Twin Peaks can add another fanatic to its long list of obsessed fans, one Mikhail Gorbachev. In fact, the former President of the Soviet Union was so into Twin Peaks he tried to get U.S. President George H. W. Bush to pressure David Lynch into revealing who killed Laura Palmer. Lynch declined, obviously.
When Frontier took to Kickstarter to fund Elite: Dangerous in 2012, netting £1,578,316, they said folks would be able to play an offline singleplayer mode. They weren’t entirely sure how it’d work, given that many of their space sim plans involved an online and interconnected galaxy, but they said it’d be in there. With Elite’s official launch less than a month away, Frontier have now said that won’t happen. It’ll have an online singleplayer mode, as always planned, but no offline support.
“A fully offline experience would be unacceptably limited and static compared to the dynamic, ever unfolding experience we are delivering,” creator David Braben said in last Friday’s Elite newsletter. Naturally, players wanted to know what exactly that meant, so executive producer Michael Brookes took to the forums to answer loads of questions.
Offline singleplayer will “probably not” ever get added, Brookes said. “We have put considerable time and effort to try and make this happen, but we’ve had to make this decision to make the game we set out to do. We would happily support offline play if it were possible for us to do so.”
An offline mode “is impractical rather than impossible, but circumstances mean that it cannot be done,” he explained. They can’t simply release a separate version without universe syncing, he explained, as so much of the game is server-side. “To make that happen we’d essentially have to create two games. The servers handle more than just the data, they handle all the key processes for interaction in the game, so trading, mission generation and background simulation to name a few.” And they don’t want to release server code to folks “as it contains the secrets of the galaxy.”
As for why Frontier have let people believe for so long that offline was coming, Brookes said “Because we wanted to be certain before announcing.” Reading his responses and Braben’s statement, though, it seems they’ve been fairly clear for a while about the game they’ve wanted to make – which, as they say, doesn’t include offline singleplayer.
If you’re unhappy with this, Brookes pointed out that they offer refunds. Exactly how this’ll work with Kickstarter pledges isn’t clear, and he says everything’s dealt with case-by-case basis.
So much of a game is unseen, unspoken, felt through the fingertips. EVE Online has never felt like a game of spaceships to me, and this isn’t a lazy “MS Excel In Space” joke. Oh it’s got gorgeous space-scenery and some cracking spaceship designs (how I loved my many Rifters!), but it doesn’t feel like space, not how I’ve experienced it in other spaceship games. Navigation is through menus – orbit this target at this distance, approach this gate, align to face this station – or double-clicking points in space. Most games make us both the captain giving orders and the pilot at the stick. How interesting, then, that EVE is adding keyboard flight controls with WASD in its next update.
They’ll arrive in Rhea on December 9th. Yes, yes, Rhea will add new wormhole systems, new ships, new NPC enemies, better ship lighting with physically-based rendering, and other stuff, but that’s mostly interesting to folks who play EVE and already know this. So WASD controls, then.
Senior engineer ‘Nullarbor’ explains in a blog post that they’re coming after CCP’s tests with bringing in a load of folks who play PC games but have never touched EVE:
One of the things we almost universally observed was the initial expectation to be able to fly your spaceship in any direction using the WASD keys on the keyboard. The transition to EVEs flight control scheme of right clicking on things was jarring for some.
So here come traditional spaceship controls, or a beta experiment at least, with WASD or arrow keys moving your ship up, left, down, and right. Oh sure, this will be less efficient than using menus. If you’re mining somewhere risky, you will still trust your navigation computer to keep you pointed towards safe space. If you’re on a long journey, you’ll still let EVE calculate headings.
But if you want to experience the joys of being in space, of controlling a spaceship, of taking your pride and joy that you scrimped and saved for on a joyride, look at this:
I only played EVE for a few months, but the sense this seems to give of controlling an actual spaceship rather than an abstract collection of data points is so very exciting. I imagine I’d only use it to waggle a bit when docking, but those small moments can form a real bond with a ship.
A new global report produced by Intel Corporation indicates that girls and women involved with “making,” designing and creating things with electronic tools, may build stronger interest and skills in computer science and engineering – which could potentially reduce the growing gender gap in these fields.
With 16 million makers in the United States alone, the maker movement – a wave of tech-inspired, do-it-yourself innovation – is extensive and rapidly expanding. Unfortunately, so is the gender gap in computer science and engineering graduates. Intel’s report, “MakeHers: Engaging Girls and Women in Technology through Making, Creating and Inventing,” explores how maker activities can serve as a gateway to computer science and engineering for girls and women, and it identifies ways to better engage girls and women in making in order to increase female representation in these fields.
“Intel believes that making brings ideas to life and spurs innovation, and we want to ensure that girls and women take part in this movement,” said Aysegul Ildeniz, vice president of the New Devices Group and general manager of Strategy and Business Development at Intel. “This report provides key insights on how to better engage girls and women in computer science and engineering and help them access opportunities to invent and create the future.”
The “MakeHers” report, created in consultation with experts including the Girl Scouts* and the Maker Education Initiative*, reflects Intel’s commitment to increase access to and interest in computer science and engineering, especially among girls, women and underrepresented minorities.
“With its groundbreaking new report, Intel is demonstrating how the maker movement has helped turn a generation of tech-savvy girls – nearly all of whom grew up in the digital age – into the leaders and entrepreneurs of the economy of tomorrow,” said Anna Maria Chavez, CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA.
Key global findings1 from Intel’s “MakeHers” report include:
In the U.S., Making Is Already Popular with Tweens and Teens – Both Girls and Boys
Girls and boys in the United States are equally likely to be “tech makers”: 1 in 4 tweens and teens have made things with technology during the past year, and 7 in 10 would like to learn to make something with electronics.
Making and Inventing Provides Multiple Entry Points to Engage and Interest Girls and Women in Computer Science and Engineering
Girls and women who make, design and create things with electronic tools may build stronger interest and skills in computer science and engineering.
Female makers come to making through multiple pathways that include arts, design, crafting and textiles.
Making can help girls and women learn new content and technologies and provide an avenue for them to engage in scientific and engineering problems that align with their interests.
Girls and Women Face Constraints to Participating in Making
Female and male makers face similar challenges to making, such as lack of money, information and access to tools and materials. However, female makers experience additional challenges:
1 in 3 female makers say lack of mentorship is a challenge.
1 in 6 have been excluded from making because of their gender.
1 in 6 face cultural biases about the appropriateness of women in making.
1 in 14 don’t feel safe going to the places where maker activities are held.
Key Recommendations to Engage Girls and Women in Making
Build more girls- and women-inclusive maker environments in public places, such as libraries and schools.
Design makerspaces that enable open-ended investigation of projects meaningful to girls and women.
Develop initiatives that give girls more access to makers their own age and female mentors.
Encourage parents to “embrace the mess” and engage in making with their children.
Align making activities, such as coding and making hardware, with current trends and personal interests to attract girls.
Include facilitators in makerspaces to create a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for girls and women.
The report’s findings were drawn from three online surveys2 conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Intel. Intel also conducted interviews with leading U.S. experts on STEM, girls and STEM, and the maker movement, as well as interviews and participant observation in makerspaces in the United States.
Even before he began acting, Williams attended the National Academy of Fine Arts and Design in New York. In the late 1980s, he resumed painting. Some of his work can be seen at his online gallery BDW World Art. He has had solo exhibitions in various galleries around the United States, and his work hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution and the Schomburg Museum. The covers of the Thelonious Monk Competition programs since 1990 are by him. He was also on the Martin Lawrence situation comedy Martin.
'this was one of the most negatively reviewed season to date. But as Moffat also said the other day, “Yeah, yeah, and you’re watching it every week.” '
Can it be this TARDIS? Please?
Doctor Who TV reports on Peter Capaldi discussing the budgetary issues at the BBC and how they factor in to his day job.
Speaking at An Afternoon with Mark Gatiss and Friends about the prop reuse including the Sonic Screwdriver: “I have to say, the BBC are very responsible with license payer’s money. So they feel if they’ve spent a certain amount of money on a certain amount of props, then they won’t get rid of those props until they’ve been used. This applies equally to the TARDIS. It’s essentially Matt [Smith's].”
He continued, “It’s got a sort of Edwardian look about it – not the actual console – it’s the bits and pieces lying around. Cricket bats, maps and odds and ends and things. There’s a Jules Verne quality to it – I would like to make it more Bauhaus.”
Series 8 saw Peter Capaldi take up the iconic role of The Doctor, with an average consolidated audience of 7.4m viewers every week in the UK.
This an increase of 39% on the overnight figures reported the day after broadcast. This includes the 9.2m average audience that watched Deep Breath, Peter Capaldi’s debut episode, which is the highest figure for a non-special episode (Christmas/50th anniversary) since the opening episode of series 5 (Matt Smith’s debut) in 2010. These figures show how Doctor Who has consistently achieved big audiences across the last three series – series 7a/7b combined had an average consolidated audience of 7.4m, series 6a/6b attracted 7.5m and series 5 was viewed by 7.3m.
There has been over 18.9m requests to watch Doctor Who series 8 on BBC iPlayer – an average of 1.6m requests for each of the 12 episodes.
But how is the show faring in the US and Canada?
In the US, consolidated figures for the first 10 episodes have seen Series 8 experience a 23% uplift in total audience in Live+7 on Series 7. The series 8 premiere was the show’s highest-rated series premiere ever on BBC America, and is the first BBC Worldwide series ever to simultaneously hold the #1 slot in the Main TV Season Charts across all major Electronic Sell-through platforms in the US within 48 hours of episode 1’s release on August 24th 2014. In Canada, on the Space channel, the first 10 episodes of Series 8 have seen a 22% uplift in consolidated audience size on Series 7.
It could be my personal opinion coloring my view, but I’ve felt this was one of the most negatively reviewed season to date. But as Moffat also said the other day, “Yeah, yeah, and you’re watching it every week.”
The holiday shopping season is more or less underway, which means that the old feelings of fear and procrastination should be creeping up on you right about... now. And while it's always mildly hilarious to watch the violent deal-rabid crowds at Walmarts tackle each other during Black Friday sales, let's not be a part of the fray this year if we can help it.
After all, Portland is home to Little Boxes, which is a two-day, citywide alternative to the big boxes' Black Friday incentives. It's only in its fourth year and is expected to see over 200 local retailers participate this Nov 28-29. Over on MOD, we have a piece that goes into some of the event's details (it's pretty impressively organized, and even has an app to help you easily find participating locations and track your eligibility for prizes). Do check it out and take advantage of the program, which last year was estimated to have created $283,500 in additional revenue for local establishments.
One of the most delightfully weird games to come out this year is Goat Simulator, wherein you play a sociopathic goat rampaging through a small town known for its slapstick physics, intentionally awful glitches, and predilection to explosions. Now it appears Coffee Stain Studios is taking the game to its logical conclusion: a fantasy-based, massively multiplayer online role-playing game.
Why fantasy? Why multiplayer? Why is a walking microwave one of the choices for character class (the others being Tank, Magician, Hunter, "Rouge," and plain ol' goat)? Looking at the debut trailer, it seems all the madcap physics and bizarre bugs are present.
Actually, this is probably the only scene that matters. This is everything you need to know about Goat Simulator:
Goat MMO Simulator is coming this week to PC as a free download for current Goat Simulator owners through Steam. According to Polygon, it'll also be playable for Mac and Linux with full controller support.
If the trailer — if that GIF — isn't seriously enough for you, here's a gallery:
The planets of our solar system were compared in relative size using pieces of fruit in an image by Avi Solomon using data from an episode of the BBC’s Stargazing Live. The Earth is a cherry tomato compared to massive Jupiter’s watermelon.
Watchville is an app by North Technologies that aggregates news about wristwatches for enthusiasts and collectors. The app also includes a moon phase calendar as well as a leap year and atomic clock tools. Watchville is currently available on iOS.
North Technologies–a company co-founded by Kevin Rose and Marc Hemeon–previously released Tiiny, an app for sharing small photos and looping videos that disappear after 24 hours.
Following a weekend in which it was reported that Bill Cosby canceled appearances on both David Letterman’s and Queen Latifah’s respective talk shows, and NPR hosted an interview where he responded to sexual assault allegations by silently shaking his head—plus nearly a month of sickening feelings exacerbated by disastrous PR—the comedian has finally commented on the growing controversy. In a statement released through his lawyer, Cosby silently shook his head at the entire world:
Over the last several weeks, decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced. The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. Mr. Cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment. He would like to thank all his fans for the outpouring of support and assure them that, at age 77, he is doing his best work. There will be no further statement from Mr. Cosby ...
Every day,Watch This offers staff recommendations inspired by a new movie coming out that week. This week: The shabby Dumb And Dumber To has us thinking about better films starring famous comedy duos.
Stir Crazy (1980)
The second of four collaborations between Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, Stir Crazy is a high-water mark for the comedy duo, whose characters—struggling playwright Skip (Wilder) and weed-loving caterer Harry (Pryor)—ditch their going-nowhere lives in NYC and hit the road to L.A. However, their first lengthy stop, in Arizona, turns out to be their last, as they run into cataclysmic legal trouble when they take on a job dancing around at a bank in woodpecker suits, and then are framed for armed robbery when two thieves use those costumes to stick-up the bank. Sentenced to a whopping 125 years behind bars, Skip and Harry find themselves ill at ease in ...
During an interview last week with Gamespot, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker producer Koichi Hayashida offered some insight into the enigmatic Toads. Explains Hayashida,
This is maybe a little bit of a strange story, but we never really went out of our way to decide on the sex of these characters, even though they have somewhat gendered appearances [...] But I think what I can say is that Toadette and Toad are not siblings — perhaps it would be more accurate to say they are adventure pals. And that’s certainly true here [in Captain Toad].
Hayashida also clarified that Toad and Toadette are not a couple. Additionally, despite the gendered name, Toadette, unlike the similarly-named Smurfette, is not intended to be a standout female member of the Toad community—despite identifying with some traditionally female characteristics, Toadette doesn’t actually prescribe to a specific gender. As for the Toads’ mushroom-like appearance, Hayashida says,
This particular riddle might stay unsolved [...] That’s one of the great mysteries of the Mario universe.
As you were, genderswapped Toad cosplayers. As you were.
When Valve first launched Steam's Early Access program back in March 2013, the intent was for developers to sell "unfinished" games to players early, letting those players experience a rough beta as the game worked through development and toward a "full release." In practice, the vast majority of games taking part in the Early Access system have yet to make it to that full release finish line.
In an analysis published on GamesIndustry International, Patrick Walker of game research firm EEDAR points out that only 25 percent of the 334 Early Access games placed on Steam through October 2014 have seen subsequent release as full games. That statistic could be a bit misleading, since it includes many games that only launched as Early Access in the last few months. Even if you look at games that have been available on Early Access for a year or more, though, over half haven't made the jump to a full release, according to Walker's numbers.
This isn't exactly news to anyone who's been paying attention to the way Early Access has been used in the wild. Back in June, Valve changed its Early Access FAQ to explicitly note that "some teams will be unable to 'finish' their game. So you should only buy an Early Access game if you are excited about playing it in its current state."
McGarvey described her daughter as a rebellious teenager who left home and moved in with her grandparents in February because she didn't want to follow her mother's rules, putting stress on the family's relationship. She said the only time she has seen her daughter since she started at Temple University was in a courtroom.
"She packed her stuff and moved in with my ex-in-laws," McGarvey said.
Caitlyn’s attorney, Andrew Rochester, told ABC News she was unavailable for comment. He told WPVI her parents were to blame for the separation.
"Caitlyn did not voluntarily leave the home. She was thrown out by her mother," Rochester told WPVI.
Caitlyn's grandparents are paying her legal fees, according to WPVI.
Pit bulls are totally vicious, right? Our scary pit bull, Queso, is afraid of lots of things, like the kitchen floor, the printer, and doorways. But Queso is a survivor! He deals with his fear of walking into a room (terrifying!) by walking in backwards.
looks like the blotch that shows up when I rub my eyeball
The Revolution will be Visualized
Established in 2004 in Cambridge, UK, Open Knowledge is a worldwide non-profit network of people that advocate and campaign for the open release of information, particularly at national or large scale, and who monitor the level of openness worldwide. They are the organization behind CKAN, the leading open-source data portal platform where other governments and organizations can host and organize their data, and the Open Data Index, that tracks which countries have open data sets in different categories. Earlier this year, Open Knowledge introduced a new identity designed by London-based johnson banks.
[The identity] was sourced directly from the data collected in one of their landmark projects, the Global Open Data Index. We extrapolated the symbol directly from the datasets of the then 72 countries in the Index, showing how open (green) or closed (red) their data is. We then built a scheme around what was swiftly nicknamed the 'data earth' and a shortened version of their name, Open Knowledge. The symbol is designed to work on multiple levels, as an 'earth', as an eye, and as an 'O' for 'Open'.
Logo detail. Nicknamed "Data Earth" by Open Knowledge.Logo variations in size and color.The Global Open Data Index which serves as the data that fuels the logo.How each country appears in the logo. Logo animation and explanation of the organization.
The old logo represented the full name of the organization, Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF), but even with that in mind, it wasn't a particularly good logo yet not one of the worst Befores we've seen. In contrast to its predecessor's lack of meaning, the new logo has a strong concept behind it and a great execution to boot. Based on the Open Data Index, each visible diameter of the circle represents a country and each country has a red line (representing lack of data sets) and a green line (representing available open sets in different categories), giving the logo a rhythm that isn't arbitrary but founded on the very data the organization promotes. One of the things I like about this logo is that it very quickly communicates that there is positive (green) and negative (red) associated with it, so it's not just another feel-good logo.
The radial execution with the two segments yields an "O" in the center, for openness, which is a great bonus for an already strong logo. The inside can also be exchanged to represent different countries and include messaging, making it more flexible than it would appear.
Local group logos.Logo as holding device for messages.Stationery.T-shirt.
Not many applications to see but not many that are needed. This is one of those projects where having a recognizable endorsing logo is more important than cool layouts and fancy photography. Having this visual identifier that captures the current and increasing appreciation of data visualization can help unify all the global groups and all the varied projects. It's also a quick catalyst for conversation about its meaning, prompting an easy explanation that can summarize the more complex ambitions of Open Knowledge.
According to two sources familiar with the clip’s production, the men in the video were approached on the street to take part in a “comedic, hidden camera” video. One source, who said he declined an invitation to be in the video, told TSG that he was told the production was a “student video.” He added that the film crew did not ask for participants to sign releases or any other “paperwork.”
Josh Blaine, the shaggy-haired man wearing sunglasses in the video, drives a Hollywood tour bus. In a message to his Facebook friends, Blaine said that he did “a favor for some camera crew guess this is what I get for being agreeable to someones project.” He added that, “it was supposed to be a funny skit. here’s to watching my back with virtually no friends. fuck my life.”
They’ve basically been portrayed as would-be rapists for the world to see and they weren’t asked any release and were not paid?!
Christine Michaels, owner of LA Epic Club Crawls, says employee Mike “Mokii” Koshak told her he was approached by the video’s maker and told to act the part of a zealous suitor for what he believed was a student comedy short film.(…) Koshak later said he felt duped by the producer when he saw the final product.
Koshak said on his Facebook page today that “the video that has me in it that’s going around the web was all staged and all of the people in it were acting.”
We were told that Koshak, who had not apparently signed a release, is now seeking legal representation in the matter.
Falsely making innocent men look like rapists so that someone can get a viral video out there is incredibly horrible behavior. I hope that tumblr spreads that this was all a set-up and that these men are actually victims here instead of giving more attention to the original video that is still going around. They now have their faces tied to horrible behavior that they did not commit and one of them already lost a contracting job over it. This is not okay.
whoops
I had my suspicions. The dudes int he video were way too quick to be like “come home with me” or to even approach this girl. And it did not escape my notice that a majority of them were of color.
