John Gordon Ross

Anyone who works as a freelancer these days has to be at least a bit familiar with techie things. But it isn’t just that. When I was a kid and those vaguely SF puppet shows were on the television and all the other kids wanted to be Greg Gogetem or Steve Savetheuniverse, I wanted to be the guy in a white coat and glasses called Doc or Brains. Here are some technology-related feeds I find useful and/or entertaining.

Slashdot » Pong's Inventor Unveils Three New VR Arcade Games – Including Pong

Saturday 4 February 23:34:00 UTC 2017

Pong's creator is now "a grizzled guy in his mid-70s" who believes there's a market for people who'd prefer to try out virtual reality headsets at videogame arcades. An anonymous reader quotes MIT Technology Review: In 1972, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell invented Pong, a version of table tennis that, in many ways, launched the video-game industry. Forty-five years later, Bushnell … [Link]

Slashdot » Privacy-Centric Linux Distro Tails 3.0 Will Drop 32-Bit Processor Support

Saturday 4 February 22:34:00 UTC 2017

All of its outgoing connections are routed through Tor, and it even blocks non-anonymous connections. You can carry it around on a USB stick, and Edward Snowden uses it. But a big change is coming with Tails 3.0. BrianFagioli quotes BetaNews: Unfortunately for some users, Tails will soon not work on their computers. The upcoming version 3.0 of the operating … [Link]

Mashable » Aquarium animals star in the cutest Super Bowl hype video

Saturday 4 February 21:45:58 UTC 2017

As we all know, animals at the Georgia Aquarium are very invested in football.  So, to cheer on their hometown Atlanta Falcons, they made what could be the cutest hype video of all time. Just, uh… don't let Tom Brady see this. Alessia Cara's Lorde impression is absolutely royal Ride Elon Musk's Hyperloop in virtual reality No silly human, you may not take … [Link]

Slashdot » 16 Years of GPS Space Weather Data Made Publicly Available

Saturday 4 February 21:34:00 UTC 2017

"It's not often that a scientific discipline gains a 23-satellite constellation overnight," reports Science magazine, describing 16 years worth of radiation measurements from GPS satellites finally released by Los Alamos National Lab. "Although billions of people globally use data from GPS satellites, they remain U.S. military assets." Scientists have long sought the data generated by sensors used to monitor the … [Link]

Mashable » 'A Dog's Purpose' investigation finds no mistreatment of dogs

Saturday 4 February 21:32:03 UTC 2017

If you have a shred of human decency, you'll agree that "a dog's purpose" is not to get abused just to help Hollywood make a buck. Thankfully, it looks like a previously released video that appeared to show a dog on the set of the film A Dog's Purpose being abused may have been edited to make things look far worse … [Link]

Mashable » Lady Gaga will perform with 'hundreds of drones' at Super Bowl LI's halftime show

Saturday 4 February 21:07:38 UTC 2017

Viewers watching Sunday's Super Bowl LI halftime show will get more than just an epic Lady Gaga performance. Hundreds of lit-up drones will join her in the airspace above the field at NRG Stadium in Houston, according to CNNMoney. It will be the first time drones are used during a Super Bowl halftime show. SEE ALSO: How to watch the Super … [Link]

Mashable » Google might bring the Pixel's exclusive Assistant to the Nexus 5X and 6P

Saturday 4 February 20:55:55 UTC 2017

In one fell swoop last October, Google launched its new Pixel phones and killed off its beloved Nexus devices.  If you own a Nexus and still feel betrayed, there might be some good news on the horizon9to5Google's Stephen Hall says he was recently told Google might bring the Pixel's Assistant to the Nexus 5X and 6P in a future update. Was … [Link]

Slashdot » Kaspersky Lab Promises New Backup Tool To Help Unhappy Social Media Users Quit

Saturday 4 February 20:34:00 UTC 2017

Kaspersky Lab surveyed 16,750 people and concluded that often negative experiences on social experience overpower their positive effects — and they're doing something about it. JustAnotherOldGuy pointed us to their latest announcement. 59% have felt unhappy when they have seen friends' posts from a party they were not invited to, and 45% revealed that their friends' happy holiday pictures have … [Link]

Mashable » While the top teams compete in the Super Bowl, everyone else eats

Saturday 4 February 20:18:11 UTC 2017

Super Bowl Sunday isn't quite a holiday like Thanksgiving (yet), but everyone eats like it's one. But instead of turkey and cranberry sauce, everyone is stuffing their faces with only the healthiest of foods. Think chips, beer, cheese dip, chicken wings and pizza. And nachos. SEE ALSO: 'Hamilton' will make a Super Bowl appearance While the 22 men run around in … [Link]

Mashable » Microsoft 'Windows 10 Cloud' could challenge Google's Chrome OS

Saturday 4 February 19:52:45 UTC 2017

Microsoft launched Windows 10 with an ambitious goal of getting 1 billion devices to run its operating "service".  Last we checked, Windows 10 is on about 300 million devices. That's not a bad start, but how does the company get to 1 billion? Selling super cheap PCs with a simplified version of Windows 10 to compete directly with Chromebooks running Google's … [Link]

Slashdot » Peter Thiel Thinks There's Not Enough Sex In Silicon Valley

Saturday 4 February 19:34:00 UTC 2017

Peter Thiel recently complained parts of Silicon Valley are "hyper-politically correct" about sexual activity, and shared a friend's theory that conservative parts of America tolerate Silicon Valley "because people there just don't have that much sex. They're not having that much fun." Long-time Slashdot reader SonicSpike quotes Business Insider's investigation into Thiel's claim. Silicon Valley has the highest ratio of … [Link]

ProgrammableWeb.com » Daily API RoundUp: MasterCard, Acquia, Elemeno, Kore, Truly, Beets

Saturday 4 February 19:33:50 UTC 2017

Every day, the ProgrammableWeb team is busy, updating its three primary directories for APIs, clients (language-specific libraries or SDKs for consuming or providing APIs), and source code samples. [Link]

Mashable » Coconut oil enthusiast finds herself trapped in the bath

Saturday 4 February 19:26:48 UTC 2017

Baths are a great way to unwind after a long day of garbage reality. This bath did not fit that bill. On Thursday, Imgur user denshan posted to Imgur live from the tub — inspiring, BTW — to let the internet know that, thanks to a heavy hand with the coconut oil, she'd gotten herself stuck there. SEE ALSO: Here's the … [Link]

Mashable » 7 can't-miss apps: Remente, Slang N' Frienz, and more

Saturday 4 February 19:22:00 UTC 2017

With most of the internet turning their eyes to whatever J.K. Rowling is tweeting this week, you might have missed some new apps that can help you stay focused on your life's goals and also lets you have more fun in your life. SEE ALSO: There are hidden iPad keyboards in iOS 10.3 that Apple won't let you use Each weekend, … [Link]

Mashable » Ride Elon Musk's Hyperloop in virtual reality

Saturday 4 February 19:21:07 UTC 2017

What started as Elon Musk's wild dream of a sort-of-Jetsons-style tube for high speed commuting is becoming a reality in at least one country. Now SpaceX posted a 360-degree video of its own Hyperloop demonstration pod and tube being tested on a short track.  The video was shot during the recent Hyperloop Pod Competition launched to showcase viable designs for … [Link]

Mashable » You can now take selfies… with your feet?

Saturday 4 February 19:00:00 UTC 2017

Using a magnetic phone mount that straps on to your feet, the 'SelfieFeet' makes taking selfies that much… easier? Read more…More about Real Time Video, Real Time, Iphone 6s, Iphone 8, and Iphone 7 Plus [Link]

Mashable » Alessia Cara's Lorde impression is absolutely royal

Saturday 4 February 18:57:37 UTC 2017

One of The Tonight Show's best functions is letting us know what great impressions celebrities can do. For example, would we be aware of Christina Aguilera's spot-on Britney Spears voice were it not for the Wheel of Musical Impressions? We think not. And Alessia Cara can do mean impressions of Lorde, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj — especially when the … [Link]

Slashdot » A Hacker Just Pwned Over 150,000 Printers Exposed Online

Saturday 4 February 18:39:00 UTC 2017

Last year an attacker forced thousands of unsecured printers to spew racist and anti-semitic messages. But this year's attack is even bigger. An anonymous reader writes: A grey-hat hacker going by the name of Stackoverflowin has pwned over 150,000 printers that have been left accessible online. For the past 24 hours, Stackoverflowin has been running an automated script that searches … [Link]

Mashable » Elon Musk posts image that may or may not be secret tunnel project

Saturday 4 February 18:23:40 UTC 2017

Elon Musk likes to show off his toys, and the latest may (or may not) be a component of his new tunnel boring efforts designed to defeat the scourge of Los Angeles traffic. On Friday, amid widespread criticism related to his advisory connections to the Trump administration, Musk showed that he was nevertheless undeterred in his subterranean geekery when he posted … [Link]

Mashable » Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus ditch Ivanka Trump lines

Saturday 4 February 18:10:04 UTC 2017

Two weeks into the Trump presidency, Ivanka Trump is out at two major department stores.  Nordstrom was the first to drop the Ivanka Trump clothing line from its stores, Racked reported on Thursday. The chain cited the brand's performance in that decision, without mentioning Trump's political ties.   “We've said all along we make buying decisions based on performance,” a Nordstrom … [Link]

Mashable » The first 'Harry Potter' book will soon get an anniversary makeover

Saturday 4 February 18:09:49 UTC 2017

If you bought Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S.) when it was first released, get ready to feel tragically aware of the passage of time. This year, the book is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. Luckily, publisher Bloomsbury is releasing a set of new Potter book covers to celebrate the occasion. As Pottermore announed on Friday, the … [Link]

Slashdot » Mozilla Binds Firefox's Fate To The Rust Language

Saturday 4 February 17:34:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes InfoWorld: After version 53, Firefox will require Rust to compile successfully, due to the presence of Firefox components built with the language. But this decision may restrict the number of platforms that Firefox can be ported to — for now… Rust depends on LLVM, which has dependencies of its own — and all of them would … [Link]

Mashable » 19 totally rational fears every New Yorker has

Saturday 4 February 17:29:05 UTC 2017

New York City is trying to kill you.  There's no doubt that New York is a special place like no other, but with that comes some unavoidable dangers that the city's 8.5 million residents must endure on a daily basis like some sort of urban obstacle course. SEE ALSO: NYC toilets are rated by poop emoji on this Instagram From falling … [Link]

Mashable » A briefing on the history of Snapchat updates

Saturday 4 February 17:06:23 UTC 2017

Snapchat has come a long way. From its beginnings on the Stanford campus to the 158 million-user-strong app it is today, the app has grown and changed in ways few could have anticipated.  SEE ALSO: The 13 most interesting parts of Snap's IPO filing From its early days in 2011, when Snapchat wasn't even called Snapchat, to the polished messaging platform … [Link]

Mashable » Gorgeous photos capture the bygone fishing culture of 1950s Portugal

Saturday 4 February 17:00:00 UTC 2017

Image: Biblioteca de Arte Fundação Calouste GulbenkianFishing has been at the center of life on the Portuguese coast since Roman times, when the region produced the prized fish sauce garum for export to the capital.Traditionally, men dressed in checkered clothes and long wool hats fished from 15-foot open boats called saveiros, using spotlights and bait to lure schools of mackerel and … [Link]

Mashable » 4 free iPhone apps for doodling on photos

Saturday 4 February 16:40:00 UTC 2017

A picture may already speak a thousand words, but sometimes it might just benefit from something extra. With this in mind, we've taken a look at iPhone apps that let you doodle and write on your images.  SEE ALSO: Taking underwater photos with your iPhone just got way easier We've tried and tested four free options that will help you get … [Link]

Slashdot » OPNsense 17.1 Released, Based On FreeBSD 11

Saturday 4 February 16:34:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes Phoronix: OPNsense 17.1 is now available as the newest release of this network-focused FreeBSD-based operating system forked from pfSense. It's now been two years since the first official release of OPNsense and to celebrate they have out a big update. OPNsense 17.1 re-bases to using FreeBSD 11.0, there's now a SSH remote installer, new language support, … [Link]

Slashdot » Microsoft Is Disabling Older Versions of Skype For Mac and Windows On March 1

Saturday 4 February 15:34:00 UTC 2017

If you're using an older, outdated version of Skype, you may want to consider updating soon. Microsoft said today that starting on March 1 people will no longer be able to sign in to version 7.16 of Skype for Window desktop and older versions, and version 7.18 of Skype for Mac and older versions thereof. VentureBeat reports: "If you're one … [Link]

Mashable » Create hundreds of different color tones with this magical art tool

Saturday 4 February 15:00:00 UTC 2017

These color tops from 'Chameleon Pens' will have you coloring your heart's desire and blending hues together like never beforeWatch as they turn your color tones from dark to light and light to dark.  Read more…More about Real Time Video, Real Time, Art Tech, Art, and Arts Culture And Entertainment [Link]

Mashable » An ambitious young photographer captured the chaos and beauty of Greyhound buses in 1943

Saturday 4 February 14:00:00 UTC 2017

A Greyhound bus from Washington, D.C. to Pittsburgh.Image: Library of CongressIn 1942, Esther Bubley, a fresh graduate of the photography program at the Minneapolis School of Art, landed a job as a darkroom assistant at the Office of War Information (OWI) in Washington, D.C.The OWI had recently absorbed the famed photographic unit of the Farm Security Administration and shifted the photographers’ … [Link]

Mashable » 7 meaningful ways to celebrate Black History Month

Saturday 4 February 13:03:00 UTC 2017

While black excellence deserves to be celebrated every day, Black History Month offers a dedicated time to pay attention to the power and resilience of the black community.  February's celebration is a reminder to seek out stories and histories that often go overlooked — but it also serves as a call to recognize the various black leaders in our own lives. … [Link]

Slashdot » Sweden Pledges To Cut All Greenhouse Gas Emissions By 2045

Saturday 4 February 13:00:00 UTC 2017

Sweden has announced ambitious plans to completely phase out greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. The nation also reaffirmed the urgency of tackling climate change and called for all countries to "step up and fulfill the Paris Agreement." The Independent reports: "Our target is to be an entirely fossil-fuel-free welfare state," said Climate Minister Isabella Lovin. "We see that the advantages … [Link]

Slashdot » Microsoft's H-1B Workers Cited In Motion That Successfully Blocked Trump's Travel Ban

Saturday 4 February 10:00:00 UTC 2017

"President Trump's travel ban is on hold," reports WGN. "A federal judge in Seattle blocked the executive order banning travelers from seven predominately Muslim countries." But Slashdot reader theodp noticed that the judge's temporary restraining order might've been responding to something specific: the motion argued Trump's executive order had been harmful because it impacted major tech companies in the state … [Link]

Mashable » 7 things 'Pokémon Go' badly needs in 2017

Saturday 4 February 9:30:00 UTC 2017

LONDON — I feel like I should make one thing clear up front: I love Pokémon Go. SEE ALSO: Charmander and friends come to life in artist's Pokémon renderings Since I first downloaded the game last July, I don't think a day's gone by without me opening up the app. That might sound sad to some people — probably the same … [Link]

Slashdot » Misophonia: Scientists Crack Why Eating Sounds Can Make People Angry

Saturday 4 February 7:00:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes a report from BBC: Why some people become enraged by sounds such as eating or breathing has been explained by brain scan studies. The condition, misophonia, is far more than simply disliking noises such as nails being scraped down a blackboard. UK scientists have shown some people's brains become hardwired to produce an "excessive" emotional response. … [Link]

Slashdot » FCC Rescinds Claim That AT&T, Verizon Violated Net Neutrality

Saturday 4 February 3:30:00 UTC 2017

jriding writes: The Federal Communications Commission's new Republican leadership has rescinded a determination that ATT and Verizon Wireless violated net neutrality rules with paid data cap exemptions. The FCC also rescinded several other Wheeler-era reports and actions. The FCC released its report on the data cap exemptions (aka "zero-rating") in the final days of Democrat Tom Wheeler's chairmanship. Because new … [Link]

Mashable » 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' boss explains that literal cliffhanger in the Season 2 finale

Saturday 4 February 3:01:00 UTC 2017

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, titled "Can Josh Take a Leap of Faith?" There are a lot of twists and turns in the final episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 2. But showrunners Rachel Bloom (who also stars as Rebecca Bunch) and Aline Brosh McKenna always knew exactly what line to end with: "Josh … [Link]

Mashable » A forgotten 1986 novel predicted a terrible Trump-like president

Saturday 4 February 2:56:11 UTC 2017

An erratic president causes unprecedented chaos in his first two weeks in office. He lashes out at Australia, threatens to invade Mexico, imposes an anti-terrorism travel ban that makes terrorism more likely, and shoots off angry missives at the New York Times when he should be coordinating a military raid from the situation room.  That's all Donald Trump. What, did you … [Link]

Mashable » The ultimate app guide to Super Bowl Sunday

Saturday 4 February 2:37:11 UTC 2017

It’s that time of year again — when sports bars hit full capacity and nail-biting tension runs high. If you're looking to forget about politics and focus on the Super Bowl, then you might need a few apps on the sidelines. SEE ALSO: Budweiser turned a classic '90s Super Bowl ad into a Snapchat game From helping you find the perfect … [Link]

Mashable » Betting on Trump's tweets during the Super Bowl is somehow a thing

Saturday 4 February 2:27:08 UTC 2017

Thought you could get away from the Donald on Super Bowl Sunday? You're wrong.  You can put money on how many times the bombastic reality star/businessman-turned president will tweet during the big game. Not only that, you can even bet on what he will say in those 140 characters. SEE ALSO: High school student tells Betsy DeVos exactly how her policies … [Link]

Slashdot » Lawsuit Claims Apple Forced Users To iOS 7 By Breaking FaceTime

Saturday 4 February 2:05:00 UTC 2017

According to Apple Insider, a class-action lawsuit has been filed in California that claims Apple broke FaceTime in iOS 6 to force users to upgrade to iOS 7. The lawsuit says Apple forced users to upgrade so it could avoid payments on a data deal with Akamai. From the report: When FaceTime launched in 2010, Apple included two methods of … [Link]

Slashdot » Google Will Reportedly Remove Google Now Launcher From Play Store

Saturday 4 February 1:25:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Android Police: Google currently has two launcher apps in the Play Store; Google Now Launcher and Pixel Launcher. In a few months, there will only be one. According to an email forwarded to us by a tipster, Google has alerted GMS partners of its intention to remove Google Now Launcher from the Play … [Link]

Mashable » Inspirational thread proves you can still find hope on Twitter in Trump's America

Saturday 4 February 1:23:30 UTC 2017

A Twitter thread is offering some hope for Muslims and others disheartened in the week since Donald Trump's immigration and travel ban was signed. SEE ALSO: Actors' acceptance speeches at SAG awards turn into protest against Trump Muslim ban The True American author Anand Giridharadas shared a story Friday in tweet form, prefacing that his 14-tweet thread "will solve none of … [Link]

Mashable » Gambling site is offering 2:1 odds that Trump will be impeached

Saturday 4 February 0:55:24 UTC 2017

Trump is just two weeks into his presidency but already gamblers are rushing to bet on his impeachment. Online betting site Paddy Power is offering odds as low as 2:1 that Trump will be impeached in his first term. That's cut in half from before his inauguration, when they stood at 4:1, Fast Company reports. SEE ALSO: Trump’s Muslim Ban could … [Link]

Mashable » 3 steps for cutting the cable cord in 2017

Saturday 4 February 0:55:14 UTC 2017

Anyone who has ever dealt with a cable company’s customer service department knows that the industry is stuck in 1995 — or perhaps in the ninth circle of… well, you know where. But it’s 2017. We no longer need to be beholden to cable companies. As alternative options to traditional cable packages become more ubiquitous, streaming services have brought us into … [Link]

Slashdot » Zero-Day Windows Security Flaw Can Crash Systems, Cause BSODs

Saturday 4 February 0:45:00 UTC 2017

Orome1 quotes a report from Help Net Security: A zero-day bug affecting Windows 10, 8.1, Windows Server 2012 and 2016 can be exploited to crash a vulnerable system and possibly even to compromise it. It is a memory corruption bug in the handling of SMB traffic that could be easily exploited by forcing a Windows system to connect to a … [Link]

Mashable » Bizarre minivan full of 'Speed' VHS tapes has an equally bizarre backstory

Saturday 4 February 0:44:50 UTC 2017

Brooklyn is home to some strange sights — rainbow bagels, unicorn lattes — and now there's a new bizarre offering: a minivan chock full VHS tapes of the 1994 movie Speed. SEE ALSO: Can you help solve this creepy internet mystery? Hi uh there's a minivan parked on my block that has a couple dozen VHS tapes of the motion picture … [Link]

Slashdot » Nintendo Halts Wii U Production In Anticipation of Switch Launch

Saturday 4 February 0:05:00 UTC 2017

New submitter Shane_Optima writes: The Guardian reports that Nintendo has ceased production of the Wii U after a little more than four years. From the report: "In late January it was announced that Nintendo had ceased production of the Wii U console. The follow-up machine to the hugely successful Wii had sold fewer than 15 million units worldwide since its … [Link]

Archive

26 Apr 2024  25 Apr 2024  24 Apr 2024  23 Apr 2024  22 Apr 2024  21 Apr 2024  20 Apr 2024  19 Apr 2024  18 Apr 2024  17 Apr 2024  16 Apr 2024  15 Apr 2024  14 Apr 2024  13 Apr 2024  12 Apr 2024  11 Apr 2024  10 Apr 2024  09 Apr 2024  08 Apr 2024  07 Apr 2024  06 Apr 2024  05 Apr 2024  04 Apr 2024  03 Apr 2024  02 Apr 2024  01 Apr 2024  31 Mar 2024  30 Mar 2024  29 Mar 2024  28 Mar 2024  27 Mar 2024  26 Mar 2024