1. "It’s a romance novel name." →

    parislemon:

    Great profile of Reed Hastings by Ashlee Vance for Bloomberg Businessweek. Three standouts:

    The master copies of all the shows and movies available to Netflix take up 3.14 petabytes of storage space. (In comparison, Facebook uses about 1.5 petabytes to store about 10 billion photos.) Hollywood studios used to send individual films and shows to Netflix on a disc or thumb drive; now they use a Netflix system called Backlot to send encrypted files via the Internet. Netflix then compresses the files and creates more than 100 different versions, each tuned for the varying bandwidth, device, and language needs of its customers. (An hour of video for the iPhone would be about 150 megabytes.) This compressed catalog comes to about 2.75 petabytes.

    Wow — also, Pi.

    And:

    Netflix began to experiment with cloud services from Amazon and Microsoft, where Hastings served as a board member. In 2009 he bet his company’s future on Amazon. Up to that point, nothing the size of Netflix had placed so much of its crucial technology on Amazon’s systems. Hastings sent an e-mail to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, announcing his plans. “I asked him if he was comfortable with that idea,” Hastings says. “If not, there was no point going forward.” Bezos gave the go-ahead.

    That seems like a pretty large diss of a company where he’s a board member — especially when you consider that Amazon is now a very direct rival.

    And finally, the best for last:

    Qwikster was a fiasco, but far less threatening than a debacle that preceded it. In August 2008, Netflix’s technology infrastructure melted down. This was when the company was still known for DVDs-by-mail, and for three days it could not send discs because a crucial Oracle database kept malfunctioning. Reporters and customers took notice. Netflix traced the problem to an expensive, third-party storage system that went haywire after a software update. The incident still annoys Hastings. When the subject comes up in the watchtower, Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt, who’s also gathered at the table, suggests they not mention the storage-system vendor by name. Hastings responds, “Let IBM have it, baby.” (An IBM spokesman declined to comment.)

    Said another way.

    At least I know I can get my TNG fix anytime.

  2. The Brookline TAB is running Wicked Local’s Right of Way series, all about the current relationship between car drivers and bicyclists in greater Boston, including efforts to make Brookline more bike-friendly. It’s totally worth a look, regardless if you pedal to work or not. As an aside, I pretty much use my car to get around, and rarely bike. But I side with bicyclists on safety issues. I kind of assume there are bad bicyclists who are stupid and take chances, just like there are drivers who do the same thing.  But let’s face it: drivers have two tons of steel around them in case they screw up; bicyclists have those cannonball helmets and, uh, spandex. So it’s not exactly a fair comparison, even when a cyclist seemingly can outrun your car while you’re taping him/her with a dash cam. (FYI: s/he can’t, chill, but if it bothers you, drive on a highway, etc.). Making roads safer for bicyclists is good for everybody: bicyclists can get to work and back without getting hurt or worse, while drivers can devote even less time paying attention to everything around them.   

    The Brookline TAB is running Wicked Local’s Right of Way series, all about the current relationship between car drivers and bicyclists in greater Boston, including efforts to make Brookline more bike-friendly. It’s totally worth a look, regardless if you pedal to work or not.

    As an aside, I pretty much use my car to get around, and rarely bike. But I side with bicyclists on safety issues.

    I kind of assume there are bad bicyclists who are stupid and take chances, just like there are drivers who do the same thing. 

    But let’s face it: drivers have two tons of steel around them in case they screw up; bicyclists have those cannonball helmets and, uh, spandex.

    So it’s not exactly a fair comparison, even when a cyclist seemingly can outrun your car while you’re taping him/her with a dash cam. (FYI: s/he can’t, chill, but if it bothers you, drive on a highway, etc.).

    Making roads safer for bicyclists is good for everybody: bicyclists can get to work and back without getting hurt or worse, while drivers can devote even less time paying attention to everything around them. 

     

  3. ianbrooks: Calvin and Hobbes by Skottie Young New head canon: Calvin and Hobbes never went back home after disappearing into the woods that last time. They walk the earth, solving crimes together and getting in zany adventures. They didnt need anyone and everything was perfect. Thank you, Skottie. Artist: DeviantArt / Tumblr

    ianbrooks:

    Calvin and Hobbes by Skottie Young

    New head canon: Calvin and Hobbes never went back home after disappearing into the woods that last time. They walk the earth, solving crimes together and getting in zany adventures. They didnt need anyone and everything was perfect. Thank you, Skottie.

    Artist: DeviantArt / Tumblr

  4. For this week’s Brookline TAB, a look back at the Maelstrom of Epic Political Awesome that was Tuesday’s primaries for the Senate special election. In case you weren’t one of the roughly five voters who cast a ballot earlier this week, the general election is set for June 25.

    For this week’s Brookline TAB, a look back at the Maelstrom of Epic Political Awesome that was Tuesday’s primaries for the Senate special election.

    In case you weren’t one of the roughly five voters who cast a ballot earlier this week, the general election is set for June 25.

  5. If you find yourselves in the Waltham area this weekend, consider registering for the Moody Street 5K on Sunday, May 5. The race/walk takes you through some of the prettier parts of town, but if you don’t feel like the exercise, consider volunteering instead.   Money collected goes to support local schools, plus, you know, the event ends near a bar that happens to help sponsor the event. So you can help grow the local economy, too. So all of this is very socially responsible, see? That’s what I’m saying. Hit them up on Facebook.

    If you find yourselves in the Waltham area this weekend, consider registering for the Moody Street 5K on Sunday, May 5. The race/walk takes you through some of the prettier parts of town, but if you don’t feel like the exercise, consider volunteering instead.  

    Money collected goes to support local schools, plus, you know, the event ends near a bar that happens to help sponsor the event. So you can help grow the local economy, too.

    So all of this is very socially responsible, see? That’s what I’m saying. Hit them up on Facebook.

  6. Needed this. Thanks.

    (Source: sherlockspeare)

  7. Last Friday, bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found bloodied and hidden under a boat’s tarp in a backyard in Watertown. Word is we’re safe from this particular nightmare, and some celebrated in the streets following his arrest: Now it’s a week after the bombing of the Boston Marathon that left four people dead and hundreds more wounded. Those directly affected by the blasts could face the prospect of a tough journey to rebuild their lives; meanwhile, hugely successful efforts to help people have already started mixing with consumerism:   In case you were wondering, it smells of cinnamon, ‘baking spices’ and freshly poured tea.   But after the attention has faded, and the raw emotions cool, how long a shadow of the 2013 Boston Marathon will be cast on our lives going forward?    Do we hunker down, carry emergency bottled water and matches, and freak every time we spot a guy with a Jansport on his back or tackle whomever we think looks like a terrorist?    The alternative looks like recording everything anybody ever does in public forever.  At least then, when bad stuff happens, it’s caught on video.    But that doesn’t sound awesome, either. If our choices are picking either creeping paranoia, or a kind of cyber-villagers-with-torches-and-pitchforks justice, well, that’s not much of a winner. The New York Post was criticized for running a front page photo of two innocent people with the headline “BAG MEN”.  And no, these guys had nothing to do with the attack. In a statement, Post editor Col Allan said they were relying on information from law enforcement when it used that image (via Politico):   “We stand by our story,” he said in a statement sent out early Thursday afternoon. “The image was emailed to law enforcement agencies yesterday afternoon seeking information about these men, as our story reported. We did not identify them as suspects.”   On Twitter, Post owner Rupert Murdoch wrote the images were “withdrawn”, whatever the hell that means: TIL that his newspaper has the power to “withdraw” images after copies are printed and sold to readers.   Meanwhile, over at Reddit, the site’s managers addressed the site’s role in the marathon bombing coverage in a soul-searching blog post earlier this week.   Some users posted photos taken at the marathon that day, and attempted a bit of DIY sleuthing to track the movements and behaviors of some members of the crowd.    But it backfired, and badly, when suspicion wrongly fell on a college student who had gone missing last month. (Sadly, investigators say that student is actually the body recently found in Providence Harbor. Reddit said it and members of its community apologized to the student’s family.)   Reddit noted: “We hoped that the crowdsourced search for new information would not spark exactly this type of witch hunt. We were wrong. The search for the bombers bore less resemblance to the types of vindictive internet witch hunts our no-personal-information rule was originally written for, but the outcome was no different.”   The blowback from all the fear, blame and paranoia reportedly led FBI investigators to ultimately release images of the men they claimed committed the April 15 bombing.   Those images led to identifying two brothers and the arrest of one and the death of the other — ending a long, bloody week for Greater Boston.    But if a bad guy gets caught, does that mean the witch hunt — and all the speculation and suspicion — is worth it?   If that’s so, I don’t feel like celebrating.

    Last Friday, bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found bloodied and hidden under a boat’s tarp in a backyard in Watertown. Word is we’re safe from this particular nightmare, and some celebrated in the streets following his arrest:

    Now it’s a week after the bombing of the Boston Marathon that left four people dead and hundreds more wounded.
    Those directly affected by the blasts could face the prospect of a tough journey to rebuild their lives; meanwhile, hugely successful efforts to help people have already started mixing with consumerism:
    In case you were wondering, it smells of cinnamon, 'baking spices' and freshly poured tea. 
    In case you were wondering, it smells of cinnamon, ‘baking spices’ and freshly poured tea.
     
    But after the attention has faded, and the raw emotions cool, how long a shadow of the 2013 Boston Marathon will be cast on our lives going forward? 
     
    Do we hunker down, carry emergency bottled water and matches, and freak every time we spot a guy with a Jansport on his back or tackle whomever we think looks like a terrorist? 
     
    The alternative looks like recording everything anybody ever does in public forever.  At least then, when bad stuff happens, it’s caught on video. 
     
    But that doesn’t sound awesome, either. If our choices are picking either creeping paranoia, or a kind of cyber-villagers-with-torches-and-pitchforks justice, well, that’s not much of a winner.

    The New York Post was criticized for running a front page photo of two innocent people with the headline “BAG MEN”.  And no, these guys had nothing to do with the attack.

    In a statement, Post editor Col Allan said they were relying on information from law enforcement when it used that image (via Politico):
     
    “We stand by our story,” he said in a statement sent out early Thursday afternoon. “The image was emailed to law enforcement agencies yesterday afternoon seeking information about these men, as our story reported. We did not identify them as suspects.”
     
    On Twitter, Post owner Rupert Murdoch wrote the images were “withdrawn”, whatever the hell that means:
    TIL that his newspaper has the power to “withdraw” images after copies are printed and sold to readers.
     
    Meanwhile, over at Reddit, the site’s managers addressed the site’s role in the marathon bombing coverage in a soul-searching blog post earlier this week.
     
    Some users posted photos taken at the marathon that day, and attempted a bit of DIY sleuthing to track the movements and behaviors of some members of the crowd. 
     
    But it backfired, and badly, when suspicion wrongly fell on a college student who had gone missing last month. (Sadly, investigators say that student is actually the body recently found in Providence Harbor. Reddit said it and members of its community apologized to the student’s family.)
     
    Reddit noted:
    “We hoped that the crowdsourced search for new information would not spark exactly this type of witch hunt. We were wrong. The search for the bombers bore less resemblance to the types of vindictive internet witch hunts our no-personal-information rule was originally written for, but the outcome was no different.”
     
    The blowback from all the fear, blame and paranoia reportedly led FBI investigators to ultimately release images of the men they claimed committed the April 15 bombing.
     
    Those images led to identifying two brothers and the arrest of one and the death of the other — ending a long, bloody week for Greater Boston. 
     
    But if a bad guy gets caught, does that mean the witch hunt — and all the speculation and suspicion — is worth it?
     
    If that’s so, I don’t feel like celebrating.

  8. I think everyone’s said everything worth saying at this point. Be well. (Via Brookline TAB) Meanwhile, the TAB runs the Boston Marathon story it originally planned to publish.

    I think everyone’s said everything worth saying at this point. Be well. (Via Brookline TAB)

    Meanwhile, the TAB runs the Boston Marathon story it originally planned to publish.

  9. Today in journalism. Sigh.

    Today in journalism. Sigh.

  10. “I BOUGHT THIS DOMAIN TO KEEP SOME
    CONSPIRACY THEORY KOOK FROM OWNING IT.

    PLEASE KEEP THE VICTIMS OF THIS EVENT
    AND THEIR FAMILIES IN YOUR THOUGHTS.

    THANK YOU.”

    ….No, thank *you.*

    — http://bostonmarathonconspiracy.com/