NEEKers://blog

Kim Zolciak’s Real Hair Looks Like A Wig

[shared via Google Reader from Dlisted - Real Housewives Shit]

It seems like the weeks leading up to last night’s episode of Don’t Be Turdy For The Wedding, Bravo promoted that mess like it was its Who Shot JR Moment? or like they were going to tell us if Michael T. Weiss ever got caught for beating Jennifer Beals’ character in that stairwell (Never 4get 2000 Malibu Road).  They made it seem like seeing the top of Kim Zolciak’s head in its supposed natural state is an important moment in basic cable history. I don’t know why. We’ve seen that bitch wig-less during lesbian days. It’s not anything new.

I doubt you care about the details of last night’s episode, but I’m going to tell you anyway since I feel like typing and I just want to type to type. (Story of my blog.) Kim’s wig tamer Derek J came over the day before her wedding to talk about what she wanted him to do to her bridal wig. Kim really wanted to chav it up for her special pre-divorce ceremony day, but Derek J stuck with the script the producers gave him before they shot the scene and told her she should wear her natural hair. That led to Kim taking her wig off in the other room before coming out without Benji’s carcass on her head.

Bitch looked like a 45-year-old assistant manager at a hair salon that specializes in styles from the 90s, but that’s besides the point. If that’s Kim’s real hair, then I have two dicks for nipples. That has to be a wig or at least a nest of weave pieces. I bet Kim wears a wig under her wig just in case somebody snatches the top one off. If you pulled all the layers of wigs off of Kim’s head, you’d find a plastic dome with the words “Mattel Inc/1967/Korea” branded into it. And you can’t try to convince me otherwise. Clip of that mess below:

Through the Woods

[shared via Google Reader from [daily dose of imagery]]

Ridge Runner ride at Blue Mountains.

Chair on Chair

[shared via Google Reader from [daily dose of imagery]]

Ontario Street.
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Since Instagram was released on Android, I’ve been posting phone photos on there as well using a Samsung Galaxy S II LTE. My Instagram username is wvs in case anyone is interested.

Food TV: It's official: Anthony Bourdain is leaving…

[shared via Google Reader from Eater LA]

It’s official: Anthony Bourdain is leaving the Travel Channel behind and is headed to CNN. It’s the end of No Reservations, the Emmy award-winning series that has run for eight seasons; the yet-unnamed CNN show will premiere in early 2013. Eater National has more details and comment from Bourdain. [-EN-]

Taco Bell Is Officially Selling Orange Juice Mixed with Mountain Dew [Foodmodo]

[shared via Google Reader from Gizmodo]

Purple Line Extension: Brace, Bev Hills—Metro Approves Purple Subway to Westwood

[shared via Google Reader from Curbed LA]

As expected, Metro’s board today certified the full nine-mile extension of the Purple Line subway, from Western Avenue to the VA Hospital, the Beverly Hills Patch reports. Now the only thing standing between a groundbreaking for the decades-in-the-making project is final engineering and lawsuits from Beverly Hills. The transit advocate group known as WeDoOurPartLA tweeted that BHUSD board member Lisa Korbatov, usually found getting angry at Metro meetings, told the board that they will sue over the route, which will travel under BH High School on its way to a central Century City station. Since no scientific experts have found that tunneling under BHHS is unsafe, we think she’ll need all the luck she can buy find. As far as construction, plans are for it to begin next year, but it’s not clear if the lawsuits will hold that up. The initial segment of the extension, from Western to La Cienega, isn’t near the disputed Century City stop, but Beverly Hills could make things difficult around La Cienega (near Bev Hills’s border), where major construction will take place.
· Metro Board Approves Subway Route Under BHHS [BH Patch]
· 90210’s Way or the Highway Archives [Curbed LA]

CurbedWire: A New Beach For Downtown, LACMA's Rock Debuting June 24

[shared via Google Reader from Curbed LA]

DOWNTOWN: One day the weedy, puddle-y lot at First and Broadway will have a shiny new federal courthouse on it, but right now the government hasn’t even picked an architect yet and the lot is as weedy and puddle-y as ever. It’s also apparently a nice place to catch some rays on a sunny day, as a tipster shows us. She writes: “Real (crazy) people or art installation?” Who cares? New open space, Downtowners! Grab some sunscreen and a frisbee and get over there! [Curbed Inbox]

MIRACLE MILE: LACMA’s 340 ton rock is getting all settled into its new trench and today it was announced that the pair will officially go public on June 24 when Michael Heizer’s “Levitated Mass” installation opens. And if you live in one of the 61 zip codes the rock traveled through to get from Riverside to the Miracle Mile, you don’t just get to brag that you live in one of the 61 zip codes that watched the rock go by, you’ll also get free LACMA admission all that week (here’s the list). [Zev Yaroslavksy]

CurbedWire: Here's How Downtown's New Variable Parking Pricing Works

[shared via Google Reader from Curbed LA]

DOWNTOWN: Dynamic parking pricing has hit LA, with the official launch of the ExpressPark program today in four and half square miles of Downtown. Under the year-long pilot, pricing at meters and in city-owned lots will fluctuate in response to demand, and will range from 50 cents up to six dollars an hour (meters are currently $1 to $4 per hour). There are 6,000 meters and 7,500 lot spaces covered by the project. According to a press release quoted in the LA Times, “Parking rates in the project zone will be adjusted by LADOT according to demand in 4 to 6 week increments as necessary; when demand is high parking rates will increase and when it is low rates will drop.” The best part is that you’ll be able to tap into the system and find spaces or pay with your smartphone. Down below, check out a video explaining how it all works. [LAT/ExpressPark]

Calendar: The Hester Street Fair made its…

[shared via Google Reader from Eater LA]

The Hester Street Fair made its debut on Manhattan’s Lower East Side two years ago and now the food and craft festival debuts in Los Angeles on June 2. Held at Hollywood and Vine from 11AM-7PM, the fest inaugurates with an affair titled Bite Size Food and Craft Festival. Expect bites from local tba chefs, restaurants, and food trucks, entrance is free. More info here on Hester Street Fair’s other events. [EaterWire]

CurbedWire: Learn the Chinese Theatre's Secrets, Sound Booth Design Comp

[shared via Google Reader from Curbed LA]

Click here to view the full photogallery.

HOLLYWOOD: The Chinese Theatre opened on May 18, 1927, which means it’s just turned 85 (and she’s getting a little tune-up for her birthday). To celebrate, the LA Historic Theatre Foundation and Hollywood Heritage are telling all (ok, some) of the theater’s secrets on behind the scenes tours this weekend. Tours start bright and early at 8:30 am, but sound pretty damn cool—they include “backstage, under stage, up to [founder Sid] Grauman’s office and private boxes, down the stars’ stairway and upstairs at Hollywood and Highland to the new Grauman’s Ballroom bar and restaurant, the renovated Chinese 6 Theatres and its Grauman’s Gallery.” There’ll also be presentations by theater historian Ed Kelsey on and Grauman expert Mark Simon. Buy your tickets here. Meanwhile, how about these awesome photos taken while the LAHTF prepped for the tour? [Curbed Inbox]

LOS ANGELES: KCRW is launching a new radio series called Sonic Trace “that explore the three age-old questions about community and immigration — ¿Por qué te fuiste? ¿Por qué te quedaste? ¿Por qué regresaste? Why do people leave? Why do others stay? And, what makes people go back (in either direction)?” They’ll be grabbing the audio on the go, so they’re holding a design competition for a light, portable, easily constructable/deconstructable sound booth. The budget is just $5,000 and the prize is only glory, but seems like the challenge of creating such a tiny space could yield something pretty cool. [KCRW]

Listage : LA Bans Plastic Bags; Jet Tila in Thai Town

[shared via Google Reader from Eater LA]

Superba Snack Bar pops up at Pitfire Pizza Fairfax.
·The New Steakhouses: Serving Up Different Cuts [WSJ]
·Congressman Says Pizza Is Not a Vegetable, Introduces SLICE Act [LAT]
·Blinded by the Light: Chefs on Photography in Restaurants [-EN-]
·L.A. makes history with ban on plastic bags at stores [LAT]
·Shoppers have mixed feelings about L.A. plastic bag ban [LAT]
·Epic Thai Town Crawl With Jet Tila [Food Republic]
·Carla Pellegrino Heads to The Keating Hotel in San Diego [Eater Vegas]
·Drew Barrymore Made A Wine [Los Angeles, I’m Yours]

BlueStacks beta-1 [Android App Review]

[shared via Google Reader from Android Central - Android Forums, News, Reviews, Help and Android Wallpapers]

BlueStacks has been around for a while. We first saw it in an early alpha, that while usable, wasn’t ready for prime time. After lots of toiling and hard work (I assume), we finally saw BlueStacks enter beta, and boy, was this ever a different program.

So what exactly does BlueStacks let you do? It lets you run Android applications right on your PC, just as though you were using an Android phone or tablet. It manages to pull this off using some sort of black voodoo neckbeard magic​ “Layercake” technology the guys have developed, and man oh man, do I like it.

Getting BlueStacks going is simply a breeze. Once you’ve got it all installed, you simply open it up and there’s a list of preinstalled apps. You have access to a couple of different app stores to download other apps you might want, and to top it all off, you can install apk’s directly into BlueStacks, right off of your computer’s hard drive.

(There’s also an app syncing tool that lets you sync apps from your phone to your computer’s client, which skirts the whole apk issue, but just know that it’s there if you need it.)

When you’ve finally got an app loaded up in BlueStacks, there’s always a bit of experimenting to see what button or mouse click controls what. For something like Angry Birds Space, it’s all pretty straightforward; use your mouse like you’d use your finger.

For something more complex (and visually demanding) like Shadowgun, you’ve just got to mess around. For the most part, mouse clicks transfer pretty well, and more often than not, arrow keys will move your character. The few times I ran Shadowgun, it was either kind of stuttery or buttery smooth, so your mileage can definitely vary.

Overall, BlueStacks is pretty darn cool, especially if you’ve ever wanted to get the Android experience on your computer. Its uses might seem a bit novel right now, but as prices for games in the mobile space continue to come in lower than their desktop counterparts, BlueStacks looks like it could offer some market disruption.

You can download the BlueStacks Windows component from the BlueStacks website at no cost. We’ve got video after the break.

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LA Now Less Plastic: LA is now the biggest city…

[shared via Google Reader from Curbed LA]

LA is now the biggest city in the US to ban plastic bags; with the encouragement of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and others, the City Council voted yesterday to “phase out plastic bags over the next 16 months at an estimated 7,500 stores, meaning shoppers will need to bring reusable bags or purchase paper bags for 10 cents each.” The decision yesterday “kicks off a four-month environmental review, followed by what is expected to be routine passage of an ordinance enacting the ban.” [LAT]

The Verdict Is In: Google Did NOT Infringe On Oracle’s Patents

[shared via Google Reader from TechCrunch]

Just over a week ago, the jury began deliberations on the ongoing patent infringement case between Google and Oracle. After waiting in the wings, with bated breath, the verdict is finally in, as Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court of Northern California dismissed the jury this afternoon after a unanimous decision that ruled in favor of Google’s mobile OS — declaring that Android did not in fact infringe on the Oracle patents in question.

The decision follows an opposing verdict earlier this month, in which the jury in the long-running infringement case found that certain components of Android APIs had too close of a resemblance to code used in Oracle’s Java programming tools. However, the jury ended up splitting on the notion of whether or not Google could in fact claim fair use in its defense (which could have then led to a mistrial.)

The jury’s decision was obviously a laborious one, following two years of a legal back-and-forth between the two tech giants. Oracle had initially filed the lawsuit back in August 2010, in which the company asserted that Android infringed on Java patents that Oracle acquired as a result of its purchase of Sun Microsystems. Google responded by saying that, at the time of development, it was not aware of Sun’s patents and that Android was in fact free to use.

Of course, that decision was only the first act in the three-part deliberations, in which the copyright infringement issues were to be followed by consideration of Oracle’s patent infringement claims (the focus of today’s hearing) and, finally, the damages Google might be liable for were it found found to infringe.

However, much of that speculation was rendered moot today, as a week of deliberation came to a close today at the U.S. District Court of Northern California, with the jury unanimously declaring that Google did not in fact infringe on the six claims set forth by Oracle in regard to U.S. Patent RE 38,104 as well as the two claims regarding U.S. Patent 6,061,520.

Of course, this does not mean that the whole case has been decided; instead, the decision marks the end of the trial’s second phase, which, again, focused solely on Oracle’s claims of patent infringement.

While the jury had previously found that Google was in violation of Oracle’s copyrights, as stated above, it could not come to a unanimous decision on the issue of fair use. Meaning that, although Oracle ostensibly “won” its copyright case, it effectively has a hold on its ability to collect on any of the $1 billion in copyright damages it is seeking from Google — a conclusion that was supported by the tweets of legal reporter Ginny LaRoe, who attended today’s hearing.

And #Googacle The Trial is over. Judge Alsup dismissing jury. Since Oracle won virtually nothing, no damages phase at this point.

— Ginny LaRoe (@GinnyLaRoe) May 23, 2012

On top of that, there are a number of other legal questions surrounding the copyright case on which Judge Aslup has yet to issue a final ruling, although he is expected to come to a decision next week.

Updating

Amazon Partners With Paramount, Brings Hundreds More Movies To Prime Instant Video Service

[shared via Google Reader from TechCrunch]

Amazon is continuing to grow its collection of streaming video titles at Amazon Prime Instant Video, and is today announcing another new agreement with Paramount Pictures bringing “hundreds” of new movies to the service. This deal isn’t as large as March’s partnership with Discovery, which saw some 3,000 new titles added, but it does introduce what are arguably more big-name movies. Included in the deal are titles like Mission: Impossible 3, Braveheart, Forrest Gump, Mean Girls, Nacho Libre and Clueless, to name a few, and Amazon says more will be added “soon.”

With the new deal in place, Amazon Instant Video now offers over 17,000 movies and TV episodes for unlimited streaming by Amazon Prime customers who can watch online or on their Amazon Kindle Fire. For what it’s worth, “17,000+” is the same number that Amazon was touting earlier this year, so the increase via the Paramount deal didn’t include enough of a selection to warrant a new “milestone” announcement on the company’s part.

Prior to the Discovery deal, Amazon signed a similar deal with Viacom in February, which then brought the number of titles up to 15,000. And in December, the count was 13,000. So yes, the service is growing, and relatively quickly.

Other popular movies you’ll know from Paramount which are now online include Star Trek, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Top Gun, The Italian Job, and The Truman Show.

In total, the service offers 120,000 titles which Amazon Prime customers can either rent or buy. The videos will be available at no extra charge to Amazon Prime customers who pay the $79/year for the service, which also includes free two-day shipping and access to the Kindle Lending Library.