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 » Google's AI Built an AI that Outperforms Any Made By Humans

Sunday 3 December 23:34:00 UTC 2017

schwit1 quotes ScienceAlert: In May 2017, researchers at Google Brain announced the creation of AutoML, an artificial intelligence (AI) that's capable of generating its own AIs. More recently, they decided to present AutoML with its biggest challenge to date, and the AI that can build AI created a 'child' that outperformed all of its human-made counterparts… For this particular child … [Link]

Mashable » How a lifelong Gerard Way fan managed to interview him without vomiting

Sunday 3 December 23:11:44 UTC 2017

They say to never meet your heroes, but I did it anyway. I've put Gerard Way — former My Chemical Romance frontman, current comic book writer — on a pedestal for about 13 years. He seemed a genius, an impossibly aloof icon. But in real life? He's just a nice dude who is mildly insane and makes weird, good sh*t. SEE … [Link]

Mashable » Feast your eyes on these 'Star Wars' treasures from the 'Last Jedi' junket

Sunday 3 December 22:55:47 UTC 2017

Disney treated the press to a secret Star Wars press junket on Sunday, which featured not only a full cast panel discussion but also an impressive compendium of costumes, photographs, and Star Wars merchandise. SEE ALSO: 'The Last Jedi' box office will fall well below 'The Force Awakens,' and that's OK The main purpose of the junket was interviews along … [Link]

Slashdot » Should Teachers Get $100 For Steering Kids To Google's 'Hour of Code' Lesson?

Sunday 3 December 22:34:00 UTC 2017

Tomorrow's "Hour of Code" kick-off event features Melinda Gates, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and "multiple state governors," reports theodp — who has some concerns. With Microsoft boasting that nearly 70 million of its Minecraft Hour of Code sessions have been launched, and tech companies pushing coding and their products into classrooms, it's probably no surprise that … [Link]

Mashable » Footage of dog being rescued from frozen creek will thaw your ice cold heart

Sunday 3 December 22:29:00 UTC 2017

2017 is in dire need of heartwarming tales, so here's one about a dog that fell into a frozen creek and was successfully rescued by a team of firefighters. Last week, Denis Pilon, a fire chief at Swift Current Fire Department in Canada, shared a video on Facebook of several firefighters and members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police rescuing someone's pet … [Link]

Slashdot » Dell Begins Offering Laptops With Intel's 'Management Engine' Disabled

Sunday 3 December 21:34:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes Liliputing.com Linux computer vendor System76 announced this week that it will roll out a firmware update to disable Intel Management Engine on laptops sold in the past few years. Purism will also disable Intel Management Engine on computers it sells moving forward. Those two computer companies are pretty small players in the multi-billion dollar PC industry. … [Link]

Mashable » Hold up: Beyoncé changes her email address HOW often?

Sunday 3 December 21:23:52 UTC 2017

Beyoncé, queen of everything including online privacy protection, changes her email address so frequently that it'll make you rethink your entire life. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, singer and recent Beyoncé collaborator Ed Sheeran revealed that his friend Bey changes her email address every damn week. And you probably thought you took extra precautions by occasionally changing your password. LOL. … [Link]

Mashable » Watch this Mark Hamill 'Star Wars' interview – from 1976

Sunday 3 December 20:51:07 UTC 2017

A new video of Mark Hamill has surfaced – or rather, an old video. So old, in fact, that it predates the release of the first Star Wars movie. Hamill and Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz visited WorldCon's MidAmeriCon in 1976 to talk about their bizarre and ambitious upcoming picture. They're welcomed to the stage with polite applause which feels … [Link]

Mashable » Download this: The easiest way to find your Instagram 'top nine' of 2017

Sunday 3 December 20:43:13 UTC 2017

The end of the year is almost here and that means Instagram is about to, again, be flooded with "top nine" memes. Luckily, we now have a handy tool to help create the collages we can't ever seem to get enough of. SEE ALSO: Google's top Android apps of 2017 might surprise you The Top Nine app simplifies the process so … [Link]

Slashdot » '24 Pull Requests' Suggests Contributing Code For Christmas

Sunday 3 December 20:34:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader writes: "On December 1st, 24 Pull Requests will be opening its virtual doors once again, asking you to give the gift of a pull request to an open source project in need," writes UK-based software developer Andrew Nesbitt — noting that last year the site registered more than 16,000 pull requests. "And they're not all by programmers. … [Link]

Slashdot » StartCom Will Stop Issuing Certificates, Revoking Them All in 2020

Sunday 3 December 19:34:00 UTC 2017

thegarbz writes: Startcom, a certificate authority which as we covered previously has been distrusted by Mozilla, by Google, and recently also by Microsoft, has announced that it will cease trading as a Certificate Authority. While their website currently shows no indication that their certificates have any problems, a news posting has announced their intentions to stop providing certificates as of … [Link]

Mashable » We are all this opossum who snuck into a liquor store and got drunk

Sunday 3 December 19:17:04 UTC 2017

2017 has taken a toll on all of us – human and otherwise. An opossum in Florida snuck into a liquor store and proceeded to finish a bottle of bourbon. It has since made a full recovery, with no hangover. SEE ALSO: This hamster wearing an 'It' mask is too cute to be scary Store owner Cash Moore told a local … [Link]

Mashable » Pizza in space clearly means well but looks pretty disgusting

Sunday 3 December 19:17:03 UTC 2017

Getting to explore space sounds pretty darn cool, but the experience comes with many sacrifices. Sure, time away from family must be rough, but one of the most heartbreaking losses is having to leave delicious pizza behind on Earth. Paolo Nespoli‏, an Italian astronaut who's currently orbiting our planet aboard the International Space Station, missed pizza so much that he boldly … [Link]

Mashable » Mom tries out VR, ends up cuddling a doggy butt IRL

Sunday 3 December 19:14:21 UTC 2017

While experiencing the thrills of virtual reality, this mom got a bit overwhelmed and reached for her dog to comfort her. Unfortunately, the VR headset prevented her from seeing the dog, which means she grabbed the wrong end and wound up nuzzling her face into a cute, little doggy booty for a minute. As the confused dog hangs upside down … [Link]

Mashable » Sheryl Sandberg discusses sexual assault and powerful men in a moving Facebook post

Sunday 3 December 18:46:14 UTC 2017

Like so many women who've spoken up this year, Sheryl Sandberg has experienced sexual harassment by men in power. On Sunday morning the 48-year-old Facebook CEO wrote a lengthy post on the platform sharing her experiences with harassment, her thoughts on men in power, and the problematic backlash that can stem from women speaking up for themselves. SEE ALSO: Melinda Gates … [Link]

Mashable » 11 gifts every home cook wants but can't afford

Sunday 3 December 18:30:00 UTC 2017

Cooking can be an expensive hobby. Chances are, if you know a passionate home cook in your life, they're likely yearning for a new gadget or tool to add to their home setup. But quality kitchen accessories are not cheap, so most home cooks make do with the hand-me-down or knockoff items that will inevitably ruin a meal or two. SEE … [Link]

Slashdot » PHP Now Supports Argon2 Next-Generation Password Hashing Algorithm

Sunday 3 December 18:29:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes Bleeping Computer: PHP got a whole lot more secure this week with the release of the 7.2 branch, a version that improves and modernizes the language's support for cryptography and password hashing algorithms. Of all changes, the most significant is, by far, the support for Argon2, a password hashing algorithm developed in the early 2010s. Back … [Link]

Mashable » My 'trickle down economics' tweet went crazy viral and here's a play-by-play

Sunday 3 December 17:36:15 UTC 2017

I’ve tweeted over 60,000 times, but I'd never seen anything like this. As of this writing, one of my tweets has collected 100,000 likes and over 42,000 retweets, and counting. All in less than 24 hours. SEE ALSO: Twitter has spoken: Taylor Swift is not the 'badder bitch' The tweet is not extraordinary. It's a simple pictograph, a sort of word … [Link]

Slashdot » R.I.P., Cape Wind

Sunday 3 December 17:24:00 UTC 2017

schwit1 quotes the Boston Globe: What a long, slow death it has been for Massachusetts's first proposed offshore wind farm. But now, its proponents are finally pulling the plug. While others in the energy industry considered the Cape Wind project dead, developer Jim Gordon didn't quit after losing power contracts he needed for financing in early 2015, or after state … [Link]

Mashable » Drunk dude cooks his own food at Waffle House because the staff fell asleep

Sunday 3 December 17:21:30 UTC 2017

A drunk man decided to take matters into his own hands when he found the staff at Waffle House fast asleep. Alex Bowen of South Carolina stopped by his local Waffle House in Columbia for some late night grub early Thursday morning, after enjoying some drinks with some friends. SEE ALSO: The United States of memes has something everyone can relate … [Link]

Mashable » 'Game of Thrones' murderous Red Wedding banger gets a beautiful dance treatment

Sunday 3 December 17:14:38 UTC 2017

Game of Thrones and its music have gotten plenty of covers, from violins and vocals to instrumentals from around the world, and at least one kooky Kanye mashup… but we haven't seen as much dancing – until now. Dancers Geatali Tampy and Priya Lupita Shah teamed up to perform a haunting duet to "The Rains of Castamere" – you know, … [Link]

Mashable » Twitter has spoken: Taylor Swift is not the 'badder bitch'

Sunday 3 December 17:06:36 UTC 2017

Despite Taylor Swift's grand attempt at rebranding her reputation from "innocent girl who cries teardrops on her guitar while writing love songs in her room" to "bad bitch who sits on golden throne surrounded by snakes," the internet still doesn't think she's that bad. A hilarious new meme, started after Twitter user "Nutella" challenged people to "Name a badder bitch than … [Link]

Mashable » 6 incredibly smart and thoughtful ideas for improving the dog walking app Wag!

Sunday 3 December 16:41:50 UTC 2017

Wag! is a popular dog walking app that has been described as the "Uber of dog walking." Within minutes while you're away, you can schedule for a walker to come to your apartment and take your dog out for a walk for 30 to 60 minutes. While on a walk, the dog walker then sends notifications through the app to the … [Link]

Mashable » How to earn two top business credentials for less than $50

Sunday 3 December 16:41:49 UTC 2017

Just to let you know, if you buy something featured here, Mashable might earn an affiliate commission. Are you sick of getting passed over for promotions and raises simply because you don't have an MBA? It's difficult to stand out with just an undergraduate degree in business—and let's be real, not all of us went to Harvard. Surprisingly, there are a … [Link]

Mashable » Cool your drinks at lightspeed with these Millennium Falcon ice molds

Sunday 3 December 16:41:48 UTC 2017

Just to let you know, if you buy something featured here, Mashable might earn an affiliate commission. Being a Jedi is hard. After a long day of fighting bounty hunters, using the Force, and explaining to your friends that these aren’t the droids they’re looking for, you need to put your feet up and make yourself a stiff drink. But you … [Link]

Mashable » Build the next big smartphone game by taking this app-development course

Sunday 3 December 16:41:47 UTC 2017

Just to let you know, if you buy something featured here, Mashable might earn an affiliate commission. It's 2017. It's certainly no secret that coding is one of the most in-demand skills out there — and for good reason. Whether you’re making tweaks to your blog, running a multi-million eCommerce site, or building an app from scratch, it comes in handy … [Link]

Mashable » 'SNL' reveals what it's like to be a woman with a blistering sexual harassment song

Sunday 3 December 16:41:46 UTC 2017

A cheery bubblegum SNL music video starring Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, and host Saoirse Ronan looks like it'll be a delightful sendup of Katy Perry circa "Teenage Dream." But listen to the words, and it's anything but. "Hey there boys, we know the last couple months have been frickin' insane," Strong opens in a dumb, pouty drawl. "All … [Link]

Mashable » Alec Baldwin's Trump is haunted by Michael Flynn in 'SNL's' Christmas Carol' cold open

Sunday 3 December 16:41:45 UTC 2017

Saturday Night Live decked the halls with the ghosts of Donald Trump's presidency in tonight's yuletide cold open, and Alec Baldwin was right there for the Dickensian reckoning. There's evidently not much to celebrate around the White House this Christmas, what with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn pleading guilty to lying to the FBI. SEE ALSO: Donald Trump's latest … [Link]

Slashdot » Can Researchers Detect Irregular Heart Rhythms with the Apple Watch?

Sunday 3 December 16:19:00 UTC 2017

An anonymous reader quotes USA Today: Might wearing an Apple Watch save you from a stroke or cardio problem? Apple is careful not to make that direct claim. But the company, in collaboration with Stanford University School of Medicine, launched the Apple Heart Study app on Thursday that uses the heart rate sensor inside the Apple Watch to collect data … [Link]

Mashable » Brock Turner's lawyers want to overturn his sexual assault conviction

Sunday 3 December 16:17:36 UTC 2017

Brock Turner is trying to have his sexual assault conviction overturned. Turner was convicted last year of assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster in 2015 and served three months at the county jail. What could have been a 14-year turn in a state penitentiary turned into a six month sentence — later cut in half, for good behavior — sparking … [Link]

Mashable » Tragedy strikes the American Girl Store on 'SNL,' but everyone is fixated on this one dude

Sunday 3 December 15:57:27 UTC 2017

Saturday Night Live checked in with shoppers after an underground gas main exploded at a Phoenix American Girl Store, and boy were they shaken up. Reporter Ben Hartley (Kenan Thompson) spoke with customers Debbie Pritchard, a mother shopping with her daughter (played by Lady Bird’s Saoirse Ronan,) and Thomas Dean (Mikey Day) a grown-ass man who was just, you know, shopping for … [Link]

Mashable » The coming Arctic blast probably won't make you sick, but winter definitely can

Sunday 3 December 15:30:00 UTC 2017

The coldest air of the season will soon smack the Midwest and East Coast, dramatically dropping temperatures and rudely establishing that winter is here. The Arctic chill will arrive between Dec. 8 and 11, and could persist in some areas straight through Christmas. Given such an abrupt shift in weather, especially since the fall was much milder-than-average across the country, one … [Link]

Slashdot » Your Brain 'Blinks' When Your Attention Shifts, Researchers Discover

Sunday 3 December 15:11:00 UTC 2017

Science_afficionado quotes Vanderbilt University's Research News: When your attention shifts from one place to another, your brain blinks. The blinks are momentary unconscious gaps in visual perception and came as a surprise to the team of Vanderbilt psychologists who discovered the phenomenon while studying the benefits of attention… The research was conducted with macaque monkeys that were trained to shift … [Link]

Slashdot » Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Says Bitcoin 'Ought to be Outlawed'

Sunday 3 December 13:04:00 UTC 2017

Bitcoin "is drawing harsh criticism from Wall Street investment firms," writes Slashdot reader rmdingler — and even from some prominent economists. CNN reports: The harshest assessment came from Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who said that bitcoin "ought to be outlawed. Bitcoin is successful only because of its potential for circumvention," he told Bloomberg TV. "It doesn't serve any socially useful … [Link]

Slashdot » Is Open Source Innovation Now All About Vendor On-Ramps?

Sunday 3 December 8:59:00 UTC 2017

InfoWorld published an interesting essay from Matt Asay, former COO at Canonical (and an emeritus board member of the Open Source Initiative), about innovation from the big public cloud vendors, which "even when open-sourced, doesn't really help the community at large… All this innovation is available to buy; none of it is available to build. Not for mere mortals, anyway." … [Link]

Slashdot » Massive Financial Aid Data Breach Proves Stanford Lied For Years To MBAs

Sunday 3 December 4:54:00 UTC 2017

14 terabytes of "highly confidential" data about 5,120 financial aid applications over seven years were exposed in a breach at Stanford's Graduate School of Business — proving that the school "misled thousands of applicants and donors about the way it distributes fellowship aid and financial assistance to its MBA students," reports Poets&Quants. The information was unearthed by a current MBA … [Link]

Slashdot » 'App Truthers' Question the Accuracy of the Domino's Pizza Tracker

Sunday 3 December 2:54:00 UTC 2017

Despite the fact that 60% of its pizza orders arrive digitally, "A growing number of Domino's delivery customers are casting a critical eye at the company's online pizza-tracking app," reports the lifestyle editor at Fox News. "More specifically, they think it's a bunch of crap." Fault-finding app users — or "app truthers," as The Wall Street Journal calls them — … [Link]

Slashdot » How Converting A C++ Game to JavaScript Gave Us WebAssembly

Sunday 3 December 0:49:00 UTC 2017

Slashdot reader Beeftopia shares "a detailed history of WebAssembly…from one of the developers." IEEE Spectrum reports that "Like a lot of stories about tech innovation, this one started with video games." [Mozilla's Alon Zakai] wanted to take a game he had helped write in C++ and convert it to JavaScript code that would run well on the Web. This was … [Link]

John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons