John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons

John Gordon Ross header image 3

Geekish

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 » Laser Light Forges Graphene Into the Third Dimension

Sunday 1 October 23:04:00 UTC 2017

Big Hairy Ian quotes New Atlas: The wonder material graphene gets many of its handy quirks from the fact that it exists in two dimensions, as a sheet of carbon only one atom thick. But to actually make use of it in practical applications, it usually needs to be converted into a 3D form. Now, researchers have developed a new … [Link]

Mashable » Helen Mirren and Jane Fonda casually slayed the runway at Fashion Week

Sunday 1 October 22:17:09 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookParis Fashion Week has arrived and so have two of the most iconic queens to ever grace your television screens: Helen Mirren and Jane Fonda.  The actors — both of whom are in their 70s — didn't fly all the way to Paris to simply attend events, they came to slay. It's true. Mirren and Fonda were spotted strutting their stuff … [Link]

Mashable » 'Rick and Morty' fans won: McDonald's will offer Szechuan sauce

Sunday 1 October 22:12:22 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookThe Season 3 finale might be hours away, but an even bigger day is still ahead for Rick & Morty fans. On Oct. 7, for one day only, McDonald's will let all comers sample a bit of that sweet, sweet Szechuan sauce. The Holy Grail of Mickey D's condiments was a punchline way back in April, when Rick & Morty's Season … [Link]

Slashdot » Google Plans Upgrade of Two-Factor Authentication For Politicians and CEOs

Sunday 1 October 22:04:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes the Verge: Google plans on upgrading its two-factor authentication tool with an improved, physical security measure aimed at protecting high-profile users from politically motivated cyberattacks, according to a report from Bloomberg. The new service, to be called Advanced Protection Program and potentially slated to launch next month, will trade out the standard authentication process for services … [Link]

Mashable » Here are all the signs and photos you need to see from Amber Rose's annual SlutWalk

Sunday 1 October 21:52:27 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookFor the third year in a row, Amber Rose led hundreds of defiant folks down the streets of Los Angeles for her annual SlutWalk.  The Amber Rose Foundation hosts the walk, which was founded after the SlutWalk protests in Canada. Over the past three years, the foundation has honed in on a very specific aim: to empower people, end rape culture, … [Link]

Geek Culture » Forum Tidbits for October!

Sunday 1 October 21:33:44 UTC 2017

romad asks for a moment of silence please, … Shooshie loved American Pie, and hopes for an Intervention, AmySox sends Postcards from transitioning… and woot!, Serenak made the Apple News App Front Page! [Link]

ProgrammableWeb.com » Why Monitoring Cloud Computing Costs is Crucial

Sunday 1 October 21:27:48 UTC 2017

Handling API calls in the cloud with a service like AWS Lambda is one of the latest ways enterprises try to save on resources. In theory, you can save a ton of money. But be careful. Costs for API calls can mount up, sometimes leaving you with a cloud computing bill ten times the size you expected. David Linthicum over … [Link]

Slashdot » Donate You Noise To Xiph/Mozilla's Deep-Learning Noise Suppression Project

Sunday 1 October 21:04:00 UTC 2017

Mozilla-backed researchers are working on a real-time noise suppression algorithm using a neural network — and they want your noise! Long-time Slashdot reader jmv writes: The Mozilla Research RRNoise project combines classic signal processing with deep learning, but it's small and fast. No expensive GPUs required — it runs easily on a Raspberry Pi. The result is easier to tune … [Link]

Mashable » Marshawn Lynch has an important message for Donald Trump right on his pre-game shirt

Sunday 1 October 20:30:47 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookIf his approval rating isn't registering and Donald Trump needs help determining who is not on his side of history these days, he can look for answers in Marshawn Lynch's wardrobe. The Oakland Raiders running back, known just as much for his on the field antics as he is for his playful treatment of the media, was spotted wearing a shirt … [Link]

Mashable » Trump threatens North Korea and slams three past presidents in less than 140 characters

Sunday 1 October 20:24:24 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookIt’s amazing (and truly terrifying) the things Donald Trump can accomplish with less than 140 characters to work with. On Sunday morning the Commander/Tweeter/Golfer-In-Chief fired off several tweets about North Korea's Kim Jong-un — who he now apparently only refers to as "Rocket Man" or "Little Rocket Man" now — and casually called three former presidents failures like it was NBD. … [Link]

Slashdot » ICANN Delays KSK Rollover Because of Lazy ISPs, Technical Faults

Sunday 1 October 20:02:00 UTC 2017

ICANN had planned to change the master key used to sign secure Domain Name System records next week for the first time in history. But now an anonymous reader writes:Inattentive ISPs and technical faults have led the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to delay the KSK Rollover for next year. ICANN was supposed to remove the root … [Link]

Mashable » Download this: Holo's AR app puts 'holograms' into the world around you

Sunday 1 October 19:28:11 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookNow that iOS 11 is out, augmented reality apps are becoming some of the most entertaining apps in the App Store, thanks to Apple's ARKit.  While we've seen AR apps meant to help you buy furniture or bring children's books to life, Holo's take on the new feature will be more familiar to fans of Snapchat.  SEE ALSO: 13 Incredibly Handy … [Link]

Slashdot » Meet The Next Major Operating System: Amazon's Alexa

Sunday 1 October 18:58:00 UTC 2017

ZDNet's editor-in-chief warns that Amazon has ambitious plans for its new Echo Plus: Amazon is making an explicit play to be the home hub because it can automatically discover and set up lights, locks, plugs, and switches without the need for additional hubs or apps. And the Alexa 'routines' feature will be able to tie all of this together by … [Link]

Mashable » FEMA Administrator blames logistics for slow Puerto Rico relief, gets major Twitter reality check

Sunday 1 October 18:35:26 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookOn Sunday morning, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Brock Long spoke with Fox News about the devastating post-Maria situation in Puerto Rico, and let's just say things didn't go so well. In his discussion Long referred to the hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico as "the most logistically challenging event the United States has ever seen," prompting the internet to … [Link]

Slashdot » Russia Suspected In GPS-Spoofing Attacks On Ships

Sunday 1 October 17:54:00 UTC 2017

How did a 37-ton tanker suddenly vanish from GPS off the coast of Russia? AmiMoJo shares a report from Wired: The ship's systems located it 25 to 30 miles away — at Gelendzhik airport… The Atria wasn't the only ship affected by the problem… At the time, Atria's AIS system showed around 20 to 25 large boats were also marooned … [Link]

Mashable » Billy Joel brings out Miley Cyrus and Paul Simon for a rousing rendition of "You May Be Right"

Sunday 1 October 17:28:02 UTC 2017

Twitter Facebook During the latest show of his sold out Madison Square Garden residency—his 45th show in the arena, to be exact—Billy Joel pulled out all the stops and invited Miley Cyrus and Paul Simon to the stage.  The three artists performed "You May Be Right" for the New York audience, combining Joel's classic song with Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" for … [Link]

Mashable » Michelle Obama and Bruno Mars are the dynamic duo we never knew 2017 needed

Sunday 1 October 17:00:36 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookMichelle Obama sure knows how to set a party off right. On Friday night the former FLOTUS attended a Washington, D.C. stop on Bruno Mars' 24K Magic World Tour to give us all hardcore FOMO and some new Instagram pictures to obsess over. SEE ALSO: Michelle Obama on Trump, Beyoncé, and life after the White House The funky 53-year-old posed with … [Link]

Mashable » 10 reality shows Donald Trump truly believes he's on

Sunday 1 October 17:00:00 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookIt’s gotten to a point where the drama and outrageousness of American politics has become nearly indistinguishable from that of reality television. No, seriously. Who here hasn't woken up to one of Trump's unhinged morning Twitter rants and wondered whether the country is starring in a painfully long episode of Punk'd?  It's been a difficult and baffling nine months as Americans … [Link]

Mashable » Marilyn Manson was hospitalized after stage prop collapsed on him

Sunday 1 October 16:54:48 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookMarilyn Manson probably doesn't want your prayers right now, but your thoughts might come in handy.  The 48-year-old musician was hospitalized after two stage props in the shape of guns fell on him during a Saturday evening performance at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom.  SEE ALSO: Marilyn Manson interview goes viral and this journalist deserves a gold medal Fans captured footage of … [Link]

Slashdot » Equifax CEO: All Companies Get Breached

Sunday 1 October 16:49:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes Fortune:There are two kinds of companies, according to a saying that former Equifax CEO Rick Smith shared in a speech at the University of Georgia on August 17. "There's those companies that have been breached and know it, and there are those companies that have been breached and don't know it," he said. Though it was … [Link]

Mashable » How Do Not Disturb While Driving works in iOS 11

Sunday 1 October 16:22:02 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookWith the new iOS update, Do Not Disturb has gotten smarter. It now knows when you're driving, and can stop you from being irresponsible.  Do Not Disturb mutes phone calls, notifications, and text messages, keeping your phone dark for a set period of time. If enabled, Do Not Disturb While Driving turns on automatically when it detects the acceleration of a … [Link]

Mashable » A late summer Sunday in Central Park, 75 years ago

Sunday 1 October 16:00:00 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookImage: Library of CongressIn 1942, the Office of War Information was created by the U.S. government to create and distribute information and propaganda about the war effort at home and abroad.The OWI absorbed the photographic unit of the Farm Security Administration, which had become famous for its documentation of the Great Depression under the direction of Roy Stryker.Among the unit’s roster … [Link]

Mashable » 15 extremely mild instances of vandalism

Sunday 1 October 16:00:00 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookThere’s some cases of vandalism out there that are borderline serious crimes, but we're here to talk about the mild, only slightly deviant, kind of vandalism. The kind of vandalism the kid who sat in the back of your 6th grade class would do. Scratching away at their desk writing "2 Kool 4 Skool" and drawing fake mustaches and devil horns … [Link]

Slashdot » Britain Opens Its First Subsidy-Free Solar Power Farm

Sunday 1 October 15:44:00 UTC 2017

AmiMoJo quotes Reuters: Britain's first solar power farm to operate without a government subsidy is due to open in eastern England on Tuesday, as a sharp fall in costs has made renewable energy much more economical. Britain needs to invest in new energy capacity to replace aging coal and nuclear plants that are due to close in the 2020s. But … [Link]

Mashable » Mark Zuckerberg pens a Yom Kippur message asking Facebook for 2016 election forgiveness

Sunday 1 October 15:21:52 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookIt seems Mark Zuckerberg spent his Yom Kippur reflecting on the impact Facebook has had on the world. As the Jewish Day of Atonement — the year's concluding High Holy Day, observed one week after the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah — came to an end, Zuckerberg posted a raw and emotional message to Facebook asking the public for forgiveness. … [Link]

Mashable » Ryan Gosling has no chill on 'Saturday Night Live.' Here he is again, laughing openly.

Sunday 1 October 14:59:30 UTC 2017

Twitter Facebook Ryan Gosling is the most precious of all the Saturday Night Live guests hosts. He's fine with the pre-recorded sketches, but stick him in a live sketch with SNL's talented players and you can generally count on one thing: He's going to laugh. He's going to break character and laugh his face off. It happened during an otherwise lame sketch … [Link]

Mashable » Why it's so messed up that Trump just used the word "ingrates" in relation to Puerto Rico

Sunday 1 October 14:50:53 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookThere isn't a low bar for Donald Trump comments anymore. The bar has been obliterated. Everything he says is terrible, including Sunday morning's tweet about political "ingrates" in Puerto Rico. In the wake of Hurricane Maria, San Juan's mayor, Carmen Yulín Cruz, has been explicit about the horrific conditions of the people in Puerto Rico, and transparent about the lack of … [Link]

Mashable » Jay Z appeared on 'Saturday Night Live' wearing a 'Colin K' football jersey

Sunday 1 October 14:30:05 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookThey say actions speak louder than words. Jay Z's decision to wear a Colin K jersey on the 43rd season premiere of Saturday Night Live spoke volumes. For the kickoff episode hosted by actor Ryan Gosling, the rapper performed two songs off his latest album, 4:44 — showing his support for professional NFL player Colin Kaepernick and others protesting police brutality … [Link]

Mashable » This crowdsourced book collects decades of rock and roll fans' unseen photos

Sunday 1 October 14:00:00 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookNov. 27, 1970The Grateful Dead at the Chicago Coliseum.Image: Marshall Bohlin /Smithsonian BooksIn December 2015, Smithsonian Books launched a website calling on rock and roll fans to gather and submit their favorite stories and personal photos from music history.The result is Smithsonian Rock and Roll: Live and Unseen, a compendium of hundreds of previously unpublished photos scrounged from attics, shoeboxes, and … [Link]

Mashable » Ryan Gosling lost it and just laughed during an 'SNL' sketch about Pizza Hut

Sunday 1 October 13:09:38 UTC 2017

Twitter Facebook Sometimes Saturday Night Live is funny, sometimes it's not. But the weekly sketch comedy series' greatest gift is its ability to occasionally leave guest hosts — and sometimes even cast members — in stitches. That's what happened to Ryan Gosling in the Season 43 premiere on Saturday. You can see it happen as Cecily Strong rants. First, there's a slight … [Link]

Mashable » Levi's Woke jeans let you show the world how tuned in you are

Sunday 1 October 12:50:02 UTC 2017

Twitter Facebook On Saturday Night Live, Levi's Woke jeans ask a simple question: If you're woke, why aren't your jeans? This faux-ad, featuring Ryan Gosling, some random kid, and an assortment of SNL cast members, is built to appeal to a generation that sometimes seems more concerned with getting the lingo right than actually fostering positive change in the world. If you … [Link]

Mashable » Thanks to 'SNL,' Ryan Gosling, and 'Avatar,' Papyrus is the new Comic Sans

Sunday 1 October 12:24:00 UTC 2017

Twitter Facebook Ryan Gosling knows the truth about Avatar. Just as James Cameron's move "from like nine years ago" is confirmed (again) for multiple sequels, here comes Saturday Night Live and Ryan Gosling to out a horrible secret: The original movie's logo is just an all-caps "AVATAR" in the Papyrus font. Gosling knows. And the truth is destroying him. FWIW, I would … [Link]

Mashable » Master the art of social media marketing without going back to school

Sunday 1 October 12:00:00 UTC 2017

Twitter FacebookJust to let you know, if you buy something featured here, Mashable might earn an affiliate commission. Maybe you’re thinking about going into the PR industry. Or maybe you just want to pick up some essential communications skills that’ll help you in any industry. Whatever it is, you probably don’t want to go back to school or pay thousands in tuition … [Link]

Mashable » The newest version of the famous Ostrich Pillow is here to banish jet lag forever

Sunday 1 October 12:00:00 UTC 2017

Twitter Facebook Just to let you know, if you buy something featured here, Mashable might earn an affiliate commission. World, meet the heir to the Ostrich Pillow's throne. SEE ALSO: Sleep so well you practically die with this 3-in-1 system Back in September 2012, a squishy, spherical pillow with four holes in it stole Kickstarter's collective heart and more than doubled its $70,000 … [Link]

Slashdot » US Prisons Have a Cellphone Smuggling Problem

Sunday 1 October 11:34:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes NBC: Cellphones smuggled into prisons — enabling inmates to order murders, plan escapes, deal drugs and extort money — have become a scourge in a bloc of states where corrections officers annually confiscate as many as one for every three inmates… In South Carolina, prison officers have found and taken one phone for every three inmates, … [Link]

Slashdot » Should Zambia Allow The Testing of Genetically-Modified Mosquitoes?

Sunday 1 October 8:29:00 UTC 2017

More than 400,000 lives are lost every year to malaria, reports the New York Post. But Thursday Science published two new studies on promisings ways to fight malaria — with genetic engineering. The first study focused on whether mosquitoes that have been genetically modified to be more resistant to the malaria-causing parasite would become weaker and less able to mate … [Link]

Slashdot » New 'Illusion Gap' Attack Bypasses Windows Defender Scans

Sunday 1 October 5:24:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader writes: Security researchers have discovered a new technique that allows malware to bypass Windows Defender, the standard security software that comes included with all Windows operating systems. The technique — nicknamed Illusion Gap — relies on a mixture of both social engineering and the use of a rogue SMB server. The attack exploits a design choice in … [Link]

Mashable » Characters like this are why 'SNL' star Kate McKinnon has won 2 Emmys in a row

Sunday 1 October 5:08:45 UTC 2017

Twitter Facebook The three alien abductees with wildly different experiences have returned to Earth — and Saturday Night Live, reprising their first appearance from 2015. This time, at least poor Kate McKinnon gets a Ryan Gosling gropefest out of the deal. Gosling and Cecily Strong returned to form as unassuming rednecks recounting blissful experiences of meeting beings from beyond the stars. SEE … [Link]

Mashable » Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump returns to 'SNL' wearing a golf shirt, of course

Sunday 1 October 4:47:56 UTC 2017

Twitter Facebook Alec Baldwin decided not to retire his Emmy-winning President Trump impression after all, kicking off season 43 of Saturday Night Live with a catch-all cold open that brought The Donald back from his important golf trip to deal with such national crises as … disciplining a naughty little "bad boy" Jeff Sessions. “Sometimes, when you’re president, you have to make … [Link]

Mashable » Ryan Gosling almost saved jazz on 'SNL' until Emma Stone showed up

Sunday 1 October 4:17:19 UTC 2017

Twitter Facebook Ryan Gosling saving jazz in La La Land is inarguably the Oscar-winning film's greatest legacy, and certainly one of Gosling's — thanks to him we have jazz, because he saved it — and Gosling used his Saturday Night Live season-premiere monologue to remind us of his jazz-saving. But like every jazz-savior's tale, this one ended in a blue-note twist. SEE … [Link]

Slashdot » Squabble With Contractor Delayed Equifax's Response To Data Breach

Sunday 1 October 2:19:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes Bloomberg's report on the contractor Equifax first hired to investigate their breach: Equifax and Mandiant got into a dispute just as the hackers were gaining a foothold in the company's network… Mandiant warned Equifax that its unpatched systems and misconfigured security policies could indicate major problems, a person familiar with the perspectives of both sides said. … [Link]

Slashdot » Bill Gates Has An Android Phone. Has Microsoft Changed?

Sunday 1 October 0:14:00 UTC 2017

Bill Gates uses an Android phone now. "It may not be the most surprising revelation, given profits are sinking faster than a boat without a hull and big-name partners are jumping ship left and right, but the founder of Microsoft has presumably left Windows Mobile," reports Neonwin. Long-time Slashdot reader Billly Gates (no relation) writes: I would assume this is … [Link]

Archive

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

No Comments

0 responses so far ↓

  • There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.

You must log in to post a comment.