Roumen.ganeff

tastefullyoffensive:

Cats Giving High Fives (Part 1)

Previously: Animals Being Jerks (GIFs)

The first one is the best.

Aged Men

catsamazing:

Cats are weird

orientaltiger:

The first innovative bicycle path in the Netherlands will be paved with light stones that will charge during the day and emit light during the evening. The path will run by the home that Vincent van Gogh lived in from 1883-5

"It’s really slow at work." -Txmaluda

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Catellite Dish. [via]

Talk about a service dog.

gifak-net:

 [video]

sweaterkittensahoy:

djlegz:

I don’t like sports, but the Bearcats are my new favorite team.

I love how it gets more elaborate each time. These boys are thinking this through.

walking about in toledo, spain

this is a wonderfully preserved ancient town, having been inhabited in some form for about 2,000 years. it remains the seat of religious power in spain, but madrid is where the politics were relocated a few hundred years ago - leaving toledo in a mothball-like state, untouched by time.

welcome to toledo

the view from our room is insane. caught the changing light on the cathedral throughout the day as we came back to the hotel between walks. lovely.

via https://plus.google.com/u/0/103488786418978849574/posts/bGCikHwLbmg

this is a spanish train appreciation post

fast, efficient, on time and comfortable. their super fast trains are super fast, but even their commuter trains were excellent - and again, on time.

renfe’s only obstacle to being #1 in my heart is the complete lack of US credit card support on their website. other than that, i heart renfe.

Well, that took awhile. Remember the first-party gamepad Samsung trotted out at the Galaxy S4 unveiling? It's finally ready for release -- in Europe. The months of extra development don't seem wasted, at least: The revised pad sports a new facade ...

Google is back again with its annual list of the most popular searches of the year -- only this time, with a 3D twist. In addition to old-fashioned 2D charts, the internet giant's 2013 Zeitgeist includes a trend globe that lets you see what major ...

While the US justice system slowly begins to digest everything Edward Snowden revealed about the NSA, the whistleblower himself remains stateless and living under temporary asylum in Russia. In an open letter to the people of Brazil, following ...

North Dakota’s state insect is the lady bug, but right now the state is just bugging ladies (let alone everyone who cares about women’s rights).

On Friday, North Dakota’s legislature approved a measure that would define life as starting at conception, giving personhood to fertilized eggs in the state Constitution. It’s  the first time a personhood measure has passed in a state legislature. The North Dakota House approved the measure in a 75-35 vote (it had already been approved by the state Senate), and it will now go to voters as a referendum in November 2014,  If it goes into effect, the measure would effectively ban all abortions in the state.

Another measure passed by the state House on Friday is a bill that would require abortion clinic physicians to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. This particular measure is obviously designed to shut down the state’s only abortion clinic in Fargo, and is commonly known as a TRAP law. It now goes to Gov. Jack Dalrymple for his signature (or veto).

On top of these bills, the North Dakota House narrowly pushed down another Senate-approved bill that would have prohibited the intentional destruction of embryos, the goal being to block stem-cell research.

“Planned Parenthood will continue to fight these legislative attacks on women’s health in partnership with a broad coalition of doctors, patients, teachers, lawyers and other concerned North Dakotans who do not want to see politicians inserting themselves into the private medical decision-making of women and families in our state,” said Sarah Stoesz, the head of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota.

EMILY’s List president Stephanie Schriock hopes North Dakota voters will see through this attack on Roe v. Wade and reject it.

I am outraged that North Dakota women’s rights and personal health are under attack by extreme politicians. Not only is the personhood bill extraordinarily dangerous, it’s unconstitutional.

 Photo of North Dakota state capitol in Bismarck by jimbowen0306 via Creative Commons 2.0.

“

Why do we have an abortion rate 20% higher than France’s (and more than twice as high as Germany’s), especially considering most doctors here won’t perform them? The answer is any country that has universal health care, where contraception is free, where child care is free or inexpensive, where there is less poverty because people don’t become bankrupt over medical bills — those societies are simply going to have fewer unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.

And there the mask gets pulled off the Bart Stupaks and the “Christians.” If the statistics show that countries with government-provided universal health care and nearly-free abortions are, in fact, the countries with the fewest abortions, then why on earth wouldn’t the Right be the first in line to support universal health care?

Because it isn’t about “universal health care.” It’s about controlling women, period. It’s about sticking your nose in other people’s business. It’s about pushing your religious beliefs on everyone else because voices in your head tell you your Jesus is The One — even though your Jesus never said one single solitary word in any of the four gospels of the Bible about abortion or fertilized eggs being human. You’ve just gone and made it up about “life beginning at conception.” Jesus never said that. The little voice in your head said that, the same little voice that wants your grubby paws on women’s uteruses. You need help. Please get some help and leave the rest of us alone, Mr. Stupak and friends.

”

-

Michael Moore: My Congressman, Bart Stupak, Has Neither a Uterus Nor a Brain (via veruca-assault)

I wish I could reblog this 1,000 times.

(via evangotlib)

Synced tabs are finally coming. Thanks to the leaked Windows Blue build 9364, guys at WinForum have managed to post quite a few OS and IE11 screenshots; and while we wait for someone to run HTML5Test or any other benchmarks, this is what we got now: And here is a video that hints at the [...]

Filed under: Latest News

Red Bull Racing/YouTube

This video - recently released by the Red Bull Formula 1 team - shows just how much engineering expertise goes into the manufacturing of a successful racer.

Set to a quirky beat, it sees designers, mechanics and engineers all add their touches to the RB9 as it passes through sketches, modelling and wind tunnel testing.
It's all slightly nerdy but also strangely gripping as precision machines go about their business slicing metal, forming carbon body parts and drilling cogs for gearboxes.

The end result is a machine that can accelerate to 190mph in the time it takes many sports cars to reach 60mph and produce so much G-force through corners, the driver must exercise their neck muscles on a weekly basis to counter the effect.

Watch the video below and witness the Red Bull team working in harmony to create the elegant racer. It's just a shame the drivers aren't this congruent.

 

Most of us on XDA aren’t content to simply make do with OEM-provided software on our mobile devices, and when it comes to our PCs, the same principle seems to apply. Dual booting or completely replacing the shipped OS is pretty commonplace among XDA users. And if you change your Linux distro as often as you change your ROM, then this application will definitely grab your attention.

DriveDroid is an app by XDA Forum Member FrozenCow, which as its name suggests, allows your Android device to act as a live USB drive from which to boot your PC into various OSes from ISO or IMG files. You don’t even need to go through the hassle of downloading and transferring to your device, as the application contains a built in menu of various well known and lesser known distros to download straight to your SD card. This means that you can keep a complete recovery option for your laptop on your device without the need for a separate USB drive or CD.

This app depends on the kernel in use being able to support UMS (USB mass storage mode). Most kernels support this function, but it isn’t usually enabled by default and it’s this setting that seems to be causing the most issues among users. The app will check for this option being enabled upon the first run and prompt you to enable it if needed. There are also some limitations to the specific ISO files, which can be used with the app, but incompatibilities can be worked around for those with specific needs.

All in all this looks to be a very promising application. If it’s something that appeals to you, I wholly recommend checking out the application thread for more information.

Juggling two jobs can be difficult for anyone, but Captain Edward Kenway seems to take the responsibilities of both pirate and Assassin in his stride. Ubisoft today dropped a "gameplay reveal" trailer for Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, showing the kind of salty shenanigans players can expect from its latest open-world murder simulator.

While more of an in-game trailer than actual gameplay, it shows some of the locations Eddie will visit, the adventures he'll get up to, and the ways he'll kill men. Check our preview for more on what the actual game's like.

Black Flag is coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U on October 20, with PC and PlayStation 4 editions (and presumably Microsoft's new console too) to follow.

It's never to early to start the pre-order drive through, so Ubisoft today revealed what comes in the Black Island DLC pack included free with GameStop pre-orders. It offers the Black Island treasure-hunting quests, the Black Ship, Captain Morgan's silver flintlock pistols, and multiplayer jazz including old Momo's costume.

Star Trek Into Darkness is nearly upon us, and the veil of secrecy will soon be lifted for good.

read more

Ezra Klein:

But I’m not sure I want to be a Google early adopter anymore. I love Google Reader. And I used to use Picnik all the time. I’m tired of losing my services.

All companies cancel services and abandon apps. The difference with Google Reader is that they’ve canceled something beloved.

 ★ 

We’re a week away from the debut of Game of Thrones on March 31, and you get the feeling the show’s probably going to be bigger than ever this time around.

read more

There isn't really a dearth of highly scripted linear first-person shooters. Yet, 4A Games manages to create something truly engrossing with its follow-up to Metro 2033. Metro: Last Light doesn't captivate by innovating--instead, it shines through sheer polish, offering best-in-class visuals, satisfying battles, and an intricately detailed world to explore.

Last Light takes place one year after the events of 2033, with Artyom once again looking for the Dark Ones. And although there is quite a bit of backstory to wade through, newcomers and fans alike will be able to instantly appreciate the unique setting of Metro--a post-apocalyptic world where nuclear war has forced Russian denizens to seek shelter in underground subway systems.

Metro: Last Light

4A brings the Metro universe to life with absolutely stunning visuals--on a high-end PC, at least. (We didn't see the console versions demoed.) What really sells the experience isn't necessarily the tech, however. You can simply absorb the world by looking around. Pay attention, and you'll notice how everything in the world has been jury-rigged from garbage and scraps to accommodate humanity's new lifestyle. From gates to boats, humanity has come up with rather interesting solutions for living underground.

The world feels alive, and during your expeditions to the game's many towns, you'll feel tempted to simply watch how NPCs interact with one another. In one part of the game, you'll walk through a cabaret show. I saw one complete act, and decided to move on as the second act was beginning--but I wondered: how long could I have stayed there?

You'd want to enjoy the environments--if you weren't running out of air

While it's easy to get tricked by life in the "streets" of the Metro underground, there's quite a lot of turmoil to deal with. Above-ground, nuclear fallout is responsible for horrifying mutants--and poisonous air that kills without an air filter. The irradiated fallout provides Metro some of its most exhilarating moments. As you traverse the destroyed Russian cityscape, you'll be constantly pressed for air filters. Lasting only a few minutes, the game forces you to be mindful--and incredibly resourceful, scavenging bodies and searching hidden corners for every last filter you can find.

Although there are some knuckle-biting moments fighting mutants, I found myself enjoying the challenge of fighting against human enemies far more. While the monsters overwhelm with brute force, the human opponents of Metro are much more cunning. The AI feels incredibly responsive to your actions. If you're ever detected, you'll see the AI moving foes into cover, looking for opportunities to flank you. As their numbers whittle down, you'll see them adjust their tactics. One time, I was especially impressed to see that two enemies were scanning the area with their flashlight, as they walked around backs against each other. Seeing the AI constantly engaging with new tactics makes combat utterly satisfying.

With a beautiful distopyian sci-fi setting, and an interesting mix of human and mutant enemies to fight, Metro: Last Light perfects the formula that Valve introduced in Half-Life. And given the studio's silence on Episode 3, Last Light may be the closest thing we'll get to a proper Half-Life follow-up. That's not meant as a mark against 4A's talent--rather, it's proof that Metro: Last Light is shaping up to be something rather remarkable.