The Old Reader

The Microsoft Store is offering select Xbox One games for $10 when players trade in their Xbox 360 copies. Similar to deals available through Best Buy and Amazon, the list of Xbox 360 titles eligible for the offer includes Madden NFL 25, Battlefield 4, Need for Speed: Rivals, Call of Duty: Ghosts, NBA 2K14, FIFA 14 or Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag.

Players will need to bring their games in to a Microsoft Store to receive the respective Xbox One copy of the game for $10. Unlike the deals offered by the other retailers, Ubisoft's Watch Dogs isn't listed. The offer is valid through the end of the year.

Microsoft Store also offering 360-to-Xbox One game upgrades for $10 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 04 Sep 2013 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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05 Sep 01:38

Chemoselective Oxidative C(CO)C(methyl) Bond Cleavage of Methyl Ketones to Aldehydes Catalyzed by CuI with Molecular Oxygen

by Lin Zhang, Xihe Bi, Xiaoxue Guan, Xingqi Li, Qun Liu, Badru-Deen Barry, Peiqiu Liao

firehose
between these wiley.com shares and all the russian porn, I don't know what's going on in Trending anymore

Aldehyde Termination: A novel copper-catalyzed transformation from methyl ketones into aldehydes has been accomplished. This method is applicable to a wide range of aromatic and aliphatic methyl ketones and chemoselectively produces aldehydes, accompanied by the release of hydrogen (H₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) as by-products.

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05 Sep 01:33

meme4u: not a kangaroo

meme4u:

not a kangaroo

05 Sep 01:32

Continuum VFX reel shows the secrets of creating Vancouver in 2077

by Charlie Jane Anders

firehose
VFX reel beat

It's pretty amazing how much eye-candy Continuum boasts, considering it's a relatively low-budget Canadian import. This effects reel from the VFX studio, Artifex, shows just how much digital wizardry they manage to pack into every episode. Including some stuff you probably didn't know was CG.

Amazon Hiring More Than a 100 Who Can Get Top Secret Clearances

by samzenpus

dcblogs writes "Amazon has more than 100 job openings for people who can get a top secret clearance, which includes a U.S. government administered polygraph examination. It needs software developers, operations managers and cloud support engineers, among others. Amazon's hiring effort includes an invitation-only recruiting event for systems support engineers at its Herndon, Va., facility on Sept. 24 and 25. Amazon is fighting to win a contract to build a private cloud for the CIA. The project is being rebid after IBM filed a protest. In a recent federal lawsuit challenging the rebid, Amazon took a shot at IBM, describing the company as 'a traditional fixed IT infrastructure provider and late entrant to the cloud computing market.' Among the things IBM says in response, is that the government didn't look at Amazon's outage record. An analyst firm, Ptak Noel & Associates, concluded, in a report about the dispute, that CIA officials 'too casually brush off Amazon's outages' in evaluating the proposals."

Meet the new hotness: All-in-one 3D printer-and-scanners

by Cyrus Farivar

Meet Radiant Fabrication's Lionhead Bunny.

Radiant Fabrication

We’ve told you about inexpensive 3D printers. We’ve reported on the first two 3D scanners. And recently, Ars editor Lee Hutchinson took two 3D printers for a spin to reveal what he called a “maddening journey into another dimension.” But get ready to set aside those old-timey devices—enter the all-in-one 3D printer-and-scanners.

This week, two companies have each announced their own all-in-one 3D printer-and-scanner. On Tuesday, Radiant Fabrication trumpeted the Lionhead Bunny, a $1,649 device that the company will make available starting next month (though it appears to be dependent on the success of its forthcoming Kickstarter campaign).

In a statement released with its announcement, Radiant Fabrication wrote:

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05 Sep 01:30

Ars does Soylent, the finale: Soylent dreams for people

by Lee Hutchinson

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' "People will talk about beer and wine and gourmet coffee, but most of the time they're drinking water." '

'Rhinehart wants Soylent "to compete with rice and beans" '

'I brought up the chalkiness that I had such a hard time with, and Rhinehart acknowledged that as a "bug" with the formula.'

'Cooking is something that a lot of engineering geeks have difficulty with, because even easy recipes contain "soft" directions ... Rhinehart calls (Soylent) "cooking at a lower level" and went on to summarize the geek appeal of Soylent. "Food is hardware," he said. "It's something that can be designed and optimized." '

'One potential obstacle to overcome would be Soylent's dependence on water to become edible (something Plumpy'nut does not need), but Rhinehart stated that they could potentially distribute water purification gear with Soylent.'

way past surprised by how out of touch this whole over-engineered mess appears to be to reality, culture, etc.

the Segway of foods: it's perfect, and nobody wants it but engineers and assholes who know better but want to brag about something

EVERYBODY SOYLENT.

Lee Hutchinson

After four solid days eating nothing but Soylent, Saturday dawned. I awoke feeling about the same as I had the day before and the day before. I didn't feel particularly incredible, but I didn't feel bad either. Coffee led to my morning Soylent, which was from yesterday's blue batch. I had plenty left to get me through the day—it looked like about half the pitcher remained.

I had a half-formed plan in my mind though. Perhaps, just perhaps, I could stretch this pitcher through to dinner. Because if I could make this bit of Soylent last all day, I'd have one full, unopened shiny plastic pouch left. My friends and I were all supposed to gather at Matt's house for Labor Day, and rather than showing up with steak and hamburgers to grill—well, I could show up with Soylent. I could make all of them drink it. It would be a Very Soylent Labor Day.

The final countdown

As much as I'd like to have some grand crazy story to wrap up my final day of Soylenting, things were uneventful. My poo continued to look like a preschooler's art project, but that's more because of my dabbling with food coloring than anything the actual Soylent was doing. The gas pretty much disappeared. The chalkiness still got to me, but I started adding more and more water to my mug-sized servings, and that cut the chalk right out.

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05 Sep 01:22

Patriot Act author says NSA’s bulk data collection is “unbounded in its scope”

by Cyrus Farivar

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), center, has now become Congress' most outspoken opponent to the NSA's metadata program.

Talk Radio News Service

In one of the most prominent legal challenges to government intelligence gathering since the Edward Snowden disclosures, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against four top Obama Administration officials. The case, known as ACLU v. Clapper, asks a federal judge to declare the entire metadata sharing program unlawful, halt it, and purge all related records.

On Thursday, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), with representation from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), filed an amicus brief with the court. He noted that the vast data handover is not at all what Congress intended to happen. And Sensenbrenner should know, too, because he authored the Patriot Act in October 2001 and supported its subsequent reauthorizations. In particular, Section 215 of that law, which expanded government surveillance power of business records, is what the government argues gives it the authority to collect metadata in bulk.

Sensenbrenner writes:

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05 Sep 01:20

Portland Pinball Map

by gguillotte

firehose
via Wil Wheaton, who autographed Ground Kontrol's TNG board

We currently are tracking 244 locations and 544 machines. Backups are made nightly. So if something bad happens, the site can be replenished.

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05 Sep 01:19

New Zealand 'Blurred Lines' parody goes viral

by gguillotte

firehose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2M6JUFCCSA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2M6JUFCCSA /// Thicke's video, complete with topless cavorting models, remains on the website and has more than 17 million hits, with users needing to sign in to verify their age before viewing it. "It's just funny that the response has been so negative when you flip it around and objectify males," Lubbock said. She was not the only one nonplussed at the decision to remove the video, with British author Caitlin Moran pointing out the inconsistency of banning it for alleged indecency while leaving Thicke's video online. "Can't. Take. The. Irony," she tweeted. YouTube conceded it had made a mistake.

05 Sep 01:19

MyOpenID To Shut Down In February

by samzenpus

kriston writes with news about an email sent to myOpenID users letting them know that it will be shut down February 1, 2014. The email reads:" Hello, I wanted to reach out personally to let you know that we have made the decision to end of life the myOpenID service. myOpenID will be turned off on February 1, 2014. In 2006 Janrain created myOpenID to fulfill our vision to make registration and login easier on the web for people. Since that time, social networks and email providers such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn and Yahoo! have embraced open identity standards. And now, billions of people who have created accounts with these services can use their identities to easily register and login to sites across the web in the way myOpenID was intended. By 2009 it had become obvious that the vast majority of consumers would prefer to utilize an existing identity from a recognized provider rather than create their own myOpenID account. As a result, our business focus changed to address this desire, and we introduced social login technology. While the technology is slightly different from where we were in 2006, I'm confident that we are still delivering on our initial promise – that people should take control of their online identity and are empowered to carry those identities with them as they navigate the web. For those of you who still actively use myOpenID, I can understand your disappointment to hear this news and apologize if this causes you any inconvenience. To reduce this inconvenience, we are delaying the end of life of the service until February 1, 2014 to give you time to begin using other identities on those sites where you use myOpenID today. Speaking on behalf of Janrain, I truly appreciate your past support of myOpenID. Sincerely, Larry — Larry Drebes, CEO, Janrain, Inc. "

British university posts exclusive photo scans of space exploration artifacts

by Casey Johnston

firehose
the full moon map as a 130MB JPEG: http://maps.cs.ucl.ac.uk/images/moon/JPEG/moon-full.jpg
in their original format, across several pages: http://maps.cs.ucl.ac.uk/images/moon/JPEG/moon-jpegs.zip

University College London (UCL) has released a set of photos collected from periods throughout the history of space exploration, from the first map of the Moon's surface to the Soviet Union's missions to Venus. UCL says that these images have never been published online in high resolution before; for some of them, it's their first time on the Internet at all.

These images were collected and published as part of the Festival of the Planets and the European Planetary Science Congress 2013. They will be in a public exhibition at the congress on September 10 and 12. Very high-quality scans are available at UCL's website for the Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/maps-faculty/space-history

Walter Goodacre, a director of the lunar section of the British Astronomical Association, constructed this map of the moon's surface in 1910. The University College London pieced the map together as a 400-megapixel zoomable image.

12 more images in gallery

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04 Sep 23:52

[toread] [priv] WhoSay

by macdrifter

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Sarah Silverman's dog died

04 Sep 23:51

Laika Believes Kickstarter failed but was a 'great success'

by Jessica Conditt

Laika Believes Kickstarter failed but was still a 'great success'

Minicore Studios canceled the Kickstarter for Laika Believes, its space-dog action platformer, on August 2, one week before the project would have ended. It raised $12,082, which isn't bad - but Minicore requested $100,000 to implement sound assets and localize the game's first episode, The Sun at Night.

Mostly, Minicore saw Kickstarter as a platform for early players to provide feedback on the game and to cultivate "a true testing environment." In this sense, the Kickstarter was a success, Minicore Marketing Director Shelley Smith tells Joystiq.

"It was a great success in many ways," she says. "We've met so many new supporters and their feedback has given us a better sense of what makes Laika Believes special."

Now, Minicore is still developing Laika Believes: The Sun at Night, and the team is digging into the budget to unearth extra cash for those audio assets. The failed Kickstarter means localization will be delayed.

"We wanted that to be a day one thing, but now we'll have to look at different ways of getting that done," Shelley says. "Maybe some specific crowdsourced localization? We'll see."

Laika Believes: The Sun at Night is still going strong on Steam Greenlight, and Minicore hasn't given up on its pet project.

"In any case, it's onwards and upwards!" as Shelley puts it.

Laika Believes Kickstarter failed but was a 'great success' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 04 Sep 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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04 Sep 23:50

Texas Won't Grant Some Gay Troops Benefits for Their Spouses

by Arit John, Atlantic Wire

firehose
via multitasksuicide

Troops must enroll on federal property rather than at state facilities.

04 Sep 23:31

hipsterinatardis: electricalice: mrsbeefheart: I fukin love 14th century art art because everyone...

hipsterinatardis:

electricalice:

mrsbeefheart:

I fukin love 14th century art art because everyone looks so shady and suspicious of ppl around them its AMAZING

or just like they know something u dont and oh my gdfuck i cant

I believe the highest point is reached in Simone Martini’s Annunciation

and the look of absolute hatred Mary and Gabriel exchange.

"mary i know ur only half a virgin"
"fuck off gabriel"

firehose and -1 others like this

04 Sep 23:25

(via TumbleOn)

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autoreshare

(via TumbleOn)

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04 Sep 23:17

How to Be a Considerate Spouse

by Scott Meyer

A freind from back when I lived in Seattle has a Kickstarter campaign going that is precisely the kind of thing Kickstarter was meant for; quirky, interesting, and not overtly comercial.

As always, thanks for using my Amazon Affiliate links (US, UK, Canada).

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04 Sep 23:12

Photo

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04 Sep 23:11

Photo

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04 Sep 23:09

DICE+ digital gaming cubes now shipping

by Jon Fingas

After a year's wait, DICE+ is finally shipping its Bluetooth game die. The chance cube is available for $40 in the US, and €40 ($53) in many other parts of the world. While the selection of compatible Android and iPad games is limited to a handful of party and strategy titles, the developer kit should lead to more releases in the future. If you're eager to modernize your board game experience, you can buy the digital dice from DICE+ itself through the source link.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Comments

Via: The Verge

Source: DICE+

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04 Sep 23:08

A Completely Subjective Dos and Don'ts Guide to Freelancing

by Jeremy Gordon

firehose
B- douchebaggery from "Jeremy Gordon, a New York-based writer who has contributed to the Wall Street Journal, VICE, BuzzFeed, Playboy, and more"

great advice like

"I don’t have much to say about this because 2013 is the first year I’ve done so, but I assume that at the end of the year I’ll be able to hand this packed binder to a tax guy who can figure out how to write off the tickets for movies I ended up writing about."

and

"Do: Ask for Money
This is a sticky subject, since I don't pay contributors"

A Completely Subjective Dos and Don'ts Guide to Freelancing

On October 15, 2011, I moved back into my mom's house with $300 to my name. On October 1, 2012, I moved into a Brooklyn apartment, lease signed and bags bulging, once more a proud, productive member of the American economy.

Feed Pets on Demand with a Raspberry Pi-Controlled Food Dish

by Shep McAllister

firehose
direct link: http://locgt.blogspot.com/2013/08/frankenfeeder-part-i.html

Feed Pets on Demand with a Raspberry Pi-Controlled Food Dish

If you're on vacation, or just have to work late, this Raspberry Pi-controlled pet feeder lets you take care of your pets on demand.

Football Food! [135 Recipes For Football Season.]

by Jessica

firehose
attn: saucie

It’s that time again. Last year I overwhelmed you with a bunch of football food and, well… I’m back to do it again.

castironpizza-5

I seriously love every single thing on this list. I cannot wait to make stuff JUST BECAUSE it’s football season.

I also believe it’s the season of naps. Is there anything better than falling into a food coma in October with football on all day?

Nope.

wpdip-3

DIPS

spicy beer queso with chorizo + black beans

spinach + kale greek yogurt dip

cheesy roasted red pepper dip

whipped feta

white pizza dip

3-ingredient old-school fruit dip

kicked up spinach dip

everything white bean hummus

bbq chicken dip

crazy good feta dip

copycat chipotle corn salsa

caramelized onion green yogurt dip

bc-16

SNACKS

30 minutes buffalo chicken french breads

sweet + sticky pomegranate chicken wings

cheesy puff pull apart bread

spinach, bacon + artichoke stuffed portobellos

crispy buffalo oven fries

bacon blue cheeseburger stuffed potato skins

shredded brussels sprouts crostini

roasted red pepper + bacon goat cheese truffles

20 minute turkey taco nachos

homemade bbq sweet potato chips

one pan sticky thai chicken wings

cheddar tailgating bread

loaded sweet potato skins

crispy roasted chickpeas

bacon beer cornbread

crunchy oven fried ravioli

chipotle beer shrimp quesadillas with spicy guac

fontina stuffed portobellos

soft pretzel rolls

sweetpotatochips-3

SALADS

chopped chicken taco salad with cheese quesadillas strips

BLT chopped salads with corn, feta + avocado

roasted autumn panzanella salad

crunchy buffalo chicken salads with bacon + spicy ranch

tequila lime flank steak salads

thai crunch chicken salad

roasted potato salad

chickentacosalad-4

CROCKPOT

crockpot cheeseburgers

short rib tacos with salted lime cabbage

bacon bourbon baked beans

bbq beer pulled pork tacos

cheesesteak pulled chicken

mini turkey meatballs

cheddar beer chicken tacos

turkeynachos-1-2

SANDWICHES + BURGERS

homemade chicken cheesesteaks

pulled pork + beer cheese grilled cheese

bbq portobello sliders

jalapeño cheddar chicken meatball subs

cheeseburgers with sautéed mushrooms, arugula + dijon aioli

salt + vinegar chip crusted fish sandwiches

cheesy stuffed meatball sliders

loaded cheddar hot dogs

balsamic brussels grilled cheese

roasted jalapeño cheddar turkey burgers with smoky bbq aioli

smoky sweet potato burgers

buffalo chicken burgers

crab cake sliders with pineapple kiwi salsa

crispy buffalo quinoa sliders with sweet corn + scallions

double bean burger patty melts

thai turkey burgers

taco rubbed burgers with crush tortilla chips

crispy salmon BLT sliders with chipotle mayo

burgers-3

PIZZA + PASTA

30 minutes skillet lasagna

bacon cheeseburger skillet pizza

chicken enchilada pizza

baked parmesan spaghetti

stovetop buffalo chicken shells + cheese

caramelized onion, bacon + gruyere pizza

white pizza lasagna

easy beer mac and cheese

cast iron skillet brussels sprouts bacon pizza

lightened up butternut squash shells

autumn apple pizza

spicy parmesan shrimp skillet

stovetop bbq chicken shells + cheese

garlic bread pizza crust

cheddar chili cornbread layered pasta

baked pumpkin fettuccine alfredo

harvest pizza

4 cheese skillet mac + cheese

epizza-1-3

CHILI + SOUP

beer cheese soup in homemade bread bowls

smoky white bean chicken chili

loaded sweet potato soup

chicken pot pie soup

mother lovett’s bean soup

3 bean chili pot pies

creamy cauliflower soup

easy 5-step chili

minestrone pot pie with whole wheat parmesan biscuits

30 minutes buffalo chicken soup

creamy tomato soup with garlic brown butter croutons

bourbon sweet potato bisque

easy one pot tortilla soup

bcsoup-3-2

OTHER EASY ENTREES

chipotle lime chicken skewers with avocado ranch

easy chickpea curry + coconut rice

pan crisped salmon with dijon cream

apple bacon stuffed sweet potatoes

bacon wrapped caramelized sesame asparagus

red wine marinated flank steak with caprese salsa

toasted sesame ginger salmon

limechicken-2

OMG TREATS

hot fudge root beer floats

bourbon baked apples

caramelized banana bread skillet cake

chocolate chip cookie kahlua shakes

banana bourbon cupcakes

whole wheat banana bread with coconut streusel

popcorn crunch fudge brownies

homemade snickers bars

roasted cherry hot fudge milkshakes

crazy confetti compost cookies

burnt caramel bourbon ice cream with milk chocolate toffee

peppermint pattie brownies

bourbon bacon marshmallow s’mores

chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter cups

crockpot caramel apple crumble

peanut butter fudge brownie trifle

pumpkin s’mores cupcakes

cake batter krispie treats

vanilla bourbon caramel apples

brown butter oatmeal chunk cookies

bakedapples-3

COCKTAILS + BEVS

crockpot coconut hot chocolate

apple cider sangria

homemade bailey’s irish cream

mango jalapeño margaritas

blueberry mint juleps

pomegranate margaritas

grown up pumpkin pie milkshakes

apple cider margaritas

pomegranate vanilla sangria

fresh strawberry margaritas

pommargs-4

SO MUCH DELICIOUSNESS.

what is your favorite football-ish/fall recipe? leave me some links below!

mmkerr@prodigy.net, MH and one other like this

04 Sep 22:55

Secret Fore-Edge Paintings Revealed in Early 19th Century Books at the University of Iowa

by Christopher Jobson

Secret Fore Edge Paintings Revealed in Early 19th Century Books at the University of Iowa seasons painting illustration fore edge painting books
Autumn by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa

Secret Fore Edge Paintings Revealed in Early 19th Century Books at the University of Iowa seasons painting illustration fore edge painting books
Winter by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa

Secret Fore Edge Paintings Revealed in Early 19th Century Books at the University of Iowa seasons painting illustration fore edge painting books
Spring by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa

Secret Fore Edge Paintings Revealed in Early 19th Century Books at the University of Iowa seasons painting illustration fore edge painting books
Summer by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa

A few days ago Colleen Theisen who helps with outreach and instruction at the Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa shared an amazing gif she made that demonstrates something called fore-edge painting on the edge of a 1837 book called Autumn by Robert Mudie. Fore-edge painting, which is believed to date back as early as the 1650s, is a way of hiding a painting on the edge of a book so that it can only be seen when the pages are fanned out. There are even books that have double fore-edge paintings, where a different image can be seen by flipping the book over and fanning the pages in the opposite direction.

When I realized the book Theisen shared was only one of a series about the seasons, I got in touch and she agreed to photograph the other three so we could share them with you here. Above are photos of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter which were donated to the University of Iowa by Charlotte Smith. How much fun are these? Keep an eye on the University of Iowa’s special collections Tumblr as they unearth more artificats from the archives.

Update: Because this post is getting so much attention, here are some more amazing fore-edge paintings found on YouTube.

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