Tom Wright

(via Pleated Jeans)

New fantasy novel!

Blood for Blood: The Vengeance War the complete trilogy collection of Blood for Blood, an epic fantasy adventure. Prince Hakon struggles to bring two warring kingdoms to peace, while fighting an inner battle to live up to the expectations of two different ancestries. He and his sister Kara race to bring opposing nations together before everything they know is destroyed.

You can purchase Blood for Blood: The Vengeance War (the complete trilogy) on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, and Inktera. It is also available in three different parts. The first book is free.

New non-sci-fi/fantasy book!

Lessons for a Tara Dactyl is my distilled worldly knowledge, written down for my daughter, Tara Dactyl. It pains me that the entirety of my knowledge fits in less than 50 pages. This book is not plot-driven; it’s a reference.

You can get Lessons for a Tara Dactyl for free on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, and Inktera.

Another new non-sci-fi/fantasy book!

Pick a Game! is a fun book I wrote on voting systems with Ethan Daum. The premise is that you need to choose a board game to play, so we tell you how to do it. This book is not plot-driven; it’s a reference.

You can get Pick a Game! for free on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, and Inktera.

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A few days ago, James Gunn posted a story he got sent from a fan whose autistic young brother was overjoyed when he realized that Drax the Destroyer was just like him: “He’s like me! He can’t do metaphors!”

Warning: Somehow, something got stuck in my eye after looking at this picture. It might do the same to you!

[Source: JUST KEEP SWIMMING SWIMMING SWIMMING | Via]

[Source: Texts from Superheroes | Follow Texts from Superheroes on Twitter | Like Texts from Superheroes on Facebook]

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(via Pictures In Boxes)

Californian politicians have passed a law mandating a “killswitch” in all smartphones, allowing users to remotely disable the phone if it’s lost or stolen. It’s the first such law to require such a feature to be enabled by default.

Bill 962 says all phones that are manufactured after 1 July 2015 and then sold in California must have the killswitch. Exactly how it operates is up to manufacturers, but the key requirements are that the owner must be able to remotely disable the phone; a disabled phone must remain unusable even after a hard reset; and that only the original owner can reactivate the phone on a wireless network.

The bill has exemptions meaning that the original owner loses the right to disable the phone after selling it to a new owner, or surrendering it as collateral on a loan.

Apple, Google and Microsoft have already promised to build a killswitch into their operating systems from next year, while Minnesota became the first state to mandate killswitches in May.

However, the California law goes a step further as, unlike Minnesota’s, it says phones must ship with the killswitch already enabled, with owners then having the option of disabling it. Given California is home to around an eighth of the US population, manufacturers may well decide it’s now simplest to build and enable the killswitch into all handsets shipped to the US.

The politicians behind the new law argue that it will make stolen phones less valuable, in turn deterring thefts. Several police authorities in major cities have cited statistics showing that smartphones are the target of a significant proportion of thefts in public places, particularly those involving violence or the threat of violence.

However, critics of the killswitch — including many GaS readers who’ve commented on previous stories — raise concerns that there’s a risk of public officials finding a way to force manufacturers to trigger killswitches without the user’s request, for example to shut down communications among a group of protesters.

If you’d like to recreate the battle of Hoth in your front yard, then you’ll need to buy this Star Wars AT-AT lawn ornament. It’s cast from resin, looks great and… no, I’m not actually sure if Dak is under there. Let’s just think about Ewoks now, shall we? Happy furry thoughts.

This lawn ornament will be available for purchase in November.

Check out another pic after the break…

Product Page $39.99

Get ready to roll dice Browncoats, because a Firefly Collector’s Edition of Yahtzee is coming your way. It’s a bizarre combination that I didn’t see coming, but it is pretty shiny. The set comes with a cool Serenity ship cup (I want to buy the game just for that) and custom dice. Pre-order now to play Yahtzee with Serenity in September.

Product Page ($49.99 via Geek Alerts)

It looks like Tumblr user Lorenzo is going to win the “good big brother” award today: he recently helped his six-year-old little sister learn about some classic video game characters from Nintendo’s popular Smash Bros. series. Lorenzo recorded his sister’s answers, and while they weren’t exactly spot-on, they were at least pretty funny and adorably cute. Oh, and her answer for Pac-Man is definitely the best.

(The Soupy Investigation via The Mary Sue)

Now here’s something that you initially think is awesome, but then you think about it a little bit more. That’s when you realize how stupidly dangerous it is.

The iron is sold by itself and then you can just snap it onto any standard Bic lighter. All you do is hold the flame on the metal end for a minute or two, and it’s ready to brand stuff with the Bat Signal.

Needless to say don’t go using this thing on anything that’s highly flammable…or living.

See more pictures after the break.

Product Page ($30.60 Boing Boing via io9)

Whether you’re taking notes about the proper pronunciation of a new spell or writing out the month’s rent check, using a quill will make the task cooler. Extra points if you use a Harry Potter Hogwarts house pen from Etsy shop Mythical Menagerie. The fantastic writing instruments are made from dyed pheasant feathers that are hand painted to match the crest of each house. Each one is made to order and though they’re sold out right now, the seller will be restocking soon.

See some detailed shots after the break.

Product Page (Wicked Clothes via TMS)

Oh my goodness, this is adorable! :)

[Keith Zerfas | Via Buzzfeed]

Ghostbusters is celebrating its 30th anniversary, so it’s time to revisit the classic paranormal comedy that launched one really disappointing sequel. Maybe two…

[Screen Junkies]

Watch part I here!

[Action Movie Kid]

We all know the story about the strange goo, but this Venn diagram t-shirt explains it in a logical way that mathematicians can understand. That slice where Ninjas and Renaissance Artists overlap is exactly where you’ll find the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

See another picture after the break.

Product Page ($14.99)

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by W. Eric Martin

Asmodee and Days of Wonder have announced a "merger of Days of Wonder into the Asmodee Group of game companies", which is shorthand for Asmodee buying Days of Wonder. No purchase price was disclosed in a press release announcing the deal or by DoW's co-founder and VP of sales and marketing Mark Kaufmann, who I spoke with about the deal. (A Forbes article from March 2013 notes that Days of Wonder "generates $10 to $20 million in revenue annually".)

Says Kaufmann, "We weren't looking to be acquired", but after being approached by Asmodee at the start of 2014 and following several months of discussion, both internally and between the companies, Days of Wonder CEO Eric Hautemont, Kaufmann, and others who are part of the DoW management team decided that they believed in Asmodee's long-term plans and decided to make a deal.

To provide more background on the deal, Asmodee itself was acquired in January 2014 by the European investment company Eurazeo. More specifically, Eurazeo bought 83.5% of Asmodee through an equity investment of €98 million while Asmodee's management team and founders reinvested €14 million of their own. When the deal was first announced on November 12, 2013, Asmodee had an enterprise value of €143 million.

Kaufmann notes that Asmodee has been a partner and customer of Days of Wonder since DoW was founded, purchasing its first title — Gang of Four — in October 2002 for distribution in Europe. In more recent times, says Kaufmann, "Asmodee acquired Esdevium, which was our UK distributor, and acquired Pro Ludo, which was our German distributor. They've been our biggest partner in Europe since day one." In short, Asmodee currently distributes Days of Wonders' titles in Germany, France and elsewhere, and now it will be responsible for overseeing the publisher's entire output everywhere. (Kaufmann notes that in the U.S. Days of Wonder will remain exclusively distributed by Alliance Game Distributors.)

Going forward, the plan is to keep Days of Wonder a separate studio within the Asmodee Group, with the company continuing to develop and publish a limited number of titles each year. Kaufmann says that he and Hautemont will still be with Days of Wonder for an unspecified length of time. "It's difficult to know how long the transition will take," says Kaufmann. "We built this and care about it, and how we integrate everything with them from sales to manufacturing will take time." The number one concern is making sure that supplies of Ticket to Ride are sufficient to carry through the fourth quarter of 2014. After all, Days of Wonder has sold more than five million non-digital games since its founding in 2002, and more than two million of those are Ticket to Ride.

Kaufmann says that Adrien Martinot, who heads Days of Wonder's European division, will head up the DoW studio within the Asmodee Group. As for what this might foretell of future DoW releases, Kaufmann notes that Martinot was in charge of developing Bruno Cathala's Five Tribes and pushing it within the company, despite the game being more involved and thinky than a typical DoW release.

The press release notes that through this purchase, Asmodee "also increases its exposure to the U.S. game market and will benefit from Days of Wonder's digital games development expertise." Kaufmann says that Asmodee really values DoW's internal digital team, and this team will likely expand in the future.

"We're satisfied and happy with what we've done," says Kaufmann. "We weren't looking for somebody, but this is an opportunity for us. We made sense from [Asmodee's] perspective as distribution is in their DNA, especially when you look at something like Jungle Speed and their broader sales to toy stores, as they have been able to help some other companies get broader distribution. We'll still be doing games that fit with our mission, and will be branded that way."

Jewel Staite’s Instagram caption reads: “There is nothing cuter than mini Browncoats. Nothing.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Send your cosplay pics to tips@fashionablygeek.com.

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Presented without comment.

[Via NA]

OK, when you put it like this, it is a little creepy. Inconceivably so.

[Via: Geekologie]

Take a close look at the Guardians of the Galaxy t-shirt pictured above left. Someone important is missing: Gamora. The female assassin is a member of the Guardians team and has a pretty hefty role in the Marvel film, but she’s being left out of merchandise. I noticed her missing in t-shirts, a coffee mug, and even party supplies.

Twitter user Kristen spotted this exclusionary tee at The Children’s Place and decided to write them about it. In the meantime, her daughter fixed the shirt by adding Gamora. She did a fine job. The Children’s Place, however, not so much. This is how they replied to Kristen’s question about the lack of Gamora on the t-shirt:

“We rely on advice from our licensors for our licensed tees. The Guardians of the Galaxy shirt in particular is a boy’s shirt, which is why it does not include the female character Gamora. We try to have a diverse assortment but unfortunately cannot represent each movie and character.”

Not. Impressed.

See the reply from The Children’s Place after the break.

Who's missing from this #GuardiansOfTheGalaxy shirt at @childrensplace? WHY NO GAMORA SERIOUSLY. pic.twitter.com/QJLif6Fyve

— Kristen (@kristenrapp) August 17, 2014

@HiddlesEducates @Guardians @childrensplace Here you go, my daughter fixed it in about 10 minutes: pic.twitter.com/wXQuwTsn5h

— Kristen (@kristenrapp) August 18, 2014

.@justjenn @amy_geek @HiddlesEducates @Guardians FYI, I got a reply from @childrensplace and… this IS 2014, right? pic.twitter.com/MT3A855HcF

— Kristen (@kristenrapp) August 18, 2014

Rapp also noted people went after The Children’s Place on Facebook:

Oh my god, there's a bunch of irate posts on @childrensplace's FB page now: pic.twitter.com/lGd5yg8wPd

— Kristen (@kristenrapp) August 19, 2014

This mashup features the always eloquent Groot as Bart Simpson. He is, of course, writing sentences on the chalkboard as punishment for some childhood infraction. I’d imagine it’d be a pretty predictable opening every week with him writing the only sentence he ever speaks over, and over, and over.

Grab this one while you can as it’s only on sale for the next few days.

Product Page ($14.95 via shirtoid)

This Darth Vader Japanese dress is adorable isn’t it? If the Dark Side isn’t your thing, you can also show off your favorite ship with the Millennium Falcon Ladies A-line dress.

Head after the break for a look at the Falcon A-Line.

Product Pages: Darth Vader Japanese Dress $60 Millennium Falcon Ladies A-line Dress $39.99

Sisters Christie and Robyn dressed as Elsa and Anna from Frozen at Tampa Bay Comic Con, but they didn’t do your average take on the costumes. No, they went hipster – and it’s hilarious. Elsa points out she’s lived off the grid, and Anna has organic carrots for your snowman. I love it.

(EPBOT via Neatorama)

Harley meets Batman for this fun pair of earrings from Hot Topic. The harlequin diamonds on the bat logo really do kind of work. I wonder what Mistah J would have to say about that?

Product Page ($5.20)

WeLoveFine’s new H Signs t-shirt is based on Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye #19. In the comic, Hawkeye suffers an inner ear injury that leaves him unable to hear, but the bigger win for the comic was how well it portrayed the daily life of deaf people.

This tee depicts “Hawkeye” spelled out in sign language and comes in purple, grey and black.

Additionally, Matt Fraction is donating his proceed from the shirt sales to the Signing Time Foundation. Great shirt and a great cause.

Product Page: ($25 via Technabob)