Glad to see where our priorities are

Sunday news shows on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and Fox failed to cover the People’s Climate March, a massive protest against climate change being held September 21 in New York City in conjunction with events in more than 150 countries worldwide.

Meet the Press, Face the Nation, State of the Union, and Fox News Sunday ignored the event, which is being touted by participants as “the largest mobilization against climate change in the history of the planet.” The Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel briefly mentioned the march on ABC’s This Week while arguing that national security concerns surrounding climate change are not receiving adequate attention.
—Timothy Johnson, Media Matters

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Environment

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15 Hours?

ios8_slow.jpg
According to this chart, iOS 8 penetration is already over 30% among Apple users in 5 days. My question is, how the hell have all you people been able to download this thing? I’ve been trying since Friday.

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Technology

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Samsung: 2012’s Copied Designs

I love that Samsung’s new phone is not only a rip-off of the iPhone 5, but now it’s also dated with the new iPhone 6 out:

I give Samsung maybe 6 months before they drop the chamfered edges for the rounded edges of the iPhone 6.
Image taken from Phandroid.com

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Product

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Weekly Exhaust Ep. 17: iPhone 5 is to 911 as iPhone 6 is to Panamera

This week Michael and Bryan discuss range of motion for your thumb on the new iPhones, how easily the human brain gets conditioned to new gadgets and interfaces, how they both hate carrying things in their pockets, the life cyles of gaming consoles, the TV industry being done with plasma screens, NFL’s new iPad-like Devices, the days before HTML5, Minecraft and the Second Fappening. The episode opens with a 1972 Beetle EMPI exhaust.
Weekly Exhaust – Episode 17

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Podcast

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Fact: Microsoft Loves MacBook Airs

Today, during the recording of this week’s Weekly Exhaust we were talking about how NFL commentators were referring to the Surface tablets as “iPad-like devices” (that Microsoft paid $400 million for teams to use on the sidelines), so after the show I decided to check out Microsoft.com.
What did I find?
I found a MacBook Air as the most prominent product on the Microsoft homepage:

Sometimes I really wonder what they’re thinking at Microsoft.
Actually I always wonder what they’re thinking.

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Product

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Android Defectors

Buzz has been building since the new iPhones were unveiled on Sept. 9 at an event near Apple’s headquarters, with pre-orders topping 4 million units in the first 24 hours and surpassing earlier releases. A third of Android users polled by Boston-based Gazelle said they’re likely to upgrade to the iPhone 6, with 39 percent saying the bigger screen was driving the decision. Last year, a 10th of the smartphones traded in when the iPhone 5s and 5c went on sale were Android-based devices, according to Chris Sullivan, Gazelle’s CEO.
—Tim Higgins, Bloomberg

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Technology

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How Very Sopranos of You, New Jersey

Former Tic Tock Diner manager to be sentenced in murder-for-hire plot

The former manager of a northern New Jersey diner faces sentencing in what authorities say was a foiled plot to kill the co-owner of the restaurant, who is his uncle by marriage.

Georgios Spyropoulos will appear before a judge in Paterson today. The Clifton resident faces up to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder.
The Tick Tock Diner is a legendary New Jersey Diner. When I was growing up in the suburbs of northwestern New Jersey, I remember passing the Tick Tock on Rt 3 on our way to the Lincoln Tunnel into Manhattan.
In the last season of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Jerry Seinfeld sits down at the Tick Tock with John Stewart.

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Community

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No Screen

Sam Byford at the Verge on the Leica M Edition 60:

The M Edition 60 is a special version of the M-P Type 240 digital rangefinder, but there’s a twist — the new model features no screen at all, forcing you to use it as if it were a film camera. “Working with the Leica M Edition 60 intentionally demands the same care and attention as working with an analogue model,” says the company in a statement. “Only the sensor and the entire electronics reflect the state of the art of contemporary camera technology.” The screen has been replaced with an ISO selector dial, which at least means you’ll be able to alter the sensitivity of your photos more often than you could with a 36-shot roll of film.
Over at Co.Design, Adrian Covert and Mark Wilson debate whether this no-screen thing is a good idea:
Adrian: On paper this sounds great. It forces photographers to really think about what they’re shooting and how they’re shooting it. And while I’m all for designs that address issues with faulty user behavior, this is coming at the expense of another feature which has unquestionably helped improve the photographic process: the LCD. That’s a problem.
As with many debates in life, I see both sides.
For me, though, the screen has to stay.


[images taken from The Verge]

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Photography

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Outgrowing the Computer Industry

It’s no coincidence that Apple announced their hiring of Marc Newson on the Friday before last week’s event. But I don’t think his hiring is about the Apple Watch in particular. Nor do I think Apple Watch in particular is what Apple thinks was “historic” about last week’s event. Rather, I think Apple Watch is the first product from an Apple that has outgrown the computer industry. Rather than settle for making computing devices, they are now using computing technology to make anything and everything where computing technology — particularly miniature technology — can revolutionize existing industries. Newson isn’t a watch designer, or a fashion designer. He’s a designer of anything and everything. He’s designed everything from watches to cars to chairs. Apple Watch isn’t merely Apple’s foray into the watch industry — it’s their foray outside the computer/consumer electronics industry. I think they’re just getting started. At the close of his Apple Watch unveiling video during the keynote, Jony Ive said, “We’re now at a compelling beginning actually designing technology to be worn, to be truly personal.” The watch just happens to be first.
—John Gruber, Apple Watch: Initial Thoughts and Observations
A great and lengthy (over 4,500 words) post. A must-read.

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Technology

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