Bewarethewumpus

The Daily Show presents President Obama's barefaced lies about NSA surveillance. The lesson: if the President says the NSA is not doing it, then the NSA is doing it.

Eight of the biggest technology companies in the world have jointly called for reforms to global surveillance laws, launching a site called Global Government Surveillance Reform, which sets out the following principles:

1. Limiting Governments’ Authority to Collect Users’ Information
2. Oversight and Accountability
3. Transparency About Government Demands
4. Respecting the Free Flow of Information
5. Avoiding Conflicts Among Governments

The companies announced the initiative through full-page ads in the New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, Roll Call, and The Hill, and asked the US to take the lead in surveillance reform (presumably, because the US has taken the lead in surveillance itself):

Dear Mr. President and Members of Congress,

We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer’s revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide. The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual — rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It’s time for a change.

For our part, we are focused on keeping users’ data secure — deploying the latest encryption technology to prevent unauthorized surveillance on our networks and by pushing back on government requests to ensure that they are legal and reasonable in scope.

We urge the US to take the lead and make reforms that ensure that government surveillance efforts are clearly restricted by law, proportionate to the risks, transparent and subject to independent oversight. To see the full set of principles we support, visit ReformGovernmentSurveillance.com

Sincerely,

AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo

Eight Tech Giants Call for Reform to Surveillance Law

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem ride again!

Thanks, Ellen!

Video Link

No one wants to look bad in front of Kratos. According to this Robot Chicken animated spot for Killzone: Shadow Fall, God of War's heroic brute is very active on Facebook, so think before you hit that share button.

This 60-second spot, airing Monday night on Adult Swim before the Robot Chicken Born Again Virgin Christmas Special, was lovingly crafted by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios as a follow-up to last year's PlayStation All-Stars bit. Check out AdultSwim.com later today for a mini-site featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the stop-motion skit.

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This pointillist drawing of Link took redditor Svezzz812 "hours and hours and hours" of work to complete. But it was worth it! That's one damn gorgeous pair of eyes.

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.

Questions? Comments? Contact the author of this post at andras-AT-kotaku-DOT-com.

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Watching The Core's trailer makes you forget you're looking at a mod for a game that came out in 1998. It's just gorgeous.

The Core is an in-development total conversion for the first Half-Life. It takes place during the resonance cascade, which is when Gordon Freeman and his scientist buddies accidentally unleashed the aliens of Xen on the Black Mesa Research Facility. Like in Opposing Force and Blue Shift, the two official expansion packs, you get to experience the cataclysm from a different perspective to Gordon's—this time, that of engineer Maurice Andrews.

The mod's been in development since 2008, so hopefully it should pop up soon. Here's hoping; I'd love to get my hands on this one. Check out the trailer below:

The Core - Official Trailer Release [ModDB]

Questions? Comments? Contact the author of this post at andras-AT-kotaku-DOT-com.

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There are plenty of legitimate reasons to feel that being a PC gamer is more advantageous to your hobby. There are also valid statements made about being a console gamer.

It's been said before, and the deft hands at Dorkly are saying it again: let's just enjoy bonding over a shared love, no matter how we access it.

To contact the author of this post, write to tina@kotaku.com or find her on Twitter at @tinaamini.

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Alan writes, "In a formal response to a motion by shareholders to get a vote requiring AT&T to publish a transparency report the telecom giant has said, essentially, it's none of your business."

The response claims that the decision (not) to publish a transparency report is a matter of normal business operation and so should not be the subject of a shareholder vote. Oh, and anyway they would only disclose what they've given to law enforcement. Cooperation with the three-letter-agencies still wouldn't be in the report. So, nyah!

AT&T Responds to Shareholders’ Concerns on User Data [Brian X Chen/NYT]

(Thanks, Alan!)

Thank you all so much. I'm sitting in an airport with a dying battery, but seriously, I have not felt so unstressed in a long time. More on this later, promise!

New Comic: Netiquette

Here’s your requisite Christmas-themed comic! Enjoy.

Today is Day 5 of our Patreon campaign! If you’re unfamiliar with Patreon, there’s a good explanation of what we’re using it for here.

We’ve just passed the $1800 mark as I write this, only $200 away from the  first goal. Help put us over the top! Remember, I’m going to give a free copy of the SFAM Vol. 1 ebook to all current patrons when we hit the $2000 mark. If you want your free ebook too, become a patron today!

tastefullyoffensive:

Sports in a nutshell. [vectorbelly]

Gaston divulges a little known secret about Belle’s father.

TRUTH!

Having a good time in Battlefield 4 in an unconventional way doesn't always mean stacking 64 players into an elevator or changing pilot seats mid-air. There's jet ski jousting! Jackfrags and his crew show us how to play this grand sporting spectacle.

Two teams battle for supremacy on water, while jet skis and rocket launchers replace horses and lances. That's fair enough.

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Two days ago, a truck carrying a container of radioactive cobalt-60 (enough to make a dirty bomb) was stolen by carjackers off a highway near Tijuana. Today, authorities found the truck and the men who stole it. The thieves aren't terrorists, just some guys who wanted a truck with a crane attached to it. But, at some point, they opened the container of cobalt-60 and will now almost certainly die from radiation exposure.

It's appraised at $200,000 to $300,000.

Harrison Ford’s charismatic smuggler, Han Solo, is arguably the most popular character in the original Star Wars trilogy. The space-scoundrel-turned hero’s persona is irrevocably tied to his blaster pistol. Solo was modeled after the rogue gunslingers of the westerns that influenced creator George Lucas. This non-firing blaster was created for The Empire Strikes Back and was also used in Return of the Jedi. It would have been used in the majority of scenes that feature Han, with the heavier, live-fire weapon being used for close-up shots. Particularly noteworthy scenes requiring this lighter version are when Darth Vader uses the Force to lasso the blaster out of Han’s hand in Empire, and in Jedi when Han wrestles with a Stormtrooper to regain possession of his blaster during the Rebels’ encounter with Imperial forces on Endor. Based on the German issue Mauser C96 pistol, this piece, measuring 11 in. long, was custom made for the film from resin by casting the original hero prop from the first Star Wars: A New Hope, it therefore exhibits the same serial number as the hero prop, which is thought to no longer exist. The blaster is exactly in its original filming condition and therefore exhibits wear from use, but retains all of the original details, including the flash suppressor and scope (the eye-piece of which is detailed with reflective scotch-lite tape). The added distinction of this particular piece is that it was also likely used by Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, as both characters shared the same style of weapon in Empire. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from a noted Star Wars collector. To our knowledge this is the only known example of this type of blaster in private hands. This is a truly incredible item of motion picture history and quite possibly the most exciting science fiction weapon to have been offered for public auction.

Lot 379: Harrison Ford "Han Solo" DL-44 Blaster from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

In this latest animated short from Cyanide and Happiness, a painter tries to impress his nude portrait model with a finishing touch of GIF animation to his masterpiece.

A British teacher and artist named Guy Tarrant has assembled two cases' worth of toys confiscated from London schoolchildren, soliciting them from fellow teachers. The collection represents items from 150 schools and 30 years, and is on display at the excellent Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. The Childhood Museum is very close to my home, and it's one of my favourite London museums -- I like it better, even, than its enormous parent institution, the V&A down in South Kensington.

These “confiscation cabinets,” assembled by veteran teacher and artist Guy Tarrant, are an unusual archive: toys taken from London schoolchildren in 150 different schools, over thirty years.

Tarrant became interested in the toys as tokens of resistance to school routines and teacherly discipline. He enlisted other teachers to donate their own confiscated items to his project. In all, he made eight such cabinets, which are currently on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood in London.

A British Teacher's Archive of Confiscated Toys [Rebecca Onion/Slate]

(via Super Punch)

(Photos: Guy Tarrant)

submitted by prochobo [link] [478 comments]