As developers for tablets and smartphones we like to keep abreast of the latest mobile technology developments . This is a daily digest of mobile development and related technology news gathered from the BBC, the New York Times, New Scientist and the Globe and Mail to name a few. We scour the web for articles concerning, iPhone, iPad and android development, iOS and android operating systems as well as general articles on advances in mobile technology. We hope you find this useful and that it helps to keep you up to date with the latest technology developments.
UK satellite's view of Planet Earth
The UK’s TechDemoSat captures video of the deep blue Earth in what is thought to be a first-of-its-kind movie sequence from a wholly British-built spacecraft.
Purest-ever silicon in quantum fix
Physicists make the purest silicon ever seen, solving a supply problem for research into quantum computers.
Robin Williams' Final Instagram Shows Touching Family Photo
Robin Williams, the beloved actor who died of an apparent suicide Monday, posted a touching photograph on Instagram two weeks earlier that showed him holding his daughter, Zelda Rae Williams, when she was a young child:
Williams, who was 63 years old, is survived by three children: Zachary, 31; Zelda, 25, and Cody, 22. Zelda is also an actress. His wife, graphic designer Susan Schneider, with whom he lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, said in a statement Monday that she was “utterly heartbroken.”
“This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings,” she added. “As he is remembered, it is our hope that the focus will not be on Robin’s death but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions.”
Fans took to Williams’ Instagram page to express their own grief, and dozens of celebrities paid tribute on Twitter.
In earlier Instagram posts, Zelda Williams shared pictures of her family in happier times:
According to his publicist, the actor had been suffering from severe depression. Last month, HuffPost confirmed Williams had checked into a rehab facility in Minnesota in what representatives said was an effort to maintain his sobriety.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
The eclectic, electric collective
The eclectic, electric geek artist collective
Quantum computers to crack the world
Could superfast computers take us back to a digital dark age?
How to Keep Your Car from Becoming a High-Tech Death Trap
What if driving your car exposed you to the tender mercies of online criminals the same way that using a credit card at Target last fall or trusting personal information to a Heartbleed-compromised site did?
You may already be exposed
Last year, security researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek showed, using some late-model cars, that a laptop aboard a speeding vehicle could be used to steer it off the road. This week, Miller and Valasek released a follow-up study of some cars’ exposure to remote attacks over the Internet that lists the models they found most and least hackable. (If you own a 2014 Dodge Viper, Audi A8, or Honda Accord, congratulations!) [Photo credit: Miller & Valasek]
More features = More risk
As more and more cars are connected to the Internet and embellished with new features, such as adaptive cruise control and parking assist that rely on software and embedded computing devices, the risk of a remote hacker killing or maiming drivers and passengers will only grow.
Have such lethal incidents occurred yet? Probably not, given the technical difficulty of pulling off such a feat. But the truth is that we don’t really know. According to a group led by computer security experts, new high-tech cars lack the capability, akin to an aircraft’s “black box,” to gather the data needed to document and investigate such acts.
That group, a grassroots organization called I am the Cavalry, found the car industry so lacking in attention to computer security that it just published an open letter to the industry’s CEOs asking them to work with computer security researchers to improve the security of new cars now — before a disaster occurs that harms drivers, passengers, or pedestrians.
The automotive industry has often resisted calls for safety improvements, dating back at least to the publication in 1965 of Ralph Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed. In the years after that book’s publication, despite that resistance, car safety in the U.S. was improved (including the requirement of seat belts in all cars starting in 1968), after which Americans’ rate of auto deaths began an unprecedented decline that continues to this day.
What you can do
Want to tell the car industry to do the right thing and work with security professionals to make high-tech cars safer for you and your family? Click on and sign the above petition at Change.org posted by I am The Cavalry — and tell your friends to do the same.
Better security is about more than just cars
Computer security is arising as a problem that can endanger you and your family for a variety of products besides cars. New gadgets for the home (e.g. Internet-connected security systems and door locks), medical devices, and our public infrastructure are all becoming more dependent on software and Internet connectivity in a society-wide development known as the Internet of Things. I’ll be covering many more of the consumer safety issues raised by the technology in cars and the Internet of Things at my blog, StateoftheNet.Net.
I am The Cavalry, which is seeking nonprofit status, plans to help improve safety in all industries where the rapid adoption of technology affects public safety and human life. In the video below that I shot at a press event at this year’s DEFCON conference in Las Vegas, the organization’s founders, security researchers Josh Corman and Nick Percoco, explain how they have learned to adapt a popular hacking technique called fuzzing to influence manufacturers and policymakers by what they call “fuzzing the chain of influence:”
Is Your Child Old Enough to Text and Post Online?
What is the “right” age for youngsters to begin texting and using social media?
As the Mom of two young daughters and an educator on bullying prevention, I field this question frequently. Truly, there is great debate on the subject among professionals, along with a whole lot of hand-wringing by parents. As adults, we are all-too-aware of dangers online — both from anonymous predators and familiar “frenemies” who use the Internet as a weapon. Indeed, social media sites are ripe for cyberbullying. Kids (and adults!) feel liberated to post cruel messages and taunts online without the discomfort of having to say to a peer’s face.
As with most aspects of childrearing, there isn’t a simple one-age-fits-all guideline for starting to use social media or texting. From “safety” and “convenience” to the ever-urgent “all the other kids have them” rationales, ultimately, each family will make their own decision about what is “right” for their kids. In this day and age, almost every child will be exposed to technology sooner rather than later.
So, while I do not offer black and white answers to parents as far as “right ages,” what I do offer are suggestions for teaching kids how to use technology in ways that reflect family values and respect the dignity of their peers.
1. Choose Your Words Carefully
If you wouldn’t say something to a person’s face, don’t send it via text or the Internet. Technology makes it too easy to say things that are impulsive or unkind. Also, the person reading your message can’t see your expressions or hear your tone of voice. Sarcasm and humor often get lost in translation on the ‘net, so avoid their use. Type carefully as well; avoid using ALL CAPS since they make it look like you are angry or YELLING.
2. The Internet is Not a Weapon
Don’t gossip about other people while you are online. Your words can be misinterpreted, manipulated and forwarded without your permission. Plus, it’s not fair to talk about people when they can’t defend themselves. Likewise, social media sites should never be used to strategically exclude peers who are “on the outs” of a peer group or to “de-friend” a person after a fight.
3. Who is this Message For?
What happens in cyberspace stays in cyberspace — forever! Though you may think you are sending your private message or photo to a single recipient, keep in mind that it can be cut, pasted and forwarded to an infinite number of people. Never post a photo or message that you wouldn’t want “everyone” to be able to view.
4. Kindness Matters
Be kind and do not ever use email to say ugly, nasty or mean things about anyone or to anyone. ANYONE. Ever! Stop and ask yourself, What would Mom think if she read this? Post accordingly!
5. Take a Breather
In this world of instant messaging and constant contact, you may be tempted to say whatever comes to your mind in a given moment. Don’t do it! Slow down and think before you post whatever thought, comeback or reaction is on your mind — especially if you are feeling an intense emotion like anger or sadness. Wait until you have had a chance to think things through and cool your head before you post a message that can’t be taken back.
Signe Whitson is an author and international educator on bullying prevention, crisis intervention, and child and adolescent emotional and behavioral health. For more information or workshop inquiries, please visit www.signewhitson.com and check out Signe’s latest book, 8 Keys to End Bullying: Strategies for Parents & Schools.
Teen Choice Awards Might Have Been Rigged, Twitter Freaks Out
They did it for the Vine.
During the Teen Choice Awards Sunday night, August 10, Vine stars, Cameron Dallas and Matthew Espinosa, exposed a possible scandal by revealing that the award show had actually contacted winners days before voting closed. Savvy Twitter users quickly posted screen grabs of the tweets and the hashtag #TeensDontHaveAChoiceAwards started trending.
That’s honestly annoying. We voted our asses off and it didn’t even count. #TeensDontHaveAChoiceAwards pic.twitter.com/RHTHNseeBc
— ur not Taylor Caniff (@Hayitschloeee) August 11, 2014
In addition to the Viners’ tweets, some tweeters also posted screen grabs from last year’s show stating that producers have the final say on the winners.
HOLY SHEETT #TeensDontHaveAChoiceAwards pic.twitter.com/Y10fwDRxRR
— *:･ﾟ✧⋆ Ella ⋆✧ *:･ﾟ (@ridedallas) August 11, 2014
Needless to say, Twitter flipped the flip out.
the perfume picture was days before the voting closed,yet they’re dressed the exactsame #teensdonthaveachoiceawards pic.twitter.com/dkEXzyOHJd
— One Direction ♕ (@1DirectionFabs) August 11, 2014
My childhood has been a lie. All the times I spent voting for nothing, lol. #TeensDontHaveAChoiceAwards pic.twitter.com/4PXaMvUVMI
— TYSM CARTER (@BeliebinMagcon) August 11, 2014
I’m probably just gonna vote for the People’s Choice Awards…….. #TeensDontHaveAChoiceAwards
— Adrian çåštrœ (@adriguzcas) August 11, 2014
Just look at how many times Adam Sandler has won for funniest male and you can tell it’s rigged #TeensDontHaveAChoiceAwards
— Christopher Palumbo (@Veroswene) August 11, 2014
Reading the reaction to the news that the Teen Choice Awards were rigged. In a related story, I can’t breathe. #TeensDontHaveAChoiceAwards
— Austin Shinn (@untitleduser) August 11, 2014
No one is watching next year! I know I’m not I’m super pissed… #TeensDontHaveAChoiceAwards
— cara hemmings/malik (@caramckeown) August 11, 2014
#TeensDontHaveAChoiceAwards I love Ariana but there is no way Beyoncé could have lost to her unless it was rigged which it was
— THANK U AUSTIN ILYSM (@RocinKidrauhl) August 11, 2014
And of course some cynical tweeters had to jump in and give their opinions.
The #TeensDontHaveAChoiceAwards hashtag is hilarious if you want to see kids learning for the first time nobody cares about their opinion.
— Maître Esquire (@SpicyTunaTroll) August 11, 2014
#TeensDontHaveAChoiceAwards This hashtag brought to you be the #RainIsWet Institute.
— Nick Sestanovich (@Nsestanovich) August 11, 2014
The practice of producers contacting winners has reportedly been in place at various award shows for a while. So though it probably won’t change anything, the Vine stars should rest assured that the unexpected backlash against the show was pretty much the equivalent of giving the Teen Choice Awards the #SmackCam.
These New Wireless Speakers Help Quell Our Music Addiction
Being music addicts, we need access to our tunes in the bedroom, living room, boardroom and dorm room – - – even outdoors, if possible. With that in mind, we took a look at five wireless speaker systems and weren’t disappointed.
On the surface, they all have the same features: Bluetooth connectivity, awesome sound and, in all but one case, portability. But there are several features that also make them “unique.”
The most expensive of this quintet is the Minx Air 100 from Cambridge Audio ($449).
The Minx Air we played with offered WiFi and Apple AirPlay connectivity in addition to Bluetooth, plus:
Internet radio, with access to thousands of stations
Support for aptX, which delivers CD-quality sound via Bluetooth
Its Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) speaker drivers vibrate horizontally delivering a wider range of sound than conventional drivers that pulsate “in and out.”
Five presets, which eliminate the need to access a smartphone app to change channels for Internet radio
Access to 20,000 Internet radio stations using the free Air app
A bass port integrated into the speaker’s handle, which acts as a subwoofer to enhance bass
At first we thought the enhancement of the “thumping lows” using the bass port would be overwhelming and, truthfully, a bit annoying. To our surprise the enhancement proved to be a welcome addition to the sound experience, proving to be subtle rather than annoying.
The folks at iLuv let us play with two new speaker systems, the SyrenPro ($129.99) and the MobiRock ($199.99).
The SyrenPro is fine as a standalone portable speaker, but really shines when it is linked to another SyrenPro, which is controlled by the first – - – or base – - – unit.
Basically the speaker is designed to deliver true stereo, or simulated surround sound, throughout the room. It can also be taken outdoors and give you up to four hours of sound using a built-in battery.
Other features include:
It’s waterproof and UV resistant
Its design allows it to deliver 360-degree sound
There are voice prompts to aid you with pairing the speaker to your mobile device and a second speaker
There’s an aux-in port to accommodate devices that don’t offer Bluetooth compatibility
jAura sound enhancement technology balances the full range of sound, from treble to bass
As with all of the others in this group of speakers, the SyrenPro delivered better sound quality than we expected from a portable speaker.
The MobiRock speaker adds NFC compatibility to Bluetooth making it easier to pair your mobile device to the speaker system. NFC is also known as near field communications, which, when enabled on your smartphone or tablet, can link your device to speakers, etc. without needing to enter a code or go through the pairing process. Simply put, and NFC-enabled allows another device to “see” it when it is within range.
The MobiRock can also charge your phone wirelessly, using Qi technology, which is showing up in many of the new smartphones and tablets. You can also purchase Qi adapters.
Basically, the MobiRock offers all of the features found in the SyrenPro (except for the ability to link to a second speaker), but there are a couple of other features that set it apart:
Top mounted, back lit touch controls for power, volume, track changes and Bluetooth and NFC pairing
An USB charging port for devices that can’t be charged wirelessly
The Albergo Clock Radio with Bluetooth from Tivoli Audio ($249.99) is a bit more than your standard AM/FM radio.
By combining the standard features of an AM/FM clock radio with Bluetooth, the folks at Tivoli have expanded its capabilities, allowing you to stream your favorite tunes to the device.
The radio is also customizable. The one we played with was a pre-production unit, so it didn’t come with any of the variety of designs now offered by Tivoli. In addition the Albergo offers the following features:
A remote control that allows you to change stations, adjust volume, access the radio’s station presets and other functions.
A telescoping antenna to receive FM signals
The ability to set the clock automatically by tuning into an FM station that offers Radio Data System (RDS) technology. This is the same technology some radio stations use to transmit the names of songs to radios, etc.
You can set the alarm using either the remote or the alarm button on the radio
A built-in equalizer and other options can be accessed by pressing the Menu/Select button on the radio or remote
Last, but the most fun to use, are Pulse by Sengled light bulbs featuring JBL sound ($169.99). Essentially, this is a pair of LED bulbs with built-in JBL speakers. You just screw them into an overhead light socket, pair them with your device and you get great sound.
Truthfully we were amazed by the sound quality these bulbs delivered, rivaling any of the other speakers featured here.
Like the SyrenPro, you wirelessly connect to a “master” bulb that controls what is played through its so-called “slave” bulbs. This includes track selection, volume and all of the other controls you’d expect from a portable speaker system.
The big difference here is the Pulse master can control up to eight additional bulbs, enabling you to play your music in multiple locations.
Other features include:
You can control the speakers and lights using a downloadable Android or iOS app.
These are LED bulbs, which mean they consume less energy than conventional light bulbs
The bulbs “dim” to a lower wattage when the speakers are activated, but you’ll hardly notice a difference
You can assign one of six different audio settings via the built-in equalizer function, and launch media players such as Pandora, Spotify and others using the smartphone app
The bulbs are rated at a life expectancy of 25,000 hours
Check out Michael Berman’s Jocgeek fan page at www.facebook.com/jocgeek, or follow him on Twitter @jocgeek. You can also contact him via email at jocgeek@earthlink.net or through his website at www.jocgeek.com.
This Water-Based Tractor Beam Could Confine Oil Spills, Control Floating Objects
We may be one step closer to building a real-life tractor beam.
Scientists in Australia have developed a water-based tractor beam, and while it’s not exactly the marvel made famous by “Star Trek,” it’s pretty darn impressive. It can control water flow patterns, maneuver floating objects and could even help confine oil spills.
“A tractor beam is a popular term which, I think it captures quite well the basic principal,” lead researcher Dr. Horst Punzmann, an engineer at the Australian National University in Canberra, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “You put an object there and it propagates, it floats backwards to the source of the wave.”
And Punzmann and his team were able to do much more than make an object change course and travel backward.
“We’ve managed to manipulate floating objects to move toward the wave, to move in the direction of the wave or to keep them stationary in the flow,” Punzmann explains in a video released by the university (see above). It shows researchers using the wave-manipulation device to steer a ping-pong ball around a tank.
To manipulate the ball, researchers first determined the size and frequency of the waves required to move it. Then they observed the surface movement produced by the waves.
“We found that above a certain height, these complex three-dimensional waves generate flow patterns on the surface of the water,” Dr. Michael Shats, a professor in the university’s College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, said in a written statement.
Shats added that existing mathematical theories cannot describe the currents produced by the larger waves.
“It’s one of the great unresolved problems, yet anyone in the bathtub can reproduce it,” he said. “We were very surprised no one had described it before.”
While the water-based tractor beam is new, Punzmann’s team is not the first to propose the idea of a working tractor beam. NASA previously awarded scientists a $100,000 grant to investigate particle-moving technology.
And in 2012, researchers in Singapore detailed how a special type of laser, called a Bessel beam, might be used to push an object backward toward the beam’s point of origin. In 2013, a team in Scotland debuted a working prototype capable of moving minuscule particles.
The new research was published in the August 2014 edition of the journal Nature Physics.
The Bullying Epidemic and Ways to Counter It
I remember reading earlier this year about the case of Michael Morones in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is an 11-year-old boy who liked the cartoon, My Little Pony. He was part of a growing fanboy base called “bronies” (bro ponies).
Unfortunately, because Michael loved My Little Pony, he was taunted and bullied at his school. The bullying became so bad that Michael tried to kill himself by hanging. His parents found him, but he had already lost a lot of oxygen to his brain and may never fully recover.
Something ugly is happening in our schools, and it’s become an epidemic. The National Education Association estimates that every day 160,000 kids miss school because they’re afraid to go and be attacked or bullied by other students. According to the National School Safety Center, there are over two million bullies in our schools who bully nearly three million students every year. Seventy one percent of students in K-12 report incidents of bullying at their school.
Bullying by our youth is getting worse but there are people and organizations out there trying to do something about it.
It’s important to start educating children when they’re young. There are some cutting edge efforts being implemented by various organizations and companies both here in the U.S. and around the world to deal with this abuse.
Lectura Books, based in Los Angeles and a leading publisher of bilingual children’s books, has released a new book called Boy Zorro and the Bully. The Pew Hispanic Research Center reports that,
In 2011, for the first time, one-quarter (25 percent) of public elementary school children were Hispanic. This follows on the heels of other Hispanic student population milestones. In 2007, more than 25 percent of all kindergarten students were Hispanic for the first time, and in 2006 Hispanics reached the one-quarter milestone among all nursery school students.
So, having a book about bullying that is in both English and Spanish and speaks to the rising epidemic of bullying is a timely idea.
As Lectura Books says,
Young elementary age students will find comfort in Boy Zorro and the Bully, a delightful story about a little boy named Benny Lopez who believes that it is his job to somehow save the world. He helps many people throughout his day, but he really has to find a solution at school when he walks into a situation where his friend is being bullied and he needs to act. Every school can also download a play about how to deal with bullying to perform at school. This book is deigned to help foster communication between parents, students and school administrators regarding their anti-bullying policy.
Bullying is not just an epidemic in the U.S. In Finland, there is a national anti-bullying program called KiVa. It is registered in 90 percent of the country’s schools and has been quite effective.
According to the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, “KiVa has been evaluated in a large randomized controlled trial including 117 intervention schools and 117 control schools. The program has been shown to reduce both self- and peer-reported bullying and victimization significantly. It influences multiple forms of victimization, including verbal, physical and cyberbullying. In addition, positive effects on school liking, academic motivation and achievement have been reported. KiVa also reduces anxiety and depression and has a positive impact on students’ perception of their peer climate. A remarkable 98 percent of victims involved in discussions with the schools’ KiVa teams felt that their situation improved. Finally, Finnish data from more than 1000 schools that started the implementation of KiVa in fall 2009 showed that after the first year of implementation, both victimization and bullying had reduced significantly.” The KiVa program is now being used in the Netherlands, Wales, the state of Delaware in the U.S., Sweden, Luxembourg and is being tested in Japan.
A big problem in today’s networked world is cyberbullying. Interestingly, one of the most successful anti-cyberbullying programs has been implemented by Riot Games, the publisher of most popular video game in the world, League of Legends. Sixty-seven million active players play the game every month. Riot Games noticed that players were being harassed in a classic case of online abuse, that is, cyberbullying.
As Wired magazine reported,
In response, the company assembled a ‘player behavior team,’ bringing together staff members with PhDs in psychology, cognitive science and neuroscience to study the issue of harassment by building and analyzing behavioral profiles for tens of millions of users.
As they looked at the problem, the behavior team realized they needed to implement a community-wide reform program.
In the end they learned that you need to “involve users in the moderation process, set defaults that create hurdles to abuse, give clearer feedback for people who misbehave and — above all — create a norm in which harassment simply isn’t tolerated.” More importantly, just because something is online doesn’t mean it’s a technological problem; it’s really a social problem.
Just like Boy Zorro and the Bully and Finland’s KiVa program, Riot Games came to the conclusion that it’s all about a “social shift in norms.”
To stop and end bullying really means setting social norms and sticking to them and making sure there are real consequences for bad behavior. It requires focus and persistence but, as Lectura Books, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, and Riot Games have learned, change occurs one step at a time. Let’s hope that with programs and books like these that there won’t be anymore young people who commit suicide or try to because they’ve been bullied. It’s time to step up and stop the madness.
Creativity Isn't Free
At a Silicon Beach conference recently there was a panel about YouTube celebrity: how to grow your following, how to keep it, how to make the analytics of that video platform bend to your will. Five panelists were celebrities by design; they took that analytics stuff seriously and made content they knew would hit big based on the trends among their target demographic.
The sixth guy had just made a cool piece of art that struck a chord so it garnered millions of views. He was the one who didn’t know what to do next.
And I was struck by this distinction between running a business and being a creator: the first requires testing, a constant back-and-forth dialogue with the audience, the customer, because if those potential customers don’t want the product or service then the product or service needs to pivot till it becomes something they do. Serving them is the point, making money is the means of knowing if that whole serving-them-thing is working, and it’s a successful business if it does both as times change.
We creatives don’t like to think of ourselves in those terms. We have a love/hate relationship with personal branding and ourselves as product (if the audience doesn’t want what I have, well screw ‘em). In our savvier moments we might think, “Of course. This is the world we live in now and branding is power. I’ll make choices about what to do next based on what will be easier to promote and how successful I think the project will be.” In our more vulnerable moments we think, “I just gotta make this thing. I’m passionate about it; I don’t care if there’s a frickin’ built-in audience. Nobody made anything important from a place of fear.”
As well we should. We can’t really make art that surprises us, that surprises a generation, that changes lives like the best stuff that changed ours, if we’re constantly A/B testing and checking the analytics.
But we might have to try.
Because we don’t really want to screw our audience. We want to be relevant, we want to make something that speaks to people and goes viral, and we may even want to make money at some point. I’m heartsick hearing about talented, brilliant actor friends who’ve been at it for a decade and are beaten down by the industry, who’ve lost their confidence somewhere in the cocktails they mix for another stranger and the yeses they say to another unpaid web gig. And who maybe even think they don’t deserve to make money, because poverty is an artist’s lot in life.
I’m pretty sure there are two types of people in the world: theater people and non-theater people.
And theater people don’t have to do — or even have ever done — theater to belong in that category. It’s a mindset. It’s an idealistic, we-spirited, gurgling river of “sure!” It’s let’s-put-on-a-show gumption and the-show-must-go-on perseverance. It’s a profound belief that what a group can make together, even in an unassuming ramshackle room, has the power to break people open, uplift society, save the world. And that that’s worth it even if there’s no money when the group disbands and leaves that room behind. Non-theater people, of course, are too practical for that crap. “Pay me,” they say.
And… they’re kinda right.
I love theater people. But I hate when they — when we — undervalue our worth. When we take a gig that pays everyone else on set but us, because we’ll be getting exposure. When we get defensive or flustered having to tell hard-skills types that we got a degree in theater, because deep down we’re still a little ashamed of being romantics and embarrassed that we think poetry might actually matter. When we let agents, or execs, or anyone dismiss us because they can, because they assume there’s a more pliable, more commercial, more symmetrical version of us about to land in LA — and there probably is. When we’re scared to walk away from a bad deal because will we ever work again?
Another panel at the Silicon Beach conference involved a website user-experience expert answering an audience question about cutting costs, with the response, “Remember, good content is expensive.” Yeah, ‘cuz web content producers have a rate and they don’t work for less. They respect what they do so the whole tech industry is forced to as well, begrudging though they may be about it.
For us creatives, our unions set our minimum under certain circumstances, but I think we have to fill in the rest. Be a guild in our own lives and in our friends’ and colleagues.’ Train our industry to respect what we do even if it secretly begrudges us. Who cares. It’s a business.
As this gentleman says:
Tell us what you’ve done to turn around an unpaid situation. Share your story.
Let’s throw some gumption on our gumption.
A version of this article first appeared in Ms. in the Biz.
Couple Dies While Trying To Take Selfie On Cliff: Report
A couple reportedly plunged to their deaths Saturday while attempting to take a selfie on a cliff in Portugal.
Touring the ocean views around Cabo de Roca, a married couple, accompanied by their two young children, posed for a photo along the cliffside in a dangerous spot past a protective barrier. According to local news reports, witnesses said the Polish couple fell while trying to take a selfie.
The children, aged 5 and 6, reportedly witnessed the fall.
Local authorities recovered two bodies from the bottom of the cliff on Sunday. They are estimated to have plunged about 260 feet into the ravine below.
The two children were taken into custody by Polish officials shortly after the incident. They are currently receiving psychological care and are expected to be reunited with family members who are en route to Portugal.
Meanwhile, police are investigating the circumstances of the deaths, which have thus far been labeled an accident in news reports.
Sadly, this is not the first time someone has suffered grave injuries while attempting to take a photo. In another incident reported earlier this month, a man is believed to have accidentally killed himself while posing for a selfie with a loaded gun.
Clarification: The text has been updated to clarify that the couple was from Poland.
These Men Say The 'Kim Kardashian: Hollywood' Game Isn't Just For Women
Kim Kardashian venturing into the mobile app market was hardly a surprise, and the subsequent success of the virtual-celebrity game was equally predictable (it’s currently the third most popular iPhone app). But that men would unabashedly play “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood” to no end? That was certainly unexpected.
One such devout player — Greg Seales, a writer for the Daily Dot — touts having successfully hacked the game by downloading a file that offers infinite energy packs — or “K-star Packs” — so the player can become “an A-lister overnight, completely for free.”
“Some people think [hacking the game] is more similar to the Kardashians, because they kind of hacked their way to fame, if you will,” he told HuffPost Live’s Caitlyn Becker on Monday.
Despite being a fan of the show, he said he doesn’t feel he owes the famous family any money, though he would gladly shell out for a “Khloe expansion pack.”
Kevin Fanning, an author as well as a proud “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood” player, claims the app is “definitely not just a girl thing or woman thing.”
“I definitely have always been super interested in the Kardashians, and Kim especially, but it’s not just that,” he said.
The game “sort of encapsulates something that’s happening in our culture right now,” he explained, “where there’s …[this] ability to sudden[ly] become famous sort of out of nowhere that kind of almost mirrors a lot of what’s happening on the Internet lately.”
According to Fanning, the democracy of the Internet makes the game feel more realistic, and therefore more rewarding to play.
“There’s something really interesting in this story about starting from nowhere and working your way up and becoming really famous that is really, really fun in a game,” he said. “It’s something that seems really, really accessible in real life to an extent that it never has in the past.”
Watch the clip above to hear more about what’s drawing these dudes to the Kim Kardashian igame.
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If You Thought You Were Mad At Comcast Before, Listen To This Phone Call
A frustrated Comcast customer has apparently discovered one way to avoid terrible service from a cable company: Record every conversation you have with it.
An Oregon man, who goes by “Tim Davis” online, on Sunday published a recording of a series of phone calls he had with Comcast customer service representatives after his Internet went on the fritz. Those recordings saved him from $182 in bogus charges, he claimed.
At first, Comcast told him that he wouldn’t be charged for fixing his service, but then gave him a surprise bill for $182. The company insisted he pay that bill — until he told customer service that he had recorded all their past conversations.
Comcast customers around the country consistently have nightmarish customer-service experiences. Comcast is currently seeking regulatory approval to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion, a deal that would make the largest cable company in the world even bigger. Critics of the deal argue that a telecom so large would have even less reason to offer decent customer service.
When Tim, who declined to share his real last name to protect his privacy, moved to a new apartment in Eugene, Oregon, about a month ago, he installed his modem and set up his Wi-Fi himself, he said on his YouTube account. Soon after, his Internet connection began to stop working for 5 to 10 minutes at a time.
“I do a lot of work from home, and it was an issue not having Internet,” Tim told the Huffington Post over the phone. He said he works as a senior IT analyst for a large company.
He called Comcast. Tim and the representative figured out that the problem was caused by the cable outside of the apartment and that Tim hadn’t done anything wrong. The rep said Tim wouldn’t be charged for the repair. He recorded this call and all his subsequent ones, which you can listen to below. The story was first picked up by the Consumerist.
But after a Comcast technician fixed the problem, Tim was billed $132 for failing to install his modem properly, which was never the issue. To boot, he was charged another $50 for having Comcast set up his Wi-Fi network — something Tim had already done himself.
So he called up Comcast again. Tim said he was put on hold for an hour before he hung up. When he called back, a rep named Daisy said she had good news: Comcast had subtracted $100 from his bill for “service discounts.”
But that left Tim still on the hook for the remaining $82. When he protested, Daisy offered to upgrade his Internet connection instead of refunding him, arguing that there was simply no way she could remove the charges or reimburse his account.
Tim said he had a recording of a phone call in which Comcast told him he wouldn’t be charged. Finally, after one more phone call, Comcast backed down and gave him back his money.
“Why were you not able to do that before?” Tim asked.
“Again, that is a valid charge,” Daisy said. “But since I advised my manager that there is a recording, and you were misinformed, then he’s the one who can approve that $82.”
“You’re telling me that if I didn’t have a recording of that call, you wouldn’t have been able to do it,” he said.
“That is correct, yes.”
Comcast told HuffPost that it’s investigating the calls.
“This is not the type of experience we want our customers to have, and we will reach out to Mr. Davis to apologize to him,” Comcast representative Jenni Moyer said. “Our policy is not to charge for service visits that are related to problems with our equipment or network. We are looking into this to understand what happened and why it happened.”
As an IT specialist, Tim said that he has trained tech support teams before. “The reason I recorded this call is that I expected this,” he said.
What he didn’t expect was the tremendous reaction to his video on websites like Reddit, where his video became the top post shortly after it was published.
“If you look at the comments on Reddit, hundreds of people have had the same experience,” he said.
Last month, Comcast made headlines after another customer recorded and published a phone call with customer service. In that call, a Comcast rep refused to let a couple cancel their service when they wanted to switch cable and Internet providers.
Internal documents later published by The Verge show how Comcast’s “retention specialists” systematically try to dissuade subscribers from canceling.
Earlier this year, a survey of 70,000 U.S. consumers found that cable companies and Internet service providers each constituted the two most hated industries in the entire U.S. economy. Comcast, which is in both businesses, was rated the second-lowest in customer satisfaction in the two sectors.
(h/t Reddit via Consumerist)
This post has been updated throughout to reflect comments from Tim.
(VIDEO) Ebuzzing's Daily: We'll Be 30% Programmatic In Three Years
Online video ad technology group Ebuzzing reckons nearly a third of its business will be made up from automated ad trading, as it increasingly creates private ad marketplaces with trading desks.
“We work with Xaxis, Accuen, Vivaki and these trading desks to build our specific, high-quality marketplaces,” according to the company’s north America GM Jim Daily.
“Our programatic side of the business is straight video units where you just need an MP4 or YouTube link to go live in 10 to 15 minutes… that business will shift subtly to programmatic over the next two to three years … 30% programmatic and 70% managed serves in a year or two.”
You can find this post on Beet.TV.
Watch This Teen Age From 12 To 19 In Just Over A Minute
Ever wondered how much your face ages in a day, or a year, or even over the course of seven years? Well, 19-year-old Hugo Cornellier has the answer — and the video to prove it.
From age 12 to 19, Hugo took a selfie every single day, resulting in what is most likely the coolest 1 minute and 34 seconds you will see today. Throughout the video, his long hair, beard, and background guests come and go, but all the while we’re able to recognize Hugo’s face, maintaining the same expression throughout.
Check out the video above to see the seven year time lapse and join us in wishing our selfies were this awesome.
[h/t: Elite Daily]
Buzzfeed receives $50m investment
A venture capitalist firm has invested $50m in the internet-media company Buzzfeed to expand coverage and produce more videos.
New 'Nathan For You' Stunt Counts On Pregnant Women Giving Birth In Cabs
Nathan Fielder has no shortage of bizarre ideas on how to improve business, but only this one counts on a child being born in the process.
In a preview clip from this week’s “Nathan For You,” Nathan pitches a ridiculous new scheme to a struggling cab driver whose business has taken a hit due to ride-share programs like Uber.
Could providing free cab rides for pregnant women be a good thing? Of course. But if Nathan has his way, at least one of the moms-to-be will already be a mother by the time she exits the vehicle.
“Nathan For You” airs Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. ET on Comedy Central
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