firehose

An anonymous reader writes "The Blackstone Group has notified Dell's board that it has ended its bid for the company after performing 'due diligence' on Dell's books. The private equity firm gave two reasons for its withdrawal in a letter to the special committee of the board reviewing privatization offers: the 'unprecedented 14 percent market decline in PC volume in the first quarter of 2013' and 'the rapidly eroding financial profile of Dell.' IBM's recently announced intention of withdrawing from the x86 server market may have also spooked investors. Blackstone was one of two outside bidders that emerged after founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners announced a deal to take the company private for $24.4 billion. The remaining bidders did not comment on Blackstone's withdrawal; however, the Bloomberg piece notes that Dell's original deal with Silver Lake Partners contains language preventing the latter from backing out."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A strong earthquake struck the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan on Saturday, killing more than 100 people and injuring thousands of others in a region that suffered a catastrophic quake five years ago.

By Griffin McElroy on Apr 20, 2013 at 10:00a

Austin's game development scene has a lot to gain from Google's high-speed internet pilot program, Google Fiber, a number of developers in the area recently told Polygon.

Earlier this month, Google announced that the Google Fiber service, currently only available in Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo., would bring its 1 GB per second internet speeds to Austin beginning in 2014. Google Fiber is pitched as a means for localized industries to flourish, turning cities into "meccas" for tech companies and new start-ups. Austin already has plenty of both, which an announcement post on the Google Fiber blog said will continue to grow once the service opens up shop next year.

"Communities that are connected to the Internet grow stronger because there's greater potential to create jobs, drive economic growth, and help businesses succeed," the blog post reads. "We believe the Internet's next chapter will be built on gigabit speeds, and we hope this new Google Fiber city will inspire communities across America to think about what ultrafast connectivity could mean for them."

It may not be the only gigabit internet solution Austin devs have to choose from; AT&T also announced last week that it plans to build its own fiberoptic network in the area.

Polygon reached out to a number of indie and AAA developers based in Austin for their reaction to Google and AT&T's announcements. Their responses were, by and large, fairly bullish on the impending improvements to Austin's online infrastructure.

"We've tried every ISP in town and have been disappointed with them all," Twisted Pixel studio director Mike Wilford said. "It appears that Google Fiber will be far faster, cheaper, and more reliable than anything else in Austin, so we're excited at the prospect of getting better Internet access. It'll be nice to not have to overnight as many thumbdrives to Redmond because our upload speed is too crappy."

The transfer of large files like game builds and SDKs is a particular concern for many Austin-based devs who partner with out-of-state publishers to create their titles. Jools Watsham, co-founder of Mutant Mudds developer Renegade Kid, ran into connection problems when working with Nintendo on its 3DS and Wii U titles.

"I believe Google Fiber will have a significant impact on Renegade Kid's game development process," Watsham said. "We're constantly transferring very large files over the Internet to our partners, such as Nintendo, and having faster upload/download speeds and more bandwidth will improve the process a great deal."

"We've tried every ISP in town and have been disappointed with them all."

Gl33k, an audio production firm that has done work for titles like Uncharted 3, Metroid Prime 3 and Orcs Must Die, has possibly the biggest need for faster file transfers. The studio has to work with multiple builds of a title over the course of a contract, which can take hours to send and receive on a DSL line. A lot of their work is done on consoles streaming a feed from the developer they're working with; work which is made far more difficult by even the smallest amount of latency.

"Our studio is located in the heart of downtown Austin, near 7th st and Congress, yet we're stuck with terrible DSL service," Gl33k's Bobby Arlauskas told Polygon. "As a game audio vendor, we deal with many clients from all over the world and are constantly using VPN connections to sync huge amounts data (entire game builds), pushing that DSL to the limits. A Google Fiber pipe would be a godsend for sure."

Those issues get even more complicated when Gl33k works with a client developing on custom-made tools. Less standardized development kits are often networked together on a gigabit LAN; trying to emulate that connection over a non-gigabit DSL line is far from ideal.

"For example, we'll have problems with a build crashing or whatever and a client might say, 'Oh, just run our Sync and Build tool real quick,'" Arlauskas said. "And we're like, 'Well we could, but that usually takes two hours,' and they're like 'What? That takes like two minutes for us to run!'"

Not everyone is struggling with Austin's current online infrastructure, though. Adam Saltsman, creator of Canabalt, said the Google Fiber upgrade wouldn't have much of an effect on his day-to-day operations.

"It's almost impossible to say, but at least right now I'm not expecting a major impact on me personally or my little company," Saltsman said. "I telecommute almost exclusively, and tend to work on pretty small projects, and my overpriced quasi-DSL is mostly able to handle my needs. That said, Fiber would have been amazing when I was trying to upload new builds of Indie Game: The Movie to Steam last summer."

"...if a dev is eyeballing Seattle then I don't think Google Fiber will change their minds."

Nearly all the developers we spoke to also agreed that Google Fiber could bolster Austin's gaming ranks, helping to turn the city into an even larger game development hub.

"A faster, more wired Austin will continue to encourage top talent to visit the city to collaborate on projects or decide to simple put down roots and build on to the great development scene," Devolver Digital's Nigel Lowrie told Polygon.

"I will say this: It sure can't hurt," Saltsman said. "I still remember Stardock's CEO Brad Wardell talking about having to petition the governor of Michigan (where I grew up) to get something faster than consumer cable installed near their offices, so they could upload new games to their Steam-like digital download service in under 3 days. Austin broadband is in a lot better shape than that, but I think this is such an attractive city in general, that removing whatever obstacles we have (occasionally lackluster internet infrastructure being one of them) just can't hurt."

Twisted Pixel studio director Mike Wilford said the addition of Google Fiber would be good Austin's development scene, but probably won't be enough to make it a contender against major development hubs like San Francisco.

"High speed Internet access is definitely important to developers, but many devs also consider it to be important to be in one of the handful of cities that has an established game development scene, such as San Francisco, Seattle, or Austin," Wilford said. "It may not be the best ever, but those cities already have high speed Internet access in some form. Austin will become a better place for doing game development, but if a dev is eyeballing Seattle then I don't think Google Fiber will change their minds."

Google Fiber, which will also come to Provo, Ut. in the coming year following a pending city council vote, will begin appearing in select Austin neighborhoods in mid-2014. AT&T's gigabit network has no release schedule as of yet, and is dependent on the company receiving the same permissions and investments Austin city government is giving to Google.

On December 9, 2008, Charles Hamilton commented in an interview by saying that Way was making it harder for new artists to be signed.^[101]Way responded by saying “X out the Sonic and fuck with Mario, you might want to got damn eat a mushroom.”^{[102][further explanation needed]}

Link

Last we heard about Relativity Media's latest movie adaptation of The Crow, James McAvoy was in talks to play the undead Eric Draven. Now The Wrap is reporting that the production may be trading in Professor X for Loki, with Tom Hiddleston in talks for the starring role.

Read more...

#share http://instagram.com/p/YT622eNbU9/

Speak lowly and carry a large expense account.

“Early on in BioShock Infinite, the game forces players to accept the Christian religious sacrament of baptism. This did not sit well with Breen Malmberg, a gamer and a Christian, who explained to Kotaku that he refused to accept the digital baptism and demanded a refund from Valve.”

- Valve refunded BioShock Infinite gamer upset over religious scene - GameSpot.com

Ars Technica reviewer Lee Hutchinson says that Dell's Ubuntu-loaded 13" Ultrabook (the product of "Project Sputnik") is "functional," "polished," and (for a Linux laptop) remarkably unremarkable. "It just works," he says. Hutchinson points out that this is a sadly low bar, but nonetheless gives Dell great credit for surpassing it. He finds the Ultrabook's keyboard to be spongy, but has praise for most elements of the hardware itself, right down to (not everyone's favorite) the glossy screen.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

#barfo #sprots #amercia

Original Source

Tempted to make these in honor of West, Texas. (My paternal grandfather was of Czech origin and ended up in south Texas by way of Nebraska.) Might just use apricot preserves, though.

‘ #tastegift ’

KOLACHES

Americans who know kolaches are grateful to the Czechoslovakian-Americans for
this taste gift.  You sometimes encounter fruit-topped, yeast-leavened buns in
bake shops where many of these people live, such as Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota
and Wisconsin.  You are likely to have them served to you with coffee in the
homes in these ethnic neighborhoods.  Since American women have the knack for
obtaining recipes for a food new to them that tastes exceptionally good, these
Bohemian buns are baked by many American women not of Czech descent.

It may not be too easy to achieve perfection in the shape of kolaches baked for
the first time, but if you follow this recipe faithfully, you should have good
results.  To make the work easier on baking day, make the filling (or fillings
if you want to use more than one) a day ahead, cover and refrigerate.  Or you
can bake the filled kolaches several days ahead and freeze.  (If you do , omit
brushing tops of buns with melted butter and sprinkling on confectioners sugar
until after you have warmed them just before serving..  This last-minute
treatment gives them a freshly baked taste.)

KOLACHES

Tempting coffee go-withs--always the talk of the party

1/2  cup milk
2 pkgs. active dry yeast
1/2  cup warm water (110 to 115*)
3/4  cup butter or regular margarine
1/2  cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
4 egg yolks
4 1/2  cup sifted flour
Fillings (recipe below)
2 tbsp. melted butter
2 tbsp. sifted confectioners sugar

Scald milk; cool to lukewarm.  ( I have learned from the newsgroups scalding is
not necessary anymore) Sprinkle yeast on warm water; stir to dissolve. Cream
together butter, sugar, salt and egg yolks until light and fluffy.  Add yeast,
milk and 1 1/2  cup flour.  Beat at medium speed 5 minutes, scraping bowl
occasionally.  Batter should be smooth.  Stir in enough remaining flour, a
little at a time, to make a soft dough that leaves the sides of bowl.  Place in
lightly greased bowl; turn dough over to grease top.  Cover and let rise in warm
place until doubled, 1 to 1 hour 30 minutes. Stir down; turn onto lightly
floured board and divide into 24 equal pieces.  Shape each piece into a ball.
Cover and let rest 10 to 15 minutes. Place dough balls 2" apart on greased
baking sheets; press each ball of dough from center outward with fingers of both
hands to make a hollow in center with a 1/2" rim around the edge.  Fill each
hollow with 1 level tbsp. filling.  Cover and let rise in warm place until
doubled, 30 to 40 minutes. Bake in 350* oven 15 to 18 minutes or until browned.
Brush tops of rolls lightly with melted butter and sprinkle lightly with
confectioners sugar.  Remove from baking sheets and place on racks.  Makes 2
dozen.

Fillings for Kolaches

Prune:  cook 30 prunes in water to cover until tender; drain.  Mash with fork;
stir in 1/4  cup sugar and 1/4 tsp. ground allspice.  Filling should be thick.
Makes enough for 14 kolaches.

Thick Apricot:  cook 25 dried apricot halves in water to cover until tender;
drain.  Press apricots through strainer or food mill (or blend in blender).
Stir in 1/4  cup sugar.  Filling should be thick.  Makes enough filling for 10
kolaches.

Prune/Apricot:  Simmer 1  cup prunes and 3/4  cup dried apricot halves in water
to cover until tender; drain.  Chop and mash with fork.  Stir in 1/2  cup sugar,
1 tbsp. orange juice and 1 tbsp. grated orange peel.  Filling should be thick.
Makes enough filling for 24 kolaches.

From Great Home Cooking in America, Heirloom Recipes Treasured for Generations

Original Source

As the ads say, "It's a lovely day for some Guinness"—unless, of course, you're an Energon-craving robot in disguise (or simply don't like stout). To remedy the former oversight, artist Matt Kuphaldt has drawn Guinness-style ads touting the delights of a tall cube of Energon.

Read more...

He’s not a raccoon he just looks exactly like a raccoon and when anyone from Earth calls him a raccoon we always do it with an almost demeaning or judgmental tone so I think he’s responding to that more than anything.

 but this is not a new thing

Zooey Deschanel, terror suspect

Icelandic Minke Whale Jerky

During my recent visit to Iceland, I took the opportunity to photograph many of the interesting products found on the shelves of the grocery stores of its capital city of Reykjavik. I previously posted about Cool American Doritos, now here’s a look at some more of the things I spotted including Pussi canned cat food and bags of Californiu Rúsínur.

Viking Snack Tasty Dried Fish

12 Fersk Stjörnuegg

Pussi canned cat food

Skyr

Jars of Nestle baby food

Pylsusinnep, An Icelandic hot dog mustard (love the anthropomorphic hot dog!)

A sign explaining the significance of the Icelandic hot dog

Californiu Rúsínur

Ora brand canned vegetables

Corny snack bars

Dr. Beckmann and Mr Muscle cleaning products

Tyrkist Peber lollipops

Ungnautahakk

Luxury Cat Kattegrus (cat litter)

At Bonus, A Grocery Store near the Airport

Icelandic Yogurt with its own Folding Spoon

photos and video by Rusty Blazenhoff

Meltwater has come up with a nice little trick which allows you to use your laptop or desktop’s display and keyboard as the display and keyboard for your Pi. You won’t need to do any soldering or to buy any special equipment: all you need is a network cable.

You’ll be using the network port to do this, so if you were relying on it to get internet connectivity you’ll need a wireless dongle too, but using another device’s keyboard and display means that you can cut right down on the kit you need to carry around if you’re bringing your Pi somewhere to show off your latest project.

Meltwater has made an exhaustive guide to setup for beginners available, alongside a cut-down version for advanced users who don’t need quite so much help.

The Week UK

Rolf Harris arrested as part of Savile probe, reveals The Sun The Week UK ROLF HARRIS has been arrested and questioned over historic sex abuse allegations in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, it has been confirmed. The 83-year-old Australian entertainer has been under investigation since November, when he was first ... and more »

906719_10100177874160561_1025021601_o.jpg (JPEG Image, 1034 × 722 pixels)

Original Source

“Ortiz: Wont’ say if death penalty will be sought. More investigation, review will be held first. AG Holder will make that decision.”

-

Twitter / BostonGlobe: Ortiz: Wont’ say if death penalty …

not gonna lie, I’m not confident that Aaron Swartz’s prosecutor is lead on this

linaaaaaz:

I…. I can’t summarize it just in one sentence…

So…

have a magnificent afternoon people. 

seriously, Pat is like a hand puppet and jon pertwee is the ventriloquist xD

ethanoille:

“Language matters.

Boston is not “paralyzed”. We are all cooperating in assisting our officers and officials to apprehend this suspect.

Boston is not a “war zone”. We are watching teams of highly trained professionals whose main job is to protect civilians carry out that duty.

Boston is not a “ghost town”. While we’re off the streets, we remain active connecting with one another and friends around the world to maintain and strengthen our community.

#BostonStrong is everyone cooperating, everyone communicating, everyone supporting.

Resilient communities take their civic festivals very, very seriously. This attack affected all of us precisely because it was the Marathon. This crime was meant to kill our community as a community. So, we all want to help resolve it. That’s why we’re all off the streets: this is us helping.”

— - Marshall Wallace via Facebook

Marshall is a good friend; this is really good

@universalhub Fortune cookie I just opened: http://i.imgur.com/hBVcaX0l.jpg Thanks Zoe’s chinese in Somerville for delivering! (via Twitter / trisweb: @universalhub Fortune cookie …)

“Awkward Handshake: The Game” by the Montreal-based Moving Mind Studio is a short video that imagines various social situations as a first person shooter video game.

via Tastefully Offensive

GOG's Telltale collection is as good a way as any to while away the coming weekend, so it's handy the distributor has a Telltale sale to dive into. Each of the six games, namely Sam & Max Season 1, Season 2, and Season 3, Back to the Future, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, and Tales of Monkey Island, is going at 85 percent off.

You can buy the games separately, or all for a total of $26.19. That's nearly $9 less than they went for in GOG's last Telltale sale. The offer's good until Monday, April 22 at 9PM PT (midnight ET).

GOG hosting a major Telltale sale originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

“SCANNER: #WATERTOWN: SUSPECT IN CUSTODY. MEDIC, MEDIC #BOSTONMARATHON #MITSHOOTING”

- gguillotte: SCANNER: #WATERTOWN:… - App.net

"I fail to see how the NRA can disregard the overwhelming will of its members who see background checks as reasonable."

MiamiHerald.com

Boston flights operating, airlines waive change fees - USA Today USA TODAY Boston's Logan Airport is "open and flights are operating," Massachusetts Port Authority spokesman Matthew Brelis confirmed to Today in the Sky at 10 a.m. ET. He said the airport is "operating under heightened security" and advised customers to check with ... About a third of Logan International Airport flights are experiencing delaysBoston.com Boston travel: Trains, buses halted, planes flying - Philly.comPhilly.com Heavy police presence, fewer travelers at LoganBoston Globe WSOC Charlotte -Southernminn.com all 48 news articles »

The Boy Scouts of America called to end a long-standing ban on openly gay members, a spokesman said on Friday, but the organization's board must still vote in May on whether to ratify the resolution.