Google+ looks… a little different. Almost as if it didn’t even come from Google. And those drag-and-drop circles ? Luscious. Turns out, there’s a reason for everything, and he goes by Andy Hertzfeld. According to an investigative piece put up by Wired , Andy’s actually credited as being the “original Mac guy,” responsible for software and user interface design while working for Apple between 1979 and 1984. He picked up a new role at Goog in 2005, but according to the report, “he had previously felt constrained because its design standards didn’t allow for individual creativity.” That all changed with Emerald Sea, a diddy that would eventually become known as the search giant’s most ambitious foray yet into the wide world of social networking. It’s bruited that Andy was given the freedom to go wild whilst designing Google+, and it shows — the interface throughout is about as intuitive as one could ever hope. ‘Course, it takes more than good design to seal a project, but there’s no doubt that this is one heck of a start. The rest of the story? Tucked away in that source link, just south of here. Andy Hertzfeld, ‘former Macintosh wizard,’ designed the Google+ Project originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Maria Sharapova – Wimbledon Grunt Force One Laura Robson vs Maria Sharapova Wimbledon 2011 2nd Round Last Set & Interview Maria Sharapova Wimbledon 24/06/11 EYewande says: Maria Sharapova wimbledon is yours
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Hulk Hogan Claims Ex-Wife Linda Hogan is ‘Delusional’ Linda Hogan Details ‘Scary’ Fights With Hulk Hogan In New Book Opie & Anthony: Bert kreischer, Linda hogan & Henry winkler 28/06/2011 in studio RightFielders says: Linda Hogan Makes Abuse Claims, Hulk Retorts: Hulk Hogan’s ex-wife Linda appeared on Today this week where she m… http://bit.ly/jRrpUB
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Independent editor-in-chief defends columnist involved in ‘politically motivated’ plagiarism furore Simon Kelner, the editor-in-chief of the Independent, described the online plagiarism row over star columnist Johann Hari as “politically motivated” and “fabricated anger” at lunchtime on Wednesday. Speaking to Radio 4′s The Media Show , Kelner said Hari’s practice of not attributing some interviewees’ quotes was wrong. But he sought to defend the award-winning columnist, saying it is not a great scandal and claiming that Hari had been unfairly vilified on Twitter. Kelner confirmed that the paper is investigating which editors knew about Hari’s interview technique and that they would review some of his past articles. Writing in the Independent on Wednesday, Hari apologised for his practice of sometimes using quotes taken from other interviews and presenting them as his own. “What Johann did was wrong. He accepts and we believe it,” Kelner told The Media Show presenter Steve Hewlett. “It was born from an honest ambition to give the clearest possible representation of what the interviewee was saying. In the grand scheme of things it is not a great scandal – it’s a naive error which we recognise.” Kelner suggested Hari would not face any disciplinary action – other than being “spoken to at great length” – and said the young columnist had suffered punishment enough with the vilification he’s had on Twitter. He added: “Johann has been vilified by the Twittersphere for what he has done. I don’t think you can discount [that an] element of it feels politically inspired [and] some of it is fabricated anger about what Johann has done.” Hari won the Orwell Prize for political journalism in 2008 for his work on American rightwingers, a report on Saudi Arabia, multiculturalism and women, and another on France’s “secret war” in the Central African Republic. A spokesman for the prize said on Wednesday that it was aware of the Johann Hari controversy and that it had a “process to follow in situations such as this and are doing so now”. Simon Kelner Independent News & Media Newspapers & magazines Blogging Digital media Twitter Internet Newspapers Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk
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Police Federation for Northern Ireland chairman says there have been 200 gun and bomb attacks against officers since last year There are around 650 active dissident republican terrorists determined to destroy Northern Ireland’s power-sharing settlement, police officers warned on Wednesday. The numbers from the Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) are the first hard figures on the size of the anti-ceasefire republican movements to be released in recent years. Over recent months there has been an upsurge in violence from the Real IRA, Continuity IRA and Oghlaigh naEireann – the three groups opposed to the peace process. In April a faction of the Real IRA in Co Tyrone said they carried out a car bomb attack that killed Constable Ronan Kerr in Omagh. Terry Spence, the chairman of the PFNI, said governments both at Westminster and Stormont should stop underestimating the scale of the dissident threat. Spence said it was “common knowledge that they number around 650 – hardly the microscopic numbers officially suggested in official circles”. He revealed that since last year there have been 200 gun and bomb attacks against his officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Addressing the Northern Ireland secretary, Owen Paterson, Matt Baggot, the PSNI chief constable, and the Stormont justice minister, David Ford, as well as his delegates, Spence said: “Let me be absolutely clear. The Police Federation for Northern Ireland is frustrated at the seeming unwillingness of the executive and the PSNI to face up to the fact that we need to bring every resource that can be made available to us to bring the growing terrorist threat to an end.” He also singled out the Garda Síochána for praise in countering the dissident republican threat from across the border. “Thanks to their magnificent efforts over 170 people from both sides of the border have been arrested for terrorist offences over the past 12 months. Last weekend’s explosives discovery in Louth was a particular example of their good work.” Two men in their 50s were arrested last weekend after a police raid on a farm house close to the border with Northern Ireland. Detectives found parts for a mortar bomb launcher and a significant quantity of home made explosives. The Garda later said they believed they had foiled a major terrorist attack being planned for somewhere across the border. But in Northern Ireland, Spence said the authorities had been “blindsided by the growth in terrorism” both republican and loyalist. Referring to the recent attacks by a unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force on a Catholic community in east Belfast, Spence said more robust action needed to be taken against those loyalists still engaged in violence. “If being a proscribed organisation is to mean anything then action must be taken. The behaviour of the UVF demands that active members released under the Belfast Agreement on license should be recalled to prison by the secretary of state. “We cannot tolerate paramilitary groups creating public havoc because they think they have no voice in how Northern Ireland is governed. “They have exactly the same access to the ballot box and opportunity to stand for election as the rest of us.” The secretary of state retains the power to re-arrest and imprison any of the paramilitary prisoners who were freed early as part of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. During two nights of disturbances last week the UVF attacked police lines as well as residents’ homes in the Catholic Short Strand district of east Belfast. Dissident republicans also opened fire towards the loyalist side and wounded the Press Asociation’s photographer Niall Carson. On Friday night several thousand loyalists will march in the same area where trouble erupted last week during an Orange Order band parade around east Belfast. Security forces will be on alert in case there is any repeat of last week’s sectarian disorder. Northern Ireland Police Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Sen. Bernie Sanders was all over the airways today talking about the negotiations on raising the debt ceiling, and Fran already made note of Sanders’ letter to President Obama and his petition in the open thread this evening , but I wanted to share Sanders’ floor speech from today as well. As Fran already pointed out, you can sign Sen. Sanders’ petition here as well and here’s a copy of his letter to the President — Shared Sacrifice : Dear Mr. President, This is a pivotal moment in the history of our country. Decisions are being made about the national budget that will impact the lives of virtually every American for decades to come. As we address the issue of deficit reduction we must not ignore the painful economic reality of today – which is that the wealthiest people in our country and the largest corporations are doing phenomenally well while the middle class is collapsing and poverty is increasing. In fact, the United States today has, by far, the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth. Everyone understands that over the long-term we have got to reduce the deficit – a deficit that was caused mainly by Wall Street greed, tax breaks for the rich, two wars, and a prescription drug program written by the drug and insurance companies. It is absolutely imperative, however, that as we go forward with deficit reduction we completely reject the Republican approach that demands savage cuts in desperately-needed programs for working families, the elderly, the sick, our children and the poor, while not asking the wealthiest among us to contribute one penny. Mr. President, please listen to the overwhelming majority of the American people who believe that deficit reduction must be about shared sacrifice. The wealthiest Americans and the most profitable corporations in this country must pay their fair share. At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction package must come from revenue raised by ending tax breaks for the wealthy and eliminating tax loopholes that benefit large, profitable corporations and Wall Street financial institutions. A sensible deficit reduction package must also include significant cuts to unnecessary and wasteful Pentagon spending. Please do not yield to outrageous Republican demands that would greatly increase suffering for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society. Now is the time to stand with the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to survive economically, not with the millionaires and billionaires who have never had it so good. Respectfully, Sen. Bernie Sanders; and Co-signers
Continue reading …Let’s avoid one thing henceforth and forever: When discussing gay marriage, let us never let anyone get away with suggesting a lifelong bond between a man and woman is particularly “natural.” It’s true . Bonobos share 98 percent of our DNA, and they f like bunnies wish they could f when they’re having f-ing contests. Our closest living relatives are to f-ing what beavers are to building dams–specialists with a passion that looks a lot like pleasure. So, you rarely see our closest genetic relatives in zoos, their cages quickly deteriorate into a non-stop scat-enthusiast free-free-for-all f-fest that traumatizes children and seniors. That’s God’s Perfect Creature for you, untouched by culture. These so-called “hippie chimps” reap all sorts of benefits from the practice of nonstop chimp f-ery in lieu of marriage. They don’t have wars, they have strong familial bonds, and everybody gets laid. So from now on, before you point a steely finger of judgment at another person’s “naturalness,” smell those fingers. Do they smell like the inside of another person? If not, you need to be more natural.
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A top Russian astronomer claimed Monday that humans will encounter extraterrestrial life by 2031. “Life exists on other planets and we will find it within 20 years,” the scientist Andrei Finkelstein said, according to the Interfax News Agency. The astronomer added that 10 percent of known planets circling suns in the galaxy resemble Earth, making life on such planets highly likely, and that aliens are most likely to resemble humans with two arms, two legs and a head, per Reuters. Finkelstein made the remarks at the opening of the international symposium called “The Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence” in St. Petersburg, The Voice Of Russia reported. He says he is convinced based on the fundamental laws of life that life exists throughout the universe. The search for extraterrestrial life has gained momentum in recent months. The Journal of Cosmology ran an article in March from Richard B. Hoover, claiming evidence of alien microfossils were found in a meteor, suggesting extraterrestrial life. NASA made headlines in December when it announced it found a new form of life with a DNA completely alien to everything we know. The Search For ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute is currently seeking to raise money for its ongoing search, having recently cut back on some of its operations due to lack of funding.
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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) made her first public appearance since being wounded in a tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona earlier this year in which numerous victims were hurt or had their lives taken, ABC News reports. According to the outlet, Giffords attended a ceremony at Space Center Houston in Texas at which her husband astronaut Mark Kelly — who recently announced his retirement from NASA, effective October 1 — was awarded the Spaceflight Medal, which is given to shuttle members upon safely returning home from their missions. ABC News reports: Her hair was much shorter than in previously published photos. She was wearing glasses, a beige scarf, a light shirt, jeans and sneakers. She smiled and waved to the crowd. Giffords and Kelly held hands for most of the event. She appeared to chat with people sitting around her, and laughed when the crew of STS-134, the Space Shuttle Endeavour’s last mission, was introduced. Kelly commanded the mission. The Arizona congresswoman herself reportedly received a standing ovation at the event. In announcing his plans to retire last week, Kelly said that he plans to spend more time by his wife’s side. “As life takes unexpected turns we frequently come to a crossroads,” he wrote in a message posted on his Facebook page. “I am at this point today. Gabrielle is working hard every day on her mission of recovery. I want to be by her side. Stepping aside from my work in the Navy and at NASA will allow me to be with her and with my two daughters. I love them all very much and there is no doubt that we will move forward together. After some time off, I will look at new opportunities and am hopeful that one day I will again serve our country.” The AP recently reported that Giffords and Kelly are working on a memoir together: Kelly and Giffords are collaborating with author Jeffrey Zaslow, who worked on Randy Pausch’s million-selling “The Last Lecture” and Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s “Highest Duty.” Kelly praised Zaslow as a “good storyteller” and “the best writer” for the kind of book they wanted. Zaslow will interview friends, family members and colleagues of Kelly and Giffords. “There are details of our personal lives together that I’d say I can count on one hand the people who know them. In some cases, it’s just Gabby and I (who know the details),” said Kelly, who met Giffords in 2003 and married her in 2007. Before the shooting, they had maintained independent lives, Kelly based in Houston and Giffords in Tucson. Giffords will focus on her recovery, but Kelly said that the book will be part of that process and that Giffords will provide details of what “she remembers after Jan. 8 and her story before that.” While Kelly will be “the primary collaborator,” he said Giffords will be a “big part of this.” Giffords has been struggling to relearn how to speak and walk, and will be assisted by a 24-hour home health provider, according to the hospital.
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