GameStop Corp. a family of specialty retail brands that makes the most popular technologies affordable and simple, and Geeknet, Inc. (Nasdaq: GKNT) (“Geeknet”), the parent company of ThinkGeek and ThinkGeek Solutions, today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which GameStop will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Geeknet’s common stock for $20.00 per share in cash. The transaction has been approved by the board of directors of both companies and will be completed by means of a tender offer. The transaction has a total equity value of approximately $140 million, including $37 million of cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2015.
Geeknet also announced that it had terminated its previously announced merger agreement with Hot Topic, Inc. (“Hot Topic”). Following discussion with both GameStop and Hot Topic, the Board of Directors of Geeknet determined that the GameStop transaction represented a superior proposal. Geeknet will pay Hot Topic a termination fee pursuant to the Hot Topic agreement, for which GameStop has agreed to reimburse Geeknet.
Glen Greenwald casts a scathing look at the claims (such as by the Sunday Times) that Edward Snowden's leaked information had been cracked by Russian and Chinese spy agencies. Greenwald compares Snowden to some other public figures against whom underhanded tactics were employed by the U.S. government. A slice: There’s an anonymously made claim that Russia and China “cracked the top-secret cache of files” from Snowden’s, but there is literally zero evidence for that claim. These hidden officials also claim that American and British agents were unmasked and had to be rescued, but not a single one is identified. There is speculation that Russia and China learned things from obtaining the Snowden files, but how could these officials possibly know that, particularly since other government officials are constantly accusing both countries of successfully hacking sensitive government databases?
Athlete favoritism.An ESPN investigation of 10 major schools found Florida and Florida State athletes avoid charges far more than non-athletes at their own schools and perhaps more than athletes at other schools.
Between 2009 and 2014, ESPN found Florida had 80 football and mens' basketball players named in police reports, more than any of the other schools. But 56 percent of the time, they did not face prosecution, compared to 28 percent for the rest of the student body.
ESPN found 70 percent of incidents involving FSU athletes were not prosecuted, the highest percentage for any school studied and higher than the 50 percent for "a sample of crimes involving college-age males in Tallahassee."
Alligator Army has analysis, calling the report, "fairly good journalism, if perhaps an investigation in search of a conclusion more shocking than the one it reaches."
Both schools have been criticized recently, Florida for discipline during Urban Meyer's time and Florida State for its handling of allegations against Jameis Winston.
Not all Georgias. Georgia is a country in Eurasia that has a national soccer team. Georgia is a U.S. state that has a college with a pretty good athletics program. They are not the same thing, despite this amusing ESPN graphic.
'The Big Ten Conference has the best coaches in America,' (Michigan State head coach Mark) Dantonio said. 'If there's an opportunity that arises to hire someone else, we're going to hire somebody who's a very, very good football coach.'
Expansion lolz. It's been five years since realignment rumors had Texas leaving for the Pac-10. Major realignment did happen, but not to quite that level, so now is as good a time as any to look back at that time Texas "saved" the Big 12.
The war of words between John Oliver and disgraced former FIFA executive Jack Warner is not over, not even close. After Oliver bought airtime in Trinidad and Tobago to beg Warner to help the investigation into his horrid transgressions by snitching on all his former colleagues (and terribly mimic a Trini accent), Warner responded with a video of his own, growling at the "American" "comedian fool" over some absurd dramatic music (and rightfully shaming Oliver for his horrible accent).
And so now it's a video message arms race. Oliver found the same dramatic music with the most hilariously simple Google search AND added some fire and sparks and a thank you to Helen Mirren (who was already there as a guest and totally should have been included in this spectacle). Your move, Jack. Top that. (Or, like Oliver said, maybe just concentrate on not spending the rest of your life in prison because you are horrible.)
WASHINGTON—Appalled that such blatant ineptitude would be showcased on national television, consumers across the country expressed their alarm Wednesday after viewing a beverage commercial that featured a woefully reckless pouring technique. “Whoa, whoa, that guy’s got to be more careful—he could easily spill that all over the place,” said Waukesha, WI resident Beth Gleason, who along with millions of other Americans viewing the advertisement was quick to point out that the irresponsible pourer was living on the knife’s edge by carelessly dumping the beverage in a wild torrent from such a dangerously high elevation. “There’s a whole bunch of suds sliding down the side of the glass, for crying out loud! Oh, sure, now just slam the glass down onto the bar and slide it toward the camera right through the sticky puddle you just created. Jesus, what a mess.” At press time, the American ...
An anonymous reader writes: Deque Systems, a company which focuses on web accessibility, has just released aXe (The Accessibility Engine). aXe is an open-source JavaScript library consisting of accessibility testing rules which can be integrated into any testing framework that supports JavaScript execution. The intent behind aXe is to allow developers testing their products for accessibility compliance to easily integrate a common set of rules into their workflow. The goal is to standardize both automated accessibility testing and test results, and to make incorporating accessibility testing and compliance into web-based products easier for developers. The source code is available on GitHub.
Well, this is hardly surprising. Blatter is reportedly claiming that he’s reconsidering because of the “support he’s received from Africa and Asia.”
Which would be, broadly speaking, the two regions that have the most to lose as the investigation into FIFA’s corruption moves forward. Which would be, specifically, those individual FIFA members who’re suspected of both taking and receiving the greatest share of the staggering amount of bribes and money that’s been thrown around.
So Sepp will play will-he-or-won’t-he for as long as he possibly can… or until the indictments come down.
Mars is a strange place, whether we’re talking the seemingly nature-defying behavior of its liquids or just the tendency of even the most ordinary rock to have a secret life. But this latest look into one of its craters shows something odd even by Martian standards: There’s glass in there — and lots of it.
Tenth and fab stylish new issue from tasty zine @PutAEggOnIt
Art director @RalphMcginnis
“Put A Egg On It is an irreverent digest-sized art and literary magazine out of New York City about food, cooking and the communal joys of eating with friends and family. The magazine features essays, photo essays and illustrations as well as practical cooking tips and recipes”
Following what Stratasys is calling successful incubation, the company has announced that it has spun off its “Bold Machines” unit. This new-product incubation company will be run by MakerBot founder, Bre Pettis who also conceived Bold Machines when he stood down at MakerBot last year. Described as a workshop that helps customers innovate and bring their ideas to life with the help of 3D printing, Bold Machines sees Bre back where he belongs, making 3D printers do cool things.
“I have built tools that empower other people to build products for the last decade, and I’m excited to jump over the fence and build products myself,” says Pettis. “With a strong passion for innovation and the future of product design, we will begin a new chapter with Bold Machines. We believe that by changing the way things are made, 3D printing will have incalculable impact on our lives and our future.”
“It’s important to have entities such as Bold Machines to advance the adoption of 3D printing and make it more accessible,” says David Reis, Chief Executive Officer at Stratasys. “Bre is a visionary and has an unceasing desire to answer the question ‘What’s Next?’ I look forward to a continued close-working relationship with Bre.”
“Stratasys will continue to innovate new products, as well as work with its partners and customers to pioneer ground-breaking applications, to make 3D printing more accessible and widely adopted,” concluded Reis.
Bold Machines will continue to explore the frontier of product manufacturing using Stratasys 3D Printers. This includes 3D printers from the PolyJet, Fortus, Solidscape, and MakerBot product lines.
Today the announcement went out that I will be spinning out Bold Machines as an independent product design workshop.
Rebecca Sugar, the creator behind Steven Universe, recently had an interview with Entertainment Weekly about her show and how it found its place among some of television’s most feminist titles. And, of course, she also dishes on the show and teases just a tiny little bit of what’s to come.
Steven Universe has been on the minds and hearts of a lot of people lately, and it’s no surprise why. The show features great storytelling, more diversity than you can shake a stick at, and an incredibly endearing set of characters. But what is (arguably) central to the show is how it’s “geared for boys” (whatever that means) but still features almost a majority female cast.
To Sugar, the decision to play with the dynamics of gendered television was a very intentional one. She said:
My goal with the show was to really tear down and play with the semiotics of gender in cartoons for children because I think that’s a really absurd idea that there would be something radically different about a show for little girls versus a show for little boys.
It’s exciting to me to play with a lot of that language, because everyone’s very familiar with it but it really doesn’t make much sense. I used to really enjoy shows that were aggressively targeted to boys when I was a little girl and I know the same can be true the other way around, so why not have something that everybody can watch?
But for her, the gender politics is all icing on the cake. She said this show is really for her brother, and that her relationship with him is what’s inspired her to make the choices she’s made with the show.
I think that’s the feeling that I want to give to everyone, the feeling of having an unconditional friend that’s always there for you, because that’s really what he was. So as much as I want to talk about gender politics and make a cool action show that’s really cool, and a funny comedy show that’s really funny, at the end of the day I really want to do something that’s dedicated to my brother.
Sugar still had a bit to say about the show’s future, and when asked about what’s to come, she was just a little coy.
I think moving forward in the show, a lot of things are starting to happen in real time and they kind of can’t avoid talking about why and the history of what Gems have been doing on earth and why they need to keep them away from it. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but there will be a lot more about Gem history and Gems in the present and how they feel about what’s going on, on earth.
And her favorite Gem? She said, “It’s Steven. I mean, he’s my brother. The show is so much about us and he’s really saved my life.” This show has so much heart, and it’s clear to see where it comes from.
One of the most overlooked design casualties of global homogenization is regional lettering. The introduction of mass-produced signs is a relatively recent innovation, and in the past if you wanted to keep out trespassers or sell wares you either made the sign yourself or commissioned an expert.
“Before the proliferation of cheap vinyl printing, signage was created by artisans and sign-makers, and their work was naturally grounded in the local visual culture,” graphic designer Molly Woodward, the creator of Vernacular Typography, told Hyperallergic. The ongoing online archive gathers around 10,000 photographs of lettering from around the world, from Argentina to Japan, although the lion’s share is from New York City, her hometown.
According to Todd Howard on post-show Twitch stream:
The voice actors playing the male and female protagonists for Fallout 4 have been recording for 2 years and have recorded over 13,000 lines of dialogue
first popular mod for fallout 4: remove protagonist’s voice acting
Etherwalk writes: The security clearance process in the United States includes filling out the 127-page SF86 form, which includes things like the citizenships of all your relatives and housemates, foreign contacts and financial interests, foreign travel, psychological and emotional health, illegal drug use, and many other matters. The recent breach by the Chinese Government apparently included that information for all executive employees up to cabinet level. It's pretty much a gold mine for intelligence work and social engineering of any kind.
amputate Florida before the raccoon crocodile cavalry shows up
You know how the saying "cats and dogs are living together" is used to imply things are all messed up? Okay, well here is something way more terrifying than that.
If you can't tell what's going on there, it's a RACCOON RIDING ON THE BACK OF AN ALLIGATOR AND WE ARE ALL SCREWED. SERIOUSLY, IF ALLIGATORS AND RODENTS ARE TEAMING UP THEN I'M OUT OF HERE.
Apparently the picture was taken by a man who was looking at alligators with his family, when his son startled a raccoon they couldn't see. The raccoon ran out onto the alligator's back, and then the alligator did not kill it instantly. This is terrifying, no good, very bad news.
If you guys know anyone at NASA who is looking for someone to go on the first manned flight to Mars who doesn't care about the risks involved, please pass along my phone number to them.
★★★
SB Nation presents:One squirrel's attempt to overcome a bird feeder
In a surprise announcement at E3 2015, Nintendo announced that Mother has just been released to the U.S. as Earthbound Beginnings. The Famicom classic RPG is now available for purchase on Virtual Console. Many thought this game would never see the light of day on U.S. shores, but here we are.
Mother has been a cult favorite for quite some time, but until now, it had only been released in Japan. This marks the first time the game has been officially translated for U.S. audiences.
The game will be available for purchase tonight at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.
Some Indian startups are letting their imagination run amok with job titles.
The finance head at online wallet company, MobiKwik, for instance, is called “chief number cruncher,” while the company’s product manager is called “chief idea man.” The human resources head is the “chief happiness officer,” and the information technology head is designated “Dr. Fixit.”
These creative—yet somewhat obscure—designations help companies make regular jobs sound interesting and club multiple roles into one position.
“Startups are all about chaos and people do multiple roles in these companies. So, a chief technology officer does not only work on the company’s technology vision, but also writes codes and does testing. A traditional designation, hence, may not convey these multiple jobs clubbed into one,” B.S. Murthy, CEO of executive search firm Leadership Capital Consulting, told Quartz.
Making job titles sound “cool” also helps companies attract talent. “There is a growing trend in startups to let a new recruit select a title of his or her liking that he or she can use,” Murthy said.
“Although we give everyone a formal designation when they join, we’ve seen employees pick quirky new-age titles,” Bipin Preet Singh, founder and CEO of MobiKwik, told Quartz.
On June 11, India’s e-commerce major Flipkart said it has created a new role, “entrepreneur-in-residence,” and hired information technology industry veteran, Ravi Garikipati, for the job.
Typically, “entrepreneur-in-residence” is a temporary and informal position at venture capital firms, law firms or business schools. The designation is given to an entrepreneur who is in the process of starting a new company.
Garikipati will work closely with Flipkart’s co-founders—Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal—on new and high-impact business projects, the company said in a statement. His first assignment at Flipkart would be to scale the company’s new advertising initiative.
Rats and evangelists
The business card of Rajat Dhariwal, co-founder of MadRat, a startup that makes board games and puzzles, states his designation as “founder & head rat.” His co-founder, Madhumita Halder, is “founder & dreamer rat.” The company also has some “nerd rats” and “geek rats” in its technology teams.
Business card of Rajat Dhariwal, ‘Founder and Head Rat’ of MadRat Games
Although these designations have landed the Bengaluru-based company to trouble at times—while making regulatory filings, for example—it’s not exactly an exercise for the sake of amusement. “The practice breaks the typical monotony and hierarchy,” Dhariwal told Quartz. “For us, this has more to do with creating a culture of equality.”
But while Dhariwal and company have been particularly creative, there are certain creative job titles that have become popular among several startups—even though most people have no clue what they mean. And, these titles might mean different things in different companies.
For example, Raju Vegesna has served as an evangelist for Zoho, makers of online suites of office software, for more than a decade. But basically, he heads the company’s mobile app division.
On the other hand, Shagufta Anurag, is the chief design evangelist at Livspace, an e-commerce startup in the home design and décor space. And her job is to create the looks for the interiors and décor of houses for the company.
Recruiters who hire for startups list out several other designations—brand warrior, chief curator, chief cheerleader, director of awesome, chief inspiration officer, corporate ninja and chief belief officer. In traditional parlance, brand warrior refers to a marketing executive, and chief curator is usually a content writer.
“These titles have a lot to do with sugar coating,” Murthy admitted, “and making a role that has been around since forever sound interesting.”
The offensive renaissance of Alex Rodriguez continued on Saturday, with the New York Yankees designated hitter bombing a two-run home run against Bud Norris of the Orioles in the sixth inning on Saturday at Camden Yards, becoming just the fourth player in major league history to reach 2,000 runs batted in.
Rodriguez is 1-for-3 so far on Saturday, with his two-run shot tying the game at 4-4. It was his 666th home run and gave him 2,001 RBI.
He is only five hits shy of 3,000 in his career.
In baseball history, the only three players to drive in more runs than Rodriguez are Hank Aaron (2,297 RBI), Babe Ruth (2,214) and Cap Anson (2,075). Rodriguez earlier this season already passed Lou Gehrig (1,995 RBI) and Barry Bonds (1,996) on the all-time list.
Rodriguez is hitting .276/.375/.517 with 12 home runs and 32 RBI in 58 games. It is a welcome surprise for someone who was limited by hip surgery to just 44 games in 2013 and was suspended for all of 2014 for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy.
But this season, a productive Rodriguez has been a welcome addition to the Yankees, who are in first place in the American League East.
"If he was healthy, I've always said he'd be a good asset, and he's been a great asset. He's been playing well, and he's been producing," Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said of Rodriguez in May at the MLB owners meetings, per the Associated Press. "Nobody was working harder in the offseason than him. He came to spring training in shape, and so far, so good."
In his career, Rodriguez drove in 595 runs in seven years with the Seattle Mariners, 395 runs in three years with the Texas Rangers, and has 1,011 RBI in 11 years with the Yankees.
Hundreds of CubeSats have been launched to Earth orbit since 2003. Now, though, two of the small-form-factor craft are set for a deeper space mission. According to Spaceflight Now,
The twin CubeSat mission, known as Mars Cube One, will launch on an Atlas 5 rocket in March 2016 with NASA’s InSight lander. The CubeSats will relay status signals from InSight as the landing probe descends through the atmosphere, eliminating potential delays in verifying the success of the mission. ... Each Mars Cube One, or MarCO, CubeSat spacecraft measures 14.4 inches (36.6 centimeters) by 9.5 inches (24.3 centimeters) by 4.6 inches (11.8 centimeters) when closed up for launch, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which announced details of the mission Friday.
The standardized and small CubeSat has made satellite design and launching accessible to schools and others; going to Mars costs a lot more (in this case it's a "$13 million secondary mission"), but it could conceivably put interplanetary probes possible for deep-pocketed universities or corporations.
Deng Manyoun, a 35-year-old African immigrant who didn’t speak English, was fatally shot by a Louisville police officer Saturday after he charged at the patrolman with a 7-foot pole.
In surveillance footage released by WHAS-TV, Manyoun is seen outside a smoke shop as Officer Nathan Blanford pulls up in a squad car. The two begin arguing, and the man walks away and returns with a pole, which has a business’s red-white-and-blue “open” flag attached to it.
Manyoun—suspected of assaulting a woman moments before—charges at Blanford and wildly swings at him with the pole, which is made of two pieces and breaks in half.
Within seconds, Blanford makes the fatal decision to shoot. He fires twice at the crazed man, who falls backward, out of view of the security camera. Manyoun was rushed to the hospital and later died.
The 40-year-old officer is on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Louisville Metro Police Department.
On Sunday, Louisville activists denounced what they called a national trend of police using excessive force against people of color. They questioned why Blanford didn’t first try to subdue Manyoun with a Taser, mace, or baton.
Manyoun didn’t speak English, according to neighbors and the police chief.
Louisville Metro Police Department
“Either you comply or you die,” activist Tara Pruitt said at a meeting covered by the Courier-Journal. “De-escalation tactics are not used when it comes to people of color.”
Another advocate, Chanelle Helm, said Blanford’s response might have been warranted if Manyoun was “a criminal with a gun.”
“You’re telling me you can’t defeat a person with a flagpole who seems to be intoxicated?” Helm said. “An officer is supposed to be trained to protect people. He lost all type of control.”
Don Cherry's suit is a case of inception. He has literally donned cherries (thanks for the joke @Adam_Jacobi). This would be like Don Draper wearing drapes, or Don Johnson wearing... welp.
Cherry also held up a sign to a website that doesn't exist.
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Super Opinionated.
