pixelspolygonsandpie:

It’s interesting looking back and seeing how much back and forth there was at times between the realms of console and PC during the 80s and 90s.  Sure, nowadays we see it through stuff that was designed from the ground up with the goal of being multiplatform.  Back then, though, we often saw various simulations, strategy games, and adventure games that were born on the PC suddenly show up on a console.  Loom would be one fine example of this.  It was a great adventure game on the PC, then it wound up coming to the TurboGrafx-16 for its CD-ROM peripheral.  We don’t see this so often now, and it’s a shame.

(via videogamesfromtomorrow)

Source: megalextoria.com

ultrace:

In 1988, someone at Capcom decided that their hit from 1985, Ghosts ‘n Goblins, which drove players to drink with its difficulty, needed a sequel. The world needed more heartache. And what beautiful heartache they would deliver. Ghouls ‘n Ghosts was the second game, after Forgotten Worlds, that Capcom released on its new CPS1 arcade hardware and it, like that earlier game, was a thing of near breath-taking beauty at the time, with a massive 384x224 resolution, delicately colored surroundings, and great animation—including entire moving backgrounds, such as large trees in stage one that sway in the wind.


Most players didn’t have much time to enjoy the looks of the game, as they were struggling merely to survive. Like just about every other game in the series, Ghouls ‘n Ghosts is tremendously difficult. Don’t let the new ability to shoot up or down with your weapon and to activate magical attacks with powered up armor fool you; this game will chew you up and spit you out. You must advance ever-carefully through stages to avoid putting yourself in a sure-death situation, but not too carefully since there is a timer involved. Some stages have automatic scrolling, with the possibility of falling to your death or being crushed if you don’t keep up. Oh, and starting something of a tradition with the games in this family, ou have to beat it twice. Only on the second loop will you find the weapon that allows you to access the room of, and defeat, the true final boss.

If the screenshots look eerily-familiar-yet-not to Super Nintendo vets, it’s not just you. Capcom heavily copied the art style, screen layout (and even some of the graphics) for Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts on the SNES. That game also has aneurism-inducing difficulty levels and the requirement to beat the game twice in order to truly win. However, all of the stages and bosses are completely different, making it almost like an extension or re-envisioning of the arcade game. Both are equally worth checking out, but the faint of heart need not apply.

(via still-the-best-1973)

Source: megalextoria.com

It seemed like a good idea at the time...: Income inequality will cause social collapse (I hope I'm dead by then)

animalsandguns:

The wealth distribution in particular is just shocking — the US has a wealth Gini of .801 (where 1.000 is “one person owns everything”), the fifth highest among all included countries and almost exactly the same as the distribution of wealth across the entire planet (.803). Think about that for…

We aren’t communists. Sorry to disappoint.

The other thing to consider is just how wealthy the poor are here compared to other countries. The wealth may be unevenly distributed but even the poor here are wealthy by global standards.

Source: porterdavis

Obama backs 'shield law' for reporters

priceofliberty:

This law is one of the most crucial pieces of legislation of our time and I swear to God we cannot let this or anything like it pass.

President Obama, under fire from civil libertarians for the seizure of journalists’ telephone records, is endorsing a federal shield law for reporters seeking to protect their confidential sources, aides said Wednesday.

“The president has long supported media shield legislation,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

Despite the feel-good adjective “shield” legislation is notoriously pro-State. Currently AP and Fox news reporters are facing charges on the Espionage Act of 1917. Frankly, the reporters conduct does not measure up to the “imminent lawless action” standard of measuring inflammatory speech against the first amendment outlined in Brandenburg v. Ohio.

Journalists associations and others have criticized the Obama administration for the Justice Department seizure of phone records of reporters and editors at the Associated Press, part of an investigation into national security news leaks.

The reason the administration and Eric Holder want this media “shield” law to pass is so that they can include exceptions to judicial process and legal recourse by saying the magic words, “national security.” They want to draw out a legal exception for their current actions against AP and Fox which are egregiously unconstitutional.

Carney said neither he nor Obama can comment on the AP case because it is part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation.

This is my all time favorite excuse, “ongoing investigation - can’t say shit.”

The Obama administration is backing a proposal by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., legislation that mirrors many state laws which say reporters do not have to disclose the names of confidential sources, or their means of communicating with them.

This right is already protected at the federal level. The Court decided in Branzburg v. Hayes that reporters did not have the privilege to withhold information, but only if they had witnessed criminal activity. The privilege as described by Stewart weighs the First Amendment rights of reporters against the subpoenaing party’s need for disclosure. When balancing these interests, courts should consider whether the information is relevant and material to the party’s case, whether there is a compelling and overriding interest in obtaining the information, and whether the information could be obtained from any source other than the media. In some cases, courts require that a journalist show that he or she promised a source confidentiality.

Various plans would allow the government to seek exceptions to the shield law in cases involving national security. That is the claim Justice Department lawyers have made in the investigation involving the AP phone records.

“This kind of law would balance national security needs against the public’s right to the free flow of information,” Schumer said in a statement. “At minimum, our bill would have ensured a fairer, more deliberate process in this case.”

Asked about the timing of the announcement of presidential support, Carney said that Obama supported a shield law when he was a senator and believes this is a good time to revive the issue.

Obama “believes strongly that we need to provide the protections to the media that this legislation would do,” Carney said.

This bill will destroy the freedom of speech in the press (what little of it remains). Please start fighting against this bill now. If you are represented by Schumer, call his offices and protest this legislation.

xtremecaffeine: snakesonajames: Because of the weight of the ends of the forks, and how they’re distributed behind the penny (closer to the glass), the center of gravity of the whole system is actually shifted quite significantly. If I’m right, it would actually have to be right where the penny meets the glass. This mean, in a sense, all the “weight” of the system of the forks and penny is resting right on that point, rather than out in the air, so if you balance it, it’ll be stable on the glass. SCIENCE. …….Close enough The difference between Science and Engineering.
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xtremecaffeine:

snakesonajames:

Because of the weight of the ends of the forks, and how they’re distributed behind the penny (closer to the glass), the center of gravity of the whole system is actually shifted quite significantly. If I’m right, it would actually have to be right where the penny meets the glass. This mean, in a sense, all the “weight” of the system of the forks and penny is resting right on that point, rather than out in the air, so if you balance it, it’ll be stable on the glass.

SCIENCE.

image

…….Close enough

The difference between Science and Engineering.

(via theonecalledbiz)

Source: christiantheatheist

Congressman Preps Bill to End Terror War Authority

Repealing the AUMF would be the boldest restriction of presidential war powers since 9/11. Both the Bush and Obama administrations have relied on the document to authorize everything from the warrantless electronic surveillance of American citizens to drone strikes against al-Qaida offshoots that did not exist on 9/11. Getting rid of it is certain to invite fierce opposition from more bellicose members of Congress, who have repeatedly demagogued efforts to roll back any post-9/11 wartime authority, let alone the most important one.

America Is Embracing The Secret Police Culture Of The Nazis

Why do so many Americans want us to become more like Nazi Germany? When I was growing up, I was taught that Nazi Germany was the antithesis of everything that America stood for. I truly believed that we were “the land of the free” and that we were a bright, shining example for the rest of the world. Unfortunately, over the past couple of decades America has been eagerly embracing the secret police culture of the Nazis. In a desperate attempt to feel “safe”, we have decided to become much more like our arch-enemies of the past. In fact, in many ways we have already surpassed them. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union never had facial recognition cameras, “enhanced pat-downs”, automated license plate scanners, voice recognition software, mobile backscatter vans or drones in the skies. In America today, every single form of electronic communication is monitored by shadowy government intelligence agencies. All over the globe, the emerging Big Brother electronic surveillance grid becomes more pervasive with each passing day. Never in the history of the world have citizens been monitored so closely by their own governments. But is all of this surveillance actually keeping us safer? Of course not. Just look at what happened in Boston. But every time another tragedy strikes, our politicians tell us that the answer is to tighten security even more. If this continues, eventually security will become so tight that it will choke all of the life out of this country.