As the number of cyclists in New York grows each year, more and more bike shops have popped up around the city to meet demand. A growing group of them specialize in entirely handmade, custom bike frames—like six-year-old Horse Cycles, a custom steel frame workshop in Brooklyn. This week Horse’s founder, Thomas Callahan, gave me a tour of his incredible workshop and some insight about Horse and where it’s going.
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Google has been leading the wave of wearable technology with Google Glass. It has shipped out nearly 8,000 units to Explorers, a select group of people given early access to the device. Retail launch is expected to take place next year. Google Glass has already given birth to various privacy concerns. Despite the fact that it hasn’t been released to the public, certain establishments such as casinos, bars and strip clubs have already banned the device. Another establishment joins this list, but it isn’t your local watering hole. Its the infamous Guantanamo Bay.
Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald recently tweeted a picture of a sign that was put up at the Guantanamo war court. The sign warns against use of binoculars or other visual enhancement devices. It explicitly mentions that “Google Glasses” should be left outside. Rosenberg is covering pretrial hearings of a September 11 trial, she was told to remove the glasses on Monday and soon after that, the sign was put up. Authorities already examine all video footage that’s captured at the Bay, whereas it is forbidden to record military commissions proceedings taking place at the war court. So if you happen to get your hands on Google Glass next year and find yourself headed to Guantanamo Bay for reasons other than incarceration, it might be a good idea to leave your unit behind.
Google Glass Banned At Guantanamo Bay original content from Ubergizmo. 
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We “social masters” are tired of being discriminated against. Why all of these “one friend, two piece” necklaces? I could never give one of my minions special treatment, because then my other minions would feel sad. I value my worthless social minions, and am excited to hear that I can now include them all! Thanks, Pizza Slice Friendship Necklace!
How to use the Pizza Slice Friendship Necklace:
First, you will need to get eight friends. This can be done relatively easily, as long as you’re not an awkward turtle and can carry a conversation. If you get sweaty pits and pass out at the thought of talking to others, then a silent gesture will be enough. (Bring $20′s, just in case you happen to look extra weird that day.)
Next, you will need to purchase the beautiful piece(s) of jewelry shown above.
The only thing left for you to do, after having purchased the Pizza Slice Friendship Necklaces, is to force your eight friends to wear them. If you need to accidentally on purpose make your friends go temporarily unconscious, then do what you have to do. And if you get caught, I was telling you the whole time that it is entirely illegal and immoral to ask unconscious people to befriend you. Only befriend conscious people – they are less likely to have diseases and will stay friends with you for a longer period of time.
If you followed all of the above steps exactly as they were written, one of your friends should be attractive as the friend shown below: (complete with the out-of-place seductive expression):
Remember to remind friends that these necklaces are not for eating. These necklaces are for wearing. If you do have a group “necklace-eating party,” just make sure that everyone keeps the chain on so that you can pull the pizza slice back out in case of an emergency. (Hint: swallowing a metal slice of pizza is almost always an immediate medical emergency.)
You can pick up one of these Pizza Slice Necklaces for £14 (~$19 USD) over at the Lazy Oaf online store. Lazy oaf.
[via: This Is Why I’m Broke]
A bit over a year ago, the folks at IFTTT (If This Then That) ran into a problem with Twitter integration: the company changed their API and developers fell like swatted flies. Voluntarily retracting their featured “Triggers” from Twitter interaction, the developers behind IFTTT made clear that they intended to come back into being with […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. consumer watchdog said on Wednesday it has found problems with mortgage servicing at banks and other financial firms, and in some cases has launched investigations for possible enforcement actions.
Mortgage servicers have made mistakes including sloppy payment processing, poor communications with consumers and insufficient programs to ensure compliance with federal laws, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a report.
The CFPB did not name any specific firms.
ORRVILLE, Ohio — House Republicans are using town hall meetings and other gatherings in their districts to push an anti-Washington message even though they’re in charge of the House.
Republicans say they only control a portion of the federal government and are pushing a series of measures to grow the economy, address energy production and cut regulations. But they blame Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama for stopping progress.
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More on House Republicans
We go in with the intention of buying nothing more than toilet paper, but somehow we always leave toting these beauty finds.
By Erika Solomon and Stephen Kalin
BEIRUT, Aug 21 (Reuters) – The men, women and children lying undisturbed in their beds had looked so peaceful they might have been just sleeping, Abu Nidal thought, as he and other rescuers dragged their bodies into the street.
His was one of many accounts of a massive assault on the eastern suburbs of Damascus that activists say killed more than 500 people on Wednesday morning. They say some of the bombs were loaded with chemical agent, which would make it the worst chemical attack since Syria’s two-year conflict began.
“We would go into a house and everything was in its place, every person was in their place. They were lying where they had been. They looked like they were asleep. But they were dead,” he told Reuters by Skype from the suburb of Erbin.
Some first responders found it surprising that either President Bashar al-Assad’s forces or the rebels trying to topple him would carry out such an attack just days after a United Nations team arrived in the capital to inspect previous reports of chemical weapons use.
The U.N. investigators are staying in a hotel just a few kilometres away.
It has been difficult to confirm previous reports of chemical attacks or determine responsibility, with no experts able to examine the scene.
When shelling hit her town of Mouadamiya, southwest of the capital, Farah al-Shami ignored the rumours on Facebook that rockets were loaded with chemical agents. She thought her district was too close to a military encampment to be affected.
“And at the same time the U.N. was here. It seemed impossible. But then I started to feel dizzy. I was choking and my eyes were burning,” the 23-year-old said, speaking by Skype.
“I rushed to the field clinic nearby. Luckily no one in my family was hurt, but I saw entire families on the floor.”
Reuters was unable to verify witness accounts. Doctors interviewed in the area describe symptoms they believe point to sarin gas, one of the agents Western powers accuse Damascus of having in an undeclared chemical weapons stockpile.
The government denies having such weapons and says that if it did posses them, it would not use them against other Syrians. It repeated those statements again on Wednesday, calling the reports of the gas attack “fabrications”.
SHOUTING WARNINGS FROM MINARETS
Videos uploaded from the suburbs of the rebel stronghold outside the capital, known as Eastern Ghouta, show similar scenes of small children convulsing on the floor, foaming at the nose and mouth. Some show rows of men, women and children – pale but with no signs of injury – laid out for burial.
Abu Nidal said the alleged chemical strike took some of the first responders by surprise, too, when the first round of rockets hit between 2:20 and 2:40 a.m.
“We saw men collapsed on staircases and in doorways. It looks like they were trying to go in and help and then were affected themselves. Some of them were dead,” he said.
Within half an hour after the attack on Erbin, however, residents had passed on reports of apparent gas attacks nearby.
“Some of them passed the information on the loudspeakers from mosque minarets, saying towns like Ain Tarma and others were claiming chemical strikes.”
Medics went house to house, he said, breaking down doors to check even homes that were not hit by the shelling to ensure there were no victims of the gas attack.
Majid Abu Ali, a doctor treating patients in the eastern suburb of Douma, said at least half of the people he treated were women and children who arrived in his clinic around 3 a.m.
“The injuries correspond with sarin gas,” he said in an interview on Skype. “Difficulty breathing, heavy breathing, inability to breathe to the point of suffocation. Slowing of the heart reaching cardiac arrest, constricted pupils, perspiration, convulsions and loss of consciousness to the point of death.”
By the time the rockets hit near Abu Omar, a doctor in Mouadamiya, he and his medics immediately prepared themselves with masks and plastic gloves.
But unlike previous attacks that left only a few dozen hurt or killed, he was taken aback by the numbers. Like many doctors, he said he treated hundreds on Wednesday. Of 120 he reported dead from the shelling, he said 50 were killed by gas.
“We didn’t know what to do with them all so I started sending some of the injured to wait in the streets,” he said, speaking from his clinic by Skype, his voice intermittently drowned out by the sound of artillery still pummelling the area.
Activists said the army had launched a fierce offensive, with repeated air and artillery strikes that have not let up since Tuesday night.
“I’ve had dozens of the rescuers hurt today, and nine killed. At first they were being affected by the gas,” Dr. Abu Omar said. “But now they’re dying in the regular shelling. The bombs just won’t stop.” (Editing by Will Waterman)
Activists opposed to immigration reform were all set to spend this month putting pressure on lawmakers to kill the legislation. But it hasn’t exactly been a show of force.
Last week, the Tea Party Patriots and NumbersUSA, two groups opposed to “amnesty” legislation, heavily publicized a rally in Richmond, Virginia, featuring Steve King, the firebrand Republican congressman who recently claimed most undocumented youth are physically fit drug mules. But only a few dozen people showed up — far short of the hundreds organizers had planned for.
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More on Latino Politics
Care to compare your Tetris skills?
(Credit: Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET)
A normal game of Tetris is a pressure-packed test of your dexterity, spatial sense, and ability to plan ahead. A “line race” game of Tetris ratchets up the tension, requiring the player to clear 40 lines as fast as possible. Doing it in less than a minute is a cause for celebration. Player keroco did it in under 20 seconds.
The exact time was 19.68 seconds. The feat appears to be a new record for a Tetris sprint, kind of like the first time someone broke the 4-minute-mile barrier.
Keroco’s record didn’t just hatch fully formed. You can see some of the attempts leading up to it on the player’s YouTube channel. It took at least 10 months to achieve the sub-20 game.
The video happens so fast, it’s almost too quick for the average person to process. Advanced Tetris players, however, have been applauding… [Read more]
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How Google Glass may change the NFL
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This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
