So there’s this Tumblr in which the artist takes every first-generation Pokémon’s face… OFF, and replaces it with the face of Nicolas Cage.
Speaking of, please make sure you’ve seen the Nicolas Cage Majora’s Mask mod.
PREORDER Pokemon X and Y, PMD: Gates to Infinity, upcoming releases
Back in June, Chinese company Tencent Holdings purchased a minority stake in Epic Games, but it turns out that stake is substantial. Tencent snatched up 48.4% of Epic Games shares last year - that comes to around $330 million invested - and even has the right to nominate individuals to Epic Games' board of directors.
Tencent sunk $330 million into Epic Games, owns nearly half of studio originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Friendly airport bookshelf: near the bar by the entry to the Aer Lingus London-Dublin gates at Heathrow Airport…
…And a few of its books.
CNN actually researched how much it would cost to go to Hogwarts
How exactly did they “research” this? Looks like they just pulled a bunch of random figures out of their butts.
It’s stated in the books that tuition to Hogwarts is “free for all children in Britain”. I don’t know why they thought it wouldn’t be - it’s a British high school, not a college. So there, you just saved yourself $42,024.
In Chamber of Secrets, Mrs. Weasley emptied her entire bank account which contained only two galleons [£10 / US$20] and she managed to buy all five children’s entire set of books and potion ingredients with this, as well as Ginny’s robes, hat, clock, cauldron, and wand!!! And we know she bought all of these as she mentioned having to buy them. The fact that she bought all of these with only £10 pretty much proves how absolutely ridiculous CNNs estimation is.
If you want more proof, the actual cost of Harry’s wand is far over estimated here, and the exact price in both pounds as US dollars can easily be found right within the books! Harry’s wand is bought for seven galleons, a galleon being worth about five pounds [mentioned by JK Rowling in an interview and in FBAWTFT/QTTA] means that his wand was £35, or US$53. So there’s some straight-out-of-the-books-and-word-of-god proof that the figures CNN have given are way off the mark. Not to mention the fact that even if you don’t go to Hogwarts, as a magical human you’re gonna have to buy a wand anyway if you want to do magic.
As for the school books, I’ve done an approximation based on various prices given through-out the books and on Pottermore. While these prices involve a substantial amount of guess-work, I think you’ll agree that my calculation is far more accurate than CNNs:
The Standard book of Spells costs one sickle [29p / US59c]. On the back of my comic relief copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them it says it costs fourteen sickles [£4.60 / US$8.26]. One Pottermore, all text books are one galleon [£4.97 / US$10.17] - however Pottermore currency only uses galleons so it’s likely they have rounded off. Lockhart’s books, the most expensive in the series, are five galleons on Pottermore meaning that the exchange rate in the books puts them around two galleons and fourteen sickles [£14.60 / US$20.80]. If we put a high average on this and assume that all textbooks are approximately a galleon [they are likely much less], and that each year has around seven required reading books, the entire price for seven years worth of books would be forty-nine galleons, which equals approximately £243, or US$367 - and remember, this is the maximum estimated price for the textbooks.
For the minimum, we need to consider that the Weasleys get a lot of things second hand, with Ginny’s copy of A Begginers Guide To Transfiguration being described as “a very old, very battered copy” - likely no more than five sickles. If they got all their books around that price, it would cost them no more than £14 / US$21 for the entire seven years worth! So school books, far from being US$516, fall somewhere between US$14 and US$367 for the entire seven years at Hogwarts.
Next we have robe, glove, cloak, and hat prices - these are never mentioned in the books or on Pottermore, so I can’t account for that. However I seriously doubt it’s as a high as they’ve got here. Considering books in the wizarding world are generally much cheaper than in the muggle world, I think it’s fairly safe to assume that clothing is as well. Likely a maximum of a galleon for a single set of robes.
They’ve also forgotten a huge number of things - cauldrons, potion ingredients, scales, and star charts, among others.
So yeah, I really don’t know where they came up with these figures. It looks like some guy just wanted to make a story about how expensive Hogwarts would be and put a bunch of American college figures together and thought “yeah, this looks good.”
Oh dear. CNN Money? Sorry, girls and boys, you just got pwned. HARD.
Gif your butt (!) over to Animal Gifs for MOAR cyoot and funneh on loop!
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Tagged: gif , wtf , paper , Cats Share on FacebookFeedBurner replacement by a tiny French shop
Gif your butt (!) over to Animal Gifs for MOAR cyoot and funneh on loop!
Submitted by: Unknown
Tagged: gif , dogs , interspecies , bunny Share on FacebookI am in love with these new posters for the Italian film Bicycle Thieves. It’s an 18″ x 24″ screenprint, has an edition of 100 (each version), and costs £40 each. Visit DarkCityGallery.com.
Indian (Moghul) Jade-Hilted Dagger
- Dated: 18th Century
- Measurements: Length 37.8cm / 14 7/8 inches
The dagger comes with a curved double-edged blade tapering to a re-curved narrow point and the forte cut with a pair of raised ribs converging within a recessed panel on both sides. It has a mottled pale green jade hilt carved in relief, decorated with arrangements of lotus leaves and flowers, including a fan-like spray of lotus buds carved in the round over the top of the pommel. A closely related example is in the Al-Sabah Collection, No. 9.26, with a probably 17th century attribution to Hyderabad.
Source & Copyright: Peter Finer
The Loneliness of Charon by Martin Tomsky
Detailing the pensive, solitary life of the ferryman Charon in gorgeous lasercut plywood, you can purchase the entire set or individual pieces over at etsy.
Artist: DeviantArt / Website / Twitter
Feminist, trans advocates should support Bradley Manning
“Everything we know from Bradley Manning’s friends, family, and legal defense team, is that he wishes to be referred to as Brad or Bradley until he’s able to get to the next stage of his life. Bradley has indicated that he’s not interested in publicly addressing this issue.” -Bradley Manning Support Network. July 24, 2012
By Rainey Reitman, Bradley Manning Support Network Steering Committee. March 1, 2012. (Originally published in the Washington Blade.)
Some thoughtful feminist scholars have recently called on the Bradley Manning Support Network to begin referring to the accused WikiLeaks whistle-blower with a female pronoun. Emily Manuel’s essay in Global Comment highlighted why many of us who strongly support transgender rights are sensitive to the pronouns we use when we refer to Manning.
As an ardent supporter of Bradley Manning and a feminist, I have given this issue a great deal of thought. Given the unusual and perhaps unprecedented circumstances of the situation, I wanted to explain why I’m still calling him Bradley. In so doing, I also hope to demonstrate why folks who care passionately about queer and transgender rights should come out in support.
First, we should bear in mind the basis upon which some have made suppositions about Manning’s preferred gender identity. By and large, we are dealing with evidence that has not been established as fact. We can look at some Google searches found in forensic evidence, a smattering of late-night private chat logs, and potential testimony from those in whom Manning may have privately confided.
If these materials are to be believed, then it appears that Manning was questioning his gender identity. Manning’s lawyers have noted that he had sought counseling, but we don’t know if any final decision was ever made. We don’t know whether Manning wanted “Breanna” to be a primary identity, or if this was an alter ego that was never meant to be indicative of primary gender identification. We do know — from our own private conversations with friends and family members — that prior to his incarceration, Manning had not asked people to refer to him with a female pronoun.
The decision to transition – especially when it entails life-changing hormones or even surgery – isn’t something undergone lightly or quickly. Like many who are unsure about their gender identification, Manning used the Internet as a sandbox to begin experimenting with these complex issues. Unfortunately, he was arrested and forced to undergo many torturous months in solitary confinement, without proper medical, social, and emotional support during this time of questioning. We don’t know whether he reached a final decision.
From the earliest stages, the Bradley Manning Support Network has sought to honor Manning’s choices. Early in the campaign, we reached out to Manning’s aunt and lawyer and asked what name he preferred we use in our advocacy. They got back to us to say that “Brad” or “Bradley” would be fine.
Since then, we’ve sent Bradley packages in the mail showing him the fliers, stickers, postcards, T-shirts and photos of rallies all emblazoned with the name “Bradley Manning.” Manning has issued three public statements since his incarceration: during his first Christmas behind bars he issued holiday wishes; after many long months in solitary confinement he released a multi-page letter describing his abusive conditions; and after the pretrial hearing in December, he communicated through his aunt that he appreciated our support.
Notably, he didn’t ask us to start referring to him as Breanna. Advocates for Manning have an obligation to respect his agency and use the pronoun he had preferred prior to his arrest. None of us has the right to switch pronouns for Manning unless he tells us otherwise.
We also need to bear in mind that PFC Manning is currently – and quite literally – fighting for his life. He faces ridiculous charges of “aiding the enemy,” which carry a maximum sentence of death, despite the fact that our government’s own impact assessments found no harm to national security from the WikiLeaks materials. This extreme retaliation against Manning for uncovering war crimes stands in stark contrast to the military’s recent decisions to let other soldiers, who have admitted to killing unarmed civilians, walk free with nothing more than a cut in their pay.
This is not the normal legal environment that we may remember from our high school civics class. This is a show trial of a political prisoner. The military is openly abusing Manning of his rights in order to create a calculated psychological impact, and no doubt as a sharp warning to others who might consider exposing crimes and corruption.
Manning has been subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, which carries the risk of severe psychological damage. During that time, he was on several occasions ordered to remove his clothing and stand at “parade rest” in front of his guards. Those in the military know that this position requires you to place your hands behind your back. By all accounts, PFC Manning was the only detainee at the Quantico brig who was subjected to this peculiar form of humiliation. Military officials have since refused to turn over video-recordings that they made of these incidents.
It is difficult to conclude that this very specific form of degrading treatment has nothing to do with the fact that Manning was known to be questioning his gender identity.
When pressed on the mistreatment at a White House press conference, President Obama suggested that these absurd measures were imposed on Manning for his own safety. This excuse contradicted the findings of brig psychiatrists tasked with evaluating Manning, who found on every occasion that he posed no threat to himself in custody.
In this environment, those of us who have the luxury of relative freedom need to recognize that Manning might not be able to say everything that he really wants to say. In fact, we know this to be true. There have been several occasions in which meetings between Manning and his attorneys have been recorded by the military. Military officials have blocked Juan Mendez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, from having a private meeting with PFC Manning. Manning has rejected an offer from the military to allow him to meet with Mendez on the condition that the meeting be monitored.
In short, Bradley Manning is being silenced. Whether through these direct restrictions on his ability to communicate freely, or more subtly through media narratives that attempt to erase his political agency, the establishment does not want us to hear Manning’s true voice.
Each one of us working with the Bradley Manning Support Network anxiously awaits the day when Bradley Manning can speak freely, unencumbered by the shackles of oppression and injustice. But until that time, we can’t presume to speak for him, especially on an issue as personal and yet political as gender identification.
Lt. Daniel Choi, who was discharged from the Army for being openly gay, recently called on the queer community to stand up for Bradley Manning. In an interview with Keith Olbermann, he decried the media’s portrayal that Manning’s sexual or gender identity was being used an excuse. He instead noted that Manning had displayed the highest level of integrity in his actions:
I think at this point we can’t say that he did any of this or didn’t do any of this because he’s gay or transgender. He did this because he’s a good soldier… I’m proud of him as a gay soldier because he stood for integrity. And Keith, one thing about the gay community is that our community, among all of the communities in the world, we’re the only one that bases its membership -— its membership — on integrity and telling the truth about ourselves, declassifying that information for the betterment of our entire lives and societies and families. And when we do that, we realize that the gay movement is more important than just for gay people alone.
All available evidence points to Manning being driven by integrity. At the Article 32 hearing, military prosecutors submitted a note allegedly attached by Manning to the materials they say he sent to WikiLeaks concerning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It read:
This is perhaps one of the most significant documents of our time, removing the fog of war and revealing the true nature of 21st century asymmetric warfare.
This seems to be the core motivation for Manning: to enlighten and educate the world, to create a better-informed democracy, to shed sunlight on the darkness covering our foreign policies and ongoing wars overseas. And, as queer activists have long known, there is power and transcendence in choosing truth, even when that truth makes others uncomfortable.
Oil giant British Petroleum is well-known for the Deepwater Oil Horizon disaster and its much-criticized handling of the cleanup’s aftermath. But you might want to think twice before you read about the event, or the company’s environmental record, on Wikipedia.
Angry Wikipedia editors estimate thatBP has rewritten 44 percent of the page about itself, especially about its environmental performance.
This comes to light just as a federal judge has scheduled a hearing for April 5 on BP’s request to prevent payments of what the oil company calls “fictitious or inflated claims” in a class action settlement reached with victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (Gulf of Mexico) oil spill.
BP says the claims could cost it billions of dollars.
BP’s emergency request for the hearing is in the civil trial currently under way in New Orleans which, according toThe Economist, “will apportion blame for the accident, determine how much oil gushed out, and apply financial penalties.”
Meanwhile, the company may be working on cleaning up its environmental record on Wikipedia — in a way that leaves the Wikipedia reader none the wiser.
BP is not directly editing its page, but instead has apparently inserted a BP representative into the editing community who provides Wikipedia editors with text.
[…]
Arguments about BP’s involvement in Wikipedia’s editing community have begun to rageand become personal. And it’s unclear who the editors are that are blindly copying and pasting BP’s version of its environmental record onto the page, and hitting “Publish.”
Wikipedia’s editing community is afire with BP-ignited argumentsabout policy, paid editing, and whether or not this is the new direction of Wikipedia — if it will be paid editing or working with companies and article subjects in its eternal quest for article accuracy.
There appears to be a faction of Wikipedia editors who are very welcoming to PR companies and the PR departments of businesses.
If they get their way, what’s on the BP page about Deepwater Horizon is foreshadowing the future of Wikipedia, and the accuracy of its content.
And what better way to illustrate this than with a petroleum megacorporation writing its own Wikipedia entry?
TIL Wikipedia allows companies to manipulate their entries using PR professionals. I’m rethinking my financial support of Wikipedia.
Wonder Woman and sassy Batman. This image is based off of a series of tweets by Chris Sims that I included above. I thought it was funny, so I drew it.
Fan. Tastic.
Lenticular clouds over Mount Fuji, Japan. These are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, usually perpendicular to the direction of the wind.
firehoseBonny Cumberwich autoshare
"this new trailer promises us something different": a woman in her underwear posing for Kirk!
Up till now, Star Trek Into Darkness has promised us lots of destruction and mayhem, but this new trailer promises us something different: a Kirk who's on a tear, and a villain who's genuinely affronted by Kirk's actions.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
firehose'The smallness of the potentially “hip” core is particularly pronounced in Rust Belt cities such as Cleveland and St. Louis, where these core districts are rarely home to more than 1 or 2 percent of the city’s shrinking population. Yet the subsidy money for developers is often justified in the name of “reviving” the entire city, most of which has continued to deteriorate.'
