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.

Mashable » Catherine Zeta-Jones reveals what 'Feud' taught her about Hollywood's troubled Golden Age

Sunday 16 April 23:43:12 UTC 2017

When you take two of today’s most admired actresses and cast them in brief but crucial roles as – surprise – two of the most admired actresses of their respective generations, what do you get? Two of Feud's most inspired more-than-cameos from Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sarah Paulson, natch. Zeta-Jones tells Mashable she had enormous respect for British actress Olivia de Havilland, … [Link]

Slashdot » Maryland Awards 21 Grants To Prepare 'Open Source' Textbooks

Sunday 16 April 23:36:00 UTC 2017

"The University System of Maryland has awarded 21 "mini grants" to university faculty to "help them expand open education resources," reports OpenSource.com. Recipients of the grants are also given time off to prepare courses that use open textbooks, and will receive personalized support and training on effective course design. An anonymous reader writes: "Although our faculty view textbooks as essential, … [Link]

Mashable » 'Rick and Morty' meets 'Grand Theft Auto' is twisted and brilliant

Sunday 16 April 23:07:43 UTC 2017

What if the interdimensional adventures of Rick and Morty landed them in the middle of the Grand Theft Auto V universe? Thanks to a new game mod, we just found out, and the result is as twisted as the show itself.  Created by Jedidiah515, footage of the mod posted on Youtube by Modded Games shows us everything from Morty beating … [Link]

Mashable » 20 of the cutest cherry blossom things to get you ready for spring

Sunday 16 April 23:00:00 UTC 2017

Sunshine. Warm weather. Flowers. Bees. Allergies. All of these things arrive with a little thing called spring. Much of the country has been suffering through the snow and cold, but it's almost all over. There are many ways we can start preparing for spring, and one of the ways is to fully, shamelessly, immerse ourselves in everything cherry blossom. The cute … [Link]

Mashable » Star Wars fans shock and delight Mark Hamill with wedding proposal

Sunday 16 April 22:37:22 UTC 2017

The Force is strong with this couple.  Alex and Amanda were at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando this weekend when they found themselves in front of Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill.  SEE ALSO: 9 bizarre things that are still canon in the Star Wars universe So Alex, dressed in a dapper Han Solo vest, popped the question to his Leia.  Alex … [Link]

Slashdot » Supercomputers Help Researchers Find Two New Kinds Of Magnets

Sunday 16 April 22:23:00 UTC 2017

"Predicting magnets is a heck of a job, and their discovery is very rare," said a mechanical engineering professor at Duke University. But after years of work synthesizing various predictions, material scientists "predicted and built two new magnetic materials, atom-by-atom, using high-throughput computational models." An anonymous reader quotes Phys.org: The success marks a new era for the large-scale design of … [Link]

Mashable » United kicked off a bride and groom headed to their wedding, obviously

Sunday 16 April 22:21:47 UTC 2017

At this point, it'd be more shocking to read a positive headline about United Airlines.  A bride and groom heading to Costa Rica for their wedding were kicked off a United flight out of Houston this weekend, KHOU-TV first reported. The couple said they simply moved into other economy-class seats after finding a passenger sleeping in their assigned row. United said … [Link]

Mashable » Travel back to a black-and-white Mac interface with this Apple emulator

Sunday 16 April 22:09:48 UTC 2017

About 25 years ago, Apple released what was considered by some to be the most elegant personal computing interface available at the time, MacOS 7.0.1.  Apple's System 7 interface hasn't aged as well as other relics from 1991, like Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Nirvana's Nevermind, but the ancient computing platform nevertheless retains a certain charm. Now, thanks to the Internet … [Link]

Mashable » It's Easter so here's the Easter Bunny destroying a Teddy Roosevelt mascot

Sunday 16 April 21:36:24 UTC 2017

The Easter Bunny can be a savage creature. SEE ALSO: Sean Spicer was once a terrifying White House Easter Bunny During today's presidential mascot race at the Washington Nationals game, the Easter Bunny made what's becoming a traditional appearance to lay the smack down on Teddy Roosevelt.  BAH GAWD HE'S BROKEN IN HALF! pic.twitter.com/MVgQzfkvbT — Washington Nationals (@Nationals) April 16, 2017 … [Link]

Mashable » Salt Bae just voted in the most Salt Bae way possible

Sunday 16 April 21:24:17 UTC 2017

Salt Bae doesn't just season steaks. He also votes.  İşlem tamam#saltbae #saltlife #salt A post shared by Nusr_et#Saltbae (@nusr_et) on Apr 15, 2017 at 10:46pm PDT Yes, that's chef Nusret Gökçe, aka Salt Bae, voting. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed victory Sunday in a referendum that gives him sweeping new powers.  SEE ALSO: 'Salt Bae' seasoned Leonardo DiCaprio's dinner, as … [Link]

Slashdot » Geek Builds His Own NES Classic With A Raspberry Pi

Sunday 16 April 21:13:05 UTC 2017

"It turns out that the NES Classic Edition is just a little Linux-powered board inside a cute case," writes Andrew Cunningham at Ars Technica, "and it's totally possible to build your own tiny Linux-powered computer inside a cute case without spending much more than $60." An anonymous reader writes: Andrew used a $42 Raspberry Pi 3 Model B — "it's … [Link]

Mashable » Someone mashed up the 'The Last Jedi' trailer with clips from 'The Force Awakens'

Sunday 16 April 20:22:57 UTC 2017

Right, so you've had two days now to watch The Last Jedi trailer on a continuous loop and dissect every single detail and try to extrapolate plot and character details.   Our own Star Wars expert Christ Taylor noted similarities between this new trailer and scenes from trailers and teasers for The Force Awakens.  SEE ALSO: Fake VHS ad for … [Link]

Mashable » Bill Nye and Tyler, The Creator just dropped the hottest theme song ever

Sunday 16 April 20:06:16 UTC 2017

Bill Nye, the Science Guy, meet Tyler, The Creator.  The beloved TV show host tweeted this amazing encounter on Saturday. It shows the two talking about the theme song for Bill Nye Saves the World, which hits Netflix on April 21.  SEE ALSO: Bill Nye Bashes Creationism In Kindest Possible Fashion Loved the original @BillNye The Science Guy theme song? Get … [Link]

Slashdot » Steve Wozniak Predicts The Future

Sunday 16 April 19:41:00 UTC 2017

USA Today asked Steve Wozniak to predict what the world will look like in 2075 — one hundred years after the founding of Apple. An anonymous reader writes: "He's convinced Apple, Google and Facebook will be bigger in 2075," according to the article — just like IBM, which endured long past its founding in 1911. Pointing to Apple's $246.1 billion … [Link]

Mashable » The mounting costs of Trump's many travels to Mar-a-Lago are trouble

Sunday 16 April 19:20:28 UTC 2017

Where is President Donald Trump this weekend?  SEE ALSO: EPA mistakenly tells the truth about Trump's climate plans If you said his Mar-a-Lago estate, there's a 54 percent chance you're right and the Center For American Progress (CAP) is keeping track of all kinds of numbers related to Trump's frequent Florida fly-away weekends. Why is @BarackObama always campaigning or on vacation? … [Link]

Mashable » Look out, Easter Bunny, this adorable Goldendoodle could put you out of a job

Sunday 16 April 19:08:03 UTC 2017

Hey, Easter Bunny: you've been put on notice. Murphy the Goldendoodle is gunning for your gig as floppy-eared distributor of colorful eggs and springtime cheer. The brown-haired Goldendoodle — part golden retriever, part poodle — recently transformed a plastic cone collar into an Easter basket, replete with rainbow-colored filler and plastic eggs (that were hopefully not filled with chocolate candy). Murphy … [Link]

Mashable » Please don't name April the giraffe's baby Harambe

Sunday 16 April 18:46:35 UTC 2017

Congratulations, it's a boy! And his giraffe name is … well, you're gonna have to wait for that.  Yes, the people at Animal Adventure Park are milking every last drop out of this giraffe birth by holding a naming contest.  SEE ALSO: Watch April the giraffe's new baby figure out this whole 'walking' thing For $1 a suggestion, you can recommend … [Link]

Slashdot » Disruptive AI Bots Are Aleady Delivering Radical Leaps In Productivity

Sunday 16 April 18:29:00 UTC 2017

The CTO of Textio is describing the "already happening" AI disruption that no one's noticed, arguing that voice-activated assistants are "just one small part of what AI is about — and not the part that will matter the most for the enterprise companies that actually buy almost $4 trillion in software and services each year." An anonymous reader writes: Jensen … [Link]

Mashable » 20 stunning editions of classic books you'll want to add to your library

Sunday 16 April 18:00:00 UTC 2017

Books are the gift that keep on giving. Not only are the stories within them capable of transporting you to far off lands and through thrilling tales, but they are prized for their beauty as well. Yes, we know you aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover, but come on, book covers matter. It's the reason why publishers constantly … [Link]

Mashable » This clothes-printing machine is the dream of any designer

Sunday 16 April 18:00:00 UTC 2017

‘Kniterate’ is a digital desktop knitting machine that allows you to create designs and print them to life with only a click of a button. This device can make knitting cool again.  Read more…More about Real Time Video, Real Time Video, Real Time, Designers, and Design [Link]

Mashable » Fans adequately recreate Darth Vader's 'Rogue One' scene at Star Wars Celebration

Sunday 16 April 17:49:54 UTC 2017

If you're going to re-enact Darth Vader's big Rogue One moment, you won't find a more appreciative audience than the one at Star Wars Celebration. Spoilers, I guess? SEE ALSO: 'Star Wars Rebels' to end with 'darker' Season 4 There's a big scene at the end of Rogue One where a datachip containing the Death Star plans are ferried by Rebel … [Link]

Mashable » Tying this dog to a chair was really bad idea

Sunday 16 April 17:49:34 UTC 2017

When tying up your dog, it's probably a good idea to make sure that object is either heavier than your pup or stationary. Well, one dog owner thought it would be a good idea to tie her dog to a light chair while she was grabbing a coffee nearby. Bad idea. The dog quickly realized that he was semi-free, and … [Link]

Slashdot » Researchers Find 25,000 Domains Used In Tech Support Scams

Sunday 16 April 17:19:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader writes: Three doctoral students at Stony Brook University spent eight months analyzing internet scammers who pose as remote tech support workers (usually pretending to be from Microsoft of Apple). Their research revealed more than 25,000 scam domains and thousands of different scam phone numbers. "Although victims of these scams can be anywhere, the researchers found that 85.4% … [Link]

Mashable » 'Fate of the Furious' just toppled a major 'Star Wars' box office record

Sunday 16 April 16:43:55 UTC 2017

Here’s a fun piece of trivia: The Fate of the Furious made more money than the nine other movies behind it in the weekend box office Top 10. Or how about this one: based on current estimates, The Fate of the Furious is the owner of the biggest worldwide box office opening of all time, with $532.5 million. It comes in … [Link]

Slashdot » 88% Of Medical 'Second Opinions' Give A Different Diagnosis – And So Do Some AI

Sunday 16 April 16:00:55 UTC 2017

First, "A new study finds that nearly 9 in 10 people who go for a second opinion after seeing a doctor are likely to leave with a refined or new diagnosis from what they were first told," according to an article shared by Slashdot reader schwit1: Researchers at the Mayo Clinic examined 286 patient records of individuals who had decided … [Link]

Mashable » 'Diablo 3's next update is super creepy, gory, and everything else 'Diablo' is meant to be

Sunday 16 April 16:00:00 UTC 2017

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls' will soon debut a new Necromancer class and two brand new zones, and they are everything that Diablo 3 should always have been. This new content, that's currently only available in a closed beta, will release as two sets of DLC at an unannounced date. There'll be two free new zones within Act II of the … [Link]

Mashable » Joanna Gaines is the Kim Kardashian of HGTV

Sunday 16 April 16:00:00 UTC 2017

When Joanna Gaines wore a choker on Fixer Upper, I knew the transformation was complete.  You can buy a mug on Etsy for $15 imploring you, "In a world full of Kardashians, be a Joanna Gaines." But Kim and Jo's lives in Calabasas and Waco, respectively, have plenty of parallels. They've built empires.  And if you're so inclined, you can buy … [Link]

Mashable » The internet unleashes Photoshop on Donald Trump Jr.'s brand new t-shirt

Sunday 16 April 15:51:18 UTC 2017

Donald Trump Jr., who once compared refugees to poisoned Skittles and got stuck in traffic behind a Wienermobile, made a very bold fashion choice this weekend.  He was chilling in Florida with the Trump family when he tweeted out this poolside photo.  I'm going to have to buy 5-10,000 of these to pass around to our buddies in the #MSM. In … [Link]

Mashable » This week in apps: Uber adds a safety feature, Gorrilaz launch an AR app and Microsoft tries social media

Sunday 16 April 15:18:07 UTC 2017

It’s been a busy week: Elon Musk confirmed that the Tesla Semi truck is coming soon, Instagram announced reaching 200 million daily active users on stories and Messenger reached 1.2 billion, so it's understandable if you missed some of this weeks best apps. Luckily, we've kept up for you. Each week, we round up the latest app news, along with a … [Link]

Slashdot » Religion Meets Virtual Reality: Christianity-Themed VR Demo Scheduled For Easter

Sunday 16 April 15:04:00 UTC 2017

"Anyone looking to experience God in a brand new way will soon have his or her chance — virtually," writes NBC News, reporting on "a new immersive faith-based virtual reality experience…part of a larger project created by L. Michelle Media called Mission VR." An anonymous reader writes: The company was founded "to create a signature virtual reality environment — a … [Link]

Mashable » Accidental Tom Hardy lookalike was 'gutted' after not meeting himself

Sunday 16 April 14:59:21 UTC 2017

We can safely assume that perfect human Tom Hardy leads a fairly charmed life. That's also good news if you happen to be a Hardy lookalike, but resembling a celebrity means you can never, ever trust sightings in your immediate vicinity. That's what happened to Johnny Watson, a U.K. resident who happens to be the famous actor's spitting image.  Reports made … [Link]

Mashable » 'SNL' agrees with the internet, turns Harry Styles into a perfect Mick Jagger

Sunday 16 April 14:15:24 UTC 2017

The latest "Celebrity Family Feud" on Saturday Night Live is wall to wall with epic impersonations. Cecily Strong as Liza. Kate McKinnon as Kristen Stewart. Jimmy Fallon double-dipping as two different versions of John Travolta. But Harry Styles is the winner because SNL accepted what the internet already knew: he's basically Mick Jagger. I mean… this might not be the … [Link]

Slashdot » Oracle Charged $293M In South Korean Back Taxes

Sunday 16 April 14:04:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes The Stack: Multinational tech giant Oracle has been charged $293 million USD for corporate tax evasion in South Korea. The $293 million charge is made up of back taxes, as well as a punitive charge from the government tax agency. The company was originally notified of the tax debt in January of last year, when the … [Link]

Mashable » Doctors are treating brain cancer with an electric cap

Sunday 16 April 14:00:00 UTC 2017

Doctors at Northwestern University are trying a device called 'Optune' that uses electric fields to fight treatment-resistant brain cancer. Read more…More about Electric Fields, Electricity, Cap, Surgery, and Chemo [Link]

Mashable » Rare color photos document the festivities at a 1941 state fair

Sunday 16 April 14:00:00 UTC 2017

Image: Library of CongressFirst held in 1846, the Rutland State Fair in Rutland, Vermont is one of the oldest state fairs in the United StatesWith agricultural exhibitions, races, and rides, the fair drew massive crowds each year from around New England and New York, eventually being renamed the Vermont State Fair in 1972.In 1941, Farm Security Administration photographer Jack Delano documented … [Link]

Mashable » The best TV and film Easter eggs of the year

Sunday 16 April 14:00:00 UTC 2017

Easter eggs mean different things to different people. They might mean a time-honored tradition or an excuse to hunt for prizes and candy (or both). For a rabid entertainment fan, Easter eggs are friendly little inside jokes in your favorite pieces of pop culture that reward the voracious viewer. SEE ALSO: How to keep your Easter egg decorating on trend this … [Link]

Mashable » NASA photos capture a strange new crack in a massive Greenland glacier and we might be doomed

Sunday 16 April 13:52:25 UTC 2017

A mysterious crack has been spreading across a giant Greenland glacier, and it's raising concerns that part of the floating ice shelf could splinter off into the ocean.  That could be bad. Scientists with the NASA field campaign Operation IceBridge recently captured the first photographs of the growing rift while flying over Petermann Glacier, a structure that connects the Greenland ice … [Link]

Mashable » Harry Styles shares one-fifth of his upcoming album on 'SNL'

Sunday 16 April 13:07:38 UTC 2017

One Direction star-turned-solo singer and Mick Jagger lookalike Harry Styles introduced the world to a brand new song in his April 15 appearance on Saturday Night Live. "Ever Since New York" is the second track we've heard so far off of Styles forthcoming solo debut. He also played the other one — "Sign of the Times" — released one week … [Link]

Mashable » How two high school friends built a YouTube empire

Sunday 16 April 13:00:00 UTC 2017

Long before teens were lip syncing songs on musical.ly and celebs were battling it out on Lip Sync Battle, Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla were recording their own musical showdowns from their high school bedrooms. Their first YouTube video — a Power Rangers theme song recording — went viral 10 years ago, launching the beginning of their digital entertainment careers as … [Link]

Mashable » United Airlines and Pepsi suffer the wrath of cutting ‘SNL’ sketch

Sunday 16 April 12:44:22 UTC 2017

Trigger warning (not really): you have to experience Jimmy Fallon singing Savage Garden before this sketch gets to the good stuff. The past two weeks have seen a pair of news items eclipse even the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad presidency of Donald J. Trump: Pepsi's highly questionable "Kendall Jenner fixed society with our soda" commercial and United Airlines' … [Link]

Slashdot » Embarrassing Ex-Employee Complaint Against Snapchat Unsealed

Sunday 16 April 12:20:00 UTC 2017

"Saying it had 'nothing to hide,' the company behind Snapchat released an unredacted version of a lawsuit filed against it by a former employee that claims investors and advertisers were misled about usage data." And one allegation — about a meeting with the company's 25-year-old CEO about flawed user metrics and low adoption in India in Spain — is particularly … [Link]

Mashable » Dress shoes for children are the only shoes I want to wear

Sunday 16 April 11:00:00 UTC 2017

Get the wedges away from me — the only shoes I want to wear this spring are children's dress shoes. Yes, the ones you see at Payless, et al during Easter season. Unfortunately, this is not a goal I can achieve. I did not appropriately revel in wearing these chunky, low-heeled, white Mary Janes when I was an actual child. Now, … [Link]

Mashable » Disney shows off Star Wars Land, and just shut up and take our money

Sunday 16 April 10:32:32 UTC 2017

ORLANDO — The Disney Parks mega-project known as Star Wars Land is well underway both here and in Anaheim, California. And the Mouse House is ready to let us in on a few of its secrets. In a panel at Star Wars Celebration on Saturday, Disney Imagineers and Lucasfilm luminaries revealed tantalizing new details on a theme park that sounds more … [Link]

Mashable » Lady Gaga debuted new song 'The Cure' at Coachella and now we just want to dance

Sunday 16 April 10:21:18 UTC 2017

What, like she wasn't going to give fans some kind of extra treat during her Coachella performance? Lady Gaga debuted a new single, "The Cure," during her Coachella set Saturday night and the tune immediately made a strong contender as a potential Song of Summer. Smart, as Gaga will soon embark on her Joanne World Tour, which will take her … [Link]

Slashdot » Researchers Determine What Makes Software Developers Unhappy

Sunday 16 April 8:20:00 UTC 2017

Researchers recently surveyed 2,200 software developers to calculate the distribution of unhappiness throughout the profession, and to identify its top causes, "incorporating a psychometrically validated instrument for measuring (un)happiness." An anonymous reader quotes Motherboard: Daniel Graziotin and his team found their survey subjects via GitHub. Contact information was found by mining archived data for past public GitHub events, where email … [Link]

Mashable » LOL Melissa McCarthy just destroyed Sean Spicer again on 'SNL'

Sunday 16 April 4:47:21 UTC 2017

Melissa McCarthy made another surprise appearance on Saturday Night Livetonight, delivering a special message from the White House Easter BunnyBut hey! That’s not the Easter Bunny! It’s Sean “Spicy” Spicer — and he’s very, very sorry.“You all got your wish: Spicy finally made a mistake,” McCarthy said, offering a mea culpa for the time the White House Press Secretary actually, … [Link]

Mashable » Jimmy Fallon debuts bashful Jared Kushner impression on 'SNL'

Sunday 16 April 4:28:47 UTC 2017

Alec Baldwin is back on Saturday Night Live as President Trump to celebrate Trump's first 100 days in office, and who better to mark the occasion with him than SNL alum Jimmy Fallon as everyone's favorite unelected leader of the free world: the charming, coy Jared Kushner.  Tonight's episode opened with Trump and Vice President Pence (Beck Bennett) thumbing through … [Link]

Slashdot » Ask Slashdot: What Was Your First Home Computer?

Sunday 16 April 4:17:51 UTC 2017

We've recently seen stories about old computers and sys-ops resurrecting 1980s BBS's, but now an anonymous reader has a question for all Slashdot readers: Whenever I meet geeks, there's one question that always gets a reaction: Do you remember your first home computer? This usually provokes a flood of fond memories about primitive specs — limited RAM, bad graphics, and … [Link]

Slashdot » Should Burger King Be Prosecuted For Their Google Home-Triggering Ads?

Sunday 16 April 2:11:27 UTC 2017

Slashdot reader Lauren Weinstein thinks Burger King should be prosecuted for successfully running an alternate version of its advertisement to trigger Google Home devices again Wednesday: Someone — or more likely a bunch of someones — at Burger King and their advertising agency need to be arrested, tried, and spend some time in shackles and prison cells. They've likely been … [Link]

Slashdot » North Korea Parades Hybrid 'Frankenmissile', Then Fails Yet Another Missile Launch Test

Sunday 16 April 1:50:00 UTC 2017

First, an anonymous reader quotes Inverse: On Saturday, the North Korean military paraded an unprecedented array of weapons through Kim Il-sung Square in the center of Pyongyang… "We're totally floored right now," Dave Schmerler of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, tells the Wall Street Journal. "I was not expecting to see this many new missile designs." … [Link]

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