Feb. 17th, 2015

silveradept: The emblem of the Heartless, a heart with an X of thorns and a fleur-de-lis at the bottom instead of the normal point. (Heartless)
Here we go again. Let's start with a dragon that helps the princess choose the knight of her choice - by throwing flame at those the princess doesn't want. In a more metaphorical sense, meet some of the people who would get flames thrown at them were they to approach the castle. They probably believe in the reality of the awesome superpowers granted to women with exposed navels, but consider it a bad thing instead of freaking awesome.

Article on Yahoo suggests that when confronted with images painting women as objects, a la a Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover, parents teach kids media criticism skills and provide alternate images of women. And then fails to do so in the article, preferring instead another shot of the cover model, although this time not about ready to drop her bottoms. Couldn't find one they liked or could license? Here, have some ballet dancers, whose costumes show as much as a standard swimsuit, and yet are contextually clearly not intended to be sexualized. I might also note the clear musculature on some of the images that point out the reality of the strength and endurance required to dance.

The Fifty Shades film gets the proper review it deserves.

A graphic novel guide for straight guys on how to have healthy hook-ups is forthcoming. Because everyone needs useful information and ways of getting the answers to the questions of how to navigate the mixed media messages involving what guys do when it comes to sex. And because it's still a radical statement for a woman to say she does not want to be raped.

Although it will make full sense to precisely one person, who may not be around these parts any more, it still needs be said: Lord Michigan and his Patriot-bots win again, despite a spirited defense from LC Seattle.

The Dead Pool Snarky Announcers Club puts Gary Owens to work at 80 years of age. Fans of the talking versions of Space Quest games enjoyed Owens as the announcer, whose lines included gems such as "Your reach is about as good as your personal depth."

A couple plans on using the jebbushforpresident.com (which they own) to educate others on gay rights and issues. I think it's wonderful that they're going to use that domain that way.

The Wiki War that broke out regarding the inclusion of innuendo, hearsay, and harassment on the pages of persons caught up in the attempt to drive women out of video games has reached a conclusion from Wikipedia's arbitration committee. To put it mildly, the committee decided they should massage a decision without consulting the relevant context, our, for that matter, the experiences of those editors being harassed for trying to keep nonfacts from being put on a Wikipedia page. In doing so, they would give the harassers everything they wanted and ban those who were defending Wikipedia from the libel. And so, Wikipedia fails to even learn from this and put into place policies, procedures, and staff that will prevent something similar from happening.

If you're being stalked or harassed online, the Crash Override Network (CON?) intends to provide support and information to fight the legions of trolls looking to silence women from bring online.

Pakistan's Taliban may be responsible for polio continuing to exist in the country, as they consider vaccinations to be Western intrusion on their religious society. Which may be a good shock line for your resident anti-vaccination conservative - their beliefs are in line with the Taliban. The continued campaign against autism as the worst possible thing ever is part of what gives the anti-vaccine movement its strength, when it should be clear that injury and death are worse than mental things that can be compensated for. Except, apparently, facts don't actually work against anti-vaccination beliefs. Which is how you get Senator Rand Paul and Governor Chris Christie making remarks that were against full vaccination. Rand Paul walked back his comments, and so did Chris Christie. But the damage has already been done. Governor Christie also doesn't send cards to new parents recommending vaccination.

The facts not working is something we knew, I suppose, in general, with Fox News and their inability to report on reality, a lack of reality endorsed fully by entities like the Family Research Council. Who have been invited to the real places to observe how wrong their beliefs are. Which they could do by going outside and observing the world around them. Even so, some will stick to the false story even knowing the truth.

Next thing we know, they'll be advocating for the proper medicine of the time...of Edward Teach.

Or they could have that decision made for them by a knowledgeable expert.

Instead, take a look at one hundred reliable websites for getting health information from.

After video of a Jordanian pilot being set on fire was posted by ISIS, it was rumored (incorrectly) that part of the revenge Jordan would take would be the king flying attack missions himself. The actual vengeance started with the execution of prisoners and has continued with airstrikes.

The drug war has always been racist, and that racism destroyed Billie Holiday while preserving Judy Garland, as well as trying to get jazz musicians convicted for marijuana use.

A lot of interesting things came out from jazz, like A dictionary of hip lingo from Cab Calloway himself.

And then there's steampunk. A regular Tokyo festival for steampunk looks really excellent, even if the tickets are possibly a bit steep in price.

The United Kingdom Ministry of Justice is being contacted to take a look at Saudi Arabia's prison and justice system, for a sum that seems too small to be effective. And it's also a secret deal, which means questions that should be easy to answer freely are instead receiving no comment.

The United Kingdom is also going to force a separation of a family or to have the entire family move to South Africa, after denying status to the husband of a citizen who met the minimum income requirements. (She met the requirements, not him.) The immigrant experience is designed to refuse as many people as possible and cause distress in all the rest, it appears.

Life exists, even in places where energy is scarce. Where else have we not yet discovered it?

By studying remains in tar pits, scientists are able to chart the changes in size of the American coyote in relation to the extinction of other predators.

The pipeline that burst and sent toxic salt brine into a river in North Dakota? Had never been inspected at all, because the state can't seem to hire or retain inspectors at the salaries they're offering.

The new commissioner of Major League Baseball, Rob Manfred, intends to make the game more accessible to more young people, especially those in disadvantaged areas. I hope he can come through on that promise, and continue to make baseball a more diverse place. Maybe even let women back in, Commissioner? In all cases, we no longer have Bud Selig's name to curse anymore.

Coloring mandalas or other repetitive patterns can be used to relieve distress. If you would like, there are some free patterns available to print.

Walk the Wheel, a series of meditations and outdoor journeys involving keeping the festivals of the year.

Mementos of travel, stitched in embroidery. I wonder what they would make of the pictures of the bottom of an iceberg?

Suggested advice on how to have a successful poly relationship as a secondary partner, including why any secondary partner needs to be treated with respect and participation. Because in the wrong hands, or on those not really ready for poly, secondary partners can really get hurt.

The children of abusive parents owe them nothing in terms of reconciliation or care, despite sometimes intense social pressure to forgive.

A virulently anti-everything-not-Christian organization disavowed a spokesman to try and deflect heat from their planned trip to Israel with the Republican National Committee - with the organization paying for the Republicans. Because what United States politics needs right now is a major party openly declaring how much they hate everyone not them. Actually, now that I think about it, we could use just that, so that people know the honest truth about them. So it needs to be publicized fast and wide that Bobby Jindal is courting many elements of the fringe right in his bid to be a viable Presidential candidate.

Allowing yourself to think of others in categories, good or bad, diminishes your ability to remember that each is unique and should not be judged based on others.

Indiana governor Mike Pence believes Indiana needs a state-run news agency, which will apparently make available pre-written stories for other media outlets to grab and use, as well as some amount of breaking news generated by the state to release as its own exclusives. After being confronted on the matter, the governor backed down and said the entity would be much more limited in scope, but the idea is still leaving a bitter taste for people who think government should leave the news to the free press.

We are entitled to have an argument over our positions, not to have our positions remain unchallenged. This distinction is vitally important.

In the Department of Better Late Than Not At All, more than fifty years after their initial arrest, the convictions for nine men arrested for sitting at a whites-only lunch counter have been overturned.

Procrastination is an avoidance behavior borne out of trying not to fail by not doing anything that requires judging.

A convent for Catholic nuns is renting the rooms in their compound for visitors coming for the NFL championship game.

Spiritual practice that requires the harmony of all participants and/or raising energy together suggests that the optimal working group is smaller than most church sizes. Considering what churches are best for, this may be an accurate observation.

Websites with images that can be reused for blogging or commercial purposes, then award-winning photographs of nature, which likely cannot, and a virtual-reality gallery of stolen artwork that have never been recovered.

Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson are the best example of love in modern times, and represent the bold possibility that even superheroes can mature and change their relationships, with Peter as a good example of a guy who lost his destined partner and still made good because of his allowed maturity.

There is a system in place that insists women should hate their bodies. It gets to them early and it never leaves, even after wrecking self-esteem, inspiring self-harm, and perennially comparing women to artificial models. (Many content warnings for that link)

One of the ways that abused children can overcome the abuse is by finding a way, with an adult brain, to examine and replace the underlying assumptions of self instilled as a child.

Questions of race, tokenism, and whether to fight any given battle on racism are not solely the province of the obviously different-looking.

An all-female cast for a reboot of Ghostbusters. Which is awesome! Also, despite not having seen a full episode of the X-Files, Gillian Anderson has some really great things to say about acting and the standards of Hollywood. I did like her in the movie that was all about the interconnected stories - Love, Actually, was it? Gillian Anderson has been busy since then, doing a lot of work that hasn't filtered back to the States.

Addiction may be caused by a lack of human bonding and connection more than the addictive properties of the substance or habit itself. The article goes off the rails when it suggests the Internet is not able to create real human contact and bonding, but otherwise, it's pretty solid.

If one does not believe in the idea of surrendering problems for the divine to work out, it's probably a good idea to adopt the maxim that the divine helps those who make an effort. Realize, though, that the complexity of life means the path forward is not going to be simple. And, most likely, choosing means giving up something else.

How you express your opinions about other cultures' foods can easily shade into commentary about their culture, in a bad way. Additionally, choosing movies like American Sniper indicates a belief in the white version of America and it's belief in might making and being right, if it's from the United States.

Japanese animated series often carry messages and symbolism that hearkens to a day when Japan wanted to rule its neighbors - in some ways, the local form of attitudes on display in American Sniper.

Master storyteller Ira Glass has advice for those doing creative work - the only way your work will get up to standard is by doing enough work that isn't. Those who take shortcuts may end up finding out the real answer to the dreaded question.

A wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton will be exhibiting rarer photos of both men.

Take a look inside a restored old movie theater in Brooklyn and go "OooooOOOOooooh" with me.

A food critic explains why they prefer anonymity to recognition when evaluating a restaurant.

A gent had various completeness of makeup put on him for a week, and wrote about the experience of seeing himself as others saw him and looking in the mirror to see a different person. The middle point, between a little and the full monty, was apparently the most awkward for both person getting makeup and their coworkers.

The United States Federal Trade Commission reminds you about scammers, fake debt collectors, and thieves who will try to pressure you into paying debts you don't owe or forking over money for nonexistent prizes.

How does someone legally punish an autonomous machine that breaks the law? And who is responsible when it happens? With greater ability to decide and the ability to self-update and program, what happens when machines break human laws? Are the original programmers responsible for their machines? Or something else entirely?

Teenage brains work differently from adult brains, so techniques to get happy adolescents must work at the level of the teenage brain.

Fanfiction had an important part in the universe of works. Professionals that acknowledge this will likely do better, by not driving away the fans that like their work enough to write fiction for it.

To cliffhang effectively, there must be the realistic possibility that something could happen to the character. That said, stuffing your women in refrigerators as a time-honored tradition isn't the way to resolve your cliffhangers, even if it opens up opportunities later on.

In technology, a service that will allow you to store and make copies of your various keys and allow others to do the same.

Radio Shack is going bankrupt, leaving many a person who needs electronics components (me, too!) or budget electronics without options. It could be that Amazon will want a piece of the company for their own, though.

Shooting bows for visual effect and shooting bows correctly are two very different things, which depend even on what type of bow is being fired. So if someone links you to a speed shooter claiming ancient technique, link them right back with the reality of what's going on there - mostly flash and very little technique.

A service / add on for Google Mail that allows for the delaying of messages and for reminder nail to be sent to you about projects and conversations so that a lack of response doesn't mean a lack of action.

A script for bulk changing items in a Google Calendar, for when your reoccurring events have to move times, places, or other details.

Google offers you a way of seeing what it thinks you like, as well as the possibility of changing those things to something else. And in Germany, an artificially intelligent Mario is exploring his own world relatively autonomously.

Andromium intends to do for Android devices what Ubuntu Touch wants to do for their devices - provide a desktop experience when the phone is docked.

Because of the latest iPhone, Apple posted a worldwide record for quarterly profit at over 18 billion USD, handily beating even petrol companies' best marks.

A spectrograph of the components of a modem handshake, which involves a lot of line testing, PSTN manipulation, and figuring out a common protocol for both modems to use.

Open hardware, strategic antennas, and compatible municipalities means the remote areas of Mexico (and elsewhere) are building their own cellular networks and offering rates through municipalities for extremely cheap. I think this is excellent and hope for the day when municipalities can control their own telecom access. Or when individuals can build their own connection to the networks for inexpensive costs.

Google Cardboard, a way of building a housing for a smartphone so that you can experience stereoscopic images and video. if the design reminds you of a certain red plastic toy from earlier decades that did the same thing, that's probably intentional.

A list of websites to do very interesting and somewhat specialized things.

Last for tonight, a monthly mystery box program for your cats, accompanied by 100 adorable cat pictures, with captions and suggestions on why boxes and other confined spaces are good things for cats.

Then, photographs of working dogs, a free-range sanctuary for foxes in Japan, pets attempting to prevent reading by laying on books, and the changing of a bill to avoid bad numerologu.

Also, Greek pottery designs replicated on nails. (The main site is also awesome and should be looked at.) And why it is exactly nobody's business whether or not someone owns, covets, or proposes with a Potter-themed ring.

Truly finally, the city of Pompeii, and visitors, in Lego bricks. Which is paired with the unshakeable knowledge that death takes all of us before we are even close to done with All The Things, and what documentation we leave behind is a pale shadow of the us that was, that can only speak one way, instead of conversing.

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silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)
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