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An Exhaustive Catalog Of R. Kelly's Sexual Metaphors
archimaps: Project for City Hall Development, Boston
firehosecocks
Racist Graffiti Found On Space Shuttle Independence
firehoseamercia
The Definitive Ranking Of All 25 G.I. Joe PSA Parodies
firehosehow to feel old beat
The Best Board Games You Can Play In Under An Hour
firehoseonly two are board games
Fluxx (card game; there's a Fluxx board game, but this article ignores it)
Bananagrams (letter tiles)
Dominion (card game)
Pass the Pigs (dice game)
Ticket to Ride
Carcassonne
actual recommendations:
Escape: Curse of the Temple (10 minute hard limit)
Space Alert (10 minute hard limit)
7 Wonders (~1 hour)
Galaxy Trucker (30-45 minutes)
motherfuckin' speed chess
Here Are the Items that Your Gamer Friends Actually Want as Presents
firehosenot actually true
Card Sleeves (presumptuous)
Smash Up (fun, but unnecessary)
Tackle Box (even more presumptuous)
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscription (ha ha no)
Tablet (lol no)
M:TG Holiday Gift Box (fucccckkkk no)
Whiteboard ($5)
Song of Ice and Fire RPG (shrug)
Dwarven Forge Dungeon Tiles (no thanks, I have enough debt)
If there's a tabletop gamer in your life, your gift-giving dilemma is one of abundance – there are so many awesome things to give a gamer, how do you pick the right one? We'll sort you out with this guide to great gaming gifts.
    
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art-of-swords: Court Small Sword Dated: circa...
Court Small Sword
- Dated: circa 1757
- Artist/Maker: unknown
- Culture: English
- Place of origin: England
- Medium and Techniques: silver gilt set with diamonds rubies and emeralds
- Measurements: small sword height: 9.8 cm; width: 10 cm; depth: 7.9 cm. Sheath height: 82 cm; width: 2.7 cm; depth: 2 cm
From around 1640, light swords with short, flexible, pointed blades appeared in response to new fencing techniques that emphasised thrusting at speed. They were worn increasingly with civilian clothes as ‘small swords’, offering a means of self-defence but largely denoting status for the well-dressed gentleman.
Small swords were items of male jewellery. By the 1750s, their elaborate gold and silver hilts, mounted with precious stones and fine enamelling, were the products of the goldsmith and jeweller rather than the swordsmith. They made fitting rewards for distinguished military and naval service. With their blades tucked away inside scabbards, it was their ostentatious and expensive hilts that carried their thrust.
By tradition this sword belonged to Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham (1726-1813), whose long career included service in the Seven Years’ War (1756-63) and acting as First Lord of the Admiralty during the Trafalgar Campaign (1805). In 1757 the Assembly of Barbados awarded Middleton ‘100 pistoles … to buy him a sword for taking a French privateer infesting the coast of the island.’
Source: Copyright 2013 © V&A Images
CyanogenMod app pulled from Google Play for violating terms of service
firehosenatch
Less than three weeks after it launched, the CyanogenMod Installer app has disappeared from the Google Play store. The app — a way of installing custom CyanogenMod firmware on an Android device in one touch — was voluntarily pulled after Google informed its creators the app was in violation of Google Play's terms of service. If the app was not withdrawn voluntarily, Google said it would "be forced to remove it administratively."
Cyanogen contacted Google after removing the app from the store. It was reportedly told that although the "application itself is harmless," it would not be allowed in the store as it "encourages users to void their warranty" by giving access to bootladers and flashing third-party software. CyanogenMod — which has more than 8 million users — updates and extends Android, bringing new features to devices that manufacturers have stopped updating. Its creators want to become the third-most popular operating system behind Android and iOS.
The app was pulled voluntarily
TheNextWeb speculates that Google Play's terms mean an app that makes changes to a device with a user's consent must be able to reverse those changes. The CyanogenMod Installer app didn't have that capability, so for now, users interested in trying CyanogenMod will need to fall back on its earlier "brutal" installation process.
- Via Droid Life
- Source CyanogenMod Blog
- Related Items cyanogenmod cyanogen google play google app mobile android ios mod terms of service
Ellsbury to sign with Yankees for $153 million - Boston.com
firehoselol
Washington Post |
Ellsbury to sign with Yankees for $153 million Boston.com Red Sox fans have read this story before. A popular and speedy center fielder becomes a free agent and decides to switch sides in baseball's most heated rivalry and sign a big contract with the hated Yankees. Johnny Damon did it in 2005 and Jacoby ... Jacoby Ellsbury contract on par with what Yankees always do - overpayNew York Daily News New York Yankees, Jacoby Ellsbury agree to contractLos Angeles Times Tuesday's baseball roundup: Jacoby Ellsbury agrees to terms with YankeesThe Detroit News The Republic all 459 news articles » |
Can you determine if the title is an episode of Xena Warrior Princess or the beginning of an ethnography? Quiz by jdafperez - Sporcle Games & Trivia
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Vermont Approves Single-Payer Health Care: ‘Everybody in, nobody out’
firehose!
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from  WIL WHEATON dot TUMBLR.
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Vermont Approves Single-Payer Health Care: ‘Everybody in, nobody out’:
The ACA provided states with federal funds to institute a Medicaid expansion. The states chose to expand the program also were able to set up their own state exchanges, which were relatively free from the problems the federal site had. Vermont decided to take it a step further by setting up their very own single payer system.
The slogan of the program: Everybody in, nobody out.
The program will be fully operational by 2017, and will be funded through Medicare, Medicaid, federal money for the ACA given to Vermont, and a slight increase in taxes. In exchange, there will be no more premiums, deductibles, copay’s, hospital bills or anything else aimed at making insurance companies a profit. Further, all hospitals and healthcare providers will now be nonprofit.
They estimate this will end up saving Vermont 25% per capita over the current system, in addition to preventing some proportion of the 45,000 preventable deaths that occur annually in the US due to the inability to afford treatment.
Hot damn, Vermont, you sexy maple loving beasts.
Woah. Awesome.
thenearsightedmonkey: danchaon: Vinegar Husbands!! (via...
firehoseeternal autoreshare hall-of-famer
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from  William Caxton Fan Club.
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Vinegar Husbands!!
(via Imgur)
Dear Making Comics Class,
Are these comics?
Why yes?
Why no?
Love,
Professor Sluggo
P.S. This comes to us via Professor Count Chocula
MANAGEABLE RAINBOW LOG
Great Job, Internet!: Read this: Here are some cartography tips from the guy who mapped Westeros
firehoseJonathan Roberts beat! I never thought that'd be a beat! But hooray!
Scottish mapmaker Jonathan Roberts grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons in “an ancient farmhouse…so old it is listed in a medieval land inventory.” His interest in role-playing game and the lands around him translated into a skill for fantasy mapmaking, imagining the cartography of fictional lands, samples of which can be found on his website Fantastic Maps. He’s also the designer behind the official Westeros maps for the Games Of Thrones companion atlas The Lands Of Ice And Fire. Wired has an interview with Roberts where he discusses his childhood introduction to fantasy maps, the influence of J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord Of The Rings maps, and his approach to starting a new fictional landscape. Any cartography nerds out there (and there should be more) will find his creations fascinatingly detailed.
The most commonly awarded grade at Harvard is an A
“The median grade in Harvard College is indeed an A-,” the school’s dean of education said today, according to the student newspaper. Even more stunning: “The most frequently awarded grade in Harvard College is actually a straight A.”
That ought to dispel any notion that Harvard is tough on its students. Grade inflation may be a victimless crime, but what is the point of having a range of grades if half of them are A- or higher?
Accusations of grade inflation flare up frequently at Harvard and other college campuses. Harvard, in particular, has been accused of grading more softly than some of its rivals in the Ivy League.
Larry Summers, the former US Treasury secretary, was highly critical of the practice while he was president of the university. After he stepped down, he told an interviewer: “Ninety percent of Harvard graduates graduated with honors when I started. The most unique honor you could graduate with was none.”
Rap Battle: Jordan vs. Ali (and Key and Peele)
firehoseKey and Peele autoshare
If you haven't checked out the Epic Rap Battles of History series (in which historical characters engage in... you know... rap battles) you are really missing something wondrous! Start your education with comedians Key and Peele who star in this heeelariously hot rap battle between Space Jam's Michael Jordan (who also played basketball for a team called the Bulls, I hear?) and poet Muhammad Ali (who apparently fought other people for money). I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT SPORTS! (But I know funny and this is funny.)
terezi: mercurialmalcontent: For some reason the OP didn’t...
firehoseshared by 13-year-old firehose
For some reason the OP didn’t bother to include a source (??? Why would you do that, why would you post something cool and then not give anyone a way to support the maker), but it appears to be Marty Maker Jewelry on Etsy, who has a whole lot more really cool shit.
(SO MANY EARCUFFS. A blessing for the piercing-less!)
I know where I want a birthday present from~
MY BIRTHDAY’S IN FEBRUARY
Wow.
How To Make Your Own Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster [VIDEO]
firehoseTW: blue curacao, green apple pucker, "a martini glass, otherwise known as a cocktail glass"
Things We Saw Today: Katee Sackhoff Teasing Us Terribly
firehosegod Captain Marvel please yes please god
Marcus Mariota, Hroniss Grasu returning to Oregon in 2014
firehosegood for Mariota
Two key pieces of the Ducks' offense will be back next season.
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota and offensive lineman Hroniss Grasu will return in 2014, the school announced on Tuesday. Mariota will be a junior next season, and Grasu will be a senior.
Mariota has been one of college football's most dynamic quarterbacks, and has received considerable Heisman buzz throughout the year. He's completed 63.1 percent of his passes for 3,412 yards and an astonishing 30-4 touchdown-interception ratio. On the ground, he's carried 81 times for 582 yards -- an average of 7.2 yards per attempt -- and nine more scores. Until the Ducks dropped two November games to Stanford and Arizona, Mariota was considered by some to be the Heisman front-runner.
"It is an honor to be a student at the University of Oregon and to have the opportunity to represent our institution on the football field alongside my teammates," Mariota said in a school release. "I look forward to earning my degree next year and to the rest of my career at this great University."
Grasu anchors the Oregon offensive line at center, and his decision to return must please Mariota. Standing 6'3 and weighing in at 297 pounds, he is on the Rimington Trophy watch list, ranking him among the best offensive linemen in America.
"The University of Oregon is a special place and I'm extremely happy to be returning for my senior year," Grasu said in the release. "To be a student-athlete in this community is an honor and an experience I'll continue to cherish with my teammates."
More from SB Nation college football:
Follow @SBNationCFBFollow @SBNRecruiting
• BEST. COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEKEND. EVER.
• Auburn’s insane Kick Six play, illustrated poster version
• New bowl projections: FSU-Ohio State national title
• College football news | Sarkisian leaves USC for Washington
The Writer, An 18th Century Mechanical Boy Automaton That Can Write Messages With a Pen
firehoseHugo beat
The Writer is an 18th century humanoid automaton that can be programmed to write short messages with a pen. Created by Swiss watchmaker Pierre Jaquet-Droz, the mechanical automaton is made of 6,000 parts and is controlled by wheel that can be programmed with text up to 40 characters in length. You can see it in action in this clip from the BBC documentary “Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams.” The Writer and two other automata by Jaquet-Droz are on display at Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
photo via Colossal, videos via BBC
via Colossal
Doritos Locos Tacos Visionary Dies At 41
firehosehe died as he lived: made entirely of orange flavor dust
he 'died on Thanksgiving after battling brain cancer.
...
When friends learned he had passed away, they took pictures of themselves eating the tacos and posted the images to Facebook, Ginger Mills said.
"It was a sweet memorial," she said.'
Republicans want to update communications law for the modern era
firehose"it seems clear that the Republican-led effort is likely to be pro-business and anti-regulation"
great
Two Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have announced an ambitious plan. They want to update the Communications Act, last revised in 1996, to better serve the internet era. Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI), head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and congressman Greg Waldon (R-OR), chair of the Communications and Technology subcommittee, say they could tentatively reform the law as soon as 2015, by first embarking on a series of hearings and penning white papers next year.
"When the Communications Act was updated almost 18 years ago, no one could have dreamed of the many innovations and advancements that make the Internet what it is today. Written during the Great Depression and last updated when 56 kilobits per second via dial-up modem was state of the art, the Communications Act is now painfully out of date," said Walden in a statement.
"last updated when 56 kilobits per second via dial-up modem was state of the art"
While the congressmen didn't specify any specific reforms they hope to achieve, it seems clear that the Republican-led effort is likely to be pro-business and anti-regulation. Former Republican FCC commissioner Robert McDowell said as much when he joined the pair in a Google+ Hangout video call, suggesting that areas of technology that were less regulated have historically grown faster. Walden alludes at something similar in his statement: "We plan to look at the Communications Act and all of the changes that have been made piecemeal over the last 89 years and ask the simple question: ‘Is this working for today's communications marketplace?'"
Current Republican FCC commissioner Ajit Pai has already officially voiced his support for the initative, and Multichannel News reports that the broadcast and cable industries are on board. As far as the other side of the aisle is concerned, House Democrat John Dingell (D-MI) seems cautiously optimistic about reform as long as Democrats can help steer:
"As the author of every major telecommunications statute for the past three decades, I caution my Republican colleagues to approach modernizing the Communications Act with great care and attention to detail. Changes should not be made simply for change's sake, but rather based on clear and documented need. I urge my colleagues to proceed in a bipartisan manner and to hold numerous hearings in order to generate the record an undertaking this substantial will require."
While today's laws were clearly not designed for today's technology, that doesn't necessarily mean change would help technology move forward.
Gawker Woman Found Stabbed to Death Left Terrifying Warning Post on Facebook | Jalopnik The Cheapest
firehosehttp://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/03/which-state-is-the-biggest/
"which states bought a higher-than-average amount of larger-sized condoms":
1. North Dakota
5. Massachusetts
15. California
19. Oregon
21. Washington
26. Louisiana
27. Vermont
29. Maine
41. Texas
50. Mississippi
Avery Bradley is mixing magic with basketball
firehosenot giving a fuck
The Celtics' guard tosses up a prayer, and apparently someone was there to answer it.
Things aren't going all that well for the Boston Celtics this season, so Avery Bradley has resorted to the "if all else fails, just throw the ball up in the air and maybe it'll go in" strategy. And, hey, it worked.
It's either that, or it's magic. Either practice is acceptable. The Celtics are currently leading late against the Milwaukee Bucks.
