firehose

NEW YORK—Saying that the maneuver was 100 percent effective if administered correctly, police captain Matthew Carlson demonstrated the proper technique for subduing a grand jury to a group of younger officers Thursday.

"Marsala is a subtly seductive shade, one that draws us in to its embracing warmth. it is a natural fit for the kitchen and dining room — making it ideal for tabletop, small appliances and linens throughout the home."

There are teardrops on all our guitars after watching this.

To a generation of hackers, phreakers, computer programmers and punks who knew their way around a computer terminal, Gibson was a prophet — a man who would predict the digital world we now inhabit. The legend, he is happy to admit, is exaggerated. Yes, he may have coined "cyberspace," predicted the effects of technology saturating every aspect of our lives and foreseen the rise of reality TV, but he also missed a lot.

Guitarist The Edge says no one snapped of photo of Bono's recent cycling accident because he was in disguise.

CLEVELAND—Reasoning that he has earned some much-needed rest and relaxation, overworked Cuyahoga County prosecutor Brian Gorman told reporters Thursday that he is thinking of taking on a police brutality case as a nice little vacation.

Nearly five years ago, a group of artists and programmers debuted a simple web app called the "Web 2.0 Suicide Machine." It was designed to quickly and effectively shut down your accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites. But then Facebook unleashed their lawyers.

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Early, preliminary discussions for a 2nd season of #Cosmos– If you want to see more of the great @neiltyson, tweet him your love!

— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) December 4, 2014

Hold onto your starstuff, space fans! According to producer Seth MacFarlane, the Fox and National Geographic reboot of Cosmos could be coming back for a second season, eclipsing the run of Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking ’80s original series.

Judging from MacFarlane’s tweet, the show’s return could depend less on ratings (last season saw at least three million viewers per week) and more on Tyson’s interest. Considering the love of science that the show helped generate and the scope of topics a second season could cover, I hope America’s favorite space cowboy is up for round two. More Tyson in our lives is always a good thing. Case in point:

Would you be excited for a Cosmos Season 2?

(Via UniverseToday)

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It's been over 125 years since Jack the Ripper prowled the streets of London, but here's something new: artifacts tied to the case are heading to the auction block.

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Dragon Age: Inquisition might just have one of the best representations of a trans character in video games ever. Writer Patrick Weekes took to the BioWare Blog to discuss exactly how this character came to be, and why they all loved creating him so much.

This article and the linked blog contain minor spoilers up to Iron Bull’s personal quest.

According to Weekes, a few years ago BioWare held a PAX panel on LGBTQ representation in gaming, where they were met with an overwhelming number of requests for trans and genderqueer representation that “did not make them either a monster or a joke.” The writers faced two challenges in doing so: making conversation about the subject come up naturally in-game, and having the character serve a purpose beyond “being there to be a genderqueer person.”

Making this character Iron Bull’s lieutenant, then, worked on multiple levels; Cremisius “Krem” Aclassi is there to “remind players that Bull has a history of command,” and to humanize Bull’s struggle between the Qun and his mercs. Krem has the added benefit of adding to the general discussion about how the Qunari think about gender roles.

Once it came time to actually create the character, Weekes says that people in every department “stepped up enthusiastically to make sure that Krem was created with respect,” including character artists, body animation, appropriate gendering in all languages, and voice work.

On the writing side, says Weekes,

I wrote Krem as best I could, and the editing team looked at every line and cleaned up dialogue and paraphrases that could give the wrong impression. I then passed him to two friends in the GQ community… at which point they showed me where I was absolutely messing things up and gave me constructive feedback on how to improve.

Weekes goes into detail about his mistakes and the changes made to improve them over on the blog, where he also talks about how proud the whole team is to have brought Krem to life. BioWare isn’t perfect in their representation (at one point in the game, Sera makes a particularly transphobic remark), but it’s wonderful that they’re attempting to do the right thing for diversity and be progressive in their characters.

Also, tonight at 7pm at NYU creative director Mike Laidlaw, lead writer David Gaider, and actor Freddie Prinze Jr. are on a panel to discuss “the BioWare creative process, share stories about making the game, and highlight their favorite details from the world of Dragon Age.” If you can’t make it to NY, you can watch the livestream here starting at 7:10pm.

(via BioWare Blog)

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There is something fascinating about watching an animal behavior that we don't normally witness. After two Peregrine Falcons forced this Great Horned Owl down into Lake Michigan, the owl managed to escape with a few strokes of butterfly.

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Twitter has recently seen a resurgence in the #RejectedSpells hashtag thanks to a tweet from The Worst DM on December 3, 2014. The hashtag pokes fun at the sometimes ridiculous names of spells from the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons–like Otto’s Irresistible Dance.

Wizards of the Coast recently released the fifth major edition of the game’s ruleset.

Bigby's Clenched Buttocks #RejectedSpells

— Frank (@cobweb) December 4, 2014

Comprehend Difference Between Your and You're #RejectedSpells

— Neil McLellan (@neilasaurus) December 3, 2014

Summon Uber II #RejectedSpells

— Frank Hablawi (@FrankHablawi) December 4, 2014

Feeling lazy so let's do a hashtag. Today's game will be all the spells that just didn't make the cut for the PHB. #RejectedSpells

— The Worst DM (@TheWorstDM) December 3, 2014

image via Lydia

via Frank

Michel Sinner shared with us the start of a series over on 3D Printing For Beginners challenging Clifford Smyth, author of Function Design for 3D Printing, to illustrate in detail a few of the physical properties challenges for design for 3D printing.

3D Design Tips – How I Learned to Stop 3D Printing Everything in One Piece.

…Parts built on an FFF printer are stronger in some directions than others. The directional strength, or anisotropic properties, of objects made using the FFF process superficially resembles the anisotropy, or grain, of wood. It is similar to wood in that there is an axis along which it is weakest and may break more easily, especially in tension. It is different than wood in that this weakness has only one axis, rather than two.

Some of this similarity results for the fibrous construction of both materials. Wood is fibrous due to the nature of the cellulose structures made by its growth and FFF objects are fibrous by virtue of the extrusion process, which extrudes a tiny filament of plastic which is welded together with the other fibers alongside it.

Most wood is strong in compression in all directions, but especially so with the ‘grain’ of the wood, or along the fibers (not the rings) of the structure made by the growth process. Similarly, wood is very strong along the axis of its fibers in tension – so remarkably strong in fact, that it rivals modern exotic composites.

Objects made on an FFF printer have similar properties, but with some important differences. In Compression, FFF parts tend to be strongest along the Z, or layer-wise axis, going up and down as the part sits on the print bed, though this can vary significantly based on finished shape and its internal structure….

…As a designer, it is useful to remember that since the layout of the fibers in each X-Y layer is determined largely by the shape of the object being printed, the designer can easily influence the fiber orientation and the finished strength along these axes by varying the design or printing orientation of the printed piece.

Because of the directional, or anisotropic, strength properties of 3D printed objects it is often useful to break down compound parts into components rather than print them in one piece, in order to make them as strong or easy to print as possible…..

Read More.

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Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! We also offer the LulzBot TAZ – Open source 3D Printer and the Printrbot Simple Metal 3D Printer in our store. If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!

Roger Moore as a knitwear model for the Stitchcraft magazine.

Original Source

A day after a Staten Island grand jury decided not to charge Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the homicide of Eric Garner, a New York judge has granted a partial release of normally secret proceedings, as requested by district attorney Dan Donovan. Don't get excited. There will be no document dump as in Officer Darren Wilson's case in St. Louis--and therefore no handy PBS witness spreadsheet of whom said what, certainly no detailed fodder for debate on cable and social media. According to the judge's order Donovan did not request that transcripts of witness testimony nor exhibits be released--only "certain limited information." What Donovan requested, specifically, the court does not say. The substance of what the court has released, in partial recognition of the unique public interest in the Pantaleo decision, it says, follows:

9 weeks. Length of time the grand jury sat

50 witnesses. That includes 22 civilians; 28 cops, EMTs and doctors

60 exhibits. The total admitted into evidence, including four videos

Read the court's order and rationale here. Then tuck into my colleague Julianne Hing's latest, "Why Courts Can't Solve The Problem of Cops Who Kill."

Just in time for the two-year anniversary of the fast-food workers' Fight for $15 campaign, Chicago yesterday adopted a higher minimum wage. The city's new $13-an-hour wage floor is expected to be phased in by 2019 and comes less than a month after nearly 70 percent of Illinois residents voted, in a nonbinding referendum, for a new $10-an-hour state minimum by 2015. Fast-food workers kicked off their fight for a $15-an-hour minimum wage with national strikes in November 2012 and have been at the forefront of calls throughout the country for similar increases from low-wage workers in other industries like healthcare and retail.

The Illinois state minimum remains $8.25-an-hour. Some officials, according to Northern Public Radio, are worried that during this session the statehouse will consider business-backed legislation prohibiting municipalities from raising their minimums above the state's. Franchisee owners are mobilizing nationally to counter the growing union-backed movement for a higher minimum wage, the Wall Street Journal reports.

San Francisco recently became the second U.S. city this year to join Seattle in adopting the highest minimum wage in the country at $15-an-hour.

(h/t NPR)

The white Cleveland police officer who shot black 12-year-old Tamir Rice within seconds of arriving on the scene was effectively dismissed from a smaller, suburban police department two years ago. About an emotional breakdown Officer Timothy Loehmann had on the gun range, his then-supervisor wrote, "leads one to believe that he would not be able to substantially cope, or make good decisions, during or resulting from any other stressful situation." That's according to a damning five-page letter (see pp 56-60) written in November 2012 by Deputy Chief of Police Jim Polak of Independence, Ohio. The letter was released this week as part of Loehmann's 60-page personnel file. Polak ended his review of Loehmann, who was on the force six months, by "recommending he be released from the employment of the City of Independence. I do not believe time, nor training, will be able to change or correct these deficiencies." Rather than firing him, It appears that Independence allowed Loehmann to resign. Cleveland's police department hired him this past March.

Polak's letter raises broader questions around police hiring and, in particular, how transfers between jurisdictions are handled. As local media reported this morning, Cleveland police did not review Loehmann's Independence file before hiring him.

Attorney General Eric Holder is expected in Cleveland today, The Department of Justice has been investigating excessive force complaints long levied at Cleveland's police department.

Hundreds of mourners gathered yesterday for the funeral of 12-year-old Rice, who had been playing with a replica toy gun at the time of the shooting. According to early reports, dispatch did not relay crucial information to responding officers that his gun "was probably fake" and that Rice was "probably a juvenile." Video of the incident showed that officers shot Rice within two seconds of arriving on the scene.

(h/t NEOMG)

An unnamed white Phoenix police officer shot and killed an unarmed 34-year-old black man, Rumain Brisbon, Tuesday evening.

Brandon Dickerson, who told FOX-10 that he was with Brisbon when the officer approached and that he didn't hear the officer give any commands. According to police, Brisbon ran when approached; the Phoenix Police Department claims that after a brief struggle, Brisbon reached for a bottle of prescription painkillers in his pocket--which the officer mistook for a gun.

Phoenix Police spokesperson Sergeant Trent Crump told the local news station that the officer who shot and killed Brisbon "was doing what we expect him to do, which is fight crime."

Brisbon's family is being represented by Phoenix attorney Marci Kratter, who told azcentral.com that the story appears incomplete; her office is conducting its own investigation into the killing. 

submitted by garbanzopea
[link] [136 comments]

alex-v-hernandez:

wonderali:

formerlyknownasemily:

virgin-who-cannot-drive:

_{12-13-2013 ( x )}

I don’t think I need context

I had no idea this was exactly what I needed today.

wormwoman

http://barthegrizzly.tumblr.com/post/104208281326:

barthegrizzly:

Hey everyone,

Sorry for not being here over the past few months. Life has been very busy for me and there has been a lack of motivation for me to watch each episode and take screencaps. I hope to continue doing this after I turn in my final papers x_x Also, the tag is full of reposts so I’ve…

Bad Boyfriend for Hire [@nickyistaken]

mistresswhile:

The best thing I ever bought was a banana costume for my dog. Hands down. I put it on her when we expect new people to come to our house and it keeps her from being crazy. She just stands there.

The stepfather of Michael Brown, the black Missouri teenager whose August killing by a white policeman led to protests across the U.S., is under investigation, regarding whether his comments amounted to inciting a riot. St. Louis County police are now investigating crimes related to the unrest including arson, robbery and destruction of property, department spokesman Shawn McGuire said yesterday in a statement. Brown’s stepfather, Louis Head, was heard in televised broadcasts exhorting those angry with the grand jury’s decision to burn down the Ferguson police headquarters. “The statements made by Louis Head are also under investigation,” McGuire said. Results of those inquiries will be turned over to McCulloch’s office, he said. Adner Marcelin, a spokesman for Brown family lawyer Benjamin Crump of Tallahassee, Florida, didn’t immediately respond to voice-mail and e-mail messages yesterday seeking comment on McGuire’s statement.

Between 2007 and 2009, Apple stealthily deleted content that iPod owners had downloaded from rival music services, reports The Wall Street Journal. The information came to light during an ongoing class action iPod lawsuit that Apple is fighting in court this week, where the Cupertino company is accused of having violated antitrust law by locking its original iPods to the iTunes ecosystem.

According to plaintiff attorney Patrick Coughlin, a user who downloaded music from a competing music service to iTunes and then tried to sync the content to an iPod would receive a nondescript error message. The vague message would advise the iPod owner to restore the device to its factory settings, deleting the music that had been downloaded from a rival service and preventing it from being played.


Apple security director Augustin Farrugia defended the vague error message, stating that Apple didn't want to "confuse users" by providing them with too much information. Farrugia also said the company's efforts to delete music acquired from third-party sources was done in an effort to protect consumers from hackers and malicious content.

Yesterday, lawyers for the plaintiffs shared both a videotaped deposition and emails written by Steve Jobs as evidence that Apple had deliberately stymied competing music services after the launch of the iPod. In the correspondence, the former Apple CEO hatched a plan to accuse competing music service RealNetworks of hacking the iPod when it offered song downloads that could be played on the device.

The class action lawsuit began on Tuesday of this week and is being heard in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California. Both Apple marketing head Phil Schiller and iTunes chief Eddy Cue are expected to testify during the court proceedings.

~”The Mysteries of Photography.” The Houston Daily Post (Houston, Tex.), December 3, 1893 

Police officers in the St. Louis-area have been quietly providing former Ferguson officer Darren Wilson with voluntary security while off-duty since the August shooting that claimed the life of Michael Brown and ignited passionate protests around the country. Jim Pasco, executive director of the national Fraternal Order of Police, told USA Today Monday that some FOP members have been providing Wilson with round-the-clock security free-of-charge.