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One of the running gags in NBC’s Parks and Recreation is Cones of Dunshire, an overly complex game invented by Adam Scott’s accountant character Ben Wyatt. Introduced in the ninth episode of the sixth season, the game revolves around taking control of the titular cones, moving pieces, and rolling tons of dice to resolve inscrutable […]

The post Cones of Dunshire is now a thing you can buy appeared first on Quarter to Three.

The boy, 6, who had told the story originally has now acknowledged that he lied about it. 

Scorching into my inbox this morning:
Behold, you are reading a letter from the President Barack Obama USA. Finally, I have received lists of the names of people who are Involved in money laundry and terrorism Which your name is Among the names that was submitted to me and I have ordered to release arrest warrant to the IPA to quickly carry October Their duty and make sure that They get you arrested and summon you to the court immediately Which They Will Be on Their duty on Thursday morning the
assigned since you are trying to play ball with me.

You have failed to comply with Them all after the warning and instructions given Beheerder Beheerder to you, but since you are Also Among the terrorist we are facing in the country, I will make sure that personal I wipe away the crime in the state and I promise you That You will definitely pay with your life because I am here to protect the interest of my people and not to put Them in shame, you suppose to support this government and not to spoil it. Since It Has Been confirmed by Benin Republic government that Actually this fund belongs to you and here the law demands That It can not be release to you Unless you Provide the certificate Which is OWNERSHIP CERTIFICATE DRUG And That Is what the IPA Has Been demanding for a very long team now. For your own good, I am giving you today last chance to tell me the the President why you have failed to Provide the certificate and why do you fail the IPA That Is working under my instruction Which you know that once you disobey Them you have disobeyed me as well.

Do note that if you failed to get back to this office Within 24hours, you will be apprehended and charge to court immediately for Involving in money laundry and terrorism and there you will see my face. You will only be free if you get back to my office by promising That You Will Provide the fee for the Which certificate will cost you only 100usd to obtain infor- mation it Within 48hours Otherwise you will be in soup, BE WARNED!. I will advise you on what to further Top the Top They once hear from you in other to resolve this matter amicably. Contact Mr Jeff Kennedy So that He will Provide you the certificate once you have send Them fee.

Kindly Respond to this message.

Highlights:
1. I have ordered to release arrest warrant to the IPA
2. Beheerder! Beheerder!
3. OWNERSHIP CERTIFICATE DRUG
4. the fee for the Which certificate
5. I will advise you on what to further Top the Top

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With the release of amiibos worldwide, aside from defect hunters scouring store shelves for factory defects to hawk on eBay, we’ve seen Nintendo fans step up and make some willing modifications of their own to their amiibos. This latest modification comes from redditor NLighteNd1, who posted the modification to the amiibo subreddit.

As you can see, the amiibo has been somewhat modified to achieve the yarn styled look of the upcoming Yarn Yoshi game. Here’s another shot of the amiibo’s back, where you can see Yoshi’s weird, hump saddle thing:

Of course, this wouldn’t be complete without a look at the amiibo from the front, which you can see here:

You’ll notice even the base has received a yarn coating, which is now white with specks of green most likely meant to reflect the look of Yoshis eggs once they are laid. Not bad! With these types of modifications we can’t wait to see what other Nintendo fans cook up!

Nick Youngblood sent in some fascinating information about the Freestyle machine:
Yesterday, thanks to your column, I couldn’t get the Freestyle off my mind, so I started trying to learn more about it. There was a quite in-depth discussion of the device on a forum that seemed to be dedicated to movie theater and fast food operators. I haven’t verified most of this, but here are a few of the more interesting things I learned.

The technology that makes the Freestyle possible was originally developed for use in chemotherapy machines, in order to precisely measure the relative amounts of various chemo drugs a patient received. This key piece of technology is what allows the concept of the Freestyle to work.

That technology is so precise that it allows the machine to use incredibly concentrated forms of syrup, way more concentrated than you’d find in a normal soda fountain. Thus you can offer over a hundred flavors in a small physical profile. I think this may actually be the source of people’s taste complaints for the following reason. Normal fountains have syrup bags for their various flavors. There’s a coke bag, a sprite bag, and so on. If I understand correctly, the Freestyle doesn’t use this system. Instead, it has a variety of cartridges that hold common components of many syrups, and mixes them on the fly. So when you’re ordering a Coke for example, you’re not getting coke syrup per se, you’re getting a mixture of the various ingredients the machine contains that is supposed to match or closely approximate pre-prepared Coke syrup. Another example. In canned and pre-mixed varieties, the cherry flavor used in cherry coke vs cherry soda is not actually the same. In the Freestyle, the same cherry flavoring is used for all applications of cherry. If this is true, the flavor problems with the machine may never be fixed, in which case they’re doomed (or we are).

Another factor that can influence flavor is that due to the way the spigot works, remnants of the drink ordered before yours will often make it into your drink. I don’t know why this is so, but reports are common of people receiving a little lime diet coke in their pineapple soda or what have you. 

I'm sure you've seen one by now.

Coca-Cola Freestyle, the big red and white soda machine that can dispense over 125 combinations of Coke products/flavors. The first time I saw one, the concept blew me away. It was the greatest idea ever.

Then I tasted the soda.

Here's what every single drink that comes out of a Coca-Cola machine tastes like: ass. Every flavor and product have a distinctive "Freestyle" ass-taste. It's so bad that I've now started avoiding places I used to eat at frequently because they installed Freestyle machines.

Last week, I went to a restaurant I haven't eaten at in over six months because they have Freestyle machines now, and while I was having my snack, I saw a technician working on the Freestyle machine.

"Hey, do you mind if I ask you some questions about Freestyle?" I asked.

"Sure!" he said. Friendly type.

"I really like the idea of these machines in concept, but the flavor--"

"I won't drink anything that comes out of these machines," he said.

"That's what I was going to say," I said. "I'm glad it's not just me."

"It's not," he said. "I have people come up all the time and tell me they hate it. I don't like how it tastes, either. Something is off. They all taste wrong."

"You could line up ten drinks from five different soda fountains and five Freestyle machines, and I could pick out every one of the Freestyle drinks immediately," I said.

"I can, too," he said.

"So why are they pushing this so hard?" I asked.

"The executives are in love with the idea," he said. "And they spent a ton of money developing it. It's a good idea, but they need to tweak the flavor. The mix isn't right yet."

He talked for a while about some of the technological innovation in the machine, and it's a pretty amazing piece of tech. It standardizes flavor--the flavor of ass, unfortunately--to a much, much greater degree than was possible previously. Plus, if I understood the tech correctly, it would be possible for Coca-Cola to push software updates that would change the flavor profile/mix of every installed machine at the same time.

Here's what blows me away, though: wouldn't you think those executives would have actually tasted the soda? I don't see how anyone could taste what actually comes out of the machine and be satisfied. It's far less sweet, for one, and there's some kind of funky carbonation or something that creates a distinctive after-taste. How could they not notice that?

Sales of soft drinks have been dropping steadily for a while now, and guess what, Coca-Cola? This isn't going to help.

If the internet has taught me one thing; it’s that some people really do love to point the finger at videogames. Whenever

The post Why Do Videogames Get Such A Bad Rap? appeared first on SheAttack!.

In spite of construction work still going on, and one of those working inside Joy Luck Chinese Buffet (8030 Manchester Road) on Tuesday, Nov. 18 who said it would reopen next week, it did open that night. Friday night folks were lined up waiting for a table. The restaurant is open seven days a week: […]

Riverview Gardens students are feeling 'stress overload,' some of them say.

After prematurely setting an opening date of Nov. 15, before all county health inspections were passed, Fort Taco (8106 Manchester Road) is now good to go. The taco and enchilada drive thru passed its two St. Louis County Health Department inspections this week, the final one on Wednesday, earning an “A” sticker for the drive-up […]

The robber showed the teller a note but showed no weapon. 

The ultimate love letter to Nintendo gets even more elaborate.
There's a niggling feeling when you first start up Super Smash Bros. for Wii U that Nintendo perhaps showed its hand a little too early. After all, by releasing the 3DS version nearly two months before its console brother, Nintendo had essentially ensured that those who purchased both would have few secrets to discover once the Wii U game rolled around.



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Ferguson-Florissant and Riverview Gardens schools have given students homework packets to keep them learning in case they're stuck at home

For the past few months, Microsoft has been running a series of ads that pit the Surface Pro 3 against Apple's MacBook Air. The ads have been short, sweet, and to the point... until yesterday's holiday-themed spot came along:

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Exposure during the holidays remains an important business decision for Nintendo, which is why Nintendo of America has announced a series of malls that will have the latest Wii U and Nintendo 3DS games available for consumers, along with the Amiibo experience. This promotion will run from November 24 to December 21 and even includes a Mario Kart 8 tournament and Super Smash Bros. battles.

Playable Wii U games will include Super Smash Bros., Hyrule Warriors, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Mario Kart 8, Super Mario 3D World, Skylanders: Trap Team, and Nintendo Land. Of notable absence here is Bayonetta 2, which just released in October. It doesn’t quite fit the family-friendly motif that Nintendo usually maintains for these events.

As for the Nintendo 3DS, players will be able to experience Super Smash Bros., both Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Mario Kart 7, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Tomodachi Life, Yoshi’s New Island, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

If you’re eager to see if a location will be near you, check out this list of available locations:

• Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, Kansas
• Arrowhead Towne Center in Glendale, Arizona
• Queens Center in Elmhurst, New York
• Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Virginia
• Washington Square in Portland, Oregon
• Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota
• Memorial City Mall at Memorial City in Houston
• The Florida Mall in Orlando, Florida
• Grapevine Mills in Grapevine, Texas
• King of Prussia in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
• South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Massachusetts
• Woodfield Mall in Schaumberg, Illinois
• Westfield North County in Escondido, California
• Westfield Southcenter in Seattle
• Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara, California
• Westfield Culver City in Culver City, California

The following information was supplied by the Maplewood Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction. Monday, Nov. 3 Police responded to the 7700 block of W. Bruno for a reported disturbance. Officers spoke with two family members at the scene who said they were involved in a minor altercation. […]

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A Fort Taco (8106 Manchester Road) owner told 40 South News via Facebook they were notified Thursday morning that inspections by St. Louis County Health Department officials won’t happen this week, as expected. They now say the inspections will be next week. The drive-thru taco and enchilada restaurant had announced on Facebook it was opening […]

But some activists say they don't support the action.  

Less than a week after becoming available, Asus' EeeBook X205 neo-notebook already has some competition. Say hello to the latest version of Acer's Aspire E 11, which costs almost exactly the same, at $199.99, and is superficially not all that different from the Asus machine.

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Starting today November 27th and ending Nov 29th, Best Buy has eShop cards 15% off. These are always nice as it basically makes everything on the eShop 15% off. I know I'll be using this to get captain toad for about $8 off.  For those who don't want to do the math:

• $10 = $8.50
• $20 = $17
• $35 = $29.75
• $50 = $42.50

The following information was supplied by the Maplewood Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction. Monday, Oct. 27 Someone stole approximately $100 of oil from a container in the 3600 block of Big Bend Boulevard. A 44-year-old man was arrested for domestic assault in the 7200 block of Sarah […]

Last week, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto premiered his Pikmin Short Movies at the Toyko International Film Festival. The 23-minute short film is comprised of three different movies, called “The Night Juicer”, “Treasures in a Bottle”, and “Occupational Hazards. As expected, they all feature the familiar Pikmin characters.

Now Miyamoto has confirmed that Wii U and 3DS owners will be able to watch the movies soon. Nintendo will release the Pikmin Short Movies via the Nintendo eShop on the Wii U and 3DS. No word on whether players will be able to download or only stream the movie, and no word on whether the movie will be free or if Nintendo will charge money for it. We expect it to be free of charge.

Miyamoto has said that he has no plans of making a fully-fledged feature film, but he did say in an interview that he’s not finished with making films.

Nintendo hasn’t licensed out its trademark characters for animated movies. If they did, there’s potential for a lot of money to be made for the company, judging by the success of films like The LEGO Movie and other animated movies. However, that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon, considering how protective Nintendo is of their intellectual property.

Source (Twitter)

We're going far, far off the grid today.

Schlotzsky's is a sandwich restaurant in the fast casual category. It's one tier above Subway/Jimmy John's/etc., and because the company started in Austin in 1971, I've been eating their sandwiches for most of my life (and they're really, really good).

The menu has always been simple. Toasted sandwiches (with fresh-baked bread) and salads. For decades. In the last few years, they added Cinnabon and pizza. Still, though, it's a small menu. Here, have a look (thanks, Urban Spoon):


Sandwiches take up over half of the menu board. Pizzas, salads, and soups have about 40% combined.

Like I said, it's been like this as long as I can remember. A small, focused menu.

Last night, I walked into a Schlotzsky's and saw this:


Overnight, they've added 40+ menu items. It's incredible. They've added a series of pasta dishes, flatbreads, "specialty" sandwiches (that use a different kind of bread than the signature bread Schlotzsky's is known for), "Knife 'N Fork" sandwiches (not a clue), and an entirely new dessert menu.

I've never seen a restaurant's menu expand like this. And I think I understand what they're doing.

The category directly above "fast casual" is "bakery/bistro", and it includes restaurants like Panera Bread and Corner Bakery. This tier can charge more for food because the restaurants usually have slightly more upscale menus and nicer seating plans. It looks like Schlotzsky's is trying to move up a tier in order to justify higher prices/profit margins, and they had to dramatically modify their menu to do so.

I don't remember a restaurant ever doing this successfully. Usually a restaurant in one tier will create an entirely separate brand (often with an entirely different genre of food) to enter a higher tier (McDonald's/Chipotle, for example). So what Schlotzsky's is trying to do--change tiers with the same brand--seems relatively unprecedented.

Well, it's unprecedented in terms of someone succeeding.

Schlotzsky's is betting the future of the company on this new menu, because I don't think they can go back. They have one substantial problem, though, in terms of customers accepting this "new" bistro concept: the seating plan is still fast casual.

Bakery/Bistros have seating areas that emphasize "nooks". There are little places for privacy almost everywhere, and every seating location feels somewhat private. Schotzsky's, though, has a mass seating area with absolutely zero nooks. So there's a big mismatch in terms of the food they're serving and the seating.

I can't imagine that they can pull this off successfully, but what nerve it took to even try.

With the quarterly investor’s meeting for Nintendo, we’ve learned new details about the upcoming Quality of Life platform that CEO Satoru Iwata talked about earlier this year. This product will be the very first offered by the company’s healthcare division and will be developed in partnership with the U.S. firm ResMed Inc., who currently makes products to help treat sleep disorders. According to Iwata, Nintendo expects to have this product on the market by the financial year ending in March 2016.

According to Iwata, this new device will be about the size of a person’s had and will be placed on the nightstand. It uses microwave transmission sensors to track sleep, which will help cultivate healthy sleeping habits.

Iwata didn’t discuss the company’s plans to market the device or the sales expectations, but he did mention that the device may require a subscription service rather than being a one-off hardware purchase.

We only start something new if we think we will be able to create a big market, but as I’m not able to discuss pricing plans and other details today I don’t think there’s much point in giving a figure for our projected scale.

While this new product is an entirely different direction for the company, do you see yourself using something like this at all? Given the focus on health, it seems Nintendo is entering a crowded market already dominated by the likes of FitBit, Jawbone, and larger companies who supply health apps on their mobile phones, like Google, Microsoft, and Apple.

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Nintendo has slowly been trickling information about the upcoming Mario Kart 8 DLC that will be released sometime next month. We got a look at Cat Peach and Tanooki Mario last week, while Link riding a motorcycle stylized like Epona was released a few weeks ago. We also know that Yoshi Circuit is part of the returning tracks that make up the eight promised in the DLC.

Today, Nintendo revealed that Excitebike Arena is joining Yoshi Circuit as one of the available tracks in the upcoming DLC. They even released a brand new trailer for the upcoming track, giving you a taste of the arena and its full glory. If you want to get in on the great price for the DLC, you can currently pre-purchase it on the Nintendo eShop.