Bewarethewumpus

Alan sez, "Amnesty International have a petition up that asks for the release of Manning. The petition argues that both on humanitarian grounds and on account of the pre-trial treatment, Manning is deserving of a clemency release."

We, the undersigned, support Amnesty International’s letter calling for clemency for Chelsea Manning.

- Private Manning has accepted responsibility for her actions and claims she was acting in the public interest.

- The materials leaked by Manning reveal potential human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law by US troops, Iraqi and Afghan forces operating alongside US forces, military contractors, and the CIA.

- The severity of the sentence imposed on Private Manning is more harsh than that imposed on some members of the military who have been convicted of serious crimes, including murder, rape and war crimes.

- Private Manning has already served more than three years in pre-trial detention, including 11 months in conditions acknowledged as breaching military standards, and condemned as cruel and inhumane by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

Support the Release of Chelsea Manning (Thanks, Alan!)

Comics creator Paul Dini did a guest appearance on Kevin Smith's podcast "Fatman on Batman" podcast, and talked, in part, about the gender considerations of execs in new animation/superhero kids' show design, Vi transcribed the relevant piece, in which Dini recounts conversations he's had with execs who insist that they don't want any girl fans of their shows, because girls don't buy toys. And to keep girls from watching the shows, they make sure that girls are always presented as sidekicks, "one step behind the boys." It's absolutely infuriating.

DINI: "They're all for boys 'we do not want the girls', I mean, I've heard executives say this, you know, not Ryan(?) but at other places, saying like, 'We do not want girls watching this show."

SMITH: "WHY? That's 51% of the population."

DINI: "They. Do. Not. Buy. Toys. The girls buy different toys. The girls may watch the show -- "

SMITH: "So you can sell them T-shirts if they don't-- I disagree, A, I think girls buy toys as well, I mean not as many as f***ing boys do, but, B, sell them something else, man! Don't be lazy and be like, 'well I can't sell a girl a toy.' Sell 'em a T-shirt, man, sell them f***ing umbrella with the f***ing character on it, something like that. But if it's not a toy, there's something else you could sell 'em! Like, just because you can't figure out your job, don't kill chances of, like, something that's gonna reach an audi -- that's just so self-defeating, when people go, like… these are the same fuckers who go, like, 'Oh, girls don't read comics, girls aren't into comics.' It's all self-fulfilling prophecies. They just make it that way, by going like, 'I can't sell 'em a toy, what's the point?'

DINI: "That's the thing, you know I hate being Mr. Sour Grapes here, but I'll just lay it on the line: that's the thing that got us cancelled on Tower Prep, honest-to-God was, like, 'we need boys, but we need girls right there, right one step behind the boys' -- this is the network talking -- 'one step behind the boys, not as smart as the boys, not as interesting as the boys, but right there.' And then we began writing stories that got into the two girls' back stories, and they were really interesting. And suddenly we had families and girls watching, and girls really became a big part of our audience, in sort of like they picked up that Harry Potter type of serialized way, which is what The Batman and [indistinct]'s really gonna kill. But, the Cartoon Network was saying, 'F***, no, we want the boys' action, it's boys' action, this goofy boy humor we've gotta get that in there. And we can't -- ' and I'd say, but look at the numbers, we've got parents watching, with the families, and then when you break it down -- 'Yeah, but the -- so many -- we've got too many girls. We need more boys.'"

SMITH: "That's heart-breaking."

DINI: "And then that's why they cancelled us, and they put on a show called Level Up, which is, you know, goofy nerds fighting CG monsters. It's like, 'We don't want the girls because the girls won't buy toys.' We had a whole… we had a whole, a merchandise line for Tower Prep that they s***canned before it ever got off the launching pad, because it's like, 'Boys, boys, boys. Boys buy the little spinny tops, they but the action figures, girls buy princesses, we're not selling princesses.'"

Fatman on Batman 52: 'Beware the Batman' talk (via IO9)

NES Remix is a new game collection from Nintendo for the Wii U that takes 16 classic Nintendo games -- from Super Mario Bros. to The Legend of Zelda -- and picks specific pieces of them for remixing. For instance, an Excitebike level is shown as if ...

The Daily Show presents President Obama's barefaced lies about NSA surveillance. The lesson: if the President says the NSA is not doing it, then the NSA is doing it.

scorpiondagger:

- here’s my ‘life of christ’ in 10 gifs - 

[anotherwebcomic]

Eight of the biggest technology companies in the world have jointly called for reforms to global surveillance laws, launching a site called Global Government Surveillance Reform, which sets out the following principles:

1. Limiting Governments’ Authority to Collect Users’ Information
2. Oversight and Accountability
3. Transparency About Government Demands
4. Respecting the Free Flow of Information
5. Avoiding Conflicts Among Governments

The companies announced the initiative through full-page ads in the New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, Roll Call, and The Hill, and asked the US to take the lead in surveillance reform (presumably, because the US has taken the lead in surveillance itself):

Dear Mr. President and Members of Congress,

We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer’s revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide. The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual — rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It’s time for a change.

For our part, we are focused on keeping users’ data secure — deploying the latest encryption technology to prevent unauthorized surveillance on our networks and by pushing back on government requests to ensure that they are legal and reasonable in scope.

We urge the US to take the lead and make reforms that ensure that government surveillance efforts are clearly restricted by law, proportionate to the risks, transparent and subject to independent oversight. To see the full set of principles we support, visit ReformGovernmentSurveillance.com

Sincerely,

AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo

Eight Tech Giants Call for Reform to Surveillance Law

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem ride again!

Thanks, Ellen!

Video Link

via http://thisisnthappiness.com/

No one wants to look bad in front of Kratos. According to this Robot Chicken animated spot for Killzone: Shadow Fall, God of War's heroic brute is very active on Facebook, so think before you hit that share button.

This 60-second spot, airing Monday night on Adult Swim before the Robot Chicken Born Again Virgin Christmas Special, was lovingly crafted by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios as a follow-up to last year's PlayStation All-Stars bit. Check out AdultSwim.com later today for a mini-site featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the stop-motion skit.

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This pointillist drawing of Link took redditor Svezzz812 "hours and hours and hours" of work to complete. But it was worth it! That's one damn gorgeous pair of eyes.

Dayshot is an image-based feature that runs every morning, showcasing some of the prettiest, funniest game-related screenshots and art that we can find. Send us suggestions if you've got them.

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

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Watching The Core's trailer makes you forget you're looking at a mod for a game that came out in 1998. It's just gorgeous.

The Core is an in-development total conversion for the first Half-Life. It takes place during the resonance cascade, which is when Gordon Freeman and his scientist buddies accidentally unleashed the aliens of Xen on the Black Mesa Research Facility. Like in Opposing Force and Blue Shift, the two official expansion packs, you get to experience the cataclysm from a different perspective to Gordon's—this time, that of engineer Maurice Andrews.

The mod's been in development since 2008, so hopefully it should pop up soon. Here's hoping; I'd love to get my hands on this one. Check out the trailer below:

The Core - Official Trailer Release [ModDB]

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

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There are plenty of legitimate reasons to feel that being a PC gamer is more advantageous to your hobby. There are also valid statements made about being a console gamer.

It's been said before, and the deft hands at Dorkly are saying it again: let's just enjoy bonding over a shared love, no matter how we access it.

To contact the author of this post, write to tina@kotaku.com or find her on Twitter at @tinaamini.

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Last day for Christmas shipping. Thanks for another wonderful year entertaining all you geeks.

David McRaney, host of Boing Boing's most popular podcast, You Are Not So Smart, just posted this fun video about "The Post Hoc Fallacy" ("just because B follows A doesn't mean that A causes B") to promote his new book, You Are Now Less Dumb.

Thank you all so much. I'm sitting in an airport with a dying battery, but seriously, I have not felt so unstressed in a long time. More on this later, promise!

New Comic: Netiquette

Here’s your requisite Christmas-themed comic! Enjoy.

Today is Day 5 of our Patreon campaign! If you’re unfamiliar with Patreon, there’s a good explanation of what we’re using it for here.

We’ve just passed the $1800 mark as I write this, only $200 away from the  first goal. Help put us over the top! Remember, I’m going to give a free copy of the SFAM Vol. 1 ebook to all current patrons when we hit the $2000 mark. If you want your free ebook too, become a patron today!

tastefullyoffensive:

Sports in a nutshell. [vectorbelly]