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 » Shamed In Super Bowl Ads, Verizon Introduces Unlimited Data Plans

Sunday 12 February 23:44:00 UTC 2017

A surprise announcement Sunday revealed that tomorrow Verizon will begin offering introductory plans with unlimited data.* * Customers "will get full LTE speeds until they reach 22GB of usage," reports The Verge, "after which they'll be subject to reduced data speeds and de-prioritization." An anonymous reader writes: Other carriers have similar limits. "For Sprint it's 23GB. T-Mobile has a slightly … [Link]

Mashable » Al Jarreau, whose smooth voice was a jazz legend for decades, dead at 76

Sunday 12 February 23:32:27 UTC 2017

Just hours before the Grammys, a music giant passed.  Seven-time Grammy-winning jazz singer Al Jarreau, who transcended genres over a 50-year career, died at a Los Angeles hospital Sunday, just days after announcing his retirement from touring because of exhaustion. Those unfamiliar with his name may remember his iconic voice introducing mainstream TV viewers to Bruce Willis — he sang the … [Link]

Mashable » From drought to flood, nation's biggest dam topped for first time in 50 years

Sunday 12 February 23:15:34 UTC 2017

California has spent the last six years grappling with a brutal drought. Now parts of the Golden State are suffering from the opposite problem: too much water. Extreme flooding this weekend washed away chunks of highway, derailed trains and inundated homes in Northern California. At Lake Oroville, a major man-made reservoir, water began flowing over a never-before-used emergency spillway at the … [Link]

Mashable » $190 million box office weekend is the biggest since 'Rogue One'

Sunday 12 February 22:37:33 UTC 2017

The Lego Batman Movie, Fifty Shades Darker, and John Wick: Chapter Two. The cumulative domestic box office take for those three movies — all new releases — accounts for the lion's share of an estimated $190.3 million weekend at the box office. It's the biggest three-day weekend for Hollywood since Rogue One opened in Dec. 2016. SEE ALSO: 'The Lego Batman … [Link]

Slashdot » Gravity-Detecting LIGO Also Found To Be Creating Gravity Waves

Sunday 12 February 22:24:00 UTC 2017

LIGO is a large-scale physics experiment to detect "ripples in spacetime," as well as gravity waves from outer space. But it turns out that it's also creating gravity waves, according to a team of physicists led by Belinda Pang, a physicist at the California Institute of Technology. sciencehabit quotes Science magazine: Although these waves are far too feeble to detect … [Link]

Mashable » Verizon resurrects unlimited data, because T-Mobile and AT&T aren't f*cking around

Sunday 12 February 22:11:35 UTC 2017

Verizon, in the age of streaming video and GIF-filled messaging, is looking to win back customers by offering unlimited data. SEE ALSO: Verizon has lost its one big advantage in the wireless wars The wireless carrier announced Sunday an introductory plan with unlimited data. Available Monday, it charges $80 per month with unlimited data, talk and text on a smartphone or … [Link]

Mashable » Miranda Kerr says she and Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel aren't having sex until marriage

Sunday 12 February 22:06:07 UTC 2017

Normally what goes on inside the bedroom of high-profile couples stays inside the bedroom — unless nothing goes on and they want to share that with everyone.  In a recent interview with The Times of London, the usually private supermodel Miranda Kerr spilled her real thoughts on Facebook (she hates it) but also shared some information about her relationship with fiancé … [Link]

Mashable » The internet has lots of fun after the GOP tweets a fake Abraham Lincoln quote

Sunday 12 February 21:45:37 UTC 2017

The GOP is putting words in Abraham Lincoln's mouth.  On the revered president's 208th birthday, the GOP shared a photo of the Lincoln Memorial with a quote that — though attributed to Lincoln — is one he never actually said. SEE ALSO: How the 'Lincoln Invented Facebook' Hoax Fooled Some of the People The tweet was sent out Sunday morning from … [Link]

Mashable » 88 satellites will launch on Valentine's Day to image the entire Earth every day

Sunday 12 February 21:17:29 UTC 2017

On Valentine's Day, instead of chowing down on chocolates, a group of engineers and scientists are going to get pancakes and a rocket launch.  Employees working for Planet — a California-based startup — are planning to watch a record 88 of their tiny satellites launch into orbit while eating breakfast.  SEE ALSO: The first photos from a revolutionary new weather satellite … [Link]

Slashdot » How Beer Brewed 5,000 Years Ago In China Tastes Today

Sunday 12 February 21:09:00 UTC 2017

schwit1 quotes The South China Morning Post: Stanford University students have recreated a Chinese beer using a recipe that dates back 5,000 years. The beer "looked like porridge and tasted sweeter and fruitier than the clear, bitter beers of today," said Li Liu, a professor in Chinese archaeology, was quoted by the university as saying. Last spring, Liu and her … [Link]

Mashable » These twins battled each other for 58 words in the final round of a spelling bee

Sunday 12 February 20:39:22 UTC 2017

Nothing like a little friendly competition among brothers.  On Saturday, twins from Lincoln, Nebraska, found themselves in an epic battle to win the 30th annual Lincoln Public Schools Spelling Bee. As the Lincoln Star Journal reports, 12 year-olds Eswar and Sankar Ramamurthy found themselves in the final round — but had to go through 58 words before Eswar was eventually declared … [Link]

Geek Culture » On a positive note… 😀

Sunday 12 February 20:21:51 UTC 2017

[Link]

Slashdot » 223 Stranded Whales Rescue Themselves

Sunday 12 February 20:04:00 UTC 2017

More than 650 whales beached themselves in New Zealand, and more than 350 of them died. But now an anonymous reader shares NPR's report about a surprising result for the second group of whales. When volunteer rescuers left the beach for the night Saturday, hundreds of survivors from the second stranding remained ashore. Then something curious happened: When the people … [Link]

Mashable » Behind-the-scenes look at the 'Scamalot' series

Sunday 12 February 19:30:00 UTC 2017

It’s the 1-year anniversary since the premiere of Scamalot. James sure went on many adventures over the course of two seasons and now, as a special treat for the fans, we’ve put together this behind-the-scenes look at the filming of season 2. And yes, James is as wacky in person as you would imagine. Catch up on the full series here. Subscribe … [Link]

Mashable » Nike shows it's no Under Armour with LeBron ad that slams discrimination

Sunday 12 February 19:26:59 UTC 2017

It’s getting harder and harder to avoid politics in sports.  Pro basketball stars in particular are speaking out against discrimination and hate, and LeBron James is no exception.  SEE ALSO: Like Steph Curry, The Rock isn't happy Under Armour's CEO praised Trump On Sunday, the three-time NBA champion tweeted out this powerful new Nike ad featuring himself, fellow NBA pro Kevin … [Link]

Slashdot » Three Privacy Groups Challenge The FBI's Malware-Obtained Evidence

Sunday 12 February 18:59:00 UTC 2017

In 2015 the FBI took over a Tor-accessible child pornography site to infect its users with malware so they could be identified and prosecuted. But now one suspect is challenging that evidence in court, with three different privacy groups filing briefs in his support. An anonymous reader writes. One EFF attorney argues it's a classic case of an unreasonable search, … [Link]

Mashable » Betsy DeVos' Department of Education misspells W.E.B. Du Bois' name, then misspells its apology

Sunday 12 February 17:45:50 UTC 2017

“Education must not simply teach work — it must teach life." These words by civil rights activist and historian W.E.B. Du Bois were echoed by the U.S. Department of Education's Twitter account, but ironically, with a spelling error.  The account attributed the words to W.E.B. "DeBois." Of course, people on Twitter noticed right away and were not afraid to bring out … [Link]

Slashdot » Can We Pollinate Flowers With Tiny Flying Drones?

Sunday 12 February 17:34:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader writes: An engineer in Japan has built a 1.6-inch "pollinator-bot" and successfully tested it in his lab. The drone's creator "has armed it with paintbrush hairs that are covered in a special gel sticky enough to pick pollen up, but not so sticky that it holds on to that pollen when it brushes up against something else," … [Link]

Mashable » A very pregnant Ciara has the perfect Whitney Houston tribute

Sunday 12 February 16:56:46 UTC 2017

Saturday marked the fifth anniversary of Whitney Houston's death, and folks found unique ways of paying their respects to the legendary singer—but no one managed to honor Houston quite like Ciara.  Ciara, who is expecting a child with NFL star Russell Wilson soon, danced her heart out with a perfect lip-sync to "I'm Every Woman" with her son Future making an … [Link]

Slashdot » Netflix Geoblocking Loosened Under New EU Law

Sunday 12 February 16:34:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader writes: "The European Parliament is now finalizing legislation which will allow EU residents to access their paid subscriptions for online media — such as video streaming, games and music — while visiting other EU countries," reports The Stack. Under the new rules, companies will not be able to arbitrarily block subscribers from accessing the content catalog of … [Link]

Mashable » Go behind-the-scenes of 'Scamalot' with funnyman James Veitch

Sunday 12 February 16:30:00 UTC 2017

It’s the one year anniversary since the premiere of Scamalot. James sure went on many adventures over the course of two seasons and now as a special treat for the fans we’ve put together this behind-the-scenes look at season 2's taping. And yes, James is as wacky in person as you would imagine. Catch up on the full series here. Subscribe … [Link]

Mashable » Cheetos ad meeting on 'SNL' mocks marketing in the age of Trump

Sunday 12 February 16:29:16 UTC 2017

Donald Trump isn't ever mentioned by name in this Saturday Night Live sketch about a pitch meeting with Cheetos, but his presence looms large. Riffing on Lumber 84's political Super Bowl LI commercial — which delivered a strong message on the importance of an immigrant workforce — the SNL bit mulls the thought process behind politically motivated advertising. Are companies … [Link]

ProgrammableWeb.com » Why These Four Industries Lag in API Adoption

Sunday 12 February 16:23:43 UTC 2017

It’s no secret that adopting APIs is good for business. But players in some of the largest traditional industries, specifically energy, logistics, packaging and banking, have been slow to catch on. Mark Boyd over at Network World explains how they lag behind the rest and why it matters. [Link]

Mashable » That time Leslie Jones played Donald Trump on 'SNL'

Sunday 12 February 16:07:09 UTC 2017

Leslie Jones dreams of playing Donald Trump. The Saturday Night Live star knows that Alec Baldwin has the gig locked down. But that won't stop her from trying, or from destroying the office of SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels. Can we please have more of these "real talk with Leslie" sketches?  ‘SNL’ Weekend Update crams a week of Trump … [Link]

Mashable » A new anti-smoking ad slams Big Tobacco for targeting black neighborhoods

Sunday 12 February 15:54:55 UTC 2017

The tobacco industry knows all about diversity — and knows exactly how to exploit it.  That's the message of a new ad campaign from anti-smoking group Truth Initiative that highlights the ways in which cigarette marketers disproportionately target disadvantaged groups. SEE ALSO: So, about that Tinder-themed anti-smoking ad from the Grammys… In the commercials, comedian and former MTV VJ Amanda Seales … [Link]

Mashable » Frank Ocean slams Taylor Swift's '1989' win in angry letter about the Grammys

Sunday 12 February 15:46:02 UTC 2017

At the tail end of 2016, Frank Ocean called the Grammy Awards "dated" and did not put forth his album Blonde for consideration—effectively boycotting the 59th annual awards and triggering a wave of possible no-shows from Kanye West, Drake and perhaps Justin Bieber.  Now, in response to criticism from Grammy producers, Ocean penned a letter on Tumblr on Saturday night to … [Link]

Slashdot » Space Junk-Fighting Cable Fails To Deploy

Sunday 12 February 15:34:00 UTC 2017

New Scientist reports: It's a rubbish start for the world's first space clean-up experiment. A cable designed to drag space junk out of orbit has failed to deploy from a Japanese spacecraft… A 700-metre-long metal cable was fitted to an unmanned spacecraft called Kounotori 6, which was on its way back to Earth after delivering supplies to the International Space … [Link]

Mashable » 'SNL' Weekend Update crams a week of Trump missteps into 8 minutes

Sunday 12 February 15:09:01 UTC 2017

Saturday Night Live didn't exactly shy away from politics this week, which featured Trump impersonator-in-chief Alec Baldwin as the host. But most of the top real world headlines were skewered not in sketches, but in a dizzying Weekend Update instead. Co-hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost spat out one-liner after one-liner during an 8-minute tour through the many missteps and … [Link]

Mashable » MamaBreast is a realistic breast-feeding device that can help new parents everywhere

Sunday 12 February 15:00:00 UTC 2017

‘MamaBreast’ can teach you how to nurse your newborn properly. The straps are adjustable to make it comfortable to wear. Read more…More about Latching, Real Time Video, Real Time, Parenting Hacks, and Parenting With Technology [Link]

Slashdot » Magic Leap CEO Defends His AR Company After Leaked Photo

Sunday 12 February 14:34:00 UTC 2017

Saturday Business Insider claimed that augmented reality company Magic Leap was "scrambling to finish a working prototype before an important board meeting next week," publishing a photo described by their source as an early January prototype. An anonymous reader quotes Mashable: The image depicts a man with a kit on his back that looks as if it's in the early … [Link]

Mashable » Early tourists clambered to the top of Egypt's pyramids in fancy dresses and suits

Sunday 12 February 14:00:00 UTC 2017

1938Tourists take tea atop the Great Pyramid.Image: Bettmann/Getty ImagesSince the visit of Herodotus in the 4th century BC, the enduring monuments of Ancient Egypt have drawn tourists across the Mediterranean from Europe, most of all to the towering pyramids of Giza.With the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, visits by wealthy tourists increased. That same year, travel mogul Thomas Cook … [Link]

Slashdot » CS Professor Argues Silicon Valley Is Exploiting Both H-1B Visas And Workers

Sunday 12 February 12:34:00 UTC 2017

schwit1 quotes Norm Matloff, a CS professor at the University of California at Davis, on H-1B visa programs: The Trump administration has drafted a new executive order that could actually mean higher wages for both foreign workers and Americans working in Silicon Valley. The Silicon Valley companies, of course, will not be happy if it goes into effect… Their lobbyists … [Link]

Mashable » How sunshine is bringing radio to remote parts of South Sudan

Sunday 12 February 10:51:39 UTC 2017

In South Sudan, most people don't have a TV. They rely on radio to get information. But limited access to power means entire communities of are left in information darkness for days at a time, especially in remote areas. One man is turning to the sun to change that.  SEE ALSO: Norway is the first country to switch off FM … [Link]

Mashable » All you Valentine's Day haters are wrong. There, I've said it.

Sunday 12 February 9:44:45 UTC 2017

Let me just get this off my chest. I am so tired of everyone hating on Valentine's Day. What is better to celebrate than love? There is perhaps nothing more deserving of recognition and appreciation than the fact that you are loved, that someone cares about you and wants you to be happy. And I don't just mean in the romantic sense.  … [Link]

Slashdot » Trend Micro's Own Cybersecurity Blog Gets Hacked

Sunday 12 February 8:34:00 UTC 2017

Mickeycaskill quotes Silicon: Just to illustrate that you can never be too careful, cybersecurity specialist Trend Micro has confirmed that one of the blogs it uses to communicate with customers was itself the victim of a content spoofing attack. The culprits exploited a vulnerability in WordPress to inject fake content onto the blog before it was removed by Trend Micro … [Link]

Mashable » Tracy Morgan delivers Destiny’s Child burn from Beyoncé’s womb on 'SNL'

Sunday 12 February 7:34:40 UTC 2017

Tracy Morgan popped up on Saturday Night Live in the most unexpected of places: Beyoncé's womb.  Morgan surprised the audience during Queen Bey's (Sasheer Zamata) ultrasound, playing one of her unborn twins alongside Keenan Thompson.  SEE ALSO: Donald Trump has his day in 'The People's Court' on 'SNL' Morgan and Thompson traded quips about what a cool mom they must … [Link]

Mashable » Donald Trump has his day in 'The People's Court' on 'SNL'

Sunday 12 February 6:42:48 UTC 2017

On Saturday Night Live, Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump made good on his — and his press secretary's — promise to see the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judges in court.  More specifically, The People's Court of television fame. SEE ALSO: Kate McKinnon's Kellyanne Conway goes full 'Fatal Attraction' on 'SNL' Melissa McCarthy as White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer assured … [Link]

Mashable » Kate McKinnon's Kellyanne Conway goes full 'Fatal Attraction' on 'SNL'

Sunday 12 February 6:20:54 UTC 2017

Kellyanne Conway will not be ignored. Especially not in Saturday Night Live's remake of the problematic 90s psychosexual thriller Fatal Attraction. Played by Kate McKinnon, the Trump advisor goes all "Single White Female" on Beck Bennett's Jake Tapper, lurking uninvited in his house, desperate to get back on the news. SEE ALSO: Melissa McCarthy's is back and super mad as Sean … [Link]

Mashable » Melissa McCarthy is back and super mad as Sean Spicer on 'SNL'

Sunday 12 February 5:41:56 UTC 2017

Melissa McCarthy returned to Saturday Night Live to bring us the gift that is her impression of White House Press Secretary Sean "Spicy" Spicer — and things got physical.  McCarthy opened the night's briefing by assuring the press corps that they needn't worry: This was going to be the "new Spicy." A calm Spicy. One that definitely wouldn't throw wads of chewed gum … [Link]

Slashdot » Finland's Universal Basic Income Called 'Useless' By Trade Union Economist

Sunday 12 February 4:34:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes Bloomberg: Finland's basic income experiment is unworkable, uneconomical and ultimately useless. Plus, it will only encourage some people to work less. That's not the view of a hard core Thatcherite, but of the country's biggest trade union. The labor group says the results of the two-year pilot program will fail to sway its opposition to a … [Link]

Slashdot » Twitter Announces (More) Hate-Speech Fighting Tools (Again)

Sunday 12 February 2:34:00 UTC 2017

Building on anti-harassment tools announced in November, Twitter is now "trying to shake its reputation as a haven for online harassment" with still more new internal algorithms and features, reports CNN. An anonymous reader quotes their report: The changes include preventing serial abusers from creating new accounts, a new "safe search" function and blocking potentially abusive and "low-quality" tweets from … [Link]

Mashable » Magic Leap CEO defends his AR company on Twitter after photo leak

Sunday 12 February 2:25:59 UTC 2017

Shortly after a photo of company hardware was leaked, the CEO of the augmented and mixed reality company Magic Leap has gone online to correct the record. On Saturday, Business Insider published an image of what it said was "a working prototype" of the Google-backed startup's portable augmented reality device given to it by a source. On Twitter, Rony Abovitz claimed … [Link]

Mashable » Internet freaks out again over 'BlondYe' aka blonde Kanye West

Sunday 12 February 0:53:12 UTC 2017

BlondYe is back. On Saturday, Kanye West was spotted in New York sporting newly dyed platinum blonde hair.  KANYE out in NYC today. Feb 11pic.twitter.com/htXF4kX7je — KimKanyeKimYe (@KimKanyeKimYeFC) February 11, 2017 The eccentric rapper and fashion designer is in the Big Apple for New York Fashion Week. His Yeezy Kanye West runway show is scheduled for Feb. 15. Last time West … [Link]

Mashable » It took an Aussie to finally tell Piers Morgan to f*ck off

Sunday 12 February 0:46:01 UTC 2017

There may be someone on this here Earth who has not heard of Piers Morgan, and what a blessing that must be. A sentient sack of useless opinions, the British media "personality" was on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday when an interesting thing happened. Australian comedian Jim Jefferies, he of the viral gun control rant, told Morgan to … [Link]

Slashdot » GitHub Commits Reveal The Top 'Weekend Programming' Languages

Sunday 12 February 0:34:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader writes: Google "developer advocate" Felipe Hoffa has determined the top "weekend programming languages," those which see the biggest spike in commit activity on the weekends. "Clearly 2016 was a year dedicated to play with functional languages, up and coming paradigms, and scripting 3d worlds," he writes, revealing that the top weekend programming languages are: Rust, Glsl, D, … [Link]

Mashable » MashReads Podcast: YA fans are the best book fans ever. Take it from a YA expert

Sunday 12 February 0:25:01 UTC 2017

If you've ever been inspired by the art you love, you're not alone. It happens to everyone, even editors at famous publications like Entertainment Weekly. Or, at least, it happened to YA expert-turned-YA author Jeff Giles. SEE ALSO: MashReads Podcast: John Darnielle tells us not to trust 'Universal Harvester.' That's the point. Giles is known for being the former Entertainment Weekly … [Link]

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