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 » Dozens Of Drones Surveil Houston For Damage After Hurricane Harvey

Saturday 2 September 23:14:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes MIT Technology Review: AT&T is using drones to inspect its cellular towers for damage, while insurance companies like Allstate and Farmers are rolling out their own fleets to follow up on claims… Rescue operations are benefitting, too. According to Axios, the company DroneDeploy is sending out vehicles to produce detailed 3-D maps that can help navigate … [Link]

Slashdot » Hacking Group 'OurMine' Temporarily Redirected WikiLeaks DNS Service

Saturday 2 September 22:09:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes the Guardian: WikiLeaks suffered an embarrassing cyber-attack when Saudi Arabian-based hacking group OurMine took over its web address. The attack saw visitors to WikiLeaks.org redirected to a page created by OurMine which claimed that the attack was a response to a challenge from the organisation to hack them. But while it may have been humiliating for … [Link]

Mashable » Here's how the White House may be keeping Trump off the web

Saturday 2 September 22:00:38 UTC 2017

It’s the digital version of a playpen for an adult who's incapable of setting his own boundaries. A new report in The New York Times on Friday talks about President Trump having no access to a normal web browser on his iPhone. It's a setup designed, according to the report, to limit his exposure to the news media (thus, presumably, avoiding … [Link]

Mashable » The internet loves these photos of a dog "working" on a tiny MacBook Air next to his human

Saturday 2 September 21:14:47 UTC 2017

We all can use a little help at work sometimes, even if that help is just a little fur-covered moral support.  YouTuber Meghan Camarena took helper pets to the next level by giving her doggo an actual mini Apple MacBook Air toy so her four-legged buddy could feel like he was pitching in.  SEE ALSO: The 'Dog Whisperer' reveals if punishments … [Link]

Slashdot » Terry Pratchett's Hard Drive Destroyed By Steamroller

Saturday 2 September 21:04:00 UTC 2017

WheezyJoe writes: In accordance with his wishes, a hard drive formerly belonging to author Terry Pratchett has been crushed by steamroller. According to friend and fellow author Neil Gaiman, Pratchett (who died at 66 in 2015) wanted "whatever he was working on at the time of his death to be taken out along with his computers, to be put in … [Link]

Mashable » $17,000 raised to send a steadfast Texas meteorologist on a post-Harvey vacation

Saturday 2 September 21:01:10 UTC 2017

Throughout the storms and flooding caused by Harvey, many Houston residents turned to one voice for answers: Jeff Linder.  Meteorologist for the Harris County Flood Control District, Linder delivered clear, reassuring, and composed updates as flooding reached unprecedented levels. He was on TV and Twitter both for nearly 24/7, guiding Houstonians as they decided whether to evacuate and how.  SEE ALSO: … [Link]

Mashable » The 'this folder is empty' meme is full of sweet, sweet internet potential

Saturday 2 September 20:45:13 UTC 2017

Step aside, Disloyal Man. The "this folder is empty" meme is here to take over Twitter. This particular meme, a rare emoji-centric one, is as versatile as it is easy to create. It can be used for pretty much anything, from exposing your government's incompetence to drawing attention to Harry Styles's perfection. Wow! SEE ALSO: Dude on Tinder somehow uses memes … [Link]

Mashable » Burning Man 2017 is as wild and amazingly artistic as you expected

Saturday 2 September 20:37:30 UTC 2017

Burning Man is always visual feast, and 2017 is no different.  The annual desert-based pool of humanity is devoted to destroying barriers and letting go of the inhibitions surrounding work and competition, but every year there is nevertheless an upping of the ante when it comes to amazing art. SEE ALSO: Apple's rumored new iPhone color probably isn't copper. It's something … [Link]

Slashdot » Bitcoin Prices Surge Past $5,000 Three Weeks After Passing $4,000

Saturday 2 September 19:59:00 UTC 2017

Less than three weeks after surging past $4,000, Bitcoin reached $5,000 on Asian exchanges Friday. An anonymous reader quotes Fortune: The idea of Bitcoin breaking the symbolic milestone of $5,000 would have been unthinkable to most people at the start 2017, when the price topped $1,000 for the first time. If you're keeping track, the digital currency is up 500% … [Link]

Mashable » Library kindly asks its patrons not to pay their fines with Chuck E. Cheese tokens

Saturday 2 September 19:22:33 UTC 2017

A library in Danvers, Massachusetts has a simple request for its patrons: Could you please not pay your fines in Chuck E. Cheese tokens?  The Peabody Institute Library issued the plea this week after "a surge of folks" tried to pay off their fines with the tokens, along with tokens from the similar local arcade Bonkers. Plus, seemingly, Canadian coins.  SEE … [Link]

Slashdot » Solve a 'Simple' Chess Puzzle, Win $1 Million

Saturday 2 September 18:54:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader brings an important announcement: Researchers at the University of St Andrews have thrown down the gauntlet to computer programmers to find a solution to a "simple" chess puzzle which could, in fact, take thousands of years to solve, and net a $1 million prize. Computer Scientist Professor Ian Gent and his colleagues, at the University of St … [Link]

Mashable » An unlucky U.S. Open ball boy will never forget this Venus Williams serve

Saturday 2 September 18:04:29 UTC 2017

For a while, Venus Williams had the fastest serve in women's tennis — a fact that one unlucky U.S. Open ball boy will probably remember forever. During Williams' match against Greece's Maria Sakkari on Friday, a mild disaster occurred. Williams hit a serve that Sakkari couldn't reach, so the ball bounced and flew right up to the ball boy. SEE ALSO: … [Link]

Slashdot » 60,000 Germans Evacuate While Officials Try To Defuse a WWII Bomb

Saturday 2 September 17:50:00 UTC 2017

More than 70 years ago the UK's Royal Air Force dropped an 1,100-pound bomb on Germany. They just found it. An anonymous reader quotes ABC: Residents in two German cities are evacuating their homes as authorities prepare to dispose of World War II-era bombs found during construction work this week. About 21,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes … [Link]

ProgrammableWeb.com » Daily API RoundUp: Google's ARCore, PushRadar, Easy Blockchain

Saturday 2 September 17:36:27 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 » Americans abroad: Tales of traveling woe in the age of Trump

Saturday 2 September 17:00:00 UTC 2017

If you're looking for a reprieve from the chaos that is American politics, you might be thinking about leaving the country. Maybe rethink that idea. If the following anecdotes from some of our colleagues, friends and acquaintances who have lived or worked abroad in the age of Trump are anything to go by, it seems nearly impossible to get away from … [Link]

Slashdot » 'Pay With Your Face' Technology Tested in a KFC Store In China

Saturday 2 September 16:46:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes Quartz: Ant Financial, the financial services spinoff of e-commerce giant Alibaba, announced Friday it has rolled out a service with a KFC branch in Hangzhou, in eastern China, that lets customer pay for orders with their faces. It works just as one might expect — diners approach a virtual menu, select the item they want to … [Link]

Mashable » German city claims Guinness World Record for world's tallest sand castle

Saturday 2 September 16:34:14 UTC 2017

Who says beach towns have the monopoly on sand castles?  The landlocked German city of Duisburg just claimed the world record for the world's tallest sandcastle. The city's sand castle, which stands at 55 feet or 16.68 meters, won the prize after a Guinness World Record jury judged the behemoth on Friday.  The sand castle used 3,860 tons of sand and … [Link]

Mashable » Kim Kardashian West thought Kendall Jenner 'made a mistake' with that Pepsi ad

Saturday 2 September 16:21:00 UTC 2017

Keeping Up with the Kardashians is celebrating ten years of giving us a lot to keep up with. And it seems the upcoming 10th anniversary special will finally address the infamous Pepsi ad of April 2017 — which Kendall Jenner hasn't spoken about since it was pulled. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't seem like Jenner was feeling too great after the clip … [Link]

New Scientist – News » ‘Highwaymen’ beetles rob ants of the food in their stomachs

Saturday 2 September 16:17:18 UTC 2017

As jet ant workers carry honeydew back to their nests, beetles approach them and trick them into vomiting up the precious food [Link]

Mashable » Watch a 1,106 piece Lego BB-8 come to life in 22 seconds

Saturday 2 September 16:08:27 UTC 2017

Read more… {"player":{"descript~ is how you build a Lego BB-8","image":"~ on with Lego Star Wars BB-8 Building Kit","sources":[{&qu~ wars,bb-8,star wars: the force awakens,star wars: the last jedi,star wars the last jedi","sec0":null,&q~ wars,bb-8,star wars: the force awakens,star wars: the last jedi,star wars the last jedi","videoSeriesName&qu~ More about Lego, Star Wars, Bb 8, Star Wars The Force Awakens, and Star Wars The … [Link]

Slashdot » Police Allegedly Arrest UK News Photographer For Standing In A Field

Saturday 2 September 15:39:00 UTC 2017

Long-time Slashdot reader Andy Smith, a Scotland-based news photographer, writes: I'm a press photographer. Slashdot has previously covered how the police used underhanded tactics to seize some of my work photos. But that was far from the end of the story. Several months of harassment culminated in me being arrested for standing in a field, something protected by law here … [Link]

Mashable » Tim Cook made an iPad ad that doubles as an Auburn Univ. commercial

Saturday 2 September 15:36:05 UTC 2017

When the CEO of the world's richest tech company is an alumni of your university, you're winning. But when that CEO decides to appear in a commercial for that university, you're basically looking at the most valuable college commercial on the planet. The CEO we're talking about, Apple's Tim Cook, just gave his alma mater, Auburn University, the biggest thank … [Link]

Mashable » People are desperate for air conditioning as San Francisco deals with record heat

Saturday 2 September 15:32:09 UTC 2017

It’s really hot in San Francisco right now. Like, really, really hot.  Temperatures in the Bay Area reached 106 degrees Farenheit on Friday. That's 106 degrees in foggy, chilly northern California, where late-summer temperatures are usually in the high 60s. The 106-degree day broke a record for all-time hottest temperature in San Francisco in recorded history, or at least 143 years.  … [Link]

Mashable » 12 kids who don't care what you think

Saturday 2 September 15:00:00 UTC 2017

Kids do the darndest things.  Perhaps it's because they have no real responsibilities, or maybe it's because they are blind to all of the world's problems. Regardless of the reasoning, most young kids are carefree on a level we can all admire.  SEE ALSO: So, is this bird magically floating or what? Check out these 12 kids who live with reckless … [Link]

Slashdot » Do Code Bootcamps Work?

Saturday 2 September 14:34:00 UTC 2017

"Computer programming is highly specialized work; it can't be effectively taught in an intensive program," writes Inc. magazine's contributing editor: Last month, two of the country's largest and most well-regarded coding bootcamps closed. While there are still over 90 such camps in the U.S. and Canada, these for-profit intensive software engineering schools aren't successfully preparing their students for programming jobs. … [Link]

Mashable » The 8 best gadgets from IFA, Europe's largest technology show

Saturday 2 September 14:29:56 UTC 2017

Europe’s largest technology show, IFA, kicked off early this week in Berlin. Running until Sept. 6, the huge show gives everyone a glimpse into the future of consumer tech. While the biggest tech announcements are reserved for CES in January, big brands like Samsung and LG still debut some pretty sweet products at IFA.  SEE ALSO: What it's like to have … [Link]

Mashable » Matt Damon explains the obnoxious requirement for filming in a Trump building

Saturday 2 September 14:26:45 UTC 2017

Movies that want to shoot inside one of Donald Trump's buildings must feature him in a shot, Matt Damon says. The actor explained the truly obnoxious rule in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. "You have to waste an hour of your day with a bullshit shot," he said, referring to an instance of that occurring on the set of director … [Link]

Mashable » How to Shazam music right inside your Snapchat app

Saturday 2 September 14:16:22 UTC 2017

When you hear an incredible, new song and want to know the name so you can share it with friends, you turn to Shazam. But you might not know that you can do this through Snapchat; it's built right into the app.  Here's how to find out the details of that song and pass it along without even downloading Shazam. SEE … [Link]

Mashable » Paul Bettany would make a great 'Star Wars' space pirate, FWIW

Saturday 2 September 14:02:54 UTC 2017

Another scruffy-looking nerf herder has joined Ron Howard's Han Solo movie. The Alden Ehrenreich-starring spin-off story, which follows a younger, pre-A New Hope Solo, will now feature the talents of Paul Bettany. Howard himself confirmed the news in a tweeted photo of himself with a downright roguish-looking Bettany. SEE ALSO: New record-breaking LEGO Millennium Falcon has got it where it counts … [Link]

Mashable » 13 animals with unlikely best friends

Saturday 2 September 13:15:00 UTC 2017

A puppy hanging out with a porcupine. A fly befriending a snake. A tapir chillin' with a gecko.  Who doesn't love a great unlikely animal friendship? When two completely different creatures of the wild somehow find each other and form an everlasting bond, it does our hearts good. And if the two animals are fluffy and cute? Better. If the two … [Link]

Mashable » Criticizing Google may have cost these scholars their jobs, but they’re only getting started

Saturday 2 September 13:00:00 UTC 2017

You have to be a little flattered when a company as powerful as Google feels the need to go after you. "I think of it as a great compliment," said Matthew Stoller, a fellow with Citizens Against Monopoly, a newly launched nonprofit organization. "What Google did is a reflection of their intellectual beliefs and their strength. You don't suppress information if … [Link]

Slashdot » US Cops Can't Keep License Plate Data Scans Secret Without Reason, Court Rules

Saturday 2 September 13:00:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: Police departments cannot categorically deny access to data collected through automated license plate readers, California's Supreme Court said on Thursday — a ruling that may help privacy advocates monitor government data practices. The ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation sought to obtain some of this data in … [Link]

Mashable » Yay! Wearable tech is finally starting to make sense

Saturday 2 September 12:30:00 UTC 2017

Name me a wearable tech category, and I'll tell you what's wrong with it. Smartwatches? Not useful enough. VR headsets? Too clunky. Wireless earbuds? Sucky battery and controls. I also lost them while I was writing this sentence.  But all of this is, finally, changing. Here at IFA Berlin, I've seen tons of new wearables, and while they're still far from … [Link]

Popular Science » All the ways you can use Chrome offline

Saturday 2 September 12:00:00 UTC 2017

DIY No internet, no problem. So you lost your all-important access to the internet. If you have the Chrome browser, you can simply keep working. Here's our guide to using Chrome offline. [Link]

Mashable » Bring a legendary sea creature to your next barbecue, because why not?

Saturday 2 September 12:00:00 UTC 2017

Just to let you know, if you buy something featured here, Mashable might earn an affiliate commission. You can't walk outside nowadays without encountering a product inspired by unicorns, be it a latte, lipstick, soap, or even a sex toy. At this point, the horned horses trend has pretty much worn itself out. But horned whales? Totally fair game. SEE ALSO: This … [Link]

Mashable » How to make upwards of $1,000 a month by mining cryptocurrency

Saturday 2 September 12:00:00 UTC 2017

Just to let you know, if you buy something featured here, Mashable might earn an affiliate commission. In essence, cryptocurrencies are decentralized digital currencies that can be sent to anyone through the internet. They aren’t affiliated with any particular country so there’s no central bank that verifies these transactions. Instead, cryptocurrency miners use special software that creates a public record of … [Link]

Mashable » Uber whistleblower Susan Fowler isn't done fighting for employee rights

Saturday 2 September 12:00:00 UTC 2017

Susan Fowler showed just how powerful one voice can be against a big company. Now, she's fighting to make sure those voices can also work together. Fowler, whose blog post chronicling her time at Uber eventually led to the ouster of founder Travis Kalanick as CEO, filed an amicus brief last week in a landmark labor law case going before the … [Link]

Slashdot » Sharp Announces 8K Consumer TVs Now That We All Have 4K

Saturday 2 September 10:00:00 UTC 2017

Thuy Ong reports via The Verge: Now that you've upgraded to a shiny new 4K TV, Sharp has revealed its latest screen to stoke your fear of missing out: a 70-inch Aquos 8K TV. That 8K (7,680 x 4,320) resolution is 16 times that of your old Full HD (1920 x 1080) TV. Sharp calls it "ultimate reality, with ultra-fine … [Link]

Mashable » 9 things that will 100% maybe happen in 'Game of Thrones' Season 8

Saturday 2 September 8:30:00 UTC 2017

Warning: Contains loads of spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 7, and some hopelessly dodgy predictions for Season 8. Well, here we are: the absolute worst part of the year. The longest possible time until Game of Thrones comes back into to our empty, dragon-free lives. SEE ALSO: 36 of the most memorable 'Game of Thrones' one-liners so far If you've … [Link]

Slashdot » Astronomers Detect 15 Atypical Signals From Distant Galaxy

Saturday 2 September 7:00:00 UTC 2017

Freshly Exhumed writes: Researchers using the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia have announced in the Astronomers Telegram that they have detected 15 fast radio bursts — poorly understood phenomena that are milliseconds-long pulses of radio emission believed to be coming from rapidly spinning neutron stars or black holes in distant galaxies. Of note is their frequency range, seen to … [Link]

Slashdot » Germany Unveils World's Most Powerful X-Ray Laser

Saturday 2 September 3:30:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The world's most powerful X-ray laser has begun operating at a facility where scientists will attempt to recreate the conditions deep inside the sun and produce film-like sequences of viruses and cells. The machine, called the European X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL), acts as a high-speed camera that can capture images … [Link]

Mashable » Trump's nominee for NASA administrator is really into the moon

Saturday 2 September 1:59:39 UTC 2017

James Bridenstine is ready to take America back to the moon.  SEE ALSO: 'A Trip to the Moon' holds up 115 years later With Donald Trump's Friday announcement that he intends to nominate the Oklahoma representative as administrator of NASA, Bridenstine is one step closer to his moon dreams. Rep. Bridenstine is already on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee … [Link]

Mashable » Facebook tests feature that makes it easier to creep on mutual friends

Saturday 2 September 1:35:43 UTC 2017

Facebook wants you to learn more about your mutual friends. The social network is experimenting with a new feature called "Things in Common" that highlights details you have in common with your friends' friends. SEE ALSO: How I finally broke my Facebook addiction It's not clear how long the company has been testing the feature or if it plans to make … [Link]

Slashdot » Researchers Discover Enzyme That Harnesses Light To Make Hydrocarbons

Saturday 2 September 1:30:00 UTC 2017

Researchers from the Biosciences and Biotechnologies Institute of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission have discovered a new light-driven enzyme, christened fatty acid photodecarboxylase (FAP), that uses blue light to drive the removal of carboxyl groups from fatty acids to form alkanes or alkenes. Such an enzyme could be used as fuel with no further modification. The Biological … [Link]

Mashable » Hot tubs at a college football game is the most New Jersey thing you'll ever see

Saturday 2 September 1:01:41 UTC 2017

What to do when your football team is so crappy nobody comes to your home games? If your college is in New Jersey, you add a hot tub to the student section.  Greetings from the hot tubs at the Rutgers game: pic.twitter.com/Bk91slvGrm — Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) September 1, 2017 To be fair, it looks pretty nice in there. And there's a … [Link]

Mashable » That Instagram hack is shaping up to be way bigger than anyone thought

Saturday 2 September 0:51:59 UTC 2017

Turns out we all may be "high profile" in the eyes of Instagram.  A bug in the social media company's API reportedly allowed hackers to gain access to account holders' phone numbers and email addresses, with Instagram assuring everyone on Aug. 30 that it was the celebs of the world who were targeted. But that was then.   Things are looking … [Link]

Slashdot » Alphabet Wraps Up Reorganization With a New Company Called XXVI

Saturday 2 September 0:50:00 UTC 2017

Alphabet is approaching its final form. After evolving from Google into a corporate parent with distinct arms in far-flung fields like health care and self-driving cars, it is now forming a new holding company called XXVI Holdings Inc. Bloomberg reports: The new structure legally separates Google from other units such as Waymo, its self-driving car business, and Verily, a medical … [Link]

Slashdot » Slashdot Asks: How Do You Navigate Your Smartphone?

Saturday 2 September 0:10:00 UTC 2017

There are many different ways to navigate a smartphone. Some devices employ capacitive touch navigation buttons in favor of on-screen navigation buttons for the back, home and overview commands. Others, such as the recently released Moto Z2 Force and Moto Z2 Play, feature a mini trackpad under the display that lets users navigate their device through a series of swipes … [Link]

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