Spend hours clicking through this animated 1930s atlas of America onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Spend hours clicking through this animated 1930s atlas of America

After Charles O. Paullin's Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States was published, its editor John K. Wright bemoaned their inability to create "motion-picture" maps. Over 80 years later, the University of Richmond has made that a reality.

If you head over to the University of Richmond's Digital Scholarship Lab, you can see it's recently released Internet version of the Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States. The original atlas, published in 1932, contained nearly 700 hundred maps covering all sorts of subjects. Almost all of these maps have been georectified – warped so that they can lay consistently over the single digital map – and georeferenced – points of the map linked to geographic coordinates. A number of the maps are also clickable, giving you instant access to the data for a specific place.

The result is Paullin's work coming to life before your eyes. Compare "Persons Per Motor Vehicle" in 1913 versus 1930. Or see the rates of travel between New York and the rest of the country shrink between 1800 and 1930. The table of contents divides the atlas into 18 "chapters" covering everything from "The Natural Environment" to "Military History, 1689-1919." But it's almost more fun to just start at the beginning and let the whole thing unfold, one map at a time.

I, for one, am fascinated by the expansion of colleges and universities between 1775 and 1890. Anyone else have a favorite map from this collection?

[via The New York Times]

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Spend hours clicking through this animated 1930s atlas of America

This musical reprise could have made Frozen even better onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com This musical reprise could have made Frozen even better

As heartfelt as Frozen's climax was, the movie musical could have benefited from a brief reprise of the song "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" at a key moment. So one fan wrote the lyrics to a reprise and another gave it voice. Spoilers below.

Over at Musical Catbug, phananigans wrote a reprise of the song, which he suggests should be sung by Elsa after Anna becomes entirely frozen:

"Yes I wanna build a snowman…

I'm sorry that it took so long…

I didn't know I needed you…I really do…

and now you're gone…

please…just ask me once more…

just one more time…I promise I'll open the door

…yes I wanna build a snowman…"

And Scarlet-Glow recorded the song:

Nice job, folks. A perfect addition to the film.

Gif via SovereignElsa.

[via Renny Skywalker]

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com This musical reprise could have made Frozen even better

Why aren't there more memes about Star Trek's Unicorn Dog? onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Why aren't there more memes about Star Trek's Unicorn Dog?

This is a grave injustice, the likes of which the universe has never witnessed. Why isn't the internet full of GIFs and pictures featuring Unicorn Dog, the best Star Trek character?

Sure, there are pictures of Unicorn Dog on the Internet — with such a fantastic get-up, how could he not have some great pics? But there's a startling lack of memes about him. Above is a moment from "The Enemy Within," his one and only episode, in which he's sitting completely still until Captain Kirk comes up and randomly starts playing with his floppy tail. Because Captain Kirk is a meanie.

Here's a moment where Unicorn Dog inspects an industrial accident — notice how Sulu is carefully bringing him over to inspect the damage:

In episode, Unicorn Dog gets duplicated and there's a good Unicorn Dog and an evil Unicorn Dog. Here's Evil Unicorn Dog:

I feel as though Unicorn Dog expresses something poignant and universal about our experience as embodied creatures. He's carried around all the time, and he never even gets to take a walk on the Starship Enterprise. He is a passive victim of a greater scheme that he will never understand.

Here's a particularly sad moment for Unicorn Dog:

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Why aren't there more memes about Star Trek's Unicorn Dog?

Fantastic Last-Minute Gifts That You Can Buy Or Make Right Now onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Fantastic Last-Minute Gifts That You Can Buy Or Make Right Now

Did you wait too long to buy holiday gifts? Don't worry, we've got you covered. Skip the heinous store lines and "sold out" signs. There's plenty of stuff that you can make yourself, or has immediately delivery. Here's our list of last minute gifts that will make your loved ones think you planned ahead.

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Bake Something

Everyone loves the gift you can consume. So get thee to the kitchen, and make your loved ones a dish inspired by something they loved. The internet is absolutely stuffed with amazing genre-inspired recipes. Here's a recipe for the Game of Thrones Lemon Cakes! Also pictured: Peeta's Stuffed Cheese Buns from The Hunger Games with the recipe at Yammie's Noshery, along with Beorn's Honey Cake from The Hobbit, via The Geeky Chef.

Another favorite are these Star Wars Cookies — which are made out of regular cookie holiday cutters, so all you need is a little creativity, or you could just follow what the website Sweet Sugar Belle did here (I would).

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Comics/Books

We are living in the age of digital reading. Take advantage of this, and get people reading material for their beloved devices. The first five issues of Brian K. Vaughn's Private Eye are available here. Prepare your "the comic/book was better" friends to gloat, with the first two volumes of Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Paul Pelletier's Guardians of the Galaxy run (which is probably what the future Marvel movie will be closest to in style and feel). And for the classic comic fan, the DC Comics' Batman 66 is available at Comixology.

Unlimited Entertainment

A subscription to Netflix Instant Watch, Hulu Plus or the latest and greatest Chrome Cast will change your recipient's life. No more DVRing or running home to catch the episode you missed, it's all right there online. And for next to nothing. There is no excuse for your friend to be behind in Scandal, Misfits, Once Upon A Time, or WHATEVER. Also great for your parents who are afraid of their cable box.

Museum Memberships

This year I was gifted a membership to the Brooklyn Museum and it may just be the best thing I've ever received. Not only does a Museum Membership provide a never ending source entertainment it also (usually) gives you free access to special exhibits and an invitation to a whole host of live performances and lectures. Here's the list of a few of io9's favorite museums, with excellent membership programs. And if you know of any other good places you want to add, please let us know in the comments.

Great Membership Programs:

American Museum of Natural History (New York), California Academy of Sciences in (San Francisco), Shedd Aquarium (Chicago), The Ontario Science Center, Academy of Natural Sciences (Philadelphia), Museum of Science, Boston, Science Museum of Minnesota, Royal Ontario Museum, The Smithsonian (Washington DC), Desert Botanical Garden (Phoenix), Merchant's House Museum (New York), Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (Coral Gables) and the Onderdonk House.

Pay It Forward

Give the gift that keeps on giving, and also grants you bragging rights at what a wonderful human being you are. You are the best. But seriously giving to a charity in the name of your recipient is great. And if you need inspiration may we suggest Water.org, Heifer International, Against Malaria Foundation and our entire io9 Charity Gift Guide stuffed with charitable donations for people that love science and science fiction. Please let us know great places that we should be supporting.

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Best Buy Will Save You

This company's new "buy it online, pick it up at the store" policy has seriously bailed me out of big-time trouble this season. Surprise: everyone in my family is getting the new Twilight Blu-Ray box sets, because the internet says they're available in the Soho Best Buy store. Which means less work for Aunt Meredith.

Craft It

And when all else fails, have a crafternoon and make some of these beauties.

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Weeping Angel Tree Topper

Created by Cynthia at Creative Crossings this is the ultimate gift for any Doctor Who fan. Plus it's a really pretty tree topper overall. Step-by-step directions at the site.

Disco Death Star

Hot, hot, hot modified Star Wars action here. This could be an ornament, a paper weight or just a really cool thing that you have in your home and show off all the time in a frame. The Disco Death Star is TIMELESS. This was inspired by the Disco Death Star print, but Our Nerd Home made this fantasy an amazing reality. And now you too can make a Death Star Disco Ball with these simple instructions.

Stitch Something

Do you have the talent of stitching, knitting or sewing, then share that gift with the world. Nothing says "I love you" better than a knitted Doctor Who scarf. But since you don't have a ton of time, maybe just knit Doctor Who-inspired pot holders, it's still legit. Here's the pattern, have at it.

Or, if you have a passion for the cross stitching there are hundreds of amazing patterns online that you can download immediately and recreate at your own home. Above are a few patterns from Disorderly Stitches' Etsy page.

Dead Barbie Lamp

Got a bunch of creepy, old Barbies in the basement? Strip, shave, and paint those beauties into a one-of-a-kind lamp. Full instructions over at Jackie Long Legs (who has a lot of other good craft gifts we've highlighted in the past).

Paper Crafts

Does your office have a sick printer? Great than this gift is basically free. Download a bad ass Paper Craft and get to building. Or (better yet) just tuck it away into a nice folder, present it to a calm child, and ask if you can make it together. LESS WORK FOR YOU. And if you're up for a bit of a challenge may we suggest these bad ass Paper Craft Krampus Monsters from Christopher Bonnette and Uncle Ghastly.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Fantastic Last-Minute Gifts That You Can Buy Or Make Right Now

Bourne's Sleeping Beauty: The Vampire Ballet No One Knew Was Needed onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Bourne's Sleeping Beauty: The Vampire Ballet No One Knew Was Needed

A few weeks ago, Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty: A Gothic Romance ended its tour in Los Angeles, California. Much has been made of the way the well-known story was changed, but what was really striking was that the ballet actually felt like the natural collision of two of the biggest trends of the last decade: vampires and re-imagined fairy tales.

Let's get this out of the way at the beginning: this thing was beautiful. The sets and costumes were sumptuous and magnificently detailed. If, like me, dance isn't your strongest knowledge set, a show this gorgeous will carry you through on the visuals alone.

The plot isn't exactly Sleeping Beauty as either Disney or the original ballet has done it. First, the story's beginning is moved forward to 1890, with Aurora's sleep beginning in 1911. So her one-hundred-year sleep doesn't end in the past, but just a few years ago. Second, the spindle's been replaced with the prick of a rose's thorn. Third, instead of being woken by a random prince, Aurora's suitor is a hunter named Leo. The two of them were in love before the curse took hold of her, so he's pretty much just waiting it out.

And then there are the vampires. Think about what you know about the story of Sleeping Beauty, and search and replace "fairy" with "vampire." Where the original ballet used Aurora as a sort of proxy battle between the good Lilac Fairy and the evil Carabosse, this one does that with the good Count Lilac and the evil Caradoc (son of Carabosse, who dies offstage after cursing Aurora. Mother and son are played by the same person). And they're vampires.

The prelude is an interminable sequence with a creepy baby puppet Aurora gamboling all over the place, followed by a great sequence with the good vampires bestowing their gifts on Aurora and Carabosse cursing the child. Act 1 establishes Aurora as a princess unhappy with rigid formality and Leo as her love interest. And then Caradoc shows up at her birthday party, and he's pretty much every "evil seductive vampire" trope available. He gives a rose to Aurora, and she slips into her 100-year sleep. This is obviously upsetting to Leo, and also to Count Lilac, who steps in to help.

By turning Leo into a vampire, too.

I'd almost recommend not knowing that the good fairies are also vampire going in, because any vampire subtext becomes text right before intermission, when Count Lilac turns Leo into a vampire. My audience burst into laughter when the teeth came out. And when you come back from intermission, it's present day, and Leo the vampire's been camped outside of Aurora's castle this entire time.

Leo battles through the thicket to get to the castle. Meanwhile, Caradoc's been "guarding" Aurora's sleeping form, and he's become enamored with her. So he lets Leo wake her, and then he leaves with the wakened Aurora to make her his bride. So Count Lilac and Leo infiltrate Caradoc's vampire rave to get her back. They do, and Vampire Leo, Vampire Aurora, and their new vampire baby live happily ever after.

Modern day vampire rave scene set to Tchaikovsky? Check that off the bucket list.

These days, dance performances like this don't drive pop culture. And this whole thing really felt like pop culture driving dance. Like, if you went to see this, and then watched Once Upon a Time/Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters/Snow White and the Huntsman and NBC's Dracula/True Blood/Twilight, this ballet would fit right in. It's got a lot of the hallmarks of the recent glut of fairy tale re-imaginings and vampire tales, but set to Tchaikovsky.

From the "new" fairy tale movement, this ballet's tried to give its princess more personality and agency. It's also done away with the idea of a random prince happening to be her true love, and instead made it someone she already loves. Leo's identity as a hunter also brings a tinge of a class divide into it. Caradoc's a more interesting villain, since he's driven by his desire to complete his mother's revenge. But in the process, he develops an unhealthy obsession with Aurora. These days, it's all about the nuanced villain. And then there's the bringing it into the present day. All these little modern-y touches give the story some needed depth.

Which is generally the idea behind the "re-imagined fairy tale," making the thing work better for modern tastes and psychology. Of the two trends this ballet embodies, it embodies this one better.

On the one hand, it's less successful in making vampires mesh with this world. It really feels like a gimmick, one which is nice to look at and shocks laughter out of the audience, but a gimmick. Part of it's that the story is still Sleeping Beauty, so the vampires have to do the things that the fairies in the story do. They have to place curses and bestow magic gifts, which aren't really vampire things. Caradoc's got a love of black, red, and sex which is very "Halloween Vampire" of him. But beyond that, and their fangs, the vampires in the ballet aren't that vampire-like. On the other hand, that's actually completely fitting with the latest round of vampire-mania.

Vampires have been constantly reinterpreted. Caradoc and Jonathan Rhys Meyers' Dracula could totally cousins, as bonkers as their new settings and plots are to the classic idea. The evil vampires in the ballet and Twilight's Volturi appear to be shopping at the same stores. And a schism between vampire factions? Good and bad? Yeah, that's in Twilight, True Blood, and The Originals, just to name a few.

These ones have wings and black lines across their eyes. Why? Because.

While the changed plot points work better than the inclusion of vampires, Caradoc and Count Lilac are by far the best characters. Aurora and Leo are fine (Aurora, in particular, is very expressive), but there's something way more interesting about Caradoc and Lilac. Caradoc, as discussed above, has complex motivations. Meanwhile, Lilac moves through the whole thing like a chessmaster. He basically maneuvers everyone into the right place for him to take out Caradoc. Sleeping Beauty as a proxy vampire war is actually very interesting, and the two main vampires are great.

These kinds of performances are more experiences than they are anything else. It's the moment where pop culture trends grow too big to not eventually collide, and run out of media to take over. I, for one, look forward to seeing the superhero/zombie version of La Traviata that'll result when those two trends finally slam into each other.

Pictures from the official site for Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty: A Gothic Romance.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Bourne's Sleeping Beauty: The Vampire Ballet No One Knew Was Needed

The Empire casts its shadow over new Star Wars Rebels concept art onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com The Empire casts its shadow over new Star Wars Rebels concept art

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The architecture of the Galactic Empire dominates the skyline of a city on the Outer Rim planet Lothal in this new concept art from the upcoming animated series Star Wars Rebels.

Star Wars Rebels takes place around the year 5 BBY between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Lothal's capital city is home to a Sienar Fleet Systems TIE fighter factory. And, as this concept piece by Andre Kirk suggests, Lothal is feeling the influence of the Empire.

[Star Wars Tumblr via Spinoff]

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com The Empire casts its shadow over new Star Wars Rebels concept art

When spring comes round again, let's all go to the Poison Garden onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com When spring comes round again, let's all go to the Poison Garden

The saddest thing about it being winter is that the Alnwick Garden's Poison Garden is closed until spring. The good news is that we have time to put it on our vacation list.

Top image: Poison Garden by Jo Jakeman/flickr

The Poison Garden is part of the larger complex of gardens in the town of Alnwick, Northumberland, England. The whole of Alnwick Gardens had fallen into disrepair, but were part of a huge renovation project that's lasted nearly two decades. Part of that renovation included the opening of the Poison Garden in 2005. The creator of the Poison Garden described her reasoning as:

I wondered why so many gardens around the world focused on the healing power of plants rather than their ability to kill... I felt that most children I knew would be more interested in hearing how a plant killed, how long it would take you to die if you ate it and how gruesome and painful the death might be.

That seems like the same winning formula used by Horrible Histories, actually.

There are over 100 plants in the garden, some the kind of poisonous that's okay in any garden – foxglove, for example – and some that required a government permit to grow. The garden is home to Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade), Strychnos nux-vomica (strychnine), Conium maculatum (hemlock), and Ricinus communis (ricin). In addition to the obvious and not-so-obviously poisonous, the garden is also home to the infamously narcotic: coca (from which you get cocaine), poppies (heroin), cannabis, and various magic mushrooms.

In order to prevent the stealing of these plants, some of them are kept in cages. When the garden is closed, its gates are locked and there's 24-hour security keeping watch.

The Poison Garden is shown by tour guides, who describe the deadly properties of the plants after issuing this warning:

Do not touch any of the plants, don't even smell them. There are plants here that can kill you.

It also seems appropriate that the garden was in part inspired by old apothecary gardens, since the adjacent Alnwick castle stood in for Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films.

Images: Alnwick Garden - Poison Garden by Graeme/flickr

Plants at Poison Garden, Alnwick, Northumberland by Cross Duck/flickr

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com When spring comes round again, let's all go to the Poison Garden

Facial-recognition software uncovers a bizarre conspiracy in this short onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Facial-recognition software uncovers a bizarre conspiracy in this short

What happens when a software engineer's product uncovers something even he didn't know about himself? Facial recognition software reveals more than embarrassing photos in Anthony Scott Burns' short film Manifold.

Folks who find Vimeo temperamental can watch this short on YouTube.

Manifold [via Vimeo Staff Picks]

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Facial-recognition software uncovers a bizarre conspiracy in this short

Leaked Documents Reveal That Fallout 4 Is Real, Set In Boston onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Leaked Documents Reveal That Fallout 4 Is Real, Set In Boston

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Still upset about that massive Fallout 4 hoax? Here's some good news for you: The next entry in Bethesda's post-apocalyptic RPG series is real, it's in development right now, and, as rumored, it appears to be set in Boston, according to casting documents obtained by Kotaku.

Two weeks ago, a Kotaku reader sent me several documents from a casting call for a project code-named Institute. The casting documents, which I've been able to confirm are real, include scripts, character descriptions, and other details about the next Fallout, and although the word Fallout does not appear in these scripts, there are several references to Fallout's setting and locations. (The casting director for this project also worked on other Bethesda games, like Dishonored and Skyrim.)

This is the first confirmation we've received that the next Fallout game is in the works—although it's been generally assumed that Bethesda Game Studios, the development studio behind Fallout 3, has been working on a new Fallout since completing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim back in 2011, Bethesda has yet to announce the new game in any form. In 2012, rumors circulated that Bethesda employees were scouting the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston for an upcoming Fallout game, but other than that, news has been thin.

Yet the next Fallout remains one of the world's most anticipated games, and a few weeks ago, when an apparent teaser website called TheSurvivor2299 popped up on Reddit, people went crazy. The site, which was crafted as if it were an alternate reality game, hinted at a Fallout 4 announcement through a trickle of hidden messages and plot details, revealed through morse code and other cyphers. The sheer level of detail made the website seem real to some observers, but Bethesda wouldn't comment one way or another.

Turned out TheSurvivor2299 was an elaborate hoax. Fortunately, the next Fallout game is real, and although we don't know what it's called, we know thanks to these documents that the game is in the works.

Although some of the details I've seen may have been written simply for the casting call, and any of the dialogue could be changed by the time the next Fallout is actually released, they're interesting to read through. Here's what could be the game's opening intro, for example:

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"War. War never changes," is the classic introduction used at the beginning of Fallouts 1, 2, and 3. That speech is typically narrated by actor Ron Perlman, although this page seems to suggest that the player-character will read the monologue this time around.

Other documents describe a mission set in the Institute—Fallout's post-apocalyptic version of MIT—and references to other Fallout locations that have been mentioned but never shown in other games, like the Commonwealth, which comprises what's left of Massachusetts.

One character in the documents—who, again, may not show up in the actual game—is named Preston Garvey. One script describes a mission in which Garvey sends you to salvage a fusion core from a museum in the Commonwealth.

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The casting documents describe some of the other characters in the next Fallout's wasteland, like a radio DJ named Travis Miles and an engineer named Sturges who is described as "a cross between Buddy Holly and Vin Diesel." Casting calls for both the male and female versions of the player character note that the player begins the game in a cryogenic sleep chamber.

Again, it's worth noting that these details may have been invented for the casting call, and they may change during development. We also don't know whether the game will be called Fallout 4, or whether Boston will be the sole setting or just one of many.

The big takeaway here is that the next Fallout game is real. It's currently in development at Bethesda. So if you're upset about that teaser website turning out to be a hoax, at least take some comfort in this.

Bethesda declined to comment for this story.

Boston photo in top image via Wikipedia.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Leaked Documents Reveal That Fallout 4 Is Real, Set In Boston

Fly with eagles in these breathtaking bird-cam videos onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Fly with eagles in these breathtaking bird-cam videos

We can only dream of soaring above the clouds, the way so many birds do. They swoop over our heads, taunting us with the freedom we'll never have. But at least there are tons of bird-cam videos, which give you a birds-eye view of the world below.

Some of these videos come from cameras attached to birds — and others come from cameras that birds have stolen and carried away, while they were still filming.

Golden Eagle in flight, Scotland, 2009

An eagle in Chamonix, French Alps, France

Flight of a peregrine falcon, the fastest animal ever. It could reach a top speed of 200 mph (320 kmh) during its hunting stoop.

New York filmed by a snow goose

Common Cranes fly over Venice

A fish eagle hunts for flamingos in Lake Bogoria, Africa

Eagle steals a camera near a crocodile meat trap in West Australia

Flight of a bumblebee

The speed-dive of a Himalayan Golden Eagle (also known as Berikut)

A peregrine falcon wants to hunt Gee Atherton, the 2010 downhill World Cup Champion

Seagull stole GoPro in Cannes, France

A Condor's view of the Andes

Bonus: An eagle soars next to a paraglider

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Fly with eagles in these breathtaking bird-cam videos

Amazing close-up photos of snowflakes taken without a microscope onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Amazing close-up photos of snowflakes taken without a microscope

These are the best kinds of snowflakes: the kind that are under the lens of a camera and not piled up outside my door. A Russian photographer uses a set up he made himself to take these photos. See more below!

Russian photographer Alexey Kljatov uses a homemade camera rig to take these amazing close-ups of the snowflakes that fall on his balcony. A selection is below, but check out his blog for many, many more.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Amazing close-up photos of snowflakes taken without a microscope

Two Great Fist-Pumping Moments from Last Night's Nikita onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Two Great Fist-Pumping Moments from Last Night's Nikita

Aw yeah. Last night's Nikita gave two of the show's supporting castmembers a chance to shine, and the results were thrilling. Also, there was an excellent fakeout with Birkhoff, and a lot of spy-vs-spy action.

Spoilers ahead...

One thing I like in this final mini-season of Nikita is that our heroes are slowly chipping away at the Shop's plans, while still taking some major setbacks and having their plans go awry. It's not like Nikita's crew is totally incompetent until the last episode, when they're suddenly unstoppable.

Nikita and her gang have succeeded in taking out two key pod people, the NSA guy and the FBI guy, and they're onto a third, the Pakistani official. The Shop's plan to replace key government officials with brainwashed duplicates and start a war with Pakistan has taken some major hits — but meanwhile, none of Nikita's plans has gone exactly right, either. She didn't succeed in recruiting the cable news guy, or getting the FBI to realize their deputy director has been replaced with a dupe.

And now, I guess, Nikita has to turn herself in? Is her failure to do that going to be addressed, at all?

In any case, last night's episode dealt with two side characters. In the clip above, you can see Alex showing her true self to the interrogator who's been trying to "break" her. Alex is accused of paying Nikita millions to assassinate the president, and the money supposedly came from Pakistan via an energy company her trust owns shares in. (Not, I gotta say, the most elegant money-laundering scheme of all time.) The interrogator tries to paint Alex as a party girl who buys an assassination the same way she would buy a fancy handbag — but then Alex finally breaks just enough to show how tough she really is. Love that scene so much.

By the time Michael and Sam/Owen/Jerkface get there to rescue her, Alex has already gotten out of her cuffs and dealt with most of her guards.

Meanwhile, Nikita pulls a pretty neat fake-out with regards to Birkhoff — we're led to believe he's a pod person, through lots of little hints, including his refusal to finger Ron Perlman as the NSA mole. (Okay, fine, Ronald Peller. I was just having fun imagining Hellboy working at the NSA.) Plus there were other misdirects, like Amanda saying her next agent had only just begun his mission, etc.

But no — Birkhoff isn't a mole. He's actually secretly the son of the NSA guy, Peller, who faked his death when he was a teenager and went underground as a haxx0r. And Birkhoff is worried that if they deal with the NSA pod person, his real dad will die, the same as happened to the real FBI guy. Which seems a not unreasonable concern. So instead, Nikita cooks up a different scheme — pretend to work with the NSA mole, then give him a thumb drive that can be used to find the Shop's secret headquarters.

Of course, like all of Nikita's plans, it goes somewhat wrong — but at least, while Birkhoff is pretending to work with the fake Ronald Peller, he manages to send a secret message to his real dad:

Aww... secret nerd communication. Too bad Ronald Peller isn't good at being sneaky, despite having been at the NSA all this time. Their ruse is found out, the fake Ronald Peller tries to kill Birkhoff and is killed in turn, and Amanda now knows the truth about Birkhoff — so she plans to use Birkhoff's dad to try and get inside his head. Oh, and there's a mention of a "stux worm" that the Shop aims to deploy if their plans go south.

All in all, the final season of Nikita continues to be a flood of melted candy, as if from some kind of candy volcano. Moar, please.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Two Great Fist-Pumping Moments from Last Night's Nikita

Cops Show Up Live on Warcraft Stream After Troll Phones In Fake Report onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Cops Show Up Live on Warcraft Stream After Troll Phones In Fake Report

A popular Twitch.tv livestreamer had some unwanted guest stars yesterday evening—the Seminole County, Fla. Sheriff's Office, summoned by a troll who phoned in a report of someone threatening others with a knife. You can see it play out here.

The guy pointing the camera at the cops above is Swifty, who has more than 150,000 followers on his Twitch.tv feed and routinely streams his exploits in World of Warcraft. Yesterday, though, someone was in a disruptive mood. Swifty was trolled by a pizza delivery sent to his door and then, much more seriously, two calls that sent police to the premises.

The first police response is above; it's hard to hear the off-mic discussion between Swifty and the authorities with the music soundtrack and the narrator playing Star Wars: The Old Republic. But he brings the cops on camera and explained what he was doing and why the sheriff's office might have been called to his home for a bogus call.

"Every restaurant within 10 miles from us—we're blacklisted," says a voice, either Swifty or a production assistant. "Seriously, would you guys like a slice?" he offers.

"Nah, we're good brother, appreciate it," says another voice off mic, apparently one of the deputies. "Have a good one, guys."

"They reported a police disturbance; you guys can't do that, man," Swifty groans, catching himself before he swears. "That's really bad, guys; you guys can't do that."

That wasn't the end of it. In this video, Swifty is disturbed by repeated doorbell rings. Again, it's hard to pick up what is said off-mic, but Swifty asks "can you trace that call?"

"They called and said we were threatening some dude with a knife," Swifty says, getting back on camera. The police were allowed to search the premises to determine nothing was wrong. The authorities responding to this call appear to be different from the first group, as someone re-explains the camera setup and livestreaming to them.

On his Twitter feed shortly after the incident, Swifty said he was filling out paperwork with the Sheriff's office and cutting the streaming session with his teammates short.

.@hotted89 and I are on our way home. I am ok. I wont be livestreaming any more tonight, Im going to spend time with family and friends.

— Swifty (@SwiftyiRL) December 4, 2013

Based on whats happening right now, i can say that the person who caused all this is in some serious truble.

— Swifty (@SwiftyiRL) December 4, 2013

Then this morning he tweeted a picture of a Seminole County Sheriff's Office vehicle and said he was on his "2nd day of filling out reports."

"SWATting" is the slang term for this kind of troll behavior; it's not funny, and apparently has been such a problem in Washington state that legislators there were considering passing a law criminalizing this specific conduct. In one of the most prolific examples of SWATting, in 2011, authorities descended on the residence of an Xbox Live moderator in Sammamish, Wash., on a report that "two armed Russian males" had shot a person inside, taken hostages, and were armed with bombs. The call was false.

Let me repeat what I said last year. What makes SWATting so pernicious is the fact that public safety agencies take these reports seriously. It is their job. If they don't and it turns out someone was being threatened with a knife and someone is hurt or killed, that's a fundamental failure of their duty and the public trust.

Yeah, it's a bitch Swifty had two encounters with the cops and a paperwork episode stretching two days. But if it leads to the authorities finding this troll and making an example of him, so much the better.

To contact the author of this post, write to owen@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @owengood.

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com Cops Show Up Live on Warcraft Stream After Troll Phones In Fake Report

This ISS Timelapse Compilation Is Fantastic onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com This ISS Timelapse Compilation Is Fantastic

Stop what you're doing, set aside three minutes of your time and watch this. This newly released compilation of footage captured by astronauts aboard ISS missions 29, 30 and 31 is simply outstanding.

The 2-minute, 29-second montage of time-lapse photography from the International Space Station was compiled by editor David Peterson, whose previous treatment of astronaut footage, "All Alone in the Night," ranks among my favorite ISS videos of all time. "The goal with this sequence," he writes, "was to bring a bit more attention to the station itself, including the humans aboard it, particularly Don Pettit (appearing in the final shot) who took many of the sequences in this montage."

The result, as you can clearly see, is fantastic: All the gobstopping Earthscapes and star-strewn vistas we've come to expect from the ISS-Flyover genre – there's even some great footage of sungrazing comet Lovejoy (not ISON!) – but with an ample helping of humanity thrown in. The views of Earth from the cupola, for instance? Those shots straight up give me chills.

You'll want to watch this one in full screen, HD, with headphones if you got em. I even followed Peterson's recommendation and drew the shades so I could watch this one in the dark. (It was worth it.)

[Via David Peterson]

onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com This ISS Timelapse Compilation Is Fantastic