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.
UBS raises AAPL target to $125, cites iPhone 6 Plus demand
Financial analyst Steve Milunovich from UBS has raised that firm’s target price on Apple stock by $10, to $125, based on a survey showing strong demand for the iPhone 6 Plus in China and other countries. Polling some 4,000 respondents across the US, UK, Italy and mainland China, Milunovich found strong demand for the larger, 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus in all the countries, but particularly in China. The 64GB model appeared to be the most popular choice among potential buyers, which included a third who are current Samsung phone owners.
Man Spends More Than $80,000 On iPhones To Propose To His Girlfriend
What do you do with 99 iPhones? Use them to propose to your girlfriend, naturally.
A resident of Guangzhou, China, spent more than $80,000 — about double his salary — on nearly 100 iPhone 6s to pop the question, according to multiple reports. He stacked the boxes to form a heart, guided his girlfriend inside the creation and proposed in front of his friends and colleagues. Her answer? Well, according to a Huffington Post translation, she hasn’t yet agreed.
Photos of the proposal surfaced on China’s social media network Weibo, as well as on Twitter.
Guy buys 99 ‘iPhone 6′s ($82,000) to confess to his friend during China’s “Single Day”, and he gets rejected pic.twitter.com/P6JafFCpCI
— rae (@ljoesonly) November 11, 2014
The man proposed just before Nov. 11, which is China’s National Singles’ Day. The day isn’t quite what it sounds like, though. Instead of celebrating single people, the date is seen as the perfect time for people to end their singledom.
“[The Chinese] see it as an end date,” Yue Xu, a Chinese-American TV host and producer, told Time about the holiday. “This is the last day I’m going to be single.”
It’s also a day when people do a lot of online shopping to impress that special someone. (According to Time, 2013′s Singles’ Day resulted in $5.8 billion in sales over a 24-hour period.) A few reports have noted the proposal story could be a viral marketing scheme for this reason.
Apparently inspired by the novelty of this man’s 99-iPhone proposal, CNN put together a list of other creative proposals involving a rather large quantity of items. For example, the outlet noted a man named Dou Ziwang proposed to his girlfriend by forming two big hearts made from 99,999 red chili peppers, while another proposed by floating down from a building, holding 9,999 balloons.
Points for creativity.
Yahoo snaps up BrightRoll for $640m
Technology giant Yahoo said it will buy digital video advertising service BrightRoll for $640m (£402m).
U.S. Telecoms To Battle Obama Internet Plan In Courts, Congress
By Alina Selyukh and Diane Bartz
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. telecommunications industry plans to fight tooth and nail against President Barack Obama’s call for stricter regulations on Internet service providers, taking its case to regulators, courts and Congress.
Obama on Monday stunned the telecom community by urging the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify ISPs so they could be regulated more like public utilities as a way to preserve “net neutrality.”
The industry bristled at the threat of tight, utility-style regulations. “It’s like trying to swat a fly with a hammer,” said one cable lobbyist.
If lobbying the FCC fails, the telecoms industry could turn to a legal fight in a court that in the past has been favorable for the industry, as well as making an appeal to regulation-averse congressional Republicans to intervene.
“We want to convince the commission of having a legally sustainable option,” said one telecom lobbyist, who spoke anonymously to discuss ongoing work. “But we’ll be prepared to fight another day in courts and on the Hill.”
Experts were split on whether the administration or the telecom industry would prevail in court. Much depends on the wording of the rules, which the FCC has not written.
Litigation seems certain if FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler proposes rules in line with Obama’s request. However, Wheeler had favored a less aggressive approach as a way to stake out stronger legal ground.
A legal fight, already threatened by AT&T, would likely begin at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which rejected the FCC’s earlier net neutrality rules in 2010 and 2014, and could land in the Supreme Court.
“Two things are likely to happen very quickly. There will be an appeal from the network owners. They will seek a stay from the D.C. circuit, which they will get,” said Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America.
The ISPs would likely argue the FCC was being arbitrary and capricious in its rules and that putting Internet providers under a more lenient regulatory regime has been and remains appropriate.
As consumer advocates argue that a stronger regulatory approach would give the FCC proper legal cover, some observers believe the ISPs could prevail.
“If we take a ‘Moneyball’ approach and say past performance predicts future results, we’d have to believe that the FCC will lose in the courts,” said Richard Bennett, a telecommunications expert at the American Enterprise Institute.
In a related case in 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the FCC had discretion to interpret what should be classified as a less-regulated “information” service versus more regulated “telecommunications” service. In that case, however, the FCC chose not to put stricter classification on Internet providers.
But lobbyists said Congress created the statute and a congressional effort to rewrite the Communications Act presented an opportunity.
“The right way to settle these questions is for the legislative branch to weigh in and tell us what the law should be,” said the telecom lobbyist.
(Reporting by Alina Selyukh and Diane Bartz; Editing by Ros Krasny and Ken Wills)
VIDEO: Selfies used as 'spoof proof' IDs
A facial recognition start-up attempts to use selfies as a means to verify people’s ID for banking transactions, but experts have security concerns.
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Best Buy to offer deals on iPad Air 2, Macs for Black Friday
The “doorbuster” deals for Best Buy’s Black Friday event have been published, and reveal that the chain will offer discounts on various Apple products, among other items. Of particular interest is a $100 discount on all models of the new iPad Air 2, reducing the entry-level model’s price to just $400 but also applying to all other capacities, including the Wi-Fi + Cellular models. Macs, iPods, iTunes gift cards and even Beats headphones will also see discounts.
VIDEO: The device that blocks surveillance
BBC Click talks to the team behind an anti-surveillance device.
Pondering life after Warcraft
Warcraft is 10-years-old – but are its days numbered?
French Initiative Can Boost Standing as Innovation Leader
Home to the second largest economy in the EU and the fifth largest economy in the world, France is increasingly a bright light for the tech industry in Europe. But more can be done to propel France as a long-term world innovation leader.
France is a digitally connected nation, and the French people are highly enthusiastic about tech. According to Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® research, four in five French adults are using the Internet, putting France on par with the United States and tech-friendly Eastern Europe — Czech Republic, Poland and Russia. The average online French household was home to 7.7 consumer technology products.
France’s technology consumption is largely driven by entertainment. In fact, France ranks highest among all countries surveyed, with 57 percent of online adults citing entertainment as their main reason for purchasing electronics. The French focus on innovation was clearly seen at this year’s International CES held in the United States, with more than 1,600 attendees, exhibitors and press from France – up almost 25 percent from 2013. And more than 70 French companies are expected to exhibit at the 2015 CES in a wide range of sectors, including health and fitness, wearable tech, unmanned systems, 3D printing, smart home and more.
France’s influence in the global tech community continues to grow. Last year, in recognition of France’s role as a significant tech hub driving global innovation, CEA held CES Unveiled Paris, a showcase of ground-breaking innovations from French and international startups and established brands. Due to its resounding success, CEA returned to France this year for the second annual CES Unveiled Paris on Oct. 22. Some of the country’s most innovative companies were featured, including Archos, Parrot, Withings, MyFox, BewellConnect.
France is Europe’s hotspot for innovation, with 12 French companies among the 100 most innovative organizations in the world as named by Thomson Reuters in 2013, ahead of Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium. In the emerging drone market, expected to reach $300 million in global factory-to-dealer sales by 2018, French company Parrot is setting itself apart. One of Parrot’s drones, the eBee AG, was recently ranked as one of the best six drones for use in agriculture today. This kind of innovation is an example of why France is also home to Europe’s largest aerospace and nuclear industry.
But CEA research also shows that more can be done to improve the country’s tech infrastructure. Only about half — 49 percent — of online French adults agree that there is “sufficient infrastructure in place to support the latest technology in my country.” That’s compared to 53 percent in the U.S. This stands in stark contrast to China, where 78 percent of people believe there is sufficient infrastructure to support the latest technology.
La French Tech initiative between the French government and private enterprises may help close the gap. This €200 million initiative aims to stimulate growth by offering all sorts of resources — mentoring, funding, recruitment, industrial resources, market access, etc. Embracing innovation as a national strategy is one of the best ways to strengthen your economy and brand your country.
But to compete globally, France must go further. It needs to recognize that startups thrive when labor laws favor worker flexibility, restricting work hours hurt startups competiveness, especially in a business environment when first to market matters. Similarly, global businesses require some basic certainty and infrastructure and the frequency of transportation strikes concerns potential investors. More, tax laws should favor investment and startups and content should be available in any language without limits on non-French content.
France is in a great position. It leads the world in the sensual delights of fashion, food, perfume, wine and simply beautiful merchandising. But the digital arena requires investment, flexibility and a global perspective. The French gave us the word entrepreneur and the spirit of entrepreneurship cannot be overwhelmed by the other gift of the French of the word bureaucrat.
Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, the U.S. trade association representing more than 2,000 consumer electronics companies, and author of the New York Times best-selling books, Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses and The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream. His views are his own. Connect with him on Twitter: @GaryShapiro
4 Of The Coolest Health Innovations Of The Year Came From The Military
There’s a government division whose only job is to research and develop new technology that helps revolutionize the U.S. military. It’s called the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and while most of its scientific breakthroughs relate directly to warfare, DARPA scientists had a hand in creating major innovations that ended up improving everyone’s lives for the better: modern computing, GPS technology and voice-recognition capability (hello, Siri!).
In honor of Veteran’s Day, we’ve rounded up the coolest health-related DARPA projects of 2014 that (hopefully) have exciting applications for civilians, too.
1. This soft, lightweight exosuit mimics the actions of leg muscles and tendons.
Soldiers need to jump, squat, run and march while carrying very big packs on their back. This lightweight exosuit, which is like a wetsuit worn under a normal pair of pants, can help soldiers avoid injury by strengthening their ability to carry heavy loads. But the exosuit has more potential uses beyond warfare. In the video below, Conor Walsh, Ph.D. of Harvard’s Wyss Institute, describes how the suit could one day be used to help people with disabilities walk more smoothly and easily.
“With these systems, our goal is to apply small amounts of assistance to positively impact the mobility of both healthy people and people with physical disabilities,” said Walsh.
“We’re really excited about its potential for the elderly or the military or first responders, for people performing athletic activities,” Walsh continued. “The potential is really just enormous.”
Soft Robotic Exosuit from Wyss Institute on Vimeo.
2. Think of these as prosthetics for your brain.
These wireless, implantable devices, called “neuroprosthetics,” will be able to help people overcome memory loss as a result of traumatic brain injury or disease. They work by helping “bridge the gaps” in damaged parts of the brain, which will then allow a person to either make new memories or remember old ones.
The effort is being led by teams from UCLA and Penn, who are approaching the project in slightly different ways. UCLA is focusing on the entorhinal area of the brain, which has been previously shown to facilitate human memory if stimulated. Penn, on the other hand, is working on understanding how wider regions of the brain work together to form a memory. The project is called Restoring Active Memory (RAM program) and will be funded for four years.
Traumatic brain injury is caused by a blow or a bump to the head, and is estimated to affect 1.7 million people in the U.S. every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. TBIs are also a contributing factor to 30.5 percent of all injury-related deaths in the U.S. TBI has also affected military members; 270,000 have been diagnosed with TBI since 2000, according to DARPA.
3. Inspired by the human spleen, this box filters blood.
Sepsis is the body’s extreme inflammatory response to a bacterial infection. It affects 18 million people a year worldwide and kills 30-50 percent of them. This invention mimics the human spleen by removing dangerous pathogens from the blood, reducing sepsis response. Sepsis is usually treated with antibiotics, but the treatment isn’t an optimal one, as it takes time to correctly identify the infection-causing bacteria and determine the best antibiotic to fight it. But the hope with this shoebox-sized prototype is that the body’s blood can be cleaned within hours, eliminating the need for physicians to figure out with pathogen is sickening the patient. Learn more about how the dialysis-type machine works, from the scientists at Harvard’s Wyss Institute:
New Bioinspired Approach to Sepsis Therapy from Wyss Institute on Vimeo.
4. Human beings will be able to scale glass walls like a gecko.
These climbing paddles, developed as part of DARPA’s Z-Man program, help humans scale glass walls like a gecko. Its military applications are obvious; they allow fighters to scale walls in urban areas while carrying a “full combat load” on their back. Dr. Matt Goodman, Z-Man’s program manager, explains how the gecko inspired its development:
The gecko is one of the champion climbers in the Animal Kingdom, so it was natural for DARPA to look to it for inspiration in overcoming some of the maneuver challenges that U.S. forces face in urban environments … Like many of the capabilities that the Department of Defense pursues, we saw with vertical climbing that nature had long since evolved the means to efficiently achieve it. The challenge to our performer team was to understand the biology and physics in play when geckos climb and then reverse-engineer those dynamics into an artificial system for use by humans.
The paddles’ best performance thus far: a 218-pound climber carrying a 50-pound pack was able to scale 25 feet on a vertical glass surface, notes DARPA.
We’re not going to lie — there don’t seem to be any specific civilian applications for this one. It’s just really, really cool.
Military Community Shares Innovative Ideas That Are Changing Our World
Got Your 6 wants all Americans to see the military community like it does.
The nonprofit, which works to empower military members to become leaders in their own communities after serving, launched its Storytellers 2014 series this week on YouTube. The initiative features “some of our country’s best and brightest veterans” in business, politics, the arts and everything between explain their ideas to make positive change.
Watch six Storytellers share their thoughts below:
More Leadership to Silicon Valley
Don Faul: Head of Operations at Pinterest, served as an Infantry and Reconnaissance leader in the U.S. Marine Corps
I’ve Spent My Life Unf–king Problems
Becky Kanis Margiotta: Co-founder of the Billions Institute, commanded two Special Operations/Airborne companies in the U.S. Army
Can You See the Existential Threats?
Eli Williamson: Director of the Veterans Program at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, former staff sergeant with the U.S. Army
The Things We Carry
Michaela Coplen: Essayist, poet and advocate, from a military family
A Blood Red Moon
Phil Klay: Author of the short story collection “Redeployment,” Marine Corps veteran
Bridging the Civil-Military Divide
Emily Nunez Cavness: Co-founder of Sword & Plough, active duty U.S. Army Officer
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Prince Took His First Selfie With A Real Camera
Today in Prince: Prince took his first selfie. Here’s more from the rock icon’s publicist:
Prince used an old-school camera because he doesn’t own a cellphone. He jokingly says, “We ban their usage anywhere around Us because We’re allergic 2 lithium and ‘Everybodyelsies.’”
We can’t top that. Not even going to try. Take a look at the photo below.
Photo: Facebook
'Candy Crush' Sequel Launches On Smartphones
“Candy Crush” fans, it’s time to get excited. A sister to the mega-hit puzzle game has finally made its way to iOS and Android.
The new game, which was released on Facebook in October, launched on smartphone devices on Tuesday. It’s called “Candy Crush Soda Saga,” and the concept is fairly similar to the original: You’re still in the world known as “Candy Kingdom,” and you’re still matching three or more candies in horizontal or vertical rows.
There are five new levels, including one in which you fill a board with soda by matching new bottle icons (hence: “soda saga”) and another involving floating gummy bears.
Free the floating bears!
You’ll also be challenged to release the bears from honey, chip them out of ice and finally clear the board of chocolate. There are 135 levels, with more to come.
Destroy all chocolate!
Like the original, the game is free to download, but there are in-app purchases that help you advance. Or you can continue to beg your friends for lives via Facebook.
The game’s developer, King Digital Entertainment, which went public in March, has more than 495 million monthly active players across all its games. Candy Crush alone has around 348 million monthly users, the company recently reported.
While the games are lucrative — Candy Crush generated $264 million just in the last quarter — the company’s stock has been up and down lately.
Tibetan Monks Plagued By Cyber Attacks Pledging To 'Detach From Attachments'
DHARAMSALA, India (AP) — Buffeted by persistent cyberattacks, Tibetan monks are giving new meaning to their ancient creed: Detach from attachments.
“Attachment can lead you to all sort of trouble and we Buddhists believe that non-attachment alone can lead you to happiness,” 30-year-old monk Jamyang Palden told The Associated Press at a cafe in the Indian hill town of Dharamsala, before giving the philosophy its Information Age twist: “We have to learn to be suspicious of email attachments.” The Internet safety slogan, one of several messages championed by digital security group Tibet Action Institute, is an example of how human rights defenders are seeking creative ways to protect activists from electronic espionage.
“It’s cheesy, but it’s memorable,” said Freya Putt, a Vancouver-based activist.
There’s little doubt that groups like Tibet Action need protection. A major study published Tuesday by Internet watchdog Citizen Lab shows that it and other civil society organizations have been penetrated by cyberspies, many of them linked to China. And the report says that those behind the compromises are the same hackers responsible for high-profile attacks on major multinationals and Western governments.
“They’re using the same weaponry, the same arsenal — indiscriminately,” said Citizen Lab director Ronald Deibert.
Deibert’s study draws on four years of research with Tibet Action and nine other cooperating civil society groups. Eight are China or Tibet-focused; two are large international human rights organizations.
Altogether the groups forwarded more than 800 suspicious emails to Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs. Experts there scanned the emails for malicious software, checked several organizations’ networks for intruders, interviewed campaigners and, in the case of one particularly hard-hit human rights organization, combed through half a dozen hard drives.
All 10 groups were compromised at some point during the study, many of them through emails carrying booby-trapped attachments.
In a 2012 attack email shared with the AP, Tibet Action’s director Lhadon Tethong was approached by a hacker impersonating a well-known China scholar, asking whether she would proof-read a list of Tibetans who have set themselves on fire in protest against the government in Beijing.
“Would you please have a look and make necessary corrections?” the email asks.
That attack failed — Tethong sensed a trap when she noticed the email did not come from the scholar’s professional address — but others succeeded. Deibert said one rights group had its network compromised by “APT1″ — a prolific hacking crew whose activities have been tied to China’s People’s Liberation Army — for 20 months.
The Chinese Embassy in London did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the report. Beijing is often accused of masterminding electronic attacks against an array of targets, including human rights groups. It’s a charge it regularly denies.
Most targets of the attacks studied by Citizen Lab are anonymous, something Deibert says is in part because security holes identified by his colleagues remain unpatched. That means the organizations could be at greater risk if their names got out.
Others may simply fear losing face.
“There’s still a stigma in some circles around computer breaches of any sort,” Deibert said.
That isn’t an issue for Tibet Action, whose work is centered on raising awareness about online threats.
The efforts involve comic strips which portray Tibetans being spied through their webcams or their smartphones by glowering Chinese officers with 1950s-style headsets, and a video skit in which “Attachment” — played by a grinning Tibetan amateur — sneaks into a man’s home and steals his wallet.
It may be corny but trainer Lobsang Gyatso Sither says the humor works. Sither shows the film and repeats the ‘Detach from Attachments’ mantra at digital security classes he teaches in Dharamsala and elsewhere.
Palden, the monk, appears to have gotten the point. He tapes over his Mac’s webcam, takes the battery out of his Nokia handset when he doesn’t want to be tracked and avoids popular Chinese chat program QQ. And he has absorbed the main message: “I do not open attachments from sources I do not trust,” he said.
Deibert says the plight of people like Palden is often lost amid a cybersecurity debate which focuses on attacks against Fortune 500 companies and high-powered defense contractors.
“Ironically we are spotlighting the organizations that are the most equipped, that have the most resources and capacity to throw at the problem while leaving aside the organizations that could use the most help,” Deibert said.
He said one solution might be for human rights organizations — and their funders — to follow Tibetan Action’s example in opening up about the threats they face.
“I’m not a Buddhist,” Deibert said, “but groups around the world could learn a lot from the Tibetans.”
___
Satter reported from London.
___
Online:
Citizen Lab’s report: https://www.targetedthreats.net
Tibet Action Institute: https://tibetaction.net
___
Raphael Satter can be reached at: http://raphae.li
The Last Generation of Kids That Played Outside
A scary thought hit me while eating breakfast the other day: We’re slowly killing the future of innovation.
Let me explain.
Consider the iPad — The iPad was invented and built by grownups who had to play outside when they were kids. Fast forward to this current generation where the majority of kids sit inside staring at… an iPad.
It sounds funny, but the iPad may actually cause future “iPads” from being dreamed, invented and built.
From the moment we all held an iPad, we knew it was a remarkable piece of technology and art. To build it, a team of brilliant people had to solve crucial problems, invent countless components and continually choose to not give up.
I remember a story one Apple executive told of his team receiving all the parts for the new iPad and then having to figure out how to fit them all into the smallest shell possible. It had to be thin, light and beautiful. How did they do it?
Not only that, but how did they think to create something like an iPad in the first place?
Then I remembered growing up in the small town of West Linn, Oregon. Many days were spent running around in the backyard, hooking up hoses, sprinklers and water-switches to create cool water shows. I remembered building forts with tarps and wood. I even remembered creating little ant houses with small twigs for walls, ramps and furniture.
I thought back to racing out to my garden the morning after planting beans or peas to see if they had magically sprouted over night, or making whistles by blowing on thick blades of grass. I remembered grabbing some pieces of scrap wood, a hammer and nails to try to make a birdhouse.
I recalled discovering a tiny maple tree leaf sticking out of the ground — and noticing it was connected to the dirt. I remembered digging it up and replanting it in a proper place in the backyard. I watered and nurtured it until I moved out, watching it grow from a single leaf into a beautiful, full grown, 30 foot tree that provided shade for our house.
Then, in the winter months when it was too cold to be outside, the thousands of hours creating whole worlds, governments and economies out of Legos and Monopoly money. I didn’t like sets — I just wanted a bucket of Legos to build whatever my little head could dream up.
If you’re over the age of 20 or 30, I’m sure you have similar stories of adventures in the woods — of having to solve problems and think outside the box. You probably recall creating your own fun with seemingly boring items.
You weren’t dependent on someone else’s creativity and ingenuity. You knew how to dream.
You didn’t need someone to entertain you or design things for you to have fun with. You could create a game with pinecones and sticks.
When this past generation of Apple creators sat down to dream up the next product, I believe they subconsciously drew back on their own “backyard” roots.
They knew how to solve problems because they had solved them before. They knew how to dream up new possibilities because they had been doing that since they were a kid.
This brings me to the startling truth: If we allow the current generation to be satisfied thinking within a 9.7‑inch box, we’ll rob them of the curiosity and creativity that it took to build that very device they’re holding.
If we don’t remove easy entertainment from our children, they’ll never learn to create their own.
I don’t know what the answer is for your family and your children — but we must be drastic. It’s time to stop saying, “But it’s just easier to plop them down with the iPad.” Or, “They’ll throw a fit if they don’t get to play with my iPhone.”
Even Steve Jobs, the visionary behind the iPad, didn’t let his kids use the iPad. He pushed them to play outside, read books and be fascinated with good conversation.
It’s time to look inward. Are we losing the sense of wonder that we used to posses? Are our children simply following in our footsteps? Are we grownups forgetting the adventures we had? Are we lazily reading Twitter instead of showing our kids the endless possibilities of curiosity and dreams?
We have the potential to create a new generation of kids who can imagine and explore — who can think outside the box and create exciting things.
If we don’t, those little maple leafs will go unplanted and eventually die. The ants won’t have a fort to play in. The beans and peas won’t have a friend to look after them everyday — and, more importantly, the future “iPads” (or whatever is next) won’t be created.
Let’s raise a generation of kids that build bird houses and sprinkler shows. A generation that plants bean seeds, maple leafs or whatever else their minds can dream up.
Their future depends on it.
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
– Thomas A. Edison
'Snail Mail My Email' Is Back And Reminding Us To Put Down Our Phones
No matter how cute the stationery, bringing back actual letter writing can be a hard sell. There’s remembering how to actually write legibly, for starters, and then hoping all your handwritten hard work actually reaches its recipients some time this year. But if there were ever a time to give this lost art another try, it’s right now, when San Francisco artist Ivan Cash runs his week-long “Snail Mail My Email” campaign.
From November 10 through the 16th, Cash is inviting visitors to his site “to type a message to anyone— family, friend, secret crush, or congressional representative” and submit it through the online form where he and his team will transcribe it and mail it as an actual, handwritten note — for free.
Finished all the letters right before thanksgiving! Sent them all over the world (US, Spain, India, England…) #snailmail #snailmailmyemail #vscocam
A photo posted by Melmo Chan (@melanisaurus) on Dec 12, 2013 at 12:50pm PST
Remind someone. #narwhal #sailboat #snailmailmyemail #superb #pachygerm #post #snailmail
A photo posted by Lara Buelow (@pachygerm) on Dec 12, 2013 at 8:32pm PST
Granted, the process of having an actual letter written for you might not spur a trip to the stationery store, but for those on the receiving end, it could. Or, there are these inspired ideas for bringing back snail mail that we spotted over on Pinterest.
Follow Stephanie Baxter’s board Snail mail on Pinterest.
Follow Fox and Star’s board Snail Mail ✉ on Pinterest.
H/T Laughing Squid
Ted Cruz Wants to Shut Down the Internet Just Like He Shut Down the Government
It was not by coincidence that Texas Senator Ted Cruz came out against Net Neutrality almost immediately after President Obama made public comments in support of an open Internet. If Obama is for it, then Cruz must be against it. It’s a predictable political move for an aspiring presidential candidate from the Tea Party. It also demonstrates a complete lack of understanding about how the Internet works. Fortunately for Ted Cruz, The Oatmeal does a great job of explaining it.
Nor is it coincidental that Cruz compared Net Neutrality to Obamacare. “Obamacare” is the strongest pejorative in the admittedly limited Tea Party vocabulary. Once again, Cruz’s dog whistle language was carefully chosen to incite low-information voters to act against their own economic interests and personal freedoms. Never mind that the end of Net Neutrality will result in higher Internet rates, restrictions on Internet content, potential First Amendment violations, and limited access to markets for struggling small businesses and Internet startups. The only time Right-wing Republicans feel more patriotic than when they are giving money to giant corporations in exchange for substandard services is when they are denying some type of service or basic human right to people who live in poverty. In the mind of Ted Cruz, the same Tea Partiers who rejected Obamacare must now reject Net Neutrality.
If Cruz wants to compare Net Neutrality to the Affordable Care Act, then he should go all the way and point out that his home state’s rejection of Obamacare has resulted in the loss of billions of health care dollars for Texas and left Texas with more uninsured people than any other state. The rejection of Net Neutrality would have a similar effect on the quality of the Internet, except it would not be limited to Texas.
Cruz may also have been motivated by his obligations to campaign donors. Federal Election Commission records show that Cruz received donations of $5000 from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, $5000 from Time Warner Cable, $1000 from Verizon, $1000 from Viacom, and thousands of dollars from other donors in the cable industry. These reported donations do not include so-called “dark money” contributions from donors that are protected by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizen’s United from having to disclose their political donations. The proposed two-tiered Internet would mean the end of Net Neutrality and would give preferential treatment to large corporations while relegating small companies and startups to an Internet slow lane, killing the web presence of small businesses. As Republicans are fond of pointing out, small businesses are the real job creators in the United States. By killing Net Neutrality, Ted Cruz is essentially killing small businesses and job creators that are too small to pony up a minimum contribution of $1000. A statesman would put the needs of his constituents ahead of the demands of his corporate donors. Ted Cruz is no statesman.
Ted Cruz is trying to convince people that Net Neutrality is Obama’s latest attempt at a government takeover of private industry. In reality — a word that is not often connected to Ted Cruz — Net Neutrality is the original state of the Internet, the Internet as it was intended to be and as it has been since its inception. It has allowed the Internet and Internet-based businesses to flourish. Without Net Neutrality, it is unlikely that there would be a YouTube, Facebook, or Amazon. Ted Cruz wants to kill the next generation of Internet entrepreneurs.
Unfortunately, while Cruz is not a statesman, he is a member of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet. As such, he is in a position to shut down the Internet as we know it. Let your Senators and Representatives know that Net Neutrality is important, even if your Senator is Ted Cruz and one of his friends. This is not just about the Internet. This is about giving all Americans equal access to the same opportunities, the same information, and the level of same services. It’s about Democracy, Free Enterprise, Innovation, and Free Speech — things that Republicans at one time stood for, before they simply stood for being against the president.
Bob Seay is the Editor of NewsPrism.com
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