Geeking Out

A parody of the Pokémon theme song done Acapella! Dookieshed and Smooth McGroove have teamed up to give you the most EPIC collaboration this side of Victory Road! Every Pokémon game is filled with nameless trainers. We thought it was time they got some recognition. [dookieshedVIDS]

An anonymous reader writes "In a decision that's almost certainly going to result in this issue heading up to the Supreme Court, the Federal 1st Circuit Court of Appeals [Friday] ruled that police can't search your phone when they arrest you without a warrant. That's contrary to most courts' previous findings in these kinds of cases where judges have allowed warrantless searches through cell phones." (But in line with the recently mentioned decision in Florida, and seemingly with common sense.) Read more of this story at Slashdot.

If you weren’t already aware, the Sun’s been seeing a whole lot of action of late. Like, it’s still being the Sun, but it’s also putting out incredible X-class solar flares, complete with coronal mass ejections. The latter doesn’t necessarily require the former, though, and that’s where we find ourselves at currently. Thanks to a couple of coronal mass ejections yesterday, there’s a good chance we’re going to get some geomagnetic storm activity over the next few days. Coronal mass ejections can send “billions of tons of solar particles” out from the Sun into space, and sometimes these are directed at Earth. This doesn’t affect humans, thanks to our atmosphere, but it can cause issues with technical equipment. This is especially true for anything in the path of the CME out in space, like satellites. The first CME, which erupted from the Sun at 5:24 AM EDT on May 17th, has already come and gone without much fanfare. A second CME that erupted around 10 AM EDT yesterday, however, is expected to hit the Earth tomorrow, May 19th, and bump us up into what the Space Weather Prediction Center calls a “Geomagnetic Storm category G2 (Moderate)” level of activity. What does that mean for us down on the ground? Some “high-latitude power systems may experience voltage alarms” and “long-duration storms may cause transformer damage,” but not a whole lot of possible interruptions for the majority of us. There is a good chance we’ll get an awful impressive aurora showing out of it, though. (via NASA, Space Weather Prediction Center) Relevant to your interests Solar flares like whoa up in here How NASA turns atmospheric data from the Sun into abstract art The Sun is no stranger to explosions

leathered writes "The BBC reports that some customers of UK retailer Marks and Spencer have reported that the store's contactless payment terminals have debited their cards despite being in their bags or pockets, sometimes paying twice when they have used another payment method. The cards are supposed to work only when the card comes within 4cm of the terminal. Customers of fast-food chain Pret a Manger have been reporting similar problems, and in both cases cited the customers weren't even aware they had been issued with NFC-enabled cards by their bank." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Hollywood and the film industry at large are notoriously wary of spilling the beans about, well, anything. They’d rather not confirm anything. Teasing up until the very last minute is more their style, as everyone that follows entertainment news is well aware. The further away from release, the more likely this kind of winking is to happen. These guidelines apparently do not apply to Joss Whedon. Speaking with IGN at ABC’s upfront event, Whedon was asked specifically whether the brother/sister duo he’d previously mentioned were, in fact, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Because he’s Joss Whedon, he went ahead and both confirmed the two as well as gave some insight into why they’re being included: You know, they had a rough beginning. They’re interesting to me because they sort of represent the part of the world that wouldn’t necessarily agree with The Avengers. So they’re not there to make things easier. I’m not putting any characters in the movie that will make things easier. So, yeah. There you have it. This could all change between now and the actual release of Avengers 2, but as of right now, we’ve got ourselves some mutants. Well, maybe. There’s a good chance their background will be altered slightly, or just not mentioned, in order to not conflict with the ongoing X-Men movie franchise. (IGN via MTV Splash Page, The Mary Sue) Relevant to your interests We were stoked when he hinted at them being included There’s a new Firefly RPG coming That said, Veronica Mars Kickstarter does not mean more Firefly

Just got this from Ricky B. from Inside the Magic, and as with each year, I just had to share those with you guys. Star Wars Weekends launched today at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World and I was there to capture this year’s always entertaining Dance-Off With the Star Wars Stars. The Jedi and Sith were out in force once again, dancing to pop hits that this year included Michael Jackson, Beastie Boys, Outkast, Taylor Swift, Gangnam Style, Harlem Shake, Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That, and plenty more. Here are some of my favorite videos’ from this year’s edition of the event: Chewbacca, Slave Leia, and Padme dance to Outkast’s “Hey Ya” Darth Vader and Boba Fett dance to Michael Jackson’s “Bad” Star Wars characters dance to Psy’s “Gangnam Style” Dance-Off With the Star Wars Stars finale medley including Taylor Swift’s “Trouble” Jedi Mickey dances in a surprise finale appearance [Source: Inside the Magic]

Techmeology writes "In response to declining utility of CALEA mandated wiretapping backdoors due to more widespread use of cryptography, the FBI is considering a revamped version that would mandate wiretapping facilities in end users' computers and software. Critics have argued that this would be bad for security (PDF), as such systems must be more complex and thus harder to secure. CALEA has also enabled criminals to wiretap conversations by hacking the infrastructure used by the authorities. I wonder how this could ever be implemented in FOSS." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

I stumbled across this remarkable time-lapse video of Robert Xavier Burden’s latest painting entitled ‘The Autobot’ this afternoon and felt I just had to share it. As stated on his official YouTube channel this wonderful painting took over 8 months … Continue reading →

An anonymous reader writes "This being college graduation season, the insights provided by commencement speakers should be familiar by now: find work in a field you're passionate about, don't underestimate your own abilities, aim high, learn to communicate and collaborate with others, give something back to your community. Billionaire Mike Bloomberg, whose current job is Mayor of New York City, evidently decided to break the mold by advising less academically adept youngsters to consider a career in plumbing. High wages, constant demand, no offshore competition. 'Compare a plumber to going to Harvard College — being a plumber, actually for the average person, probably would be a better deal'. Ouch! And hey, like a lawyer, a plumber can always dabble in politics." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

For today’s edition of Deal of the Day, Amazon has Star Trek Federation: The First 150 Years [Hardcover] for just $60.39. That’s 40% off the book’s regular retail price of $99.99. A great gift for all the fathers out there who are into Star Trek! This unprecedented illustrated volume chronicles the pivotal era leading up to Humankind’s First Contact with Vulcan in 2063, the Romulan War in 2156, the creation of the Federation in 2161, and the first 150 years of the intergalactic democracy up until the year 2311. Meticulously researched, this account covers a multitude of alien species, decisive battles, and the technology that made the Age of Exploration possible. It includes field sketches, illustrations, and reproductions of historic pieces of art from across the Galaxy, along with over fifty excerpts from key Federation documents and correspondence, Starfleet records, and intergalactic intelligence. Housed in a pedestal display complete with lights and an audio introduction by Admiral Hikaru Sulu, this edition also features five removable documents from the Federation Archives, including Zefram Cochrane’s early sketch of the warp-drive engine, a handwritten letter from young Jim Kirk, and the first-known diagram of a Trill symbiont. -Star Trek Federation: The First 150 Years [Hardcover] – $99.99 $60.39 (40% Off)