For well-seasoned chicken breasts, salting the top of the skin isn’t enough; you need to get some under the skin as well. Though wiggling your fingers in between the meat and the skin can get the job done, it can be a little awkward, and Cook’s Illustrated has devised an easier, neater approach.
Source: LifeHacker – The Best Way to Season Chicken Breasts So Every Bite Is Flavorful
GitHub plans to meet with a number of Silicon Valley tech companies to discuss filing an amicus brief in lawsuits targeting Trump’s immigration and refugee ban.
Source: Engadget – GitHub rallies Silicon Valley companies to oppose Muslim ban
A few weeks ago, a company called Adoptly stated a Kickstarter for an app that promised to make adoption easier — with the help of a ridiculous, Tinder-style interface for swiping left and right on children. We immediately questioned whether somethi…
Source: Engadget – Sketchy adoption app Adoptly is a hoax after all
The Ayam Cemani, an all-black bird indigenous to Indonesia, is the most sought-after chicken on the market right now, but not for its taste. In fact, no one would dare eat these Sith Lord birds.
Source: Gizmodo – This Goth Chicken Doesn’t Conform to Your Perfect Chicken Society
The Flash/Supergirl crossover is quickly becoming the televisual equivalent of that one puppy you follow on Instagram that, whenever it does the slightest thing, you transform into a total mess of d’awwwing and squealing and delight, because goddammit, how can something be this cute? How cute? Superfriends references…
Source: io9 – There’s a Duet in the Flash/Supergirl Musical Crossover Called ‘Superfriends’ Because These Shows Are Adorable
KDE has announced the release and general availability of the KDE Plasma 5.9 desktop environment for GNU/Linux operating systems. While it only took a few months to develop and isn’t a long-term supported (LTS) version like KDE Plasma 5.8, the update does have several new features and improving Wayland support. Softpedia reports: Probably the most important one, which will make many KDE users upgrade from KDE Plasma 5.8 LTS or previous versions, is the return of Global Menus, a feature that was available in the KDE 4 series of the desktop environment. Only now, after numerous requests from users, did the KDE developers manage to implement Global Menus again in KDE Plasma 5.9. Quite a multitude of improvements have landed in the KDE Plasma 5.9 desktop environment for those who use the next-generation Wayland display server. These include the ability to take screenshots, support for using the color picker, implementation of borderless maximized windows for full-screen support, and support for dragging apps by clicking on an empty area of the user interface using the Breeze style. KDE Plasma Wayland support allows users to set color schemes for windows, which may come in handy for accessibility, implements auto-hide support for panels, and properly displays the window icon on the panel when using X11 apps. Moreover, there’s now a new settings tool for configuring touchpads, which you can see in action in the second video attached below. Wayland users can also set up gestures and relative motions. KDE Plasma 5.9 also adds several cool new tools that promise to enhance your productivity. For example, you’ll be able to drag a screenshot taken with the Spectacle utility from the notification pop-up straight into a web browser form, chat window, or email composer. There’s also a brand-new drag and drop functionality that lets you add widgets directly to the system tray area, and it’s now possible to add widgets directly from the full-screen Application Dashboard launcher. KRunner actions like “Open containing folder” and “Run in Terminal” are now displayed in the application launchers for search results powered by KRunner, of course, and there’s now a new applet that lets users group multiple widgets together in a single one. You can read the announcement and download KDE Plasma 5.9 via their website.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – KDE Plasma 5.9 Released
You’ve got a coworker who, to put it diplomatically, has a hard time keeping their leadership tendencies in check. In other words, he treats you like he’s the boss. He provides tons of constructive feedback (even when you didn’t ask for it), divides up roles on team projects (giving himself the best one), and quashes…
Source: LifeHacker – Four Ways to Deal With a Bossy Coworker
Donald Trump will announce his nominee for the vacant Supreme Court Justice seat tonight via Facebook Live. The stream begins at 8pm Eastern via the POTUS Facebook channel. As CNN reports, both candidates (Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman) have appar…
Source: Engadget – Trump to announce his SCOTUS pick tonight via Facebook Live
As the sun rises and the ocean churns, preparing to consume all with the aid of global warming, so too do new early access survival games invariably top the charts on Steam. Conan Exiles is the latest, and well, it’s certainly early.
Source: Kotaku – Conan Exiles Is Still Very Early
iPhone sales were bound to start dropping sooner or later, but today’s earnings news from Apple sees a turnaround: iPhone sales are back up after a year. In the first full quarter with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus on the market, Apple sold 78.3 million sm…
Source: Engadget – iPhone 7 turns around slowing sales for Apple
You have to strike while the iron is hot. You can’t have too many irons in the fire. It has a nice ring to it. Go at something hammer and tongs. These are all idioms that have origins in blacksmithing, so Scott Wadsworth of Essential Craftsman decided to literally show us what all those idioms look like when…
Source: Gizmodo – An Actual Blacksmith Explains Why You Should Strike While the Iron Is Hot
This is a video of self-proclaimed comic book nerd Lan Diep being sworn into office as a San Jose City Councilman while holding a Captain America shield. Why? Apparently because the shield actually means something to him and not to throw at haters like I would have. “I couldn’t help but notice you’re also wearing Wonder Woman’s tiara and bracelets.” I like to accessorize.
In an interview after the meeting, the proud comic book geek and Houston-born son of Vietnamese refugees said that Captain America stands for the “kinds of things I strive for: equal justice, fair play and democracy.”
Diep won a council seat on his second try, after losing in 2015, though the 2016 vote is still being contested. He’s been recognized by presidents Barack Obama and George H. W. Bush, after moving to Mississippi to help people affected by the BP oil spill.
Well that’s nice, it’s always good to see politicians taking their roles seriously. When I ran for high school treasurer and promised a pizza party every Friday? That was just a lie to win votes and embezzle funds. And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids. Just kidding, the principle found out I’d already graduated two years prior.
Keep going for the video while I pretend I’m Gambit and throw playing cards at my roommate.
Source: Geekologie – California City Councilman Sworn In Holding Captain America Shield
In October, 16-year-old Smash 4 champion Leonardo Perez (“MK Leo”) vowed to claim first prize at Genesis 4, an international Smash tournament in San Jose, California. Perez, whose 16th birthday landed on the tournament’s opening day last week, arrived from Naucalpan, Mexico City a few days prior to practice with Smash …
Source: Kotaku – A 16-Year-Old Smash Bros. Player Is Beating The Biggest Pros On The Scene
When you finish off a 12-pack of your favorite canned soda, don’t toss the box out just yet. You can use it to organize your pantry.
Source: LifeHacker – Use a Soda Box for Easy Canned Food Storage
Every time you turn on the news, open Twitter, or do anything other than hide under a blanket, there’s another good reason to just stop and scream for a couple of minutes. But to ensure you don’t disturb your neighbor’s own screams, grab yourself one of these soundproof cardboard boxes.
Source: Gizmodo – These Days Everyone Needs a Soundproof Cardboard Box to Scream in
“Batteries are boring when they are successful.” That’s Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel, speaking on Monday to an audience of reporters, employees and government officials sitting in the middle of the new 20-megawatt Mira Loma energy stora…
Source: Engadget – Tesla’s Powerpacks are now lighting up California’s grid
Enlarge / Online poker pro Dong Kim plays poker against an AI program in 2015. He lost to an updated program in this year’s rematch event. (credit: Carnegie Mellon University)
Artificial intelligence has enjoyed some remarkable online-gaming victories in recent years, though usually in slower games with clear—if incredibly multi-threaded—rule systems. On Monday, the robots pushed ahead with a slightly more remarkable online-gaming victory over their puny human masters when an AI program won big at Texas Hold ‘Em poker.
A lengthy tournament of Hold ‘Em—specifically, the heads-up, no-limit variety—ended with victory for Libratus, an AI program developed by a professor and PhD candidate at Carnegie Mellon University. Libratus emerged victorious after 120,000 combined hands of poker played against four human online-poker pros. Libratus’ $1.7 million margin of victory, combined with so many hands, clears the “Brains Vs. Artificial Intelligence” tournament’s primary bar: victory with statistical significance.
In spite of Texas Hold ‘Em’s intriguing, bluff-related wrinkles, Libratus seems to have bluffers figured out. Carnegie Mellon’s declared design of the AI program describes an emphasis on “algorithms [used] to analyze the rules of poker and set its own strategy”—with, you know, 15 million super-computing hours dedicated to that aim. Libratus’ primary computer, named Bridges, performed additional routines both during live play and in the nighttime hours following each day of play.
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Source: Ars Technica – Robot knows when to hold ‘em, wins huge in poker tournament
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Comcast is making its Xfinity TV service available to subscribers with Roku set-top players via a new app, paving the way for customers of the nation’s largest cable provider to watch live programming without the cost or hassle of a cable box. Roku is the first set-stop box to offer the Xfinity TV service, Comcast said in a statement Tuesday. During a test period, subscribers will have to hang on to their cable devices. When the app formally rolls out later this year, they’ll be able sign up without renting a cable box. While Comcast expects the majority of its customers to opt for the typical setup, traditional pay-TV providers are trying to be more flexible about where and how people can watch TV given the popularity of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon and the boxes that offer them. Customers with Roku players will be able to watch live TV, browse on-demand libraries and record shows, just as they can with Comcast’s boxes. Those who use the Roku as their primary device instead of Comcast’s X1 device will receive a $2.50 monthly credit, the company said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Roku Owners: Comcast Is About To Sell You Cable TV Without the Cable Box
Resident Evil 7 was a pleasant surprise that left me eager for more. Today, the first round of DLC was released. Banned Footage Vol. 1 adds a few new challenges including one of the best puzzles in the entire series.
Source: Kotaku – Resident Evil 7’s New DLC Has One Of The Series’ Best Puzzles
Remember the days when you were supposed to share websites between phones using QR codes? They’re back, but with a modern twist. Snapchat is updating its mobile apps (iOS at first, with Android still in beta) with the ability to create Snapcodes for…
Source: Engadget – Snapchat now creates QR codes for web links
