firehose

Holy cow, look at this. (It’s a photo sphere: you can tilt it up and look straight up into the cupola.) Truly a cathedral to the gods of rail travel.

Lawsuit claims MakerBot knowingly sold glitchy 3D printers.

If you bought one of MakerBot’s fifth-generation 3D printers only to have trouble running it, you’re not alone. A recently filed class action lawsuit alleges that MakerBot and its parent company Stratasys committed a “fraudulent scheme” by knowingly shipping these Replicator printers with flawed extruders (the part that melts and deposits filament) that tend to clog. Supposedly, management was bragging about rapid growth to investors at the same time it was skimping on quality control and dealing with loads of returns and repairs. By the time MakerBot was starting to lay off workers and otherwise admit that things had gone off the rails, shareholders had lost millions of dollars.

Read more & there’s a recall petition that is 6 months old. Previous post & ongoing coverage.

Related, here’s a MakerBot 5th generation that was not functional at the Micro Center: Brooklyn/Gowanus Expy, New York on Saturday July 11th, 2015.

Ed Piskor won an Eisner award for Hip Hop Family Tree. Full list here.

This encyclopedic comics history of the formative years of hip hop captures the vivid personalities and magnetic performances of old-school pioneers and early stars like DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, plus the charismatic players behind the scenes like Russell Simmons; Debbie Harry, Keith Haring and other luminaries make cameos.

The lore of the early days of hip hop has become the stuff of myth, so what better way to document this fascinating, epic true story than in another great American mythological medium ― the comic book? From exciting young talent and self-proclaimed hip hop nerd Ed Piskor, acclaimed for his hacker graphic novel Wizzywig, comes this explosively entertaining, encyclopedic history of the formative years of the music genre that changed global culture. Originally serialized on the hugely popular website Boing Boing, The Hip Hop Family Tree is now collected in a single volume cleverly presented and packaged in a style mimicking the Marvel comics of the same era. Piskor’s exuberant yet controlled cartooning takes you from the parks and rec rooms of the South Bronx to the night clubs, recording studios, and radio stations where the scene started to boom, capturing the flavor of late-1970s New York City in panels bursting with obsessively authentic detail. With a painstaking, vigorous and engaging Ken Burns meets- Stan Lee approach, the battles and rivalries, the technical innovations, the triumphs and failures are all thoroughly researched and lovingly depicted.  plus the charismatic players behind the scenes like Russell Simmons, Sylvia Robinson and then-punker Rick Rubin. Piskor also traces graffiti master Fab 5 Freddy’s rise in the art world, and Debbie Harry, Keith Haring, The Clash, and other luminaries make cameos as the music and culture begin to penetrate downtown Manhattan and the mainstream at large. Like the acclaimed hip hop documentaries Style Wars and Scratch, The Hip Hop Family Tree is an exciting and essential cultural chronicle and a must for hip hop fans, pop-culture addicts, and anyone who wants to know how it went down back in the day.

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Courtney shared this story from Super Opinionated.

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Courtney shared this story from Super Opinionated.

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"Reddit, to put it bluntly, is a case study of how not to build a community."

The man who chased the sounds of the future as Talking Heads’ frontman is curating London’s Meltdown festival this year. He talks about his fears — and hopes — for the new music generation.

An uncanny video of a magpie that sounds a lot like a little girl who is laughing.

via reddit

The view that wage work has substantial similarities with chattel slavery was actively put forward in the late 18th and 19th centuries by defenders of chattel slavery (most notably in the Southern states of the US), and by opponents of capitalism (who were also critics of chattel slavery).^[9][23] Some defenders of slavery, mainly from the Southern slave states argued that Northern workers were "free but in name – the slaves of endless toil," and that their slaves were better off.^[24][25] This contention has been partly corroborated by some modern studies that indicate slaves' material conditions in the 19th century were "better than what was typically available to free urban laborers at the time."^[26][27] In this period, Henry David Thoreau wrote that "[i]t is hard to have a Southern overseer; it is worse to have a Northern one; but worst of all when you are the slave-driver of yourself."^[28]

Some abolitionists in the United States regarded the analogy as spurious.^[29] They believed that wage workers were "neither wronged nor oppressed".^[30] Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans argued that the condition of wage workers was different from slavery, as laborers were likely to have the opportunity to work for themselves in the future, achieving self-employment.^[31] The abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass initially declared, "now I am my own master", upon taking a paying job.^[32] But later in life, he concluded to the contrary, "experience demonstrates that there may be a slavery of wages only a little less galling and crushing in its effects than chattel slavery, and that this slavery of wages must go down with the other".^[33][34] Douglass went on to speak about these conditions as arising from the unequal bargaining power between the ownership/capitalist class and the non-ownership/laborer class within a compulsory monetary market. "No more crafty and effective devise for defrauding the southern laborers could be adopted than the one that substitutes orders upon shopkeepers for currency in payment of wages. It has the merit of a show of honesty, while it puts the laborer completely at the mercy of the land-owner and the shopkeeper.".^[35]

Pulling in $46.2m at Friday's box office, Universal's "Minions" broke the record for the largest opening day for an animated feature in North America.

submitted by neil_before_scrodd [link] [6 comments]

The Milestone characters are back at DC, with new projects on the way from creators including Reginald Hudlin, Denys Cowan, Geoff Johns and Jim Lee.

The creator of "Buffy" and "Firefly" turns to the Victorian era with "Twist," his latest Dark Horse Comics project.

seainspace:

I forgot what a fucking goldmine this whole conversation is.

Steven Universe’s occasional homages to Revolutionary Girl Utena are starting to feel less like cute nods to a beloved nerd thing and more like an earned, legitimate comparison: both shows feature a patchwork of complicated interpersonal relationships and great care for their very well written characters, deal with complex and emotionally charged thematic issues through heavy use of abstraction and symbolism (never forget Utena aired in a primetime slot), and are unafraid of letting their characters seem unsympathetic in the name of developing them.

If you’ve any involvement with the internet-side reactions to the show, you might guess that it’s the last one I’m most interested in talking about today. The latest run of episodes unloaded some very heavy information about the cast, some of it troubling and all of it believable. And doing so has made it clear that SU isn’t just blazing a trail on television but within the context of fandom too, namely in the portrayal of canonical queerness and female-coded characters.

It became inarguably clear (not that I haven’t seen people arguing it, mind) during the last run of new episode that Pearl was and is deeply in love with Steven’s mother, Rose Quartz. They have also made it clear that Pearl has very deep seated issues with self-worth that present as fierce possessiveness when threatened, and unresolved grief so severe that she falls completely prey to powerful, impulsive emotions around the mere subject of Rose. The show (that is, the tone and perspective) has taken great care not to condone Pearl’s negative behaviors while continuing to sympathize with her, and Pearl herself has worked to correct her issues in the present even as she remains very mentally and emotionally vulnerable. She’s heads and shoulders, at present, the most faceted and fascinating character of a very strong ensemble cast.

The internet’s reaction to this recent showing of character flaws has been…rather less embracing than my own, shall we say. For a show as firmly intent on finding the goodness and redemptive possibility in everyone, as embodied by its titular character, there is an awfully strong all-or-nothing perspective going on in the fandom. A character is beloved when introduced until they show some kind of failing or hurt the feelings of an already beloved character, at which point they’re completely discarded—this extends not only to very morally grey cases like Peridot (who is complicit in some pretty terrible things, though she might yet be redeemed) to Pearl’s recent outbursts (the critiques of which can certainly have validity but tend to ignore Pearl’s increasingly clear trauma and mental illness), or even Rose’s initial patronizing attitude toward humanity (which the show has already shown she learned from and grew out of). It’s a troubling trend, one that has roots in call-out culture and the “race to least problematic” ideation that I’m going to leave aside here for the sake of sheer scope.

Instead, I want to pick at two issues going on in this recent mess. It’s easy to pick on the “this wouldn’t be happening if these characters were coded as male,” but it’s nonetheless true—as a fan of the unrepentantly (gloriously) awful Bill Cipher, among others, I can promise you I see it regularly.

Internalized misogyny is a hell of a thing, and even when a show has put forth the hard work of showing a varied, predominantly female cast there’s still work to be done in breaking down the expectation that the female character is the weak, token, unwanted one. The one you have to include (often for no homo purposes) but aren’t really invested in, and all the character traits that become associated with that role. By the same token, women who are allowed more depth and development are more likely to be placed on a pedestal, disallowed from those “weak” traits that are, in the context of strong, well developed writing, merely human. Traits like thoughtlessness, jealousy, or cowardice.

The second, thornier issue regards Pearl as a potential example of the “psycho lesbian” trope: a queer coded-female who becomes violently jealous when the object of her affection turns out to be “normal” and falls for a man. It was an extremely pervasive trope that often cast queer women as inherently mentally broken or (at worst) predators of would-be heterosexuals—in its most extreme forms it’s not far from a gender-specific version of the “let’s equate gays and pedophiles” fallacy. And while there might yet be a conversation to be had on this one (it’s too soon to tell yet, given the conspicuous lack of direct, on-screen discussion between Rose and Pearl about their relationship), I think SU has done the hard work of depicting jealousy without falling into this trap.

There’s a popular post on Mad Max Fury Road that talks about how having a visible female presence in the film allows it to have death regardless of gender rather than The One Lady who must survive to film’s end, to have one character named “Cheedo the Fragile,” to have women of different ages and body types and abilities, and so on. Basically, it opens the door of storytelling possibilities, and devices that read as toxic stereotypes when grafted onto the singular representative of a group are capable of showing a great deal more nuance when explored in a story that allows multiple portrayals of a group or culture.

There’s no doubt that SU is far and away the most progressive piece of children/family media in regards to portrayals of queer individuals and relationships(they’re not totally free, mind—Pearl and Rose’s kiss during their fusion is hidden behind a very convenient lock of hair). Ruby and Sapphire were a revelation, equal partners in a trusting, loving relationship whose bond enables them to form one of the strongest and most compassionate members of the cast.

The normalization of, let alone the admiration for (which both Connie and Steven clearly possess) the living relationship that is Garnet opens countless doors to the show’s writers (as well as wonderful little touches like non-binary Stevonnie). That one small but crucial step eases back on the ever-existing weight in a queer viewer’s mind: are these characters together (or not together) because this is what’s allowed to be shown? Could that character be like me, but they weren’t able to get it on TV?

The establishing of Garnet seems deliberately placed as Pearl and Rose’s history has begun to unfold. Without the pressure of being The Obviously Queer One, Pearl can simply be jealous because those are emotions that arise from her as someone who is insecure and fearful about losing the most important individual in her life. Pearl can be flawed without being beholden to her romantic desires, and the latter can be a part of her character (a hugely motivating part, even) without being the whole of it. Depending upon how this arc resolves itself, there’s even the potential to open further doors.

And that bit of freedom, that attentive writing, even ripples out to tropes used in straight media—Rose might not, depending on the resolution of that arc, be involved in a love triangle at all but trying to form a poly relationship (though if that is the case she was initially very poor at communicating that intent to her partners). Steven and Connie’s relationship can be allowed to be a sweet, loving bond without the pressure of an automatically assumed heterosexual dating bond placed on it (even if they clearly love each other in some fashion, and would in fact be adorable life partners). Breaking down a convention has a ripple effect, and guided by talented hands it’s leading to some truly wondrous results.

Now, it would be nice if internet discourse would do its part in trying to evolve with these new strides in writing. But one day at a time, I suppose.

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Vrai is a queer author and pop culture blogger; they seem to find themselves the inadvertent patron saint of problematic faves as of late. You can read more essays and find out about their fiction at Fashionable Tinfoil Accessories, support their work via Patreon or PayPal, or remind them of the existence of Tweets.

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samwiseg:

god bless the new pope

Holy smokes. Where do we even begin with this year’s Eisner Award winners?

Team Lumberjanes (Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, and Brooke A. Allen) took home two major awards: Best New Series (!!!) and Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17). It’s so, so great to see them get the recognition that they so totally deserve with this awesome comic.

Emily Carroll also took home two awards: one for “When the Darkness Presses” (readable online), which took home Best Short Story, and another for Through the Woods, this year’s Best Graphic Album (Reprint).

The Best Continuing Series category was packed with some amazing titles, including Hawkeye, Bandette, Southern Bastards, Astro City, and The Walking Dead. Ultimately, Saga came away with the award, leaving everyone to wonder when that particular juggernaut is going to come to a halt. Additionally, Fiona Staples took home the award for Best Penciller/Inker.

Judging by these alone, it’s been a pretty big year for women in comics. And really, we can’t be more excited for Team Lumberjanes.

Check out the full listing of winners over at ComicsAlliance.com (who also took home the award for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism!). How do you feel about all these winners, folks?

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Last night, we shared a story about CONvergence and the strides they’ve made towards improving diversity and creating safe spaces at conventions. Through that story, we heard about a group of cosplayers who got together to recreate Cersei’s shame walk from Game of Thrones. For some people there, and for people who caught wind of it through the shared Instagram video reblogged on the CONvergence official Tumblr, it felt strongly like a statement supporting slut-shaming and misogyny.

Upfront: yes, the Cersei cosplayer gave her consent for this all to happen. As far as anyone can tell, everyone involved was “in” on what was going on. However, I just have to wonder: did this really need to happen this way?

Let’s look at the shame walk in the context of the show and its audience for a second. In a lot of ways, it was a hard reflection on the internet and its hostile attitude towards the things people do (especially if those people are women). Cersei was walking through a veritable subreddit/comment thread/anon board thread/what have you and taking all the incredible abuse that comes with that.

It’s just that her abuse came in the form of people physically spitting on her, hitting her with gross things (seriously I have no idea what those are), and the constant verbal accusations. Which, when you think about it, isn’t really different from being a woman on the internet in general. Oh, and a bunch of people flashing her. Which, also, isn’t a far cry from what women experience these days as well.

So. Drawing this back to CONvergence, it feels strangely odd that they chose to do this, especially in a supposedly safe space. There’s a strange cognitive dissonance in recreating a scene from a show that was physically recreating the intangible space of internet comment threads. It’s so terribly meta. It’s life imitating pop culture imitating life. It’s “shame” all the way down.

For a lot of people who didn’t get the context or don’t watch the show, it just looked like a bunch of people yelling “shame” at a half-naked woman. To them, it just looked like straight up slut shaming. When someone took to the CONvergence Facebook page to talk about this, a 900+ comment thread (at the time of this writing) followed, which was soon drowned out by people spamming cat pictures.

The discussion focused mainly on whether something like this should be allowed to happen through public con spaces, and if it should happen at a con at all. The walk coordinators spoke up immediately to say that yes, the Cersei cosplayer gave full consent to the walk, and was quite happy with everyone involved. In a Facebook comment, she said she was treated “wonderfully,” and she “was super happy people were screaming ‘whore’ and ‘brother fucker’ and ‘Seven take you.'”

A bunch of other con-goers also chimed in saying that they, too, were glad that the walk happened. They gave accounts about how well-mannered the mob was and how they feel it’s completely fine. The reasoning they gave for why they did the walk was simple: comedy. It was supposed to be a “satire,” for the lulz, in a way.

Far be it from me (or anyone, really) to tell someone how to be funny, but it this feels like a lot of “playing Devil’s advocate” type stuff. Comedy–true comedy–punches up, not down. A satire subverts and changes the meaning of an established trope or belief. Simply recreating something isn’t a satire. It’s just a retelling. It’s a re-affirmation of the principles that the scene was meant to establish: that “fornication” and “falsehood” are enough to merit physical and emotional abuse.

Is it possible that the walk took on a more positive meaning, one that wasn’t captured in the video? Yeah, easily. Did it? One can hope. Does this change CONvergence’s past attempts at creating a safe, diverse space for attendees? No. CONvergence, from the sound of it, seems like it’s way ahead of the safe space conversation, at least well past other similar conventions.

Ultimately what this shame walk did was prove that yes, your fave is problematic, and being able to acknowledge that is always a step towards making yourself and the things you love stronger. Refusing to see the possible problematic nature of what you’ve done helps nobody.

I get why the walk happened. I understand what they were trying to do. But I still find myself wondering: did this really have to be the way to do it?

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PlayStation 4 owners who had never heard of the pigeon dating game can play it for the first time now, but there are also plenty of changes and new additions to surprise and delight the original Hatoful Boyfriend fans. Nigel Lowrie of Devolver Digital (the publisher of the pigeon dating game) excitedly announced that with the new content coming out, essentially there’s a whole new story to the game now. There’s even a brand new ending for old players to discover! There may even be doomsday devices to be found in the post-apocalyptic setting. Also, there are going to be some new characters for the romantic side of the pigeon dating game, including one from the sequel, also coming to PlayStation later this year.
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According to Reuters, Audi’s subsidiary Volkswagen AG’s and other giants in the auto industry like Ford Motor Co and General Motors have joined hands with Google and Apple, to link their vehicles to their platforms. Google provides Android, and Apple provides iOS as platforms for the smart cars, but their vehicular data is not being shared with these tech companies.

The automakers plan to sell this data and believe that it would make them billions in the future via e-commerce. Although they’re only at their early stages of forming the strategies for monetizing this data, they are hopeful of its fruitful outcome.

During the panel, Tarantino announced that legendary film composer Ennio Morricone will write the score for “Hateful Eight,” marking his first Western score in 40 years. Morricone is best known for his innovative music for the Spaghetti Westerns, particularly “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”

submitted by bnblazer to Portland [link] [28 comments]

Young Meek!

A photo posted by Ant Davis (@antdavis_23) on Jun 13, 2015 at 11:14am PDT

The NBA offseason can be incredibly boring and not just for the fans.

Anthony Davis is clearly a smart man, so to deter any further boredom, he went and bought himself a monkey to keep himself company, and help pass the time with Instagram snaps.

Sure, no one really knows if owning a monkey is a good idea, but it's really neither here nor there because IT'S SO DARN CUTE.

He named him Meek! Awwww.

Maybe he'll try and keep up with Dwight Howard who added ANOTHER snake to his collection this week. May as well!

My baby anaconda. She's gonna be HUGE.

A photo posted by Dwight Howard (@dwighthoward) on Jul 9, 2015 at 3:46pm PDT

H/T to Eye on Basketball