Lifestyle Archives - Page 9 of 22

February 11, 2015February 11, 2015

Government Mandate Finally Makes Unlocking Your Cellphone Through a Carrier Easy and Convenient

A government mandate that officially takes effect Feb. 11 has now created industry-wide regulations for cellphone carriers that make it easier and more convenient for you to unlock your phone.

There was once a time when it was nearly impossible to get your phone unlocked without meeting with a sketchy character in the Wal-Mart parking lot or being fortunate enough to have a tech-savvy friend of a friend who could do it for you.

Over time, carriers started dishing out offers to unlock cellphones for users whose contracts were up with their previous carriers, but it was far from being an industry standard.

Now, however, all that has officially changed.

Thanks to the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act that the president signed back in August, all cellphone carriers will have to not only provide unlocking services but also have clear regulations in place for how to do so.

The act officially extended the copyright exemption that was previously making it technically illegal to unlock cellphones.

“The industry-wide agreement mandates that carriers post clear unlocking policies online, offer to unlock prepaid phones within a year of purchase and postpaid ones after a user’s contract is up, respond to any request within two business days, and unlock phones for deployed military personnel,” The Verge reported.

So far, T-Mobile and Verizon have confirmed that they complied with the new regulations prior to the February deadline.

US Cellular, on the other hand, has a written policy that claims it is still “working towards” getting policies in place that would adhere to the government mandates.

AT&T and Sprint have also promised that their policies will now fall in line with the new mandate.

For those who aren’t interested in going through a carrier to get their phone unlocked, the new mandate has also made it easier to seek safe third-party companies who can unlock the device.

February 11, 2015February 11, 2015

#28DaysofBlackCosplay — A New Movement All Black Nerds Should Follow

As the first week of Black History Month drew to a close and you grew weary from watching the media try to pack centuries of complex historical importance into pleasantly digestible pieces (or ignore February’s significance altogether), you might feel like burnout is inevitable. But there is hope, my friend, and it looks like daily posts from cosplayer Chaka Cumberbatch of Princess Mentality Cosplay, the creator of a brand new digital movement called #28DaysofBlackCosplay.

In honor of Black History Month, a group of Black cosplayers have come together to help celebrate and promote diversity in our community. Every day, we’ll be spotlighting a different Black cosplayer – and we’re encouraging EVERYONE to join in the fun! If you or someone you know would like to be featured, simply post your picture on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc and be sure to include the hashtag #28DaysofBlackCosplay – it’s that easy.

The impact rippling through cosplay communities is huge (as of writing this article the hashtag’s influence has even caught the attention of major news outlets like CNN). I reached out to Cumberbatch recently and she answered questions as to what this united force of Black cosplayers means to her as well as the greater cosplay community.

What was the initial inspiration behind this movement?

#28DaysofBlackCosplay was initially inspired by the desire to help foster and strengthen a sense of community among Black cosplayers. It’s not easy to be a Black person in this hobby. Your costumes are considered lower quality, you are passed up for photos and opportunities, and you’re routinely made fun of online. On top of which, a lot of people don’t think there are very many Black cosplayers out there, because our work is very rarely showcased. So I thought, screw that, why don’t we get together and find a way to celebrate our own work and our own community. It really wasn’t (and still isn’t) about separating ourselves – it was more about encouraging and empowering each other. I got a group of friends together, asked them to invite any Black cosplayer they could think of, and we developed a schedule to share each other’s pictures, pages and profiles. I spent weeks compiling everyone’s information and putting it all together, and I remember I was so worried nobody would actually take it seriously or participate once the month started. It’s insane to think about that now, seeing how big the thing has become!

How do you think cosplay/nerdom fits into Black history?

I view cosplay almost as a relatively new Black culture form of performance art – in many ways, it’s very similar to music, dance and other creative outlets we use to express ourselves. Different forms of creative expression have always been part of the fabric of our culture, and I think cosplay and geekdom as a whole fits in under that umbrella. We’ve gotten a lot of flak from people claiming that it’s arrogant of us to celebrate Black cosplay during Black History Month, because cosplay isn’t important enough to Black history. But as Black nerds, Black cosplay is part of what will be our history. This is a story that we’re in the process of writing right now. It’s important to us, and it’s a part of who we are.

Read more from Lauren Bullock at Black Nerd Problems

February 10, 2015February 10, 2015

‘The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore’ Offers up Laughs — and Sincerity

The sign above the 50th Street train stop says it all: “The Nightly Show: Evenings at 11:30 p.m. after The Daily Show. No pressure.” With that two-word quip, The Nightly Show highlights what it does best: being as honest as it is clever. To fill Emmy Award-magnet Stephen Colbert’s former time slot – which just happens to be following 19- time Emmy winner Jon Stewart’s time slot – seems like a whole lot of pressure for a new comedy, yet The Nightly Show isn’t trying to fill anyone’s shoes or “replace” anybody. Instead, Larry Wilmore and his team are carving their lane through their own approach: sincerity. The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore is a breath of fresh air by being the most sincere new show in comedy… and it’s hilarious.

Black Nerd Problems sat down with three brilliant minds behind the show and asked them the tough questions the world wants to hear: Who rides with you in a zombie apocalypse?

(The answer: The zombie apocalypse team includes Richard Sherman, and four iterations of Samuel L. Jackson: Pulp Fiction Samuel L. Jackson, Mace Windu Samuel L. Jackson, The Negotiator Samuel L. Jackson and Snakes on a Plane Samuel L. Jackson.)

The main man in front of the camera, Larry Wilmore, has been in comedy a long time, and you loved his work before you even knew it was him who wrote it. Since performing at talent shows in his teens and sneaking into comedy clubs underage where he once saw comedy legend Richard Pryor, Wilmore saw signs – “indicators,” he calls them – that comedy would be the passion he would pursue in his career. That decision led him to writing for classic comedy shows like In Living Color, and later becoming the creator, writer and executive producer of The Bernie Mac Show. Wilmore spent years behind the camera before deciding to step in front, and now with his own show, he’s bringing a new feeling of candor and endearment to news-based comedy.

“We are the transfer student that was bused in from another neighborhood that everyone’s getting to know,” Wilmore said on defining the identity of The Nightly Show

Keeping with the themes of the show, Black Nerd Problems tested Wilmore with a “Keep It 100” question:

BNP: Before a new Black character joins The Walking Dead, an old Black character has to be killed. If comedy were The Walking Dead, which Black celebrity would you kill for your show to be successful? Keep in mind: the success would be on par with the person you kill. So if you kill (Bill) Cosby, your show would adopt his current public disapproval.

“I love her to death; she’s my girl, but… sorry, I’m going to have to poison (TV director and producer) Shonda Rhimes’ tea.”

The boss of “Keep It 100” did just that, and, fortunately, Wilmore won’t have to slip Rhimes the nightshade for his show to be successful. With a strong start as host, along with endless opportunities for discussing topics and highlighting new perspectives on his notably diverse panels, The Nightly Show is getting comfortable in its home on Comedy Central. Kick back on the sofa and pay attention – I expect the “transfer student” team will have Emmys of their own.

Source: Jordan Calhoun. To read more about BNP’s interview with the masterminds behind the The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore, click here

February 9, 2015February 9, 2015

Samsung Privacy Policy Sparks Concerns That Smart TV Could Be Eavesdropping on Consumers

The debate over privacy concerns with new technology is a debate that has been happening consistently over the years, but the privacy policy for Samsung’s Smart TV is adding an interesting new element to the conversation.

In the pursuit of advanced, personalized technology, many consumers have agreed that some privacy will have to be sacrificed, but just how much privacy should be sacrificed is still up for debate.

Devices today are able to track our locations, monitor our behavior and even learn our personalities, but should they also be allowed to listen in on our personal conversations and collect that information?

That’s the question taking over the Web after Samsung’s privacy policy for its Smart TV advised consumers to think twice about having those personal conversations around the TV when the voice recognition feature is active.

“Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition,” the privacy policy reads.

That statement sent many consumers into a panic.

It certainly isn’t the most privacy-invading device out on the market, but it does seem to be an admission from one of the largest tech giant’s that its TV can and will be eavesdropping on your conversation if you’re not careful.

With that being said, Samsung released a statement to TechCrunch to insist that anyone concerned about the voice recognition technology has nothing to worry about.

Samsung pointed out that consumers can easily deactivate the voice recognition feature and they could also disconnect the Smart TV from their Wi-Fi network.

These two steps would essentially eliminate the TV’s eavesdropping capabilities.

For those who do want to use the voice recognition feature, Samsung claimed that they do not “retain voice data or sell it to third parties.”

“If a consumer consents and uses the voice recognition feature, voice data is provided to a third party during a requested voice command search,” the statement read. “At that time, the voice data is sent to a server, which searches for the requested content then returns the desired content to the TV.”

Some social media users, however, weren’t content with the statement thanks to yet another interesting sentence in the privacy policy — one that some argue is an admittance that there is a possibility that something could go wrong with the attempt to protect consumers’ privacy.

“Samsung is not responsible for these providers’ privacy or security practices,” the policy concludes.

In all fairness, it’s the type of statement that is included in nearly every privacy policy and was included because a team of lawyers thought it was necessary, not because the company genuinely believes that there is a good chance things could go haywire and leave consumers’ private information in the hands of malicious third parties.

Either way, the policy adds more fuel to a quickly spreading conversation that is extremely necessary.

In today’s computer-driven world, everything from our cellphones and tablets to our cars and home thermostats has the ability to essentially spy on consumers.

With so few guidelines and regulations tailored to such new technological advancements, consumers’ fears about what this means for the protection of their privacy are justified.

So as tech giants race to be the first ones to push out new devices with new features, they will still need to take the time to ask themselves what these new features mean for consumer privacy and how can they protect customers.

If not, growing consumer mistrust could lead to an interesting shakeup in the tech space.

February 6, 2015February 6, 2015

Collaboration Over Competition: Young Entrepreneur Uses Partnerships to Launch Major YouTube Network

One African startup is ditching competition and encouraging collaboration as it embarks on a quest to become South Africa’s largest YouTube network.

Andrew Simelane, CEO and co-founder of the digital content marketing and media agency Black Nation Media, doesn’t sound like your typical entrepreneur.

Most emerging entrepreneurs immediately start identifying and targeting the competition as they launch a grueling battle over space in the market and shared consumers.

Simelane, on the other hand, is hoping to find success by focusing on collaboration, and it’s a strategy that has already proven to be quite effective for the 26-year-old entrepreneur.

The University of Johannesburg public relations and communications graduate launched Black Nation Media back in 2010 with his brother Thulasizwe.

It was their way of trying to get into the audio visual industry, but their plans for the company have skyrocketed since then.

“My parents couldn’t afford to pay for an audio visual course I wanted to do at the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance (AFDA), so I decided to buy some equipment that would get me started in the industry,” Simelane told htxh.africa. “That’s when my brother joined me and came up with the idea for Black Nation Media.”

What was initially a plan to teach himself how to use certain equipment so he could seek employment for other companies turned into a quickly growing business.

Simelane, his brother and another business partner, Vukosi Manganyi, started producing videos for promotional efforts.

It didn’t take long before others were hopping on board and asking the group to produce videos for their businesses as well.

“We have grown exponentially over the years, and now have office space in JoziHub,” Simelane said. “We do content for campaigns, promotions, events and competitions, which is distributed across various digital platforms for desktop and smartphone users.”

The group, which has grown to include 11 team members, has worked on major projects including a lookbook for Adidas Originals and various music videos for African artists.

Successful media agencies are far from uncommon in Africa, but what makes Simelane’s company stand out is its focus on using digital platforms like YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

“We create content and use it as a platform for brands to market themselves,” he added. “Our focus is on YouTube and other online platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. We also have an online publication called Black Nation Magazine, targeted at young Black consumers.”

Major YouTube networks are extremely common in the U.S. but not so much throughout African countries.

Black Nation hopes to grow throughout South Africa before expanding to other African countries to become one of the largest YouTube networks on the continent.

In 2014, the company kick-started this mission with its Johannesburg YouTube Content Creators Network, which aims to create a YouTube community based in the city.

Simelane hopes to establish a multi-channel network incubator that will host up to 15 members of the network.

That’s a key part of the business model for the budding entrepreneurs — working together instead of fighting over media space.

“We have formed a few partnerships around the country, one of them is with Creative Nestlings, a company based in Cape Town, which means we get to grow our brand in such places by working with these guys and they can do the same here in Joburg,” he explained. “… I don’t believe in competition, I think if startups collaborated, we could get a lot more done on this continent, that’s how we function as a company.”

Simelane is also looking for young creatives to partner with, not only for the sake of his own brand but to also show them that they can make money from their creative endeavors.

“I think it’s time creatives knew it’s possible to make money from what we do and make the industry lucrative,” he said.

With a possible partnership brewing with another network in Ghana, Simelane believes the company’s reach could expand well beyond South Africa over the next five years. In fact, his content just might start reaching overseas.

“We’re also in talks with a distribution company in the U.S. which wants to distribute our content to the youth market in the States,” he added.

February 6, 2015February 6, 2015

Cybercriminals Put Unusual Twist on Spyware Scam by Utilizing In-Game Voice App

Cybercriminals have always found interesting ways to target gamers, but a new spyware scam is putting a new twist on the usual methods to steal vital information from its victims.

Most cybercriminals hoping to target gamers use fake copies of new games or faux in-game items to weasel their way into snatching personal, private information from unsuspecting gamers.

This time around, however, an anonymous scammer is using fake in-game voice applications as a tool of deception.

Malware Labs discovered a spyware scheme that tricks users into thinking they are downloading a popular in-game voice app.

With the use of a poorly constructed faux website filled with grammatical errors, the scammers get overzealous gamers to click a link that they believe will allow them to download Razer Comms software, Engadget reports.

This redirects the scammer’s victims to a script that immediately starts working to snatch log-in information and other important private information.

The good news here is that this approach certainly isn’t a more effective one.

There are many red flags, such as the previously mentioned poorly constructed faux page that would alert many gamers that something isn’t quite right.

So far, there aren’t any indications that this scam has reached a massive scale, but it is opening some people’s eyes to the different ways tech-savvy scammers can gain access to the very information that most people hope to protect at all costs.

February 5, 2015February 5, 2015

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Makes a Compelling Case on Why Going to Mars Is Such a Big Deal

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why we should go to Mars.

Source: Neil deGrasse Tyson Videos

February 5, 2015February 5, 2015

One Girl’s Journey of Learning to Embrace Her ‘Nerdiness’

I spent more years than I’d like to admit being … myself. If you know me, you’d know that means an amalgamation of bad jokes, lame interests and awkward encounters. This also at one point included anime, video games (“Spyro the Dragon” to be exact), tinkering around with my mini toy microscope and spending all of my free time daydreaming about my alternate life as a mermaid.

In 2006 when high school struck, I realized that there was no room for anything I was remotely interested in. It seemed the only thing anyone really cared about were “jams,” basketball and trap music (which, of course, differed from my musical tastes at the time). As much as I don’t like publicly confessing, I had only recently been introduced to R&B and hip-hop in middle school, and still went pretty hard for bands and movie soundtracks (shout out to Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer).

I didn’t realize it wasn’t cool for my then-15-year-old self to rush home after school to binge watch the Family Channel. I didn’t know mimicking Tyler Perry’s Madea character in public was actually embarrassing. I sure as hell didn’t realize openly admitting I had read each line in the entire Twilight series, but had never opened up a Harry Potter book, was considered social suicide.

The thought never crossed my mind that there might be other brown-skinned girls in the world who’d, like me, seen all the Lord of the Rings movies and attempted to learn how to speak Elvish in The Fellowship. For the longest time, I’d accredited my borderline nerdish tendencies to my older half-brother, who introduced me to the wonderful world of sci-fi, fantasy and alternative Christian rock. In fact, up until then, I’d tried my hardest to hide my secret love for these things under an urbanite blanket of social acceptance. But as they say, all that is done in the darkness [of my basement] would surely come to light.

Now here was my dilemma. I was always under the impression that there was a specific type of nerd. The ones who got good grades, were a part of the science clubs, spoke to no one unless it revolved around schoolwork, and were the apple of their parents’/teachers’ eyes. No one ever mentioned to me that you could be neither of these things and still feel the effects of “nerdom.” I was almost never compatible with any of my peers and never fit in with anyone. My grades weren’t high enough for the geek squad, but good enough to be scrutinized by the more popular crowd. I felt like an outsider when I tried to join my school’s business club run almost entirely by students of East-Indian descent. To the Black kids, I was much too alternative to sit at their table. And for my brownies, I quite simply did not make the cut.

Read more from Lindsey Addawoo at Black Girl Nerds