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I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.~Jay Gould
hhex65 
Sat Sep 03, 2011 at 01:47:04 AM MST
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| WindLift, a North Carolina start-up, uses kite-surfing kites for mobile power generation.
WindLift, a start-up located in Durham, North Carolina, is working on a way to supplement mobile diesel generators in places where the fuel is especially costly. But there's no turbine here. Rather, the company's "airborne wind energy" system taps higher-altitude breezes using a large kite. |  |
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Sat Sep 03, 2011 at 01:47:00 AM MST
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NASA hosted a media teleconference to discuss progress of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Opportunity reached the Martian Endeavour crater earlier this month after years of driving.
Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, completed their three-month prime missions on Mars in April 2004. They continued to work for years in bonus mission extensions. Spirit finished communicating in 2010, after six years of operation.
Opportunity, still very active, reached the rim of Endeavour crater on Aug. 9. The arrival gives the rover access to geology different from any it explored during its first 90 months on Mars.
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Sat Aug 27, 2011 at 23:26:27 PM MST
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Here is a satirical way of saying that I don't like the fake-documentary device on shows such as Modern Family:
The three-month-long labor dispute between producers and fake-documentary crew of the hit TV show The Office came to an end today as both sides agreed to dissolve their partnership.
The producers of The Office say they will soldier on and return to an almost entirely identical sit-com format. They did stress that they retain the right to occasionally break the fourth wall by having the characters look towards the viewer and roll their eyes in order to express frustration at thier oblivious co-workers.
There was some grumbling among the writers, however, as they will be tasked to script the extra 30 to 40 seconds per episode the device could be counted on to fill. |
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Sat Aug 27, 2011 at 21:58:30 PM MST
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 | If you have ever seen the Tracy Morgan tv show called 30 Rock you may remember the woman who plays one of the writers. Her name is Tina Fey and she is an actress and a writer in real life. If you have an episode of the show on tape pop it in and freeze the VCR when she is on the screen.
Look closely at her face and you'll notice a pretty deep, old scar near her mouth. The story goes that when she was a very little girl she was playing in her front yard and a total stranger just ran up to her and slashed her face with a knife. I can only imagine the strength and perspective such an incident would give someone as they grew older.
It is a thing I can only contemplate briefly and mostly I try not to even think of it. |
Or, take Tim Gunn, from Project Runway &c, although his father was an FBI agent under J. Edgar Hoover Gunn attempted to commit suicide at the age of 17 by swallowing over 100 pills.
Mr. Gunn himself tells this story as part of a video series called "It Gets Better" which is a program that seeks to prevent suicide among LGBT youth by having gay adults convey the message that these teens' lives will improve.
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Wed Aug 24, 2011 at 13:59:09 PM MST
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 | I bought today my third copy of PLOY. It was on an old forgotten shelf in a wargame store.
My mom introduced it to me when I was 8 years old. My brother, grandma and I would play for hours during the long, pointless Summer break.
A decade ago I found PLOY & ACQUIRE in a thrift store. No directions, but found everything I needed online. Lost those copies but now I'm back.
I'm fascinated by the 3M line of bookshelf games. They are elegantly packaged in boxes that are made to look like volumes on a bookshelf. I remember seeing them up on a high shelf, forbidden to children. I longed for the day when I would be allowed to play them. |
In the 1950's the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (or 3M) had a Consumer Products Division with a thriving "Ribbon" sub-division. This sub-division produced wrapping paper and ribbon. As the 1960's approached, business in this sub-division started to taper off, and the Consumer Products division began to look for ways to expand into new avenues of revenue. A team of employees came up with the idea of fun yet educational games. They targeted a new market, gearing their games towards upper middle-class adults with high quality, thought provoking games. They also decided to use a then uncommon box format known as the "bookshelf" box.
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Wed Aug 24, 2011 at 13:46:20 PM MST
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 | Here is a variation of PLOY to introduce a random factor into this gem of a game, and, perhaps, make it a little more approachable for younger players.
Conflict is resolved by dice roll rather than immediate contact elimination.
Units attack during the phasing player's turn. A unit is moved next to an opposing unit to attack. A unit need not move to attack an adjacent opposing unit. A unit must be facing the opposing piece that it is attacking.
Attacks are resolved by rolling dice:
Shields eliminate opposing pieces on a roll of 1.
Probes eliminate opposing pieces on a roll of 1-2.
Lances eliminate opposing pieces on a roll of 1-3.
Commanders eliminate opposing pieces on a roll of 1-4. |
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Wed Aug 24, 2011 at 13:40:35 PM MST
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 | The game board is square with nine spaces on a side. Vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines connect the spaces. Players move their pieces along the lines.
Each piece has a set number of "indicators," which determine which direction the piece can travel in at any given time. A piece can only travel in directions its indicators are pointing. Each player starts off with an equal number of Shields, Probes, and Lances, as well as one Commander each. |
The Shields have one directional indicator and can only move one space at a time. However, the Shields are the only pieces that can perform a direction move after a motion move.
The Probes have two directional indicators and can move one or two spaces at a time.
The Lances have three directional indicators and can move one, two, or three spaces at a time.
The Commander has four directional indicators, but can only move one space at a time. If a player or team captures their opponent's Commander(s), the game ends. One of two alternate ways to end the game is to capture all of the opponent's pieces except for the Commander(s).
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Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 20:45:46 PM MST
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Breathe deeply of these herbs and share a vision with me...
Fabious: Thadeous, are you seeing what I'm seeing?
Thadeous: You're making a fool of yourself. Handle your shit, Fabious. Please.
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Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 20:39:13 PM MST
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When you are offered a mission in a blue envelope that you do not like, instead of refusing it, click on the "Town/Pizza" icon and the envelope will disappear. About ten game minutes later, you will be offered another mission. If you possess a well running restaurant, should you wait to this is full. Now you go on the price adjustments for the Pizzen and place these on that to max. Worth. You should this so for a long time run let, until the branch is closed, or no more people are there. Change over for the next quarter again!!
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Sun Aug 14, 2011 at 12:25:19 PM MST
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On a meta-level, I think of linkbait as something interesting enough to catch people's attention, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing. You can also say something controversial to generate discussion or a little bit of work can generate a reason for people to link to you.
It's about people with short af-TEEN-tion spans or people in their 20s-- it can be as simple as on a first down. Donate data or insights, scramble-- or slide when one gets tired of putting in the sweat-of-a-rat required for a scramble.
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Sun Aug 14, 2011 at 12:17:14 PM MST
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Let me put this simply--Space Quest 1 is freakin' hilarious. From the plot, to the death scenes, even to the manual, the game had me in hysterics. And not just normal hysterics, either. The original Space Quest 1 is made in AGI, which means Roger is controlled by the keyboard, and actions are done by a text parser (i.e., "look at dead body" or "touch self"). |
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Tue Aug 09, 2011 at 23:37:00 PM MST
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| ONE ARM RED: THURSDAY August 11th 2011
Time: 7:30pm
10 Jay Street, 9th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Admission: $20
5Rhythms® is an internationally recognized movement meditation practice
created by founder Gabrielle Roth. In each class participants move to
the rhythmic wells of Dubstep, Rock, Psy-Trance, Hip Hop, Drum & Bass,
and Classical music. Urban Waves asks what it means to "go with the
flow"-- be direct with ourselves and each other, experience the
lightness in life, and more. |  |
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Tue Aug 09, 2011 at 21:52:08 PM MST
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 | By whatever name: lounge, Recamier in France or fainting couch in Victorian times-- charming!
The solid walnut frame has a fine old finish with just enough mars at the edges for a little antique character. The upholstery has almost no wear on this graceful furniture. Brass wheels are original. |
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Sun Aug 07, 2011 at 20:19:29 PM MST
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Thu Jun 02, 2011 at 08:00:00 AM MST
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I take no pleasure in Ohio State's failure, or the ridiculous Governor the citizens of that very same state punished themselves with-- but I still think it's hilarious. I don't like college football anyways. Meanwhile, in Hilliard, Tammy and the gang at Dazzle Nails (Trueman Blvd kids mostly) also had nothing to say about any of this and only wanted to discuss Dazzle Nails itself:
"This is a wonderful nail salon. We're right behind the Red Robin. We are just fantastic. Wonderful pedicures. For a real treat sit in the massage chair and get those woes off of your feet. Your nails will have never looked better. We are getting busier every day but we will always take the time to show you a smile. Our business is nail care, color and friendly conversation."
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Wed Jun 01, 2011 at 08:00:00 AM MST
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 | It's all about...a child smiling, naps, hot springs, summer balm, calisthenics at dawn, handshakes, ocean spray, paying it forward, beadie animals, lego, prudence, dukkha nirodha gamini patipada magga, labor, treating myself to lunch...
Today I am really going to do it, to unleash my summer plan. I am going to buy one of those small trucks, Toyota or like that-- in white, of course. I'll paint out the "to" and the "ta" and it'll say YO on the back. I'm gonna get a custom paint job on the driver's side: a wet, neon swoosh of blue that looks like a giant paint brush just now tickled it. Then I will dress white on white, painters' overalls over white shirt. But on the front of the overalls I'll have a dripping blue slash of color, identical to the design on the side of my small truck. I'll also get a white hat with it printed as a logo up front, above the bill. And blue shoes. |
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Tue May 31, 2011 at 07:00:00 AM MST
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Christ I have been absorbed in getting ready to record and do this concert, blah, it is like being in solitary I am sick of myself. Seriously, the first thing I would say about myself is that I am an artist with absolutely no moral courage whatsoever. I mean I do this: look, absorb, transmute, render. What I look at is, or what I tend to look for to look at is, the thing I guess is something close to the center of the prevailing flow but I don't engage in a dialog with it, or have anything to say about it.
And as for heroics-- at most I am interested in impotent memes and this of course hurts my sales. I am always trying to craft a really vigorous meme that is either full of nothing or contains an anti-meme virus inside. And it is fun to do because content is where the meme resides in the structures and forms I work with, not the other way 'round. So any old thing can hitch along.
Unavoidably, however, it gets worse because each compendium of bits I render represents me-- and usually with an unintended negative image-- yet at the same time my methods leave me defenseless and unresponsive to destructive attacks. But that's my bargain, I guess, and luckily I'm not one to get ate up with envy &c.
All of the parts, the process, everything-- I try to take it from outside and it all goes towards helping me learn. What I want to end up with is something I can look at and feel like I am learning something or someone could learn from it. To me the two most dangerous words I can hear (or think) are "I believe..."-- I hear that and I am on the train exactly in the opposite direction; the express, by the way, and not "the expression."
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NEW! NOW! |
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THE HOWLING HEX
WILSON SEMICONDUCTORS
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