firehose

Own the SNES Urinal ⊟

A Craigslist poster in Denver is selling this custom urinal made of SNES cartridges – mostly extremely common sports games, from the look of it. While I have serious concerns about all those grooves and nooks being hard to clean, the seller says that the cartridges have been sealed to avoid leaks.

But be warned, if you’re considering this video game cartridge fixture as a practical item in your home: “I have not hooked this up in a working environment with full plumbing so people can use it.” The good news: “It has never been peed in either.”

I’m tempted to call this a Duchamp-esque artwork, but kind of the whole point of Duchamp’s “Fountain” was that it was already produced for non-art-related purposes. And now I’m thinking way too hard about this.

BUY Nintendo 2DS & 3DS/XL, upcoming games, our holiday gift guide

Meet Jim Knight. He is—or was—the chef at The Plough, a pub in the bucolic English village of Great Haseley, Oxfordshire (not to be confused with The Plough in Langford, Bedfordshire, which has a similar Twitter handle). Earlier today, he was apparently informed that his services were no longer required.

Calling all chefs. Is there some sort of forum for naming and shaming bad employers?—
Jim Knight (@chefjimknight) December 15, 2013

But apparently he had the password to the pub’s Twitter account.

@JohnBarton_Chef have a little retweet from here @ploughpub—
Jim Knight (@chefjimknight) December 15, 2013

So he used it.

And was pleasantly surprised at the response.

Wow that took off quickly.—
Jim Knight (@chefjimknight) December 15, 2013

Though he seems concerned to ward off any trouble this might subsequently cause.

I would like to make it CRYSTAL CLEAR I have not "hacked" any account. I created the account with permission of my ex-employers. Night x—
Jim Knight (@chefjimknight) December 16, 2013

Whatever the legal status of Knight’s use of the Twitter account, and whatever the Plough’s reasons for dispensing with his services, there seems to be a fairly obvious lesson here for any business.

Romo schadenfreude.

Tony romo interseption twitter=the best twitter IMO

— PFTCommenter (@PFTCommenter) December 16, 2013

It really is true. There's something so beautiful about football fans setting aside their differences and rooting interests to come together and cheer for Tony Romo to do exactly what we all hope that he'll do.

By all accounts he really seems like a nice guy, and he is a very talented quarterback despite his tendency to throw an interception when all eyes are on him. But let's take a moment to enjoy in our collective Cowboys schadenfreude anyway. We'll start out light.

ROMO'D!

— Chris Mottram (@ChrisMottram) December 16, 2013

Jeeeeeeeeeeesus, that's a pick #ROMO

— Andrew Sharp (@andrewsharp) December 16, 2013

You serious, Romo?

— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurke_SI) December 16, 2013

TONY HAS A PROBLEM x 3

— Bill Hanstockings (@sundownmotel) December 16, 2013

Sigh

— Stephen White (@sgw94) December 16, 2013

Romo and the cowboys will have some explaining to do

— Jerry Rice (@JerryRice) December 16, 2013

"After reviewing the play ... jeezus, Romo. What the hell, man?" - ref

— SportsPickle (@sportspickle) December 16, 2013

The Tony Romo Experience is exciting while it’s happening, but pretty terrible for you long term. He’s a bacon cheeseburger.

— Dan Rubenstein (@DanRubenstein) December 16, 2013

Tune in next week while Dan uses this as an excuse to eat the most delicious bacon cheeseburger in New York City and makes everyone really hungry while they're at work.

Tony Romo is the football version of herpes. Always flares up at the wrong times

— Cuffs The Legend (@CuffsTheLegend) December 16, 2013

Just incase you missed the previous "Romo pulling a Romo" he did it again.

— Desmond Howard (@DesmondHoward) December 16, 2013

My god. The most Romo. All the Romo. Every Romo. The full set of Romo. HE WENT FULL ROMO.

— SportsPickle (@sportspickle) December 16, 2013

Any dollar Tony Romo has is only worth 75 cents because he'll inevitably lose the 4th quarter

— Pete Pistone (@PPistone) December 16, 2013

Harfharfharfharfharfharfharf. Good one, Pete.

i went 2 dinner w/ tony romo and ask him to pass the rolls to me but i never got them because he was crying & depresed

— PFTCommenter (@PFTCommenter) December 16, 2013

Tony Romo is probably a really nice person tho

— Steve Weissman (@SWeissmanESPN) December 16, 2013

Did anyone not know this game would end on a Tony Romo interception?

— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) December 16, 2013

And la piece de resistance ...

Oh no...

— Matt Leinart (@MattLeinartQB) December 16, 2013

Ben Goldacre and David Spiegelhalter have published a paper in the British Medical Journal called " Bicycle helmets and the law", exploring the complex epidemiological conundrum presented by research on safety and bike helmets. As Goldacre pointed out, this is a perfect teaching case about the difficulty of evaluating risk and its relationship to law and the behavior. The paper is short and very clearly written, and makes a great companion to Goldacre's excellent books, Bad Science and Bad Pharma.

People who are forced by legislation to wear a bicycle helmet, meanwhile, may be different again. Firstly, they may not wear the helmet correctly, seeking only to comply with the law and avoid a fine. Secondly, their behaviour may change as a consequence of wearing a helmet through “risk compensation,” a phenomenon that has been documented in many fields.4 5 One study—albeit with a single author and subject—suggests that drivers give larger clearance to cyclists without a helmet.6

Even if helmets do have an effect on head injury rates, it would not necessarily follow that legislation would have public health benefits overall. This is because of “second round” effects, such as changes in cycling rates, which may affect individual and population health. Modelling studies have generally concluded that regular cyclists live longer because the health effects of cycling far outweigh the risk of crashes.7 This trade-off depends crucially, however, on the absolute risk of an accident: any true reduction in the relative risk of head injury will have a greater impact where crashes are more common, such as for children.8

The impact on all cause mortality, and on head injuries, may be even further complicated if such legislation has varying effects on different groups. For example, a recent study identified two broad subpopulations of cyclist: “one speed-happy group that cycle fast and have lots of cycle equipment including helmets, and one traditional kind of cyclist without much equipment, cycling slowly.” The study concluded that compulsory cycle helmet legislation may selectively reduce cycling in the second group.9 There are even more complex second round effects if each individual cyclist’s safety is improved by increased cyclist density through “safety in numbers,” a phenomenon known as Smeed’s law.10 Statistical models for the overall impact of helmet habits are therefore inevitably complex and based on speculative assumptions.11 This complexity seems at odds with the current official BMA policy, which confidently calls for compulsory helmet legislation.

Bicycle helmets and the law [British Medical Journal]

(Image: 137/365: Tandem, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from bradleypjohnson's photostream)

i looked like human garbage when i pulled into the drive-thru. you know what i saw in front of the menu board? a camera and a screen featuring an excited go-getter of a cashier, and in the lower left corner, […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...

sunshineandfeelingfine:

Time for Tweed

When Valve announced the public release of the beta for SteamOS 1.0 "Alchemist" on Friday they listed NVIDIA graphics as a hardware requirement, but I showed that AMD Radeon graphics with Catalyst would work and it's possible to get Intel graphics working (or the open-source graphics drivers in general) through a minor change to the Linux-based SteamOS kernel parameters. After that I ran some benchmarks and here are a few performance results comparing SteamOS 1.0 Beta to Ubuntu 13.10 with Intel HD Graphics.

He's not lying about their play, though.

Despite passing for 364 yards, Brady was not happy with his or his team's performance in todays 24-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins. It's not unusual for someone to be in a hurry to get the hell out of Miami after spending the weekend there, and Brady wasted no time mumbling out something about how they didn't do enough to get "in the red area," before bemoaning the "shitty plays" that cost the Patriots the game.

Unlike the Dolphins, the TV station was unable to intercept Brady's delivery. By the time the feed came back, Tom was already on his way out the door.

spaceexp:

Tracy Caldwell Dyson in the Cupola of the ISS

daysofstorm:

bendytightshirts:

[1 2 3]

OH.

MY.

GOD.

YOU.

DIDN’T.

heh

If watching Adventure Time causes your sweet tooth to tingle, you'll love redditor IHaveAFluffyCat's gingerbread and sugar rendition of the Candy Kingdom, with lickable Gumball Guardians.

Read more...

Dead at 81, Peter O’Toole

Brunch

I don’t know what the best part of this video is: “Jingle Hell” itself or the commentary by actor/noted heavy metal musician (yep) Christopher Lee. For those wondering about the single’s b-side, the name of which appears under “Jingle Hell” in the promo image, yes, it is a cover of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” You can listen to a sample on Amazon. Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world. I feel like I can't take it, and my heart is just going to cave in. (via: Metal Injection) Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

Developer Stardock has made its risk-and-reward iOS card game, Dead Man's Draw, free-to-play this week. The involved press release states that those who purchased the game at its previous price of $1.99 have been given a "generous sum of in-game ...

They could soon be back in first place in the NFC East, but for now, the Cowboys are only setting their sights on a record day against the Packers.

If the Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, they'll move back into first place in the NFC East, but it seems like they're setting their sights even higher than that. Though all of the media attention in Green Bay is on its quarterback situation, it's the defense that's taking all the abuse today against Dallas. The Cowboys put up 332 yards in the first half, setting the franchise record for total yards before halftime.

Dallas currently leads, 29-10, in the third quarter.

Leading the charge, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is nearing 300 yards passing, with Dez Bryant as his favorite target once again. Bryant has nine catches for 135 yards with over a quarter and a half left to go. Running back DeMarco Murray has crossed over the 100-yard mark for the day as well.

Though Aaron Rodgers was forced to miss yet another game, he isn't responsible for the defense. Nor is his replacement, Matt Flynn. Making his third start, Flynn is 11-of-19 for 130 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The Dallas defense, ranked dead last in yards allowed, is also not good.

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The Cowboys quarterback had an INT, but it was overturned ... perhaps with some good lawyering.

It looked like Tony Romo had thrown a fourth-quarter interception. Sports writers had their hot takes all ready to go, but alas, it was not to be. The play was reviewed and reversed, maybe because of Romo's deft lawyering skills.

NARRATIVE OVERTURNED

— Lana Berry (@Lana) December 16, 2013

Flynn threw four touchdowns and the Cowboys front office may have a lot of questions to answer for their 7-7 record.

In under two years, Matt Flynn has become a free agent, seen his market dwindle down to only a couple of teams and a contract without many guarantees, lost a quarterback competition to a rookie, was traded, lost another quarterback competition, was released, signed, released again and wound up right back where he started in Green Bay.

Now he's done something that Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers have never done: Win a game in Dallas.

On Sunday at AT&T Stadium, Flynn threw four touchdowns and led an improbable comeback that gave the Packers a 37-36 win over the Cowboys and kept their playoff hopes alive as they wait for the return of Rodgers. In the meantime, Flynn isn't doing a bad job.

Down 26-3 at the half, it wouldn't have been surprising to see Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy opt to bench Flynn for Scott Tolzien, but instead the Packers came out firing. Green Bay scored touchdowns on its first five second half drives, with Flynn connecting on touchdowns with four different players. Running back Eddie Lacy punched it in from one yard to give the Packers the one-point lead.

With one last chance to get at least a field goal to win it, the Cowboys came up just short when Packers corner Tramon Williams made an impressive diving interception of Tony Romo to seal their fate.

The loss drops Dallas to 7-7 and one game out of the lead in the NFC East. The Cowboys had a chance to take the division lead back, but they could be eliminated from the playoffs as soon as next week if they lose and the Philadelphia Eagles win.

Meanwhile, Green Bay improves to 7-6-1 and they stay alive for another week. The Chicago Bears improved to 8-6 earlier on Sunday, while the 7-6 Detroit Lions play the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night.

Even if the Packers have to fight with Flynn again next week, it seems like they'll be able to manage.

Fantasy Studs and Duds

Flynn had 299 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. James Jones and Jordy Nelson were recipients on two of those scores. Lacy had 141 rushing yards with a touchdown.

Bryant had 11 catches for 153 yards and a score, while DeMarco Murray rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown of his own.

Romo had 358 passing yards and two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions. Terrance Williams had just 46 yards for Dallas.

Injury Report

Packers DE Johnny Jolly and Cowboys LB Justin Durant both left with injuries.

Did They Cover?

This was a difficult game to judge for Vegas due to the uncertain status of Rodgers, but the Cowboys opened as 8-point favorites and closed with some only giving the Packers four points, per OddsShark.com. So, obviously Dallas did not cover.

Up Next

Next Sunday, December 22, the Packers take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lambeau Field at 4:25 PM EST.

The Cowboys head to Washington to take on the Redskins at 1:00 PM EST that same day.

More from SB Nation NFL

• NFL Week 15 updates, highlights and GIFs | Scoreboard

• Mike Shanahan walks out of press conference | Tom Brady, too

• GIFs: Steven Jackson bulldozes for a TD | Alshon Jeffery's crazy TD

• Vernon Davis scores, runs into wall | Victor Cruz out with concussion

• Breaking Madden: Tony Gonzalez, cranky old man of destruction

It's hard for Romo to live his narrative down with plays like this.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is known for two things: Being the former boyfriend of The Sound of Music star Carrie Underwood, and throwing inopportune interceptions. It's safe to say we're not talking about our favorite things in Week 15.

Romo ensured the door was left wide open for the Packers when he attempted to pass to Miles Austin before being picked off by Sam Shields. It was a bizarre play that might never have intended to be a pass in the first place.

Romo INT actually a packaged play: Was a called running play but Romo decided to throw, but then didn't pull trigger on slant. Watch OL

— Smart Football (@smartfootball) December 16, 2013

It's the next chapter in a long and strange book about Tony Romo as quarterback. If this winds up being what costs the Cowboys a playoff spot, then this play will long live in infamy among some of his worst -- even though Romo is having one of the best seasons in his career.

More from SB Nation NFL

• NFL Week 15 updates, highlights and GIFs | Scoreboard

• Mike Shanahan walks out of press conference | Tom Brady, too

• GIFs: Steven Jackson bulldozes for a TD | Alshon Jeffery's crazy TD

• Vernon Davis scores, runs into wall | Victor Cruz out with concussion

• Breaking Madden: Tony Gonzalez, cranky old man of destruction