Just for kicks, speaker and overall techie Tom Scott took a copy of Romeo & Juliet, saved the text file as a RAW Photoshop file, then saved the files as JPGs at different levels of compression to see how it corrupted the file. He then printed up the results as bound books, which is sort of a fun way to waste money. The results? At 100 percent, the text is barely readable. At 50 percent, it looks like gibberish. At zero percent, it looks like an accident. But the images Scott created? Here’s the interesting part: “On the front of each book is the JPEG image it was derived from,” he explains “And, for all but the lowest quality, they appear utterly identical to the naked eye.” Check the middle images of the photoset to see the photos in order.
I am a straight scoutmaster with a wife, two children and a golden retriever so it does not impact me other than the loss to our troop of some great volunteers to the program. What we did was carry the American flag proudly at the front of the parade; and having scouts in color guards in parades is as American as apple pie.Peter Brownstein, Salt Lake City BSA volunteer • Commenting on a reprimand that he and fellow Salt Lake City resident Neil Whitaker received from the Great Salt Lake Council of the Boy Scouts of America after participating in the Utah Pride Parade on June 2. The two men have apparently been told they could be kicked out of the BSA, for violating rules which bar leaders from using the BSA to advance political positions, if they don’t apologize to local organization officials for participating in the parade. Both men have indicated they have no plans to apologize. source
Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron (L) welcomes Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, with a kiss, to the Lough Erne golf resort where the G8 summit is taking place in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland
They’re kissing in public because the NSA has intercepted their private communications so might as well right
Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American, and the more panicked talk we hear from people like him, Feinstein, and King, the better off we all are.Edward Snowden • Offering his thoughts on the opinions of politicians like former Vice President Dick Cheney and Speaker Boehner who have criticized the man responsible for leaking information on the National Security Agency’s classified PRISM program. Snowden made the comments during a Q&A session moderated by The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald on Monday, and also discussed a myriad of other issues surrounding his decision to leak the PRISM information, including claims that he might be a Chinese spy. source
The Supreme Court ruled Monday against an Arizona ballot measure requiring new voters to present proof of citizenship before being added to the voting rolls — but the justices dodged the question of whether states could ever impose such a requirement without federal approval.
The justices ruled, 7-2, that Arizona’s effort to establish proof-of-citizenship requirements for new voters ran afoul of the so-called “motor voter” law Congress passed in 1993. That law, the National Voter Registration Act, allows for mail-in voter registration on a federal form that allows applicants simply to swear that they are U.S. citizens eligible to vote.
Arizona voters created the proof-of-citizenship requirement as part of Proposition 200, a ballot measure passed in 2004, 56 percent to 44 percent.
It’s important to note that this isn’t necessarily the end of discussion on the matter, as today’s Supreme Court ruling essentially offers Arizona another route through which the state could attempt to implement the new regulation. Still, future passage seems unlikely given that the state of Arizona would need approval from the federal government to implement the proof-of-citizenship requirement.
swagandpassion asks: Hello SFB. Given the rough last weeks Obama has endured, the steadfast obstruction policy of the GOP, and especially the NSA leak, do you feel any sense 3rd party/Libertarian agendas moving to forefront as privacy grows a bigger concern?
» SFB says: I think libertarianism has long been on an upswing—at least since the rise of the Tea Party, and arguably during the 2008 Ron Paul campaign. The current issues with the NSA leak and the Obama administration don’t change that and may in fact energize it. That’s why Rand Paul is feeling an upswing. Stuff like his filibuster earlier this year resonates with a certain audience. It’s not clear whether third parties can totally break through, but a lot of the question is whether the negative momentum against the NSA stuff and the IRS thing, issues which riled up both sides of the aisle, can stick around for a while. We have a way of forgetting about this kind of thing these days, frustratingly, and that could prove the biggest hurdle for this having a lasting effect—an effect which could help raise nontraditional voices like Paul’s. — Ernie @ SFB
Over the last 90 days, the Digg engineering team — all 5 of them — has been heads-down building an updated take on the RSS reader. For our first public release, in time to (just) beat the shutdown of Google Reader, our aim has been to nail the basics: a web and mobile reading experience that is…
Click above for screenshots of the anticipated Google Reader replacement.
I can’t add much to what’s already been (and will be) ...
One of the perks of being an early employee...
Over the last 90 days, the Digg...
#FMMDI (at 30 Rockefeller Plaza)
Thanks. I guess my thoughts are as follows:
1. I think...
Two Months Ago I set out to interview the principal cast...
Thankfully, the passenger has been restrained and there don’t appear to be any signs that he successfully poisoned anyone.
from ABC News:
A Newark-bound United Airlines flight is carrying a passenger who reportedly informed the crew that he “poisoned everyone on board.”
United Flight 116, from Hong Kong, is set to land at 1:30 p.m.
The passenger is being restrained by other passengers.
Law enforcement officials in New York and Washington, D.C., are aware of the incident and are responding.
There is no evidence that passengers have been poisoned, and officials believe the man who made the claim is emotionally disturbed.
I will update this story with any new developments.
Crazy stuff right there. Definitely not something you’d want to deal with on a flight.
While other governors and spouses may have had bacon and eggs, or cereal, or etc for breakfast, Governor McDonnell drinks Boost every morning, and the First Lady has a 5-Hour energy and/or a Boost. That is their breakfast. And that is why those items are covered, just like breakfast is covered for EVERY Governor and First Lady.A spokesman for Virginia governor Robert McDonnell explains why the governor has been using taxpayer money for certain personal purchases. (via washingtonpoststyle)
The researchers assessed a representative sample of mainstream coverage for two months this year, and found that many stories contained either a balanced mix of views or no views at all. But of the rest, roughly five times as many stories were weighted toward support for same-sex marriage as were weighted toward opposition.
“A story was deemed to be in support of or opposition to same-sex marriage if the statements expressing that view outnumbered opposing statements by at least 2-to-1,” the report stated.
It added, “The level of support conveyed in the news media examined here goes beyond the level seen in public opinion surveys.” The imbalance was evident both in reporting and in commentary, and on all three of the major cable news channels, Fox News, MSNBC and CNN.
While critics have suggested that the positive coverage is out of touch with the culture at large, many supporters of same-sex marriage see the issue as a civil rights issue and agree with media outlets’ moves to focus on supporters over those opposed.
Here’s a piece for the libertarians out there: The New Republic has a story laying out the potential for Rand Paul to follow in his movement-creating dad’s footsteps, noting that Rand’s strength is that he’s a strong political player, not just an ideologue. The NSA scandal only plays into that, Julia Ioffe writes: “This is a moment tailored for Rand Paul, more than for Marco Rubio or Chris Christie, or anyone else in the potential Republican 2016 lineup.” Read on for a pretty solid talker.
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