Chris.d.woo

'Veronica Mars' Entire TV Series Streaming Exclusively on Amazon Prime | Variety

popculturebrain:

Poster: ‘Veronica Mars' | Yahoo

jabberwockyx:

justatiltedlamp:

Once upon a time, I decided that it was my solemn obligation to prank my friends before we graduated.

So…I made Hogwarts Acceptance letters. A lot of them. Because who isn’t still waiting for their freaking letter to arrive?

My hand hated me so much. Also, cursive G is the worst.

Letters were posted. All was well.

Until this happened…

What the-?

This is literally the best thing I have ever seen in my entire life.

jonizaak:

TNG cards!

Oh…My…God.

theroseinbloom:

NOW THAT is a movie I would watch.

Definitely.

I really dislike square-cut pizzas. Just seems unnatural.

harunahikari:

stunningpicture:

Zoomed out while taking a picture of my Christmas tree

[ CHRISTMAS INTENSIFIES ]

I kind of want to see if I could replicate this…

Which is pretty cool.

jackthevulture:

Soar.

Seriously the coolest shit ever.

“I tend to take the stance that Libertarianism is like Leninism: a fascinating, internally consistent political theory with some good underlying points that, regrettably, makes prescriptions about how to run human society that can only work if we replace real messy human beings with frictionless spherical humanoids of uniform density (because it relies on simplifying assumptions about human behaviour which are unfortunately wrong).”

-

Why I want Bitcoin to die in a fire

Charlie Stross wrote an insightful post about BtC and Libertarianism, and closes with the above paragraph, which sums up why I looked at Libertarianism when I was younger, realized it was absolutely not for me, and embraced my OMG SOCIALIST ideals.

(via wilwheaton)

Hilariously, New Tech City — an NYC-based tech podcast from WNYC that is pretty hit or miss on things — just released an episode about Bitcoin and its hilarious problems.

motherjones:

What Would Happen If We Really Went to War Against Christmas?

Special ops: ”I cannot think of too many worse environments to infiltrate and then exfiltrate from than the North Pole,” says Andrew Exum, a former special adviser for Middle East policy at the Department of Defense who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I have no idea how many elves would remain loyal to Santa Claus, but given the open terrain, you would probably want to surround Santa’s workshop with at least a company of Army Rangers before sending in a team from one of our special missions units to capture or kill Santa himself. That’s 150 to 200 men right there that would have to make their way to one of the most remote locations on Earth, carry out a very difficult mission in low visibility and freezing temperatures, and then march back out. As much as I love and admire our special operations forces, that’s a huge ask.”

Read the whole thing

Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad could be here, right now.

Marten knows what a logarithmic unit is because decibels are logarithmic.

If/When this happens, it will be pretty darn crazy.

My favorite part of Thanksgiving — especially since I actually get to have it this year: the turkey chow mein leftover meal. Dad’s been making this for nearly twenty years and since I’m actually in California this year I get to have it for the first time in a few years.

I spent most of the evening reviewing science projects with my girls. They are both planning on entering the Science Fair this year and I couldn’t be more proud. I love that they think science is cool – and that they don’t assume that physics and chemistry are just for boys. It’s a far cry from how I grew up: I still remember the day that the girls in my class clamored to be my lab partner because I was the only girl who wasn’t afraid to grab the worm in biology.

That’s why I was pretty psyched to hear about Goldieblox, a company which makes engineering toys for girls. Goldieblox describes their mission on their website like this:

In a world where men largely outnumber women in science, technology, engineering and math…and girls lose interest in these subjects as early as age 8, GoldieBlox is determined to change the equation.

And I, like many of my friends, was introduced to Goldieblox with this video:

In the video, a group of ridiculously adorable girls scheme to find new uses for predictable “girl” toys. The video is set to a parody of the song “Girls” made popular by the Beastie Boys. The video has been viewed more than 8 million times – and the company hopes to parlay the popularity of the video into an ad spot during the Super Bowl.

There’s just one thing standing in their way: the Beastie Boys.

According to a lawsuit filed last week (you can read the complaint here) against the band, the producers and the related record companies, Goldieblox alleges that Beastie Boys have been making noise that the company doesn’t have the right to use the song in the ad. In order to resolve the matter, the company has filed suit asking for declaratory and injunctive relief allowing them to use the song.

Yes, you read it right. The Beastie Boys didn’t file the suit, Goldieblox did. The company did it, they say, because “the Beastie Boys have now threatened GoldieBlox with copyright infringement.” Goldieblox struck in court first, asking the judge to rule that the company has the right to use the song – complete with a new arrangement and new lyrics.

The old lyrics, the company claimed, were sexist and included such gems as:

Girls, to do the dishes
Girls, to clean up my room
Girls, to do the laundry
Girls, and in the bathroom

The new video is, according to GoldieBlox’ lawyers, a parody – promoting exactly the opposite of the song – and should then qualify as fair use. Their lyrics include language like:

Girls to build the spaceship
Girls to code the new app
Girls to grow up knowing
That they can engineer that.

The original song was released in 1987 on the Beastie Boys’ debut album, Licensed to Ill, which also included the hit single, “Fight for Your Right (To Party).” The album sold 9 million copies and was reviewed favorably with Rolling Stone referring to “Girls” written by the band and their producer, Rick Rubin, as “irresistibly delinquent doowop.” The Beastie Boys would go on to become the biggest-selling rap group since 1991.

One of the issues that the lawsuit didn’t address is a quirky little provision in Adam Yauch’s will. Yauch is one of the founding members of the band and lost his battle with cancer last year; he was only 47. In his will, Yauch left very specific instructions:

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, in no event may my image or name or any music or any artistic property created by me be used for advertising purposes.

The language is tricky. I noted before that there are all kinds of issues with the phrase – not the least of which is that the additional language was handwritten – something that makes tax and estate planning lawyers like me cringe. Interlineations often cause complications and can, in some instances, invalidate an entire will. Fortunately for Yauch’s family, that wasn’t the case here.

However, as Wendy Goffe wrote previously, “Yauch could only give away what he owned. So to know whether the handwritten words Yauch added to his will can be enforced, one has to know who owned the copyrights associated with his music.”

In this instance, it appears that the copyrights to the song are owned by the band and Rubin as joint owners. If that’s the case, then the matter will fall to property laws as they apply to copyrights. In other words, the use of the song in the ad is either copyright infringement or it’s not. If it is copyright infringement, the matter ends there: the will is irrelevant.

But let’s say that it’s not copyright infringement. Can the band rely on the language in the will to bar the use of the work? Probably not. The only right that Yauch’s heirs have in the property is the copyright. If there’s no infringement, his heirs have no interest – no matter what Yauch’s intent might have been.

In instances where copyright is joint, the will isn’t relevant at all. The only real relevance is the distribution of profits: if the other band members are willing to license any works, they can do so – even without Yauch’s heirs’ consent – but they do have to pay a price. Yauch’s heirs are still entitled to the proceeds from his works, even if Yauch didn’t want them to become commercial.

That’s not the case for works for which Yauch owned the sole copyright. For those works, the language in the will may well count. As I noted before, “[e]ven if the language is found not to be valid (I haven’t seen the will so I can’t completely confirm how tightly it’s drawn), it’s a clear indication of Yauch’s intent. And intent is important. Note that I said important, not conclusive. Intent isn’t always controlling but it can be good evidence if a dispute goes to court.”

No doubt Yauch’s lawyers took this into consideration when valuing his estate. At his death, Yauch’s estate was thought to be worth just over $6 million. For purposes of the federal estate tax, that figure would have included a value for the right to receive future royalties and income – the exact sort of thing that the Internal Revenue Service is fighting over with Michael Jackson’s estate. It can be subjective, this speculation about what an artist might be worth after his or her death; how that clause is interpreted would have been a key component in the valuation. O

Of course, for federal estate tax purposes, it doesn’t matter what happens in this case. The issue isn’t what Yauch’s estate is worth today. Or last week. Or next week. It matters what Yauch’s estate was worth on the date of his death – and that’s where that clause matters.

For Yauch’s heirs and his fans, the story is much different. However, while it is clear from his words that Yauch didn’t want his music to be used in advertising, he may not have a choice.

–

Want more taxgirl goodness? Pick your poison: You can receive posts by email, follow me on twitter (@taxgirl) hang out with me on Facebook and check out my YouTube channel. You can also subscribe to the podcast on the site or via iTunes (it’s free).

thecoffeepanda:

stone-faced-sunset:

the-tardis-landed-in-my-bedroom:

I found this little book on ‘Vadar’s little Princess’ 

It is so adorable!

This is the greatest thing I have ever read.

This is incredible

Oh man. I’ve only ever seen some of the earlier ones, but the last few are amazing.

georgetakei:

The death car. http://ift.tt/1dwM9uI

Brilliant!

wilwheaton:

"Republicans have routinely used the filibuster to prevent President Obama from appointing his executive team or confirming judges," Reid said on the Senate floor. "We’re burning wasted hours and wasted days between filibusters. I could say instead we’re burning wasted days and wasted weeks between filibusters. … It’s time to change. It’s time to change the Senate before this institution becomes obsolete."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) fumed at Reid’s decision, accusing him of trying to change the subject from Obamacare and “cook up some fake fight over judges.” He argued that “by any objective standard, Senate Republicans have been very, very fair to this president" when it comes to letting him appoint his nominees.

I wonder if McConnell actually believes his own bullshit.

(Image from Daily Kos. Text from TPM)

popculturebrain:

Poster: ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2' | Collider

zombiesatemygames:

Let’s go on an adventure.

 Damn man.

the book is: Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No-Bullshit Guide to World Mythology

fuckyeahchinesemyths:

flyingfishbowlthing:

soloontherocks:

bellonanj73:

the-writers-ramblings:

i cant even make it past the table of contents im laughing too hard

What book is this? I must have this because of reasons? 

friends don’t let friends bang cows

Potential song titles galore

HAHAHA this is how everyone should read about mythology.

I like it!

cracked:

[video]

scumtriumphant:

it’s the christmas you always dream of

WHERE IS THIS MYTHICAL BEAST?!? And does he shoot out fake snow from his mouth?

"Curried Fish and Chips" by SortedFood. Sounds like an interesting idea.

kristaferanka:

herochan:

Batkid Saves Gotham City!

here’s a live update on his adventures

This may be fighting words for some of you, but Silverhawks > > > Thundercats.

I was in Tahoe today and saw this at Incline Village. My dad didn’t understand why I was cackling like a madman.

theatlantic:

An Ode to Scaffolding

The skyline of the nation’s capital is in the process, I am sorry to tell you, of becoming considerably less epic. Starting today, the blue-and-black scaffolding that has bolstered the Washington Monument since an earthquake struck it two years ago is being removed, tube by metal tube. The most phallic monument in all the land will once again stand tall and proud and free.

This is sad news. Because the scaffolding that cover(ed) the monument was, actually, kind of awesome. At night, the building’s vestigial layer was gorgeous, lighting up the 129-year-old symbol of the American experiment like some kind of be-obelisked disco ball. During the day, its painters’-tape blue added interest and intrigue to a structure that is otherwise smooth and white. It reminded viewers that everything, even that which is smooth and white, is a work in progress. The scaffolded Monument, all in all, was ugly and beautiful, perfect and flawed, product and process. And, really, what could make a better symbol of the country it celebrates?

Read more. [Image: Flickr/Paulo Ordoveza]

Boo! RETURN THE SCAFFOLDING! It was just super cool.

dorkly:

Chinese LOTR Covers are Awesome

Man oh Mandarin, that’s a great trilogy.

There’s a part of me that wonders what it would look like if a Chinese studio had made an adaptation of LOTR. I somehow feel like it would be better or at least a bunch more exciting.