Philip.paulssonKid got fat!
Spoiler: He’s changed. A lot.
PETER BROOKER/REX USA PETER BROOKER/REX USA
TOLD YOU.
Cousart/JFXimages/WENN.com JXA
Cousart/JFXimages/WENN.com JXA
Philip.paulssonWow.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Microsoft is in talks to buy Swedish game developer Mojang, best known for its block-based zombie survival building game Minecraft. Citing a "person with knowledge of the matter," the purchase would value the developer at more than $2 billion.
The purchase would be a surprising one. Mojang founder Markus "Notch" Persson has been critical of Microsoft, claiming that Windows 8 could be "very very bad" for indie developers. When Facebook bought VR goggle company Oculus earlier this year, Persson cancelled development of a virtual reality version of Minecraft, saying that "Facebook is not a company of grass-roots tech enthusiasts."
The price is also remarkable. Minecraft is the only Mojang game that's reasonably complete. Card strategy game Scrolls is currently in beta, and planned space-based sandbox game 0x10c was cancelled in 2013.
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Philip.paulssonHahah he got booed.
And it was all his grandma’s idea apparently.
Getty Images for Three Lions Entertainment Theo Wargo
Getty Images for Three Lions Entertainment Theo Wargo
Err wtf.
Getty Images for Three Lions Entertainment Theo Wargo
Philip.paulssonHey reader folks! Go here, sign this! Otherwise this site might get reeeeeaaaaallllllllyyyyy slow.
Philip.paulssonWoah, crazy video.
A video posted to YouTube on Monday appears to show the moment a driver pulled out of his garage and into a tornado in Bashkiria, Russia.
Philip.paulssonHoly shit Finland!
Can you guess which country has the most generous policy?
The International Labour Organization recommends a minimum of 14 weeks paid leave. How does your country measure up?
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
Philip.paulssonOh geez.
Today, someone in my class referred to the September 11th attacks as "Nine-Elevs". FML
Philip.paulssonLOL They guessed
Art History: "You’re very well travelled and your friends would describe you as cultured. You’re well read and always up to date on your local museum and art gallery exhibition openings. You must have studied art history."
Did you do maths? Philosophy? Physics?
Philip.paulssonWow. The "FlamingYoung" one took me a minute.
Here we go again.
Via slumz.boxden.com
Via unsuccessfulmetalbenders.tumblr.com
Via trendzified.net
Philip.paulssonJust ordered this yesterday... should arrive tomorrow. Supposed to be good!
Remember this (glacier) white beauty Sony announced at E3? Well, after three long months of anticipation, it's finally here. ...
Philip.paulsson@Ivy
Want to give Final Fantasy a try on your phone without paying a high price or buying specific hardware? It's time to book a flight to Tokyo. Square Enix has unveiled Dive In, a currently Japan-only streaming game service that lets you rent titles on...
Philip.paulsson12 out of 14
It’s harder than you think.
Getty Images/iStockphoto HS3RUS
Philip.paulsson"trumpet" player? Who doesn't know what a trombone looks like?!?
All he wanted to do was kick a field goal.
National Football League / Via vine.co
National Football League / Via ftw.usatoday.com
National Football League / Via youtube.com
National Football League / Via youtube.com
Philip.paulssonUh oh
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September 10th, 2014: Did you know that I have ITEMS for you? I will sell you one or more items. If you are interested in items, good news!! – Ryan | |||
Philip.paulssonHahaha seems a little mean to be unfriending people on their birthdays... though I've been considering doing a massive un-friending so that Facebook is actually useful for me...
Let the social media purge begin!
SHUT. IT. DOWN.
Fuse TV / Via pardonmyfranglais.tumblr.com
Ew ew ew no.
20th Century Fox / Via giphy.com
How do you make this madness stop?
Hulu / Via hulu.tumblr.com
Let go of the weirdos, creeps, and annoying people!
Universal Studios / Via lovenatureandlesbians.tumblr.com
Philip.paulssonWoah!
If you like geology, you’re used to relying on an active imagination. Most geologic processes occur too slowly to see them play out for yourself. Many of the exceptions are dangerous enough that you might not want a front row seat or are rare enough that the odds of being there to witness them are disheartening. Sometimes, though, the Earth throws us a bone—or in this case, a gigantic slab of granite.
One interesting way that rocks weather and crumble apart is called “exfoliation.” Like the skin-scrubbing technique, this involves the outermost layers of exposed igneous or metamorphic bedrock sloughing off in a sheet. Over time, this tends to smooth and round the outcrop—Yosemite’s Half Dome providing a spectacular example.
We’re not entirely sure just what drives the peeling of an outcrop’s skin like this, but the classic explanation is that it’s the result of bringing rocks that formed at great pressure up to the surface. Once there, the outer layers can expand slightly, creating a physical mismatch with the layers below them.
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Philip.paulssonThat would be awesome.
Oh HELL no.
So far it only exists as a concept. But this could really be a thing.
Modscape/REX
Modscape/REX Modscape/REX
Modscape/REX Modscape/REX
Philip.paulssonI may have been the wrong person to choose or this one.... I like them all!
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September 9th, 2014: I wrote this comic a few days ago only to wake up to the news this morning that John Mann announcing he has early-onset Alzheimers. 51 years old! I feel like most of us have someone in our lives with dementia, and there are lots of Alzheimer's charities supporting research for treatment and prevention who could use your help: here's the Alzeimer's Society in Canada. – Ryan | |||
Philip.paulssonruh roh
You might need to change your email password in the very near future. A member at a Russian Bitcoin forum has posted almost 5 million Gmail passwords, around 60 percent of which are reportedly still working. It's not clear how the poster managed to...
Philip.paulssonAm I bad person for thinking that Vick is still a worse human being than Rice?
EA Sports has often used the slogan "If it's in the game, it's in the game" (or a shortened version) to highlight its simulated fidelity to the real world. So it's perhaps not too surprising that former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice will be removed from Madden NFL 15 following his indefinite suspension from the real world NFL yesterday.
Rice had already been serving a two-game suspension for a domestic abuse incident involving his then-fiance Janay Palmer in a hotel elevator earlier this year. On Monday, Rice was dropped from the Ravens and then suspended indefinitely by the NFL after TMZ posted a video of Rice knocking Palmer out, obtained from the elevator's surveillance camera.
"With Ray Rice's indefinite suspension from the NFL, he will be removed from Madden NFL 15," EA Sports said in a short statement. "This roster change will take place by this Friday."
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Philip.paulssonHahah awesome
OK, that’s pretty good.
Dan Steinberg/Invision for Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment / AP Images
Dan Steinberg/Invision for Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment / AP Images
Dan Steinberg/Invision for Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment / AP Images
Philip.paulssonI really hope he threw up immediately after that video stopped.
Do not try this at home, kids.
Philip.paulssonHah!
Philip.paulssonHaha wow.
The One Where Everything Is Simulated.
Philip.paulssonLOL
Philip.paulssonLoved my TI-81!
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read.
The Unstoppable TI-84...
Philip.paulssonCourtesy None. Though I have the easypay xpress card, so I no longer have to worry about this.
We’ve all been there. The train is coming into the station, and you grab your MetroCard and quickly try and swipe it at a turnstile.
"Please Swipe Again". "Please Swipe Again". "Insufficient Fare".
The last two words are killer. You think to yourself “I swear I had a balance on this card”. You go and check the card out and you see you have “$2.45”. Yes, you need $2.50 to ride the subway, and you have $2.45 on your MetroCard. Sure enough you miss that train all because of that nickel.
How did you end up in that situation any way? It turns out the MTA has designed it that way. Imagine how many tourists come to NYC and leave with balances that never get used. Imagine how many people lose metro cards with those balances that never get used. And even if it gets used on a later refill, the MTA gets to collect the cash earlier this way! Win win for them, right?
But now, with some simple math, you can fight back!
First, let’s see how the MTA tricks you out of your money earlier than you might want to release it to them.
When you are buying a MetroCard, you can get a 5% bonus if your purchase is big enough. So you get the following screen early on in the purchase process:
If you click the button on the left, they just got you. Your card will have $9.45 on it, meaning you will get 3 rides and end up with $1.95. That is a great deal for the MTA. They get all the money from every rider who does that, and they get the interest on that until you refill again and repeat the cycle.
Let’s say you don’t take the bait. You click MetroCard. Then you get this screen with three new short cuts:
Three quick options. But wait a minute. One button leaves you with the same $9.45 card, and gives a remainder of $1.95 after just three uses. The next one is even more frustrating: you end up with a $19.95 card, leaving a remainder after 7 uses of $2.45! That’s right, the nickel we were talking about earlier. The last option does not leave you much better off. You’ll get a $40.95 card, which leads to $0.95 on your card after you use 16 rides. So all three buttons presented leave quite a bit of “insufficient fare” on the card.
So how do you fight back Well, click “Other Amounts” and type your own values:
and remember these three magic numbers: $9.55, $19.05 and $38.10. That’s right. Never use the short cuts. Just type in one of those numbers.
Once you do, you’ll see your excess balances nearly vanish once you apply the 5% bonuses:
Buy a $19.00 card? $2.45 left on card after use. Buy a $19.05 card? No balance left after use! Magic. But what if you want a $10.00 MetroCard? There is literally no way to buy one because of the 5% bonus and the fact that all payments need to be divisible by a nickel. Your options are to pay $9.50 to get a $9.58 card after bonus, or pay $9.55 to get a $10.03 card after bonus. Once again, you literally can’t buy a $10 metro card from a machine.
If you absolutely don’t want any left over money, you really only have three choices of payments below $40, as seen in the table below:
If the pennies bother you, then maybe memorize these three numbers: $11.90, $19.05, $30.95.
So if the MTA really cares, what can they do to fix this?
Well here at I Quant NY, I’ve been hard at work coming up with a proposed software change. After much thought, check out this before and after:
Before:
After:
Not a big change you say? Echm. That’s right. If they really wanted to fix the issue, they could ask “How much do you want on your MetroCard” instead of “How much do you want to pay”. But don’t count on those changes coming to a MetroCard Vending Machine near you anytime soon, given how lucrative the current set up is.
Which means it’s up to you. Write down the three numbers, $9.55, $19.05 and $38.10 or pick just the one that matches your buying habits best. You could even write it on the back of your Metrocard if you can figure out how to get ink to stay on it. (There’s a reason they are so shiny.)
A side note: one reason that the MTA may do this is to make paying with cash easier. It would be a nightmare to dispense change if cash buyers used this technique. But that does not explain why they can’t update the credit card only machines or all other machines if they first ask if you are using cash or credit. And of course unlimited card buyers avoid this all together. Also, this does not include the $1 fee associated with new metro cards.
So in closing, Math is useful. And luckily, you don’t have to be Einstein to outsmart the MTA. But on a side note, guess what year Einstein handed in his dissertation… You guessed it. 1905.
Editors Note:
Hi Hacker News/Reddit. For the latest I Quant NY analysis of this great city, sign up for my Mailing List (about one post a week), Follow us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter.
Past posts include finding and fixing the most profitable fire hydrant in NYC, showing that the Health Department is inflating grades or looking at gender and Citibike.
Philip.paulssonHahah Russia is weird.
This might be the most bizarre dashcam yet.
According to the Moscow Times, the incident took place in the city of Chelyabinsk.
