Osias Jota

Author: Pai Osias Source: Mobile Web (M2)

RT @Psythor: So #Daredevil is a Catholic in a world where Thor literally turned up in New York.

a-storm-for-every-spring:

fuckyesdeadpool:

Deadpool’s official movie twitter follows only one other account

They’re already doing it right

Source

Frozach Submitted

Author: Osias Jota Source: Buffer

RT @andreiferreira_: "Nova temporada de Game of Thrones dará spoilers dos futuros livros" PARECE QUE O JOGO VIROU NÃO É MESMO

 You may have never heard of it, but if you are a Chrome user, chances are you’ve used Google’s QUIC protocol already. As Google disclosed this week, about half of all requests from Chrome to Google’s servers are now served over QUIC. So what’s the big deal here? QUIC is Google’s experimental, low-latency Internet transportation protocol over UDP, a protocol… Read More

The Sad Puppies are what the gomers who undermined the Hugo nominations are calling themselves. I’m interested in seeing how they defend themselves…or was, until I read their arguments. And all I can conclude is that these are really pathetic, brainless people.

For example, this guy Brad R. Torgersen. He tries to explain their cause by first setting up an analogy.

Imagine for a moment that you go to the local grocery to buy a box of cereal. You are an avid enthusiast for Nutty Nuggets. You will happily eat Nutty Nuggets until you die. Nutty Nuggets have always come in the same kind of box with the same logo and the same lettering. You could find the Nutty Nuggets even in the dark, with a blindfold over your eyes. That’s how much you love them.

Then, one day, you get home from the store, pour a big bowl of Nutty Nuggets . . . and discover that these aren’t really Nutty Nuggets. They came in the same box with the same lettering and the same logo, but they are something else. Still cereal, sure. But not Nutty Nuggets. Not wanting to waste money, you eat the different cereal anyway. You find the experience is not what you remembered it should be, when you ate actual Nutty Nuggets. You walk away from the experience somewhat disappointed. What the hell happened to Nutty Nuggets? Did the factory change the formula or the manufacturing process? Maybe you just got a bad box.

OK…I can understand that. Sometimes you just want your comfort food, and you want it to be prepared the same way, every time. This is the force that drove McDonald’s to world domination — the same food available everywhere, all the time, nice and greasy. I understand, but I don’t think that way; I want something different, I like exploring new flavors. I go to our local Mexican restaurant and pick a completely different meal each time. But wanting the same thing? Fine. My wife discovered her favorite thing on the menu early on, and she gets it always. No problem!

Except the analogy he’s setting up is to justify books. He wants them predictable. He wants to look at the cover and know exactly what he’s going to get when he reads it.

And he’s an author.

Well, at least I know I’d only have to read one of his books, if I felt like it (I do not), and then I could skip the rest.

But you’re reading this and saying, no, that can’t be. Books are supposed to be different from each other. Just imagine if every time you picked one up it would just be a retelling of Harry Potter, over and over again. No author could seriously propose such a justification.

Really, he did.

That’s what’s happened to Science Fiction & Fantasy literature. A few decades ago, if you saw a lovely spaceship on a book cover, with a gorgeous planet in the background, you could be pretty sure you were going to get a rousing space adventure featuring starships and distant, amazing worlds. If you saw a barbarian swinging an axe? You were going to get a rousing fantasy epic with broad-chested heroes who slay monsters, and run off with beautiful women. Battle-armored interstellar jump troops shooting up alien invaders? Yup. A gritty military SF war story, where the humans defeat the odds and save the Earth. And so on, and so forth.

These days, you can’t be sure.

The book has a spaceship on the cover, but is it really going to be a story about space exploration and pioneering derring-do? Or is the story merely about racial prejudice and exploitation, with interplanetary or interstellar trappings?

There’s a sword-swinger on the cover, but is it really about knights battling dragons? Or are the dragons suddenly the good guys, and the sword-swingers are the oppressive colonizers of Dragon Land?

A planet, framed by a galactic backdrop. Could it be an actual bona fide space opera? Heroes and princesses and laser blasters? No, wait. It’s about sexism and the oppression of women.

Finally, a book with a painting of a person wearing a mechanized suit of armor! Holding a rifle! War story ahoy! Nope, wait. It’s actually about gay and transgender issues.

Or it could be about the evils of capitalism and the despotism of the wealthy.

AN AUTHOR WROTE THAT. Unbelievable. He wants purity of the genre: books with rockets on the cover must be entirely about machines and traveling. Books with a guy and an axe on the cover must be about barbarians killing monsters. Don’t you dare change the formula. These books are not allowed to be about race, or colonialism, or sexism, or oppressive social structures. He thinks those are bad things to bring up in a science fiction book.

Our once reliable packaging has too often defrauded our readership. It’s as true with the Hugos as it is with the larger genre as a whole. Our readers wanted Nutty Nuggets because (for decades) Nutty Nuggets is what we gave them. Maybe some differences here and there, but nothing so outrageously different as to make our readers look at the cover and say, “What the hell is this crap??”

Apparently, he stopped reading the genre with Hugo Gernsback.

Maybe he opened The Left Hand of Darkness, published in 1969, expecting a shoot-em-up with aliens, and got a story about culture and gender.

The Martian Chronicles, published in 1950…surely, that one is about brave Americans conquering a planet? There’s a story or two in there that turns that trope on its ear. Brad Torgerson’s response was probably “What the hell is this crap??”

Let’s try Dhalgren, from 1975 — nope, that sends poor Brad screaming off to find some fantasy. Swords, half-naked slave girls, bloody battles.

Hey, The Book of the New Sun has a guy with a big sword on the cover, and it’s new — it came out 35 years ago. But then it’s a massive allegorical series of books on this far future world, using words from a language Wolfe invented.

Lord of Light? An amazing melding of Hindu gods and high technology. Stanislaw Lem? He’s old school, certainly his books must be straightforward space opera. I know, Phillip K. Dick! Nothing twisty and weird there, no sir!

I guess his only recourse is Robert Heinlein. Conservative politics, a bit of militarism, hyper-competent engineers solving mechanical problems all over the place. Like in Stranger in a Strange Land. There wouldn’t be any of that freaky social consciousness crapola in a book from 1961, would there?

I first started reading fantasy when I was six or seven years old, and my father gave me a copy of Tarzan of the Apes. I was eight or nine years old when my father again infected me: I was sick and stuck in bed for a few days, and he brought me a copy of Childhood’s End from the library and totally blew my mind. I didn’t want Nutty Nuggets again and again…I wanted that experience of surprise and insight and strangeness again. That’s why I read science fiction ferociously for years afterward.

And science fiction has always been this way. It’s always been a genre of new ideas and experimentation. It’s not like all of a sudden in the 2000s a few social radicals have hijacked the field and sent it off into wild new directions, discombobulating all of their readers. They’ve always done that. It’s got a readership that loves being discombobulated and twisting their brains around strangeness.

I see someone accusing authors of “defrauding” their readership because they are creative and explore novel ideas and think about more than just the gobbledygook pseudomechanics they’ll use to make their spaceships fly, and I see the real fraud: that is a person who does not understand science fiction and fantasy in the slightest.

Maybe the sad puppies should just pick up a copy of one of their own books and read it over and over again everyday. No surprises. They’d get exactly what they expect every time. And they’ve probably already got a rocket on the cover.

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George RR Martin has spoken, at length and in great detail (Hey! Like his books!). He goes through the history of the Hugos and shows, with the evidence, that there is no pattern of discrimination against Conservative White Dudes.

Bitcoin appeals to libertarians on the basis that governments cannot arbitrarily make more of it

In a moment, I’ll gaze into the crystal ball and foretell the future of the world’s most famous cryptocurrency, bitcoin. I should first explain what’s happening now.

It was developed in 2008 by an unknown programmer or programmers. Confusingly, bitcoin is both a payment technology and a financial asset. The asset called bitcoin has no intrinsic value but it has a market price that fluctuates wildly. Like digital gold, it appeals to libertarians on the basis that governments cannot arbitrarily make more of it.

The payment technology called bitcoin is what you might get if you ran the Visa network over a peer-to-peer network of computers. In case that description doesn’t help, it’s a way of sending money anywhere in the world but instead of relying on the authority of a financial intermediary such as Visa or Western Union, it uses a decentralised network to verify that the transaction has occurred. The record of all previous transactions is called the blockchain; it, too, is stored on a decentralised network. The entire process relies on cryptographic techniques to prevent fraud, which is why bitcoin and other currencies like it are called cryptocurrencies.

This may all seem very esoteric but the internet was esoteric once and it turns out to have become important. So what lies ahead for bitcoin?

Here’s one scenario.

Bitcoin has enjoyed many booms and busts in value, and later in 2015, the price surges again. This will be the biggest yet, drawing more and more people into the market. As the dotcom bubble and railway mania proved, even revolutionary technologies can be overvalued; with Bitcoins selling for $2,000, $5,000 and eventually $10,000 each, nemesis is around the corner.

The first sign of trouble will be the scams. A recent research paper by computer scientists Marie Vasek and Tyler Moore identified almost 200 bitcoin scams, in which about 13,000 victims lost $11m. Such scams will only become more common as the stakes become higher and the pool of naive investors deeper. Soon they will be the stuff of mainstream consumer rights phone-ins.

Arguably, scams are a sign that Bitcoin has matured — after all, nobody proposes abandoning the dollar because con artists like to be paid in dollars. But they are just a foretaste of what is to come — Bitcoin will be gutted by predatory monopolists.

The Bitcoin system has always relied on a crowd of people putting their computers to work verifying transactions and writing them into the blockchain, a task which costs money and energy. In a rather confusing analogy with gold, these people are called “miners” and they are compensated in Bitcoins, of course. Yet there is a basic inconsistency at the heart of this system, as the economist Kevin Dowd has observed: Bitcoin mining needs to be done by a decentralised crowd but is more efficiently done by large arrays of computers owned by a few players. Or possibly just a single one.

Even today, Bitcoin mining is a game for the big boys. As the Bitcoin mining industry becomes a tight, self-serving oligopoly, the stage is set for Bitcoin counterfeiting on a massive scale. In 2018, 10 years after the invention of Bitcoin, the system collapses under the weight of its own contradictions.

It’s an intriguing story — but of course, it is just a story. We could give it a name: “BitCon”.

. . .

If you don’t believe that, I have another story for you. The title is “Daisy Chains”. Throughout 2015 and 2016, the price of Bitcoins continues to collapse. Speculators lose interest and some of the big miners sell off their computers at a heavy loss. The spotlight moves elsewhere but the true believers in the power of decentralised blockchain processing continue to develop the system.

Bitcoins aren’t the only things that can be transferred using a peer-verified network, after all — you could transfer the digital lock to a smart car; or a financial contract, with pay-offs and penalties automatically adjudicated and paid for by the blockchain. The question is whether the effort of doing all this is more efficient than the current centralised systems using interbank payments.

The answer is yes but only in certain circumstances. A blockchain is a ledger of every digital transaction ever made on the system. This proves far too unwieldy for a universal means of payment. Yet specialised niche systems evolve: by 2018, block-chain processing is common for remittances; by 2019, block-chain processing pays for and controls self-driving taxis. You can even download an out-of-the-box blockchain app for your local babysitting circle — or your prostitution ring. Blockchain approaches don’t replace Western Union and Visa everywhere but they squeeze margins and make inroads for certain applications.

The only disappointment for the true Bitcoin enthusiasts is that Bitcoin itself, the currency that started it all, fails to catch on. Most people prefer a trusted brand. When a standard of value is used on these disparate blockchain processes, the most popular by far is “FedCoin” — more commonly known by its correct name, the US dollar.

Two stories about the future, and most likely neither one will come true. These are interesting times for cryptocurrencies.

Written for and first published at ft.com.

Author: Pai Osias Source: Twitter Web Client

RT @Manz: ¿Cómo puedo aprender a programar en una sola noche? http://t.co/UJWinW387L

Author: Pai Osias Source: Buffer

RT @scharlab: Overheard on Twitter: 'I'm in love with the aggressiveness of the Brazilian visa application form' — by @caddington11 http://…

Author: Pai Osias Source: Dabr

RT @GreenScreenDays: It's all starting to make sense now.. #RetroGaming #Pacman http://t.co/JNIXnXnzX4

Xergio Córdoba é um engenheiro de masterização espanhol. Ele patenteou um sistema que usa psicoacústica para permitir que salas de show e clubes noturnos aumentem o som mantendo o mesmo dBA. A invenção, que se chama Masn´live©, é basicamente um processador que, uma vez inserido em qualquer sistema de som, permite ouvir música em sua qualidade pretendida sem desobedecer nenhuma lei de controle sonoro. Leia mais (04/19/2015 - 09h34)

Author: Pai Osias Source: Facebook

Acústico Virgulóides pesquisar

Author: Pai Osias Source: Facebook

Que boné amarelo ridículo desse Rem no clipe dos brilhoso felizes!

Courtney shared this story from Super Opinionated.

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Old Dude seeing me on my phone: Why don't you read the news instead of tweeting and texting.

Me: I'm actually reading an article from The Economist on my phone about Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan's mock elections. What are your thoughts on the topic?

Old Dude taken aback: I don't know.

Me: Well then why don't you read the news instead of chastising teenagers on their phones?

Author: Pai Osias Source: Dabr

RT @FriedHardt: vcs ja pensaro o tuiter na vida real tipo o cara para no meio da rua fala uma bobage sem graça aí as pessoa começa a seguir…

Author: Pai Osias Source: Dabr

RT @NaoInviabilize: tava lá no fluxo avistei a novinha no grau sabe o que ela quer? escolher um canal que não tenha Jornal Nacional http://…

Author: Pai Osias Source: Dabr

RT @iva_cafe: WTF RT: @Prof_Viaro: Postei na outra rede: #Machismo http://t.co/3QEwdCcOr2

gameraboy:

jusslittlestoner:

Apparently the US government has a lot of naked pictures of people

You must watch the whole video!

Mark Wilson writes Twitter has updated its privacy policy, creating a two-lane service that treats U.S. and non-U.S. users differently. If you live in the U.S., your account is controlled by San Francisco-based Twitter Inc, but if you're elsewhere in the world (anywhere else) it's handled by Twitter International Company in Dublin, Ireland. The changes also affect Periscope. What's the significance of this? Twitter Inc is governed by U.S. law; it is obliged to comply with NSA-driven court requests for data. Data stored in Ireland is not subject to the same obligation. Twitter is not alone in using Dublin as a base for non-U.S. operations; Facebook is another company that has adopted the same tactic. The move could also have implications for how advertising is handled in the future.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Author: Pai Osias Source: Facebook

Eu esqueço que as vezes a gente está em 2015

Awwww, fee fees. #sadtrombone #THECLOUDISALIE (at Teh Interwebs)

Christopher Eccleston is one of the best (and most underrated) Doctors in Doctor Who history. Read the rest

Just the tip, Clippy. Just the tip.

Source: http://www.amazon.com/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW/

Author: Pai Osias Source: Dabr

RT @fabiohamaya: MANO HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA #DoYouBleed http://t.co/NY0D4Cpsc5

Some people consider traveling an unnecessary burden that you have to deal with from time to time out of sheer necessity. On the other hand, people who possess that spark of true wanderers and explorers can’t get enough of it. Wanderlust is the word that is most commonly used to explain the state of mind of these people are in. This incredible passion for traveling, experiencing new cultures and civilizations, and seeing new scenery is not easily quenched but also brings a lot of benefits for the traveler as a person. Modern means of transportation, like airplanes, are hardly a good choice when you are traveling with this specific purpose in mind.

This is why people like to take trains when traveling for the sake of traveling. Trains have always had that certain level of causality, as well as the air of mystique that makes them a desirable means of transportation. They are far more comfortable than buses, cars or airplanes, and they provide you with the opportunity to really enjoy magnificent sites during your travels. For this reason, we have decided to compose a list of the most beautiful train routes from around the globe, attempting to provide an option for anyone to experience a stunning train ride that will last through the ages.

1. Bergen Railway, Norway

Not many people living outside of Europe are aware how beautiful the scenery of Scandinavia really is. Riding from Bergen to Oslo, you will experience beautiful sights and the environment will change seemingly as if the seasons are changing as you go along. Beautiful fjords, snowy mountaintops and stunning grassy plains will compose this scenery.

2. West Rhine Railway, Germany

Most travellers that go to Germany focus on Berlin and its immense history, high culture and vast cultural life. Still, Germany has a lot more to offer and one of the more beautiful parts is its wine country, the highlight of which is the Rhine valley.  The railroad stretches from Mainz to Koblenz and there are a lot of things to see along the way.

3. Bernina Express Railway, Switzerland to Germany

The route this train ride will take you through is part of the Swiss Alps and has been put under official the protection of UNESCO as a world heritage. The Bernina Express Railway will take you through the magnificent scenery of the Swiss countryside, lakes and breath-taking glaciers. We recommend taking panorama cars for the best experience possible.

4. Christchurch to Greymouth Railway, New Zealand

After the European Alps, let’s pop off to the Southern Alps train ride in New Zealand. If you take a train from Christchurch to Greymouth, you are in for a treat. Canterbury plains and the Waimakariri River, with its beautiful gorges await you along with the magnificent view over the Southern Alps, which will spread out before you.

5. Douro Line Railway, Portugal

Back to Europe, to north Portugal to be more specific. This scenic railroad line got its name from the Douro river and was first started in 1887. It follows the river the majority of the way and it’s a big part of the landscape you are going to feast your eyes on. The valley is also a key element of the picturesque scenery that this ride has to offer.

6. The Royal Scotsman, Scotland

If you want a top-class luxurious experience, then you are going to enjoy the one The Royal Scotsman has to offer. Even the name itself echoes luxury and elegance! Take a trip from Edinburgh and enjoy the magnificent Scottish Highlands along with its lochs and beautiful green landscapes. The train itself is high quality and ensures maximum comfort.

7. The Sunset Limited, USA

When it comes to legendary sceneries in the USA, there is nothing more iconic than its deserts which always brings scenes from western movies to mind. There is simply something beautiful in the ruggedness of the desert and there is no better way to experience it than from the seat on The Sunset Limited! The train goes from Los Angeles and New Orleans and you are going to enjoy every minute of this 48 hour journey.

8. The Danube Express, Hungary to Turkey

Another luxurious train ride that starts from Eastern Europe, in Budapest, all the way to the oriental Istanbul in Turkey. One of the countries that this very unique line passes through is Transylvania (Romania), home of the famous Vlad Tsepesh, more popularly known as Dracula and see the castle of the historical figure that the legendary vampire character was based on. The journey ends in Istanbul where you should visit the famous Haydarpaşa Terminal, one of the more famous train stations in the world.

9. Al Andalus Express, Spain

Andalusia, a region of southern Spain, is considered one of the more beautiful landscapes in the world. Ever since 1930, Al Andalus Express has been giving people the opportunity to experience the Andalusia in a breath-taking and relaxing manner. This six-day journey starts from Seville and ends in Cordoba.

10. Maharajas’ Express, India

If you want to see the extravagant side of India, the Maharajas’ Express is the best option for you. This train ride has been titled “World’s Leading Luxury Train” and “World’s Most Expensive Luxury Train in Asia”, and these titles talk volumes about the quality of service and accommodation during the trip. From Mumbai to Delhi, prepare to be amazed!

11. Denali Star Route, Alaska

There are very few places in the world that can match the primal beauty of the Alaskan landscapes. The route that the Denali Star takes will take you through many charming small towns and villages as well and bring you to the magnificent Denali National Park. The entire trip is over within a day, but keep in mind that this is a 12 hour expedition.

12. Talyllyn Railway, Wales

Ok, if you are a train enthusiast, then you certainly know about the Thomas the Tank Engine book and TV show. What if a I told you that you could ride the line that served as an inspiration for this character. Enjoy a charming ride through the Fathew Valley riding on a steam powered train line that dates all the way back to 1865.

13. Trans-Siberian Railway, Russia

One of the legendary train rides that isn’t recommended for novices. The 5,772 miles journey from Moscow, on the west of the country to Vladivostok in the east take somewhere around 13 days to complete in its entirety. An ominous number isn’t it? This is a real adventure through one of the harshest regions of the world.

14. Hiram Bingham, Peru

South America always had a certain veil of mystery with legends about its rainforests, tribes and so on. One of the most famous archaeological sites of the pre-Columbian Peru is the citadel Machu Picchu. The Hiram Bingham train route can take you around the mountain in a journey that lasts six hours and includes exploring all the best sites.

15. Durango & Silverton Railroad, USA

This classic American train has been proclaimed “Best North American Train Trip” by National Geographic Traveller. The train route has been around since 1881 and travels a 45 mile journey between Durango and the town of Silverton.

The thing that makes train vacations a good idea is the fact that they can be a perfect summer or winter vacation and the dispute concerning which is better has gone on for ages. Pictures are worth a thousand words and experiences vary from train to train. The thing that is definitely true is that you will remember them for the rest of your life and once you try a scenic train journey, you will always love it.

The post 15 Most Magnificent Train Routes Around The World appeared first on Lifehack.