firehose

Employees at the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region (HSPPR) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, found themselves amazed and astonished on Tuesday morning when they discovered Houdini the dog was missing. Security video showed that the 5-year-old Australian Shepherd had managed to escape his kennel and open two doors in the building to leave the HSPPR. Gretchen Pressley, the Humane Society’s Communications Specialist told KKTV 11 News, “No one has ever gotten through the door into the rest of the shelter before. This was new for us.” Pressley noted, "He had to actually push down the handle, push the door open and walk through it in both cases." Houdini’s great escape was only his opening act. When he left the building at 1 a.m., the pooch traveled to a neighborhood a mile away and presto, found himself an adoptive family. Ashley Heister found Houdini around 7:30 a.m. walking in her neighborhood and took him to work until the shelter opened. While she spent time with him, Ashley was convinced that Houdini belonged in her family. Ashley said, “I think he’s a wonderful dog and as much as I would love for his owner to come and claim him, I would can’t wait to welcome him into my family.” Interestingly, Ashley’s dog Max, a retriever mix, shares Houdini’s talent and can also open doors. The shelter waited until Saturday to allow for Houdini’s original owners to claim him. On Saturday his owners appeared and Houdini, whose actual name is “Rope,” was reunited with his family. The humane society micro chipped the pup free of charge because of his high escape risk. So hopefully, Rope will not find himself in the same predicament.

Nintendo has temporarily dropped the price of many of its portable consoles at its online store, and is now offering select Nintendo 3DS systems for as low as $109.99.

The classic Aqua Blue and equally handsome Midnight Purple Nintendo 3DS systems are now available via Nintendo for $109.99, while last generation's Midnight Blue DSi XL will run you $99.99. All refurbished systems have been inspected and repaired by Nintendo, and are guaranteed to be in working order.

Nintendo began offering refurbished portables for sale earlier this year, and has since expanded its catalog to include 3DS XL systems and SD cards. Perhaps you could put the money you save through buying a refurbished system toward that new Pokemon game that all the kids are talking about?

Nintendo discounts refurbished 3DS systems originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 15 Oct 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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sfcrazy writes "Oracle has a love-hate relationship with open source technologies. In a whitepaper (PDF) for the Deparment of Defense, Oracle claims that TCO (total cost of ownership) goes up with the use of open source. They're essentially trying to build a case for the use of their own products within the government. 'The skill required to successfully and economically blend source code into a commercially viable product is relatively scarce. It should not be done directly at government expense.' Oracle also attacks the community-based development model, calling it more insecure than company developed products. 'Government-sponsored community development approaches to software creation lack the financial incentives of commercial companies to produce low-defect, well-documented code.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Former South Carolina GOP Executive Director, Todd Kincannon has publicly declared that some Americans should be interned in “camps.” Kincannon went on to refer to a trans person as a “goddamn he-she” and stated that trans people were “disgusting mentally ill weirdos.”

While certainly worded with cruel intent, how does Kincannon’s message of exclusion differ in substance from the stated position of the South Carolina GOP? The South Carolina Republican party is very clear about their views of LGBT people and their stated aims and goals with regard to LGBT people:

We oppose efforts to redefine the marriage unit to accommodate proponents of homosexual “marriages” and oppose any legislation that legally recognizes same-sex marriage, civil unions, or allows such couples to adopt children or provide foster care. Morally and pragmatically, the Party considers homosexuality a lifestyle detrimental to the health and well-being of individuals and therefore opposes its promotion as simply “an alternate lifestyle.” We applaud the state for prohibiting same sex marriage and adoptions, and consider such as detrimental to the peace and tranquility or our state.

We affirm the wonderful differences with which each gender is created and oppose efforts to blur or disregard the uniqueness of male and female genders. Furthermore, we affirm that one’s gender is fixed at birth and that no citizen should be entitled to special treatment or accorded any special benefits not accorded to others of the same birth gender regardless of how they have altered their anatomy or appearance. We oppose federal, state, county, or municipal laws, regulations or ordinances that require a person to be granted special rights or protections based on his or her “perceived” gender identity.

 - South Carolina Republican Platform, pp 13 – 14

While the South Carolina GOP (SCGOP) won’t go as far as interning specific classes of American citizens, it clearly favors a society in which some classes of law-abiding American citizens are favored over others. It’s clear that SCGOP believes that only select groups of American citizens should have access to 14th amendment constitutional rights. In this way Kincannon and SCGOP are in agreement: full constitutional rights are the domain of cisgender heterosexual Americans only; LGBT Americans are immoral and unpragmatic in their aspirations for equality as American citizens.

HT to Papierhache!

Original Source

“If you are a designer, and you find a guy who can break your game in a matter of minutes, you hang on to that person for dear life.”

- Gil Hova (@ingredientx)

leviaquin:

accidentalsketchins:

yes i am prepared for any weather

totally accurate

Yes, except there is usually some dark or Satan-y band logo on the hoodie.

Doctor Who's Ninth Doctor is a scary pale elf, in the first clip of Christopher Eccleston in Thor: The Dark World. He's having a whole Borg Queen moment, and the makeup looks excellent. I just want to know whose job it is to braid all the elves' hair each morning?

Read more...

gigaguess:

Oh God I want twelve.

attn: petermorwood: re our ongoing discussion of Overcranked Creatures. …It’s the little episodes of “boingboingboingboing” that really get to me.

THEE OH SEES, THE BLIND SHAKE, OBN III'S
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez) San Francisco's Thee Oh Sees are indomitable and inexhaustible, making slightly sinister, boinging garage rock that keeps the party going for hours. They've earned a well-deserved reputation for one of the best live shows around, so get some rest the night before—you're gonna need it. NED LANNAMANN

GWAR, WHITECHAPEL, IRON REAGAN, BAND OF ORCS
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) The Scumdogs of the Universe absorbed a major blow in 2011, when Gwar guitarist Cory Smoot, AKA Flattus Maximus, passed away unexpectedly. This year, Oderus Urungus & Co. unveiled Battle Maximus, the band's tribute to their fallen brother. It's a fun piece of goofy thrash metal, but Gwar is never going to be known for their records—not when there are politicians to decapitate, audiences to douse in fake blood, and an entire human race to enslave. It's the metal show to end all metal shows, and to further the cause, there's an online petition at change.org to get Gwar on the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show. It's attracted more than 43,000 "signatures" so far. Dare to dream. MATTHEW W. SULLIVAN

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Watch Dogs, the newest game in Ubisoft’s lineup of open-world acrobatic murder dude simulators, has had its release date pushed back to “spring 2014,” Ubisoft announced today. The game was previously scheduled to be released on November 19 and was a marquee launch title for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Starring a vigilante hacker […]

My understanding is that is where Andreyko/DC are taking things. Which is entirely their prerogative.

Personally, I’m not a fan of the idea. I think the need to make all super-hero relationships so incestuous is a little silly, and I think it runs the potential of diminishing Kate’s motivations for doing what she does.

That said, 1) I’m not writing the book, and 2) it all comes down to execution, and Marc is a tremendously talented writer, so I have great faith in his skill.

In this short clip from October 1975, Tom Snyder of the NBC late night talk show Tomorrow interviews the original cast of Saturday Night Live shortly before the sketch comedy show premiered later that same month. The short interview features Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and SNL creator Lorne Michaels, among others.

via Open Culture

Eight years after spending $5 billion on a heavily-criticized universal camouflage pattern, the Army is back at the drawing board looking for a new design that’s estimated to cost another $4 billion.

Anna Rutledge and Nathaniel Levan demonstrate "New Bedford"

I had been looking forward to playing "New Bedford" since I first heard of it on the UnPub.net website.  My family has deep attachments to that old Massachusetts whaling town.  Nathaniel Levan is the designer of this worker placement prototype, and I got to meet him in the UnPub ProtoZone at Congress of Gamers a couple of weeks ago.

Beyond the theme, I like "New Bedford" for several game-play reasons.  I am reminded of Puerto Rico from the standpoint that players can score through the staple process of whaling as well as from buying buildings to augment the town of New Bedford.  Likewise, "New Bedford" includes the worker-placement-building quality of Le Havre with buildings that facilitate collecting materials, constructing buildings, or sending out whaling ships.  I actually find "New Bedford" cleaner and more elegant than Le Havre.

The beautiful "New Bedford" prototype

I played a three-player round with (if I remember correctly) Austin Smokowicz and Mike Mullins.  I opted
to go whaling early and often, and I collected a hefty number of the relatively low-scoring right whales but also one highly-sought sperm whale.  I built only four buildings, however, while my opponents focused on many buildings and only a few whaling ventures.  As it happened, I won with 26 points, and the other two tied at 21.

I am very fond of "New Bedford," and I really hope that Nathaniel is able to bring it to production.  I will be among the first in line to get a copy.

[by Tanya Short]

As the director of Kitfox Games, I have read dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of articles claiming they will assist my 4-person team in making "a successful indie game." New articles come out every day, all with helpful advice for me and my team. Some were linked to me by personal friends, family, colleagues, or industry mentors.

I like to think these people were well-intentioned. 

So, having read all of this, what's my plan to succeed? Follow my lead:

Okay. Obviously the best thing you can do is FINISH YOUR GAME. 

But wait, don’t ACTUALLY finish it! I hope your game isn't done yet! You’re supposed to start marketing first! 

So how do you market? You need a hook. I hope you weren't planning on just making a good game! Don't be ridiculous! You'll need a unique tagline that's more interesting than the other 1000 emails in a stranger's inbox.

Now that you have a hook, the best way to get your hook out there? Presskit(). No, this part isn’t a joke. Do it. 

Then contact the press! Here’s some checklists on who to contact and how. You’ll probably need “at least 6 months worth of one person working full time” 

And aside from actual journalists, "take social networking sites very seriously." 

Even reddit. Or maybe especially reddit.

But advertisements? Definitely "don't spend money on traditional marketing and customer acquisition." 

But you don’t want to disappoint anyone. “Be realistic about what you can do.” So, mobile games are easier to make, right? Right. Let’s be realistic. 

Except “a lot of people never pay anything on the App Store” 

And “most apps fail commercially”. Probably because the mobile scene is "completely commoditised".

But don't go console. “Chances are you won’t be able to quit your day job by releasing a game on XBLIG.” “The vast majority of games on [Xbox 360] make … less than $1000”.

And putting your game on Ouya might just be worth it ... but maybe not.

So, PC! Just make sure you're on Steam, or else. You'll need press first if you go traditional, and going Greenlight means community management.

Plus, if you’re on PC you can maybe get hundreds of thousands of sales through bundles! But even bundle salespeople say to use bundles only “during the long-tail period of your game’s lifespan”. 

Does your game design have multiplayer? Incorporate multiplayer “to create long term value for players”. 

Try to speak "to a wider audience".

No, wait, find a "small niche long-abandoned".

But did you want to make money? Free to play is “the only way to make money in video games”. In fact, "freemium will dominate. You can't beat free."

No, wait, that’s Evil Game Design. Almost as evil as those coercive, greedy pay-2-play techniques. 

But whatever you do, don’t make money your number 1 priority. It's, like, ironic.

In fact, indie heroes try their “utmost hardest to ignore any commercial pressures that may arise”. 

Besides, when failure can be “one of the happiest and most satisfying times of [your] life”, why not do away with the word failure entirely and “redefine success”?  

And if you DO make money, feel bad about it! You’re probably “after weak people in vulnerable states.” 

In fact, “Not all games can be free-to-play.” So… figure it out yourself. You're probably doing it wrong anyway.

And remember those journalists you talked to? They're not interested in free to play. 

Just remember, “there’s nothing wrong with people wanting to play your game for years.” No need to get defensive or anything.

Besides, premium games get pirated like crazy. Might even turn your most successful game into your "least profitable."

But hey, pirating can "make an indie game into a success"! 

In fact, if it’s premium, maybe start selling your game as soon as it’s in alpha.  

Wait, isn’t this the same as a Minimum Viable Product from business? No, that can’t be the same thing. Never mind. 

No wait, in games, it's called a demo. “There is simply no excuse for failing to have a demo at an early stage.” 

Or you can just give away some for free, as a gift. 

No, wait, game demos halve your sales. 

And if your demo's good, someone might clone it faster than you finish it. 

You still need money? You could do a Kickstarter. Everyone loves crowdfunding.

But don’t ask for high numbers. You shouldn't actually need money. 

And be careful about using stretch goals. Never stretch goals.

Unless you’re famous already. Then stretch the goals.    

Just remember if you get too much money, the internet will turn against you.

And maybe “the Kickstarter bubble is strained to breaking point”...

But you can avoid crowdfunding nonsense altogether if you build in metrics to track your monetisation and get those DARPUs sky-high! They say “your game has to fit a ‘million dollar+ formula’” 

Actually, "there is no single right answer or standard model" in business intelligence, so just get used to flailing about with your metrics. After all, Ultima Online used metrics. Are you better than Ultima Online? 

But metrics alone can’t save your monetisation.

So, I hope you haven't been specialising too narrowly, because you’ll have to be a master of everything. Programming, business development, marketing, art, design, production. 

And not just game stuff. You’ll need cinematography too. “The worst thing you can do is make a bad trailer and deliver something that’s not the same level of quality as your game.” 

Well, maybe you don’t need to track your schedule and budget. You might as well take your time and deliver when you’re done, since quality is what matters. 

So just make an awesome game! Get really good review scores! 

But reviews won’t matter. In fact, “making a good game doesn’t guarantee you anything” You’ll still flop. And that’s okay! 

On second thought, don’t worry too much about the design. You probably suck at it anyway.  

---

So! Have you made a million dollars and won IGF yet? Ha! No, me neither.

Of course, the real lesson to take from this is what we all knew already: every game is different.

Advice is often given by genuine experts in their field, and yet it still might not apply to what you're doing when taken literally. Unless this guru is specifically playing your game, and has a telepathic connection to every niche of your platform, and can look into the future to see what will happen when your game releases, any insight naturally comes with caveats. Some advice has timeless common sense behind the words. Most doesn't.

My team and I will make mistakes, but we'll learn from them, and if asked, we'll give others advice based on what succeeded and what failed. Hopefully they won't take that advice at face value and will interpret it carefully for their own game, team, goals, and situation.

As long as we keep creating, you and me, we'll be all right.

[Tanya Short wrote this using sister site Gamasutra's free blogs]

taggedugly:

walk a mile in these louboutins

Original Source

Dear Mr Zuckerberg,

It must be pretty awesome to be a white dude with billions of dollars. It must be nice to be able to afford peace of mind. You do realize that not everyone is a billionaire right? Because when Facebook makes decisions to allow any timeline to be found by name alone that’s seriously messed up. Your suggestions to make things more secure are laughable:

1. Share each post with the people you want to be able to see it. You control this every time you post.

2. Use Activity Log to review individual things you’ve already shared. Here you can delete things you may not want to appear on Facebook anymore, untag photos and change the privacy of past posts.

3. Ask friends and others to remove anything they may have shared about you that you don’t want on the site. You can do this by reaching out to the person directly, or using the reporting feature, also available in Activity Log.

Seriously? That’s your suggestion for someone who’s being stalked or threatened? Literally go through everything you’ve ever shared on Facebook and change the settings? Ask nicely for other people to remove things they’ve tagged you in? Seriously? You’re literally putting the lives of thousands if not millions of people on the line because… it makes you more money? it makes life easier for your engineers? because it’s cool?  I can’t help but notice that you didn’t include the best possible option:

#4. Delete my account on from a service that I’m increasingly disappointed with who not only gives the impression of not caring about people being harassed, but is actually taking measure to make it easier for them to be harassed.

I’m not sure I can continue to support a company that places anything over the lives and safety of assault victims, battered spouses, queer folks or a whole host of other people who have legitimate reason to fear for their lives. I wouldn’t associate with a person who had assisted in the harassment/assault/murder of someone else so I’m not sure why I should stick around on Facebook.

I’m going to spend the weekend doing some soul searching. This article will likely be one of the last things I ever post on my own wall.

Original Source

An anonymous reader writes with news of problems a man caught by the NSA dragnet for donating a small sum of money to an organization that the federal government considered terrorist in nature is having mounting an appeal. From the article: "Seven months after his conviction, Basaaly Moalin's defense attorney moved for a new trial, arguing that evidence collected about him under the government's recently disclosed dragnet telephone surveillance program violated his constitutional and statutory rights. ... The government's response (PDF), filed on September 30th, is a heavily redacted opposition arguing that when law enforcement can monitor one person's information without a warrant, it can monitor everyone's information, 'regardless of the collection's expanse.' Notably, the government is also arguing that no one other than the company that provided the information — including the defendant in this case — has the right to challenge this disclosure in court." This goes far beyond the third party doctrine, effectively prosecuting someone and depriving them of the ability to defend themselves by declaring that they have no standing to refute the evidence used against them.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Eater LA is reporting that a new unusually themed restaurant has just opened in Los Angeles County’s City of Industry. Inspired by Taipei’s quirky but very popular Modern Toilet restaurant, the Magic Restroom Cafe is an eating establishment that allows patrons to sit on (non-functioning) toilets to eat a variety of Taiwanese-style dishes named after poopy things. Eater LA also reports that a lot of the food (which has gross names like “‘black poop’ (chocolate sundae), ‘smells-like-poop’ (braised pork over rice), ‘constipation’ (zha jiang mian),” and “‘bloody number two’ (vanilla-strawberry sundae)”) is served in little ceramic toilet bowls. This gimmicky restaurant is owned by YoYo Li and it’s her first restaurant venture. More photos of the Magic Restroom Cafe can be found at Eater LA.

If diarrhea-looking food swimming in a toilet bowl still doesn’t offend, understand the dish is named signature “golden poop” rice. Order correctly (chicken wings, Taiwanese sausage, fried tofu), and the food arrives in a miniature floor commode which was the stuff of nightmares for Western backpackers in Asia in the past.

photo by Elizabeth Daniels via Eater LA

via Eater LA

“I’d like to fuck up as much as Columbus and have a day named after me.” - Kelly...

Leo, the homeless man learning how to code with the help of 23-year-old Patrick McConlogue, a programmer in New York City, was arrested this morning for trespassing in a closed park.

Call it debt-ceiling profiteering. With the federal government just days away from defaulting on trillions of dollars in borrowings, survivalists are bracing for chaos.

Brockie makes a passionate argument in favor of the Redskins changing their offensive name.

The post Necessary Roughness, Week 6: Change the Name and Maybe Your Fate appeared first on MetalSucks.

Kaleka said he wants to bring accountability and transparency back to Washington. He blamed the government shutdown on Ryan, who’s the House Budget Committee chairman, and his GOP colleagues. He said citizens are tired of career politicians who care more about staying in power than serving the people.

“[Writing code] is the new literacy. In this century if you want to have the power to change the world, writing code is the most practical thing you can do,” says Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of reddit