Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"Building permits are a wonderful thing: They protect us from slum conditions and scammers. They make money for our local governments. But they're also a major financial hurdle for independent home builders—and rules are meant to be broken, man. There's a rich, if somewhat under-the-radar, tradition of architectural loopholes out there, and it ranges from Spain to the backwoods of the United States." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

I really, really want to build some kind of modern utility building in my back yard... - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"So what change occurred in the past two years that may have hurt Seattle’s Transit Score? There is a likely culprit. In September 2012, King County Metro rolled out RapidRide, an express bus network with some features of a Bus Rapid Transit system.  RapidRide entailed a host of restructurings to Metro’s bus service, and some local routes were lost. While selected bus routes saw improvements to frequency and speed under RapidRide, stops were consolidated in order to help increase efficiency." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

Not mentioned in the story is that car traffic has gotten much worse in the areas where RapidRide has been implemented since it requires a dedicated lane, thereby reducing the capacity for cars. This program has been a costly disaster. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"The public meltdown of Perkins is unfortunate and sad. He arguably helped build Silicon Valley and has been a generous, friendly source over the years. But his misguided letter highlights what many perceive as a self-entitled, boorish attitude among the affluent in tech and in other industries." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

That being said, I wouldn't mind driving to work in a Model S. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

""The sun has fallen, and the temperature is dropping so quickly... to tell you all a secret, I don't feel that sad. I was just in my own adventure story - and like every hero, I encountered a small problem," said the Rabbit. "Goodnight, Earth," it said. "Goodnight, humanity."" - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

from comments: "My wife knows how to fix her Jade Rabbit. It takes little hearing aid batteries they sell at Walgreens. Works great until you take it into the shower, then it's back to the store for more batteries." - Big Joe Silenced

Yep. Exactly. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

lolol yes - Soup in a TARDIS

I think there's vast disagreement about whether he did anything wrong. It's not like he murdered or raped anybody. - Victor Ganata

That's always been the way it works. This is America since pro-wrestling, at least. Or maybe since forever. - Victor Ganata

"The development of new and better kinds of products is key to producing long-term economic growth. But determining what kind of products to develop and bring to market hinges crucially on whether or not people will be able to buy them." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

" Innovative product ideas languish in semi-obscurity or simply can’t get financing because in general we don’t have the kind of broadly rising incomes that would support new products." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

Are you sure it's the same dog-owner combo? - Jim #teamFFrank

I see our neighbors letting their dogs just run down to the shared lawn in front of the apartment building and then, later, I see big piles of poo all over the place. It's especially frustrating because I always leash and pick up after my dogs, but I get the dirty looks because it's right in front of my apartment. Bah humbug. I need an indoor/outdoor webcam... - WebGoddess

Ya, I've always been really conscientious about cleaning up after my dogs. I'm pretty sure it's the same dog/person because of the consistency of the location and the, um, size. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"When, after winning the game, Sherman made the choke sign in his losing opponent’s face, then called another losing opponent “sorry” and “mediocre,” he was being a dick. Even though Sherman grew up underprivileged and beat the odds and now gives back with worthy charitable endeavors, he was still being a dick. The fact that Sherman is very smart and attended Stanford and approaches his job in a scholarly manner doesn’t mean he wasn’t being a dick. Whether or not Sherman’s behavior was calculated and self-aware and media-savvy and akin to the monologue of a pro wrestling heel, it was still dickish." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"So let’s glorify Sherman for what deserves glory: his amazing performance on the field, and his accomplishments off it. He doesn’t deserve to be virulently attacked for his actions at the tail end of the NFC title game, but please let’s not celebrate them." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"The reason for a curved screen has somewhat mystified us since last year when we first saw Samsung’s curved 4K TV. Now that these screens are everywhere, it bears sussing out what, exactly, is their purpose." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

They don't really try very hard to argue for better _real_ contrast, less smearing, and other image quality issues. I guess that battle's lost now that everyone quotes dynamic contrast instead. (and lordy, quit with the motion interpolation.) - Andrew C (✔)

"Besides just wearing a bad outfit with bad posture. Has WikiLeaks caused a look? No! I'm mad about that. If your kid comes out of the bedroom and says he just shut down the government, it seems to me he should at least have an outfit for that. Get a look! I'm not judging what they do; I hope they don't shut me down." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

With Christie I'm not sure the ugliness is all that hidden, since "jerk" is part of his personal political brand. - John (bird whisperer)

Fair point. But this seems to go beyond "jerk," no? - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

Painting of a photo. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"The mayor of Fort Lee, Mark Sokolich, is a Democrat and did not endorse Mr. Christie. In the obtained emails and texts, Mr. Christie’s staff and appointees appeared gleeful when the abrupt lane closings gridlocked the town for days, beginning with the first day of school and including the anniversary of Sept. 11. Mr. Sokolich, who had not been informed of the closings, texted Bill Baroni, the governor’s top appointee at the Port Authority, asking for “help” because the lane closings were making children on buses late to school. “Is it wrong that I am smiling?” Mr. Wildstein texted Ms. Kelly. “No,” she texted back. “I feel badly about the kids,” he texted. “They are the children of Buono voters,” she said, referring to Mr. Christie’s Democratic opponent, Barbara Buono, who was trailing consistently in the polls and lost by a wide margin." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

People need to get fired. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"McCombs said he was certain Patterson couldn't go wrong on the hire during an interview with the San Antonio Express-News last week."I don't see how they can miss," McCombs told the paper. "They can get anyone they want. They can close their eyes and go 'Eeny-meeny-miny-moe' and end up with someone good."" - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

I wonder what it is about Mack Brown that has McCombs so fired up. Hmmmmmm. Let me see... - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

Given his record at Louisville, I think Charlie Strong was a deserving candidate for the Texas job. Also, it's unlikely that Texas can get just anyone they want, considering that Saban didn't want to go there. - John (bird whisperer)

The key thing to remember here is that Orangebloods.com runs Texas football, and pretty much made the hire. - Julian

Weirdo. :) - Zulema ❧ spicy cocoa tart

I've experienced exactly one blizzard in my entire life. I think I'm good. - Victor Ganata

Been to a target lately? - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"Approximately 40 million credit and debit card accounts may have been impacted," the retailer said. The hacking involved not only Target-issued cards but those from other issuers as well. The size of the breach puts it in the upper echelon of recent hackings into consumers' payment accounts. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"For most of Silicon Valley—including most of Google—the iPhone’s unveiling on January 9, 2007 was something to celebrate. Jobs had once again done the impossible. Four years before he’d talked an intransigent music industry into letting him put their catalog on iTunes for ninety-nine cents a song. Now he had convinced a wireless car­rier to let him build a revolutionary smartphone. But for the Google Android team, the iPhone was a kick in the stomach. “What we had suddenly looked just so . . . nineties,” DeSalvo said. “It’s just one of those things that are obvious when you see it.”" - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

I'd also argue that iPhone adoption was low in the first year more because of cost than anything else. And my read of the story is that the "evolution" of Android after 2007 was more of a reaction than a natural progression of the internal thinking up until the launch of the iPhone. One would assume that the basic functionality of a smart mobile device (in terms of having access to mail, the web, IM, etc.) was obvious regardless of whether the primary interface was a touch screen or keyboard. So, having those UI elements in place was to be expected. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)