firehose

kazucrash:

PuLiRuLa / Pu-Li-Ru-La Arcade Gears
Publisher: Taito
Developer: Taito, Xing Entertainment (Saturn)
Platform: Arcade, FM Towns Marty, Saturn, PlayStation, PlayStation 2
Year: 1991 (Arcade, Towns Marty), 1997 (PS1, Saturn), 2005 (PS2)

Mark Wilson writes Twitter has updated its privacy policy, creating a two-lane service that treats U.S. and non-U.S. users differently. If you live in the U.S., your account is controlled by San Francisco-based Twitter Inc, but if you're elsewhere in the world (anywhere else) it's handled by Twitter International Company in Dublin, Ireland. The changes also affect Periscope. What's the significance of this? Twitter Inc is governed by U.S. law; it is obliged to comply with NSA-driven court requests for data. Data stored in Ireland is not subject to the same obligation. Twitter is not alone in using Dublin as a base for non-U.S. operations; Facebook is another company that has adopted the same tactic. The move could also have implications for how advertising is handled in the future.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader writes Sony has done a lot of aggressive anti-piracy work in their time, which makes it that much funnier that pirated ebooks were found on their servers from the 2014 hacks that just went on to WikiLeaks. Better yet, the pirated books are educational books about hacking called "Inside Cyber Warfare" and "Hacking the Next Generation" from O'Reilly publishers.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

First Female Pilot Joins Blue Angels @ Flying Magazine.

…the Navy’s announcement this week of the appointment of Marine Capt. Katie Higgins, 27, the first-ever female Blue Angel. She will fly as a C-130 demonstration pilot starting in October. 
 
Higgins, a 2008 graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is currently assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252 (VMGR-252) at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.

nemfrog:

Illustration by Randolph Caldecott. Jack and the bean-stalk. 1886.

To truly comprehend the roles alcohol, and more specifically bars, have played in America’s history, one must harken back to the Colonial era when taverns, as they were then called, helped shape American history.

This week, scientists with the Dark Energy Survey (DES) collaboration released the first in a series of detailed maps charting the distribution of dark matter inferred from its gravitational effects. The new maps confirm current theories that suggest galaxies will form where large concentrations of dark matter exist.

Read more...

Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s general counsel, took to The Washington Post this week to expand on the social media giant’s shift towards protecting its users from harassment and abuse.

In the op-ed, Gadde makes it very clear that while Twitter values and respects its diversity of voices on all sides of any argument, it also knows keeping its users safe from the very real effects of harassment is equally as important. She acknowledges their failures in the past, and goes into some detail of how they’ve failed to protect those diverse voices they so value.

Balancing both aspects of this belief — welcoming diverse perspectives while protecting our users — requires vigilance, and a willingness to make hard choices. That is an ideal that we have at times failed to live up to in recent years. As some of our users have unfortunately experienced firsthand, certain types of abuse on our platform have gone unchecked because our policies and product have not appropriately recognized the scope and extent of harm inflicted by abusive behavior. Even when we have recognized that harassment is taking place, our response times have been inexcusably slow and the substance of our responses too meager.

Gadde goes on to say, “Freedom of expression means little as our underlying philosophy if we continue to allow voices to be silenced because they are afraid to speak up.” It’s interesting to note that this statement also reflects the greater problem facing said voices in other spheres: that by allowing abuses and harassment to run unchecked everywhere, voices are silenced by fear of backlash and threats.

While she keeps the examples fairly general, she does (thankfully) call out Gamergate as an incident of people attempting to silence voices through anonymous threats and intimidation.

As we’ve reported before, Twitter is making some very real steps towards improving the tools users can use to protect themselves. However, their mindfulness towards the fact that this is an ever evolving and changing fight is the most refreshing point to hear. As Gadde says, “While we have made significant progress, there is more we can do, and our commitment to ensuring safety for our users will continue to be a priority.”

It is with no small hope that these changes prove effective, and more voices will no longer have to live in fear of the threat of retaliation from anonymous masses.

What do you think Twitter could be doing better? Let us know in the comments!

–Please make note of The Mary Sue’s general comment policy.–

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The Anteaters could pull a giant upset against Louisville, thanks to the fact that they actually have a giant.

It's time for March Madness, and you're probably not going to win your bracket pool if you don't pick any upsets. So you have two choices: you could randomly pick Random Directional State University, or you could listen to someone who wasted countless hours of their life watching low-level NCAA basketball this year so you wouldn't have to. Last year we told you about North Dakota State and Stephen F. Austin, and if you listened, you reaped the rewards. Here's who we like this year.

UC-Irvine has a little bit of everything we love in a March Madness upset pick: They're a First Time Tourney team, they have a unique star with a genuinely fascinating background in Mamadou N'diaye, they have a dope mascot (the Anteater!) and most importantly, they're matched up with an opponent they could very well beat. In five years under coach Russell Turner, the Anteaters have turned from a program that was terrible for decades into this team that finally broke through to the big dance. Here's everything you need to know about the Anteaters:

How good are they?

The Anteaters weren't spectacular this year -- they're ranked No. 94 in Ken Pomeroy's rankings and didn't actually win their conference, the Big West, in the regular season, as UC-Davis went 14-2 in league play. But we're chalking some of that up to the absence of Mamadou N'diaye: A 7'6 center from Senegal, N'diaye missed most of the year with foot injuries.

N'diaye only managed to play 20 minutes in eight games this year, and the Anteaters went 6-2. And one of those losses was to Arizona, which probably shouldn't be held against them. Most importantly, these three games included the Big West Tournament, which the Anteaters won to earn a tourney bid.

What are they good at?

Being tall is a pretty simple thing, but it's pretty important in basketball. Irvine has way more height than any other team from a low-major conference, and it's not just N'diaye: his backup is 7'2 Greek product Ioannis Dimakopalous, and there's also 6'10 forward Mike Best. And the team's leading scorer and rebounder (aka the best player on the team who doesn't have literal gigantism) is Will Davis, who averaged 12.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

All that height shows in the Anteaters' statistical profile: teams only shoot 42.3 percent from inside the arc against UC-Irvine, the 16th-lowest figure in college hoops. Shots get blocked, shots get altered, shots miss.

Tell us more about this Mamadou N'diaye guy!

N'diaye -- not related to the former NBA player/current Georgia Tech assistant of the same name, or the three Senegalese soccer players of the same name -- is the tallest player in college hoops, and he'd be the tallest player in the NBA if he were in the league. N'diaye plays a sport filled with enormously tall people, and makes those enormously tall people look short.

It's not all there for N'diaye. He's clumsy, prone to falling over, getting way out of position. He's slow, and can't get up and down the court quickly. He's still relatively new to the game, and played at a small high school and is playing at a small college, so he's never been forced to develop any moves besides scoring over people. His conditioning isn't great, and he can't play heavy minutes. He's a stick figure who doesn't have a ton of core strength, and can get moved off a spot. He'd prefer to just stand in one place rather than move, on both sides of the ball.

But all those flaws don't outweigh the fact that he is 7'6. He blocks shots just by putting his hand up. When he gets the ball on the post, he can hold the ball above his opponents' head and drop it in. I compared his game to an older brother dominating his 8-year-old sibling in over-the-door Nerf basketball, and I'm sticking to that comparison.

Wait, why is a 7'6 Senegalese man playing for UC-Irvine?

N'diaye's story is a wild one, detailed by Fox Sports while he was in high school. He was first spotted in Dakar by Amadou Koundoul, a Senegalese-born assistant who worked at Irvine at the time. When an American basketball coach spots a 7'6 player in a foreign country, that 7'6 player comes to America.

N'diaye's ended up at Stoneridge Prep, which often helps basketball players moving to America -- Turkish former Kentucky recruit/OKC Thunder center Enes Kanter went there. There they realized that N'diaye had a huge tumor on his pituitary gland. This tumor caused his incredible growth, but also could've caused him to lose his sight if not acted upon.

Charitable donations allowed for N'diaye to get the tumor removed. N'diaye ended up at Brethren Christian, another L.A.-area school, and although Georgetown and Pepperdine also offered, he ended up sticking with the school whose assistant initially brought him over and committing to UC-Irvine.

Is Louisville a good matchup?

Louisville is a GREAT matchup. The Anteaters are one of the best teams in college basketball at defending two-pointers. The Cardinals are one of the worst three-point shooting teams in college basketball, hitting just 30.4 percent of their shots, 312th of 351. How is Louisville going to score?

I'm already somewhat skeptical about Lousiville's offense without Chris Jones, the point guard who was kicked off the team after rape accusations. He wasn't a good shooter, but he was the best on the team, and he ran the offense. Now the "point guard" is Terry Rozier, a converted two-guard, and an already bad-shooting team is worse. That could be a problem against a team that owns the inside.

That said, I have no idea how the interior matchup between N'diaye and Montrezl Harrell goes. Harrell is a monstrous athlete capable of overpowering most interior defenders with ease. Does he bang on the stringy N'diaye for a bunch of easy buckets? Or does he get flustered around the rim by N'diaye's long arms, and end up trying to hit jumpers he can't?

ANTEATERS!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

UC-Irvine is that nation's only team called the "anteaters." It's not due to some quirky local tradition -- anteaters live in South America -- it's due to a 1965 poll of the student body. (People in California in the 1960s had great ideas.) Anteaters beat out "none of the above" and Peter the UC-Irvine Anteater was born:

Irvine fans chant "ZOT ZOT ZOT ZOT" basically because nobody knows what noise anteaters make and the anteater in the comic strip "B.C." gets the onomatopoeia "zot" for when he uses his super-long tongue to lap up ants. UC Irvine's website features a nice look at Peter's transformation over the years -- what I like about the current mascot is that he's got the "bicep-having, uniform-wearing anthropomorphic animal" thing that 99.9 percent of college use, but also is an anteater with a silly neck and huge proboscis.

Hoops history

As noted, this is the Anteaters' first tourney trip, but it's not for lack of trying: they've been in Division I since 1977. The best player by far in UC-Irvine hoops history is Scott Brooks, who went on to a 10-year NBA career and presently coaches the Thunder. There's currently one UC-Irvine player playing professionally ... and that's Arizona Cardinals tight end Darren Fells. He passed up football at schools like UCLA for hoops at UC-Irvine out of high school but after a five-year professional career in Europe, decided to give the sport another shot -- and had five receptions this year in his debut season with the Cardinals.

Who went there?

Jon Lovitz is an anteater. That's the ticket! Other notables include Aubrey O'Day, the lead singer of Danity Kane from Making the Band, which is one of my favorite awful girl groups, and author Michael Chabon.

Author: Pai Osias Source: Dabr

RT @fabiohamaya: MANO HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA #DoYouBleed http://t.co/NY0D4Cpsc5

Some people consider traveling an unnecessary burden that you have to deal with from time to time out of sheer necessity. On the other hand, people who possess that spark of true wanderers and explorers can’t get enough of it. Wanderlust is the word that is most commonly used to explain the state of mind of these people are in. This incredible passion for traveling, experiencing new cultures and civilizations, and seeing new scenery is not easily quenched but also brings a lot of benefits for the traveler as a person. Modern means of transportation, like airplanes, are hardly a good choice when you are traveling with this specific purpose in mind.

This is why people like to take trains when traveling for the sake of traveling. Trains have always had that certain level of causality, as well as the air of mystique that makes them a desirable means of transportation. They are far more comfortable than buses, cars or airplanes, and they provide you with the opportunity to really enjoy magnificent sites during your travels. For this reason, we have decided to compose a list of the most beautiful train routes from around the globe, attempting to provide an option for anyone to experience a stunning train ride that will last through the ages.

1. Bergen Railway, Norway

Not many people living outside of Europe are aware how beautiful the scenery of Scandinavia really is. Riding from Bergen to Oslo, you will experience beautiful sights and the environment will change seemingly as if the seasons are changing as you go along. Beautiful fjords, snowy mountaintops and stunning grassy plains will compose this scenery.

2. West Rhine Railway, Germany

Most travellers that go to Germany focus on Berlin and its immense history, high culture and vast cultural life. Still, Germany has a lot more to offer and one of the more beautiful parts is its wine country, the highlight of which is the Rhine valley.  The railroad stretches from Mainz to Koblenz and there are a lot of things to see along the way.

3. Bernina Express Railway, Switzerland to Germany

The route this train ride will take you through is part of the Swiss Alps and has been put under official the protection of UNESCO as a world heritage. The Bernina Express Railway will take you through the magnificent scenery of the Swiss countryside, lakes and breath-taking glaciers. We recommend taking panorama cars for the best experience possible.

4. Christchurch to Greymouth Railway, New Zealand

After the European Alps, let’s pop off to the Southern Alps train ride in New Zealand. If you take a train from Christchurch to Greymouth, you are in for a treat. Canterbury plains and the Waimakariri River, with its beautiful gorges await you along with the magnificent view over the Southern Alps, which will spread out before you.

5. Douro Line Railway, Portugal

Back to Europe, to north Portugal to be more specific. This scenic railroad line got its name from the Douro river and was first started in 1887. It follows the river the majority of the way and it’s a big part of the landscape you are going to feast your eyes on. The valley is also a key element of the picturesque scenery that this ride has to offer.

6. The Royal Scotsman, Scotland

If you want a top-class luxurious experience, then you are going to enjoy the one The Royal Scotsman has to offer. Even the name itself echoes luxury and elegance! Take a trip from Edinburgh and enjoy the magnificent Scottish Highlands along with its lochs and beautiful green landscapes. The train itself is high quality and ensures maximum comfort.

7. The Sunset Limited, USA

When it comes to legendary sceneries in the USA, there is nothing more iconic than its deserts which always brings scenes from western movies to mind. There is simply something beautiful in the ruggedness of the desert and there is no better way to experience it than from the seat on The Sunset Limited! The train goes from Los Angeles and New Orleans and you are going to enjoy every minute of this 48 hour journey.

8. The Danube Express, Hungary to Turkey

Another luxurious train ride that starts from Eastern Europe, in Budapest, all the way to the oriental Istanbul in Turkey. One of the countries that this very unique line passes through is Transylvania (Romania), home of the famous Vlad Tsepesh, more popularly known as Dracula and see the castle of the historical figure that the legendary vampire character was based on. The journey ends in Istanbul where you should visit the famous Haydarpaşa Terminal, one of the more famous train stations in the world.

9. Al Andalus Express, Spain

Andalusia, a region of southern Spain, is considered one of the more beautiful landscapes in the world. Ever since 1930, Al Andalus Express has been giving people the opportunity to experience the Andalusia in a breath-taking and relaxing manner. This six-day journey starts from Seville and ends in Cordoba.

10. Maharajas’ Express, India

If you want to see the extravagant side of India, the Maharajas’ Express is the best option for you. This train ride has been titled “World’s Leading Luxury Train” and “World’s Most Expensive Luxury Train in Asia”, and these titles talk volumes about the quality of service and accommodation during the trip. From Mumbai to Delhi, prepare to be amazed!

11. Denali Star Route, Alaska

There are very few places in the world that can match the primal beauty of the Alaskan landscapes. The route that the Denali Star takes will take you through many charming small towns and villages as well and bring you to the magnificent Denali National Park. The entire trip is over within a day, but keep in mind that this is a 12 hour expedition.

12. Talyllyn Railway, Wales

Ok, if you are a train enthusiast, then you certainly know about the Thomas the Tank Engine book and TV show. What if a I told you that you could ride the line that served as an inspiration for this character. Enjoy a charming ride through the Fathew Valley riding on a steam powered train line that dates all the way back to 1865.

13. Trans-Siberian Railway, Russia

One of the legendary train rides that isn’t recommended for novices. The 5,772 miles journey from Moscow, on the west of the country to Vladivostok in the east take somewhere around 13 days to complete in its entirety. An ominous number isn’t it? This is a real adventure through one of the harshest regions of the world.

14. Hiram Bingham, Peru

South America always had a certain veil of mystery with legends about its rainforests, tribes and so on. One of the most famous archaeological sites of the pre-Columbian Peru is the citadel Machu Picchu. The Hiram Bingham train route can take you around the mountain in a journey that lasts six hours and includes exploring all the best sites.

15. Durango & Silverton Railroad, USA

This classic American train has been proclaimed “Best North American Train Trip” by National Geographic Traveller. The train route has been around since 1881 and travels a 45 mile journey between Durango and the town of Silverton.

The thing that makes train vacations a good idea is the fact that they can be a perfect summer or winter vacation and the dispute concerning which is better has gone on for ages. Pictures are worth a thousand words and experiences vary from train to train. The thing that is definitely true is that you will remember them for the rest of your life and once you try a scenic train journey, you will always love it.

The post 15 Most Magnificent Train Routes Around The World appeared first on Lifehack.

Throw-your-controller-at-someone's-face level rage.

This happened quite a while back, but is just now coming to our attention and OH MY GOD.

You know the Angry Luigi death stare? This would demand that, but a death stare so hard that fire shoots out of your eyes and engulfs the other person. Ark of the Covenant-level death stare.

Someone may have gotten Rock Bottomed through a coffee table for this one.

(h/t David Zhou)

babygirl-jpg:

you can’t sit with us

Albany Times Union

Hacked emails between Sony, Cuomo administration Albany Times Union Albany. A trove of purloined emails detailing how Sony Pictures Entertainment executives poured money into Gov. Andrew Cuomo's campaign coffers after the state acted on a $26 million payout to the company has reignited criticism of New York's Film Tax ... and more »

Angels outfielder Mike Trout hit his 100th career home run on Friday night in Houston, at 23 years, 253 days old becoming the youngest player in major league history to reach 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases.

With a two-run home run in the sixth inning, Los Angeles Angels outfielder extraordinaire Mike Trout became the youngest member of the 100-homer, 100-steal club.

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Trout launched a line drive into the Crawford Boxes in left field off Roberto Hernandez to give the Halos a 3-1 lead on Friday night, the first game of a three-game weekend series at Minute Maid Park in Houston. It was the second home run of the season for Trout, who entered Friday hitting a robust .438 (14-for-32).

That gave Trout 100 home runs to go with his 104 career stolen bases. At 23 years, 253 days old he is the youngest member of the 100-100 club, of which there are now 229 members. Alex Rodriguez was the previous youngest to join, doing so at 23 years, 309 days in 1999.

The only other Angels player with at least 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases is Darin Erstad, who had 114 home runs and 170 steals for the Halos from 1996-2006.

schwit1 writes A giant welding machine, built for NASA's multi-billion dollar Space Launch System (SLS), has to be taken apart and rebuilt because the contractor failed to reinforce the floor, as required, prior to construction: "Sweden's ESAB Welding & Cutting, which has its North American headquarters in Florence, South Carolina, built the the roughly 50-meter tall Vertical Assembly Center as a subcontractor to SLS contractor Boeing at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. ESAB was supposed to reinforce Michoud's floor before installing the welding tool, but did not, NASA SLS Program Manager Todd May told SpaceNews after an April 15 panel session during the 31st Space Symposium here. As a result, the enormous machine leaned ever so slightly, cocking the rails that guide massive rings used to lift parts of the 8.4-meter-diameter SLS stages The rings wound up 0.06 degrees out of alignment, which may not sound like much, "but when you're talking about something that's 217 feet [66.14 meters] tall, that adds up," May said. Asked why ESAB did not reinforce the foundation as it was supposed to, May said only it was a result of "a miscommunication between two [Boeing] subcontractors and ESAB." It is baffling how everyone at NASA, Boeing, and ESAB could have forgotten to do the reinforcing, even though it was specified in the contract. It also suggests that the quality control in the SLS rocket program has some serious problems.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Butts.

The wonderful David Rappoccio over at Kissing Suzy Kolber had the brilliant idea to redraw every one of the 32 NFL team logos to include a butt. Because butts are funny. Here are a couple, just to give you an idea of what we're working with. (Butts.)

And probably the best one of all:

Head on over to Kissing Suzy Kolber to see all of them.

The Congressional Research Service has released a report on the no-fly list and current litigation that it violates due process.

Country music star Tim McGraw is taking heat from gun advocates after he announced this week that he’s headlining a July 17 concert in Hartford, Conn., to benefit Sandy Hook Promise, a group that seeks to protect children from gun violence. Gun advocates took to social media after McGraw’s announcement, calling the singer a hypocrite.

The reasoning for the layoffs, the employee told Motherboard, is that MakerBot is looking to integrate further with Stratasys, its parent company, and is streamlining its operation to further that end. “It’s consolidating with Stratasys, so it’s economies of scale and looking at duplicate positions and consolidating,” the employee said. “We have a new CEO, so he has a different plan in mind,” she said, crying. “I’m sorry, it’s a hard day.” //// ​UPDATE: MakerBot has published an official statement that confirmed the layoffs, as well as announced the closing of all three of the company's retail stores. Here is an excerpt from the post, which can be read in full on ​the company's website: ​ ​"Today, we at MakerBot are re-organizing our business in order to focus on what matters most to our customers. As part of this, we have implemented expense reductions, downsized our staff and closed our three MakerBot retail locations. With these changes, we will focus our efforts on improving and iterating our products, growing our 3D ecosystem, shifting our retail focus to our national partners and expanding our efforts in the professional and education markets."

primordyaforever:

cartoonishquest:

Skyrim logic. 

I’m dying…..

yo saucieshares

lurknomoar:

pigeonbits:

othersideanthology:

Pitch submissions will be open May 1 - May 31!  Get ready!

In the meantime, you can follow us HERE for info, updates, and announcements about the project!

EVERYONE!!  OMIGOSH!!  I’M SO EXCITED TO FINALLY ANNOUNCE THIS PROJECT!!

Myself and Kori Michele are editing a giant anthology of QUEER PARANORMAL ROMANCE COMICS, and we want YOU to submit to it!  Accepted submissions will be paid, because queer comics are important and your work is valuable.  Signal boosts are appreciated – we want to let as many people as possible know about this book!

If this project happens, I’m SO going to be funding it.