Ruling Allows 'Jailbreaking' of iPhones
Owners of the iPhone will be able to break electronic locks on their devices in order to download applications that have not been approved by Apple.
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Monday, July 26, 2010
Ruling Allows ‘Jailbreaking’ of iPhones
Ruling Allows 'Jailbreaking' of iPhones
Owners of the iPhone will be able to break electronic locks on their devices in order to download applications that have not been approved by Apple.
Birdhouses made from VHS and cassette tapes
Birdhouses made from VHS and cassette tapes
BB reader Basile Adamantides says, "I found those things in Brussels (Belgium) today, nailed onto trees. Perhaps you will appreciate." Oh, I do. Click the images to see them larger.
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Department of Defense Taking It Seriously
Department of Defense Taking It Seriously
Very seriously indeed. Amazingly, the U.S. Department of Defense, with only 9k twitter followers, has only a fraction of Wikileaks' veritable horde of retweeters. Internet fail! On the other hand, its logo is much better-drawn. Sent from James' iPhone
Caterpillar torture porn
Caterpillar torture porn
Wired's Erin Biba brings us this image of a caterpillar literally bursting with parasites. Taken by Flickr user sugarpond, this moment of sheer horror is probably the handiwork of one of several species of wasps that lay their eggs inside caterpillar bodies.
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Its a Mega Python vs. Gatoroid cat fight! (And pie fight, too!)
Its a Mega Python vs. Gatoroid cat fight! (And pie fight, too!)
The only thing better than Mega Python vs. Gatoroid? A Mega Python vs. Gatoroid pie fight! (Yes, that's right. Pie fight! Sharktopus would be jealous.)
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Sunday, July 25, 2010
DIY In-N-Out burgers
DIY In-N-Out burgers
Those are some good burgers, dude. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt reverse engineered In-N-Out's legendary "Spread" and made himself a Double-Double.
I've been a rabid, if underexposed fan of the cult-ish fast food burger joint since I tried my first Double-Double (that's two patties, two slices of cheese) a couple years back. As burgers go, it's an oddity in my book, in that it's not about the beef.
Sure, the fresh-never-frozen patties are tasty enough, but the sandwich is more than that. It's the interplay between the ooey-gooey American cheese, the sweet, darkly-toasted bun, the juicier-than-average tomatoes, the crisp iceberg, the full, un-separated-into-rings slice of onion, and the all-important sweet, tangy, pickle-laden Spread. It's a bomb that's rigged to hit every pleasure center on my brain's taste analyzation terminal (by which I mean my tongue). Salty, sweet, savory, soft, crisp, and fresh.
The Burger Lab: The Ins-n-Outs of an In-N-Out Double-Double, Animal-Style via Kottke
Read the Full Story » | More on MAKE » | Comments » | Read more articles in How it's made | Digg this!Sent from James' iPhone
Wikileaks releases classified Afghanistan war logs: "largest intelligence leak in history"
Wikileaks releases classified Afghanistan war logs: "largest intelligence leak in history"
An archive of classified U.S. military logs spanning six years, more than 91,000 documents, and 200,000 pages, was today made available by WikiLeaks. The papers show a picture of the war in Afghanistan which seems far more grim, and far less hopeful, than previously portrayed.
The New York Times, London's Guardian newspaper and Der Spiegel in Germany were offered early access to the archive, the contents of which show "why, after the United Sates has spent almost $300 billion on the war in Afghanistan, the Taliban are stronger than at any time since 2001," according to the NYT.
This classified military information release by WikiLeaks is its first since publishing a video in April that shows a 2007 US Apache helicopter attack which killed a dozen people in Baghdad, including two Reuters photojournalists.
The NYT notes the following focal points in this massive leak:
* Americans fighting the war in Afghanistan have long harbored strong suspicions that Pakistan's military spy service guides the Afghan insurgency that fights American troops, even as Pakistan receives more than $1 billion in U.S. aid.The Guardian's coverage highlights that the logs show the US covered up* The C.I.A.'s paramilitary operations are expanding in Afghanistan.
* The Taliban has used portable, heat-seeking missiles against Western aircraft -- weapons that helped defeat the Soviet occupation in the 1980s.
The "War Diary" page at Wikileaks states:
We have delayed the release of some 15,000 reports from the total archive as part of a harm minimization process demanded by our source. After further review, these reports will be released, with occasional redactions, and eventually, in full, as the security situation in Afghanistan permits.
The White House has issued a response. The statement from national security adviser Gen. James Jones emphasizes two points: first, the administration asserts that this leak of classified information endangers the lives of Americans and America's war allies. Second, the administration points out that the logs cover actions between January 2004 (when Bush was in power) and December 2009 (when President Obama announced a "new approach" to the war in Afghanistan).
"Afghan War Diary, 2004-2010" in CSV, SQL, KML formats. (Wikileaks)
"The War Logs" (NYT)
"Inside the Fog of War: Reports From the Ground in Afghanistan" (NYT)
"Text From a Selection of the Secret Dispatches" (NYT)
"In Disclosing Secret Documents, WikiLeaks Seeks 'Transparency'" (NYT)
"Piecing Together the Reports, and Deciding What to Publish" (NYT)
"Afghanistan war logs: Story behind biggest leak in intelligence history" (Guardian)
"Julian Assange on the Afghanistan war logs: 'They show the true nature of this war'" (Guardian)
"Wikileaks Afghanistan files: download the key incidents as a spreadsheet" (Guardian)
"Afghanistan war logs: Story behind biggest leak in intelligence history" (Guardian)
"Afghanistan war logs: the glossary" (Guardian)
Image: An interactive map available at the Guardian website shows locations and dates tied to documents in the leaked Afghanistan war logs.
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Saturday, July 24, 2010
Karl Urban says HIS Judge Dredd wont make you puke in your popcorn
We can understand why Karl Urban would want to star in a remake of Star Trek. But why would he want to remake Judge Dredd, that laughable 1995 megabomb from Sylvester Stallone? Why, Karl, Why? But we're not to worry, says Urban—he promises that THIS Judge Dredd won't be a disgrace to the source material.
Amanda Palmer sells $15,000 worth of merch in three minutes; you probably can't, but that's OK
Awesome, copyfighting punk diva Amanda Palmer put her latest indy EP (the magically titled Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele) up for sale direct to her fans, along with a wide collection of limited edition merch. Three minutes later, she had sold $15,000 worth of music and objects containing or celebrating music (vinyl records, various deluxe packages). As of this writing, practically everything else has sold out.
This model doesn't work for everyone. But it's worked for Palmer and various others, repeatedly. Just as not every artist can succeed in the studio, or can succeed touring, or can succeed performing covers, or can succeed performing original materials, not every artist can do this.
But the fact is that every commercially successful artist is basically a fluke. Most artists -- even those who've attained "success" in the form of a deal with a major publisher/label/etc -- do not find commercial independence there, and it has always been thus. As someone who helps support his family with his arts-related income, I'm here to tell you, if your kids want to pursue the arts, they should have some other marketable skill to fall back on (or chances are they'll fall back on you!).
And yet, what Palmer is doing is fascinating, because it involves spending less capital to reach smaller, more specialized audiences who willingly part with larger sums, from which Palmer gets to keep the lion's share. That looks a lot less like the old winner-takes-all model in which you get 100 or so acts who can fill a stadium and get rich, and a bunch of also-rans living on bread and water. In Amanda's model, individual artists gross much smaller amounts, but net much larger amounts, because they're not supporting a whole supply chain of execs, marketing people, giant buildings, trucks full of vinyl, radio DJs, etc.
What's more, she's made this work repeatedly, and there's every indication that it will work for her again.
Now, if your plan is to do what Amanda is doing in order to keep yourself in room and board, you will probably fail. But that's nothing new: practically everyone who set out to earn a living the old record-label way also failed (failed to get a deal, or, with a deal, failed to earn a living from it). The important thing here is that this can work, and work at least as well as the old system -- without demanding that the entire internet be surveilled, without making war on fans, without buying corrupt laws, or turning artists into sharecroppers.
That's a fine thing indeed.
Fan Feeding Frenzy: AFP's New EP FTW (Thanks, PeaceLove)
Amanda Palmer sells $15,000 worth of merch in three minutes; you probably can't, but that's OK
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SDCC: Dexter Season Five Trailer and Spot
SDCC: Dexter Season Five Trailer and Spot
Over 4,000 fans filled Ballroom 20 of the San Diego Convention Center on Thursday to revel in this year's "Dexter" Comic-Con panel. The one-hour session featured Michael C. Hall along with cast mates Jennifer Carpenter, James Remar and the show's executive producers discussing some of the story and character arcs from the highly-anticipated fifth season which premieres on Sunday, September 26th at 9:00 PM ET/PT on Showtime. Additionally, Showtime premiered an exclusive trailer featuring scenes from season five of "Dexter" that offered fans in attendance a first look at the series that is currently in production. You can now watch the trailer and an "Anti-Heroes" spot below:
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Watch the new vampire-killing Priest trailer that killed US
Watch the new vampire-killing Priest trailer that killed US
He's the James Bond of the clergy. He's got holy gadgets and badass moves (in slow-mo, no less) to spare. And the evil he's up against is real evil. As in vampires. Not the sparkly kind. The monstrous kind. The kind who rip and shred and feast on blood and flesh. Audiences at the San Diego Comic-Con got to see him in action in a new trailer. Now you can see it, too.
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Battlestar creator Ron Moore comes clean about Starbucks fate
That ambiguous ending of Battlestar Galactica sure stirred up a lot of debate. (A debate that's still going on.) Whether you loved it or hated it, it sure got people talking. And one of the hottest topics was: What really happened to Starbuck?
Spoilerific infographic explains the 5 levels of Inception
Still confused by Inception? Us, too. Luckily, there's an online army out there dedicated to figuring out exactly what it was we saw in that theater. Of course, the explanations sometimes leave us even MORE confused. But we just ran across one we think you'll find helpful.
Downward Facing Wookie: Amazing Star Wars Yoga
[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geek Art, Urban Images. ]
After over 30 years, perhaps the Star Wars empire has already tapped out opportunities for profit among all but the newest generations of wannabe Jedis and Sith Lords – but probably not. Created by writer Matthew Latkiewicz, Star Wars Yoga might just be a masterpiece in the making. After all, who can resist Yoda doing yoga?
On "You Will Not Believe This Blog", Latkiewicz features images of himself in various Star Wars-inspired poses along with a series of faux memos between Star Wars creator George Lucas and LucasFilm Marketing VP Steve Jones.
"It has come to our attention here at LucasFilm that the Star Wars Brand has recently suffered in popularity. Forgetting for a moment the bizarre animated film recently released, Star Wars merchandise sales have hit an all time low. It is time for a dramatic rethinking of not only the SW brand itself, but also it's target audience. For too long we have tried to sell action figures and lunch boxes to overweight "geeks" and "nerds". This market has and will continue to be loyal, but we believe they are also saturated."
"We propose a new marketing strategy and target: the 30-something, health conscious consumer who probably owns an Apple laptop and is trying to live "green". In this effort, we would like to initiate a line of Star Wars Branded Yoga. Attached you will find a design and concept study."
While a few of the poses do resemble actual yoga positions and even feature some impressive stretching and balance, 'Reclined Jabba' is unlikely to creep its way into mainstream yoga practice any time soon.
But Latkiewicz isn't the only yoga devotee to pull Star Wars references into this typically too-serious-for-pop-culture workout. Yoga Today features a video of instructor Neesha Zollinger decked out in Princess Leia hair talking about the "unifying force" and asking participants to breathe like Darth Vader.
The first Green Lantern footage: What we saw and what you thought of it
The San Diego Comic-Con audience was pumped and rocking as it awaited the world premiere of footage from Green Lantern in Hall H. Moderator Geoff Boucher from the Los Angeles Times introduced DC Comics mastermind Geoff Johns, who then introduced the first footage seen anywhere from the still-in-production movie. Here's what we saw next—and what the fans thought of it.
Bearjacking! Sandwich-seeking Ursus americanus invades car, drives it, honks horn, poops, flips out
And this, friends, is why we do not leave sandwiches in our cars. 17-year-old Ben Story of Larkspur, Colorado, left a peanut butter and jelly in his Toyota one night, and forgot to lock up. A few hours after he crawled off to bed, his parents and neighbors woke up to the sound of a car horn honking—for 45 minutes straight. 'Twas a panicking bear trapped inside the vehicle.
If the bear's a-rockin', don't come knockin'. Sheriffs eventually managed to open the car door with a rope so the poor feller could get out. He lumbered back into the woods, presumably seeking a glass of milk with which to chase the pilfered PBJ. Before his exit, he thoughtfully left a "gift" for the car's owner in the back seat.Ben's father, Ralph, said the bear hit the shifter and the car rolled backward about 125 feet, off the driveway, down an embankment and into some trees on Eagle Road near Tenderfoot Drive. "So this bear opened the door on his own. Somehow the door closed behind him. He panicked and started thrashing around, hit the shifter and put the car, took it out of park," Ralph said. "It rolled back, down over the hill, and down into here, and stopped. The four way flashers were on. It's like he knew what was going on, and kept hitting the horn." Ben told 7NEWS he had left a sandwich in the car and that may have attracted the big bear.
"It was a pretty good size, actually it was pretty big. If you look at the inside of the car, there's nothing left at all. You could see it moving around, it like took up the entire inside of the car," said Ben. (...) The bear appeared "freaked out" about being trapped in the four-door Toyota sedan and totally shredded the inside, Ben said.
KMGH Denver, Denver Post, Fox, San Jose Mercury News, CNN.
(Photograph courtesy Story family / Pedobear courtesy Pedobear)
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Friday, July 23, 2010
Caprica returns in January 2011, new trailer coming this week
Caprica returns in January 2011, new trailer coming this week
Syfy announced it's going to air the second half of Caprica's first season starting in January 2011, with the exact date still TBA. The network also said a new trailer for the show will be unveiled at the Carprica Comic-Con panel on July 23 before it shows up on the Xbox Live and other platforms.
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SDCC: Joss Whedon Confirms He's Directing The Avengers!
SDCC: Joss Whedon Confirms He's Directing The Avengers!
Creator/directors Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams revealed a few details about their upcoming projects - The Avengers and Super 8 , respectively - at the San Diego Comic-Con today. Joss Whedon 'officially' made it official that he is indeed helming The Avengers for Marvel Studios to attendees. Not a well-kept secret, Whedon said he remains in the outline phase for the movie and continues to rework the story that will bring together some of Marvel's top properties. "The thing I love about it is how completely counter-intuitive it is," confessed Whedon. "These people should not be in the same room, much less the same team. The very definition of family." He added that the The Avengers were some of his first comic books as a kid, adding that he first got...
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The cool Green Hornet Easter egg Seth Rogen told us about
You may want to look away, because I'm about to embarrass myself in public. There I was, hanging with Seth Rogen at the Green Hornet party here in San Diego, having a nice chat about his latest trailer, when I suddenly asked him something so geeky I actually began my question with an apology for asking him the geekiest question he was likely to get all Comic-Con.
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