Pulp Testimony: Beautiful mashup between Samuel L. Jackson and Brett Kavanaugh
See the original posting on Boing Boing
This is very satisfying.
— C H I L I (@heyitschili) September 28, 2018
Month: September 2018
Retrotechtacular: Heres How They Programmed the EDSAC Computer
See the original posting on Hackaday
When you write a program for your computer, whether it is a desktop machine, a microcontroller, or a supercomputer, the chances are that you use software tools to help you get the job done. High level languages, compilers, linkers, assemblers, debuggers, and code libraries have become so integrated that in many cases you will barely be aware of their existence. To all intents and purposes this huge toolchain will be the computer. But the first computer programmers had none of these luxuries. They had to hand assemble their own binaries, check them by hand, and debug them by guessing what …read more
Nokia announces its first phone to get Android Pie
See the original posting on The Verge
The Nokia 7 Plus is joining the small lineup of non-Google phones to get an update to Android 9 Pie. HMD Global chief product officer Juho Sarvikas made the announcement in a tweet today. Outside of Nokia, the update has only rolled out to Essential Phones, eight Motorola phones, and the OnePlus 6, which runs a modified version of Android 9 Pie, as well as Googles Pixel phones.
Android 9 Pie brings a range of useful new features, like adaptive battery, tweaked navigation, and improved notifications that cut out the clutter. Whats notable is that the Nokia 7 Plus will be the first non-Pixel phone to get the Digital Wellbeing features, which shows a dashboard of your phone habits and tracks app time usage.
The update is happening in a…
The new Daredevil trailer reminds you that Vincent DOnofrios Fisk is perfect
See the original posting on The Verge
Were just a few weeks away from the third season of Netflixs Daredevil returning on October 19th, and the latest teaser is putting the spotlight back on the Devil of Hells Kitchens greatest foe (and the greatest part of the show): Vincent DOnofrios William Fisk, aka Kingpin.
Fisk was the antagonist in the first season of the show, and hes a high water mark that the rest of the Marvel Netflix series have tried to meet in the years since, to varying degrees of success. But after being sidelined in prison for most of season 2, it looks like Fisk is getting out of jail, into his iconic white suit, and hes ready for some good old-fashioned revenge.
DOnofrios take on Fisk remains a highlight of the Netflix show, offering a…
Reddit updates its quarantine policy with an appeals process
See the original posting on The Verge
Reddit hosts an immense number of communities on its servers, dedicated to about as many human pursuits as there are. Some of those groups are delightful, like r/showerthoughts or r/dogswithjobs, and some are reprehensible, like the long-since banned r/jailbait (pictures of underage women) and r/picsofdeadkids (exactly what it says on the tin). But there are subreddits that dont fall neatly into either category, and its why the site implemented a quarantine policy in 2015 basically, some of these communities are toxic enough that Reddit wont show them to you but you can join them.
As CEO Steve Huffman wrote three years ago in a post explaining the measure, the site will Quarantine communities whose content would be considered…
Vergecast: Instagram drama, crazy cameras, and Elon gets sued
See the original posting on The Verge
This week we saw the two founders abruptly leave Instagram, so Casey Newton comes on the show to talk about all that drama and what it might mean for Facebooks prized possession.
Then Dan Seifert joins us to talk about all of the insane cameras that were announced at Photokina this year, plus all the models that were announced before the show even started.
Finally, Liz Lopatto comes on for an impromptu This Week In Elon to discuss the fact that the SEC has filed a lawsuit against Mr. Musk, which happened just before we started recording the show.
1:28 – Instagram founders resign from Facebook
5:00 – 5 times Facebook messed with Instagram
20:43 – Whats App co-founder Forbes interview
This is the Razer Phone 2
See the original posting on TechCrunch
Remember phone reveals? Once upon a time, companies were able to save a little for the event. These days, however, we nearly always know exactly what were getting ourselves into. Due to be announced next month, the second iteration of Razers gaming-centric handset is no different. Bits and pieces of the forthcoming phone have already […]
Most 80s thing I’ve seen today: Swedish Metal Aid (1985)
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There is a dream, and they all spread the word that they can save this world.
(Thanks, Jeff Ahern!) Read the rest
Trying out China’s girlfriend rental service
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For about $50, you can hire a woman for a few hours to pretend to be your girlfriend in China. Kei, one of the hosts of Asian Boss, tried out the app-based service. He and his “girlfriend” went to a park and tried some exercise equipment, then he sat down and interviewed her about what it is like to be a pretend girlfriend. She told him that she had been working as a pretend girlfriend for two or three years and she is doing it to pay down debt. She says there are 7 or 8 similar apps and she is registered on each one of them.
Image: YouTube screenshot Read the rest
Stubby multi-bit screw and nut driver fits in tight spaces
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This stubby screwdriver fits into tight spaces.
It took longer to find a screwdriver that fits than to remove the screen from my espresso machine, and clean the whole thing out. All the “short” screwdrivers I found have tiny blades or heads, mostly they are for glasses or tiny electronics repair. I broke two. A short wide bladed flathead screwdriver evaded me.
This model lets me switch tips and will work for nuts as well as screws. Stubby made my day work out.
Included are tips for 3/16-Inch and 1/4-Inch slotted, #1 and #2 Phillips, 1/4-Inch and 5/16-Inch nut drivers, and I am sure many of the tips from multiple other sets will fit.
Stubby Screwdriver and Nut Driver 6-in-1 Multi-Bit, 2 Philips, 2 Flat Heads, 2 Nut Drivers Klein Tools 32561 via Amazon Read the rest
JavaScript Asynchrony and Async/Await in Selenium WebDriver Tests
See the original posting on DZone Python
Selenium is a wonderful library. It supports all major browsers, has all the features we will probably need, and is currently the de-facto standard in browser tests today, and rightfully so.
(For those that dont know, browser tests are tests that run a browser, automate the browser to interact with your front-end application, and test it that way.)
Chaos engineering service Gremlin raises $18m, launches new resiliency tools
See the original posting on TechCrunch
Slack is down. It’s a headline we have had blaring at TechCrunch on numerous occasions (mostly because we actually get work done when not distracted by a constant waterfall of GIFs). But Slack is not alone — issues with uptime and reliability plague modern web services, from Alexa to WhatsApp to Apple Maps. As any […]
AMD Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G Integrated Graphics Frequency Scaling
See the original posting on Anandtech
One of the last poignant questions from our previous Ryzen APU coverage is the way that integrated graphics scales with overclocking. As these low-end Ryzen APUs are all about gaming on a budget, our previous looks into core frequency and memory scaling lead naturally into examining how well the graphics overclocks and what extra performance can be had with a light touch of BIOS settings. We pushed both of our APUs to 1600 MHz on the graphics, representing a +45% overclock, which translates into some interesting results.
Google Maps in CarPlay isnt the dream youve been waiting for
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Apples iOS 12 update didnt bring many changes to the in-car CarPlay system thats been around for a few years. But there is one notable improvement: it now supports third-party navigation apps. Yes, thats right. That means you can now use Google Maps, Waze, or some other navigation app in CarPlay instead of Apples default Maps app.
Both Google Maps and Waze have released updates to their iOS apps that added support for CarPlay already, and Ive been testing them for the past week or so. Unfortunately, due to CarPlays inherent limitations and a number of bugs and performance issues, neither Google Maps or Waze are particularly compelling compared to their Android Auto counterparts or even Apples own Maps app.
Enabling Google Maps…
For sweaty palms and white knuckles, watch Free Solo in theaters and Meru on Netflix
See the original posting on The Verge
There are so many streaming options available these days, and so many conflicting recommendations, that its hard to see through all the crap you could be watching. Each Friday, The Verges Cut the Crap column simplifies the choice by sorting through the overwhelming multitude of movies and TV shows on subscription services, and recommending a single perfect thing to watch this weekend.
What to watch
Meru, a 2015 documentary co-directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and her husband Jimmy Chin, about the two attempts Chin and his colleagues Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk made at scaling the daunting Sharks Fin wall at Indias Meru Peak. In 2008 and then again in 2011, the trio worked together to overcome bitter cold, strong winds,…
Last day to buy early-bird tickets for TC Sessions: AR/VR 2018
See the original posting on TechCrunch
Holy smokes, TC Sessions: AR/VR 2018 is less than a month away, and its going to be an epic, day-long event. But listen up tech fans, the following reality is neither augmented nor virtual: our $99 early-bird ticket price a 50 percent savings ends today. If you want to join us in Los […]
The Super Mario fandom continues to be relentlessly horny
See the original posting on The Verge
Welcome to Favd For Later, a Friday roundup of our favorite memes, trends, and all-around good internet content. This week, the internet asks: is this your queen?
When did the Super Mario fandom get so horny? Has it always been this way? Did everyone lose their damn minds when we saw Marios nipples? I didnt start this fire. Im just here to fan its flames.
Earlier this month, Nintendo held a Direct presentation where learned that Toadette can transform into a Princess Peach-like character (aptly named Peachette) when she wears the Super Crown. Webcomic author Haniwa applied this logic to Bowser, and so Bowsette was born.
finally, a day with mama #???? #bowsette pic.twitter.com/V93Q7rilHK
riri ? back to work (@ririimon) S…
First Razer Phone 2 render leak shows off a very similar device
See the original posting on The Verge
The first render of the upcoming Razer Phone 2 has been leaked by Evan Blass, and it suggests that Razer is going with a very similar design for the follow-up to its debut smartphone. Outside of a repositioned camera and a Razer logo that now glows with the companys signature lucid green, the device looks almost identical to its predecessor, with the same chunky frame and front-facing speakers.
Thats either a good or bad thing, depending on how you felt about Razers first effort. While the phone made headlines for being the first to include a high refresh rate 120Hz screen (compared to the 60Hz panels found in most smartphones), it packaged this inside a clumsy housing with average battery life and an even worse camera.
Google now makes it easier to keep track of your travel plans
See the original posting on The Verge
Google knows that people use its various search and software tools to plan trips, and thats why its rolling out some new features to help users organize their travel plans better across several areas of the companys services.
There are now relevant trip-related suggestions directly in Google search. So if you booked a trip to Austin and then do a Google search for that city, Google will pop up a new prompt with additional trip-related things like flights, things to do, restaurants, and more.
Next month, Google is updating its Your Trips feature so you can track flights and hotels youve booked as well as organize trips that are still in the planning progress all in one place.
Additionally, Google is…
Netflixs Haunting of Hill House is like This Is Us wrapped in a gothic ghost story
See the original posting on The Verge
Haunted house movies usually follow a well-worn formula. Whether its The Amityville Horror, Peter Medaks The Changeling, or the wildly successful Conjuring franchise, the basic beats are all the same: someone moves into a house, bad things happen, a sinister backstory or force are eventually uncovered, and the bad things escalate, leading into the finale. The familiarity is part of what makes the whole thing work. With the genre setting audience expectations, the filmmakers can then explore their own ideas and themes, or even subvert those expectations for an entirely different result.
Another key element is time or a lack thereof. Haunted-house stories naturally lend themselves to claustrophobic settings, ideally suited for movies,…