One Zelda: Breath of the Wild player really likes the in-game photos he took. Twitter user WPR_haru collected his best in-game shots and made them into a nice coffee-table book.
It quite a cool idea, actually. Considering just how great Zelda: Breath of the Wild looks and how Nintendo puts emphasis on photography in the game.
Check out some photos of his photo book below.
Via Twitter
In Maine, an employee is not entitled to overtime pay if he or she is engaged in:
The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of: (1) Agricultural produce; (2) Meat and fish products; and (3) Perishable foods.
Delivery drivers distribute perishable foods but do not pack them. Do they get overtime?
Explain your answer.
Now, are you still interested in going to law school?
Explain that answer.
That first question was the one in O’Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy, which the First Circuit decided on March 13. The answer, and probably a fair amount of money, turned out to depend on a comma.
Because the drivers want overtime—or because they actually believe it’s the right answer, or maybe even both—they argued that because there’s no comma after “shipment,” the exempt activity is “packing for shipment or distribution”; that is, packing for either of those purposes. They don’t pack anything, they said, so the exemption doesn’t apply to them.
Because their employer didn’t want to pay overtime—or because it actually believes it’s the right answer, or maybe even both—it argued that the phrase defines two exempt activities: “packing for shipment” and “distribution.” The drivers may not pack, but they definitely distribute, so the exemption does apply to them.
What do you think?
Interesting. Well, you are either obviously right, or obviously wrong. Probably, if you did explain your answer in some way, it didn’t take you too long. If you were weird enough to write it out, it probably took maybe a paragraph. So you might be surprised to hear the First Circuit’s explanation was 22 pages long.
Here’s how it starts:
Each party recognizes that, by its bare terms, Exemption F raises questions as to its scope, largely due to the fact that no comma precedes the words “or distribution.” But each side also contends that the exemption’s text has a latent clarity, at least after one applies various interpretive aids. Each side then goes on to argue that the overtime law’s evident purpose and legislative history confirms its preferred reading.
Got that? Both parties recognize it isn’t clear. But both parties also argue that it is clear. More specifically, at least somebody’s arguing it has a “latent clarity.” What the hell is that?
In law school you learn about “latent ambiguity,” which is when words seem clear but aren’t because of some external facts. For example, if my will says “I leave my house to my dog,” that seems clear, but if it turns out I had two houses (or two dogs), now there’s a problem. But I’d never heard of a “latent clarity,” and I think it makes no sense. For legal documents, at least, if the meaning is clear then you do what the words say. If they’re not clear, then you can look at external evidence; otherwise, you can’t. The external evidence might answer the ultimate question, but that doesn’t magically make the original words “clear.” So I don’t think this is a thing.
I just ran a search, and in fact this is the first time that phrase has ever been used in any published decision in this country. So, it is not a thing.
And not too surprisingly, the court never finds any clarity here, latent or otherwise. Its analysis takes 22 pages because courts usually don’t just wing it, they try to make decisions by applying rules, and here the court applies what lawyers call “canons of interpretation.” Such as: the “rule against surplusage” (every word should count), the “parallel usage convention” (all elements in a parallel series should have the same function), noscitur a sociis (words in a list should be given related meanings), something called “asyndeton” (apparently the practice of leaving out conjunctions between things in a list), and the role of the serial or “Oxford” comma.
None of this helps at all.
Except in the sense that because the court has decided the text isn’t clear, it can look at some of that external evidence, like other documents or legislative history, or maybe consider policy arguments. That spans another six pages, which I’ll spare you because guess what? It doesn’t help, either.
So then what? Well, the court finally turns to yet another rule of interpretation, the one saying that some laws “should be liberally construed to further the … purpose for which they are enacted.” Wage-and-hour laws are enacted to help employees, so, the court concludes this law should be construed in the employees’ favor. In other words, it’s a tiebreaker rule; if the court thinks it’s a close call—or it has no idea what the legislature meant—the employees win. That’s what happens here.
Of course, this is wrong. For that to be the right answer, the “or” would have to be in front of “packing.” (The contrary argument is that “asyndeton” thing nobody’s ever heard of.) Usually the “or” in a list comes right before the last item, and here it’s right before “distribution.” True, there is no comma setting off that last item, but there we’d apply the rule of construction called We Know People Don’t Use the Oxford Comma When They Should, and pretend there is one. That’d be even more appropriate here because as the court notes (p. 10), astoundingly, Maine’s Legislative Drafting Manual expressly tells drafters not to use the serial comma. That’s crazy talk, but to me it’s consistent with the Rule of Or: the legislature meant to exclude employees who “distribute” from overtime pay; it just has a comma problem. But the court refuses to read the omitted comma into the statute.
Maybe it wants to shame the legislature into doing the right thing and using serial commas like civilized people do. As it points out (fn. 5), if there were a serial comma after “shipment,” the meaning would be perfectly clear. But there isn’t. That turned out to be good for the drivers, and I suppose it was also good for the lawyers who got paid to argue about it.
Although whoever came up with “latent clarity” should have to give back some of that money.
Released today in North America and Europe, Swapdoodle is Nintendo’s latest take on 3DS note swapping, allowing players to share scribbled messages and purchase various add-ons to make them better at it.
We’re a small organisation full of makers, and I think at least two of us own a hand loom for weaving textiles. (One of the reasons I enjoy the TV show Vikings so much is the casual looming that’s going on as backdrop in many of the indoor scenes – the textile sort, not the impending-doom sort, although there’s plenty of that too.)
Siggy and Laergatha (personal role model) get down to a spot of light weaving before commencing to crush skulls and pillage.
Here in the 21st century, Lorna and I use hand looms because powered looms are very expensive. They’re also usually pretty enormous, being meant for enterprise rather than home use. This is pesky, because there’s a lot of repetitive action involved, which can be hell on the carpal tunnels; weaving can be slow, tough work.
Suspicious automation
Enter the Raspberry Pi.
Fred Hoefler has taken a desktop loom and added a Raspberry Pi to automate it. (Your computer’s fine: this video has no sound.)
Loom Operation
The general sequence of events for running my Raspberry Pi controlled loom. The project was really a proof of concept idea rather than an actual production model. This video is intended to supplement my blog at www.photographic-perspectives.com Sorry, there is not audio with this.
Fred wrote about the project on his website, explaining that he came up with the idea for very personal reasons. His wife Gina has been a weaver for 30 years, but she began to experience difficulties with the physical aspects of using her loom as she grew older. Conversations with other unwillingly retired weavers told Fred that Gina’s situation was not uncommon, and led him to design something to help. His device is intended to help older weavers who have trouble with the hard work of throwing the shuttle and holding down the pedals. Assistive looms cost upwards of $10,000: Fred’s solution comes in at a tidy $150, factoring in loom, Pi, and some motors from Amazon. So this isn’t for hobbyists like me: this loom can be a way for people whose livelihoods depend on being able to weave to continue working long after they might have had to retire.
One of the most satisfying things about the Raspberry Pi for me is its power to drive cost out of devices like this, and to change the way we work. This is a simple build, but it has so much potential to keep someone’s income flowing: we hope to see more as Fred develops the project.
The post The Raspberry Pi-powered loom appeared first on Raspberry Pi.
Today is a day where it is hard to feel good about anything. Last night I called my dad crying, in despair about what my country has done. When I tried to think of reasons to get out of bed this morning, I took some comfort in the cozy world of Animal Crossing.
Haven’t played Animal Crossing: New Leaf in and want to jump back in for the new update? You can now sell your town to Tom Nook and start over, money in tow. For some, this might present an attractive option, but many players are finding that Nook never shows up to negotiate, and their town gets deleted in the process.
The Dragon Quest VIII 3DS remake will be out in North America on January 20, Nintendo said today. It’ll have quick save, a “Speed Up” function in battles, and extra dungeons/quests that weren’t in the PS2 version. That means you’ve got two months to finish the 4,000-hour Dragon Quest VII.
If you’ve been collecting the many Animal Crossing amiibo figurines or cards released over the last year, good news: they’re more useful now.
Let’s just hope this Godzilla doesn’t fire a beam of radioactive heat from its mouth. That is, for its own sake.
syndicatedragonI really wish we could go to this :(
FRISCO, Texas—Finally, there's a museum made for people like me.
The National Videogame Museum (yes, they spell it as one word) has been open since April of this year in the Dallas-area suburb of Frisco, and it houses an incredible collection of gaming memorabilia. The rarest cartridges, systems, and prototypes are all here, protected as if they were the Mona Lisa (and for some game collectors, they may as well be). Come here to marvel at one-of-a-kind finds like a Nintendo World Championship cartridge, a mint-condition Ultra Hand toy, or the only known white-molded Atari 2600 in the world.
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syndicatedragonBefore you get too excited, I'm pretty sure this will be about the New Leaf Amiibo update coming out at the end of the month
syndicatedragonI really liked my MBP but Apple has nothing for me anymore. I guess I'm glad I didn't get too "locked in" to OS X.
Enlarge / The new 13" MacBook Pro, without a Touch Bar or Touch ID. (credit: Apple)
We thought Apple might introduce a new MacBook Air today, but instead the company made a lower-end MacBook Pro that might satisfy people looking for a thin laptop with more horsepower than the entry-level MacBook.
Alongside the more powerful 13" and 15" MacBook Pros announced today, there is another new 13" MacBook Pro that doesn't have the Touch Bar and Touch ID that comes with higher-end models. It does use the same general design as the higher-end MacBook Pros, weighing 3.02 pounds with "up to 10 hours" battery life for wireless Web surfing and movie playback.
Apple said it will continue selling the existing 13" MacBook Air, but the company made a point of comparing that model to this new lower-end Pro, putting it somewhere between the Air and the other Pros in the lineup. The new 13" MacBook Pro starts at $1,499 and will begin shipping today. The new higher-end Pros will start at $1,799 for the 13" model and $2,399 for the 15" model while shipping in two to three weeks.
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For years, Pokémon fans have argued over what happens when a monster is recalled into a Pokeball. The theories are endless.
syndicatedragonLong term forecast for STL: Who the fuck knows!
When the hustle and bustle of the real world brings me down, I always know there’s a little piece of paradise a few clicks away. Slime Rancher is full of goopy slimes and their magical poop. If I ever need a break, I spend some time with them.
syndicatedragonI guess it's only a matter of time...
There are a lot of benefits to being an Amazon Prime subscriber, other than the obvious free 2-day shipping. Beside Prime Video, Prime Music, and Prime Photos, the yearly plan caters to readers too by offering Audible Channels and a selection of free Audiobooks, Kindle First for a chance to buy an upcoming book before its official release, and Kindle Owners' Lending Library which is limited to one book a month and only works on Kindle and Fire hardware.
Read MoreAmazon adds Reading benefit to its Prime membership to satisfy the book and magazine nerd in you was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
syndicatedragonDeath of Nexus brand just makes me sad
Google's annual phone announcements are always leaky, but this year we had the extra complication of the Pixel re-branding. Well, now it's all out in the open. Google has made the Pixel official, and it looks like the leaks were dead-on. These are aluminum unibody devices, available in three different colors, and the pricing is much more "premium" than the Nexus devices were. Go big or go home, I guess.
The Pixel and Pixel XL share a great deal.
Read MoreGoogle makes the Pixel phones official, pricing starts at $649 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Of all the weird and wonderful characters in Nintendo’s pantheon of talking animals/plumbers/fungi, I think I like Animal Crossing’s Resetti the best. Even if he is a big ol’ meanie.
syndicatedragonHere is something else you can worry about. :)
Enlarge (credit: Getty | Zhang Peng)
Anyone who’s lived in a smoggy city would likely welcome the idea of using widely dispersed air filters to soak up all those toxic tidbits floating around—unless, of course, those filters were functioning human brains.
Our noggins naturally catch and collect the toxic, magnetic nanoparticles that we inadvertently inhale from polluted air, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Those wee particles, made of the strongly magnetic iron oxide compound, magnetite, have been found in human brains before and were thought to be normal and harmless byproducts of biological processes. But according to the new study, a closer examination of minuscule metal balls in 37 human brains revealed that they’re actually from smog, formed during combustion or friction-derived heating, such as slamming on the brakes of a car.
Whether the particles are harmful is hazy, but the authors note that the nanomagnets have two troubling features: they can interact with misfolded proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease to produce reactive oxygen species, which can severely damage cells; and large amounts of them in the brain correlated with Alzheimer’s disease in earlier studies. Given these potential risks, the authors—a team of researchers from the UK and Mexico—suggest that exposure to them “might need to be examined as a possible hazard to human health.”
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syndicatedragonI kind of forgot this existed. I have it on my phone, never used it. I guess if I were a heavy data user away from home it might be useful, although public wifi is generally crap compared to LTE
A few weeks ago, Google told us that Project Fi's WiFi Assistant, which connects users automatically to public WiFi using a secure VPN, was heading to Nexus devices in the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, and Nordic countries. This has now started rolling out, via an update to Google Connectivity Services, version D.1.5.10.
WHAT'S NEW
WiFi Assistant for non-Project Fi Nexus devices is rolling out was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
If you like a little quick mindless fun in the Miiverse, Nintendo has revealed some changes for StreetPass Mii Plaza, as well as some new games.
A new update is available to make the experience uicker and smoother. The optional Quick Plaza streamlines the way the games will be played, making it quicker to access games from the bottom screen and booted up immediately. In addition, gameplay is quicker and messages fromother players have been simplified.
There has also been a change to Plaza Gate in Mii Plaza Premium. Previously you could only encounter 10 players via the StreetPass feature. Now, sending players you've met previously through the Plaza Gate, you can encounter up to 100 players.
Also available with the update are five new fast-paced StreetPass games, small by even StreetPass standards:
Choose between Slot Car Rivals or Market Crashers for free, and then you can purchase the other four games as a discounted bundle price of $8.99. Otherwise, each game sells for $2.99.
The update and the games should be available soon on the eShop, if they aren't already.
syndicatedragonThey made it even smaller, just for you! :)
Enlarge (credit: Valentina Palladino)
The rumors were true: Fitbit isn't done for the year. The company just announced two new fitness trackers that add second iterations of existing products to its lineup: the Charge 2 and the Flex 2. The Charge 2 is an improved Charge HR, now with new features, a larger display, and interchangeable bands, while the swim-capable Flex 2 is an upgraded Flex with a completely new design that focuses on versatility.
Let's start with the Charge 2: its biggest physical improvement is the 1.5-inch display that replaces the Charge HR's small, narrow screen. It's like a wider version of the Fitbit Alta's display, finally big enough to show the time at the top and tap-to-scroll stats beneath it. Those stats include steps, heart rate, active time, and more. The Charge 2's bands are interchangeable, so you can swap the silicone, active band for more fashionable leather and jewelry-like bands. However, since the Charge 2 is just a wider version of the Alta, its overall attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder.
The Charge 2 has new software and tracking features that the Charge HR doesn't have. Its connected GPS lets it pair with your smartphone's GPS to map running routes and get better distance calculations, while its interval workout mode lets you to customize routines that alternate bursts of intense exercise with periods of low-intensity activity. The Charge 2 also has reminders to move, while calling, texting, calendar alerts, and activity profiles are accessible from the band's display. These profiles let you quickly track your most-completed exercises, like running, walking, biking, Pilates, and more. You decide which appear on the band and which don't.
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syndicatedragonSo it does have more words!
syndicatedragonIt doesn't do much, but it sure is creepy looking
Enlarge / The octobot, with some of its reaction system highlighted in color. (credit: Ryan Truby, Michael Wehner, and Lori Sanders, Harvard University.)
While the current generation of industrial robots is primarily made of metal, the research community has been getting interested in the potential for soft-bodied robots. These have a number of advantages, such as being easy to customize via 3D printing and providing a flexibility that lets them squeeze through tight spaces.
Many of the research demonstrations created so far, however, have required some compromises. For some iterations, this has meant the control hardware and power sources have been kept separate, connected to the robot via a tether. For other attempts, this has meant the final product is a mixture of hard and soft pieces.
In today's issue of Nature, however, researchers are reporting the creation of a soft-bodied robot that carries its own fuel supply, which powers the robot through an on-board chemical reaction. Soft, flexible on-board logic then directs the reaction products to control the movement of the robot. While the result is pretty limited in what it can do, its creators make up for that with a certain cool factor, making their creation look a lot like an octopus.
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syndicatedragonYou should totally get one of these for um education. :) There were a few comments that mentioned how they were being used in classrooms
Enlarge / The HPU's floorplan. (credit: Microsoft)
Since it was first unveiled, we've learned bits and pieces about the hardware inside Microsoft's HoloLens augmented reality headset. But Microsoft's custom Holographic Processing Unit (HPU) has always posed something of a mystery. At Hot Chips this week, the company finally shed a little light on what its special chip is doing.
Ever since we first used HoloLens, we knew that it had some special hardware. Our first units weren't the sleek all-in-one devices that are now available to developers and corporations for $3,000. Instead, each of our devices had a bulky chest-mounted unit that contained an FPGA (a kind of chip that can be rewired on-the-fly to change its behavior), fans to keep it cool, and an umbilical cord to provide power.
That FPGA was the precursor to the HPU that the HoloLens headsets now contain. The HPU integrates data from the HoloLens's sensors (accelerometers to detect motion and a Kinect-like camera system to detect depth). The chip uses those sensors to recognize gestures, maintain a map of the environment, and ensure that virtual 3D objects retain their position in the real world.
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syndicatedragonvideo of the starbucks collapse is scary
Here goes my productivity for the rest of the day week. In its quest to make the search page the only thing you ever visit online, Google has added another fun trick to its search engine: Solitaire and Tic-Tac-Toe. Forget about animal sounds, metronomes, bubble levels, and all kinds of other tools or time-wasters, this is what we've all been waiting for, from the moment we booted our first Windows computer to all those car and train rides in winter when we played Tic-Tac-Toe on the foggy windows, to that time we saw the doctor's assistant playing Solitaire on her computer and wished we had that to ease the long wait.
[Bored at work] Google adds playable Solitaire and Tic-Tac-Toe games in search results was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
syndicatedragonNo one likes it
Starting on September 6th, new T-Mobile postpaid subscribers or current postpaid customers looking to change their plan will have exactly one choice: the ONE plan. T-Mobile is dramatically simplifying its [admittedly, confusing at times] plan structure for individuals and families by introducing literally one plan. Again: the ONE plan. It works like this - as you can see in detail in our post on the news - but let me give you the flyby version.
Read MoreSimply No Choice: T-Mobile's new "ONE" plan is not good for consumers, sets bad precedents was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
