Bewarethewumpus

On what seems to be just another ordinary day, a man is exposed to sexism and sexual violence in a society ruled by women. [SLYT; NSFW; Nudity; Sexual violence]

Joel from the Vinesauce Twitch.tv channel shows how to royally destroy a computer with a copy of the Windows XP operating system installed.

Overnight, Ubisoft released three new trailers for South Park: The Stick of Truth. And... that's all you really need to know, actually. Let's dig in!

First, we have a TV spot. Perfect for increasing hype levels. Oh, and before you check, there are actually no new videos on the website. That reminder is just there for the TV folk.

In this trailer, we get to see a mysterious plague claim a hall monitor.

And finally, an old friend returns:

Not long now! The Stick of Truth, Obsidian's South Park RPG, hits PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 in just a month; March 4 in North America, March 6 in Australia, and March 7 in Europe.

Stick of Truth TV Spot, Ginger Nazi Zombie, Mr. Hankey Trailers [Ubisoft@YouTube]

Questions? Comments? Contact the author of this post at andras-AT-kotaku-DOT-com.

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Take the boys-club crap of the video game internet, put it in a time machine and… you get a funny/sad comic that might just make it a bit more clear just how awful it is for the women who suffer the harassment of unenlightened dudes.

By setting this strip in the early 20^th Century, cartoonist Shaenon K. Garrity subversively drives home just how outdated the attitudes behind sexual harassment and hostility are. I chuckled at the sly Yellow Kid cosplay and Nintendo Playing Card Co. jokes in the background and winced at references to recent headlines. But, mostly I was struck by the loneliness the protagonist must feel at not being able to really enjoy a thing she loves.

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The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada gives candy its "Health Check" seal of approval. This doesn't sit well with Yoni Freedhoff, MD, an assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa, who made a video in which he told the dietitians at the Heart and Stroke Foundation that they ought to be ashamed of themselves and mortified.

Wisdom from the Church of the Everlasting Cheezeburger!

Phroyd

In December, the Australian government approved a plan by India's Adani Group to expand a coal port, and now the government's given the go-ahead to dump the 3,000,000 cubic meters of muck that will be dredged for the project onto the struggling Great Barrier Reef. The GBR, which is a World Heritage Site, is already officially classed in "poor" health, and the ocean floor around it will now be smothered with vast amounts of waste, destroying fragile habitats and crippling a key player in the world's ocean ecology. The Australian government says that the reef will not suffer as a result, but independent scientists who investigated the question firmly disagree.

Conservationists warned it could hasten the demise of the World Heritage-listed reef, which is already considered to be in "poor" health, with dredging smothering corals and seagrasses and exposing them to poisons and elevated levels of nutrients.

The reef is already facing pressures from climate change, land-based pollution and crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks.

"This is a sad day for the reef and anyone who cares about its future," said WWF Great Barrier Reef campaigner Richard Leck.

"The World Heritage Committee will take a dim view of this decision, which is in direct contravention of one of its recommendations."

Australia OKs Dumping Dredge Spoil in Barrier Reef [AFP/Discovery]

(via /.)

James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the architect of the Patriot Act, has repudiated his Frankenstein's monster -- though it took the NSA mass-spying scandal to do it (yo, James, where were you for the 10-ish years of horrors before Snowden's leaks?). He's told American spooks that if they keep on blocking reform to their habits, he'll lead an effort to tank the Patriot Act's spying provisions when they come up for renewal this June, and he sounds serious: "Unless Section 215 is fixed, you, Mr. Cole, and the intelligence community will end up getting nothing because I am absolutely confident that there are not the votes in this Congress to reauthorize 215." (via Ars Technica)

Just Ella is a new short film from Jim Munroe, creator of the awesome science fiction mockumentary Ghosts With Shit Jobs. It was made for the Lo-fi Sci-fi 48 Hour Film Challenge, and is a taste of a new Jim Munroe project called Haphead, which will be made with the same crew and cast as "Just Ella." Jim's looking for production volunteers in Toronto for Haphead, email if you want to help

“Just Ella” posits a future overrun by gibbering monstrosities. Ella takes refuge in a “the Ossington Safehouse, a collectively-run space dedicated to human sovereignty.” But despite doing the assigned tasks on the chore list, the Safehouse isn’t safe — the terrors outside are nothing compared to those within.

Contains perhaps the first cinematic example of autocomplete used for a dramatic reveal.

Just Ella (via JWZ)

Robbo sez, "Dave Raphael of Dave's Blog has an interesting post about a conversation he recently had with Verizon support and discovered some uncomfortable - yet wholly unsurprising - truths about how Verizon is selectively limiting bandwidth to AWS services and adversely affecting the quality of Netflix. The open admission of this by Verizon support was unexpected - but the fact it is happening should be of no surprise to anyone but the ignorant and naive."

Frankly, I was surprised he admitted to this. I’ve since tested this almost every day for the last couple of weeks. During the day – the bandwidth is normal to AWS. However, after 4pm or so – things get slow.

In my personal opinion, this is Verizon waging war against Netflix. Unfortunately, a lot of infrastructure is hosted on AWS. That means a lot of services are going to be impacted by this.

Verizon Using Recent Net Neutrality Victory to Wage War Against Netflix [Dave Raphael/Dave's Blog] (Thanks, Robbo!)

Former State Department official Stephen Kim announced today he will plead guilty to leaking classified information to Fox News journalist James Rosen and will serve 13 months in jail.

The case sparked controversy last year when it was revealed the Justice Department named Rosen a “co-conspirator” in court documents for essentially doing his job as a journalist. But a largely ignored ruling in Kim’s case may have far broader impact on how sources interact with journalists in the future.

In Espionage Act cases involving sources or whistleblowers, defendants naturally want to explain to a judge or jury that the information they may have given to journalists (and the American public) didn’t harm US national security. The bar for this was already too low; in the past, the government didn't have to show actual harm, but at least they had to show the information could potentially harm national security. The judge in Kim’s case ruled the government didn’t even need to do that.

As secrecy expert Steven Aftergood reported at the time:

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the prosecution in the pending case of former State Department contractor Stephen Kim need not show that the information he allegedly leaked could damage U.S. national security or benefit a foreign power, even potentially. Her opinion was a departure from a 30-year-old ruling in the case of U.S. v. Morison, which held that the government must show that the leak was potentially damaging to the U.S. or beneficial to an adversary. (emphasis ours)

This means that it doesn’t matter if the information leaked by Kim was properly classified, or if it should have been classified at all. Kim could not argue the information he gave to Rosen may have been innocuous. The ruling also gives the government carte blanche power to classify whatever it wants—including waste, abuse, and crimes—and keep it secret under the threat of prosecution of anyone who could potentially reveal it. As the defense argued at the time, this ruling turns the Espionage Act into an Official Secrets Act, which Congress has continually refused to enact over the last century.

Because of this ruling, and other rulings in Espionage Act cases that bar defendants from explaining their intent to inform the American public to a jury, Kim likely had no choice to plead guilty. This is also why if Edward Snowden came back to the US he quite literally cannot receive a fair trial: he would be legally barred from making his case in court.

The Kim case yet another example of the broken nature of how the government deals with leaks, in which the Justice Department has complete discretion to ignore the leaks they like, and prosecute the leaks they don’t like. Kim’s lawyer Abbe Lowell made this point eloquently in his statement today:

Stephen’s case demonstrates that our system for prosecuting leaks in this country is broken and terribly unfair. Lower-level employees like Mr. Kim are prosecuted because they are easier targets or often lack the resources or political connections to fight back. High-level employees leak classified information to forward their agenda or to make an administration look good with impunity. In fact, in this case, news reports from the same day demonstrate that Stephen was not the only government employee discussing the topic at issue. Stephen may have told the reporter what the reporter already knew from others, but Stephen was the only one charged.

“Leak” cases are prosecuted under the Espionage Act, a 100-year-old law with crushing penalties that was never intended to apply to conversations between a government employee and a news reporter. The Act and its penalties are designed to punish traitors and spies – not State Department analysts answering questions from the media about their area of expertise. Stephen faced more than a decade in jail for the type of public discussion of foreign policy issues that ought to be encouraged. This Administration and Congress should address these problems, as they undermine the basic fairness of our criminal justice system.

It’s clear the Espionage Act is inherently unfair to sources and whistleblowers. As Congress debates NSA reform, they should also be considering repealing the Espionage Act once and for all.

Last night at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, science educator Bill Nye debated young Earth creationist Ken Ham regarding the origins of life and the universe.

kissnecks:

THIS OKAY

All you have to do is follow Sir Patrick Stewart's Twitter to see he's always ready for some fun. So it's only slightly shocking to see him dressed as China's latest moon rover, which was also the topic of last night's Daily Show.

Watch Patrick Stewart's segment below, or head over to The Daily Show to check out the entire clip.

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This is why I only consume media created by dead people, they can’t disappoint you anymore.

 

[embedded content]

The newest Kirby game, Kirby Triple Star Deluxe came out on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan earlier this month, and its story mode is only the tip of the iceberg in what it has to offer.

There are tons of additions to Kirby’s classic gameplay. We've already looked at Kirby's new copy abilities, but that's just the beginning. Triple Deluxe comes with an up to four player versus mode, two unlockable battle arenas, a version of the game where you play as King Dedede (and fight against a new final boss) and even a rhythm mini-game where King Dedede must bounce from drum to drum—collecting coins in time with the beat.

To see what this all looks like in action, check out the video above.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe was released on January 11, 2014, in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS. It is scheduled for a Western release sometime in 2014.

Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

To contact the author of this post, write to BiggestinJapan@gmail.com or find him on Twitter @BiggestinJapan.

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I know, I know. It's only February. We still have months to go. But this prank is good. Damn good.

And best of all? It's from early last month, so other pranksters will have a good year to try to top it. They'll need it.

The prank appeared on Japanese television special Dokkiri Award ("dokkiri" or ドッキリ means "being surprised") and features comedian Toshiaki Kasuga and, well, just watch:

[embedded content]

In a radio interview, Kasuga said he was at the base of Mt. Fuji for work early the next morning. The night before was cold, and to stay warm, he got drunk with the crew and crashed in the cabin.

Then, he said he woken up by the fireworks going off under the bed. He thought about getting up, but the bed was rocked 50 meters into the cold air. According to Kasuga, he was strapped into the bed while he was sleeping, so he couldn't move. Safety first!

Thankfully, the comedian made it through the prank safe and sound.

超人気番組が一挙集結夢の祭典！番組対抗！ドッキリアワード2014 [TBS]

To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.

Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

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Now that YouTuber Game Dave and his army of young, free-spelling youngsters have weighed in on the console war, it's time to tackle a tougher issue — are video games bad for you?

Yes. Also, no. Maybe?

I'd giggle at the hysterical spelling errors of children under 10, but some of these look an awful lot like my posts before (and sometimes after) I hit the spellchecker.

Instead I mourn the fact that eight-year-old Marie counts eating things you never ate before as a negative. What are we teaching our children?

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Hello good people! I hope this day finds you well. Please, enjoy this comic strip, and if you enjoyed it, share it with a friend or an acquaintance or your pastor.

submitted by spicedpumpkins [link] [524 comments]

Author : Eric Spery

The starship’s Captain stood in the causeway between the dining module and the guest berths. As he stared at the observation port, one of the guests came through from the berths.

The captain knew every passenger he carried on the two month run between Sol and Betelgeuse. This passenger was an old retired military officer from Terra. Just a few years older than himself.

He stopped and stood beside the Captain and stared through the glass at the tapestry of unmoving stars.

“They’re so much more beautiful here,” he said with a slight trace of an accent that the Captain couldn’t place.

“What are?”

“The stars. I’ve never been outside the Earth’s atmosphere. I’ve spent my adult life in cold foxholes looking up at the twinkling stars through the smoke of battle, praying I would live long enough to see the stars again the next night. Praying some day I might leave for good. Leave for the stars and never return.”

“Are they everything you hoped for, sir?”

“They are, Captain. I thank you for taking me on my last journey. To stars that no longer twinkle.”

The old soldier solemnly shook the Captain’s hand and then continued on towards the dining module.

After the portal closed, the Captain turned back to the observation port. How long had it been since he’d noticed the

stars outside? The only thing he saw anymore was his own reflection: old, tired and ready to go home. Hoping to never look again at stars that didn’t twinkle. To go home and never return.

Charlotte, who is seven, wrote this devastating letter to the Lego company over the way that girl characters and boy characters are handled in its increasingly gendered toys: "All the girls did was sit at home, go to the beach, and shop, and they had no jobs but the boys went on adventures, worked, saved people, and had jobs, even swam with sharks."

She calls on Lego "to make more Lego girl people and let them go on adventures and have fun ok!?!"

That's a pretty unassailable request. Thank you, Charlotte, for putting it so well.

7yo Charlotte writes an adorable and strongly worded letter to LEGO regarding the lack of adventures for girls.

I don’t need an excuse to draw the guys from Mythbusters.

Hey! You know what? There’s still time to join Patreon this month and support SFAM! You guys have been amazing so far, Patreon has really turned things around and is making it possible for me to continue working.

If you’d like to see another two guaranteed comics per month, sign up to become a patron today and help us meet our next milestone!

I’m still gathering info for Patreon reward distribution; if you haven’t answered my message requesting your preferences, please do so soon or I’ll have to make a wildly inaccurate guess. Hoping to start getting these out next week.

Speaking of rewards, the Goats Kickstarter rewards are ALMOST done. I have two more pages I need to draw and then we can print the mini, which is the last thing keeping us from starting to ship rewards. I know it’s been a super-long wait but it’s almost over, I swear it. Please don’t lynch me quite yet.