General Discussion

Who's that guy in the blue shirt? Yep, I'm learning Shou Shu Kung Fu at the Sheng Chi Center in Valley Springs. They didn't have the full gis in yet, but this was my first day. All of the lessons are shown online. For self defense, exercise, and the sheer fun of learning it. I like it so far. Two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, plus a cardio/tai chi/yoga thing on Wednesdays.

Gun crime has plunged in the United States since its peak in the middle of the 1990s, including gun killings, assaults, robberies and other crimes, two new studies of government data show. Yet few Americans are aware of the dramatic drop, and more than half believe gun crime has risen, according to a newly released survey by the Pew Research Center. In less than two decades, the gun murder rate has been nearly cut in half. Other gun crimes fell even more sharply, paralleling a broader drop in violent crimes committed with or without guns. Violent crime dropped steeply during the 1990s and has fallen less dramatically since the turn of the millennium. The number of gun…

I will forever hold dear this amazing artist's works in my heart. Ray was a motherfucking PIONEER of special effects. I'm going to watch Jason & The Argonauts tonight in his memory.

Here's a long, but good article on GPUs from Techspot. http://www.techspot.com/article/650-history-of-the-gpu/ The evolution of the modern graphics processor begins with the introduction of the first 3D add-in cards in 1995, followed by the widespread adoption of the 32-bit operating systems and the affordable personal computer. The graphics industry that existed before that largely consisted of a more prosaic 2D, non-PC architecture, with graphics boards better known by their chip’s alphanumeric naming conventions and their huge price tags. 3D gaming and virtualization PC graphics eventually coalesced from sources as diverse as arcade and console gaming, military…

Hey you! Hope your day today is fantastic. Best of birthday wishes to you!

One of three parts. Definitely worth a watch.

EA has announced it will discontinue its Online Pass program. "Yes, we're discontinuing Online Pass," EA's senior director of corporate communications John Reseburg told GamesBeat in an e-mail. "None of our new EA titles will include that feature." Reseburg added that "many players didn't respond to the format," despite EA going on record months after instituting Online Passes, reporting it had not seen a "significant" backlash. "We've listened to the feedback and decided to do away with it moving forward." The Online Pass, a one-time use code required for online play, was first introduced in 2010 with the intent of being exclusive to EA Sports games, though it quickly …

Bad move, Nintendo. Nintendo is using Youtube's Content ID system to make this happen. The service searches Youtube for video or audio that matches a company's content, and then gives them control over that Youtube submission. “Identify user-uploaded videos comprised entirely OR partially of their content, and choose, in advance, what they want to happen when those videos are found,” the official page states. “Make money from them. Get stats on them. Or block them from YouTube altogether.” So if you're creating a walkthrough or a Let's Play video of a Nintendo game, that video will now be monetized by Nintendo. They make the money from it, not you. Read on http://…

Hey you! Lots of birthdays it seems this month in May so far, and you're one of them! Have a fantastic day TC.

Hope you both have a great day!

http://penny-arcade.com/static/rainslick-giveaway

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2013/05/xbox-one-analysis/ Always Online? There’s one feature of Xbox One from which we can infer quite a few conclusions: You can install any game from the disc to the console’s hard drive, and then play that game whenever you like without having to put the disc in. Wired asked Microsoft if installation would be mandatory. “On the new Xbox, all game discs are installed to the HDD to play,” the company responded in an emailed statement. Sounds mandatory to us. What follows naturally from this is that each disc would have to be tied to a unique Xbox Live account, else you could take a single disc and pass it between everyone you know and …

This needs to stop post haste http://www.alternet.org/cops-go-undercover-high-school-bust-special-needs-kid-pot-why-are-police-so-desperate-throw-kids In a video segment on ABC News, they say they were "thrilled" when their son -- who has Asperger's and other disabilities and struggled to make friends -- appeared to have instantly made a friend named Daniel. “He suddenly had this friend who was texting him around the clock,” Doug Snodgrass told ABC News. His son had just recently enrolled at Chaparral High School. "Daniel," however, was an undercover cop with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department who " hounded" the teenager to sell him his prescription medicati…

David Dreger, AKA Knuckles Dawson. HELP. EMERGENCY.MISSING PERSONS: KNUCKLESDAWSON (David) Vancouver BC Last tweeted @OboeCrazy last night about 11:53pm He left his wallet & phone behind. Deleted his Twitter and Xbox Live accounts last night. Search for him started at noon today. HELP US FIND HIM. They are combing Stanley Park for him. Pass this around. If you know David and are local, get out there and look for him. PLEASE REPOST ON EVERY AVENUE. WE WANT DAVID HOME SAFE. COMMENT ONLY FOR MORE INFO. if you are reposting on other sites (Reddit, Tumblr, and so on) please include a link. Try to use the posts already made on those sites for maximum coverage. Repostin…

Russian scientists discovered a fully-grown female mammoth with blood and well-preserved muscle tissue trapped in ice in Siberia. The findings come amid debates on whether the extinct species should be resurrected using DNA. Scientists say they have managed to find mammoth blood during the excavation of a grown female animal on the Lyakhovsky Islands, the southernmost group of the New Siberian Islands in the Arctic seas of northeastern Russia. The dark blood was found in ice cavities below the belly of the animal. When researchers broke the cavities with a poll pick, the blood came flowing out. The fact surprised them because the temperature was 10C below zero. "It ca…

Here's hoping you get another 5lb gummy bear to eat on your special day! lol

Uhhh.... I don't know what to think! Don't get me wrong, I loves me some Jack Bauer. That being said I don't think he can replace Hayter

Hey all! I'll be gone for a week (maybe 8 or 9 days) and am taking a MUCH NEEDED vacation. My parents own a house down in Florida so I'm going to be staying down there. I'm super excited. I think I'm going to go to Sea World (Disney is a RIPOFF it's so damn expensive now, and I have corporate discounts I can use on for Sea World tickets), and I'm thinking I may go check out this Sleuth's Mystery Dinner show also which sounds kind of cheesy and fun. That being said, I won't be around for my regular streaming hours so someone is going to have to take over for me on that Friday and following Monday. Not sure if I'll be back for that next Friday's stream either! Dam…

No online authentication. No used game restrictions. I don't care how much it costs. I have a launch PS3 (which was ridiculous to begin with). I'm fucking sold. And Elder Scrolls Online + FFXV? Done deal. Game set and effing match Sony. Kudos to you. I wish you well (and my Vita is ready for the cross play!)

So you know about the Ouya, correct? The tiny liitle android box that was a Kickstarter success? Ok, here we go. Ouya didn't rent a booth at E3. Not sure exactly why really (I didn't research), but they decided that they were going to have a booth in the parking lot across the street from the E3 convention. COMMENCE DOUCHBAGGERY! Ouya was doing their thing, having their booth and trying to show off their console. However the organizers of E3 (the ESA) apparently didn't like the fact that the Ouya team was attending E3 on "their own terms". With that in mind, the ESA immediately went out and "rented" a bunch of parking spots in the lot Ouya was in and proceed t…

So, you are men. The manliest of men. Men so manly that even other men are boys. Oh yes, I need some suggestions for gift. I need input on shaving shit. Like after shave, lotions or whatever the fuck it is you men use to keep your faces baby butt smooth

http://www.gofundme.com/3a5f64 This page has been created to help John Young get a second chance at life and to help Donna care for her son. John is doing everything in his power to get a heart transplant. He is selling all of his belongings and risking it all to get the chance for a new heart and new life. Please, help in any way you can. No donation is too small. Thank You for all your help and your prayers. May God bless you. We're also hoping to be able to setup a 24 hour or longer donation live cast with all of our streamers on our Twitch channel. If enough people donated just 50 cents, he and his mother could at least move to Colorado and get started at gettin…

Under the administration of President Barack Obama, more money has been spent and nearly as many Americans thrown in prison over medical marijuana than was done under onetime favorite liberal punching bag George W. Bush, according to a pair of studies conducted by Americans for Safe Access and California NORML, both released today. In that span, federal prosecutors have amassed a remarkable record: 90 percent of medical marijuana cases have resulted in convictions, an effective use of the $300 million spent on enforcing federal drug laws in medical marijuana states. While current Attorney General Eric Holder's October surprise is credited with helping to derail Californ…