firehose

The online classified service Craigslist has cost US newspapers at least $5 billion in revenue since 2000, researchers say.

GOP lawmaker invites rodeo clown who mocked Obama to perform in Texas The Hill (blog) Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) invited the rodeo clown who sparked controversy by donning a mask of President Obama at the Missouri State Fair to preform in Texas, his office said Wednesday. “Liberals want to bronco bust dissent. But Texans value ... and more »

Though things sure aren’t looking good for US universities, Wisconsin has it unusually bad. Decades of plummeting investment in higher education has left it among the US’s 10 worst states. Fear of debt mean Wisconsin students are balking at paying for college, denting revenue even more. But what can Wisconsin universities do to drum up funding?

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has a plan. Its recruitment partnership with a Chinese education ministry agency is helping it reap millions in tuition dollars by creating a boarding school for Chinese students to learn English before enrolling at the university. The school, called Wisconsin International Academy (WIA), is hoping to convert an $8-million, 162-room Hilton hotel into a dorm for Chinese students. But the planning commission of Glendale, the Milwaukee suburb where the Hilton is based, is denying the application (pdf).

The Hilton deadlock hints at tensions that can arise as more and more of the US education system faces demand from wealthy Chinese parents. Rapidly rising living standards mean not only that more Chinese parents can afford US educations. They can afford boarding school price tags—WIA costs $30,000-40,000/year—and college. As of 2011, around 24,000 Chinese high school-aged students were studying in the US; in 2008, there were almost none.

On the face of it, the Hilton plan seems broadly beneficial. UMW gets more tuition. Chinese parents get English-speaking, US degree-holding offspring. Cernet, the Chinese government subsidiary behind the deal, turns a tidy profit while freeing up more classroom seats in China. And the owners sell at above market value.

But some of the 12,872 residents of Glendale are less thrilled. The owners are selling for personal reasons, but the hotel has 70% occupancy, and since it’s the destination of choice for two big corporate parks, turning it into a dorm could cost nearby businesses customers. The hotel is “essential for our business,” wrote Jennifer Holt, a frequent visitor to her company’s Glendale office, on Facebook.

The Hilton is also a favorite for hosting local weddings and other posh events. And most of all, it brings Glendale $250,000 a year in hotel room taxes.

A recent city council meeting exemplified the debates over Chinese investment, Matt Gibson, the boarding school’s principal, pushed the positives. According to meeting minutes (pdf, p.15), Gibson noted that Glendale businesses like Swarovski, a luxury jewelry store, appreciated students not just for their behavior, but because they have “disposable income and they enjoy spending it.” Gibson also flagged that Chinese parents visit frequently and that “they are people of means” who often “bring along investors with them,” including one now interested in launching a high-end Chinese restaurant.

On the other hand, Glendale’s mayor was worried about the Chinese government’s involvement in the Hilton bid. Jian Sun, a WIA executive, said the investment came from Cermax Corp, a consortium of Chinese and American investors. Though there’s some indication that Cernet may own Cermax, Sun assured the committee that “no single penny from the Chinese government” would be invested, according to the meeting minutes. Glendale will find out whether that satisfied city leaders after August 26, when the city council rules on the proposal.

A former assistant of famed post-punk producer Martin Hannett has allegedly “rescued” a number of recordings by Joy Division, New Order, The Psychedelic Furs, Magazine, and more from his trash, and is now looking to sell them. According to a lengthy post on Julia Adamson’s Facebook page, she somehow managed to get her hands on about 30 boxes of master tapes, presumably while working for the late Hannett in the late ‘80s. (Adamson, formerly known as Julia Nagle, was also a member of The Fall in the late ‘90s.)

The tapes were all digitized in 2008 and include tunes from the aforementioned bands, as well as The Durutti Column, The Names, Slaughter & The Dogs, Minny Pops, Yargo, Easterhouse, and What? Noise (another band Adamson was in). Six of the tape boxes are marked either “Joy Division” or “New Order,” while one is labeled “Joy Division Outtakes.” Adamson further claims ...

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SpaceX's Grasshopper is even more impressive than you probably realized – and that's saying something. While previoustest flights have demonstrated the reusable launch vehicle's ability to lift hundreds of meters straight into the air before returning gracefully to Earth, yesterday's launch proved the rocket capable of much more... vigorous maneuvers.

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vinces99 writes "For more than a century scientists have known that Earth's ice ages are caused by the wobbling of the planet's orbit, which changes its orientation to the sun and affects the amount of sunlight reaching higher latitudes, particularly the polar regions. The Northern Hemisphere's last ice age ended about 20,000 years ago, and most evidence has indicated that the ice age in the Southern Hemisphere ended about 2,000 years later, suggesting that the south was responding to warming in the north. But new research published online Aug. 14 in Nature (abstract) shows that Antarctic warming began at least 2,000, and perhaps 4,000, years earlier than previously thought."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

As painful as it is to admit, we are approaching back-to-school season: Students are going into the new academic year, leaves will start turning brown, and we'll have to contend with colder weather. You can keep nice and warm and still look adorable in these WeLoveFine sweatshirts featuring Catbug, Captain Marvel, B-Mo, the TARDIS, Marceline and the Scream Queens, and more! We do, indeed, Love Fine.

Newsday

Brady Limps Off, Drawing Concern New York Times The New England Patriots got a scare Wednesday when quarterback Tom Brady limped off the practice field after appearing to hurt his left knee when he was hit after throwing a pass. Enlarge This Image ... Tom Brady escapes serious injury to his kneeUSA TODAY Tom Brady limps off the practice fieldLos Angeles Times Patriots' Tom Brady Leaves Practice With Knee Injury, ESPN SaysBloomberg ABC News -Boston Globe -Wall Street Journal all 268 news articles »

Funky Jet (Mitchell - arcade - 1992)

vgjunk:

At the big VGJunk site today: jetpacks and punching things in obscure arcade title Funky Jet! Cheese sandwich comparisons! Telly Savalas! Dudes that’ll whack you with a wrench! You can read all about it here!

WASHINGTON (RNS) Remember the case of the evangelical home-schooling family who was fighting deportation because they feared prosecution back home in Germany? Some 127,000+ people petitioned the White House to give “full and permanent legal status” to Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their children.

The White House has now responded (sort of) via its We the People online petition site:

The We the People Terms of Participation explain that “the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government.” To the extent that these petitions request a particular law enforcement or adjudicatory action, or address a matter before the courts, we cannot issue a comment.

But while we can’t comment on this particular issue, we know that homeschooling is a popular option for many parents pursuing high academic standards for their children. Homeschooling can provide young people with the resources and attention they need to succeed academically, and we understand why their parents value this freedom.

What’s next? The Romeikes’ attorneys are vowing to take their case to the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court ruled against them.

The post White House to home-schooling family: Sorry, no comment appeared first on Religion News Service.

My blog has made the Time magazine "The 25 Best Bloggers 2013 Edition" list.

I can't believe this was published ten days ago, and I'm only just finding out about it. Aren't all you people supposed to be sending me links of things I might be interested in?

The Xbox One will automatically detect if it is overheating and will make adjustments to cool the system down, General Manager of Console Development Leo del Castillo told Gizmodo. As is common with some PCs, Castillo said the development team can "dial back the power of the box considerably," forcing the system into a low-power state to correct issues.

Of course, the primary method for cooling the system down revolves around how the fan inside the box operates. "The way we designed the box, we don't actually intend it to ever have to go to maximum speed under normal environmental conditions," Castillo said. "But there is overhead. So we'll allow the fan to go all the way up to its maximum speed and if that solves the condition without the user having to do anything."

The Xbox One will launch this November in 13 regions, but will arrive in eight others in 2014.

Xbox One will automatically adjust when overheating originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 14 Aug 2013 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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betaraybob:

starkient:

DC vs. Marvel (via)

Thank god for this post. It’s the most truthful thing I’ve seen all day. Fuck DC and their attitude towards movies.

Something rings terrifyingly true about this. I wonder, is this why I’ve done so much more work for Marvel than DC?…

colchrishadfield:

Good morning! Perspective - from the man who showed us the meaning of the word.

Continuing the current Bible craze that’s sweeping every corner of Hollywood, except for the souls, Ridley Scott’s Moses tale Exodus has begun to finalize its cast for a September start date—thus making it God’s chosen one over Steven Spielberg’s, with all the persecution that entails. Fortunately, there’s no reason to quibble with Scott’s choices of Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton to play Moses and Ramses, respectively, with these two fine Welsh and Australian actors finally taking on the roles of the Jewish leader and Egyptian pharaoh they were born to play. (And the Lord said unto Moses, “Go to Pharoah and say, ‘Look here, you mad bastard. Stop being such a cunt and let my people go, yeah?’" But the Pharoah hardened his heart and did not listen. “Fuck off, mate,” he said.—Exodus 9:1) Scott is also reportedly considering replacing the ...

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coyotetangopratman:

Young Loki and Miss America Hoodies!

Loki and Miss America from Young Avengers from Marvel (2013)

Just a concept! :D

http://prathik.deviantart.com/art/Young-Avengers-Young-Loki-and-Miss-America-393165326

Donotlink.com works like a URL shortener, which many people use for practical reasons anyway in social media posts.  But unlike regular URL shorteners, which generally do not interfere with the ability of Google and others to count links, Do Not Link takes several steps to make sure the link will not be counted. I’ve tested out the service, and it does work as described.

From their home page, you paste in a URL you’d like to mention, and it hands back a short URL. It also returns a piece of BBCode for posting in forums (if that’s your thing), and a piece of HTML markup if you’d like to use this in a web page.

For example, if you want to link to Mike Adam’s horrible Natural News site, paste in the URL and get this result:

To make it even simpler, you don’t even have to visit the website at all! You can simply insert /www.donotlink.com/ in front of the target URL, and use it like you normally do. So instead of linking to:

http://naturalnews.com

Edit the URL so it looks like this:

http://donotlink.com/naturalnews.com

I highly recommend all skeptics adopt this as standard practice.  Further, please point out this article to other skeptics who you observe linking directly to misinformation on social media. We need to make it a best practice to never do this, lest we all become inadvertent shills for the very things we are trying to debunk.

Original Source

Soon, corporate meetings could take place at a table surrounded by rice paddies. At the offices of Pasona, a Tokyo recruitment agency, they already do. The company’s 215,000 square foot building dedicates 20% of its space to growing fresh vegetables, with over 200 species represented.

According to a video produced by Monocle magazine, the urban farm—the largest in Japan, with a layout that architects around the world should be paying attention to—doesn’t just exist to produce fresh food for Pasona’s employees. With young Japanese citizens giving up agriculture for business in the city, Pasona and its architecture firm, Kono Designs, hope the lush surroundings will inspire urbanites, and give them a newfound appreciation for agriculture. They hope this can support a reinvigoration of rural areas or at least an increase in the number of urban farms in Tokyo.

The green areas use a combination of soil-based and hydroponic farming. One of the greatest challenges is balancing the climate needed for growing produce with temperatures that are more comfortable for humans. Some say this is the building’s greatest pitfall, with certain rooms repelling visitors. The main entrance, which sports a rice paddy, is a bit warmer, brighter, and moister than most people would prefer. Workers use a side entrance to avoid it.

Urban farming is certainly becoming more prevalent—in Detroit, farming could help save the city’s economy—but space is often an issue. If Pasona’s employees continue to enjoy cohabitating with their food, perhaps the building can serve as a model for others.

SEATTLE—After politely broaching the subject last week with inquiries about recent hires and overall staff size, sources confirmed Wednesday that area man John Davies asked his friend Matthew Harrison if there were any openings at the real estate in...

OnlyMrGodKnowsWhy

@TimeLife

(h/t @hanner)

“It puts a massive cramp on your life,” Karp complains, his expression hidden behind large black sunglasses. “There’s nothing worse for reducing your ability to flirt with someone.”

Original Source

From 2005 to 2007 artist Brian Dettmer made a series of human and animal skulls and skeletons out of melted cassette tapes. In some of the sculptures he also used the magnetic tape from the cassettes to form feathers and antlers. Dettmer also specializes in fantastic book sculptures.

via reddit, Visual News

Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14

RACING—Portland Meadows, Portland's 67-year-old horse track, wasn't even sure if it would re-open this year. But with a little help from Oregon lawmakers—new gambling machines!—and the goodwill of its Canadian owners, the ponies are back in Delta Park until January. Have another julep. DVH
Portland Meadows, 1001 N Schmeer, live racing most Sundays and Wednesdays through Jan 26, times vary, FREE, portlandmeadows.com

MUSIC—I like to imagine Yeah Yeah Yeahs got their name from adoring early audiences who slipped into beatnik-speak to egg on the band's bombastic performances. The trio is touring their fourth album, Mosquito, which is full of the blood-pumping, grimy, danceable tunes you've come to expect from the New York hepcats. Most importantly, what will Karen O be wearing? CF
w/Har Mar Superstar; Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey, Troutdale, 6:30 pm, $38-43, all ages

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15

PARTY—Oregon has the least-restrictive abortion laws in the country, but that wouldn't be the case if we didn't have organizations like Planned Parenthood actively guarding our rights. Tonight's Pink Party benefit celebrates an organization that provides birth control, sex education, STI testing, and more to thousands and thousands of women and men. AH
w/DJs Anjali, Sappho, Hero Worship; Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8 pm, $12-15

FILM—Motion pictures have the power to show us who we are—but also who we once were, and who we can someday be. No work of cinema shows us these things more powerfully than 1989's classic Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, which screens tonight on the roof of the Hotel deLuxe's garage. Let us watch this film, and let us be excellent to each other. EH
Hotel deLuxe, SW 15th & Yamhill, 9 pm, $9

FRIDAY, AUGUST 16

STORYTELLING—Benefit from the bravery of others at Mortified, the long-running storytelling series featuring adults dragging the most embarrassing parts of their childhood onstage with them, to celebrate and set free the gawky, dorky freak hiding inside us all. BR
Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan, Fri & Sat 8 pm, $12-15, 21+

CULT FLICK—When it comes to hilariously awful cult flicks, director Tommy Wiseau's The Room remains tough to beat! Join Cinema 21 as they celebrate their fourth anniversary of showing this interactive terrible classic, with a merchandise and concessions giveaway, AND a special Skype appearance from Greg Sestero—who plays Johnny's best friend Mark! SQUEEE!!! WSH
Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st, 10:45 pm, $7

SATURDAY, AUGUST 17

SOAPBOX DERBY—Don't miss one of the funnest Portland events ever: The annual PDX Adult Soapbox Derby, where creative daredevils put together ingeniously clever art cars and race them down the treacherous track on Mount Tabor! Expect spills, chills, laughs, not-so-many tears, awards, and tons of beers! WSH
Mount Tabor Park, SE 60th & Salmon, 10 am-4 pm, FREE

SOUL—Late last month, legendary Portland soulster Ural Thomas debuted his hot-shit new band, the Pain, at Dig a Pony's second anniversary. The Pain's not joining Thomas tonight, but that's no reason to miss the beggin', screamin', shoutin' soul of a true Portland treasure. Have mercy! NL
w/DJ Beyonda; Star Theater, 13 NW 6th, 9 pm, $6

DANCE NIGHT—Get ready to bust out your signature mashed watusi hippy hippy shake. The mad mod of the Shout! dance night is taking over the Eagles Lodge for a night of sweaty, sexy '60s-flecked soul, garage, and psych tunes. They're even promising go-go gals and the Eagles' renowned and ridiculously cheap boozy beverages. Groovy! CF
w/DJs Hippie Joe, Katrina Martiani, Drew Groove; Eagles Lodge, 4904 SE Hawthorne, 9 pm, $5 ($4 w/a can of food)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 18

STREET FEST—SE Hawthorne, with its gewgaw stores, crowded sidewalks, and curbside bongo players, can be an annoying place to navigate. The venerable Hawthorne Street Fair—where people party from SE 30th up to 50th—sounds like a concentrated dose of all that awfulness. But actually it's the opposite. It's the best way to experience the commercial strip. DCT
SE Hawthorne from SE 30th to SE 50th, 11 am-7 pm, FREE

MONKEES MUSIC—Time is funny: In the '60s, the Monkees were a chintzy cash-in pre-packaged pop group. In the '80s, people began recognizing that Mike Nesmith was actually kind of brilliant. In 2013, their remaining peers have grown fat on cynical bullshit with lazy stage shows, while the Monkees remain authentically eager to please. BR
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 7:30 pm, $47-111.50, all ages

MONDAY, AUGUST 19

MUSIC—This is too much show for a Monday, but you might as well get greedy. Sun Angle will turn your brain into gravy and your legs into jelly with frenzied, equator-hot, day-glo lava-punk. You'll already be warmed up by the spastic surf rock of Sauna and the top-down freeway jams of Bad Weather California, both in town from Colorado. NL
The Know, 2026 NE Alberta, 8 pm

FILM—A simple fact: If you do not love Ghostbusters with all of your heart, no one wants to know you. Oh, sure, a few people do know you, but they aren't happy about it. And they talk about you behind your back as "that dick who doesn't love Ghostbusters." Anyway, Ghostbusters, which you should love, screens tonight in 35mm at the Academy. EH
Academy Theater, 7818 SE Stark, see Film Times, $4

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20

FILM—As part of their Repressed Cinema series, the Hollywood Theatre is busting out 35mm prints of two movies you wouldn't want to take your mother to: 1976's New York sleaze-fest Massage Parlor Hookers and 1972's women-in-prison flick Sweet Sugar. Classy! EH
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, Hookers at 7:30 pm, Sweet Sugar at 9:15 pm, $8

ART SHOW—After being ousted from their old home and raising funds for a new one on Kickstarter, beloved local zine emporium Reading Frenzy finally flings open their doors on Mississippi. Their inaugural art show in their new space is Letterfirm, a group exhibit of typography from some of the most interesting designers and typographers working today. AH
Reading Frenzy, 3628 N Mississippi, reception 6 pm, through Sept 18

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paxmachina:

Alfred Hitchcock serving tea to Leo the Lion (the mascot
for the Hollywood film studio MGM).

During E3, Microsoft revealed the Xbox One would launch for $500 in November, initially to 21 different markets. In a blog post today, Microsoft called that lofty goal "aggressive," and has announced the Xbox One will only be available in 13 territories this November.

Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand will be the first launch territories for Xbox One and are unaffected by this news today. Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland, however, will receive the console "as soon as possible" in 2014.

If you live in one of these affected countries and have pre-ordered an Xbox One, Microsoft will toss in an unknown free game as penance for the delay. For more information, Microsoft suggests contacting your local retailer.

Xbox One scales back launch to 13 markets this November originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 14 Aug 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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