Oakfairy

[video] [h/t: sizvideos]

Windows is a big operating system that caters to a billion and a half people. As such, there are a lot of components built in that you might not necessarily need. There's actually a place where you can remove many components of Windows if you don't need them, to lighten your computer's load.

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mechinaries:

i imagine both steve and bucky like to come up with different ways to poke fun at sam every time they pass him during jogging

because they are shitheads

(the first one is a print you can get here)

marathemara:

iizanimeaddict:

My dad just came into my room and shouted at me in Klingon.

Am I more embarrassed that he did that or that I know he said I was a disappointment to the empire?

You should be most embarrassed that you’re a disappointment to the empire.

Stargate: Atlantis premiered ten years ago today.  I’m celebrating with a look back at my Top 10 favorite SGA memories.

In no particular order…

#10. RODNEY MAKES THE CUT.  BUT JUST BARELY!

Production on the new Stargate spinoff was fast-approaching, but we were scrambling to cast one crucial role: the part of the intrepid, dedicated team doctor. Multiple auditions yielded no suitable candidates and the producers were at a loss until… Robert Cooper suggested a different tact.  Instead of casting a new character, why not bring in an established one – namely, Dr. Rodney McKay who had already put in a couple of appearances on Stargate: SG-1?  To say that this last minute switch “worked out quite nicely” would be an enormous understatement.  Could you imagine Atlantis without him?

#9. ENTER GOLDEN BOY MARTIN GERO

Faced with the prospect of 40 episodes of television a season, we sought out new talent for the writers’ room.  Enter young Martin Gero who proved himself with his first script, Childhood’s End – and then went on to become the most prolific writer on the show.

#8. ENTER CARL BINDER

Later in SGA’s first season, we added one more writer to the room, a veteran of Punky Brewster with a penchant for schnitzel and off-colour humor.  He proved himself with his first script, Before I Sleep – and then went on to become the most prolific writer of ghost-themed episodes on the show.

#7. ENTER RONON

The show saw several cast changes over the course of its five year run, but perhaps none quite as significant as the introduction of the rough and ready Satedan, Ronon.  A great onscreen presence, Jason Momoa was also a hell of a lot of fun to work with.

#6. INTRODUCING…TODD THE WRAITH

There’s nothing I enjoy more than an interesting, multi-layered villain and, while the show had them in bunches, none (in my humble opinion) matched the depth and color of Todd the Wraith, a soul-sucking alien with a devilish sense of humor.

#5. GOODBYE, CARSON

This one rivals the closing moments of SG-1′s Meridian as one of the most touching scenes of the franchise.  Rodney says goodbye to his friend who fades away to close the episode and Carson’s story…for a little while anyway.

#4. WOOLSEY IN CHARGE

I loved Richard Woolsey’s evolution from pencil-pushing bureaucrat to principled suit, so when Amanda Tapping’s departure opened up the position of Expedition Commander, the first name that came to mind was: Bob Picardo.  I called him up, made him the offer and we closed the deal that afternoon.  One of my favorite characters to write for.

#3. BEHIND THE SCENES FUN

It’s hard to pick one moment among the countless great ones I enjoyed as a member of the Atlantis writing team.  Amid all the story sessions, script notes, cut screenings and mixes, there was much hilarity.  More often than not, it involved Carl being “tricked” into eating something awful (https://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/2007/06/08/june-7-2007/).

#2. MY FIRST SAN DIEGO COMIC CON

Meeting 5000 Stargate fans – simultaneously.

#1. ALL GOOD THINGS….

Although it wasn’t planned as a series finale, the show’s last episode served nicely as a nice send-off, wrapping up existing storylines yet leaving the door open for further adventures.  The final group shot on the balcony overlooking San Francisco Bay was an emotional one for all.  We’d had five great years – but, dammit, we could have had so many more!

Tagged: Atlantis, SGA, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis

Mens: Kelly Womens: Kelly

clientsfromhell:

Client: Hello, I asked one of my friends and he said that you built our site using Hotmail.

Me: Excuse me! What do you mean?

Client: You used Hotmail to build my site.

Me: We can’t do that, nobody can. Hotmail is owned by Microsoft and they offer free email accounts. It’s not a development environment.

Client: My friend is a computer expert and he is sure.

Me: Is your friend next to you?

Client: Yes

Me: Can you put him through?

Friend: You made my friend’s site with Hotmail. Admit it.

Me: Sir, we can’t do that. What made you think it was created using Hotmail.

Friend: All the pages in the site end with .html.

[video] [h/t: littleboycutyourhair]

Yep, that looks familiar…

[Source: According to Devin | Follow According to Devin on Facebook]

[video] [h/t: sizvideos]

There are lots of ways stores try to manipulate shoppers, from placing more expensive items at eye level to encouraging interaction with goods . A study published in the Journal of Marketing shows that the tempo of music you hear whilst shopping can also have an influence.

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In my article, 11 Spiritual Truths You May Want to Remember, I listed 11 short spiritual truths. It received a very positive reaction, but some people wanted a little more information about what I meant. So I’m going to take each spiritual truth I listed and expand on it, each in its own article over the next 11 weeks.

Spiritual Truth #1: Everyone’s path is different. Don’t assume you know how people should walk their paths. You don’t. Instead of advice, help people see their options.

As we all know, our experiences in life are unique to ourselves. No one else has been where you’ve been, done what you’ve done, thought what you’ve thought, or seen what you’ve seen.

When someone comes to you with a problem or when you see someone struggling, it’s natural to want to help them in some way. Often the help we give people is based on what we would do if we were in their situation.

Have you ever had someone tell you about a problem and you instantly knew how to solve it? Well that solution might work really well for you, but it may not be possible, practical or feasible for them. They may not have the strength or resources to do what you would do. They may not be in the right frame of mind.

It’s important not to judge people. Their problem might be super simple for you to solve, but might be extremely difficult for them. Not to mention that spiritually they may need this problem to learn something valuable.

What I’ve learned is that the best way to help someone is to help them sort through their options. Help them see what paths lie open for them. Help them analyze their problem, help them get clarity, and help them see what possibilities exist to solve it.

The next time someone comes to you with a problem, try not to solve it for them. Don’t give them advice or tell them what to do. Instead ask them the following questions:

1. What sort of outcome would feel good for you?
2. What resources do you have at your disposal that could help you with this?
3. Have you ever made progress on this problem, and if so, what did that progress look like?
4. How would you like to feel about this?
5. What could you do today that would help you make positive progress on this situation?
6. What are your options as you see them?
7. What else could be an option if things were just a little different?
8. What will happen if you don’t make progress on this situation?
9. Is there anything I can do to assist you?
10. How can I support you on this path?
11. If you defined your problem a little differently, might that help you see a way through to a solution?

When you tell someone what they should do, you disempower them. Their problem exists because of the path they took, and they’ve got to learn how to find new paths from where they are, not where you are.

To empower someone, help them sort through their thoughts, ideas, and the actions they could take. Let them decide for themselves how they will solve their problem. You can be supportive, you can be kind, you can even be a resource for them, but don’t carry them on your back, rescuing and saving them, or they’ll never learn how to walk their own maze.

I went over to Scribd and discovered that several titles of mine were on the site without my permission, which gave me an opportunity to try out Scribd’s DMCA reporting form and process. I’m happy to say that Scribd seems to be doing a fine job on that score: The elapsed time from report to removal of the content was about ten minutes. That works for me.

However, one title of mine, The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies, I haven’t requested to be taken down yet. It’s not up on the site by permission of the publisher, because among other things, the book is currently out of print and the rights have reverted to me. I certainly haven’t given permission for the book to be there, either.

But as noted, the book is currently out of print — there might be a few copies still in bookstores, but not enough to represent any major economic benefit to me at this point, and no more are going to be made. I retain the rights to the work and may eventually do something with the contents of the book, but at the moment I don’t really have any solid plans. Which means that although the text is there illegally (and I can have it taken down), at the same time it’s not actually doing me any economic harm to have it up there, either. It’s not stealing sales from me because as an out of print book there are no sales to steal.

And so my position on it is kinda: Meh. I took down the books of mine that are still in print; if you want them, please pay for them or borrow them from a friend or your local library, that what bookstores, libraries and friends are for. But the out of print ones? For now I’m content to leave them out there. If I ever do get around to doing something with the text I might change my mind. Or I might change my mind because I’m mercurial. Until then, though, if you see The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies on Scribd or anywhere else, have fun with it.

Steak is delicious, but if the one you plan to eat is still frozen, there are better ways to defrost it than using the microwave. All you need for this method is a little water and two pans—no special tools or appliances at all, and it works in minutes.

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otisthecorgi:

Can’t…reach…toy…too…far…and…lazy…

The full moon rises in the sky to the right of the Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard, Saturday, July 12, 2014, launch Pad-0A, NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Antares is scheduled to launch at 12:52 p.m. Sunday, July 13, 2014 with the Cygnus spacecraft filled with over 3,000 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station, including science experiments, experiment hardware, spare parts, and crew provisions. The Orbital-2 mission is Orbital Sciences' second contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Image Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

[Source: Happy Jar | Via]

Studio Ghibli's first foray into television will begin this fall with Ronia the Robber's Daughter , an animated series based on the children's book of the same name. Here's the first footage from the series (it looks like an intro sequence), which began airing this weekend.

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“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

- Somerset Maugham (via ellenkushner)

Surprise! Many of the things we think we're doing correctly are actually not the best ways to do them. This includes even basic, everyday things like cooking , driving , and even shaking hands (separately, of course). Let's take a look.

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Mens: Black Womens: Black

[vine] [h/t: sizvideos]

By the way, my 50,000th tweet is just a few tweets away now. I WILL FILL IT WITH WISDOM THAT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD. Or a picture of cat.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) July 11, 2014

If you imagine that every cat picture on the Internet is a lost chance to express universal wisdom, it certainly changes what cat pics mean.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) July 11, 2014

OH GOD HERE IT COMES EITHER WISDOM TO LIGHT THE WORLD FOR GENERATIONS TO COME OR JUST ANOTHER PICTURE OF MY STUPID CAT PREPARE YOURSELF—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) July 11, 2014

http://t.co/byFfaN9t2o—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) July 11, 2014

Thanks for your attention during this time of monumental transition. Please feel free now to go back to your quotidian lives.—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) July 11, 2014

"BUT I WANTED A CAT PICTURE" ::sigh:: Fine. Here. ENJOY THE EMPTY CHARADE THAT IS YOUR EXISTENCE. http://t.co/FRJXr3DHVI—
John Scalzi (@scalzi) July 11, 2014

And now you know. Go ye forth and do likewise.

I’m mean, sure, his mother’s maiden name was Walker which just happens to be the maiden name of Jane Austen’s mother. And yes, my parents live at Robin’s Roost, which is the old Walker farm that just happens to have been in our family since the mid-1800s, but that’s total coincidence.

Clearly, my family has a long history.

I mean, look at this picture of my Mom! It was taken in the mid-1950s, so clearly there’s no time-travelling happening. That would just be silly.

The post Also, my father definitely does not own a DeLorean. appeared first on Mary Robinette Kowal.

So, the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, has unveiled a forensic recreation of Jane Austen.

Allow me to tell you a story, that is purely fiction.

Jane Austen was very ill in 1817 and her family called for the Doctor. Though this good gentlemen did his best, there was nothing that could be done for her in that time. In another, later time, it could be imagined that much might be done to aid her.

If such a thing occurred, gentle reader, and the authoress were taken into a box of cobalt blue, thence to find herself in another era, how would she thank the man who saved her life? Perhaps, if you choose to entertain such thoughts, by writing him into a story– into every story, in the hopes that he would see and understand how deeply grateful she was.

It is is a pretty fiction, is it not?

The post To answer your questions– I am not a Time Lord. appeared first on Mary Robinette Kowal.

If your preferred workout involves getting on a stationary bike and cycling, this 30 minute workout can help you get the most out of the limited time you have at the gym. It comes complete with a warm up and cool down, and three cycles of single-leg and full-intensity riding.

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By Qwertee
With over 200 potential designs, our biggest ever insaniTEE sale is here.... How does it work? Basically we are selling off some of the remaining shirts we have in some of the designs we have printed so far at the insane price of £6/€7/$8!! Missed out on shirt you'd really like to get? Now's your chance to hopefully get it. Just choose your size and we'll send you a RANDOM shirt/s.