reader – Page 2317

Pee-Wee Herman talks about the remastered Christmas Special and Playhouse episodes

Kembrew writes, “I saw your post in Boing Boing today about Pee-Wee, and coincidentally, I just published a piece on Pee-wee’s Christmas Special . I think it’s the first time Paul Reubens has been interviewed about the upcoming remastered Pee-wee’s Playhouse DVDs that will come out next year.” I previously invoked the term “eye-popping” to describe Pee-wee’s Playhouse, but starting next year, viewers will run the risk of having their eyeballs permanently dislodged from their sockets. “The Christmas Special is going to come out, along with the entire Playhouse series, on Blu-ray,” Reubens tells me. “It’s being remastered now.” “The show was never seen on film,” he says. “The show was shot on film and transferred to tape and edited on tape, and all the effects were done on tape. Then the entire show was put on another tape to broadcast, so there are three or four generations of quality that are lost on every episode. So we went back to the original film elements, and the company I’m working with has recreated every edit in every single show, and recreated all the effects from all the original elements—which we were lucky to have kept.” “It looks unbelievable. It’s so extreme, people are going to freak out when they see it,” Reubens adds. “The detail and clarity and color is amazing.” This means that Gary Panter’s set design, the stop motion animation and other details will come alive in psychedelic high definition. It’s the kids show equivalent of being upgraded from cough syrup to mescaline. Pee-wee’s (remastered) Christmas Adventure: An interview with Paul Reubens [Kembrew McLeod/Little Village]

See original article:
Pee-Wee Herman talks about the remastered Christmas Special and Playhouse episodes

Valve: First version of SteamOS to be released to the masses on Friday

Valve PC gamers who are champing at the bit to build their very own ” Steam Machines ” won’t have to wait long to start tinkering, as Valve has revealed that its recently announced SteamOS will be available this Friday. The announcement comes alongside word from Valve that its prototype Steam Machines , along with the companion Steam Controller , will be shipped out to 300 randomly selected US beta testers on Friday. Valve plans to notify the lucky testers via e-mail at 2 pm Pacific today, and beta participants will get a special badge on their Steam accounts so journalists and fellow players can start bugging them for their impressions incessantly. If you’re not part of that lucky group of 300, though, you’re probably more interested in the fact that “SteamOS will be made available when the prototype hardware ships… downloadable by individual users and commercial OEMs.” More information about that release is coming soon, the company says, but Valve is already warning that “unless you’re an intrepid Linux hacker already, we’re going to recommend that you wait until later in 2014 to try it out.” Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Original post:
Valve: First version of SteamOS to be released to the masses on Friday

10% of U.S. Electricity Comes From Old Russian Nuclear Warheads

This is basically the least worst thing that can happen with Russian nuclear bombs! For the past twenty years, the Russians have been turning 500 tons of uranium from decommissioned nuclear weapons into nuclear fuel for the United States. It’s called the Megatons to Megawatts program. The last shipment from that 1993 deal arrived at a U.S. storage facility Tuesday, according to reporter Geoff Brumfiel of NPR’s Morning Edition . Read more…

See more here:
10% of U.S. Electricity Comes From Old Russian Nuclear Warheads

Firefox 26 Arrives With Click-To-Play For Java Plugins

An anonymous reader writes “Mozilla today officially launched Firefox 26 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Additions include Click-to-Play turned on by default for all Java plugins, more seamless updates on Windows, and a new Home design for Android. Firefox 26 has been released over on Firefox.com and all existing users should be able to upgrade to it automatically. As always, the Android version is trickling out slowly on Google Play. Release notes are here: desktop and mobile.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

See the article here:
Firefox 26 Arrives With Click-To-Play For Java Plugins

Mars One to send unmanned probe to Mars, broadcast mission live on earth in 2018

Sending humans to Mars is a multi-step process, and today, the Mars One project — you know, the folks who aim to colonize the Red Planet and fund the mission, in part, by televising the whole thing — has outlined its plans for a preliminary mission to check things out before shooting folks into space. It’s partnered up with long time aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin and European satellite firm SSTL to send an unmanned probe to Mars in 2018. Lockheed will provide a mission concept study to update its Phoenix lander that went to the fourth rock from the sun back in 2008, while SSTL is going to figure out how to build a communications relay satellite system capable of sending live broadcasts of the probe’s doings back to earth. The lander will be equipped to test out technologies needed to make human settlement possible, but part of its mission is currently undefined. You see, Mars One is going to hold a contest next year, soliciting ideas from university and school-age students as to what types of other activities the probe should perform. Additionally, the plan is for the public to help direct the lander, too — those who back the Mars One project on Indiegogo will get to vote on some mission decisions down the line. Oh, and if you were planning to be among the first wave of settlers when the manned missions start, you’ll have to wait an extra two years, as that launch date’s been pushed back to 2025. Filed under: Science Comments Via: The Verge Source: Lockheed Martin , Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.

Continue reading here:
Mars One to send unmanned probe to Mars, broadcast mission live on earth in 2018

SugarSync sends its free cloud storage option out to pasture

Folks looking to squirrel away files in the cloud for free will no longer be able to look towards SugarSync . The outfit’s gratis option has been retired, and existing users with freebie accounts will have until February 8th to access what they’ve stowed on the platform. TechCrunch reports that those who become paying customers can score discounts as hefty as 75 percent off in some instances. According to SugarSync CEO Mike Grossman, the change shores up the company’s “solid financial position” and allows it to build out its service. “It’s a necessary part of our evolution, ” the company’s VP of Marketing Alan d’Escragnolle told Engadget. “This move will allow us to grow, expand and increase offerings that will help our users for work or play.” The entry-level tier now starts at $7.49 per month (or $74.99 a year) for 60GB of space. If you’d still like to sample the cloud backup and syncing, you can try each plan with a free 30-day trial, or claim 5GB of storage at no cost for 90 days. Head to the second source link to peruse the pricing levels and sign up for a trial. Filed under: Internet Comments Via: TechCrunch Source: SugarSync (1) , (2)

Continue Reading:
SugarSync sends its free cloud storage option out to pasture

Pirate Bay Founder Warg Being Held in Solitary Confinement

From Torrent Freak comes news that one of the Pirate Bay founders is now being held in solitary confinement after Sweden turned him over to Denmark. From the article: “In a recent letter sent to Amnesty and shared with TorrentFreak, Gottfrid’s mother Kristina explains her son’s plight. She says that Gottfrid is being kept in solitary and treated as if he were a ‘dangerous, violent and aggressive criminal’ even though his only crime — if any — is hacking. Gottfrid’s lawyer Luise Høi says the terms of his confinement are unacceptable and are being executed without the correct legal process. ‘It is the case that Danish authorities are holding my client in solitary confinement without a warrant, ‘ Høi explains, noting that if the authorities wish to exclude Gottfrid from access to anyone except his lawyer and prison staff, they need to apply for a special order.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

This New Naval UAV Is a "Blackjack"-of-All-Trades

Predator drones are very, very good at what they do, but $8 million will only get you about half of one. Doesn’t matter which half, that guy ain’t gonna to fly. Instead, the US Navy is investing in a smaller, lighter, more versatile recon drone. Read more…

Read the original:
This New Naval UAV Is a "Blackjack"-of-All-Trades

California Man Arrested for Running ‘Revenge Porn’ Website

cold fjord writes “Yahoo reports, ‘A California man was arrested on Tuesday on accusations he ran a ‘revenge porn’ website, one that featured nude pictures of women often posted by jilted or angry ex-lovers … The San Diego arrest, the latest action by the state to crack down on such websites, comes after California Governor Jerry Brown signed a first-in-the-nation law in October specifically targeting revenge porn. The law defines revenge porn as the posting of private, explicit photos of other people on the Internet to humiliate them. But authorities did not charge 27-year-old Kevin Bollaert under that law, because it is geared to those who post the incriminating pictures and not those who run websites that feature them …. Bollaert’s site, which is no longer operational, had featured over 10, 000 sexually explicit photos, and he charged women up to $350 each to remove their photos, officials said. … Bollaert was charged under a California identity theft law that prohibits using identifying information of a person without their permission, and under anti-extortion legislation, according to court documents. Unlike many other revenge porn websites, Bollaert’s site had required users post the photo subject’s full name, location, age and a link to the person’s Facebook profile, the Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

More:
California Man Arrested for Running ‘Revenge Porn’ Website

Outlook.com’s latest move to win over Gmail users is an easy, one-step importer that copies over you

Outlook.com’s latest move to win over Gmail users is an easy, one-step importer that copies over your Gmail messages with labels, read status and conversation structure intact. The feature is new today, with a gradual rollout to all Outlook users. [ Outlook Blog via Engadget ] Read more…

Ken May

Category: reader