Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome
Cats Love Playing Dress Up: Lion Mane Hats For Cats
This is one of the custom made lion hats sold by Etsy shop Nestanest that makes your cat look like a little lion. And who hasn’t dreamed of having a pet lion? Nobody whose dreams I want to hear about, that’s for sure. Obviously, the hats will look best on an orange cat, but will still make a non-orange cat look cuter too. I suggest getting a human-sized one to match and just really committing to it. That way whenever you have company comes over you can be all, “ROAR! We’re a pride of lions!” Then, presto, you don’t have company over anymore. Hit the jump for a couple more shots.

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Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome
Heavy Metal: Mercury Reacts To Diff Sound Frequencies
This is a video of a drop of liquid mercury reacting to different audio frequencies. Sometimes it makes a blob, sometimes it makes a doughnut, and sometimes a starfish. But it ALWAYS makes its friends feel welcome and wanted because that’s what good friends do, unlike mine who always try to bring me down so they feel better about themselves. Will you be my new friend? “Not a chance.” Wow, so this is what rock bottom feels like. I feel like I could get used to this. “Could, or will have to?” You’re just like them, you know that? Hit the jump for the video and a BONUS slow-motion version.

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GigaOM
Aereo strikes back: what’s behind the mobile TV service’s new lawsuit against the broadcasters
Aereo, the controversial service that beams over-the-air TV to mobile devices, is going on legal offense against the broadcasters that are trying to shut it down. On Monday, Aereo asked the U.S. District Court in Manhattan for an order stating that it does not infringe on the broadcasters’ copyright.

The move comes as Aereo, which recently won a major appeals court ruling on nearly the same issue in New York, prepares to offer its service in Boston and 22 other markets as soon as this month. CBS and other broadcasters have vowed to sue to stop Aereo in those new markets, a threat that appears to have led it to file the new court action. (The new filing, reported by AllThingsD, refers to recent public statements and Twitter feeds by CBS executives, including one that says “we’ll sue”).

So what exactly is the meaning of Aereo’s new lawsuit? Here’s what one copyright expert familiar with the issue had to say:

Aereo’s decision to file a separate declaratory judgment action at this stage is unorthodox. They’ve prevailed on a preliminary injunction motion at the district and circuit court level — which means that both the Southern District and the 2d Circuit have ruled they are likely to succeed on the merits — so it’s unusual to seek a declaratory judgment on the same issues.

Recall that the appeals court decision from last month already protects Aereo for the immediate future in the U.S. Second District, a territory that covers the states of New York, Vermont and Connecticut. This means that the new declaratory action Aereo is seeking will not really change any facts on the ground but could give the company another favorable verdict — but not one that will determine its fate in Boston (which is in the First Circuit) or any of the other legal jurisdictions where Aereo plans to open shop.

The most likely explanation, then, is that the move is part of the increasingly pitched PR battle between Aereo and the broadcasters who, in another recent appeal, accused the upstart of creating “havoc” and “massive disruption” in the television industry. The broadcasters have also threatened to pull their signals altogether and distribute their channels, including Fox and ABC, only on pay TV.

Aereo, for its part, argues that its technology, which assigns every subscriber a personal antenna, is akin to private viewing through a DVR system. The company’s CEO, Chet Kanojia, has accused the broadcasters of extracting exorbitant fees by forcing viewers to accept cable bundles stuffed with channels they don’t want to watch.

Aereo’s new lawsuit, therefore, gives it a way to gain the upper hand on the media message (for a short time at least) – and possibly pick up some additional legal language from a judge who has taken the company’s side in the past.

In the bigger picture, the Aereo fight is part of a great game over the future of the TV industry. Aereo, which is backed by a major investment from media mogul Barry Diller, has also been the subject of acquisition rumors by satellite provider Dish. Broadcasters fear that an alliance between the two companies could provide an end-run around the existing system that requires cable and satellite providers to pay for use of the over-the-air signals.

The final outcome could well end up at the Supreme Court given a current split between the courts in New York and a district court in California, which shut down a similar service to Aereo last year. In the meantime, it’s possible that a patchwork of decisions could result in Aereo being legal in half the country and forbidden in the other half.

In another recent development, the four major sports leagues have joined the anti-Aereo chorus by filing court papers to support the broadcasters’ request that a full panel of the Second Circuit reconsider its decision. The NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball argue that the appeals court was wrong to consider Aereo a “private” transmission like singing in the shower:

An individual who sings a copyrighted lyric in the shower engages in a private performance […] A commercial service (like Aereo) that retransmits the broadcast of a copyrighted television program to thousands of paying subscribers at the same time is not in any way comparable.

Here’s a copy of Aereo’s new lawsuit:

Aereo Complaint for Declaratory Judgment – FINAL FILED

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Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome
Guy Makes Burning Dead Space Plasma Cutter IRL
This is a video of laser lover and Youtuber AnselmoFanZero showing off the Dead Space plasma cutter replica he made. For the record, I’ve never played Dead Space because it’s rated M for Mature and my mom says I’m anything but. Still, a pretty impressive build and the lasers can burn wood and trash bags if you hold them steady long enough. Unfortunately for us, dude warns in the video that he won’t be providing any instructions if you want to build your own because he feels strongly that he should be the only one with cool stuff. I assume he was absent from kindergarten the day you’re supposed to learn caring means sharing. Fine bro, but don’t ask to touch my Hot Wheels. Hit the jump for the video.

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Instead of TV, you should watch….
Dark Matter: The Matter We Can’t See

Dark Matter: The Matter We Can’t See

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The Verge - All Posts
Taking on TV: how Netflix is becoming an original programming powerhouse

Back in 2011, Netflix took its first steps into a life beyond simply distributing content ― it announced two original TV series, Lilyhammer and House of Cards, that would be exclusive to Netflix streaming subscribers. Since then, Netflix has announced a number of other shows (like the revival of Arrested Development) and creative partners (like the creators of The Matrix) as the company has tried to, in the words of chief content officer Ted Sarandos, “become HBO faster than HBO can become us.” Keep up with the company’s push into original programming and all the creative and financial ramifications right here.

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