Over at Grantland, Kate Baker on [just how bad it is in Sochi](Just How Bad Is the Scene in Sochi?):

I had yet to eat my breakfast this morning when someone regaled me with a story about a guy staying up in Sochi’s mountaintop media hotel cluster who turned on his faucet and watched as sewage spilled out. Last night, a colleague returned to her room after a long day of work to find the door swung open, a set of keys still dangling from the lock. Nothing was stolen, but a TV had finally been installed. It could have been worse: The door to one guy’s room was supposedly kicked down by workers trying to put in a cable box.
I can’t help but imagine if a young Hunter S. Thompson was alive today.
Imagine the stories he’d bring back.

Via SamMobile (the page has been removed, but still on Google Cache)

Today, we have screenshots of a newer version of S Voice, Samsung’s personal assistant app, which is expected to debut on future devices like the Galaxy S5. As with the S Health and WatchON apps, Samsung has made a few changes to the interface, though in case of S Voice, we can’t say those changes are for the better, as the app looks as unattractive as it does in its currently available avatar
Samsung makes unattractive software?
Definitely sounds like my experience.
I mean, look how dull and lifeless the design of Samsung’s S Voice app is:

Compared with what they copied, Apple’s Siri:

Samsung knows how to make money, but I find nothing admirable about their products.

That’s how you not-cover, cover a song.
h/t my brother

From The Verge:

Your work could be at the heart of one of the largest digital art exhibitions the world has ever seen, thanks to a collaboration between London’s Barbican Centre and Google.

The exhibition is called Digital Revolution, and from July 3rd to September 14th it will explore the impact of technology on art over the past 40 years. It will feature artists, designers, musicians, architects, and developers to reveal the artistry that’s all around us, from the films that we watch to the games that we play. DevArt, its final act, will showcase three large-scale, “magical” works of art from established artists, and one that’s yet to be announced. That’s where you come in.
This show looks interesting, but to be clear, art + code is nothing new.
When I started my career as a web designer, guys like Joshua Davis, James Paterson, Robert Hodgin and Erik Natzke were creating amazing interactive art with code (and still are).
Go back farther and you’ll find all the things John Maeda was experimenting with in the 90’s.

Groundhog Day show at Super Precious Art Gallery
via Quipsologies

From the gorgeous portfolio of Tony Rodriguez

Wow, North Korea, you’ve outdone yourselves with your new computer operating system.

Looks like something I’ve seen before, but I can’t put my finger on it…

Sorry, I just had to change my wallpaper real quick.

I’d like the millions of self-righteous Prius owners in the Bay Area to read this article about electric cars:

There are lots of good reasons for buying an electric car, from cutting your gas bill to feeling good for helping out with smog. But climate change? Not really.

Though Priuses and Leafs are associated with greener living, it turns out they do little planetary good, according to a new study. When you quantify the economy-wide impact of electric vehicles, measured in greenhouse gas pollutants, it’s basically a wash. From a climate perspective, you might as well keep your old sedan.
Haha. I’ve know this for a while. Not because I’m especially smart—you just need to know the source of the electricity that’s charging your fucking car (oil, gas and coal, yay!). Or understand the mining required to make batteries.
The combustion chamber lives to see another day.