2014년 12월 12일 금요일

Today: Signals, changes, and serious confusion

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O'Reilly Web Ops & PerformanceNewsletter

1. Signals from Velocity Europe

From design processes to postmortem complexity, here are a few insights from Velocity Europe 2014Jenn Webb identifies several talks you won't want to miss. Herding cats, anyone?

2. Promise Theory for improved digital services delivery

Promise Theory has become a familiar term to most of us, and yet understanding its practical implementation is still hard. It forms the conceptual basis for CFEngine; it can also, however, be used to describe socio-technical systems such as DevOps or even entire digital service organizations.

Jeff Sussna, author of Continuous Quality, offers a general introduction to Promise Theory in his upcoming webcast, then presents specific DevOps and digital service scenarios with an explanation of how these scenarios benefit from Promise Theory. He'll also include several concrete examples that illustrate the power of Promise Theory in action. Join Sussna on Wednesday, December 17 at 9am PST, for this free webcast and understand the practical side of Promise Theory.

3. How has Velocity changed you?

We've seen a lot of changes since the first Velocity conference 7 years ago. If you've been to Velocity, you’ve been a part of the evolution.

Many people have told us that Velocity has changed the way they work or given them a different way of thinking. Perhaps you have a story of your own to tell. If so, please take a few minutes to tell us about an experience or learning you’ve taken away from Velocity.

We’ll share some of the most interesting, inspiring, and educational stories with the Velocity community next May. We hope yours is one of them!

4. The speed geek's favorite time of year

You've waited all year, and now it's here: the 2014 Performance Calendar. We're already into day 12 of great performance articles like The Pain of Duplicate Scriptsby Steve Souders and Bursting Our Bubble: Mobile Performance Outside the First World by Doug Sillars. Treat yourself to one at a time or read them all at once—it's all good.

5. Equal time for ops—the SysAdvent Calendar

Speed geeks aren't the only ones who get an article a day. The good people at Chef have provided their own countdown, with in-depth knowledge provided daily. On theSysAdvent Calendar, you'll find pieces like Ops and Development Teams: Finding a Harmony by Nell Shamrell and The DevOps View of Cryptocurrency by Bob Feldbauer. Again, it's all good—enjoy!

6. An O'Reilly Radar Summit: Bitcoin & the Blockchain

Get beyond the buzz. Discover the new business models, complex challenges, and immense unrecognized opportunities created by bitcoin and the blockchain behind it—happening January 27, 2015, at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Best price ends December 18.

7. SERIOUS CONFUSION with resource timing

Resource timing is a great way to measure how quickly resources download. Unfortunately, almost everyone that Steve Souders has spoken with does this using the "duration" attribute and aren't aware that "duration" includes blocking time.Read why it's a problem and what you can do about it.

8. Web performance by day, covert ops at night

Smartbear's Special Agent 404 does web performance by day, but moonlights occasionally at a customer call center of a large public specialty retailer. 404 shares observations on ecommerce, web performance, and user experience from her (or his) unique covert vantage point.

Helen Molesworth, MOCA's new chief curator, relishes the possibilities

MOVIES /  TELEVISION /  CELEBRITY /  MUSIC
Friday, December 12, 2014View in browser |  View text version
Helen Molesworth, MOCA's new chief curator, relishes the possibilities
On this dark, rainy afternoon, Museum of Contemporary Art chief curator Helen Molesworth is hunkered down inside her office, bundled up in the copious folds...
Helen Molesworth, MOCA's new chief curator, relishes the possibilities

IN THE NEWS

› 'Hollywood Cats' showcases feline celebrity before days of Grumpy Cat
› Stephen Sondheim, Rob Marshall and Meryl Streep on 'Into the Woods'
› 'Exodus: Gods and Kings' hit by plague of ho-hum reviews
› Beyonce celebrates last year's surprise album with short film

MOVIES

'The Interview': Low-key premiere for high-profile Seth Rogen film
Josh Rottenberg, Saba Hamedy
› Mark Ruffalo on Sony hack: 'A lot of disruption is coming to light'
› Golden Globes 2015: Snubs, surprises and assorted trends
› Golden Globe Awards 2015: Join our video chat on the nominations

TELEVISION

Ed Stockly
› TLC getting into late-night game with 'All About Sex'
› TV This Week, Dec. 14-20: 'Ascension' and more
› Smaug destroys 'The Colbert Report'

CELEBRITY

Ellen needs to talk about Orlando Bloom's Harry Styles hair. So do we.
Nardine Saad
› Mark-Paul Gosselaar and wife expecting their second baby -- his fourth
› Ashton Kutcher gets new-dad cute about his little cellphone -- er, baby
› Emma Watson splits with rugby beau Matthew Janney

MUSIC

Major Frank Sinatra exhibition planned for 2015 centennial year
Randy Lewis
› Nicki Minaj channels her inner dominatrix for 'Only' video
› Watch: Sam Smith releases new video for 'Like I Can'
› Bob Dylan's 'Basement Tapes' release covers multiple formats
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ENTERTAINMENT BLOGS


- Company Town

- Pop & Hiss

- Show Tracker

- Hero Complex

MORE IN ENTERTAINMENT

› Friday's TV Highlights: 'Wake Up Call' on TNT
› TV Picks: Musical 'Elf,' 'MasterChef Junior,' ecology for kids
› Golden Globes 2015: 'Transparent' team is 'flying on a spaceship'
› Beverly Johnson, groundbreaking model, says Bill Cosby drugged her
› Golden Globes 2015: Ricky Gervais isn't ruling out more 'Derek'
› Golden Globes 2015: 'Jane the Virgin's' Gina Rodriguez on her nomination
› Stephen Colbert's final guest will be Death

Lil Wayne vs. Cash Money, WMG Revenues Top $3 Billion, and More in This Week's Labels Digest

If you are unable to see the message below, click here to viewPlease add email@e.billboard.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox.

TOP STORIES

Lil Wayne vs. Cash Money: Can the Rapper Leave the Label He's Been With Since He Was 13? 
Album delays are ­nothing new for Lil Wayne. But the MC sent shockwaves through the hip-hop world on Dec. 4 when he publicly blamed his label for the ever-shifting release date of his new album, Tha Carter V.
Former A&M/Octone Execs Launch Hybrid Company Freesolo; Gavin DeGraw, Hunter Hunted Among First Signings 
James Diener's new venture, Freesolo, quietly rolled out earlier this year as a hybrid label, publishing and management company founded with three different partners.
Island Records Co-Founder and Jamaican Music Engineer Graeme Goodall Dead at 82 
Grame Goodall was a key figure in the history of Jamaican music, founding Island Records in 1959 and engineering some of the country's most well-known music.
Warner Music Group Revenues Top $3 Billion Following Acquisitions, Streaming Gains 
Aided by an acquisition and gains in streaming services, Warner Music Group revenues topped $3 billion for the first time in five years.
Corner Office: Lava Records Founder/CEO Jason Flom on Discovering Katy Perry, Lorde's Genius and His Label's Sale 
The hair-metal whisperer turned pop-star finder on discovering Katy Perry, Lorde's genius and his label's sale.
Taylor Swift Talks Streaming, Sharon Osbourne Introduces UMG's Michele Anthony at Billboard's Women in Music Event 
Hundreds gathered at New York City’s Cipriani Wall Street to fete the music industry's most powerful women, including Beyonce, Aretha Franklin and Taylor Swift, who appear on this year's Women in Music power list.
Capitol Music Group Hires Two Publicity VPs 
Capitol Music Group has hired industry veterans Jennie Boddy and Erin Cooney as vice presidents of publicity under Ambrosia Healy, the company's head of media strategy and relations.
Libertines Sign With Virgin EMI, Comeback Album is 'Going To Happen' 
The band has announced a new recording deal. A third album awaits.
Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side' Returns to Top 20 
Thanks to a super-low sale pricing, Pink Floyd's classic album 'The Dark Side of the Moon' returns to the top 20 of the Billboard 200. Meanwhile, 'Family Guy' creator Seth MacFarlane debuts with his Christmas album, Michael W. Smith collects his 12th top 40 album, and 'N Sync's 'Home For Christmas' comes back to the tally.
Less Could Mean More: Why Merlin's Deal With Pandora May Pay Off 
Merlin has come under attack in the last month for making a deal that, according to its critics, lowers the per-stream royalty rate with Pandora. That's both true and incorrect -- here's why.
 
 

The Latest from Boing Boing

Eric Garner's daughter leads march through NYC to site of her father's killing by NYPD
One of the most inspiring figures at these recent protests is Erica Garner. Posted by Xeni Jardin.Read the rest...
JOHN WILCOCK: India, LSD, and Leonard Cohen's 'Flowers for Hitler'
An eventful week of drug use, red-eyes, and planes, planes, planes! From the John Wilcock comic (see previous installments here and here.) Read the rest...
US Christian terrorism: the other white meat
It's not just in the UK where planning mass-murder to achieve political aims doesn't count as terrorism (if you're a white supremacist and/or Christian fundamentalist) -- in the USA, groups like the Phineas Priesthood can inspire acts of wanton gunplay in populated cities without inspiring the zomgwereallgonnadiedrunhide 24-hour-news-cycle lunacy.
Read the rest...
Playground equipment welded to prevent motion

City officials in Brooklyn, NY have welded merry-go-rounds and other playground equipment to make them immobile. They said it was necessary to keep kids from injuring themselves.
Read the rest...
This baby goat will crash your cute-o-meter
It doesn't get cuter then Benjamin the baby goat. This BBC video has been making the rounds on social media, and you can practically here the collective "SQUUUUUUEEEEEEE!" Most people's natural reaction to Benjamin's adorableness is to say "I want a baby goat!" While I don't encourage impulse buying of pets, you CAN adopt an unwanted goat and give it a home if you meet the requirements. Read the rest...
Adorable Digital Science Xmas video
Timo from Digital Science writes, "Tis the season to be sciencey as once again we have put together a very serious Christmas video featuring Digital Science staff!"
As always (previously), Digital Science's Xmas video is adorbs.
Read the rest...
Why I love Vikings
I'm totally going to own that the homoerotic undercurrent of the History Channel series Vikings is one of its biggest draws. Read the rest...
Is Blinky the bigfoot really Todd Standing?
The world of Bigfoot is no stranger to scheisters and hoaxers. In fact, the entire phenomenon could be nothing more than a mix of chicanery, misidentification and gullibility. Read the rest...
Celebrate Christmas with stolen hams and crazed yetis
The holidays are here and everyone is shopping for their hams and turkeys. Enjoy this cautionary tale from The B-52s frontman Fred Schneider's side project, The SuperionsRead the rest...
Weird fiction Storybundle to benefit Helsinki Worldcon bid
Crystal writes, "Love indie fiction? Want a choose-your-price set of Weird Fiction ebooks that will help support the Helsinki bid for Worldcon?
Read the rest...
The book of Genesis
If you grew up in the comfortable eighties, you might still have memories of the 16-bit console war, the perverse thrill of wishing for a Super Nintendo or a Sega Genesis, and then arguing with other children on the playground about which was better.
Read the rest...
Dress like Twin Peaks
The visual style and fashion of Twin Peaks has never looked so cool as it does these days, if you ask me.
Read the rest...
Some worthwhile cultural analysis on Gamergaters
Two recent Storify pages provide some fascinating insight on how this group came to conceive of "gamer" as a fictional "ethnicity" with a persecution complex (from Katherine Cross), as well as on how the cultural norms of Chan-style boards drive this perplexing clash with the realms of people's real working and social lives (from A_Man_in_Black).
Read the rest...
Replica Star Trek original series tricorder
Thinkgeek's $60 replica tricorder is full-sized, plays real Leonard Nimoy-voiced Spock audio samples, and has a removable light-up scanner. (via Geeky Merch)
Read the rest...
The beauty and wisdom of mathematics
Scientist and inventor Cliff Pickover introduces his newest book on the beauty of math, The Mathematics Devotional Read the rest...
Angel's Envy
I enjoy bourbon but don't know much about it, so I ask bartenders and other knowledgeable people about it when I get the chance -- over and over again, I was counselled to look for "Angel's Envy."
I gave a talk in Vegas last week and since I'm constitutionally incapable of being entertained by pseudo-random number generators, I typed "bourbon" into a search engine and found myself atOak and Ivy, who let me bring in a takeout plate of ribs from across the way and served me anAngel's Envy.
Read the rest...
Felicia Day's memoir: "You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)"
Nerd hero and all-round awesomesauce dispenser Felicia Day has announced a memoir, You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), which will be published in 2015.
Read the rest...
Anatomical cookie-cutters
Boetech makes custom, 3D printed cookie cutters: brainshearts, and skulls (plus plenty of non-antomical designs, of course).


(via Geeky Merch)
Read the rest...
Hand-illuminated edition of The Silmarillion
Benjamin Harff produced a hand-illuminated edition of Tolkien's The Silmarillion (a famously dense set of myths and background for Middle Earth) as a final project at art school; in this interview, he explains his motivation and his process.
Read the rest...
Spacetime curvature placemats
AP Works's Trick Mat is a placemat that mimics spacetime curvature; no word on whether or how it can be purchased, alas (though you could probably make a pretty good disposable facsimile with an inkjet printer and some vector-art software). (via Super Punch)
Read the rest...
Senate IP address vandalzes Wikipedia to scrub "torture" from CIA torture report
An anonymous editor at 156.33.241.11 -- registered to the US Senate -- has repeatedly attempted to scrub the word "torture" from the Wikipedia entry from Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.
Read the rest...
Mystery man has petition approved by Supreme Court, can't be found
Bobby Chen wrote his own petition to the Supreme Court over his suit against the City of Baltimore, which demolished his house and trashed all his stuff -- and the Supreme Court granted it.
Read the rest...
Now I Know More: the revealing stories behind even more of the world's most interesting facts

Last year I reviewed Dan Lewis' book, Now I Know: The Revealing Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts. Dan recently released a followup title, called Now I Know More, and like its predecessor, it's chock full of fascinating true stories about things you thought you already knew about.
Read the rest...
Englandland: BBC plans a theme-park
The BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, is in plans to build a themepark in the Thames estuary, in cooperation with a Kuwaiti property developer and Paramount Pictures.
Read the rest...
Beautiful steampunk creatures
Igor Verniy creates amazing steampunk animal junkbots from watch parts, car parts and electronic junk (here's his Etsy store); in this Bored Panda interview, he explains his process.
Read the rest...
Zelda the cat looks through a paper towel tube
Zelda, a frequent guest on Boing Boing's Virgin America seatback channel, enjoys peering through a paper towel tube.
Read the rest...
Baking bread from an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph recipe
Miguel writes, "I tried to replicate an ancient Egyptian bread, starting with the right kind of wheat, the grinding and the baking...
Read the rest...