Fatbob

 Prepare another entry into your File Of No Surprise: Microsoft is moving ahead with its efforts to bring the highly lucrative Office franchise to Android tablets. According to The Verge, Microsoft is currently prepping a private beta of the new software. A sign-up page has been mostly taken offline since the news broke. A full Office suite for Android tablets is roughly as surprising as San… Read More

Peter and Jane are the principle characters in many early reading books, as the British equivalent of the American Dick and Jane. Artist Jon Bentley revisits those primers, but adds a surreal adult twist in the series of oil paintings entitles “Peter and Jane, the Lost Episodes.”

‘Like many people of my generation, I learned to read with Peter, Jane, Mummy, Daddy and Pat the dog. As I struggled with the unfamiliar letters, my eyes where invariably drawn to the picture on the opposite page, full of strange details that drew me in and seemed to suggest a richer more mysterious narrative than the prosaic stories and dialogue on the written page’.  

See all eleven of the paintings, which are for sale, at My Life in Art. -via Metafilter

Dorian, the next character BioWare has revealed for Dragon Age: Inquisition, sounds like a welcome addition to the cast. First off, he's not Cole, which is a huge plus. Secondly, this party member, a mage from the Tevinter Imperium, happens to be gay -- a first for the studio.

Writer David Gaider says Dorian is "the first fully gay character I've had the opportunity to write. It added an interesting dimension to his back story, considering he comes from a place where 'perfection' is the face that every mage puts on and anything that smacks of deviancy is shameful and meant to be hidden. Dorian's refusal to play along with that façade is seen as stubborn and pointless by his family, which has contributed to his status as a pariah."

Gaider went on to say that writing Dorian was "a very personal experience for me, and I'm hopeful that will make him seem like a fully realized character to fans in the end." And really, that's what we want: well-written, interesting, believable characters.

Character Profile: Dorian [Dragon Age via Eurogamer]

These photos show anatomical guides used for educational purposes, first used in 18th century Europe. The figures seem odd in comparison to those seen today, which are absent of many details present in the photos shown here, such as strands of pearls and makeup on the female forms. The figures were generally made of wax.

See more examples (some borderline NSFW that are strangely sexualized) in this article at Dangerous Minds. 

Game designer Paul Neurath (Thief, System Shock 2, Ultima Underworld) is no longer at Zynga Boston, thank goodness. He's just founded a new studio, OtherSide Entertainment, to return to the influential Underworld property with a new game hoping to "revitalize the fantasy genre in the same way its predecessor did in 1992," according to this morning's announcement.

Details are limited for now, but the project is called Underworld Ascension. "With the reboot we're going right back to innovating, and our goal is to make the franchise more vital than ever," writes OtherSide. "We are just getting started so little to see as yet, but rest assured, in the weeks to come we will be showing more and more."

Curiously, the studio says it's "focused on rebooting classic game franchises." Assuming Ascension does well -- and even though much has changed in the past 20 years, Underworld conceivably can still do well -- there could be much more to look forward to.

 Ever wished you could tap the “Change Camera View” button in real life to switch to a third-person view? These guys made it happen. Sure, it requires the user to wear an Oculus Rift and a big ol’ dual camera rig built into a backpack — and sure, it’s probably only fun (and not nauseating) for about a minute. But it works! Read More

The best way to think of Lékué's flexible silicone bowl is as a bread machine that won't waste valuable kitchen counter space when not in use. Because it's soft and flexible it can be easily stored in a cupboard or even a drawer, and because it's all silicone it can go straight from the counter to the oven without messing any additional mixing bowls or pans.

Read more...

via

 

 One of the biggest problems with printing human meat was the creation of blood vessels and ventricles. Making a solid mass of flesh was easy but adding a way to pump blood and other nutrients through the flesh was more difficult. Now researchers at the University of Sydney, Harvard, Stanford and MIT, have solved some of these problems by creating a skeleton of vessels and then growing human… Read More

via

Thanks Marni

 

ASDFnz (472824) writes with news that the first block of bitcoins seized from the Silk Road have been auctioned off, and for a pretty high price. The winners are unknown, and Bitcoin has bumped from trading at ~$600 to $650 (USD). From the article: ...In the absence of information speculation both on the markets and on the Internet is building. First Barry Silbert, Founder of SecondMarket and BitcoinTrust has tweeted that they were outbid on all blocks. Since then Alex Walters (a former core Bitcoin developer and the then chief technology officer of Bitinstant) has posted on reddit saying 'I Lost' in his $400 to $500 per coin. That post was closely followed by another reddit user saying that his bid of $451.13 per coin was also unsuccessful. ... Meanwhile the actual price of bitcoins of the various exchanges has risen close to 15% from just under $600 a coin to close to $650. In the end, we may never know who bought the confiscated coins or how much they bought them for but it does seem that it will be a pivotal point in Bitcoin's evolution.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Star Trek's replicators were not only able to produce any food or products our far-off descendants wanted, they were also able to make it from any kind of waste products. It was the ultimate recycling scenario, one that the new Ekocycle Cube 3D Printer hopes to emulate by using a new filament made in part from recycled plastic bottles.

Read more...

None of us like to think about our death or the death of a loved one, but death is one thing it's important to prepare for. When it comes, you don't want to be stuck trying to get into a loved one's Gmail or Facebook account to shut things down. This graphic shows you what you're in for, and what you—or your loved ones—should have ready.

Read more...

Remember Left Behind? It was cheesy and had way too much Kirk Cameron. Anyway, now HBO has a new J.J. Abrams-directed show called Leftovers, which tells the tale of people left on Earth, post-rapture. And you can stream the first episode for free on Yahoo.

Read more...

Windows "Threshold" may not be called Windows 9.

This is not your typical electron microscope snowflake photo, usually delicate and beautiful. It's a capped column snowflake zoomed in 50,000 times. Those intriguing and sightly gross flabby little hair thingies on both ends of the flake are rime ice.

Read more...

 Thousands of Americans were targets of so-called “backdoor” warrantless surveillance by the NSA and other intelligence agencies last year, according to a letter sent to Senator Ron Wyden. The missive, written by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to the Senator in response to a question posed earlier this month, is plainspoken. The Office also stated that… Read More

Have you ever looked up at the night sky, saw a light moving and didn’t know whether it was a plane or a meteor? It happens. But if you had this flowchart, you’d be able to identify 90% of all moving lights in the sky. Roughly. This flowchart by the League of Lost Causes is designed to teach you to use your deduction skills to correctly lights in the sky according to whether they move, their sizes and other characteristics. It’s even available as a poster, postcard and a mug. Click to enlarge.

Read the full article: This Flowchart Teaches You How To Identify Lights In The Sky

Anyone who works in a group knows the routine: keep your eye on the bulletin board for updates, reminders, and tips. A little levity goes a long way in getting people to actually pay attention.

Redditor Ardentleprechaun collected some pictures of the whiteboard at the Walmart deli where he works, and titled it My coworker at the Walmart deli causes a lot of trouble for management.

Of course, Shane is either fictional, or a good-natured scapegoat, or he may even be the one writing on the whiteboard. That doesn’t make it any less funny!

Every workplace has a Shane, though, even if they go by different names, and they probably change every few months, as your workplace Shane may tend to be fired often.

This collection of pictures has even inspired a new subreddit, where you’ll find a lot more.