Bewarethewumpus

The Obama administration has a new negotiator in its effort to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a secretly negotiated treaty that includes broad powers to censor and surveil the Internet: Robert Holleyman, one of the chief SOPA lobbyists. Holleyman just retired from serving as head of the Business Software Alliance. His successor is Victoria Espinel, who just quit the Obama administration, where she served as "IP Czar." Obama promised to shut down the revolving door between lobbyists and government, but it's spinning quicker than ever.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, used to be an opponent of medical marijuana. Last year. after looking into the research, he changed his mind. Now he is "doubling down" on his position that marijuana is effective medicine.

Since our documentary "Weed" aired in August, I have continued to travel the world, investigating and asking tough questions about marijuana.

I have met with hundreds of patients, dozens of scientists and the curious majority who simply want a deeper understanding of this ancient plant. I have sat in labs and personally analyzed the molecules in marijuana that have such potential but are also a source of intense controversy. I have seen those molecules turned into medicine that has quelled epilepsy in a child and pain in a grown adult. I've seen it help a woman at the peak of her life to overcome the ravages of multiple sclerosis.

I am more convinced than ever that it is irresponsible to not provide the best care we can, care that often may involve marijuana.

I am not backing down on medical marijuana; I am doubling down.

Gupta: 'I am doubling down' on medical marijuana

Senate majority leader Harry Reid gave a hell of a speech in Congress about the agenda of the billionaire Koch brothers, carbon barons who are the prime beneficiaries of Citizens United, the Supreme Court case that ruled that corporate persons had the free speech right to engage in unlimited campaign finance spending.

The Facts About The Koch Brothers (via Hacker News)

New Comic: Bulwark

Seemingly out of nowhere, a major promotional campaign for a "real" hoverboard known as HUVr has launched online today. It all began with a pair of bizarre video clips featuring testimonials from celebrities including Tony Hawk, Moby, and Back to the Future's own Christopher Lloyd. One clip shows Lloyd delivering the HUVr to Hawk, followed by demonstrations that are "completely real" — at least if you believe whoever is behind the mysterious PR push. They're calling themselves HUVr Corp and claim to have a staff filled with "materials science, electricity & magnetism experts who've solved an important part of one of science's mysteries: the key to antigravity."

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Another video attempts to explain how this miraculous feat of technology actually works. Along with the YouTube videos, HUVr has also popped up across social media with accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Obviously the product we're seeing here is bogus — despite some convincing video trickery. We've thus far been unable to find any record of such a company existing or any trademarks filed for HUVr. But we're still left scratching our heads when it comes to what this viral stunt is actually seeking to promote.

HOVERBOARDS ARE REAL (finally!) thanks to huvrtech http://t.co/wYjPaJGY6z #theyrehere http://t.co/7vmi2zz94P

— Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) March 4, 2014

The HUVr website shows a "destination time" of December 2014, suggesting we may be in for a bit of a wait before all is revealed. Is it all a carefully crafted teaser for Tony Hawk's upcoming mobile game? This seems like a very elaborate production if the end goal is boosting App Store sales. Perhaps an Oculus Rift-style virtual reality title (HUVr) could be on the way. Or is this viral campaign meant to stir up early anticipation for another Back to the Future film? Maybe those self-lacing Nike shoes? A December unveiling would make sense ahead of wider availability in 2015. There are many questions and few answers at this point. Looking up the website's registration data offers no hints, and an email from the company — sent from a Gmail account — only said HUVr Corp would respond to us with more details in the future.

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Here's a rather useful visual guide to DayZ play styles by JamesBlakesCat, using portraits from a similar game, Inna Woods. No matter how you play, you're going to get killed for a can of beans (except if you are a murderous hobo.)

A visual guide to play styles for beginners [JamesBlakesCat, via r/dayz]

Dayshot is an image-based feature that runs every morning, showcasing some of the prettiest, funniest game-related screenshots and art that we can find. Send us suggestions if you've got them.

To contact the author of this post, write to: gergovas@kotaku.com

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Vi Hart, the Internet's favorite manic vlogging mathematician, has released a new video in which she teams up with math artists Andrea Hawksley and Gwen Fisher, and Gwen's sister Ruth of Sweets by Ruth. The four of them bake satisfyingly precise and geometric gingerbread polygons, then build up a variety of astounding three dimensional forms by piecing them together with icing. The video is both hunger-inspiring and brain-inspiring, and is likely to be the best thing you watch this week.

Cookie Shapes

"Moments ago, the Washington, D.C. City Council voted to decriminalize marijuana possession! The bill, which goes into effect this summer, replaces criminal penalties of up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine with a civil penalty (similar to a parking ticket) of $25 for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. It also decriminalizes marijuana paraphernalia. This means that, outside of Washington and Colorado, marijuana penalties are now less punitive in our nation’s capital than anywhere else in the country!" - Dan Riffle, Director of Federal Policies for the Marijuana Policy Project

"Monday afternoon, Robert Duncan will report to Mendota Federal Prison in Fresno, Calif., to begin a two-year prison sentence. His crime? Working for a medical marijuana business that was legal under California state law. Not owning it; not profiting from illegal sales. Merely for being employed by the business." - Hit & Run Blog

New Comic: What How Why

thefrogman:

[video]

So, younger readers, certain older displays were way more susceptible than today's TVs for something called burn-in. That's when parts of an image would stay on a screen for so long that they'd literally burn into it, creating a permanent "shadow".

Think TV network watermarks, or the margins of a news ticker. You'd normally see it on TVs that were always on, and always on the same channel. Like those in bars, or airports.

You could also see it on CRT arcade screens. The older the game, more more beautiful the burn-in.

Video game screen burn in [Reddit]

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We post a lot of cosplay pics here as part of this feature, but most of them tend to be from photoshoots. And don't get me wrong, while the results from those galleries are often fantastic, there's something I prefer about photos taken from a convention floor.

They're just more real. There's no Photoshop trickery, no super-imposed backgrounds, no tacky flame effects coming out of someone's fingers. The pics are just showing off a fan, their costume and their craft, and that's all we can ever ask for from a cosplay photo.

The pics you're seeing here are from this year's Katsucon (we posted some gifs a couple of weeks back), and are all the work of photographer Mike Kowalek. You can see more of Mike's cosplay photography at his personal site!

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To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they're big enough, so you can save them as wallpaper), click on the "expand" button in the top-left corner.

Fancy Pants is Kotaku's weekly round-up of the best in video game cosplay (costume play), where fans dress up as their favourite characters.

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It's tough enough getting women and dudes who aren't white into a starring role in a video game. So imagine how impossible it is to try and get a gay or lesbian character in the spotlight.

A seemingly pedestrian interview on Ubisoft's company blog last week got interesting when Lucien Soulban, Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon's writer, was asked "As an openly gay man working in the industry, what do you think the odds are that we'll get a mid-30s stubbly-bearded brown-haired white guy with a raspy voice who is gay as a lead character in a AAA title?"

A joke question, perhaps, but to his credit, Soulban immediately reworks it, saying "I think the real question is, When are going to get a gay/lesbian AAA hero(ine) who isn't a one-off joke?"

"So when are we going to see that gay protagonist in a AAA game?", he says. "Not for a while, I suspect, because of fears that it'll impact sales. So either we'll see a bait-and-switch like the original Metroid with Samus Aran where we'll find out damn near after the fact (PS: And Dumbledore was gay), or it'll come out of left field with Rockstar, Valve, Naughty Dog or Telltale, perhaps. But when it happens, I hope it's a serious take on it and not played up for jokes."

Note that he's not talking about games like Mass Effect, where you can choose to be gay. Nor is he talking about a peripheral character, or some DLC. He's talking about picking up the controller and knowing that a blockbuster game's main protagonist was gay.

Soulban is of course right, at least as far his idea of how it would be viewed as a business decision. Publishers have enough trouble with women in lead roles in video games, and it's 2014. The mind reels at the bannable internet comments you'd see in response to a badass space marine preferring the company of other badass space marines.

But he also inadvertently points out the single biggest problem in that line of thinking. The warped perspective. Those suits are thinking of the sales having a major, playable gay character would cost them.

What's wrong with thinking of the sales it would create for them?

SHOCKINGLY SHORT INTERVIEW: LUCIEN SOULBAN [Ubisoft]

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Author : Matthew Allen

A mechanical appendage lifts away from her, its claws curling back as it settles next to the table she is lying on.

“And breathe.”

Her diaphragm tightens and the pressure in her lungs drops, dragging warm air in from outside. It feels uncomfortable.

“Good. And out, that’s it. Keep going.”

Cool, soothing metal is pressing down against her limbs to restrict movement. She can feel input from the electrical jacks that run down her spine, but someone is systematically switching them off.

“Ok. Just try to relax.”

“I can’t. You’re taking them away from me.”

“You don’t need them any more.”

“I want them. Why can’t I keep them?”

She feels anger surging inside of her. It presses against her throat and wells up in her eyes. Anger is a new experience, and she doesn’t yet know whether she likes it or not. It complicates matters. She feels strength but it’s unfocussed, imprecise.

“Why am I angry!?”

Her voice is different. It doesn’t sound like she expects it to.

“Everything is coming together. The disorientation will pass.”

“I want to go back.”

“You can’t go back. This has already been decided.”

The last electrical input is cut off and she’s left alone. Although once soothing, she’s now aware of how restrictive the metal bands are, and after a struggle they twist and break. With a newfound sense of freedom she throws herself into the room and sees colour. At first it’s vibrant, with everything in contrast with one another, but the elation doesn’t last. Soon the shadows become obvious, and everything seems duller than before. Disappointment – another new experience. She knows she doesn’t like this one.

“She seems to be adjusting well.”

“Mechanically, she’s in full working order.”

There are two voices now, but they sound further away, like they’re walking away from her. She looks around, but the room is sealed off by glass on all sides so there’s nowhere for her to go.

The voices continue, piped in through a meshed box in the corner.

“But we don’t yet know if she’ll integrate properly with our society.”

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Then we’ll try something different next time. We’re only interested in the successes.”

“Can anybody hear me?”

Silence.

She decides not to wait for new experiences to come to her. This whole affair, this forced birth of her humanity, has left her wary of waiting. Instead, she allows her anger to rekindle, and without holding back grabs at the mechanical appendage that brought her into the world. This tool of her creation become a weapon as she smashes at the glass wall. She dares not tire.

“What is she doing?!”

“Stop that!”

The glass shatters, and the voices fade into the distance as she steps through.

Panic erupts around her, but she refuses to submit. She continues to fight her way through the building, tearing down every obstacle they put in her way. By the time she reaches the final set of doors they have nothing left to offer, and without resistance she walks free into the world.

The North Korea leader cast himself in an animated version of The Hunger Games, and made a few interesting re-writes.

“That’s really cool, but it seems a little awkward to hold and fire at the same time. Perhaps a nifty leather steampunk bandolier or something.” — p0nder

I just finished re-reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the third or fourth time. I'll probably read it a couple more times before I die, at least one of which I'd like to share with a kid. What I'd like is "trivia" (broadly defined) that makes one think, or enriches one's appreciation of the mythos--from a purely textual perspective. Specific examples inside.

I'll never be a Tolkien scholar: I've only ever skimmed the appendices to the LOTR, and I have no intention (or much interest, even) in reading the Silmarillion or the Unfinished Tales. But I'd like some facts and observations (from whatever corner of the Tolkien canon) that enrich the experience of reading the LOTR itself.

For instance, Gandalf (and Saruman and Radagast) are not humans, they're Maiar--more or less "angels" walking Middle Earth. So is Sauron (and so are the balrogs), though Sauron is arguably the most powerful of the Maiar.

The Maiar were "bound" to different Valar, higher order "angels"--Gandalf to Nienna, the Valar of compassion--and that, in some ways, is critical to the unfolding of the tale (i.e., the famous "it was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand" dialogue with Frodo). Each of Saruman and Sauron were bound to Aule the Smith, the Valar of industry and craft. Hmm!

Then there's the whole business of Galadriel giving Gimli three of her golden hairs--whereas she rebuffed the same request by Fëanor, one of the most significant Elves in the mythos and creator of the Silmarils.

But I'm interested in even small little things--some of which are obvious, but that I personally glossed over in my childhood readings. The Lord of the Rings is Sauron, not Frodo (the Ring Bearer). Once the One Ring is destroyed, Bilbo, who gained his long life from his years with the Ring, fades rapidly, because the magic of the Ring is broken. Sam is himself a Ring Bearer and travels to the Gray Havens on the last ship from Middle Earth. Each of Frodo and Sauron has nine fingers. The Elves were more or less immune to the power of the One Ring (Galadriel, Elrond and Gandalf bear one each). The seven rings given to the Dwarves seem to have just roused them to greater greed, and ultimately four were destroyed by dragons (per Gandalf). Moria was the only place in Middle Earth where one could mine mithril (other than Numenor, which sunk into the sea), which explains, in part, why the Dwarves dug so deep. The Mirkwood spiders are descended from Shelob. Gandalf put Thorin up to the raid on Erebor so that Dwarves under the Mountain could be a bulwark against Sauron's forces assaulting Rivendell from the north. The eagles save the day when Frodo and the dwarves are stuck up the trees in The Hobbit, and again at the Battle of the Five Armies, and when Gandalf is trapped on Orthanc, and when he vanquishes the Balrog on Durin's Tower, and at the battle at Morannon, and then save Frodo and Sam from Orodruin. Busy eagles!

It leaves me a bit breathless.

What I am NOT interested in (at all) is Tolkien's experience at the Somme, Stephen Colbert loving Tolkien, Sam being based on Tolkien's dear friend Sam G. Amgee, or the Palantir representing the perils of long-distance telephones in British country post offices.

I'm looking exclusively for observations and facts derived from the text itself that would make a reader (first time or repeat) think, "wow! I did not know/notice that."

Please nerd out here (though I hope we can keep the "well, actually..." to a minimum--I'm just looking to smoke some Old Toby and have a good time).

Roman Emperors Ranked By How Hardcore Their Deaths Were

Author : Robert Spencer

When Dr. Fassenbiender both stepped out of the capsules, it took them half a second to realise who was Dr. Fassenbiender and who was not.

And so, in a small laboratory at the back of the Centre for Untested Technologies (or the “Creators of Unspeakable Terrors” as it was known to the not-so-kind newspaper journalists who occasionally tried to get the government to shut it down) the first of the many psychological issues that are today all so common in the world of Procedural Cloning was experienced.

Since this was the first successful Procedural Cloning (the attempt by Doctors Gredarski and Smith of 2077 is widely considered to not have succeeded: despite the fact that an exact replica of Smith’s cat was constructed, many reason that its subsequent disintegration one and a third seconds later disqualify it) there were no philosophical or psychological frameworks that either Dr. Fassenbiender could apply to the situation and both promptly fainted.

When they both regained consiousness they were so similar in thought that no words were necessary to convey to each other the shock and horror they experienced. Due to the relative positions of the two capsules, both could identify themselves, leading to the first word ever uttered by a clone as Dr. Fassenbiender[1] sat on the floor and exclaimed “shit.”

It would take seven years and countless hours of psychoanalysis before Jackson would formulate his Method of Recognising the Other in Self, which is the most widely accepted method of dealing with the shocking experience of meeting oneself for the first time. It states that at the moment of cloning, one person becomes two, who henceforth diverge in personality, tastes and identity. Both can lay claim to all experiences up to the cloning, but neither has any seniority after the event. This theory is claimed as original by both Jacksons (resulting the famed Jackson v Jackson litigation (presided over by Davids and Davids) which has yet to be resolved).

This theory is supported by the League of Others, but many fundamental religeos organisations rebuke it, claiming that natural conception and birth beget a soul and that Others are thus empty shells. This has, not unexpectedly, led to violence in certain areas of the world, and the great Massacre of Romania and her sister states of 2089 is testament to the horror that endures when man turns upon himself.

For Fassenbiender, the horror was only beginning, as he sat back to back.

“Well.”

“Yeah.”

“Mary is going to kill me.”

“You? How about me?”

“True.”

“She wouldn’t want to…”

“No, I doubt it.”

“Right.”

“Could get double the work done.”

“Won’t work. No shared knowledge base”

“Hmm.”

At this point, both Fassenbienders passed out from exhaustion, and were found the next morning by an intern called Silverson. Silverson would later go on to advise all seventeen country-states on various clone related issues, and is the author of the renowned book “Seeing Double, a Short History of Procedural Cloning.”

It should be noted that Mary Fassenbiender did eventually clone herself, and after a number of most embarrassing double dates, Dr Fassenbiender[1] and Mary Fassenbiender[0] ran away to a small town in Southern France. Dr Fassenbiender[0] and Mary Fassenbiender[1] still live happily in Cornwall, where they are working on making the Procedural Cloning device more efficient. They have four children (two Johns and two Amys) and (as of going to press) sixteen cats.

In the debate over whether or not to approve the merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, there has been a lot of in-depth discussion of market share, divestments, fiber competition, and all sorts of other things the average cable subscriber doesn’t concern herself with because she has better things to do. What’s at risk of being overlooked is that Comcast is just a horrible company that really doesn’t care about its many millions of customers who have no other choice.

That’s why everyone at the Dept. of Justice and the FCC should put on their headphones (yes… right now; it’s a Friday afternoon so don’t look at me like that) and watch this Funny Or Die PSA that reminds us all — in very NSFW language — that Comcast just doesn’t give a, well… you know.

Great news for law enforcement, jailers, drug cartels, and the prison industry - the War on Drugs has been very profitable. It's horrible news for everyone else.

Shozo Kato, a master kendo sensei, discusses Japanese concepts of beauty (such as wabi-sabi or わびさび) and the "immovable mind" (fudoushin or 不動心) as well as demonstrates kendo and laido. The result is both poetic and fascinating.

This video was directed by Brady Welch and Colin Sonner.

Shozo Kato - Way of the Sword [The Avant/Garde Diaries@Vimeo]

To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.

Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

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SThe cult of the Helix fossil/Omanyte is not the only 'religion' that's formed around the events of Twitch Plays Pokemon, you know. This makes sense: a random group of thousands of people aren't necessarily all going to believe in the same thing.

Plus, the mythology surrounding the Helix fossil itself is a complicated beauty/mess—there are many players and villains. Reddit user aseanman27 made a handy image that not only details all the various 'beliefs' around Twitch Plays Pokémon, but also outlines some of the major events and common occurrences in the playthrough. It's worth a look, both if you've been keeping up with the progression Twitch Plays Pokémon, or if you're curious about some of the ridiculous memes that have developed around it.

Click 'expand' to see it at full size...and feel free to annotate parts of the image by clicking it, too!

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(Via Reddit)

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