firehose

What else?

As we learned a couple months ago, a company called BitPay purchased naming rights for the St. Petersburg Bowl, buying a little more legitimacy (maybe?) for Bitcoin, the Internet's favorite cryptocurrency. How did BitPay buy said naming rights/legitimacy? Why, with Bitcoin, of course:

In keeping to his message that digital currency is as easy to use as cash and safer than a credit card, BitPay co-founder Tony Gallippi put his bitcoin where his mouth is this summer when he paid ESPN for a college football bowl game sponsorship in bitcoin.

And now feel free to picture a New England executive holding a scrap of paper with a code on it, wondering what the hell he got himself into.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Milo Manara, the Italian artist behind Marvel’s Spider-Woman #1 variant cover, and writer of the upcoming series Dennis Hopeless have both commented on the recent controversy.

The story began when Comic Book Resources posted exclusive cover reveals from Marvel’s November books. One included a variant cover by Manara that we (and many others) took issue with for its blatant sexualization of a character on a title meant to be reaching out to women. But it wasn’t only women who were offended as Rob Bricken at io9 and others have also expressed their distaste at Marvel’s decision in this matter. Many have also criticized the art itself as a poor use of the otherwise accomplished artist’s talent.

Since online discussion began, many in the comic industry and out, have debated the criticisms, but now Manara himself has been interviewed by an Italian outlet to get his thoughts.

Fumetto Logica posted an interview with Manara which we’re using Google to translate. We know that’s not always reliable so if anyone speaks Italian and would like to submit an alternate translation, we would be greatful. We’d also like to take this time to reiterate our primary concern over the Spider-Woman cover was the decision by Marvel to hire an erotic artist for this particular book, knowing they were trying to reach out to women readers, not that the artist drew how he always does.

How do you interpret the debate generated by its cover?

Reading on the internet, I saw that the criticisms have two different reasons. One is the sexy and erotic side, the other is the anatomical error. Now, sull’imperizia [Editor's note: incompetence?] in the drawing do not know what to say. Let’s say I try to do my best for 40 years. Nobody is perfect, and I may be wrong; simply, I’m a professional, so I do my best.

On the erotic side, however, I found it a bit ‘amazing. Apart from the fact that there is a mandatory prerequisite to do it seems to me that both the United States and around the world there are things much more important and serious to worry about. The facts of Ferguson, or the drama of Ebola. That there are people that they take it for things like that … Unless there is, these days, a hypersensitivity to erotic images more or less, due to this ongoing discussion that we are called to do with Islam. We know that the censorship of a woman’s body should not be a feature of our own, Western Europe. This is also quite surprising.

Manara rightly admits he was trying to do his best and that he could be wrong about how the art eventually turned out, but it’s sad to see him take the route so many do when people try and discuss issues as they pertain to women’s representation in entertainment—namely, that there are more important things to worry about. This line of argument assumes people can only be concerned about one thing at a time and is meant to derail (whether on purpose or not) an otherwise worthy topic of discussion.

The main criticism to that image – although not new, nor in the debate about comics nor in his work – is that it represents a woman who is the ‘object’ of sexual desire, through a shape and a pose provocative little ‘natural ‘.

What I wanted to do a girl who, after climbing a wall of a skyscraper, crawling on the roof. She finds herself on the edge, and his right leg still has it off the roof. So the criticism anatomical that were made, I think they are wrong: it is not to have both knees on the roof. One leg is still down, and the other is pulling up. Precisely for this reason, also, then this back arched. I tried to do this.

After that, it’s not my fault if women are like that. I do the design only. It’s not me that I’ve done so: is an author much more “important”, say, for those who believe … For evolutionists, including me, on the other hand, women’s bodies have taken this form over the millennia in order to avoid the ‘extinction of the species, in fact. If women were made exactly as men, with the same shape, I think we would have already been extinct for a long time.

Also, do not consider it one of the covers most erotic I’ve done. I think I have chosen out of all the poses imaginable – and the proof is if one goes on the Internet, where I documented myself, to see all the photos of Spider-Woman – at the bottom of that, even as framing, less problematic . Indeed view is a bit ‘from above. You do not see hardly anything. We see that only has an ass, drawn like this. And it’s a girl with a nice ass, that yes, from my point of view.

The superheroes are like that: they are naked, painted anything. Superman is naked painted blue, Spider-Man is naked red and blue, and Spider-Woman is painted red. But they are things that are part of the “trick”, so to speak, that publishers use to create these forms of superheroes nude – on which I do not find anything wrong – but there is no real nudity. If we see them later in the stories, going beyond the cover, are characters whose bodies are “in view”.

So, Manara is basically saying “she’s not sexualized, women are just born that way?” The argument has never been “women don’t have curves” but “clothing doesn’t work that way” and again, “not the right art to promote this title.”

Manara also touches on the “men and women are depicted unrealistically in comics” argument. Those with a modicum of art knowledge knows male comic book characters are depicted as a male power fantasy and female characters as a sexual fantasy. It’s why the “look, Spider-Man is drawn like that too!” argument holds no water. One is to show a strong man, in action, being dominant while the other is to show a women objectified, existing solely to appeal to the baser senses. It’s about intent, presentation, and context.

Asked if he saw the position he put Spider-Woman in as provocative or problematic, he said, “It is actually a girl who is crawling, or rather, advancing at the pace of the jaguar. After climbing the wall of the building, is pulling himself on the roof of this building. I see it. Sure, of course, since women are done in a certain way, do any movement, if they are nude … And more or less, the super heroines are all naked. Of these covers I’ve done different” and added “there are many far more erotic” images to be found online.

I tend to believe that maybe I was already targeted by some commentators or bloggers who have taken advantage of the opportunity, perhaps even the most convincing, to raise such a problem. I understand the controversy over the fact that the use of women’s bodies is a sensitive issue. And they agree more on the fact that the female body should not be used in advertising, for example, to sell … silicone sealant. The thing that I do not agree is not so much the fact that these images are erotic, but the fact that they are trivial.

I’m having trouble parsing this particular segment of the interview because of the translation but he again seems to be calling the issue of controversial comic book covers “trivial.” Your mileage may vary.

From the rest of the interview I get the sense Marvel never asked for any kind of alteration on the art after receiving it a few months ago. Manara also believes his fanbase is also 50%, if not more, women, and that they enjoy erotic art just as much as men. Which again, wasn’t being debated. He also noted his aim is never to offend, only to provide something beautiful and does “not think a design like the one on the cover of Spider-Woman could have an impact masturbatory.”

Marvel previously declined to comment on our original story but senior vice president of publishing Tom Brevoort did reply to an anonymous comment on his tumblr referencing the cover.

I think that the people who are upset about that cover have a point, at least in how the image relates to them.

By that same token, Milo Manara has been working as a cartoonist since 1969, and what he does hasn’t materially changed in all that time. So when we say “Manara cover”, his body of work indicates what sort of thing he’s going to do.

Exactly. Marvel knew what they were going to get from this artist, and that’s why this is such a big deal.

But Brevoort ended on a positive note: “I think a conversation about how women are depicted in comics is relevant at this point, and definitely seems to be bubbling up from the zeitgeist. That too is fine. Nothing gets better unless ideas are communicated.”

Spider-Woman writer Dennis Hopeless also commented briefly on the cover issue on his Twitter feed, and it may give Jessica Drew fans some hope.

@EmmyHildy I can promise you we have no intention of blatantly sexualizing any of the characters in our story.

— Dennis Hopeless (@HopelessDent) August 20, 2014

@PositivelyB I don’t have any input at all on covers. You have my word that our story treats Jess with the utmost respect.

— Dennis Hopeless (@HopelessDent) August 20, 2014

One last note from Manara:

To date I have not heard those of Marvel (these days there are some communication difficulties, but I think I hear them soon, in a week). But it seems to me that this cover has not yet been published. This is to say that it may well be that Marvel, seeing these controversies, withdraws and does not publish. Who knows, maybe we are talking about nothing: Marvel decided not to publish it and goodnight to the bucket.

Goodnight to the bucket, indeed.

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Levi's Stadium crowd on August 17, 2014.

Jim Bahn

The San Francisco 49ers' heralded Wi-Fi network served its first NFL crowd in a preseason game on Sunday, and the team has now released statistics showing that it was able to serve lots of data to lots of fans, just as intended.

"We offloaded 2.13 terabytes during the event," 49ers VP of Technology Dan Williams told Mobile Sports Report. The newly built Levi's Stadium has 68,500 seats and more than a third of attendees used the Wi-Fi network simultaneously.

"We peaked at 24,775 (roughly 38 percent of attendance) concurrent connections with an average of 16,862 (roughly 25 percent of attendance)," Williams said.

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Hey remember how girls are supposed to think that video games are gross and totally don’t belong in your hobby, or whatever? Yeah, no. We make up 48% of all “gamers,” according to the Entertainment Software Association—which makes us a larger demographic than teenage boys. So, guess you’d better get used to us.

This new data, which is based on a survey of 2,200 U.S. households, marks a significant jump from the 40% reported back in 2010. It also suggests that women above the age of 18 make up 36% of the gaming population, whereas boys under the age of 18 only make up 17%. This is especially significant given that most mainstream portrayals of video games in the media make the assumption that teenage boys are the most sought-after group of people by mainstream game developers.

Of course, that’s not necessarily true, and the true median age for video game purchasers is actually 35—which makes sense, when you consider how much console games in particular cost nowadays. But! The study also found that of the people who purchase video games, the gender balance is split exactly down the middle: 50% men and 50% women.

Just look at it. I have a tear in my eye. So beautiful.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that we’ve automatically achieved equality just because the ratio of male players to female players (which doesn’t account for non-binary yet again, sigh) is a little more even: when it comes to what’s actually in the video games, people who aren’t scruffy white guys still feel the lack of fair and non-exploitative representation.

“I’ve definitely seen portrayals of women in games, where I’m like, what, are you kidding me?” Abbie Heppe, a community manager for the popular game Titanfall, told the Wall Street Journal. But she also noted that the team at Respawn Entertainment was “very conscious to make sure that the female pilots are as cool as male pilots. If they would be wearing bikinis, that would be weird, because they are fighting on a battlefield.”

If you’re curious about what else the ESA uncovered with their research, you can check out their full sales, demographic, and usage data here.

(via The Wall Street Journal, image via Valentin Ottone)

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Like her inspiration, Sherbet Lock is a cocaine-addicted detective—although her mysteries tend to be of the supernatural variety. She's looking for a bit of crowdfunding support, as is an anthology of speculative fiction and essays, a bisexual horror web series, and gorgeous 16-bit video game.

Read more...

Doug Martin will carry the load for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season. Lovie Smith called him the bell cow of the offense. We break down the fantasy implications.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin will be the "bell cow" of the team's offense this season, says head coach Lovie Smith, via the Associated Press. Smith said that Martin's role is even more prominent given the injuries to second-year running back Mike James and third-round pick Charles Sims.

Smith did say that backup Bobby Rainey will get some carries, but that "Doug is our bell cow." Martin rushed for 1,454 yards in 2012 and came up just short of 2,000 yards from scrimmage when adding in his receiving yards. Unfortunately, Martin played in only six games in 2013 due to injury. But he's back and healthy, and has looked solid in camp thus far.

Fantasy Impact: Martin doesn't have a lot of fantasy confidence at the moment, at least when it comes to where he's being drafted. Fantasy owners have been picking him up in the third round and that's probably a steal. There's no reason to suspect Martin won't return to form, and if he puts up something even remotely close to his 2012 numbers, he'll be an absolute steal in the third round. Fantasy owners should draft him with confidence.

If you’re looking for a different take on a Queen of Hearts costume or just want to add a creative touch to the traditional look, Marie of The Joy of Fashion has a tutorial for a playing card collar. The collar is part of the Alice in Wonderland’s character’s outfit anyway, so why not make it stand out? It’s straightforward and all you need is cards, glue, scissors, paper, and a hole punch:

Here are the steps you need to follow to make this card collar:
1. Cut out the size of your neck on a piece of white paper. Try it on to make sure it fits around your neck correctly.
2. Using the white paper as a guide, start placing the cards around the neck area…
3. … and staple them together.
4. Continue stapling the cards together making sure to use the white paper as guide to the size of your neck.
5. Once you are done with the first circle of stapled cards, make another set of stapled cards a bit larger than the original circle.
6. Now place the smaller circle of cards over the larger circle of cards and staple them together…

View the rest of the tutorial at The Joy of Fashion.

via Geek x Girls