Liz

Handy-dandy BART map in a pen.

See also this pen map from Seoul, South Korea.

(Source: Wired Maps/Instagram)

Those flights aren't from Omaha. They're from OMAHA!

Did you know Peyton Manning says Omaha while playing football? It's true: Peyton Manning says Omaha while playing football. He won't tell you why he says Omaha while playing football, but that's part of the reason he says Omaha while playing football. (Also, a zoo named a penguin after him.)

But anyway, it's true. And now, every flight at the Denver airport to and from Omaha is not from Omaha. It is from OMAHA!

OMAHA! RT @ColleenFerreira: @DENAirport is really excited about #Omaha! Love it pic.twitter.com/KFGhUnGeyH

— Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport) January 28, 2014

OMAHA! #UnitedinOrange RT @JamesFeger: Nice touch! @SouthwestAir @Broncos @DENAirport pic.twitter.com/VzqtLKqYZr

— Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport) January 27, 2014

@DENAirport awesome yall win the day!!! pic.twitter.com/o15iWgwIIi

— Jon D. (@JDSportsfan85) January 28, 2014

Tattoo You

digi-order submitted:

Alright, I was contemplating whether or not to submit this but we’ve got three ladies here from a rather familiar game.

Ysera, Alexstrasza and Sylvanas. Blizzard decided to use the same exact models for each of them with some changes here and there.

…However, the first two are actually dragonesses while the last is an undead banshee queen who was a ranger in her past life….Also she’s supposed to have a mangled body.

So I think everyone can see what I’m getting at for these gals.

astringofpearls submitted:

World of What-the-What???

This makes me so angry. This character is a Death Knight and they are the baddest of asses. Why is she in a bikini with chaps? Does this look like plate armor to anyone else?

onewingedangel submitted:

Sylvanas Windrunner.

spectrumfizz submitted:

This is official art from the World of Warcraft trading card game, for the character Elumeria Wildershot. I and a friend managed to find several problems with it:

1. She should be wearing at least light leather armour for protection.
2. The cape/skirt shown is ridiculously impractical for dense forest.
3. Her hair should be braided/tied back, to keep it out of her line of sight.
4. That’s not even close to an appropriate loading/firing position.
5. Unless that’s a shortbow, she should not be holding it like that.
6. Why is her left hand that close to what looks like a flaming arrow?
7. Why is her pet spider floating near her back?

Someone please fix this, it makes me sad. :<

As I get older, I begin to seek solace in the familiar. Bikini armor, old friend, thanks for always being there for me. The world would be unrecognizable without you. Also probably better protected and warmer? Mostly unrecognizable.

-Staci

rosetylerandten:

IM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS SHIRT

​

Labor markets around the world are deeply in the red.

Global unemployment hovered at 6% in 2013, with 202 million jobless—a 5 million increase from the year before. That’s according to a report last week from the International Labour Organization, a UN body tasked with monitoring and promoting workers’ rights and well-being.

Of course, those broad averages mask sharp variations between countries. In South Africa, Greece, Mauritania and Spain, unemployment tops 25%. In Russia, Germany, Mexico and Australia, it is in the much more tolerable zone between 5% and 6%.

So we took the ILO’s historical data on international jobless rates from 1991 on, and slapped the numbers into a GIF. The result is this loop of recent economic history, backed by more than two decades of data. (As well as ILO estimates for the next few years.) The animation underscores just how far some economies have come and which ones seem have simply ricocheted between boom and bust cycles.

The best way to look at this map is to focus on individual countries for a cycle or two. For instance, look at Ireland. When the curtain comes up in 1991, the tiny economy at the edge of Europe is grappling with nearly 16% unemployment. But the deep pink fades fast as Ireland’s “Celtic tiger” economy gathers steam through the late 1990s and a home-building mania takes hold after the turn of the century. We all know what happened next: The housing boom busted, the banks that financed it failed, the government tried to back the banks and was pulled into insolvency itself. With a jobless rate of about 14%, Ireland is once again a painful beacon in the Atlantic.

On the other side of the Eurasian landmass, Russia was in dire straits in 1991. Unemployment topped 12% as the Soviet Union fell apart. Things muddled along for a few years. Then after the default in 1998, unemployment peaked at 13.3%. But thanks to a more recent commodities boom and a period of political stability under the iron rule of president Vladimir Putin, unemployment fell to 5.8% in 2013, near historic lows.

Likewise, after Argentina defaulted in 2001, unemployment briefly shot to 18%. (In light of the recent sharp devaluation of the currency, Argentinians have a right to worry about a replay.) Spain and Greece, with more than 25% unemployment, now find themselves in something of a similar situation, as pressure from the bond markets forced both into bailout agreements (which Spain has just exited) and cost-cutting regimes.

Iraq and Egypt, with estimated unemployment rates of 16.1% and 12.7% respectively, are both suffering from political instability, among other ills. In South Africa, inequality, poor education, surging youth unemployment, and rigid labor markets have kept the jobless rate above 20% for more than a decade. Algeria, on the North African coast, is emblazoned in searing pink in the 1990s. (Unemployment peaked at nearly 30% in 2000.)  More recently it has mellowed to pastel as unemployment has fallen a bit.

And then there’s Australia. Its commodities-and-consumption-driven economy hasn’t suffered a serious setback in more than two decades, though there’s some indication that growth could be running on fumes. As a result, unemployment has been on a relentless decline from nearly 10.9% in 1993 to roughly 5.6% in 2013, according to the ILO.

Ukraine’s parliament has repealed controversial legislation that all but outlawed public dissent, and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has offered his resignation. But the concessions seem unlikely to satisfy the emboldened opposition, and the indications are that president Viktor Yanukovych’s days in office are numbered. If he is forced out—either by resigning or in snap elections—the likely outcomes include freedom for his imprisoned nemesis Yulia Tymoshenko, closer relations with Europe and a breach with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The immediate sequence of events that led to this moment began in November when the public was outraged by Yanukovych’s decision to ditch an agreement to move closer to the European Union and instead embrace an economic alliance with Russia, including a $15 billion bailout. Then tempers really boiled over with the Jan. 16 passage of a law banning many forms of protest.

Since then, there have been increasing signs that Yanukovych has lost control: The public has defied the protest laws and stayed in the streets despite the threat of gunfire and other perils that so far have cost the lives of five people. Neither Yanukovych nor his forces have shown the desire nor the stomach to simply mow down protesters. Instead, Yanukovych on Jan. 25 offered the prime ministership to opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a leader of Tymoshenko’s political party, but Yatsenyuk refused; the next day, serious unrest began in east Ukraine, Yanukovych’s political heartland.

Taken together, these developments are a clear sign that Yanukovych is knocked back on his heels and has few options but to agree to early exit from office, although if he agrees to early elections he would at least have a shot at staying on.

In a note to clients, Eurasia Group analyst Alex Brideau said that Yanukovych is unlikely to finish his term, which ends next year, although he could last a few more months. “Given the current situation, it is likely Yanukovych would lose a free and fair early presidential election,” Brideau said.

If Yanukovych goes, the EU deal is likelier to go through and Ukraine is likely to pull back from its embrace of Putin. Yanukovych himself could face the same type of judicial prosecution that he once meted out against Tymoshenko, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence for abuse of power.

Foxconn’s plans to open a high-tech plant in the US may be part of the larger revival of US manufacturing. But don’t expect American jobs to come with the boom in business.

The world’s biggest contract manufacturer, which is based in Taiwan and famously assembles Apple’s iPhones and iPads, among other products, last week described the US as a “must-go market,” and said its partners (presumably Apple) want it to make things closer to their home bases, according to a Reuters report.

It seems like a welcome fillip for the US, which has been trying to boost manufacturing. Often described as the base of the world’s largest economy, manufacturing accounts for about 12% of America’s annual economic output and 9% of its workforce. Left-leaning American US think tank the Economic Policy Institute has claimed that the US lost nearly 3 million manufacturing jobs to cheaper workers in China between 2001 and  and 2011.

Now, thanks to cheap energy in the US and rising labor costs in emerging markets, America’s cost disadvantage in manufacturing is rapidly narrowing.

What does that do for US jobs? Not much. A new study by McKinsey argues that manufacturers will increasingly turn to ”next-shoring,” or locating production closer to where their customers are located to satisfy local tastes and eliminate potentially damaging supply shortages.  In theory, this should play well to the US economy, the mothership of global consumerism. But workers will still lose out to advanced robotics, which can perform increasingly sophisticated manufacturing operations, and 3D printers, which will be able to replace component suppliers. ”Cheaper, more proficient robots that can substitute for a wider variety of human tasks are another reason companies may locate more manufacturing closer to major demand markets, even where wage rates are higher,” the report says.

What’s more. the US economy’s consumer dominance is fading with the rise of emerging market demand.

But even if consumers and producers in emerging markets end up trumping the West, ultimately the robots win.

Visitors to Colorado are now welcomed at dozens of marijuana dispensaries, where they can buy up to a quarter ounce (7 grams) of pot for their own consumption. The new boom in weed tourism has meant long lines at Denver’s dispensaries, and a nascent but growing industry of packaged “green tours,” that are heavy on smoke-filled “magic bus” trips to local growers.

But what if you want to plan an upscale and, yes, responsible “weedcation” of your very own, taking full advantage of Colorado’s amazing outdoors and a serious foodie scene? Quartz asked police and people in the hospitality and cannabis business in Colorado their advice. Here’s what they had to say:

Know what’s allowed. “It’s not carte blanche,” says Tom Martin, the police chief of Crested Butte, a tiny, extreme-sports-loving town in Colorado’s ski country. The most important thing to remember: Public consumption is banned. That includes not just walking down the street but in national parks and forests, on the chair lifts and the ski slopes. Parks and most ski areas are federal land, where marijuana use is still illegal. If you’re transporting it, it should be in a closed container.

There’s some discussion about whether private property in public view, like “a nice evening when you’re sitting on the front porch,” should constitute public consumption, Martin says. For now, he suggests, stick to the back porch where passers-by can’t see you. (For more details about what not to do, the Denver Post’s Cannabist website has a very thorough 64 question FAQ.)

Rent a private house. Besides the fact that public pot consumption is banned, smoking of anything at all is verboten at bars, restaurants and many Colorado hotels. Even those hotels that allow cigarette smoking in some bedrooms (which, let’s face it, probably smell like stale tobacco) sometimes don’t allow marijuana, even on the balconies. Here’s a handful of hotels that openly welcome cannabis users.

Luckily the state is full of gorgeous vacation homes. Though most ban smoking indoors, look for somewhere with private outdoor space, like this riverside cottage with an outdoor hot tub in Crested Butte, or this five-bedroom “luxury log cabin” in Vail. There are also a few rental homes that permit indoor smoking, like this exposed brick loft in downtown Denver.

Go to a stylish event. A growing number of chefs and event planners are creating special cannabis evenings, centered around marijuana-friendly food or focused on entertainment like burlesque-themed cabaret.

Jane West, a Denver event planner, is hosting monthly “BYOC” dinner parties in Denver art galleries. They’re designed to appeal to cannabis users, but are open to all (they also serve craft beers and Colorado “small batch” spirits.) The menus will be heavy on “succulent moist foods that will evolve” as you eat them, West told Quartz, like meatballs stuffed with blue cheese.

There will be a four-course, 100-person “farm-to-table” dinner in April and an “Oktoberfest” in September. At a recent event, there was even a special code for discounts on Uber rides home. West said previously “there was not a scene for people like me,” someone in her 30s who likes to drink good wine, eat great food, and use cannabis.

If you want to host a private event of your own, West can also arrange for a “cannabis chef” to come to your rental home, even outside of Denver, and make you food with and without marijuana.

Take it easy with the edibles.  Colorado is full of mom-and-pop outfits that churn out cookies, cakes, granolas and candies, most with organic ingredients and all clearly labeled with the amount of THC—the active ingredient in marijuana—that they contain.

Twirling Hippy Confections, for instance, makes individual peanut butter chocolate chip cheesecakes with 65 mg of THC in each one. Julie & Kate Baked Goods makes gluten-free products using various strains of marijuana, such as almond, sunflower and maple syrup treats with 25 mg of THC each. Edibles like these are in such demand that Colorado stores have been rationing them to keep them in stock.

To pick out the right product, ask yourself some questions first, Julie of Julie & Kate tells Quartz, like “What type of day or night are you in the mood for? Are you suffering from anxiety this day? Are you in pain? Would you like to be as euphoric as possible just for the fun of it?” A product made with the sativa strain will “be more active and conducive for a day on the mountain,” she said, while one made with indica “will be restful and calming.” Eat a small amount, wait 60 minutes, and then take more if necessary, she said. Julie & Kate’s website has a brief THC dosage guide.

Skip the cabernet. Many purists believe you shouldn’t combine alcohol and cannabis. If you do, take care when choosing the alcohol—nothing that dries out the mouth, like a red wine with heavy tannins. West recommends “palate cleansing” beverages, such as sake or a drink with ginger in it. “Anything that has a refreshing element at the end,” she said.

No, do not pack the cheesecake for home. They don’t look or smell like marijuana, so why not just slip some of Colorado’s edibles into your checked luggage before your flight? Just remember, it’s illegal to possess marijuana once you’re on federally-administered property, which includes the security line at the airport, and you’ll probably get caught, like this guy.

And of course, have fun. Martin said he’s not that worried about tourists getting themselves into trouble now that recreational cannabis has been legalized. “Seldom in my career of 29 years have we responded to calls where marijuana was a factor,” he said.

iguanamouth:

whoops

This guy needs a guitar. Especially in the second one.

metalonmetalblog:

Death and Soap Bubbles, stucco relief, 18th century.

Holy Sepulcher Chapel, Michelsberg Cloister, Bamberg

Ack, is that right?

I didn’t see that. 

That is disappointing. 

I was very disappointed and told him so on Twitter.

To me, and this is just my impression, it didn’t read like an INTENTIONAL slam at trans folk, more like an off-hand and thoughtless exclusion of them, but that was just my interpretation. I have only met Joss once and am not hugely familiar with most of his work, so my read could be completely off. Intent isn’t everything, obviously, and I’m not making excuses for him, that is just how I read the comment at the time. 

I have made comments in the past where I have thoughtlessly made a similar mistake, talking about women as defined by having vaginas or whatever. People pointed out to me that that was exclusionary and they were right. Maybe that’s all Joss needs, maybe an apology is forthcoming, I don’t know, but it would be nice.  I don’t expect people to be perfect, you know? I don’t know anyone who has perfect knowledge and enlightenment, some of the most dedicated social justice advocates I know have messed up badly. But when it’s pointed out that something is wrong and hurtful…I would hope they would listen and do the right thing, out of simply human decency.

It always sucks to be excluded, to not be considered. Even just as a woman in comics, I’ve had it happen often and I can’t even imagine what it’s like for trans folk, where they have to deal with both aggressive and passive erasure all day, every day, it seems. 

Taste The Beast!

As part of Marshawn Lynch deal, Skittles has produced a limited amount of this "Seattle Mix" pic.twitter.com/egfE9iMZSA

— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) January 28, 2014

Skittles' new limited edition "Seattle Mix" has only 2 flavors in package pic.twitter.com/FWOKoXjjD8

— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) January 28, 2014

This is a real thing! You tweeted, Facebook, watched TV and stuff — and finally, the #brand listened. Feel good, America. Feel great, Seattle.

On Super Bowl Sunday, the US might as well be on a different planet. American football’s annual crescendo is typically the country’s most watched TV show of the year, usually by a considerable margin. Last year’s edition was, by some measures, the third most viewed show in American broadcast history.

But on the global stage, it’s a very different story.  In 2010, the National Football League’s grand finale was for the first time usurped in viewing numbers by European club soccer’s rough equivalent, the UEFA Champions League final. This year, with international soccer’s quadrennial centerpiece, the World Cup final, and the Winter Olympics in Sochi both on the schedule, America’s favorite sporting event could be relegated to fourth place in terms of global viewers.

The above chart is based on projections provided to Quartz by Kevin Alvay, the managing director of Futures Sport + Entertainment, a consultancy that has been tracking global audiences since 1988. These forecasts contain caveats: Super Bowl ratings are typically consistent, regardless of which teams are involved, while Champions League audiences can fluctuate more based on whether popular teams like Manchester United and Barcelona are involved.

But a lot of the difference in viewership between the Super Bowl and other tournaments will be due to logistics. In 2010, European soccer’s governing body moved the Champions League final from its traditional Wednesday night time slot to Saturday night. That makes it much easier for audiences in populous and soccer-obsessed South America and Asia to tune in, Alvay says. ”People in Asia have got a greater capacity to be up at the middle of the night when it’s on a weekend and they don’t have to work the next day,” he says.

Similarly, the World Cup final on July 13 will be staged at 4pm local time in Rio de Janeiro, which is prime time in Europe and Africa, and lunchtime on the east coast of the US. “It’s ideal [timing], from the perspective of maximizing TV audiences for soccer,” Alvay says. It will be in early hours of the morning in Asia, but audiences there are used to having to get up early to watch their favorite sport.  ”In places like Indonesia, a whole culture has developed around watching soccer at that time of night,” Alvay explains.

Contrast this with the Super Bowl, which is scheduled to maximize US viewership; audiences peak during the showbiz-heavy halftime show. That makes it problematic for international audiences outside the Americas. It allows for daytime viewing in Asia, but this is where American football has its smallest following. In Europe, where the league has been focusing its recent international expansion efforts (the NFL has hosted a game in London annually since 2007) the timing couldn’t be worse: Kickoff is at 6:30pm in New York, which is 11:30pm in London and 12:30am in Western Europe. And games typically last for three hours.  

by Waster

NCIS 11x06 - Oil and water

It’s an information-gathering program that was used on an oil rig, written by the character named Danielle Benton.

The C# code is from a Microsoft sample on how to use the Bing API with the word Example replaced by Hack.

jgs says: “That’s how all real programming works: you just copy/paste and change a few words. See n other TV series and films.”

Lynch could be facing fines of over $100,000 if he doesn't attend media day on Tuesday afternoon.

Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch isn't a fan of speaking to the media and may even sit out media day on Tuesday to avoid doing so, according to a report from NFL Network. If he elects to skip on the media session, it might cost him more than $100,000 in penalties from the NFL.

Broncos vs. Seahawks, Super Bowl XLVIII

• Position-by-position preview• Peyton's pitiless farewell tour • Dreaming of a grayish-white Super Bowl• Why are you mad at Richard Sherman? • Manning clear MVP betting favorite

Earlier in January, Lynch received a $50,000 fine for refusing to speak to the media, although NFL Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson agreed to temporarily suspend the fine after an appeal. However, a refusal to cooperate at media day would result in the fine sticking and an additional fine of at least $50,000, according to NFL Network.

Lynch told NFL Network last week that if he does attend media day, his answers will not be too exciting, anyway:

"If you're forced to do something, it's not as good as if you choose to do it," Lynch said. "So no, I won't have a lot of interesting things to say. When you're forced to do something and you know it, it kind of just takes away from the whole experience of what it could be if (it were) natural. So, I'll probably give forced answers."

After he was forced to speak with the media earlier in January, Lynch provided some comically short answers to questions from the media.

The Seahawks are scheduled to meet with the media for an hour, beginning at 12:45 p.m. after the Broncos have already finished their media session earlier in the day. NFL Network will provide coverage of the event and fans can stream the event live on NFL.com.

More from SB Nation NFL

• SB Nation's complete coverage of Super Bowl XLVIII

• Stupid things they're saying about the Super Bowl

• NFL mock draft: Blake Bortles is the new No. 1 pick

• Nick Foles, Derrick Johnson named Pro Bowl MVPs | Weird ending

• Longform: How prop bets changed the way we gamble on the Super Bowl

• The sordid end of David Meggett: From All-Pro to prison

First new drawing of the year! You can buy this guy on greeting cards!