Now that Facebook just started allowing GIFs, you’ll need the right one to use at the right time.
When someone announces their engagement:
When your ex comments on your status:
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Saturday, May 30, 2015
Atlanta Falcons Release Player Accused Of Killing His Girlfriend's Dog
A dog left in the care of Prince Shembo died after incurring what a necropsy determined to be blunt force trauma.
AP
The Atlanta Falcons have released second-year linebacker Prince Shembo after he was charged with killing his girlfriend's Yorkie.
According to a police report, Shembo's girlfriend, Denicia Williams, left her dog, Dior, with Shembo for some time on April 15 and found him unresponsive upon her return.
Dior was alive when Williams returned to Shembo's apartment, but was incapable of moving or reacting, even when she poured a bottle of water on him.
The dog — which Williams was told "had suffered a brain aneurysm" — died at a nearby animal hospital.
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, veterinarians ruled the cause of death as blunt force trauma:
"The dog had a fractured rib, fractured liver, abdominal hemorrhage, thoracic hemorrhage, extensive bruising and hemorrhage in the muscles in her front leg and shoulders, head trauma, hemorrhage and edema in lungs, hemorrhage between the esophagus and trachea, and hemorrhage in the left eye with internal injuries," according to police.
The next day, Williams called Shembo and it was then that he allegedly told her he had kicked Dior.
According to the police report, "The complainant stated that she asked the suspect if it was just once and the suspect stated 'no.'"
Williams told police she cut off contact with Shembo, who she claims said he "might leave the country because he knows how much time he would do in prison for animal cruelty."
The Falcons released Shembo just hours after the police report and charges against him became public. Their statement on the matter was brief:
We are aware of the charges that have been filed against Prince Shembo. We are extremely disappointed that one of our players is involved in something like this. Accordingly, we have decided to waive Prince Shembo.
Shembo was drafted by and played one season for the Falcons.
While in school at Notre Dame, Shembo was the player accused of sexually assaulting Lizzy Seeberg, whose high-profile suicide in the wake of the school's investigation cast a spotlight on how universities handle campus rape.
Shembo, who maintains he never assaulted Seeberg, was never charged.
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This Is The Spelling Test All Starbucks Baristas Have To Take
June = John?
Ever wonder why your name is spelled so uniquely on your favorite cup of coffee? Well, it turns out, Starbucks interviewees go through a rigorous spelling test before being offered employment.
If your name is John, you'll know they'll spell it right.
BuzzFeed
What about spelling Amy?
Nailed it.
BuzzFeed
And all you Lisa's of the world, you're in for a special treat.
BuzzFeed
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Silk Road Mastermind Sentenced To Life In Prison
Ross Ulbricht
Facebook / Via Facebook: Free-Ross
Ross Ulbricht, 31, the mastermind behind the darknet marketplace Silk Road, was sentenced in federal court Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Before delivering her sentencing decision, Judge Katherine Forrest addressed Ulbricht for close to an hour, telling him he was a “complicated person” who didn’t fit the “typical criminal profile.”
Forrest said however that it was clear Ulbricht “wanted [Silk Road] to be your legacy...And it is.”
Forrest said she spent over 100 hours contemplating her decision. She told Ulbricht, “you are no better a person than any other drug dealer.”
The judge called the messages that he wrote online that were presented as evidence in court “arrogance” and quoted his response to a friend’s request that he devote his time to a more upstanding, legal pursuit: “Because I’m running a goddamn multimillion dollar criminal enterprise.”
“What you did in connection with Silk Road was terribly destructive to our social fabric,” Forrest said.
Ulbricht stood and appeared stoic as he received two life sentences for the harshest charges — narcotics trafficking over the internet and continued criminal conspiracy.
Ulbricht’s mother sat in the second row of the court and pressed the fingers from her left head into her forehead.
When court was adjourned Ulbricht looked back as his mother, father and several family members in attendance as he was led away by two court officers. Ulbricht’s mother sat for a moment and cried.
Silk Road
What is the Silk Road?
In 2011, Ulbricht created the website as an online marketplace where people could buy whatever they wanted anonymously. He managed the website under a number of anonymous handles, the most well known being “Dread Pirate Roberts” after the popular character from the movie The Princess Bride.
The site operated on the anonymous internet, or “darknet,” accessible only by using the encryption software TOR — an acronym for the program standing for “The Onion Router” to reflect the layers of security. All transactions on the Silk Road were completed using Bitcoin, the well known crypto-currency.
In a journal entry introduced in court, Ulbricht wrote, “In 2011, I am creating a year of prosperity and power beyond what I have ever experienced before. Silk Road is going to become a phenomenon and at least one person is going to tell me about it, unknowing that I was its creator.”
How Silk Road Blew Up
The online bazaar became an Amazon-like retailer for dealing drugs and other illicit goods. Several thousand vendors sold LSD, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and other drugs anonymously.
In a June 2011 profile of the site, Gawker’s Adrian Chen wrote: “Making small talk with your pot dealer sucks. Buying cocaine can get you shot. What if you could buy and sell drugs online like books or light bulbs? Now you can: Welcome to the Silk Road.”
Federal investigators said there were more than 1.5 million transactions on the site. Evidence presented by the government at trial showed that Silk Road generated more than $213 million in revenue between January 2011 and October 2013.
Vocativ reported marijuana sales accounted for more than $46 million on Silk Road, while heroin sales were worth about $8.9 million.
Ulbricht took a commission on every deal, amassing a fortune of more than $18 million in Bitcoins before the feds started to close in.
Ross Ulbricht
Facebook / Via Facebook: Free-Ross
The Bust of Dread Pirate Roberts
In October 2013, Ulbricht was arrested by FBI agents in a San Francisco library, his laptop seized while still logged in to the Silk Road as Dread Pirate Roberts.
He was charged with seven federal counts, including narcotics trafficking, computer hacking, and money laundering.
He was also accused of soliciting the killings of six people he believed were threats to the site’s business. At trial, the prosecution said there is no evidence that the killings actually took place or that anyone was harmed.
Lyn and Kirk Ulbricht (back R), parents of Ross Ulbricht, speak to journalists after his conviction in Lower Manhattan, New York February 4, 2015.
Reuters Staff / Reuters
The Trial of Ross Ulbricht
At trial, Ulbricht pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
His lawyer argued that Ulbricht created the Silk Road as an “economic experiment,” but then turned the site over to others when it became too popular for him to manage.
“He created it as a completely freewheeling, free-market site that could sell anything except a couple items were harmful,” Dratel told the jury.
Dratel said that after giving up the site, Ulbricht was eventually lured back as a “fall guy” when the investigation heated up.
The prosecution said the Silk Road was Ulbricht’s “baby” and promised to show the jury “a mountain of evidence” that proved he was the owner and operator of the site.
“His idea was to make illegal drug deals as quick and easy as ordinary online shopping,” prosecutors told the jury.
After Ulbricht was busted, the office of Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said private messages from Dread Pirate Roberts matched evidence recovered from Ulbricht’s laptop, connecting the two.
In court, the prosecution cited journal entries that Ulbricht kept while building and running the site, and a college friend, Richard Bates, testified that Ulbricht told him about the project after seeking his help with programming.
“He shared with me that he created and ran the Silk Road website,” Bates said.
The prosecution illustrated the alleged murder-for-hire plots during the trial. They argued Ulbricht solicited the killings “to retaliate against a former staff member who he believed had stolen Bitcoins from the site and who he feared would provide information about the site to law enforcement, and to eliminate the threats posed by others who were threatening to publicly leak the names and addresses of Silk Road users and vendors.”
In one example, prosecutors said that in 2013, Ulbricht paid Silk Road user Redandwhite to kill user FriendlyChemist, who had threatened to publicize real names and addresses of site vendors and customers unless Ulbricht gave him $500,000.
In his closing argument, prosecutor Serrin Turner told the jury that Ulbricht used his “dark corner of the internet” and “made it easier for drug dealers to get users hooked, users from all over the world.”
In February 2015, Ulbricht was found guilty on all seven counts after the jury deliberated for three-and-a-half hours. The charges against him demanded a sentence of at least 20 years, but he was ultimately sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Ulbricht didn’t testify at his trial, but prior to sentencing, he broke his silence in a letter to the judge.
“I’ve had my youth, and I know you must take away my middle years, but please leave me my old age,” Ulbricht wrote in his plea for leniency. “Please leave a small light at the end of the tunnel, an excuse to stay healthy, and excuse to dream of better days ahead, and a chance to redeem myself in the free world before I meet my maker.”
Max Dickstein stands with other supporters of Ross Ulbricht, the alleged creator and operator of the Silk Road underground market, in front of a Manhattan federal court house on the first day of jury selection for his trial on January 13, 2015 in New York City.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
What Happens Now
Bharara said the verdict “should send a clear message to anyone attempting to operate an online criminal enterprise.”
“The supposed anonymity of the dark web is not a protective shield from arrest and prosecution," he added.
In a bizarre twist in the story, two government agents involved in the investigation of Silk Road were also indicted on federal charges in connection to the bust of Ulbricht.
Carl Mark Force and Shaun Bridges, Drug Enforcement Administration agents who were assigned to the Secret Service, are accused of money laundering and wire fraud in connection with actions during the investigation.
Both men were part of a Baltimore-based task force that investigated Ulbricht separately from the Manhattan group. Following their indictments, Bharara said that their operation was separate from his office. Defense attorneys were unable to introduce details of the Force investigation at Ulbricht’s trial.
During the Baltimore group’s investigation, Force allegedly made contact with Dread Pirate Roberts under several fictitious user names not sanctioned by the government, communicated with him using encrypted messaging, and attempted to extort $250,000 from Ulbricht in exchange for withholding secret information from the government.
According to the complaint, during the investigation, Force deposited $776,000 in misappropriated Bitcoins into his personal accounts and Bridges diverted $800,000 to his.
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Friday, May 29, 2015
Facebook Now Supports GIFs And Life Will Never Be The Same
Sports: Soccer World Reacts to Sepp Blatter’s Re-Election
Sports on TIME.com
Soccer World Reacts to Sepp Blatter’s Re-Election
Many seem disappointed that Blatter will remain head of FIFA
Published on May 29, 2015 at 10:18PM
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O'Malley Hires Former Obama Hispanic Media Director For Senior Campaign Role
Gabriela Domenzain is joining Martin O’Malley’s soon to be announced campaign as director of public engagement, sources tell BuzzFeed News. The Clinton campaign also considered hiring her.
Charlie Neibergall / AP
Martin O'Malley is set to announce his campaign Saturday in Baltimore, but he has already made a key hire.
Gabriela Domenzain, former director of Hispanic media for Obama when he garnered a record 71% of the Latino vote in 2012, is joining O'Malley's campaign as the director of public engagement where she will have a hand in communications, policy, and political outreach, a campaign source said.
"In Maryland, you speak to Latinos and they call him the most pro-Latino governor of the United States," Domenzain told BuzzFeed News. "In other states they don't know him but they should."
O'Malley has talked up his immigration bonafides at events in Iowa and New Hampshire — the campaign notes that it is part of his stump speech — and he doesn't even use the term immigrants (he uses "new Americans"). Domenzain cited his record of passing the DREAM Act and giving undocumented immigrants driver's licenses but also says he increased government contract investment to Hispanic-owned small businesses by 133%.
Domenzain, was considered for the director of Hispanic media position in Hillary Clinton's campaign, according to sources with knowledge, and said she believes Americans want new voices on the left, especially voices as progressive as O'Malley.
As a longshot candidate, the former Maryland governor will need to make contrasts with Clinton to advance. Although he has a long and liberal record on immigration, Clinton has made immigration a priority in the early weeks of her campaign — outlining specific action she would take as president, and plainly suggesting she would go even further with executive action than President Obama has if Congress does not make changes to U.S. immigration policy.
But Luis Miranda, former director of Hispanic media in the Obama administration, also said both campaigns should not mistake immigration policy for being enough on Latino outreach.
"Engaging Latino voters takes not insulting them like Republicans do, but also the fact that they are Americans and care about a lot of things, like the economy," he said.
Still, Domenzain who says that she is a single-issue voter when it comes to immigration, says she came to understand its importance in 1999 in North Carolina at the first statewide conference of Latinos when she was staffing the former president of the National Council of La Raza, Raul Yzaguirre.
A farmworker walked up to her, shook her hand, and asked, "Why do you care about me?" On her flight home she realized only her and Yzaguirre were on the way back from that event to Washington — and she realized they were the only people who might advocate for the farmworker.
Domenzain ties her passion on immigration to O'Malley's response to the surge of Central American undocumented minors across the border last summer, where she says national leaders like Clinton and Obama said the children should be sent back.
She was heartened however when O'Malley, speaking at a Democratic Governors Association press conference last summer, said the country should act like Americans and give children "fleeing death" refuge. "That brought the possibility of dignity back to the conversation and turned my head," she said.
Domenzain also pointed to the recent Clinton hire of an immigration activist who was undocumented and has a mixed status family as a key moment in the run-up to the Democratic nomination.
"Hillary Clinton's campaign has hired Lorella Praeli, an incredible advocate who's lived the broken system," she said. "I'm very excited that the immigration debate will be elevated because we have people like Gov. O'Malley and his whole record has been speaking about this."
Miranda made a similar point. "Hispanics should be involved in campaign positions across the board, it's similar to how Clinton has a political director in Amanda Renteria, it's important to have diversity throughout the campaign," he said.
O'Malley will begin outreach to Latino organizations on Wednesday in his first event after his presidential announcement at a question and answer session with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce president Javier Palomarez in Washington.
Jose Parra, a seasoned strategist and former senior advisor to Harry Reid noted that Domenzain is one of a handful of top Latino Democratic operatives and said he respects the fact that O'Malley is putting a Hispanic in a position where they can guide the conversation around the campaign as a whole and not just "implement" Latino strategy.
And while O'Malley starts off at a major disadvantage against the frontrunner Clinton, Parra said his presence in the race will help shape the debate around issues that matter to progressives and will ensure Clinton stays the course on those messages and policy positions.
"It makes sure these ideas are defined and battle-tested," he said. "It winds up strengthening the party in the long run."
LINK: While Hillary Decides, Martin O’Malley’s Embracing Latinos And Immigrants
Source BuzzFeed - Politics http://ift.tt/1KtHINe
Inside Formation 8's Secret Strategy To Invest In Hardware
The venture capital firm Formation 8 wants to raise $100 million to invest in hardware makers. BuzzFeed News obtained a confidential slide presentation about the new fund.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Drones. Robots. Wearable devices. Internet-connected household appliances.
These technologies are making the partners of venture capital firm Formation 8 — including Joe Lonsdale, a co-founder of data mining giant Palantir — see dollar signs.
Formation 8 disclosed last week that it is seeking to raise up to $100 million for a fund focused exclusively on hardware. It has expanded on this new strategy in a confidential slide presentation for investors that was obtained by BuzzFeed News and is published in full below.
The fund, which Formation 8 calls the "world's first" dedicated to backing hardware makers, plans to make early-stage investments in startups in the United States, Israel and Asia, according to the presentation. Its focus will be the "connected world and the Internet of Things," including 3D printing, semiconductors, autos and domestic gadgets.
The fund is seeking a minimum of $75 million in capital, according to the presentation, which is dated March 2015. It initially plans to invest between $1.5 million and $3 million in seed or Series A deals.
Formation 8 is banking on its connections in Silicon Valley and Asia. Its founders include Lonsdale, a Silicon Valley billionaire, and Brian Koo, a member of the powerful Korean family behind the LG conglomerate.
The firm's Asian connections are particularly important in helping manufacture and distribute hardware, the slide presentation argues, listing Asian companies like Huawei, Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba among its "mission-critical partners."
Formation 8 wants investors to think its hardware strategy is a contrarian play. The presentation claims that there are more than 300 startup incubators focused on software, but only 5 focused on hardware.
While the venture capital firm was founded only in 2011, it is hoping investors will view it as a seasoned expert in hardware. It hit a prominent home run with early investments in Oculus, the virtual reality headset maker that was bought by Facebook for $2 billion last year.
"Hardware companies are traditionally very hard to build and startups, especially, face unique challenges," the presentation says. "We believe the time is ripe to focus in depth on the intersection of hardware, software and services."
The hardware fund will be led by Lior Susan, who joined Formation 8 this year. He was previously the general partner of LabIX, a hardware investment program at the Singapore-based manufacturing services company Flextronics, and is a reservist of an Israeli military special forces unit, according to his bio.
Flextronics itself is an investor in the Formation 8 hardware fund, according to a person briefed on the matter.
A Formation 8 spokesman declined to comment on the confidential presentation.
Check out the slides below.
Formation 8
Formation 8
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How Normal Are Your Pizza Eating Habits?
Let your voice be heard!
Everybody loves pizza.
But not everybody loves pizza in the same way.
MTV
Your way of eating is obviously the right way, so it's time to let your voice be heard!
Disney / Via dannymarathon.tumblr.com
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