Guardians Tops Labor Day Box Office
As Guardians of the Galaxy topped the Labor Day weekend box office in its fifth week in release, the Marvel sci-fi action-comedy also became 2014's biggest hit domestically.
Guardians finished the three-day weekend with an estimated $16.3 million. It is now the No. 1 movie of the year domestically followed by Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Guardians' worldwide total of $547.7 million makes it the year's 8th highest-grossing film internationally; Transformers: Age Of Extinction remains No. 1 worldwide with $1 billion.
Of the holiday weekend's new releases, the found footage film As Above/So Below fared best with an estimated haul of $8.3 million for fourth place. The Pierce Brosnan espionage film The November Man bowed in sixth place with a meek $7.7 million.
Men's Health // How a Bean Becomes a Fart
from Vimeo Staff Picks https://vimeo.com/channels/staffpicks
The FCC’s next CTO is a net neutrality expert
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/08/28/the-fccs-next-cto-is-a-net-neutrality-expert/?tid=rssfeed
Floating Solar Power Plants Planned For Japan
http://www.sustainnovate.ae/en/industry-news/detail/floating-solar-power-plants-planned-for-japan
Google's Self-Driving Car Can't Navigate Heavy Rain Or 99% of Roads
http://www.autoworldnews.com/articles/8817/20140830/googles-self-driving-car-cant-navigate-heavy-rain-or-most-roads.htm
TIL over 10% of people have had sex at work.
http://www.chron.com/jobs/article/Survey-reveals-10-percent-of-people-have-had-sex-4313430.php
Intel's Haswell-E Desktop CPU Debuts With Eight Cores, DDR4 Memory
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/08/29/1833254/intels-haswell-e-desktop-cpu-debuts-with-eight-cores-ddr4-memory
Our top 10 most anticipated Xbox One games for Fall and Holiday 2014
Destiny, Sunset Overdrive and Halo: The Master Chief Collection are just some of our picks.
Microsoft launched the Xbox One console less than 10 months ago, but the launch titles that were offered at that time were something of a mixed bag. That's usually the case for the release of a new console but there's a lot more to look forward to for the fall and holiday season as a flood of new Xbox One games are set for release.
It's not a shock to learn that the fourth quarter of every year is also the biggest sales period for console games in general, which is why we see a ton of new titles released between September and November. Game publishers like to flood the market with new games so that when the holiday shopping season rolls around, there's a variety of new games to purchase.
So which Xbox One games are the ones that we most want to get, either on the day of their release or as holiday gifts? We managed to cut down our selections to our top 10 picks, and ordered based on their current release date, but as always your personal list will likely differ than ours. Keep in mind that while all these games are scheduled for release before the end of 2014, their publishers could still delay one or more of these titles into 2015. In fact that's already happened with games like Battlefield: Hardline, Evolve and Batman: Arkham Knight.
Awesomeness: Over 2.6m Public Domain Images Being Put Online [via clever programming stripping images from 600m pages of PD books]
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140829/12403228366/awesomeness-millions-public-domain-images-being-put-online.shtml
Belgian cable operator Telenet unveiled plans to invest €500 million (US$830 million) over the next five years in a massive network upgrade that will offer broadband services of 1 Gbit/s
http://www.lightreading.com/cable-video/ccap-next-gen-nets/telenet-to-invest--euro-500m-in-gigabit-network/d/d-id/710550?_mc=RSS_LR_EDT
TIL the first American spy satellites literally dropped their film from space in a "film bucket" that was then scooped up in midair by a plane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_(satellite)
TIL a professional rugby player had his scrotum torn open during a match, had it sewn back together on the bench, and finished the match.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Shelford
Alkekopter, a Windows Phone arcade game full of floating skulls and fireballs
Alkekopter is not your typical endless runner styled Windows Phone game. You play the role of a floating skull that is armed with a floating fireball that is dangling from a chain.
Your job is to guide the floating skull down an endless path that is filled with evil minions and other skulls that are intent on doing you harm. The game does have a few power-ups to help your skull survive all the attacks.
Available for low-memory devices, Alkekopter has simple controls, challenging game play and isn't a bad time waster of a game.
Google’s Self-Driving Cars Still Face Many Obstacles--Impressive progress hides major limitations of Google’s quest for automated driving.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/530276/hidden-obstacles-for-googles-self-driving-cars/?smid=tw-upshotnyt
Deal of the Day: Amzer Pudding TPU Case for Nokia Lumia 1520
Today Only: Buy the Amzer Pudding TPU Case for Nokia Lumia 1520 and save 50%
Made from multiple thermoacrylics, this Lumia 1520 skin case is highly elastic and resistant to oils. Say goodbye to annoying fingerprints! The back features a matte finish with a glossy edging that enhances the grip around your device.
TIL that contrary to popular belief, Leonidas of Sparta was not a young man at the Battle of Thermopylae. He was actually around 60 years old.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonidas_I
TIL Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written during a six-day cocaine high during which he generated sixty thousand words.
http://www.ohjoy.org/2013/11/19/robert-louis-stevenson-writing-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/
TIL Gordon Ramsay loved In N Out so much, after he finished his burger he went through the drive thru and ordered the same meal again to take home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=In-N-Out_Burger#Culture
The Top 10 New Hearthstone Cards
Hearthstone has been an even more exciting game to play than usual over the last month and a half. Every week during the Curse of Naxxramas expansion, new cards were being added to the pool, changing the game in interesting new ways. Now that Naxx is complete and all 30 of its cards have been out in the wild for a little over a week, I figured there’s no better time to try and rank the best of the batch.
How have I arrived at this list? Well, obviously it’s pretty subjective. After all, as the saying goes, one man’s Captain’s Parrot is another man’s Ragnaros the Firelord. (I think I might play too much Hearthstone.) The value of cards also changes as players discover new ways to utilise cards and build decks, and the shape of the meta also has a huge impact. The essential cards when players are running more aggro decks, for instance, will be pretty different than in a slower-paced, Control-heavy meta.
TIL, in India, it is illegal to know the sex of the child before its birth!
http://www.unicef.org/india/media_3285.htm
TIL Keith Richards would help set up the elaborate speaker systems on stage for the Rolling Stones concerts, so they would have a secret place to sniff pharmeceutical cocaine during their performance.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/zinamoukheiber/2010/12/24/merck-cocaine-behind-some-of-those-fabulous-rolling-stones-songs/
Final Tracks Revealed for Fantasia: Music Evolved
Harmonix announced the final tracks in the initial lineup for Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved at Pax today.
The artists were announced during the "Music Evolved –– From 8-Bit Soundtrack to Gameplay" panel. Award-winning composer Inon Zur and recording producer Eddie Kramer were present for the panel, which went behind the scenes of music production on the upcoming game. The new tracks are listed below:
• The Flaming Lips - "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1"
• Imagine Dragons - "Radioactive"
• J.S. Bach - "Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor"
• Inon Zur - "Scout's Theme (ft. violinist Lindsay Stirling)"
• Jimi Hendrix - "Fire"
• Lady Gaga - "Applause"
Microsoft Defies Court Order, Will Not Give Emails to US Government
http://windowsitpro.com/paul-thurrotts-wininfo/microsoft-defies-court-order-will-not-give-emails-us-government
TIL a Soviet Union Marshal commissioned a clear coca-cola that resembled vodka because he enjoyed the taste and didn't want to be seen drinking coke in public.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Coke
ICYMI: August 30, 2014
A lot can happen in a week. New apps join the Windows Phone Store or Windows Store. Your favorite apps can get a big update with a new look or new features. Device rumors come and go. Seven days might not seem like much, but it can be an eternity in the tech news cycle. Every week we're going to compile the biggest stories into one post, so you never fall behind – In Case You Missed It.
Doctor Who: "Into the Dalek" Review
Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
This may sound like sacrilege, but it's getting increasingly difficult to make the Daleks scary or, more importantly, interesting anymore.
Sure, if you grew up with them and have sense-memories of cowering behind the sofa in abject self-soiling childhood terror, then they'll always elicit a Pavlovian 'eep' or two. But while they're undeniably one of the Doctor's most iconic nemeses, they're also one of his most reliably beatable and singularly, predictably motivated.
Which is why 'Into the Dalek' was such a surprising success, offering the double whammy of both a new physical and surreally spiritual look into an enemy Whovians have gotten to know all too well in the 50 years since their debut.
TIL in 1994, Crayola released a set of scented crayons but had to remove some of the scents a year later because parents complained that some of the crayons smelled good enough to eat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Crayola_crayon_colors#Magic_Scent
Firewatch Delivers a Gorgeous, Emotional, and Mysterious Trailer
Immediately following its reveal back in March, Firewatch commanded our attention. The first game from Campo Santo, a studio founded by former Telltale, Double Fine, Klei, and 2K Marin developers, Firewatch looked to be a gorgeous first-person adventure game with an emphasis on storytelling, evocative animations, and distinct art design by the fantastic Olly Moss.
We chronicled the evolution of the game, its influences, and what the team was really trying to accomplish with the project. But while that all sounded great on paper, it ultimately amounted to a lot of incredible-sounding promises. When the time came for the game to actually come together, would they be able to pull it off?
NASA has successfully tested the most complex rocket engine parts ever designed by the agency and printed with additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing, on a test stand at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/august/sparks-fly-as-nasa-pushes-the-limits-of-3-d-printing-technology/
Evidence Grows That Online Social Networks Have Insidious Negative Effects
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/530401/evidence-grows-that-online-social-networks-have-insidious-negative-effects/
The first super sharp pics from the WorldView-3 satellite.
http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/big-pic-stunning-images-worlds-sharpest-commercial-satellite?src=SOC&dom=tw
Microsoft to reveal skype real time translation on calls at the end of 2014
http://www.infotyper.com/skype-real-time-translation-on-calls-release-date/
Chattanooga: a report on the tech boom in the city Comcast is trying to stop.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/30/chattanooga-gig-high-speed-internet-tech-boom
The US government can brand you a terrorist based on a Facebook post. We can't let them make up the rules -- Innocent people’s lives are being ruined. Why isn’t anyone watching the watchlist?
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/30/terrorist-watch-list-rules-innocent-people
TIL that 75% of all sesame seeds grown in Mexico end up on McDonald's hamburger buns
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesame#Cuisine
TIL that in 1983, a man confessed to his wife's murder after part of a female skull was discovered in a peat bog near their home in England. He was convicted based on this confession. The skull turned out to be from someone who actually died about 1750 years earlier.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindow_Woman
Amazon Reviving The Tick with Patrick Warburton
SPOOOOON!
Okay, that was a Tick quote from the '90s FOX Kids animated series and this story's about FOX's live-action adaptation of The Tick. But it still felt appropriate.
Rumors started up yesterday, with People claiming to have a source, that Amazon is looking to revive the 2001 live-action Tick series (which was axed after only nine episodes), starring Patrick Warburton (Family Guy, Seinfeld) - who People's source claims has signed a new deal with Amazon and Sony to reprise the role of the blue-suited lunkheaded hero.
Patrick Warburton as The Tick.
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