Want To Chat With Bill Gates? Hour of Code Students Only!

Bill Gates will take time off from his busy schedule to chat with students who will take part in the Hour of Code, an initiative to bring tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. What is more anyone, anywhere can organize an Hour of Code event in your area. One-hour tutorials are available in over 30 languages. No experience needed. Ages 4 to 104.
Bill Gates Tweeted today; 
"This December I’ll host a live chat with a few classrooms for the #HourofCode. You can sign up your classroom here: http://b-gat.es/1ulHaEI"

Tahrs (e)Scape

When I first saw the video, I too wondered what these Tahrs may be. The are of wild goat family and Wikipedia tells us;
Tahrs are three species of large Asian ungulates related to the wild goat. Until recently the three species were believed to be closely related and were placed in a single genus, Hemitragus.
Video is of New Zealand's BullTahrs. 
VIA DIGG

Robin Lopez, Blazed By Klay Thompson

And Portland announcer tries to put out the flames!

Good Bye Brittany Maynard, RIP!

I may even have seen Brittany Maynard as she is a UC Berkeley graduate and there is Deja Vu that that you really have seen her. It is hard to know that someone is dead and it is even harder, when you know that a person has ended his / her life, not knowing what tomorrow may have held.
Oregon's Death with Dignity Act – has helped Brittany, a 29 year old woman, end her life by taking a fatal dose of barbiturates, prescribed to her by a doctor, when her suffering became too great.
Hard as it may be, we wish you peace, Brittany.
MEDDESKTOP: Good Bye Brittany Maynard, Rest In Peace!

Facebook Links To TOR Network Via A Dedicated TOR URL.

While we had to report many a times about misgivings of Facebook but today, the social network has done a remarkable thing, linking it self to TOR network, the anonymous browser, network. Now users of the TOR browser would be able to connect to Facebook, trouble free.
If you are a TOR user, wants to connect to Facebook, you can peel the onion by using this link: https://facebookcorewwwi.onion/
This is not light news, even though it is done more to secure Facebook and support  TOR users at the same time, our kudos to Facebook. Facebook make another first by being the first major website / network, with a Certificate Authority to offer a dedicated Tor URL and a certified connection.
Gizmodo has a better article on the matter.

Trick-or-Treat With President Obama And The First Lady At The White House

Verizon's Sugarstring, You WIll Not Read About Surveillance And Net Neutrality There.

Verizon launched a new site, supposedly covering technology, culture, and entertainment, but Surveillance And Net Neutrality will not appear any where if the instruction to editors and the recruiting process has any truth to it.
When it comes to surveillance, like every other major phone and credit card company in America was doing, Verizon has a wide open door for the data hunters. Net Neutrality, Verizon  led the charge to kill net neutrality.
So I will repeat what the Verge had to say;

But in the broader context, Sugarstring is frightening. It resembles a future where enormous corporations that own the pipes through which speech travels also own that speech. Hell, that's not even a vision of the future; Comcast already owns NBC, and its promises for good behavior as a vertically integrated superpower have an expiration date.


How Free Is Your Free Speech, The Daily Dot via  The Verge.

Coming Out, In Apple Way

We salute you Mr. Cook!

"For years, I've been open with many people about my sexual orientation, Plenty of colleagues at Apple know I'm gay, and it doesn't seem to make a difference in the way they treat me. " Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a powerful personal essay, published Thursday in Businessweek.

Whatever it is, Cook has done millions a favor, it does matter when a public figure like him come out but Mashable has a much better piece on the subject.

Got Facebook? Check The New Privacy Settings!

Everyday millions of us hit our Facebook pages, from our desktops, smart phones or even work computers, where it is allowed (and some times not.)
But very few think about the privacy setting. Again privacy setting on Facebook is like chasing a rainbow. They keep on changing.
From basic privacy setting of sharing your posts and photos with a select few or the whole world to how you connect to the Facebook could be chosen.
What do you do with old posts? does the current setting apply them as well?
What do you do with other people tagging you in their posts and photo when you plan only to share your info with a close circle of friends?
Well without going into much lengths, there is a guide, well written by my Twitter friend, Ruhani Rabin, taking you through all the folds of Facebook privacy.
Read Ruhani's post and be knowledgeable.

All Of U.S. Congress Is On Twitter Now

#bangs! It is good to know that now when you want to reach out to your senator, you can do so through your Twitter account.
Twitter blogged that;

The 44th President and 113th Congress on Twitter On Monday (Jan. 21), Barack Obama will be publicly sworn in as President. While buzz about the Inauguration builds on Twitter, the legislative branch has some news of their own: as of today, all 100 members of the Senate as well as 90% (398 members) of the House of Representatives are on Twitter.

And if you want to find your senator on the twitter follow this list to find him/her and if you also find your House member among 398 of them, follow this link.
It is not only the House (90%) and Senate that is making news, our First Lady, Michelle Obama (@FLOTUS) is making '#bangs' on the Twitter.

In addition to the above accounts, the following services and agencies are also on the Twitter, bringing you news about President Obama(@BarackObama) Inauguration. @SecretService, @ObamaInaugural, @MetroInaug, @USCapitol, @JCCIC2013, and@DHSgov.