The Curiosity rover has snapped a brand new self-portrait and, like any good newbie selfie-taker, it’s figuring out its best angles—not only to show itself off, but also to show us something new about the Martian landscape it lives on.
Cisco Systems officials are warning customers of a series of attacks that completely hijack critical networking gear by swapping out the valid ROMMON firmware image with one that's been maliciously altered.
The attackers use valid administrator credentials, an indication the attacks are being carried out either by insiders or people who have otherwise managed to get hold of the highly sensitive passwords required to update and make changes to the Cisco hardware. Short for ROM Monitor, ROMMON is the means for booting Cisco's IOS operating system. Administrators use it to perform a variety of configuration tasks, including recovering lost passwords, downloading software, or in some cases running the router itself.
There's no indication of who is doing these attacks, but it's exactly the sort of thing you'd expect out of a government attacker. Regardless of which government initially discovered this, assume that they're all exploiting it by now -- and will continue to do so until it's fixed.
And Superman pancakes. Malaysia has two licensed DC Super Hero Cafes, with a third scheduled to open in Singapore next month. The casual dining joints, run by a company that owns a chain of DC retail stores across Asia, feature flashy comic-book theming and signature superhero dishes and drinks.
It is important to learn the accepted linguistic conventions of the standard dialect for reasons of communication, clarity and even persuasive style. But it happens to be a historically privileged dialect through no innate merit of its own and is not inherently linguistically better than other, non-standard dialects of English.
If you subscribe to a subscription music service such as Spotify or Apple Music you probably pay $10 a month. And if you are like most people, you probably do so believing your money goes to the artists you listen to.Unfortunately, you are wrong.
As sexual assault becomes a more prominent topic on college campuses, more and more institutions are adopting (or being forced to adopt) affirmative consent policies. Legislation in California and New York requires campuses in both states to include affirmative consent in their sexual misconduct policies.
MuckRock's Tom Nash recently obtained FCC complaints regarding NBC's "The Office," spanning the show's last two seasons. While the nature of these complaints is nothing new — almost entirely concerning being reminded of the existence of genitals — there is a refreshing eloquence to them that sets them apart from your run-of-the-mill cries for censorship.
Movie Barcode is the work of an anonymous Tumblr user who takes every frame from a film and condenses them all down to a single pixel’s worth of color. Laid out in a single rectangular box, the results take on a form that, while abstract, is evocative of the tone of the film at hand. Sometimes, it even seems to be outright tracking the actual beats of a familiar story, as in this “barcode” of The Wizard of Oz.
The Wizard of Oz, by Movie Barcode
That’s no surprise, especially since directors of live action—and especially animated films—put a lot of thought into color palette and grading. It’s also what makes the project work not only as an interesting art experiment, but an insight into the filmmaking process. Take the site’s version of Dune, for instance, which conjures up the feel of David Lynch ...
Police fatally shot a black man they say pointed a gun at them in St. Louis on Wednesday, drawing angry crowds and recalling the racial tensions sparked by the killing of an unarmed African-American teen in nearby Ferguson, Missouri, just over a year ago.
St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said the shooting took place as officers were issuing a search warrant in a crime-ridden neighborhood, when two young black men ran out the back door of the targeted house.
Police officers ordered the men to stop in the alley behind the house and one suspect pointed a gun at officers who then fired approximately four times, killing him, Dotson said.
Despite the police explanation of events, dozens of people gathered near the scene protesting the police use of deadly force, according to local media.
Police in SWAT gear and an armored vehicle ordered the crowd to disperse and some people were taken into custody, according to a report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Dotson told journalists the gun the suspect pointed at them was stolen. He said officers also recovered crack cocaine at the scene.
"Detectives were looking for guns, looking for violent felons, looking for people that have been committing the crimes in the neighborhood," he said.
The shooting comes 10 days after the St. Louis area was inundated with protesters from around the country marking the anniversary of the Aug. 9 police killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer.
Brown's death last year helped spur a nationwide movement against what protesters say is a pattern of police violence against minorities.
Wednesday's shooting also came on the one-year anniversary of the police shooting of another black man in St. Louis, Kajieme Powell. Activists were already in the area for a march protesting his shooting.
It turns out that when you make an unconventional phone that lets you swap out its core components, it can be hard to make that same phone stay put together — at least compared to today's smartphones. Google's Project Ara team has tweeted an explanation for why its pilot test plans were reworked and delayed: the current model wasn't faring well when dropped. "No more electropermanent magnets," the team tweeted.
That poses a challenge since Google now fundamentally needs to rethink and rework how Project Ara's modules join together. And this time, that mechanism needs to survive typical falls (or at least match the durability of your everyday mobile phone).
Project Ara's creators now say they're "testing a signature experience" to attach its modules. We're not exactly sure what that means, but we imagine after the slight black eye of having to push back Ara's debut, the team will be eager to demonstrate its revised design almost as soon as it's ready.
Augmented reality gaming glasses startup CastAR has raised $15 million in funding from Android creator Andy Rubin. The money from Rubin’s Playground Global investment firm brings a variety of benefits, including office space and technical know-how, said David Henkel-Wallace, the chief executive of Mountain View, Calif.-based CastAR, in an interview with GamesBeat.
"They (nor you) understand DP brain cells in CONSTANT FLUX so he is hetero one minute, gay the next, etc. ALL ARE VALID," he added when another fan brought up current "Deadpool" scribe Gerry Duggan and former writer Gail Simone's take on the character.
Asked if Deadpool's pansexuality is a result of his cell regeneration disorder, he responded, "Not 'claiming' anything. It is HOW I CREATED HIM from the beginning.
"Funny how you don't understand the character at all regardless of his (or your) perceived sexuality," Niceiza continued. "It is why he is insane, why his memory is so flawed and why he was able to survive the cancer in his system. It is why he can like something one minute and hate it the next. It has ALWAYS been a part of the characters makeup. You're arguing with the guy who introduced the omnisexual, pansexual, heterosexual, homosexual, etc. aspects of the character!"
When someone pointed out that queer fans might find it insulting that Deadpool's sexuality is linked to his mental disorder, Nicieza replied, "I understand your fight, but you're choosing the wrong character to fight for and the wrong writer to fight with. I have spent 30 years in this business writing diverse characters and hiring diverse creators. Character has been around since 1992. He is who he has ALWAYS been and this is it. understand it and hopefully accept it or pick a better character to rally behind. I'll be fighting with you."
Adding that he'll address the issue eventually, he concluded, "Would rather let people vent. I deserve it for improperly stating things and more importantly trying to have debate about complicated character and comic book pseudo-science on twitter which thrives on simplicity."
E-cigarettes are around 95% less harmful than traditional tobacco cigarettes, according to a new study from Britain’s Department of Health. It is the first time public health officials have asserted that vaping, though not risk-free, definitively causes less harm than smoking.
According to the study, nearly all of the 2.6 million adults who vape in Britain are current or former smokers using e-cigarettes to help them quit. Only a small fraction are teenagers.
The chemicals that contribute to smoking-related diseases such as cancer are largely absent in e-cigarettes. “The problem is people increasingly think they are at least as harmful, and this may be keeping millions of smokers from quitting,” said Kevin Fenton, director of health and wellbeing at Public Health England, which conducted the research.
The study also crucially points out that there is no evidence supporting the view that e-cigarettes are a “gateway” to smoking tobacco, for adults and minors. Only 2% of young people in Britain vape regularly.
Moreover, e-cigarettes could help eliminate health problems in poorer areas, where smoking tobacco is more prevalent. “E-cigarettes could be a game changer in public health in particular by reducing the enormous health inequalities caused by smoking,” said Ann McNeill, one of the study’s authors and a professor at King’s College London.
the republican frontrunner says the constitution is unconstitutional
Donald Trump is defending his controversial immigration plan, telling Fox News’ Bill O'Reilly that the 14th Amendment — which guarantees citizenship to all people “born or naturalized in the United States,” including children whose parents came to the country illegally — is unconstitutional.
“It’s not going to hold up in court,” Trump said on The Factor Tuesday.
'One of the biggest trends in post-recession housing has been the shift toward multifamily housing and renting. The rental vacancy rate is the lowest it’s been in just under three decades. That’s why big firms like Blackstone are rushing to put together portfolios of rental housing so they can package the rent payments into bonds.
Justin Wolfers, a University of Michigan economics professor, pointed out that shelter’s relatively large weighting in the CPI compared to the Federal Reserve’s preferred personal consumption expenditure index means it will overstate the so-called “core” inflation.'
Another month, another meager American inflation reading. And if it weren’t for rapidly rising rents, it’d be even lower.
July’s consumer price index advanced 0.2% from a year ago, and 1.8% if you strip out food and energy. Both measures have been hovering around the same level for months.
But if you account for the cost of shelter, inflation has been even slower. That’s because shelter is heavily weighted in the CPI index (32.8% in July). If you take out housing, food, and energy, the rate of inflation has actually been falling for the past few months.
One of the biggest trends in post-recession housing has been the shift toward multifamily housing and renting. The rental vacancy rate is the lowest it’s been in just under three decades. That’s why big firms like Blackstone are rushing to put together portfolios of rental housing so they can package the rent payments into bonds.
Justin Wolfers, a University of Michigan economics professor, pointed out that shelter’s relatively large weighting in the CPI compared to the Federal Reserve’s preferred personal consumption expenditure index means it will overstate the so-called “core” inflation.
When shelter inflation is relatively high, core CPI substantially overstates core PCE inflation. (Slope=0.5.) pic.twitter.com/WL1opfkW3b
The first time I remember hearing anything about Dungeons & Dragons aside from a passing comment or joke about its nerdiness was circa 2006. Some friends and I went to see Stephen Lynch (remember him?) perform live at the UCF arena, and his closing number was a song called “D&D.” If you’re not familiar with the song, which I wouldn’t fault you for, some of the more memorable lyrics are as follows:
IT’S D&D!
Fightin’ with the legends of yore.
IT’S D&D!
Never kissed a lady before.
Nope.
Whoo!
And the unforgettable:
Now the Lord of the Rings, the Dark Crystal and things
We use these as a reference tool
And when we put on our cloaks and tell warlock jokes
WE’RE THE COOLEST KIDS IN THE SCHOOL!
…
No we’re not.
I know.
The rest of the lyrics include such references as a diet of Funyuns and Mountain Dew (which I’m not hating on in general, because yum), not having a girlfriend, etc. Looking back, the only thing that really saved this song’s live performance was the New Kids on the Block dance at the end, which I appreciated but had nothing to do with the rest of the song.
But my point is that after hearing a couple of thirty-something dudes sing about their memories surrounding this game, it’s understandable that I had little interest. So I wrote D&D off as a thing immature boys did and didn’t really think much of it—especially since, by that point, I’d played my fair share of World of Warcraft, which I’d heard was like a sped-up version of D&D. I was content—that is, until my computer decided it wasn’t advanced enough to load the other continent. Then I maxed my troll shaman out at level 28 and went back to The Sims.
Fast forward to today. I’d participated in exactly one D&D game up until 2015, and to my chagrin, it was pretty much exactly how Stephen Lynch described—except the guys playing were obviously toning down the debauchery because a girl was in the room. I had fun, but it was just the one game. I didn’t go back. So a couple months ago, when my best friend mentioned wanting to put together a D&D group, I was hesitant. I thought about Stephen Lynch; I thought about my one real attempt, and I thought about male-dominated shows like The Big Bang Theory that didn’t really add much female influence to the idea of D&D. But then she mentioned it would be all women—most of whom I already knew. I was sold.
Going in, I wondered what it’d be like. I wondered if I’d be expected to know all the ins and outs of the game beforehand (I wasn’t). I wondered if I’d be the most clueless one there (I wasn’t), and most of all, I wondered whether we’d spend the time trying to create an experience that I knew men had traditionally dominated and made canon, or if we’d be able to have creative liberty to do what we wanted to make it our own and still have it count as “real D&D.” I wondered if I was going to have to suspend the part of myself that was OK with traditional femininity to fit into this world, and whether the other girls would feel like they had to do that as well.
When I arrived, the hostess—whose pregnant sister was serving as Dungeon Master—had wine, hummus, chips, veggies, and lots of other snacks laid out beautifully on her dining-room table right next to the multiple sets of many-sided dice of various shapes and colors. We each had a place set up with a wine cup, a crisp character sheet, and a pen. I had a place to put my purse. Soon, I was surrounded by five women whom I know to be creative, fun, and intelligent—and not just because they all hold at least a bachelor’s degree (most with a master’s, one with a PhD)—and most of them work in engineering or tech. The first things I talked about with these women were whether we wanted to do a Sailor Moon or steampunk maze-focused campaign and which miniature dinosaur we’d each take for a piece.
It was at our first meeting that I realized I really had some strong and badass female friends, and I was excited to be in the company of women who weren’t afraid to say “F you” to a society where men dominate sciences and nerd culture. And in this environment, the six of us weren’t afraid to let our freak flags fly. I wasn’t afraid of spending way too much time dwelling on my character’s name or outward appearance because damn it, it was a big deal. I couldn’t name her Black Mamba, a nod to Uma Thurman’s character in the Kill Bill movies, if everyone else had cute names like Lita and Rena and Sophie. So I settled on Minerva—a nod to Minerva McGonagall, the greatest and most underrated Harry Potter character.
Together, we’re not afraid to talk hit points and perception checks while crocheting between turns (no really, two of my friends do that). We aren’t afraid to fight golems while at the same time wondering where those dinosaur hotties by the water fountain wandered off to, only to find out they got hypnotized and we have to be the ones to save them. We aren’t hesitant to attack a stronger monster over a bloodied one to save a friend who’s nearby just because our dice are pink and sparkly. We get excited planning a girls’ weekend at the Hard Rock while simultaneously deciding which spells to cast at enemies and have no shame in making a monster into a huge cat who is reminiscent of my best friend’s IRL evil Siamese cat.
Because we’re surrounded by other women, we’re OK. Because we’re taking a traditionally male-dominated thing and making it whatever the hell we want it to be, we’re OK. And because the six of us have created a safe environment where we can be ourselves, I can’t wait until our next meeting.
Jen Juneau is a writer, editor and ’90s-pop-culture enthusiast with a weakness for cats and anything with chocolate in it. She runs sometimes, and is currently training to run a half marathon all the way through without dying. Find her at jenjuneau.com, and on Twitter and Instagram: @wordswithjen.
The past few weeks have been a little more magical around the old inbox than usual, thanks to our first-ever glamorous pet photo contest! We asked you to send in snaps of your beautiful, glamorous pets, and boy did you ever. It was really, really delightful yet really, really difficult to sort through the bounty of adorable submissions, but when we found Gary, we knew:
His mom, Megan, added that Gary is "deaf, adorable, and hilarious," and you can follow him on Instagram at @garythetat (apparently someone got to the @garythecat handle first), which I HIGHLY recommend. It is now my favorite place on the internet, and it includes video montages of Gary biting combs, and guest appearances from his life partner and fellow Persian, Babs. Hit the jump for more Gary (yay!) and stay tuned for the runners-up!
“For example, when an obvious innocent sits down with three experienced card sharpers and says ‘How do you play this game, then?’, someone is about to be shaken down until their teeth fall out.”
According to The Good Wifeco-creator Robert King, Peter Florrick is set to launch his own bid for President of the United States on the Democratic ticket in the upcoming seventh season of the CBS legal drama. And he’s running against none other than real-life presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. “If Peter runs, he is running against Hillary,” King toldTV Line, adding that it’s “amazing” CBS is “letting us do that.” But King would probably also like to point out that this isn’t real. Life may be sort of imitating art by allowing Clinton to enter the world of The Good Wife, but just like Josh Charles isn’t actually dead, Chris Noth isn’t actually running for president. Just so we’re clear.
King also said that Peter’s campaign storyline will parallel the official real-life primary timeline, and the Iowa Caucus will go down on ...
Shotgun shells designed for shooting down drones are coming to an ammunition store near you.
Super Opinionated.
