Christine Fox, the former mathematician at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar who inspired Kelly McGillis's character in Top Gun, has become the first female Deputy Secretary of Defense, the number two role at the Pentagon. Fox will serve in an "acting capacity" until a permanent person is confirmed for the job by the Senate. (CNN)
    
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You may now exterminate the bride. More pictures under the jump.
By Tyler Nordgren, tourist posters for national parks on other planets. Found at Wired
And my personal favorite by Tyler Nordgren. Again, found at Wired.
firehosegreat
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firehoseR.O.F.L
'the developers wanted to give players a "more civilized online environment" ' but it happens in single-player and offline modes as well
NBA 2K14 will give you a technical foul for using profanity within earshot of the PlayStation Camera or Kinect because the developers wanted to give players a "more civilized online environment," a representative for publisher 2K Sports told Polygon today.
In basketball, a referee will call a technical foul on a player, coach or any other member of the team for a non-contact infraction; in most cases, it's called for unsportsmanlike conduct, such as cursing at a referee or another player. In the NBA, a technical results in a single free throw for the opposing team, and a player is ejected if he accrues two technical fouls in one game.
You can see NBA 2K14's voice-activated technical fouls in action in the video above from YouTube user randomfrankp. He flies into a rage after being slapped with a technical for swearing at Kinect in the Xbox One version of NBA 2K14 (NSFW language, obviously).
When played with Kinect, NBA 2K13 on Xbox 360 did the same thing last year, as we noted in our review. We reached out to publisher 2K Sports to ask about the functionality in NBA 2K14, and a representative for the company confirmed to Polygon that by default, the game will give out a technical foul if it detects profanity via Kinect on Xbox 360 or Xbox One, or with the PlayStation Camera on PS4.
Asked for a list of the words that will trigger a technical, the representative would only say that "the obvious ones are there." As for the reasons behind the implementation of the feature, the rep replied, "This was a feature we incorporated [in] NBA 2K13 that we felt brought both realism to the game, and a more civilized online environment for our players. The result was so positive we have continued it in NBA 2K14."
If you'd prefer to be able to curse out your camera without fear of reprisal from NBA 2K14, you can always disable the game's voice controls in its options menu. For those seeking an opinion of NBA 2K14 on PS4 and Xbox One, we're planning to update our review soon.
firehoseTW: Deadspin
' "iPod Touch." Oh God, the fucking iPod touch. If one kid at your kid's school gets an iPhone or an iPod Touch (and I assure you many parents will poison the well by doing just this), it's over. Your kid is a SLAVE to Steve Jobs's corpse forever. My kid makes drawings of iPhone covers. She does writing exercises about iPhones. When I asked her what she wanted between a flying car and an iPhone, she picked the goddamn iPhone. And here we are, acting as if Steve Jobs bestowed some wonderful gift upon humanity. LITTLE AFRICAN TODDLERS KNOW HOW TO USE AN IPAD INTUITIVELY! Fuck you, Apple.
My kid asked Santa for this iPod, and I had to carefully explain to her that Santa does not produce electronics, he can only license them with permission from both the parent and the manufacturer. My kid still believes in Santa, even though I have told her that there's no such thing as magic (she wanted to know after reading Harry Potter), and so now she doesn't believe in any sort of magical powers except for Santa's ability to traverse the entirety of Earth in a single evening. The center cannot hold.
Anyway, I'm sorry my dear, but you cannot have this. Maybe when you're 27.'
Corrupted Super Mario 64 shows the real mushroom kingdom originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 04 Dec 2013 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
firehose"since I own an Android phone, I have to use Google Play Store and Google Wallet"
nope; root and remove, or CyanogenMod it
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| file under: shit I did almost 2 years ago -- <a href="http://superopinionated.com/2012/03/01/like-a-bad-penny-breaking-up-with-google/">http://superopinionated.com/2012/03/01/like-a-bad-penny-breaking-up-with-google/</a> |
The time has come; all good things must come to an end. So it is with my relationship with Google and the majority of their online services. As of right now, I’m in the midst of separating myself from the majority of Google’s services. I’ve mentioned this several times on Twitter, and a number of people asked me to write about the process. So, here are the details so far.
The first question that usually comes up is, “Why leave Google?” That’s a fair question. There is no one reason, but rather a number of different factors that contributed to my decision:
Based on these factors, I made the decision to switch to other services instead of using Google. Here are the services that I’ve settled on so far:
That frees me up from GMail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, and Google Contacts. I’ve never liked or extensively used Google Drive (Dropbox is miles ahead of Google Drive, in my humble opinion) or Google Docs, so I don’t really have to worry about those.
There are a couple of services for which I haven’t yet found a suitable replacement; for example, I haven’t yet found a replacement for Google Voice. I’m looking at SIP providers for my home line, but haven’t made any firm decisions yet. I also haven’t found a replacement for FeedBurner yet.
Also, I won’t be able to completely stop using Google services; since I own an Android phone, I have to use Google Play Store and Google Wallet. Since I don’t have a replacement (yet) for Google Voice, I have a single Google account that I use for these services as well as for IM to Google Talk contacts (since I can’t use XMPP to communicate with them). Once Google Voice is replaced, I’ll be down to using only Google Play, Google Wallet, and Google Talk.
So, that’s where things stand. I’m open to questions, thoughts, or suggestions for other services I should investigate. Just speak up in the comments below. All courteous comments are welcome!
firehoseall carriers suck forever
In Raleigh, North Carolina, customers of Time Warner Cable are seeing blurry, pixelated TV when Verizon LTE phones are used in the same room.
A report by WRAL in Raleigh says that "Time Warner Cable in the Triangle recently placed some channels, including WRAL, on the same spot in the broadband spectrum that serves Verizon's 4G LTE data service."
Those channels are transmitting on the same 700MHz spectrum also used by Verizon, and the cable system is seemingly unable to block out the signals. The WRAL story points the finger at cable boxes being incapable of dealing with interference, although it's also possible that a bad coaxial cable could be causing the problem. Cable systems are allowed to use the same spectrum as wireless carriers, as long as they keep the transmissions on the wire and don't interfere with cellular service.
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firehosemeanwhile, in Portland: real-wood accessories for your Expedit
firehosei can't even breathe
If you enjoy odd juxtapositions, Sega's latest offer might just tickle your fancy. Words and phrases from its Football Manager game now appear in Typing of the Dead: Overkill.
Anyone who owns Typing of the Dead: Overkill will automatically receive the 'Football Manager of the Dead Lexicon Pack,' free of charge. The game charges players with typing out words against the clock, while facing an impending threat of zombie annihilation. Now, those words include the likes of "go to score" and "accept all loan offers."
Football Manager 2014 is a simulation in which players take control of a soccer club's finances, training regime and tactical direction.
firehose'According to reports, the sadly disfigured 26-year-old’s quality of life has been greatly diminished due to such a condition. Sources said the abnormal, visibly blemished creature has been repeatedly passed over for employment opportunities, frequently gawked at and harassed on the street by total strangers, and has faced near constant discrimination for over two decades, all due to the horrific and debilitating birth defect.
Indeed, many are reportedly unable to look past the glaring deformity and simply see the 26-year-old as a human being.
“Whoa, look at that,” said 31-year-old onlooker Grant Megson, who, like many others, gawked at the freakish human anomaly while passing by on the sidewalk. “I don’t mean to stare, but honestly, it’s hard not to. Jesus Christ.”
“I just wish some of my buddies were here to see this,” added Megson, smiling and taking one last look before continuing with his day.
Sources confirmed that, unfortunately, such cases are actually quite common, with roughly one in every two babies afflicted with the lifelong disfigurement.'
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firehose' “He’s actually yelling. And the pope’s just sitting there taking it. Whoa—He just told the pope to ‘either get your shit together or take a walk.’ I really can’t believe they’re doing this with everyone within earshot—don’t they realize that we can hear everything?” When reached for comment, the Supreme Deity declined to discuss the nature of the altercation with his subordinate, telling reporters to “mind [their] own fucking business.” '
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firehosegreat
firehoseTW: rape
firehoserofl what
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firehosethe best indictment of the position, in the form of an earnest defense of it
"There is this notion that work/life balance is some kind of sacred goal. I’m sorry, but it’s ludicrous. That’s like saying everyone would be fulfilled by getting married and having 2.5 kids. If you want to work 40 hours and never think about your job after 5pm, great! Find something that does that for you. If you want to work 80 or more hours at something you truly enjoy, in fact you don’t want to stop working ever because you love it so much, shouldn’t that be okay too? Shouldn’t we be so lucky as to have a job that we are so invested in? We are very honest about what working at Penny Arcade requires. No one here has been scammed into working as hard as they do, and the implication that we’re all blind fools with low self esteem for being here is honestly insulting. If you take a job here, you know what you’re getting into, and you’ve decided it’s worth it to you. There won’t be any taking advantage of starry-eyed young twenty-somethings. You need to have a very realistic idea of what this job requires, or you will fail. And we’re not interested in hiring anyone just to set them up for failure."
firehosethe most multitasksuicide /. post in history
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firehoseMichelle deals with it like a boss and how is this even a story
firehoseTW: Rapgenius
firehoseanti-shredding
The Artevelde College in Ghent, Belgium, may have recently become the first institution to ban students from wearing watches during exams. According to a report in De Standaard (Google Translate), the new rule is in response to the growing availability of smartwatches and the cheating possibilities that come with it.
According to Kristine De Smet, an Artevelde communications officer, the school does not currently have an influx of smartwatch-wielding students. However, Artevelde views students as early tech adopters, and the examination committee fears the instant-information access problems this most recent line of wearables may present.
De Standaard points out that the watch ban will take effect immediately. Partly due to this desire for quick implementation, the institution has banned all watches during examinations. De Smet said that rather than checking all wrists, the general ban proved to be Artevelde's best solution in this light. To be fair, after reviewing the Samsung Galaxy Gear, we can acknowledge some smartwatches can aesthetically match their dumb counterparts quite closely.
Read on Ars Technica | Comments
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firehosenever go
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firehosepizza beat
Life of Pie, a new wood-fired pizza shop, just opened up on N Williams, and if you don't have any lunch plans, here's a good reason to give it a whirl: For a limited (and unspecified length of) time, they are offering an extended happy hour from 11 am-6 pm daily, wherein you can get one of their 11" margherita pizzas for $5 (normal price is $10) and $3 draft beer and house wine. That's a tempting enough point of entry for me, but if you need more intel:
It belongs to Jason Kallingal (his former joint was Paccini) and "pizzaiolo" Nick Burger. They have a Naples-originating Stefano Ferrara oven, which is a BFD, and inherited by former pizza-slinging tenant Oro di Napoli. And, the rest of their menu features a small handful each of apps (risotto croquettes, meatballs, cauliflower au gratin, $6-8); salads (7-9); and spaghetti ($6-8, with a gluten free pasta option for two bucks more). Their normally priced pies range from $9-12, with nothing too earth shattering in terms of experimental combos (that's not a criticism, if it ain't broke, etc), with the exception of a pie that combines spicy salami, peppers, goat cheese... and honey.
Portland has some great wood-fired pizza joints, but the more famous ones (Apizza Scholls, Ken's), have prohibitive lines (I heard or read somewhere recently someone saying that Apizza Scholls isn't a restaurant, it's a day trip). I'm loyal to Pyro myself, which seems to dodge the most massive crowds by hiding out in a cart pod, though I think it's on par with its more high-profile competitors. Then there are a lot of in-between places that are good but not usually madhouse—Firehouse, Via Tribunali, etc.
Poised as it is on one of the busiest new commercial corridors—right at the corner of Beech—this could easily go the hyped, crowded route or be a quieter addition to the neighborhood. Five bucks a margherita to find out.
When people are trying to be sensitive about race but they don't know what to say, they usually go with, "Well, race is a complicated issue." Except, no, it's not. Race is one of the least complicated issues that there is, because it's made up. It's arbitrary. It's as complicated as goddamn Santa Claus. Oh, that guy's mom was half-black, which makes his skin slightly more pigmented than mine, which therefore means that he's inherently 12.5% lazier than me? Science! Um, no. What's actually complicated is our country's relationship with race, and our utter ineptitude at talking about it. We suck. I mean, I work on it every day, and I'm still a total fuck-up. But this new scheme someone came up with—where we prove we're not racist by acting as casually racist as possible? Not our best, white people. Not our best.
firehosePaul McGann autoshare
firehoseOH SHIT FORREAL
firehose"It's now at 92 percent compliance with a maximum 60-hour work week"
Apple today issued its latest Supplier Responsibility Report, laying out results of 393 internal audits of its supply chain. The company says that in 2012, it "found no cases of underage labor" at any of its final assembly plants. In all, the company says labor conditions have improved substantially over where things stood last year. Excessive work within its supply chain has also lessened. It's now at 92 percent compliance with a maximum 60-hour work week and tracks "more than 1 million workers weekly." Apple says "many suppliers tell us that we are the only company performing these audits, so when we do find and correct problems, the impact goes far beyond our own suppliers."
Developing...
firehoseBoston, San Francisco
Uber and Home Depot have teamed up to deliver Christmas trees to residents in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington DC. Users can order a tree from 11AM to 8PM on Thursday, December 5th via the Uber app, but — like their National Cat Day promotion — Uber warns that “availability will be very limited.”
