firehose

Flipside of arguments

Artist Chris Sprouse has exited DC Comics' "Adventures of Superman" story by Orson Scott Card due to the media attention surround the project stemming from the writer's public stance on marriage equality.

We’ve seen two amazing supercuts of goats yelling like people, and today Olde Payphone did the inevitable, a video of humans yelling like goats yelling like humans.

via Hypervocal

A Russian Subaru Impreza driver dangerously spins 360 degrees while passing another car on an icy road.

video via DN DV

via Jalopnik

Pool is a sport that relies heavily on on-the-fly physics calculations, but project PoolLiveAid aims to lift that mental burden. The system, developed by University of the Algarve students Luis Sousa, Ricardo Alves and J.M.F Rodrigues, detects the position of the balls and the angle of the cue and projects a predicted path directly onto the table in real-time.

via Gizmodo

Midrash Manicures has created an ingenious set of nail decals to keep the Ten Plagues at your fingertips for your Passover Seder. They are available to purchase online. Passover 2013 begins in the evening of Monday, March 25th and ends in the evening of Tuesday, April 2nd.

You won’t want to Pass-over these Ten Plagues Nail Decals! These adorable frogs, flies, and locusts are bound to be a hit at your Seder.

Thanks Lori Dorn!

The Atlantic Wire

That KKK Robe Sighting at Oberlin Was Probably Just a Student Wearing a ... The Atlantic Wire Reports on Monday that someone was walking around the campus of Oberlin College in Ku Klux Klan regalia — for which the Ohio liberal arts college cancelled an entire day's classes — may have been a huge misunderstanding. That's the sense one gets ... Ohio college cancels classes due to racial incidentsGant Daily all 68 news articles »

pobody:

reality check in science class

newscloud writes "Seattle will soon shut down its popular phonebook opt-out website as a result of a costly settlement with Yellow Pages publishers. Going forward, the only way to stop unwanted phonebook deliveries will be to visit the industry's opt out site and provide them with your personal information. They will share it with their clients, most of whom are direct marketing agencies, who in turn commit not to use it improperly. The Federal Court of Appeals ruled in October that The Yellow Pages represent protected free speech of corporations (including Canada's Yellow Media Inc.); defending and settling the lawsuit cost Seattle taxpayers $781,503. The city said the program's popularity led to a reduction of 2 million pounds of paper waste annually."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Nerval's Lobster writes "Of late, there's been a number of crossovers between technology and entertainment, including the rash of creative directors at brands like Polaroid (Lady Gaga), Intel (Will.i.am) and BlackBerry (Alicia Keys). It's a much rarer thing, though, for rock stars to invest in infrastructure, rather than serve as the 'face' of a brand. But that's exactly what three members of the rock band Live, which sold 20 million albums in its '90s heyday, are doing as their second act: investing in a company that plans on building a 100-Gbit fiber link across Pennsylvania to four data centers. That company, United Fiber and Data (originally known as United Federal Data), will build out a network between New York City and Ashburn, Virginia — providing a low-latency data pipeline that connects offices in Virginia to data centers owned by Wall Street. Supposedly in the name of security, the network will avoid the traditional I-95 corridor, a more direct route used by many other networks."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

(via mokulock)

Japanese wooden LEGOs

Why a beautiful Zelda tome is still outselling every book on Amazon. - Kill Screen:

I had no idea this sold so well

A group of fan translators spent three years translating a game they could already read pretty well. Why? Because Ocarina of Time looks stunning in Arabic.

Egesta | Define Egesta at Dictionary.com:

today’s synonym for “shit”

(via Oregon State gets “ReBeaved” and the Beavers will look a lot different after the makeover | Dr. Saturday - Yahoo! Sports)

Submitted by vadersfixit

It's asolutely killing me that I missed the Titmouse Animation panel at last weekend's Emerald City Comicon because A) they make Venture Bros., Motorcity and other shows that are awesome B) as it turns out there was some really great news for comic book fans specifically. Jim Mahfood of Everybody Loves Tank Girl and numerous other alt comics and countless numbers of beautiful illustrations, pin-ups and other art has developed an original animated project called D.I.S.C.O. Destroyer that will be produced by Titmouse for MTV's revival of Liquid Television. In even more surprising news, Invader Zim creator Jhonen Vasquez is working on an original animated short starring his Squee! character, and may soon begin adapting his cult classic Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. (click image to enlarge)

D.I.S.C.O. Destroyer is a funky 1970s action piece filtered through Mahfood's hyper-kinetic graffiti style. The hero of the piece is a sexy, gun-toting hunk with an eight-track tape deck embedded in his chest, and the story tracks him on some kind of cosmic drag race alongside characters with names like Righteous Jones, William B. Angel, Stony Dark, Summer Glo, the Krone Kounty Kult and the Deacon Street Rollers. Mahfood is working on the show with writer Joe Casey (Ben 10, all sorts of comics you like) and longtime Kevin Smith producer Scott Mosier, with whom Mahfood worked on the first Clerks comic book. Hopefully some of the D.I.S.C.O. Destroyer footage screened in Seattle will find its way online shortly, but you can get a look at some of the concept art in this Liquid TV teaser:

Originally published in the 1990s and a perennial hit for publisher SLG Graphics, Squee! is the story of an adorable and soft spoken little kid called Todd who's the only normal person in Vasquez's world aliens, vampires, homicidal maniacs and all the kinds of horrors you can imagine coming from the mind of the Invader Zim creator. In the original short film he's developing with Titmouse, Squee and his only companion, the teddy bear Shmee, find themselves sold by his parents to what Bleeding Cool describes as "a McDonald's kind of place" where children are used as meat, and he and some other kids will have to navigate their way through a nightmarish meat-labyrinth.

(click image to enlarge)

As longtime Vasquez fans know, Squee! was a spinoff from his debut work, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. Also humorous but distinctly darker and obviously way more violent than Squee! or Invader Zim, the story followed a deranged anti-hero who couldn't sleep, spoke to inanimate objects, and killed people in variously horrible and frequently amusing ways (one word: spork) at the behest of seemingly demonic forces that dwelled beneath his home. The book was a big hit with the alternative music crowd of the '90s and remains a popular "gateway drug" comic for many new readers even today.

Vasquez has been asked about returning to the character more or less every day since the last issue shipped in early 1997,so it was pretty big news that Vasquez announced that pending the outcome of the Squee! short, he and Titmouse will discuss adapting Johnny as a feature-length animated film. Spinoff Online quotes Vasquez as saying the film's story would be that of the original comic's, but "much more from the get-go Lovecraftian in the way the book got. It's much less Johnny being a badass who kills people because he's a badass, and it's more about a tool who doesn't know he's a tool."

It's interesting that Vasquez is bringing his comic book creations into animation in 2013. The work of Titmouse and their partners and peers at Adult Swim and other outlets both on television and online have demonstrated the commercial viability of American animation for adults over the last 10 years or so, something that scarcely existed back when Vasquez was creating his comics. While Invader Zim is among the coolest cartoons of all time, most of Vasuqez's other work is hardly kid-friendly, so it's encouraging to find ourselves living in a time when talents like he -- and Jim Mahfood, for that matter -- aren't limited to the confines of the comic book page simply because there's no other place to see it.

Us Magazine

Carly Rae Jepsen refuses to play Boy Scout Jamboree USA TODAY So far 60,000 people have signed the petition at Change.org decrying the Boy Scouts' anti-gay policy. jepsen. Carly Rae Jepsen arrives at the 2013 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. (Photo: Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY). Looks like Carly Rae Jepsen is ... Carly Rae Jepsen, Train pull out of Boy Scout event over gay banNBCNews.com (blog) Carly Rae Jepsen refuses to play Boy Scout Jamboree over anti-gay policyDetroit Free Press Carly Rae Jepsen Cancels Scout Jamboree Over Gay PoliciesABC News (blog) Kansas City Star -Salon -People Magazine all 81 news articles »

The Thief reboot announced back in 2009 re-emerges from the shadows as the cover of next month's Game Informer magazine. The game is planned for PS4, PC and "other next-gen platforms" in 2014.

Game Informer mentions Thief finds series hero Garrett returning to the "Gothic, industrial metropolis" known as the City in the midst of social tension and a plague. Hopefully Garrett can make it through his adventure without becoming Dishonored.

The previous update we had about the project were rumors from last summer that development was in trouble.

The best news of all: It's not called Thi4f anymore.

'Thief' graces cover of latest Game Informer originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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thollukthcaptor:

howardphillipslovecraft:

starscrossed:

pfdiva:

OMG, that’s so fucking cool!  Someone from the science side of Tumblr needs to come along and tell me what’s going on here!

the bubble is freezing you fucking idiot

thank u science side of tumblr

Crime | Comix Experience in San Francisco was robbed at gunpoint Friday afternoon, with two young men demanding that owner Brian Hibbs empty the cash register containing about $75 and turn over an iPhone used for credit card transactions. A Lower Haight neighborhood blog interviewed Hibbs about the incident:  “Divis [Divisadero Street] is generally pretty safe these days, so I was a LITTLE shocked at, y’know, a ‘brazen daylight armed robbery’ of it — but I am kind of more shocked that anyone thought that a comic book store was a high value target about an hour after they opened. Hell, life is like 85% credit cards these days, so even at our fattest there’s seldom enough to risk that kind of jail time, in my opinion …” [Haighteration]

History | Scholar Carol Tilley gives a first-person account of her research on Fredric Wertham, the super-villain of comics history, and how looking through his papers led her to an unexpected conclusion: His published works misrepresented what his research subjects had told him: “For many hard-to-articulate reasons, I didn’t want to write the scholarly paper on Wertham and the problems I found in his evidence, but not to write it seemed a disservice to the young people whose words and experiences Wertham distorted to help make his case against comics.” [Boing Boing]

From “Earth 2″ #9

Comics | Writer James Robinson discusses the introduction of a new Doctor Fate in this week’s Earth 2 #9: “It’s very magic and very different from the feel of the first eight issues, but that’s where I want Earth 2 to be: a book that you never quite know where it’s going to go or what kind of villains or threats the heroes will be facing in the future.” [USA Today]

Creators | Glee writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa talks about the new Archie/Glee crossover story that begins in Archie Comics #641, in comics shops this week: “How perfectly these worlds mesh and how funny the comparisons are between the characters.” The idea for the comic was hatched after Aguirre-Sacasa and Archie Co-CEO Jon Goldwater met at New York Comic Con in 2011. [CBS News]

Dr. Mirage

Creators | Dr. Mirage returns to the Valiant universe — but this time she’s a woman. Shadowman artist Patrick Zwircher and Valiant chief creative officer Dinesh Shamdasani explain. [The Washington Post]

Creators | Bill Baker talks to Keu Cha about Hex: The Long Ride. [The Morton Report]

Comics | Travis Jonker talks to Mark Siegel and Calista Brill about First Second’s upcoming books. [100 Scope Notes]

Comics | Dr. Michael Green talks about the graphic narrative he developed, with artist Ray Reick, to inform other doctors about how to avoid a medical mistake. The comic is a supplement to this week’s issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. [Medscape]

Exhibits | Comics artist Mark Ellerby critiques the show of Roy Lichtenstein’s work at the Tate, noting that it is basically lifted from the work of artists like Jack Kirby who were doing work for hire and sometimes didn’t even get credit for their work: “Lichtenstein’s work is now worth millions. How depressing that it’s the result of plunder.” [The Guardian]

According to Fortune, YouTube will launch a subscription music streaming service later this year to compete with the likes of Spotify, Pandora, and Rdio. The service will allow users to listen to music for free, but Fortune reports that a subscription will likely provide ad-free access. “While we don’t comment on rumor or speculation, there are some content creators that think they would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads, so we’re looking at that,” YouTube said in a statement.

via Fortune

Early version of The Carcajou with center-hinged hood. Photos courtesy GM Heritage Center.

You may, as many have, once wondered what you would do if you owned a car company. If you were Paul Seiler, president of the Yellow Truck & Coach Mfg. Company, better known as General Motors Truck Corp., then you would get hold of a preproduction 1929 Z-250 Yellow Coach, eight months before the public debut. As the Depression hadn’t hit yet, you would convince someone in accounting to release about $25,000 to you, and have the factory build it into what was probably the most luxurious vehicle on wheels, The Carcajou (wolverine).

Does your Duesenberg have one of these? It does not.

Ostensibly, Seiler had it built to tour YT&CMC dealers and production facilities, and he did record at least 3,000 miles in it over the next couple of years. But it was also described as being his vacation home, and while it did seat 14 in day configuration, it seated them in easy chairs and couches. The Z-250 drew its name from a 250-inch wheelbase and had power from a 105hp Knight. It was reportedly good for 65 MPH and carried 65 gallons of gas.

The rear seating area converted to a pair of beds, while further bunk beds folded down in front, sleeping seven people.

Rear observation room converted for sleeping, with the seat of the couch flipped up against the rear window.

Tire carrier doubled as an observation deck/speaking platform.

This is almost certainly the earliest interior photo–it has a very early dash, and no handle for the roof-mounted spotlamp, which turns up later on.

Conveniences included hot and cold running water, refrigerator, stove and matching china and silver. The stained-glass windows conceal the lavatory and private seating area on one side, and the kitchen on the other. Woodwork was brown mahogany with maple inlay, and matching light fixtures powered from an onboard battery bank. Four electric fans, three heaters and a variety of vents were on HVAC duty. They listened to an on-board radio when traveling and when stopped, could hook a phonograph to the exterior loudspeaker.

Full curtains across all windows, bedding stored in curtained front upper bunks.

One of several side entrances.

The Carcajou was originally finished in black and red, but had multiple lives. Seiler later added “The Carcajou” text and a wolverine. Wolverine!

With new graphics and Paul Seiler’s “PWS” monogram, just visible on the door above the wolverine. Wolverine!

Around 1931, it looks to have a new paint scheme and Paul Seiler’s initials have been replaced by a big “ETS,” for Buick President and General Manager E. T. Strong. The black lower body is now a lighter color, as well, but I haven’t seen an overall from this era.

The Carcajou had at least one more life, and was comprehensively refurbished again in 1942, which is probably when these undated, major changes were made. I can’t see how these are even the same two vehicles, but the Heritage Center’s records don’t include construction of a second one.

The sleek chrome and black kitchen of the Seiler design is replaced with this much simpler, stainless steel arrangement. His inlaid mahogany doors are now curtains.

1942, with major refurbishments including an all-new body and interior, including instruments. Ostensibly, this is the same chassis as 1929, but it sure looks like a much larger, later bus. It’s difficult to tell if it has a clamshell hood or not.

This is dated 1929 by GM and has the Z-250′s distinctive windows, but the dash is completely different. The hood is ventilated, possibly not a clamshell, and appears to be light-colored, as in the previous photo. But it also has the vent windows and angled windshield of the 1929 YT Z-250, and it also has the handle for the roof-mounted spotlamp of the ’29, which is absent in the ’42. Was it modernized through two iterations, once in ’31 for E. T. Strong, and again in ’42?

It’s very difficult to assign a sequence to these photos. There are two very different interior and exterior treatments, plus what seems to be a transitional design, above, but which is which? GM confirms that it was refurbished, so major changes did take place, but surely they weren’t this major. But then, who at GM would have spent this much money on a motor coach in late 1941 or early 1942–it would have had to have been completely rebodied to be the same vehicle. And of course, what happened to The Carcajou (and The Carcajou II, if it existed) after the War, if they weren’t scrapped? It seems unlikely that the second one would have been, as someone had just sunk a lot of money into it. But after 1942, both seem to disappear.

Mar 5th 2013 By: Andy Khouri

It doesn't get more official in 2013 than a tweet from director Bryan Singer that Halle Berry will reprise her role of Storm once again in his new X-Men film, Days of Future Past. Berry played the iconic weather-controlling mutant in three previous films including Singer's 2000 film X-Men and its first sequel, X2. The Academy Award-winning actress will reunite with fellow X-Men actors Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Anna Paquin and Shawn Ashmore in the new film, which will also star X-Men: First Class' James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence, making for what might be the most auspicious cast of any superhero movie.
First published in 1981, "Days of Future Past" was a two-issue storyline by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin that imagined a grim dystopian future where mutants' greatest fears were realized as a consequence of the X-Men failing to stop Mystique (played by Rebecca Romijn and Jennifer Lawrence in previous X-films) and her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants from assassinating a U.S. senator. Mutants were criminalized and housed in government internment camps, and mutant-hunting Sentinel robots were an ever-present threat. The Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) of the future sends her psyche back in time and into the body her younger self so that she can help her teammates avoid this terrible fate, and the story jumps back and forth between the two time periods as the action plays out. Storm, along with Wolverine, Colossus and, of course, Kitty, is one of the X-Men to appear in both the present and the future timelines in the original story. Sadly, Storm gets skewered by a javelin fired out of a Sentinel's finger.

Despite its brief two-issue length, "Days of Future Past" has been tremendously influential and continues to be an inexorably definitive piece of Marvel's mutant mythology.

If there’s one problem with the RepRap, it’s the cost of filament. Sure, there’s also the computationally difficult problem of slicing 3D models, but a 5 to 10 times markup on turning plastic pellets into filament is the biggest problem. It’s even a bigger problem than the problems of compatibility and interchangeable parts that comes with everyone forking a ‘standard’ printer design dozens of times. The cost of filament, though, is the biggest problem, right up there with RepRap developers focusing nearly entirely on different printer designs instead of the software, firmware, and electronics that are also vitally important to the RepRap project.

Nearly a year ago, we caught wind of a competition to create a home-based filament manufacturing station that takes cheap plastic pellets available for about $5/kg and turns them in to 3D printer filament that usually sells for $50/kg. A winner for this competion has finally been announced. The winner, [Hugh Lyman] just won $40,000 for his home filament creation station, the Lyman Filament Extruder

The goal of the Desktop Factory Competition was to create a machine that produces filament suitable for 3D printers with a total build cost of under $250 USD. [Lyman] met the goal by using a few motors, 3D printed parts, a PID controller, and off the shelf auger drill bit (that’s the actual model and supplier he used, by the way) that is able to reliably churn out plastic filament.

If you want to build your own Lyman Extruder, all the plans are up on Thingiverse, but LulzBot, the awesome people who gave us a 3D printer, hope to sell a pre-assembled version of this extruder sometime in the future, hopefully with a chain guard around that sprocket.

Filed under: 3d Printer hacks