John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons

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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 » Uber CEO Urges 'Portable Benefits' for Gig Economy Workers

Saturday 27 January 23:09:00 UTC 2018

An anonymous reader quotes The Hill: Uber's chief executive is calling for Washington state to develop a "portable benefits system" to give contract workers in the so-called gig economy access to health care and retirement planning accounts. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi signed onto a letter with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 775 President David Rolf and Seattle investor and workers … [Link]

Mashable » Elon Musk announces an early February launch plan for Falcon Heavy

Saturday 27 January 22:31:26 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookElon Musk's "week or so" until the Falcon Heavy launch is now looking like it'll be closer to two weeks. The SpaceX founder confirmed on Twitter that he's "aiming" to have a Feb. 6 launch for the private aerospace company's largest rocket to date. It will lift off from the Apollo launchpad 39A at Cape Kennedy, Musk tweeted. SEE ALSO: Elon … [Link]

Slashdot » Is It Time For Zero-Trust Corporate Networks?

Saturday 27 January 22:04:00 UTC 2018

An anonymous reader quotes CSO: "The strategy around Zero Trust boils down to don't trust anyone. We're talking about, 'Let's cut off all access until the network knows who you are. Don't allow access to IP addresses, machines, etc. until you know who that user is and whether they're authorized,'" says Charlie Gero, CTO of Enterprise and Advanced Projects Group … [Link]

Mashable » 30 years after NASA's Challenger disaster, Christa McAuliffe's lessons will be taught in space

Saturday 27 January 21:34:01 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookMore than 30 years after the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on its way to space, Christa McAuliffe's lesson plans are finally going to finish the trip. When the Challenger exploded 73 seconds after its Jan. 28, 1986 launch, McAuliffe perished along with the six other astronauts aboard. The 37-year-old social studies teacher from Boston was selected for NASA's Teacher in Space … [Link]

Slashdot » DuckDuckGo App and Extension Upgrades Offer Privacy 'Beyond the Search Box'

Saturday 27 January 20:59:00 UTC 2018

An anonymous reader quotes the Verge: DuckDuckGo is launching updated versions of its browser extension and mobile app, with the promise of keeping internet users safe from snooping "beyond the search box." The company's flagship product, its privacy-focused search engine, will remain the same, but the revamped extension and app will offer new tools to help users keep their web-browsing … [Link]

Mashable » HQ to trivia winners: No more minimum balance for cashing out

Saturday 27 January 20:58:42 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookWinning HQ Trivia is hard. Actually obtaining that money was even harder, until this week.  SEE ALSO: HQ trivia trick changes your app color to rainbow Prior to Friday, HQ's required users to have at least $20 in the bank before they could withdraw the amount. Users also had only 90 days to cash out, according to HQ's terms of service, … [Link]

Slashdot » Car Manufacturers Are Tracking Millions of Cars

Saturday 27 January 19:54:00 UTC 2018

Cory Doctorow writes: Millions of new cars sold in the US and Europe are "connected," having some mechanism for exchanging data with their manufacturers after the cars are sold; these cars stream or batch-upload location data and other telemetry to their manufacturers, who argue that they are allowed to do virtually anything they want with this data, thanks to the … [Link]

Mashable » Hillary Clinton praised 'activist bitches supporting bitches.' Good for her.

Saturday 27 January 19:29:43 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookYes, it's true. Hillary Clinton did say "activist bitches supporting bitches," as other media outlets reported on Friday after a tweet from political commentator Alex Mohajer went viral.  Why? Someone who ran an activist organization named after that phrase asked her to do so during a lunch event in New York this week.  SEE ALSO: Why Hillary Clinton’s former CTO left … [Link]

Mashable » Celebrities buy fake followers. Twitter: 🤷🤷🤷

Saturday 27 January 19:04:00 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookA president, an actress from Scandal, an American Idol contestant, and a star quarterback were just four of the many influential figures found to have purchased fake Twitter followers, via a New York Times investigation published Saturday.  But while these acts are shady and can influence the results of something — from getting a customer service complaint in front of Volvo … [Link]

Slashdot » A 15-Year-Old Convinced Verizon He Was the Head of the CIA

Saturday 27 January 18:49:00 UTC 2018

schwit1 shares an interesting story. Newsweek reports: A British teenager managed to obtain access to sensitive U.S. plans about intelligence operations in different Middle East countries by acting as former CIA Director John Brennan, a court heard on Friday. Kane Gamble, 18, researched Brennan and used the information he gathered to speak to an internet company and persuade call handlers … [Link]

Mashable » As the Paris flood peaks this weekend, social media users are there to capture it

Saturday 27 January 18:29:28 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookParis is flooding. Although heavy rains that inundated the city throughout the week stopped on Friday, continued flooding from the Seine — the river that cuts through France's capital — is still causing concern.  SEE ALSO: The Doomsday Clock is a gimmick, but why it just moved closer to midnight is deadly serious By Wednesday, the water level had hit 16 … [Link]

Slashdot » 'How We Made Starship Troopers'

Saturday 27 January 17:44:00 UTC 2018

The Guardian quotes Paul Verhoeven, the director of Starship Troopers: Robert Heinlein's original 1959 science-fiction novel was militaristic, if not fascistic. So I decided to make a movie about fascists who aren't aware of their fascism… I was looking for the prototype of blond, white and arrogant, and Casper Van Dien was so close to the images I remembered from … [Link]

ProgrammableWeb.com » Daily API RoundUp: oneheap, USDA, Wagapi, Skype

Saturday 27 January 17:21:59 UTC 2018

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 » Google is selling a tiny camera for $249 that apparently only takes perfect pictures

Saturday 27 January 16:49:52 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookHave a spare $249 and a desire to never think about when you should be snapping a photo? Then Google has something special for you. Google Clips quietly went on sale via Google's website this week. The device, announced at Google's Pixel 2 event in October, is a small camera — less than 2-by-2 inches — that users can easily hold … [Link]

Slashdot » Employers Want JavaScript, But Developers Want Python, Survey Finds

Saturday 27 January 16:39:00 UTC 2018

An anonymous reader quotes InfoWorld: When it comes to which programming languages are in demand by employers, JavaScript, Java, Python, C++, and C — in that order — came out on top in a recent developer survey. Developers, however, want to learn languages like Python, Go, and Kotlin. A survey of developers by technical recruiter HackerRank, conducted in October, found … [Link]

Mashable » YouTube ads are the latest ground zero for nefarious crypto mining

Saturday 27 January 16:16:41 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookYouTube is turning passive viewers into cryptocurrency miners, and Google isn't happy. The issue became apparent earlier in the week as complaints surfaced on social media claiming that YouTube ads were raising red flags in anti-virus software. A service called Coinhive was hijacking a viewer's CPU and using its power to mine crypto. SEE ALSO: CryptoCelebrities are the newest irritating kid … [Link]

Mashable » Why Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar's Grammy battle for Album of the Year is worth watching

Saturday 27 January 16:00:00 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookIn many ways, you could think of this year's Grammy Awards as a huge market correction. This time last year was, after all, when Adele took the crown for Album of the Year over Beyoncé's triumphant and critically acclaimed Lemonade, much to the chagrin of the entire internet. It reignited a tired debate about representation and the Grammys, scrutinizing the awards … [Link]

Slashdot » Two More Gamers May Be Charged in Fatal Kansas 'SWAT' Shooting

Saturday 27 January 15:34:00 UTC 2018

A newly-released affidavit reveals that money was at stake in a game of Call Of Duty: World War II which led to the fatal real-life police shooting of Andrew Finch. The Wichita Eagle reports: Investigators learned that Shane Gaskill, who lives in Wichita, was involved in an online video game with other people when he accidentally [virtually] shot and killed … [Link]

Mashable » Facebook lures gamers with in-app tipping for livestreams

Saturday 27 January 15:33:39 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookFacebook is making a casting call for online gamers and incentivizing them to join via programs like in-game tipping, as the tech giant looks to compete with Amazon's Twitch and Google's YouTube.  SEE ALSO: These camera-sunglasses can post photos and videos directly to Facebook and YouTube On Friday, Facebook officially announced its "gaming creator pilot program" with a blog post on … [Link]

Mashable » Trump's NASA budget will say goodbye to the Space Station and send us back to the moon

Saturday 27 January 15:30:00 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookIt should come as no shock that President Donald Trump wants NASA to send its astronauts to the moon.  Trump revived the National Space Council with Vice President Mike Pence as its head in part to redirect NASA toward sending humans back to the moon for the first time in decades.  But in order to do that, they need money. SEE … [Link]

Mashable » So you've got MoviePass. Here's how to hack it.

Saturday 27 January 15:00:00 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookAll right. After hearing everyone in your social circle and work life talk about it nonstop, you've finally jumped on the MoviePass bandwagon. Welcome.  And yes, it's amazing. For $10 a month, you can see one movie a day at participating theaters. You've never had more things to talk about with your casual acquaintances. "Yet," you wonder, "is there more?" With … [Link]

Mashable » The 5 films you need to know from this year's Sundance Film Festival

Saturday 27 January 14:48:36 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookAs this year's Sundance Film Festival comes to an end and the mountains of Park City are being drained of celebrities, it's time to take stock of what cinematic treasures this year's lineup yielded.  SEE ALSO: 'Ophelia' starring Daisy Ridley leaves a lot to be desired Chatter among some who ventured to Utah was that it was an off year for … [Link]

Mashable » Download this: Sweatcoin's app pays you to exercise

Saturday 27 January 14:44:15 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookIf you've ever struggled to get into better shape then you know getting motivated to start is often the hardest part. But a new app may just be able be able to sweeten the deal. Sweatcoin combines fitness tracking and micropayments, paying out rewards when its users actually exercise. SEE ALSO: Apple wants to put medical records on your iPhone. Here's … [Link]

Mashable » 'Jane the Virgin' is showing how sexy conversations about consent can be

Saturday 27 January 14:30:00 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookWarning: The following post contains spoilers for the most recent episode of Jane the Virgin. Let's begin this post with a necessary disclaimer: If you aren't watching Jane the Virgin, you should be. The CW's effervescent telanovela about a woman who's accidentally artificially inseminated is now so much more; it's a dense drama about complicated relationships, with some light fantasy and … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Neutrinos may have more kinds of cosmic sources than we thought

Saturday 27 January 14:26:09 UTC 2018

Trillions of neutrinos hit Earth each day, but we don’t know where they come from. A new model shows how many may be made in our atmosphere, our galaxy and beyond [Link]

New Scientist – News » Your next job interview could be playing a weird smartphone game

Saturday 27 January 14:26:06 UTC 2018

Big firms like Siemens and Walmart are using video games to filter candidates, with tasks including blowing up balloons and tapping logos on a screen [Link]

New Scientist – News » Young ‘dinosauromorphs’ may have begged for food like baby birds

Saturday 27 January 14:26:05 UTC 2018

Tens of millions of years before dinosaurs evolved into birds, a proto-dinosaur had surprising features that suggest its young needed parental care after hatching [Link]

Mashable » Grab these Bluetooth headphones that are beloved on Amazon for $70 off

Saturday 27 January 13:00:00 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookHeads up: All products featured here are selected by Mashable's commerce team and meet our rigorous standards for awesomeness. If you buy something, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. Buying headphones can be complicated. You have to find a pair that has the right balance of noise cancellation and sound quality, without sacrificing comfort. That goes double if you’re looking for … [Link]

Mashable » Yes, you can read 300 books this year and here's how

Saturday 27 January 13:00:00 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookHeads up: All products featured here are selected by Mashable's commerce team and meet our rigorous standards for awesomeness. If you buy something, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. If you're being honest, you've probably always been secretly — and irrationally — jealous of speedy readers. Who isn't? SEE ALSO: It looks like audiobooks are finally coming to the Google Play store Back … [Link]

Mashable » Take a refresher course in physics because you definitely weren't paying attention in high school

Saturday 27 January 13:00:00 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookHeads up: All products featured here are selected by Mashable's commerce team and meet our rigorous standards for awesomeness. If you buy something, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. When you were a kid, being forced to learn things was the worst. You coasted through school doing the least amount of work possible and filled your free time with mindless garbage. … [Link]

Slashdot » Tesla Employees Say Gigafactory Problems Are Worse Than Known

Saturday 27 January 13:00:00 UTC 2018

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: Tesla's problems with battery production at the company's Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, are worse than the company has acknowledged and could cause further delays and quality issues for the new Model 3, according to a number of current and former Tesla employees. These problems include Tesla needing to make some of the … [Link]

Slashdot » Scientists Discover the Oldest Human Fossils Outside Africa

Saturday 27 January 10:00:00 UTC 2018

Archaeologists in Israel have discovered the oldest fossil of a modern human outside Africa, suggesting that humans first migrated out of the content much earlier than previously believed. NPR reports: The scientists were digging in a cave called Misliya, on the slopes of Mount Carmel on the northern coast of Israel. "The cave is one of a series of prehistoric … [Link]

Mashable » 11 times J.K. Rowling tweeted awesome writing advice

Saturday 27 January 9:30:00 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookWithout wanting to sound like too much of a pathetic millennial, writing can be hard work. It can be, OK? Particularly if you're working on something long, like a novel, it's good to have some support and encouragement every now and again. SEE ALSO: I tried to write a novel in a month and now I have a publishing offer J.K. … [Link]

Slashdot » Amateur Astronomer Discovers Long-Dead NASA Satellite Has Come Back To Life

Saturday 27 January 7:00:00 UTC 2018

schwit1 shares a report from Behind The Black: In his hunt to locate Zuma, an amateur astronomer has discovered that a long-dead NASA satellite, designed to study the magnetosphere, has come back to life. IMAGE went dead in 2005, and though NASA thought it might come back to life after experiencing a total eclipse in 2007 that would force a … [Link]

Mashable » Trump liked a tweet about his 'great friend' being accused of sexual misconduct

Saturday 27 January 3:37:40 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookDespite how active President Donald Trump is on Twitter, he rarely smashes that "like" button. But on Friday night, Trump liked" his 25th tweet.  The tweet concerned Steve Wynn, a billionaire casino mogul and RNC finance chair, over recent sexual assault allegationsAccording to the Wall Street Journal, dozens of people have accused Wynn of sexual misconduct, including pressuring employees to have … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Early Earth’s air may show us how to find signs of alien life

Saturday 27 January 3:34:31 UTC 2018

Oxygen isn’t the best beacon of life on an alien world. We need to look for other gases organisms spew into the air, and early Earth can show us what to target [Link]

Slashdot » Robert Mueller's Team Reportedly Interviewed Facebook Staff As Part of Russia Probe

Saturday 27 January 3:30:00 UTC 2018

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has interviewed at least one Facebook employee tasked with helping the Trump campaign's digital operations during the 2016 campaign, Wired reported on Friday. The report, which cited a source familiar with the matter, does not say when the employee was questioned nor does it detail the … [Link]

Mashable » Airbnb won't stand for discrimination against Eagles fans

Saturday 27 January 3:05:56 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookAirbnb doesn't want angry Minneapolis hosts to leave Eagles fans in the cold for the Super Bowl.  The Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings last weekend in Philadelphia to secure a spot in the big game on Feb. 4 in Minneapolis. Things got violent, with Eagles fans reportedly pushing a Vikings fan to the ground and punching him. SEE ALSO: We know … [Link]

Mashable » Aly Raisman has some important demands for Olympic Committee's Nassar investigation

Saturday 27 January 2:44:41 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookAly Raisman released a list of demands for the U.S. Olympic Committee's investigation into former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar, who was sentenced this week to up to 175 years in prison on sexual assault charges. In a statement posted to Twitter on Friday, Raisman lauded the USOC's decision to launch an independent third-party investigation into both USA Gymnastics and the … [Link]

Slashdot » OnePlus Is Again Sending User Data To a Chinese Company Without User Consent

Saturday 27 January 2:05:00 UTC 2018

In October 2017, a researcher caught OnePlus silently collecting all sorts of data from its users. Now, a new report says that there's still a OnePlus app that can grab data from the phone and send it to servers in China without a user's knowledge or express consent. BGR reports: The French security researcher hiding behind the name Elliot Alderson … [Link]

Slashdot » Elon Musk's Boring Company Delivers $600 Flamethrower

Saturday 27 January 1:45:00 UTC 2018

Last December, Boring Company CEO Elon Musk promised to sell a Boring Company-branded flamethrower after selling 50,000 Boring Company hats. Well, sure enough, 50,000 hats were sold and Musk is delivering on his promise. The Verge reports: Mark this down as one of the promises Elon delivers on, apparently, because it looks like the Boring Company flamethrower is here. Redditors … [Link]

Mashable » Swatting at mosquitoes might not be pointless after all

Saturday 27 January 1:43:14 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookCan’t stand mosquitoes? Don't stop swatting.  They can actually learn to associate movements like swatting or shivering with human odors, according to a new study. Presumably not eager to go splat, the mosquitoes in the study learned to avoid the smell of a person who posed a threat.  SEE ALSO: Fish-Eating Spiders Found on Every Continent But Antarctica, Study Says And, … [Link]

Slashdot » Crooks Created 28 Fake Ad Agencies To Disguise Massive Malvertising Campaign

Saturday 27 January 1:25:00 UTC 2018

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bleeping Computer: A group of cyber-criminals created 28 fake ad agencies and bought over 1 billion ad views in 2017, which they used to deliver malicious ads that redirected unsuspecting users to tech support scams or sneaky pages peddling malware-laden software updates or software installers. The entire operation — codenamed Zirconium — appears … [Link]

Slashdot » Facial Recognition Integrates With IFTTT

Saturday 27 January 0:45:00 UTC 2018

Trueface.ai, the stealthy facial recognition startup that's backed by 500 Startups and a slew of angel investors, is integrating with IFTTT to allow developers to start playing around with its technology. TechCrunch reports: Chief executive Shaun Moore tells me that the integration with IFTTT represents the first time that facial recognition technology will be made available to the masses without … [Link]

Mashable » 'No one should ever feel alone': Survivors say Nassar case sends powerful message

Saturday 27 January 0:44:17 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookWhen Larry Nassar was sentenced Wednesday to a maximum of 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting girls and young women in his care, some watched the proceedings in disbelief.  SEE ALSO: What we can learn about sex and power from the #MeToo backlash Maya Weinstein, a 23-year-old law student who followed the case closely, felt relief wash over her when … [Link]

Mashable » Chrissy Teigen just shut down a backhanded compliment in the best way possible

Saturday 27 January 0:32:24 UTC 2018

Twitter FacebookChrissy Teigen is a talented woman in many guises, from culinary queen to TV host to mother. She's also the reigning champion of clapbacks, as someone who just accused her of getting plastic surgery has found out the hard way. SEE ALSO: Chrissy Teigen, queen of Twitter, has got women embracing their grey hair On Thursday, Teigen poked fun at herself … [Link]

Slashdot » Montana To FCC: You Can't Stop Us From Protecting Net Neutrality

Saturday 27 January 0:03:00 UTC 2018

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Montana governor's office has a message for the Federal Communications Commission and Internet service providers: the state can't be stopped from protecting net neutrality, and ISPs that don't like it don't have to do business with state agencies. Governor Steve Bullock signed an executive order to protect net neutrality on … [Link]

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