Twitter Makes Improvements To Harassment Reporting And “Block”

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With more than 500 million tweets being posted every day it is safe to assume that they may include tweets that violate Twitter’s rules on harassment and abuse. Even if you’re not the direct target it is really not that hard to see someone else being subjected to harassment or abuse on Twitter. Today the microblogging network announced that it has made improvements to in-product harassment reporting and “block,” making the process more mobile-friendly while requiring less initial information and making it simpler overall to flag tweets and accounts for review.

In order to enable faster response times Twitter has also made a series of behind-the-scenes improvements to the tools and processes that help it review tweets and accounts that have been reported for abuse and harassment.

Changes to block have also been made. The new blocked accounts page, accessible from the settings menu on Twitter.com, shows the accounts that have been blocked. Twitter promises to add more controls and features to this page in the coming months. Accounts that you have blocked won’t be able to view your profile when they’re logged in.

Currently these updates have been rolled out for a small group of users. Twitter is going to roll them out for all users over the coming weeks. It also promises to introduce additional user controls and make further improvements to reporting and enforcement procedures for abusive accounts.

Twitter Makes Improvements To Harassment Reporting And “Block”

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Android 5.0 Custom ROM For Original Kindle Fire Available Now

android 5.0 lollipop 640x360

The original Kindle Fire tablet was launched by Amazon back in 2011. Its specifications aren’t anything to write home about by today’s standards, the tablet had TI OMAP 4430 dual-core processor with 512MB RAM and 8GB of onboard storage, along with a 7-inch 1024×600 pixel resolution display. That doesn’t mean this tablet isn’t capable enough to run the latest version of Android. Independent developers have put together an Android 5.0 Lollipop custom ROM for the first Kindle Fire tablet.

Amazon does find the time to push out software updates for this tablet but it hasn’t brought over the new features from Fire OS 4. The tablet is powered by Fire OS, which is a heavily modified version of Android OS.

Custom ROMs for the Kindle Fire tablet are nothing new. Developers have been creating them to enable users to access Google’s services instead of Amazon’s, which are the default option on the company’s hardware.

This Android 5.0 ROM for the Kindle Fire brings vanilla Android experience instead of the “shelf” user interface of the tablet. New features such as the redesigned recent apps menu, quick settings portal and lock screen notifications are all onboard.

Instructions on how to flash this ROM on the Kindle Fire tablet are available over at XDA developers forums. The ROM has some bugs which may contribute to battery drain, but everything else should work just fine.

Android 5.0 Custom ROM For Original Kindle Fire Available Now

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

T-Mobile To Sell Galaxy Tab S From December 10th

samsung galaxy tab s movie playing

With the holiday shopping season just around the corner T-Mobile has seen it fit to add a Samsung tablet to its lineup. The carrier announced today that starting December 10th it will be selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab S. Billed as one of the season’ “hottest tablets,” the Samsung Galaxy Tab S will be available from participating T-Mobile stores and online.

As far as the price is concerned, T-Mobile will be offering it to customers for $0 down. Since the carrier has an equipment installment plans, customers will instead have to make equal monthly installments of $27.08 for 24 months to pay off the cost of this tablet, which works out to be $649.92.

T-Mobile subscribers can add the tablet to their Simple Choice voice plan for $10 a month and match the data, up to 5GB per month, specifically for use with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S. This is apart from the data that subscribers already get for their phone. No access fees has to be paid in order to access the data.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S has a 10.5-inch 2,560×1,600 pixel resolution display. It has 16GB of onboard storage, 3GB RAM, a 2 megapixel front and an 8 megapixel rear camera. Its a good choice if Android tablets are more your cup of tea, the Galaxy Tab S comes with Android 4.4 KitKat straight out of the box.

T-Mobile To Sell Galaxy Tab S From December 10th

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Community Geofilters For Snapchat Are A Go

snapchat new filter

We first spotted geofilters on Snapchat earlier this year. These photo effects appeared in certain locations when a photo was taken through Snapchat and sent to a contact, the location could be a city or a business, something that shows where the user is at that point in time. Now Snapchat is letting users like you and me join in on the fun by creating our own geofilters and sharing them with other Snapchat users, though for geofilters to go live the company has to sign off on them first.

This comes as a response to requests from users who want more control over the feature. Snapchat says that users have requested it for the ability to create their own geofilters, for marriage proposals, favorite cities and birthday parties.

Now that’s possible through the Community Geofilter website from Snapchat. You can draw a little piece of art, a doodle or a banner, and put it somewhere meaningful for you and your friends. Once Snapchat signs off on it, the geofilter will be available to people who use the service at that particular location.

Geofilters are also seen as a potential revenue stream for Snapchat. The company can create promoted geofilters, introduce brand-sponsored ones, so it really won’t be surprising if Snapchat decides to make money off of this as well.

Community Geofilters For Snapchat Are A Go

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

ABC To Produce Exclusive Newscasts For Facebook

facebook logo

It is no secret that Facebook has been trying to establish partnerships with media outlets and the latest comes with ABC. The news network will produce exclusive newscasts for Facebook users which will be 60-seconds long and will cover some of the top stories from the day. Needless to say the aim here is to target users on social media who are more likely to catch up on the news through a mobile device rather than a TV.

According to ABC this will be the first daily newscast to be produced for social media, and to add a professional flair to things, it will be hosted by an evening news anchor.

ABC’s David Muir will host Facecast: The One Thing which will be uploaded on the World News Tonight Facebook page. ABC says that the newscast will deliver breaking news, as well as major stories from sports and the world of business using infographics, videos and photos. In many ways it will be like a traditional newscast, only shorter in length, and targeted at Facebook users.

Facecast will be uploaded to the Facebook page every weeknight, so don’t forget to catch it on the World News Tonight Facebook page, particularly if you’re interested in keeping up with the day’s news.

ABC To Produce Exclusive Newscasts For Facebook

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NASA’s Orion Flight Test Is The First Step To Landing Humans On Mars

nasa mars

We have landed a man on the Moon decades ago and since that day we have not looked back. Space exploration is a topic of great debate and fuels our curiosity about reaching out to planets closest to Earth. NASA often talks about sending a human mission to Mars and this week it is conducting a flight test that is very well going to be the first step in that direction. On December 4th, NASA is going to launch the first flight test of the Orion.

Orion is the first spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts that has been designed for deep space, it is the first spacecraft of its kind since the last Apollo trip to the Moon in 1972. Orion is capable of traveling far beyond the moon and during its first flight test, uncrewed, it will travel some 3,600 miles from the Earth, orbiting it twice with 1,200 sensors on board, flying for nearly four and a half hours.

The trip will provide NASA with valuable data that will help in future human Mars missions. The first crewed flight of the Orion is expected in the 2020s where astronauts will be sent to explore an asteroid which will be redirected into a stable orbit around the Moon by using a robotic spacecraft. Astronauts will then return to the Earth with samples, after testing a collection of tools and techniques that will be used in future Mars missions.

NASA expects that these tests will put Mars within the reach of astronauts by the 2030s.

NASA’s Orion Flight Test Is The First Step To Landing Humans On Mars

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The Perpetual Calendar makes each day seem like a work of art

The Perpetual Calendar - Museum Of Modern Art

Keeping track of the days is sometimes difficult. Time can fly by and have us questioning what day, week, or even month it is. We have calendars on our phones, hang up paper versions around our offices and homes, and even set up alerts to remind us of when we are in the day. Even with all of that, we still get confused about dates and times.

If you wish your calendar was more than just factual information, then you’re going to love the MoMA Perpetual Calendar. This is something that you have to interact with, so it won’t be as easy to forget what day it is. This was originally designed by Gideon Dagan for the Museum of Modern Art, but has been reproduced in a smaller version for the masses to purchase. This is a combination of circles and lines that will show you the date and month. The year isn’t defined, so it’s not something you’ll have to replace every time the first of January rolls around.

Changing the date is a snap, as the spheres are held in place by magnets. This means you won’t have to worry about a metal ball disappearing every other day. This is a $36 purchase that would be a classy addition to any home or office. This calender is only 8”, meaning it won’t take up a ton of space, and will give you something to do when there’s nothing else to take up your time.

Available for purchase on Newegg

 
[ The Perpetual Calendar makes each day seem like a work of art copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Misfit Raises $40M From Xiaomi And Others As It Eyes More Growth In China

misfit-shine Wearable device maker and health and fitness platform provider Misfit has raised an additional $40 million in a Series C funding round led by GGV Capital, and including Xiaomi, JD.com (online retailer with massive reach), Shunwei and existing investors, including Horizons Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund and Northwest Venture Partners. The new funding brings Xiaomi and JD.com on board… Read More

Solar Lamps Making Life Better in Rwanda

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Let there be light. This sentiment, often attributed to the deities, or pioneers in the fields of electricity and light bulbs, signifies that light shall cast the darkness aside. In Rwanda, some folks with solar lamps and some very good ideas have literally made this possible for people in need. And by doing so, they’ve helped fellow human beings save money for food, reduced the necessity for unhealthy fuel sources and made life safer for women and others who have to move about at night.

Working with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices in Geneva and Rwanda, Global BrightLight Foundation and partner Great Lakes Energy, have transformed life in the Kiziba Refugee Camp with solar lamps — and they’ve made a wonderful film about the project as well, which you can watch below.

Darkness Was Gone from What Took You So Long? on Vimeo.

Joe Hale, from Global BrightLight Foundation, recently set aside some time in order to talk about the solar lamp project and how it has helped improve the lives of the people who call the Kiziba Refugee Camp home.

Carl Pettit: What benefits — expected or a surprise — have you discovered since the project got off the ground?

Joe Hale: We expected the refugees to appreciate the lamp, but we didn’t expect them to value it as much as they do. We’ve seen a sell-on rate of less than 1 percent. When selected families are being resettled in the U.S., they’re returning their lamp to the camp administration, saying that those staying behind should use the lamp. This is a powerful anecdote because these families usually sell everything they can before traveling to the U.S.

What were some of the biggest hurdles encountered when starting the project?

Refugee camps are complex environments. Working there requires coordination with multiple parties. The implementation of this project required coordination with, and approval from, UNHCR’s field office, UNHCR’s Rwanda Headquarters, UNHCR Geneva Headquarters, the Rwandan government’s ministry for refugees, and the American Refugee Committee. All parties gave us full support and much appreciated guidance.

Great Lakes Energy, our partner in Rwanda, did a great job handling the coordination.

What made you choose the Kiziba Refugee Camp for your initial tests?

When I was driving to our project site in southern Rwanda, I drove by a newly built refugee camp, recently populated with an influx of Congolese fleeing the most recent violence in their home communities. Seeing this camp inspired me to explore the possibility of providing lamps to a camp.

When we approached UNHCR with this concept, they directed us to Kiziba camp. Kiziba was the largest camp at the time and is the oldest in Rwanda. Kiziba camp has 16,400 people and was opened in 1996.

Distributing solar lanterns in a refugee camp was not our original business model. However, after seeing the incredible need in the camp, we developed a “sweat equity” approach to lantern distribution there, where recipients traded “community service” in the form of participation in a tree reforestation project, in exchange for their solar lantern.

How can ordinary people get involved?

We’re trying to raise enough funds to implement this same program in the other four refugee camps in Rwanda. There are roughly 12,500 more families living in camps in Rwanda, selling their precious food rations to buy unhealthy kerosene and candles.

This situation reminds us of a quote from Thomas Edison, soon after inventing his famous light bulb: “We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles.”

That Edison’s prediction is not the reality today demonstrates that the energy balance in this world is tilted against those in need. The worse off a community is, the more they pay for energy. The refugees in Rwanda are examples of this imbalance: They subsist off of cornmeal rations, measured out to the precise calories of nutrients each family requires to stay above malnourishment. They’re forced to sell portions of these rations only to have a little light, and the light they get in exchange is dim and emits harmful fumes. They deserve better.

You can help us raise the funds we need to distribute Sun King lights to the other camps in Rwanda by visiting www.globalbrightlight.org — and by spreading the word. A Sun King lamp that emits 75 lumens of light for seven hours per night and charges a phone for a refugee family costs only $24. Every little bit we raise helps. The lamps have a two-year warranty, so we can all be assured that we’re providing a quality solution.

This article was originally published in The Blot Magazine.

The Wisdom of Patience

Practicing the Art of High
Involvement & Low Attachment

“Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.” ~ Heraclitus

A martial arts student went to his master teacher and said earnestly, “I am devoted to learning your art form. How long will it take me to obtain the highest degree black belt?” The teacher’s reply was casual, “Ten years.” Impatiently, the student answered, “But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice with great effort everyday, ten or more hours a day, everyday, if I have to. How long will it take then?” The teacher thought for a moment and says, “In that case, it will take 20 years.”

Because impatience has been my longtime nemesis, the above ancient parable quickly came to mind as I sat behind the potters wheel for my first ceramics class at the Clay Studio & Gallery in Thousand Oaks, California. I have reached a point in my life where it has become apparent it’s time to find a few new creative outlets that continue to stimulate my growth and feeds me with a sense of accomplishment. What I learned instantly from my ceramics teacher, Esther, is there is no such thing as instant gratification in making a bowl on the pottery wheel. The first words out of her mouth were just what I did NOT want to hear; “Now this is going to require some patience.” While my inner mindfulness-meditation teacher took a deep breath and smiled, silently affirming, “But of course it will”, that ten year-old boy trapped in this man’s body was clamoring to get his hands into the sticky, muddy clay and go for it ASAP with abandon. With Esther’s calm guidance, as the wheel started spinning I centered my clay and opened it in the middle. So far so good. Then as I started to quickly lift the edge of the bowl, applying equal pressure from both the inside and outside with two fingers, the thin wall of the bowl started wobbling and Esther again calmly admonished me to slow down and have patience because if I went too fast the fragile clay would fly apart. The good news is, slow and steady won the race and my first bowl was born.

Admittedly, I was very impressed with myself until Esther said, “Nice work! Next week you can do step two.” Next week…step two? You mean I have to wait until NEXT week to get to step two? OMG! Was she saying I had more to learn, more time to wait before I could take “my” bowl home and put some chips and guacamole in it? No doubt patience was a lesson that had my name all over it so I took a deep breath and went home empty handed.

Fast forward to the second week when I was taught to trim the bowl and sign my name on the bottom preparing it for its first firing. Then, more waiting. Now fast forward to week three when the bowl was painted, glazed and prepared for its final firing in the kiln. Lastly, jump ahead to week four when I FINALLY had the pleasure of munching on some chips directly from my newly finished creation. Whew! Delayed gratification is such a high price to pay for the privilege of learning and creating something new.

Can you relate? Where in your life might more patience be needed? While there is always room for improvement when it comes to having patience with other people, I am referring to the patience we have with ourselves. The first step is knowing that regardless of what we are endeavoring to learn, create, or achieve, patience is the connective tissue that unifies the beginning, middle, and the end of the process. I use the example of making pottery because, clearly, a raw hunk of clay doesn’t become a finished bowl on its own in one day, nor does a novice student become a master of anything worth creating in one day. Metaphorically, we could say that we are all students on the potter’s wheel of life learning how to shape our lives. The key is to remember there is a timeline involved in any creative process that needs to be honored. Becoming a master of anything worth doing requires the wisdom of patience and it begins with our next breath…and then the next…and then the next, creating the spaciousness between breaths for the unfolding of our true passion, genius, and soul.

How do we best implement the wisdom of patience? Over time I have learned the mindfulness practice of “high involvement and low attachment.” This means being highly involved in the moment with little or no attachment to the results which may take time to unfold. This practice invites the mind and the body to be in the present moment at the same time which is where and when the bliss of “being and doing” joyfully intersect and commingles as our experience. That is what patience does; it invites us to embrace the moment and get our hands in that sticky, muddy clay called life and mindfully shape it in a manner that expresses who we authentically are. The good news is you don’t have to be a ten-year old kid to do that…and that really is a beautiful thing.

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