NotesGetting slapped in the face is uniquely embarrassing among the various ways a person can be humiliated. But getting slapped in the face by a seal wielding an octopus, as one kayaker in New Zealand recently experienced, is an exercise in utter submission. A now-viral video of the kayaker getting completely owned shows the unlikely event in all its unbridled, bizarre glory.
The video, uploaded to Instagram by filmmaker/surfer/skydiver and GoPro family member Taiyo Masuda, shows another kayaker, Kyle Mullinder, receiving the wet, eight-armed slap as they explore the waters around Kaikoura, New Zealand. “My face happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Mullinder told Yahoo7 News.
Read More... Seal Slaps Man's Face With Octopus, but It's Probably Just Trying to Eat LunchFeedUnfurl
NotesRobert Mueller surfaced from the Russia investigation this afternoon to ask for help — tech support, specifically. The special counsel and former FBI director was spotted in the Georgetown Apple store today, working with a Genius bar employee to get help with a MacBook Pro. The photo was taken by Meghan Pianta, who works in communications in DC; we initially caught it via Washington Examiner reporter Kelly Cohen.
In the photo, you can see a pained, confused look on the special counsel’s face. What is he looking at? We tried calling the Apple store to find out, but were stymied by endless phone trees. An investigator who went on location on behalf of The Verge said there was no sighting of either Mueller or the employee seen helping him.
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NotesElectronic body music pioneers Nitzer Ebb are releasing a career-spanning retrospective box set. From Pylon Records, "Nitzer Ebb: 1982-2010" features 10 LPs with all five of the band's Geffen/Mute albums along with bonus tracks and 12" club mixes. Below, the "Join in the Chant (Burn!)" 12" mix. Lies, lies, lies, lies. Gold, gold, gold, gold. Guns, guns, guns, guns. Fire, fire, fire, UH!FeedUnfurl
NotesIt’s a total cop-out to say that clocks run clockwise because that’s how clocks run...but it’s also kind of true. The modern convention is no arbitrary design choice, but rather a direct adaptation of the original timepiece: the sundial.
Way back when, a sundial told time by casting a shadow with its gnomon around a circular platform. In the northern hemisphere, that meant the shadow moved (to use a compass analogy) from north to east to south to west as the sun traveled, and when mechanical clocks started appearing, they were designed to operate in a similar fashion. Which begs the question, would clocks run the opposite direction if we’d based them on sundials in the Southern Hemisphere? Yes! Sundials work counterclockwise below the equator, and we’d be reading our watches totally differently if modern clock-makers had used them as an example.
If you’re already into the old-school style of an analog display, the fact that it's a throw-back to even older time-telling devices makes the design that much cooler.
submitted by /u/Mass1m01973 to r/todayilearned
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NotesWould you spend $530 on a pair of sneakers that were described like this?
Crumply, hold-it-all-together tape details a distressed leather sneaker in a retro low profile with a signature sidewall star and a grungy rubber cupsole.
Yeah, neither would I, and neither would these folks (aka "the internet"):
Golden Goose comes out with a pair of sneakers listed at $530 that are worn down and kept together by tape. Since when is it a trend to glorify the appearance of used sneakers and poverty? pic.twitter.com/1yLTuitIBX
— Bryan Heckman (@b_hecky) September 20, 2018
Poverty is real, I’ve been bullied for wearing thrifted clothes before thrifting was “cool”, and now we have high end brands capitalizing upon many people’s past and current poverty related suffering. Thank you Golden Goose. I hope the designer that came up with this is happy. https://t.co/iixNhxip7T
— 1-800-ARE-YOU-DYIN (@evelyn_art_) September 20, 2018
The new fashion is wearing worn out looking shoes that include taped one that costs a bomb from $530 to $1340.
Glorifying poverty or making a mockery of poverty, can't decide. #fashionstyle #GoldenGoose pic.twitter.com/k8mxvchw4n
— Kumar Manish (@kumarmanish9) September 20, 2018
There's a quote from something, wish I could remember what, but it goes something like "the rich kids all want to be poor and the poor kids all want to be dead". Seems relevant
— steph (@Thespookysteph) September 20, 2018
Once available at Nordstrom online, these held-together-with-tape sneakers by Italian luxury brand Golden Goose are currently sold out (or removed??). Not to worry, they have plenty of other filthy, overpriced shoes to choose from.FeedUnfurl
NotesThe ESP8266 has become incredibly popular in a relatively short time, and it’s no wonder. Cheap as dirt, impressively powerful, Arduino-compatible, and best of all, includes Wi-Fi right out of the box. But for all its capability and popularity, it’s still lagging behind the Arduino in at least one respect. Namely, the vast collection of add-on “Shields” which plug into the Arduino to add everything from breadboards to GPS receivers.
Until such time as the free market decides to pick up the pace and start making standardized shields for the various ESP8266 development boards, it looks as if hackers are going to have to pick up the slack. [Rui Santos] has put together a very detailed step-by-step guide on the creation of a simple shield for the popular Wemos D1 Mini board, which should give you plenty of inspiration for spinning up your own custom add-on modules.
Presented as a written tutorial as well as a two part video, this guide covers everything from developing and testing your circuit on a breadboard to designing your PCB in KiCad and sending it off for fabrication. The end result is a professional looking PCB that matches the footprint of the stock D1 Mini and adds a DS18B20 temperature sensor, PIR motion detector, photoresistor, and some screw down terminals.
[Rui] goes on to show how you can utilize the new sensors shield via a web interface hosted on the ESP8266, and even wraps the whole thing up in a 3D printed enclosure. All worthwhile skills to check out if you’re looking to produce more cohesive finished products.
If you’re looking for a similar project for the ESP32, [Rui] has you covered there as well. You may also be interested in the series of ESP8266 tutorials we recently highlighted.FeedEmbedUnfurl
NotesIn 1985 a Scott Adams text adventure was released based on the film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. Let's take a look at it.
The post The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Text Adventure by Scott Adams appeared first on The Retroist.Unfurl
NotesThe MOS Technologies 6851, popularly known as the SID, is a legendary sound synthesiser integrated circuit from the early 1980s that is most famous for providing the Commodore 54 home computer with its ability to make noise. At the time it was significantly better than what could be found in competitor machines, making it a popular choice for today’s chiptune and demo scene artists.
There’s a snag for a modern-day SID-jockey though, the chip has been out of production for a quarter century and is thus in short supply. Emulation is a choice, but of little use for owners of original hardware so it’s fortunate that [Petros Kokotis] has produced a SID replacement using a Teensy 3.6.
The operation is simple enough, the Teensy provides all the requisite SID data lines via some level shifters for the host microcomputer, and uses [Frank Boesing]’s ReSID library to do the heavy lifting part of being a SID. You can download the code from a GitHub repository, and he’s posted a video we’ve put below the break showing a prototype in action with a real Commodore 64. The audio quality isn’t brilliant due to a phone camera recording from a very tinny speaker, but notwithstanding that it has the air of the real thing.
This isn’t the first SID we’ve seen here. How about a MIDI synth using one?FeedEmbedUnfurl
NotesInside a low budget consumer hardware espionage implant
Fascinating break-down of a cheap ($25) USB charging cable with a hidden microphone and SIM that can be activated via SMS message or by calling the device.FeedUnfurl
NotesWelcome to the Retroist Thriller Podcast. On today’s show I talk all about the music video masterpiece, Thriller. I start off talking about how I was terrified by the monologue from this song while visiting a Ground Round. Then I move onto Michael Jackson and the song, album and video he brought to the world. […]
The post Retroist Thriller Podcast appeared first on The Retroist.FeedUnfurl
NotesKFC Japan has some very, shall we say, unique approaches to promoting its food in Japan, with some pretty strange things on offer to get people to eat there. We’re talking entire bento […]
The post This KFC Bath Bomb Will Have You Smelling Like Fried Chicken appeared first on Geek.com.Unfurl
NotesAside from The Walking Dead, one of the biggest hits to ever come out of Image Comics is Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples‘ fan favorite series Saga. First published by Skybound Entertainment back in 2012, and still going strong today, Saga is the epic sci-fi/fantasy story of Alana and Marko, two lovers from long-warring alien races, as they flee authorities from both sides of a massive galactic war. Traveling with their newborn daughter, Hazel, the pair encounter astonishing aliens, fearsome bounty hunters and a host of allies and enemies alike as they try and keep their new family safe.
Now the characters from Saga are the latest comic book icons to join the Funko family. Starting in February 2018, Saga fans will be be able to pick up Pop! vinyl figures of characters such as Lying Cat, Alana, Marko, Prince Robot IV, and The Will.
Fans will be able to purchase a bloody version of The Will as a chase variant, a rarity of 1-in-6. Also, Izabel the ghostly babysitter will be available as a Hot Topic exclusive, and Lying Cat will have two different variants — a bloody version, available at your local comic book shop and a pink version, available only at Barnes & Noble stores.
Saga is one of the wildest and most inventive comic book series of the 21st century, proving that Runaways and Y: The Last Man’s Brian K. Vaughan was anything but two-hit wonder. With the series quickly approaching its 50th issue, Saga fans will want to celebrate their love for all things Alana and Marko with these adorable Pop! figures. You can check out the entire Saga wave one below in our gallery.
Are you as stoked as we are to see the characters of Saga get their own adorable Pop! figures? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
Images: Funko
See more Funko toys!
Horror icons as 8-bit Funko Pop toys.
Disney Afternoon action figures.
Masters of the Universe Pop vinyls.
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NotesWith us living in the age of ‘games as service’, there’s been a bit of hand-wringing about the death of single-player games. Of course, there are still plenty of single-player games in development, and in the case of Machine Games’ Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, the studio say they’ve made a concerted effort to not let anything detract from that solo experience.
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NotesAs a kid I was a sucker for a good 976 number. I called the Chipmunks, Howard the Duck, Santa and many more. All of this without my Mom’s permission. Which caused some issues. So it was probably a good thing that I did not live in California, where I could have called Kitt from […]
The post A 976 Number to talk to Kitt from Knight Rider! appeared first on The Retroist.FeedUnfurl
NotesFor twenty dollars, you can download 1600 1-bit sprites for use in artwork, games, icons or whatever other project you desire. [via]
You can use this game assets for personal/commercial projects, no credit needed. If you do, please let me know to promote it on my twitter! ;)
Made by Davit Masia, it's such an incredibly vast and deep set of work. Expect to see its DNA in pixel-art inventories and villages for years to come.FeedUnfurl
NotesErnie Smith's Motherboard article on the early years of DRM gets into some fascinating stories about things like IBM's Cryptolope and Xerox PARC's Contentguard (which became a patent troll), Intertrust's belief that it is "developing the basis for a civil society in cyberspace" and the DeCSS fight. (more…)Unfurl
NotesThere’s one episode of Voltron Legendary Defender on Netflix that sums up the series as a transcendent piece of science-fiction: In Season 2, the heroes of Voltron need a crucial “Teludav” — a device that creates wormholes — to stand a chance against King Zarkon of the Galra Empire. Princess Allura’s advisor Coran knows the only place to get it: a dangerous trading outpost, home to a wretched hive of scum in a corner of the galaxy where baddies do business.
Dressed in apocalyptic disguises to assimilate among the shady pirates, the heroes arrive at the outpost… and it’s a mall. As in, a space mall, with a food court and bored teenaged employees. You wouldn’t think a marketplace on a distant intergalactic planet would look like New Jersey. And it’s inside this surprisingly suburban space mall where the Paladins of Voltron, who survive danger and emerge victorious almost every episode, escape the clutches of a rent-a-cop, Varkon, a schlub who fancies himself as King Zarkon’s “Number Two.”
Read More... Netflix's 'Voltron' Gives a Beating Heart to Giant RobotsFeedUnfurl
NotesFor a show that has multiple dimensions and purge planets, Rick and Morty seems like the last show to follow a structure. Co-Creator Dan Harmon, however, has been a staunch Joseph Campbell fan since his 20’s, and that strict adherence to structure has help make Rick and Morty the show it is today.
Read More... Every Episode Of Rick And Morty Is The Same (And We Like It That Way)FeedUnfurl
No Cash Needed At This Cafe. Students Pay The Tab With Their Personal Data : The Salt : NPR
Cow plays fetch / Boing Boing
Seal Slaps Man With Octopus but Is Probably Just Hungry in Viral Video | Inverse/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13163937/DoDLj17XUAAXf1L.jpg)
Special counsel Robert Mueller is now investigating his MacBook - The Verge
Join in the chant! Massive new Nitzer Ebb box set on the way / Boing Boing
World’s Greatest Gallery of Mushrooms That Look Like Butts
These $530 pre-distressed sneakers are pissing people off / Boing Boing
Create Your Own ESP8266 Shields | Hackaday
HTTP Headers FTW | CommitStrip
Questionable Content
Sad Without a SID? This Comes Pretty Close | Hackaday
Retroist Thriller Podcast - The Retroist
'Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Stephanie Beatriz Dresses As America Chavez For Halloween
Wolfenstein 2 isn't getting multiplayer | Rock, Paper, Shotgun
A 976 Number to talk to Kitt from Knight Rider! - The Retroist
1600 sprites for your starkly old-school 1-bit games / Boing Boing
Netflix's 'Voltron' Brings Heart to Giant Fighting Robots | Inverse
Every Episode Of Rick And Morty Is The Same (And We Like It That Way) | Inverse