Deserved Links

A Sexist Seahawks Fan Got What He Deserved After Heckling The Bills’ Female Coach. Some guy at the Seahawks game last night got caught on camera calling the Bills Female Assistant Coach a waitress and asked her to get him a Pepsi. This just supports my theory, all Pepsi drinkers are awful people.

Brazil’s getting a new Sega Genesis that looks just like the old one. This is pretty cool, who knew the love for the Genesis was so strong in Brazil. Hopefully a couple of these will make their way to the states. Those Genesis retro systems you can find at Walmart or Target now are just half assed emulators shoved in a retro looking plastic case. This new/old unit with it's ability to load old carts and roms seems pretty incredible. Maybe not $120 incredible but like $50 or $60 incredible.

Toblerone Swiss chocolate maker shrinks bars, changes shape to keep prices down. I had no idea Toblerone's were still a thing. I don't think I've ever seen them at a store that wasn't in an airport. Maybe a mall kiosk.

Normal Links

This is Just a Normal Day in Russia. The third link here is super depressing so let's start things off with something fun. Man those Russians sure are crazy. I really want to know the story behind all those raw chickens and the row of computers. Is that some sort of Counterstrike level I've never seen?

Destin Sandlin Straps Himself Into a Falling Helicopter to Prove Neil deGrasse Tyson Wrong. Is it just me or are people starting to get tired of Neil deGrasse Tyson's shit? I don't really need an astrophysicist to tell me that the science behind some popular movie is kinda garbage. Just tell me what we need to bring back Pluto and cut it with all the cute "um actually..." nonsense.

'I Hope You Get Raped Again': Women Sportswriters Listen to Men Read Vile Tweets About Them. Sweet Fancy Moses, what on earth is wrong with people? Why would you say that to someone? Especially, over something as trivial as sports? It's insane. This whole world has gone insane.

I get it when bratty teenagers who don't know any better call people homo on Xbox Live, teenagers are stupid and do stupid stuff. I don't think I'll ever understand why an adult would enjoy lobbing horrible racist or sexist insults to people on social media. What do you gain from that? Does it really make you feel better about yourself to say you're going to kill or rape someone? People are the worst.

Investigating the Avril Lavigne Conspiracy. The Avril Lavigne doppelganger conspiracy is one of my favorite because of how ridiculous it is. Like some Avril fans just can't get over the fact that the girl who sang Sk8ter-Boi would grow up to marry the guy from Nickleback. If you ask me that's exactly the kind of thing the girl who sang Sk8ter-Boi would do.

On the other hand the Katy Perry grew up to be JonBenet Ramsey thing is totally true.

Get Those High Waisted Shorts The Hell Out Of Here.

I like pleated skirts and ponytails as much as the next guy but I don't think I will ever understand cheerleading. I get the appeal of cheerleading, I've seen all the Bring it On movies several times, but when I try and look at it through an objective lens, I can't shake the fact that it seems incredibly sexist. It was born in an era where women weren't allowed to participate but were expected to support the men and in the last 50 years it's been super sexualized to the point where no one even thinks twice that every NFL squad has a bikini calendar.

Yes, I know there's more to cheerleading than short skirts and Eliza Dushku bikini car washes but... I don't know, it doesn't seem like the more positive points of cheerleading culture offset all the weird sexist stuff. Anyway I bring this all up because the University of Washington put out a helpful infographic (seen above) to aspiring cheerleaders that just emphasized how weirdly sexist (and possibly racist) having cheerleaders is. Why do they all have to be tan with long wavy hair and no tattoos? Isn't it bad enough that you have this thing that's kinda sexist and almost exclusively caters to the male gaze but they also have to adhere to beauty standards of the 1950s?

That might be my real problem with cheerleading. Why do they all have to look like fembots? I think I'd be more forgiving if there were a few cool tomboy cheerleaders. Maybe just one or two girls with a mohawk on every squad.

The funny part about this is that the UW retracts this infographic saying it's inappropriate or some nonsense like that but they never say the tips were wrong. I guarantee you that if you want to be a UW Cheerleader you should still follow it's advice. Cheerleading is weird.

The Rise of Links

DC Restructures Vertigo, Fires Shelly Bond, Internet Explodes. DC's Vertigo line of comics is an adult imprint that back in the day had some of the hottest comics on the market Books like Sandman, Preacher, Fables, V for Vendetta, Hellblazzer, many of which have seen movie or TV adaptions. Over the last couple years though the line hasn't done as well as in the past, so it's not a huge surprise that the editor in charge of the line, Shelly Bond, was recently let go under the guise of restructuring.

The big surprise though was the absolute shit storm this caused on-line. A lot of creators with bridges to burn immediately labeled the move as terrible and started lobbing scathing accusations to the remaining DC management, at one point a very prominent editor was called out for being a serial sexual harasser.

For a number of years DC has had a bit of a dark rumor cloud hanging over it when it comes to their management and editorial staff. Sexual harassment allegations have been around for years. It's even been rumored that an artist was taken off a very prominent project a few years back because the co-publisher was sleeping with his wife. It looks like Shelly Bond's firing was the straw that broke the camels back as far as creators actually naming names and pointing direct fingers. It's going to be very interesting to see what DC's response is. Hopefully if anything comes out of this it will be a safer work environment for people who just want to make good comics.

5 Movie And TV Plots That Mean The Writer's Out Of Ideas. I'll eat my hat if this article wasn't a direct reaction to the season finale of The Walking Dead. Still, it's written by David Wong so it's worth the read.

I really think what makes most people upset about the cliffhanger on the Walking Dead finale is that it was completely unnecessary. It's the most poplar show on cable, they don't need to resort to storytelling tricks to keep the audience engaged. I 100% guarantee that if they had just showed who Negan had killed they would have had just as much buzz going into the next season as they do now AND they wouldn't have pissed off so many fans. It was just a terrible terrible idea.

The rise of the $400 smartphone. Man, when did $400 for a phone become the cheap alternative? I'm still wrapping my head around buying a phone off contract. The last phone I bought was a Nokia under a two year deal and it cost me all of $100 out of pocket. I guess when you're talking about something you use every day and in theory will for a year or two, $400 isn't that much money but I'm not the kind of person that just has that sort of cash laying around. For me that's a big purchase that requires a bit of planning. Ugh, I hate it when I have to think about things like this, it takes all the fun out of buying something new. Where do I get one of those Obama phones?

Microsoft Makes it Rain at GDC

This weekend Microsoft released a statement condemning last week's Xbox GDC Party that featured scantily clad dancers as entertainment. I for one am appalled. How on earth did I miss this story last week?

This whole thing is pretty fantastic. I mean it's certainly not fantastic for any of the women that were at the party or quite frankly some of the men. It's fantastic that in 2016 some dude-bro thought that this was a great idea for a work event. The tech world has probably had it too good too fast. You've got big companies making super bank that are fine with having beer and ping pong tables set up in the office and everyone starts thinking that work isn't work anymore. Work is just an extension of your home life. Before you know it IPAs and Ping Pong are replaced with shots of Jaeger and go-go dancers.

It's a shame this happened under Microsoft's watch. It's a black eye the video game industry doesn't really need right now. One of the local yokels on the radio this morning was saying something to the effect of "well these are the kinds of things these video games cater too". Gamers don't need that, that's the kind of garbage close minded thinking gamers have been fighting against since Pong.

The good news is that Big Redmond came out and without any equivocation apologized for the event and put it's organizers on blast. My guess is someone in San Francisco is about to get a security escort out of the building.

It's Always Links

It’s Always Sunny In Minelandia: Movie Director Announced. This one really came out of left field. I understand that Rob McElhenny has been doing a great job directing episodes of It's Always Sunny but to go from that to what I assume will be a pretty big tentpole film is a pretty big leap. Here's hoping they sneak a rum ham in there somewhere.

Hot Toys Is Making a Sixth-Scale Millennium Falcon That's 18-Feet Long. I'm sure this will never be for sale but I don't care I want it. Hot Toys already makes remarkably accurate figurines imagine what they can do on this large of a scale? I wouldn't be surprised if it has functioning blasters and a holographic chess game.

There Was Nothing in the World Like Action Park. I LOVE stories about Action Park and this is probably as comprehensive of a run down on old "Traction Park" as you're going to get. Man I really wish I could have ridden that looping water slide, just look at that thing. It's as beautiful as it is terrifying.

What 10 Hours Of Walking At Comic-Con As A Female Cosplayer Looks Like. Welp, this is pretty depressing. Go ahead and watch the video or read the article, maybe do both. I don't know how much free time you have.

First off, Yes. If you are going to go dressed up to a Con dressed in a provocative manner you're going to get attention. That's man or woman. Boobs or Butt cheeks. Abs or Flabs. 36 Double D's or a 36 foot long foam sword. But attention shouldn't equal harassment.

Believe it or not you can ask to have your picture taken with someone in a sexy outfit without acting like a complete sleeze-douche.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: FIFA II

It's not often that John Oliver goes back to the well, but considering the recent corruption charges against FIFA it seemed appropriate that he re-address the issue on Last Week Tonight. As usual it's pretty brilliant, I especially liked his Ke$ha analogy.

Also nice to see someone bringing up the Women's World Cup and the moronic idea of playing it on turf. The short shorts idea's not so bad though...

Production Links

Leaked production images from Star Wars Episode VII. Some of these are production art, which is cool but rarely ever is translated 100% to the film. This picture of Darth Vader's helmet is supposedably a prop from he set. OMG, I don't even know where to start. Are they going back to Endor and someone finds this? Did Luke keep it? Is there a clone Darth Vader out there? Man, I promised myself I wouldn't fall down this rabbit hole again.

Feminist gamers are still getting death threats even as comic conventions are adopting anti-sexual harassment policies. Way to keep the title punchy, Time. Long story short. Comic Book conventions (and in general Comic Book culture, if there is such a thing) has come a long way in embracing female fans and readers. Most big name conventions split 50/50 on boy/girl attendance and many of them have beefed up their harassment policies. You still hear horror stories from time to time but it's generally accepted that things are getting much better.

Video games on the other hand.... Well, if you've been on Xbox live anytime recently I think you know just how accepting gamer culture is to ladies right about now.

Gallery: BrickCon, The biggest LEGO convention we’ve ever seen. Hey I went there! Next to video games Lego is easily my kids favorite toy. BrickCon is a BIG deal for us. So big we were there for at least 30 minutes before he started to cry and whine that he wanted to go home and put his new Lego figure together.

Lesson learned, hit the merch table AFTER checking out everything at the convention.

Cosplayers reveal their day jobs. These are cute. I mean there's nothing groundbreaking here, people like to play dress up. Ever wonder why so many adults have Halloween parties? It's not for the candy corn I tell you.

Super Link Bros.

How Nintendo Convinced The World To Buy A Weird Mario Game. This article is a load of horseshit... more or less. Nintendo didn't have to convince anyone to buy a "weird Mario game". Super Mario Bros 2 could have been a port of ET from the 2600 and it would have sold like crazy. People WANTED Super Mario Bros 2 BAD, it didn't matter that the gameplay was vastly different from the first one. Super Mario Bros doesn't look anything like Mario Bros, much less that other game staring Mario, Donkey Kong. The idea that Super Mario Bros 2 would be different from the first one wasn't that weird.

What is weird and incredibly interesting, is how Super Mario Bros 2 for the US is WAY different that Super Mario Bros 2 in Japan. It literally is a different game called Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. Nintendo of America felt like the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros 2 was too difficult and similar to the first one, so they ported over this Doki Doki Panic game and just changed the characters to match the budding Mario Universe. That's why all of the sudden Princess Peach can fly and Toad is a strongman.

What It’s like to Fly the $23,000 Singapore Airlines Suites Class. This made a lot of hay on Facebook so pardon me if you've already read this but this article on what it's like to fly on Singapore Airlines Suites Class is really interesting. Growing up I flew pretty much exclusively in First Class. My parents weren't rich or anything, my mom worked for United Airlines so a first class ticket cost like $25. I flew a lot on my own going from grandparents to my aunt and uncles and back to the other grandparents. Back in the 80s and 90s a single stand by has a great chance of getting a first class seat.

I never flew in a cabin with a bed but I remember once on a trip to Hawaii I got to sit in the upstairs lounge area on a 747. The seats faced each other, it was crazy!

DC Is Sorry About Their Dumb, Sexist Shirts. I've mentioned this before but buying superhero themed stuff for girls is AWFUL. Target had two Superhero themed onesies, the one for boys said "Future Man of Steel" and the one for girls said "I Only Date Heroes". Talk about sexist garbage.

2014′s Most & Least Fair State Tax Systems. Go Washington, we're number 1! We're number 1! This doesn't surprise me one bit. I know Washington is a very liberal state but it's also home to a boatload of tech millionaires. Rich liberals LOVE talking about income equality and social services but it's always on the back of someone else. Usually some other millionaire or corporation that they think is more evil than they are.

Recently the State Supreme Court found Washington State in contempt of court by refusing to properly fund education (something mandated in the state constitution). State Government's response is to throw up their hands and say "nothing we can do" and no one is willing to stick their neck out for tax reform. If I ever move to Oregon you can bet Washington States feckless political leadership will be one of the biggest reasons why.

Also it's worth pointing out that this report got no coverage in either the local paper or TV. Seattle/Washington only likes talking about themselves if it's positive. Come in 7th on Buzzfeed's list of best travel spots and you are going to hear about it ad nauseam. Heaven forbid anyone point out that all the Microsoft millionaires are screwing everyone else.

3 Famous Characters Whose Creators Got Epically Screwed. Jeez, today is just soapbox day for me isn't it? Earlier this week Marvel comics settled a long standing lawsuit with the family of Jack Kirby. In case that name doesn't mean anything to you, Jack Kirby (along with Stan Lee) helped created about 80% of the characters you recognize from the Marvel Universe. Based on some very interesting copyright law, his family was suing that eventually ownership of those characters should revert back to Jack Kirby (and his estate). I won't go into it here but the case was about to be heard by the Supreme Court so obviously there was something to it.

A lot of people are were happy that Jack Kirby was finally getting some sort of recognition/settlement from Marvel but while it's great for Kirby there's a TON of other writers and artists that aren't getting squat. Did you enjoy Rocket Racoon and Guardians of the Galaxy this summer? Thank Bill Mantlo the creator of Rocket. In fact thank Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning too as most of that movie was lifted from their run on the book. You like the X-Men? Well Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created them, but almost every movie or TV show based on them has pulled heavily from Chris Claremont's run on the title. Deadpool? Rob Liefeld. Thor? Walter Simonson. Superman? John Byrne. Batman? Frank Miller. The Avengers? Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern, Steve Englehart, Roy Thomas all of these guys and more had a hand in providing 50 years worth of stories for Joss Whedon to pull inspiration from.

Again, I'm happy for Jack Kirby's family but I'm not going to jump for joy knowing just how many others have been left with nothing.

Leaky Links

"If you don't want nude pics leaked, don't take nude pics with your phone —" *Tasers you* *steals your shoes* SHOULDN'T WEAR SHOES BRO

— Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) September 1, 2014

A PSA About Nude Photos. Chuck Wendig has a pretty good rant/article on the response to The Fappening. One of the most common things heard was "don't put nude pictures on your phone, (insert insult here)" or "maybe you should try not taking nude pictures". While not taking nude pictures will assure that no one steals your nude pictures it isn't really the point. These people (remember celebrities are people too) had something stolen from them. They didn't accidentally drop their intimate pictures while at the grocery store. Someone broke into something they owned and took them. Were the pictures safe? Obviously not, but were the victims negligent? No, unless it comes out that Kate Upton was tweeting her passwords. When when I do my taxes on-line I have an expectation that TurboTax keeps that shit in a vault, these celebs had similar expectations. They never thought someone would be able to break into their virtual gym locker and steal their panties.

I hate to use buzzwords like "rape culture" because I believe most of the time using them actually hurts your point but in today's society we're sure quick to blame the victim. Doesn't matter if you were jaywalking after stealing some cigars or getting drunk at a frat party there's a knee jerk reaction to say "well if only you had...". I think it's a way we protect ourselves. A feeling like something could never happen to us because we always (insert practical advice here).

Whatever the reason, all deflecting the blame does is empower the culprits and help minimize the nature of the crime. The real story here with The Fappening is that there's a guy, or more likely a group of them, that are breaking into people's phones and personal accounts. If the dates some of the celebs have given are accurate they probably have been doing it for years. That's big news. That's the kind of stuff everyone that uses the internet should be concerned over, not whether or not Kirstin Dunst likes to get it on.

Jennifer Lawrence & Anita Sarkeesian & Zoe Quinn & Brianna Wu are Not To Blame. Sweet Jebus, have you read this stuff about Anita Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn? Long story short a woman made a youtube video where she presented evidence of sexism in video games and the internet LOST IT. Seriously, this goes from "I think your wrong" to "I'm going to rape you" in under 12 parsecs. Equally deplorable the treatment of video game developer Zoe Quinn who was accused of trading sexual favors for good reviews of some game I've never heard of. Somehow that thing snowballed into a massive flame war over video game journalism and a bunch of Fedora festooned redditors are going to boycott the shit out of everyone. I don't get it.

I understand the visceral reaction to criticism of something you hold dear. I get how that can feel like a personal attack. I don't understand how anyone in their right mind can think that death and rape threats are a perfectly crommulant reaction to that criticism. Maybe that's the problem, these people aren't in their right minds.

Prostate Cancer Foundation Does Not Want Reddit's Sleazy Money. In what I can only described as an act Group Guilt a bunch of redditors decided that in honor of Jennifer Lawrence and The Fappening they were going to donate a bunch of money to prostate cancer research. The research foundation said "no thanks".

I find this particular sequence of events fascinating. If I'm dying of cancer I can't say I'm particularly thrilled that a research group would turn down a bunch of money. Yes, the motivation behind the donation is totes skeevy but is that a crime now? Do you suppose they turned down the money on moral reasons or because they didn't want the bad press? Is donating to charity the modern day form of buying indulgences? "I'm sorry I did whatever I did, here's a giant novelty check to make up for it."

Camera Phone Hacking, I’ve Seen Them All Naked. In an effort to be fair and balanced here's an unrepentant post regarding The Fappening from WWTDD. While I think he's minimizing the actual crime committed I like his enthusiasm and use of swears. I for one don't believe if you look at the pictures you're perpetuating abuse. As someone who was browsing reddit Sunday night these pictures were everywhere, I looked at some of them. Seriously, the posts were EVERYWHERE on reddit. You open up a browser see a dozen threads that say "J-Law hacked cell phone pics!", "topless Kate Upton!", "Justin Verlander's naked ass" and not click on them.. Ok, that last one didn't happen but I wish it had. I would have known what NOT to click. That doesn't make me a terrible person, that makes me a normal flawed human that spent like 20 years of his life desperate to see boobs (kids these days have no idea what it was like pre-internet). Now if I had saved those pictures and immediately seeded a bunch of torrents THAT would make me a terrible person.

One of the unfortunate things to come out of this is that all redditors have been painted with a pretty wide pervert brush. The most common subreddit groups I visit is the Lego subreddit. I'll have you know, almost no one posts nude pictures there. There's a lot of nice people on reddit just looking to talk about things they love. Don't let a bunch of vocal and very active redditors cloud your opinion of the whole group. I mean by all means keep making the fedora/neck beard jokes just realize that #notallredditors are like that.

Also I feel like this would be a good time to remind everyone that Edward Snowden says that there 's a group of analysts at the NSA that trade nude pictures they've found off phones they've "legally" hacked. If this alleged hacking ring all leads back to the NSA that's going to be some glorious schadenfreude.