The Daily Rumpus
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From Stephen Elliott
“#OccupyWallStreet, the movement’s dominant hashtag, has never once hit the New York TTs list. Similarly, #OccupyBoston has trended all across the world, but never in Boston, which only saw the phrases ‘Dewey Sq’ and ‘Dewey Square’ trend.”
Last month, we posted a Wikileaks Ted Talks video on how the internet was not randomized (main subjects included Google and Facebook).
...moreSiri voice command is like that personal secretary you dream of to support you in everyday life.
The other significant changes? “iOS 5: Exploring 7 Hidden New Features”
All iPhones (not just 4) can also upgrade to iOS 5! That is just one of 6 reasons this article gives you to be content with your iPhone 4.
...moreThe US has more wireless devices than people. Yep.
You can now turn your DNA into custom household decor. And not just by spitting on the rug.
Sony has recalled some TVs because they’re at risk of spontaneously bursting into flames.
...more“I asked Crane what becoming a writer has meant to her personally. ‘When you’ve become so seasoned at shutting down your feelings because your survival depends on it, you need a crowbar to excavate them. Writing is the crucible.’”
Rumpus contributor Melissa Petro profiles Rumpus columnist Antonia Crane for Bitch Magazine.
...moreAfter much customer and investor push-back, Netflix is no longer splitting into two websites.
A brief summary of the situation breaks down the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Q&A from the consumer’s perspective.
...moreOur unmanned war drones have a virus.
Let’s listen to some ditties made from iPhone sounds.
A map of the US based on video game spending.
R.I.P Steve Jobs, 1955 – 2011. He’s already got a shrine.
...moreThe Believer is out now and some of this month’s fantastic, wide-ranging collection of literary articles are posted in their entirety online (including an online exclusive interview with artist David Shrigley). Among them, Jonathan Lethem defines and redefines in his fierce defense of postmodernism. Poet Kenneth Goldsmith (who also runs UbuWeb) shares his thoughts on language to online sharing in this interview:
“The moment we shake our addiction to narrative and give up our strong-headed intent that language must say something ‘meaningful,’ we open ourselves up to different types of linguistic experience, which, as you say, could include sorting and structuring words in unconventional ways: by constraint, by sound, by the way words look, and so forth, rather than always feeling the need to coerce them toward meaning.
...moreBART cops now have to wear cameras that record their interactions with the public … but how effective will they really be?
Oooh, Google Driving Directions now offers a helicopter-eye view of your route.
The Euthanasia Roller Coaster … name says it all.
...moreThere are a bunch of new Kindles if you’re into that whole e-reader thing.
Your car will soon be able to read your mind if Nissan has its way.
So just how long does your cellphone company keep your call logs and text messages for?
...moreFacebook is starting a political action committee.
A small segment of you may be very excited that the iPhone 5 is scheduled to launch in October.
I’m excited that scientists think they could reactivate dormant genes to make modern birds more like dinosaurs.
...moreFacebook wants you to share everything …. aaaah!
So what social networks are popular in other parts of the world? A nice infographic.
Researchers reconstruct the videos people watch just by looking at their brain activity.
Apple & Dropbox are partnering with the EFF to help protect your privacy in Congress.
...moreNetflix signs a two-year agreement with Discovery (renewed, expanded, and non-exclusive).
More on that note, Netflix plans to focus on TV Shows, as they comprise of “60 percent of the video streams viewed by Netflix members.”
“Netflix plans to add social-networking features to its video service.
...moreTomorrow Canongate, Julian Assange’s former publisher, plan to “publish ‘the unauthorised first draft’ of his autobiography without his consent, months after the WikiLeaks founder withdrew from a million-pound contract for his memoirs.”
...moreApple devices rank top in customer satisfaction; Android, Nokia, RIM gnash teeth.
And speaking of Apple, Adobe Flash now works on yr iGadget of any kind.
The ex-Yahoo CEO may have just lost $10 million by calling her fellow board members at Yahoo “doofuses.”
Did you see these billboards that grow bacteria adverstisements?
...moreApp slaughter: Google’s killing off some products.
The internet’s official red light district (.xxx) has arrived. Let the games begin!
Not so green after all: Indoor weed farming and production is really bad for the environment.
Did you see this electric motor that’s made of a single molecule?
...moreFive years ago Lynn Coady published a novel with a protagonist drawn partially from the life of a real, thirty-years-deceased poet, and a experienced firsthand earful from an audience full of the poet’s colleagues and friends. It wasn’t all ugly, but it was complicated, as feedback focused almost entirely on either the novel’s too-close-for-comfort portrait or its occasional sharp departures from the character’s real-life inspiration.
...moreSometimes Google gets it wrong … which can be rough on the small businesses it marks as “closed” when they’re actually not.
Has email driven the closure of the US Postal Service?
Oooh, a pretty series of infographics on the history of software piracy.
...moreResearchers have created a genetic computer that can be used to find and kill specific cancer cells.
India is trying to help the poor by creating a biometric database of everyone in the country.
An Apple employee left a super top secret iPhone prototype in a restaurant … again.
...morePerformance art is taking on twitter. Faux famous author accounts are in and they’re taking over. Laura Ingalls Wilder is pioneering the field with her twitter feed (@halfpintingalls) and not only do her tweets stay true to the Little House on the Prarie lifeystyle we love so much, she’s funny too.
...moreThe recent massacre at a casino in Monterrey, Mexico marks the pinnacle of drug war-related violence.
The response to this tragic episode by the American media reveal the frailties of our news coverage—this story was seriously lacking the attention it deserved across many of our media outlets, a silence that unfortunately dictates a scarcity of American tweets.
...moreHP’s not quite ready to give up on its TouchPad … yet.
Sure, it writes, but can your pen transform paper scribblings into digital files?
Berlin’s awesome video game museum.
Rock paper scissors glove competes against its owner.
...moreNew Wikileaks cables detail Apple’s battle against Chinese knockoffs.
When two chatbots try to talk to each other, things get weird.
Privacy on the Internet? Inconceivable! …. but maybe that’s not a bad thing.
Torrent users don’t scheme together, so they can’t be sued together, a judge rules.
...moreThe big news this week is Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ resignation.
Will Apple stop making great products? Does the new leader, Tim Cook, have what it takes to perpetuate the company’s recent success? When will his impact on the company even become noticeable? Wall Street seems pretty positive about the transition, at least.
...moreWhat it’s like to play online games as a grownup.
Why yes, NASA, I would like to look at an iridescent cloud.
Forget the cane: A sonar glove for the blind.
Google’s fiber-optic networks are blazingly fast.
...moreBay Area News Group is feeling the financial burden that is maintaining viable newspapers in this digital age. Thus, BANG is calling for some major restructuring, namely consolidating their eleven local newspapers into two regional ones and laying off 8% of the staff, around 15o jobs.
...moreFacebook is changing its privacy settings … again.
Thinking about making an iPhone app? Here’s an infographic on how to make yr tiny icon look just like everybody else’s.
Art gallery displays new piece: a hard drive containing $5 million worth of illegally downloaded files.
...moreAmazon.com’s got a new scandal on its hands involving sketchy sale-boosting—buying positive customer reviews. And this is no website-specific phenomenon. Yelp, Citysearch, TripAdvisor are guilty of hosting the fake review as well. Price tags and 5-stars are increasingly associated, undermining the purpose of the customer reviews for online shopping, which has warranted research on “deceptive opinion spam” from Cornell University.
...moreSome good websites!
Best twitter feed: Errol Morris
Favorite source of tech stories: Geekosystem
Best muckraking: ProPublica
Best site for alcoholics: Should I Drink Tonight?
Best source of supercilious humor: 27b/6
...more
Last spring, I met Cole Strkyer at a party where everyone had a tumblr but me. Just 27 years old, Stryker had recently sold a book about