CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-06-18 20:55:45 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

This just in: Republican governors are against federal money up to and until the checks clear. Then they are all for it.

2013-06-18 20:02:55 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

This is how the Republican Party becomes the stupid party. #politics  

2013-06-18 06:06:54 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Wait, what? Someone help me parse this.

• Sprint has a long-standing relationship with Clearwire, vis a vis WiMax.
• Clearwire has problems; Sprint moves to acquire.
• A wild Dish Networks appears! Dish Networks uses "Bid". It's super effective.
• Sprint and Dish enter a bidding war for Clearwire.
• Clearwire prefers Dish's bid.
• Sprint sues to stop it.

BUT WAIT!

• Meanwhile, SoftBank and and Dish are simultaneously involved in a bidding war to acquire.......... wait for it........ Sprint!?

directed by M. Night Shyamalan

But seriously, how the heck should we read this? Is Dish going after Clearwire to make Sprint itself less attractive to SoftBank? Is this a hedge in case they don't get Sprint? Is it just negotiating leverage? Will they all merge into a single telecommunications colossus andachieve Super... more »

2013-06-15 05:32:06 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

For the past few days, I’ve been in New Zealand, watching the folks at Google [x] as they test out their scheme for Internet connection via thousands of high-pressure, solar powered balloons circling the globe in the stratosphere.   The initiative is called Project Loon, partly because it’s crazy.   But Google is serious about making this happen.   Read my dispatch from Kiwi-land here. 

2013-06-15 05:17:23 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 12 +1s)

For 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach.  Today we are unveiling our latest moonshot from Google [x] - Project Loon: balloon-powered internet access. Learn more: goo.gl/3VUHC

#ProjectLoon

2013-06-15 05:49:10 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Crispy sardines and prosciutto w/ artichoke on toast.

Venetian bar snack is best bar snack!

2013-06-13 22:34:42 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

This is how you lead. (Edited: Includes transcript!)

In a day when the US armed forces are under fire from all quarters for not responsibly dealing with soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines raping one another -- frequently, and with such impunity that the Senate is looking at a bill which would, essentially, strip responsibility for handling this from the chain of command -- it's stunning to see what real leadership can sound like. 

Australia's military is facing something that's by comparison much smaller -- but Lt. Gen. Morrison, the Chief of the Army, has made his position on it absolutely clear. This is leadership. 

If the US' senior chain of command were this explicit and direct, we would not be in the situation we are in now. Because things would never have been allowed to fall this far out of control.

Watch this video --i... more »

2013-06-13 07:44:07 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

Utah Senator Orrin Hatch describes why he thinks so many tech leaders in Silicon Valley are Democrats: “They are terrific human beings, but a lot of them, because their wives are pro-abortion, think they have to be Democrats,” he says. “I just point out how stupid they are to support one party.”

That's so incorrect and offensive on so many levels that I don't even know where to start. I don't know whether to laugh or cry that this guy is a sitting US Senator.  #mansplaining  

2013-06-12 21:05:19 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

2013-06-12 05:45:13 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

Talkative mailbox has something to say.

2013-06-11 18:56:08 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Our chief legal officer, +David Drummond, sent a letter to the Attorney General and the Director of the FBI today, asking the government to lift its restrictions on what we can say. As he says, we have nothing to hide -- and I personally welcome as much openness as possible.

Simultaneously, a bipartisan group of eight senators has proposed a bill to declassify FISA court rulings: http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/11/4419006/senate-bill-would-declassify-fisc-orders-for-nsa-surveillance . 

I'm entirely in favor of all of this. The scandal in this case is not that the NSA may have broken the law -- it's that they very likely did not. It's that the law of the land has gradually mutated into something that allows us to be watched 24/7, at the whims of people unknown, subject to safeguards unknown, for reasons unknown -- but keeping a log, so that if anyone ever becomes suspiciouso... more »

2013-06-11 05:18:05 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Videos of the moving images projected on the Sydney Custom House at the Vivid festival.

2013-06-11 02:58:10 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

Ambivalent mailbox is watching.

2013-06-09 20:44:49 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 1 +1s)

I'm sad to report today the death of Iain M. Banks, a truly brilliant writer of science fiction. I would say that he wrote about what a post-scarcity society would actually mean better than anyone else ever did; and his books are fascinating, engrossing reads. Here +Ian O'Neill writes an excellent essay about him; +Neil Gaiman has another eulogy on his blog at http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2013/06/iain-banks-with-or-without-m.html. 

2013-06-07 20:25:31 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 18 +1s)

I need to take the day off more often.

2013-06-07 13:52:15 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

Lanny Breuer prosecuted zero Wall Street executives as assistant attorney general. Now he gets $4 million a year working at a law firm that defends Wall Street. The system is rigged—but it doesn't have to be. Let's demand that his replacement be someone who isn't a Wall Street shill. If enough people loudly oppose corruption, change will happen. That's the way it's always worked.

The Daily Beast captures what we feel about Breuer in this scathing takedown:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/29/lanny-breuer-and-the-immorality-of-our-morality.html

h/t +Natty Narwhal 

2013-06-07 01:59:01 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Silicon Valley peeps: anyone know what's up with the road closures?

2013-06-04 23:12:03 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

2013-06-04 20:52:27 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

What's this, a resurgence in hobby electronics?

http://www.heathkit.com/

2013-06-04 02:56:23 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

A pretty good recap.

#spoilerific  obvs.

2013-06-03 21:49:53 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

(Note, explicit lyrics, etc).

Music to refactor the ex-intern's monitoring code by.

2013-06-03 15:57:56 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 10 +1s)

2013-06-03 13:48:50 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

OK +Brandon Tearse , I know you think it's crazy how much the LoL shoutcasters talk, but how much more awesome is it when you shoutcast yourself?

2013-06-03 13:41:31 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

Imagine an opportunity where you can make a billion dollar bet on a coin flip using other people's money. If your bet lands on Heads, you earn billions for your firm and you personally get to take home $130 million bonus (never have to work again). If heaven forbid, the coin lands on Tails, all you lose is your job. You don't go to jail. Nothing else happens to you. Taxpayers bail out your firm.

Any idiot can get lucky for a year or two betting on coin flips (will gas prices go up or down, etc). But it's f'd up when the profits are privatized and the losses are socialized.

How many people would do what this punk did? All you need is one lucky coin flip and you pay yourself a big enough bonus from that year's proceeds that you never have to work again. If you lose the 50-50 bet, oh well. 50-50 odds for winning the lottery are pretty good.

This is exactly... more »

2013-06-03 13:31:32 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

I'm suddenly glad I didn't read ahead in Game of Thrones. My mind is blown..and I like surprises.

2013-06-02 19:05:49 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Saw "The Internship" last night only steps from the Googleplex, with friends very familiar with the subject.  You can quibble with the movie, but you can't deny that it is a triumph for the company it supposedly depicts.


http://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/06/02/the-googleplex-goes-hollywood-with-the-internship

2013-06-01 14:58:27 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

Some say Obamacare is cheap in California. Others say it's raising premiums by 146 percent. Who's right?

2013-06-01 14:42:01 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

Fox News Editor: "Let's get a panel of men discussing the natural dominance of males to females and how allowing women to work will destroy society... what could go wrong?"

A man raising the kids at home while a woman works? What's next? Human sacrifice?! Dogs and cats, living together! Mass hysteria!

The men on this panel should never be allowed to sleep in the master bedroom again.

2013-05-31 23:52:03 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

LOL :D  He's got jokes!

2013-05-31 23:50:32 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

2013-05-31 23:49:26 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

If you don't think a German cabaret version of Oops, I Did It Again is a good idea, you are, in fact, wrong.

2013-05-31 23:47:48 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

This should be exciting.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Ban-on-Smoking-Within-25-Feet-of-Starbucks-Stores-Begins-Saturday-209735881.html

2013-05-31 01:13:20 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

If TV shows had different theme songs

Presenting: Mad office, Lost Family, How I Lost Your Mother and Game of Friends. 

via +Laughing Squid 

2013-05-30 18:10:26 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

If you're previewing the new Google Maps, there's an easter egg hidden in outer space. Set your computer's clock back to Thursday, May 9th at 5pm PDT. Then, enter Earth view and zoom out till you see the cloud layer appear over the planet. Now, look northeast of Australia :). You'll see the little surprise we found as we were testing the new maps. And if you zoom out all the way, you'll even see the moon in front of the sun!

http://maps.google.com/preview

#newgooglemaps

[ this will work for future eclipses also ]

2013-05-29 18:45:10 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

The Living Root Bridges of India ... Kuriositas - "India has a population of over a billion and our ideas about the country are often informed by that statistic.  Yet there are places on the sub-continent which are still almost inaccessible.  Meghalaya in the north east of the country is home to mountainous subtropical forests.  In order to get around, local people have come up with an ingenious form of natural engineering – the living root bridge.

It always seems to rain here – the rivers are often very dangerous to ford.  This is one of the wettest places on the planet. The steady precipitation combined with the rugged terrain, steep hillsides and thick foliage of the forests would make many parts of the Meghalayan jungles unreachable.  Yet the inventive and resourceful people who live here have found a way – but they had to be very patient, at least to begin with...."<... more »

2013-05-29 18:31:01 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Unsure if Google Play's music selection algorithms commenting on my musical tastes, or suggesting a new career.

2013-05-29 05:19:05 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

2013-05-29 05:03:43 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

So, we're only two episodes in (and will probably continue to watch) but I'm in pretty solid agreement here.

2013-05-29 02:19:45 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Stats and graphs bring the Bluths to life.

2013-05-28 21:19:27 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

"Is The Auto Franchise System A Lemon?" 

2013-05-28 21:15:02 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/15/us-usa-newhampshire-robinhood-idUSBRE94E1C720130515

2013-05-28 18:37:24 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Apparently there's a new Fitz & The Tantrums album.

I'm pretty happy with it so far (three tracks in).

2013-05-26 04:23:26 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

2013-05-26 04:12:57 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

2013-05-24 17:28:03 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

Chicken *ALL* the dances!

2013-05-24 17:02:02 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 4 +1s)

I don't always post commercials to my stream, but this one kicks gas.

Big Gas Savings

2013-05-23 15:21:20 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

SIGGRAPH 2013 : Technical Papers Preview Trailer

2013-05-23 05:22:56 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 0 +1s)

Super detailed outline of all the running jokes, just in time for the new season this weekend.  I forgot that Henry Winkler literally jumped the shark in Season 2!

2013-05-23 04:09:06 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Not totally secret anymore, I guess ;-)

2013-05-21 21:59:33 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Music for writing my own SOAP library to.

Don't ask why I'm writing my own SOAP library.