O Brother, This Was the First Movie to Use All-Digital Color Grading

The late 1990s were a fascinating period in the evolution of cinema technology. Film, the only physical medium cinema had ever known, was slowly being replaced by newfangled digital technology. And it was in 2000 that the Academy Award winning film O Brother, Where Art Thou gorgeously illustrated the potential of digital filmmaking. Read more…

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O Brother, This Was the First Movie to Use All-Digital Color Grading

Oculus VR Is Buying the Design Team Behind the 360 Controller and Kinect

Oculus VR is now owned by Facebook , but that won’t keep them from slurping up some companies of their own. And most recently, Oculus VR has agreed to snap up the Carbon Design Group , the designers behind the wonderful Xbox 360 controller and the original Kinect. Read more…

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Oculus VR Is Buying the Design Team Behind the 360 Controller and Kinect

Starbucks now offers designer sodas: Fizzio "hand-crafted" carbonated drinks

(Photo courtesy Starbucks) Coffee retailer Starbucks tells USA Today that it plans to offer designer artisanal soft drinks, and is launching three flavors of Fizzio Handcrafted Sodas. Read the rest

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Starbucks now offers designer sodas: Fizzio "hand-crafted" carbonated drinks

Where the Dollar Sign Comes From

This symbol first showed up in the 1770s, appearing in documents of English-Americans who had business dealings with Spanish-Americans. However, it wasn’t until the very early 1800s that it became popularized, around the same time as the first official U.S. dollars were being minted. Previous to this, the symbol had already been in use as an abbreviation for names of Spanish currency, namely as an abbreviation for the Spanish peso “p”. Read more…

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Where the Dollar Sign Comes From

What gives paper money its actual value?

Money is just tinted paper printed with different numbers on it. So what gives the ol’ greenbacks its value? The bills used to be tied to the gold standard but now, it’s up to The Fed to control how many bills there are. So why can’t they just decide to print out ridiculous amounts of bill to make everyone rich? Read more…

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What gives paper money its actual value?

Mint 17 is the perfect place for Linux-ers to wait out Ubuntu uncertainty

The team behind Linux Mint unveiled its latest update this week—Mint 17 using kernel 3.13.0-24, nicknamed “Qiana.” The new release indicates a major change in direction for what has quickly become one of the most popular Linux distros available today. Mint 17 is based on Ubuntu 14.04, and this decision appears to have one major driver.  Consistency.  Like the recently released Ubuntu 14.04, Mint 17 is a Long Term Support Release. That means users can expect support to continue until 2019. But even better, this release marks a change in Mint’s relationship with Ubuntu. Starting with Mint 17 and continuing until 2016, every release of Linux Mint will be built on the same package base—Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. With this stability, instead of working to keep up with whatever changes Ubuntu makes in the next two years, Mint can focus on those things that make it Mint. With major changes on the way for Ubuntu in the next two years, Mint’s decision makes a lot of sense. Not only does it free up the Mint team to focus on its two homegrown desktops (Cinnamon and MATE), but it also spares Mint users the potential bumpy road that is Ubuntu’s future. Read 53 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Mint 17 is the perfect place for Linux-ers to wait out Ubuntu uncertainty

What the biggest companies are from each state in the US

The most popular brands in America are not always the largest companies making the most revenue. Brands that you know, stores that you go to and places that you associate with some states get replaced by faceless monoliths who basically repurpose oil, energy, technology, other people’s money, etc. into more money. Read more…

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What the biggest companies are from each state in the US

Oracle Buying Micros Systems For $5.3 Billion

An anonymous reader writes Oracle is buying hospitality and retail technology vendor Micros Systems for $5.3 billion, in a deal that will be its largest since the purchase of Sun Microsystems in 2010. “Oracle said the acquisition will extend its offerings by combining Micros’ industry-specific applications with its business applications, technologies and cloud portfolio. Oracle expects the deal to immediately add to its adjusted earnings. Its stock climbed 18 cents to $41 before the market opened. Micros’ board unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of the year.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Oracle Buying Micros Systems For $5.3 Billion

There’s Finally a Jailbreak for iOS 7.1.1

iOS 8 is just around the corner (and potentially unjailbreakable), but for folks who have found themselves stuck on the more recent 7.1.1 update and unable to jailbreak, there’s finally an option . Thrown together by as-yet untested Chinese developers Pangu, the untethered jailbreak is windows only, but works for all devices that can run 7.1.1. Read more…

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There’s Finally a Jailbreak for iOS 7.1.1