For many of these first time smartphone owners, Android becomes a “gateway OS” to Apple’s operating system. 91% of iPhone owners said they would stick with the iPhone when it’s time to upgrade. 24% of Android users, on the other hand are planning to switch.

Link to this post  •  6:05 pm  •  13 May 2013

"There have been massive declines in [Apple] share price in the last decade. Most of them rooted in forgettable reasoning. … My rule of thumb is that investors should expect a 40% drop in Apple shares at any time and for no reason.
…
Anyone suggesting [Apple CEO] Tim Cook should be fired is a neophyte.
…
So, paradoxically, the opinion of those who are highly paid should be treated with suspicion while the opinion of those subject to peer review should be treated with respect."

— Bad Habits of Apple Commentors — Horace Dediu

Link to this post  •  12:41 pm  •  13 May 2013

In a talk given at last year’s Defcon cybersecurity conference, independent security penetration tester Dan Tentler demonstrated how he used Shodan to find control systems for evaporative coolers, pressurized water heaters, and garage doors.

He found a car wash that could be turned on and off and a hockey rink in Denmark that could be defrosted with a click of a button. A city’s entire traffic control system was connected to the Internet and could be put into “test mode” with a single command entry. And he also found a control system for a hydroelectric plant in France with two turbines generating 3 megawatts each.

Link to this post  •  6:00 pm  •  1 May 2013

If there was a short list of albums I revist more than others, this would be on it.

(Source: Spotify)

Link to this post  •  8:34 am  •  30 April 2013

"

The truth is, you never had a fucking chance. I had Congress in my back pocket the entire time, and so when that big gun control proposal reared its ugly head, we gradually chipped away at it, snipping away provisions for an assault rifle ban and restrictions on high-capacity magazines until all that was left was the idea of expanding background checks to keep military-grade killing implements from falling into the hands of criminals and the mentally unhinged, a relatively innocuous measure supported by 90 percent of Americans.

And, because I was winning by such a large margin at that point and was on my way to a blowout victory, even that tiny little provision didn’t stand a chance at being passed into law. In fact, it couldn’t even clear a minor procedural hurdle. Hell, legislators from both sides of the aisle came together yesterday and crushed it right out of the gate, making me, and the groups that finance me, very, very happy.

"

— http://www.theonion.com/articles/i-won,32106/

Link to this post  •  9:33 pm  •  18 April 2013  •  1 note

"The gun is not a mere tool, a bit of technology, a political issue, a point of debate. It is an object of reverence. Devotion to it precludes interruption with the sacrifices it entails. Like most gods, it does what it will, and cannot be questioned. Its acolytes think it is capable only of good things. It guarantees life and safety and freedom. It even guarantees law. Law grows from it. Then how can law question it?"

— Our Moloch (via hellofriend)

(Source: readability.com, via hellofriend)

Link to this post  •  4:16 am  •  18 April 2013  •  1 note

"

Let me tell you a story. The day after Columbine, I was interviewed for the Tom Brokaw news program. The reporter had been assigned a theory and was seeking soundbites to support it. “Wouldn’t you say,” she asked, ‘that killings like this are influenced by violent movies?” No, I said, I wouldn’t say that. “But what about ‘The Basketball Diaries’?” she asked. “Doesn’t that have a scene of a boy walking into a school with a machinegun?”

The obscure 1995 Leonardo DiCaprio movie did indeed have a brief fantasy scene of that nature, I said, but the movie failed at the box office and it’s unlikely the Columbine killers saw it.

The reporter looked disappointed, so I offered her my theory. “Events like this,” I said, “if they are influenced by anything, are influenced by news programs like your own. When an unbalanced kid walks into a school and starts shooting, it becomes a major media event. Cable news drops ordinary programming and goes around the clock with it. The story is assigned a logo and a theme song; these two kids were packaged as the Trench Coat Mafia. The message is clear to other disturbed kids: If I shoot up my school, I can be famous. The TV will talk about nothing else but me. Experts will try to figure out what I was thinking. Kids and teachers at school will see they shouldn’t have messed with me. I’ll go out in a blaze of glory.”

In short, I said, events like Columbine are influenced far less by violent movies than by CNN, “The NBC Nightly News” and other news media, who glorify the killers in the guise of “explaining” them.

The reporter thanked me and turned off the camera. Of course the interview was never used. They found plenty of talking heads to condemn violent movies, and everybody was happy.

"

—

Roger Ebert (via confusedtree)

Rip Roger.

(via bartsch)

(Source: yeezytaughtme, via kevindwire)

Link to this post  •  4:14 am  •  18 April 2013  •  30,848 notes

Indiana

Link to this post  •  3:33 am  •  17 April 2013  •  1 note

Duh.

(Source: chriskelly, via thetrifler)

Link to this post  •  8:29 am  •  27 March 2013  •  1,404 notes

The official record for fastest manmade object is the Helios 2 probe, which reached about 70 km/s in a close swing around the Sun. But it’s possible the actual holder of that title is a two-ton metal manhole cover.

Link to this post  •  5:17 pm  •  26 March 2013