firehose

divalopment:

luzfosca:

Fritz Henle, Cleaning woman in MOMA, 1950s

source

when I experience the daily racism and microaggressions of art history grad school, I remember that these spaces were made with our exclusion in mind

socialjusticekoolaid:

Today in Solidarity (12/29/14): I was out in LA today when we got word about the autopsy results for Ezell Ford. They gunned that man down execution-style. Folks are angry, but staying peaceful, though you can feel the tension in the air. Pray for Ezell’s family and all those putting their lives on the line in the name of justice tonight. #staywoke #farfromover

Crowdfunded support of the arts is through the roof, or at least for Patreon it is.

Patreon, which was founded in May 2013 to enable fans to support and sometimes engage with artists and creators, brought in $10 million in 2014.

The site, which includes support for YouTubers, web comics, blogs, indie games and much more, takes five percent of that and the creators have to cover the credit card transaction fees, which typically run four percent. So that means about 90 percent of a pledge goes to a creator.

The year's $10 million is a 3,761 percent increase over 2013, which saw pledges of $259,000. Even if you take into account the fact that Patreon didn't launch until five months into 2013, that's an astounding increase.

"In our eyes (and hearts), this demonstration of support underscores a dramatic, cultural revolution happening in arts communities around the globe," wrote Tyler Palmer, vice president of operations at Patreon, in a letter to members. "More creators are able to create freely and fully by connecting directly to the people with the power to support them. We're honored to help make this happen, and inspired to do more."

Over the course of this year, Palmer goes on to write, Patreon added creation pages, new payment settings, a features section and improved search and recommendation engines. He writes that 2015 will bring with it new designs and features including notifications, creator analytics and a mobile app.

"Thank you for making things," Palmer wrote. "Thank you for paying people to make things. And thank you for stepping into a new ecosystem that's evolving the way art is financed and shared. We know that without you, Patreon is an empty shell. YOU fund, YOU create, YOU fill us up, and for that, we are eternally grateful."

Polygon's Ethics statement was updated over the fall to include a policy for contributing to Patreon campaigns, it reads: "Polygon staff are permitted to contribute to Patreon campaigns for members of the video game industry, but need to disclose the details of those contributions on their staff page as well as on any related coverage they publish on the site."

A National Security Agency document published this week by the German news magazine Der Spiegel from the trove provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden shows that the agency had full access to voice, video, text messaging, and file sharing from targeted individuals over Microsoft’s Skype service. The access, mandated by a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant, was part of the NSA’s PRISM program and allowed “sustained Skype collection” in real time from specific users identified by their Skype user names.

The nature of the Skype data collection was spelled out in an NSA document dated August 2012 entitled “User’s Guide for PRISM Skype Collection.” The document details how to “task” the capture of voice communications from Skype by NSA’s NUCLEON system, which allows for text searches against captured voice communications. It also discusses how to find text chat and other data sent between clients in NSA’s PINWALE “digital network intelligence” database.

The full capture of voice traffic began in February of 2011 for “Skype in” and “Skype out” calls—calls between a Skype user and a land line or cellphone through a gateway to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), captured through warranted taps into Microsoft’s gateways. But in July of 2011, the NSA added the capability of capturing peer-to-peer Skype communications—meaning that the NSA gained the ability to capture peer-to-peer traffic and decrypt it using keys provided by Microsoft through the PRISM warrant request.

If you've ever wondered what in-game food actually tastes like in the real-world, a new cook book of game-inspired recipes is now available featuring meals based on grub from Skyrim, Fallout: New Vegas and more.

Fry Scores: An Unofficial Guide to Video Game Grub was written over a period of two years by writer and photographer Holly Green. The cook book includes original recipes based on in-game items like Skyrim's apple cabbage stew and Fallout: New Vegas' Cook Cook's Fiend Stew.

"Choosing the recipes was one of the more difficult parts of the process, as I wanted to present a practical list of dishes that could be eaten any day of the week," Green told Game Informer. "I noticed that a lot of video game food blogs updated infrequently and featured items that were either difficult to make or didn't hold general interest. I wanted to bring together a full list of recipes that would include cuisine staples and cover a basic level of culinary instruction."

Also included are recipes for French toast from The Sims 3, pork katsu from Cooking Mama and red curry from the Kirby series. Green has released one recipe online to mark the release of the book: Yeto's Soup from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. You can check out this recipe below and try it out for yourself.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 lb. sockeye salmon
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 16 oz. heavy cream
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 4 oz. goat cheese
• bay leaf
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
• 3/4 tsp. white pepper
• dill for garnish

The most important part of this dish is the quality of the ingredients. Choose a quality cut of sockeye salmon and a pure goat cheese that crumbles easily. For this recipe, a bourbon infused goat cheese was used, enhancing the soup with a light smoky flavor. If you cannot find a smoky goat cheese, a shot of bourbon can be added to the finished soup base.

The first step is to create a cream-goat cheese base. This is achieved by slowly blending the two over a low heat. Crumble the goat cheese into small chunks, then place in 2 quart saucepan over LOW heat. Slowly add cream, tablespoon by tablespoon, blending into the cheese with a fork or large wooden spoon. Continue until full 16 oz has been completely added. Once all the cheese has melted, the resulting liquid will be thick.

Add to it two bay leaves, paprika, salt, and white pepper and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, then add pumpkin puree by the tablespoon while stirring constantly. Once all pumpkin puree has been added, cover mixture and let simmer.

Next broil the salmon. Since salmon is thin it does not require a lot of heat. Once it is fully cooked it will separate easily from the skin. Place the salmon on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil.

Broil on the LOW setting for about fifteen minutes or until flesh has turned light pink, then switch to HIGH. Cook an additional six to eight minutes, monitoring carefully until the edges of the salmon are caramelized and appear crispy, then remove from the oven and cool completely.

When ready to serve, spoon hot pumpkin soup into a bowl, then place slices of cooked salmon on top. Garnish with dill, rainbow pepper corn, and smoked paprika.

You can see Green's photography in the image above. The book is available now via iTunes and iBooks on Macs and iDevices, while additional formats will be available in the future.

How much would you pay for some kid’s old CD collection, t-shirts, and retainer? Or some discarded office furniture that used to belong to that kid’s dad? If you said “nothing,” or “fuck off, I don’t want that garbage,” then we’ve got another question for you: What if that kid were Beyoncé? You could be getting your teeth straightened by the same orthodontic device that once straightened Beyoncé’s teeth. Wouldn’t that be exciting? Well, it’s too late, because Beyoncé’s dad/former manager, Matthew Knowles, already sold all of her old stuff in a garage sale last week.

As reported by Click 2 Houston, Knowles operated the garage sale outside of his recording studio, selling boxes of old Beyoncé merchandise and belongings for as low as $5 a shirt. One savvy shopper—who probably knows better than to pass up a garage sale ...

Once again, a judge has denied Roman Polanski’s request to have his 1977 rape charge dismissed. This comes from Deadline, which reports that the longstanding warrant for Polanski’s arrest will remain in place for the foreseeable future, meaning he’s still unable to return to the United States—or any country that will extradite him. Polanski initially pled guilty to drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977, and then served 42 days in prison as part of his plea deal. Before his actual sentencing, though, he discovered that the judge was planning to give him additional jail time, so he fled the country.

We first reported on Polanski’s latest attempt to get the charges dropped earlier this month, when he hired celebrity attorney Alan Dershowitz to try and convince a judge that he’s simply too famous to have to actually pay for the crime of ...