues and much more. The ad-supported universal app has added hotel booking in the iPad version, while both versions include improved hotel info including the availability of free WiFi and details on parking and facilities. Other new features include gas prices (USA only) and increased info on movies and movie times, the latter information coming from Fandango. The app is not a replacement for a full blown navigation system, but it will allow you to send the destination to whatever nav app you have on your device, including Apple Maps. While checking the app I found no support yet for the new Google Maps, but would expect it at any time. Around Me now supports the iPhone 5 screen and iOS 6. It's one of my favorite apps, especially when I am on the road and looking for everything from a pharmacy to a cinema or an ATM. I don't find the ads annoying, but there is an in-app upgrade to make the app ad-free for US $2.99. That strikes me as a little high; $0.99 would seem more reasonable and bring in more upgraders. I recommend Around Me highly, and I think you'll appreciate its virtues too. Around Me offers holiday update with many new features for travelers originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 15 Dec 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments | | Google Maps bumps iOS 6 adoption by just 0.2% Posted: 15 Dec 2012 12:00 PM PST | | Catify Yourself from Friskies lets you channel your inner cat Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:30 AM PST  Are you feeling frisky because its Caturday? Got the urge to meow and purrr? Then you need to check out Friskies's latest cat-themed app, Catify Yourself. The photo-taking app lets you superimpose your face onto a cat body with hilarious results. Catify Yourself has ten backgrounds that show a cat playing or posing for the camera. Each background has a cut-out for your face and room for a caption. You can insert your mugshot using the camera or by importing a photo from the camera roll. Gestures like pinch-to-zoom let you resize the photo and tilt it to fit the face of the cat. Once you've got the face lined up, you can choose a caption from about thirty different pre-set phrases. When you are done tweaking the image and setting the caption, you can share the resulting image via email or on a social network like Facebook or Twitter. You can also assign it to a contact or save it to your camera roll. It's good, clean fun that will literally leave you laughing out loud. Friskies Catify Yourself is available for free from the iOS App Store. Catify Yourself from Friskies lets you channel your inner cat originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 15 Dec 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments | | New and notable apps for iOS and OS X - December 15 edition Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:00 AM PST  It has been busy in the App Store with a handful of new apps such as Google Maps, Amazon Instant Video for the iPhone and Scrobbler from Last.fm. We also have a handy list of games from earlier this week. Grab a cup of joe and check out our list of notable apps from the past week below! OS X Apps Ensoul Contacts [OS X, Category: Social Networking, $4.99] Automatically match Faces from iPhoto or Aperture libraries with your Contacts. Effortlessly enhance, crop or rotate images for the best fit. Assign HD full-size photos to all your contacts. Drum Beats+ for Mac [OS X, Category: Music, $4.99] Drum Beats+ is a simple and fun collection of on-demand beats for stress-free jamming and songwriting accompaniment. Tweetifier [OS X, Category: Social Networking, $1.99] Tweetifier is a simple app to keep track of your mentions and followers on Twitter. Hourly News [OS X, Category: News, $2.99] Hourly News is a simple app that lives in your Mac's menu bar and plays the most recent news updates from multiple sources automatically when clicked. iOS Apps Strum [iOS Universal, Category: Photo & Video, Free] Turn your life into a music video. Foundd - Find the best new movies [iPhone, Category: Entertainment, Free] Foundd is an easy and free way to find amazing movies. Foldify [iPad, Category: Entertainment, $1.99] Foldify lets you create, print and share foldable 3D paper creations. Audiobus [iOS Universal, Category: Photo & Video, $0.99] PicsPlay Pro is a universal photo editor with optimized user interfaces for both iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch devices. Adult Mad Libs [iOS Universal, Category: Entertainment, Free] Adult Mad Libs is the newest version of the classic word game, all grown up. Retromatic HD [iPad, Category: Photo & Video, $3.99] Retromatic HD lets you adorn your photos with 17 retro-style filters, 11 background images and 30 retro-style ornaments. Televised [iPhone, Category: Entertainment, $1.99] Televised makes it easy to keep track of your favorite TV shows. History Channel [iPad, Category: Entertainment, Free] Pawn Stars. American Pickers. Swamp People. Now you can watch your favorite History Channel shows wherever and whenever you wan on your iPad! A&E [iPad, Category: Entertainment, Free] Watch full episodes and clips of your favorite A&E series including Duck Dynasty, Storage Wars, The First 48 and many more. Lifetime [iPad, Category: Entertainment, Free] Full episodes and clips of your favorite Lifetime series, including Project Runway, Dance Moms, Army Wives and many more SeatGeek [iPhone, Category: Entertainment, Free] SeatGeek makes it easy to find the best deals on sports and concert tickets. Clutch Shopping [iPhone, Category: Lifestyle, Free] Clutch lets you find deals, give gifts, and share these finds with your friends and family. Party Monster - Queueing DJ [iOS Universal, Category: Music, $1.99] Party Monster is a simple DJ app for parties and road trips. New and notable apps for iOS and OS X - December 15 edition originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 15 Dec 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This Week In Trailers: Boxing Day, The Girl, All Superheroes Must Die, Tabu, This Time Tomorrow
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 11:04 AM PST
| This Week In Trailers: Boxing Day, The Girl, All Superheroes Must Die, Tabu, This Time Tomorrow Posted: 15 Dec 2012 12:00 PM PST 
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they're seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week we get snarky and cheat on our wives with Danny Huston, see if the world really will end on December 21st, see cosplay at its finest (or lowest), get enchanted by black and white, and make a run for the border.
Boxing Day Trailer Bernard Rose may not fall off the tips of tongues for those who are asked what else this director has done but for a select few who know he was behind Candyman it’s a pleasant surprise to see him pop up like this. Starring Danny Huston as a speculative land buyer, the story based off of Leo Tolstoy’s work, and the trailer just vibrates with a certain uneasiness that is quite attractive and fascinating. I don’t know why I’m on edge watching what appears to be a pretty mundane story of a land baron who flips properties and a driver for that baron who appears to want to scrap with that man either overtly or under his breath. Huston just pops in this kind of role, he’s played all manners of evil men quite nicely, but this trailer makes him out to be someone who is to be reviled and slightly evil with the way he cavorts with a woman, his little kids a phone call away. There doesn’t seem to be much indication where events will take us but the last third of this trailer appear to be quite stirring with the way the camera bobs and weaves, and the desperate way in which bodies are moving all capped with the hollow sounds of a helicopter as we stare at the sun. What in the hell all this means, I couldn’t tell you, but these are the kinds of stories I appreciate being tantalized by if done right. This Time Tomorrow Trailer If Noah Wyle and Jon Hamm had a kid it would be this good looking man with the fabulous beard, Dave Coleman. A lot of what happens when you see a trailer starring people you don’t know is finding that thing that grabs you first and accentuating that. For me, it was that damn beard and it triggered a flashback to when I found about the movie In Search of a Midnight Kiss years ago by stumbling onto that trailer just as randomly as I found out about this one. The two share a few things that really get my cinematic heart aflutter but what these two things have between them is that sense of real, raw emotion at the core and that they both were able to communicate that above all else. Beyond the simple production value, the snappy dialogue, what is present in this trailer is a real heart that is pumping emotion you can believe in and it made a believer out of me. There is a warmth between our couple here and I like that we have this one moment in time to focus on tightly. Director Shane Bissett has crafted a tale that revolves around the end of the world on December 21st and this couldn’t be more endearing if it tried. There’s not a lot of money on the screen but that’s of no concern to me. The trailer carries us through the lives of these two young adults who are exactly that and it appears that they’ll go through the same ups and downs and emotional protests that pepper the landscape of these types of movies. Dime a dozen, seen it before, take your pick, but if there’s one movie that I am genuinely excited to see more than any other this week it would be this one. It’s nice to be reminded that we were all so impulsive at one time and for those of us who barely remember what that meant this is the story we all deserve to enjoy. The Girl Trailer I wish I hadn’t heard the full reviews of this movie. The latest from David Riker, a director who has made films like La Cuidad and Sleep Dealer, is back with a movie that was helped along by a producer of Maria Full of Grace, one of those movies that genuinely hit you square in the eyes. This movie seems to flirt with the same idea of smuggling, with the exception here of it involving human property instead of drogas. The beats are well spaced and paced without nary a weak moment to speak of. That said, though, there is lot of exposition that we’re given which they could have held back on a little bit, instead, giving us way too much. Give me a little mystery, don’t spill all the beans which they do fairly well of here. You have a hard nosed woman who finds love and hope in a girl she may or may not feel an obligation to but she flips pretty quick, this just being a function of the trailer and them wanting to show an entire arc happen before our eyes, and it’s barely believable. I want to like this so much more than I do but it’s in such a hurry to get to the moments that play us out that it’s hard to develop a relationship with who this woman is. It looks like a really compelling story and they should have took a minute to let it all breathe a little bit. All Superheroes Must Die Trailer Well, this is certainly indie. Jason Trost, who many know as the director of from The FP, is back with something that looks like a real independent effort mixed in with some fairly interesting moments wrapped up in comedic production values. I’m not sure what to even make of what’s here other than the bombastic rant of a hackneyed villan whose monologue appears to have been written by a sophomore in a high school creative writing class. That said, it’s an interesting exercise in making a superhero movie that is flying pretty low to the ground. The acting is iffy, the premise is just nuts, but the trailer is pretty good at establishing why we’re here and what we can expect. It’s got a lot of moments that demonstrate why those who would be interested in it would want to know more and it’s not shy at giving up some explosions in the process. I’m not sure if I’m attracted by its lo-fi vibe or I’m really respecting the effort that’s on display but I do know that this looks like something I haven’t seen in some time. Of course, there are the fan videos that have made the rounds in various cosplay capacities. Perhaps this just feels like Comic-Con come to life. Tabu Trailer Miguel Gomes? Anyone? Not knowing anything about a director when you stumble on things like this is pretty exciting. There are no preconceived ideas of what their oeuvre is composed of, what themes they’re known for honing in on at any given time. A movie like this stands on it’s own and it really does stand tall. I am in love with this trailer if for no other reason than it begins almost snootily, art for art sake, you genuinely want to take a leather glove and rap the people on the screen with it, but you realize that’s the point. There’s a comedic sensibility that is so subtle at play here that as it starts to woo you with its photography and the twinkling music, you are lulled into its spell. Something is at play with the people on the screen and we are thrust from a genial, gentle moment to Mickey Gilley’s “Lonely Wine”. The flashback is its own beast but it’s riveting. These characters never say a word in the flashback but the pictures tell me everything. There is a beauty there, a romance with the moments and the people who inhabit that space. Sure, it still may be art for art sake but the trailer is cobbled together in such a way that you are so busy piecing together the love story by the time you look up the trailer is done. Mission accomplished. If there’s a tenth of the story that appears to be afoot here there’s a good chance this is a gem that otherwise would have been overlooked. Just a tightly focused piece of marketing that not only got me excited for a film I never knew existed but now I’m anticipating it which is even more delicious of a feeling. Nota bene: If you have any suggestions of trailers to possibly be included in this column, even have a trailer of your own to pitch, please let me know by sending me a note at Christop...@yahoo.com In case you missed them, here are the other trailers we covered at /Film this week: - Iron Man 3 Japanese Trailer - This is the kind of trailer that gets the blood pumping. Evocative, with a real struggle.
- Blancanieves Trailer - I want to see this right now. A wonderfully shaped piece of marketing.
- Downloaded Trailer – This is one documentary that has my attention. The issues it raises are still issues that are prevalent today so it couldn’t be more timely.
- The Sorcerer and the White Snake Trailer - Appears to be a CG love fest on a canvas full of color.
- Oblivion Trailer - I really do want to be excited about this but I’m getting an I Am Legend vibe off the trailer. I’m not pro or con, just kind of indifferent.
- After Earth Trailer - Eh, maybe my kids will like it.
- Unforgiven Trailer - I’m interested. Looks compelling.
- This Is 40 Red Band Trailer – The wife is excited to see it, so, regardless of how this all pans out, no matter if it ends up with a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes I will be forking over $2o to see it. (This is what real marriage means, kids.)
- Man of Steel Trailer - I am a fan of the introspective hero. Show me vulnerability, mental instability, I need someone who can be real and this looks like it’s getting close.
- Welcome to the Punch Trailer - Thanks, I’ve seen this before.
- G.I. Joe Retaliation Trailer - Cautious. Really cautious.
- Pacific Rim Trailer – Please don’t be cheesy, please don’t be cheesy…
- Upstream Color Trailer #2 - My loins are exploding with the need to see this. Sorry for that graphic declaration.
- Zero Dark Thirty Trailer - Need to see. Now.
- Sequel Bits: Pauly Shore Wants to Be ‘In the Army Again’, Plus: ‘Hatchet III’, ‘Piranha 3DD’, ‘Expendables 2′, ‘Men in Black 4′, ‘Star Trek 2′, ‘Iron Sky II’
- ‘Savages’ Moves to Summer Release, Opening Dates for ‘Trouble With the Curve’, ‘The FP’, ‘Bullhead’, ‘Chico & Rita’
- 'Vs' Trailer – A Superhero/Horror Mashup by 'The FP' Co-Director Jason Trost
- Movie Trailer: ‘Mr. Nice’, a Tale of Drugs, Cops and Wigs
 | | /Filmcast Ep. 210 – Silver Linings Playbook Posted: 15 Dec 2012 10:00 AM PST 
Dave, Devindra, and Adam chat about David O. Russell’s latest film, Silver Linings Playbook. You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993.
Download or Play Now in your Browser: Subscribe to the /Filmcast:  
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Backed Or Whacked: Kickstarter’s Great Wallet Project Glut Of 2012
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:58 AM PST
| Backed Or Whacked: Kickstarter’s Great Wallet Project Glut Of 2012 Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:00 PM PST  Editor's note: Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research and blogs at Techspressive. Each column will look at crowdfunded products that have either met or missed their funding goals. Follow him on Twitter @rossrubin. Crowdfunding campaigns employ all kinds of logical and emotional appeals to get you to dig into your wallet. But in just the past few months, there's been a rush of different products seeking to replace yours. Why Kickstarter — which screens all projects — saw fit to greenlight 10 variations on a theme in so short a time is something only its curators can say. Not only have most of them sought to minimize the traditional pocket stuffer with something far thinner and lighter, but most won the backing of the crowd, as well. However, as many of them have been smaller-scale projects, and as wallets tend to be popular gifts, a few have already begun shipping, so that they can spend a little while sitting in a stocking before moving on to a pocket. Backed: SlideR. Like many of the wallets that have been funded through Kickstarter in the past few months, the slider is a simple fabric-and-elastic affair that leaves parts of your plastic exposed. Its distinguishing namesake feature is the ability to slide the elastic band along the width of the sleeve in order to hold your cards tight or facilitate removal — a simple enough concept to attract nearly double the $8,500 goal and start shipping. Backed: Obtainium Wallet. The Obtainium wallet may be made of aluminum and not unobtainium, but its space-age look conceals a bi-fold design that contains gripping compartments to protect its contents from mud, moving cars and other indignities. Slim compared to conventional wallets but bulky compared to its Kickstarter contemporaries, the tight-jeans-compatible sturdy cache has more than doubled its $25,000 goal with about 20 days left in the campaign. Backed: Inevitable Wallets. Tyvek has long been a material used in thin wallets and the material of choice for wallet designers Johnny and Jill Burt and Caden, their four-year-old son and star of both their Kickstarter video and wall. Reliving the spirit of so many slugfests in their hometown of Las Vegas, the Burts take on both leather wallets and ultra minimalist affairs that they say sacrifice functionality for size. It's on, and moving forward for the Amaranth clutch wallets and Liberty Series men's bifolds thanks to the campaign eking past its lightweight, yet durable, $3,000 funding goal. Whacked: The Flip n’ Grip Wallet. The Flip n’ Grip's unusual trademarked name is a good fit for its unusual appearance and card presentation system. The six-card holder plus optional money clip can store up to six cards that pop up in a stepped presentation when the lever on the side of the device is pressed. There's also a hook that you or pickpockets can use to easily remove your wallet from your pocket and which, we may infer from the video, makes for endless gunslinger-style twirling fun. Because if there's one thing you don't care about having fly off your hand to locations unknown, it's your wallet. Fortunately, the aluminum and stainless steel construction should protect it if it's run over. The Flip n’ Grip attracted more than $45,000 in funding, a multiple of many other backed wallets, but only about half of the $100,000 sought in the campaign. That's life in the badlands, fundslingers. Backed: Vi Card Holder/Wallet. An early Product Design entrant from the UK, the Vi (pronounced like the remade mini-series about deceptively friendly aliens and not like the legendary UNIX text editor) and represents "five intelligent design solutions" — light, compact, elegant, functional and simple. The video is otherwise short on marketing points, letting the product, sort of a mobile version of a desktop business card holder, speak for itself. That it did, as backers provided double the £5,000 funding goal. Backed: TGT Wallet. It's tempting to knock the TGT (pronounced "tight") wallet for its video's gratuitous shots of, ahem, back pockets. However, its scraggly inventor balances out the denim closeups with an engaging telling of the story of how the TGT came to be from its humble roots as a thick red rubber band holding together another kind of green: a broccoli stalk. Certainly one of the most fashion-forward of the lot, it ventures beyond the requisite credit cards and oft-afterthought cash to feature a pocket that can accommodate a USB flash drive or wrap around an iPhone. It looks as though getting cards and cash expeditiously out of the TGT might be somewhat HRD, but backers didn't seem to agree, contributing almost $300,000 more than the original $20,000 funding goal. Backed: Capsule Minimalist Wallet. In his Kickstarter video, Robert Sha has a frank discussion with you about what he sees as the chief shortcoming of many thin wallets, their giving short shrift to the good old case. To remedy this, the Capsule Minimlalist wallet includes a more generous CashStrap™ that can accommodate a single folded bill or a stack of them, whereas many other minimalist wallets require you to double-fold, which of course adds thickness. The result is a minimalist wallet that looks more traditional but offers good functionality. Over 2,400 backers offered $100,000 more than its original $16,500 goal. Backed: HuMn Mini Wallet. HuMn is a returning Kickstarter alum as the original HuMn wallet, funded to almost $300,000 back in February and recently featured on Fab.com. The original and its smaller successor are of the spreading elastic band genus of minimalist wallets. What sets it apart is the ability to use either one or both aluminum plates when you want to lighten your load even further, although doing so requires taking off the elastic band and tucking all your cards and cash back in again. The Portland-based designers didn't raise as much cash as last time, but still brought in more than $80,000 from backers, coasting past the $50,000 goal. Backed: Dash Wallet. The one-piece Dash wallet, named after the designer's dog who sent his previous wallet to that Great Pocket in the Sky, is another card-centric conveyance focused on easier retrieval of key credit cards. It's card-sorting features might not be as sophisticated as the Flip n’ Grip’s, but is more advanced than that of the SideR. The killer feature is a small square hole in the side that enables you to partially pop out a credit card for a quick swipe. With about 40 days to go, the campaign has already surpassed its modest $10,000 goal. Whacked: Transcend Wallet. The stainless-steel Transcend by the Boise-based spousal team of MTS not only transforms "from minimalist to maximalist" by switching its slick sliding compartments, but it protects your valuables in two ways — via its stainless steel shell and via a special hidden compartment. Alas, neither was enough to protect the project from insufficient funding and the project fell on its sword. It was clear it would not make its $30,000 goal to enable local production in Idaho. The team holds out hope of returning to Kickstarter at some point with a lower funding goal for the Transcend, giving those for whom too many crowdfunded wallet options can never be enough. | | Aereo Founder Chet Kanojia On Expansion, New Content Deals, And Operating Within The Law Posted: 15 Dec 2012 06:00 PM PST  Aereo network streaming TV service recently launched a new Bloomberg TV channel, marking the first content licensing deal inked by the New York-based startup. We sat down with Chet Kanojia, CEO and founder of Aereo to discuss licensing new content, expansion, and the current court case involving Aereo and major network TV broadcasters. As it stands now, Aereo pulls most of its content from free over-the-air signals from network broadcasters like Fox, ABC, NBC, etc. Users are able to rent a tiny little antenna that works the same way as rabbit ears, and choose to watch live TV or previously recorded TV from the comfort of their connected devices. According to Chet, the deal with Bloomberg TV is only the beginning. Aereo aims to completely disrupt the traditional process of watching TV. As he sees it, competition is all around. Library products, like Netflix and Hulu, have so much content, but “news and sports on demand is like history on demand,” says Chet. As far as the cable companies are concerned, the content is definitely there too, but the price is very different. With cable you’ll pay anywhere from $80 to $100 a month, and Aereo only charges $8 per month. This type of heavy-duty disruption has network broadcasters freaking out a little bit, which is why they’ve sued Aereo and are looking to get a preliminary injunction on the service. So far, however, that hasn’t worked out so well, as the courts have ruled in favor of Aereo. Chet told me that Aereo was actually designed and built to work well within the law, which happens to be very complicated when it comes to reproduction rights, public performance rights, etc. But Chet tells me that he’s very confident that Aereo is well within the law, and he has no doubt that Aereo will make it through this huge lawsuit. He even applauded the FCC, who is working to bring the latest technology to consumers in a fair and reasonable way. I also asked Chet about the idea that building a company to just be within the law can be looked at by some as searching for loopholes. “The loophole argument just doesn’t make any sense or resonate with me,” he explained. “To say to somebody, ‘we set up a law and you followed it and we’re going to accuse you of following that law,’ that just sounds like talking out of both sides of the mouth to me,” said Chet. The goal is actually to build a meaningful enterprise for the good of the consumer, which not only means bringing fair prices to the TV consumer, but bringing channel opportunities to creative professionals that need an outlet. | You are subscribed to email updates from TechCrunch » Gadgets
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Internet porn: Automatic block rejected (BBC)
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:43 AM PST
| Internet porn: Automatic block rejected (BBC) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:00 AM PST   BBC:
Internet porn: Automatic block rejected — Campaigners say it is too easy for children to access explicit adult content — Ministers have rejected plans to automatically block internet access to pornography on all computers, saying the move is not widely supported.
| | The unlikely persistence of AppleScript (John Gruber/Macworld) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:35 AM PST  John Gruber / Macworld:
The unlikely persistence of AppleScript — First, a little history: — Apple acquired NeXT at the end of 1996, with the plan of using that company's OpenStep operating system as the foundation for the future of Mac OS. The first plan for that OS was called Rhapsody … | | Twitter has started rolling out the option to download all your tweets (Martin Bryant/The Next Web) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 05:20 AM PST | | Following Adobe user forum breach, hacker claims he has access to some Yahoo servers (Emil Protalinski/The Next Web) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 04:00 AM PST | | Before Japan Votes, Mum's the Word, Twitterwise (Wall Street Journal) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 01:40 AM PST | | Former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson is on the trail to redemption at new startup (Peter Delevett/Mercury News) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 10:55 PM PST | | The Thriving Bazaar on Instagram (Jenna Wortham/New York Times) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:35 PM PST  Jenna Wortham / New York Times:
The Thriving Bazaar on Instagram — Instagram, the picture-sharing application that Facebook bought earlier this year, has not yet figured out a way to make money. But some of its users have. — These entrepreneurs have realized that they can piggyback on the popularity of Instagram … | | Below the Surface - Early data shows that the PC market ... (Horace Dediu/asymco) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 07:20 PM PST  Horace Dediu / asymco:
Below the Surface — Early data shows that the PC market has not experienced a “pop” from Windows 8. Market watchers have been anticipating this pop since every previous version of Windows has led to a surge in shipments. PC vendors have also been hoping for this to lift their volumes. | | Op-ed--A plea to Google: Protect our e-mail privacy (Julian Sanchez/Ars Technica) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 05:05 PM PST  Julian Sanchez / Ars Technica:
Op-ed—A plea to Google: Protect our e-mail privacy — We recently learned that even the director of the CIA, David Petraeus, can't seem to secure his private e-mail conversations properly, and over the past month tech commentators have responded to that discovery with a familiar litany of depressing advice … | | Google to tweak practices to end search probe (Elizabeth Wasserman/Politico) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 03:10 PM PST  Elizabeth Wasserman / Politico:
Google to tweak practices to end search probe — Federal regulators may end a two-year antitrust probe of Google's search business by letting the company make voluntary changes, such as limiting use of restaurant and travel reviews from other websites and letting search ad campaigns … | | Intel Wins First Round in Patent Fight That Threatens Chips (Susan Decker/Bloomberg) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 02:05 PM PST | | Google drops a Gmail-shaped bomb on Windows Phone (Tom Warren/The Verge) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 12:10 PM PST  Tom Warren / The Verge:
Google drops a Gmail-shaped bomb on Windows Phone — The ecosystem battle continues — For Windows Phone users, the news out of Google today couldn't be much worse. — The company announced it's removing support for Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync protocol for new devices from January 30th, 2013. | | Washington Post Moves Social Reader Off Facebook (Lauren Indvik/Mashable!) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:05 AM PST | | Microsoft Battles Google by Hiring Political Brawler Mark Penn (New York Times) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 10:30 AM PST | You are subscribed to email updates from Techmeme
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GOP lawmaker wishes Sandy Hook school principal was armed (Alexander Bolton/The Hill)
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:43 AM PST
| GOP lawmaker wishes Sandy Hook school principal was armed (Alexander Bolton/The Hill) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:35 AM PST | | Every Single Pro-Gun Rights Senator Declined To Appear On Meet The Press Today (Joe Weisenthal/Business Insider) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:25 AM PST | | Our Moloch - Few crimes are more harshly forbidden ... (Garry Wills/New York Review of Books) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:00 AM PST   Garry Wills / New York Review of Books:
Our Moloch — Few crimes are more harshly forbidden in the Old Testament than sacrifice to the god Moloch (for which see Leviticus 18.21, 20.1-5). The sacrifice referred to was of living children consumed in the fires of offering to Moloch. Ever since then, worship of Moloch has been the sign of a deeply degraded culture.
| | Mourners Flood Sandy Hook; Obama To Meet With Victims' Families (Hartford Courant) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:00 AM PST | | Democratic Senator Will Introduce New Assault Weapons Ban In January (Zeke Miller/BuzzFeed) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 08:50 AM PST | | True Stories in Gun Control (John Cole/Balloon Juice) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 08:40 AM PST John Cole / Balloon Juice:
True Stories in Gun Control — After Operation Desert Shield and Storm, I was stationed at Camp Blackhorse in Doha Kuwait with the 11th ACR. We were an Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR), which basically means we were a self contained unit. For each squdron, we had 3 Cav troops- Alpha … | | The Hagel Thesis - As we go to press on Friday, December 14 ... (William Kristol/Weekly Standard) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:25 AM PST  William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
The Hagel Thesis — As we go to press on Friday, December 14, former Republican senator Chuck Hagel appears to be the leading candidate to become the next secretary of defense. Anti-Israel propagandists are thrilled. Stephen Walt, junior partner of the better-known Israel-hater John Mearsheimer … | | Egyptians narrowly back constitution, say rival camps (Reuters) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:25 AM PST  Reuters:
Egyptians narrowly back constitution, say rival camps — (Reuters) - Egyptians voted narrowly in favor of a constitution shaped by Islamists but opposed by other groups who fear it will divide the Arab world's biggest nation, officials in rival camps said on Sunday after the first round of a two-stage referendum. | | AP SOURCE: BOEHNER OFFERS MILLIONAIRE TAX HIKE (Jim Kuhnhenn/Associated Press) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:25 AM PST | | Thinking the Unthinkable - In the wake of another horrific ... (The Anarchist Soccer Mom) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:25 AM PST  The Anarchist Soccer Mom:
Thinking the Unthinkable — In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it's easy to talk about guns. But it's time to talk about mental illness. — Three days before 20 year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, then opened fire on a classroom full of Connecticut kindergartners … | | After Connecticut school shooting, Washington quiet on gun control (Jonathan Allen/Politico) Posted: 16 Dec 2012 06:55 AM PST | | Users should not be targeted in states that legalized pot: Obama (Susan Heavey/Reuters) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:45 PM PST | | More Guns, More Mass Shootings--Coincidence? (Mark Follman/Mother Jones) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:45 PM PST  Mark Follman / Mother Jones:
More Guns, More Mass Shootings—Coincidence? — America now has 300 million firearms, a barrage of NRA-backed gun laws—and record casualties from mass killers. — Update, December 15: Click here for our latest coverage of the Newtown school massacre. This story has been updated to include data from that event. | | Source: Obama to tap Kerry to be next secretary of state (Jessica Yellin/CNN) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 08:20 PM PST  Jessica Yellin / CNN:
Source: Obama to tap Kerry to be next secretary of state — Washington (CNN) - President Obama has decided to nominate Sen. John Kerry to be the next secretary of state and could make a formal announcement as early as next week, a Democrat who spoke to Kerry told CNN Saturday. | | Fiscal cliff talks: Speaker John Boehner pitches millionaire tax hike (Politico) Posted: 15 Dec 2012 06:45 PM PST | You are subscribed to email updates from memeorandum
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RazorSQL 6.0 Database Query Tool Released
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:41 AM PST
| RazorSQL 6.0 Database Query Tool Released Posted: 04 Dec 2012 04:00 PM PST RazorSQL 6.0, an SQL editor, database query tool, database browser, and database administration tool, is now available. Using RazorSQL, users can query, edit, browse, and manage all major databases from one tool. RazorSQL supports over 30 databases, examples of which include the following: PostgreSQL, Amazon SimpleDB, Apache Derby, DB2, Firebird, FrontBase, H2, HSQLDB, Informix, Intersystems Cache, JavaDB, MS Access, MySQL, OpenBase, Oracle, Pervasive, SQLite, SQL Azure, SQL Server, Sybase, Sybase SQL Anywhere and Teradata. Connect to other databases via JDBC or ODBC (Windows only). Users can also use the built in relational database engine for their database needs. Some of the main features contained in RazorSQL are visual tools for creating, editing, describing, altering, dropping, and viewing database objects such as tables, views, indexes, procedures, functions, and triggers; tools for importing and exporting data in various formats such as MS Excel, delimited files, SQL insert statements, HTML, XML, and text; a database browser for the viewing of database objects and structures; search tools for searching for database objects and database data, tools for building SQL queries and generating SQL and DDL, a SQL formatting tool, SQL history tracking and and SQL favorites tool for storing frequently used SQL statements, and a robust programming editor and query tool with support for SQL, PL/SQL, TransactSQL, SQL PL, PHP, Java, XML, HTML, and many other programming languages that features tools for searching and replacing data, programmable macros, coding sidekicks for various programming languages, a file system browser, function and method browsers, and much more. New features in version 6.0 include database conversion support for PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, MS Access, MS SQL Server, SQLite, and HSQLDB. Also included are conversion tools to easily copy tables and query results from remote databases to RazorSQL's local database engine for local development. Versions of RazorSQL are available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris. RazorSQL 6.0 is available for immediate download at http://www.razorsql.com. Pricing of RazorSQL starts at $99.95 USD for a single user, and tiered discounts are offered for multiple license purchases. More Info:http://www.razorsql.com/ Download URL: http://www.razorsql.com/download.html Change Log: http://www.razorsql.com/updates.html Screenshot URL: (Windows / Linux): http://www.razorsql.com/images/windows/main.gif (Mac OS X): http://www.razorsql.com/images/mac/main.png | You are subscribed to email updates from PostgreSQL news
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Ben & Jerry’s Capturing ‘Euphoria’ In Instagram Photo Contest
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:37 AM PST
| Ben & Jerry’s Capturing ‘Euphoria’ In Instagram Photo Contest Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:15 AM PST In its latest ad campaign, Ben & Jerry’s is asking its 127.000 Instagram followers to express the essence of ‘euphoria’ in a photo contest. 
Euphoria, because that’s the feeling you get from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. The photos shared via the #captureeuphoria tag are part of the new worldwide ad campaign. Some of the photos have already been selected and used on the back of magazines, transit ads, and digital media. Ben & Jerry gives the uploaders recognition for their photo skills and posts the selected photos all over the neighborhood, making that uploader either a celebrity, or a little embarrassed. Take a look at the video to see Ben & Jerry’s campaign in action: Click here to view the embedded video. My Opinion?
User created content by engaged fans is an old but smart mechanism, smartly used in Ben & Jerry in its new campaign. Creating powerful owned media channels or fan bases seems to be the new kind of e-mail marketing for many brands. At least for brands that are able to earn their own base, not the ones buying likes and followers. Another smart element is the creation of so much content. Content that can be used to grow the fan base even more, in a very organic way. What About You?
How do you rate this new campaign by Ben & Jerry’s? What other brand campaigns – involving fans – did you really like? We’d love to read your opinion in the comments below. Follow & Share
Want to see more inspiring stuff? Subscribe to our category User Created Content, follow Igor Beuker on Twitter, grab our RSS Feed or join our Facebook movement to get more exclusive content. The post Ben & Jerry’s Capturing ‘Euphoria’ In Instagram Photo Contest appeared first on VIRALBLOG.COM.     | 
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It’s Startup, Not Start-up or Start Up
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:36 AM PST
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Prepare to make compromises when selecting a CIO
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:35 AM PST
| Prepare to make compromises when selecting a CIO Posted: 15 Dec 2012 10:00 AM PST Look over a list of CIO requirements and you come up with Superman. Great skill in communication, strategy, business knowledge, IT knowledge, consistency with culture, operational knowledge, and ability to MacGyver a storage array with left over parts from an outdoor grill assembly. In short, these descriptions provide little guidance when selecting candidates - they demand everything. I've had the opportunity recently to help companies choose their leaders of IT; specifically the CIO, leaders of the PMO and infrastructure. As someone who has redesigned hundreds of IT shops, I'v often been asked to identify attributes of successful IT leaders. I've found you need two pieces of information to determine the type of skills you need for your IT leader: - What are the problems and opportunities the organization will likely face over the next couple years?
- How capable is the current staff at handling these?
Example 1: Mid Sized organization in education sector The Organization had outgrown its' current IT organization in size and complexity. Huge backlog of help desk requests, most IT purchases were being made without IT's knowledge, networks were unreliable, contractors were doing most of the development work with almost no technical supervision and, by any reasonable metric, the IT portfolio of systems and applications was far more complex than needed. Finally, the existing staff consisted of very talented technical people who lived to fix technical problems. Recommendation: The immediate focus should be on: Read more | You are subscribed to email updates from Forrester Blogs
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John Kerry Will Likely Be Obama's Nomination for Secretary of State
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:31 AM PST
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The View From Your Window
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:27 AM PST
| The View From Your Window Posted: 16 Dec 2012 08:42 AM PST  Munich, Germany, 10.50 am  | | Dethroning King Lit. Posted: 16 Dec 2012 08:09 AM PST In a recent interview, the Austrialian novelist Thomas Keneally declared that "Fiction was king. Now it isn't." Alan Jacobs reflects on the debate over Keneally's comment: The idea that the cinema displaces fiction, in multiple ways, goes back at least to Walter Benjamin. Adorno and Horkheimer were complaining about fiction's displacement by the "culture industry" in the 1940s — though they saw that the nineteenth-century novel began this process. ... For a few — relatively speaking, a very few — fiction will always be king. But it's impossible to imagine it having the kind of stature again that it had 150 years ago. D.G. Myers summarizes fiction's place in the contemporary scene: If fiction is no longer king the reason is not, as Tom Wolfe once prophesied, that something else has superseded it as "the number one genre." There are no more genres (a concept as square as the novel). There are mashups; there are porous boundaries between high and low, popular and serious, literature and its negation; but there are no longer any distinct kinds. Indeed, there is a creeping horror of distinctions as such. If fiction is no longer king the reason is that the faith which sustained it for so long, the belief system which led writers and readers alike to defer to its supremacy, has disappeared. What has disappeared is any confidence in the power of the word.  | | Ask Moynihan Anything: Why Do You Call Chomsky A Junk Historian? Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:30 AM PST Read Michael's writing for the Beast here. Above he compares Chomsky's revisionist history to Oliver Stone's work, with he critiqued here: Stone and [Peter] Kuznick helpfully explain that the "objective [of] this project" is to provoke a "much-needed conversation about the direction our country needs to go in to counter a century-plus, and we believe disastrous, course of empire, war, and domination. That is our objective in this project, which one would never know from reading Moynihan's review." What I said in my review, though, is that this book is activism masquerading as history. And I thank the authors for strengthening my point. Watch Michael's previous videos here, here, here, here and here.  | | Lincoln's Last Words Posted: 16 Dec 2012 06:23 AM PST Stephen Mansfield, author of Lincoln's Battle with God, details "the final, surprising words of Abraham Lincoln," spoken to his wife immediately prior to his assassination at Ford's Theater: "We will visit the Holy Land and see those places hallowed by the footsteps of the Savior. There is no place I so much desire to see as Jerusalem." For a president whose words are so studied, why aren't these last statements better known? The words are rarely included in accounts of Lincoln's assassination. Schoolchildren do not learn them as they do the other facts of Lincoln's life. Indeed, the sentiments are too religious for most teachers to dare include in their lessons. Scholars tend to exclude this episode also, usually because of a similar hesitation about religion. It is understandable. Lincoln was, after all, a religious oddity. He never joined a church. In fact, he went through periods in his life when he was openly antireligion—even anti-God. In his later years, he spoke often of God but rarely of Jesus Christ. That he was attending a bawdy play on Good Friday—the day Christians set aside to contemplate the crucifixion of their Savior—seems perfectly consistent with the image of Lincoln that has come to us through the years. It is reasonable to doubt that he would call Christ the Savior and declare himself eager to see the Holy Land in the last moments of his life. Mansfield goes on to list the Lincoln scholars - a veritable who's who of the field - affirming the validity of the president's final remarks.  | | "A Mote Of Dust Suspended In A Sunbeam" Posted: 16 Dec 2012 05:07 AM PST Another homage to Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot: Joe Hanson celebrates the 40th anniversary of the "Blue Marble" photograph, shot by the crew of Apollo 17: A human being hasn't seen this sight with the naked eye since 1972. The International Space Station doesn't orbit far enough from Earth to see anything but curved edges. Same with the shuttle. ... But I want another human being to see our Earth from this vantage point. When this image came back to Earth, people stopped for a moment, however brief, in the midst of wars Cold and hot, to realize this is our home. Our home. Maybe a military officer somewhere thought twice about dropping bombs that day. Maybe a parent showed it to their kids before bed instead of sitting silently in front of the TV. Maybe someone who was alive when the Wright brothers flew for the first time smiled at how far we'd come. I don't want this to be the last time we feel those things. Let's go take another picture. Josh Jones highlights another short film: To commemorate the fortieth anniversary of "The Blue Marble," Planetary Collective, a group of visual artists, philosophers, and scientists, released the short film Overview at a screening at Harvard this past Friday. Overview takes its title from author Frank White's phrase for the perspective of the earth as seen from space: "The Overview Effect." White's book of the same name uses interviews and writings from thirty astronauts and cosmonauts to build a theory about the psychology of planetary perspectives. ... Especially interesting is the interview with Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell; he comes to see his experience in mystical terms, as a kind of intense meditative state known in Sanskrit as savikalpa Samadhi, a union with the divine.  | | A Rerun With A New Conclusion Posted: 16 Dec 2012 04:17 AM PST Sunny Sea Gold details a recent study of "reconsumption," or why people re-watch films or re-read books. One finding: [P]eople gained insight into themselves and their own growth by going back for a do-over, subconsciously using the rerun or old book as a measuring stick for how their own lives had changed. One woman, for example, rewatched the romantic Kevin Costner movie Message in a Bottle more than once: "It was helping her work through having an engagement that hadn't worked out," [Cristel Antonia Russell, a marketing professor at American University] says. Every time she watched that movie, it reminded her of her own failed relationship—and her reactions helped her see she was getting over it.  | | Faces Of The Day Posted: 15 Dec 2012 06:40 PM PST  People attend a prayer service to reflect on the violence at the Sandy Hook School at a church on December 15, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty six people were shot dead, including twenty children, after a gunman identified as Adam Lanza opened fire in the school. Lanza also reportedly had committed suicide at the scene. A 28th person, believed to be Nancy Lanza was found dead in a house in town, was also believed to have been shot by Adam Lanza. By Spencer Platt/Getty Images.  | | Ancient Dirty Talk Posted: 15 Dec 2012 06:02 PM PST A Latin lesson gets spiced up thanks to Keith Verones: The term testicle likely evolved from the Latin word testis, a term for someone that witnesses or gives testimony in a legal setting. Clitoris has its origin, you can probably guess if you are a fan of ancient languages, in Greek. Clitoris carries with it connotations for the Greek word for key, kleis. There may be an attribution arising via the verb kleiein , meaning "to close" or "shut", as well. English use of the words vulva and vagina come from identical terms in Latin meaning "wrapper" and "scabbard", respectively.  | | Cool Ad Watch Posted: 15 Dec 2012 05:27 PM PST  Another Mayan apocalypse is slated for Friday. NASA is doing its best to debunk the myth: Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then -- just as your calendar begins again on January 1 -- another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar. Luckily only 2% of Americans believe it will happen: To put this in context, if you went to small-town high school with 500 kids, two percent would mean 10 of your classmates actually believe they have only eight days left to live before the world goes up in a ball of flames as foretold by ancient Mayans. Chances are you would know those 10 kids, and you would think they were all nuts. 10 kids would probably seem like more at your school than you'd expect. On the other hand, 15% of those surveyed—the equivalent to 47 million Americans—think that the world will end with Jesus returning for the rapture as told by the bible's Book of Revelation in their lifetime. So there's that. Update from a reader: I know I can't be the only person pointing out that if the world's ending, you're not using a condom. (Hat tip: Copyranter)  | | The Drunken States Of America Posted: 15 Dec 2012 04:43 PM PST The upcoming issue of Lapham's Quarterly tackles the theme of intoxication: The oceangoing Pilgrims in colonial Massachusetts and Rhode Island delighted in both the taste and trade in rum. The founders of the republic in Philadelphia in 1787 were in the habit of consuming prodigious quantities of liquor as an expression of their faith in their fellow men—pots of ale or cider at midday, two or more bottles of claret at dinner followed by an amiable passing around the table of the Madeira. Among the tobacco planters in Virginia, the moneychangers in New York, the stalwart yeomen in western Pennsylvania busy at the task of making whiskey, the maintaining of a high blood-alcohol level was the mark of civilized behavior. The lyrics of the Star-Spangled Banner were fitted to the melody of an eighteenth-century British tavern song. The excise taxes collected from the sale of liquor paid for the War of 1812, and by 1830 the tolling of the town bell (at 11 a.m., and again at 4 p.m.) announced the daily pauses for spirited refreshment.  | | A Poem For Saturday Posted: 15 Dec 2012 04:02 PM PST  "the history of my body" by Wanda Coleman: a crushed rose
the workings seem obtuse
indigenous harmonies, all glittery
rubble & love blazing white teeth
the portrait of a sunburnt face
dayblooming pickaninnies
exploding hips/ encantados de la luna
pavement by night
from ashy to bone dry
flying houses and thunder palms
penny-candy memories
violent eruptions of beauty
wailing sirens into the deep pink
just a dream of cities
ample-voiced harbinger
mouth made for sloppy kisses
(goodness gracious she's bodacious)
question mark, forever haunted
tenderly fiercely fleshed
(From Ostinato Vamps: Poems by Wanda Coleman © 2003 by Wanda Coleman. Used by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press. Photo by Flickr user quinn.anya)  | | Creativity Lab Posted: 15 Dec 2012 03:09 PM PST  Leonard A. Jason finds the overlap between artist and scientist: [L]earning, experimentation, feedback, and refinement are the backbone of both the sciences and the arts. Decades of painstaking analysis and observation were critical in the development of Darwin's grand theory of evolution. The dissection of corpses and countless sketches polished and unleashed Michelangelo's genius in capturing the human spirit in exquisite detail. Sweat and toil nurture the fertile imagination and fine tune the ability to peer through nature's veil and uncover eternal truths that lead to Eureka moments of exhilarating discovery. ... True research has a soul of an artist. Along the same lines, Priscilla Long argues that science and poetry are related. One big difference: Poets love words for their sound and shape and feel on the tongue. They rub words together and watch the resulting conflagration. The word fire emits heat and light. The word energy is dead as a dead dog. Poets want fire, not energy. They want the poems they write to burn. They want the layers of meanings, the visions, the connotations. For the sciences, Holub continues, "[W]ords are an auxiliary tool." In the science paper or report, each word must mean as close to one and only one thing as possible. It has a function. That's why hard science can be so terrible to read. Dry and replete with necessary terms, figures, charts, and diagrams. (Image: Detail from Leonardo da Vinci's sketches of arm anatomy from Wikimedia Commons)  | | The View From Your Window Posted: 15 Dec 2012 02:29 PM PST 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 12.50 pm  | | Nude Etiquette Posted: 15 Dec 2012 02:02 PM PST Brian Blickenstaff disrobes at a co-ed naked bathhouse in Baden-Baden, Germany: [A]s I looked around, my gaze would inevitably fall upon the naked bodies of the other bathers - and, well, it got me thinking. Throughout our lives, how often are we actually naked? Excluding showering and (for some) sleeping, it happens pretty seldom, right? I mean, the only other time we shed clothing is when we're getting intimate. Try as we might, it becomes difficult to divorce intimacy from the act of being nude, and this coupling casts a certain strange, erotic shadow over the proceedings at a place like Friedrichsbad. Don't get me wrong, there was no hanky-panky going on (and frankly, there's not a place in Friedrichsbad where it could). I only mean that it creates a social situation that's ripe for misinterpretation. Turning to look at a person when he or she enters a room becomes complicated because anything anybody does—those perfectly normal, friendly signals we give to one another all the time without even thinking—is re-routed through this erotic zone in our brain that has been activated by the absence of clothes and which we can't really turn off. So a casual glance becomes a potential check-out. A friendly smile is now a creepy wink. That's what it seemed like at first, anyway.  | | Mental Health Break Posted: 15 Dec 2012 01:20 PM PST A silly way to use science:  | | Rabbit, Review Posted: 15 Dec 2012 12:17 PM PST Dan Duray is unimpressed with John Updike's recent collection of art criticism, Always Looking: Most art writing tends to be decisive, nuanced and centered around a few key ideas that build to some kind of conclusion, like any book or movie review. Updike positions himself as more of an explorer, in a meandering, Lewis and Clark vein, cataloging each and every thing he saw as he walked through a room, squeezing in biographical details and descriptive flourishes where he can. He's a wordy tour guide, riffing on each and every painting, so in the room that even the "zombified wearers of pedagogical headsets" do not escape his adjectival assault. It's informative, if that's the word for it, but it proceeds without too many well-argued opinions about the art, and this doesn't jibe at all with Updike's clear knowledge of art history, or the buoyancy of his fiction. ... The man who so memorably turned breasts into ice cream scoops in "A&P" seems like he's trying too hard when he describes not reality but the world as already interpreted by another artist. This is a shame, because if he'd chosen to focus his attention on a few works rather than describe everything in an exhibition, he might have been able to build to some kind of a point. Finishing one of these essays gives you little to agree or disagree with. There's just a lingering sensation of having sort of seen the show, albeit through a haze of adverbs.   | | Watching <i>Zero Dark Thirty</i> Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:12 AM PST Jane Mayer has a very different response than I did. Here is where I think she hits on something important: Despite Boal's contentions, "Zero Dark Thirty" does not capture the complexity of the debate about America's brutal detention program. It doesn't include a single scene in which torture is questioned, even though the Bush years were racked by internal strife over just that issue—again, not just among human-rights and civil-liberties lawyers, but inside the F.B.I., the military, the Justice Department, and the C.I.A. itself, which eventually abandoned waterboarding because it feared, correctly, that the act constituted a war crime. None of this ethical drama seems to interest Bigelow. The movie is careful not to take a stand on torture. Can you imagine that in any other context? One has to wonder whether any morally serious director would have chosen a morally-neutral approach to torture if she were portraying torture practiced by, say, the Iranian terror state, or by Nazis or Communists? The techniques are exactly the same. Is not taking a stand as you present such evil itself an endorsement? My sense is that Bigelow and Boal talked to some of those war criminals who did the torture and since torturers have to find some way to justify their acts, and because they are modern Americans fighting terror, the director simply did not have the courage to confront them with the fact that they belong in jail and hell for what they did. To connect finding the name of the courier in any way with torture is, as Jane insists, factually untrue: As the Washington Post's Greg Sargent first reported, shortly after bin Laden was killed, Leon Panetta, then the director of the C.I.A., sent a letter to Arizona Senator John McCain, clearly stating that "we first learned about 'the facilitator / courier's nom de guerre' from a detainee not in the C.I.A.'s custody." Panetta wrote that "no detainee in C.I.A. custody revealed the facilitator / courier's full true name or specific whereabouts." Then this: At one point, the film's chief C.I.A. interrogator claims, without being challenged, that "everyone breaks in the end," adding, "it's biology." Maybe that's what they think in Hollywood, but experts on the history of torture disagree. Indeed, many prisoners have been tortured to death without ever revealing secrets, while many others—including some of those who were brutalized during the Bush years—have fabricated disinformation while being tortured. Some of the disinformation provided under duress during those years, in fact, helped to lead the U.S. into the war in Iraq under false premises. Yes, but a chief CIA torturer would defend his crimes in such a fashion, wouldn't he? The pro-torture claims are not authorial commentary, but embedded in characters. I would have preferred an anti-torture movie, with characters in the government protesting, as so many did, against our descent into barbarism. Bigelow couldn't summon the moral courage to show that - and it was integral to the full picture. But a director has such artistic license. And what she did do - which, to my mind, rescues the film - is simply expose the lie at the heart of the Bush administration: Abu Ghraib was "not America." Under Bush and Cheney, it was - and far worse. You simply cannot watch that movie and pretend that torture didn't occur - no euphemisms, lies, or denial can take that away. Maybe a democracy needs simply to confront the fact of what it has done before it can being to process it. Bigelow doesn't process it; she doesn't move the ball forward. She simply lays it out in public. It's an act of cowardice expertly delivered. But it is our own cowardice as a nation that has been worse. And it is not, as I have written, in my mind, a pro-torture film.  | | The Day After Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:58 AM PST  I've been finding it hard to find words to post about Sandy Hook. What words could possibly suffice? And to tell the truth, I just cannot myself begin to have a debate about anything, even though I completely understand the emotions expressed in this extraordinary reader thread. I am just numb. The facts are also inevitably confused, rumors abounding, and mistakes in getting the details right so likely that we're simply going to wait until all verified facts are in. Then perhaps we can debate with some evidence we can rely on. That takes time. But two videos tell us so much. The first: a montage from the local paper's photography. It's a dystopian scene - the cars piled up in the street, the simple body language of parents whose agony is simply beyond expression. The woman in the freeze frame below herself looks frozen, walking into a future she cannot yet know, her arms at her side, her face looking toward the horror: And then this interview with Diane Sawyer with a teacher ... well, such a teacher is a kind of angel: We will find out soon enough the why and how in greater detail. But lets focus on the actions of those defending the children, their courage and tenacity in the face of the unspeakable: Among those killed was the school's well-liked principal, Dawn Hochsprung. Town officials said she died while lunging at the gunman in an attempt to overtake him. A woman who worked at the school was wounded. Maryann Jacob, a clerk in the school library, was in there with 18 fourth-graders when they heard a commotion and gunfire outside the room. She had the youngsters crawl into a storage room, and they locked the door and barricaded it with a file cabinet. There happened to be materials for coloring, "so we set them up with paper and crayons." Let's focus on the actions and heroism of the victims, rather than on the easy evil of a soul gone horribly wrong. May God forgive him. But may we also remember that even amid fathomless evil and violence, love stood tall as well. (Photo: A sign reads 'God Bless the Families' outside of a home near the Sandy Hook School on December 15, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. By Don Emmert/AFP/Getty.)  | | Dickens The Dad Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:44 AM PST Katherine A. Powers reviews Robert Gottlieb's Great Expectations: The Sons and Daughters of Charles Dickens: Dickens rejoiced in his children when they were young and gave them a merry time, with the high point of every year being, as in his stories, Christmas. But soon enough the warping effect of his own disordered childhood showed itself, and he began to discern in his sons what he loathed and feared most: passivity, lack of direction, and fecklessness, the qualities that had put his parents in a debtors' prison and led them to deposit his young self in the infamous blacking factory. And while he believed that the germ of the financial irresponsibility that marked a number of his sons came from his side of the family, he was convinced that the odious lethargy and purposeless drifting he also found in them was inherited from his wife, Catherine. Beginning with the eldest, Charley, in whom he saw Catherine's "indescribable lassitude of character," he really spared only Henry (a success from the start) in his laments over "deficiencies in energy and attitude," even going so far as to say he wished Sydney, his fifth son, were dead.  | 
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Gund Nyan Cat 6 inch Plush with Sound
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:12 AM PST
| Gund Nyan Cat 6 inch Plush with Sound Posted: 16 Dec 2012 04:30 AM PST  Now here is a meme that has been brought into existence in our corporeal world instead of being just another animated GIF that has caught the attention of millions worldwide – the Nyan Cat. Of course, you will be able to touch, hold and cuddle one of the more notable memes in recent years, coming in the form of the $11.99 Gund Nyan Cat 6 inch Plush with Sound. It will get right to work by playing the all-too-familiar Nyan Cat theme whenever you give it a nice squeeze, and you can opt for the original or 8-Bit Heart flavors, depending on which design appeals to yo more.
I am guessing that playing with the Gund Nyan Cat 6 inch Plush with Sound will automatically be able to elicit smiles from those around you, as I have yet to meet someone who does not find the Nyan Cat cute. Of course, the theme that accompanies it is another matter altogether, but who can resist a kitty that leaves a trail of rainbow behind? There is just something magical about the Nyan Cat, and having it in the car you're driving in could be useful to melt the heart of an officer who pulled you over for speeding in a 20mph zone. [ Gund Nyan Cat 6 inch Plush with Sound copyright by Coolest Gadgets ] | | Robotic mannequins invade South Korea Posted: 16 Dec 2012 04:00 AM PST  Mannequins are mannequins – a somewhat humanoid shape (more often than not in the shape of a lady than a man, for obvious reasons that the ladies love to shop for clothes more than men), and they are lifeless and motionless items that sit pretty behind a departmental store's glass display. I am quite sure that some of us with an overactive imagination would sometimes wonder what happens when the lights are turned off at night, and a scenario from "Night at the Museum" works itself out, although this time around, it would not be prehistoric items that come to life, but rather, them mannequins. Well, the day has come slightly closer, as a robotic mannequin developed by IMD Communications will be able to pose itself for customers in a South Korean fashion store.
Obviously South Korea and Japan are rivals not only on the robotics front, but basically when it comes to technology (cars, computers, smartphones, tablets, TVs, home appliances, you name it), they have a keen competition between one another, but a healthy respect, too. South Korea seem to have the upper hand here when it comes to their robot mannequins that will come in three varieties, where each of them has been named after an Indian god and programmed with its own modeling behaviors. Endrani has been described to be a 30-something woman who exudes elegance, while Dipani highlights women’s confidence and creativity, with Marian, last but not least, being the most dynamic of the trio, as "she" symbolizes strength and the outdoors. These robots will come with moving limbs that make it far easier for store clerks to dress and undress the mannequin, and you would most probably see them at high end boutiques considering the initial outlay that the boutique owners will need to fork out in the first place. No idea on pricing details on the South Korean mannequins, but cheap should not be part of the equation. Source (Korean)
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Marlijn Hoek, photographed by Jens Ingvarsson. You will also...
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 09:12 AM PST
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Dot Com Pho – Push Button for Service Edition
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:55 AM PST
| Dot Com Pho – Push Button for Service Edition Posted: 15 Dec 2012 04:24 PM PST Winter in Orange County is a strange animal. When you’re in the sun, it’s nice and warm. However, it’s quite cold once you step out of the sun because of the wind chill factor. It’s because of this instant hot/cold change that you’ll see people wearing sandals with a warm sweater. Instead of subjecting ourselves to this climate change, we decided to do this edition of Dot Com Pho inside Pho Ba Co. Once inside, we discovered that Pho Ba Co installed a new “push for service” button on their wall. When you’re ready to order, just push the button and the server will come running. That’s the way it’s suppose to work. In real life, it’s a bit different. Watch the video and you’ll see what I mean. In addition to pushing the button, Oscar showed us his new baby Clair, who’s blog was started before she was born. I wonder where that idea came from? Anyone is welcome to join us for Dot Com Pho. It happens on most Saturday in Vancouver and Orange County. Follow me on Twitter to find the time and location of the next one. | You are subscribed to email updates from John Chow dot Com
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Lindsay Lohan Finally Thanks Charlie Sheen For Giving Her $100,000
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:49 AM PST
| Lindsay Lohan Finally Thanks Charlie Sheen For Giving Her $100,000 Posted: 15 Dec 2012 12:47 PM PST Since Charlie Sheen has a such a giving heart and is always happy to bail out a fellow coke whore, he gave Lindsay Lohan $100,000 as a gift a couple of weeks ago. Charlie said that the $100,000 was for a "project" (read: a rim job since not even School Teacher from Hookers at the Point would tongue tickle Charlie's b-hole for $100,000) and then he whined to the media about she never gave him a thank you of any kind. Lindsay Lohan ungrateful and rude?! NEVAH! TMZ says that after Charlie Sheen called Lindsay Lohan out for being a rude bitch, she sent him a bouquet of flowers and a thank you card. Some source says that LiLo didn't thank Charlie for contributing to the vodka industry by giving her $100k, because her phone broke and she lost all of her contacts including his number. Yes, Lindsay Lohan could've stuffed a rolled thank you note in the cooch of a random L.A. call girl and it would've gotten to Charlie Sheen in under 24 hours. But since her brain is a cocaine breast implant, she didn't think of that and came up with another amazing excuse that will go in her upcoming book: Lindsay Lohan's Book Of Excuses NOT TO USE If You Want Your Excuse To Sound Somewhat Believable. It's the thought that counts, but who gives Charlie Sheen flowers? FLOWERS?! That's like giving Jessica Simpson vegetables as a gift or giving John Travolta a rubber vagina for a gift. What is Charlie Sheen supposed to do with dumb flowers that Lindsay Lohan probably picked from somebody's front yard? Actually, I shouldn't say that. LiLo knows Charlie Sheen too well, so I'm sure she gave him a beautiful bouquet of morning glory seed packets. | | Hot Slut Of The Day! Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:15 AM PST The AOL CD that terrorized everybody in the 90s! We should all be shocked and surprised that we actually made it out of the 90s without drowning under a mountain and sea of the CDs that AOL sent out every millisecond of every day. Those evil overlords at AOL tried to take over the world one installation CD at a time, so if you were around in the 90s, you probably got one of these in your mailbox every single day. AOL reproduced those damn CDs faster than roaches produce roaches, bunnies produce bunnies and the Duggars produce Duggars. They not only came in the mail, but you could get them at schools, drugstores, grocery stores, Blockbusters and everywhere else. They grew on trees, infected your nightmares and when you looked into the toilet after taking a caca to see if you were "healthy," your shit wasn't banana-shaped, it was shaped like an AOL CD. In 1998, the CDC reported that the AOL installation disc was the fastest spreading virus of the 90s. It was like a non-stop herpes outbreak for your mailbox. I don't know if anybody actually used the AOL CD to install AOL onto their computer. They used it for everything else, though. It was used as a pizza cutter, a touch-up mirror, a portable coke-snortin' surface, a frisbee, a drink coaster and a cock ring for Enrique Iglesias. If you collected enough, you could make a one-of-a-kind classy bikini or you could retile your bathroom with them. And if you're getting nostalgic for one, stand up and look at the seat of your chair. I'm sure you farted one out while reminiscing about them. Even though AOL doesn't make them anymore, they're still never going to go away. | | Birthday Sluts Posted: 15 Dec 2012 08:30 AM PST Helen Slater (49)
Charlie Cox (30)
Michelle Dockery (31)
Brendan Fletcher (31)
Adam Brody (33)
Surya Bonaly (39)
Stuart Townsend (40)
Donna Brazile (53)
William Orbit (56)
Julie Taymor (60)
Don Johnson (63)
Dave Clark (70)
Cindy Birdsong (73)
Tim Conway (79) | You are subscribed to email updates from Dlisted - Be Very Afraid
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Bunnie Huang is building a laptop
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:45 AM PST
| Bunnie Huang is building a laptop Posted: 15 Dec 2012 10:38 PM PST 
Virtuoso hardware hacker Bunnie Huang is building an open hardware laptop. Want. We started the design in June, and last week I got my first prototype motherboards, hot off the SMT line. It's booting linux, and I'm currently grinding through the validation of all the sub-components. I thought I'd share the design progress with my readers. Of course, a feature of a build-it-yourself laptop is that all the design documentation is open, so others of sufficient skill and resources can also build it. The hardware and its sub-components are picked so as to make this the most practically open hardware laptop I could create using state of the art technology. You can download, without NDA, the datasheets for all the components, and key peripheral options are available so it's possible to build a complete firmware from source with no opaque blobs. Building my Own Laptop
    | | Samuel L. Jackson drops F-bomb on Saturday Night Live Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:43 PM PST  During Saturday Night Live's all-star holiday special tonight, Samuel L. Jackson said the word "fuck," followed by "bullshit." It looked like an unplanned goof during a skit with Kenan Thompson. "That cost money," said a surprised Thompson. If so, any price NBC may or may not pay in FCC fines is a small price for the immediately renewed relevancy and mindshare this incident grants on the show. A verbal nip-slip, if you will. "SAY CHRISTMAS AGAIN ONE MORE TIME!" Below, Jackson's tweet immediately following the incident. Do you believe him? I asked on Twitter if anyone smarter than I could recall the last time someone said "fuck" on SNL. Alex Pareene of Salon.com (and others) say Jenny Slate did this in 2009, and Google proves him to be correct. It was on the season premiere of her only season with the show. Andy Ihnatko adds, "Charles Rocket, in the 80's; first SNL F-bomb was by Paul Shaffer the year he was a castmember." There have been others, according to this pretty great Wikipedia article on the history of SNL— but it's nice to see the tradition renewed. We can only hope parents out there took to heart Mr. Jackson's lullaby strategy, "Go the Fuck to Sleep." (YouTube clip HT: @ditzkoff) I only said FUH not FUCK!K was sposed to cut off da BULLSHIT, blew it!! twitter.com/SamuelLJackson… — Samuel L. Jackson (@SamuelLJackson) December 16, 2012
Looking forward to people who haven't ever watched SNL losing it because Samuel L. Jackson said "fuck" on it tonight. Because children. — Wil Wheaton (@wilw) December 16, 2012
  | | Disneyland Haunted Mansion in gingerbread Posted: 15 Dec 2012 08:00 PM PST | | Google's daily Transparency Report data-dump includes all DMCA requests Posted: 15 Dec 2012 06:04 PM PST Fred von Lohmann, Legal Director at Google, has published a blog-post explaining the company's new practice of publishing data and reports on the number of takedown requests they get. It's all about helping policy makers understand whether the censorship provisions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act are doing their job: Starting today, anyone interested in studying the data can download all the data shown for copyright removals in the Transparency Report. The data will be updated every day. We are also providing information about how often we remove search results that link to allegedly infringing material. Specifically, we are disclosing how many URLs we removed for each request and specified website, the overall removal rate for each request and the specific URLs we did not act on. Between December 2011 and November 2012, we removed 97.5% of all URLs specified in copyright removal requests. As policymakers evaluate how effective copyright laws are, they need to consider the collateral impact copyright regulation has on the flow of information online. When we launched the copyright removals feature, we received more than 250,000 requests per week. That number has increased tenfold in just six months to more than 2.5 million requests per week today. While we're now receiving and processing more requests more quickly than ever (on average, within approximately six hours), we still do our best to catch errors or abuse so we don't mistakenly disable access to non-infringing material. More data about copyright removals in Transparency Report (via Copyfight)
  | | The Onion: "Fuck Everything, Nation Reports" Posted: 15 Dec 2012 05:59 PM PST 
As is usually the case in times of unthinkable horror, The Onion just fucking nails it: Despairing sources confirmed that the gunman, armed with a semiautomatic assault rifle—a fucking combat rifle, Jesus—walked into a classroom full of goddamned children where his mother was a teacher and, good God, if this is what the world is becoming, then how about we just pack it in and fucking give up, because this is no way to live. I mean, honestly, all 315 million Americans confirmed. "Well, I suppose we have to try to pick up the pieces and make some sort of sense of this tragedy and—you know what? Fuck it, I can't do this," said Connecticut resident Michael Zaleski, his remarks understandable given the circumstances, because, holy shit, what else can one say? "I'm sorry, but I can't fucking do this. Can you? Can anyone?" Fuck Everything, Nation Reports 'Just Illegalize Us Already,' Nation's Assault Weapons Beg Report: It Okay To Spend Rest Of Day Curled In Fetal Position Under Desk Right To Own Handheld Device That Shoots Deadly Metal Pellets At High Speed Worth All Of This
  | | Disneynature's Chimpanzee Posted: 15 Dec 2012 01:57 PM PST  Disneynature's Chimpanzee is a great way to spend some down-time with your kid. My daughter is a little under the weather today and she decided we'd watch the tale of Oscar and his family. Amazingly shot, this beautiful HD documentary narrated by Tim Allen is a pleasure to watch on screens big and small. Disney's handling of violence, familial loss and Oscar's struggles after his mother's death are really, really well done. My five year old was not upset, rather we were both completely entertained.I highly recommend it. Disneynature's Chimpanzee
  | | Sciencey Christmas from Digital Science Posted: 15 Dec 2012 01:55 PM PST The folks at Digital Science made a great, cute Christmas video -- I love the grand finale and the exploding pud! Digital Science Video
  | | Loud Bicycle: Car horn for your bike Posted: 15 Dec 2012 12:07 PM PST An outstanding Kickstarter project - a bike horn that is as loud as a car horn! Cycling in traffic can be frightening and dangerous. The Loud Bicycle horn prevents accidents by alerting motorists with a familiar sound. The safety benefits of the horn give more people the confidence to travel by bike. How does it work? Drivers react to car horns before they even know where the sound is coming from. A driver that gets beeped at while backing out of a driveway for example, will immediately brake. These kinds of reflexive reactions are perfect to keep cyclists safe. Some motorists don't realize that their driving habits can be dangerous for cyclists. Drivers will learn to be more aware of cyclists after a Loud Bicycle horn is honked at them.
I want a loud horn for pedestrians. Loud Bicycle: Car horn for your bike   | | Against Security: a sociologist looks at security theater Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:51 AM PST 
Judging by Bruce Schneier's review of Against Security: How We Go Wrong at Airports, Subways, and Other Sites of Ambiguous Danger, a new book by Harvey Molotch, this is a must-read: The common thread in Against Security is that effective security comes less from the top down and more from the bottom up. Molotch's subtitle telegraphs this conclusion: "How We Go Wrong at Airports, Subways, and Other Sites of Ambiguous Danger." It's the word ambiguous that's important here. When we don't know what sort of threats we want to defend against, it makes sense to give the people closest to whatever is happening the authority and the flexibility to do what is necessary. In many of Molotch's anecdotes and examples, the authority figure—a subway train driver, a policeman—has to break existing rules to provide the security needed in a particular situation. Many security failures are exacerbated by a reflexive adherence to regulations. Molotch is absolutely right to hone in on this kind of individual initiative and resilience as a critical source of true security. Current U.S. security policy is overly focused on specific threats. We defend individual buildings and monuments. We defend airplanes against certain terrorist tactics: shoe bombs, liquid bombs, underwear bombs. These measures have limited value because the number of potential terrorist tactics and targets is much greater than the ones we have recently observed. Does it really make sense to spend a gazillion dollars just to force terrorists to switch tactics? Or drive to a different target? In the face of modern society's ambiguous dangers, it is flexibility that makes security effective. We get much more bang for our security dollar by not trying to guess what terrorists are going to do next. Investigation, intelligence, and emergency response are where we should be spending our money. That doesn't mean mass surveillance of everyone or the entrapment of incompetent terrorist wannabes; it means tracking down leads—the sort of thing that caught the 2006 U.K. liquid bombers. They chose their tactic specifically to evade established airport security at the time, but they were arrested in their London apartments well before they got to the airport on the strength of other kinds of intelligence. Against Security [Amazon] Against Security [Schneier]
  | | How to make a VW Westy ornament Posted: 15 Dec 2012 10:59 AM PST | | Needs comma Posted: 15 Dec 2012 10:47 AM PST | | Chemis-tree Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:47 AM PST | | UK record industry seeks to financially ruin leaders of the Pirate Party Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:42 AM PST Ever since the UK record labels got a court to order our national ISPs to censor The Pirate Bay, the UK Pirate Party has been offering a proxy that allows Britons to connect to the site and all the material it offers, both infringing and non-infringing. The record industry has finally struck back. Rather than seeking an injunction against the proxy, or suing the party, it has individually sued the party's executives, seeking to personally bankrupt them and their families. It's an underhanded, unethical, and unprecedented threat to democracy -- essentially a bid to use their financial and legal might to destroy a political party itself. There's a fundraiser, and I've given more than I can afford to it -- £500 -- because this is plain, old fashioned, corporate bullying. I don't always agree with everything the Pirate Parties do, and I'm not a member of the UKPP, but I'm glad the Pirate Party exists, and I believe that hosting a proxy to the Pirate Bay was a political act, and that the record industry has gone after the personal lives of the executive in order to terrorise people who organise against them. They mustn't be allowed to do this. Instead of targeting just the Pirate Party, the BPI's solicitors are now threatening legal action against six individual members. Aside from its leader Loz Kaye, the BPI also sent threats to four other members of the National Executive and the party's head of IT. "We had been anticipating legal action ever since I received an email from Geoff Taylor of the BPI. What has taken me aback is that this threat is personally directed. I simply can not see what the music industry think can be positively gained by threatening to bankrupt me and other party officers," Kaye says. Making the site's members personally liable is the ultimate pressure, as they then have all their personal belongings – including their family homes – on the line. Kaye is disappointed with the BPI's move, not least because the music industry group refused to negotiate the issue. "Throughout, the party and I have been open to dialogue. Contrary to reports I offered to meet Geoff Taylor for discussion, but this has been rebuffed, at this point we are talking with our legal advisers and will respond to the solicitors in due course. The Pirate Party's political position remains this – site blocking is disproportionate and ineffective." Music Industry Threatens to Bankrupt Pirate Party Members [TorrentFreak]
  | | Charlie Brooker on media coverage of mass shootings Posted: 15 Dec 2012 07:35 AM PST Another piece of excellent analysis from Charlie Booker, in a 2009 installment of Newswipe, showing how the 24-hour news-cycle is part of the system that gives rise to mass shootings. Charlie Brooker's Newswipe 25/03/09 (via Kottke)
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The University of Chicago Wants to Know Who Sent This Journal to Indiana Jones
Posted: 16 Dec 2012 07:43 AM PST
| The University of Chicago Wants to Know Who Sent This Journal to Indiana Jones Posted: 15 Dec 2012 03:30 AM PST A delivery arrives for Indiana Jones at the University of Chicago, and no one knows how it got there.  | | Wired Science Space Photo of the Day: Galactic Pinwheel Posted: 15 Dec 2012 03:30 AM PST A nearly perfect ring of hot, blue stars pinwheels about the yellow nucleus of an unusual galaxy known as Hoag's Object. This image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures a face-on view of the galaxy's ring of stars, revealing more detail than any existing photo of this object. The image may help astronomers unravel clues on how such strange objects form.  | | How Pixle Created Its Clever Cut-and-Fold App 'Foldify' Posted: 15 Dec 2012 03:30 AM PST When we first got wind of Foldify, an iPad app for designing and printing out paper craft figures, we were entranced. We wanted to know what goes into making an app like this, so we got in touch with Foldify engineer Krzysztof Zab?ocki and designers Mariusz Ostrowski and Renata Ostrowska about how the app was made.  | | Diamonds in the Fluff: 8 Great Snowboards for Winter Posted: 15 Dec 2012 03:19 AM PST We carried several quivers of hardware up to Squaw Valley, riding each board both on its intended terrain and across the rest of the mountain.  | | A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Dec. 15 Posted: 14 Dec 2012 09:01 PM PST Google's daily brainteaser helps hone your search skills.  | You are subscribed to email updates from Wired Top Stories
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As the shortcomings of Apple Maps became more apparent, a vocal sect of iPhone owners refused to update to the new version of iOS. So, when Google Maps 
