'"Gerrymandering has much of the same mechanics as a board game," Josh said, including scheming and strategizing. He said he's always been puzzled by the fact that although he lives in Austin, his home district 10 stretches all the way to Houston.'
'Creating a game simple enough for a third-grader took about a year and hundreds of people play-testing it, Josh said.
The first version of the game, which they created last July, used the board for the game Settlers of Catan (a family favorite). As they kept developing it, they used pieces from other games in their collection, refining the rules over time and eventually designing their own board and pieces.
Now, the family has launched their game on Kickstarter. It's a familiar feeling, because when Louis Lafair was 11 he published his first board game called Pathwayz.'
Urban chicken keepers are on the rise, as people seek a more ethical and nutritious source of fresh eggs, as well as loyal pets and a closer connection to nature in the urban jungle.
Because many of these small-scale chicken owners form a close bond with their backyard birds, they sometimes like to invite them inside the house to join the rest of the family. The one problem with this is: the poop. Chickens poop several times a day, so poop on the carpet is pretty much inevitable unless… You can put a diaper on your feathered friend.
Julie Baker, founder of Pampered Poultry, saw a Youtube video of an indoor chicken wearing a diaper-like contraption and loved the idea. She set about making her own fashionable designs with the help of her daughter. “We started about 10 years ago,” Julie told Bored Panda. “It was borne out of necessity as my daughter was always bringing her chickens in the house. We never imagined the product would resonate with so many backyard chicken keepers around the world.”
“Our customers range from hard core indoor chicken keepers, to those caring for sick or injured birds, to the social media crowd who just love interacting with their birds and sharing with friends and family on the internet. You might not think it, but chickens have fascinating and complex personalities.”
According to Julie there is a phenomena known as ‘chicken math,’ which loosely translates into people thinking they need around 6 birds, but over time find themselves with 30 and a new coop. “There are so many colors, breeds, size, egg colors.. and they are really easy to keep, so you really are never forced to limit yourself! Usually it’s the husbands who set the limit,” She said with a chuckle.
All the diapers are handmade by a group of women in the Dominican Republic, while the designing and order fulfillment is done at Julie’s workshop in Claremont, NH. “We sell between 1,000-2,000 a month,” Julie told us. “I love to shop for fabric and am always thinking of new ways our customers can interact with their beloved pets! The diapers are machine washable, so they offer pet chickens many hours of play time exploring the house and enjoying life inside with their families.”
What do you think of the amazing world of chicken fashion? Would you like to keep chickens as pets? Scroll down below to check out Julie’s designs for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
Scrabble players will have to rethink their game after new words, including OK and ew, added to approved list
Three hundred new words have been added to the official Scrabble dictionary, including sriracha, beatdown, zomboid, twerk, sheeple, wayback, bibimbap, botnet, emoji, facepalm, frowny, hivemind, puggle and yowza.
Merriam-Webster released the sixth edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary on Monday, four years after the last version.
Missouri town’s mayor has threatened a boycott, saying it puts the city up for ridicule
For many in the town of Uranus, Missouri, the title of the town’s new newspaper is taking some time to digest.
This week publishers announced the launch of the Uranus Examiner, a new local paper in Pulaski County in the southern US state. It quickly became the butt of controversy, flushing out critics who wasted no time attacking the new title.
Sad how some missing people are front page news all over the country and others are barely mentioned. "Now he is calling on the public who might have been around the 360 bridge Monday afternoon to share any information that could be helpful to this case.
"I just want to know if people actually saw her on the side of the freeway," Davies said. "
Scientists don't know what's causing the aurora-like phenomenon, which has been known to amateur photographers for decades but only recently came to the attention of researchers.
Politics are important. They can also be silly. Case in point: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram ran a story on August 9 about how the Beto O’Rourke campaign logo resembles the packaging for Whataburger Spicy Ketchup. As is journalistic practice, the paper approached the Ted Cruz campaign for a comment, and spokesperson Emily Miller offered up the following: “Unlike the spicy ketchup, when Texans unwrap the O’Rourke packaging, they are definitely not going to like what they see underneath. He’s like a Triple Meat Whataburger liberal who is out of touch with Texas values.” The response seems like a good-natured jab—until you try to parse what it actually means. Then the message turns cryptic. (That’s true even beyond the first sentence’s misleading structure, which suggests that the spicy…View Original Post
Enlarge / One of the electronic voting machines used by the state of Georgia. (credit: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
With worn-out clichés about the dead voting, Chicago used to be the poster child for voter fraud. But if any state is a poster child for terrible election practices, it is surely Georgia. Bold claims demand bold evidence, and unfortunately there's plenty; on Monday, McClatchy reported a string of irregularities from the state's primary election in May, including one precinct with a 243-percent turnout.
McClatchy's data comes from a federal lawsuit filed against the state. In addition to the problem in Habersham County's Mud Creek precinct, where it appeared that 276 registered voters managed to cast 670 ballots, the piece describes numerous other issues with both voter registration and electronic voting machines. (In fact it was later corrected to show 3,704 registered voters in the precinct.)
Multiple sworn statements from voters describe how they turned up at their polling stations only to be turned away or directed to other precincts. Even more statements allege incorrect ballots, frozen voting machines, and other issues.
by Alicia Adamczyk on Two Cents, shared by Alicia Adamczyk to Lifehacker
If you travel frequently and have a stash of miles you haven’t used yet, consider donating them to an organization that can use them to reunite families separated at the U.S.-Mexican border.
For over a century, visitors to Kreuz Market in Lockhart knew where the legendary barbecue joint stood on sauce. Open since 1900, the set-in-its-ways Kreuz Market made its “No Forks, No Sauce” message a big part of their image, including a sign that hung under the wall-mounted menu: No Barbecue Sauce (Nothing to Hide) No Forks (They are at the End of Your Arm) No Kidding (See Owner’s Face) That changed last October in a move so quiet, I just heard about it last week. When non-Texans try to explain our sauce-reluctant barbecue tradition, they often offer a phrase of clarification: “Some barbecue joints in Texas don’t even offer sauce.” The now-defunct BrisketTown in Brooklyn even used their lack of sauce as a marketing tool that…View Original Post
"in 1992 using Grey Poupon Dijon was 62.2% indicative of being high income, by 2016 that fanciest of mustards had been replaced by the iPhone. "
Put away that Rolex, because there's a new conspicuous consumption totem on the block.
A June paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research looking at, in part, common predictors of wealth, found that owning an iPhone is a strong sign that someone is in fact straight ballin'. Or, at least "high-income."
"We measure cultural distance between two groups as the ability to infer an individual's group based on his or her (i) media consumption, (ii) consumer behavior, (iii) time use, or (iv) social attitudes," notes the study abstract.
The paper, by Marianne Bertrand and Emir Kamenica, has some interesting details. For example, while in 1992 using Grey Poupon Dijon was 62.2% indicative of being high income, by 2016 that fanciest of mustards had been replaced by the iPhone. Read more...
Tearing down walls and cubicles in offices may actually build up more barriers to productivity and collaboration, according to a new study.
Employees at two Fortune 500 multinational companies saw face-to-face interaction time drop by about 70 percent, the use of email increase between 22 percent and 56 percent, and productivity slip after their traditional office spaces were converted to open floor plans—that is, ones without walls or cubicles that ostensibly create barriers to interaction. The findings, published recently in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, suggest that removing physical dividers may, in fact, make it harder for employers to foster collaboration and collective intelligence among their employees.
Many companies have waged a so-called “war on walls” to try to create such vibrant workspaces, the authors Ethan Bernstein and Stephen Turban of Harvard wrote. But, “what they often get—as captured by a steady stream of news articles professing the death of the open office—is an open expanse of proximal employees choosing to isolate themselves as best they can (e.g. by wearing large headphones) while appearing to be as busy as possible (since everyone can see them).”
The Republican House speaker has revealed that a family of hungry rodents has put his car out of commission
Please send your thoughts and Amtrak prayers for Paul Ryan as news emerges that his car has been devoured by a family of hungry woodchucks, a sharp-toothed member of the marmot family also known as a groundhog.
The vandalism took place while Ryan was in Washington, and had left his Chevy Suburban parked at his mother’s house in Wisconsin over the winter. A family of woodchucks made a home in the chassis and gnawed their way through the wiring. Ryan told an audience at the Economic Club of Washington on Thursday that he only discovered the pests when he took his car to a dealer to be checked. Ryan hasn’t actually driven the car for three years, as he has a security detail and is chauffeured around.
Barbaro drives me a little crazy sometimes but I'm glad he wrote this. These kickstarter rewards are fantastic.
"oldest brother Louis, who just graduated from Stanford University, invented the award-winning Pathwayz board game at the age of 11 and got it published and distributed. And Mapmaker already boasts an enthusiastic plug from Steve Jackson, the dean of Austin's gaming community." ... "Pledge $70 or more, and in addition to the game you get, they'll send one to your governor or state legislator. Pledge more, and you can get the message to more lawmakers. Buy the "Super PAC," for instance, and you get five copies of the game for yourself, plus they'll send copies "to ALL 9 Supreme Court justices, ALL 32 governors who have VETO power over gerrymandered maps, and ALL 37 state legislatures that DRAW gerrymandered maps""
"capture a rattlesnake, bite its rattle off with your teeth, sneak into your neighbor’s RV, and release it in his home '
There are a lot of ways to settle disputes with a neighbor. You could hash it out over a beer, reaching some sort of consensus through discussion. You could involve a neutral third party, whether in an official capacity (like a peace officer or judge) or by agreeing to let another neighbor who has no beef with either of you assess the situation. Heck, you could just silently resent this person who, by a sheer accident of fate and geography, happens to be in your life in a surprisingly intimate capacity and who could well end up being there for the rest of your natural lives. You coul let it fester into something that fills you with inexplicable rage every time you see the overgrown…View Original Post
"Asylum seekers and economic migrants are flocking to the United States.
Xenophobes warn these foreigners will fuel crime, drive down wages and destroy the nation.
As nativism spreads like a prairie fire, an anti-immigrant president from New York rises to power. He has a proclivity for conspiracy theories and appoints his daughter to a key White House role.
Austin City Limits will be taping a performance by Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real on July 2nd at 8 pm at ACL Live at The Moody Theater (310 W. 2nd Street, Willie Nelson Blvd). We will be giving away a limited number of space available passes to this taping. Enter your name and email address on the below form by noon on June 28th.
Winners will be chosen at random and a photo ID will be required to pick up tickets. Winners will be notified by email. Passes are not transferable and cannot be sold. Standing may be required. No photography, recording or cell phone use in the studio. No cameras computers or recording devices allowed in venue.
Amazing ending to overtime. A great play at 2:23:50 (youtube time). An almost unbelievable play at 2:25:44 youtube time with 8 seconds left on the game clock. "This game is basically over at this point." Also, Boom should announce all ultimate games.
"Everyone who works on homelessness agrees on the way to fix the problem. Build more homes. Not coincidentally, more places for people to live would help alleviate all sorts of other problems, from climate change to income inequality. But the kinds of housing California needs are not the kinds that get built. The reasons amount to an obstacle course built from policy mistakes, economic vicissitudes, and prejudice." ... "despite demand and a decent economy, far too few houses get built anywhere—especially in cities. In the past decade, we needed 15 to 20 million new housing units to keep up; the country built a tenth of that. Demand, meet supply: Prices have soared" ... "The result is pressure on young people, people of color, and the poor. People trying to climb onto the ladder can’t get a handhold; people on the ladder’s bottom rungs get flung off by people nearer the top. They face an impossible choice: Move somewhere cheaper, if they can, or become homeless." ... "The thing is, this problem is solvable. The science, as shown in large-scale, randomized trials, is pretty solid. For families, housing vouchers—where the government pays for a giant chunk of rent—really do work. But only if the homes are there, a particular problem in high-cost markets like California. " ... "The trick, though, is that there has to be enough housing available to make all this happen. You need enough homes for people who can afford to rent or buy them, and then enough on top of that to provide room for people with vouchers—by definition below market rate—and permanent supportive units, by definition way below market rate." ... "When people argue against new construction that changes their “neighborhood character” or makes parking harder, they’re protecting the things about their cities that they love, and in California at least, protecting their investment. But those rationales have the effect of being racist, ageist, and classist. And during a homelessness crisis, they prioritize architectural detail and cars over people’s lives."
Amid all the digital wealth, the big cities of the West are racked with the destitute. We know how to solve this problem, so what’s stopping us?
When Walter Anderson was convicted of murdering a convenience store clerk two decades ago, it seemed like he would be in prison for the rest of his life. However, an incredible nonprofit pressured the courts to revisit Walter’s case, and thanks to new forensic tools, he received some incredible news: After spending 20…
According to officials in Mexico, an artificial earthquake was reported in Mexico City that was possibly caused by "massive jumps during the goal from the Mexico national soccer team" on Sunday. KABC reports: Hirving Lozano scored the lone goal in the 35th minute, picking up Javier Hernandez's pass inside the penalty area and beating Mesut Ozil before shooting past Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from 10 yards. The goal decided the match -- a match Germany didn't expect to lose. Mexico upset Germany, the defending champion, 1-0. The loss meant Germany became the third defending champion in the last 16 years to lose its opening match at the World Cup. "Two monitoring stations in Mexico City picked up the temblor the same time Lozano scored, 35 minutes into the match," reports USA Today. "Seismologists in Chile also said that their instruments detected an artificial temblor at the same time."
Austin City Limits will be taping a performance by Wild Child on 6/21 at 8 pm at ACL Live at The Moody Theater (310 W. 2nd Street, Willie Nelson Blvd). We will be giving away a limited number of space available passes to this taping. Enter your name and email address on the below form by noon on 6/18.
Winners will be chosen at random and a photo ID will be required to pickup tickets. Winners will be notified by email. Passes are not transferable and cannot be sold. Standing may be required. No photography, recording or cell phone use in the studio. No cameras computers or recording devices allowed in venue.
"When you answer name-calling with name-calling and tantrums with tantrums, you’re not resisting him. You’re mirroring him. You’re not diminishing him. You’re demeaning yourselves. Many voters don’t hear your arguments or the facts, which are on your side. They just wince at the din."
Robert De Niro and Samantha Bee model the wrong way to resist a dangerous president.
Politics are important. They can also be silly. Case in point: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram ran a story on August 9 about how the Beto O’Rourke campaign logo resembles the packaging for Whataburger Spicy Ketchup. As is journalistic practice, the paper approached the Ted Cruz campaign for a comment, and spokesperson Emily Miller offered up the following: “Unlike the spicy ketchup, when Texans unwrap the O’Rourke packaging, they are definitely not going to like what they see underneath. He’s like a Triple Meat Whataburger liberal who is out of touch with Texas values.” The response seems like a good-natured jab—until you try to parse what it actually means. Then the message turns cryptic. (That’s true even beyond the first sentence’s misleading structure, which suggests that the spicy…View Original Post
For over a century, visitors to Kreuz Market in Lockhart knew where the legendary barbecue joint stood on sauce. Open since 1900, the set-in-its-ways Kreuz Market made its “No Forks, No Sauce” message a big part of their image, including a sign that hung under the wall-mounted menu: No Barbecue Sauce (Nothing to Hide) No Forks (They are at the End of Your Arm) No Kidding (See Owner’s Face) That changed last October in a move so quiet, I just heard about it last week. When non-Texans try to explain our sauce-reluctant barbecue tradition, they often offer a phrase of clarification: “Some barbecue joints in Texas don’t even offer sauce.” The now-defunct BrisketTown in Brooklyn even used their lack of sauce as a marketing tool that…View Original Post
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There are a lot of ways to settle disputes with a neighbor. You could hash it out over a beer, reaching some sort of consensus through discussion. You could involve a neutral third party, whether in an official capacity (like a peace officer or judge) or by agreeing to let another neighbor who has no beef with either of you assess the situation. Heck, you could just silently resent this person who, by a sheer accident of fate and geography, happens to be in your life in a surprisingly intimate capacity and who could well end up being there for the rest of your natural lives. You coul let it fester into something that fills you with inexplicable rage every time you see the overgrown…View Original Post
