Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson apologizes to Mike Brown’s family in a video statement. Image: Vimeo / Devin James Group Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson apologized to the family of Mike Brown in a video on Friday, about six weeks after a white officer under his command shot and killed the unarmed black teenager in the middle of a street in Ferguson, Missouri. “I want to say this to the Brown family: no one who has not experienced the loss of a child can understand what you’re feeling,” Jackson said in the video, in which he reads from a prepared statement. “I am truly sorry for the loss of your son.” Jackson also said he was sorry that it took officers a number of hours to remove Brown’s body from the street, but that “the time that it took involved very important work on the part of investigators who are trying to collect evidence and gain a true picture of what happened that day.” You can watch the full video, below. The killing of Brown, 18, on Aug. 9 incited a firestorm of protests in Ferguson and a national conversation about how black people are treated by police officers. Though demonstrations are not as common now as they were in August, another protest started on Sept. 23 after a memorial to Brown was destroyed. Police in Ferguson after the incident, which included officers from the St. Louis County department, were heavily criticized for responding to protesters with riot gear and military-style vehicles, something Jackson also addressed in his video. “I do want to say to any peaceful protester who did not feel that I did enough to protect their constitutional right to protest, I am sorry for that. The right of the people to peacefully assemble is what the police are here to protect.” The FBI is investigating the killing of Brown, who was shot six times after what police say was an altercation between the teenager and the police officer. Officer Darren Wilson, who killed Brown, has not spoken publicly about the incident, and is currently on paid administrative leave. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/09/25/ferguson-police-chief-apologizes/
Curiosity, NASA’s most advanced planetary rover, will land on Mars at 1:31 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6. And if you’re in New York City, you can watch it happen live in Times Square. NASA TV will broadcast the landing on the Toshiba Vision screen starting at 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 5 and ending at 4:00 a.m. the next morning. Programming will come directly from Mission Control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “In the city that never sleeps, the historic Times Square will be the place for New Yorkers to participate in this historic landing,” said NASA Science Mission Directorate’s John Grunsfeld. “When you think of all the big news events in history, you think of Times Square, and I can think of no better venue to celebrate this news-making event on Mars.” In order to properly hear the broadcast, viewers will have to tune in to online radio station Third Rock Radio. If you’re not in the New York metro area, you’ll still be able to follow the event. The landing will be live streamed on the NASA homepage and on the TuneIn app. So, make sure your devices are fully charged and ready for noises that are literally out of this world. Image courtesy of Flickr, alanosaur “I am No Man” Doesn’t Cut It: The Story of Eowyn Why All Those Sexist Complaints About The New Ghostbusters Movie Are Garbage Study Says Binge-Watching Is For Lonely & Depressed People & Those Who Lack Self-Control The Pirate Bay Has Returned To the Land Of the Living After Two Months This article originally published at Geekosystem here Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/08/01/nasa-curiosity-times-square/
Tension was high Monday night as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg addressed Hurricane Sandy and its approach into the East Coast. For most viewers, though, it wasn’t the mayor’s speech that was most captivating — it was his sign language interpreter. The woman, later identified as Lydia Callis, was an instant hit across the web for her dramatic expressions and theatrical gestures during the speech. A flurry of tweets and a GIF-filled Tumblr quickly went viral as a result of the now pseudo-infamous interpretation. At first, Callis was mistakenly attributed as Lydia “Calas” — a Twitter handle and Tumblr page went up with the incorrect spelling — but a correction was soon brought public. Viewers across social media applauded her not only for her outstanding interpretations, but for giving everyone a reason to smile during a grim, stressful time. Hurricane Sandy will go down as one of the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history, with estimates close to $20 billion. Here’s a bit of what the Twitterverse had to say: My mother-in-law, who is an ASL interpreter says @mikebloomberg‘s signer Lydia Callis is “amazing” and “crystral clear”. Animation helps. — Daniel Bentley (@DJBentley) October 31, 2012 No making fun of Bloomberg’s sign-language translator. Seriously. Only love. She’s doing her job both very well, and with STYLE. — Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) October 29, 2012 I really want Lydia Callis (Bloomberg’s sign language interpreter) next to Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA. Can someone make this happen? — Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) October 31, 2012 Shush, everyone, Lydia Callis is signing. (Also, that Bloomberg guy is talking.) twitter.com/ditzkoff/statu… — Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) October 30, 2012 Callis even passed the ultimate threshold for solidified Internet fame by getting a parody video dedicated to her shared on YouTube. Watch the video up top and try not to grin, at least a little bit. Did you see Callis in action? Tell us what you thought. More Coverage of Hurricane Sandy The Aftermath of Superstorm Sandy Breezy Point, Queens “Destruction after fire in Breezy Point, Queens.” Via Official New York City Fire Department Breezy Point, Queens “Destruction after fire in Breezy Point, Queens.”Via Official New York City Fire Department Guantanamo Bay, Cuba “Damage being repaired on the roof of the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Arts and Crafts Center after Hurricane Sandy made landfall.” Via Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs/Sgt. Brett Perkins North Carolina Via North Carolina Department of Public Transportation Manhattan “No traffic on the FDR today. This was all under water the night before. It’s amazing how a storm like Sandy can completely shut down an entire city.” Via WanderingtheWorld South Ferry Station, Manhattan A submerged escalator at the South Ferry subway station in Lower Manhattan. Via MTA East Village, Manhattan People bail water from a basement of an East Village business. Via Brennan Cavanaugh West Village, Manhattan “Bleeker Street Pizza: OPEN- The electricity was still out, but they were making pizza anyway, with the help of their gas-fired oven and a few spelunker head […]
A softball-size eyeball washed ashore on Pompano Beach, Fla. this week and it has experts perplexed. Is a colossal squid lurking in the ocean’s depths with an eye patch or did a whale’s Halloween gag go too far? No one knows for certain, but the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has fielded plenty of odd guesses since sharing the photo on its Facebook page. The whopper peeper is currently chilling on ice as it awaits shipment to the the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, where it will be analyzed and, hopefully, identified. While we wait for marine biologists to do their thing, we can’t help but hope that monstrous orb evolves into a eye-themed meme of Steve Buscemi proportions. A little more eyeball oddness for your viewing pleasure: Top image courtesy of Carli Segelson / Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/12/giant-eyeball-mystery/
Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the birthday of Dian Fossey, American zoologist best known for her study of gorillas. Google Doodle pays tribute to zoologist Dian Fossey Image: Google Fossey studied gorilla groups over the period of 18 years in Africa, founding the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda. A lot of her work consisted of preventing the killing of gorillas by poachers; after one of her favorite gorillas named Digit was killed, she founded the Digit Fund with the purpose of raising money for anti-poaching patrols. Fossey was killed in her cabin in 1985; the perpetrator was never found. Fossey’s life was fictionalized in the 1988 film Gorillas in the Mist (based on Fossey’s book of the same name), starring Sigourney Weaver. The movie was nominated for five Academy Awards and won two Golden Globes. Top 10 Animated Google Doodles The Christmas Google Doodle Each package gets larger with a mouse-over, and a click on it returns search results pertinent to a specific country or the particular items featured in a scene. This one is from December 24, 2010. Charlie Chaplin Google Doodle The Google Doodle team stars in an homage to the silent film era’s greatest star’s 122nd birthday, April 15, 2011. Google Logo Repelled by Cursor This one’s done in HTML5 and was published Sept. 7, 2010. To get the full effect, here’s one you can interact with. John Lennon Google Doodle This Doodle commemorated John Lennon’s 70th birthday in October 2010. Martha Graham Debuting May 10, 2011, this Google Doodle marks dance choreographer Martha Graham’s birthday. Robert Bunsen Commemorated the birthday of the inventor of the Bunsen burner, German chemist Robert Bunsen on March 31, 2011. Thomas Edison The great inventor’s birthday was honored on February 11, 2011. Independence Day Marking Independence Day 2010. Pac-Man’s 30th Anniversary A real crowd pleaser was this playable Pac-Man game, which appeared on May 21. 2010. Here’s a playable version. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/01/16/google-doodle-dian-fossey/
In 2011, Tim Pool didn’t hear about the Occupy Wall Street movement from the news — he discovered it through social networks like YouTube and Facebook. He ended up seeing a video of a police officer dragging a protester by his leg, and Pool noticed that the protester’s hands were bleeding. It was at that moment that Pool decided to see what was going on for himself. He hopped on a bus from Chicago to New York City, and soon he was in the thick of things. Pool started filming and documenting the protests, armed with only his smartphone. Before long, he became one of the foremost independent journalists broadcasting Occupy Wall Street and the events that followed online. “My stance has always sort of been to learn and experience to try and better understand,” he told Mashable‘s Zoe Fox at the 2012 Social Good Summit on Sunday. “I like to get all the facts before I make a decision about what the answer’s going to be.” Because he gathered so much information, he realized that it was safer and more efficient to broadcast everything live with the UStream mobile app. On Nov. 17, 2011, a notable day of protests, he reached an impressive 750,000 viewers. Pool explained that as the protests continued, he often had to get creative with his use of tech as he filmed for long periods of time — sometimes up to 21 hours straight. In addition to his smartphone, he had an external battery that could power a phone for approximately 15 hours. “With just a smartphone, you can send tweets, you can send messages [and] photos, and do a broadcast for a very long amount of time. However, that’s not to say that there aren’t pitfalls. They overheat, they shut down,” he said. Pool and his friend put together a makeshift cooling system using a computer fan plugged into an external battery. They have also used “drones” — remote-controlled quadrocopters — to film events from the air. However, due to the ban on the commercial use of drones, Pool says they are reluctant to use them. “There [are a] million things that need to be built that [are] going to change and further decentralize the ability to share information,” he said. “As time goes on, we’re going to see more and more people with the ability to share information with each other. Bringing more people into the conversation is really what is going to create what I consider social good.” What’s next? Pool says he would like to work on a documentary about Occupy Wall Street, but, surprisingly, he can’t find anyone who wants to go through “terabytes and terabytes” of footage. Read more of Mashable’s coverage of the 2012 Social Good Summit: Day One: Hillary Clinton Opens the Social Good Summit [VIDEO] How the U.S. Chief Technology Officer Is Making Data Awesome Can Mobile Phones Help Fight Pediatric AIDS? How Is Social Media Changing Diplomacy? Peter Gabriel Makes Case For Internet Freedom ITU […]
Massachusetts guard Derrick Gordon came out as the first openly gay male athlete in D1 menâImage: Ty Wright/Associated Press University of Massachusetts Minuteman Derrick Gordon stepped forward as the first openly gay male athlete in Division 1 men’s basketball. The sophomore shooting guard broke the news to his teammates in a meeting on April 2, during which UMass coach Derek Kellogg, who has a wife of nine years, broke the ice by first telling his players, “I wanted to let you all know I’m gay.” Gordon, taking the cue, jumped in: “No, he’s not. But I am.” This is the happiest I have ever been in my 22 Years of living…No more HIDING!!!…Just want to live… http://t.co/rR9KO8nGCu — Derrick Gordon (@flash2gordon) April 9, 2014 “I was thinking about summer plans and just being around my teammates and how it was going to be,” Gordon said in an interview with ESPNW. “I just thought, ‘Why not now? Why not do it in the offseason when it’s the perfect time to let my teammates know and everybody know my sexuality.” Gordon, whose team lost in the first round of March Madness, is reportedly “over the moon,” according to OutSports. “‘Happy’ is not even the word,” Gordon told the organization. “It’s a great feeling. I haven’t felt like this. Ever. It’s a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders. I can finally breathe now and live life happily. I told all the people I need to tell.” window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement(‘script’);js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}; _msla(“//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”,”twitter_jssdk”); Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/umass-derrick-gordon-gay/
Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, speaks during a news conference in New York, Monday, April 28, 2014. Lynch Image: Seth Wenig/Associated Press UPDATE, Nov. 7, 6:15 p.m. ET: On Friday evening, the White House announced President Barack Obama’s intent to nominate U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch to be the Attorney General of the United States on Saturday. “Ms. Lynch is a strong, independent prosecutor who has twice led one of the most important U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the country,” said the statement from the White House press office. Obama is set to make the announcement in the Roosevelt Room at the White House alongside Attorney General Eric Holder and Lynch, who is the U.S. attorney for Eastern New York. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio urged the Senate to confirm Lynch’s nomination in a statement released after the White House announcement. “President Obama has chosen a great New Yorker as the country’s highest-ranking law enforcement official,” de Blasio said. “The nation is about to meet Loretta Lynch for the first time—but in the five boroughs, she is already known for her character, toughness and uncompromising sense of justice.” Lynch, had emerged before the announcement as Obama’s top choice. While some had said Obama was not ready to announce a nomination, unnamed sources with knowledge of his thinking had told multiple news outlets that Lynch was his leading candidate. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest emphasized during a press briefing earlier Friday, however, that Obama had not yet decided on his nominee. Outside of legal circles, Lynch has flown under the radar for quite some time, despite having handled major cases in the U.S. Here are five key things to know about the intended nominee: 1. Lynch would be the first female African-American attorney general. United States Attorney Loretta E. Lynch speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Attorney’s office, on Monday, June 17, 2013, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Image: John Minchillo/Associated Press The milestone nomination would make Lynch the first African-American woman to hold the job if she is actually is nominated by Obama, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Lynch was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1959, and is the daughter of a pastor. She graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, has been a federal prosecutor and also worked at several private law firms. Lynch, 55, would be Obama’s second trailblazing pick for the post after Eric Holder served as the nation’s first African-American attorney general. 2. She successfully prosecuted police in the Abner Louima case. Image: Todd Plitt/Associated Press During her first tenure in the Eastern District, Lynch helped prosecute police officers who severely beat and sexually assaulted Haitian immigrant Abner Louima with a broken broom handle. The high-profile case led to the conviction of New York City police officer Justin Volpe and others. As the U.S. attorney for Eastern New York, Lynch covers Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island. 3. Lynch prosecuted a Republican […]
In what looks like a robot scene pulled from The Terminator, a government agency has released a video of a search-and-rescue robot that can do everything from climb stairs to crossing narrow passages The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — which is a part of the U.S. Department of Defense — uploaded the video to YouTube to bring attention to the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC). The contest is looking for robots who can maneuver and assist during dangerous and disaster relief situations. The winning team will be rewarded $2 million. The robot in the video — which is called Pet-Proto and is the predecessor to DARPA’s Atlas robot — undergoes a series of obstacles similar to what robots will face in the challenge. The robot has decision-making abilities to determine the best route to go, when to jump and what to avoid. Do you think robots like this will be the future of search and rescue missions? How would you like to see robots used? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 5 Household Robots For Easier Living 1. Neato XV-11 In a market where consumers have plenty of vacuum robots to choose from, the Neato XV-11 really stands out. Unlike many, the Neato doesn’t need to bump into a wall to know it’s there. Rather, it maps out the room before deciding a path to take. Its nimble movements prevent it from scratching your furniture while cleaning room after room. We were fond of the charging plate that sits against the wall, instead of protruding from it. Price: $399.99 2. iRobot Looj 330 Featured once before on Mashable, the Looj is a gutter cleaning bot. From the makers of the popular Roomba, this relatively small robot sits in your gutter and uses augers and brushes to remove leaves and other clutter. You’ll need a ladder to position Looj, but once it’s in place you won’t need to do more than press a button. Price: $299 3. Robomow Forget spending money on gas to fill your lawn mower, and eliminate the pain that comes with pushing one. Robomow is the only robotic mower on the market that mulches your lawn for a professional-looking cut. Simply install wire around your lawn’s perimeter — then the robot will cut your grass on a schedule that you set. Price: From $1,000 4. Windoro WCR-I001 Attached to your windows by four large magnets, Windoro cleans windows small to large. With adjustable magnets, you can fit the window cleaner bot to single or double pane windows. Price: $539 5. Nanda Home Tocky We included the Nanda Home Tocky not only because it’s cute, but because we can all agree that waking up can be a chore. Once the alarm goes off, this robot jumps from your nightstand and starts rolling away from your bed. What’s worse than having to chase your alarm clock around your bedroom? Realizing you forgot to buy coffee. Watch a video of Tocky in action here. Price: $69 […]
Don’t look for any help on net neutrality here.Image: Khue Bui/Associated Press Alternate headline: powerless bill doomed to fail. Two Democratic members of Congress — Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Rep. Doris Matsui of California — will propose legislation that will push the Federal Communications Commission to do whatever it can to ensure net neutrality, according to The Washington Post. The proposal comes amid the growing realization that the laws Congress has enacted may be too narrow to provide for net neutrality, forcing the FCC to plod forward in hopes that it can write regulation that keeps the Internet a level playing field while staying within the legal bounds it has already twice exceeded. The bill gives no new power to the FCC, instead adding only political support. It will likely die in the Republican-led House of Representatives. Net neutrality and the FCC are both already highly politicized. The two Republican FCC commissioners voted against opening comment on the commission’s recently proposed net neutrality rules, and GOP politicians have warned they will try to thwart new regulation seen as overly intrusive. Keep in mind, the FCC enforces rules written by Congress. Congress theoretically could pass a bill giving new, legitimate power to the FCC to enforce net neutrality. Instead, Democrats are writing a bill that would essentially cheerlead the commission, and it will likely never see a vote. As President Barack Obama recently noted, the current slate of legislators is on track to be the least productive Congress in modern history with 23 public laws adopted in its second session. The idea that politicians, whose job it is to propose new laws to be enforced by regulators like the FCC, would pen such a toothless bill, coupled with the reality that it almost certainly won’t pass, highlights just how broken the system is. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/06/17/democrats-net-neutrality-congress/
