Travel

When Firaxis Games announced in March that turn-based strategy giant XCOM: Enemy Unknown was coming to iPad, it was unclear how it would pack a huge, immersive console and PC title into an app Thankfully, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which launches at midnight Thursday, doesn't skimp on what's necessary: great gameplay. (We rated it one of the best games of 2012.) While there might have been some visual compromises to scale the game down to just 3.2 gigs, which is still a lot on a tablet, the functionality hasn't been touched. SEE ALSO: 'Civilization' Creators Take On Their First Mobile Game For the uninitiated, XCOM: Enemy Unknown was a reboot of the the popular X-COM strategy franchise from the 1990s. It was a risky gamble by 2K Games, Firaxis and Creative Director Jake Solomon, who said it was his dream since joining Firaxis to reboot the franchiseEnemy Unknown challenges players to lead a team of elite operatives to wipe out aliens invading Earth, while balancing resources and keeping individual countries, which are funding missions, from leaving the alliance. Read more...More about Gaming, Ipad, Ipad Games, Entertainment, and Xcom Enemy Unknown

In case you’ve not noticed, I carry and test a lot of bags for TNW. I’ve been a long-time fan of Tom Bihn‘s products, but I had not yet had the chance to give one a thorough run-through. So when the company offered me the opportunity to live and work with its new Synapse 25 backpack, I jumped. What I’ve found is that, even though Tom Bihn bags carry a hefty price tag, they’re worth every penny. Read on. The first thing that you need to know about the Synapse 25 is that it’s a larger version of the company’s already-popular Synapse 19. It’s designed to give 30 percent more volume than the 19, and Tom Bihn’s design brilliance is in the forefront at every turn. My review bag came loaded out. Tom Bihn included a key strap, a Guardian light, a Cache with Rails system for both my iPad Mini and MacBook Air (more on these in a minute), as well as a couple Stuff Sacks. All said, that would bring the total price to $284, from the standalone price of $170 for the Synapse 25. The 25 is absolutely cavernous on the inside, but you’d never know it when it’s completely zipped. Tom Bihn’s design team has done a tremendous job of keeping the bag sleek, belying the amount of gear that you’ve managed to load inside of it. On one trip, I took only the 25, leaving my suitcase at home. My packing list looked like this: 3 pairs of shorts 4 t-shirts 3 pairs of boxers 3 pairs of socks 1 pair of shoes Hygiene/shower kit 11-inch MacBook Air + charger iPad mini + charger iPhone + charger Point-and-shoot camera Blue Tiki microphone, with case Monoprice ANC headphones Backup battery pack Travel mouse Various USB cables and flash drives 1-liter steel water bottle Suffice it to say, I travel with a lot of stuff, even for short trips. But the Synapse 25 accepted everythingng that I had and still had plenty of space left for more. Heavy? Sure. But Tom Bihn’s more vertical design of the 25 does an amazing job of stabilizing the weight of the bag, instead of having it feel like you’re going to tip backwards at any given point. Now a bit about the Cache with Rails system that I mentioned earlier. The Cache is a 6mm-thick foam sleeve that is the perfect size for your laptop, and you can get them for tablets too. It offers generous protection of your devices, but the clips on the Rails system allow you to have a checkpoint-friendly bag where you can lay out your laptop for security screenings. If you’re going to buy the bag, pony up to get the Cache with Rails system. Not only does it make things easier to deal with, the added protection is a welcome bonus. The other thing that you’ll want to invest in is a couple of Stuff Sacks. In the past, I’ve always had a mesh pocket inside of my backpacks that I would use to store the various cables, batteries, USB drives and what-not. The Stuff Sacks are drawstring bags that do what they say – they let you stuff your stuff inside of a sack, keeping everything in one place and organized. I used one of them for the computer and USB stuff, and then another to carry my e-cigarette batteries and accessories. Even if you don’t buy a Tom Bihn bag, get a couple of Stuff Sacks. They’re truly the best thing I’ve ever used for travel. The Synapse 25 comes standard in a 1000d Cordura nylon, but you can order it in a 400d Dyneema ripstop material if you so choose. Tom Bihn recommends the Dyneema material for better resistance against scratches and things like pets, but I found the Cordura nylon to be highly resistant to pet hair and the usual scuffs and scratches as well. It’s a very thick, heavy-duty material and should last for longer than you’ll ever need to use it. Of course the company also spares no details when it comes to the zippers. The rubberized outer cover protects your contents from dust and light rain, though I did not stand outside in any sort of strong storm to test it further than that. If you’re a frequent traveler, you probably have a small collection of backpacks and such that you’ve spent a couple hundred dollar

(AllHipHop News) Chief Keef’s legal woes just got bigger as a warrant was just issued for his arrest in Miami. The rapper was arrested on a pair of misdemeanor marijuana charges as he celebrated his 17th birthday last August. The rapper was charged and ordered to appear in court on January 23, 2013 but he was already in a Chicago jail for violating his probation. As long as he stays away from Miami or Miami Beach, Keef may be ok. Caught riding in a stolen red Ferrari convertible as he celebrated his 17th birthday, Chief Keef had a quick answer for the Miami Beach sergeant who asked if he was carrying any weapons. “We would not travel to Chicago for this type of warrant,’’ said Miami-Dade Police Detective Javier Baez to the Chicago Tribune. According to the report, Keef admitted to having weed on her person when he was apprehended. “I have weed in my right front pocket,” Keef reportedly said to the arresting officer. “I want to be honest with you, officer.” The car, A Ferrari, that Keef was in was reported stolen, but he was not charged in the matter. It seems that the claim is the result of a dispute with the rental company and the previous owner of the vehicle. Filed under: Headlines, News Tagged: chief keef, Chief Keef arrested

The Buffalo Bills are already looking for ways to explain what will presumably be another dismal season in 2013. Chris Brown, the Lead Journalist for the team's official website, investigated the Bills' schedule for the upcoming year and discovered they are at a disadvantage based on the extra rest and prep time opponents will have before playing them. Almost a third of the #Bills 2013 schedule puts them at a disadvantage thanks to #NFL scheduling. Read why: http://t.co/zGgzsIGT4L — Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) June 19, 2013 This wasn't well-received by everyone, though. Bills continue to tweet/blog about how unfair their schedule is. In June. Bad look. — Tim Graham (@ByTimGraham) June 19, 2013 I promise this isn't a post entirely dedicated to the Bills; it was just a bit comical. But Brown also pointed out the Atlanta Falcons are close to being in the same boat. Jay Adams decided to delve into the topic, and he found out why the Falcons' schedule is a bit more challenging than how it appears at first glance. (Notice he doesn't complain about unfair scheduling but simply says it's a challenge.) Adams found out that four teams will have extra rest before playing the Falcons in 2013. Take a look. Arizona Cardinals - The Cardinals host Seattle on Thursday Night Football on Oct. 17 and will get about 10 days to prepare to face the Falcons on Oct. 27 (Week 8). Carolina Panthers - The first meeting between the Falcons and Panthers will allow Carolina to, also, come off about 10 days' preparation after they face Tampa Bay on Thursday Night Football on Oct. 24. The Falcons travel to Carolina for a Week 9 matchup. Buffalo Bills - The Falcons will get some extra rest themselves, facing New Orleans on Thursday Night Football on Nov. 21, before traveling to Toronto to play the Bills, but the Bills will be coming off their bye week. Green Bay Packers - The week after playing Buffalo, the Falcons will travel to Green Bay for a Dec. 8 Sunday Night Football date with the Packers. Green Bay, however, will be coming off their Thursday Night Football game and get extra rest before hosting Atlanta. Which opponents had extra rest in 2012, and how did the Falcons fare against them last season? 1) Kansas City, Week 1: Typical NFL, giving teams extra rest right of the bat before they play the Falcons. Atlanta easily came away with a victory at Arrowhead, even though the Chiefs had like the whole preseason and training camp to prepare. 2) Carolina, Week 4: The Panthers were embarrassed by the Giants on Thursday night, 10 days prior to playing the Falcons. This set up a closely contested game at the Dome, but Atlanta emerged with a 30-28 win after Matt Bryant's 40-yard field goal with five seconds left. 3) Oakland, Week 6: Coming off their bye week, Carson Palmer gave the Falcons defense a bit of a scare. But Bryant came through again with a 55-yarder at the end of the fourth quarter. Atlanta won 23-20. 4) Philadelphia, Week 8: Another team with a bye week to prepare for the Falcons, the Eagles looked awful on that dreary October afternoon. Atlanta was up 24-7 at halftime, and it basically cruised from there. 5) Arizona, Week 11: The Cardinals were the third team coming off a bye week to play the Falcons next. Matt Ryan threw five interceptions, the team rushed for 58 yards and Atlanta still won 23-19. Watching the combo of Ryan Lindley and John Skelton provided a few laughs. So, five games against opponents with extra prep time, five wins. Maybe the Falcons don't consider this such a disadvantage. For 2013, look at their opponents that have more time off. The Cardinals and Bills? The NFL should consider giving these two teams a month off before they play the Falcons. Matchups with Carolina always seem to be interesting, but we saw Atlanta win in the same scenario last season. As for the Packers, well, that game may be problematic. Green Bay is tough no matter what the situation, though.

Trailer for Free Birds courtesy of Apple. In this hilarious, adventurous buddy comedy for audiences of all ages, directed by Jimmy Hayward (Horton Hears a Who!), two turkeys from opposite sides of the tracks must put aside their differences and team up to travel back in time to change the course of history - and get turkey off the Thanksgiving menu for good. Filed Under: Free Birds Tags: Comedy, Animation, Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Amy Poehler

Ted Genoways Contributing Writer for Mother Jones takes on Ag Gag: Contributing writer Ted Genoways is an editor-at-large at OnEarth magazine. His essays and poetry have appeared recently in The Atlantic, Harper’s, Outside, and Best American Travel Writing. He is the author of two books of poems and Walt Whitman and the Civil War, named a Best Academic Book of 2010 by the American Library Association. Shawn Lyons was dead to rights—and he knew it. More than a month had passed since People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had released a video of savage mistreatment at the MowMar Farms hog confinement facility where he worked as an entry-level herdsman in the breeding room. The three enormous sow barns in rural Greene County, Iowa, were less than five years old and, until recently, had raised few concerns. They seemed well ventilated and well supplied with water from giant holding tanks. Their tightly tacked steel siding always gleamed white in the sun. But the PETA hidden-camera footage shot by two undercover activists over a period of months in the summer of 2008, following up on a tip from a former employee, showed a harsh reality concealed inside. Illustration by Tim O’Brien Gagged by Big Ag You Won’t Believe What Pork Producers Do to Pregnant Pigs Has Your State Outlawed Blowing the Whistle on Factory Farm Abuses? Timeline: Big Ag’s Campaign to Shut Up Its Critics The Cruelest Show on Earth The recordings caught one senior worker beating a sow repeatedly on the back with a metal gate rod, a supervisor turning an electric prod on a sow too crippled to stand, another worker shoving a herding cane into a sow’s vagina. In one close-up, a distressed sow who’d been attacking her piglets was shown with her face royal blue from the Prima Tech marking dye sprayed into her nostrils “to get the animal high.” In perhaps the most disturbing sequence, a worker demonstrated the method for eutha­nizing underweight piglets: taking them by the hind legs and smashing their skulls against the concrete floor—a technique known as “thumping.” Their bloodied bodies were then tossed into a giant bin, where video showed them twitching and paddling until they died, sometimes long after. Though his actions were not nearly as vicious as those of some coworkers who’d been fired immediately, Lyons knew, as the video quickly became national news, that the consequences for him could be severe. As we sat recently in the tiny, tumbledown house he grew up in and now shares with his wife and two kids, Lyons acknowledged—as he did to the sheriff’s deputy back then—that he had prodded sows with clothespins, hit them with broad, wooden herding boards, and pulled them by their ears, but only in an effort, he said, to get pregnant sows that had spent the last 114 days immobilized in gestation crates up and moving to the farrowing crates where they would give birth. Lyons said he never intended to hurt the hogs, that he was just “scared to death” of the angry sows “who had spent their lives in a little pen”—and this was how he had been trained to deal with them. Lyons had watery blue eyes that seemed always on the verge of tears and spoke in a skittish mutter that would sometimes disappear all the way into silence as he rubbed his thin beard. “You do feel sorry for them, because they don’t have much room to move around,” he said, but if they get spooked coming out of their crates, “you’re in for a fight.” “You do feel sorry for them,” says Shawn Lyons of how he was taught to handle sows. But if they get spooked, “you’re in for a fight.” Photo: Mary Anne Andrei Lyons had been trained in these methods of hog-handling (many of them, including thumping, legal and widely practiced), but a spokeswoman for Hormel—one of the largest food processors in the country and the dominant buyer of MowMa

Xerox Helps Transit Riders TAP Their Way Across Southern California on a Single, Smart Payment Ticket NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A universal payment system called TAP now makes it faster and simpler for passengers in Southern California to transfer between passenger trains, buses, subway and light rail. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and Metrolink recently teamed up with Xerox (NYS: XRX) to develop TAP-enabled Metrolink tickets that are compatible with the Metro TAP smart fare payment system. The new TAP tickets, which are embedded with a "smart chip" and antenna, allow Metrolink passengers to easily access Metro gates with a quick tap of their ticket at all turnstiles. Once tapped, the chip relays a signal to unlatch the turnstile gates so riders can move between transit systems, eliminating the need for gate agents to view riders' tickets. Under the old system, agents had to quickly scan tickets by eye to ensure they contained a unique transfer symbol. Passengers can buy TAP tickets from any of the 118 Xerox-managed ticket vending machines (TVMs) found throughout Southern California. "The new TAP payment system is a tremendous improvement to Southern California's transit network that will save passengers time and reduce stress between transfers," said Robert Turnauckas, chief administrative officer, Metrolink. "Xerox helped deliver on a ticketing solution capable of accepting a single-payment method across multiple regions -- a tall order with many challenges involved." In 2014, two dozen transit providers - from San Bernardino to Santa Monica and Lancaster to Long Beach - will be a part of the single TAP network. "Our goal was to provide an easy to navigate solution for riders," said Michael Davis, senior vice president and managing director, Public Transport North America, Xerox. "The smart tickets ensure that all carriers are paid accurately when people travel between transit systems, and also will provide ridership analytics to help agencies track passenger needs." Xerox systems and services are used by more than 1,000 municipal, regional and national operators in 400 cities worldwide to run more than 150,000 pieces of equipment that enables 50 million passengers per day to use buses, trolleys, tramways and trains. Xerox-deployed solutions include more than 50,000 smart card readers on buses, faregates, turnstiles, and other fare collection devices. Xerox is the largest provider of transportation services to governments worldwide, with projects in 35 countries. About Xerox Since the invention of Xerography 75 years ago, the people of Xerox (NYS: XRX) have helped businesses simplify the way work gets done. Today, we are the global leader in business process and document management, helping people be more efficient so they can focus on their real business. Headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., more than 140,000 Xerox employees serve clients in 160 countries, providing business services, printing equipment and software for commercial and government organizations. Learn more at www.xerox.com. Note: To receive RSS news feeds, visit http://news.xerox.com/rss. For open commentary, industry perspectives and views visit http://www.linkedin.com/company/xerox, http://twitter.com/xeroxcorp, http://realbusinessatxerox.blogs.xerox.com, http://www.facebook.com/XeroxCorp, http://www.youtube.com/XeroxCorp. Xerox® and Xerox and Design® are trademarks of Xerox in the United States and/or other countries. XeroxCarl Langsenkamp, +1-585-423-5782carl.langsenkamp@xerox.comorText 100 for XeroxJamie Palmeroni, +1-585-697-7762jamie.palmeroni@text100.comKEYWORDS:   United States  North America  California  ConnecticutINDUSTRY KEYWORDS:

Mulberry is possibly positioning itself to be the power bag. Today, the Telegraph reports that it sent the world leaders at he G8 summit personalized monogrammed bags. Japan's Shinzo Abe, Russia's Vladimir Putin and President Obama got über-masculine Matthew bags while the German Chancellor Angela Merkel received the Piccadilly travel bag. You know, because Lana del Rey wasn't doing it for them anymore. [Telegraph]

Time to activate your Chase Freedom card for the third quarter category spending bonuses for 2013 where you can earn 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar you spend at select merchants from July 1 – September 30, 2013. This time around, the Q3 2013 bonus categories: Gas stations, theme parks and Kohl’s. You have until September 14, 2013 to activate (though you might as well do so now), and then all your expenditures at those types of merchants up to a cap of $1,500 for the quarter will earn 5 points per dollar. Even if you don’t have the card yet, but were planning on getting it, Chase will retroactively credit you with the bonus points on your category spending from the whole quarter. After this, the Q4 spending bonuses will be: Quarter 4: October – December  Select Department Stores Amazon.com Activate starting September 15, 2013 If you don’t want to forget to activate your card in the future, you can have Chase send you a reminder by email or text. I also always get reminded at Chase ATMs and was able to activate this quarter’s 5x by clicking a button at the ATM. About Bonus Spending Categories Freedom’s 5x spending bonuses are one of the best ways to rack up bonus Ultimate Rewards points using your Chase Freedom Visa or Freedom Mastercard. The only downside is the $1,500 quarterly cap ($6,000 annually). That’s still a potential total of 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points annually, which is pretty lucrative for a card with no annual fee. Those 30,000 points are equivalent to $300 in cash back if you just have the Freedom, or they can be transferred to Ultimate Rewards’ travel partners if you have one of the premium cards like the Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Bold or Ink Plus (read about some of those cards’ lesser-known benefits here) – both of which are currently offering a limited-time bonus offer of 60,000 points for this week only. Not only that, but the Freedom recently revised its bonus earning structure so that starting August 1, 2013, instead of the old Chase Exclusives formula where you earned a 10% bonus on the base points you earned every year and a 10-point per-transaction bonus to just earning a flat 10% bonus on all points you earn in the year, including the 5X bonus points, so if you max out these categories, you’re looking at another 3,000 points on top of it. If you have one of those premium Ultimate Rewards cards, travel partners include: United, British Airways, Southwest, Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic, Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Priority Club and Amtrak. I personally think United miles are most valuable transfer option since the airline’s award thresholds and fees are pretty low and it has pretty generous award/routing rules. Earning 5 United miles for every dollar spent is a pretty amazing deal for a card that has no annual fee. Check out this post for how to maximize the Freedom/Sapphire Preferred/Ink combination’s points-earning potential. Spending Strategy I always recommend planning your spend ahead of time to spend where you aren’t already getting bonus points, or where the 5x Ultimate Rewards points beats your other bonuses. So in Q3, I’m thinking about using my Freedom card to max out my gas purchases, where it shouldn’t be hard to hit the $1,500 quarterly cap given that I have a few road trips coming up and how high gas prices are. I have the Premier Rewards Gold and Business Gold Rewards cards from Amex, both of which offer 2X points per $1 at gas stations, but I’ll take 5X Ultimate Rewards over 2X Membership Rewards points any day, and then once I hit my cap, I may switch back to one of my Amex’s – especially because I’d really like to hit the annual $30,000 spending threshold on the Premier Rewards Gold to earn a bonus 15,000 Membership Rewards points. I also have the Chase Ink Bold and Ink Plus cards, which earn 2X points at gas stations up to $50,000 per year, so that’s another option for bonus points earning. I plan to max

Leo originally agreed to write the blog for today and yesterday but then he wigged out. So here I am again. I write to you from Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan. We arrived here this afternoon on our drive from Sawai Madhopur where we spent two nights in a safari lodge just outside of Rathambore National Park.During our stay we had the opportunity to go on three separate safaris. Our 12 hours o