When Chappie was released in the U.S., it was a R-rated film. But for the movie’s upcoming Japanese release, Sony decided to edit the film for kids 12 years-old and up. Here’s where things get really awkward.
Alex (1976 – September 6, 2007) had a vocabulary of over 100 words, but was exceptional in that he appeared to have understanding of what he said. For example, when Alex was shown an object and was asked about its shape, color, or material, he could label it correctly. He could understand that a key was a key no matter what its size or color, and could figure out how the key was different from others. One day, he asked what color he was, and learned “grey” after being told the answer six times. This made him the first non-human animal to have ever asked an existential question. [x]
Alex’s last words were also “You be good, see you tomorrow. I love you.” [x]
These were the same words that Alex would say every day when his owner left the lab.
An anonymous reader writes The Washington Post's Caitlin Dewey has written a lengthy feature covering one of Wikipedia's most intractable problems: carefully inserted hoax information that is almost impossible to detect. Dewey's investigation starts with the recent discovery of the nonexistent Australian god "Jar'Edo Wens" (which lasted almost ten years), and discusses a Wikipediocracy post about a recent experiment by critic Greg Kohs, in which 30 articles received cleverly-chosen minor falsehoods. More than half survived for more than two months. Included is also a chart showing that editing participation in Wikipedia has "atrophied" since 2007. It is quite rare to see a feature in a major media outlet as critical as this, of Wikipedia and its little-known internal problems. Especially on the heels of a very favorable CBS 60 Minutes report. As Kohs says, "I think this has proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that it's not fair to say Wikipedia is 'self-correcting.'"
Vatican confirms: Pope to visit Cuba in September Ynetnews Pope Francis is planning to visit Cuba in September as part of a trip that will also take him to the United States, the Vatican announced Friday. "The Holy Father has taken into consideration the idea of carrying out a leg to Cuba on the occasion of his upcoming ... Pope to visit Cuba in September—VaticanInquirer.net
The following was originally posted on Dee Hogan’s blog The Josei Next Door and has been republished with permission.
It was a fun week, with some subtle plot bombs and slightly varied character dynamics—all good things, really—but in the interest of getting this out before the end of the week (I’m typing this during the, like, three-hour window between parties and chores), I’m going to unleash my little-used superpower: EXTREME BREVITY. Prepare yourself, Kakarot!
The Recaps
Episode 65: Love Gemstone No. 9
The gals had plans to spend the day together, but Ami’s studying and Rei’s shrining and Usa’s probably dashing across a street somewhere with a piece of toast hanging out of her mouth, so for now it’s just Minako and Makoto, who have never really interacted much before. The park is full of snuggly couples despite the heat (“They’re getting their gross sweat all over each other,” Mina and I think simultaneously, like true romantics), which leads to a debate about love that only worsens when the girls rescue Chibiusa from a pair of bullying boys.
Minako: “Boys tease girls because they like them.”
Makoto: “Nah, those guys are just assholes.”
The two are not mutually exclusive, incidentally, but it sparks a Huge Argument about why the other is still single—both of which basically come down to “you’re still not over the last guy you liked.” Usagi shows up just in time to be confused about the conversation and to get jealous at Chibi AGAIN for crushing on Mamoru, proving that she’s still the least mature scout in the park.
Meanwhile, the Spectre Sisters are sniping at each other about THEIR bad luck with romance, too. Holy thematic coincidence, Batman! Eldest sister Petz recently got dumped and second-eldest sister Calaveras is giving her crap about it. Then Rubeus puts Calaveras on a new Crystal Point assignment, she acts all Too Cool For School but changes her mind, only to discover that Petz took the mission. Looks like it’s time for a Sister Act!
Our Black Crescent Club (henceforth known as the BCC) take over a local magic shop that sells gems which supposedly grant wishes, and turn them into eeeeevil gems which grant you the reverse of what you actually wished for. Love turns to hate, success turns to failure, pizza turns to broccoli—it’s CHAOS!
Of course this is exactly when the Moonies-about-town swing by and Usagi decides to try her luck, first chug-a-lugging a juice which will get the person you like to like you in return, and then following the “shopkeepers” into a shady room where they’re shown a conveniently affordable gem guaranteed to “bring back love.” All three gals go for it at once… and then things get adorable, because Minako insists Makoto not use it because CLEARLY the guy who dumped her had terrible taste, and Mina wants Mako “to have a loving relationship.” After all, she’s a precious friend, and Mina wants her to be with someone who deserves her.
And now, if you’ll excuse me:
Mako takes back her earlier gripes about Mina being “too picky” as well, and somewhere in the background Petz is all like “Damn skippy that asshole didn’t deserve me!” and it’s kind of a hilarious bonding moment for all involved parties. Let’s give up on these stupid charms and ex-crushes and find someone newer and better, TOGETHER! Hoo-wah!
…Oh, except for Usagi. I guess she’s stuck with that Mamoru jerkoff since he’s the Romantic Hero and all.
“Geez, you guys, I’m standing right here!”
That’s right—Chibiusa followed the gals and Mamoru used his Chibidar to find her, so they walk into the shop just in time to hear Usagi go on about how he’s the only one for her! He leaves in a dramatic angsty HUFF!, just in time for the shopkeeps to blurt out their nefarious schemes and reveal themselves as the BCC. Gasp!
Then there’s a fire extinguisher and a bunch of fog and transformation sequences, and I’m pretty sure Usagi shoves Chibiusa into a crate at one point so she can’t see her when she transforms, even though she shouts “Moon Crystal Power Make-Up” SUPER LOUDLY right outside the crate. Along the way Petz monologues about how love makes women weak because they rely on men instead of themselves, but Makoto and Minako figure you can believe in love and STILL be a badass, and they prove it by learning a pair of new moves: Mako gets the Engrish-tastic “Sparkles Wide Pressure” (I prefer last cour’s Thunder Dragon), and WOOHOO MINA FINALLY LEARNS THE LOVE-ME CHAIN!
And Sailor Moon Crystal Venus is all like, “Girl, what took you so long?”
The scouts (Rei and Ami joined the party late) drive off the Sisters and Sailor Moon shows up just in time to halate the local droid Jamanen into crystal dust (“Jeez, I don’t even get to say my catchphrases!”). Then she goes right back to chug-a-lugging love potions. Have you learned NOTHING from this moving experience, Usa? Ahh, who’m I kidding. Have fun chasing your uncommunicative romantic hero. I’m sure he’ll come around—maybe even if the next episode, in fact…
Episode 66 – Currying Favor
Chibiusa’s class is having a “parent-child curry rice event” this weekend, but Usagi’s ‘rents can’t attend because “something came up” (read: it’s Sunday and we’re tired, dammit), so they volunteer Usa to do it instead. Chibs tells everyone to shove that idea where the sun don’t shine, she’d rather go by herself than with “Stupid Usagi,” so THERE, but she’s clearly upset, and the thought of a parent-child event makes her all teary-eyed and nostalgic for the past (future?) again.
Literally the only thing I know about the future is that everyone is up to their ears in bubbles.
At first Usagi has no intention of helping out a little brat who doesn’t want her help, despite Morality Cat’s insistence that she be the bigger person, but she relents when she catches the Chibi crying over a pot of failed rice. She gets Chibiusa to agree to let Usa go to the curry event, but only by suggesting they invite Mamoru along, too. Hopefully Usagi won’t come to roux this decision before the day is out.
Oh, so yeah—surprise, Mamoru! You get to play house with your ex-girlfriend and a tiny child from the future. At first he’s all “Buzz off, I’m sleepy,” but Chibi busts out the cute and he agrees. Mind you, none of them actually knows HOW to make curry rice, so Usagi takes a crash cooking course with The Thunder Chef, Makoto. Everyone is terrible at chopping veggies, they mistake a carrot for Minako’s finger, and it is hands-down the best scene of the episode. Can we just get an entire webseries of the scouts trying to cook things together? I would watch the hell out of that.
And meanwhile down in the PCPavilion, Petz is eating an entire cake.
“Nom nom feelings nom nom.”
At least until Rubeus pops in with yet another Crystal Point mission, this time at the Juuban Supermarket. Petz and Cal go together again, because they get along SO well together, and start selling Dark Fruits (slogan: “Let’s all be unhappy together!”), which turn all the shoppers into zombies and everything the shoppers touch into rotting brown ooze. Their grossest scheme yet!
The newly-minted eeeeevil supermarket puts a real damper on Usagi’s afternoon, as she’d been having Pretend-Family Fun Times with Mamoru and Chibiusa until they got to the store and found everything all mushified. “GAWD, Usagi, how could you not know that this place only served rotting food?!” Mamoru snaps dickishly, and he and Chibs leave in another HUFF. Which, honestly, perfect timing, because now Luna and Usagi can go a-sleuthing!
Out on the streets of Juuban, Rei runs into Mamoru and Chibiusa at a local butcher’s shop and gets dragged into their Pretend-Family Fun Times. Oh goodie, Mamoru gets to make curry with a DIFFERENT ex-girlfriend now! Much better!
“Please don’t talk about that time we made out in the arcade please don’t talk about that time we made out in the arcade…”
It is exactly as awkward as you’d think, so much so that even Chibi notices the difference, and says they’d better go find Usagi. Rei agrees with the relief of a woman pardoned five feet from the gallows. Even better, the supermarket is full of eeeevil energy, so Rei gets to sprint inside, leaving Pretend-Family Fun Time in the dust.
The BCC’s plan is taking too long to come to fruition (hah!), so they call on droid Avocadora to speed things along. Sailor Moon is in a pinch, but it’s Sailor Mars to the rescue, and winning Entrance Pose Of the Week to boot!
“See, Tuxedo Mask? I can do it, too!”
There’s a Banana Knife and a Lychee Grenade, and then The Tux shows up and uses his DUELING!Cane, and everything is ridiculous and wonderful again, right up until the rest of the scouts show up and force our squabbling Spectre Sisters to beat a retreat. Sailor Moon halates Avocadora, and…
Huzzah! The food regenerates! Probably the shoppers do, too, but more importantly: FOOD! Mamoru retrieves Chibiusa from whatever crate he stuffed her into (I assume that’s how we’re handling this now), they finish their shopping, and Usagi takes them to Mamoru’s for a home-cooked curry meal, which, despite its funky look, is actually quite tasty. Side Quest Completed! +10 Ex-perience Points!
This, That, and the Other
Our villains are surprisingly dark this season. There’s only one brief, dim shot of what the BCC did to the previous owners of the magic shop, but man, it is not PG-rated.
And in other villain-related news, Petz’s nipple armor is super distracting.
Is it just me, or are the scouts gradually giving less and less of a damn about protecting their secret identities? They’ve never exactly been subtle, but creating a smokescreen so you can shout your transformation spell like five feet from your enemy is a whole new level of obvious.
I’m not sure what surprised me more: That the supermarket didn’t allow pets, or that Usagi actually respected the rule. Luna has shed, kneaded, and rubbed her face on literally every other public place in this city. Why stop here?
“You’ve angered the fresh highland vegetables and melt-in-your-mouth shabu-shabu beef!” Thanks to Usagi and Mamoru being on a disturbingly similar wavelength, I got to giggle at this line TWICE today.
Hark! A plot point! Hey, fancy that! The shadowy outlines of Chibiusa’s parents look EXACTLY like Mamoru and Usagi! Which begs the question: How does she NOT see the resemblance? Surely there are childhood photos of Mum ‘n’ Dad kicking around SOMEWHERE in her fancy future home, right?
Dee (@JoseiNextDoor) is a writer, a translator, a book worm, and a basketball fan. She has bachelor’s degrees in English and East Asian studies and a master’s degree in Creative Writing. To pay the bills, she works as a technical writer. To not pay the bills, she writes young adult novels, watches far too much anime, and cheers very loudly for the Kansas Jayhawks. You can find her at The Josei Next Door, a friendly neighborhood anime blog for long-time fans and newbies alike.
In the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, putting America’s black and Hispanic borrowers into dicey subprime loans was like shooting fish in a barrel—and segregation shrank the barrel.
A paper (pdf) in the journal Social Forces finds that subprime loans were not only prevalent in black and Hispanic neighborhoods of the largest US cities, but more prevalent in heavily segregated cities.
The paper’s authors—Harvard PhD candidates Jackelyn Hwang, Michael Hankinson, and Kreg Steven Brown—found the correlation by combining 2006 government data on subprime lending by census tract with an index they created measuring the clustering of majority-black and Hispanic tracts within a given metro area, to create maps like this one:
When the clustering measure increased a single standard deviation—meaning that a given area in a city was measurably more black or more Hispanic—the subprime portion of originated home loans increased 22.3 percentage points. High levels of segregation were good for an additional 3.2 percentage points on top of the 14-point gap in the rate of subprime lending between white and minority neighborhoods.
That’s not to say that race was the only factor at play. Income and other factors might have played a part, the researchers noted, though the effects they observed were relatively small. And the research doesn’t account for purposely discriminatory behavior by lenders, which has been known to happen.
In 2012, Wells Fargo, the largest US home lender, agreed to a $175 million settlement with the US Justice Department over allegations that it had targeted minority borrowers for subprime loans. A related suit filed by the city of Baltimore, Maryland, produced an embarrassing affidavit that outlined Wells Fargo’s lending practices and described (pdf, attachment B, p. 4) loan officers making reference to “ghetto loans” made to “mud people” in minority neighborhoods.
Although the increased availability of home loans during the peak of subprime lending temporarily allowed blacks and Hispanics to make progress in asset building, the spatial concentrations of such loans and the disproportionate fallout of subprime loans suggest that the housing crisis has further exacerbated racial and ethnic wealth inequality and damaged the economic assimilation of the predominantly immigrant Hispanic population.
10G copper is easy (we do it at work); making it cost-effective is hard
A new standard for DSL, G.fast, can reach speeds of up to a gigabit of data per second, though its performance drops rapidly once the copper wires extend for more than 100 meters. That's enough to get service from a very nearby service closet but not much beyond that. Are we at the end of the line for the technology?
Maybe not. The engineers at Bell Labs, however, said that its customers—ISPs in this case—have other ideas. It's not easy to run fiber through every town or into every building, and ISPs see opportunities for higher-tier services over copper wires. So Bell Labs has joined a number of companies in working on a technology that can reach 10Gbps over copper wiring, and Ars got a chance to look at some of the preliminary hardware.
The new tech is limited to a distance of only about 50 m before the dropoffs become substantial, but that's enough to handle services like fiber to the driveway or fiber to the floor of a multifamily dwelling.
John Carpenter is famed for directing genre classics like Halloween, They Live, and Escape From New York, but the synth-y scores he's crafted have earned their own cult following. He recently released Lost Themes — instrumentals for imaginary features — and we've got the music video premiere for "Night"!
The Pelicans got to the NBA Playoffs on the season's final day, but will Anthony Davis' first stay in the postseason be a short one?
The New Orleans Pelicans achieved their goal, even if they didn't do it in the way many outsiders wanted. Rather than keep their powder dry during Anthony Davis' formative years, the Pelicans made big moves to build a good team around him right away. Goodbye, draft picks and cap flexibility. Hello, Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, Omer Asik and others.
But it's worked, at least for now. Yes, the Pelicans benefited from Oklahoma City's health failings, but they overcame a barrage of injuries of their own to reach the playoffs on the final night of the season. A superhuman season from Davis got them here, but so did Evans' improved floor game, Asik's stability, Eric Gordon's mini-bounce back and the shrewd acquisitions of Quincy Pondexter, Dante Cunningham and Norris Cole on the cheap. This is far more than just a one-man team. Heck, it would have qualified more easily if not for head-scratching losses to teams like the Knicks, 76ers and Magic.
The Pelicans don't defend well enough to make a deep playoff run in West, but with Davis leading the way, they'll be a fun show in the first round. We can worry about whether they've rebuilt the right way another time.
How they beat you
The Pelicans offense is tough to stop. You know about Davis, but New Orleans has all the other elements to thrive. It has spot-up shooting with Gordon and Pondexter, the option to go offense (Ryan Anderson) or defense (Asik) inside and an attacking guard in Evans who puts pressure on defenses. The return of Holiday from injury is a big boost because he's a shrewd point guard who provides a different look from Evans' barreling style.
That combination of flexibility, shooting and attacking allows Monty Williams to open up his playbook. The Pelicans leverage their threats well, especially after timeouts. Defenses scramble thinking one player is the primary option on a play, only to get burned by the man they didn't expect.
But the Pelicans offense is effective even on simple actions because Davis is so versatile. He immediately becomes a lethal weapon in pick-and-roll sets, whether he drives all the way to the hoop, fades to the perimeter, stops in a short roll at the free throw line or runs into the post on a switch. The Pelicans smartly run a lot of pick-and-rolls and dribble hand-offs inside the three-point line, which leaves Davis just one step from rising for a huge slam. Teams often commit the cardinal sin of racing off three-point shooters to account for him in the mid-range area, which sets up open perimeter shots and cuts either directly or indirectly assisted by Davis.
The Pelicans are also dangerous off missed shots. It's difficult to prevent Evans in particular from getting to the basket on the break because of his unique footwork.
How you beat them
New Orleans' defense isn't as bad as the season-long numbers suggest, but it's still weak compared to other playoff teams. The Pelicans allow more shot attempts in the restricted area than any other team despite having both Davis and Asik, which is a basketball crime. Davis is often too far from the basket in New Orleans' scheme and still has to improve his positioning and timing.
The real problems happen when either Asik or Davis is on the bench. Anderson remains a dangerous offensive player, but his defense fell off badly this season. The Pelicans allow 109 points per 100 possessions when he's in the game and fewer than 102 when he's not. Smart teams attack him again and again in pick-and-rolls to take advantage of his slow feet.
The Pelicans also have issues with shot distribution late in close games. Davis has a whopping 70 percent true shooting mark when the game is within five points with less than five minutes to go, but his usage rate in clutch situations is about equal to Evans' even though Tyreke has the 11th-worst true shooting percentage among guards who have at least 25 crunch-time appearances. That's a major problem against defenses that'll tighten up in the postseason.
Most important player
It's not fair to say that the Pelicans are Davis and a bunch of scrubs. It is fair to say that the Pelicans have one super-duper star who's one of the league's most essential players despite there being talent elsewhere on the roster.
Davis' numbers are overwhelming. He has the league's best player efficiency rating, a 59 percent true shooting mark and one of the league's highest plus/minus numbers.
But an easier way to think of Davis' dominance is to consider all the ways he impacts a game. Teams flood to him when he's 16 feet from the basket. They don't leave him when he's lurking on the baseline and a guard is flying in for an uncontested layup. They don't attack his side of the court on defense. They don't let guards go at him on switches because that's not an advantage. They don't double-team him because he can find open players. They rush multiple help defenders into the lane when he's rolling to the basket.
It's amazing to think that Anthony Davis, the NBA's PER leader, is better than the numbers indicate. But it's also true.
Let 'em have it
All hail the Pelicans marketing department for this ad.
"All we're concerned about is appealing to our culture. We're not worried about what anybody else says. What's important is that fans understand as a team and an organization, we get it. We're not marketing to people who come down for Mardi Gras. We're marketing to the people who live here year-round, who never see the French Quarter except maybe twice a year if they want to go to dinner someplace. Once you get past tourist New Orleans, that's the stuff people come back for. Mardi Gras is great, we all love it and we all participate in it, but it's the rest of the year stuff that makes New Orleans so special."
Watching a Pelicans home game means seeing a unique New Orleans experience. Here's hoping the marketing team does something creative for the Pelicans' home playoff games.
On the shelves of US gaming stores now The Eighth Doctor Sourcebook for Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space.
Each of the Doctor Sourcebooks is a must for fans of the show and gamers alike, as they're a complete guide to the televised adventures of each of the Doctor's incarnations, presenting detailed information about each episode alongside material for use in the game, from NPCs and gadgets to aliens and creatures!
But The Eighth Doctor Sourcebook is more than just a guide to the show it also contains a complete, 12-part campaign too, the Doom of the Daleks. Read More. Doom of the Daleks is our first campaign for Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space, and you can find it exclusively in The Eighth Doctor Sourcebook. The campaign is set during the Time War, where the Doctor has been assassinated by the Daleks most insidious weapon the Temporal Exterminator. This device unravels the victims time line in both directions forwards and backwards slowly wiping them from time and space. The Doctor needs his companions help or else he wont just die, hell never have existed
Eleven of the twelve adventures in the campaign are inspired by previous adventures of the Doctor, taking the companions back to his greatest triumphs or to face his greatest foes as they retrace his steps to find the moment he was struck by the Temporal Exterminator and hopefully stop the Daleks before they can use it to exterminate the Doctor! Theyll revisit iconic locations or face down some of his deadliest foes. Theyll unravel the machinations of the Master, face down a pair of deadly Weeping Angels and find themselves caught in the midst of a Sontaran and Rutan war and more besides!
You can download one of these adventures for free, The Matter of Silver. This adventure is inspired by the Seventh Doctor episode, Battlefield (which you can read all about in The Seventh Doctor Sourcebook, of course!), and takes the companions into a parallel universe where King Arthur battles Morgaine and Mordred, and the Doctor is known by another name... Merlin! Click to download the free PDF adventure
The twelfth adventure, Neverwas is the climax of the campaign, and takes the companions into the heart of the Dalek Empire to the Eternity Citadel, one of the Daleks must secret, most fortified base. And the home of the Temporal Exterminator. Nerve-racking doesnt even begin to cover how exciting this adventure is, and how fun the whole campaign is too. The Eighth Doctor Sourcebook is available to buy in US stores now, and in the rest of the world very soon.
You can also buy the PDF version here. And dont forget if your gaming store participates in the Bits & Mortar program, you can get a free PDF copy of each game you buy too! About The Eighth Doctor Sourcebook
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, this Sourcebook explores the Eighth Doctors adventures on Earth and beyond. With detailed information on all the allies, enemies, aliens and gadgets that he encounters, as well as examining each of his adventures, the book contains a wealth of material for the*Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG, and is also a fact-packed resource for fans of the show!
After being shot in a gang war in San Francisco, the Doctor regenerates just in time to stop the Master one more time. His eighth incarnation had much to contend with, not least the Time War, during which he had a fateful encounter with the Sisterhood of Karn once more.
As well as detailing the Eighth Doctors adventures, this sourcebook also contains a complete campaign *Doom of the Daleks* that sees the Doctors deadliest foe erasing him from existence, forcing his companions into a race against time itself to save him!
192 pages hardcover full-colour interior
Written by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, Walt Ciechanowski, Gareth Michael Skarka, Andrew Peregrine, Graham Walmsley and Darren Watts. Layout by Paul Bourne. Links
'When Jondeau shared the photo of Lagerfeld’s Apple watch, which he paired with a gold-zippered mesh glove, the device appeared not to have been activated.'
Karl Lagerfeld, creative director of Chanel and Fendi and enterprising cat owner, has received a custom-made, gold-banded Apple watch. Lagerfeld’s bodyguard and right-hand man, Sébastien Jondeau, thanked Apple for the gift via Instagram. Apple has actively courted the fashion community, wherein an acknowledgment from “Kaiser Karl” is no small gesture.
The watch has a gold link band, which has not been made available to plebeians. Commoners who purchase a $10,000 gold Apple watch with the public on April 24 will be forced to settle for a gold-buckled band made of leather.
The functions of the Apple watch include phone calls, text messaging, email management, heartbeat tracking, activity sensors, and GPS, among others. When Jondeau shared the photo of Lagerfeld’s Apple watch, which he paired with a gold-zippered mesh glove, the device appeared not to have been activated.
No matter. Lagerfeld had already identified its primary function: as a status symbol.
Gaming icons are no strangers to Time's annual Time 100 list. Minecraft developers Markus 'Notch' Persson and Jens Bergensten made the list in 2013, while Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto made it in 2007. Both were included under the "Titans" category. This year, Anita Sarkeesian — described in the piece by author Wil Wheaton as "gaming's feminist advocate" — made the list, under the Pioneers category, alongside actress Laverne Cox, astronaut Scott Kelly, podcast investigator Sarah Koenig and others.
Wheaton's contribution details Sarkeesian's influence, beginning with the 2012 Kickstarter for her ongoing Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series, up to the ongoing GamerGate campaign. Wheaton writes that Sarkeesian "became the target of vicious, misogynist harassment that included death and rape threats, pornographic vandalism of her Wikipedia page and a coordinated effort to have her Kickstarter flagged as terrorism. All of this because she wanted to have a conversation about the way women are portrayed in video games."
He continues, "She also talks about her life as a target in the online culture war known as Gamergate, waged by entitled male gamers who fear change in an industry that is evolving while they seem determined to remain 15 forever."
Wheaton writes, "A lesser person may throw up her hands and unplug her game console, but Anita is determined to ensure that video games are inclusive and representative of everyone who plays them. As her detractors grow increasingly unhinged, we have proof that her efforts are working."
Sarkeesian's latest Tropes video explores positive female characters, which you can watch above.
After 15 years of providing Ars readers with deep insight into the internals of Apple’s desktop operating system, John Siracusa has announced that his OS X Yosemite review will be his last OS X review for Ars or for any other publication.
John has published a review for every major OS X revision stretching back to before the operating system's formal release, and his explorations into the Unix-y underpinnings of OS X are the main reason why I am writing this retrospective on a Mac today. His retirement post on Hypercritical states that in 1999 he was "at the forefront of long-form nerd-centric tech writing," and that’s absolutely spot-on. I still remember being absolutely mesmerized by his 6,000-word OS X Developer Preview 2 review in 1999, and I was in awe of how clearly it laid bare the still-developing internals of Mac OS X.
John’s reviews quickly became an unofficial but integral part of Apple’s OS X release cycle. To me and to countless others—millions, judging by each review’s statistics—Apple hadn’t really released a new version of OS X until Siracusa weighed in on it. A Siracusa OS X review was the ultimate "one more thing," a new OS X release started with Steve Jobs and ended with John Siracusa.
Cyanogen Inc. and Microsoft announced a "strategic partnership" today to bundle Microsoft services into the Cyanogen OS. The agreement includes "Bing services, Skype, OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook, and Microsoft Office."
Cyanogen started as an aftermarket Android ROM maker, but recently the group went pro, formed a company, and started taking VC funding. It got an outside CEO, Kirk McMaster, who has stated that the new company's (very ambitious) goal is to "take Android away from Google." Cyanogen wants to supply its Android distribution to OEMs as a kind of outsourced software house, and currently Cyanogen OS powers the OnePlus One. The Wall Street Journalreported that Microsoft was going to invest in Cyanogen, but the deal fell through at some point, apparently in favor of this partnership.
"People around the world use Cyanogen's operating system and popular Microsoft services to engage with what matters most to them on their mobile devices," said Cyanogen's CEO. "This exciting partnership with Microsoft will enable us to bring new kinds of integrated services to mobile users in markets around the world."
The Portland Trail Blazers were a threat to go deep into the playoffs until injuries struck. Now, it's hard to see them winning a series.
This was the year for the Portland Trail Blazers to push all their chips in. LaMarcus Aldridge was at his peak, Damian Lillard was coming into his own and the supporting cast had fallen into place. Uncertainty loomed on the horizon with three starters hitting free agency this summer, so the time was now or never.
Those pieces were falling into place. Portland raced to a 30-8 start, withstood a Robin Lopez injury, made an in-season trade for Arron Afflalo to boost an inconsistent bench and entered the second half of the year as one of the handful of teams best equipped to knock the Warriors off.
But that was before a wrong step caused Wesley Matthews to crumple into a heap on the MODA Center floor during a game against the Mavericks. The bad news came swiftly: A torn Achilles, a long recovery with free agency looming and a major setback for a team that thrived because of its continuity.
Without Matthews, the Blazers stumbled to a 10-12 record down the stretch, only holding the No. 4 seed in name because they won their division. They are forever a threat because of Aldridge, Lillard and one of the prettiest offenses in the league, but it's hard not to think of what might have been when watching them.
How they beat you
The Blazers have one of the league's most terrifying weapons: A player that can hit any shot no matter what the defense does. Actually, they have two. You can play amazing defense and still be beat by an Aldridge moonball. You can try to contain Lillard in the pick and roll and still be beat when he pulls up from 26 feet.
Aldridge obviously doesn't hit every 18-foot contested fadeaway, nor does Lillard nail every pull-up three. The fact that they can, though, threatens a defense's discipline. The Blazers have a great system, excellent spacing, pinpoint passing and well-scripted movement to take advantage of their stars, so many think opponents are better off single-covering the top options so the others don't go off. They trust their elite defenders to try their best without needing help.
But it's easy to say that's the strategy. It's much harder to stick to it when Aldridge hits four tough shots in a row or Lillard brings the Blazers back from another double-digit deficit. The Rockets tried single-covering Aldridge in last year's playoffs and allowed 89 points in the first two games, both Portland wins. They never recovered.
The Blazers' spacing isn't nearly as good without Matthews, but the threat of Aldridge and Lillard shooting Portland to a series victory is very much alive.
How you beat them
For most of the year, Portland was a solid defensive team. The Blazers executed a conservative strategy that parked their big men close to the basket, ceding mid-range jumpers to point guards coming off screens. Portland was actually ranked third in defensive efficiency prior to Matthews' injury.
But the wheels have fallen off since. Only six teams have allowed more points per possession since March 5, and only one (Dallas) also made the playoffs. The new Portland starting lineup with Afflalo in Matthews' place has been particularly bad, allowing 111 points per 100 possessions.
Blaming Afflalo alone for the drop is unfair. Lillard still struggles badly getting over screens, which is especially problematic because Portland's scheme doesn't want its big man jumping out to help him contain the ball. Plays like these are why the Blazers will probably have Nicolas Batum guarding elite point guards in key playoff minutes.
There are other issues. Lopez is an excellent rim protector, but can be exposed in space. Batum is only OK when he should be great. Aldridge carries such a heavy offensive load, so he takes plays off. Portland's bench lacks athleticism now that Afflalo starts, Will Barton is in Denver and Dorell Wright is out for the first round with a hand injury. Matthews was everything you'd want in a perimeter defender and the Blazers are finding they can't replace him by committee.
Most important player
The Blazers would have fallen off a lot more after Matthews' injury had Batum not woken up. The Blazers' small forward has always been one of the toughest in the league to value. He does so much for Portland, but still leaves one thinking he can do so much more. When he's on, his passing breathes life into the offense, he hits tough perimeter shots and covers for Lillard's defensive issues. When he's off, it's as if he's not even on the court and Portland becomes a predictable two-man team.
Recently, though, he's been very on. Batum was a mess before the All-Star break, shooting just 37 percent from the field and looking scared to drive or throw decisive passes. Since the eight-day breather, he's hitting 49 percent from the field and 45 percent from three-point range. The Blazers need him to fire away from deep without Matthews and not let his shooting dictate the rest of his game.
How Robin Lopez's mascot abuse began
Did you know that Robin Lopez's ongoing feud with NBA mascots began with an incident that had nothing to do with him?
In Dec., 2013, Hooper, the Detroit Pistons' mascot, was jumped by a series of Brooklyn Nets players. Andray Blatche was the primary goon, and Hooper later got his revenge by nailing Blatche with silly spray. But Brook Lopez, Robin's brother, was also involved, prompting this threat.
Memphis' mascot did exact some measure of revenge for these senseless crimes, but that'll only make Robin angrier. He better watch his back during this playoff series.
'In a Jamaican dystopia ruled by aristocratic grump President Whitewall (J.K. Simmons at his J. Jonah Jameson-growliest)'
An animated series inspired by electronic act Major Lazer has been a long time coming. The group’s G.I. Joe-esque avatar previously proved his star power in videos for “Hold The Line” and “Get Free,” and talk of the Major’s move to TV dates back as far as 2011. In 2015, Major Lazer enters FXX’s recently relocated Animation Domination block with a built-in mythology, an established archnemesis (General Rubbish, voiced here with diabolical relish by James Adomian) and two (soon to be three) albums of musical interludes at the ready. That’s the foundation for a late-night cartoon that enters the scene with all the poise and fearlessness of a protagonist who has a ray gun where his right forearm should be.
In a Jamaican dystopia ruled by aristocratic grump President Whitewall (J.K. Simmons at his J. Jonah Jameson-growliest), Major Lazer (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) leads the resistance ...
Sent from her foster home in the city one summer to a sleepy town by the sea in Hokkaido, Anna dreams her days away among the marshes. She believes she’s outside the invisible magic circle to which most people belong – and shuts herself off from everyone around her, wearing her “ordinary face”. Anna never expected to meet a friend like Marnie, who does not judge Anna for being just what she is. But no sooner has Anna learned the loveliness of friendship than she begins to wonder about her newfound friend…
Paul F. Tompkins, Brian Posehn, Jay Johnston, John Ennis, Dino “Starburns” Stamatopolis, and Mark Rivers.
"Unfortunately, at least a few beloved Mr. Show names are absent from the list, most notably married couple Tom Kenny and Jill Talley—the latter of whom appeared in all but four episodes of the Mr. Show’s HBO run—who have apparently both been locked in a voice acting booth since 1999."
Although Bob Odenkirk and David Cross’ names were in the title, Mr. Show With Bob And David never shied away from showcasing the strengths of its talented ensemble. So it’s not much of a surprise now that Deadline reports several members of that group will be returning for With Bob And David, the pair’s spiritual successor to their beloved HBO sketch show.
In preparation for the show’s arrival on Netflix at some as-yet-unannounced future date, Cross and Odenkirk have apparently spent the last few months sending expeditions deep into the Los Angeles podcast mines, where contributors Paul F. Tompkins and Brian Posehn have been toiling for years to mine cult followings from the hard and bitter soil. Now, they’ll return to the warm Netflix sunlight to make appearances on the show’s four planned half-hour episodes.
Besides Tompkins and Posehn, other returning Mr. Show vets include ...
'Snoop is not content to slap his name on some slightly-above-average regs and call it Snoop Dizzle Purple Kushizzle or whatever. Instead, he’s betting on a startup clearly founded by a stoner.
Snoop—or rather his investment firm, Casa Verde Capital—has reportedly invested millions of dollars in Eaze, an app that arranges for weed to be delivered to your house.'
Snoop is VC now
Snoop Dogg’s entry in the legal-marijuana industry was all but inevitable, because there are two things in this world Snoop loves best: money and weed. (And Hot Pockets and Game Of Thrones, but those are both side effects of the weed.) But unlike his celebrity counterparts, including Bob Marley and presumably Seth Rogen any day now, Snoop is not content to slap his name on some slightly-above-average regs and call it Snoop Dizzle Purple Kushizzle or whatever. Instead, he’s betting on a startup clearly founded by a stoner.
Snoop—or rather his investment firm, Casa Verde Capital—has reportedly invested millions of dollars in Eaze, an app that arranges for weed to be delivered to your house. Inspired by on-demand apps like Uber, Eaze promises to have a professional marijuana dispensary representative at your door within 10 minutes, eliminating the need to talk to that guy with the ...
followup 'The stock was priced at $16 a share but immediately jumped to $32 when it opened. While it's not yet profitable'
After ten years in business, Etsy went public today, raising over $500 million and giving the company a value of more than $3.5 billion. The stock was priced at $16 a share but immediately jumped to $32 when it opened.
While it's not yet profitable, Etsy has seen its revenue surge over the last three years. The company has benefited from extraordinary network effects, word of mouth marketing and customer loyalty that stems from its focus on empowering the creators of hand made goods.
How do you define hand made?
How exactly to define what belongs on Etsy has become a contentious issue. Some successful sellers have been accused of stocking their stores with pre-fab items purchased from Alibaba. Even the CEO has mistakenly endorsed mass produced products. But its brand continues to hold weight with consumers. An analysis of its financials shows that for every $100 of sales that occurred on Etsy’s platform, it spent just $1-2 on marketing, performance its peers in ecommerce would kill for.
The company has also sought to differentiate itself by becoming a "B Corp", making clear to investors that it values its community and the environment as highly as it does profits. And it set aside a portion of its pre-IPO shares for sellers, allowing them to participate in the potential wealth creation of taking the company public.
A stark contrast to the Silicon Valley startup bubble
Despite the company's impressive revenues, its market value it dwarfed by many still private Silicon Valley companies like Pinterest and Snapchat that have little or no revenue to speak of. Recently many tech investors have been warning that these enormous private valuations may leave some companies underwater when they go public, as happened with Box, which was worth less after its IPO than it was after its last funding round.
Etsy has always played the game differently. It's CEO, Chad Dickerson, believes that allows it to attract top talent who are burnt out on the culture of Silicon Valley and the relentless pursuit of the most money."Part one of Etsy’s values is ‘keeping it real,’" noted Eric Grishaver, who left Pandora to become Etsy's head of product. "They tend to have people who are pretty humble despite the growth."
"I recruited for a tech firm that served us pizza and beer on Fridays. I wore graphic tees. YOU WEAR A SUIT FOR THE INTERVIEW!!"
hoobsplot explicitly told me during my first interview that if I wore a suit to the second interview I would not get the job
Oberlin senior Elizabeth Bentivegna is currently interviewing for post-grad jobs and experiencing some of the double standards and gender-based discrimination that comes with being a woman in tech. In a Facebook post that was brought to our attention on Twitter by former The Mary Sue Weekend Editor Alanna Bennett, Bentivegna explained:
OnShift is a Cleveland-based tech company that makes medical shift scheduling software; Business Insider points out that according to LinkedIn the company does have an all-male development team. The Mary Sue reached out to Bentivegna regarding her experience with OnShift, and got a little more context on what went down:
I was contacted in late March by a female recruiter regarding a programming job at OnShift. Since I am not graduating until December, they were interested in hiring me as a summer intern and asked me to come into their Cleveland offices for an interview. I spoke with a hiring director (female) and two engineering managers (male). I felt very good about all of my conversations – I thought I got along very well with everyone and I got a good vibe from the environment. One of the engineers asked me a programming question and my answer was correct – he even complimented me on asking a question about the problem that none of the other candidates had asked. When I left, I felt very positive about my chances – I did not feel as though there had been anything wrong, and honestly I expected to get the job.
The next day, I emailed the hiring director asking when I should expect to hear back from them, and received no reply. I waited almost two weeks and emailed her again, and she said that they were down to one internship slot. About four days after that, I received a call from the recruiter. She told me that OnShift would love to hire me based on my technical skills and personality, but that they were not going to. These are the reasons she cited:
1) I “looked more like I was about to go clubbing than to an interview”
2) I “had a huge run in my tights”
3) I was late. I had told the hiring director beforehand that I would probably be a few minutes late, and then explained to her when I arrived that I had gotten mildly lost on my way).
The recruiter said that those factors caused them to decide that I was “unprofessional and not put-together”.
Although the everyday sexism faced by women in tech is undeniable, Bentivegna’s outfit sparked an important debate about the politics of “professionalism” and the implications of conflating a woman’s appearance with her worth:
Super Opinionated.
The following was originally posted on Dee Hogan’s blog The Josei Next Door and has been republished with permission.
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3612282/Screen_Shot_2015-04-16_at_2.59.33_AM.0.png)
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3612280/Screen_Shot_2015-04-16_at_2.58.55_AM.0.png)
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3612290/ryno1.0.gif)
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3612292/ryno2.0.gif)
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3612294/ryno3.0.gif)
Click to download the free PDF adventure
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3612312/lilard_lol1.0.gif)
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3612314/lillard_lol2.0.gif)
