Design, Entertainment

Gaming Joystick Coat Hook / Posh Totty Designs Interiors

The original Atari console was the inspiration for the Gaming Joystick Coat Hook. Attach it to your wall and you’ll have three small metal hooks for keys and other small items, an inner compartment for money, letters and so on, along with the large joystick itself for your coat or coats. Note that it needs to be self-assembled (but you’ll get everything you need for the finished design), with the price at £16 — Retro To Go

Craft, Entertainment

Luke Skywalker Lightsabre Ring / Drew Rummell

Buy a ring for her that will have her saying: A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I said I Do! Our rings are always designed with fashion and character in mind. This Luke Skywalker inspired lightsabre design is finely crafted from 14k white gold with 14k yellow gold accents. Every detail has been carefully inspected to ensure that this is as true to form as possible. The ring was designed with the purpose of being an elegant wedding/anniversary/birthday ring which includes the special element that any huge fan of the Star Wars universe would be thrilled to own — via Etsy

Wildlife

The girl who gets gifts from birds

Lots of people love the birds in their garden, but it’s rare for that affection to be reciprocated. One young girl in Seattle is luckier than most. She feeds the crows in her garden — and they bring her gifts in return.

Eight-year-old Gabi Mann sets a bead storage container on the dining room table, and clicks the lid open. This is her most precious collection.

You may take a few close looks, she says, but don’t touch. It’s a warning she’s most likely practised on her younger brother. She laughs after saying it though. She is happy for the audience.

Inside the box are rows of small objects in clear plastic bags. One label reads: Black table by feeder. 2:30 p.m. 09 Nov 2014. Inside is a broken light bulb. Another bag contains small pieces of brown glass worn smooth by the sea. Beer coloured glass, as Gabi describes it.

Each item is individually wrapped and categorised. Gabi pulls a black zip out of a labelled bag and holds it up. We keep it in as good condition as we can, she says, before explaining this object is one of her favourites.

There’s a miniature silver ball, a black button, a blue paper clip, a yellow bead, a faded black piece of foam, a blue Lego piece, and the list goes on. Many of them are scuffed and dirty. It is an odd assortment of objects for a little girl to treasure, but to Gabi these things are more valuable than gold — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Entertainment

Obituary: Leonard Nimoy

US actor Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr Spock in the cult sci-fi series Star Trek, has died at the age of 83 in Los Angeles, his family has said.

His son, Adam, said he died of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on Friday morning.

Nimoy had a long career as both an actor and director.

However he was best known for his portrayal of the half-human, half-Vulcan character in both the TV franchise and series of films.

Last year, the actor revealed he was suffering chronic lung disease COPD, despite stopping smoking 30 years ago.

It was reported earlier this week he had been taken to hospital on 19 February after suffering from chest pains.

He later tweeted:

He signed off what was to be his final tweet with LLAP — a reference to his character’s famous catchphrase, Live long and prosper — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Wildlife

Reunion between Anita and the wolves / Gard Ole Waerum

Anita had not been in Polar Zoo in about two months. When she returned, Gard Ole Waerum had the chance to film her first meeting in a long time with the wolves, she spent a long time socialising from 16 May 2008. The video is recorded in Polar Zoo and any questions related to socialising process should be taken with them — via Youtube

Art, Wildlife

Octopied / CM Butzer

As Comic Arts Brooklyn approaches once again I find myself in a mad dash to screen print, draw, make, cry, draw some more, separate, ink, pull, and dry as much as possible. I’ll have some awesome new stuff to unleash on the unsuspecting public! The octopus above will be there in force and so should you — via CM Butzer Comics & Illustration

Entertainment

Bar Talk / Lowell Northrop

Bar Talk (short film) from Lowell Northrop on Vimeo

In a dusty Texas bar, a chatty stranger insists on striking up a conversation with the man sitting next to him. The more this out-of-towner talks, the more obvious it is he’s not from ’round here. Heck, he’s not even from this planet! Based on the short story by legendary author Joe R Lansdale (Bubba Ho-Tep, Cold in July)

Wildlife

Black Rhino / Chester Zoo

The amazing moment of a Rhino giving birth has been caught on camera at Chester Zoo. The 50-second footage shows the mother deliver her newborn and the tender first moments as she checks over her calf — via ZooBorns

Craft, Wildlife

Tyrannosaurus Rex Ring / Applelatte

Tyrannosaurus Rex may get teased for not having arms long enough for a proper embrace, but no one ever said anything about its tail. Tame the powerful beast enough to wrap him around your finger with these rings from Applelatte at Etsy. The brass rings come in sizes 5-9 and in antique silver or antique gold finishes. The Applelatte Etsy shop has a large variety of rings and other jewellery with animals and various adornments — via Neatorama

Entertainment

Old/New / Red Giant

Old/New is the story of Drew McHugh, a man whose penchant for the new — new devices, new fashion, new friends — is challenged when he discovers the rustic appeal of old-fashioned things. He quickly becomes obsessed with the reclaimed and well-worn — plummeting face-first down the rabbit hole of novelty and nostalgia — via Youtube

Business

Fox News Reportedly Used Fake Commenter Accounts To Rebut Critical Blog Posts

NPR media reporter David Folkenflik writes in his forthcoming book Murdoch’s World that Fox News’ public relations staffers used an elaborate series of dummy accounts to fill the comments sections of critical blog posts with pro-Fox arguments.

In a chapter focusing on how Fox utilised its notoriously ruthless public relations department in the mid-to-late 00’s, Folkenflik reports that Fox’s PR staffers would post pro-Fox rants in the comments sections of negative and even neutral blog posts written about the network. According to Folkenflik, the staffers used various tactics to cover their tracks, including setting up wireless broadband connections that could not be traced back to the network.

A former staffer told Folkenflik that they had personally used one hundred fake accounts to plant Fox-friendly commentary:

On the blogs, the fight was particularly fierce. Fox PR staffers were expected to counter not just negative and even neutral blog postings but the anti-Fox comments beneath them. One former staffer recalled using twenty different aliases to post pro-Fox rants. Another had one hundred. Several employees had to acquire a cell phone thumb drive to provide a wireless broadband connection that could not be traced back to a Fox News or News Corp account. Another used an AOL dial-up connection, even in the age of widespread broadband access, on the rationale it would be harder to pinpoint its origins. Old laptops were distributed for these cyber operations. Even blogs with minor followings were reviewed to ensure no claim went unchecked.  [Murdoch’s World, pg. 67]

— via redwolf.newsvine.com

Design

Get Ready for Launch / Arnout Meijer

Arnout Meijer, a designer in Amsterdam, made this desk lamp that he calls Get Ready for Launch. It’s a minimalist design that neatly mimics the image of a rocket launching off the surface of a planet, presumably on its way destroy Earth with a doomsday device. It’s ideal for workspaces that need inspiration and enthusiasm — via Neatorama

Design

Museumotel / Pascal Hausermann

These 1960s Pascal Hausermann-designed bubble houses in Raon-l’Etape northeastern France are on the market. The history starts in the mid-1960s, when a hotelier read about a young architect and his bubble house concept, which promised affordable dwellings made out of concrete. The result was nine domed houses around a central building. Essentially creating a small village. In 1967 that idea became reality. If you want to be the next custodian of this place, the asking price is €800,000 — via WowHaus

Politics, Rights, Technology

A Police Insider Says Data Retention Could Be Used To Catch Pirates

Concerned about the scope of the currently proposed data retention legislation currently being considered by Parliament? An ex-police officer says that one day, your metadata could be used to identify whether you’ve been downloading TV shows and movies illegitimately.

A former police officer who has previous experience with metadata and its potential applications has told ABC Radio National’s Download This Show that the oversight that currently exists over even currently retained metadata is minimal, and is ripe for abuse.

Using the example of an officer or other accredited agency user accessing metadata to check up on their ex-girlfriend, the insider told the program that he had never seen a metadata request denied on the basis of its legitimacy, but only cost. He also said that the agency officials talking up the potential of metadata at the moment, and petitioning for more widespread access, have no hands-on experience: …mobiles weren’t invented when they walked the beat.

The extent of even something as basic as smartphone location metadata can be extremely detailed and granular; the huge amount of data that anyone with any kind of online or digital profile generates would be exponentially more useful for any agency with access to the proposed metadata retention regime. Unless there is enough oversight baked into the legislation and restraint exercised in its scope, the potential for abuse is there — via redwolf.newsvine.com