Microsoft appears to be readying some significant changes to its next version of Windows.Paul Thurrott reports that Microsoft is planning to make the Start menu available as an option in the next major Windows release,currently codenamed "Threshold." The Start menu change will follow a recent reversal that Microsoft made in Windows 8.1,bringing back the Start button UI. It’s not clear if the Start menu will be made available for all versions of Windows Threshold, and Thurrott speculates it may appear as an option for those that only support desktop apps.

Further Threshold changes appear to include an option to run Windows 8-style ("Metro") apps on the desktop. Currently, the new Windows 8-style apps can run alongside the...

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Adjectives: In Death Metal English, they're like guitar solos. You aren't using enough. Add more.

My favorite thing about Death Metal English is that it isn't subject matter-specific. Of course, it works best when you're talking about Satan, or Lovecraft, or murder or whatever. But you can turn pretty much any phrase or sentence into fodder for a sick death metal song using the same tropes:

Normal English: "Commuting to work"
Death Metal English: "TRANSPORTATION OF THE WAGEBOUND UNTO THE NEXUS OF PERPETUAL QUOTIDIAN ENSLAVEMENT"

Normal English: "This bok choy isn't very good"
Death Metal English: "CASTIGATING THE VERDANT ISSUANCE OF THE SOILS OF JIANGNAN"

Normal English: "I need to take a nap"
Death Metal English: "RIPPED INTO THE UTTER EXHAUSTION OF THE MIDDLE DAY"

Normal English: "Thanks for explaining the train schedule"
Death Metal English: "PROFFERING GRATITUDE UPON THE CHRONOCRATION OF THE JUGGERNAUTS OF RETICULATED METALS AND FIRE"

Normal English: "You have to mow the lawn"
Death Metal English: "BRING DOWN THE SCYTHE OF GODS UPON THE NECKS OF THE GREEN-RIBBED LEGIONS AND SWEEP AWAY THEIR WRETCHED BODIES; THOU ART IMPLORED BY ME"

Previously, previously.

Hayao Miyazaki, the legendary Oscar-winning Japanese animator known for directing Studio Ghibli movies such as Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, and Kiki's Delivery Service, is retiring from feature-length film production. set to retire. Studio Ghibli president Koji Hoshino made the announcement at the Venice Film Festival, where Miyazaki, 72, was not in attendance. Hoshino gave no details except to say that a press conference will be held in Tokyo later this week where Miyazaki himself will speak about the decision.

Miyazaki's latest — and apparently final — film is currently playing in Japanese theaters, and is in competition at Venice. Kaze Tachinu ("The Wind Rises") is a fictionalized biography of Jiro Horikoshi, Hirokoshi, who designed the Mitsubishi...

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The independent RSS reader NewsBlur, popular with power users, is getting a major facelift two months after the announcement of the Google Reader shutdown. While NewsBlur is one of the most powerful RSS readers available, it’s not known for being the prettiest — and its hefty feature set made for some tradeoff in usability.

The redesign has been available for beta testers to try out, but today it will roll out to all users. The new NewsBlur is faster and includes a number of user interface tweaks such as a unified notifications popover and a new list view for brisk scanning. The iOS and Android apps also got a refresh.

While the redesign looks slightly better, the reasons for using NewsBlur are the same. It fetches feeds quickly,...

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