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T.S. “Sluggo” Eliot

Eric Jou reports on Beijing's hot mystery room businesses, in which customers are locked into single-room funhouses where they have to solve a mystery in order to escape. Some mysteries are supernatural, others are crime-scenes, and others are "hospital-themed." They're inspired by similar video-games and cost less than a movie-ticket to play.

Each room escape has a different theme to it. Some are hospital-themed, others are murder scenes, there are even a few supernatural scenes. There is no photography allowed inside the rooms, with some organizers even asking patrons leave their phones with security before the game begins. Each game usually lasts about an hour. If you're still inside the game after the clock runs out, the company staff will come and release you.

The games cost about $10 per person and offer a decent amount of entertainment. It's slightly cheaper than a movie ticket in Beijing and it offers some form of interactive exercise. The reservation specialist, surnamed Qu, at one of the more popular mystery rooms located in Beijing's university district, says that the events are great for team building exercises.

"We have a lot of college students and a lot of white collar folk come in," said Qu. "It's a great way to exercise the brain and decompress after a long week of work or study."

Escape From China's Mystery Rooms! [Eric Jou/Kotaku]

(via Super Punch)

The litter box is directly below the basement stairs and by the time I can clean it in the evening the smell drifts upward in ways of which I do not approve.

Right now I’m using World’s Best. Should I change products?

Original Source

"Gotham" has received a series commitment from Fox, and Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka -- who co-wrote Gotham Central" for DC Comics -- have both commented on the news, and whether it has anything to do with their work.

We mostly know Newark Mayor Cory Booker, around these parts, as the rare big-city boss more popular on Twitter than Sam Adams ever was—and also for racing into burning buildings and rescuing pets. But back across the country, Booker is better known as a candidate for US Senate—which means he's finally getting some nasty headlines instead of the fawning reports that have been more typical of his time in politics.

But he still can't get away from Portland.

Buzzfeed just reported on his Twitter friendship with a stripper from our fair city, Lynsie Lee from vegan paradise Casa Diablo. They met while appearing in a movie about Twitter—shocking!—and it seems they've grown close enough to share direct messages. So she posted some of them. And now Buzzfeed's decided to post them, too. Along with several pictures of her boobs.

And now the story is feeding an even uglier one about Booker, a very popular Democrat: Hand-wringing that he's secretly gay, as if that were somehow terrible. Republicans have already accused him of leaking the relationship to shore up his manly credentials.

Don't get your underwear all bunched, though. The messages are boring. Buzzfeed is reaching. Unless she's sitting on some Anthony Weiner-grade beef she hasn't shared. And so what if she is? Booker's single. And, y'know, strippers are people, too.

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LeftoverSwap is an app that lets people with leftover food share their bounty with a neighbor. A person with leftovers can use the app to take a picture of their food and post it for others to see. A person looking for food can browse for nearby leftovers and arrange for pickup or delivery. The app is currently available for iOS on the iTunes store, and an Android version is on the way. LeftoverSwap was created by Dan Newman and Bryan Summersett in an effort to reduce food waste.

via Brokelyn, Gothamist

urainiumbombs:

bangmelikeyourdrums-jay:

donttouchmynewtonballs:

Ladies and gentleman, the most pathetic reaction in horror movie history

The longer you look at it the funnier it gets

It looks like it should be in High School Musical

I’m scared, yet fabulous

Mark Zuckerberg beat the twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss to the punch in launching Facebook. Now someone else seems to be stealing a march on their plan to launch an investment scheme for bitcoin.

SecondMarket, an American online marketplace, announced today that it’s launching a new bitcoin trust—a way for companies and rich people to invest in the virtual currency. It’s a structure that looks not unlike the bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) announced in July by the Winklevoss twins; but while there’s no date set for the launch of the Winklevoss ETF, SecondMarket’s trust is raising capital now, though investors won’t start trading shares until early 2014.

Called simply Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT), the new fund will essentially buy a bunch of bitcoins (SecondMarket has so far put $2.25 million of its own money into doing so), and investors will buy shares in the trust, much as they would in an ETF. However, it will be open only to institutional investors, such as pension funds, and “accredited investors,” people who make more than $200,000 per year or are worth more than $1 million excluding their primary residence.

For most investors, bitcoin is a big hassle to invest in. Though some enthusiasts do it on a regular basis, many—particularly in the US—have to jump through a legal obstacle course. One bitcoin day trader told Quartz he has to trade through a Japanese bank and show up in person at the bank’s New York headquarters to move his money to a US bank account. The legal woes of Mt. Gox, the largest bitcoin exchange to date, have a lot to do with this; bitcoin users have seen weeks-long delays in receiving their cash ever since the US Department of Homeland Security temporarily froze money in Mt. Gox’s bank accounts in May.

The Winklevii’s scheme, unlike SecondMarket’s, is for a public ETF traded on a major exchange open to retail investors. But the SEC may not approve it any time soon because it has yet to work out oodles of legal questions about the cryptocurrency. At a conference last week, the brothers were vague, telling attendees that regulators could set parameters on bitcoin “over the next 6 to 12 months.” Bitcoin enthusiasts and investors have scoffed.

By restricting its fund to rich people and institutions, SecondMarket avoids many of the regulatory hurdles. “The ETF approval process can take years to go through for even more established commodities like diamonds or copper, ” SecondMarket spokesman Mark Murphy told Quartz. A diamond ETF has been in the works for years, and its supporters have only recently scored steps that could lead to its approval. “From a risk-profile vantage point bitcoin is very risky and we think it’s not appropriate for retail investors,” Murphy added.

And SecondMarket has another thing going for it. New rules from the SEC—which SecondMarket lobbied for, and which came into force this week—will allow the trust to advertise for investors, something previously forbidden. Looks like it’s back to second place for the Winklevii.

New York Daily News

HW Bush witnesses same-sex marriage USA TODAY SHARE 671 CONNECT 75 TWEET 52 COMMENTEMAILMORE. Another presidential endorsement of same-sex marriage. Former president George H.W. Bush served as an official witness at a same-sex marriage ceremony in Maine last weekend. Bush and ... George Bush Snr and same sex marriage approval: he's old enough to wear his ...Telegraph.co.uk H.W. Bush Serves As Witness At Gay Wedding (PHOTO)Headlines & Global News USA, Maine: "Poppy" Bush Witnesses Same-Sex WeddingGayapolis Chicago Tribune -WFMY News 2 -Slate Magazine (blog) all 149 news articles »

Knowing that weird Twitter king Horse_ebooks is actually a BuzzFeed employee participating in a performance art project doesn't make this Lord of the Rings mashup any less brilliant. This is art, you guys. (by Horse_of the Rings, via BuzzFeed)

I don't mean to beat a dead kaiju (with a found oil tanker, or whatever that is), but the Pacific Rim fandom is more concerned with box office results than most. The line between beloved cult film and the holy grail of a successful original action franchise is very thin with this one, and depends entirely on whether Legendary Pictures decides whether it made enough money to worth investing in a sequel, so it's no wonder that fans of the movie, and of original science fiction in cinema, are watching very closely.

The clips that hold his visor in place have the Under Armour logo. This may seem like nothing to you, but the NFL is serious about protecting its corporate sponsors. Nike is the uniform provider of the NFL, and Riddell makes the NFL helmets. Under Armour, which pays Newton to endorse its products, doesn't provide either. Forbes cited Rule 5, Section 4, Article 2(a) from the NFL Rulebook that applies here: “No visible identification of a manufacturer’s name or logo on the exterior of a helmet or on any attachment to a helmet is permitted unless provided for under a commercial arrangement between the League and manufacturer.” Pretty sneaky by Newton, but Forbes added that other players like Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor, 49ers safety Eric Reid and Browns receiver Josh Gordon also have been using the Under Armour clips. Newton is in his third season, and by looking back at photos of him from 2011 and 2012 Forbes believes Newton has committed this violation throughout his NFL career and nobody spotted it. The NFL confirmed to Forbes that it is a uniform violation.

Nature Biotechnology, a research journal for biotechnology academics, has the most enlightened explanation I’ve seen recently about why genetically modified (GM) foods don’t go over well with the public (I discussed suchN reasons in detail in Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety).Its editorial states that despite years of evidence for the safety of eating GM foods,

Consumers are concerned about the close (some might say cushy) relationships between regulators and companies. They are concerned about food safety data being difficult to obtain from regulatory agencies. The revolving door between agribusiness and regulatory agencies and the amounts spent on political lobbying also raise red flags. Even academics have fallen in the public’s esteem, especially if there’s a whiff of a company association or industry funding for research.

Of course, the public’s misgivings about GM food go beyond just the risk to health. Corporate control of the food supply, disenfranchisement of smallholder farmers, the potential adverse effects of GM varieties on indigenous flora and fauna, and the ‘contamination’ of crops grown on non-GM or organic farms all play into negative perceptions. And for better or worse, GM food is now inextricably linked in the public consciousness with Monsanto, which has seemingly vied with big tobacco as the poster child for corporate greed and evil.

What are industry and academic scientists to do about such attitudes?

 Changing them will require a concerted and long-term effort to develop GM foods that clearly provide convincing benefits to consumers—something that seed companies have conspicuously failed to do over the past decade.

Well, yes.  This was the situation in 2003 when I first wrote Safe Food, and nothing had changed by the second edition in 2010.  Or by now, apparently.

This industry still depends on Golden Rice to save its reputation.  Maybe it ought to start working on some of the other issues mentioned in this editorial.

 

hannahcan:

How to make horns by ~MonkeyNumber5

omgrunlol:

powerlesbian:

today i learned domesticated talking birds that escape are teaching wild talking birds expletives that sometimes become that flock’s group call

can you imagine being out on a nature walk and randomly hearing a group of birds screaming HEY ASSHOLE

oh my god

Nope.

John McCain, according to the Huffington Post, was especially not amused by one of Cruz's crazier moments:

"If you go to the 1940s, Nazi Germany," Cruz said. "Look, we saw in Britain, Neville Chamberlain, who told the British people, 'Accept the Nazis. Yes, they'll dominate the continent of Europe but that's not our problem. Let's appease them. Why? Because it can't be done. We can't possibly stand against them.'"

"I resoundingly reject that allegation," McCain said. "That allegation, in my view, does a great disservice. A great disservice to those brave Americans and those who stood up and said, 'what's happening in Europe cannot stand.'"

The Huffington Post also quotes McCain as saying that the fight on Obamacare was over, that Republicans "fought [Obamacare] as hard as we could in a fair and honest manner and we lost."

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Mike Conner, 46, of Hendersonville, Tenn., told ABC News that he felt his 14-year-old step daughter's teacher was intentionally giving Islam a greater emphasis than other religions in her Honors World Studies curriculum. The popular elective at the suburban Nashville school with 1,500 students examines five major world religions but only schedules field trips to two houses of worship – a mosque and a Hindu temple.

I get it. You're hip, weird, edgy, smart, mysterious, and beautiful. So why do you walk/bike/lounge around looking like someone pissed in your Cheerios day after day? Look around you. This is a beautiful city! Pick your head up, unplug your goddamn headphones, smile, and acknowledge the people in your immediate presence. If you're really that unhappy, man/woman/queer the fuck up and get yourself some therapy and meds. Hate the weather? Move. Is your drinking and drug use causing your unhappiness? Then cut down or fucking stop. We are all in the same boat, the same existential crisis here. Try some humanity on for once.

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