firehose

Grant Thompson (a.k.a. “King of Random“) shares how to make a real life version of Batman’s batarang out of a old table saw blade.

So you want to be a superhero, do you? In this video you’ll see how to up-cycle a junk table-saw blade, into a real life batarang.

music by Machinimasound – “Summer Shade“

Thank God it’s Frida, Elsa Mora

ilovecharts:

Sarah delivers a few charts worth of media criticism.

Animal Crossing's female villager playable in Smash Bros. ⊟

And it looks like there are alternate styles/looks for both versions? Adorable! Masahiro Sakurai, uh… what’s the verb for putting something on Miiverse… Miiverse’d this image, adding “How lovely.”

Daniel Feit predicted this happening – somewhat cynically – in an article we reprinted last year. “So, yeah, maybe through alternate costumes it’ll be possible to switch the Animal Crossing villager’s gender, but that doesn’t change the fact that every poster, every website, and every ad will feature the boy-version.”

He’s not wrong! But this is still a lot cooler than not having the option at all.

PREORDER Super Smash Bros for Wii U/3DS, upcoming releases

New Orleans performer Joslyn Paige is in Michigan for the summer plying his trade on the streets of Ann Arbor. After spending over a month and several hundred dollars building a unique costume, he’s now showing it off and impressing passersby as a transformer.

Not only does his get-up allow him to alternate between a bipedal robot and a car, but the car actually drives around…

The Detroit Free Press caught up with Paige a few days ago and talked to him about his ingenious contraption…

(via Reddit)

Making the media rounds to promote his new book, Glenn Greenwald dropped by HuffPost Live today, and one of the issues he addressed was the recent power shift at The New York Times and how, he argued, new executive editor Dean Baquet has displayed a history of journalism that’s been “subservient” to people in power, a contrast he partly drew with Jill Abramson, who was fired from the Times this week. Because for whatever issues Greenwald might have with the Times under her leadership, he had to credit Abramson for being “the best advocate for an adversarial relationship” of all the people who’ve recently held that position. Abramson, in fact, has been rather openly critical about the lack of transparency in the Obama White House. When Baquet was at the L.A. Times, he was accused of killing a big story on the NSA and AT&T, a story that was eventually published in The New York Times.

"By hiring [Roberto] Orci Paramount made a statement: a man with no hands-on directing experience is preferable to a female director with any experience. I heard about a number of directors who came in to meet about Star Trek 3; none were women. If you look back at Paramount's recent history you see the last live action film they released directed by a woman was 2012's The Guilt Trip, with a modest budget of $40 million. Stop-Loss was before that in 2008, with a budget of $25 million. The last blockbuster Paramount film directed by a woman was 2006's Aeon Flux, and they gave Karyn Kusama a $62 million budget, which was small for the scale even then. But you have to give Paramount some credit: they released the most expensive live action film ever directed by a woman. That was K-19: The Widowmaker, and it cost $100 million and Kathryn Bigelow directed it. It was released in 2002, twelve years ago." - Devin Faraci writes at Badass Digest. This was a piece in response to producer/writer Roberto Orci getting hired for Star Trek 3. Faraci goes on to point out...

COLUMBIA, SC—Advising the 1,500 new graduates to “check out this shit,” Vice President Joe Biden reportedly lost control of his rapidly twirling butterfly knife Saturday while delivering the commencement speech at the University of South...

“"You’re too sensitive"- that’s a verbally abusive statement. You know, how can you tell me I’m too sensitive? Because I can only tell you how I’m feeling.”

-

Terry Crews (via elvesarebad)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Terry Crews is a gift to humanity. 

The importance of wearing a helmet has been drilled into everyone since childhood. And, it's true that, as study after study has shown, you're better off with a helmet if you're in an accident.

With the recent statement that Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has no interest in reprising the iconic role, he’s begun to line up a series of new endeavors to further distance himself. Next year Radcliffe will be turning up in yet another Frankenstein film as Dr. Frankenstein’s hunchbacked assistant Igor, and now he’s added a starring role in the adaptation of Dave Eggers’ 2002 debut novel, You Shall Know Our Velocity. Radcliffe will be playing the part of Will, one half of a pair of globetrotting philanthropists, with Peter Sollett (Nick And Norah’s Infinite Playlist) locked in to direct and filming set to begin next spring. This is the second Eggers property to go into development recently, with Tom Hanks signed on to star in the adaptation of 2012’s A Hologram For The King, allowing for Eggers’ takeover of all media to continue uninterrupted. 

Transistor is an action role-playing video game by developer Supergiant Games that includes sci-fi themes and a weapon of unknown origin. Supergiant Games previously developed the highly lauded video game Bastion. Transistor, which was revealed along with the PlayStation 4, is scheduled to release on May 20th on PlayStation 4 and PC and is currently available for pre-order via Supergiant Games’ website.

The game seamlessly integrates thoughtful strategic planning into a fast-paced action experience, melding responsive gameplay and rich atmospheric storytelling. During the course of the adventure, players will piece together the Transistor’s mysteries as they pursue its former owners.

images via Supergiant Games

Oklahoma compliance's executive director, Jason Leonard, helps explain how schools can and can't help players in need of assistance. Speaking of Oklahoma, anyone up for pasta?

1. Antoine Turner is a JUCO defensive end on his way to play for Boise State. Until Thursday, he was also homeless.

Turner had been living in cars and park benches while he finished classes at Fullerton Junior College in California. Boise TV station KTVB ran a feature on Turner's rough path to the Broncos, which included being displaced from his New Orleans home after Hurricane Katrina and losing his mother to cancer.

A flood of offers to help came in from Bronco fans.

2. The problem was, if any Boise State fan or booster extended help -- "benefits," as termed by the NCAA -- to a homeless future Bronco, the player would've become ineligible. He would be unable to compete in 2014 and maybe longer.

Even though Turner was homeless and hungry, something as small as a gift card to a restaurant could strip him of the chance to earn a degree and possibly play professionally one day. Boise State fans were understandably upset.

3. As Turner's story spread throughout college football, one popular idea circulating social media was to avoid a potential violation by raising money among non-Boise fans and boosters, just regular college football fans with no defined connection to Boise State University wanting to help a student-athlete in need. Except that's still a violation.

Without the NCAA granting an exemption to allow Boise State to provide Turner with food and lodging, any form of charity -- no matter how unconnected to Turner's future program or how earnest the motives of the donor -- would actually make Turner's plight worse.

The NCAA granted that waiver Wednesday afternoon, a day or two after Boise State told SB Nation the program was made aware of Turner's situation by the KTVB report.

Boise State's compliance office did not return multiple interview requests, so we asked Jason Leonard, executive director of Oklahoma University's compliance department, to help clarify. Leonard and OU are no strangers to national compliance headlines, as their self-reported "Pastagate" violation arrived just before a new NCAA ruling on unlimited meals and snacks for players.

SB Nation: So why is helping someone in a situation like Antoine Turner's a violation of NCAA rules? Say Boise hadn't received a waiver from the NCAA to find this guy shelter; some random benefactor couldn't have found him a motel room?

Leonard: What a compliance department has to examine is whether or not the individual is receiving the benefit specifically because they are a student-athlete. Basically, the determination is whether or not the benefit in question would be offered to any other person in his situation.

SB Nation: And since his situation gained national attention because he's a college football player, any funds generated from that could violate his status as an amateur athlete?

Leonard: That would be the issue. If a prospective student-athlete received benefits from a source outside of the athletics department, the compliance department would have to investigate and make a determination. In this particular case, I don't think that step was necessary, since a waiver was filed and approved by the NCAA.

SB Nation: Can you explain the Student Assistance Fund program and why Turner's situation was considered special?

Leonard: The Student Assistance Fund is money provided to institutions by the NCAA to be used for any number of things that benefit student-athletes. And it's used often. A few examples of SAF use would be if a student-athlete needs a flight home to attend a funeral or if a student-athlete has a child and needs assistance with daycare.

In this particular case, Boise would have to file a waiver to use SAF for Turner, because Turner isn't technically a student-athlete yet. He's still a prospect until he steps onto campus for his first full day of classes and attends class in June.

SB Nation: So something like a student-athlete who finds himself homeless, there's actually a fund set up by the NCAA to assist that.

Leonard: Correct. The SAF fund could be used. The SAF fund is one of the positive things the NCAA has created to assist student-athletes.

SB Nation: What doesn't the SAF cover? Obviously this money could just be handed to any player that's deemed needy by the standards of the current cost-of-attendance debate.

Leonard: Correct. There are a few restrictions, such as it can't be used to supplement a grant-in-aid or as a student-athlete stipend.

SB Nation: As someone in the field, do you view this or Pastagate as the better example of how complicated and frustrating the world of compliance is right now?

Leonard: It is very complicated and sometimes frustrating. There was a push a year or two ago to deregulate on a national level and get rid of the minutiae in the [NCAA's compliance] manual. Specifically, remove those bylaws that couldn't be enforced or really just didn't make any sense.

But I think in Boise's situation, the process worked. The waiver was approved.

As for Pastagate, once a person knows the history of the violation it's much, much less of a story. Specifically, it was the NCAA definition of a meal verses a snack. We thought pasta was a meal and not a snack, and for this particular event, we could only serve a snack. The violation was never about portion size. They initially agreed, when the violation was processed, then changed their minds ... which is great for the student-athletes.

SB Nation: Gabe Ikard, one of the players involved in Pastagate, joked publicly that OU made sure his girlfriend was "compliant official" after the couple had been seen sitting courtside at an Oklahoma City Thunder game. Is that an example of how insane things have become?

Leonard: Compliance officials clearly have to cross their t's and dot their i's!

However, in that particular matter, it wasn't about any one person attending the Thunder game. If our office ever comes across a situation in which one of our student-athletes shows up on the front row of a Thunder game, we’re going to inquire. And we're going to make sure that that particular student-athlete didn't receive that courtside ticket because of his status as college football player. We have a standard affidavit that many student-athletes, including Gabe Ikard, have signed in the past attesting to that very fact.

SB Nation: What's your most common problem at this point? Social media?

Leonard: Social media has certainly made things more complicated for compliance personnel, so much that we hired a person full-time a few years ago to do nothing but examine social media for potential issues. Currently, with all the technology that is used in recruiting, a huge challenge is what is and isn't permissible and how to ensure that we enforce those NCAA rules that apply.

SB Nation: Your office is probably the only one in the athletic department actively campaigning for more contact from fans and boosters with questions.

.@Soonerguys Not a good idea. U wld have to worry abt someone other than NCAA if u were to kidnap someone. #MightBeALittleExtreme

— OU Compliance (@OUCompliance) October 28, 2013

Leonard: Absolutely. We're very prideful of customer service and the experience fans receive at Oklahoma. Our phones are never off.

SB Nation: So what's your favorite kind of pasta?

Leonard: Ha! Not surprisingly, I don't really eat pasta. At my age, I need to stick to a high-protein diet.

Hardy turned over firearms to authorities as a condition of his release on bond. The stockpile wasn't as large as the 25-30 "AK-47s, automatic-looking weapons, shotguns, rifles and pistols" alleged by his ex-girlfriend.

Greg Hardy has turned in nine firearms to authorities, per the conditions of his release on bond for charges of assaulting and threatening his ex-girlfriend, Nicole Holder, according to Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer. David Newton of ESPN released a list from police of the guns turned over by the Carolina Panthers defensive end:

List of firearms #Panthers DE Greg Hardy turned over to police. pic.twitter.com/vpuEQ5hXT5

— David Newton (@DNewtonespn) May 16, 2014

As Jonathan Jones of The Observer noted, the list consists primarily of assault weapons and shotguns -- no handguns. For example, the Tavor is classified as an assault rifle, the L1A1 as a semi-automatic battle rifle and the Benelli M4 as a tactical shotgun. All told, the list consisted of "six military-type, semi-automatic rifles and three .12-gauge shotguns," according to The Observer. Per Jones, permits were not required for the firearms.

Hardy was ordered to turn in all of his firearms to authorities after allegedly throwing his ex-girlfriend, Nicole Holder, onto a couch covered with guns in an altercation, causing her bodily harm. Holder claimed that Hardy had a much larger stockpile than Hardy has reportedly turned over, which she said consisted of 25-30 "AK-47s, automatic-looking weapons, shotguns, rifles and pistols."

Hardy and Holder had a relationship that ended in March, and were reportedly in the midst of reconciling when an altercation occurred Monday night. Hardy allegedly threw Holder, stranggled her and slammed her into a futon and tile bathtub. At one point, Hardy reportedly threatened to shoot Holder.

According to the police report, the dispute began when Hardy became angry with Holder over a previous relationship with rapper Nelly that occurred after the two broke up. Hardy's representation claims that Holder initiated the conflict.

It is unclear whether Holder will pursue a criminal case against Hardy after parting ways with her attorney Thursday. She filed a request barring Hardy from her home, the home of her parents and the restaurant where she works, but her request was denied after she failed to appear for a hearing.

submitted by lupaonreddit [link] [8 comments]

blue-author:

aka14kgold:

kateoplis:

Abramson salary was $84,000 less than her male predecessor

“As executive editor, Abramson’s starting salary in 2011 was $475,000, compared to Keller’s salary that year, $559,000. Her salary was raised to $503,000, and—only after she protested—was raised again to $525,000. She learned that her salary as managing editor, $398,000, was less than that of the male managing editor for news operations, John Geddes. She also learned that her salary as Washington bureau chief, from 2000 to 2003, was a hundred thousand dollars less than that of her successor in that position, Phil Taubman.”

The New Yorker

Wow, asserting her authority as editor AND demanding more equal wages?? What a bitch! No wonder they fired her!

No, seriously, no wonder—I’m fairly sure having such a strong woman around and in charge scared the shit out of the current Times board, who are fairly notoriously good ol’ Park Ave boys.

This is important, because when people chalk up wage disparities to the lesser-paid parties being “less assertive” or “less willing to negotiate for higher pay”, they’re coloring that unwillingness to confront one’s employer as being the cause of the disparity in how they’r treated, not the result of such a disparity.

The same social pressure that shapes women to be less inclined to put ourselves forward and ask for things shapes everyone to see women who do so as “pushy”, “bitchy”, and “bossy”. Women know that our demands are less likely to be treated as reasonable and more likely to be punished than are men’s.

This kind of subjective perception is also part of the racial pay disparity, as white people who step up and ask for something are considered brave, ambitious, and deserving and not, you know, lazy or demanding or greedy or angry. 

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disabilityinkidlit:

weneeddiversebooks:

"#WeNeedDiverseBooks so that young readers don’t see the tools of their lives as prisons but as possibilities."

Submitted by Robyn W.

[photo of a cane leaning against a walker, and a piece of paper displaying the above message]

Gamer Goggles posted up a review of the new Quick Start Rules for the Valiant RPG by Catalyst Game Labs. Source From the post: Have you seen the new quick start rules for Valiant Universe RPG? I have. They made me reminisce on some of my early RPG days. In high school we role-played like […]

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screencapture:

capture images from the screen [on OS X] and save them to a file or the clipboard

I’ve used screencapture for years without, apparently, bothering to read the manual. It has all sorts of handy features, e.g.

screencapture -W -o -M screenshot.png

lets you select a window with the mouse then attaches the resulting screenshot, sans drop shadow, to a new message in Mail.

Via Eight Terminal Utilities Every OS X Command Line User Should Know

waderoush (1271548) writes "Don't laugh. As the cost of housing spirals out of control on the San Francisco peninsula, neighboring metro regions like Sacramento are beginning to look more attractive to startup founders who prefer a Northern California lifestyle but haven't worked in the Silicon Valley gold mines long enough to become 1-percenters. Today Xconomy presents Part 1 of a two-part look at innovation in the Sacramento-Davis corridor and efforts to make the region more welcoming to high-tech entrepreneurs. In Sacramento's favor, there's a talented workforce fueled by a top-20 university (UC Davis), space for expansion, proximity to the ski mountains at Tahoe, and a far lower cost of living — the average house in Sacramento is selling for $237,000, compared to $909,000 in San Francisco. The downsides include a shortage of local investment dollars and a lower density of startups, meaning there's less opportunity for serendipitous collaboration. But locals say recent efforts to boost the local high-tech economy are working. 'I really feel like we are in a renaissance area,' says Eric Ullrich, co-founder of Hacker Lab, a Midtown Sacramento co-working space."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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