I wrestled with even doing an ‘overrated’ list this year. First of all, the very idea of such a list is to merely tell other critics and/or the masses that they are dead-wrong for liking something, which I’d argue is very different from telling someone they’re wrong for disliking something.
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More on The Dark Knight Rises
Florida took center stage in the 2012 elections, when voters around the state had to wait in line at the polls for up to nine hours. Gov. Rick Scott (R) initially denied that there was any problem, saying it was “very good” that people were getting out to vote.
But a new study shows that tens of thousands of people were actually discouraged from voting because of the long lines.
According to an analysis by Theodore Allen, an associate professor of industrial engineering at Ohio State University, as many as 49,000 individuals in Central Florida did not vote because of the problems at the polls.
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More on Elections 2012
It seems like only yesterday we were planning for the Mayan apocalypse, but like so many other products, the 14th b’ak’tun (next era) has been delayed due to bugs and lack of pre-orders. Yet if you talked to some pundits back in 2011, they’d have told you that the end of days was coming out in Q4 of 2012, along with its competitor, BlackBerry 10. More »
If it wasn’t obvious enough already, we’re pretty big fans of Doctor Who around here. I also like to eat – especially sweets. So when I saw these delicious looking Dalek cupcakes, I started drooling as much as my dog does when I’m eating steak.
They were made by DeviantARTist Nomokis, and they sure look tasty. She made them using cake mix, donut holes, cake rolls, mini marshmallows, candy sticks, and some unnatural looking food coloring. She had me at “donut holes.”
Want to make some Dalek cupcakes for yourself? Check out Nomokis’ recipe over on her Tumblr. However, you do need to be careful when you try and eat them. You never know when they’ll start to cry out for your extermination.
Interactive furniture is pretty uncommon. After all, your first consideration in making a piece of furniture is to create something that’s sturdy, durable, and comfortable. Aesthetics usually comes second.
And then there’s the Thermochromic Table. It looks like a simple, minimalist table and bench at the outset, but it’s the finish that sets it apart from the rest.
Because of its thermochromic coating, different parts of the table might temporarily ‘change’ in color once it comes contact to someone or something hot. For example, a person’s hand or steaming cups of coffee, as you can see in the gallery below.
These tables are made by Jay Watson Design and costs £1,850 (~$3,000 USD). Or you could just buy some thermochromic paint pigment and cover your own furniture with it.
[via Geekologie]
2012 is quickly drawing to a close, but that doesn’t mean the world has stopped turning. We had some good stuff in this last full week, and here’s a selection of the best including 40 hacks you won’t want to miss, the best concepts of the year that still haven’t shown up, mind-bending optical illusions and logic puzzles, how to explain Santa scientifically, and how the Senate wants to keep spying on you. Check it all out below. More »
By David Ingram
WASHINGTON, Dec 28 (Reuters) – An effort led by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to find ways to reduce gun violence after the Connecticut school massacre so far has not included talking to the National Rifle Association, the president of the gun rights group said on Friday.
NRA President David Keene said neither Biden nor his staff has contacted the organization since President Barack Obama unveiled the effort on Dec. 19.
Keene said he was not surprised, given Biden’s past support for new gun control laws. “He’s not even a friendly antagonist,” Keene told Reuters in an interview.
The lack of communication between the White House and the largest U.S. lobbying group for gun owners is a sign that the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, has so far failed to change long-held stances on gun politics. In that tragedy, a young man shot his mother with her own gun before killing 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Biden and up to four Cabinet officers are holding a series of meetings with outside groups to discuss possible gun legislation. The first was with law enforcement officials, another with mayors.
The White House has said other meetings will take place with gun safety groups and gun owners, among others, but it has not said whether the NRA will be invited. The White House had no comment on Friday.
Asked about the organization’s influence, Obama struck an optimistic note on Dec 19. “The NRA is an organization that has members who are mothers and fathers,” he said. “I would expect that they’ve been impacted by this as well, and hopefully, they’ll do some self-reflection.”
Two days later, NRA executive Wayne LaPierre said at a press conference that new gun laws were not the answer, calling instead for some form of armed guards in every school.
Keene told Reuters: “I’m willing to talk to anybody. I’m willing to sit down with anybody up there.” He added, though, that he would not agree to “gut” gun rights.
“I’m going to want to have a conversation about how we protect our children,” he said. “That’s a serious conversation. Offering sort of feel-good bills doesn’t strike me as serious.”
Biden’s group is due to offer its recommendations in January.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Thursday found that support remains high for preserving specific gun ownership privileges, such as concealed-weapon permits, as well as for some restrictions, such as background checks for every purchase.
Congratulations, Mainers!
The same-sex marriage law that voters passed in November went into effect at midnight on December 29th. Maine joins Washington, Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut and the District of Columbia in enacting same-sex marriage laws; same-sex couples in those states may obtain marriage licences and get married.
To see what marriage equality looks like in the Pine Tree State, we found photos from the first legal marriage in Maine. The grooms were Steven Bridges and Michael Snell and they wed at about 12:25 AM on Saturday.
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More on Gay Marriage
The Nintendo Wii U has kicked off a new generation of consoles. The device, which comes with HD graphics that can about match those we have from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, will likely be joined by vastly more powerful PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 consoles at some point in the next year or so.
Once those devices launch, it will be time to handicap the marketplace. Which console will succeed? Which console will fail? And perhaps most importantly, which console will win the next-generation battle?
[Image credit: Andreas Levers]
I’m sure there are those in each company’s camp armed with reasons their particular favorite will win.
Those who support Nintendo will say that the company’s commitment to innovation and fun, coupled with its high-quality first-party library, will be enough for the Wii U to dominate the gaming market.
Sony fans disagree. They point to the PlayStation 3’s late surge in the gaming space to make their case. Sony fans believe that the PlayStation 4 will come with high-quality specs and a large game library that will give it the edge. To think otherwise, they might say, would be nonsense.
Microsoft, however, has a different take. The Xbox 360 has proven steady over the last six years, and it’s likely that in the U.S. and Western Europe, it will have a strong showing. And Microsoft’s fans say that the software giant’s online experience and Kinect functionality will impress gamers and get enough people to join up to take over the console market.
I honestly believe that all three companies have a chance at dominating the next-generation console market. After all, coming off the GameCube, no one thought that Nintendo would win the space, but it did so with the Wii. And although the PlayStation 3 got off to a slow start, it’s starting to show now why it had so much promise in the beginning.
“I don’t know how Nintendo expects to hang tough in the long term”
At this point, though, I don’t quite know how Nintendo expects to hang tough over the long-term. The Wii U, while nice for its fans, will be trumped very quickly by whatever Microsoft and Sony offer. And if Nintendo doesn’t find a way to respond with some sort of update or new addition to the console’s featureset, it will be impossible for the game maker to keep pace.
Sony’s issue might have something to do with cost. The company has historically tried to deliver a high-end product, but in the gaming market lately, value has been the name of the game. And I’m not sure Sony realizes that.
Microsoft, meanwhile, might be popular in the U.S. and Europe, but the company has yet to establish itself in Asia. And until it capitalizes on that extremely important continent, the Xbox 720 will have some trouble.
So, while all three consoles might have some features that could push it over the top, they all also have some troubles. And the winner of the next console generation will be determined not by how much “stuff” they all have, but by how well they can get over the issues and capitalize on their virtues.
It should be a fun fight to watch.
Which Console Maker Will Win the Next-Generation Battle? is written by Don Reisinger & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 schedule
Government: City, county, federal and state offices, animal shelters, courts and libraries will be closed.
Mail: The U.S. Postal Service will not deliver mail.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
