firehose

eccyclema:

valiantparadox:

#there’s another reason why his picture is beside genocide

OH YOU LITTLE FUCKER

Today I learned that the full theme song for TV court drama reality show, The People’s Court, is a funky little number called “The Big One.” It was created by British composer Alan Tew and it was used for the show’s intro from 1981-1993.

video via operator35, 2008

via Dan Shick

Microsoft will match Sony's example and use an X86 series processor from AMD in its next console, according to Bloomberg's anonymous sources. The still-unannounced console is said to use a "Jaguar" CPU with integrated GPU, abandoning the IBM PowerPC tech used in the Xbox 360.

That means, like the PS4, the new Xbox will have difficulty emulating its predecessor, since it will be built on different architecture. The good news, however, is that with both of those consoles (allegedly) using similar architecture, and PCs also similarly laid out, multiplatform game development will be much easier.

Except for the Wii U, of course.

The Verge reports that Microsoft is holding some kind of event on May 21, believed to be an Xbox event.

Bloomberg: Next Xbox has X86 AMD chip originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In an excellent NYT story, Sarah Lyall reports on "lights-out London" -- the phenomenon whereby ultra-wealthy foreigners (often from corrupt plutocracies like Kazakhstan and Russia) are buying up whole neighbourhoods in London, driving up house-prices beyond the reach of locals, and then treating their houses as holiday homes. They stay for a couple weeks once or twice a year, leaving whole neighbourhoods vacant and shuttered through most of the year, which kills the local businesses and turns central London into something of a ghost town.

“Some of the richest people in the world are buying property here as an investment,” [Paul Dimoldenberg, leader of the Labour opposition in Westminster Council] said. “They may live here for a fortnight in the summer, but for the rest of the year they’re contributing nothing to the local economy. The specter of new buildings where there are no lights on is a real problem...”

Meanwhile, prices are rising beyond expectation. For single-family housing in the prime areas of London, British buyers spend an average of $2.25 million, Ms. Barnes said, while foreign buyers spend an average of $3.75 million, which increases to $7.5 million if they are from Russia or the Middle East...

The most visible, and also the most notorious, of the new developments is One Hyde Park, a $1.7 billion apartment building of stratospheric opulence on a prime corner in Knightsbridge, near Harvey Nichols, the park and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which functions as a 24-hour concierge service for residents. Apartments there have been purchased mostly by foreign buyers who hide their identities behind murky offshore companies registered to tax havens like the Isle of Man and the Cayman Islands.

It is rare to see anyone coming to or going from the complex, and British newspapers have been trying since it opened two years ago to discover who lives there. Vanity Fair reported recently that as far as it could discern after a long trawl through records, the owners seem to include a cast of characters who might have come from a poker game in a James Bond movie: a Russian property magnate, a Nigerian telecommunications tycoon, the richest man in Ukraine, a Kazakh copper billionaire, someone who may or may not be a Kazkh singer and the head of finance for the emirate of Sharjah.

A Slice of London So Exclusive Even the Owners Are Visitors [NYT/Sarah Lyall]

(via Beyond the Beyond)

By Brian Crecente on Apr 08, 2013 at 4:27p

Rod Fergusson, the former Gears of War producer who joined Irrational Games to help wrap up BioShock Infinite, is in the process of leaving the company, Fergusson confirmed to Polygon today.

Fergusson says that while he is still at the company he is in the process of working through the transition and hasn't yet determined where he will go next.

"During my departure from Epic, I learned that Irrational was in need of a 'closer' to help finish BioShock Infinite," he wrote to Polygon. "I've been striving for better storytelling in the games I've worked on and I saw this as a great opportunity to learn from Ken and his team on how to build a truly story-driven game.

"I am very proud of the work that I did and of the team and what they were able to accomplish on Infinite. Now with the game shipped successfully, I've done what I set out to do here and now I'm looking forward to the next chapter in my life and career."

Fergusson joined Irrational Games last August as the executive vice president of development, spending about nine months helping with the final development of BioShock Infinite. The game released two weeks ago to high acclaim. Fergusson's departure was timed to the game's release, we're told.

Prior to his stint at Irrational, Fergusson spent more than seven years at Epic Games where he served various producing roles on the Gears of War trilogy and other Epic titles. His departure from Epic came the month after massive Chinese internet company Tencent purchased 40 percent of total Epic capital for $330 million. That investment led to Tencent appointing two representatives to the Epic board of directors.

Fergusson's departure was followed by a number of other high profile departures from the company including three leads at Bulletstorm-developer People Can Fly, which was acquired by Epic in 2007. In October, Cliff Bleszinski left the studio after two decades with the company. In December, the president of Epic Games, Mike Capps, announced that he was retiring from his role at the company and "transitioning into an advisory role as well as remaining on the Epic board of directors." Earlier this month, Capps gave up that connection with the company too, saying he is no longer affiliated with Epic.

During last month's Game Developer Conference, Fergusson joined a group of other producers, creative directors and studio heads on a panel about how to motivate developers.

We've reached out to Fergusson to see where he might be heading next. We've also reached out to Irrational Games for comment. We will update this story when they respond.

Neill Blomkamp rocked our eyeballs with District 9, so expectations are high for his second movie Elysium. We just attended a press preview, where we saw a brand new trailer, plus some other new footage. Here are our first impressions.

Read more...

A Aleing Beer Authors é uma grande variedade de cervejas artesanais inspiradas em seis grandes nomes da literatura mundial, que além de serem homenageados, acabaram nos rótulos da iniciativa pra lá de bacana. Em cada cerveja busca-se alguma relação com o autor homenageado e sua literatura para as características da bebida. Quem aí está afim de um gole?
01. 02. 03. 04. 05. 06.

“

Obama was one of the first politicians to recognize the potential of social media in communicating with voters. His Twitter account was created by a staffer on March 5, 2007, two months before he formally announced his candidacy. Throughout that contest, his first term, and second campaign for the presidency, Obama’s campaign staff used it to share news about the president’s policy priorities and to try and engage Americans in his efforts. Then, in January, it handed the reins to Organizing for Action, a new entity that took over much of Obama’s campaign apparatus: website, social media accounts, email list — even the abbreviated shorthand of “OFA.” The organization updated the bios associated with the social media accounts (“This account is run by Organizing for Action staff”) and then kept tweeting and Facebooking, with a new emphasis on joining — and, ideally, contributing to — the new OFA. Without skipping a beat, a brand-new organization gained millions of followers on social media. It’s like the president, mid-conversation, handed his phone to a telemarketer who does a great Obama impression. Or, to be more accurate, one telemarketer — the campaign — handed the phone to another one.

But to the government, OFA and the Obama campaign are very different legal creatures. Organizing For Action was created earlier this year as a 501(c)(4) non-profit under IRS code — the same as other political non-profits, like the conservative groups FreedomWorks and Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS. There are particular things a 501(c)(4) can and cannot do. It can raise scads of money, which is appealing to political organizations. But it cannot expressly advocate for a political candidate, which some organizations tend to consider a bit of an impediment. What a 501(c)(4) can do politically is what’s known as issues advocacy, pressuring elected officials and candidates on issues for the “promotion of social welfare.” This vague-sounding phrase is legally vague as well, and has generally been interpreted to allow for pretty much any sort of political statement short of “Vote For Candidate X.” So if Organizing For Action wants to, say, convince Congress to support background checks, it can send material to voters in a senator’s district, requesting that they call their senator and demand he vote the right way.

Or, easier, they can tweet a similar request.

Tell Congress: 92% of Americans support universal background checks—and it’s time to pass them now. OFA.BO/rYQWAp #VoteGunSense
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 2, 2013 

If you’re someone who started following the president during last year’s election, this could easily appear to be a request from the President of the United States — or, perhaps obviously, one of his staffers — asking that you contact your Congressmember. It isn’t. He may not even agree with what it says.

”

- You’re Not Following @BarackObama on Twitter - Yahoo! News

BFF: Grandmother I need to talk to you
Grandma: [concerned voice] What? What is it? Are you sick?
BFF: No, no. Grandma. I'm gay.
Grandma: What?
BFF: I'm gay Grandma. I have a girlfriend now.
Grandma: [relieved voice] Oh honey, is that all? I thought you had cancer. Anytime someone needs to tell me something they are sick. Who's your girlfriend, when is her birthday? I'll bake her a pie.

“I put Tabasco on everything.”

- I’m Cory Doctorow, and This Is How I Work, tl;dr

“Experts suggest that parents of children born in the western United States or Pacific regions in March or April 2011 get their children checked by a pediatrician for congenital hypothyroidism.”

- Fukushima fallout may be causing illness in American babies: Study | The Lookout - Yahoo! News

don’t read the comments

Sarah Silbert, Engadget:

The next-gen Thunderbolt tech (code-named Falcon Ridge) enables 4K video file transfer and display simultaneously in addition to running at 20 Gbps. It will be backward-compatible with previous-gen Thunderbolt cables and connectors, and production is set to ramp up in 2014.

This could enable the first generation of desktop Retina displays: it wouldn’t surprise me if the first standalone Retina display was a 23” panel with exactly 4K resolution (3840 × 2160), run logically as 1920 × 1080 (1080p) at 2X, and driven by upgraded Thunderbolt ports in the next generation of MacBook Pros and Mac Pros.

∞ Permalink

NPR

Washington's budget cuts threaten to stall Bin Laden son-in-law trial Al-Bawaba US Senator Kelly Ayotte points to a photo of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith (L) during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI). Budget cuts imposed on the trial of Osama Bin Laden's son-in-law, Sulaiman Abu ... US budget cuts are threatening to hold up a terrorism trial for Osama Bin Laden's ...BBC News Budget Woes Could Delay Trial For bin Laden KinNew Jersey 101.5 FM Radio US terrorism effort relies on killingBoston Globe Boise State Public Radio -CBS Local -Daily Mail all 26 news articles »

It's official: Austin will be getting Google Fiber. There's no word on how the service will be rolled out, or how long it will take, but we do know that some Austinites will be getting the gigabit internet, television, and telephone service in the future. So far Google has limited Fiber to Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS, but no longer. Neither Google nor the CIty of Austin have announced the news — rather, a press release from Gig.U, which is described as a coalition of univeristies promoting the expansion of next-generation broadband technologies, released word of the Fiber expansion. The press release is dated for release tomorrow, April 9th, when Google and Austin had planned an event to announce something "very important", but it appears that someone accidentally posted the release early.

Developing...

National Post

Science proves women like men with bigger penises NBCNews.com The human male possesses the Italian designer faucet of penises. They're pretty big, the biggest of any primate's relative to body size. And they're showy, too, right out there, front and center on our upright bodies (i.e., they don't retract), as if they were meant ... Size indeed matters, suggests male attractiveness studyUSA TODAY Study: Women Like Big Flaccid PenisesNew York Magazine Women Choose Mates by Shoulder Size First, Research SuggestsBloomberg U.S. News & World Report -Los Angeles Times -The Australian all 27 news articles »

Last year Blackmagic Design announced its Cinema Camera, and this year at NAB the company is going both bigger and smaller with two new cameras. The company's Production Camera 4K features 12 stops of dynamic range, a Super 35-sized sensor, and a global shutter. It has SSD slots to capture your footage, and much like its predecessor, the camera's interface is run almost entirely through the touchscreen on its back. The Production Camera 4K is priced at a compelling $3,995 — a number that calls to mind RED's infamous Scarlet promise of "3K for $3K." The price and capabilities of that camera ended up changing long before it ever shipped, but Blackmagic appears ready to go in this instance, with an expected July ship date.

---

The $995 Pocket Cinema Camera is another beast entirely. It's a small camera — roughly the width of an iPhone 5 — that is able to capture 1080p video with 13 stops of dynamic range. That's in line with the Canon 5D Mark III, but it's coming in a smaller package and a much friendlier price. The Pocket Cinema Camera uses a Super 16-sized sensor, and records its footage directly to SD cards. As far as lenses go, it features a Micro Four Thirds mount, but adapters can open up the variety of lenses that can be used. Blackmagic is pitching it not just as a pocket, on-the-go video camera, but a versatile device that can also be used with large lenses and rigs for more professional use.

A great balance between heft and portability

We were able to spend a little time with Pocket Cinema Camera, and while we weren't able to shoot any footage ourselves, we were able to get a sense of how the device felt as well as how its output looked on a monitor. The camera felt solid and reliable, demonstrating a great balance between heft and portability — though unfortunately it doesn't use the same touchscreen interface as its larger siblings. The video output looked solid, though it was hard to gauge that 13-stop dynamic range in the brightly-lit set Blackmagic was using. However, the company also showed off some images it said were taken with the camera, which demonstrated how an indoor scene could be captured in its entirety — as well capturing what was happening outside a window on a sunny day. Blackmagic is aiming to release the Pocket Cinema Camera in July as well, and judging by the throngs at the booth here at NAB we imagine it may have quite a few potential customers lined up.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and Production Camera 4K hands-on photos

• Related Items pocket cinema camera production camera 4k cinema camera 4k nab nab 2013 Blackmagic

JCPenney has fired CEO Ron Johnson, who was brought in after his stint as Apple's retail chief to help bring the brick-and-mortar retailer around. The news comes after a report from The New York Times last week that revealed that the CEO has sustained a 97 percent pay cut for failing to institute changes that brought success to the Apple Store. CNBC first reported the news, which is yet to be confirmed. An anonymous source familiar with the situation is cited in the report, which is still developing.

Developing...

explodingdog:

My Favorite Songs

explodingdog:

Crazy Monster is not feeling good.

The author of this book describes herself as a “health and beauty researcher.” I won’t deny you the pleasure of clicking thru to the book preview and reading some of her 101 Kick Ass Things To Do Instead Of Eating, but I will say that telling someone to go on a jog instead of eating doesn’t require that much of an investment in health and beauty research.

It’s fucked-up enough to write a book encouraging women to develop or deepen their eating disorders by telling them they “deserve a flat belly” and that they should clean their house instead of eating. What pushes this one over the edge is that the first book was so successful the author wrote a sequel.

“…this video should help clarify whether you are fucking or not fucking.”

Comedian and musician Reggie Watts has released the music video for his song “If You’re Fucking, You’re Probably Fucking” on YouTube comedy channel JASH.

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

“

A favorable outcome for Aereo and the Hopper in court would push TV operators to dramatically reshape themselves. It could even force them to trade in their broadcast towers and become cable channels alongside networks such as Bravo, AMC and ESPN, says Garth Ancier, who has been the top TV programmer at Fox, NBC and the WB networks.

“They won’t have a choice,” Ancier said. “When someone attacks your business, sometimes you do something radical.”

Some of the top four major networks have been considering just such a move for months, and the emergence of the two technology threats could accelerate their decisions, according to Ancier.

”

- Tech upstarts threaten TV broadcast model | Reuters

What all the cool kids are drawing these days.

Pile of Pee Wees

Killy Joel Eats Shit.