CW

"Azuma Makoto's "Iced Flowers" is a time-based installation of flowers in frozen blocks that "change themselves over time."" - CW

Just in time for Valentines day.. - CW

You can't switch that off without rooting? - Stephen Mack

Was thinking of testing the waters with the GF's old iPhone 5s. I'll try it out before deciding. :) - CW

"This weekend a gay Alabama politician, frustrated by her colleagues' reaction to a gay marriage bill, threatened to reveal which of them are currently having extramarital affairs. State Rep. Patricia Todd posted the message on Facebook this weekend, promising to out the cheaters, the Times Daily reported: "I will not stand by and allow legislators to talk about 'family values' when they have affairs, and I know of many who are and have," Todd, the state's only openly gay lawmaker, said on Facebook over the weekend. "I will call our elected officials who want to hide in the closet out." Todd was responding to comments from her fellow lawmakers after Friday's decision by a federal judge to overturn the state's ban on same-sex marriages. "It is pretty well known that we have people in Montgomery who are or have had affairs …" Todd told the TimesDaily this morning. "I just want them to be careful what they're saying, some of it might come back to stick on them." And it could get good: Todd—the first and only openly gay politician in Alabama—tells the Huffington Post she's prepared to bring up rumors and see what happens. "If certain people come out and start espousing this rhetoric about family values, then I will say, 'Let's talk about family values, because here's what I heard.' I don't have direct knowledge, because obviously I'm not the other person involved in the affair. But one thing you would never hear about me is that I ever cheated on a partner or had an affair," Todd tells the website." - CW

Not sure I really like this or not but, damn, way to stick it to those who talk up family values while refusing to live them! - Soup in a TARDIS

Yeah I don't like the mean spirit of outing people as revenge, BUT. She's got a damn point. - Starmama

"Google Inc. is preparing to offer its high-speed fiber-optic Internet service in four new metro areas, the latest step in a careful expansion of the service. Google will announce launches of Google Fiber in Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh-Durham, N.C. and Nashville, Tenn. in coming days, according to two people familiar with the situation. Google recently sent invitations to local news organizations in those four cities to attend events this week, without identifying the subject. The Atlanta and Nashville events are scheduled for Tuesday, Raleigh and Charlotte on Wednesday and Durham Thursday, according to local news reports. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment. Officials in the four areas didn't return requests for comment. In February 2014, Google said it was considering building Fiber in nine new metro areas. The other cities are Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Phoenix, Portland, Ore. and San Jose, Calif. Google has told some officials in those cities that it hasn't ruled them out, and has yet to make a final decision. David Vossbrink, a spokesman for the city of San Jose, said a Google Fiber official told him Monday that Google would be announcing expansion cities beginning Tuesday. “The message was that these announcements should not be considered the end of the road for the other areas,” Mr. Vossbrink said." - CW

Thought of John (@dendroica) when I saw this. :) - CW

This great tool that MS purchased, didn't support for the longest time, then fixed it and made it better then evernote. - CW

"By now, Americans have been browbeaten into accepting the reality that corporations are people. That's right guys, say it with me: "Corporations are people and The Hershey Company is a jerk." This week, a settlement between The Hershey Company and Let's Buy British Imports was announced, effectively banning the import of Cadbury chocolate made overseas to the U.S., which means that Toffee Crisps, Maltesers, British Kit Kats, Crunchie Bars and basically every other great British candy bar we've grown accustomed to will soon cease to be available outside the black market or devoted friends' suitcases. As reported by The New York Times, "Hershey's has a licensing agreement to manufacture Cadbury's chocolate in the United States with similar packaging used overseas, though with a different recipe." What makes the recipe different? More sugar, less milk, unpronounceable emulsifiers that screw gravely with the mouthfeel of the chocolate. Let's just say what the NYT is too polite to, because I am out of fucks to give: it tastes shittier." - CW

This article hit all the relevant points: the impact on the small business owners who sell imported chocolates, the poor quality of Hershey's chocolate, and focusing instead on purchasing chocolate from smaller US chocolatiers (they name checked one of my personal favorites, TCHO). - Corinne L

"Stock up on delicious sauces, in case you have to eat Family Members." - CW

"Sheriffs are campaigning to pressure Google Inc. to turn off a feature on its Waze traffic software that warns drivers when police are nearby. They say one of the technology industry's most popular mobile apps could put officers' lives in danger from would-be police killers who can find where their targets are parked. Waze, which Google purchased for $966 million in 2013, is a combination of GPS navigation and social networking. Fifty million users in 200 countries turn to the free service for real-time traffic guidance and warnings about nearby congestion, car accidents, speed traps or traffic cameras, construction zones, potholes, stalled vehicles or unsafe weather conditions. To Sergio Kopelev, a reserve deputy sheriff in Southern California, Waze is also a stalking app for law enforcement. There are no known connections between any attack on police and Waze, but law enforcers such as Kopelev are concerned it's only a matter of time. They are seeking support among other law enforcement trade groups to pressure Google to disable the police-reporting function. The emerging policy debate places Google again at the center of an ongoing global debate about public safety, consumer rights and privacy." - CW

++Steven - Jenny H.

"The investigative arm of the Department of Justice is attempting to short-circuit the legal checks of the Fourth Amendment by requesting a change in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. These procedural rules dictate how law enforcement agencies must conduct criminal prosecutions, from investigation to trial. Any deviations from the rules can have serious consequences, including dismissal of a case. The specific rule the FBI is targeting outlines the terms for obtaining a search warrant. It's called Federal Rule 41(b), and the requested change would allow law enforcement to obtain a warrant to search electronic data without providing any specific details as long as the target computer location has been hidden through a technical tool like Tor or a virtual private network. It would also allow nonspecific search warrants where computers have been intentionally damaged (such as through botnets, but also through common malware and viruses) and are in five or more separate federal judicial districts. Furthermore, the provision would allow investigators to seize electronically stored information regardless of whether that information is stored inside or outside the court's jurisdiction." - CW

"We all know the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer — but the inequality gap may be widening faster than you think. Within two years, the top 1% will have more wealth than the remaining 99% of people on the planet, a new study says. Just in time for the billionaire-and-politician get-together in Davos, Switzerland, Oxfam’s report on Monday lays out the increasing concentration of global wealth among a small elite. This first chart, based on Credit Suisse Data from 2000-2014, shows how the bottom 99% has been losing wealth over the past decade or so, and the top 1% has been gaining" - CW

That's what hard work'll get you. And just think of all the job creation that will be done. - Eivind

Just can't wait for the trickledown to start.. - CW

"Hallelujah! According to Variety, a Netflix spokesperson has confirmed that rumors of Doctor Who and other beloved BBC series disappearing from the streaming service at the end of the month have been greatly exaggerated. The BBC shows remaining on Netflix for the foreseeable future include: “The Office” U.K. seasons 1 and 2 “Top Gear” seasons 17 though 20 “Torchwood” seasons 1 through 4 “Wallander” seasons 1 through 3 “Luther” seasons 1 through 3 “Monarch of the Glen” seasons 1 through 6 “North & South” “Robin Hood” seasons 1 through 3 “The Buccaneers” Classic “Doctor Who” “Doctor Who” seasons 1 through 7 “Copper” seasons 1 and 2 “House of Cards” trilogy “Keeping Up Appearances” season 1 Nerd deities be praised." - CW

"Cameron will demand that US internet companies store – and then be prepared to hand over – data and content needed by the intelligence agencies “to keep us safe” when he meets the president for talks in the Oval Office on Friday morning. A government source said: “The prime minister’s objective here is to get the US companies to cooperate with us more, to make sure that our intelligence agencies get the information they need to keep us safe. That will be his approach in the discussion with President Obama – how can we work together to get them to cooperate more, what is the best approach to encourage them to do more.” Obama, who recently accused North Korea of orchestrating the cyber attack on the film studio Sony Pictures, is due to address data security in his penultimate state of the union address next week." - CW

UK, you need to get your PM under control. He is losing it. - CW

so fscked up. - Big Joe Silenced

He won't be our PM for much longer with a bit of luck. - Mark H

"It is obvious from the term that job burnout is not a good thing. But a recent study shows that burnout results in more than employees not performing their best. It also means they are far more likely to do something impulsive and dangerous to your company. That means right now, you've got some ticking time bombs walking around your office, and defusing them is shockingly in your control. The study, from the University of Surrey, was presented last week at the British Psychological Society's Division of Occupational Psychology annual conference in Glasgow. The researchers asked over 250 workers across multiple professional fields a series of ethical questions about business. For instance what, if anything, would they do if they saw a colleague smuggling out secret documents?" - CW

"I hold a special hatred for glitter, because people sometimes use it in my photo studio and it takes me forever to clean it up. So I find this new business, ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com, deviously brilliant. Yes, this company is for those of you willing to spend money to irritate an enemy. They've stocked up on glitter—which they call "the herpes of the craft world"—and they intend to use it: There's someone in your life right now who you fucking hate.... So pay us money, provide an address anywhere in the world & we'll send them so much glitter in an envelope that they'll be finding that shit everywhere for weeks. We'll also include a note telling the person exactly why they're receiving this terrible gift. Hint: the glitter will be mixed in with the note thus increasing maximum spillage. You've gotta love a company with a question in their FAQ section that reads: "My recipient got glitter in both eyeballs, is now blind & would like to file charges. Help?"" - CW

"Purchasing has been temporarily suspended. You guys have a sick fascination with shipping people glitter. We've received all orders & working through them. There was a tonne so be patient." - CW

"Taylor Negron, a comedian and actor who described his style as “California Gothic” and who brought a funereal, straight-faced sensibility to a career’s worth of character roles in cult comedies like “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “One Crazy Summer,” died on Saturday. He was 57." - CW

"Unfortunately, this is not the kind of "new cloud" they were hoping to develop. Apparently, one of their under-construction datacenters in Ashburn, VA caught fire yesterday. Thankfully, it appears that it was controlled and injury-free, but still deals a setback to the opening of this new availability zone in US-East-1. You can read more detail about the fire in Business Insider's Story on the incident.  The key takeaway I had from this article was that a spokeswoman from AWS confirmed that they were to be the main tenant of this new datacenter being built in the area. Additionally, there are two datacenters in the area (including this one) being constructed with AWS as the primary tenant -- new AZs, anyone? This likely means constraints in US-East-1 are reaching all time highs, and these are relief AZs to be released over the coming months. It also means AWS is aggressively acquiring new facilities to continue their massive growth trajectory -- which is great news for all of us geeks." - CW

"Doing It Yourself isn’t always the easiest or cheapest option, but odds are you won’t find anything more satisfying than finishing a DIY project with your own two hands. Each week, we’re going to showcase one cool DIY project tutorial from around the web." - CW

"Donna Douglas, best known for her role as the tomboy, critter-loving Elly May Clampett o" - CW

:( - CW

:( RIP - Anne Bouey

"If your New Year's resolution is to marry Joseph Gordon-Levitt, you might want to stop reading now. The actor and his girlfriend hosted a secret wedding at their house Dec. 20, People reported. The bride was Tasha McCauley, the co-founder and CEO of a California robotics company." - CW

"Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo died today at age 82, multiple sources confirmed to ABC News. Cuomo, a Democrat who served as governor of the Empire State from 1983 to 1994, is the father of current New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Andrew Cuomo was sworn in to a second term as governor today, becoming the first Democrat to enter a second term as New York governor since his father, who reportedly was too frail to attend the ceremony." - CW

"Underscoring that Apple Campus 2 is at once one of Silicon Valley's wildest sketches of the future and a portal to its past, the company has set aside a place on its state-of-the-art campus for the Glendenning Barn, named for a pioneer family whose land became a magnet for tech companies after the blooms faded from their orchards. Constructed in 1916 with planks of redwood, the barn was built to last, though its founders couldn't have foreseen all that it would withstand: the decline of local agriculture, the rise of big tech and several changes of the guard in Silicon Valley, not to mention Apple's earth movers." - CW

Apple thinks of everything. Can't have a spaceship landing with out the barn on the same property. - CW

This is the only good news I've seen of what Apple's doing with their campus... - Spidra Webster

"Tony and Emmy award-winning actor Edward Herrmann, best known for playing the role of the father on the hit TV series Gilmore Girls and movies like Franklin and Eleonor, died on December 31 at a New York City hospital. He was 71 years old. His son Rory Herrmann said that his father's death was due to brain cancer." - CW