The two warriors fought for two days with a lot of blood-letting and poetry, but it was a draw.
firehose
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10 Jul 21:50
Andrew Garfield on Spider-Man: ‘So why can’t he be gay?’
by Kevin Melrose
Tertiarymatt, Russian Sledges likes this
10 Jul 21:50
The NSA's Project SHAMROCK
by Bruce Schneier
Nice history of Project SHAMROCK, the NSA's illegal domestic surveillance program from the 1970s. It targeted telegrams.
Russian Sledges likes this
10 Jul 21:20
bloggingprivateryan: Adam Scott struggles to post a picture of...
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Courtney
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| Adam Scott, Human Disaster |
Adam Scott struggles to post a picture of a PB&J to Twitter.
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fuck yeah, hard femme!:
10 Jul 19:52
‘The Onion’ Offers A Swift, Painless Death To Edward Snowden
Since leaking classified details of mass surveillance operations carried out by the U.S. government, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden finds himself in particularly perilous circumstances.
Russian Sledges and -1 others like this
10 Jul 19:41
Wal-Mart says it will pull out of D.C. plans should city mandate ‘living wage’ - The Washington Post
by hodad
Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) called Wal-Mart’s move “immensely discouraging,” indicating that he may consider vetoing the bill while pondering whether to seek reelection.
10 Jul 19:30
Amazon deal with Miramax brings 'Pulp Fiction,' 'Trainspotting,' 'Amélie,' and more to Prime Video
by Nathan Ingraham
Amazon just cut another deal for more content to fill up its Prime Instant Video library. Thanks to an agreement with Miramax, a number of critically-acclaimed titles like Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting, Amélie, Good Will Hunting, The English Patient, and Reservoir Dogs are now streaming for free to Amazon Prime subscribers. It's the latest addition to a catalog that Amazon has grown significantly over the last year or so, though this latest round of content additions don't appear to be exclusive to Amazon. Netflix subscribers also have streaming access to nearly all of the titles Amazon mentioned in its press release today. Still, if you're invested in Amazon Prime, getting access to some undeniably excellent films only makes that subscription more valuable.
The full list of movies Amazon announced today include: Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Life Is Beautiful, The English Patient, Kill Bill, Amélie, Reservoir Dogs, and Trainspotting.
10 Jul 19:29
Most Russians think their country is too corrupt for them to fix
by David Yanofsky
The people most skeptical of their nation’s institutions are in Africa and eastern Europe, according to Transparency International’s 2013 Global Corruption Barometer. The report details citizens’ perceptions of bribery and corruption by surveying over 100,000 people in 107 countries.
Inhabitants of Russia and Sudan have the broadest skepticism of their institutions. On average, 70% of these citizens there say each of the 12 listed institutions–ranging from the health care industry to the political forums–is corrupt.
However respondents in most countries see the landscape of corruption in a more nuanced way; they have little suspicion of corruption by some institutions, while perceiving others to be rife with it.
Globally, political parties are more often seen as corrupt than any other institution. Sixty-five percent of all respondents to the survey indicated they think political parties are corrupt. In Nigeria, 94% felt this way. And in Mexico and Cyprus it was 91%.
Businesses are perceived the most negatively in Liberia, Algeria, and Sudan. More than 70% of respondents in those countries thought the private sector was corrupt. In every country surveyed, at least 10% of citizens thought businesses were corrupt, the highest minimum of any of the institutions listed.
In both Greece, which has been struggling with debt and other economic issues, and Egypt, which the world has now watched overthrow two heads of state in three years, individuals surveyed are highly skeptical of the media. Eighty-six percent of Greeks and 80% of Egyptians think the media in their country are corrupt.
When it comes to law and order, there are four countries where at least 80% of citizens say that the legislature, judiciary, and police are corrupt: Liberia, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Russia. The Danes, Rwandans, Finns, and Norwegians were the least suspicious of corruption in their justice systems.
Of the 107 countries surveyed, in only 17 of them more respondents thought ordinary people couldn’t make a difference fighting corruption than they could make a difference. Many of the citizens who felt disempowered fighting corruption live in former Warsaw Pact and Soviet countries. Others are in war-torn regions, such as Tunisia and Iraq. In Russia, 56% of citizens believed they as individuals couldn’t fix corruption.
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10 Jul 19:28
PS4 allows for access to digital game library from any console (correction)
by Samit Sarkar
firehoserofl
The PlayStation 4 will allow users to sign in to their PlayStation Network account on any PS4 console for quick access to their entire digital library, said Sony engineer Neil Brown during the Develop conference today, Official PlayStation Magazine U.K. reports.
"You can visit your friend's house, you can log into your account and play any game from your digital library," said Brown, a senior engineer in the research and development department at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
The cloud-based game library functionality sounds very similar to a feature Microsoft originally announced for Xbox One, but nixed when it reversed the console's DRM policies after E3 last month.
Brown pointed out that such a feature isn't very useful if users have to download an entire game on a different console in order to start playing. That won't be required on PS4, according to Brown: Users will be able to begin the download and, at a certain point, start playing "at least the first section of the game" while the download continues in the background.
"This makes a digital library a practical option in the real world," he added. It's unclear if this applies only for PS4 games purchased from the PlayStation Store, or if it also includes disc-based titles registered to your PSN account.
The system also means that players won't have to wait for a disc-based game to be installed to the PS4 hard drive before they can play it — "the game will launch as soon as the disc has been put in the drive," said Brown. The console will continually install the game in the background while you play, which means that "after the first few minutes, your game can rely on having faster read speeds from the hard drive."
We've reached out to Sony for more details on the functionality, and will update this article with any information we receive.
10 Jul 19:27
Hoeven Co-Sponsors Student Loan Legislation - KUMV
firehoseagain
Politico |
Hoeven Co-Sponsors Student Loan Legislation
KUMV Today, Senator John Hoeven co-sponsored legislation to lower the rate on subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans to 3.66 percent. If the bill passes, the interest rate will be locked in for the life of the loan. And Hoeven says that's exactly what students ... Back to negotiations after student loan plan failsWBRC Student Loan Vote Fails Senate Again, Sticking Borrowers With Higher RatesHuffington Post all 181 news articles » |
10 Jul 19:26
Durex and Daft Punk Team Up To Make ‘Get Lucky’ Condoms
by Rusty Blazenhoff
firehoseno new music
Digital Spy reports that DJs have been sent free packs of “Get Lucky” condoms, a collaboration between condom brand Durex UK and Daft Punk (whose popular single “Get Lucky” inspired the prophylactics). American DJ Diplo recently posted a photo of the packaging, which features the single’s art, with the caption, “thank god i had those daft punk condoms last night.”
photo by Diplo
10 Jul 19:26
Linden Lab, developer of the 3D virtual world Second Life, announced today that it has acquired the indie-focused PC game distribution service Desura.
Desura, notable for offering a publishing platform with a lower barrier for entry than its competitor Steam, is a DRM-agnostic service employed by the Humble Indie Bundle and Indie Royale, among other organizations. The service was created by the PC modding hub Mod DB, and currently serves as a high-profile distributor of user-created PC game mods.
The Desura purchase is Linden Lab's second major acquisition this year, following up on the company's recent purchase of Blocksworld, an upcoming iPad game.
"Desura's talented team, thriving business, and impressive technology are a great fit for Linden Lab," said Linden Lab's CEO Rod Humble. "Our aim is to invest and support the Desura team in making it the most open and developer-friendly platform in the world."
Second Life developer snaps up indie game distribution service
by Danny Cowan
firehosehrm
Desura, notable for offering a publishing platform with a lower barrier for entry than its competitor Steam, is a DRM-agnostic service employed by the Humble Indie Bundle and Indie Royale, among other organizations. The service was created by the PC modding hub Mod DB, and currently serves as a high-profile distributor of user-created PC game mods.
The Desura purchase is Linden Lab's second major acquisition this year, following up on the company's recent purchase of Blocksworld, an upcoming iPad game.
"Desura's talented team, thriving business, and impressive technology are a great fit for Linden Lab," said Linden Lab's CEO Rod Humble. "Our aim is to invest and support the Desura team in making it the most open and developer-friendly platform in the world."
Second Life developer snaps up indie game distribution service originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Jul 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
10 Jul 19:19
As Latitude falls, 3 more services Google may kill for the sake of Google+
by Casey Johnston
firehosetl;dr: Groups and Voice (these make sense), and Search (doubt it; tighter integration, always, but walling off their only confirmed moneymaker would be suicide)
The latest killing in the name of Google+: Google Latitude.
Google announced plans today to retire the location reporting and tracking service Latitude—and the company will instead encourage customers to direct their geolocation-reporting energies to Google+. Judging by Google's recent activity, this "Attack of the Google+ Blob" is far from over.
To the Internet's shock and dismay, Google also killed off Reader on July 1. Google's initial reasoning was that the service has been little-used. Google later explained that it thinks Reader is actually no longer a fit for the times we live in, where people can simply be Google+ users instead and get their news from their social media feeds, subscribe to brand pages, and forget their RSS salad days.
Google announced back in June 2011 that it had a cryptic but benign-sounding plan to put "more wood behind fewer arrows." This meant less effort on kooky Google Labs inventions, better user experiences, and more iterations on products people actually use. Well, make that "products Google wants people to use"—notably, Google+.
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10 Jul 19:17
Internet petitioners want Xbox One’s digital sharing features back
by Kyle Orland
firehose'Unfortunately, as the petition puts it, "uninformed [consumers]… railed against it… because Sony took advantage of consumers' uncertainty."'
just because you chomped on the false binary, motherfuckers, does not mean you can lump yourselves with people who didn't
Gamers are trying to get the attention of Yusuf Mehdi, vice president of marketing for Xbox.
Kyle Orland
Last month, when Microsoft announced its now-famous reversal on the initial licensing policies and online requirements for the Xbox One, we argued that triumphant throngs of gamers should recognize that they were losing out on some potentially interesting features alongside the removal of online check-ins and the revival of used game discs. Now, some armchair activists seem to be realizing the same thing.
The petition on Change.org for Microsoft to "Give us back the Xbox One we were promised at E3" notes that the system as originally envisioned would let users "buy games digitally, then trade, share, or sell those digital licenses." Unfortunately, as the petition puts it, "uninformed [consumers]… railed against it… because Sony took advantage of consumers' uncertainty."
"It can't be all or nothing, there must be a compromise," the petition goes on, suggesting that the creator wants the option for these new digital sharing options to sit alongside more traditional disc-based sale and resale.
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10 Jul 19:02
Nerdy Love Song Performed With the Help of an Adorable Kitten
by Kimber Streams
firehosethis is what's left of the Internet in a single video
Comedian DeAnne Smith performs a love song filled with nerdy pick up lines with the help of an adorable kitten for Shane Adamczak’s Up Late Live.
submitted via Laughing Squid Tips
10 Jul 18:59
Idris Elba did that “Cancelling the Apocalypse” speech a million times
by Charlie Jane Anders
firehoseIdris Elba screaming beat
If you've seen the trailers for Pacific Rim, then you already know that Idris Elba plays an inspirational leader. But he's also the movie's emotional core. We talked to Elba about the cost of fighting monsters, and just why he always ends up playing the only level-headed person in films like Pacific Rim and Prometheus.
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10 Jul 18:57
Music: Great Job, Internet!: Watch the first two episodes of Prince Paul's late-night talk show webseries
by Eric Thurm
firehosesix rappers, three with dollar signs in their names
Legendary producer and DJ Prince Paul can now add talk show host to his resume. Paul hosts The Scion A/V All Purpose Show, a new webseries in the late-night talk show format focused on hip-hop and a sequel of sorts to Musician Impossible, a road trip show also hosted by Paul.
The All Purpose Show lives up to its name, featuring interviews with talent ranging from rappers ASAP Rocky, Too Short, and Kitty Pryde to producer Harry Fraud. Paul gets assists in-studio from sidekicks The Ill Out Crew, who participate in interviews and do their own remote bits. There are also more than a few tie-ins to other Scion A/V material, including a Scion music conference and art show, as well as extended interviews with artists and free downloads. Check out the first two episodes of the All Purpose Show.
Read more
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10 Jul 18:56
A Musical PSA That Encourages People to Avoid Making Vertical Videos
by Kimber Streams
firehoseTURN
YOUR FUCKING
PHONE
Musician Jonathan Mann has written a short song encouraging users to turn their phone and shoot videos in landscape mode rather than vertically. Previously, we’ve written about similar Vertical Video Syndrome PSAs by Glove and Boots and NYC-based comedian Chescaleigh.
submitted via Laughing Squid Tips
10 Jul 18:55
An Exclusive Look at the Owner's Manual for Adventure Time‘s BMO!
by Charlie Jane Anders
firehosenot gonzo enough
One of the coolest characters in Adventure Time is BMO, the little video-game friend who hangs around with Finn and Jake. But what would you do with your very own BMO if you had one? Maybe a couple pages from BMO's owner's manual could help?
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10 Jul 18:52
China making plans to end ban on video game consoles
by Emily Gera
firehoseHoly shit!
China is putting together plans to bring an end to a ban on video game consoles that has lasted for over a decade, the South China Morning Post reports.
In a detailed policy blueprint supported by Premier Li Keqiang, the Chinese government is expected to end the ban on the production and sale of consoles, first introduced in 2000, under the condition that foreign firms such as Sony only produce products in Shanghai's new free trade zone.
The move is part of an attempt to open up the Chinese economy internationally while making the country's currency more widely used. The introduction of the policy comes 13 years after China's Ministry of Culture first cracked down on the production of consoles in an attempt to address potentially unhealthy and violent video games.
An official announcement has yet to be made about the full introduction of the Shanghai free trade zone.
10 Jul 18:27
Music: Newswire: David Cross, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, The Lonely Island and more to guest on the new Deltron 3030 record
by Marah Eakin
firehoseDeltron 3030 beat
Damon Albarn, Mike Patton
chef David Chang?
If the list of guest contributors is any indication, Deltron 3030’s forthcoming second LP is going to be really, really weird. Deltron 3030: Event II is set to hit stores Oct. 1 and contains work of one sort or another from Damon Albarn, Mike Patton, The Lonely Island, Zack De La Rocha, David Cross, Amber Tamblyn, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, chef David Chang, Black Rob, a guy from AWOLNATION, Emily Wells, and Jamie Cullum. The totally rap-friendly Gordon-Levitt even appears in the album’s teaser trailer, below.
Group member Del The Funky Homosapien detailed the album’s concept in a press release, saying that the album is like “a rock opera, but using rap,” with the concept being that “the Deltron world has gone too far with technology,” and the crew is “like pirates, running rogue, doing what we do to survive.”
Event II will be preceded by ...
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10 Jul 18:26
Cartoonist Al Jaffee Donates Archives to Columbia University
by EDW Lynch
Mad Magazine fold-in sketch by Al Jaffee
Yesterday Columbia University announced that cartoonist Al Jaffee has donated his archives to the New York City institution’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The archives include materials spanning Jaffee’s remarkably long career, from his ongoing work at Mad magazine to his contributions to Esquire, Playboy, and many other publications. For more on Jaffee, see our previous posts.
via Jason Scott
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10 Jul 18:25
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon now grants players the option to hit the reset button on the garrisons found across the island. Ubisoft announced today that a patch for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC will add the "Garrison Reset" option to FC3: Blood Dragon, similar to the "Outpost Reset" option already found in the regular game, FC3: Rich Kids of Instagram.
The option allows players to wash away their violent sins and experience a baptism of blood in every camp again without having to restart the entire game.
If you've yet to try out the hit standalone expansion, which has sold more than a half-million copies, allow our neon-glowing review to highlight it as a summer treat.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon patched with garrison reset
by Alexander Sliwinski
firehoseshared for "the regular game, FC3: Rich Kids of Instagram."
The option allows players to wash away their violent sins and experience a baptism of blood in every camp again without having to restart the entire game.
If you've yet to try out the hit standalone expansion, which has sold more than a half-million copies, allow our neon-glowing review to highlight it as a summer treat.
Continue reading Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon patched with garrison reset
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon patched with garrison reset originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Jul 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
10 Jul 18:22
animals-riding-animals: goat riding tortoise (before choosing...
by villeashell
firehosevia otters
oblig. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9s4fuOL3FM
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