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Fiat has a pretty cool looking print ad out now in the new ESPN nude-athletes issue, where they compose a 500 Abarth out of naked people. Here's how Fiat did it.

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I don't know exactly what it is that I love about this tiny rotary van doing such a massive burnout.

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Breaking:  Charge on Murder 3/Child Abuse is denied by Judge Nelson

This morning the Court in Florida v. Zimmerman conducted a hearing to finalize the instructions that will guide the jury on arriving at a verdict. While some of the instructions were long-expected and raised little debate, others could only be described as a preposterous effort of the State prosecutors to ambush the defendant, George Zimmerman, with the effect of once again denying Zimmerman his Constitutional right to due process.

I’ve gathered all the relevant jury instructions over at my Law of Self Defense blog (www.lawofselfdefense.com), and here will provide a brief overview and a link back to the full-length instruction there.

FLJI 7.4 Murder–Second Degree

Florida Jury Instruction 7.4, Murder–second degree, is based on Florida statute 782.04, section (2) of which covers second degree murder.

Florida 782.04 murder statute 

Second degree murder has been the primary criminal charge against Zimmerman since the initial affidavit of probable cause. It’s requirement that Zimmerman must have acted with the characteristics of a “depraved mind” –hatred, ill-will, or spite directed at Trayvon Martin–and the absence of evidence of that state of mind has always made it unlikely that the State could obtain a conviction on this charge.

Getting to Murder 2: Where was George Zimmerman’s “Depraved Mind”? Truth is, nowhere 

Florida Jury Instruction 7.7 Florida manslaughter 

Florida 782.07 manslaughter statute 

In Florida manslaughter is a lesser-included charge of second degree murder, so it was always inevitable that the jury would be read this instruction as well. Here, it is quite possible that the State may be able to prove the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt–essentially that Zimmerman deliberately used force against Martin, and that Martin died as a result.

The challenge for the State, then, comes in the second half of the analysis in any self-defense case, and that is where the defendant claims that, yes, he did commit the acts with which he was charged but he was legally justified in doing so because he was acting in lawful self-defense. Self-defense is an absolute defense against conviction of any intentional crime, if accepted by the jury as true.

Florida Jury Instruction 3.6(f): Justifiable Use of Deadly Force 

There had also been the suggestion that the State would seek to have the jury instructed on aggravated assault and/or aggravated battery. These charges are almost never brought when the outcome of the crime happens to be a dead person–that’s what murder and manslaughter are for. The State’s desire to include these, then, simply reflects a cynical effort to offer the jury something on which they could return a “compromise” verdict of guilt. In the end the State elected to not pursue these instructions.

The real shocker, however, came when the State sought to have the jury instructed on third-degree murder, the first time in this lengthy trial that this particular charge has been mentioned. Third-degree murder involves a killing with an underlying felony, and is included in the murder jury instructions.

Florida Jury Instruction 7.4: Florida murder 2 

In this case, the State is arguing that because Martin was 17-years-old he was a minor, and therefore Zimmerman’s act of shooting him was an act of child abuse. It appears initially that Nelson may be amenable to instructing the jury on this preposterous charge. Doing so would simply add to the mountain of improper decisions this Judge has made that will certainly result in any guilty verdict being overturned on appeal.

Florida Jury Instruction 16.3: Child Abuse 

There has also been some wrangling on specific language each side has desired on such issues as “provocation” and “serious bodily harm,” and for the most part Judge Nelson has seemed to discard the desired variation on the standard jury instruction.

That’s all I have time for right now, be sure to follow us back at the live coverage:

Zimmerman Trial Day 13: Live Video, Analysis of State’s Closing Argument

–Andrew

We all know how a bowl of rice can save your phone after an unexpected swim, but that's not all it can do. Before you know it, rice could be a very important ingredient inside all your devices' batteries.

A very important part of any gadget's lithium-ion battery is a graphite anode. But with all the thousands and thousands of portable devices out there and the coming wave of electric cars all clamouring for batteries of their own, graphite could get a little hard to come by. To deal with that, researchers are hoping to find an alternative material, which is where the rice comes in.

Silicon anodes could be a good replacement, especially if you could find a good cheap source of it. Rice husks offer exactly that. A group of researchers from South Korean have already proven the concept by taking a whole bunch of the rice-waste, heating it up, treating it with acid, and then using the extracted silicon in lithium-ion batteries. Their results were just published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and there's good news: rice silicon is not only cheaper but is also more efficient than other silicon alloys.

And of course, supply won't be a problem; rice farmers produce millions of tons of husks each year. They're already used for things like making bricks and fueling cooking stoves, but there are more than enough husks to go around for everybody. Should be a good stop-gap until we get that whole graphene supercapacitor thing sorted out. [Wired]

You live in the past. For every possible combination of sensory input you can have, there is some appreciable time between signal and interpretation. Light hits your eye or a sound hits your ear and milliseconds later you actually perceive light or sound. Right now you are looking at this screen as it was a few milliseconds in the past. Reality is on a delay. For you, nothing is now .Realizing this fact is unsettling. If we can only react to the past, how do we manage to navigate the present? It's easy to spiral into a treatise on free will while in the fetal position, overthinking our forever past. Unless you are The Flash. [More]

Hold all your nerdy books in place with Mjolnir and you can be sure they’ll stay put. This 10.25” H x 6.5” W x 7” D Thor’s Hammer Bookend is digitally sculpted and hand-painted. It’s also individually numbered and comes with a certificate of authenticity. Preorder now for delivery in the second quarter of 2014.

See more pictures after the break…

Product Page ($88.99)

 

Christopher Poole is best known as the creator 4chan.org, a site that's just a little smaller than NYT.com in terms of traffic, and is partly responsible for the entire tone of the Internet.

(4chan is where LOLcats, RickRolling, and Anonymous came from, for example.)

But 4chan isn't Poole's only creation.

He's also the founder and CEO of a startup called Canvas. Like 4chan, Canvas is a place where users can create and share. On Canvas, users mostly create and share drawings.

Canvas hasn't become extremely popular (yet). Poole believes the reason is that it asks its users to do too much. That's why he's created a new product. It's called DrawQuest, and a new version comes out today.

Poole stopped by our office the other day, and we asked him about DrawQuest – and about how running a startup is different than running a (very big) community site like 4chan.org.

Watch below.

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Edited by Justin Gmoser

SEE ALSO: Chris Poole Is The Creator Of One Of The World's Biggest And Most Powerful Web Sites, And It Is Very Strange That He Is Not Insanely Rich

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The Trayvon Martin rallies in 2012 were apparently led, or at least advised by, the Department of Justice and watch groups are crying foul.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, police in Florida are preparing for potential Trayvon riots.

Before the George Zimmerman trial was even a possibility, the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service were sent to Sanford in March and April of 2012 to help manage Trayvon Martin protests. Watchdog group Judicial Watch obtained 347 pages of documents detailing how deeply involved the federal government was involved in organizing the “The March For Trayvon Martin,” although actual support expenses only numbered $5,320.

The Justice Department allegedly “set up a meeting between the local NAACP and elected officials that led to the temporary resignation of police chief Bill Lee according to Turner Clayton, Seminole County chapter president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.”

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton claims the Justice Department should have been involved in the Trayvon Martin rallies:

“These documents detail the extraordinary intervention by the Justice Department in the pressure campaign leading to the prosecution of George Zimmerman. My guess is that most Americans would rightly object to taxpayers paying government employees to help organize racially charged demonstrations.”

The same people involved in the original Trayvon Martin rallies are supposedly attempting to prevent future demonstrations from transforming into Trayvon riots similar to the Rodney King riots of Chicago. The Community Relations Service says it’s goal is to not promote such rallies but to “foster communication between communities.” In the past, “these federal workers taught them how to peacefully manage crowds” and “arranged police escort” along the lines of the 40 mile march.

Do you think the Justice Department should be involved with organizing events like the Trayvon Martin rallies?

Trayvon Martin Rallies Led By Justice Department, Paid For By Taxpayers is a post from: The Inquisitr

What do you think? Too much mascara?

I just find long eyelashes make one look so ladylike.

“I believe I have an example of cuteness rule numbers #72, #6, maybe #3, #41, and #42. Meet Miss Bella, my 7 year old miniature schnauzer. Also known as BeaBeeBopBoobieBellabugBubbaNosyPrincess, BellaMiss, Slouchy. Such a lady Sometimes I could swear she enjoys posing for the camera.” -Angie O.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Pups

via http://lifeonsundays.tumblr.com/page/61

Whether you're a latte lover, an Americano drinker or one who prefers to sip on a white hazelnut nonfat macchiato with whipped cream, your coffee preference says a lot about the type of person you are

This comic from Doghouse Diaries will help you understand what that extra shot of espresso says about your personality

Homepage image courtesy of Flickr, eva c. meszarosComic illustration courtesy of Doghouse Diaries. Published with permission; all rights reserved. Read more...

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What happens when your boyfriend is kind of a jerk, has way too much time on his hands and some skill with special effects?

He set this The Ring inspired prank because he “wanted to see how my girlfriend would react to a ghost coming out the tv trying to grab hold of her.”

Personally, once I caught my breath, I likely would have attempted to beat him to death with the thing!

Check it out after the break (and prepare for some loud screams).

(via Happy Place)

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Thanks for the nightmares, K4ll0.

[via Geek Tyrant]

All Android code is available for public review, and plenty of people are reviewing it

It came to light today (though it was never a secret) that the NSA (the National Security Agency), a U.S. intelligence service that's been in the news as of late for things nobody likes, is contributing code to Google's Android project. Of course, the Internet's first reaction was predictably "OMG PRISM! They're building in PRISM!!11one!"

You can relax folks. While the NSA has no official statement about what they call their Security Enhancements for Android project's link to the PRISM project, this isn't something new. They've been working on this Android code since 2011, which is an offshoot of their SE (Security-Enhanced) Linux project before that. Their SELinux code was peer reviewed by anyone and everyone, and the commits were generally accepted as being great additions that make a secure operating system even more safe.

While Android isn't developed in the open, upon release the code is all available. There are all manner of very smart and god-like code nerds pouring through it, and any shenanigans would be quickly uncovered. Let's just take a deep breath, and realize that the NSA could be very helpful writing code to keep systems secure. 

More: Bloomberg