Hasta La Gadget!

Glenn Beck’s response to his critics might be even more controversial than the rape skit that set off the latest firestorm. On Thursday, the talk show host revealed his family’s own experience with sexual violence.

Speaking on The Blaze, Beck told of how his father had been repeatedly raped at a YMCA after running away from home. He also said his dad was repeatedly raped by a man who caught him stealing golf balls at a country club, and raped again by a preacher.

“Don’t you ever preach to me about what I can say and cannot say about rape,” Beck said through tears. “Don’t you ever try to be an authority to me on the effects of rape. Don’t you ever try to tell me what victims should or should not feel as I have tried to piece my family back together and to give my sisters the love that they deserve and never had.”

Beck’s father died in March at the age of 86.

He was speaking to critics of his show’s skit on studies on rape and sexual violence. In the segment, a man tries to lure another man — dressed as a woman — into bed as a third member of the show ridiculed the efforts as “rape.”

Beck’s confession is unlikely to silence the criticism.

“I’m truly sorry for your personal experience — but it doesn’t mean you’re above criticism,” wrote Scott Meslow, entertainment editor for The Week. “And as long as you continue to spread dangerous falsehoods and grotesque stereotypes about sexual assault, you need to be preached to about it.”

DOHA — As always, the Al Jazeera Forum, held more or less annually in Qatar, featured a diverse array of speakers: senior government officials from the region; Arab “outsiders” seeking to bolster their credibility; academics, journalists, and other ne’er-do-wells from around the world; and Al Jazeera’s own roster of experts.
Three years ago, at the 2011 Forum, optimism was everywhere, as the “Arab Spring” spawned expectations about the demise of despots and the rise of democracy. But this year, the mood was far more uncertain. The title of the Forum was, “Change in the Arab World: Where To?” No one had a definitive answer.
A survey of the Arab political landscape finds little cause for hope. Tunisia, where the Arab Spring began, has the best chance to find democratic stability. But Libya is an anarchic mess, Syria is a blood-soaked disaster, Egypt has merely bought time with its military coup, Bahrain might yet completely explode…and on and on. Most of this year’s Forum participants recognized this dire situation and set aside whatever remained of the 2011 euphoria, talking somberly about the need to build institutions and establish the rule of law.
An encouraging note was the relative absence of discussion about the role of the United States. When provoked, participants were happy to denounce American hypocrisy in dealings with Egypt, Bahrain, and Syria, but gradually Arabs seem to be realizing that they need to clean up their own mess.
This is important, because in the United States and elsewhere in the West there is a decided “Arab fatigue.” After the excruciating Iraq War, how many Americans want to spend more lives and money in the Middle East? President Barack Obama might be criticized for failing to intervene to halt the mass murder that is taking place in Syria, but if U.S. voters were asked about this, how many would favor intervention that put American personnel at risk? Maybe 5 or 10 percent? Obama faces a horrendous moral choice, but his “do very little” approach accurately represents the sentiments of his constituents (as well as of most of his military leaders).
For the longer term, “Arab fatigue” means that the time of a forceful U.S. presence in the region is over. The most useful assistance that American and other Western governments can provide is aid that stimulates Arab economies. With 60 percent of its population age 25 or younger, the Arab world most desperately needs to create jobs. Time and again at this year’s Forum, speakers spoke of the desire for “dignity” as the root cause of the 2011 uprisings. In part, dignity means having an opportunity to provide food, housing, and schooling for one’s family. Although they receive little notice, some of the most successful Western efforts in the region are addressing this: loans for entrepreneurs, job training for young women and men, trade arrangements to provide markets for Arab products.
Such programs tend to be overlooked because the more volatile aspects of the region’s politics attract so much attention, but these economic fundamentals are the keys to finding answers to the “Where to?” question.
Related to these matters is the persistent emphasis on “democracy” as a stated goal of Arab reformers. Judgments about the success or failure (mostly failure) in reaching this goal tend to be based on the Western experience. But if democracy, in the sense of a public shaping its own political destiny, is to be achieved in this region, it must be a truly Arab democracy. It must be rooted in Arab tradition, norms, and culture, and not be a Jeffersonian transplant from the West. Figuring out exactly what this means is one of the greatest challenges facing those who want to see Arab politics evolve. This will involve building an independent justice system, meaningful freedom of speech, opportunities for women, and other political characteristics that exist only rarely in the Arab world today. Given the existence of “Arab fatigue,” impetus for such change must come from within.
Creating a brighter Arab future cannot be accomplished solely by turning out hundreds of thousands or even millions of Arabs into the streets. A lesson from the events in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in 2011 is that political passion does not in itself ensure lasting political change, and the subdued realism of this year’s Al Jazeera Forum participants reflected this. For those pondering “Where to?”, recognizing this is the start of a new path forward.

Meet Kristin and Zachary. They’re a geeky couple who love each other and geeky things so it was fitting that they decided to have the geekiest wedding ever. How geeky? How about Nintendo cartridge invitations. Doctor Who shoes. A Star Wars guestbook. A Lego cake. Butterbeer. An Xbox achievement for the first kiss. And so much more.

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Along with games like Riot Games’ League of Legends, Valve’s DotA 2 is one of the more popular MOBAs around in the competitive scene. In fact Valve’s The International tournament had managed to raise a lot of money over the past couple of years, with the first tournament in 2011 offering $1 million in prize money.

The winnings were raised every year, with last year’s tournament offering up $2.8 million in prize money. That is a lot of money, but it seems that the stakes are even higher than ever because for 2014’s The International, Valve has managed to raise of $7 million in prize money. Yes, you read that right, a whopping $7 million, which is more than double last year’s winnings.

In fact a little over a week ago, the prize pool was at $6 million, which means that Valve managed to raise about a million in about 10 days which is mighty impressive. How Valve managed to raise so much money this year is by offering gamers rewards in exchange for donations. So instead of simply giving money away, Valve would be giving gamers something back in return in the form of in-game customization options, upgrades, new items, new features, and so on.

It’s an ingenious idea that allows players to feel like they’re actually part of the tournament itself, as opposed to just watching from the sidelines. For those interested in adding money to the prize pool, you can head on over to DotA 2’s website for the details. The International 2014 will be kicking off from the 18th-21st of July.

The International DotA 2 Prize Pool Crosses The $7 Million Mark

, original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Gaming, dota 2, valve,

It seems that there is a new Bing translation feature that is being tested out over in Twitter, although this has not become official just yet. According to blogger Arvid Bux who managed to post an image on his Google+ account, it showed off said Bing translation feature in the Android app in a rather clear manner. So far, the folks over at Twitter have not stepped forward to confirm or deny plans to add Bing translation services when it comes to the Android app, so in all probability, it is currently being tested.

Having said that, this would also translate to it being a matter of time prior to the new feature rolling out to all Twitter users who are grooving to the Android platform, so there is also every possibility that the Bing translation feature will eventually make its way over to the iOS version of the Twitter app, too.

Microsoft has certainly put in their shift when it comes to offering machine translation services in its products. In fact, it was just earlier in the week when Microsoft announced Skype Translator, a feature that enables the audio translations of video chats. Microsoft has already drawn up plans to introduce a beta version of Skype Translator for Windows 8 later in 2014, with this effort expanding to various other platforms next year.

Bing Translation Feature Tested In Twitter

, original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Cellphones, Android, bing, Twitter,