firehose

Link (thanks, @rare_basement)

This phone hacking news is horrifying, but this is delightful and unbelievably perfect:

Phone #hacking scandal hearing in Britain reveals that @WayneRooney's cellphone password was "Stella Artois." #MUFC #security

— Adrian Humphreys (@AD_Humphreys) November 12, 2013

Other phone passwords revealed during the investigation*:

- Aaron Rodgers: "F_Favre"
- Kobe Bryant: "#mambamentality"
- Marshawn Lynch: "$kittle$"
- Dwight Howard: "CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs4Lyfe"
- Eli Manning: "Computer please assign me a password"
- Greg Schiano: "acheivment"
- Rob Gronkowski: "GRONK69GRONK69"
- Yasiel Puig: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
- Rex Ryan: "ham"

*Not really, these are jokes. Sorry, everyone!

A wild boar ambling down the streets of Kobe. Flickr user kimubert

Like the rest of its population, Japan’s hunter ranks aren’t just aging—they’re also shrinking. Since 1970, Japan’s hunter numbers have fallen by more than half, as Japan Times reports. And of the 200,000 or so remaining, 65% are men over the age of 60.

But an unlikely demographic is now bucking that trend. Though they’re still a tiny minority, women in their 20s and 30s are one of the few hunter populations whose numbers are growing or staying the same, says RocketNews24. Women hunters of Hokkaido, whose numbers are on the rise, even have their own blog, “The Women In Nature,” with the tagline “shoot & eat.” Part of the draw is being able to come home with delicious food, says RN24, something hunting groups geared toward women hunters emphasize.

​ RocketNews24

This is probably welcome news for Japan’s ministry of environment, which has for years struggled with exploding populations of deer and wild boar. Those and other wild animals have caused an estimated ¥20 billion ($200 million) a year in damage each year since 2009.

For instance, deer eat foliage, increasing the probability of mud slides. They also cause traffic accidents and damage crops. Boars too eat crops, and are an increasing problem in Fukushima prefecture, the site of the 2011 earthquake/tsunami. In the wake of the disaster, the area was evacuated, allowing wild boar populations to overrun the area. Now their teeming numbers are stymying efforts by farmers in Fukushima prefecture to regrow crops after the 2011 earthquake/tsunami (some have outsmarted electric fences).

Boars are also menacing public safety. Eight people in Hyogo prefecture were injured by a rampaging wild boar last April. Herds roam the streets of Kobe.

​Changes in sika deer harvest and agricultural/forest damage occurring between 1957 and 2008 in Hokkaido. "Adaptive management of sika deer populations in Hokkaido , Japan: theory and practice," Kaji et al.

Neither deer nor boars have any natural predators, which explains why local governments all over Japan have been organizing big parties of existing hunters. These have had limited impact with boars, at least, given that “it is a cat-and-mouse game, because they reproduce quickly,” as Hiroshi Sakai, a local government conservation division manager told the Japan Times.

One barrier to drumming up hunter numbers is the rigor of Japan’s gun ownership restrictions, reports the Japan Times, which makes the growing ranks of female hunters all the more impressive. Prospective gun-owners must first attend a lecture and pass rigorous background checks that examine criminal records, mental illness history and compliance with hunting law. Then comes a test on hunting law, firearm care, the use of nets and traps, and knowledge of different types of game. And after all that, a buyer of the two legal guns—shotguns and rifles—must tell the police exactly where she stores the gun and ammunition so the police can check for compliance each year. She also must alert the police every time she fires a gun.

lonelywhiteasian:

and an especially big Fuck You to evolution for not making me a dragon

usgamer:

Jeff Minter’s latest game, Goat Up 2, involves farting goats who use their babies as weapons. Because of course it does.

Let us now take a moment to give thanks that Twitter was not named "Friendstalker." Or, for that matter, "Smssy." Or, for that matter, "Throbber." (Throbber?!)

It was 2006. Odeo, the podcasting service that would evolve into Twitter, was deep in the process of pivoting. The members of the Odeo team had invented the short-form, SMS-based messaging service that would go on to make (some of) them billionaires. Twitter, at that point, existed. Except that it didn't, fully: Its creators had no idea what to call their invention. 

In his book Hatching Twitter, an exploration of the early days of the messaging service, New York Times reporter Nick Bilton tells the story of Twitter becoming "Twitter." The name was, like many decisions the Odeo team would make together, the subject of much debate. 

The small group immersed in the new project had been throwing around name ideas for a couple of days, though they couldn't agree on something that worked. Jack suggested the name Status, which others said was "too engineer sounding." Biz suggested Smssy. "Cute, but no." Ev had come up with Friendstalker, which was instantly nixed as sure to drive away anyone who wasn't 18 years old, male, and very single. 

Noah Glass, a developer and "the forgotten co-founder of Twitter," made it his mission to come up with a name that would be illustrative and engaging and not already claimed by another startup. Glass spent nearly a week consumed with the naming question, Bilton notes, "burrowed in the back of the office," skipping lunches with coworkers, "searching for a word that made sense."

And then ... he found the answer.

When he arrived at his apartment on Wednesday night, he again sat flipping through the dictionary. But his thoughts kept getting interrupted by text messages, which would trigger a loud dinging noise on his mobile phone. Frustrated by the intrusion, he reached over and flipped the switch to silent, causing his cell phone to vibrate slightly on the table. Noah stopped what he was doing and started at the phone, then picked it back up again and held it in his hand as he flipped it on and off, watching it quietly shake. Vibrate, he thought, and quickly looked up the word in the dictionary. "Shake, quiver, or throb; move back and forth rapidly." This immediately got Noah excited.

(Throb! Imagine a world with everything from friendly communications to political revolutions aided by throbs sent through the messaging service Throbber!)

Glass wasn't there yet, thankfully for us all, but he was close. He kept thinking, associating. He put his science knowledge to use. He connected technology to biology. And then: 

His vibrating phone led him to think of the brain impulses that cause a muscle to twitch. "Twitch!" No, that would never work, he thought. So he continued flipping through the two's in the dictionary. Twister. Twist tie. Twit. Twitch. Twitcher. Twitchy. Twite. And then, there it was. 

Yep: Twitter. "The light, chirping sound made by certain birds." He kept reading: "A similar sound, especially light, tremulous speech or laughter." And also: "Agitation or excitement; flutter." Glass dashed off an email to Ev Williams. "What are your thoughts on the domain name twitter?" he asked. He then suggested a tagline that would match the name: "A whole new level of connection. Or something like that."

Hatching Twitter via Gizmodo

Warren Spector gets a new job: Director of UT Austin's Gaming Academy originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

~Matthew Fuller and Andrew Goffey

The Panthers and Saints are not only battling for the NFC South title, but following an impressive week, the two teams remain contenders for the NFC title. If New Orleans is going to keep pace, it may have to do so without Kenny Vaccaro, who suffered a concussion on Sunday.

Here's a complete look at the NFC South injury report.

Atlanta

The Falcons dropped to 2-7 on the season with a loss to Seattle and Atlanta continues to deal with injury issues. Tight end Tony Gonzalez suffered a toe injury against Seattle. Gonzalez returned to the game and played through the injury, but said he would have to wait and see how it responds during the week, according to Vaughn McClure. Gonzalez has not missed a game since 2006.

Sam Baker missed Sunday's game and head coach Mike Smith said he is concerned about the left tackle's knee injury because it has lingered all season. There is a chance Baker will be placed on injured reserve. Atlanta will get some good news, with the return of linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, who is expected to be activated from injured reserve early this week.

Carolina

The Panthers scratched out a road win against San Francisco and managed to remain relatively healthy in the process. Ted Ginn left the game briefly due to leg cramps but returned to action. Linebacker Chase Blackburn has battled a foot injury and re-aggravated it on Sunday. He did not return to the game, but head coach Ron Rivera said the injury will not require surgery according to Joe Person.

New Orleans

New Orleans blew out Dallas on Sunday Night Football, but the Saints suffered a couple of injuries in the process. Both Benjamin Watson and Vaccaro suffered concussions. They left the game and did not return. Vaccaro is expected to miss Week 11 and possibly longer, according to Ian Rapoport.

Tight end Jimmy Graham played limited snaps against the Cowboys with New Orleans attempting to manage his foot injury. He avoided a setback and could be on the field more in the coming weeks. The Saints could also get a pair of players back soon with Malcolm Jenkins and Roman Harper close to returning, according to Mike Triplett.

Tampa Bay

The team officially lost Doug Martin for the season earlier in the week. He was placed on injured reserve due to a torn labrum suffered in Week 7. Mike James, who was filling in for Martin, suffered an ankle injury during the first quarter on Monday. According to Rapoport, James suffered a fractured ankle.

More from SB Nation NFL

• NFL Debrief: Nick Foles' mystery trip

• Takeaways: Fear the Panthers! Updated playoff picture

• Dr. Ali: Manning, Cutler, Locker land on injury report

• Richie Incognito defends actions in interview | More on Miami's mess

• Terrelle Pryor reaches JaMarcus-level low point

	Courtney shared this story from The Byrne Notice:
	I need those cat headphones IMMEDIATELY

Fresh from the news that Karl Lagerfeld’s done a whole accessories line in the likeness of his prized pussy Choupette, Harley Viera-Newton’s unveiled a collaboration with Diane Von Furstenberg dedicated to her precious cat, Marmite. The DJ and all-round stylish one has worked with DVF to design a cute-as-a-button handbag and headphones bearing Marmite’s adorbs face. We would like more of this kind of thing, please.

Available from this Wednesday, November 13 at DVF.com

Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu is playing his tail off and the biggest reason this rookie has made the jump from LSU to the NFL with a year away from football in between is his mental command of the game. Mathieu is an incisive player and it’s easy to see this quality on the field. The RSP blog profiles two plays against the Texans – notably Andre Johnson and Ben Tate – where Mathieu demonstrates multiple skills with no wasted motion.

Ten weeks of NFL action are in the books and either your team is pushing for a playoff spot or you're waiting for the season to end. There aren't many in-betweens in 2013, but we can still come together to look at the top plays of the week.

Showtime Tate? More like Show-off Tate

The Atlanta Hawks are struggling in 2013 and can't cover receivers. Golden Tate saw this as an opportunity to put an exclamation point on this touchdown catch.

There's no real reason Tate couldn't have attempted to catch this with two hands. At the worst the side judge would probably see his arm was pinned and throw a flag for pass interference. Instead he used one arm (his left hand no less) to corral the ball and keep his feet inbounds.

It was an appropriate punctuation mark against a team that eliminated Seattle from the playoffs in 2012.

Tavon Austin is super fast. No, really ... he is

It took 10 weeks but the St. Louis Rams finally worked out how to use rookie wide receiver Tavon Austin. Get the ball in his hands in space and it's over.

Using Austin like a traditional receiver hasn't paid dividends in 2013, but this throw from Kellen Clemens gave him an opportunity to show why he was so highly regarded out of West Virginia. These are NFL defensive backs and they can't say within 15 yards of him in a footrace.

Sometimes you'll see a GIF sped up to show a play quickly, but this one doesn't need to be.

Jacksonville Jaguars 1, Ryan Fitzpatrick 0

This was the defining moment in the Jaguars' first win and naturally made out list of plays.

Will Blackmon ripped the ball from Fitzpatrick's hands and returned it 21 yards for the biggest touchdowns of the team's season. It ensured the Titans continued their odd knack of losing to winless teams after they were the first win of the 2011 Indianapolis Colts -- who were 0-13 when the teams met.

Well, that was embarrasing

When will defenders learn to stop trying to tackle Marshawn Lynch around the shoulders? It's the football equivalent of launching groin-first at a charging bull -- it's going to hurt, and you're going to look foolish.

Look at this play. There's nothing the Falcons defender can do, and even the guy with the down marker takes a step back because of his unfettered fear.

Not the play of the week: KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

It feels weird to say this about the Saints, but what in the actual hell, New Orleans? Seriously.

We totally understand that you're American's party town next to Las Vegas, and that carries a certain beaded cache that needs to be upheld. That said, can we lay off the friggin' mascots that look like the cutting room floor from a Guillermo Del Toro snuff film?

First you trot out the nightmare bird now we have this Buddha / fat Goldust shimmying its heart out in horrific fashion.

Stop.

More from SB Nation NFL

• NFL Debrief: Nick Foles' mystery trip

• Takeaways: Fear the Panthers! Updated playoff picture

• Dr. Ali: Manning, Cutler, Locker land on injury report

• Richie Incognito defends actions in interview | More on Miami's mess

• Terrelle Pryor reaches JaMarcus-level low point

There is a Bluetooth taiko drum for iPhone and iPad ⊟

Really. There is a little drum you can connect to your iPad to play Taiko Drum Master with. It comes with a little Don-chan cover, to the delight of that lady.

The visual of a family happily gathered around an iPad is hilarious, but real talk, I would absolutely be playing this on my phone, complete with comically large drum accessory, if it were available.

BUY Taiko Drum Master stuff, upcoming games

FIREFLY puts you right in the middle of the action of the wildly popular television series, outrunning Alliance cruisers and trading bullets with fearsome bounty hunters, folk who want what you have or want to put out the light of hope that you represent. This game uses a freewheelin’ version of the award-winning Cortex Plus System to bring the ‘Verse to life at your table or online, including extensive rules and guidelines for creating a crew and resolving dramatic action. Also included are ship plans, system charts, an episode guide and more.

Writers: Monica Valentinelli, Mark Diaz Truman, Brendan Conway, Jack Norris and Dean Gilbert

Additional Contributions: Margaret Weis, Rob Weiland, PK Sullivan, Dave Chalker, Cam Banks, Phil Menard and Tony Lee

Developers: Monica Valentinelli and Mark Diaz Truman

Editors: Amanda Valentine, Sally Christensen and Alex Perry
Art: Crystal Ben, Kurt Komoda, Marie Bergeron, James Nelson, Christopher West and Ben Mund

Design: Daniel Solis

MWP 7020 - ISBN: 978-1-936685-32-5
Hardcover - Color - 360 Pages

Projected in Stores: February 18, 2014

Order from us or a Preferred Retailers and you receive the PDF for Free - once it's live!

art-of-swords:

Handmade Swords - Langes Messer Replica

• Overall weight: 1055 grams; original now c.820g due to corrosion loss
• Blade length: 920mm; original now 910mm
• Hilt length: 198mm
• Point of balance: 148mm from cross

This is an exact re-creation of a late 15th century “langes messer” of German origin, from the Robert Lyons Scott Collection, in the care of Glasgow Museums. The hand-ground blade of EN45 carbon steel and steel hilt components were made following the measurement and tracing of the original. The original blade is now some 10mm shorter, but shows the clear markings of a scarf-welded repair close to the point of percussion. The reconstruction has restored the messer to its original dimensions.

Source: Copyright © 2013 James G. Elmslie - Historical consultant, Cutler

theatlantic:

What if Rand Paul Were a Woman?

Rand Paul’s acolytes often claim the senator gets marginalized because of his ideas. It’s because he’s a libertarian, they say, that he’s not treated fairly by the media. It’s a hard argument to make. Paul is a staple of the mainest of all mainstream media, the Sunday shows, and widely considered a top-tier presidential contender by middle-of-the-road analysts.

But let’s imagine the junior senator from Kentucky were a woman. Not just any woman—let’s call her Randi—but, for the sake of this argument, a beautiful woman. The “men want to sleep with her, women want to be her” echelon of physical attractiveness. Everything else is identical: self-certified eye doctor, first-term senator, and she got the job with a boost from her father.

Read more. [Image: Gary Cameron/Reuters]