Emahlstadt

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is coming to the Xbox One, Wii U, and New 3DS on July 23rd, the charmingly disturbing indie game’s publisher announced. Note that it’s only coming to the New 3DS, and won’t immediately have all the stuff in that big new expansion .

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'MURICA

At some point in Destiny’s development, there was a plan to make your companion, Ghost, a lot less monotonous.

Comedian David Cross, of Arrested Development fame, told IGN that himself and Brian Posehn, another comedian, were invited to Bungie’s HQ to play Destiny before its release and write a few jokes for the Ghost to use.

“We were flown up to Bellevue, Washington to do a punch-up on the Ghost character in Destiny about a year ago. We were both very excited about it,” he said, explaining that the jokes were stuff that “made them laugh” and some of it was “self-reverential”.

“They did not use a single, solitary thing that we wrote, which is a shame because we wrote some stuff that – you know, we’re gamers, and they… – I would imagine somebody somewhere said, ‘we can’t inject this levity or humour into it.’

“I haven’t played since I’ve been over here and working on Bob and David, but you know when it came out I was way into it and way excited about it, and when you’re at an hour 20 of that thing, it’s like the Ghost is kind of monotone saying this thing, ‘we must get over the ridge.’ ‘That’s the cabal – we’ve got to defeat him.’ Whatever, it’s boring as sh*t, and I speak for myself and Brian, and I know thousands if not millions of other gamers would be like ‘it would be nice to have a joke or something in there.'”

As Cross points out, perhaps Bungie thought it would go against the game’s tone. Although, try as they might, players ended up finding something else to laugh about, and that time it definitely wasn’t intentional.

Many people love to participate in cosplay. And so do cats, apparently.

Over on the Cat Cosplay Tumblr, you will find all sorts of cosplay images of cats.

A really cool entry to the blog shows a kitty named Nak doing a bit of Fallout cosplay as Vault Cat. She doesn’t seem to mind it very much.

Apparently, the 12yo old has been a “costumed performer at Renaissance Faires” for the last five years. So she is a pro at this. Nak has also been featured on TV.

Two images are posted below, but more are through the link.

I dressed a couple of my cats in doll clothes as a kid. If I were to try this today, I’d come away with a couple of bites and plenty of scratches.

Colin Christian is a seminal figure and influence in the POP SURREALISM movement of today’s artists. He cites his primary influences as the 1968 French – Italian Roger Vadim film “Barbarella” with Jane Fonda, 1960-70’s design, and Science Fiction and Avant Garde Fashion. Colin has exhibited his works all over the world including exhibitions in London. Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Rome, New York, Tokyo, and has maintained a steady visibility at important art fairs such as Art Basel Miami and the Metro Show New York. Colin’s art has been published in Spectrum, Hi- Fructose and Juxtapoz magazines. He is included in many well known private collections including Mark Parker, CEO of Nike, and King Dotcom, as well as MOMA Vienna. In 2009 Kanye West commissioned Colin to produce an artwork for his “Glow in the Dark” tour. (via Stephen Romano Gallery)

Mab Graves is a Contemporary Pop-Surrealist artist and illustrator living and painting in a converted 1800’s tavern in a small corner of the dusty American Midwest. Her work is inspired deeply by fairy tales and old classic literature. She adores narrative. She blames this on her parents who unrelentingly read aloud to her and her three sisters as small, impressionable children. Mab’s passion for creation has been an overwhelming obsession since she could grip a crayon, at about the age of 6 months. She spent her childhood and teen years adoring graphite and pen mediums (but being very suspicious of paints) until she discovered painting in early 2009, and then it was all over. A self-taught artist, Mab’s work has been shown is galleries both nationally and internationally. Her work has been sold in more than 56 countries. Mab’s art has appeared in many print articles in books and magazines and in 2013 she published her first book of paper dolls with Dover Publishing. She currently lives, works and dreams in Indianapolis, IN.

Observations from a Mountain View resident about driving with self-driving cars.

Google cars drive like your grandma -- they're never the first off the line at a stop light, they don't accelerate quickly, they don't speed, and they never take any chances with lane changes (cut people off, etc.).

And we know how easy it is to take advantage of old people:

It's safe to cut off a Google car. I ride a motorcycle to work and in California motorcycles are allowed to split lanes (i.e., drive in the gap between lanes of cars at a stoplight, slow traffic, etc.). Obviously I do this at every opportunity because it cuts my commute time in 1/3.

Once, I got a little caught out as the traffic transitioned from slow moving back to normal speed. I was in a lane between a Google car and some random truck and, partially out of experiment and partially out of impatience, I gunned it and cut off the Google car sort of harder than maybe I needed too... The car handled it perfectly (maybe too perfectly). It slowed down and let me in. However, it left a fairly significant gap between me and it. If I had been behind it, I probably would have found this gap excessive and the lengthy slowdown annoying. Honestly, I don't think it will take long for other drivers to realize that self-driving cars are "easy targets" in traffic.

But the overall opinion is that self-driving cars are excellent at driving.

I think that, inevitably, non-self driving cars will eventually be banned from the roads to let SD cars operate at their full potential (which personally I'm not thrilled about as I'm a car-nut and I love to drive).

Driving may not have Second Amendment protection, but I predict a hell of a fight against banning non-self-driving cars from the roads, akin to how some people feel about guns. "You can pry the steering wheel from my cold dead hands", that sort of thing. As future drivers feel threatened and membership dwindles and radicalizes, perhaps AAA will become more like the present-day NRA. (via mr)

Update: Several people pointed out that those in the pro-driving camp may not have much of a choice whether to keep driving or not. As more self-driving cars are put into use, insurance rates for human drivers will rise because the pool of insured will shrink and self-driving cars will prove to be safer by an order of magnitude or more. And then driving will return to being a hobby for the wealthy, like car racing is now.

Update: Paul Barnsley is an economist specializing in risk, and he wrote in about the implications of self-driving cars on insurance rates:

I don't buy the theory that self-driving cars will do much to current insurance premiums. The pool of drivers will shrink, sure, but the average quality of its members will stay pretty constant, maybe even improve (if better-than-average drivers want to stay behind the wheel) and they'll be driving in a lower risk environment (because of all the other self-driving cars).

So less risk will be shared over a smaller, but still plenty large, group. Since you can run a viable insurance market over a much smaller group of people than "all car owners in the US" I'd expect the lowered risk effected to dominate and premiums to drop relative to their current levels, though they will be high in comparison to self-driving, which may be your correspondents' argument.

Interesting. Thanks, Paul!

Thanks a lot, Bethesda. After the outfit's first E3 media briefing, I pre-ordered the Pip-Boy Edition of Fallout 4 because of course I want to put a real-life version of the game's stat-tracker and menu system on my forearm. All good, right? Well, I'm also in the market for a new phone and was eyeing an iPhone 6 Plus because it has a better camera and battery life compared to its smaller sibling, the iPhone 6. That's where the problems arise: Bethesda recently announced that the real-world Pip-Boy comes with foam inserts that fit the iPhone 4 and 4s, 5 and 5s and the 6 in addition to the Samsung Galaxy S4 and S5. The company also promises a customizable foam insert that'll accommodate "most other popular" handsets.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Bethblog

Press Release:

(Boulder, CO) — For the seventh year running, Russian River’s well-known and beloved double IPA, Pliny the Elder, has been tapped for the top spot on Zymurgy magazine’s list of the Best Commercial Beers in America.

“I say it every year, but we really are honored and humbled. There are so many great beers out there,” said Vinnie Cilurzo, Co-Founder and Brewmaster, Russian River.

Members of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA)—the publisher of Zymurgy—voted for up to 20 of their favorite beers in an online poll. Members were able to choose any commercial beer available for purchase in the United States. More than 19,000 votes were received for almost 6,000 different beers from 1,763 breweries nominated in the poll. As in recent years, flavorful IPAs and double IPAs were crowd favorites, comprising eight of the top 10 beers.

Top-Ranked Beers:
1. Russian River Pliny the Elder
2. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale
3. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
4. Stone Enjoy By IPA
5. Founders Breakfast Stout
6. The Alchemist Heady Topper
7. Bell’s Hopslam Ale
8. Three Floyds Zombie Dust
9. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
10. Firestone Walker Wookey Jack

Top-Ranked Breweries:
1. Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa, Calif.
2. Stone Brewing Co., Escondido, Calif.
3. Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Kalamazoo, Mich.
4. Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.
5. Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, Calif.
6. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, Calif. and Mills River, N.C.
7. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, Del.
8. Lagunitas Brewing Company, Petaluma, Calif. and Chicago, Ill.
9. Ballast Point Brewing Company, San Diego, Calif.
10. Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Ore.

Top-Ranked Beer Portfolios (T indicates Tie):
1. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., 60 beers
2. Stone Brewing Co., 54 beers
3. Bell’s Brewery, Inc., 52 beers
4. New Belgium Brewing Company, 47 beers
5. Avery Brewing Company, 39 beers
T6. Goose Island Beer Co., 37 beers
T6. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, 37 beers
T8. Firestone Walker Brewing Company, 35 beers
T8. The Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams), 35 beers
T8. The Bruery, 35 beers

“Homebrewers love to try all different types of beer, which is easy given the plethora of varieties offered by today’s small and independent brewers. So, to be selected by homebrewers nationwide and named among the best beers in America is a tremendous honor,” said Gary Glass, director, American Homebrewers Association. “While a diverse group of brewers from every corner of the country were recognized for their outstanding beers and portfolios, one particular style still reigned supreme: IPA.”

The complete list of Zymurgy’s “Best Beers in America” is available at HomebrewersAssociation.org. This was the 13th year that the poll was conducted.

Learn more about Zymurgy magazine.

About the American Homebrewers Association:
The American Homebrewers Association has worked on behalf of the homebrewing community since 1978 and celebrates a membership of more than 43,000 homebrewers. The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) organizes events including the National Homebrewers Conference and National Homebrew Competition. The AHA also publishes Zymurgy magazine. The AHA is part of the Brewers Association, whose Brewers Publications division is the largest publisher of contemporary and relevant brewing literature for today’s craft brewers and homebrewers.

Beer lovers and anyone interested in making their own homemade beer are invited to learn more at HomebrewersAssociation.org. Follow the AHA on Twitter, and join us on Facebook.

The Brewers Association is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital/familial status. The BA complies with provisions of Executive Order 11246 and the rules, regulations, and relevant orders of the Secretary of Labor.

Most people haven't hosted a party for 10,000 guests (the bathroom situation alone is daunting), but thanks to the internet and Jackbox Games, that's now a super-easy, low-mess situation. Quiplash is the newest game from Jackbox -- makers of You Don't Know Jack and Fibbage -- and it boasts a pretty cool feature: Just one person needs to own the game for up to 10,000 people to play in a single round. This is a game built for streaming.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Internet, HD

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Press Release:

(Escondido, CA) – It’s the time of year again when the mercury in thermometers rises in tandem with the hop faithful’s thirst for piney, botanical bitterness. The close of June marks the start of Stone RuinTen Triple IPA season for Stone Brewing Co. An amped-up IPA building off its famous progenitor, Stone Ruination IPA, this once-a-year offering explodes with citrus and stone fruit aromas that give way to an onslaught of pungent, resinous, tropical fruit flavors. This immensely hopped IPA is available now in 22-ounce bottles and on draft at restaurants, bars and retail shelves where Stone beer is sold, nationwide.

Originally released to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Stone Ruination IPA, this splendorous, hop-heavy gem debuted in June 2012 as Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA and instantly became a hit among hoppy-beer lovers. Rather than limit the beer to one-hit wonder status, the recipe was revisited and added to Stone’s lineup of annual special releases. In 2013, it came back with the name Stone RuinTen IPA, the nickname given to it by the Stone Brewing Team. This year, it’s returning as 2015 Stone RuinTen Triple IPA and, though the word “triple” has been added to the name, that’s the only difference. The recipe remains the same: full-bodied, flavorful and hoppy as all get out…just the way we (and our fans) like it!

“Stone RuinTen Triple IPA has become one of our brewing team’s favorite IPAs, so we’re always thrilled to brew it come June,” says Stone Brewmaster Mitch Steele. “Dry-hopping with five pounds of Citra and Centennial hops per barrel results in a magical blend of fruity, floral notes.”

Adds Stone CEO and Co-founder Greg Koch, “If Stone Ruination Double IPA 2.0 is a ‘Liquid Poem to the Glory of the Hop,’ then Stone RuinTen Triple IPA is ‘A Stage Dive into a Mosh Pit of Hops!’”

Built to sate the appetites of the highest order of hop fanatics, Stone RuinTen Triple IPA’s elevated malt presence provides a strong, full-bodied mouthfeel to help balance its intense, lingering hop bitterness while lending a slightly caramelized accent to hop-borne tropical fruit flavors. These delicious nuances are at their prime when the beer is consumed fresh, making Stone RuinTen Triple IPA an annual offering to be hunted down and enjoyed as soon as humanly possible.

As if the beer itself weren’t enough (it is), for the first time ever, the arrival of Stone RuinTen Triple IPA brings with it a celebration of both the beer and its recently updated, year-round counterpart, Stone Ruination Double IPA 2.0. This comes via Stone Ruination Nation. Hop-hungry craft beer enthusiasts will be able to soak in the lupulin love at stores, bars and restaurants across the country via a bevy of special events—some of which will include oaked and double-dry-hopped iterations of Stone Ruination Double IPA 2.0—and share what are sure to be bold experiences on social media using the hashtag #RuinationNation. Fans are invited to visit RuinationNation.com for more information on this celebration of the almighty hop and a pair of IPAs that pay fitting homage to beer’s boldest element.

You’re welcome…again.

Stone RuinTen Triple IPA Quick Facts
Name: Stone RuinTen Triple IPA
URL: Stonebrewing.com/RuinTen
Stats: 10.8% ABV, 110 IBUs
Availability: Limited 22-ounce bottles and draft, beginning June 29
Hops Bill: Magnum and Centennial, dry-hopped with Citra and Centennial
National Distribution: AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA and Puerto Rico
International Distribution: Australia; Alberta and British Columbia, Canada; Japan; Singapore; and United Kingdom
Find Beer: find.stonebrewing.com

Tasting Notes, provided by Stone Brewmaster Mitch Steele

Appearance: Deep gold with an off-white, fluffy head.
Aroma: Intense, dank and fruity hop notes. Lemon oil infused with nectarine, pineapple and tropical fruit, with hints of mint and spice.
Taste: An abundance of tropical hop flavors up front and carrying throughout the palate. A pleasant maltiness balances the hops midpalate. Finishes with a long, lingering, clean bitterness.
Palate: Full-bodied but dry, with an alcohol fullness and sweetness. Very bitter!
Overall: This was one of the team’s favorite IPAs, so we were thrilled to have the opportunity to brew it again. The combination of Citra and Centennial in the dry hop is magical. Please drink this beer FRESH to get the full impact of the hopping!

Suggested Pairings, provided by Stone Craft Beer Ambassador “Dr.” Bill Sysak
Appetizers: Chips and salsa, kimchi, ceviche, bacon-wrapped jalapeños (or habaneros)
Entrees: Salt and pepper shrimp, jambalaya, roasted pork chops with apple sauce, fish tacos, seitan fajitas
Cheeses: Fiscalini Bandage Wrapped Cheddar, Mimolette, Pecorino Romano, Maytag Blue
Desserts Carrot cake, apple pie with caramel sauce, spice cake, blueberry jalapeño blue cheese cheesecake
Cigars: Ashton Classic Majesty, Litto Gomez Diez, Don Pepín García Blue Label Invictos Corojo Robusto

So OU would like to add two teams to the Big 12, but guess what they consider the "Elephant in the Room"

Those who thought that everyone in the Big 12 felt just fine about being at 10 members, think again. Oklahoma President David Boren spoke out Wednesday on his wish to add two more members sometime in the near future.

Boren believes that the long-term life of the league depends on expanding.

"How many years can this go on?" Boren said. "Finally, it just gets to be really debilitating. I worry about that. That's something I just worry about long-term about the conference, not short term."

Boren didn't exactly say what he sees as the main stumbling block, but, well, you can figure it out for yourselves.

"The elephant in the room remains the network south of us that has struggled and has in a way as long as it's there," Boren said. "And we have done quite well with our network and if anything ever changed, it has value to it which we see. But someday, maybe we'll get past that other problem as well. It's a problem."

What he really means is that Oklahoma has watched it's hated rival pick up an extra 10-15 million a year for its own network, its former Big 8 mates reap the rewards of conference network networks elsewhere. Watching Nebraska (Big 10 Network), Missouri (SEC Network), and even lowly Colorado (Pac-12 Network) pick up millions for their third tier rights has to put a burr under the Sooners saddle, and with the conference meetings being held this summer this is as good a time as any to bring the subject up again.

Most museums don't stimulate your senses with an onslaught of sounds and blinking lights. They definitely do not accept quarters as payment to fully enjoy the artwork. Despite this, the Supercade is a museum that takes great pains to restore one of the most important moments in video game history: the arcade. Owner Van Burnham's collection of pre-1989 games are meticulously rebuilt and maintained in a climate-controlled environment. If you've ever sided up to a video game cabinet, placed a quarter on the seam between the controls and the monitor and uttered the words, "next game," this is your Louvre. %Gallery-slideshow296533%

Filed under: Misc, Gaming

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Source: Supercade

This rule never seems to make it into any of the pre-flight checklists: please remove all cats from inside your wings before takeoff.

(via @holgate)

Let the good times roll.

Alcohol sales may cut back on binge drinking, but we'll see how that pans.  The fact that each beer will probably cost $9 will impose its own self-regulation.  DKR will also sell wine.  OMG BOTTLE SERVICE, Y'ALL.

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