I love this cake! I’m guessing that whoever made this was giggling when they made the cocktus.
firehose
Shared posts
08 Jul 23:34
Dropbox Hacking Past Two-Factor Authentication [Link]
by Gabe
From SecurityAffairs.co:
For example to attack the DropBox account zuz.85@hotmail.com the hacker could register a fake account zuz……85@hotmail.com In the second step of hacking process the attacker has to enable two-factor authentication for the fake account he created to obtain the emergency code generated at the end of the process. The code allows DropBox users to disable two factor authentication from his account in case of loss or theft.
08 Jul 17:35
Cable and satellite companies pushing for rights to stream TV over the internet
by Chris Welch
As it looks into purchasing Hulu, DirecTV is also making a push to secure over-the-top (OTT) rights from cable channels and other programmers according to The Los Angeles Times. The OTT distribution model would allow subscribers to receive TV content over the internet without any need for a set-top box in the home. But more importantly, OTT rights could help DirecTV and cable companies fend off growing competition from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and other video streaming services. It would also theoretically help them extend their traditional reach; the ability to provide programming over the internet would allow companies to reach new customers and compete against one another in regions typically dominated by one provider.
Playing defense against Netflix
Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications have also pushed for OTT rights in recent months. But that doesn't necessarily mean the way you watch TV will be drastically changing anytime soon. Rather, the cable and satellite companies want to be on a level playing field with Netflix and others in terms of distribution. "Our programming deals are confidential so we can't specifically comment, but our one objective in these deals is not to restrict access but to ensure we get equal or better treatment with both existing and new competitors," a DirecTV spokesperson told The Los Angeles Times.
Intel is widely expected to launch an internet-based TV platform at some point in the future, but difficulties nailing down content have reportedly forced the company to break out the checkbook. It's rumored that Intel is paying programmers up to 75 percent more than cable companies. Cable providers have also been accused of actively working to derail Intel's progress; the US Justice Department is believed to be investigating those reports.
- Source The Los Angeles Times
- Related Items directv cable over-the-top ott distribution intel
Russian Sledges likes this
08 Jul 16:52
Civilization 5: Brave New World review: go west
by Russ Pitts
By Russ Pitts
on July 08, 2013 at 8:00a
| Game Info |
| Platform Win, Mac |
| Publisher 2K Games |
| Developer Firaxis Games |
| Release Date 07/09/2013 |
| Price at Launch 29.99 |
Civilization 5’s latest expansion, Brave New World, is the culmination of the game’s evolution since its 2010 release.
With Civilization 5, Firaxis stripped the venerable strategy franchise to the studs and rebuilt it as a hex-based wargame with Civ trappings and an ultra-light UI that worked at almost every level. It was unquestionably Civ, but it was also radically different.
In 2012 the Civ that changed the series saw its own transformation with the Gods & Kings expansion, which brought back religion and revamped the combat system to bring things in line with hex-based strategy gamers’ expectations.
Now there's Brave New World, the second and last major expansion for Civ 5.
Along with a number of new playable civilizations to match Gods & Kings — nine, to be specific — Brave New World adds major game mechanics and makes substantive tweaks and layers on additional minor elements. And all of these changes are enough to make Civilization 5 the final realization of the Civ-as-wargame dream.
The Venetians and the Shoshone radically change Civ
Brave New World's new civs are more than new faces on some reshuffled bonuses — they’re both thematically different and in some cases fundamentally different, from a strategic perspective. The Venetians and Shoshone in particular radically changed the way I played Civilization 5 — though they might just break it.
The Brutality of History
Brave New World introduces a number of new scenarios — predefined games that set specific restrictions and victory scenarios — which include the American Civil War and the Scramble for Africa. Civil war is a set piece battle in which the two armies must take and hold each others' capitals. It's impressive in how well it can adhere to the actual history of this war, and even with many of the new gameplay systems disabled, it's striking to see how well Civilization 5 can compare against dedicated historical wargames.
Scramble for Africa also presents a strikingly familiar historical struggle, pitting the late 19th Century European powers, the North African nations and a handful of native civs all against each other for discovery and wealth. The map of the African interior is randomly generated with each new game, and depending on the civ you choose, the experiences on offer are as much a history lesson as a game. Watching the strategies unfold and seeing computer simulations naturally behave as their real-world counterparts — and try to kill you — is fascinating and fun.
The potential pitfall of recreating this specific kind of world history in game form is the possibility of awakening some of the more ethically challenging aspects of that history. Brave New World doesn't shy away from this challenge, but it doesn't celebrate the darker side of history either. As with the many ways to win a game of civ, the choices you make reflect the way you choose to play, not necessarily the ethics of the game's creators. (continued below)
Venice takes Civilization’s "One City Challenge" and tailors the civ around it. Venice doesn’t spawn settlers and conquered — or purchased — cities can’t be annexed. What Venice can do, however, is generate massive amounts of gold, quickly. The civ gets two trade routes where other civs get one and can purchase units inside of puppeted cities. The Venetians also replace the Great Merchant unit with their new special unit, the Merchant of Venice. The Merchant of Venice can "buy out" city states and, short of military conquest, it's the only way for Venice to acquire new territory.
These changes to the Civ formula will either force you to change the way you approach winning the game, or, if you are a life-long follower of the "less is more" philosophy, finally give you a civ that will make economic domination feel like a true accomplishment rather than a side effect of a larger strategy.
In my playthrough as the Venetians, I started on an archipelago map, comprised mostly of small islands in a vast ocean. I was able to surround the opponent civs and place colonies in strategic locations before finally launching a military campaign. I overcame my enemies with a much smaller civ, largely by outspending them, without the detriments of building a civ large enough to generate vast wealth; an experience that's a little unusual and novel.
The Shoshone pursue a somewhat opposing path. Their core advantage is starting new cities with huge swaths of land instead of the traditional six-hex border. This allows the civ to rapidly expand, while receiving a combat bonus on friendly territory that effectively makes them a defensive super power.
Given the traditional penalties in Civ for having too many cities or too large a population, the ability to control vast spaces with relatively few cities opens up some neat possibilities both offensively and defensively.
As the Shoshone, I attempted to expand across a continent quickly, but came up against my opponents and our borders stabilized early. I again ended up with a relatively small empire, but the Shoshone, unlike the Venetians, don't get an economic advantage. This disadvantage forced me to think creatively and leverage the Shoshone’s particular skills — I tricked an opponent civ into attacking me, and used my defensive bonuses to decimate their army and conquer their cities.
In both playthroughs,I was struck by the thematically and strategically different experiences each offered. I had a clear choice in both cases of which type of victory to play for, and the civs' bonuses and benefits weighted those choices differently. Being able to evaluate the strategies of opponents and change course mid-game is an unusual experience in Civ, and welcome.
Brave New World also makes enhancements to Civilization’s core mechanics that reinvigorate the game. (continued below)
The Brutality of History (cont.)
The scenarios, though, can be a different story. In the Civil War scenario, for example, there is no chance for a diplomatic or cultural victory. You must slaughter your opponent's armies to win, and they die in droves — historically accurately. In Scramble for Africa as well, even though you can technically achieve victory without engaging in mass slaughter, the scenario's victory conditions reward treating the challenges set before you as your historical counterparts would have.
I played Scramble for Africa as the British. The game forbids waging war against other European powers, so my options were to build victory points by carving more land for myself out of the African interior, discovering and liberating cultural relics, conquering native civilizations or building a railroad across the breadth of the continent.
I chose a combination of these, and my first act was to expand north from South Africa. When the unfortunate Boers got in the way, I destroyed them. When the Zulus encroached from the East, I destroyed them too. Then I built a railroad to carry my discovered treasures to port, then back to England. Just as the English did. It's possible to blame the game for reminding us of these historically accurate atrocities, but the brutality of history is a fact.
(continued) Individually each change adds a little bit of flavor, but combined, they make a meal — and as with any good meal it's all about the finish.
Civilization 5 has always bogged down in the end game, the mass of units and production queues and events dragging out the length of each turn, with no clear correlation to the complexity or satisfaction of the experience. Even with multiple ways to win the game, most victory conditions are foregone conclusions well before the end game, making the later game stages feel superfluous and tiring.
Brave New World redefines Civilization 5's end game
Gods & Kings addressed this problem somewhat, but Brave New World tackles it head on. While it is still possible to so successfully dominate that victory will be assured and irreversible midway through a campaign, the new trade routes and the World Congress add new tools for changing the course of the game in the late stages. And the new civs, as mentioned, create engaging opportunities for taking advantage of those mechanics.
Trade routes allow you to generate income by shuttling ships or caravans between your cities and those of other civs, with science and religion bonuses tagging along for the ride. In my Venetian playthrough I was able to use trade routes to leap frog ahead of other civs monetarily, but in so doing I accidentally granted huge science bonuses to my eventual enemies, allowing them to build more highly advanced armies to counter my much larger one. Combined with the faith and espionage systems from Gods & Kings, this adds an intensely deep layer of sub-surface strategy to the game. Trade routes can be plundered by enemies; meanwhile, missionaries can spread a subversive religion that could undermine your civilization's bonuses.
The World Congress allows for its own unique uses and/or abuses. Among them: the ability to declare a world religion or cut off a specific civ from trade bonuses. Late in the game, it also votes on a world leader. If you've accumulated enough delegates through allying with city states or building the right Wonders, you can effectively render opponent civs helpless by cutting off their funding, or you can simply vote yourself the winner. When I followed this path with the Venetians, it felt sort of like cheating, albeit in a satisfyingly devious way.
Wrap Up:
Brave New World charts surprising new territory
It speaks to Civilization 5’s solid foundation that Brave New World’s wealth of new mechanics fit seamlessly and combine in occasionally unexpected (but never quite broken) ways. Firaxis could have played it safe and simply layered on more changes of clothes. Instead it took the strategy gaming bit between its teeth and launched the venerable franchise into some startlingly new territory, while keeping it fun, engaging and — remarkably — approachable.
Civilization 5: Brave New World was reviewed using pre-release code via Steam, provided by 2K Games. You can find additional information about Polygon's ethics policy here.
About Polygon's Reviews
firehose likes this
08 Jul 16:25
Google Interns Are Terrorizing Their Neighbors
Residents of Crescent Village are up in arms about the Google interns' loud parties, late-night hot tubbing sessions, and other un-neighborly behavior.
08 Jul 15:49
First Russia, then Louisiana—a victimized BP in search of a fair break
by Steve LeVine
BP goes before a US appeals court today to argue that it has been swindled out of hundreds of millions of dollars by unscrupulous American businessmen and their lawyers. The objective is to recover the money—involving claims for lost business as a result of BP’s 2010 Macondo oil spill disaster—and to avoid billions more in spurious petitions. But the company is hearing a shortage of sympathy outside the court.
The company has set aside $7.8 billion for valid losses, such as lobster fishermen who could no longer ply their trade, according to briefs filed with the New Orleans court. But some 10,000 new claims have poured in every month, and BP thinks not all are genuine. The appeal includes a partial, 25-page list of what it asserts are fictitious and inflated claims.
“Thousands of claimants that suffered no losses are coming forward in ever-increasing numbers, seeking and obtaining outrageous windfalls and making a mockery of what was intended to be a fair and honest court-supervised settlement process,” BP says in its brief.
A subtext of the case is the oil company’s unusual history of victimization by hard-edged and slippery actors in rough-and-tumble parts of the world. Until a year ago, BP had spent much of a decade in an often-humiliating and sometimes dangerous business war in Russia in which its executives occasionally had to go into hiding or just lay low. Now, BP asserts that it has been taken advantage of in the US, specifically in Louisiana.
This is not easy for a self-respecting oil major to admit. Since they generally earn tens of billions of dollars in profit every year, the majors are the targets of frequent lawsuits, contract challenges and other attempts to get a share of their earnings. Their main defensive strategy is to tough it out, wearing down opponents with long litigation, to send the message that they will not be an easy mark. ExxonMobil is especially legendary for battling lawsuits for decades.
In this case, BP says that, rather than the usual tack, it tried to do the right thing by rapidly coming to a settlement with businessmen who lost income because of the spill. But rather than gratitude, it claims, it has encountered bad actors who have enriched themselves, and a judiciary that has so far backed up the scoundrels, creating the conditions for an “indelible black mark on the American justice system,” BP’s brief argues. Specifically, it alleges that the claims administrator, Patrick Juneau, has interpreted the terms of the settlement in such a way that even claims unrelated to the spill are admissible, and that a lawyer working for Juneau was in cahoots with a local law firm.
Ahead of today’s hearing, a US district judge on July 2 appointed former FBI director Louis Freeh to investigate BP’s assertions.
But BP’s arguments are attracting some scorn. It is, after all, a gigantic, worldly oil company defended by an army of shrewd lawyers, hardly a weak innocent. Bloomberg BusinessWeek quotes Danny Abel, a local New Orleans plaintiffs lawyer not involved in the case who is among those unsurprised by the flood of claims: “This is Louisiana after all. A big foreign company with deep pockets and you’re surprised there’s a feeding frenzy? Come on, man.”
Alabama attorney-general Luther Strange has little patience for BP’s complaint. The company’s lawyers themselves negotiated the language in the settlement program, he points out. “They made a bad deal and now they’ve got to live with it,” says Strange.
Likewise, the Financial Times says in a July 5 editorial that the company itself bears some culpability. It said,
In the weeks after the [Gulf of Mexico] accident, it opened its wallet a bit too much, creating the impression that it was a soft touch. And the settlement appears loosely drafted. How else to explain the different interpretations of it?
Meanwhile BP has mailed letters to lawyers representing Gulf of Mexico spill claimants advising them to hold on to their cash payouts as they may have to refund them to the company, prompting some to accuse it of intimidation. Presumably the company is also checking its own cash on hand in case the decision goes the other way.
08 Jul 15:35
Snowden Claims That NSA Collaborated With Israel To Write Stuxnet Virus
by samzenpus
andrewa writes "In an interview with Der Spiegel Snowden claims that the NSA, amongst other things, collaborated with Israel to write the Stuxnet virus. Not that this is news, as it has been suspected that it was a collaborative effort for some time. When asked about active major programs and how international partners help, Snowden says: 'The partners in the "Five Eyes" (behind which are hidden the secret services of the Americans, the British, the Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians -- ed.) sometimes go even further than the NSA people themselves. Take the Tempora program of the British intelligence GCHQ for instance. Tempora is the first "I save everything" approach ("Full take") in the intelligence world. It sucks in all data, no matter what it is, and which rights are violated by it. This buffered storage allows for subsequent monitoring; not a single bit escapes. Right now, the system is capable of saving three days’ worth of traffic, but that will be optimized. Three days may perhaps not sound like a lot, but it's not just about connection metadata. "Full take" means that the system saves everything. If you send a data packet and if makes its way through the UK, we will get it. If you download anything, and the server is in the UK, then we get it. And if the data about your sick daughter is processed through a London call center, then ... Oh, I think you have understood.'" 
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Gpscruise likes this
08 Jul 15:32
Heavy Metal: Geomatrix (Capcom - arcade - 2001) polygonal...
Heavy Metal: Geomatrix (Capcom - arcade - 2001)
polygonal fighting game, also ported to Dreamcast
08 Jul 15:32
originalgingerbro: I swear to god I give this exact look to at...
Russian Sledges, firehose and -1 others like this
08 Jul 15:30
Pi synthesisers
by liz
On the road back from Wales this weekend, we listened to Liz’s Playlist for Driving Long Distances. Gary Numan’s Cars came on. (I am nothing if not literal-minded.) We started talking about the incredible depth and complexity of a lot of 80s music; and how the discipline of only having a limited amount of polyphony and a limited number of tracks brought about music that was, when at its best, so tightly and elegantly arranged that it keeps all of its impact today.
Cars was recorded using only four synth tracks (three monophonic and a Polymoog, I think, having just listened again – but I’m ready and willing to be corrected!) and a real live drummer. Held up against your high-falutin’ Reactables with billion-note polyphony (note: I have no idea how much polyphony is available on a Reactable, I’m just guessing) and clever-clogs plastic brick interfaces, Gary Numan knocks it out of the park every time. I spent the 1980s listening to the Pet Shop Boys – actually, I seem to be spending the 2010s listening to the Pet Shop Boys too – Erasure, New Order, Soft Cell and Depeche Mode, all of them engineering their music within technical boundaries that’d make some of today’s musicians run away and hide under the piano in horror.
Turns out, of course, that I’m not the only person with a Pi and a terrible and burning nostalgia for old synthesisers. Some of you, though, have actually done some work on this stuff rather than, like me, sitting around and thinking idly about it. There’s far, far more functionality available to you with a Pi than there was with an 80s synth, but the fundamental feel of the thing can remain the same with some considerate engineering. First up, here’s Marc Girard’s TronPi.
Marc says:
The TronPi is a Mellontron Emulator based on the 35$ Raspberry Pi computer. It has the 4 classic Tron sounds: Choir, Strings, Brass and Flute. The TronPi is controlled with a standard USB/MIDI Keyboard and doesn’t have any perceptible latency.
All the audio in this video was taken straight from the Raspberry PI’s audio output, no further processing was added to the source. It’s straight out of the computer. The reverb ambience you hear on the recordings is built in the sampler and adjustable.
The computer boots in 30 seconds or so. It supports MIDI program changes and once loaded, program changes are instant, no lag.
Back in Blighty, Phil Atkin has been working on Piana for about a year now. We featured it here last summer, and Piana has made some appearances at Raspberry Jams. Since then, Phil’s done more work on the project, and has produced this video to show off how far it’s come.
And earlier this week, I was sent some more video by Servando Barreiro, who has made a Pi-based Looper: a sort of polyphonic Korg monotron. He’s using Satellite CCRMA, a platform designed at Stanford University for embedded musical instruments and art installations – check out their homepage for a download, examples and ideas for getting started on your own project.
Here’s the Looper in action. Feel the depth and warmth!
You can find out much more about the Looper and see (and hear) more video at createdigitalmusic.com – CDM is a great resource if you’re interested in this stuff, and you’ll find lots of inspiration and ideas there.
There’s enormous education potential in electronic music too. The Raspberry Pi Foundation is currently working with Dr Sam Aaron, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, on Sonic Pi, an experimental school curriculum for teaching Computing through digital music. Kids use the Pi to build synthesisers and create music – acquiring a range of fundamental computer science concepts and basic programming skills while they’re not looking. We’ll have much more on that project at a later date; it’s a prime example of our concept of Computing as a creative subject which appeals to the kids who prefer to hang out in the music department and the art block just as much as it appeals to the kids we tend to treat as the usual suspects.
If you’re working on a musical project with a Raspberry Pi, give me a shout at liz@raspberrypi.org. We’d love to hear about what you’re doing.
firehose and -1 others like this
08 Jul 15:27
Egypt's Brotherhood vows to keep defying 'coup' - Houston Chronicle
Sydney Morning Herald |
Egypt's Brotherhood vows to keep defying 'coup'
Houston Chronicle CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood says it will continue its "peaceful" resistance in defiance of the military's ouster of the country's Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi. The Brotherhood also says it's distancing itself from an attack on a senior army ... US continues giving military aid to Egypt by delivering four F16 jetsThe Independent A week after the coup, Egyptians ask: 'Where's Morsi?'Washington Post Turmoil in Egypt Has Made Strange Bedfellows of Regional FoesTIME Jerusalem Post -The News International -Times of India all 3,505 news articles » |
08 Jul 15:04
Louisiana sinkhole forces wrenching choice on longtime neighbors: Take buyout ... - Fox News
San Francisco Chronicle |
Louisiana sinkhole forces wrenching choice on longtime neighbors: Take buyout ...
Fox News BAYOU CORNE, La. – Neighbors in tiny Bayou Corne, La., face a wrenching decision after a huge sinkhole opened up near their community: Do they stay put, or should they pack up and move? The sinkhole resulted from a collapsed underground salt dome ... Sinkhole forces hard choice on longtime neighborsBryan-College Station Eagle all 103 news articles » |
08 Jul 07:36
Charlie Day and Ron Perlman talk kaiju anatomy in new Pacific Rim clip
by Lauren Davis
firehosethis is not selling me on this movie _at all_
We get a bit of Jaegers vs. kaiju action in the latest clips from Pacific Rim, but we also get Ron Perlman and Charlie Day teaching us about kaiju brains and skulls.
    
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08 Jul 06:35
Add zombie_reader to the README.
by mihaip
Add zombie_reader to the README.
firehose likes this
08 Jul 06:10
Read 12 Pages From David Petsen's 'Mouse Guard: The Black Axe' Hardcover [Preview]
by Andy Khouri
Written and lavishly illustrated by David Petersen, Mouse Guard follows the adventures of an elite association of mice sworn to protect a kind of medieval mouse kingdom from threats both foreign (like weasels, snakes, and other predators) and domestic (like traitors!). The story is as harrowing as it is charming, among the most consistently executed, high quality American series published today, and has earned numerous awards and nominations in comics and the book trade.
After years of waiting, those of us who digest Mouse Guard in its luxurious hardcover form will finally have the answer to a mystery that’s lingered since the first volume went on sale in 2008: the origin of the Black Axe.
Arguably the most popular and definitely the most mysterious of the “guardmice” is Celanawe, an old warrior who claims to be none other than the Black Axe, a mouse hero of legend. Named for the menacing and majestic weapon he wields, the Black Axe was thought long dead before Celanawe’s timely return helps the young guardmice stave off an invasion of Lockhaven, the home city of the Guard. The Black Axe first appeared in Petersen’s inaugural volume, Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and his exploits continued in Winter 1152, but it wasn’t until the latest volume, Mouse Guard: The Black Axe, that readers learned the true history of Celanawe and the titular weapon.
As you can see in this 12-page preview provided by Archaia, the story begins with a visitor from away…
Mouse Guard: The Black Axe has already completed its run in serialization and those individual chapters have been compiled in a digital collection from ComiXology. But as I said, the best way to enjoy a work as richly detailed and immersive as Mouse Guard is in the hardcover book form. The Black Axe goes on sale in hardcover next week in finer comics shops. Bookstore customers will be able to purchase it from Amazon and elsewhere starting July 23.
firehose likes this
08 Jul 05:32
Star Citizen reaches $14 million in funding
by Jenna Pitcher
firehosejesus
Cloud Imperium's space combat and exploration sim Star Citizen reached $14 million in funding through the game's official website Roberts Space Industries, according to an announcement on the site.
At the time of writing, more than 211,077 backers have contributed $14,015,877 to the funding of Star Citizen on its website since Oct. 10. The $14 million goal sees Hibernation Mode added to the game. The mode allows players to shut down their spacecraft in deep space and resume the game later on without any worries. The developer also plans to create a "Behind the Scenes of Star Citizen" documentary and will add a fourth land out option on Earth, with the city to be revealed at a later date.
The already announced $15 million funding goal will introduce the escort carrier flyable ship class and "The Upgrade Handbook," a 42-page manual that outlines customization and overclocking of ship systems. The handbook will be a free PDF free to all backers who pledge before the $15 million mark.
At the $16 million mark, the company aims to introduce an arena mode, "The next generation of Wing Commander's TrainSim allows pilots to test out their combat skills against friends or strangers in a simulation." Through the arena mode, players can place bets and gain combat experience without the risk of losing their crafts. Those who pledge before the $16 million goal will receive a laser pistol.
Funding for Star Citizen began on the site in October, where it was knocked offline for two days shortly after the game was unveiled due to high interest. A week later, Cloud Imperium launched a Star Citizen Kickstarter campaign to contribute to the crowdfunding efforts to hit its overall target of $2 million. The Kickstarter campaign reached its $500,000 fundraising goal six days after going live and raised a total of $2.1 million from 34,397 backers before its end in November.
For more information about Star Citizen and Cloud Imperium, be sure to read our recent interview with Chris Roberts, creator of Wing Commander and Cloud Imperium's founder.
08 Jul 05:31
Spelunky GameMaker source code available to download
by Jenna Pitcher
firehoseYES
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS
The GameMaker source code for Mossmouth's retro-stylized subterranean platformer, Spelunky, is available to download from the game's official site.
Spelunky was originally released in 2009 for free on Windows PC and is currently still available to download from the Spelunky World website. An updated version, introducing overhauled graphics, two-to-four player co-op and deathmatch modes, hit Xbox Live Arcade last July. The new version of Spelunky is due for release on Windows PC this summer via Steam, GOG.com and Humble Bundle. Blit Game Studios is developing the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita ports of Spelunky, which are due for a worldwide release this summer.
For more about the roguelike, read our feature on the game's creator Derek Yu where he discusses Spelunky's journey from freeware to XBLA release. If you plan on picking up title, don't miss out on our Spelunky review and survival guide.
firehose likes this
08 Jul 05:30
Burton and Taylor, a Trailer to Delight and Confuse Your Nerdy Brain
firehosethat time "The fuck did I do" was my ringtone
Okay, so maybe this is only really weird for fans of The Wire, but hey, Dominic West was also in 300. And Helena Bonham Carter, well, that's a lady with a geek pedigree. Carry on, BBC, carry on.
08 Jul 04:59
Aaron Hernandez Is Now Locked Alone Inside a Room the Size of a Parking Spot | American Civil Liberties Union
by gguillotte
firehosethe ACLU is worried about Aaron Hernandez
Following his well-publicized arrest, former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez is now living in a much less public place. Hernandez was recently placed into "protective custody" —one of the many names for solitary confinement.
Regardless of what you think of Aaron Hernandez, it's important to take a minute and remember he has not yet been convicted — in the eyes of the law, he is still innocent until proven guilty. But, while awaiting trial, he has been locked alone in a small room with little or no human interaction for over 20 hours a day.
Extreme isolation can have debilitating psychological effects. Prisoners locked alone in solitary confinement may become depressed or begin hallucinating. Psychologists have said that the effects of prolonged solitary confinement can be irreversible, and an emerging international community has begun to recognize solitary confinement as a form of torture.
08 Jul 04:53
Airline websites are for normal times
firehose"It's a secret that you often can get better service by going through Twitter" and being even slightly famous.
Airline websites are designed to automate every interaction. No human interaction. But when they make a mistake, you have to talk with them on the phone. But there's a 35 minute wait. United is going to cancel my reservation if I don't show up on a flight from Las Vegas to San Francisco on Tuesday night. It seems that for situations like this they should be ready to work with customers via email.
Update: I tweeted the problem in 140 chars to the @united account on Twitter. They asked for the flight number and confirmation number via DM, and once they had that they wiped the extra flight from my reservation. It's a secret that you often can get better service by going through Twitter.
08 Jul 04:52
The Rise Of The Warrior Cop
firehoseSWAT teams raiding poker games, unlicensed barbers, bars to perform alcohol regulatory inspections, people who took legal photos of genitalia, cockfighters, bottle rocket makers, thieves of decorative fish.
Also, SWAT teams almost _always_ kill any dogs on site, regardless of whether they arrest anyone or confiscate anything. The US Postal Service offers more training on handling dogs than any police departments except in Nashville, Omaha, Milwaukee, Austin, Fort Worth, and Arlington--and all of those departments only initiated training programs after public outrage over dog killings.
Because, of course, the public outrage over SWAT dog killings is greater than the public outrage over Fourth Amendment abuses, appeals over which federal courts have passed on taking.
Also, they wear t-shirts with pithy slogans about beating protesters. To protests. In the open.
Sal Culosi is dead because he bet on a football game — but it wasn’t a bookie or a loan shark who killed him. His local government killed him, ostensibly to protect him from his gambling habit.
08 Jul 04:44
Somerville, Fla.
by OnlyMrGodKnowsWhy
Paris of the '90s? More like the Orlando of the '10s.
Union Square Main Streets posted this video of a truck-eating sinkhole this morning next to the Dunkin' Donuts.
Via Chris Devers, who asks:
This calls for a “time to repair our crumbling infrastructure” commercial, eh?
08 Jul 04:37
Plane Crash Victim May Have Been Run Over By Emergency Vehicle
firehosechrist
One of the teenage passengers who died in the Asiana jetliner runway crash at San Francisco International Airport may have been run over by an emergency vehicle, officials said.
