145 Tech Leaders Say 'Trump Would Be A Disaster For Innovation' Slashdotby BeauHD on republicans at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at July 14, 2016, 11:35 pm)

An anonymous reader writes from a report via CNN: "We have listened to Donald Trump over the past year and we have concluded: Trump would be a disaster for innovation," wrote 145 technology leaders in an open letter Medium post published Thursday. Some of the leaders are from tech giants like Google, Facebook and Apple, others from small startups, venture capital firms, nonprofits and universities. "We believe in an inclusive country that fosters opportunity, creativity and a level playing field. Donald Trump does not," reads the letter, which was signed by well-known names like Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, IAC's Barry Diller, Reddit's Alexis Ohanian and Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales. "His reckless disregard for our legal and political institutions threatens to upend what attracts companies to start and scale in America. He risks distorting markets, reducing exports, and slowing job creation," reads the letter, published by chief marketing officer at Color Genomics and former VP at Twitter Katie Jacobs Stanton. Moreover, Trump has shown "poor judgment and ignorance about how technology works," they wrote, citing his proposal to "shut down" parts of the Internet and the fact that he has revoked reporters' press credentials. "We stand against Donald Trump's divisive candidacy," the letter concludes. "We embrace an optimistic vision for a more inclusive country, where American innovation continues to fuel opportunity, prosperity and leadership." Meanwhile, Jon Swartz writes from USA Today that "If there was any lingering doubt as to tech's favored presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton put an end to that Tuesday with a tech plan that reads like a Silicon Valley wish list."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Sound Off Round 4: Live-Captioning Open Source & Feelings inessential.comat January 1, 1970, 8:00 am (cached at July 14, 2016, 11:32 pm)

From Sound Off:

Open Source & Feelings has a thorough and unambiguous code of conduct, one of the best diversity statements we’ve seen from a conference, and an about page with everything from venue accessibility, to public transit, to tips about keeping safe while traveling to and from the conference. Everything about Open Source & Feelings communicates thoughtfulness, deliberateness, and listening to feedback.

Donate now to help out this good cause.

Sound Off board member Ashley Nelson-Hornstein explains how live-captioning is useful for all physically-present attendees, not just for people you’d expect to need the help.

It’s also worth remembering that accessibility issues aren’t just something for a small percentage of the population.

Everybody has — or will have, if they live long enough — something they need help with. I have increasing trouble hearing, and live-captioning would certainly help me, and maybe you too.

Straight up: help make sure everyone can participate.

PS The conference will be here in Seattle, at Seattle Central College. I was on the college newspaper there, in moons past.

Sound Off Round 4: Live-Captioning Open Source & Feelings inessential.comat January 1, 1970, 8:00 am (cached at July 14, 2016, 11:32 pm)

From Sound Off:

Open Source & Feelings has a thorough and unambiguous code of conduct, one of the best diversity statements we’ve seen from a conference, and an about page with everything from venue accessibility, to public transit, to tips about keeping safe while traveling to and from the conference. Everything about Open Source & Feelings communicates thoughtfulness, deliberateness, and listening to feedback.

Donate now to help out this good cause.

Sound Off board member Ashley Nelson-Hornstein explains how live-captioning is useful for all physically-present attendees, not just for people you’d expect to need the help.

It’s also worth remembering that accessibility issues aren’t just something for a small percentage of the population.

Everybody has — or will have, if they live long enough — something they need help with. I have increasing trouble hearing, and live-captioning would certainly help me, and maybe you too.

Straight up: help make sure everyone can participate.

PS The conference will be here in Seattle, at Seattle Central College. I was on the college newspaper there, in moons past.

10 killed in ethnic protests in northern Ethiopia AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at July 14, 2016, 11:30 pm)

Violence erupted after attempted arrests by Ethiopian troops of several leaders of the Amhara ethnic group.
10 killed in ethnic protests in northern Ethiopia AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at July 14, 2016, 11:30 pm)

Violence erupted after attempted arrests by Ethiopian troops of several leaders of the Amhara ethnic group.
ERP software upgrade offers enhancements to manufacturing and distribution firms (IT SANS ISC SecNewsFeed(cached at July 14, 2016, 11:30 pm)

Thermostat biz Nest warms to home security, touts cam with cloud storage subscriptio SANS ISC SecNewsFeed(cached at July 14, 2016, 11:30 pm)

New approach to Salesforce and Infor integration unveiled (IT Toolbox Blogs) SANS ISC SecNewsFeed(cached at July 14, 2016, 11:30 pm)

External Link: Apple Casting Its Own Reality Show TidBITS(cached at July 14, 2016, 11:06 pm)

Apple has issued an open casting call for “Planet of the Apps,” the company’s upcoming reality series about app developers. Applications are being accepted from developers through 26 August 2016; applicants must have an iOS, macOS, tvOS, or watchOS app in a functional state by 21 October 2016, with filming to take place in Los Angeles from late 2016 through early 2017. The producers are promising “hands-on guidance from some of the most influential experts in the tech community, featured placement on the App Store, and funding from top-tier VCs.” We don’t yet know the format of the show, which raises important questions? Will we see lots of geeks talking into their iPhone FaceTime cameras while “working” at Starbucks? Will there be judges making catty remarks about coding styles? Will the snarky QA engineer get voted off the team? Stay tuned…

 

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

External Link: Eddy Cue Discusses Apple’s TV Business TidBITS(cached at July 14, 2016, 11:06 pm)

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, opened up about Apple’s interest in the TV business. Cue said that the Apple TV is “a lot better than a cable box,” but when asked if Apple is planning a streaming service, he said, “Whether we’re providing it or somebody else is, it really doesn’t matter to us.” However, Cue did say that he’s not a fan of so-called “skinny bundles” — smaller, low-cost programming packages — offered by services like SlingTV, because he feels that viewers are more frustrated by a lack of features than the price. In particular, he criticized the idea of having to dig through channel guides and program recordings manually. Overall, it sounds like Apple has a vision for the future of TV but doesn’t know exactly how to get there yet.

 

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Google Deletes Artist's Blog and a Decade Of His Work Along With It Slashdotby manishs on google at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at July 14, 2016, 11:05 pm)

Ethan Chiel, writing for Fusion: Artist Dennis Cooper has a big problem on his hands: Most of his artwork from the past 14 years just disappeared. It's gone because it was kept entirely on his blog, which the experimental author and artist has maintained on the Google-owned platform Blogger since 2002 (Google bought the service in 2003). At the end of June, Cooper says he discovered he could no longer access his Blogger account and that his blog had been taken offline. Along with his blog, Google disabled Cooper's email address, through which most of his correspondence was conducted, he told me via Facebook message. He got no communication from Google about why it decided to kill his email address and blog. Cooper used the blog to post his fiction, research, and visual art, and as Artforum explains, it was also "a platform through which he engaged almost daily with a community of followers and fellow artists." His latest GIF novel (as the term suggests, a novel constructed with animated GIFs) was also mostly saved to the blog.WayBackMachine has some of the pages from his blog, but they are only screenshots. Google Cache is also of not much help. Slashdot readers, just out of curiosity, is there anything -- any service -- Mr. Cooper could use to get his artwork back?

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Caliph AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at July 14, 2016, 11:00 pm)

Al Jazeera tells the story of the caliphate providing a fascinating insight into past empires and present-day politics.
Hollande criticised for 10,000 euro hair dresser budget AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at July 14, 2016, 11:00 pm)

The French president has defended his monthly hair budget by recalling the spending cuts he's made since taking office.
Crypto flaw made it easy for attackers to snoop on Juniper customers (ArsTechnica) SANS ISC SecNewsFeed(cached at July 14, 2016, 11:00 pm)

UK: New cabinet peppered with pro-Brexit politicians AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at July 14, 2016, 10:30 pm)

PM Theresa May finalises details of new government as shock appointment of Boris Johnson as foreign secretary sinks in.