Oakfairy

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Photographs by Barry Bland/Barcroft USA

Pizza Hut has asked designers Chaotic Moon Studios to come up with a way to create your custom pizza without having to rely on your imagination.

The interactive table, which is currently just a concept, lets you use touchscreen controls on your tabletop to not just pick your crust, sauce and toppings, but see a visualization of your order.

Of course, how long a touchscreen lasts when greasy cheese and dripping hot sauces lasts is another question altogether…

[Via: That's Nerdalicious]

uncalar:

codyaferg:

wow-suchbree-veryblog:

"If white people are so privileged why is there a Black Entertainment Network and no White Entertainment Network?"

"Men don’t have privilege, there are women’s only gyms!"

"Why isn’t there a campus centre for straight/cis people!?"

SAME REASONS WHY IN MARIO KART YOU DON’T GET BLUE SHELLS OR LIGHTNING BOLTS WHEN YOU’RE ALREADY IN FIRST PLACE, ASSBAG.

This is honestly the best explanation I have ever seen.

Hahahahahaaa! Wonderful :)

The first thing I said when my gentleman friend proposed in September was "yes."

OK, technically it was "hell, yes," followed by a combination of shrieking, sobbing, and laughing that sounded like the bellow of a water buffalo dragged behind a tractor.

In any case, the second thing I said was, "I'm not wearing shoes for this wedding."

Beyond expressing my fondness for naked feet, it was my way of conveying my desire for a simple, no-frills ceremony. Lucky for me, he shared my vision, if not my abhorrence for footwear.

My engagement ring, one of many not-so-traditional aspects of our upcoming wedding.

A few weeks later, I made the mistake of venturing into a bridal shop. Despite my explanation that I sought a simple, short, non-froofy, non-traditional dress, the attendant proceeded to thrust a mountain of tulle and lace at me until I fled the shop in terror. "Wait!" she called, clinging to my leg and scrambling to drag me back inside. "At least take this free wedding planning guide so you know how to get ready for your big day."

I brought it home and tossed it on the counter, not giving it much thought until I found my gentleman friend skimming it a few days later.

"Did you see this suggested timeline for wedding tasks?" he asked.

"Not unless it's on a page with pictures of food or naked people."

He grinned. "With only eleven months to go, we should have already booked a caterer, hired a florist, gotten your hair and nails done, and packed for our honeymoon."

He might have been exaggerating, but not by much. Since this will be a tuxedo-free, florist-free, caterer-free affair with attendants who still have a bedtime, we weren't terribly alarmed by the industry-prescribed schedule. As the date of our September nuptials has drawn nearer, we've taken to reminding each other of pressing tasks.

"Nine months to go," I declared in December. "Shouldn't we go pick up my bridal bouquet?"

"Eight months left," he announced in January. "We should probably be on our way to the airport for the honeymoon."

"Seven months left," I said in February. "Where's that top tier of the wedding cake we're supposed to pull from the freezer on our first anniversary?"

While the humor of it amuses me, it also reminds me of a slightly less amusing aspect of the publishing world. In the ten or so years since I first tried my hand at writing fiction, not a month has gone buy that I haven't heard the niggling little voice in the back of my head. The writers among you will know that voice, though yours may be somewhat less prone to dirty talk than mine.

"You've been writing a long time," the voice will his in my ear. "You should have landed a book deal by now." 

"Three months until your novel comes out and you still don't have a marketing plan?"

"You've published half-a-dozen books. Shouldn't you have hit the New York Times bestseller list by now?"

The voice has dogged me for decades, and not just when it comes to my writing career. In nearly every aspect of my life, stress can send me stumbling down the coulda-shoulda-woulda path of self-doubt and unhealthy comparison.

"You should have a much bigger retirement account by now."

"You've been doing yoga six years and still can't do side-crow without toppling onto your neighbor's mat?"

"By this point in your career, shouldn't you have a team of nude cabana boys to refill your wine and massage your feet while you write?"

Fortunately, I've gotten better at locating the source of the voice and giving her a good, solid bitch-slap.

"I'm making my own path," I tell her. "I have my own rules, my own timelines, my own damn route to success and happiness."

It's a reminder I imagine most of us need from time to time when we find ourselves fretting about what should have happened in our lives by now. When the imaginary clock ticks frantically for whatever milestone we believe we've failed to achieve.

It's a constant struggle to silence the voice, whether I'm plotting a book or plotting my life.

Maybe not when planning a wedding, though.

"I'm glad we don't have to wear shoes for the wedding," announced my eight-year-old maid of honor and soon-to-be-step-daughter. "Are we going to wear underwear?"

"That depends," I said. "Are we going to be doing cartwheels?"

"Of course we are," she told me. "It's a wedding. Aren't you supposed to do cartwheels at weddings?"

Exactly.

A new service lets people and businesses advertise their bathroom facilities as available to the public in return for a fee. It’s designed to make the most of big events where public facilities are inadequate.

When there aren’t enough bathrooms nearby for the amount of people in any given location Airpnp is there to save the day. Airpnp gives residences and businesses the opportunity to rent out their bathrooms to people in their immediate location who need to use it. This currently happens through a mobile optimized web app (native apps are in the works!). Users are able to rate their pee experience afterwards to others can see how each restroom stacks up.

The founders are both born and raised New Orleanians and during the Mardi Gras they routinely experienced the pain point of having no place to legally urinate. This problem is often solved by using what is known as a “rogue pee.” If caught the person faces a weekend in Orleans Parish Prison. Yet this stiff penalty doesn’t stop thousands upon thousands of “rogue pees.” This clearly demonstrates the demand for a legal alternative. Entrepeeneurs Travis Laurendine and Max Gaudin decided to capitalize on this golden opportunity starting with Mardi Gras 2014.

The BBC notes that toilet owners must provide details such as the cleanliness level of their bathroom and the thickness of their toilet paper.

[AirPNP]

(Image credit: Flickr user Andrey via Creative Commons)

Mens: Royal Blue Womens: Royal Blue

The next time you feel the urge to raid the fridge, you may want to consider grabbing a video game controller instead. As a new study shows, computer games like Tetris provide a visual distraction that can reduce cravings by as much as 24%.

Read more...

flatbear:

Avengers means Bros, and Bros means nobody gets left behind.

Or butt-nekkid.

By Nicki Coley [tumblr | twitter]

“My third grade teacher called my mother and said, ‘Ms. Cox, your son is going to end up in New Orleans in a dress if we don’t get him into therapy.’ And wouldn’t you know, just last week I spoke at Tulane University, and I wore a LOVELY green and black dress.”

- Laverne Cox, speaking at the University of Kentucky (via so-nyeo-shi-daze)

This is the cutest, and it'll fill your heart with joy for the rest of the day. Who doesn't want to dress up in costumes and take pictures with man's best friend?

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[video]

If you’re a Star Trek fan, especially one who always wanted to visit Spain, you’ll soon have an excuse!

Paramount Studios is building Paramount Park in Murcia, Spain, about 270 miles southeast of Madrid on the Mediterranean Coast.

The Star Trek theme park will have a Starfleet recruitment center, a 3D simulator ride, and a Warp Speed roller coaster.

The park will also contain “condos and office buildings, hotels, malls, a casino, a convention center, gardens, nightlife, and dining areas, an exhibition hall/auditorium and a theme park divided into several sections,” according to CNET.

The park is slated for a 2015 opening.

By Leo Babauta

Every problem you or I have (and they are many, small and large), is rooted in fear.

For some, that might seem obvious: the question is how to beat the fears. For others, it’s not so self-evident: why are my financial or relationship or procrastination problems caused by fear?

Let’s tackle both questions — the Why and the How.

First the Why: think about each problem you have, and then think about why you have the problem. Or why you aren’t able to solve it.

A few examples:

• Procrastination: you probably fear failure, or the discomfort of doing something hard, or your fear missing out on something important (why you check email & social media instead of doing the hard task).
• Debt: There are many possible causes, but often you’re spending more than you make because of a shopping habit, or a fear of letting go of some of the comforts you’re used to. The shopping habit might be caused by anxiety (fear that something you want isn’t going to happen) or loneliness (fear that you’re not good enough) or wanting your life to be better than it is (fear that you’re not OK as you are). Letting go of comforts (like your morning Starbucks, or your nice house or car) can be difficult if you fear discomfort, fear that you won’t be OK if your life is less comfortable, fear that others will judge you if your house/car/clothes aren’t as nice.
• Relationship problems: There are obviously lots of possible causes (including that the other person has major problems, though you should always look at yourself as well) … but some fears that cause relationship problems include fear of letting go of control (causing you to want to control the other person), fear that you’re not good enough, fear of abandonment and other trust issues, fear of not being accepted, fear of accepting the other person (actually this is a fear of control problem).
• Can’t exercise: Again, lots of causes, but some of them include: not enough time (fear of letting go of something else that you’re used to doing), exercise is too hard (fear of discomfort), distractions like TV and the Internet (fear of missing out, fear of discomfort).
• Can’t change diet: Same as exercise really. Although there are also often emotional issues, in which case the fears can be very similar to the ones that lead to the shopping habit and financial problems.
• Aren’t doing work you love: You maybe don’t know what you want to do, which means you haven’t committed to really exploring (fear of failing), or you know but haven’t taken the plunge (fear of failure), or fear that you’re not good enough.
• Stressed about work/school: You have lots to do, but the amount isn’t the problem. The problem is you’re worried about getting it all done, which means you have an ideal (I’m going to get it all done on time, and it’ll be done perfectly) and you fear that this ideal won’t come true. So the fear is based on an ideal, but the ideal isn’t realistic. You won’t get it all done perfectly and on time. No one does. Accept the reality, that you’ll get some done, to the best of your ability, and if you fail you’ll learn from that, and that’s how the world works. No one is perfect. The ideal doesn’t exist.

And so on. All other problems are some manifestation of what’s going on in the above examples.

Fear of failure, fear of not being good enough, fear of letting go of control, fear of being alone, fear of abandonment, fear of discomfort, fear of missing out, fear that you’re not OK as you are or your life isn’t OK as it is, fear that some ideal won’t come true.

And these all boil down to the same fear: fear that you won’t be OK, that you’re not good enough. A lack of trust in yourself, and in the present moment.

So what do we do about it?

How to Deal with the Fear

I originally titled this section, “How to Conquer the Fear”, but this is the problem. We see fear as an enemy, to be defeated or it will defeat us.

It’s not. Fear is us. We are human beings in a world of constant change, and this is scary. We are afraid that we won’t be OK in the chaos of change, that we will fail, that we will be judged, that life won’t turn out OK.

The fear is a part of us, and therefore we shouldn’t try to “destroy” it. It can’t be destroyed, because while we can dissipate one particular fear in one particular moment, we’ll still have fears after that. All our lives. It’s not something that can be eradicated — it’s a basic part of life.

So what can we do?

1. We can be aware of the fear. When we are struggling, suffering in some way, be aware that fear is stopping us. Look into what the fear might be.
2. Then we can accept the fear. Don’t feel bad about it, don’t try to crush it, don’t wish it weren’t there. It’s a part of you. It’s a part of life. Accept it.
3. Then we can see how the fear is hurting us. And see how that hurt is self-caused. How we can let go of the suffering by letting go of the fear.
4. We can think rationally about the fear. Actually give it a little space, and consider it. What’s the worst-case scenario? Would you basically be OK? (The answer is almost invariably yes — maybe life wouldn’t meet your “ideal”, but you’d find a way and be OK.)
5. We can be grateful for who we are, and what life actually is (as opposed to what it’s not, or what we’re not). Appreciate ourselves, and others, and life at this moment. We can be grateful for the opportunities that this moment has brought, rather than fearing the change it represents. For example, a loss is an opportunity for reinvention, doing something hard is an opportunity to create or do good in the world, and change is always an opportunity for learning and growth.
6. We can return to this moment, and see that it is perfectly fine as is. There is no ideal when we’re seeing this actual moment and accepting it for what it is. If there’s no ideal, there’s no fear. If we don’t have an ideal of some kind of success, we don’t fear failure. If we don’t have an ideal of what we should be, we don’t fear that we’re not good enough. If we don’t have an ideal of what someone else should be, we don’t get angry at them.

This is a process of awareness, acceptance, seeing the pain, finding gratitude, and being in the moment without an ideal.

It can be done. And then soon after, another fear will appear. And we practice again.

With this practice, we can work with the fear that’s causing our problems. We can accept it without letting it stop us. And this practice, because we are alleviating our own suffering, is an act of self-compassion.

En av de Motorola-relaterade satsningar som blev kvar inom Google efter uppköpet av Lenovo är Project Ara – försöket att ta fram en modulär, uppgraderingsbar smartphone. Project Ara lever fortfarande i allra högsta grad och första utvecklarkonferensen går av stapeln i mitten av april.

Konferensen kommer bland annat bestå av en ingående genomgång av befintliga och planerade funktioner för Ara-plattformen, samt offentliggörandet av en samling priser för tillverkare av moduler. Strategin liknar den som Google använde under Androids barndom, då de lockade utvecklare genom att dela ut mångmiljonbelopp i priser för de som släppte bra appar.

Google skriver att Project Ara är designad för hela världen och vill att vi ska kunna använda våra smartphones som en slags målarduk för att berätta våra egna historier. Sökjätten hoppas på att eventuellt kunna låta Project Ara kosta så lite som 50 dollar. För den summan får användare en anpassningsbar grundstomme med en ram, en skärm och Wi-Fi.

Enligt Google ligger fokus på att göra Ara fantastiskt, inte lönsamt. Vad tror ni om Googles satsning på modulära smartphones?

Is this what they call a Freudian tweet? 

[source]

Facebook can be pretty awesome but as I’ve noted in the past it can also be a hive of scum and villainy and, moreso than Twitter, you can really find out which ones of your fake-and-or-real friends are racist or sexist or shitclumps of some other shape. And recently I saw one person kind of go on and on about the “friend zone,” that most toxic and passive-aggressive of male memes that begins in high school and often enough doesn’t get disproven — and this person was trying to prove that it was real, as if this were some kind of scientific study into the idea, as if he were on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, hiding in the weeds while watching the “friend zone” phenomenon manifest itself, provably. It was, of course, an argument positively choking on its own horseshit. I didn’t engage, I just clicked “unfriend.” Because, really, ew.

I thought, well, I’ll write a post about the friend zone, but I realized that my favorite most-wonderfully-horrible anti-hero, Miriam Black, already said it (albeit in a way more venomous than I would normally convey, as that’s how she rolls). Further, I am not averse to a tiny bit of self-promotion when the time comes (my shame sensors were destroyed in the war), and so I thought I’d quote a little bit from Miriam’s most recent adventure, The Cormorant, where she deals with this, erm, “friend zone issue” in that Very Miriam Way.

So, here’s a snippet from the book.

* * *

“I got you a job!” Jace blurts.

Miriam turns. Makes a poopy face. “Me and jobs don’t play well together. My last real job kind of ended with a shooting. And a stabbing, come to think of it.”

“I don’t mean that kind of job–” He fishes in the pockets of his flannel surrender-pants, pulls out a folded up piece of paper: the world’s most boring origami. He begins to unfold it. “I ran a Craigslist ad–”

“I definitely do not want whatever this job is. Particularly if it has the word ‘hand’ or ‘rim’ preceding it–”

“No, wait, shut up for a second. A couple months back I put up an ad for your… particular talents, the psychic death thing, and for a while I mostly just got a bunch of trolls who thought I was a pimp–”

“I don’t like where this is going.”

“But last week I got this email.”

He thrusts the unfolded paper at her. Like a beaming toddler proud of his dirty diaper.

She grabs it. Scowls. Reads.

Her gaze suctions onto a very big number in the middle of the email.

$5000.

“Five grand,” she says, looking up. “This guy wants to pay me five fucking grand to tell him how he’s going to die?”

Jace nods, grinning ear to ear.

“Are you sure he doesn’t think this is code for sex?”

“I… I called him.”

“You called him.”

“I thought he might think it was about sex, so.”

“And it’s not about sex.”

“No, he’s some rich guy in Florida. A little obsessed with his own…” Jace flutters his fingers in the air, a gesture he makes when he’s trying to think of a word. “Demise.”

“Five grand.”

“Yep.”

“Rich nutball.”

“Yes.”

“In Florida.”

“Apparently.”

“That means I need to get to Florida.”

He shrugs. “Well. Yeah.”

“Call him.” She snaps her fingers. “Set it up.”

“OK,” he says. But he just stands there. Staring at her.

“What?”

“What-what?”

“You’re looking at me,” she says.

“I think it’s OK to look at you. You can look at me, too.”

“I am looking at you looking at me, and at this point I’m starting to wonder what’s going on.”

He shifts nervously from foot to foot. “I just thought you could say, you know… thank you?”

“Oh. Well.” Miriam clears her throat, loosens some of that tobacco mucus that nests in her vocal cords. “Thank you, Jace. By the way, I hate that name. Jace. Jason – Jason is a good name. Or Jay. I like Jay. It’s like a bird. I like birds. Mostly.”

“Do you like me?”

“Huh?”

“I like you.”

“Oh, sweet Christ on a crumbcake, really?”

“Really what? We’ve known each other for a year now and we’ve kind of skirted around each other and flirted–”

“I did not flirt.”

“We were flirting,” he says, nodding, smirking. “Sometimes people flirt and they don’t even know it.”

She narrows her eyes. “Nnnyeah, I think I’d know.”

“You’re leaving soon.”

“Pretty much now-ish.”

He reaches out. Takes her hand. “That bed looks pretty comfortable.”

She shoves him backward. Not hard enough to crack his skull against the doorframe, but enough to get the message across.

“Hey,” he says, genuinely stung. “Ow.”

“Thank your stars and garters I didn’t perform dentistry using your asshole as the entry point.”

He sighs. “Friend-zoned again. Nice guys finish last.”

The temperature in her mental thermometer pops the glass. “What did you just say? Are you seriously pulling that nice-guy friend-zone crap? You little turd, how’s that supposed to make somebody feel? That my friendship is just a way station to my pussy? Is that what my companionship is worth to you, Jace?”

“It’s not like that. I just thought–”

“You thought what? That because you’re a nice guy, my panties will just drop because you deserve to have my thighs around your ears? Fuck you, dude. Being a nice person is a thing you just do, not a price you pay for poonani. I’m not a tollbooth. A kind word and a favor don’t mean I owe you naked fun time.”

Now he’s mad. Brow stitched. Lip curled. “Oh, like you’re a nice person? Please.”

“I’m not! I’m not nice. And this is not news, dude. I’d rather be a cranky bitch who lets you know what she’s thinking than some passive-aggressive dick-weasel who thinks friendship with a girl is secondary to her putting out. You wanted to fuck me? You shoulda just said so. I would’ve at least respected that, and we wouldn’t have to do this boo-hoo woe-is-me pissy-pants guilt-fest.”

She throws on her jacket and snatches the email out of his hand and slings the bag over her shoulder. A hard elbow to the gut leaves him bent over and oof-ing.

Miriam heads to the door.

He trails after like a bad smell.

Taevon and Cherie watch, goggle-eyed.

“I’m sorry,” Jace says, rubbing his stomach.

“You are sorry,” she says, throwing open the door to the hallway.

“I’m a dick.”

“A tiny dick. An insignificant dick. Positively microbial.”

“Can I call you?”

“Can you… No, you can’t call me.”

“But you have the same phone if I wanted to?”

“I’m going to throw it in a bag and burn it.”

* * *

Indiebound / Amazon / B&N / Robot Trading Company / Add on Goodreads

Miriam Black knows how you’re going to die.

All it takes is a touch — a little skin-to-skin action.

Now someone — some rich asshole from Florida — wants to pay her so he can find out how he’s going to die. But when she touches him, she receives a message sent back through time and written in blood: HELLO, MIRIAM. It’s a taunt, a warning, and the start of a dangerous and deadly game for everybody’s favorite carcinogenic psychic, Miriam Black.

Today, HBO released 18 new character posters to promote Game of Thrones Season 4! The posters feature a look at the major players of Season 4, as well as the April 6th premiere date and a caption of “Valar Morghulis” — all men must die.

Earlier today we were treated to batches from the Lannister, Stark, and Targaryen crews along with some great teaser videos. The official Game of Thrones twitter has now released 7 additional posters. Check out Ygritte, Margaery, Brienne, Littlefinger, Oberyn, and Tormund as well as the ones we’ve already seen tag-free below.

UPDATE: Two more have been tweeted out by HBO NL, Melisandre and Daario. Added below.

Avast is our favorite antivirus program for Windows, but it isn't perfect. It has a lot of great advanced settings, but it also comes with annoying sounds, popups, ads, and extra tools you probably don't want. Here are the ideal settings to get rid of its annoyances.

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[imgur]

Buttersafe by Raynato Castro and Alex Culang [website | twitter]

Netflix has reportedly agreed to pay Comcast a fee to improve speed and reliability of its streaming. It could set a major precedent in the net neutrality debate.

As we reported last week, Netflix confirmed that customers suffered a measurable slowdown in speeds over the past month, which appeared to be largely because of a failure to upgrade capacity at Cogent Communications, a company that acts as a middleman carrying data between Netflix and ISPs (specifically cable companies.)

Netflix had asked for a direct connection to the ISPs but was told that would only happen if it paid a fee. That left it reliant on Cogent, where nobody seemed willing to foot the bill for a capacity increase. It certainly appeared that the cable firms would normally pay out here but were refusing to do so in an attempt to pressure Netflix into paying for the direct connection.

That’s now happened with Netflix and Comcast, which have said:

Comcast and Netflix today announced a mutually beneficial interconnection agreement that will provide Comcast’s U.S. broadband customers with a high-quality Netflix video experience for years to come. Working collaboratively over many months, the companies have established a more direct connection between Netflix and Comcast, similar to other networks, that’s already delivering an even better user experience to consumers, while also allowing for future growth in Netflix traffic. Netflix receives no preferential network treatment under the multi-year agreement, terms of which are not being disclosed.

The announcement didn’t detail any financial agreements. Credible media sources report that Netflix is making an annual payment that runs into the millions. However, it’s also suggested the fee is lower than Comcast might have hoped for and that it may have settled for a lower price to resolve the issue now, rather than have it become a political talking point during the regulatory review of its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable.

The deal pushes the issue of net neutrality to its very limit but it appears that it doesn’t break even the Federal Communication Commission rules that were recently struck down in court. Technically Netflix won’t get any preferential treatment over other providers in the sense that rival traffic won’t be blocked or intentionally slowed down.

In practical terms, it’s a little like the ISPs are operating a toll road in which traffic is treated equally in that all drivers pay the same price and follow the same speed limit. However, drivers who don’t pay the toll aren’t allowed on to the road and will thus often take longer to get to the same destination.

So while the deal doesn’t breach the letter of net neutrality rules, it certainly appears to destroy the principle. Netflix is getting its data to customers at a faster speed as a direct result of paying more money to an ISP. And in the big picture, that’s very much not a case of all traffic being treated equally.

Android/iOS: You might have heard the news that Facebook is buying WhatsApp. While the move shouldn't affect users in the short term at least, some people are uneasy about a company with a spotty security history being bought by a company with a spotty privacy history. If you're in that group, Telegram might be of interest to you.

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[Source: Dustbunny | via Tumblr]

So the first official GotG poster landed a few days back, and the tagline's tone definitely rings at the same registeras the trailer.

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A Farscape movie is in development, a decade after Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars provided closure to fans left hanging by the original series' final episode. Screenwriter Justin Monjo has reportedly written a script for the spinoff, to be directed by Brian Henson (son of Jim Henson), Executive Producer of the show's original four-season run and director of Peacekeeper Wars.

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rbl-m1a2tanker:

Alternately: “How to help Frogman get new bear hats; a deluded tutorial.”

Note: This was done for fun and as a tribute to The Frogman, a good guy trying to brighten folks days. Giving a little back.

Let’s begin!

I has popularity!

You actually demonstrated perfectly how to get popular on tumblr. I’ve always said that effort is the key, and you put a lot of effort into this. And I am glad you didn’t behead a bear as well.