Born into a well-to-do Staten Island family in 1866, Alice Austen found her life’s passion after her sea caption uncle brought back a camera from his travels.
At 10 years old, she began taking photos, and by 18 was carrying around a heavy trunk filled with equipment, chronicling social events, family gatherings, and parties.
By the 1890s she was bringing her camera to Manhattan, where she “photographed the newly arriving immigrants and older residents as they went about their business,” states the website for Staten Island’s Alice Austen House, which preserves her home and legacy.
“Alice always photographed the people and places of her world as they actually appeared, giving us a beautiful visual window on 19th century America.”
She collected many of these photos in “Street Types of New York City,” an 1896 portfolio of images of peddlers, salesman, and other workers as she encountered them on city streets. She continued taking photos through her life; over 3,500 survive.
Austen’s comfortable life imploded after the stock market crash of 1929. For the remaining decades of her life, she and her companion, Gertrude Tate, lived in poverty.
Just before her death in 1952, her work finally received notoriety, and in the decades since, her standing as a pioneering female photographer of the beautiful and rich as well as the poor and struggling has continued to grow.
The Alice Austen House recently ended an exhibit of her street photography. But the house continues to promote her reputation as an artist and early female photographer.
Humble Bundle, best known for bundling video games and offering them at a pay-what-you-want price, launched the Humble eBook Bundle 2 today.
Available for only two weeks, the bundle includes Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, Robert Charles Wilson's Spin and Lois McMaster Bujold's Shards of Honor. Those who contribute more than the average amount donated, which currently sits at $9.38, will also unlock Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn and Wil Wheaton's Just a Geek.
The retail price of all the books in the bundle come to more than $70, but bundle buyers can choose how much they want to pay.
Supporters will be able to choose to divide their money between the authors of the books, Child's Play Charity, the Electronic Frontier Foundation or Humble Bundle itself. All eBooks are DRM-free and come in multiple formats to support popular devices like the Kindle and iPad.
Ever since the first details of the NSA’s surveillance programs broke in early June, there have been two distinct types of coverage. There’s news about the NSA itself — its programs, the fallout. And there’s been news about the guy who leaked the information, Edward Snowden. And, lately, Snowden appears to be dominating the headlines.
As well as releasing the Mac version of Moncao: What's Yours Is Mine today, Pocketwatch Games' also launched Steam Workshop and level editor support for the action-stealth game.
Consumers who bought the Windows PC version of the title can download the Mac release for free. Dubbed "The Mole's Workshop," the level editor allows gamers to create custom Monaco missions and maps and share them with friends. Users also have access to the same tools used to create the game's original campaign missions and stories. At the time of writing, almost 200 custom Monaco maps have been created and submitted using The Mole's Workshop. A comprehensive guide on how to create Monaco maps is available on the Steam Community website.
An XBLA version of Monaco was expected alongside the Steam release on April 24; however, the console version was delayed a day before its launch when the developer discovered a bug that disconnected four-player matches. A second fix was required before it was released on Xbox Live Arcadeon May 10.
For more information about Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine, be sure to read our review and our feature on Pocketwatch Games, where we speak to the studio's founder Andy Schatz.
Film buffs could be forgiven for assuming that a documentary called A Girl & A Gun would be about Jean-Luc Godard (who famously cited those two items as all one needs to make a movie), or perhaps about film noir. It’s meant quite literally here, though. The subject is women and firearms. What about women and firearms? Well, did you know that some women use firearms? It’s true! Were you aware that guns are more commonly associated with masculinity than with femininity? If not, prepare to be amazed. And get this—Hollywood has been known to put guns in the hands of busty actresses in an eroticized fashion. At times, A Girl & A Gun calls to mind Albert Brooks’ sardonic remark to William Hurt in Broadcast News, in response to Hurt’s manipulative report on date rape: “I think you really blew the lid off nookie.”
The 24-hour sale began late yesterday evening and will continue throughout today, according to a post on Major Nelson's blog. Xbox Live users can save 75 percent off of their purchase of The Witcher 2 and The Orange box, which are available today for $9.99 and $4.99, respectively. Both Crysis 3 and Left 4 Dead 2 are discounted by 67 percent, and are available for $19.99 and $9.99, respectively. Forza Horizon is discounted 63 percent and will be available to purchase for $14.99 today.
Eleven other titles are discounted by up to 85 percent until July 8, as shown below. Announced last week, this ongoing sale will see 32 titles heavily discounted over seven days on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Games on sale until July 8:
Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway $4.99 Far Cry Instincts Predator $4.99 Crysis $4.99 Command And Conquer: Red Alert 3 $4.99 WWE '13 $14.99 Mass Effect $4.99 Prey $2.99 Bulletstorm $4.99 Perfect Dark Zero $2.99 Dragon Age: Origins $4.99 Divinity 2: The Dragon Knight Saga $4.99
What do you think of Monaco? Jim thought it was entirely delightful, and he was tickled neon pink (and neon every other color) by its roguish charms. This bit of his opinion rainbow, especially, is pertinent: “I particularly like The Hacker because he shows off what teeming systems the levels present. While anyone can hack a computer terminal, The Hacker can use plug sockets to send ‘viruses’ spinning around the level infrastructure. This allows you to disable alarmed doors, security cameras, and so on, but it also gives you an idea of how much there is going on in any single building. It’s a beautiful thing to see buzzing around you. It adds more life to a game that already feels fresh and awake and busy.”
Basically, the levels are brilliantly intricate webs of life, interconnected circulatory systems that you must slice and dice piece-by-piece. But now dismantling is only one side of the coin, because Pocketwatch has released The Mole’s Workshop, a free set of level editing tools with Steam Workshop integration.
It all looks quite simple, but then, placing random loot because you can and because you should are two very different things. Having the ability to make a level doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be good. Just go back in time and ask seven-year-old me to show you his gigantic collection of custom Warcraft II, er, “levels” if you want to see what I mean.
Fortunately, Steam Workshop support means that you’ll have plenty of options to choose from, a few of which I imagine will be quite sublime. So then, who plans on trying their hand at creating a thieving paradise of their very own? Me, I might give it a go, though I anticipate being supremely confused by the lack of two-headed ogres and orcs.
California lawmakers pass bill to allow transgender students to pick which ... Fox News SACRAMENTO, Calif. – State lawmakers are sending Gov. Jerry Brown a bill that would require California's public K-12 schools to let transgender students choose which restrooms they use and which school teams they join based on their gender identity ...
Ben Lincoln discovered that his Motorola Droid X2 was silently sending an enormous amount of private, sensitive information to Motorola, without permission -- much of it without any encryption. He carefully documented the scope of the leaks, and gave the steps necessary to repeat his work. It's a terrible, and potentially criminal, design decision by Motorola, and demands full disclosure from the company and full investigation by independent researchers. (via /.)
Apple has hired Paul Deneve, the now former CEO of fashion house Yves Saint Laurent. His new position has not yet been defined, but, in a statement provided to Bloomberg, the company said he will work on "special projects" as a VP reporting straight to Tim Cook.
Deneve is making his return to the company after a long stint away; he worked in sales and marketing for Apple Europe between 1990 and 1997. After that he started a career in the fashion industry with Courrèges, eventually becoming YSL's CEO in 2011.
The hire appears to be unrelated to Apple's most prominent vacant position — the company is yet to replace John Browett, who left as retail chief in last year's executive shakeup that removed Scott Forstall. Browett had been on the job for less than a year after taking over from Ron Johnson, who had been at the company for over a decade and oversaw the introduction of Apple's iconic stores.
Nerdcore rapper Adam Warrock has sung about everything from Firefly to Marvel's West Coast Avengers comics, and now we can add the new Battlestar Galactica series to his oeuvre. He's just released an 8-song EP inspired by the original miniseries, and io9 is proud to debut the first track and music video, "Galactica."
On top of everything else, 'On Friday, he told Official Comedy Standup in an interview that women who protested against rape jokes were "selfish," pointing out that "everybody gets raped" '
Comedy Central's latest girl wonder, Amy Schumer, just had her satirical comedy show Inside Amy Schumer renewed for a second season. The show has drawn praise for its awkward, frank humor and for positioning Schumer as the lone female in Comedy Central's regular comedy roundup. The success comes with a dark cloud in the form of a staff writer, comedian Kurt Metzger, who allegedly harassed feminist bloggers online, stated in an interview that he was "pro-rape," and claimed to have committed domestic violence himself by "criminally choking" an ex.
What will his employer do about it?
Lindy West and Sady Doyle, two outspoken critics of rape humor in comedy, are accusing Metzger of an online harassment campaign that started more than a month ago. Doyle is taking the evidence straight to Amy Schumer and Comedy Central.
Among the blowback from the Biased appearance, said West, was a barrage of comments from Kurt Metzger.
Screengrab via Lindy West
Doyle, who, like West, spoke to the Daily Dot over email, drew Metzger's attention after an essay she wrote in May about her uncomfortable reaction to comic Sam Morril's standup routine. It featured multiple rape jokes, including one gag about having sex with his unconscious girlfriend.
Doyle wrote of Morril's show:
It wasn’t just the occasional rape joke, or the occasional self-congratulation for telling the rape joke, that made the set so exhausting. It was just the steady, relentless, predictable drone of a man whose only punchline was some variation on “I do not like women.”
Doyle said Metzger had criticized her reaction to the routine in Facebook posts that are no longer public. In a lengthy interview with comedy blog Splitsider, Metzger spoke out against feminist critics of comedy, arguing that "[t]he only valid criticism of a joke is that it's not funny." He mentioned Doyle's essay on Morril, but the published version never mentioned Doyle's name. Doyle then reached out to the author, Phil Davidson, flagging Metzger in the process.
Screengrab via Sady Doyle
According to a transcript she shared with the Daily Dot, Doyle attempted to engage Metzger in a dialogue about his comments via Facebook's private messaging feature. Doyle asked Metzger to read a study showing that exposure to sexist humor makes men more likely to commit rape. Metzger dismissed the academics as knowing nothing about comedy.
"[A] study on jokes by people who aren't funny is inherently bullshit," he told her. He also scoffed at the idea that rape jokes increase the proclivity to commit rape, comparing it to the claim that video games increase the potential to commit violent crime.
As far as if Im hilarious. I don't know. But I've already been validated by ALLLLLLLLL the comics you think are good so it's too late to make me feel differently now. But maybe louie [sic] and attell and giraldo and ganeane [sic] and sarah and dave chappelle and marc maron and etc are wrong and you're right Im not funny.
Following the attention from Metzger, both women saw imposter accounts pop up on Facebook and Twitter. West had her own Facebook account briefly deleted along with the actual sockpuppet account. "[The imposter] mostly talked about how much I hate rape and love donuts," she said.
In most cases, each sockpuppet account messaged or referenced Metzger shortly after it was made. But Metzger, who describes himself as "a pro gay feminist who loves all races," has denied the accusations of harassment.
Although the Daily Dot could not reach Metzger for comment, he appeared to spend most of Friday derisivelyresponding to Doyle's attempts to alert Schumer to his behavior.
Attempts to reach representatives for Metzger, Schumer, and Comedy Central to verify Metzger's claims went unanswered. We couldn't confirm the authenticity of the deleted screengrabs or that the Facebook rant about choking his ex-girlfriend is true, nor could we verify his raise. But Metzger's continued comments might well raise some eyebrows at his employer's HQ. On Friday, he told Official Comedy Standup in an interview that women who protested against rape jokes were "selfish," pointing out that "everybody gets raped":
Isn't it so selfish? Rape—'cause that—that really becomes, like a—you have to fight a feminist with that shit. Which is insane, because rape—everybody gets raped... And men—literally can't talk about them. If you get raped as a man, not only is it hilarious... right? ... You know how they say "rape culture," how that's like a thing here? We don't have that here... If you think that, you're such a fucking privileged asshole, to think you live in America and there's a rape culture. You piece of shit. You'll probably never be raped here, you animal.
Metzger went on to disparage the "commies" involved in critiquing comedy:
Listen, you fucking fuckface. I don't give a—listen, put me down for pro-rape as far as you're concerned. That's how much I don't give a shit how you as a blogger feel. If you as a blogger have a problem, write down I'm pro-rape. That's how much you don't matter.
Without any apparent irony, Metzger claimed to "know a lot of rape victims," and insisted that "no one I know that was victimized has any problem with any joke they've ever heard. ... A lot of them ... would like to be treated like they weren't raped." He also suggested that there's nothing particularly unique about sexual assault as opposed to any other kind of assault, claiming that "shame" doesn't come "from the actual [rape]—that's like, what we put on it, on top of it."
Doyle and others screencapped a now-deleted Facebook post from last month. In it, Metzger apparently confesses to "choking" an ex-girlfriend because she "was insane" and "who the fuck thinks they can smash my shit with a hammer???" In the same thread, he admits that he shouldn't have committed the assault, but he rationalizes his actions by asserting that she should have been more afraid of him:
fuck you bitch. you clearly don't have a fear you should have.
Doyle told the Daily Dot that this admission, even more than Metzger's hostile behavior towards feminists who disagree with him, was the real story:
This started out as a guy getting angry and hostile in the name of defending what he claimed were "just words," "just jokes," words that—he was adamant—had no relationship to any real-life violence, no matter how hateful or bigoted they were. (It's why he's been comfortable defending acts of racism and homophobia on his site, and using racist, homophobic and misogynist slurs—because they're "just words."). ... The words were never "just words." The jokes were never "just jokes." The violence, in his case, was very real.
Ultimately, West said, whether Metzger is behind the imposter journals or not isn't important:
The point is that this is how this slice of the comedy community treats women who speak out about misogyny. This is the kind of abuse and harassment they think we deserve for suggesting (respectfully, by the way—I have never harassed anyone) that women be treated with basic respect. ... It's a gendered thing. It's the consequence for women if we complain, especially about things that might be invisible to a lot of men.
On Twitter, Doyle was less polite.
Even if the true creator of the sockpuppet account is never exposed, the level of Metzger's vitriol may give a boost to feminism's argument within the comedy community. While Metzger argued on Facebook, "Don't worry about jokes. Rapists don't hide behind rape jokes," the domestic violence in his past—not to mention the threats in his current language—illustrate in a grim way the very real connection between "jokes" and actual assault. Ironically, Metzger is a textbook example of the academic study he mocked and dismissed—the one that explored how men who enjoy jokes about sexual violence are more likely to commit sexual violence. Metzger's admissions, truthful or not, are horrifying enough: He stated that some women "deserve a beating," then he copped to choking his girlfriend because she didn't "fear" him enough.
Metzger's wide and growing audience gives him the power to influence more men like him. Ultimately and unfortunately, Metzger's actions might end up delivering a wake-up call to the comedy community about the consequences of their words more effectively than any blogger could do on her own.
If you’re in Tokyo in September and have 6,800 yen ($68) to burn, you just might want to use that to see the brand-new, all-woman Sailor Moon stage musical opening Sept. 13. It’ll recount the battles between the Sailor Senshi and the Dark Kingdom during its search for the Silver Crystal. The principal cast, personally picked by Sailor Moon manga creator Naoko Takeuchi, has taken a few photos in their costumes, and you have to admit they look solidly like their cartoon counterparts. See the full photo, plus one of Yūga Yamato as Tuxedo Mask, after the jump.
(Pictured, from right: Yū Takhashi as Sailor Jupiter, Miyabi Matsuura as Sailor Mercury, Satomi Ōkubo as Sailor Moon, Kanon Nanaki as Sailor Mars, Shiori Sakata as Sailor Venus)
BOSTON (AP) — A Boston man has pleaded not guilty to making a fake claim of nearly $2.2 million to the main compensation fund for Boston Marathon bombing victims.
Author Octavia Butler was a national treasure — but she lived in Seattle for the final years of her life. And now, the Seattle Parks Department is seeking input on what to name a new park, and her name is one of the leading contenders. You can vote in the Parks Department Survey here.
Bennett Foddy's one-man racing game, QWOP, will launch for Android devices July 4, Droid Life reports.
The game will be available via Google Play for $0.99. QWOP was originally released as a ragdoll-based Flash game in 2008 for browsers. Players take control of an athlete attempting to complete a sprint. In the original version, players can only use the Q, W, O and P keys on their keyboard, which correspond to different parts of the athlete's body. Mobile versions feature updated touch controls.
Foddy announced earlier this year via Twitter that the game would launch for Android devices. QWOP is currently available for iOS devices.
Since their growth in popularity in the 1970s, RPGs have had a huge influence not just on players, but on everything from Hollywood to the development of video games. Now, In a world dominated by video games and social media, there remains an enduring interest in gathering around a table and playing games face to face. Beyond cards and board games, Role Playing Games allow not just for interaction and play, but the creativity of storytelling, world creation, and engagement with ideas.The adaptability of D&D and other tabletop RPGs can satisfy players in a way that our digital world still cannot, with unique game mechanics and engagement and limitless use of imagination. As tabletop RPGs enjoy a cultural resurgence, more and more people are discovering the freedom and interactivity that makes them unique.
'A new plan, dubbed “Pay it Forward, Pay it Back,” would give students the opportunity to attend public Oregon universities for free. In exchange, the students would promise to give back 3 percent of their salaries every year for 24 years after graduation. That money would go into a special fund that would, in turn, provide a free college ride to a new crops of students. The plan’s designers hope the fund will eventually become self-sustaining.
The program isn’t going into action yet—Oregon’s Senate and House of Representatives only passed a bill that simply creates a pilot program. It won’t be until 2015 that the state decides whether or not to implement the plan. Meanwhile, legislators in Washington, New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and California are interested in the idea, too, according to the Washington Post.'
So there's about 80,000 students at public 4-year Oregon universities. 54% will graduate, and 95.8% of them will have some form of employment.
Median salary for Oregonians with at least a Bachelor's degree is $49,303, so the 42,000-odd graduates with jobs would generate about $1,479/year each, or about $61 million/year, or about $1.46 billion over their whole 24-year term. Unadjusted in any way for inflation and assuming all of the 42,000 working graduates get and keep jobs and maintain an average income of $49,303/year each for 24 straight years.
Average annual tuition and fees at an Oregon four-year public university is about $8,000. Finished in four years, that's $32,000. (Realistically, assuming 7.5% increase in tuition year-over-year, it'd be $35,783). In six years, that's $48,000 (or $57,950). So it stops being a good deal vs. cash on hand if you end up making an average of about $70k/year for the first 24 years after college, give or take a few thousand.
For Free College Tuition, Would You Give 3% of Your Future Salary? PARADE Rising tuition costs—not to mention that the national student loan interest rate just doubled—are leaving many American families wondering if it's even possible to fund a college education anymore. Legislators in Oregon may have an innovative solution, the ...
"I’ll never stop feeling a bit sad when I have to celebrate the fact that someone in the gaming industry designed a female character model that’s merely inoffensive, but here we are. ... Less heartening, meanwhile, was Unknown Worlds’ explanation of the wait, which basically boiled down to time and resources. In other words, the female marine was a priority, but not enough of one to charge straight onto the frontlines at launch."
In Natural Selection 2, you can play as just about anything. Gigantic pairs of teeth with tiny feet attached, mutant god elephants, space pterodactyls, scythe-armed devil wraiths, and, you know, men. But not human women. At least, not yet. Thankfully, that’s all about to change, as Unknown Worlds has unveiled a female marine design that’s, well, pretty freaking great. Better late than never, I suppose. So hurrah! Details after the break.
I’ll never stop feeling a bit sad when I have to celebrate the fact that someone in the gaming industry designed a female character model that’s merely inoffensive, but here we are. NS2′s female marine is armored for battle – not titillation – and it definitely shows. Here’s what Unknown Worlds had to say about her:
“The game industry has a history of depicting female characters inappropriately. Often, they are stylised to such a degree that they become sexual objects: While their male comrades are clothed, armed and armoured to fight, the female character is notable for the lack of any clothing at all.”
“This is not good enough, and it’s not a trope Unknown Worlds will entertain. Games are legitimate cultural influences, and game developers are responsible for the message they choose to convey to players. The Natural Selection 2 female marine is first and foremost, like her male colleague, a soldier. Her armour puts function before form, while adopting the science fiction, melee combat aligned design ques that have made the male marine so uniquely recognisable.”
Bravo! This isn’t just some throwaway one-off deal, either. The female marine comes in multiple variants (some only available to buyers of various special editions), with custom first-person view models to match. She’ll join the menfolk in NS2′s terror-ridden alien organo-swamps toward the end of August or beginning of September. For free!
Less heartening, meanwhile, was Unknown Worlds’ explanation of the wait, which basically boiled down to time and resources. In other words, the female marine was a priority, but not enough of one to charge straight onto the frontlines at launch. That kind of thinking is, as ever, saddening, but NS2 is also a first-person shooter and – brilliantly tactical though it might be – still aimed primarily at a traditional FPS audience: dudes. But hey, baby steps. This is progress, and I definitely can’t complain.
Now then, how about a female Onos? I mean, everybody’s been asking for one. Obviously. (Or maybe the Onos is already female? I am unsure. Also, very frightened.)
The Newsstand is a new pop-up shop that is described as an “independent media take over of the Newsstand at the Metropolitan Avenue station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.” It “will feature independent magazines and zines from around the world, curated by Lele Saveri of the 8-Ball Zine Fair especially for ALLDAYEVERYDAY.”
The Newsstand has been covered in several places recently:
Variety points out in its latest issue that lead actor Armie Hammer's lack of social media presence could be hurting "The Lone Ranger."
"So far, Armie Hammer has followed a conventional media strategy that some marketing experts would argue ignores the current zeitgeist. ... In today's overexposed media landscape, where celebs are under the constant eye of cellphone cameras, bloogers and the TMZs of the world, Hammer has managed to keep his personal life below the radar. If anything, that has made him appear somewhat mysterious and elusive."
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