Archive for category Entertainment

The NBA’s geek-chic craze: What’s with the nerdy glasses? – The Week

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Entertainment, Social, Society on June 17, 2012


The NBA’s geek-chic craze: What’s with the nerdy glasses?

Post-game news conferences have turned into veritable fashion shows, and the hottest accoutrement are oversized, Urkel-esque specs

POSTED ON JUNE 15, 2012

Flaunting a curiously cool bespectacled style, Oklahoma City Thunder all-stars Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant speak to the press Thursday.

Flaunting a curiously cool bespectacled style, Oklahoma City Thunder all-stars Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant speak to the press Thursday. Photo: AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

 

The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat are in the midst of a nail-biting best-of-seven NBA championship series that is all tied up at a game a piece. But the near-superhuman acrobatics on the court aren’t dominating all the headlines. Indeed, stars from both basketball teams are attracting nearly as much attention for the sartorial flair they’ve exhibited at post-game news conferences. By far the most conspicuous accessories — worn by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade of the Heat, as well as Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant of the Thunder — are thick-rimmed, oversized glasses that would make the cast of The Revenge of the Nerds blush. Prescriptions, and even lenses, are optional (“I see better without them,” Westbrook admitted), confirming that the glasses are part of a geek-chic trend that has seen NBA players wearing schoolboy backpacks, cardigans, and plaid socks. Here, a guide to the NBA’s new obsession with nerdy glasses:

Who started this bizarre trend? 
That’s a matter of heated dispute. Westbrook, whose flamboyant fashion sense puts him in a class of his own (his frames are fire-engine red),claims that he started the trend upon entering the league in 2008. “Everybody else just started wearing them now,” he said. James retorted, “No, that’s not right… He definitely didn’t start it.” Offering a deeper historical perspective, Larry Leight, an eyewear designer, tells The Wall Street Journal that the craze for lensless glasses was likely started by Japanese teenage girls.

Why do players wear them? 
There are several theories. The players themselves insist “they were not trying to make a cultural statement,” says Tom Spousta at The New York Times. Nick Collison, a forward for the Thunder, speculates that players think it makes them look smarter. Leight says the glasses could help them cope with the press’s scrutiny. “You do kind of feel like you’re shielded,”he tells The Journal. James Harden, a Thunder guard famous for his King Tut-like beard, has a much simpler theory: “It’s their swag.” 

What are other examples of geek chic? 
Durant is known to appear at news conferences with a schoolboy backpack tightly strapped to his shoulders. On Thursday night, Durant, Wade, and James all spoke to the press wearing pocket handkerchiefs that matched their outfits. Amar’e Stoudemire of the New York Knicks was featured in a Foot Locker commercial wearing quintessential geek-chic attire: A cardigan, a thin tie, and oversized glasses.

Why is geek chic so popular in the NBA? 
It’s likely an outgrowth of, and a response to, a 2005 dress code implemented by NBA Commissioner David Stern to improve the league’s “bad-boy” image. The code, says Matt Ufford at SB Nation, took direct “aim at hip hop culture: Jeans, T-shirts, Timberland boots, large jewelry, and do-rags were all banned.” Players were “challenged to think creatively about dismantling Stern’s black-male stereotyping,” says Wesley Morris atGrantland, and drew on larger shifts in black culture led by artists like Pharrell Williams, Andre 3000, and Kanye West, who “ushered in the chic of the black nerd.”

Is the trend here to stay? 
Perhaps not. “Trends, they come and go, and people get on board with them or they don’t,” says Wade. “With the nerd glasses in the NBA, it’s just something fun to do right now. I’m sure next season it’ll be out the window.”

 The NBA’s geek-chic craze: What’s with the nerdy glasses? – The Week.

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IKEA announces furniture with integrated TV, speakers, and Blu-ray | ExtremeTech

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Entertainment, Social, Society on April 17, 2012


IKEA announces furniture with integrated TV, speakers, and Blu-ray

 

If you long for those balmy days when TVs looked like pieces of furniture, good news: This fall, IKEA will release Uppleva, a range of home entertainment systems that integrate a flat-screen full HD TV, 2.1 sound, and a Blu-ray player. At this point, I strongly encourage you to watch IKEA’s very cute promotional video embedded below.

Uppleva will come in three different designs, with a range of screen sizes starting at 24 inches. If the built-in Blu-ray player isn’t enough, there are two USB and four HDMI ports down the side of the screen, and an empty “bay” that can hold a games console, TiVo, or another set-top box of your choice. In true IKEA fashion, the whole caboodle will come in a range of colors (white, light wood, dark wood, black, and so on). Prices start at 6,500 Swedish Kroner (around $950) — presumably for the 24-inch version — which is a fairly good deal. Uppleva will only be available in a few European markets to start with, but the UK and North America should see it in early 2013.

IKEA Uppleva, TV, sound, and Blu-ray integrated into a piece of furniture

I never thought I’d see the day where we’d write about IKEA on ExtremeTech, but really, this is a stroke of genius. While power users will dig around to find the best TV or Blu-ray player, most consumers really just want to buy a TV and Blu-ray player. Uppleva will have just two visible wires — power and aerial. Uppleva will have just a single remote control, too — an unobtainable fantasy for most modern-day households — and a wireless subwoofer! I have to admit, even I would be tempted to get one of these, purely for the novelty of escaping Cable Hell (though it isn’t clear how long a battery-powered subwoofer lasts). There is one fly in the ointment, though: IKEA doesn’t say whether Uppleva will be sold ready-made, or if you’ll have to put it together.

Just imagine if a future version of Uppleva integrates even more hardware, too — or it grows to become a single piece of living room-spanning furniture, with drawers and shelves and inglenooks;Microsoft Uppleva 720, with Kinect hidden behind a wood-effect strip of laminate. This could be exactly what we need to finally implement smart homes, too — instead of trying to wire together a bunch of disparate devices, you could just buy an all-in-one kit from IKEA. There are already a scary number of homes that are completely furnished with IKEA gear, anyway, so it’s not like this would be much of a logical jump…

 IKEA announces furniture with integrated TV, speakers, and Blu-ray | ExtremeTech.

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Instagram Users Fail to Welcome Their New Overlord – NYTimes.com

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Entertainment, Facebook, Social, Society on April 11, 2012


Instagram Users Fail to Welcome Their New Overlord

By NICK BILTON

 | April 10, 2012

 

screenshot via InstagramMark Zuckerberg shared his fourth photo ever on Instagram on Tuesday after purchasing the company for $1 billion.

Beast, Mark Zuckerberg’s dog, had his moment of fame on Instagram Monday. The Facebook founder shared a picture of the shaggy-haired mutt late in the evening after his company announced it was purchasing Instagram for $1 billion.

It was only Mr. Zuckerberg’s fourth post since signing up for Instagram in October 2010. (That’s $250 million a photo.)

Some Instagram users embraced Mr. Zuckerberg, congratulating him on the acquisition and welcoming him back to the service after he had not shared a photo in 43 weeks. Others took the opportunity to voice their dismay about the deal and share fears that Instagram will be destroyed by the social media giant.

“Congrats on the purchase…” wrote monkm, an Instagram user. “I must add however that most of us on IG are on here because it’s not FB not that there’s anything wrong with FB it’s just we like the community here…”

Another user, anna777loves777you, said: “@zuck thanks for taking IG away from us!!!”

An especially vitriolic comment written by brianbrutal said, “Stick to being overlord of FaceBook. We don’t want you on Instagram.” The comment has since been deleted.

When I posted a photo on Instagram about the Facebook acquisition, one user raised a concern:

“Oh no! I’m in china. Chinese government blocked the Facebook,” wrote June Penelope Lee. “If Instagram combine with Facebook that means I might cannot use this anymore.”

While many applauded the Instagram founders on Twitter for successfully selling the company, others said they would quit Instagram, just as they had Facebook in the past. You can see a few sample Twitter messages below.

Others shared instructions on how to download your Instagram photos and delete an account from the service.

 Instagram Users Fail to Welcome Their New Overlord – NYTimes.com.

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Used Xboxes can be hacked for credit card information, researcher says | The Verge

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Entertainment, Privacy, Security, Social, Society on April 5, 2012


Used Xboxes can be hacked for credit card information, researcher says

Adi Robertson  March 30

 

 

Restoring an Xbox 360 console to factory settings before selling it apparently isn’t enough to remove your personal information. In an interview with Kotaku , Drexel University researcher Ashley Podhradsky said that her team had successfully retrieved credit card data from a refurbished Xbox using simple modding tools. The software gave them access to the console’s files and folders, letting them extract information that hadn’t been wiped even by the Microsoft-authorized reseller. The process was published in the August 2011 Proceedings of the America’s Conference on Information Systems.

Podhradsky says that Microsoft “does a great job of protecting their proprietary information. But they don’t do a great job of protecting the user’s data.” In particular, she singles out what she sees as a long history of misleading information. “When you go and reformat your computer, like a Windows system, it tells you that all of your data will be erased. In actuality that’s not accurate — the data is still available.” Fortunately, it is possible to sanitize an Xbox hard drive by hooking it to your computer and running a program like Darik’s Boot & Nuke , she says. Podhradsky does not appear to have published research on other consoles, though, so PlayStation 3 or Wii users might want to wait before calling out Microsoft for poor security.

 Used Xboxes can be hacked for credit card information, researcher says | The Verge.

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‘Father of Loud’ Amp Inventor Jim Marshall Dies, Aged 88 – International Business Times

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Entertainment, Society on April 5, 2012


‘Father of Loud’ Amp Inventor Jim Marshall Dies, Aged 88

 

By EWAN PALMER

April 5, 2012

 

Jim Marshall has died aged 88 (Reuters)

Jim Marshall’s name became one of most recognisable for rock guitarists and their legions of fans (Reuters)

 

The founder of Marshall Amplification, Jim Marshall OBE, has died at the age of 88.

A tribute to the man known as the Father of Loud was posted on his official website, praising the man whose name became iconic for electric guitarists.

Marshall amplifiers have been used by some of the biggest and most famous names in rock music since the 1960s.

Marshall, of Acton, West London, received the Award for Export from the Queen in 1984 in recognition of his company’s achievements over a three-year period.

A statement on his official website read: “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved founder and leader for the past 50 years, Jim Marshall. While mourning the Guv’nor though, we also salute a legendary man who led a full and truly remarkable life.

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“Jim’s ascent into the history books as ‘the Father of Loud’ and the man responsible for ‘the Sound of Rock’ is a true rags-to-riches tale. Cruelly robbed of his youth by tubercular bones, Jim rose to become one of the four forefathers responsible for creating the tools that allowed rock guitar as we know and love it today to be born.

“The ground-breaking quartet also includes the late, great trio of Leo Fender, Les Paul and Seth Lover – together with Jim, they truly are the cornerstones of all things rock.

“In addition to the creation of the amps chosen by countless guitar heroes and game-changing bands, Jim was also an incredibly humble and generous man who, over the past several decades, has quietly donated many millions of pounds to worthy causes.

“While the entire Marshall Amplification family mourns Jim’s passing and will miss him tremendously, we all feel richer for having known him and are happy in the knowledge that he is now in a much better place which has just got a whole lot louder!

“Rest in peace and thank you, Jim.”

‘Father of Loud’ Amp Inventor Jim Marshall Dies, Aged 88 – International Business Times.

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God’s Quarterback and Other Stuff | breezespeaks

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Entertainment, Opinion, Religion, Social, Society on January 11, 2012


God’s Quarterback and Other Stuff

Posted on January 10, 2012 

 

 

 

Tim Tebow has done more for religion in the last few months than the Catholic Church has done in the last one hundred years.  On Sunday night before a national audience, he helped the Denver Broncos to another late game victory, and he captured the hearts of women across America, if the postings on Facebook are any indication.  But sorry ladies, Timmy Tebow is taken.  He belongs to God.  And you had better get your fill of Timmy this coming weekend, because after the New England game his season will be over.  (Sorry Denver fans.)  Now everyone Tebow. ( This is where you pose like Timmy does after a touchdown.)

In other news, the last of the college bowl games has been played, and the holiday season is officially over.  I just adore Christmas, where we celebrate the birth of Christ by spending every penny we have, and then some.  The kids loved their presents, but Cait asked why Santa uses the same wrapping paper as mommy.  Little smart ass.  I initially had trouble finding the christmas spirit, but when I discovered it in a bottle of tequilla I let it out.

All right, who stole my lunch.  All I see is an empty pill container.

I’ve also been picking on Republicans of late.  But they present such an easy target.  I wouldn’t vote for Rick Santorum, Michelle Bachman or Newt Gingrich if they were running unopposed.  And what’s with Congress giving more tax breaks to the “Job Creators?”  Most everything I know has been built from the bottom up, not the top down.  Why does Congress insist on doing otherwise?  I know not all Republicans are narrow-minded people . . . but all narrow-minded people are Republicans.

And why don’t Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have a problem with Black Friday?

Speaking of money, how about banks, which work under Capitalism when it comes to profit, but work under Socialism when it comes to risk.  We bailed out the whole financial industry, and they pay us back by sitting on all the money.  They only loan money to people who don’t actually need any.  Remember, if you rob a bank you go to jail.  If a bank robs you they get a bailout.

And if Elaine Scarry married Elroy Face and hyphenated, she would be Elaine Scarry-Face.

I have had it with people.  I have a bumper sticker on my car that says mean people suck.  Well, I took a red Sharpie and crossed out the word mean.  A car honked at me the other day because I was driving too slowly, and as the car passed me the nun driving popped me the bird.  I can’t take it anymore.  If ignorance were a criminal offense, we would be a nation incarcerated, and if stupidity paid better, we’d be a nation of billionaires.

By now, Evelyn Wood must have nothing left to read.

But I’m telling you, the last year was tough.  My wife tells me I need to roll with the punches, but I’m tired of getting hit.  And I’m a pessimist.  I not only see the glass as half empty, it’s probably not even my glass.  We do have a nice house, but it’s by the railroad tracks, and I’m not sure which side it’s on.  And though I love my kids, I’m starting to think God gave them to us to make death more palatable.  It isn’t easy.

I saw this on a bumper sticker:  Married men don’t actually live longer . . . it just seems that way.

Finally, has anyone seen the new bestseller by Kim Kardashian?  It is called The Sanctity of Marriage and will be on sale for a very short time.

And life goes on.

 God’s Quarterback and Other Stuff | breezespeaks.

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US watchdog bans photoshopping in cosmetics ads | ExtremeTech

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Entertainment, Perspective, Technology on December 16, 2011


US watchdog bans photoshopping in cosmetics ads

By Sebastian Anthony on December 16, 2011 at 9:47 am

Julia Roberts, banned ad

 

In an interesting move that should finally bring the United States’ fast-and-loose advertising rules and regulations into line with the UK and EU, the National Advertising Division (NAD) — the advertising industry’s self-regulating watchdog — has moved to ban the misleading use of photoshopping and enhanced post-production in cosmetics adverts.

The ban stems from a Procter & Gamble (P&G) CoverGirl ad that photoshopped a model’s eyelashes to exaggerate the effects of NatureLuxe Mousse Mascara. There was a footnote in the ad’s spiel about the photo being manipulated, but according to the director of the NAD, that simply isn’t enough: “You can’t use a photograph to demonstrate how a cosmetic will look after it is applied to a woman’s face and then — in the mice type — have a disclosure that says ‘okay, not really.’” The NAD ruled that the ad was unacceptable, and P&G has since discontinued it.

Christy Turlington, banned ad

So far, so sensible — but some further words from the NAD ruling pose some tricky questions about the continued use of any post production in advertising. Citing a similar situation in the UK, where ads featuring very enhanced versions of Julia Roberts (pictured above) and Christy Turlington were banned, the NAD questions whether photoshopping is necessary when “professional styling, make-up, photography and the product’s inherent covering and smoothing nature” are already at use. In other words, it sounds like Photoshop is the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Where does this leave other forms of advertising? The human face (and the multi-billion-dollar cosmetics industry) is obviously a touchy subject, but looking at the bigger picture, almost all television, film, and print advertising uses a combination of “professional styling” and post production to make something look better than it actually is. Will Burger King have to replace those impossibly juicy burgers that hang above the counter with something altogether less plastic and more real? What about those video game ads that don’t feature actual gameplay — and have tiny-font warnings to that effect — will they be banned too? Extrapolating outwards, what about photographers who photoshop their work? Or people who photoshop themselves before placing an image on a dating website?

The underlying problem, of course, is that humans are incredibly sensitive to visual stimuli — and multiple trillion-dollar industries, including advertising, cosmetics, movies, and TV, all stand to gain by making their products look more appealing. There is a reason that digital manipulation and post production is so prevalent, after all — and indeed, it could even be argued that non-manipulated images now look ugly to our eyes. Can you imagine if, over night, all of your favorite Hollywood stars suddenly turned ugly — turned real? Perhaps, then, a ban on photoshopping in the cosmetics industry is a good starting point to slowly and safely bring us back to reality.

 US watchdog bans photoshopping in cosmetics ads | ExtremeTech.

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Donald Trump – Kingmaker? | breezespeaks

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Entertainment, Government, Politics on December 7, 2011


← Republican Culpability

Donald Trump – Kingmaker?

Posted on December 6, 2011  

 

 

It seems Donald Trump, a favorite whipping boy of mine, has once again finagled his way into the limelight, and is scheduled to moderate a Republican Presidential debate on December 27th.  This has prompted some of the saner candidates – Romney, Paul and Huntsman – to quickly bow out of what is sure to become a three-ring circus.

Jon Huntsman, who should be a viable candidate but is too moderate for the hard-core conservatives, said it was a “joke” that The Donald was even involved.  This caused Trump, who has never shied away from a public feud, to fire back.

“Every candidate, virtually, has come to my office and they don’t want my money . . . they want my endorsement.”  Notice how he qualified that statement with the word virtually?  The only person I have seen seeking out The Donald was Newt Gingrich, the snivelling snake who will do anything, and say anything, to be President.  But I think Trump was intimating that Huntsman called in search of The Donalds approval.  Trouble is, Huntsman sees things differently.

“I called his office one time when he dropped out of the race – as I did with Tim Pawlenty – just as a gesture of kindness,” said Huntsman.  Considering he feels Trump is a “joke” I doubt he was looking for his seal of approval.  But The Donald doesn’t always see things as they are.

“I mean, he has just such low polling numbers that he was cancelled out of Saturday nights debate,” Trump said of Huntsman, looking to take this feud public.  Anything for publicity.

This morning on Fox News, Trump was confronted with a poll that said over 60% of voters consider his endorsement more hurtful that helpful, but that didn’t faze Trump.  “I don’t believe those numbers,” he said.  Facts are irrelevant to The Donald, who’s ego is almost as big as his hair, which can be seen from outer space.

“After the debate I’m going to endorse somebody,” he told Fox’s Sean Hannity – which amounted to a meeting of the mind – but he added he still might run himself.  He just loves stringing the press along.  Why do they give him the time of day?  He has no intention of running, and he never has.

I agree with Huntsman; Donald Trump is a joke.  His very presence at a Republican Presidential debate shows how far the Party has sunk.  Trump might bring in better than average ratings – which is all he wants to do – but he will not bring anything else to the table.  He is more likely to start trouble with his antagonistic ways (see O’Donnell, Rosie.)  If he doesn’t like an answer, he will start making weird faces, as he is prone to do, and correct the poor candidate who dared to say something The Donald didn’t like.  He is a buffoon, pure and simple.  Put some rouge on his cheeks – more than he already uses – add a big red nose, and you have a circus clown.  You won’t even need to throw on a wig.  That orange helmet he has on his head is funny enough.

I previously thought Bachman, Perry, Santorum, Cain, Gingrich and Romney were bad enough, but throwing The Donald into the mix is downright comical.  Yet people will watch this debate, just as they will watch a car crash.  They simply can’t help it.

 Donald Trump – Kingmaker? | breezespeaks.

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NBA Supercommittee

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Employment, Entertainment, Humor/Parody, Jobs, Perspective, Society, Work Place, WTF on November 26, 2011


Pat Bagley - Salt Lake Tribune - NBA Supercommittee - English - NBA, Basketball, Owners, Franchise, Strike, Lockout, SportsPoliticalCartoons.com Cartoon.

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US Amateurs Now 700,000 Strong!

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Cool Stuff!, DIY, Entertainment, Government, Social, Society, Technology on November 22, 2011


US Amateurs Now 700,000 Strong!

TAGS: amateur radio, amateur radio licenses, amateur radio operators, arrl, arrl members, Extra, important milestone, license classes, licensees, mid 1980s, radio amateur, somma, Technician, total number

10/12/2011

As the third quarter of 2011 came to a close, ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, began calculating the number of licensed Amateur Radio operators in the US, as well as the number of new licensees. “At the end of September, I saw that the number of hams in the US was high,” she said. “When I started comparing that number with other years, I found that it was an all-time high.” For the first time, there are more than 700,000 radio amateurs in the US.

“When looking at the three current license classes — Technician, General and Amateur Extra — these numbers are impressive,” Somma explained. “The number of Technicians peaked in March 2011 at 342,572, while in September 2011, we saw both Generals and Extras peak at 159,861 and 125,661, respectively. As new Technicians earn their Amateur Radio licenses, and current Technician licensees move on to General and Generals upgrade to Extra, this can cause up-and-down fluctuations for these totals.”

Somma said these high numbers mean that hams are upgrading and renewing in larger numbers and staying interested in hobby: “These are compelling statistics and I am thrilled to see the highest number of amateur radio licensees ever! When I began working at the ARRL back in the mid 1980s, there were approximately 450,000 amateurs in the US. Our VEC program conducted an average of 55 sessions a week. Today, we administer approximately 150 exam sessions each week, and our total number of licensees across all three license classes continues to grow each year.”

In the past 40 years, the number of Amateur Radio operators in the US has grown at a remarkable rate:

·         December 1971: 285,000

·         December 1981: 433,000

·         December 1991: 494,000

·         December 2001: 683,000

·         September 2011: 700,221

Source: 1971, 1981, 1991: print editions of Radio Amateur Callbook. 2001, 2011: www.ah0a.org/FCC/Graphs.html. Please note: While the number of licensees has grown considerably over the years, we realize that these numbers include some who are no longer active in Amateur Radio. A recent survey of ARRL members, however, indicates that more than 80 percent of those responding are active.

“As technology changes and advances, it is especially vital to keep up or be at the forefront,” Somma said. “I believe that Amateur Radio has done just that! The measurable results are our indisputable license numbers. It amazes me after all these years how important and relevant Amateur Radio remains. I am proud to be one of the 700,221 licensees and to see this historic and important milestone.”

 US Amateurs Now 700,000 Strong!.

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