Geeking Out

An FBI interview with an Orlando man believed to have known Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev took a deadly and unclear turn early this morning.

Do you enjoy a good slice of melon with your breakfast, but can’t stop wishing it was branded with the face of the world’s most adored cartoon cat? Well, the weirdest problem in your life has just been solved, as a Japanese food company has just released a very special Furano melon with the visage of Hello Kitty etched into it, and it will only run you $50. Now, some of you may be asking yourselves, why on Earth would human beings, who are capable of creating amazing things, dedicate time, effort, and resources to the crafting of a melon that can stare at you from the breakfast table with the cold, dead gaze of everyone’s favorite Sanrio mascot? That’s a fair question, but it has a clear answer — there’s a buck to be made. You’ll have to act fast if you want to lay your hands on one of the world’s cutest melons, made by gourmet food shop Belluna. Only 300 of them will be sold online, and they’re going for 4980 yen, or just shy of $49. But hey, shipping is free, so that’s something, right? If a Hello Kitty melon is something you have to have in your life, cost be damned, you can order one right here. (via RocketNews) Relevant to your interests Sanrio and Street Fighter can make all your Hello Kitty/Chun Li fantasies real IRL Hello Kitty will melt your brain Hello Kitty chainsaw? Hello Kitty chainsaw.

Designers love creating homages to their favorite Disney characters (e.g., turning the iconic princesses into zombies and hipsters), but if they ever tried to sell those designs they would be faced with a foe scarier than Cruella de Vil ? Disney's legal department.

Freelance innkeepers across New York City shuddered this week as a judge found that a man renting out his East Village apartment on Airbnb was violating the state's occupancy code. The decision isn't the first time that city and state laws in New York have stymied the so-called sharing economy.

As far as coding goes, I haven’t been in this situation for years, but I’ve ran into that problem several times while reading a good book or playing Skyrim. [Source: Manu Cornet - Bonkers World]

In Redmond, WA, today, Microsoft held their big press event to unveil their new console, officially named Xbox One. Overall the specs are pretty similar to the PS4: 8 gigs of RAM, cloud storage, no backwards compatibility, 4K output for movies (games unconfirmed), built-in motion tech, DVR ready, blah blah blah. Unlike the Sony conference, which ran long at two hours, Microsoft's was barely one, and to say they left us wanting is an understatement - their boldest move was actually showing the console. (Sony has only teased their plastic box in a recent commercial.) During those 60 minutes, most of the time was spent talking about the All-In-Oneness (oh, I get it now) of this miracle device they hope will be the main hub of your living room. Games? Sure, the new Call of Duty: Ghosts, some sports titles and maybe one more. That was it. So here's what I dug and what I found disappointing: BEST: 5. It's Official: Original Programming is the Future of Everything. We can probably look to Netflix as the one getting the ball rolling on this, but the future for streaming services is killer brand-name programming. (Can't wait for Arrested Development this weekend!) So Halo as a live-action series was a no-brainer, but having Steven Spielberg oversee its development is a nice surprise. Yes, the last show he produced was the floundering Smash on NBC, but a sci-fi setting is way more in his wheelhouse. Plus, the Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn web series that launched alongside Halo 4 was solid. I'm making assumptions here, but I would think the key is to use the live-action storylines as a way of expanding on the insanely huge online community of wannabe Spartans and Covenants, which probably means the Master Chief (or at least the version we're used to) will only show up sparingly. If you're a fan of Halo and buy the Xbox One, why wouldn't you watch this? Added bonus: MSN is looking to revive Heroes for Xbox Live. Would the main cast come back? I'm betting not, since the cheerleader stars in Nashville and another is Spock nowadays. Continue reading "The Five Best/Worst Things About Microsoft's Xbox One (So Far)" >

jrepin writes "The GNU Hurd is the GNU project's replacement for the Unix kernel. It is a collection of servers that run on the Mach microkernel to implement file systems, network protocols, file access control, and other features that are implemented by the Unix kernel or similar kernels (such as Linux). The Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2013. This is a snapshot of Debian 'sid' at the time of the Debian 'wheezy' release (May 2013), so it is mostly based on the same sources. Debian GNU/Hurd is currently available for the i386 architecture with more than 10,000 software packages available (more than 75% of the Debian archive)." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader writes "The Xbox One was revealed earlier, and Kotaku was able to get some answers about the always-online rumors that plagued the console before its announcement. Microsoft VP Phil Harrison said Xbox One doesn't need a constant connection in order to play games, and you won't be dropped from single-player games if your connection cuts out. However, it does require check-ins with Microsoft servers. This echoes the Xbox One FAQ, which cryptically says, "No, it does not have to be always connected, but Xbox One does require a connection to the Internet." The number Harrison gave was once every 24 hours, but Microsoft's PR department was quick to say that was just one potential scenario, not a certainty. Microsoft also provided half-answers about how used games and game sharing would work. Players will be able to take a game to a friend's house and play it (using their profile, at least). Players will also have some mechanism to trade and sell used games, but it's not yet clear exactly how it would work. If one player uses a disc to install a game on their Xbox One, then gives the disc to a friend, the friend will be able to install it, but needs to pay full price to play it. That scenario, however, assumes both players want to own the game — the second one would essentially be a unique copy. Microsoft said they have a plan for trading used games, which would involve deactivating the game on the original owner's console, but they aren't willing to elaborate yet." Several publications have hands-on reports with the new hardware: Engadget, Ars Technica, Gizmodo. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

By CRACKED,5 Second Films,Greg Burke Published: May 22nd, 2013 If you liked this YouTube-exclusive video, go to our channel to watch "The Worst Decision Ever Made in the Harry Potter Universe," or the newest After Hours. And don't forget to subscribe to the Cracked channel, where you can get caught up on eve

By David Christopher Bell Published: May 22nd, 2013 As you've probably noticed, Hollywood has a strange, recurring habit of releasing two films about the exact same thing at almost the exact same time. Think Armageddon and Deep Impact (both were about asteroids), The Illusionist and The Prestige (old-