In an escalation of the confrontation between the United States attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over the governor’s cancellation of his own anticorruption commission, Mr. Bharara has threatened to investigate the Cuomo administration for possible obstruction of justice or witness tampering.
Comic-Con 2014 was chock full of amazing costumes, cool art, mind-blowing TV pilots and fascinating encounters. Because even a weak Comic-Con is better than most other events. Here’s our complete roundup of all the most incredible things we saw last weekend.
Looking for wicked fast internet? You may want to move to Denmark: researchers in DTU Photonics’ High-Speed Optical Communications Group (HSOC) have set a new world record for single-transmitter data transfer. Using a new kind of optical fiber, the…
External batteries come in all shapes and sizes, few of which are as handy as the NomadPlus. This particular portable battery is aimed at Apple users, utilizing the iPhone’s power plug to charge itself when you’re near an outlet and your mobile when an outlet isn’t available. Calling it a “battery upgrade”, Nomad aims to make toting around a portable … Continue reading
There’s always that one moment of the day when the sunlight streaming through your window washes out the TV or blinds you when you’re on your favorite part of the couch. The traditional remedy is closing the curtains, but imagine a future where instead you rotate the floor of the house in which you’re currently residing. Such is possible in … Continue reading
Believe it or not, eBay appears to be down in the United States. Downtime began at approximately 8 minutes after 10PM Central Time and continue through the publication time of this article. At this time it would appear that eBay remains active through servers around the world outside of the United States, suggesting that the downtime is centered on eBay’s … Continue reading
When it comes to yet unreleased products, you can be sure that there will be plenty of rumors that will surround such unannounced devices. The same can be said of Sony with their Sony Xperia Z3 and Sony Xperia Z3 Compact devices, where the rumor mill has indeed been working overtime to point to an imminent release. The latest word on the street points to an IFA 2014 announcement later this coming September, although the folks over at Sony themselves have yet to confirm the company’s presence at IFA for this year’s edition.
XperiaBlog claims otherwise though, and even parades a September 3rd date. September 3rd happens to be a couple of days before the IFA 2014 rolls out in full steam, but then again,it is not strange at all to see companies introduce new products to news hungry journalists a day or two before an official announcement is made to the masses.
Will September 3rd be the “birthday” for both the Sony Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact? Only time will be able to tell, but one thing is for sure – we do look forward to both smartphones rolling out, since it is nice to touch a slim device all over the place that hails from a manufacturer that does not come from China.
Sony IFA Conference 2014 Kicks Off This September 3rd
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SPARTANBURG, S.C.—At the grocery store, Erik notices how the cashiers sometimes smile at the customers ahead of him in line, but not at him.
By Eric M. Johnson
SEATTLE, July 30 (Reuters) – The Seattle Police Department has reassigned an officer who single-handedly issued about 80 percent of the marijuana tickets handed out in the city during the first half of this year, authorities said on Wednesday.
Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole said staff reviewing data to prepare the department’s first biannual report on marijuana enforcement found that 66 of 83 citations for public pot use were given out by just one officer.
“In some instances, the officer added notes to the tickets,” O’Toole said in a statement, adding that some of the notes requested the attention of City Attorney Peter Holmes and were addressed to “Petey Holmes.”
In one case, she said, “the officer indicated he flipped a coin when contemplating which subject to cite.”
In another, O’Toole added, he referred to Washington’s voter-approved changes to marijuana laws as “silly.”
Washington state voted in 2012 to legalize the sale of cannabis to adults for recreational use but does not allow it to be used in public places.
She said the officer’s actions were reported to the police’s Office of Professional Accountability, and that he will not perform patrol duties while an investigation takes place.
The six-month report, which was released last week, found African Americans in Seattle were ticketed disproportionately to their population for using pot in public.
The police department said 36 percent of the tickets were issued to African-Americans, who make up just eight percent of the city’s population.
A spokesman said the SPD recognized the numbers were disproportionate, and O’Toole reiterated on Wednesday that the study was designed to provide more oversight and to flag “anomalies or outliers” in Seattle’s marijuana enforcement. (Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Michael Perry)
On days when most of the headlines about banks make you consider storing all your money in a mattress, it’s nice to see a financial firm break from the trend of “bad banks behaving badly.”
In an effort to thank its customers, TD Canada Trust went above and beyond offering free coffee and cookies; the bank deployed “Automated Thanking Machines” to branches across Canada that gave lucky customers some remarkable gifts, including trips, memorable experiences and fulfilled dreams, the Examiner reports.
The video of the customers’ reactions to the ATM’s offerings is a bit of a gift to those who watch it as well, which explains the explosion of views it has received, The Blaze points out. At the time of this writing, the Youtube video has been viewed nearly 3 million times.
The gifts doled out by the ATMs to pre-selected customers were home runs, as the video clearly shows. One single mom who had been unable to take her kids on vacation was given a trip to Disneyland. An elderly woman received tickets to Trinidad so she could visit her daughter who is fighting with cancer. And a die-hard Toronto Blue Jays fan was offered the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a game.
“We wanted to say thank you to our customers in a way that we felt was unique and distinctive, and that actually gave back to our customers,” Chris Stamper, SVP corporate marketing at TD Canada Trust said in Marketing Mag. “The views are great… but when it comes down to it, it’s really about making an authentic connection with your customers.”
The ATMs were part of the bank’s #TDThanksYou campaign. In addition to the machines featured in the video, TD Canada Trust had more than 20,000 TD employees give away green envelopes containing a $20 bill to each customer in more than 1,100 of the banks’ branches across Canada on July 25, Forbes reports. Customers using TD’s phone and online banking services were given a $20 direct deposit.
Marketing Canada adds that the campaign saw more than 30,000 TD Canada Trust customers receive a gift.
(H/T Oliver Darcy.)
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