Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

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)

A bit unusual in our area this time of year. Seemed to be shadowing a flock of Goldfinches. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

It was good to have him for at least a little bit... - Julian

Seems like the Pats have lost a key offensive down the stretch every year for the past few years. Welker, then Gronkowski twice. This does not bode well for the playoffs. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

I've been seeing a bird that resembled a sparrow but I couldn't tell whether it was a bird I'd already IDed or something new. Never got a long enough look or had my camera handy. Finally got some good shots this morning. Turns out it, it was new. It's a Fox Sparrow. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

We use our AppleTV for Netflix all the time. Looks great; I can't tell if it's 720p or 1080p, but it's very high quality. Netflix changes the resolution it sends based on the network speed/latency, I believe. - Glen Campbell

No on the low resolution, it has been off and on for the last week or so though - Scoble, Alex Scoble

Because open communication is only a prerequisite to justice and it can't effect justice all by itself? - Victor Ganata

I agree that wealth disparity has gotten worse. It's not clear to me spying is worse or that terrorism is worse. - Stephen Mack

Whoa, I totally missed this DM, sorry. Yes, I believe so. Netflix doesn't put all of their content in 5.1, but we do show that they have some, and I'm told the Netflix app should support it. Give it a try! - Stephen Mack

Thanks Stephen. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

Golden crowned sparrow in first winter plumage. And yes, I'm a dork. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

I can identify a red-winged blackbird because the name says what it is. - Morton Fox

I'm not, by any means, anti-union but demanding a pension in 2013 seems, well, ludicrous. Especially when there are other places willing to accept far less in order to get the work. Principal is great and all, but I wonder what will happen when Boeing decides to build the plane in South Carolina or Long Beach. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

Agreed. In any event, while I understand the concern, I think the reality is that defined benefit (vs. defined contribution) retirement programs are a thing of the past. It sucks, but it's reality. And when you have a real risk of losing a very large piece of business then the downside is that you get to keep your principals and lose jobs. I'm just wondering if the Machinists union is writing its own epitaph. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"The anger is understandable. Mr. Stafko appears to be attacking something that we all love. But I think the backlash against the author is misguided. Why? Because the language he's using, while it appears to be English, isn't. The language he's using is Bizarre Angry Rant. This is common for writers of opinion pieces at certain publications. They favor B.A.R. because it's simple, requiring little to no thought, so you can write stuff fast. The downside, of course, is that the resulting prose is often shaky and incoherent. And angry-sounding." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

Ohhhhhhhh *that's* what those 26.2 stickers are all about. - Soup in a TARDIS

"Latest figures from ComScore, published for September 2013, say that the total number of iPhones and Android phones in the US has grown to 136.7m, the number who used the Google Maps app has kept dropping - down to 58.8m - while the number of Apple Maps users stands at 35m out of a total iPhone population of 60.1m." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

Heh. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"Connolly surveyed the scene for lone packages and backpacks—anything that could hide another similar device. He saw bags everywhere. With no other options, he pulled out his knife, grabbed a bag, and cut into it. Ripping open potential explosive devices with a knife is not standard procedure. Bomb squads are loaded with sophisticated equipment, and techs normally inspect suspicious packages with a robot, an x-ray machine, or a remotely detonated explosive tool. A so-called hand entry—that Hollywood-style search for the red wire—is almost never done, unless there is no other way to quickly save a life. But that is exactly the situation Connolly and his fellow bomb squad colleagues faced in Boston." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

Survived the Victoria Half Marathon. In fact, beat my last (first) half marathon time by 7 1/2 minutes. Not bad considering I didn't train nearly as much or as well. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

Hey, I'm 30! - Kristin

Anecdotally speaking, I know that it's possible to get used to people dying painful, horrible deaths every day right in front of you after a couple of days. I imagine it's even easier when the deaths are more remote. - Victor Ganata

I think I have internet fatigue; I've drastically culled my online and social network time because I feel just too damn plugged in. Y'all be going on about a lot of this that and whatever. - Derrick

Especially the ones who get in the carpool lane and do 50. *makes stabbing motions* - Hookuh Tinypants

I look forward to the day when car hackers create a device that let's me force another car to speed up or pull over for a time out. - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

#nofilter - SAM

"Now the phenomenon known as ocean acidification — the lesser-known twin of climate change — is helping push the seas toward a great unraveling that threatens to scramble marine life on a scale almost too big to fathom, and far faster than first expected." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)

"The bottom line here, and one people miss all the time, is that Apple designs products for people. Not pundits or analysts or even day traders. As Tron "fights for the users," so does Apple. You may feel that Apple deliberately creates "lock-in" to the iOS/Mac/iTunes ecosystem as a business strategy, but frankly, my Ogg Vorbis loving friends out there (you know who you are), every smart consumer electronics business is rapidly trying to do the same thing. Windows is not Mac is not Chrome OS is not Kindle, etc. You opt into an ecosystem and largely, through convenience or inertia if not through conscious choice, that's where you stay." - Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)