Shuff's General Chat Thread ... #73 - Talk about anything and everything...  

WhatsApp Joins the Billion Users Club

WhatsApp Inc. is now used by one billion people a month, the company said. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg Bloomberg News
WhatsApp, the bare-bones messaging app owned by Facebook Inc.FB -1.68%, now boasts a billion users a month, a key point on its road to profitability.

About 42 billion messages and 1.6 billion photos are shared daily over the seven-year-old app, the company announced Monday. Users also send 250 million videos every day and have created 1 billion groups.

Facebook bought WhatsApp about two years ago in a deal worth about $22 billion. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously said he expects WhatsApp to contribute to the company’s bottom line after it hits roughly a billion users.

Since the Facebook acquisition, the messaging app has largely retained its autonomy. WhatsApp’s co-founder Jan Koum remains averse to advertising, the bread and butter for the Facebook and Instagram apps.

But last month, Mr. Koum said that the company was starting to explore new business models. He announced the company would drop its annual renewal fee of $1 and find ways for businesses to interact with WhatsApp users.

“WhatsApp began as a simple idea: ensuring that anyone could stay in touch with family and friends anywhere on the planet, without costs or gimmicks standing in the way,” Mr. Koum said in a blog post. “So even as we celebrate this achievement, our focus remains the same.”

It stayed put in Mountain View, Calif. rather than move to Facebook’s sprawling Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters. WhatsApp’s team of 57 engineers is focused on building an app that can adapt to the worst network conditions in the world, rather than adding more features.

Here you go Shuffs.

Just a couple of shots from various places in Toronto, Mont Tremblant, Quebec and New York.

Enjoy

Casey Moaner,unfortunately he's like most riders in that sport now,win and they praise the machine their using and if they lose its like a bucket of excuses.

on this day.......1959 (well yesterday now but meh)

Remember that day vividly,my brother was a big fan,and absolutely gutted,plus it's the date we were married,Also remember what I was doing when Kennedy's assassination in 1963 was announced,and Princess Di's death.

it's funny how you always remember historical events in such a way, ie where were you when such and such happened.i'm the same with the space shuttle challenger disaster, Princess Di and the 9/11 attacks.

I have a speed camera?

I have a speed camera?

mother and daughter/s, who's who?



click the link for the results.



http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/04/living/m...linkId=20986035

Guess I'll never know,three times I tried,and three times,it froze,but my pick,for Mum,would have been the one on the left in black


They certainly have been blessed with good genes

I think it might have been a case of it had you Wolfie


I remember you posting in a thread a while back,stating that it took your photo,but you thought it was a point to point camera,where as it's a speed camera that detects speeding offences in both directions.It's always been labeled a 'Cash Cow',particularly heading northbound,because it's at the base St Helena hill.The new highway now goes under St Helena,which puts the camera on the old road to Bangalow,and I for one am not prepared to see if it's been decommissioned,it's on the top road in the tunnel picture

INSANE Drag Racing in Qatar - AAP Shop Tour!
1320video

Published on Feb 4, 2016
Check out some of the most INSANE drag racing machines at Al Anabi Performance out in Doha Qatar, half way across the world! 1320Video visited these guys as they prepare for the ADRL (Arabian Drag Racing League) finals this year. Big power 2JZ Totoya Supras, Big Block Chevy V8 cars, RB26 Nissan Skylines in the 4’s, KH series V6 twin turbo Corvette in the 3’s…you name it, it’s here! Stay tuned for more feature videos from the crew at AAP!

[Matyi] Ugh. Not impressed IKEA Australia

Underground IndustriesLike Page
February 5 at 10:48pm ·
Tonight i went and covered FNCM.
Now normally this is where i tell you all about how i had such an awesome time and it was magic. Not tonight... tonight i was disappointed, and it wasn't because of the attendees or their behaviour. It was the rest of the general public, and here's why

Once a month this meet happens, once a month these cars are out of the suburbs, they're off the highways, they're out of the built up city, these car enthusiasts unite and come together and find a large, empty, somewhat lit carpark, and park their cars, get out, wander around, admiring each others cars, catching up on the latest news, chatting with friends they might not have seen in a bit, while various photographers and videographers snap up all of the goodness that is around in one place at the same time.

Tonight was different, tonight i was disappointed, as Police paddy wagons came screaming into the Ikea carpark; sirens blaring, lights flashing, like we were criminals that had just committed a great felony. It became obvious as they arrived as well, nearby staff and or non-car people had called them, and whatever they had said when they called; made it seem like a heinous crime had occurred. The cars weren't running, there were no stereos blaring, we'd all parked together as a group and left several hundred spaces empty away from us in the carpark we weren't being rowdy or obnoxious. So what was their issue?

The Police were quite good about it all, and stopped and chatted to find out what was going on, and just advised us to behave and that they would probably sit near by to monitor driving entry/exit behaviour. They didn't even actually get out of their cars.

What came next really bugged me; not long after, Ikea shut off the lighting to just the section we were parked in, descending us into darkness. Why? if we weren't bothering anyone why do this? There was nothing else to do except for most people to get back into their cars and get back out on the road and off to other places or just to drive around Canberra

I ask you non-car-enthusiast people, if you treat us like this, like common thugs, like criminals. How are we ever meant to blend into society with YOU, to respect you. How do you expect to be able to keep us OFF the highways and your suburban streets, as you push us further and further to the fringes of society.

So please, next time you go to make a judgement or alienate a car enthusiast like this again; ask yourself "How would i feel if someone were to punish me for my passion or hobby"

Were the cars present clearly illegal? Being parked quietly in a public place being well behaved doesn't grant you a license to have an illegal vehicle.

Big Chief Takes The Crowmod for the First Drive. STREET CAR!

When we first broke the news that The Crow, the Pontiac LeMans piloted by Big Chief would be history due to a pretty nasty wreck, it was pretty devastating news.

However, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, good would once again come as Chief’s newest endeavor, the Crowmod, would be unveiled at the PRI show. In a world full of folks who are always on the up and up, making quicker builds each and every day, this was very welcome news.

Ever since then, controversy has been stirring and all have been awaiting the car’s debut and finally that day is here as the Crowmod goes on its maiden voyage.

The video below shows off the quick ride as the Crowmod heads out to the streets to take a little spin, throwing some gas at it a couple of times to see how she does. Be sure to check out the video and tell us what you think of Chief’s latest developments. Read more at: http://go.speedsociety.com/mfHOq

mother and daughter/s, who's who?



click the link for the results.



http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/04/living/m...linkId=20986035

Saw this on morning tv and all over social media.
I would say that the lady on the left is the mother.

When you go into the gym on Sunday at 7am, that's when you see the truly dedicated. I saw only about 3 people

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/ve...20608&Log=0

Hmmmmm

Z8 cruiser+Z06 track car=100% win.

Review: DEADPOOL Proves You Should Be Careful What You Wish For

Review contains light spoilers:

For years, hardcore Deadpool fans have been yearning for an R-rated live-action movie that does justice to the character. You asked for it, and now you got it — but while this film certainly gives the Merc with a Mouth plenty of opportunities to address the audience and make meta references, that unfortunately doesn't mean that the movie around it is great.

Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is a former Special Ops soldier with a snarky attitude who now spends his days "sticking up for the little guy," which, in this case, means scaring teenage stalkers away from young girls in exchange for cash. Soon he meets Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), a prostitute he falls in love with after the two banter how messed-up their childhoods were. But when Wilson is diagnosed with late-stage cancer, he accepts a stranger's offer to undergo special treatment that will cure him and give him super powers. That "treatment" turns out to be torture by a guy named Ajax (Ed Skrein) and his assistant Angel Dust (Gina Carano) as they attempt to catalyze any mutant genes lying dormant within Wilson's body, eventually succeeding and turning him into an immortal being who looks like a burn victim. But instead of becoming the supervillain-for-hire they hoped, Wilson dons a body suit, adopts the Deadpool moniker, and devotes his life to hunting down Ajax to get revenge. Along the way, he's aided by his sarcastic bartender friend Weasel (T.J. Miller), and two X-Men — Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) — who attempt to recruit him onto Professor Xavier's team.

With the plot synopsis out of the way, let's really start talking about this movie.

I'm a fan of superhero movies. I'm a fan of Ryan Reynolds. Combine the two, and I should probably really like this film, right? Well, it's hard for me to do that when the script is this desperate for laughs. From the opening credits onward, the film practically pleads with you to laugh at it. No names are featured in those credits — they just say things like "Produced By Asshats," "Written By The Real Heroes Here," starring "A Hot Chick" and featuring "A Gratuitous Cameo." There's also a close-up of a coffee cup with "Rob L." written on it (a shout-out to Rob Liefeld, the creator of Deadpool), and a People Magazine with Ryan Reynolds' Sexiest Man Alive cover. Get it? Because he's in this movie!

This film is packed with those kinds of jokes that aren't really jokes. I'm probably going to alienate a lot of you by saying this, but you know the kinds of people who shriek with laughter and practically jump out of their seats when they see the Stan Lee cameo in Marvel movies? Those people are going to love this film, because it's constantly elbowing the audience, raising its eyebrows, and asking, "You recognize this, right?" Example: at one point, Colossus tells Deadpool he's going to take him to meet Professor Xavier. Deadpool responds: "McAvoy or Stewart?" Cue the audience losing its sh*t. Look, I understand that the appeal of the character is that he's edgy and swears a lot and drops meta references all the time, but at a certain point, this becomes just like The Big Bang Theory. Simply referencing something doesn't automatically mean you're actually making a joke about it.

Did I laugh a handful of times? Sure, I won't deny that. When a movie throws two jokes a minute at you, eventually a few of them are going to land, and there were some I thought were genuinely funny. But for the most part, I found Deadpool to be a basic revenge story wrapped in a series of references, swearing, and ball jokes that would primarily appeal to a thirteen-year-old boy. Some people are going to absolutely love it, and that's totally fair. I wouldn't hold that against anyone. I'm just telling you that it's not really my thing. I didn't hate it overall — I just thought it was fine.

This is the feature directorial debut of Tim Miller, and you can occasionally feel his lack of experience. It's competent enough, but the movie often falls prey to shaky cam action scenes and quick cutting; this is a small-scale story, but Miller's direction gives it a sense of claustrophobia that I'm not convinced is intentional. He gets good performances out of Reynolds — who clearly relishes playing this character, delivering his one-liners with an almost Ace Ventura-like affection — and Baccarin, and the two of them appear to have genuine chemistry on screen. Even though their love story is a little underdeveloped, it was that aspect — not the blood-spattered action sequences — that I found most compelling.

But the villain's storyline is totally undercooked. We know absolutely nothing about Ajax as a character other than that he's a jerk to Wade Wilson and he doesn't feel pain, and we know even less about Angel Dust. This is in the trailer, so I don't feel like I'm giving anything away, but she eventually gets in a fight with Colossus, and it's just the two of them punching each other back and forth for like five minutes, intercut with other action. Their fight doesn't matter, because we don't know a single thing about this character, other than that she chews on matches for some reason. Keep an eye out for what happens to her at the end of the movie, too — you'll have to really pay close attention, because the film isn't at all concerned with giving you any real indication of whether she even lives or dies.

Why does Ajax do what he does? What does he want? What are his orders? Who is his boss? These are fundamental questions that are either glossed over in an unsatisfying way or not even addressed, which makes it really hard to engage with the film's story on anything more than a surface level. And try as it might to break from conventions, Deadpool still relies on the unnecessary crutch of having the third act climax take place on a giant vehicle that inevitably crashes to the ground in a wave of CGI nonsense.

If your only hope is that Deadpool is a vehicle to rebrand the character after X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it definitely succeeds on that front. Reynolds is undeniably a great fit for the part, and it sure seems like everyone there was having a lot of fun making a movie they probably never thought would actually see the light of day. But if you want the movie to have anything to offer besides quips and head shots, you're going to be sorely disappointed.