Extra Future

Month: April 2010

  • Gizmodo on IBM’s Crime Prediction Software

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [Florida is using IBM software to predict which of the 85,000 juvenile offenders the system processes each year will be the biggest threat][link]… *in the future*. This is just bad mojo on every possible front. The worst kind of security theater. Who needs to live a life when we have computers to tell us what…

  • $3.99

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [Warren Ellis’ afternoon ramble is about the cost of (print) comics][link], and where do you go from $3.99? [link]: http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8065&page=1#Item_0 “Whitechapel – Notes From Warren 16apr10”

  • Eyeballs Still Don’t Pay the Bills

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [David Heinemeier Hansson][link]: >The just-give-it-away-for-free-and-they-will-come-and-we’ll-be-rich automatron is as broken now as it was in 2001. Fuckin’ a. [link]: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2284-eyeballs-still-dont-pay-the-bills “Eyeballs still don’t pay the bills – (37signals)”

  • Lukas Mathis on iPhone OS 4.0

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [Likes folders, doesn’t see the point of task switcher, worried about file management][link]. Lukas has quickly become a dude whose output I read every single word of. [link]: http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2010/04/15/iphone_os_4_0/ “ignore the code: iPhone OS 4.0”

  • On2’s VP8 Page

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [A demo or two, and some more information on a codec we’ll be hearing a lot about for awhile][link]. They’ve got some big claims on [decode speed][decode], and say that they’ve paid special attention to the ARM processor- the same processor used in the iPhone. While that’s nice, I wouldn’t hold my breath for software…

  • StarCraft Cheating Scandal Rocks South Korea

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [Some of the most famous players in the country have been shamed into retiring][link]. In some circles it is being compared to the [Black Sox sandal][sox]. [link]: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3178788 “StarCraft Cheating Scandal Rocks South Korea” [sox]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_Scandal “Black Sox Scandal”

  • Google to Open-source VP8 for HTML5 Video

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [Simultaneously taking Ogg out back and putting one it’s ear][link] and making the streaming video wars much more interesting. [Gruber’s questions][grub] are my own: Will Apple or Microsoft support VP8? And will Google support it at YouTube? [link]: http://newteevee.com/2010/04/12/google-to-open-source-vp8-for-html5-video/ “Google to Open-source VP8 for HTML5 Video” [grub]: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/04/12/newteevee-vp8 “Daring Fireball”

  • The Extra Future Drinks Library: The Astronaut

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    Ingredients: * 1 part the cheapest bourbon you can find * 2 parts Tang Mix tang and bourbon over an ice cube or two. Drink the shit out of it. This recipie comes to us from Noah Maher.

  • The Penis-Stealing Witches of The Congo

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    >[Rumors of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa][link], Democratic Republic of Congo’s sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings. It’s amazing that a culture can be advanced enough to have radio call-in shows,…

  • Tybor, The Extra Future Chat Bot

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    Adding to the pile of Extra Future [6-hour projects][hour], I present to you: [Tybor, a Markov chat bot][link]. He is a chat bot based on the Hailo perl package, with a custom retro-styled HTML5/CSS3 interface written by me. He also has a jabber account, which Google Talk/Google Apps users can talk to by adding the…

  • David Simon’s Open Letter to New Orleans

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [Preface for his new series, Treme, which begins tonight on HBO.][link] Treme has some real big shoes to fill in The Wire, and I hope it does so with gusto. [link]: http://www.nola.com/treme-hbo/index.ssf/2010/04/hbos_treme_creator_david_simon.html “HBO’s ‘Treme’ creator David Simon explains it all for you | Treme – The HBO Series | News, Blogs and Reviews – NOLA.com”

  • Flash CS5 will export to HTML5 Canvas

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    Phil Nelson
    in

    [It’s nice to be able to link to something GOOD that Adobe is doing.][link] With Apple putting the kibosh on their Flash -> iPhone bridge, this is an even bigger deal. Apple does not, yet, control HTML. [link]: http://www.9to5mac.com/Flash-html5-canvas-35409730 “Flash CS5 will export to HTML5 Canvas | 9 to 5 Mac”