firehose

Say hello to your new favorite time-suck. (Pew pew pew!)

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The Kickstarter for Pixel Press is now live. As we wrote last week, the app allows iOS devices to scan level designs drawn on special graph paper, automatically turning them into a playable platformer. Once scanned, users will be able to adjust textures and music using either pre-installed assets or their own custom work. Users will then be able to share their levels with other Pixel Press users.

Developer Roundthird is seeking $100,000 to fund the project.

PSA: Pixel Press Kickstarter is live originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 May 2013 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Established in 2008, TaskRabbit is an online service that connects people (TaskPosters) who need something done and either don't have the time to do it, the desire to do it, or the expertise to do it with people (TaskRabbits) that have the time, desire, and expertise to do it — perhaps, too, the need (or want) for some extra cash. The premise is simple: say you have a wall that needs to be painted and you post it as a task and establish a fee you are willing to pay, then TaskRabbits bid to do the task by submitting their own fee and expertise, you choose and the person comes in and does the job. TaskRabbit is available in few cities at the moment, like New York, San Francisco, Austin, and Chicago and there are over 4,000 vetted TaskRabbits running around doing errands and jobs. This month, TaskRabbit introduced a new logo designed in-house.

"We wanted to simplify. Not only has our B2B product, TaskRabbit for Business, experienced rapid growth, but we've also seen an increase in users accessing our product via mobile devices. We tried modifying the earlier rabbit logo mark with some success, but realized that we needed a heftier shift in identity expression. The old rabbit posed some technical barriers, including readability at small sizes. Since changing the rabbit is a pretty significant design decision, we decided to take the opportunity to take a critical look at our visual expression and reevaluate the design as a whole."
— TaskRabbit blog post

"Part of the reasoning behind redesigning the rabbit came from customer feedback about how TaskPosters and TaskRabbits perceived the brand. We did some research to gather these learnings and determined it was time to redefine the principle meaning behind TaskRabbit to evoke impressions of professionalism while sustaining a friendly and familiar demeanor."
— TaskRabbit blog post

Thanks for clearing that up. Wasn't sure what part of the rabbit was based on circles.

As poorly drawn as the old rabbit was — weird changes in line thicknesses, a bag without straps, strange feet — it had a clear message: running around doing stuff, quickly. And the all lowercase, italic wordmark was anything but pretty. The new logo is an aesthetic improvement but takes away the instant message of the original. Now, the rabbit is sitting, static. It could be argued that it — the blog post hints the rabbit is a she and is internally called "Hazel" — is waiting patiently for her next task. But it's really not. It's just a rabbit now. A rabbit that lost her messenger bag, that differentiated it from other rabbits. It's better drawn in some respects: the line-work is better, but the hind leg becomes some kind of fox tail that seems to wrap under the body, while the puffy tail sits at top. Not sure what happened there. The rabbit also mostly just works against a green background where the circle that appears in the white background version is not visible, which looks kind of strange. The typography at first glance also looks like an improvement but the design team got a little carried away with customizing whatever that font used to be. They have swashed the "k" and "R", rounded one corner of the characters, chopped of the "t" on both sides, etc. Also, in application, they list Omnes and Source Sans Pro as primary typefaces with ITC Avant Garde Gothic as a secondary typeface… um, no. Unless you are being graphically ironic, you do not mix three sans serif fonts like that. I'm thinking I'll apply as a TaskRabbit and run the errand of selecting some typefaces for them.

Thanks to Joey Cordes for the tip.

Don't forget to cast your vote about this post online

Maureen Johnson Calls For An End To Gendered Book Covers With An Amazing Challenge (IMAGES):

What covers would famous male writers probably have been given if they were women?

You know that couple where everything is just public displays of affection and love notes? That's Electronic Arts and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The two companies announced this morning they'll continue going steady until December 31, 2022.

Under the agreement, EA retains the exclusive rights to FIFA-branded games, including the exclusive rights to the official FIFA World Cup game. In the executive understatement of the week, EA Sports EVP Andrew Wilson said, "EA Sports released the first FIFA-branded soccer game in 1993, and 20 years later our partnership with FIFA continues to be very strong."

FIFA 13 sold 14.5 million units through March, EA announced yesterday as part of its year-end financial results. That's up 30 percent from FIFA 12's sales the prior year. The franchise is doing so well that maybe folks in the States will start calling it football soon. We joke, Madden, we still love you too, baby.

EA Sports and FIFA extend exclusive license until 2022 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 May 2013 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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John Williams translated the New Testament. He was eaten by cannibals.

Link

Blizzard rolled out patch 1.08 to Diablo 3's American servers yesterday and, along with it, a very substantial bug. The patch increased the stack size for in-game gold in the auction house from 1 million to 10 million, effectively making gold ten times cheaper. Players then discovered a serious bug: Canceling a gold auction refunded them double the amount listed. Streams of the bug in action soon spread the word quickly. Thanks to the higher stack size, players were reportedly duplicating trillions in gold. Some were buying up high-value items in the auction house, thus driving up prices and massively inflating the in-game economy.

Blizzard became aware of the issue last night and shut down the auction house. As of midnight Pacific, the company had created a fix for the problem, but it still hasn't been implemented. The studio has decided not to rollback the update, and will instead "make corrections" to individual accounts. Writing on the Diablo 3 forums, community manager Lylirra stated, "We feel that this is the best course of action given the nature of the dupe, how relatively few players used it, and the fact that its effects were fairly limited within the region."

We've contacted Blizzard regarding the current status of the problem.

[Thanks, Pablo and Erik!]

Diablo 3 patch 1.08 has gold duplication bug, Blizzard working on fix originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 May 2013 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Irony 

When Jeremy Melton/Adam Carr asks each girl for a dance they each state a mean comment right after he asks them. This foreshadows each of their deaths.

• Lily
• “Eww!”
• Receives maggots in a chocolate box and her body lands in a dumpster.

Link (Thanks, Sillstaw)

Ties in Bloom

We here at MWD are having a bit of a floral tie moment right now and this post is no exception. We’re particularly obsessed with the selection over at General Knot & Co.

Floral Tie: General Knot & Co. (Vintage Navy English Rose)  |  Linen Shirt: Uniqlo  |  Leather Jacket: Emporio Armani

not shown:  Aviators: Tom Ford (Saks Fifth Avenue)  |  Jeans: Acne Max Raw  |  Shoes: Mr. Hare (Miller Lucida in Plum)  |  Wallet: Rag & Bone  |  Bag: Jack Spade Waxed Cotton (Bonobos)

dylanmeconis:

Dudes in the Pacific Northwest - particularly pasty white dudes - have this collective need to rip their shirts off the first time the temperature pokes above 65 °F (~18° C).

Not to go for a jog around the park, mind you; just to, like, air out? In the middle of a business and shopping district.

WE ARE NOT AMUSED.

TRU FAQS

Sometimes life (and art) aren’t fair, particularly in the case of classic Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote. So, let us consider his artistic brilliance and how his violence overshadows it.

Wait, would this body of work fall into hyperrealism, land art, installation? Mr. Coyote was clearly ahead of his time.

It’s sad how Wile E. Coyote is remembered for his violence, and not for his brilliantly realistic paintings of tunnels.

— Matt Roller (@rolldiggity) October 15, 2011

h/t Zach Alan

 

Pizza Compass is an app for iOS created by Daniel Blackman and Oak Studios that points users to the nearest pizzeria. The “No frills, just pizza” app is currently available for download in the iTunes App Store.

image via Pizza Compass

via swiss miss

Sorry, Volkswagen Darth Vader Kid. This new Audi commercial, starring both Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto, has beat you. You've got two Spocks smack-talking each other, Leonard Nimoy cursing, and best of all, an impromptu rendition of the "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins."

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“Hello IT, Have you tried turning it off and on again?”

During a Q&A session at the German re:publica digital conference, IT Crowd creator and writer Graham Linehan announced that he is bringing the award-winning geeky British sitcom and cast members (Chris O’Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson and Matt Berry) back to Channel 4 for one last special forty-minute episode. According to Bleeding Cool, this final episode is to be filmed in three weeks time. The script for the special was written over a year ago, but due to a pregnancy and the actors being busy in other TV and film projects, it was postposed. Haven’t seen IT Crowd or need to catch up? All four seasons are available to watch via Netflix, Hulu and Channel 4.

images via Channel 4

via Bleeding Cool

We may be seeing the death spasms of lol, and few will mourn its passing.

CHICAGO—Following today’s incident in which the Syrian Electronic Army hacked into The Onion’s Twitter account, sources at America’s Finest News Source confirmed that its Twitter password has been changed to OnionMan77 in or...

DAMASCUS, SYRIA—After hacking into The Onion’s Twitter account earlier today, members of the Syrian Electronic Army confirmed that the organization simply wanted to have a little fun before soon dying at the hands of rebel forces.

Well, firing your IT person is certainly not a bad place to start. Create safe passwords by only using the trustworthy letters and numbers. Reduce interest in your website by cutting down on stories about very popular subjects, such as Syria. Move site t...

By The Syrian Electronic Army

WXIA-TV

Three parties due $1 million reward from Dorner manhunt WXIA-TV LOS ANGELES -- During the manhunt for Christopher Dorner, a $1 million reward was offered by Los Angeles Police. That reward, according to the AP, will soon go to three parties. Los Angeles police said the hefty reward will be split, with most of the money ... and more »

Diablo III's in-game economy is in serious trouble tonight after users claim to have discovered an exploit in the game's latest update which lets them duplicate gold.

Tilda Swinton on the set of David Bowie’s music video The Stars (Are Out Tonight) photographed by Floria Sigismondi

Have you heard? There’s a new swell in town named Gatsby, and he’s bringing flapper flair back into fashion. Baz Luhrmann’s latest cinematic spectacle—his take on The Great Gatsby—promises to be a sensational commercial for Prada and Brooks Brothers, who partnered with Luhrmann’s wife, costume designer Catherine Martin, on the film’s clothing.

But if you think flappers were only about drop-waist dresses, fox furs, cloche hats and excessive celebration, you’re missing the point. The trouble with Gatsby is, as beautifully as F. Scott Fitzgerald describes the opulent world of 1920s high society in his novel, he gets flappers all wrong. That’s because he portrays this liberated “New Woman” through the eyes of men.

Through their writings, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald—the young, glamorous literary couple du jour—defined the Jazz Age as we know it. Scott declared his Southern belle wife, whom he married in 1920, “the first American flapper.” The inspiration for Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby, Zelda was known for her wild antics, like drunkenly jumping, fully clothed, into the fountain at New York’s Plaza Hotel.

In her June 1922 piece for Metropolitan Magazine called “Eulogy on the Flapper,” 22-year-old Zelda only hints at the radical edge of the flapper movement:

The Flapper awoke from her lethargy of sub-deb-ism, bobbed her hair, put on her choicest pair of earrings and a great deal of audacity and rouge and went into the battle. She flirted because it was fun to flirt and wore a one-piece bathing suit because she had a good figure, she covered her face with powder and paint because she didn’t need it and she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn’t boring. She was conscious that the things she did were the things she had always wanted to do.

But in the 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, Scott depicted a more dire view of flappers. Narrated by a man, the cautionary tale seems to warn against the wiles of The New Woman—the feminist ideal of an educated and sexually liberated woman that emerged in the 1900s. So instead of intelligent, independent women telling their own stories of rebelling and rejecting their mother’s values, you have male war buddies sharing how vapid, spoiled socialites carelessly wrecked their lives. In “A Feminist Reading of the Great Gatsby,” Soheila Pirhadi Tavandashti points out the pattern:

The novel abounds in minor female characters whose dress and activities identify them as incarnations of the New Woman, and they are portrayed as clones of a single, negative character type: shallow, exhibitionist, revolting and deceitful. For example, at Gatsby’s parties we see insincere, ‘enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other’s names,’ as well as numerous narcissistic attention-seekers in various stages of drunken hysteria.  … a drunken young girl who has her ‘head stuck in the pool’ to stop her from screaming; and two drunken young wives who refuse to leave the party until their husbands, tired of the women’s verbal abuse, ‘lifted [them] kicking into the night.’

Indeed, Zelda, who was ultimately diagnosed with schizophrenia and died at an insane asylum, spent most of her marriage struggling to define herself as an artist and her own person. Her husband copied liberally from her journals and letters for his novels. When she finally wrote an autobiographical novel of her marriage in 1932, Save Me the Waltz, he edited out several of the stories that he intended to use for his own, 1934’s Tender Is the Night.

But Zelda, as fearless and trail-blazing as she was, can’t even embody the flapper movement fully. For one, it was not all white women, as NYU’s Modern America reports: “For the time being, the bob and the entire Flapper wardrobe, united blacks and whites under a common hip-culture.” Secondly, the flapper’s rebellion against Victorian sexual mores didn’t start among the high-society debutantes but in “working-class neighborhoods and radical circles in the early 1900s before it spread to middle-class youth and college campuses.”

The flapper movement wasn’t simply a fashion trend, as Emily Spivack at Smithsonian.com’s Threaded blog explains; it was a full-blown, grassroots feminist revolution. After an 80-year campaign by suffragists, women were finally granted the right to vote in the United States in 1920, when the 19th Amendment was passed. When the U.S. entered World War I in April 1917, many women entered the workforce, and when the soldiers returned in November 1918, their female counterparts were reluctant to give up their jobs.

As a result, young, unmarried women experienced far greater financial independence than they’d ever had before. Bicycles, and then cars, allowed them to get around town without a male escort. The spread of electric lighting allowed nightclubs to flourish, just as the Prohibition Amendment of 1919 forced them to go underground. Drinking at illegal “speakeasies” became a thrilling part of flapper culture.

Inspired by Cubist art and Art Nouveau haute couture, flappers rejected the dramatic, hyper-feminine S-shaped Edwardian silhouette created by tight, time-consuming corsets for sheath dresses that gave them boxy boyish shapes. This straight up-and-down figure was so extreme that curvier women went out of their way to squeeze into girdles and bandage their breasts flat. These radical women pushed the boundaries of androgyny even further by chopping off their long Edwardian locks for bobbed hairstyles.

At the same time, flappers revealed a shocking amount of skin. The older generation was absolutely outraged by the site of bare knees and arms, which flappers would highlight with loads of bangles. They were also appalled by the red lips, rouged cheeks and kohl-lined eyes of flappers, as previously only prostitutes had worn makeup. So flappers were derided for being both too masculine and too titillating.

Importantly, most flappers felt no particular hurry to get married, since they were working and able to provide for themselves. They dated casually, flirting, kissing, petting, and even had sex with men they had no interest in committing to. It’s not surprising that artistic men like Fitzgerald would find them so attractive—and terrifying enough to make them the center of his novel cautioning against self-indulgence and hedonism.

Flapper fashion had lost its edge by the mid-1920s, when department stores and mail-order companies had discovered the money-making potential of this radically new look. It wasn’t long before the Great Wall Street Crash of 1929, which led to the Great Depression of the 1930s, crushed the fun, free spirit of Jazz Age, forcing men and women alike to get less materialistic and more practical about money.

But the flapper’s influence on American culture could not be undone. She rejected the notion that women should be submissive and keep to their “separate sphere” of the home. She proved that women could work and live independent from men—and party just as hard. She opened up new conversations about dating, sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases.

Keep all this in mind while you watch the new Gatsby. Like the 1926 Sears catalog, Hollywood is exploiting an ever-popular cultural phenomenon to sell you something. These vain, manipulative characters wrecking havoc onscreen in their fabulous Prada shifts are not the true flappers.

Cover of Flapper magazine from 1922, showing actor Billie Dove in football uniform, from Wikimedia Commons

This is an edited version of a longer piece with more illustrations at Collectors Weekly.

 

Purgatory