So I don't really follow much development news of movies (I've been burned too many times), but when I saw Deadpool recently my first comment was "Wow, I think Ryan Reynolds has finally found his comic movie franchise." I guess this was a pet project of his, he was a producer, and he paid out of his own pocket to keep the writers (who had shepherded the movie for 6 years) on the set while filming. He's gone up a few steps in my opinion. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
Trendsmap. Showing twitter trends tied to mapping. (Grokked from Dan)
An imagur gallery of requests (and responses) to artists and designers asking them to work for free. I so feel this. And the "For exposure" twitter account which also posts these requests. One of the many reasons I don't do much freelance anymore. Also, at the moment I'm dealing with this exact issue with two different requests. What I love about these is that they are almost always the customer that not only demands quick turnaround, but is also the customer who asks for the most revisions (yeah, I had a soft heart for some of these, a hard lesson to learn). (Grokked from BoingBoing)
And it's not just "amateurs" or "start ups" who do this to freelancers/contractors. Here's a story about Vice. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)
When we had movies on vinyl. For your retro-alt-history world building. (Grokked from Dan)
Explosion at Kennedy Space Center ahead of SpaceX launch. Space is hard. (Grokked from Sarah Goslee)
There's this insider joke among para-medical professionals. Everybody asks us for a diagnosis. Part of it is mistaking us (especially us guys) for doctors. Partly it's they think anyone with scrubs knows everything about medicine (hint, not even your doctor does). Mostly it's because they're scared and we're the ones talking with them. But the joke is this, tell them it's an STD. Whatever it is, it's an STD. Bone broken? STD. Something green and tentically growing out of your eyeballs? STD. Yeah, we don't often speak it outlaid (especially in a medical situation), but if you see a secret smile on their face when you ask, in their head they just said, "It's gonorrhea." And "(w)e are running out of ways to treat gonorrhea, the World Health Organization announced today." Yeah, drug resistance (and little research on the next generation of antibiotics) is serious.
"'Just because you close trade doesn't mean factories are coming back,' (Ilse Metchek, head of the California Fashion Association) says." Ah, yep. The article also profiles another company that does produce in the US, and ships worldwide. They would be harmed by cancelling trade agreements. They produce a high-end, high value-added product… and is a modern facility which means it does a lot with a lot less workers. If you want to cut trade, you'll also have to support increasing wages (the $15 minimum wage is what is needed now to make those jobs affordable in the current economy, by shopping at Walmart and the like). Exporting a lot of the low-end items was how we enabled wage stagnation (without making those products less expensively, wages would have been forced to go much higher). Doing both at the same time is a sure way to tank economic growth. And this is exactly the economy NAFTA was meant to create; low-wage and low-skill work moves abroad, high-wage and high-skill work grows in the US. Jobs aren't coming back. Coal is dying (really, nothing the Obama Administration has done has effected the coal industry as much as the shale oil and gas boom has, changing policy won't change that in the least - including if you took away the EPA). This is how the economy and competition works. Kinda sucks when you're the buggy-whip manufacturer (note, they still make buggy-whips, just not nearly as many). (Grokked from Vince O'Conner)
Chuck Wendig would like a word with us men. About that "go see a fucking doctor" part, doubly endorse that. Stage 4 to Terminal is a fucking terrible time to find out you have cancer (in the last 3 months, I've worked on at least 4 patients who had their first diagnosis of cancer that was in the "we are sending you downtown for surgery, no, you don't have time to see your doctor first" stage, all of them basically said "I haven't really been feeling well for many months"). Oh, and wash your feet and clip your nails because, damn.
A look inside the Church, how Mother Teresa got her two miracle.
"Despite the (the Program that funded Solyndra) failures, the department projects a profit of between $5 billion and $6 billion during the next 20 to 25 years. Overall, 20 of the program’s 30 enterprises are operating and generating revenue, according to the department." And some of the senators who voted against it who now run states that are benefiting from the economic benefits of the program are waffling (they like it for them, but think the program, overall, was still troubled). (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
"Teen pregnancy is way down. And a study suggests that the reason is increased, and increasingly effective, use of contraceptives." In this age of poor sex education, that's really fascinating. "No single contraceptive method stood out as singularly effective, said the researchers. Instead, they found that teens were using contraceptives more often, combining methods more often, and using more effective methods, such as the birth control pill, IUDs and implants." Or, you know, think they need a doctor for (who should also be providing some education). And, of course, the abstinence only crowd is not happy.
Sean Hannity runs out of bubblegum. What he needs is a lie down and maybe a binky.
"The Clinton Foundation received four out of four stars — the highest rating that Charity Navigator gives after a close look at a charity's finances. The rating is based on annual federal tax documents. It was not intended to reflect whether Hillary Clinton kept donors to her family's foundation at appropriate arm's length or provided favored access as secretary of state." And don't think that doesn't chaff the asses of the conservatives who are embarrassed by their own former President's after-office legacies. (Grokked from TPM)
"Ohio's restrictions on the so-called abortion pill led to a higher rate of side effects, more doctor visits and additional medical treatment for patients, according to a new study." Gee, our cynical legislature is terrible for women's health. Who could have known?
Oh, hey, God is speaking to Michelle Bachmann again. Good news, everybody, he told her that Trump is the chosen one. Given the "chosen one"s track record this year I think we can safely call it for Clinton. God may not play dice with the universe, but obviously has a sense of humor. Remember when she was a rising star of the Republican Party?
Ah, so the Trumpster's trip south of the border looked very Presidential. Until, "There's just one catch: Peña Nieto tweeted out that the subject (of whom would pay for the wall) did come up -- and that he'd raised it." That went well. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
More people are waking up. "Donald Trump's Wednesday night speech full of hard-line views on immigration prompted one member of his National Hispanic Advisory Council to resign, Politico reported." Note the minimization of those Latinos who still support the Trumpster, but are reconsidering.
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