The memo went out, and November 3rd 2015 came to the National Geographic office. This was the day in which Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox took over National Geographic. The management of National Geographic sent out an email telling its staff, all of its staff, all to report to their headquarters, and wait by their phones. This pulled back every person who was in the field, every photographer, every reporter, even those on vacation had to show up on this fateful day.
As these phones rang, one by one National Geographic let go the award-winning staff, and the venerable institution was no more.
The name now belongs to Rupert Murdoch, and he has plans for it. The CEO of National Geographic Society, Greg Knell, tried to claim back in September that “there won’t be an [editorial] turn in a direction that is different from the National Geographic heritage.” Murdoch’s move today only served to prove Knell’s words hollow, with hundreds of talented people now served their pink slips. And with the recognition that Murdoch’s other enterprises do not reflect the standards held by National Geographic, and with Murdoch’s history of changing the editorial direction of purchased properties, today’s move indicates that we can expect a similar shift for National Geographic.
The National Geographic Society of Washington will lay off about 180 of its 2,000-member workforce in a cost-cutting move that follows the sale of its famous magazine and other assets to a company controlled by Rupert Murdoch.
The reduction, the largest in the organization’s 127-year history, appears to affect almost every department of the nonprofit organization, including the magazine, which the society has published since just after its founding in 1888. It also will affect people who work for the National Geographic Channel, the most profitable part of the organization. Several people in the channel’s fact-checking department, for example, were terminated on Tuesday, employees said...
In addition to the layoffs and buyouts, National Geographic Society said it would freeze its pension plan for eligible employees, eliminate medical coverage for future retirees and change its contributions to an employee 401(k) plan so that all employees receive the same percentage contribution.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
The new version of Herolab, 7.1 now has you tag your computer name when you reactivate your license.
On the upside this helps you keep track of what license is on what machine.
On the flipside though this counts as a computer reassignment, so if you're going to be upgrading to Windows 10, you should put off upgrading your Herolab until you've done so.
The editor in chief of the conservative Washington Free Beacon published a column today in which he outlined why he felt “apathetic” about the passing of Leonard Nimoy — his iconic character, Spock, reminds him too much of President Barack Obama.
Matthew Continetti opened his column by noting that the president himself drew the comparison, writing “I loved Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared, and level headed, the center of Star Trek‘s optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity’s future.”
“As I thought more about the president’s statement,” Continetti wrote, “I realized he identifies with the very aspects of the Spock character that most annoy me. I don’t love Spock at all.”
“Not only do Spock’s peacenik inclinations routinely land the Enterprise and the Federation into trouble, his ‘logic’ and ‘level head’ mask an arrogant emotional basket case…Spock spends most of his life as a freelancing diplomat eager to negotiate with the worst enemies of Starfleet. He’s the opposite of a role model: a cautionary tale.”
After outlining the many decisions made by Spock in the original series, the movies based on it, and The Next Generation, Continetti turned his attention to the new film franchise, which is “an enjoyable picture that is revealing of Spock’s awfulness.”
“It shows how Spock is tormented, physically and mentally, by the fact that his mother is human, how Mr. Logic is actually a boiling kettle of fury, resentment, passion, and ambition. Spock is a jerk to his girlfriend Uhura, who is way out of his league. He almost kills Kirk. He is so overcome with emotion he relieves himself from duty in the middle of a huge crisis. Spock is rude to his father.”
He then asks, “and Obama likes this selfish jerk? The coolness the president so appreciates in Spock is a thin veneer over a remarkably arrogant and off-putting detachment from human suffering.”
“What Leonard Nimoy’s death revealed,” Continetti wrote, “is that there is a sizable portion of Trek fans, and of nerds in general, that identifies with Spock’s neuroses, his hang-ups, his self-loathing, that are attracted to the cold soulless abstractions through which he views life, who believe in the naïve and ineffective diplomacy in which he so thoughtlessly and recklessly and harmfully engages.”
“It will take America some time to recover from the legacy of our Spock-loving president,” he concluded.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Today's scheduled landing of Rosetta's lander Philae has been a complete success. It's a combination of several firsts that the European Space Agency can claim for itself in this fantstic success.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
From now on, I'm going to simply say yes. Because you must be uniquely narcissistic to believe that you hold an opinion not shared by anyone else when it comes to a hobby as widespread and as mainstream as this one.
If you want a better answer, I will also make a counter resolution to try to post an answer as mature as the original question is asked.
But in short...
You're not the only one who hates the thing you hate.
You're not the only one who loves the thing you love.
You're not the only one who has raged at your DM. You may be however, one of the few who's ever put their appreciation of a good DM where their mouth is.
You're not the only one who has walked away from a table or at least thought about doing so.
You're not the only one who hates summoners, gunslingers, psionics, or Rob Liefield drawings. Nor are you the only one who gets a splitting headache from Slim Whitman.
You're not the only one who's tried stuffing an axebeak through a sewer pipe because you refused to be without your mount.
Posters are encouraged to expand this list in order that this thread may be one stop shopping for future would be Am I The Only One? posters.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
The fabled and extremely dark 5th season of Torchwood premieres on BBC America this Saturday. The only season of the show to have been an American production.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
NASA is set to launch a rocket tonight at 11:27 pm EDT that will carry a robotic probe to the moon from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia–and it should be visible across a large portion of the North American eastern coast.
The car-sized, scientific orbiter called the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is designed to examine the structure and composition of the moon’s tenuous atmosphere and determine what role lunar dust plays in the environment. Mission results are expected to help unlock many similar long-standing mysteries seen on Mercury, asteroids, and even moons of outer planets.
This will be the first lunar mission launched from the northeast coast of North America and the first for the Minotaur V rocket, which is based on the design of intercontinental ballistic missiles from the Cold War days.
Best views of course will be from the surrounding area of the launch site, however millions of skywatchers across most of the eastern coastline of North America will have viewing opportunities too–weather permitting.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
From The New York Times: Al Jazeera acquired Current TV for $500 million in January to start an American channel, after trying unsuccessfully for years to win cable and satellite carriage for its English-language international news channel.
But with carriage comes concessions. Since distributors discourage their partners from giving programming away on the Internet, Al Jazeera will have to block American users from the live streams of its programming that tend to be popular in periods of tumult overseas.
Al Jazeera will start in about 48 million of the country’s roughly 100 million homes that subscribe to television.
It is in talks with Time Warner Cable, which publicly dropped Current TV upon Al Jazeera’s acquisition. Meanwhile, one of Al Jazeera’s overseas rivals, the British Broadcasting Corporation, continues to press for wider carriage of BBC World News in America.
What is unique about Al Jazeera — its seemingly limitless financing from an oil- and gas-rich government — may be its biggest advantage and its most-remarked-upon weakness.
With a staff of 900, including 400 newsroom employees, it is one of the most significant investments in television journalism in modern times.
Paul Eedle, an Al Jazeera English executive who is helping to start the channel, would not comment on the total budget, but said hundreds of millions of dollars were being spent. “We’re here because we think our journalistic mission has something to offer America,” he said.
Many contend Qatar’s geopolitical aims are a motivator, too. The Al Jazeera name still arouses deep suspicion in some Americans, mostly because of the period immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when Al Jazeera broadcast messages from Osama bin Laden and was demonized by Bush administration officials as anti-American.
Al Jazeera America officials rebut questions about whether its brand name will hurt its chances on cable by invoking other foreign brands, like Honda, that are now viewed favorably in the United States.
For now, some big sponsors appear to be skittish; Al Jazeera declined to name any major advertisers.
It has cast its lower commercial load — about six minutes an hour, compared with more than 15 minutes an hour on another news channels — as a perk for viewers. “Not cluttering the news with commercials,” Mr. Al Shihabi said after a studio tour in New York on Thursday.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Thanks to Governor Rick Perry, it is now legal to say Merry Christmas.
I wasn't aware that it was illegal to do so in any state, but Texans must be breathing a sigh of relief at being protected from those Christian-hating Democrats.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
From the slashdot story here Flash required to view.
Imagine game designer Steve Jackson and a bunch of friends building Lego trains and tracks and scenery, including buildings and other props. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? The group calls itself the Texas Brick Railroad. A lot of members have children, so their meetings tend to be family affairs. Plus, as they're doing here, they often display their train sets at public events where -- yes -- their trains attract children like crazy. This video shows off both current Lego trains and some of the classic, no-longer-sold Lego trains that members have collected over the years, including the highly-prized monorails. There's a transcript, but face it: This is basically visual material, and worth checking out on a computer or handheld that runs Flash if your normal one does not.
The set pictured has in addition to two conventional trains a Monorail set which you can only get these days by Ebay.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
This has been discussed in this thread but I'm not really satisfied with the answer I gave in it.
If a caster with this spell invests in appropriate metamagic feats and keeps his familliar with a cure wand by his body, does he essentially become unkillable with this spell while it lasts? Or more importantly can he remain an effective caster in this state?
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
A woman accused of sorcery after the death of a 6 year old boy was set upon by a mob, tortured and burned alive in Papua New Guinea . I'd link to the story itself, but almost every article that I find has images that are disturbing enough to most likely break the guidelines of this site, so I'll post a link to another article that warns of the more disturbing undertones of this and other acts of violence that seem to be on the rise against women.
When you play your witch character, as I will mine, remember that for too many women, it's a label that carried a death sentence. And that Misogyny still has a very strong and ugly presence on this planet. And not just in far off places like New Guinea.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
This guide(right click and choose save as to download the PDF) to the Inaguration has among other things recipies for everything that's going to be served at the inagural banguet. And fun facts about inaugurations throughout the nation's history.
INAUGURAL FIRSTS: The guide lists dozens of inaugural precedents. Here are some highlights, from past to present:
In 1793 in Philadelphia, George Washington delivers what remains to this day the shortest inaugural address – 135 words.
In 1801, Thomas Jefferson became the first president inaugurated in Washington D.C.
In 1809, James Madison held the first inaugural ball. Tickets were $4.
In 1825, John Quincy Adams became the first president to wear long pants, instead of knee breeches, for his swearing-in.
In 1837, Martin Van Buren became the first president who was not born a British subject.
In 1845, James Polk’s inauguration was the first covered by telegraph.
In 1865, at Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration, African-Americans participated in the inaugural parade for the first time.
In 1897, William McKinley’s inauguration was the first recorded by a motion picture camera.
In 1921, Warren G. Harding became the first president to ride to and from his inauguration in an automobile.
In 1929, Herbert C. Hoover’s inauguration was the first recorded by talking newsreel.
In 1937, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president sworn in on Jan. 20.
In 1949, Harry S. Truman’s inauguration was the first to be televised.
In 1961, John F. Kennedy became the first – and so far the only – Roman Catholic sworn in as president.
In 1963, Lyndon Johnson became the first, and only, president to be sworn in on a plane.
In 1974, Gerald R. Ford became the first unelected vice president to be sworn in as president.
In 1997, Bill Clinton’s inauguration was the first to be broadcast live on the Internet.
In 2005, for George W. Bush’s swearing-in, officials designed anti-counterfeiting security into the tickets for the first time.
In 2009, Barack Obama became not only the first African-American to be sworn in as president, but also the first to be born in Hawaii.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Among the gun right wing nuts, there is a special breed. These folks insist that Sandy Hook was an event staged by "them". "Them" being all those advocating gun control legislation.
This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For
By Paul Shawcross
The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:
The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?
[1] The world's biggest single problem is the failure of people or groups to look at things from the point of view of other people or groups--i.e. to put themselves in the shoes of "the other." I'm not talking about empathy in the sense of literally sharing people's emotions--feeling their pain, etc. I'm just talking about the ability to comprehend and appreciate the perspective of the other. So, for Americans, that might mean grasping that if you lived in a country occupied by American troops, or visited by American drone strikes, you might not share the assumption of many Americans that these deployments of force are well-intentioned and for the greater good. You might even get bitterly resentful. You might even start hating America.
[2] Grass-roots hatred is a much greater threat to the United States--and to nations in general, and hence to world peace and stability--than it used to be. The reasons are in large part technological, and there are two main manifestations: (1) technology has made it easier for grass-roots hatred to morph into the organized deployment (by non-state actors) of massively lethal force; (2) technology has eroded authoritarian power, rendering governments more responsive to popular will, hence making their policies more reflective of grass roots sentiment in their countries. The upshot of these two factors is that public sentiment toward America abroad matters much more (to America's national security) than it did a few decades ago.
[3] If the United States doesn't use its inevitably fading dominance to build a world in which the rule of law is respected, and in which global norms are strong, the United States (and the world) will suffer for it. So when, for example, we do things to other nations that we ourselves have defined as acts of war (like cybersabotage), that is not, in the long run, making us or our allies safer. The same goes for when we invade countries, or bomb them, in clear violation of international law. And at some point we have to get serious about building a truly comprehensive nuclear nonproliferation regime--one that we expect our friends, not just our enemies, to be members-in-good-standing of.
You might ask: If I'm so concerned about international affairs, why am I writing a book about Buddhism? Of course, you might not ask that. But just in case:
Part of the answer is that, though writing in this space has led me to emphasize my concerns about policy and politics, they aren't my only concerns. But another part of the answer is this:
If you look at the three challenges I've just identified in italics, you'll see that the second two wouldn't be so challenging if the first challenge was met. It's because Americans don't put themselves in the shoes of non-Americans that they (with the best of intentions) support policies that generate hatred of America and (without even realizing it) act as if rules are things that should be obeyed by everyone except America and its allies. (I don't mean to suggest that Americans are the only people who make these mistakes. It's just that I'm an American writing mainly for Americans, so I focus on American policies.) So if we could address the first challenge in a big way--if we could get much better at seeing the world from the point of view of others--that would go a long way toward saving the world from the grim fate that otherwise may await it. And, without going into a lot of detail, I'd just say that (1) the Buddhist view of the mind helps illuminate this challenge, as does modern psychology, and I'm interested in seeing how the challenge looks from these two vantage points; and (2) Buddhist meditative practice, in which I've dabbled, can be effective in addressing the challenge.
One thing I've wondered, as I've watched America's national security policies fail to address the challenges I describe above--and as I've watched the policies of nations in general fail to solve the world's biggest problems--is whether these failures will continue until we make what you might call "spiritual" progress at the grass roots level. In other words, maybe meeting that first challenge, and becoming better at seeing things from the point of view of "the other," isn't just conducive to progress at the policy level but a pre-requisite for it. In principle all religious and spiritual traditions can play a constructive role here. (That was part of the point of my most recent book, The Evolution of God--see the chapter titled "Moral Imagination.") But Buddhism is distinctively relevant, because there are now some very secular, westernized versions of it that may appeal to the growing number of westerners who reject religion per se.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
This came up from another thread, but as much as I might enjoy rebutting Raving Dork, this deserves another approach at the topic.
Roy Greenhilt, potentially smart enough to have become a Wizard eschewed that path, as some say in rebellion to a neglectful father, the wizard Greenhilt. While not of mean arm himself, he embodies the approach of the fighter who doesn't neglect his brain over his brawn, even if he prizes his development of the latter highly.
So this is the thread to build your own Roy Greenhilts and further explore the concept of the intelligent fighter. I'm starting with this one based on the thread namer based loosely on what I see as his current incarnation. Play with the concept as you would, the ground rules are only that the character be a single classed fighter with a race from the Core Rulebook.
Other than that... go wild.
So here is my first entry.
Roy Greenhilt version 1.0
Spoiler:
Roy Greenhilt LazarX V 1.0
Human Fighter 15
LG Medium Humanoid (human)
Init +7; Senses Perception +19
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 24 (+10 armor, +3 Dex, +2 natural, +2 deflection, +1 dodge)
hp 169 (15d10+75)
Fort +15 (+4 vs. suffocation or hot or cold environments), Ref +10, Will +7 (+4 vs. fear)
Defensive Abilities Bravery +4; DR 3/—
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +4 Bane (UnDead) Adamantine Greatsword +29/+24/+19 (2d6+18+2d6 vs. UnDead/19-20/x2) and
. . Armor spikes +22/+17/+12 (1d6+7/x2)
Ranged +1 Composite longbow (Str +6) +21/+16/+11 (1d8+9/x3)
Special Attacks Weapon Training: Blades, Heavy, Weapon Training: Bows, Weapon Training: Close
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 18/22, Dex 12/16, Con 14/18, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +15; CMB +21 (+25 Repositioning); CMD 37 (39 vs. Reposition)
Feats Alertness, Combat Expertise +/-4, Dazzling Display (Greatsword), Defensive Weapon Training +3: Blades, Heavy, Disruptive, Dodge, Dreadful Carnage, Endurance, Furious Focus, Greater Reposition, Improved Initiative, Improved Reposition, Power Attack -4/+8, Step Up, Toughness +15, Weapon Focus (Greatsword), Weapon Specialization (Greatsword)
Skills Acrobatics +12, Appraise +8, Climb +12, Craft (armor) +9, Craft (weapons) +10, Handle Animal +8, Intimidate +18, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +16, Knowledge (engineering) +16, Perception +19, Ride +12, Sense Motive +14, Survival +8, Swim +14 (+18 vs. exhaustion)
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Orc
SQ Bane (UnDead), Fortification (light), Raven bracers (3 rounds/day)
Combat Gear +1 Composite longbow (Str +6), +3 Armor spikes, Fortification (light) Adamantine Field plate, +4 Bane (UnDead) Adamantine Greatsword; Other Gear Amulet of natural armor +2, Belt of physical perfection +4, Cloak of resistance +2, Handy haversack (empty), Raven bracers (3 rounds/day), Ring of protection +2, Tome of understanding +1
--------------------
TRACKED RESOURCES
--------------------
Raven bracers (3 rounds/day) - 0/3
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Bane (UnDead) +2 & +2d6 damage vs chosen type
Bravery +4 (Ex) +4 Will save vs. Fear
Combat Expertise +/-4 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Damage Reduction (3/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Dazzling Display (Greatsword) Intimidate check to demoralize can affect those within 30' who see you.
Defensive Weapon Training +3: Blades, Heavy Gain +2 dodge bonus against a single fighter weapon group
Disruptive +4 DC to cast defensively for those you threaten.
Dreadful Carnage If you reduce an enemy to 0 or fewer HP, you can make an intimidate check to demoralize all enemies within 30' as a free action.
Endurance +4 to a variety of skill checks. Sleep in L/M armor with no fatigue.
Fortification (light) 25% chance to ignore critical hit/sneak attack.
Furious Focus If you are wielding a weapon in two hands, ignore the penalty for your first attack of each turn.
Greater Reposition +2 to Reposition, target provokes AoO from your allies.
Improved Reposition Reposition at +2, without an attack of opportunity.
Power Attack -4/+8 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Raven bracers (3 rounds/day) This pair of magnificent dark metal bracers is forged to depict the shape of a raven stretched over the wearer's forearm. Once prized by the last king of Zolurket, several additional raven bracers were created in the mines' final days to aid the king's bodyguards in defending him and maintaining communications throughout the mine.
While worn, these bracers can be used as a swift action to grant the throwing and returning magic weapon qualities to any held melee weapon; these qualities persist for 1 round.
This ability can be used three times a day.
In addition, the bracers may be removed and tossed into the air as a standard action, where they transform into a pair of identical black metallic ravens similar to silver raven figurines of wondrous power. Like those items, these ravens obey the wearer, and may each bear a message as if affected by the animal messenger spell. The ravens can only take this shape once per week, retaining the form continuously for up to 24 hours.
Once both of these ravens have delivered their messages (or once the 24-hour limit is reached), they both vanish in a cloud of smoke and return unerringly to the owner's hands via teleportation. If the item's owner is no longer on the same plane as the bracers when this event occurs, they merely revert to bracer form and fall to the ground, awaiting a new owner to find and claim them for their own use.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item; animal messenger, animate object, teleport object, telekinesis; Cost 8,300 gp
Step Up You may make a 5' step closer when your opponent makes a 5' step away from you.
Weapon Training: Blades, Heavy +3 (Ex) +3 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Heavy Blades
Weapon Training: Bows +2 (Ex) +2 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Bows
Weapon Training: Close +1 (Ex) +1 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Close-in weapons
Hero Lab® and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC®, and are used under license.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
From this entry in the Tor Blog you can see the main cast of Dr. Who arriving for the New York premeire of the new season. They arrived in three DeLoreans, the other choice of transportation when your TARDIS is up on blocks.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Another major part of my youth has passed. I remember watching the moonlanding in '69. There has never been a moment like that, and likely never will again.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Here's one from the latest round of TEDTalks. An actual swearm of small flying robots that can execute some amazing cooperative tricks as a team without communication or a central command, much as how ants team up to do and carry things.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
I can not possibly reccommend Ars Magica any higher. It was the harbinger of troupe style play and the forerunner to the Storyteller system. It's a great way to break out of a D20 rules lawyering rut, as it throws most of the conventions of D20 play to the side.
But the best thing about it... it's magic with flavor. Not just the Hermetic magic but all forms of magic from Infernal, Faerie, to Divine Miracles are addressed in a flavor that fits the semi-historical setting.
Instead of being vagabond adventurers, you're someone with a place, with an ongoing history. And it's a setting with the right balance of heavy drama with an occasional dash of light comedy.
It's one of those great RPGs to have just for the read alone.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
This article from the Huffington Post describes an interesting set of patents that Apple has just put through. In a nutshell, Apple has decided that batteries have hit an impassible tech wall and has submitted patents for a consumer level Hydrogen Fuel cell system, one that could be incorporated in a future Ipad, presumably.
After failing to corner, i.e. create the 5 inch Android tablet market, Dell has given up on Android in total and is working on Windows 8 for it's next tablets.
