Jeff Öff

Here is Oklahoma state Rep. Dennis Johnson (R-Duncan) using the phrase "Jew me down" when talking about small business owners. Someone pointed it out to him and he quickly "apologized," saying "I apologize to the Jews. They're good small businessmen as well." He's since given a more formal apology. "It just came out of one of the wrinkles of my brain and it was not something that was intentional,” Johnson told The Oklahoman. “I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone and I apologize for the folks I did offend. It is a comment that should never be made. I will never do it again."

Pittsburgh is a safer place, thanks to police detective Ronald DePellegrin, who allowed himself to receive a blow job in order to arrest a prostitute.

DePellegrin saw an online ad for a prostitute and "obtained his [chief's] permission to conduct an undercover operation." He set up an appointment with the prostitute, first stopping by Walgreens to purchase condoms and baby wipes.

DePellegrin describes what happens next in his criminal complaint: “Becky started to perform oral sex on me, when I said oh shit, the cops were coming."

A police union spokesman uttered a classic policespeak word in his defense of the sting operation: "[Police officers] sometimes have to do what they have to do to effectuate an arrest."

Sex First, Then Arrest Hooker: Don't Cops Have Better Things to Do?

Fans may miss the juvenile tone of previous Saints Row games in Saints Row 4, according to senior producer Jim Boon in an interview with Official Xbox Magazine.

"I think our fans would miss what might considered juvenile elements of previous SR games," Boon told OXM. "Based on the overall reception and sales of SR3, I strongly suspect many people enjoy this aspect of SR, even if some may not want to admit feeling that way. Thinking of a movie series like The Hangover - people love the humor but you might not want to discuss some of the finer moments of those movies with your mom, for example."

He went on to say that Saints Row 4 doesn't take itself too seriously and that "we even have a lot of fun at our own expense." Boon also...

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My Creative Commons licensed 2013 novel Homeland, the sequel to my 2008 novel Little Brother, spent four weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and got great reviews around the country. But Fox apparently hasn't heard of it -- or doesn't care. They've been sending takedown notices to Google (and possibly other sites), demanding that links to legally shared copies of the book be removed.

These notices, sent under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, require that the person who signs them swears, on pain of perjury, that they have a good faith basis to assert that they represent the rightsholder to the work in question. So Fox has been swearing solemn, legally binding oaths to the effect that it is the rightsholder to a file called, for example, "Cory Doctorow Homeland novel."

It's clear that Fox is mistaking these files for episodes of the TV show "Homeland." What's not clear is why or how anyone sending a censorship request could be so sloppy, careless and indifferent to the rights of others that they could get it so utterly wrong. I have made inquiries about the possible legal avenues for addressing this with Fox, but I'm not optimistic. The DMCA makes it easy to carelessly censor the Internet, and makes it hard to get redress for this kind of perjurious, depraved indifference.

Fox Censors Cory Doctorow’s “Homeland” Novel From Google

What is left to say? A sane man’s contempt for the United States Senate must now be certain and complete. Given the inertia on even the most modest legislative response to the mass murder of schoolchildren, those still credulous enough to believe that our governance is representative of popular will are either Barnum-sized suckers, or [...]

AMC has finally confirmed a premiere date for the final eight episodes of what many call the greatest show on television right now - "Breaking Bad".

The final batch kicks off Sunday August 11th at 9pm. Assuming there are no gaps, people (including myself) who plan a marathon viewing of the final season should keep in mind September 29th as that would be the day the final episode goes to air.

AMC is also set to debut "Talking Bad," a post-episode discussion show, on the same night in the 11pm timeslot. The 10pm timeslot will be filled by the network's new crime drama series "Low Winter Sun".

Source: Variety

Hope this helps. Sorry, it wasn’t released until the day taxes were due.

Last month Google announced that Netflix was now available on ARM-based Samsung Chromebooks thanks to the use of HTML5 video — and now the streaming service has outlined its larger plans to eventually move to the format for all computers. Currently, Netflix primarily uses the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in when streaming video to web browsers, but Netflix's Anthony Park and Mark Watson point out in a blog post that the current solution really can't stand. Plug-ins don't play well with with most mobile browsers, they can be cumbersome for users, and perhaps most importantly, Microsoft itself may not develop a new version of Silverlight beyond the current release.

The solution is HTML5 video, but that relatively young technology requires...

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A video game's visuals not only help drive gameplay, but are "60 percent of the game," Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli told X360 magazine during a recent interview.

Yerli said that people will say that graphics aren't important, but urges people to "play Crysis and tell me they don't matter."

"It's always been about graphics driving gameplay," Yerli said. "In Crysis 3 it's the grass and the vegetation, the way the physics runs the grass interact and sways them in the wind. The better the graphics, the better the physics, the better the sound design, the better the technical assets and production values are-paired with the art direction, making things look spectacular and stylistic is 60 percent of the game."

Crysis 3 launched Feb. 19 for Xbox...

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Is there a point at which self-aware irony breaks down, and we're forced to recognize that everything we think is a knowing pastiche of a medium has simply become the medium itself? Perhaps, but the creators of Blood Dragon — the weird and kitschy offshoot of Far Cry 3 that will launch in May — have put a tremendous amount of spirit into building their ultraviolent action movie of a game. In the "near future" of 2007, "the apocalypse has had an apocalypse," leaving behind a world full of cyborg soldiers, toxic wastes, neon lights, and other gaudy retro-futuristic cliches from the era of VHS. With its first full-length trailer, Ubisoft gives Blood Dragon a multi-media treatment, complete with fake commercials, animated GI Joe-style...

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For BB pals Gil and Steph, here's a fan-made video for alt-country group Lambchop's wonderful folky, loungy cover of "This Corrosion," the epic 1987 triumph of goth bombast by The Sisters of Mercy. And if it makes you yearn for some Sisters, check out the original video below.

Jeff Reifman sez,

After granting Microsoft amnesty on its $1.5 billion Nevada tax dodge, state tax collectors are aggressively targeting Seattle dance clubs and night clubs over an obscure 'opportunity to dance' tax. Auditors search the Internet to find out whether people dance at specific clubs. One clubowner reports an auditor told him: 'You have the opportunity to dance, and we verified it by 8 or 10 different references on Yelp.'

"My auditor came in with an obituary of a girl who committed suicide,"says another club owner. "When I argued that we aren't primarily a dance club -- we have 'No Dancing' signs up everywhere -- she flashed this obit that said the girl liked to dance at [our club].

The Legislature gave up $100 million annually to Microsoft so it can target the city's music scene to try to make up $880,000. The Century Ballroom, a popular dance club, is holding ongoing fundraisers to offset its $250,000 in back taxes. Dancers are effectively funding Microsoft's Nevada tax dodge.

Seattle Dance Clubs Fundraise to Pay Microsoft’s Tax Bill (Thanks, Jeff!)

Microsoft is investing in TV in a big way with its next Xbox console as part of a fight for the living room. Multiple sources familiar with the company's Xbox plans have revealed to The Verge that Microsoft will introduce a feature that lets its next-generation console take over a TV and set-top box in a similar way to Google TV. We understand that the next Xbox will require an online connection to use the entertainment services, allowing them to be always-on for streaming and access to TV signals.

Very similar to Google TV, but with Xbox gaming

The functionality will work by taking a cable box signal and passing it through to the Xbox via HDMI, allowing Microsoft's console to overlay a UI and features on top of an existing TV channel...

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AMC and Sony TV are said to be exploring the idea of a "Breaking Bad" spinoff series centered on one of the show's most recognizable supporting characters - Bob Odenkirk's shady lawyer Saul Goodman.

The project is being conceived by creator Vince Gilligan and series writer-producer Peter Gould, the latter created the character.

Saul has essentially served as the comic relief in what is otherwise a dark drama series, whereas the new series would likely be a straight up comedy.

The final eight-episode run of "Breaking Bad" commences in July.

Source: Deadline

As chess increased in popularity across Europe in the 1800s, the proliferation in the variety of chess sets caused confusion amongst competitors, especially those hailing from different countries. The English typically used Barleycorn sets:

or St. George sets:

The Germans often used Selenus sets:

Regence sets were popular in France:

Chess set collector Ty Kroll explains the confusion:

English saw a different design for every chess club: St. George sets with their appearance of stacked disks, Dublin sets with more rounded middles, and Northern Uprights with columns instead, as well as elaborate, easily tipped Barleycorn sets. Germany had delicate Selenus sets, beautiful beyond belief, but fragile, tippable, and problematic for play. To tell which piece is which on some of these sets one must count the stacked crown. France saw elegant Regence style sets with some of the most confusing signatures in history. As in the English sets, queen's were represented by orbs. The king's floral crown closely resembles the modern Staunton signature for the queen. Knights were always taller than bishops the old French sets. Bishops were represented as fools, not clergymen, and therefore lacked the signature miter. What was worse, the knights in these sets were sometimes simple turned designs, not the recognizable horse's head. This lead to common confusion as to which minor piece was which. The confusion of antique French knights and bishops is still a common problem today.

Then in the 1849, Nathaniel Cook designed and John Jaques began to sell a set that eventually came to be called the Staunton chess set:

Howard Staunton was regarded as the top chess player of his era and organized the first international chess tournament in 1851. Staunton endorsed the set and it soon became the standard in chess competitions and, later, the official standard of the World Chess Federation. The most recent iteration of the official Staunton set is Daniel Weil's design for World Chess:

If you're interested in learning more, Jimmy Stamp has a nice piece about the design of the original Staunton set and Weil's update at Smithsonian magazine.

Tags: chess   Daniel Weil   design   games   Howard Staunton   Jimmy Stamp

There’s a really great thread on Branch going on discussing ideas for updating the Save icon. If you’re any kind of designer you’ve probably had that discussion with your peers or friends of how outdated the floppy disk icon is, and how it certainly doesn’t make sense for a younger audience who are more familiar with clouds over floppy disks. The group of 13 designers go into a lot of detail like the semantics of the word, the history of how we got here and so on.

Sad news: Iain M Banks, beloved author of brilliant science fiction novels and (to my taste), even better thrillers, has terminal gall bladder cancer that has spread to his liver, pancreas and lymph nodes, and is unlikely to live for more than a year (and he may live for less time). He posted the news early today, in a statement that's bravely and darkly humorous, as befits his work and his reputation:

As a result, I’ve withdrawn from all planned public engagements and I’ve asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honour of becoming my widow (sorry – but we find ghoulish humour helps). By the time this goes out we’ll be married and on a short honeymoon. We intend to spend however much quality time I have left seeing family. and relations and visiting places that have meant a lot to us. Meanwhile my heroic publishers are doing all they can to bring the publication date of my new novel forward by as much as four months, to give me a better chance of being around when it hits the shelves.

There is a possibility that it might be worth undergoing a course of chemotherapy to extend the amount of time available. However that is still something we’re balancing the pros and cons of, and is anyway out of the question until my jaundice has further, and significantly, reduced.

Lastly, I’d like to add that from my GP onwards, the professionalism of the medics involved – and the speed with which the resources of the NHS in Scotland have been deployed – has been exemplary, and the standard of care deeply impressive. We’re all just sorry the outcome hasn’t been more cheerful.

I've never (to my recollection) met Banks, but I am a huge fan of his works. As I wrote some years ago in Wired, his novel Dead Air is the first truly post-mobile-phone thriller I ever read, one where all the suspense comes from characters being in constant contact and knowing what the others are about, rather than the uncertainty of not being able to reach one another. There's a scene in that book, where someone is trapped in a closet when the killer comes home unexpectedly, and is texting to a confederate outside, that is nothing short of genius. Where the traditional mystery would have put the confederate through the stress of wondering what might be going on, in a position of total ignorance, Banks delivers a complete, minute-by-minute SMS set of updates to the confederate, and shows that knowing is infinitely more scary than ignorance, if handled by a master. Which he is.

Growing up, my whole circle of friends doted on his debut novel, The Wasp Factory, whose toe-curlingly, wonderfully macabre gross-out climax still makes me go a little sweaty-palmed when I think of it. And his novel Complicity was the book that set me on the path to giving up cigarettes.

I haven't even touched on his science fiction novels, the incredible Culture series, but they are worthy of your attention, too. In short, the field is losing one of its greats, and Scotland is losing one of its great champions for independence, and the world is losing one of its great campaigners for justice.

I wish Iain and his family a calm and loving and graceful time, and thank him sincerely for the hours of pleasure and the years of insight he's given to me and all of us.

Iain Banks diagnosed with gall bladder cancer

(Image: Iain (Menzies) Banks, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from kyz's photostream)

QUEENS, NY—The Robert Mapplethorpe Children’s Museum officially opened its doors to the public Tuesday, drawing over 1,000 visitors with its interactive exhibits and youth-oriented activities aimed at making the photographer’s signature ...

This undated bodybuilding ad is a spectacular example of the form -- the busy, unbridled, exuberant machismo, the fonts, the repetition. I think the world would be a better place if all printed literature took this form.

Come on, Buddy!

Up above is The Art of Japanese Joinery, a book I jealously guarded for years because it could only be found at Kinokuniya; nowadays you can get it on Amazon. Inside are photos of the fiendishly complicated joints that traditional Japanese carpenters used to cut using pull saws (like this one on Hand-Eye Supply) and the like, constructing both houses and enormous temples completely free of metal fasteners. And the joints were strong enough to withstand earthquakes.

It's hard to believe the book is from 1977, as everything in it looks like it was cut by a CNC machine rather than guys named Yoshi and Taka who drink Ki-Rin on the weekends. Nowadays, of course, the Japanese traditional carpenter is being supplanted by CNC machinery, but at least they're still used during the assembly and final finishing phases of house construction. Doobybrain dug up this video from '11 showing a Japanese CNC shop preparing lumber for house construction, followed by footage of the builders putting it up:

A buddy of mine who works in construction has disabused me of my builder envy; there is nothing fun, he has pointed out, about straddling a header and trying to wrestle a Glulam beam into place with guys named Bobby and Tommy who drink Miller on the weekends. But seeing the guys in this video snap each precisely-cut piece into place looks... satisfying, no?

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Devastating piece by Ellis Hamburger for The Verge on the calamitous state of iCloud Core Data syncing: users want it, but it simply doesn’t work reliably.

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