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Apple announcements = big let down. Those of us who thought all the "leaks" of the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S were intentionally designed to throw us off the scent of a real announcement, were wrong. No new AppleTV. No fablet device. Instead, we're left with confusion in the cost-conscious market: iPhone 4S for free, or iPhone 5C for $99. Sigh.
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Modern journalism gets dumber by the day. We're thankful smart satirical sources exist that are willing not only to confront this issue, but to fill the stupidity gap left by the profit-obsessed mainstream press. This attack by The Onion on CNN is glorious.
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We support those who use their time and talents for the public good. Code for America is an excellent example as they use technology to make governments more responsive. As an example, San Mateo County in California has one of the lowest rates of food-stamp participation in the country, due to a difficult application process. Changes in the process would require 18 agencies to overhaul their data-processing software. The participants want to create a program that would ask simple questions to applicants and use the answers to populate the complicated government form.
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The War on Terror encompasses a war of attrition on civil liberty. Two recent TSA stories show this. In the first, a person is held for 6+ hours by the TSA, guilty of having bed-bug spray on him, practicing an unfamiliar religion (Hindu) and being of color. <http://orenhazi.
com/defeated.html> In the second, an individual legally opt-out of the (arguably invasive) submillimeter body scan, only to stand waiting for a pat-down indefinitely. After 30 minutes, America one; the man subjected to submillimeter scan. <http://orenhazi. com/defeated.html> These stories should never have occurred, but they're mundane enough for us to simply accept them, maybe as necessary evils. To do so is to be desensitized to an inversion of power wherein the government does not serve its people, but the people serve their government. It's up to every individual to hold steadfast to a vision of a better possible world, despite the plethora of pernicious actions and policies encouraging us to let go. -
We're largely unimpressed by the mayoral candidates!
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We have quite enjoyed this summer of minimal bugs thanks to this past winter being a bit more on the normal (cold) side!
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We cannot wait for the return of Homeland and are curious to see if the show will touch upon privacy issues that have recently come to light in America.
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New or a rehash of the same old ? I'm hoping for something fresh and it just launched today. I will give it a week of steady watching, but some suspect it to be a more polished version of CNN... Al Jazeera English had an bias - but it's always nice to see an outside America or more critical perspective. This show will be funded by money from outside the US, but made by those who reside in the US. I hope a beneficial combination for those who are able to subscribe to this channel. They started off on a bad foot though, banning content basically from the other Al Jazeera networks around the world... america.aljazeer
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The British government (aka the US’s very own Mini-Me) has taken to intimidating the *friends and family* of disruptive journalists! This appalling, abusive violation of free speech resembles the very worst from repressive democracies like Russia! So, when's our first gulag opening?
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>egyptians, what's the history behind the distrust between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian military? And do you believe that a political military is compatible with a pluralistic democracy? The >americans hope you find a way to build toward a sustainable peace quickly.
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True, NYC hasn't been this safe in decades. But it's worth nothing if everyday privacy and dignity are the cost.
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All that's left to learn about the new iPhone is the MSRP. And unless it's markedly low, we (and Jobs' ghost) will be pretty disappointed.
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There is no question that child abductions are tragic, and that Amber Alert phone notifications (part of the national Emergency Alerts System) are a great idea. But the implementation of this notification program is terrible! iPhone users were jolted awake several times last night by their phone's "Alarm" ringtone, which is designed to sound like a 1950s military base under threat of imminent attack. On iPhones, the Amber Alert system uses this specific ringtone at full volume, even when in Silent Mode or Do Not Disturb is activated. Unless a tsunami is about to wash Los Angeles into the ocean, common sense tells us that particular sound is not necessary or appropriate, especially since it can be triggered in the middle of the night while people are sleeping. It's an all-or-nothing design, where the only option one has is to opt-out entirely. Given the ringtone choice, it wouldn't be surprising if many people did opt out. The poor decision to use this particular ringtone is a lesson in the importance of getting the details right.
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Another Netflix hit worth binge-watching! Orange is the New Black is worthy of the praise that has been heaped upon it. It deftly hits an array of notes and makes extreme circumstances readily identifiable. [SPOILER ALERT] She goes to prision!
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Even if indie electronic is your thing, it's hard to deny The Naked and Famous create with consistent focus and detail, as they have again exemplified.
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Apparently local law enforcement agencies use privileged data to trigger investigations. They then conspire to cover this up by fabricating a fake basis for the investigation. It's frustrating to think that the people that actually carry out these procedures daily believe they are doing it for the greater good. Their conception of liberty is so misguided and far from historical perspective, they don't realize they're destroying exactly what makes this country great. But capitalism has made convenience the dominant pillar of our culture. Corporations take care of our dreams, religions take care of our fears, and politicians take care of the dissent.
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UX expert Josh Seiden recently posted his affirmative thoughts about the question "Should designers code?" If you’re “web-designing” solely as an artistic, self-directed endeavor, then “no” (but then we might prefer the term web art as opposed to web design). If you’re web-designing as part of anything larger, and you want to respect the development process and environmentalists, then “as much as possible, yes.” http://joshuasei
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Regarding the Venice beach mow-down, we can't help but wonder why more effective vehicle barriers are not in place at the Boardwalk!
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OK, feedback for Michael. - Don't force these little boxes to scroll just to achieve consistent rows - it isn't worth the annoyance to the user - Instead try something like isotope.js - http://isotope.m
etafizzy.co/ - Would be good to support Github-flavored Markdown (or at least Markdown) - Make it more obvious how to add posts - I guess this is pedantic, but the plural of _vox_ is _voces_ - Don't pretend to be real New Yorker, you California boy ;-) - I am so proud of you for hanging in there with this project; you are a true patriot and citizen I'll try this on phone and tablet and report on those experiences later. Reference -
It's a beautiful day but summer's almost half way over. Lets make the most of it!
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Residents of the Lower East Side were treated to a half-hour of window-shaking motorcycle noise pollution last night, as one or two guests of the neighborhood repeatedly traversed Orchard St while revving their unmuffled engines. The fact that the police never showed up indicates that the standard for noise pollution in Hell Square has climbed to obscene decibels. It's time to change that! Dial 311 the next time the noise enthusiasts treat our neighborhood like there personal playground!
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So the NSA has all this surveillance data of American citizens and other law enforcement agencies want to get their hands on it. We're not willing to applaud the NSA just yet for (allegedly) withholding that data. And we can't help but wonder how long it will be before all this infighting leads those other agencies muscle their way into telecom and ISP equipment to get their own piece of the action. We must continue to apply political pressure to end the madness. Those legislators that want to gut the NSA deserve our support!
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Stand Your Ground laws make no basic sense! It's illogical, unfair, unjust to hold that a person has a right to start a fight with another and, if the fight turns starkly in favor of the other, to then kill that person. Such laws need to be repealed!
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Why wouldn't one comment on something that is open to the public for review? I'm not surprised that this codes implementation has happened, it's just the lack of transparency bothers me. 'Vines wouldn’t say whether the agency’s work on Android and other software is part of or helps with Prism. “The source code is publicly available for anyone to use, and that includes the ability to review the code line by line,” she said in her statement. '
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If we are >americans-for-liberty do we trust companies that we send a lot of personal and real time information to - through paid or free services through contract - or is it because the government is storing this information in secret that our reaction is so averse? Has our relationships with private interest and government interest completely changed ? Which gives us more liberty ? https://medium.c
om/surveillance-state/a3f8a9988... "The state uses ever more advanced surveillance technology to watch us, and our own ever-greater use of personal technology makes it possible. On the other hand, technology has fundamentally destroyed the state’s ability to control our access to information, and exposed its bureaucracy to unprecedented scrutiny. This may be the death of privacy, but perhaps it’s also the death of secrecy and impunity. In that respect, fortunately, Orwell was wrong. Thanks to technology, Big Brother may be watching us, but we’re watching him too." Reference -
We the >americans-for-liberty believe that the NSA wiretapping program should be much more limited in scope, and that Snowden should not be prosecuted. http://www.youtu
be.com/watch?v=U fUi5C7WdrA Reference -
Worried about your eyes melting while staring at the computer screen for hours on end? No fear f.lux is here --> justgetflux.com Your eyes will thank you later ;)
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As much as we love Arrested Development, we just can't get that into the new stuff due to its...
originalI heard that the reason that they had to film the episodes in such a disjointed way came down to scheduling conflicts with the actors. The show couldn't get all the actors together for the episodes, so they used body doubles. Either way, it didn't really work for me and I hope they don't do that the next season. Show is still funny though...
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Hey >brazilians! What are the issues leading to your riots right now? What do you hope to change? Inquiring Americans want to know!
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We the >new-yorkers believe it's time the NYPD started enforcing the law in the Lower East Side no man's land known as "Hell Square"! And, no, closing the streets does not count! The NYPD presents the street closures as a necessary evil, but it creates a lose-lose situation for LES residents. It does not reduce noise--drunken, aggressive shouting at all hours is no better than honking cars or garbage trucks--but it does provide a safe, *inviting* space for transitory bar patrons to lose all sense of responsibility, awareness, and respect for residents. Closing the streets and setting up a weekly petting zoo for NYPD horses is worse than security theater--it's security mockery. There have to be better solutions. Why not leave the streets open but scale up foot patrols, to issue citations *left and right* to unruly members of the public, non-compliant bars, and road violators? You know, to actually enforce the law rather than turning their backs on the neighborhood!
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When the branches of government collaborate to set a few well-placed wrenches in its innermost wo...
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In this new era of ubiquitous surveillance, we're considering simplifying the Blocvox sign-up/login page by removing that pesky password requirement.
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Tropical storms and flash floods on the weekdays, and sunny, perfect balminess on the weekends? Mother Nature, you have yourself a deal.
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When the branches of government collaborate to set a few well-placed wrenches in its innermost works to break the mechanisms of public accountability, civil disobedience becomes a moral necessity. So, indeed, Edward Snowden /is/ a hero.
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As much as we love Arrested Development, we just can't get that into the new stuff due to its... disjointed development. Digital delivery holds the promise of bringing small time, lower budget productions to large audiences, but those productions also tend to be edgier, riskier, and more adventurous. Combine that edginess with the wide-open possibilities of the on-demand digital frontier, and you risk a level of self-indulgence that would make Lindsay Fünke blush. It's a match made in Sudden Valley. In the case of A.D., they started down the zany path of "watch 'em in any order" only to abandon that at the last minute. That sounds like something the Bluth family might do, and while we applaud the show creators' efforts to feel their characters, we wished they didn't. That ever-tumbling plot-orientation of yesterday's A.D. was replaced with an explosion of disconnected mini-biopics. They each go in their own direction and leave us not with a burning desire to find out WHAT THE HELL WILL HAPPEN NEXT?! but with a burning desire to shrug and shake our heads. Netflix, next time you take on a gifted show, make sure you don't let your new media strangeness mess with their mojo.
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Super major props from us in the blocvox-troopers to the good folks of the >soundcrowd for being the first new bloc of the re-launch!! *collective high-five!*
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Horns make me dance...
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How to Get the Best Features of iOS 7 Right Now http://lifehacke
originalr.com/how-to-get-the-best-featu..... 
I kept getting an error message and the page would crash when the reference page tried to load here, and a bunch of wingdings were in the summary area. Using Chrome...
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How to Get the Best Features of iOS 7 Right Now http://lifehacke
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This breach of trust can't be overstated. The American government itself is guilty of moral treason. Game theory tells us we can't expect any entity to act but in their rational self-interest, but I am incensed all the same. One must only assume, therefore, that this exposure will not diminish surveillance, but drive it further beyond the sight and reach of the public. I do have faith however that Americans (and not just corporations) will use their freedom to protect their freedom, and strive to invent private means of communication that remain beyond the sight and reach of Big Brother.
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The Los Angeles Bird Watchers believes that large city centers should leave nature preserves for birds of all kind to rest and nest.
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A new front page... Lookin' Good!
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Watching what's going on in the Arab world, as much as I love the policial move (specially being a peaceful one in many areas), it hurts me to see the massacres in Syria, and wondering if the world has reacted more firmly toward their regime if Syria was a major source of Oil!
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NBA Draft is tonight! Alot of buzz surrounding the Lakers too -- http://hoopshype
.com/rumors/tag/ los_angeles_los-angeles-lakers Reference -
The new Civic Park, er, Grand Park, (or whatever it's called these days) being celebrated by >los-angelenos, is nothing compared to the original urban manicured park, Central Park!
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The new web page attachment feature allows us to show a summary of a webpage along with the vox, ...
originalWe love this new feature! It will heighten the political discourse and accountability throughout the land for decades to come! (This is an example of a "Reply" post, which encourages and supports long-lasting topical discussions between groups--all driven by democratic processes.)
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The new web page attachment feature allows us to show a summary of a webpage along with the vox, whenever we include a URL in the vox. The current implementation is rough, but it works. To attach a web page summary, simply include a URL in your vox... as you're typing, the site should detect the URL, and if it is able to create a summary, it will display the summary details next to the vox text box, where you can write comments about the referenced webpage. For example: No parliament means no representation. Looks like Egypt may be headed for a dictatorship.
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There's a new Photo upload feature, for those times when words won't suffice. Speaking of which, check out the trendy logo!
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Progress toward justice: George Zimmerman charged with second-degree murder!
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Goodsite: Goodreads.com
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If you have the time, you should definitely read the graphic novels. They are much more intense and satisfying than the tv show, not to say that the show is bad or anything like that. Especially if you were like me and couldn't wait another 6 months until the season 3 premiere.
