The Old Reader

21 Feb 22:56

WHEN I SAW THE SOCIAL MEDIA CAMARADERIE BETWEEN BURGER KING AND JEEP:

firehose
YOUR BRANDS ARE MORE SOULFUL THAN YOU ARE

Burger King:

Jeep:

Me:

(h/t @cbaumgarten)

Osiasjota likes this

21 Feb 22:55

Bad Luck Leo

by Brad

Leonardo DiCaprio is the Bad Luck Brian of Hollywood.

Tadeu likes this

21 Feb 20:46

PS4 'doesn't support' current-gen DualShock 3 controller, does support PS Move

by Christopher Grant

firehose
attention internet, I will gladly take your PS3 dualshocks

By Christopher Grant on Feb 21, 2013 at 3:15p

During last night's PlayStation 4 reveal event, Sony developer Media Molecule demonstrated a tech demo in which players used a PlayStation Move controller to sculpt 3D objects. With Move-like functionality already supported by the new DualShock 4 controller, we asked Sony's Shuhei Yoshida if the PS4 would support the current-gen DualShock 3 controllers the same way it supports the similarly current-gen PS Move controller.

"No, [the PlayStation 4] doesn't support DualShock 3 but it does support PS Move," Yoshida said.

Asked if that policy extends to other Bluetooth-enabled PS3 peripherals like the Sony wireless headset, a PlayStation publicist cut in saying, "I don't think we're addressing additional peripheral support at this time."

Yoshida quickly added, "That doesn't necessarily mean it won't work."

Both the DualShock 3 and PlayStation Move controllers use the industry-standard Bluetooth 2.0 protocol to connect wirelessly to the PlayStation 3; it's unclear if the lack of DualShock 3 compatibility is due to technical limitations or to the complexities of interoperability between a previous-generation controller that doesn't support some of the DualShock 4's new features — like a multitouch panel and Bluetooth 2.1 — and the PlayStation 4, whose games may expect some of those features.

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21 Feb 20:45

Arma 3 will be a Steam exclusive, says developer

by Alexa Ray Corriea

By Alexa Ray Corriea on Feb 21, 2013 at 3:00p

Open-world shooter Arma 3 will be released exclusively through Steam, project lead Joris-Jan van 't Land announced today on developer Bohemia Interactive's blog.

According to van 't Land, when he took over four months ago as Arma 3's project lead, Bohemia was unhappy with the direction the game had taken and the imprisonment of staff members Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar in Greece. The team was determined to release Arma 3 in 2013, and despite expecting negative reactions decided the best way to stick to their plans was to publish exclusively with Valve.

"One of the steps in this plan has been to select Valve's Steam as our primary platform," he wrote. "Not only is Arma 3 PC-exclusive, but now we have decided to make it Steam-exclusive as well."

Bohemia chose to publish through Steam due Valve's place as the leading digital PC games platform, its wide reach and support for titles, says van 't Land. The developer also wants to avoid problems associated with creating a game across multiple platforms, including prolonged development and testing time and costs. Adding features using Steamworks will shorter production time and use of DRM will prevent piracy, he wrote.

Van 't Land noted that Arma 3 must run through Steam, but Offline mode will be supported.

"We honestly believe that we would not be able to deliver Arma 3 in 2013 without this decision," he wrote. "Now, a few months ahead, we feel strongly that it is paying off, and soon you'll get a chance to see why."

Buchta and Pezlar were released on bail in January. Shortly after, Bohemia decided to rename the in-game island so it sounded less like the real-world island of Lemnos, where the pair were arrested.

Source
Bohemia Interactive

21 Feb 20:43

TV: Newswire: Steve Zahn to play another unstable know-it-all in Kyle Killen's next show

by Sean O'Neal

The impending end of Treme threatens to leave viewers without opportunity to watch Steve Zahn play a manic, off-putting character on a low-rated yet critically acclaimed drama. Fortunately, perhaps, there’s ABC’s Influence, the latest series attempt from Lone Star and Awake creator Kyle Killen, which has just cast Zahn in the lead role of “an unmedicated bipolar, world-renowned expert in the fields of human behavior, psychology and motivation.” It’s just the sort of unstable know-it-all that Zahn specializes in, while also being the sort of high-concept show that Killen favors and hopefully will get a chance to do more than a handful of episodes of this time. Influence is described as a “provocative workplace ensemble” that takes place at an agency run by Zahn and his brother, which specializes in problem-solving using “the real science of human motivation and manipulation.” For example, the motivation that comes from ...

Easy Enough For Zombies: DayZ Mod Now On Steam

by John Walker

By John Walker on February 21st, 2013 at 12:00 pm.

If you’re me, and you’ve tried to install the DayZ mod into Arma II, then you made a real hash of it. Fortunately for all the me out there, there’s a simpler way. The mod has been made available directly over Steam, meaning you can just click a couple of buttons and all the scary work is done for you.

You’ll need to own both Arma II and Arma II: Operation Arrowhead, or indeed the bundled version, Arma II: Combined Operations, to make it work. If those are installed, and have been run at least once before, then getting the DayZ mod going is so simple that even I just did it. No, I really did. I clicked to download the mod, then clicked Play. And there it was.

If you want to know why you should care, Jim can explain here and here and here.

firehose likes this

21 Feb 20:24

PBS Inventors — Bob Butt, Inventor of the Long Island Iced Tea

by Rusty Blazenhoff

“Every bar serves them, but where do Long Island Iced Teas come from?!”

PBS recently featured Bob “Rosebud” Butt in their “Inventors” series. Filmmaker and photographer David Friedman speaks with Bob about his boozy concoction, the Long Island Iced Tea. He invented it when he was a bartender at the Oak Beach Inn on Long Island in the 1970s.

…Bob may not be the first bartender to have made a mixed drink resembling iced tea — some stories say that a similar drink was mixed during prohibition — but Bob says he’s pretty sure he’s the first person to come up with this particular recipe. I’ve included Bob in this series because it reminds me that not every invention has to be serious, or for profit, or part of a larger plan.

firehose likes this

21 Feb 20:23

David Einhorn is taking his Apple cash fight to the public

by Gina Chon

Einhorn is ready to play. AP Photo / Bill Kostroun

This item has been updated.

Hedge fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital pointed out that Apple’s $137 billion cash stockpile is larger than the market capitalization of all but 17 companies on the S&P 500.

It’s one of the points Einhorn made as he takes his campaign to shake more cash out of Apple directly to the public. He’s hosting a conference call right now to argue why Apple should issue perpetual preferred stock to return some of its cash pile back to investors.

“It’s not complicated. It’s merely unfamiliar,” Einhorn said of his plan for perpetual preferred stock. He also called it “innovative.”

Einhorn has sued Apple to bar the company from enacting a shareholder proposal that he says will get rid of Apple’s ability to issue preferred shares, a claim the company disputes. A US District judge on the case said earlier this week that Greenlight has a likelihood of success. Shareholders are scheduled to vote on the measure on Feb. 27.

Although Apple CEO Tim Cook called the dispute with Einhorn a “silly sideshow,” Apple has said it is studying Einhorn’s proposal and is considering ways to return more cash to investors. Last year, it announced a plan to return $45 billion to shareholders over three years.

Investors have been grumbling about Apple’s lack of generosity to shareholders for years, but many didn’t see an opportunity to pressure the tech giant because it’s stock had been performing so well. That has changed over the last several months, with Apple stock falling by more than 35% since September amid intense competition with Samsung for tablets and mobile phones.

Not every Apple shareholder is on board with Einhorn’s plans. The largest US pension fund, Calpers, supports Apple’s proposal because it requires a shareholder vote before eliminating the ability to issue preferred shares.

Updated at 2:30 p.m. ET: Einhorn says Apple’s handling of cash has been “exceedingly non innovative.” He also says Apple’s “war chest” is more like a “war vault.” He categorized IBM and Coca-Cola among the shareholder friendly companies while Dell is not, which is why he sold out of Dell stock.

Updated at 2:40 p.m. ET: Einhorn calls his mechanism for returning cash to Apple shareholders “iPrefs,” the product Apple doesn’t yet know it needs, slyly using the mantra of Apple providing products that consumers don’t yet know they need. He says through iPrefs, Apple would issue a dividend every quarter forever, which translates into $470 million each quarter. Apple could attract a new kind of investor, one seeking a safe source of income.

Updated at 2:50 p.m. ET: Einhorn says “while Apple wants to keep its cake (cash), shareholders get to eat it, too.” He said the iPrefs method would give Apple shares a value of $480, higher than where it is trading now. He also argues it would put Apple’s cost of capital to the lowest quartile of the market, where it deserves to be, compared to the highest quartile, where it is now.

21 Feb 20:13

White House Petition To Make Unlocking Phones Legal Passes 100,000 Signatures

by timothy

An anonymous reader writes "A White House petition to make unlocking cell phones legal again has passed the 100,000 signature mark. Passing the milestone means the U.S. government has to issue an official response. On January 26th, unlocking a cell phone that is under contract became illegal in the U.S. Just before that went into effect, a petition was started at whitehouse.gov to have the Librarian of Congress revisit that decision. 'It reduces consumer choice, and decreases the resale value of devices that consumers have paid for in full. The Librarian noted that carriers are offering more unlocked phones at present, but the great majority of phones sold are still locked.'"

Rob Liefeld wants to draw your short story

by Kevin Melrose

firehose
where do I sign up to prevent Rob Liefeld from drawing anything I create, ever

Rob Liefeld made waves in 2011 when he resurrected his Extreme Studios properties by handing over the characters to the likes of Brandon Graham, Simon Roy, Joe Keatinge and Ross Campbell. And now he’s looking to give somebody else a shot.

To that end, he has launched an Extreme Talent Contest in which young writers are given a chance to have their short story published in an issue of Youngblood and Bloodstrike, drawn by none other than Liefeld himself.

He explains that he’s looking for pitches for a five- to six-page short story featuring Extreme Studios characters. Three winners will be selected, one every few weeks beginning March 6; those writers chosen will have to complete a work-for-hire agreement to move on to the next stage. More details, including a link to a submission agreement, can be found on Liefeld’s blog.

“I have the absolute highest regard for creators and for the ownership of original properties, and this agreement should in no way be misconstrued as license for us to appropriate your creations,” he writes. “This agreement protects Rob Liefeld from any liabilities involving coincidental similarities to works-‐in-‐progress or other submissions. Any submissions received without a signed agreement will be discarded without review.”

Billtron likes this

21 Feb 20:12

Legend of Grimrock DLC being repurposed for fully-fledged sequel

by Griffin McElroy

By Griffin McElroy on Feb 21, 2013 at 1:28p

Legend of Grimrock 2, a sequel to Almost Human's first-person dungeon diving game for Windows PC and Mac, is in development, the title's creators announced today.

The announcement comes after a long period of silence for the studio, which a post on Almost Human's blog explains came from an uncertainty of what the team was going to do next. A DLC expansion to the original was the first plan the developer was going to go with, but ultimately decided they would be constrained by the limitations of the first title, and would prefer to move on to a new game altogether.

"Creating a mere DLC or expansion to Grimrock simply would not have felt right," the blog post reads. "As today's meeting proved, we still have a lot of ideas we'd like to explore, lots and lots of new content already done (originally made for a DLC/expansion) and a big engine update in the works. Simply put, a DLC would have limited too much what we can do. With a full blown sequel we can raise Grimrock to the next level."

No details about the sequel were released, but the blog post promises more details will surface in the coming weeks.

Source
Legend of Grimrock official site

firehose likes this

21 Feb 20:08

Photo

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21 Feb 20:07

TV: Newswire: Will Arnett attempts escape to CBS sitcom, despite still being trapped within Up All Night's mangled body

by Sean O'Neal

Continuing NBC’s cruel, Johnny Got His Gun-like experiment on Up All Night—which, despite losing most of its limbs and its face, the network is determined to keep alive out of some mad, patriotic fervor—Will Arnett has signed on to star in Greg Garcia’s new CBS sitcom, yet still Up All Night has not been allowed to die. As we were reminded earlier this week, when Maya Rudolph similarly attempted to defect through the escape tunnel of her uterus, both she and Arnett remain contractually obligated to the series, having neglected to obtain whatever clause allowed Christina Applegate to cut and run once the show finally became mangled beyond all recognition.

And while both CBS and Arnett are obviously operating under the assumption that NBC will eventually make the humane decision, and that he’ll be free in the fall to star in their as-yet-untitled sitcom ...

Supercut of the Phrase “This Isn’t TV, This is Real Life!” in TV Shows

by Justin Page

New York comedian Bryan Menegus created the Slacktory Supercut video titled This isn’t TV, this is real life!, which highlights the phrase being spoken in popular television shows. The original concept for this supercut was suggested by Emily Nussbaum, a TV Critic for The New Yorker.

No wait, actually this is TV.

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

Billtron, firehose likes this

21 Feb 20:00

The Cliché RC Action Chase, Built Out of Cardboard, Hot Glue & Paint

by Justin Page

firehose
well done; fun joke at end

In “The Cliché RC Action Chase,” by Californian filmmakers Zach King and Aaron B of Final Cut King, two high speed remote control cars chase each other down in a custom scene built out of cardboard, hot glue and spray paint.

Behind-the-scenes:

music by Andrew Gerlicher

sound design by Mark Sommerville

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

firehose likes this

21 Feb 19:58

BMW Designs 42-Wheel, 19-Engine Dream Car for 4-Year-Old Boy

by EDW Lynch

firehose
"19 Porsche engines (though the car had to be a BMW), 42-wheel drive, three steering wheels, and a trunk full of toys"

Earlier this month, BMW designed this outlandish 42-wheel, 19-engine dream car to the exacting specifications of a 4-year-old boy. The story began in late January when auto blog Jalopnik posted a note from a reader whose young nephew had just outlined specifications for his ultimate dream car, the “4219ELi.” Among the specifications: 19 Porsche engines (though the car had to be a BMW), 42-wheel drive, three steering wheels, and a trunk full of toys. The reader asked for artist’s renderings from the Jalopnik community and many readers complied with sketches. BMW USA responded with their own entry, a week after the original post.

firehose likes this

21 Feb 19:57

French Artist Gives Caddisfly Larvae Gold & Jewels to Build Their Protective Cases

by Rusty Blazenhoff

Generally, the protective silk cases the caddisfly larvae build are decorated with gravel, sand, snail shells, twigs or other common debris but French artist Hubert Duprat gave them shinier materials. He introduced beads, pearls, turquoise, and 18-karat gold pieces into their environment and let them construct tiny gilded sculptures. Duprat has been collaborating with the larvae since the 1980s. Learn more about his work at Cabinet Magazine.

photos by Jean-Luc Fournier via Cabinet

via Unexplained things are out there

Tertiarymatt, firehose likes this

21 Feb 19:57

The New York State Thruway Project, Social Issue Signage Disguised as Historical Markers

by EDW Lynch

Back in 2010 we wrote about the “I-75 Project”: artist Norm Magnusson’s series of signs that masqueraded as historical markers but displayed messages about contemporary social issues. Magnusson now hopes to repeat the project in New York with his “New York State Thruway Project.” He proposes to install his signs, addressing issues like immigration, health care, and global warming, at each of the 27 travel plazas in the thruway system. Magnusson is raising funds for the project on Kickstarter.

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

firehose and -1 others like this

21 Feb 19:56

IGN hit with layoffs, 1UP, UGO and GameSpy shutting down

by Michael McWhertor

firehose
"we want to direct all of our energy and work behind our two flagship brands: IGN and AskMen."

IGN has laid off an unspecified number of editorial employees today, Polygon has learned, and plans to shutter sites 1up.com, GameSpy.com and UGO.com.

According to an internal memo from Ziff Davis CEO Vivek Shah, "Our goal is to do fewer things and to do them exceptionally well. In that vein, we want to direct all of our energy and work behind our two flagship brands: IGN and AskMen."

Shah writes that Ziff Davis, which recently acquired the IGN network of websites, will be "winding down" 1UP, UGO and GameSpy. UGO editor-in-chief Chris Radtke wrote in a goodbye letter to readers, "UGO is dead." While editorial staffers for some of the IGN-owned shuttered sites have been laid off, sources tell Polygon that some personell will be rolled into IGN.com's editorial team.

The company is also looking for a buyer of IPL, IGN's eSports network. Rather than coordinate and publicize its own IGN Pro League, "IGN's role going forward will be to broadcast and cover a variety of eSports events."

Shah's memo can be read below.

Today, we took some difficult but important actions that will ensure the continued growth and health of IGN and AskMen. Before I go into more details about the changes, you should know that they resulted in the elimination of jobs at IGN. It's always upsetting to say goodbye to colleagues and let's do what we can to help these employees as they seek new opportunities.

It's also important for you to know that we are absolutely confident that we now have the best structure and team to successfully move the company forward and that there are no further planned reductions.

The changes we made today are designed to allow us to Simplify and Focus. Our goal is to do fewer things and to do them exceptionally well. In that vein, we want to direct all of our energy and work behind our two flagship brands: IGN and AskMen. They are both category killers and share a vision of a multi-screen (PCs, tablets, smartphones, TV) and multi-format (text, photos and video) world.

As a result of our decision to focus on our core brands, we are:
· Winding down 1UP.com, UGO.com and GameSpy.com;
· No longer ad repping 3rd party sites such as GameStop.com and FamilyGuy.com;
· Actively engaged with parties interested in acquiring IPL. IGN's role going forward will be to broadcast and cover a variety of eSports events;
· Dividing our ad sales team into two: one focused on IGN and the other focused on AskMen.

On the IGN front, Peer Schneider will continue to oversee all of editorial and product, focusing those resources exclusively on IGN. The foundation of this entire company is its content and we will continue to have the best people in the industry producing it.

Charlie Barrett will oversee the monetization of IGN everywhere in the U.S. - PCs, tablets, smartphones, YouTube, consoles - and now be able to concentrate the sales and ad ops teams' efforts where they can make the most impact.

Frank Puma will assume an exciting new role as executive director of programs and solutions, reporting to Charlie. The sales development, design and creative teams will report to Frank, whose charge is to deliver world-class advertising experiences.

A new head of engineering and technology for IGN will be recruited as quickly as possible. Tech has a monumental role to play in the growth of IGN and will be committed to working hand-in-glove with edit, product and sales.

On the AskMen front, Ric Poupada will continue to oversee all aspects of the AskMen organization and is excited to have a new VP of sales, Paul Chenier, reporting to him. Paul has been a longtime advocate of the AskMen brand and is one of the most talented sales executives in our organization. Having him build a dedicated AskMen ad sales team will do wonders for the business.

Ian Chambers will continue to run International out of the UK for both IGN and AskMen and we're thrilled with the performance of our businesses overseas.

Mike Etheridge will be the VP of finance and operations for IGN and AskMen, working across all of the departments to ensure that we're growing our business, expanding our margins and making metric-based decisions.

Rachelle Igoe will be the head of human resources for IGN and AskMen, ensuring that we continue to nurture, attract and retain the best talent in the industry.

I'm sure that there will be a number of questions in the days and weeks ahead but please know that we will be a better functioning and nimbler organization from this moment forward.

Developing...

21 Feb 19:55

Tebow backs out of controversial church appearance

firehose
nobody's turning a cheek here, hot damn

On Thursday morning, via a string of tweets, the backup QB for the New York Jets (for now, at least) cancelled an upcoming appearance at the First Baptist Church in Dallas. Tebow’s second-guessing followed reports that First Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress attacked gay marriage, Islam, and Mormonism in several recorded sermons. The turnaround surprised many of Tebow’s critics — who have noted his support for the vehemently anti-gay organization Focus on the Family — and, in equal measure, left some of his more vocal supporters on the Christian right more than gobsmacked. The influential conservative radio host Bryan Fischer, for one, called Tebow a “coward”:

Does he disagree with him when he says that homosexuality is a sin? Does he disagree with him when he says that Islam is a false religion? If Tebow does not in fact disagree with Jeffress on any of these points, then his decision looks like nothing more than craven capitulation to the nattering nabobs of negativism and intolerance.

The pastor of First Baptist, Robert Jeffress, shared Fischer’s sense of betrayal — according to Fox News Radio, he interpreted Tebow’s cancellation as an affront to his church’s values:

“To me, the real issue here is the controversy this has generated,” Jeffress said. “It’s amazing that a church that believes faith alone in Christ is what saves a person and that sex should be between a man and a woman in a marriage relationship – that somehow those beliefs are considered hate speech? That is historic Christian doctrine for the past 2,000 years.”

firehose likes this

21 Feb 19:55

(via Google Chromebook Pixel (WiFi) - Google Play) Touchscreen...

firehose
$1,300

(via Google Chromebook Pixel (WiFi) - Google Play)

Touchscreen i5 with integrated graphics and 5-hour battery. Seriously?

21 Feb 19:50

Take a Trek to the Salon

Set humor to ludicrous speed!

Submitted by: Unknown

Tagged: Captain Picard , haircuts , Star Trek , poorly dressed Share on Facebook

firehose and -1 others like this

21 Feb 19:49

Those Not Present

'Yeah, that squid's a total asshole.' [scoot scoot]

Christian.zierhut, firehose and one other like this

21 Feb 19:49

China has a spectacularly silly new plan to fix its pollution problem

by Lily Kuo

firehose
ffffffffffffffffuck that bullshit

A street vendor prepares sticks of barbecued meat in Beijing early Friday, May 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Ah, yes—the Chinese government will stop at nothing to reduce pollution that has enveloped parts of the country in a toxic soup. First, Chinese cities restricted the number of cars on the road and scrapped old vehicles. Then the government asked citizens to give up a time-honored tradition of setting off thousands of firecrackers before and on Chinese New Year. Beijing’s next ambitious measure? Banning barbecue.

At least that’s what China’s state media is reporting, though it scrimps on details. China’s environmental watchdog has now issued draft legislation calling on cities to ban “barbecue-related activities.” (Does that include just eating barbecue, looking at barbecue, or thinking about barbecue? We don’t know!) One blogger on Sina Weibo indelicately commented in response, “Soon they’ll ban farting in order to clean up the air.”

Indeed, that captures our take on the government’s latest efforts at reducing pollution. As one would say in Chinese with emphasis, fangpi–which means rubbish (or, literally, “fart”). True, charcoal-burning grills that make Xinjiang-style meat skewers dot many small streets in Chinese cities. But they are far from the real root of China’s pollution: resistance from state-owned companies and local governments, poor regulation, and the country’s large population. However, when pollution in Beijing in January reached more than 20 times international standards deemed as safe, it was blamed mostly on emissions from coal-burning power stations and car exhaust.

The breakneck speed of China’s development has meant that thousands of factories surround cities, spewing industrial waste into the air and surrounding rivers. Officials of provinces and cities encourage industry to increase local output, a key measure of their performance, and then misreports levels of local pollution to Beijing. Its 1.3 billion people drive increasing numbers of cars, use coal to warm their houses, and enjoy a good barbie now and then—which have all contributed to water and air contamination.

Chinese authorities have tended to frame pollution as an unfortunate consequence of China’s fast economic growth. That discussion changed last month with Beijing’s “airpocalypse,” leading officials to warn residents to stay indoors. Realizing there was no way to spin the appearance of thick grey smog, officials allowed domestic media to freely report on China’s environmental troubles. Officials have been trotting out new measures since then to show how serious they are about tackling the issue. But as we’ve reported before, a truly ambitious move would be for Beijing to disregard the interests of powerful state-owned refineries and give China’s environmental regulator, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, real teeth to regulate provinces and cities.

Moreover, it seems officials have miscalculated how impressed the public would be. As one user on Weibo said, “This is hilarious. What are they going to consider next?”

21 Feb 19:46

peachesandpunani: Cartoon network never gave a fuck back in the...

by 90s90s90s

peachesandpunani:

Cartoon network never gave a fuck back in the day

Lindsay Oliver, Tertiarymatt likes this

21 Feb 19:46

1/10 favorite quotes - Shepherd Book once said to me:...

1/10 favorite quotes - Shepherd Book once said to me: “If you can’t do something smart, do something right.”

Christopher Lantz and -1 others like this

21 Feb 19:45

Drop Down, Shades Up

Submitted by: Unknown

Tagged: skateboarding , gif , Deal With It , BAMF , g rated , win Share on Facebook

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21 Feb 19:44

[Video] Republicans Reach Out To Women With New 'No Punch Pretty Lady' Bill

To shore up support among female voters, the GOP has introduced a bill banning "putting angry hands to lady necks" and "hurting pretty ladies with mean sex."