The Morning Chew

thedailywhat: Inadvertent Gang Signs of the Day: A 15-year-old...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:42:07 -0800

Inadvertent Gang Signs of the Day: A 15-year-old from Chicago was left devastated after the city announced it would not use his contest-winning police vehicle sticker over concerns it depicts gang signs.

Herbie Pulgar, a student at a school for troubled youth, designed the sticker for a local contest, which he subsequently won.

After a blog identified hand signals in Pulgar’s drawing as being associated with the Maniac Latin Disciples gang, the Chicago City Clerk Office said it would use the runner-up sticker instead.

“In no way, shape or form did the art design have any gangs symbols, any gang designs or nothing on the picture,” Pulgar told ABC7. “I just put my heart into it and I tried to make my mom proud.”

Chicago Crime Commission president Jody Weis says Pulgar had published gang-related Facebook posts, but Pulgar’s mother, Jessica Loor, disputes this, saying her son is not a member fo a gang.

“Unfortunately, whether or not the design was meant to include potential gang symbols, the perception that now exists is that the artwork could be misinterpreted as containing gang related symbols,” said Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza.

The silver lining in this story is that Pulgar won’t have to return the $1,000 savings bond he received for winning the contest.

[abc7 / npr / wgn.]

thedailywhat: So This Happened of the Day: In a bit of life...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:48:04 -0800

thedailywhat:

So This Happened of the Day: In a bit of life imitating that Soup video of Vanilla Ice playing an acoustic version of “Ice Ice Baby” for hipsters in Echo Park, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst took to the karaoke stage last night at West Hollywood’s Rock & Reilly to perform a stripped-down rendition of his band’s 1999 hit single “Nookie.”

[tmz.]

thisistheverge: Lazer Tag is getting an overhaul for iOS...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:54:42 -0800

thisistheverge:

Lazer Tag is getting an overhaul for iOS generation — Hasbro just announced that its 2012 Nerf Lazer Tag blasters can be combined with an iPhone or iPod touch to provide a heads-up display, an increased firing distance of 250 feet, and augmented reality for a “single player” experience. (via Hasbro’s new Lazer Tag guns use iOS devices for HUD and augmented reality | The Verge)

Photo

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:57:51 -0800

Photo

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:06:54 -0800

parislemon: “Let’s see how the competition goes…” Just to beat...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:05:32 -0800

parislemon:

“Let’s see how the competition goes…”

Just to beat a dead horse, after seeing the post noting Apple’s iPhone business now brings in more revenue than all of Microsoft’s businesses combined, Jason Hiner reminded me of Steve Ballmer’s classic 2007 video laughing off the iPhone announcement (above).

To be fair to Ballmer, he does say that selling a $500 fully-subsidized phone is insane, and Apple did end up dropping the price, which has fueled sales. Still, the business argument sounds like something RIM would (and did) make. How’s that working out for them now?

As for “I like our strategy, I like it a lot” — there’s simply no excuse. Windows Mobile was quickly exposed for the turd it was, and Windows Phone, while good, was far too late. But 2007 wasn’t all bad for Ballmer…

Youtuber Blitzkrieg1981 offers us this walk-through video of the...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:52:05 -0800

Youtuber Blitzkrieg1981 offers us this walk-through video of the unfinished Counter-Strike map he made inspired by the Scranton branch Dunder-Mifflin offices. He says it took him over 500 hours of playing and pausing episodes of the show to do it.

Army training in China is serious business: footage shows...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:50:08 -0800

Army training in China is serious business: footage shows soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army of China stationed in Hong Kong play a life-and-death game of ‘hot potato’ with a live grenade.

My First Hardcore Song by Juliet (8 years old)

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:20:47 -0800

My First Hardcore Song by Juliet (8 years old)

Season 5

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:09:28 -0800

Season 5

Autistic Girl Expresses Unimaginable Intelligence

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:39:53 -0800

Autistic Girl Expresses Unimaginable Intelligence

laughingsquid: PBS Arts: Off Book – The Evolution of Music...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:56:09 -0800

laughingsquid:

PBS Arts: Off Book – The Evolution of Music Online

nerdology: Pat showed me this awesome Star Trek: The Next...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:52:59 -0800

nerdology:

Pat showed me this awesome Star Trek: The Next Generation twitter account yesterday. Simply put it’s two sentence plot lines from what could have been the 8th season of TNG. It’s unbelievable. Seriously follow it.

guillee: Steve Wittens is a crazy genius—click through in a...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:51:47 -0800

guillee:

Steve Wittens is a crazy genius—click through in a WebKit browser to check out his website. Here’s how he built it. My mind is blown.

Amazing Swan Lake Performance

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:10:31 -0800

Amazing Swan Lake Performance

Venice Backstage

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:32:00 -0800

Venice Backstage

I love how the kids start getting down to the Daft at 2m50s.

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:20:29 -0800

I love how the kids start getting down to the Daft at 2m50s.

thedailywhat: What The Hell of the Day: A full-scale...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:56:15 -0800

thedailywhat:

What The Hell of the Day: A full-scale investigation has been launched by Gwinnett County Schools in Georgia into controversial math homework, which asked third-grade students to calculate the amount of cotton a slave would collect and the number of beatings he would receive in a week.

“Who would think of such questions to ask third-grade children?” asked parent Nicole Thompson, whose 8-year-old brought the questions to her attention.

According to the school district, the questionable questioned were penned by a teacher who sought to “reinforce social studies lessons through math.” It has since come to light that the homework was seen and approved by all nine third-grade teachers.

“We are looking at what human resources actions may be taken so I do believe that is a hard stance trying to determine what does that situation warrant,” said district spokeswoman Sloan Roach.

NAACP of Georgia has called on the school to fire the teacher responsible and reprimand all other parties involved in approving the lesson.

“To trivialize the suffering of slavery, and to put in a word game in math work sheet is unconscionable,” community activist Jennifer Falk is quoted as saying.

[wsbtv.]

thedailywhat: But Wait There’s More of the Day: Vince Offer AKA...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:17:52 -0800

thedailywhat:

But Wait There’s More of the Day: Vince Offer AKA Vince Shlomi AKA The ShamWow! Guy pokes fun at that schticky situation he got into a few years back in his brand new infomercial for a glorified lint remover.

Caution: Awful innuendos and a big-ass spider ahead.

[ontd.]

Une Fille Comme Les Autres

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:44:05 -0800

Une Fille Comme Les Autres