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Messages - lioneatszebra

1
If it's an EU law, does that mean sites that are hosted in the EU are at risk? If so, host the website in Canada or something... I don't see how they'd be able to enforce that on the probably billions of websites out there. I'll have to look further into it.

Also, I took many media law classes (the hardest things I've ever done) a few years ago which of course covered copyright laws. As long as you're not making money off of the images and you credit where it came from, you should be fine. Most of what SFT would use copyrighted images for would be limited and therefore you'd be protected under the fair use clause. Fair use is for commentary, parodies and criticism. My company uses copyrighted images a lot, but we always credit where it came from and we are protected under fair use that way.
2
General Discussion / Re: hey look... 6 years.
Sep 06, 2018, 08:47 PM
i accept your thank you and offer up a thank you as well. thanks for supporting my books chicken
3
My condolences
4
General Discussion / Re: photography
Aug 04, 2018, 05:37 PM
Quote from: winston_b on Aug 03, 2018, 11:20 PM
Quote from: djkirsh on Jul 30, 2018, 01:08 AM@winston_b same here. i actually took it because it reminded me of my friend who I've had for 20 years. also it's my most liked picture on Instagram lol
I can see why...
Now I must find your Instagram  :P

Give me yours and I'll follow you lol
5
General Discussion / Re: photography
Jul 30, 2018, 01:08 AM
@winston_b same here. i actually took it because it reminded me of my friend who I've had for 20 years. also it's my most liked picture on Instagram lol
6
Quote from: TeraStorm on Jul 09, 2018, 11:38 AMSFT is largely a survival / economy server and people want to be more successful than everyone else. Therefore one of the main attractions for players to join or return is that there's a possibility they can succeed more. By moving over the top 5 auto shops you're just continuing the survival trend where 5 people own 90% of emp on the server. Yes you aren't moving over their items but it takes a long time for an auto shop to be built, organised and extend their name out to the player base so this gives a huge and unfair advantage. 1.13 isn't out for a while yet so why not just finalise emp prices then create a basic admin auto shop, that way after a couple weeks better priced and managed auto shops will start appearing and everyone will have a fair chance.

me gusta
7
Polls / Re: What goes in first
Jul 13, 2018, 08:55 PM
There's a psychopath amongst us who puts their milk in first...
8
General Discussion / Re: photography
Jul 13, 2018, 02:00 AM
Just some recent pics.


Nikon D3200
Squaw Rock
Chagrin Falls, OH


Nikon D3200


iPhone X
Locks of love
Toronto, ON, Canada


iPhone X


iPhone X
Cleveland script sign
Cleveland, OH


iPhone X
Distillery District
Toronto, ON, Canada


iPhone X
Niagara Falls, USA


Nikon D3200
Abandoned tool and die manufacturing plant
Cleveland, OH


Nikon D3200
Abandoned tool and die manufacturing plant
Cleveland, OH


Nikon D3209
Abandoned observatory
Cleveland, OH


Nikon D3200
Abandoned observatory
Cleveland, OH


Nikon D3200 (I think, or iPhone X)
Abandoned Ferris wheel at Chippewa Lake Park
Chippewa Lake, OH
9
Trump responds to Mueller indictment news

The White House continues to vehemently deny collusion with Russia a day after multiple indictments of Russian nationals and entities were announced by the Justice Department in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election.

In a string of tweets Saturday, President Donald Trump said that, despite the newly announced charges, the Russian meddling had no effect on the outcome of the election.

" 'Charges Deal Don A Big Win,' written by Michael Goodwin of the @nypost, succinctly states that 'the Russians had no impact on the election results." There was no Collusion with the Trump Campaign. "She lost the old-fashioned way, by being a terrible candidate. Case closed,'" Trump cited in one tweet.

In a separate tweet, the President quoted Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein from when he made the announcement regarding the various indictments on Friday.

"Deputy A.G. Rod Rosenstein stated at the News Conference: 'There is no allegation in the indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity. There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election," Trump tweeted.

White House says the media is the problem

"This makes it clear and concise for the American people and proves the President correct. No collusion between Donald Trump, his campaign and Russia," Deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley said on Fox News on Saturday.

"I think this is important too, it did not affect the outcome the election whatsoever," Gidley added. "What the Russians were trying to do as outlined by Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein was create chaos in the American election system. And I'll just say this: There are two groups that have created chaos more than the Russians, and that's the Democrats and the mainstream media, who continue to push this lie on the American people for more than a year."

Facebook exec responds to the indictment

Additionally, Trump quoted the tweets of Facebook's vice president of ad products, Rob Goldman.

"Most of the coverage of Russian meddling involves their attempt to effect the outcome of the 2016 US election. I have seen all of the Russian ads and I can say very definitively that swaying the election was *NOT* the main goal," one of Goldman's tweets read.

Goldman's tweets that Trump quoted were only a sample of several Goldman tweeted out in a string on Friday night about Facebook ads and Russia's alleged use of social media for misinformation.

Goldman also responded to comments on his Twitter thread. In one tweet, he wrote: "Thanks for the proof read. If only One could edit ones tweet. As to the substance: the Russian campaign was certainly in favor of Trump. The point is that the misinformation campaign is ongoing and must be addressed. Today, we saw Russian pro gun tweets re: Florida shooting."

He also replied to a tweet about his statement that he could "very definitively" say the main goal of the Russian ads was not to sway the election.
"It's one thing to make an argument about IRA, quite another to claim that hacking into the DNC wasn't an attempt to influence the outcome of the election," said Josh Hendler, the former tech chief for the Democratic National Committee, quoting Goldman's tweet. The IRA, or Internet Research Agency, is a Russia-linked troll group that designed a network of fake American activist groups and used the stolen identities of real Americans in an attempt to wreak havoc on the US political system, according to the federal indictment.

Goldman replied: "Fair point. I am only speaking here about the Russian behavior on Facebook. That is the only aspect that I observed directly."

On Friday, charges against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities were announced by the Justice Department. The indictments come as part of Mueller's inquiry into Russian meddling in the election, where he's examining any potential ties between Trump campaign associates and Russia. Russia has denied any involvement in the election and Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion.


CNN
cnn.com
10
Atari is launching its own cryptocurrency because of course it is

Forget the joystick. Atari SA -- perhaps best known for 1980s video-games "Pac-Man" and "Space Invaders" -- is now jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon.

Shares in the Paris-based company have soared more than 60 percent since it gave further details of its crypto push on Feb. 8, after first mentioning some of the plans in December. Atari is taking a stake in a company that's building a blockchain-based digital entertainment platform and, as part of that agreement, it will create its own digital currency called Atari Token. The company is also expanding its online casino-gaming partnership with Pariplay Ltd. to allow gambling with digital currencies.

"Blockchain technology is poised to take a very important place in our environment and to transform, if not revolutionize, the current economic ecosystem, especially in the areas of the video game industry and online transactions," Atari Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frederic Chesnais said in the statement. "Our aim is to take strategic positions with a limited cash risk, in order to best create value with the assets and the Atari brand."

Atari isn't the only stock that has benefited from links with cryptocurrencies. Shares of Eastman Kodak Co. jumped 245 percent in two days after it said last month it's working with a company that promotes paparazzi photos to offer a blockchain-based service for paying photographers. And, in perhaps the most bizarre of such moves, the unprofitable iced-tea company formerly known as Long Island Iced Tea Corp. gained 183 percent in a day after re-branding as Long Blockchain Corp. in December.


Bloomberg
bloomberg.com
11
Quote from: Towelie on Feb 17, 2018, 08:30 AMFor me it's simply spending $1500 (iPhone X) on a device vs $700 (S8+) for a phone that does the same thing.

I bet part of it is also a loyalty thing. Like, I'm Apple all the way. I love its simplicity and can't picture myself using anything other than an iPhone (and yes, I do have the iPhone X).
12
Is humanity ready for the discovery of alien life?

Most Americans would probably be thrilled to learn extraterrestrials (intelligent or not) exist. Other nationalities beg to differ.

When 'Oumuamua, a mysterious interstellar object, swept through our solar system last October, it elicited breathless news stories all asking the obvious question—is it a spaceship? There were no signs it was—although many people seemed to hope otherwise.

Throughout history most strange new cosmic phenomena have made us wonder: Could this be it, the moment we first face alien life? The expectation isn't necessarily outlandish—many scientists can and do make elaborate, evidence-based arguments that we will eventually discover life beyond the bounds of our planet. To true believers, what may be more uncertain is whether or not such news would cause global panic—which depends on how our minds, so greatly influenced by our Earthly environment and society, would perceive the potential threat of something utterly outside our familiar context.

"There's this feeling amongst the public—a very large fraction of the public—that the discovery of intelligent life at least would be kept secret by the government because otherwise everybody would just go bonkers," says Seth Shostak, an astronomer at the SETI Institute who was not involved with the study. Perhaps it might make sense for our brains—tuned by millions of years of evolution to be wary of predators—to freak out over immensely powerful alien beings arriving on our cosmic doorstep from parts unknown.

But let's say the situation hasn't gone full "alien invasion" yet and malevolent starships aren't sailing toward Earth, but rather we have read news of a definitive discovery of extraterrestrial life. How might we react then? Psychologists at Arizona State University (A.S.U.) used language-analyzing software to gauge feelings associated with 15 news articles about past discoveries that could have potentially been attributed to extraterrestrial life—reports covering items such as newfound Earth-like planets, mysterious astrophysical phenomena and possible life found on Mars. The articles used more positive and reward-oriented words than negative and risk-oriented ones, they report in a study published in January in Frontiers in Psychology. Although not in the paper, the team later similarly found articles about 'Oumuamua skewed positive. They will report those results on Saturday in Austin, Texas, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"I think we're generally sort of positively predisposed to novelty, unless we have strong reason to suspect it could harm us," says Michael Varnum, a psychologist at A.S.U. Tempe and the study's senior author. "Of course, I'm not saying that if we got news that there were a bunch of large alien warships on their way towards Earth that we would be happy about it."

Martian Microbes

According to Varnum (and many astrobiologists), because simple, single-cellular life is presumably more cosmically common than star-crossing civilizations, it's much more likely we will someday discover alien microbes rather than anything we could talk to. For his next set of experiments, he polled some 500 U.S. participants online to write about how they—and society in general—would react to news of such a discovery. Then he asked a separate group of around 250 people to read and respond to an actual New York Times article from 1996 that reported the potential discovery of fossilized microbes in a Martian meteorite. He compared this first batch of responses with those from another group of 250 people who read a 2010 New York Times article about the first synthetic life form created in a lab. He presented both stories without a dateline as if they were "fresh" off the press (although some participants likely realized they were not).

After analyzing the emotional tenor of their responses, the team found the participants generally used more positive than negative words when describing both extraterrestrial and synthetic life. This positive-to-negative word ratio was greater when participants were responding to the discovery of extraterrestrial life compared with the creation of synthetic life, which could be an indication the data wasn't skewed by, say, a possible human tendency to write or react positively.

Participants tended to report they would respond more positively than society at large. Varnum thinks this could be because of a psychological tendency called "illusory superiority" in which a person thinks they have better qualities than others.

But Shostak notes the methodology of the experiment might have biased readers toward a more positive response. Even if it didn't, "I can't say [the conclusion] was a big surprise to me," he says. "If we were to announce tomorrow we found microbes on Mars, people would not start rioting in the streets...but I don't think anybody thought they were going to riot in the streets." If Martians landed in Silicon Valley, however, "I'd buy a lot of frozen pizzas and head for the hills—I mean, I'd be out of here, too," he adds.

The Ambiguous Alien

If it's a discovery somewhere in between the extremes of an extraterrestrial microbe and rapacious, hostile aliens laying siege to Earth, will people respond differently based on the era or society they live in?

Our brains are wired with ancient circuits to defend us against predators. But as we navigate through the world, experience can also shape what we come to accept or to fear and how open we are to novelty. This study only looked at U.S. responses but two neuroscientists think the results might have been very different around the world. "If you look at societies that are much less open and much more xenophobic and so on, they might perceive [finding extraterrestrial life] as much more negative and unsettling," says Israel Liberzon, a professor of psychiatry, psychology and neuroscience at the University of Michigan who was not part of the study.

"Culture may be a strong determinant of how we respond to novelty," says Cornelius Gross, a neuroscientist at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory–Rome who studies the neural circuitry of fear and was also not involved with the research. "People came to America because they were novelty seekers, so we've selected for [that] and then continued to foster novelty seeking and place it very high on our list." Furthermore, Shostak says, a person's religious beliefs could play a powerful role in shaping their reaction to learning that humanity is in fact not as universally special as many traditions hold.

How we respond to such a situation can even be influenced by something as small as which extraterrestrial invasion movies people have seen or science fiction books they have read. If you see a lot of "UFO-type movies and the aliens are always 'good' in the end usually, then you might think that that stuff's going to affect your [brain's] prefrontal cortex," Gross says. "And you're going to adjust your responses to future novel [experiences]."

But all in all, Liberzon notes, context is key. Individually or collectively, human beings will respond very differently to observing a lion at a zoo versus coming across one in the African savanna, just as we would when reading about an alien in a science fiction novel versus actually meeting one.

And if scientists discover something so out of this world, literally, but also in the sense that we can't compare it with anything we know, it seems futile, even silly, to make predictions about how humanity would react. Gross thinks we would probably first try to understand it, a reaction that can be interpreted as yet another ancient, evolutionarily sculpted defense system aimed at gaining control of a novel situation. There would probably be some positive responses and some negative ones, but they will all be "based on humans' need to control their environment and make sure things are not threatening to them," he says.

"When we think about what forms life may take elsewhere, we're really limited by the fact that we only know about what life has evolved to look like here," Varnum says. But "my suspicion is in fact, the sort of stranger it is, the more excited people would be."


Scientific American
scientificamerican.com
13
Did Drake really donate $1 million in his new music video? The internet is humbled by "God's Plan" for good reason

Giving fans plenty of reason to smile with his latest project, Drake donated $1 million in his "God's Plan" music video, and the internet is completely humbled by his display of generosity. According to Complex, the rapper reportedly used the entire budget, which was intended for the shooting and production of his highly anticipated "God's Plan" video as a charitable donation to those in need around the greater Miami area.

As the powerful video kicks off, fans catch a glimpse of the exact amount which is revealed to be $996,631.90. The opening title card goes on to read, "We gave it all away. Don't tell the label." The video, which was notably released a day ahead of National Random Acts of Kindness Day, quickly moves into Drake making his way around town to share the wealth with some unsuspecting fans in the area.

Among the many contributions, Drake donated $25,000 to Miami Senior High School, while also offering a University of Miami student a $50,000 scholarship check, according to People. Throughout the moving vid, he also makes an announcement over a bullhorn in a supermarket, telling shoppers, "Anything you want in the store is free, so grab whatever you guys want." Drake additionally gave another $50,000 to a women's shelter and surprises a few unsuspecting families with stacks of cash. He even made a stop at the mall to offer some fans an opportunity to purchase whatever they'd like as he dances around the department store with Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown. It was earlier reported that the pair teamed up to take a local hotel maid on a $10,000 shopping spree, according to the Miami Herald.


The acts of charity brought many of the recipients to cheers and tears as the rapper showcased a huge display of kindness to those around him. Fans of the video were awed by the outpouring of generosity, taking to Twitter to share all their emotions.

The video is certainly one of Drake's more emotional productions as of late. Among the many touching moments throughout, there is a heartfelt convo between Drake and a young man in which he gives a sweet shout out to all of mothers of the world — including his own. As the video closes, he shares, "We're nothing without our mothers. Gotta make sure you take care of your mom, too, no matter what you do. It's all we got. Trust me. That's my world."

In a Feb. 15 Instagram post, Drake referred to the music video as "the most important thing I have ever done in my career" and it seems that his fans agree. Solidifying his status as an icon in the music world, Drake has won over the hearts of many with this latest display of kindness.


Bustle
bustle.com
14
Why choosing between Android and iOS still matters

Fire up an iPhone X alongside a Galaxy Note 8 and you might not think there's all that much to choose between Android and iOS any more. They offer the same apps, in the same sorts of grids, with similar approaches to notifications and quick settings, and at this stage in the game you're probably happy with your choice of mobile OS and sticking with it. Is there really any reason to switch? Well, yeah—there's still a few!

Android and iOS might have borrowed enough features from each other over the years to make the superficial differences not so great any more (iOS even has widgets these days), but dig a little deeper and you've got three main ways that Apple's mobile platform differs from Google's. This is what you need to know about them, and why your pick of smartphone OS still matters.

Privacy

For the last couple of years, Apple has been keen to talk up the user privacy advantages of going with iOS. Less of your data gets sent to the cloud, more of it gets stored securely on your device, and Apple doesn't want to collect as much data about you in the first place, according to Apple.

You can read Apple's privacy policy in full here. A lot of the data that gets sent back to Apple, including search queries and map locations, is aggregated and anonymized, though not all of it—if you're using Find My iPhone, for example, Apple needs to know who you are and where your phone is so it can help reunite you.

It's officially called Differential Privacy, where the data that Apple collects on its users gets scrambled so it can't identify people personally. That means "we see general patterns, rather than specifics that could be traced back to you" in Apple's own words.

Google, in contrast, likes to suck up as much personal information as it can on you to create much more personal services, and very much sees specifics about you—you can read its privacy policy here (and don't forget the policy of Samsung or LG or whichever company makes your phone).

Of course the question of how much data gets collected—data that can be linked to you personally—is a slightly separate one to how that data gets used. Google would say it's using all the information it collects in a responsible and helpful way, something you may or may not be confident in accepting at face value.

"We collect information to provide better services to all of our users—from figuring out basic stuff like which language you speak, to more complex things like which ads you'll find most useful, the people who matter most to you online, or which YouTube videos you might like," says Google in its privacy policy. In other words, it knows you better, and that helps Google Assistant know what you need or helps Google search offer up more relevant results. Whether or not the privacy trade-off is worth it is up to you.

There's no doubt Apple is less interested in profiling its users and serving up adverts to them, and more interested in making a stand for user privacy. Google admits it collects more data, but promises to be careful with it—so it ultimately comes down to how much you trust these giant tech companies as to whether you're more comfortable using iOS or Android on your phone.

Compatibility

We know Apple's approach by now: It may half-heartedly support iTunes for Windows and Apple Music for Android, but it really wants its users to be running Apple hardware and software and nothing else. The HomePod is just the most recent example of this, with no support for Spotify (unless you use Airplay) or Android.

It's always been the case that iOS is fantastic if you like Apple's way of doing things, because you don't get much choice otherwise. There are no launchers to reskin the OS with, for example, though customization is a different issue really, and we'll get on to apps in the next section.

What we want to talk about here is ecosystems rather than iOS and Android specifically: Start getting invested in the Apple one, with your HomePods and Apple TVs and iCloud, and it's very hard to get out. Sign up with Google for your email, your cloud storage, and your photos, and you can jump between platforms much more easily, whether that's macOS, Windows, and Chrome OS, or iOS and Android.

Compare the process of switching from Android to iOS with a Google account, which basically involves downloading and signing into a few Google apps, with the process of going in the other direction with an Apple account—you can get your emails and calendars set up on Android, just about, but there's no support for iCloud, or Apple Photos, or your iTunes movies.

That said, the ubiquity and popularity of iPhones means other manufacturers have to offer support for them, so your choice of compatible devices actually ends up being bigger. Pick iOS and you can choose an Apple Watch or an Android Wear device for your next smartwatch or beam content to an Apple TV or a Chromecast, or send audio to a HomePod or an Amazon Echo. Go for Android and those other Apple-made devices aren't an option for you.

As we've said, this is more about Apple's and Google's apps and services rather than iOS and Android specifically, but if you're on iOS and think there's even a chance you might one day jump the fence to Android, it's a good idea to use Google for your apps and services—or just stick to neutral options like Netflix and Spotify that don't care what mobile operating system you're running.

It also means if you've got a home with an Apple TV, a MacBook, and a HomeKit-compatible light system, you're going to find life much easier with an iPhone—your choice of other gadgetry and cloud services goes a long way towards your choice of smartphone OS.

Security

As with macOS vs Windows, the security outlook for iOS vs Android is stacked heavily in Apple's favor: There's more malware aimed at Android devices, it gets through more often, and security updates are slower in rolling out (not least because Google's hardware partners are involved as well as Google).

iPhones aren't invulnerable to hacking attempts, but they're much more tightly locked down, and you don't have to worry about security quite so much. This does mean apps are sometimes restricted in what they can do (see the next section), but the benefit is that malicious apps can't take control of your device so easily.

Like Windows, Android isn't a complete car crash when it comes to security. Buy from a reputable vendor, stick to the Google Play Store, apply some common sense, and you'll probably be fine—but it's fair to say you do need to be a little more on your guard.

The numbers aren't pretty for Android users—malware authors are more likely to target Google's operating system because there are fewer hoops to jump through, more devices to attack, and more devices running outdated versions of the software, potentially offering up those security vulnerabilities that hackers love so much.

Apps are now automatically scanned from the Play Store app on Google, with suspicious activity flagged and stopped. At the end of 2016, Google said that 0.05 percent of Android devices that exclusively use apps from Google Play had potentially harmful apps on them—that's an improvement on the year before, but still 0.05 percent too many.

Android is improving then, but iOS remains way out in front. Apps written for iOS must be specifically approved and signed off by Apple, making it very difficult to take control of an Apple device. Security bugs still appear and need to be squashed on iOS, but they're usually swiftly dealt with.

Apple wins this round then—security is improving on Android, but it's better on iOS. If you're going to plump for the Google option, then think about getting a reputable malware scanner on your device just to be on the safe side.

Apps

For better or for worse, Android apps still have the edge over iOS apps when it comes to how deep they can get their claws into the mobile operating system. It's the reason why you can't change your default SMS app on an iPhone, or record a call on the phone itself, or open a link from an email in anything other than Safari, or change the icon and wallpaper theme with a couple of taps.

We mentioned launcher apps in the last section: Admittedly not many people want to reskin the look of their smartphone interface, pixel by pixel, but those that do have to choose Android. It's the same for customizing the lock screen, or rearranging icons on the home screen in anything other than a perfect grid.

Most recently we did a round-up of apps that track app usage—again, Android apps can get access to this kind of information (which apps you're using and for how long), whereas iOS can't. Another example of apps banned from iOS are ones that measure detailed analytics from your Wi-Fi connection, or ones such as Tasker that automate various low-level functions of the operating system.

Or take IFTTT (If This Then That)—start to make an applet for Android and you can use an SMS, battery level, a phone call, a connection to a Bluetooth device, or a connection to a Wi-Fi network as a trigger. Those options aren't available on iOS because the hooks into the operating system just aren't there.

While the majority of users won't give a second thought to wanting to use these kind of apps or functions, it's something to bear in mind. iOS has always excelled at just working, with Apple taking a stricter approach to what apps can and can't do in return for a slicker, more stable, and more secure experience on mobile.

Almost every app of note now appears on Android and iOS, but it remains true that the newest apps and games typically launch first on iOS: Alto's Odyssey is one current example that springs to mind, out for iPhones on February 22 with no confirmed date for an Android launch (though it will happen, eventually). Android-first launches do happen, but they tend to be for smaller apps from independent developers.

The next time you reach a crossroads in your phone life, it's maybe worth considering what life is like on the other side—there are still key differences in the way Android and iOS work, important enough to make the switch or to stick with what you know.


Gizmodo
gizmodo.com
15
Apple employees keep smacking into HQ glass walls

The centerpiece of Apple Inc.'s new headquarters is a massive, ring-shaped office overflowing with panes of glass, a testament to the company's famed design-obsessed aesthetic.

There's been one hiccup since it opened last year: Apple employees keep smacking into the glass.

Surrounding the Cupertino, California-based building are 45-foot tall curved panels of safety glass. Inside are work spaces, dubbed "pods," also made with a lot of glass. Apple staff are often glued to the iPhones they helped popularize. That's resulted in repeated cases of distracted employees walking into the panes, according to people familiar with the incidents.

Some staff started to stick Post-It notes on the glass doors to mark their presence. However, the notes were removed because they detracted from the building's design, the people said. They asked not to be identified discussing anything related to Apple. Another person familiar with the situation said there are other markings to identify the glass.

Apple's latest campus has been lauded as an architectural marvel. The building, crafted by famed architect Norman Foster, immortalized a vision that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had years earlier. In 2011, Jobs reportedly described the building "a little like a spaceship landed." Jobs has been credited for coming up with the glass pods, designed to mix solo office areas with more social spaces.

The building is designed to house some 13,000 employees. Wired magazine, first to pay a visit at its opening last year, described the structure as a "statement of openness, of free movement," in contrast to Apple's typically insular culture. "While it is a technical marvel to make glass at this scale, that's not the achievement," Jony Ive, Apple's design chief, told the magazine in May. "The achievement is to make a building where so many people can connect and collaborate and walk and talk."

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment. It's not clear how many incidents there have been. A Silicon Valley-based spokeswoman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration referred questions about Apple's workplace safety record to the government agency's website. A search on the site based on Apple's name in California found no reports of injuries at the company's new campus.

It's not the first time Apple's penchant for glass in buildings has caused problems. In late 2011, 83-year-old Evelyn Paswall walked into the glass wall of an Apple store, breaking her nose. She sued the company, arguing it should have posted a warning on the glass. The suit was settled without any cost to Apple, according to a legal filing in early 2013.


Time Inc.
time.com
16
Ethiopia declares national state of emergency

A national state of emergency has been declared in Ethiopia just one day after the unexpected resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

A statement by the state broadcaster said the move was necessary to stem a wave of anti-government protests.

Hundreds of people have died in three years of unrest in the country.

A 10-month state of emergency that ended last year failed to stop the protests, as did the release from jail of thousands of opposition supporters.

No details were given of how long the latest state of emergency will last or what the restrictions are.

The government has been under pressure because of continuing street protests.

In recent weeks it has released hundreds of prisoners including opposition politicians but the protests have shown no sign of ending.

On Thursday, Mr Hailemariam said he had made his decision to stand down in the hope that it would help end the years of unrest and political upheaval.

"I see my resignation as vital in the bid to carry out reforms that would lead to sustainable peace and democracy," Mr Hailemariam said.

The political demonstrations in Ethiopia began in Oromia in November 2015. Protests later sprung up in the Amhara region.

Oromia and Amhara are the homelands of the country's two biggest ethnic groups.

Many people in these communities feel they have been marginalised since the current government took power in 1991.


BBC News
bbc.com

17
Florida school shooting: Nikolas Cruz confesses to police

The teenager accused of killing 17 people at a Florida high school on Wednesday has confessed to the shooting, police say.

Nikolas Cruz, 19, said he arrived on campus and began shooting students before abandoning his weapon and escaping, according to a court document.

He has appeared in court charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

The FBI has admitted it received a tip-off about him last year.

The attack, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, is the deadliest US school shooting since 2012.

"Cruz stated that he was the gunman who entered the school campus armed with a AR-15 and began shooting students that he saw in the hallways and on the school grounds," according to the court document.

He said he was carrying extra ammunition in a black duffel bag and backpack, it said.

Mr Cruz then discarded his weapon in an attempt to blend in and escape, the documents showed.

He was reportedly able to flee the scene undetected before entering a Walmart and then a McDonald's, and was eventually spotted by police and arrested one hour after the attack.

What do we know about the suspect?

Mr Cruz had been expelled from the school he has confessed to attacking and some students said they had joked "he's the one to shoot up the school".

One former schoolmate, Chad Williams, told Reuters Mr Cruz was an "outcast" who was "crazy about guns".

His interest in weapons was apparent on his social media profiles, which Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said were "very, very disturbing".

Two separate Instagram accounts, now deleted, purport to show Mr Cruz posing with guns and knives.

What were the warnings?

After seeing a comment on a YouTube post last year by Mr Cruz, user Ben Bennight contacted the FBI and spoke to representatives for about 20 minutes.

Mr Bennight said the FBI contacted him again following the school shooting in Parkland.

The FBI confirmed on Thursday that they were made aware of the comment, adding that they had conducted "checks" but were unable to identify the person behind it.

Meanwhile, maths teacher Jim Gard told the Miami Herald that school authorities had emailed teachers about Mr Cruz's behavioural problems.

"There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus," he said.

Who were the victims?

Three staff members and 14 students died in the attack.

On Thursday, thousands of people attended a candlelit vigil to honour the victims. There were chants of "no more guns" as speakers demanded tougher gun laws.

What's the reaction been?

In the wake of the shooting, politicians across the ideological spectrum were quick to offer their condolences. But the conversation soon turned to gun control.

Democrats, many of whom expressed frustration at the levels of gun violence in the US, proposed increased regulation of firearms.

Florida's Democratic Senator Bill Nelson asked what it would take "for enough to be enough".

In an emotional interview on CNN, the mother of one of the victims called on President Trump to respond with policy.

"Do something. Action, we need it now. These kids need safety now," she said.

But many Republicans refused to be drawn into the debate.

In his address to the nation on Thursday, Donald Trump didn't mention the word "gun" or "firearm" once.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio said that it was too soon to debate whether tighter gun laws could have stopped it.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz accused Democrats of politicising the shooting.

"They immediately start calling that we've got to take away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. That's not the right answer," he told Fox News.


BBC News
bbc.com




18
Polls / Re: Dark VS Milk Chocolate
Dec 27, 2017, 03:00 PM
Milk chocolate makes my tongue hurt. Probably the lactose. Needless to say, I'm a dark chocolate gal. Like dark chocolate pretzels!
19
Former Pentagon UFO official: 'We may not be alone'

A former Pentagon official who led a recently revealed government program to research potential UFOs said Monday evening that he believes there is evidence of alien life reaching Earth.

"My personal belief is that there is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone," Luis Elizondo said in an interview on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront."

A pair of news reports in The New York Times and Politico over the weekend said the effort, the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program, was begun largely at the behest of then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, who helped shore up funding for it after speaking to a friend and political donor who owns an aerospace company and has said he believes in the existence of aliens.

Elizondo told The New York Times he resigned from the Department of Defense in October in protest over what he called excessive secrecy surrounding the program and internal opposition to it after funding for the effort ended in 2012.

Elizondo said Monday that he could not speak on behalf of the government, but he strongly implied there was evidence that stopped him from ruling out the possibility that alien aircraft visited Earth.

"These aircraft -- we'll call them aircraft -- are displaying characteristics that are not currently within the US inventory nor in any foreign inventory that we are aware of," Elizondo said of objects they researched.

He said the program sought to identify what had been seen, either through tools or eyewitness reports, and then "ascertain and determine if that information is a potential threat to national security."

"We found a lot," Elizondo said.

The former Pentagon official said they identified "anomalous" aircraft that were "seemingly defying the laws of aerodynamics."

"Things that don't have any obvious flight services, any obvious forms of propulsion, and maneuvering in ways that include extreme maneuverability beyond, I would submit, the healthy G-forces of a human or anything biological," Elizondo said.

The Times' report on the government UFO study included a pair of videos of pilots remarking on something mysterious they were seeing. One of the pilots, retired Cmdr. David Fravor, told CNN that he had witnessed an object that looked like a "40-foot-long Tic Tac" maneuvering rapidly and changing its direction during a flight in 2004.

Ryan Alexander of Taxpayers for Common Sense expressed dismay about the program and cast it as a waste of money in a piece that aired on CNN's "The Situation Room" on Monday.

"It's definitely crazy to spend $22 million to research UFOs," Alexander said. "Pilots are always going to see things that they can't identify, and we should probably look into them. But to identify them as UFOs, to target UFOs to research -- that is not the priority we have as a national security matter right now."

For his part, Fravor said the money spent on the program was a drop in the bucket relative to the military's over half-a-trillion-dollar annual budget.

Politico reported that after Elizondo stepped down from the Department of Defense, he went to work for To the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences, a company co-founded by former Blink-182 musician Tom DeLonge that says it looks into issues surrounding government secrecy and unidentified objects.

In a statement Monday, Reid continued to defend the program.

"I'm proud of this program and its ground-breaking studies speak for themselves," the statement read. "It is silly and counterproductive to politicize the serious scientific questions raised by the work of this program, which was funded on a bipartisan basis."


From CNN
CNN.com
20
Kyrie Irving's trade return gave the Cavaliers everything they could have wanted

The Cavaliers had little leverage in the Kyrie Irving trade after he made it clear he wanted out in early July. But despite everyone knowing Irving was going to be moved, the Cavaliers still managed to haul in a big return. By trading Irving for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Brooklyn's unprotected 2018 first-round pick, and Ante Zizic, the Cavaliers are still ready to win now, but have also improved their team for the future.

The Cavs front office maintained that if they couldn't make things work with Irving, they wanted veterans who could contribute now, prospects for the future, and a good draft pick in return. They managed to check off every single item on their list. And they managed to pull that off in a market where teams have been hesitant to trade for star players.

Cleveland gets an All-Star to help right now

While leading the Celtics to the No. 1 seed in the East last season, Isaiah Thomas was one of the best players at his position. He was the second-leading scorer in the league last season with 28.3 points per game and led the league in fourth-quarter scoring while maintaining a 63 percent true shooting mark.

Thomas may be 29 years old and only 5'9" at best, but his production over the last few years speaks for itself. He's a good player the Cavaliers could build around moving forward should both sides agree on a long-term commitment.

The Cavaliers will have to back up the brinks truck to keep Thomas, like the Celtics were supposed to before trading him. Then, Cleveland will have a year to see how he meshes with LeBron James before deciding what to do next.

Thomas might be older than Irving, but he's still ready to compete at an All-Star level right now. Plus, Kevin Love is still on the roster.

Crowder is also one of the best 3-and-D wing players. He's a great catch-and-shoot player who should thrive playing next to James and Thomas. Crowder's versatility is his biggest asset; he'll allow James to shift to a small-ball power forward on offense while he guards the opposing four on defense.

Though they lost a great player, the Cavs are deeper now than they were before. This trade should put them right back at the top of the conference.

The Cavs are also building toward their future

Cleveland could be without James after next season, and they are now better prepared for that scenario. By acquiring Brooklyn's unprotected first-round pick in 2018, they have a shot at having a top pick in a two-player draft with Michael Porter Jr. and Marvin Bagley III.

Those two could both be generational talents at their positions. Even if James and Thomas leave, the Cavs still have the opportunity to snag a new foundational piece as they move into the future.

And on top of that, the Cavs have a new prospect in Ante Zizic, a 6'11", 240 pound center who was one of the best players in the Adriatic Basketball Association last year. Nikola Jokic and Dario Saric are both products of that league and are two of the better young prospects in the league today.

The deal is surprising because we don't see this anymore

This was a great haul for Cleveland, but it came out of nowhere. The Celtics weren't originally reported to be on Irving's preferred list of teams. Boston also already had an All-Star point guard. Even though they had the assets to get the deal done, it seemed like a long shot.

Plus, the trade value of superstars around the league seems to be diminishing. With the Warriors running through the league, teams haven't been willing to give up major future assets for a chance to snag a star right now.

The Indiana Pacers were criticized for trading Paul George for pennies on the dollar before the 2017 NBA draft. The Chicago Bulls didn't do much better with Butler. The Sacramento Kings could only manage a similarly underwhelming haul for DeMarcus Cousins in February after the All-Star game.

Like Butler and Cousins, Irving had two years left on his deal. Unlike the Bulls and Kings, the Cavs managed to find legitimate suitors for their eager-to-depart star and eventually landed an All-Star and a high unprotected pick in return.

No matter how it turns out for Cleveland in the future, this trade was a win in the moment. Irving wanted out, and the team got exactly what it wanted out of the deal for today and the future. Now it's up to them to make it work.


From SBNation
sbnation.com
21
Quote from: iLaxrv10 on Aug 23, 2017, 10:15 AM
Kyrie went to Boston

I don't care. He's a little cry baby. He wants to be the star of a team but any time we sat Lebron out, he couldn't even carry the team. So good luck in Boston snake. We'll see him in the playoffs when we are beating him. At least we got Isaiah Thomas out of it.
22
Virginia Catholic priest steps down from ministry after revealing KKK past

A Roman Catholic priest holding in decades of guilt has temporarily stepped away from his ministerial duties in Virginia after revealing that he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan years ago.

Father William Aitcheson said his decision was inspired by the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that left one woman dead and 19 people injured.

"My actions were despicable," Aitcheson wrote in an editorial published Monday in the The Arlington Catholic Herald.

"When I think back on burning crosses, a threatening letter, and so on, I feel as though I am speaking of somebody else," he wrote. "It's hard to believe that was me."

Aitcheson, 62, went on to say that "the images in Charlottesville brought back memories of a bleak period" in his life, memories he said he would prefer to forget.

"The reality is, we cannot forget, we should not forget," he wrote.

The Catholic Diocese of Arlington said in a statement that Aitcheson "left that life behind him 40 years ago and since journeyed in faith to eventually become a Catholic priest."

But Aitcheson volunteered to step away temporarily from the public ministry, "for the well-being of the church and parish community," the diocese said. He had been serving as a parochial vicar at a church in Fairfax City.

"While Fr. Aitcheson's past with the Ku Klux Klan is sad and deeply troubling, I pray that in our current political and social climate his message will reach those who support hate and division, and inspire them to a conversion of heart," Bishop Michael F. Burbidge said in the diocese's statement.



There have been no accusations of "racism or bigotry" during Aitcheson's service in Arlington, the diocese added.

The statement did not indicate how long Aitcheson would be stepping away and said he would not be available for interviews. Attempts to reach him by phone were not successful as of Tuesday afternoon.

According to a March 2, 1977 article in the Associated Press, a then 23-year-old Aitcheson was charged with cross burnings, manufacturing pipe bombs and making bomb threats as part of a Maryland KKK plot to damage private, government and military facilities.

The Maryland State Police spokesman at the time told the AP Aitcheson was a leader in the Robert E. Lee Lodge of the Maryland Knights of the KKK.

And according to an archive 1977 article in the Washington Post, Aitcheson pleaded guilty in May of that year to charges that he threatened to kill Coretta Scott King, widow of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., in a letter in 1976.

Aitcheson mentions both cross burning and a threatening letter in his editorial.

The priest apologized for his behavior, writing, "I have no excuse, but I hope you will forgive me."

He said the images coming out of the Charlottesville rallies were "embarrassing."

"They embarrass us as a country, but for those who have repented from a damaging and destructive past, the images should bring us to our knees in prayer," he wrote.

The diocese added that Aitcheson's editorial was written with the intent of spreading his story of transformation.

"The irony that I left an anti-Catholic hate group to rejoin the Catholic Church is not lost on me," Aithcheson wrote in his editorial. "It is a reminder of the radical transformation possible through Jesus Christ in his mercy."

"If there are any white supremacists reading this, I have a message for you: you will find no fulfillment in this ideology," he added.


From NBC News
nbcnews.com
23
People close to LeBron James confident Dwayne Wade will join Cavaliers

LeBron James has said that at some point in his career he'd like to play on the same team as his best friends -- Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul -- and he may take a step toward that goal this season.

In the "Wine and Gold Talk" podcast with Chris Fedor for cleveland.com, Joe Vardon reported that LeBron's camp thinks Wade will be end up in Cleveland this season. From Vardon:
QuoteAs of right now, people close to James are fairly confident that, at some point this year, Dwyane Wade is going to end up on the Cavs.

In case you're wondering who Vardon means by "people close to James," he mentioned earlier in the podcast that the only sources he considers reliable when it comes to James are agent Rich Paul, business manager Maverick Carter, wife Savannah James and confidant Adam Mendelsohn.

A buyout between Wade and the rebuilding Chicago Bulls seems like the logical next step for both parties, but Chicago is apparently in no rush to make it happen. Wade is owed $23.8 million this season, and the Bulls likely would have to absorb a large chunk of that in any buyout situation. Chicago could end up waiting until later in the season for a buyout, first testing the trade market for Wade in the hope of picking up additional assets.

If he's bought out Wade would become an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any team except the Bulls.

The Cavs are clearly in flux, with the pending Kyrie Irving trade and James' potential 2018 free agency hanging over the front office. The addition of Wade, who averaged 18.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists last season, would give the Cavs another playmaker who could help shoulder the scoring load if and when Irving is traded.


From CBS Sports
cbssports.com
24
NFLPA president: I don't care if NFL 'dies out in 20 years'

NFL Players Association president Eric Winston said Monday players don't care whether a potential work stoppage harms the sport.

"So if this thing dies out in 20 years, it dies out in 20 years," the Bengals' veteran tackle said Monday on Cincinnati television station WCPO. "That's not really my concern, and I don't think it's any of these players' concern in here either."

The NFL's current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire in 2021. Given the unrest between owners and the union the past couple of years, not to mention NFL players complaining about their NBA counterparts getting far more lucrative contracts, many see another work stoppage on the horizon. (There was a 132-day lockout in 2011 before the current CBA was finalized.)

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith commented last week that a strike or lockout "is almost a virtual certainty."

Winston agreed, but said he doesn't care what another work stoppage might mean for the NFL's future.

"Honestly I don't care and I don't think the guys in this locker room care whether [the NFL] is going to be around in 20 years because none of us are going to be playing," Winston told the TV station. "So if these guys [the owners] want to own for a long time, then they can own for a long time. But another work stoppage might kill the golden goose."

Winston, who's been the union president since early 2014, wanted to remind fans how the NFL owners locked out players during the most recent labor dispute.

"They took the decision to make sure that people didn't have a place to work," he said. "They cut off the insurance to our families... What are you supposed to do? Fight back, right?"

So Winston said he really isn't concerned about the possibility owners and the league might suffer in the long term.

"I'm certainly not worried about (the NFL's long-term health)," he said. "I'm not going to be around that long. I don't care if even if there are rookies in here — they're not going to be playing that long."


From Sporting News
sportingnews.com
25
'Stranger Things' creators want to end series after four seasons



Brothers Matt and Ross Duffer — creators of Netflix's streaming hit "Stranger Things" — have done like "Game of Thrones's" D.B. Weiss and David Benioff and slapped an expiration date on their popular series. During an interview with Vulture, the Duffer brothers explained that they envision "Stranger Things" ending after four seasons.

According to the brothers, Netflix has already renewed the series for a third season. But by the end of that season, the preteens of Hawkins, Ind., will be headed toward college.

"We're thinking it will be a four-season thing and then out," Ross said.

"We just have to keep adjusting the story," Matt continued. "Though I don't know if we can justify something bad happening to them once a year."

Netflix declined to comment when reached by Variety.

While the news will undoubtedly disappoint some "Stranger Things" fans, they still have Season 2's upcoming premiere to look forward to, which a recently released trailer has hinted will feature a new monster, as well as continued tribulations for Will, who slipped into the Upside Down in the first season. Pretty much anyone associated with the show has refused to say much else, however, besides that the new season will be darker and incorporate more horror elements. The Duffer brothers added that they wanted to "push things a bit."

Season 2 premieres Oct. 28 on Netflix.


From Variety
variety.com