Shine Louise Houston, the Director and Producer at Pink and White Productions, is definitely one of my personal heroes (and a friend, though we haven’t seen each other in like a million years). One of my all-time favorite quotes in our contemporary sex revolution came when Houston said, “There is power in creating images, and for a woman of color and a queer to take that power. I don’t find it exploitative; I think it’s necessary.”

I’ve had the privilege over the years to be able to support Houston’s projects, sometimes with really hot exclusives, and I’m ridiculously excited to find out that Houston is working on a new film: SNAPSHOT. Announced Monday, the crowdfunding just began here on Indiegogo, and I strongly recommend throwing even just $5 in the kitty.

I’m Shine Louise Houston, and I’ve been creating erotic queer cinema through my company Pink & White Productions for almost a decade. My films have screened across the globe, have received numerous awards, and appear frequently in academic work and sexuality textbooks. In my films, I work to create an alternate vision of what’s sexy, one that is more reflective of the queer communities and communities of color that I identify with.

This summer I’m taking a big directorial leap by making my first independently produced feature film, SNAPSHOT. It will be my 5th feature film, but the first that Pink & White will have full control over.

(…) Growing up queer, I was always frustrated with the coming out stories I was hearing and seeing: there were so few queers of color, the representations’ idea of ‘sexy’ wasn’t mine, narratives were formulaic and stereotypical, and the production quality left a lot to be desired. SNAPSHOT is an attempt to provide a different coming out narrative in a tone that reflects some of my most profound filmic influences. It involves two women of color as its main characters. The character whose “coming out” is in focus is in her late 30s — and her coming out has to do more with the intricacies of new desires than with gender.

There’s much more to read on SNAPSHOT’S crowdfunding page, including its timeline and goals. But it’s the personal text from Shine that’s a must-read; it’ll give you goosebumps, make you smile, and if you’re like me, a bit of both while shouting “viva la revolucion!” Also, in San Francisco style, SNAPSHOT is about a murder.

SNAPSHOT is an erotic suspense thriller that draws inspiration from film classics such as Hitchcock’s Rear Window and Antonioni’s Blow Up.

As a queer love story, SNAPSHOT doesn’t shy away from portraying explicit sexuality, which gives context to the characters’ intimacy and exists as a key element of my storytelling. Popular examples of movies that include realistic sex are Shortbus and the lesbian film, Blue is the Warmest Color. My pornographic aesthetics draw heavily from Radley Metzger. Pink & White Productions films show the mechanics of intimate sexuality, and uncensored portrayals of genuine pleasure, which is what our company is best known for.

Donate to SNAPSHOT! Help make it happen! I really want to see this film!

• Yay Stockroom! Fetish gear from L.A.-based erotic boutique The Stockroom appear in the latest Taylor Swift music video, Bad Blood, above. Stockroom took a chance on me and published my book Fetish Sex in 2006. Swift’s people reportedly picked up $13,000 in fetish clothing from The Stockroom, and Swift wears an outfit from The Stockroom’s latex brand, Syren Couture, in the video.
  Stockroom Supplies Fetish Attire for New Taylor Swift Video (XBIZ)

• Last month the A&E Channel aired a few episodes of its reprehensible show 8 Minutes, a reality program about a pastor who “saves” sex workers from “the life.” Now several women have come forward after being on the show saying that they were never connected to the resources promised, were pressured into signing contracts, and were misled about their level of anonymity on the show. The show, unfortunately, is not an anomaly.
  Combating Trafficking Takes Much Longer Than Eight Minutes (RH Reality Check)

• As politicians in D.C. push to censor the web in the name of catching sex traffickers, civil-liberty lovers may find some solace in a recent federal court ruling. Maintaining a “free and open Internet” is more important than thwarting traffickers at all costs, ruled Judge Richard Sterns of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.
  Backpage.com Lawsuit: Sex Trafficking Doesn’t Trump Internet Freedom, Says Federal Judge (Reason)

• I don’t know about you, but this raises some questions about just how cozy Facebook is with law enforcement in sharing (and spying on) its users’ private communications. Also, warning for survivors of sexual abuse and trauma on this one. No one seems to know — or wants to say — just how often Facebook gets involved in tipping off law enforcement about suspicious online behavior. Facebook won’t say, ICE claims it doesn’t know, and FBI just said “No” when asked if they had any data on the number of Facebook tips they investigate.
  Facebook helps police bust sex predators (Fusion)

• Today, the U.S. government released a sizeable tranche of documents and other material recovered during the Osama Bin Laden raid on the Abbottabod, Pakistan, compound used to hide Bin Ladin. An official at the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence today said that the sexually explicit content would remain classified even as other parts of Bin Laden’s personal files were released.
  Bin Laden’s Porn Stash Is Kept Secret (XBIZ)

• Faced with a Department of Justice investigation into air marshals, the men and women charged with protecting U.S. commercial flights from terrorism, former and current air marshals are coming forward to describe a “wheels-up, rings-off” culture rife with adultery, sex work, and other misconduct.
  Air marshals say a party-hearty attitude prevails at the agency (Reveal)

• The prostitutes at AP need to brush up on their sex work terminology… A California sex worker charged with killing a Google executive with an overdose of heroin aboard his yacht pleaded guilty Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter and administering drugs. A Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge sentenced defendant Alix Tichelman to six years in prison, bringing a sudden and unexpected conclusion to a case that garnered national attention.
  Sex worker pleads guilty in overdose death of Google exec (AP)

• I would like to test this, please: Lovense and VirtualRealPorn are creating a way to enjoy synced-up virtual reality sex. The trick involves using a Bluetooth dongle, specially coded VR videos, and Lovense’s Max and Nora sex toys to make the toys’ vibrations and rotations sync with the VR action seen in your headset.
  New Sex Toys Sync Up to Virtual Reality Porn (Wired)

• A judge in Fresno County, California, ruled last week that a lawsuit against the Clovis Unified School District’s abstinence-focused sex education program was justified because it was out of compliance with the state’s law mandating sex education to be medically accurate and free of bias.
  Judge’s Ruling in California Abstinence-Only Sex Ed Case Shows Importance of Strong Policies (RH Reality Check)

• Well-deserved: Big congrats to Cecilia Tan! The Pioneer Award is given annually to a few “pioneers” of romance, and the Career Achievement Award in Erotic Fiction is an honor – Tan won both this year!
  RT Award Recap: Cecilia Tan Pioneer & Career Achievement Award speeches (Cecilia Tan)

• Join San Francisco Sex Education for a night of education on and exploration of Sex and Video Games, led by a specialist in the field. Morgan “Red” McCormick has been a regularly invited speaker at Penny Arcade Expo on the topic of transgender representation in video games, and much more. Join us as we learn about the history and progression of sexuality in video games.
  SFSI Seminars: Sex and Video Games (Brown Paper Tickets)

• Dr. Nadim Uddin Siddiqui hosts a weekly call-in show about sexual issues on a Pakistani cable television channel. The program, Clinic Online, is a rarity for a conservative Muslim nation, but has proved popular, particularly among women.
  Live On Pakistani TV: A Call-In Show About Sex (NPR, via Thomas Roche)

• Religious leaders aren’t usually the best advisers on how to spice things up in the bedroom, but Orthodox Jewish couples struggling to sustain passionate marriages are finding a savior in Rabbi Natan Alexander. Men and women dissatisfied with their love lives are making pilgrimages to the Judaean Mountains near Jerusalem, where Alexander may prescribe them a Sqweel.
  Toy Vey: The Rabbi Selling Kosher Vibrators (Bloomberg)

• Twenty years ago, while people were shoveling processed foods down their gullets, they were also erotically consuming the sex toy equivalent of toxic processed foods. Yes, in the not so distant past folks were heading to their local smut emporium to purchase dildos, butt plugs and other goodies made from toxic, porous materials chock full of phthalates and other unpronounceable scourges.
  The frisky new world of non-toxic, cruelty-free, eco-friendly sex toys (Hopes and Fears)

• Fun article: A growing cohort of Torontonians are indulging their wildest fetishes – and negotiating every slap, spank and lash of the whip.
  The Kink Club: inside the secret world of BDSM (Toronto Life, thanks, Viviane!)

• The group of eight women sing, dance and enact poetry as getting-to-know-you exercises, but the themes written on the whiteboard reveal the deeper nature of the work: “Misconception, whore, mother, domestic violence, abandoned-thrown out, rebirth.” These are big motifs to tackle, but that’s what the San Francisco Bay Area Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival (now in its ninth year) is about — asking difficult questions.
  Sex workers act out in S.F. theater workshop (SF Gate)

• An Egyptian court has ordered Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb to impose a ban on pornographic websites. A similar decision taken two years ago denounced pornographic content as “venomous and vile,” but failed to come into force. The Wednesday ruling is to be immediately enforced.
  Egypt Court Bans Online Adult Content (XBIZ)

• Warning for survivors of sexual assault and trauma. Author Cathy Young writes: “To me, this crusade against “rape culture” over-simplifies the vast complexity of human sexual interaction, conflating criminal sexual acts like coercion by physical force, threat or incapacitation—which should obviously be prosecuted and punished whenever possible – with bad behavior.”
  Feminists want us to define these ugly sexual encounters as rape. Don’t let them. (Washington Post)

• Ava Austen, Tiffany Doll – See Me After Hours
• Cathy Heaven, gentleman friend – Taking Charge
• Bojena, Jay Snake – Private Thoughts
• Tiffany Naylor, Tiffany, Doll – Sexology

• Carol Vega, Christian Frei – I fucking love IKEA
• Samia Duarte, many others – Crossfit Orgy
• Moni, her boyfriend – I Pegged My Boyfriend

• Ela Darling – No Escape (squirting video)
• Skin Diamond – live BDSM show (deep-throat video)

• Eva Lovia, Antonio Ross – Porn Lovers
• Gina Gerson, Kristof Cale – Come Covered

• Aria Alexander, Van Wylde – Too Tight For Words
• Aria Alexander, Silvia Saige, Alex Jones – Taking Turns

• Lucie and Ryan – Tease
• Jade and Tommy – Just Married

• Mira, Sharon Lee, gentleman friend – Beach Fuck Party
• Noemilk – Anal Desire
• Sahara Knite – Deepthroat

• Simona A, Subil A – Amber Depth
• Ariel Rebel – Chaysa
• Avri – self-fisting in public

• Silver Shoes – Blue Artichoke Films
• Jiz Lee, Kay Garnellen, Wolf Hudson, Mor Vital – BIODILDO 2.0 (image above)

Carlo Mollino (1905-1973) was an architect, designer, photographer and writer, not to mention a race-car driver and a pilot. His buildings include the Royal Theatre in Turin, and his furniture, like his photography, is ever more valuable. In 2005, a Mollino table sold for $3.8 million, setting a world record for twentieth-century decorative art.

Upon his death, it was discovered that he had a vast, stunning body of work in Polaroids spanning 1962-1973.

DesignBoom tells us that these were, “the private photographic work he kept which included over 1,000 polaroids portraying beauties of Turin’s nightlife in the nude in mise-en-scène settings. These photographs were part of the preparation of his “house for the warrior’s rest,” known as Casa Mollino, a villa in Turin, situated along the River Po.”

Mollino, said to be one of Italy’s most influential mid-20th century designers, wanted to model his death on those of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, whose souls were taken by boat to a sumptuous city, where they enjoyed opulent afterlives. Casa Mollino was a house he created for his afterlife, “inspired by the project of the construction of the Egyptian pyramid which is the house for the perpetuity of the pharaohs.”

Flashbak has this nice collection. See also, more here and here.

• Two of Britain’s top creatives have teamed up to make one of the most extravagant erotic brand films ever — a frenetic two-and-a-half-minute film for London adult retailer Coco de Mer.
  Ad of the Day: Adult Retailer Makes Probably the Craziest X-Rated Ad Yet (AdWeek)

• This Friday the news hit that 3.5 million personally identifiable records were leaked from systems belonging to the adult oriented website, AdultFriendFinder. The really interesting part wasn’t so much the tenting of fingers and overly ravenous bystanders but, more so the number of people cringing behind their monitors across the vast expanses of the Internet.
  The human cost of the Adult Friend Finder data breach (CSOnline)
  See also: Adult Friend Finder confirms data breach 3.5 million records exposed (CSOnline)

• What you won’t find [on PornHub], despite the fact that in book form it has sold over 100 million copies and as a film has made more than $500 million, is contract porn. But now, with its release on DVD, Fifty Shades of Grey — maybe the only movie ever made that’s understood the appeal of a woman looking at a man across 12 inches of hard-wood conference table and murmuring “no anal fisting” — puts contract in the light it deserves (glowing, above the Apple logo). It’s not so much that with Fifty Shades, porn has gone mainstream; it’s that with Fifty Shades the mainstream has been revealed as porn.
  50 Shades of Libertarian Love (The Los Angeles Review of Books)

• In 2006, Oprah Winfrey cancelled an appearance on her show by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, the parents whose 15 children had made them famous not just to fellow evangelical Christians but to the secular world as well. Only now is Discovery beginning to acknowledge the likelihood that eldest son Josh Duggar molested all but one of his five younger sisters.
  The Web Has Known About Josh Duggar for Years. When Did TLC Find Out? (Defamer)

• Sex and robots: The concept of AI—specifically of the foxy, sexualized persuasion—has permeated pop culture for a very long time, most recently exemplified with Alex Garland’s Ex Machina. And should these AI rise up, what kind of role would sexuality and sexual identity play in their existence—if at all? Hopes&Fears corralled a group of varied experts to weigh in through a group panel discussion to see what the future holds for us, the AI… and our respective crotch parts.
  Artificial Sexuality: a roundtable discussion on screwing robots (Hopes and Fears)

• Federal agents arrested a State Department employee flying out of Atlanta this week and charged him with running a massive, repulsive “sextortion” racket using U.S. State Department computer access. He stole sexually explicit photos of young women from their Internet accounts, threatened to release personal information on them and their families (or cause them to lose their jobs), and then blackmailed them for more sexual photos and videos. He phished, hacked and terrorized hundreds of women with the aid of his government computer access.
  State dept. worker accused of ‘sextortion’ has hearing in Atlanta (AJC)

• Simone Steenberg and Lolo Bates, both photographers studying at the London College of Fashion will be curating a fashion photography show, called Pink Pistols, at Doomed Gallery in Dalston London opening June 18th 2015, about celebrating and exploring the female body and showing unconventional fashion photography.
  “Pink Pistols” A fashion photography show celebrating and exploring the female body (C-Heads Magazine)

• “The mainstream video game industry, replete as it is with violence simulators and power fantasies, is a shrinking violet when it comes to honestly portraying intercourse. Sex [in video games] is treated like a Fabergé egg, a delicate treasure with incalculable value but no other purpose than to look nice on a shelf and point out to friends. In the God of War series, sex is a reward mechanic that churns out points in exchange for quickly mashing buttons. But you never see the sex, you just hear it!”
  Let’s Talk About Sex (in Video Games), Baby (The Mary Sue)

• It’s the yearly article where someone discovers the used panty trade and tries to make the topic seem… not used.
  Inside the Thriving Online Market for Women’s Dirty Underwear (VICE)

• “In real life, almost every article about sex dolls (a term I’m using interchangeably here with “love doll,” even though not everyone who owns such a doll does so for sexual purposes) has stated that the market for such dolls is almost entirely male—but not entirely.”
  The Human Side of Sex Dolls (LadySmut)

• Ever wonder what it’s like to see a penis ejaculate into your face while dressed to the nines in the South of France? Well then Gaspar Noe’s Love might be for you. Despite several instances of tastefully lit fellatio, and a 3D image of a large penis’s sperm cascading towards the audience, Gaspar Noé’s Love proved to be the dumbest movie screened so far at Cannes — as well as the most soporific.
  Cannes’s 3D Porn: High Heels, Tuxedoes, and Midnight Money Shot (Daily Beast)

• Controversial op-ed: “To paraphrase Janet Mock: Trans people aren’t ‘passing’ as men or women. We’re being. Out of all the words in the transgender lexicon, “passing” is the one I hate most. And that’s no small feat.”
  Op-ed: I’m a Trans Man Who Doesn’t ‘Pass’ — And You Shouldn’t Either (Advocate)

• A first-person essay about male bisexuality.
  Learning to Embrace Sexuality’s Gray Areas (NYT)

• They were supposed to be enforcing the law. Instead, the FBI alleges, a pair of rogue FBI agents ran a sex-for-hire stable, staffed with illegal talent. One DEA source told The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity that the incident is a slap in the face for the agency.
  DEA Agents Ran Jersey’s Sleaziest Strip Club (Daily Beast)

I love, love, LOVE this gleefully cute video, Vanilla Whip: A Documentary About Love. The language, I believe, is fairly universal.

They have a Facebook page (I hope they get a real website before Facebook deletes them), and I found AKTUALNY PROJEKT: KLIMAT I WANILIA // VANILLA WHIP. I hope to see more of this fun project, even though Google doesn’t seem to return any accurate results for it… I’ll be on the lookout.

Four Chambers is one of my favorite erotic art groups, and their video work continues to amaze, arouse and make you generally want to celebrate the power of bold art and artists. flux : tease is their brand-new work, a compelling four-minute video that has a riveting continuous shot in the beginning, then artfully takes us through a girl-girl domination scene framed by artful (and emotional, narrative, tasteful) editing, perfect timing, and some really hot set-to-music action.

Find Four Chambered on Twitter here. Their mantra is indie DIY erotic cinema, and if you want to support their creative work, you can contribute to the Four Chambers Patreon.

• The result of four years of hard work? A robotic butt named Patrick, who delivers instantaneous feedback to students about the prostate exam he’s receiving. Patrick comes equipped with four sensors, and its highly-visual software can inform students whether they’re applying optimal pressure. He might inform the student if the pressure is too soft or if they have neglected to cover the whole prostate.
  Robotic Butt Helps Medical Students Learn Professional Intimacy (KQED, thank you Cyrus!)

• Congrats, UK. It sucks to be you: Britain is at the cutting-edge of censorship, it has been claimed, as government plans to implement ID-based age checks for pornography websites gather pace.
  The UK is becoming the world leader in censorship (NAME)

• Merriam-Webster has updated its dictionary to include the words, WTF, meme, photobombing, and… NSFW! Yay! I remember having to explain to San Francisco Chronicle staff and management what that was. Not fun!
  Merriam-Webster Unabridged (Merriam-Webster)

• This is a wonderfully written first-person essay by a trans woman about her experiences with orgasm, pleasure and self-discovery. Highly recommended for all genders, actually.
  A Trans Woman Learns To Masturbate (Eros Media)

• CNN is staffed by drunk hamsters. There, I said it.
  Sex trade goes underground in China’s ‘sin city’ (CNN)

• Burgeoning industries like fintech, edtech and healthtech are constantly in the news. But not sextech. Given the ubiquity of sex, is that about to change?
  What is sextech and why is everyone ignoring it? (Hot Topics)

• A handful of anti-gay activists and their cameramen held an event Friday morning dubbing the longstanding Leather Archives & Museum a “perversion museum” that promotes incest, pedophilia and sadomasochism to children. But Rogers Park neighbors weren’t having it.
  Neighbors of Leather Museum Tell All 4 Anti-Gay Protesters to ‘Go Home’ (DNAinfo Chicago)

• The statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of sexual assault has just gone from four years to 20 in Nevada – and that’s because of the wave of accusations against comedian Bill Cosby. (I counted over two dozen last time I could stand to look.)
  Bill Cosby Assault Allegations Trigger Change in Nevada Sex-Crime Law (Daily Beast)

• Men are fulfilling their dreams of having giant penises that weigh multiple pounds with this medically dubious, illegal intervention. In Monster Meat, Vice meets Micha from Berlin, who decided a few years ago to take this irreversible step.
  This Is What Life Is Like With A Gigantic Penis (Vice/YouTube)

• I wasn’t wearing a skimpier top than usual, and I hadn’t recently gotten a boob job. The only thing I’d changed was my perfume. For a week, I’d been wearing synthetic pheromones “guaranteed” to make me more attractive to other humans.
  I wore ‘pheromone perfume’ to become a sex goddess (Fusion)

• Not many details on the yet, but it may have to do with the EU’s stance on net Neutrality. A leaked EU Council document shows that plans are afoot to stop Cameron’s censorship/web filtering plan in its tracks — and with the UK on the verge of trying to debate a better deal for itself within Europe, the Prime Minister is not in a particularly strong position for negotiating on the issue.
  Leaked document shows Europe would fight UK plans to block porn (Betanews)

• A recent report by Ameritest, one of the industry’s leading advertising testing firms, found that sex actually doesn’t sell. Sean Scott, Ameritest senior brand consultant, told Ad Age that sex just “doesn’t perform that well in spurring purchase intent.” In particular, the report took a close look at one of Carl Jr.’s latest ads, its 2015 Super Bowl “all-natural” burger commercial featuring model Charlotte McKinney and her bouncing “natural” boobs.
  Copyranter: Sex just don’t sell like it used to (Digiday)

• San Francisco, this looks fun: “What is it like to see a performance when you’re naked?” This question sparked “Nude Night” at the festival THIS IS WHAT I WANT. While patrons at San Francisco’s CounterPulse won’t be required to participate in the clothing-optional aspect of the opening night of festival (they’ll be asked to “be aware and respectful”), those who do get a $5 discount off the ticket price.
  Desire in focus at CounterPulse fest (SF Examiner)

• Games that deal with sex in a realistic way are largely unexplored territory. Mainstream games with sex scenes like Mass Effect or God of War exist to titillate and empower. But indie designers like Nina Freeman are pushing back, hoping to recouple sexuality and humanity by making players feel confused, awkward and vulnerable.
  If Sex Videogames Make You Feel Weird, That’s the Point (Wired)

• On Tuesday Night a joint operation involving Pattaya’s Tourist Police and a team from the Chonburi Provincial Police Special Operations Unit took place and targeted two shops which were reportedly selling penis and breast-shaped soap to locals and tourists. No one knows why.
  Penis and Breast-Shaped Soap seized by Police from South Pattaya Stores (Pattaya One)

• Adriana Chechik, Kylie Kalvetti, Ryan D. – Come Kisses (commentary video)
• Aruna Aghora, Denis Reed – Give Me Your Love

• Never afraid of adventure, Mad Max actress Zoe Kravitz got dressed up in fetish attire for her cover story for the April/May 2015 issue of Complex.
  Zoe Kravitz Goes Dominatrix For Complex April (Celebrity Gossip)

• New rules proposed last week by the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHA) would require adult film actors to wear eye gear for many scenes. The rules, which have yet to be finalized, would also impose strict hygiene standards and outlaw common porn practices.
  California porn stars could soon have to wear protection. Eye protection, that is. (Washington Post)

• Adult film star turned Bollywood actress Sunny Leone on Wednesday (May 26) visited the Thane police headquarters and met cyber crime cell officials based in the premises in connection with a recent FIR registered against her. The Dombivli police station in the Thane district had on May 14 booked Sunny Leone for obscenity under the Indian Penal Code, the Indecent Representation of Women’s Act and the Information Technology Act, and had forwarded the complaint to the Cyber Crime Cell for further investigation.
  Sunny Leone records statement in connection with obscenity case (Indian Express)

• Warning for survivors of sexual abuse, trauma: The U.N.’s poor handling of child sex abuse claims against French soldiers has human rights staffers in the field fearing for their jobs as they struggle with how to respond to highly sensitive allegations in the future, according to a letter to the world body’s human rights chief obtained by The Associated Press.
  Child sex abuse claims shake UN as revelations continue> (Refinery 29)

• Because of the advertised intended usage for most lubes, the FDA has been known to classify some brands as “class 2” medical devices, which would require official clearance before allowing further distribution. The process of receiving this “501(k) clearance” has proven in the past to be extremely costly, drawn out, and morally compromising. (Animal testing is required.) Failure to adhere to these mandated requirements can result in your products being seized by the FDA.
  Lube’s Battle: The FDA’s Crackdown on Lubricant Labeling (XBIZ)

• This season’s Bachelorette lady, Kaitlyn Bristowe, thought she had found a potential match. She gave her first one-on-one rose to Clint Arlis. But her heart was quickly broken when he declared his love for another man… His fellow contestant JJ Lane.
  Two Straight “Bachelorette” Contestants Fall In Love, Confess To Hooking Up In The Shower (Queerty)

• They might not have had the technology to send dick pics, but a graphic description of a “pego” and “gingambobs” would probably be enough to get a love interest itching to “bagpipe” you. Check out this 18th-century sex slang, and please oh please oh please find a way to work it into your sexting.
  How To Talk Dirty Using 18th Century Sex Slang, Because It’s Time To Take Your Sexting On A Time Machine Ride (Bustle)

• In a segment for Tyson’s podcast StarTalk, Bill Nye stopped by New York’s Museum of Sex to talk about the evolutionary imperative that drives all creatures to procreate.
  Bill Nye talks about sex (Mashable)

• Walking down Eddy from Market Street in downtown San Francisco, you wouldn’t notice the Citadel sandwiched between a karaoke joint and a parking lot.
  Fuck 50 Shades: A look inside the real BDSM scene (Kink and Code)

• Rapidly developing 3D printing technology has already had a major impact in many industries, including space exploration, food, and prosthetics. redOrbit asked the opinion of Tom Sancelot, who developed the site SexShop3D in anticipation of major market changes as result of 3D printing.
  Read more at http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1113398847/how-3d-printing-may-change-sex-toys-forever-052815/#lZfyl3L5oxv0zzjr.99
  How 3D printing may change sex toys forever (redOrbit)

Chinese photographer WANIMAL is causing a stir right now in Chinese papers (and a bit in the UK and US) for a couple of art nudes he took in the Forbidden City palace in Bejiing, China. The photos are lovely, though erotic, and the Palace Museum is not happy about it. In a statement issued on Monday, the Museum said that such behavior should be “condemned by society” and “violates the public order and social morals.”

China’s Global Times writes,

According to the museum, security camera footage shows that at 8:30 am on May 17, four visitors ran ahead of other visitors into the museum. Among them was a woman wearing long grey clothing.

At 8:50, staff at the museum discovered the group taking inappropriate photos at The Hall of Supreme Harmony (taihe dian) during a patrol and stopped them.

Based on previous posts on Wang’s Sina Weibo, he began scouting the museum as early as May 13. The museum denied that it had any knowledge of the shoot beforehand.

In an interview with guancha.com on Thursday, Wang said that taking photos at tourist attractions “is not something new” for him and that he feels his behavior hasn’t affected anyone. He added that if people wish to take offense at his work then so be it.

Wang is a graduate from the Central Academy of Drama and received further education in the US. In addition to the recent controversial nude photos in the Forbidden City, he has also photographed nude models in the streets of Hong Kong and at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

He should put the Palace’s statement in his bio under “accomplishments.” He’s a hell of an artist — do hop over to WANIMAL’s Tumblr and feast on miles of gorgeous art nudes brimming with skin, tattoos, and highly condemnable behavior.

• To keep the LEGO Universe game penis-free, the company hired a sizable moderation team to scan screenshots of every structure that went up, according to a former developer for the game. Management “wanted a creative building MMO with a promise of zero penises seen.” But they couldn’t keep up…
  LEGO Universe had a huge ‘dong detection’ problem, says former developer (Fusion, via Vaughan Bell)

• The Los Angeles Times today published an op-ed that claims there’s a “strangeness” to new proposed porn production regulations in California. That strangeness, Conor Friedersdorf says, is that the draconian rules that the porn industry possibly faces are counterintuitive in “an era when a right to personal autonomy is thought to protect everything from abortion to BDSM to polyamorous orgies.” Friedersdorf notes, “The new sex police are as irrational as the old.”
  L.A. Times Publishes ‘First They Came for the Pornographers …’ (XBIZ)

• Famed sex therapist and advice columnist Dr. Ruth Westheimer has come under fire this week for comments made during a radio interview about sexual consent. Specifically, Westheimer said on the Diane Rehm Show Monday that if a woman is already naked in bed and her partner is “aroused,” she can no longer say no to sex.
  Dr. Ruth Says Women Can’t Say No To Sex Once Partner Is Aroused (Huffington Post)

• An American woman is aiming to make legal history in England as the first person to seek both a civil action for damages and the criminal prosecution of a former partner she accuses of posting revenge pornography of her on the internet.
  US woman pursues ex-boyfriend in landmark UK revenge-porn action (Guardian UK)

• This week, the Minnesota Court of Appeals overturned the conviction of Timothy Turner, who admitted to posting sexually-explicit ads on Craigslist seeking sex from men, pretending to be his ex-girlfriend and her under-age daughter. (…) In Oregon, the state Senate unanimously passed a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to surreptitiously take photos up women’s dresses without their consent.
  Without My Consent’s Weekly Roundup – June 3, 2015 (Without My Consent newsletter)

• During the Clinton impeachment, Newt Gingrich and Dennis Hastert presented themselves as moralizing figures. Gingrich was cheating on his gravely ill wife, and Hastert would later be indicted for paying off an unnamed person to “compensate for and conceal” the sexual abuse of a high-school boy during his coaching days.
  The Changing American Sex Scandal (The New Yorker)

• At a public hearing on Thursday — on what could be the first-ever drug to be approved by the FDA for the treatment of women’s sexual dysfunction — the FDA may also have to answer charges that the relative lack of progress stems from bias in how women’s sexual health is treated.
  FDA to debate approval of ‘female Viagra’ (Al Jazeera America)

• Latex: a shiny second skin that comes in every hue, shape and thickness. It can constrict and contract, inventing new silhouettes for the human body. Worn in clandestine S&M scenes or integrated into street wear, the fetishized feeling latex brings exists both in public and in private.
  The Wonderful and Bizarre World of the Latex Bodysuit Fetish (Alternet)

• According to new research from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, men who drink the caffeine equivalent of two to three cups of coffee per day are less likely to have erectile dysfunction.
  What Your Morning Coffee Has To Do With Erections (Huffington Post)

• Starting tomorrow, anyone can buy a .porn or .adult domain name. As for pricing, GoDaddy today is pre-selling .porn domain names starting at $119 per domain, with a sale price starting at $83.99. United Domains is planning to sell .adult names at $79 starting tomorrow.
  General Availability for .porn, .adult Domains Starts Tomorrow (XBIZ)

• A Bronx councilman has lost his signature website that beat his political drum after letting his domain name expire. Now, Councilman Andy King’s site points to a Japanese sex site.
  N.Y. Politician Finds His Website Taken Over by Japanese Sex Site (XBIZ)

• The Science of Sex Dreams: Stephen LaBerge specializes in dream sex and orgasms. He started studying lucid dreams since research in the area began in the ‘80s, and led Stanford University’s groundbreaking work into whether dreams are controllable.
  How to Control Your Sex Dreams with Science and Sex Tech (Future of Sex)

• In 2012, when Barnet Lee Rosset, Jr. died, he left behind many nicknames: The Old Smut Peddler, The Last Maverick of Publishing, and The New York Anarchist, among others. He fought obscenity charges in the United States Supreme Court and won, single-handedly bringing the words fuck and cunt to American letters.
  The Strange Second Act of the Man Who Brought Smut to American Literature (New Republic)

• Even though top New York City officials said that students should be taught how to use condoms, it actually wasn’t part of the health class curriculum. Until now. Parents will still be able to opt-out of their children learning something practical and important.
  NYC Schools Can Finally Demonstrate How To Use Condoms (Gothamist)

This isn’t a sex-related post, but it does fit here in the same vein as the Kink Your Kindle posts I do every few months. I was chatting on Twitter with someone in my ongoing quest to find new horror and crime books to read, and they suggested I make a list of what I’ve read recently. You see, I’m really into reading horror. Below are probably all of the horror Kindle books I’ve read in the past six months (though I’ve read some actual paper books too like San Francisco Noir, which is pretty good).

I didn’t write reviews for these, I just provided a one-line snap judgment for each, and added a ‘LE SUCK to ZOMFG’ rating system of sorts. You’ll need to click through to read plot descriptions, but many are zombie, some are serial killers, and most are paranormal/sci-fi in some way or another. What I like isn’t going to be what you like, of course. But, I practically live off a steady diet of other people’s reading lists because discovery is such a challenge.

If you like this sort of thing (horror and crime novels), I hope my list has something for you. These are in order of most recently read.

• The Heretic (Beyond the Wall Book 1) by Lucas Bale MEH
  I kept waiting for something to happen. All the women are weak.

• Ghost Road Blues, Bad Moon Rising, Dead Man’s Song by Jonathan Maberry MEH
  The first one was good, but needed an editor. Almost too much religion, the slut shaming soured the story, though it has one great strong female character I’d love to see replicated. The writing never improved.

• Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants by Grant Morrison BIZARRE COOL
  Strange but cool nonfiction analysis on hero myths in comics.

• A Wicked Snow by Gregg Olsen GOOD
  Enjoyable horror.

• The Beginning of the End (Apocalypse Z) by Manel Loureiro GOOD
  I’m definitely reading the next one. Highly unusual angle, plus a cat companion.

• Contamination 1: The Onset (Contamination Post-Apocalyptic) by T.W. Piperbrook GOOD
  I won’t be reading the rest because the protagonist is too much of a wuss to be allowed to live, and a bit hackneyed. Strong women though.

• The Shining Girls: A Novel by Lauren Beukes EXCELLENT
  Almost too much to take, so vivid. Great female protagonist.

• Zoo City by Lauren Beukes EXCELLENT
  Great premise, I loved the character work here, superb story. Unpredictable.

• Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror and Deliverance in the City of Love David Talbot MEH
  Awful writing, fascinating subject: San Francisco history.

• The Twelve (Book Two of The Passage Trilogy): A Novel by Justin Cronin ZOMFG SO GREAT
  As great as the first one. I’m losing my mind waiting for the third book to come out.

• The Passage: A Novel (Book One of The Passage Trilogy) by Justin Cronin ZOMFG SO GREAT
  Unpredictable, great writing, great characters, totally far-out apocalypse scenario. Hard to put down.

• Survivor: A Horror Thriller by K.R. Griffiths GOOD
  Another good beach read, from a reliably readable and surprising author.

• Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes EXCELLENT
  My introduction to this author; gripping horror mystery with a Hannibal vibe and great female protagonists.

• Panic (Wildfire Chronicles Vol. 1) by K.R. Griffiths GOOD
  I’ll definitely read the next one. Beach fare, like tasty horror junk food.

• The Girl With All the Gifts by M. R. Carey ZOMFG SO GREAT
  Sets a high standard for literary horror. One of my favorite books of all time.

• Night Chill by Jeff Gunhus GOOD
  Holy crap this is a weird book.

• Adrift by K.R. Griffiths GOOD
  Vivid horror pulp, twists and turns, perfect for beach reading.

• Descent: A Novel by Tim Johnston GOOD
  Really hard to put down, vivid, and it sucks you in.

• White Bones (Katie Maguire Book 1) by Graham Masterton LE SUCK
  Starts out promising, becomes predictable, becomes a sappy romance, ends with a hateful the-serial-killer-is-trans twist that made me want to burn the Kindle store to the ground. This author is an asshole.

• Song of Kali by Dan Simmons GOOD
  Literary horror that feels like an undertow.

• Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Melinek M.D. GOOD
  Nonfiction: I read every medical examiner book I can find, and I’m a pathology buff. Enjoyable book for the genre.

• The Killer Next Door: A Novel by Alex Marwood GOOD
  No surprises here, but good writing. Almost a MEH.

• Hold the Dark: A Novel by William Giraldi EXCELLENT
  Literary horror. I found myself getting lost in this book, and wanting to find another one like it.

• The Son: A novel by Jo Nesbo EXCELLENT
  I read everything Nesbo writes. This is a great mystery/crime/horror story; gripping.

• Lizardskin by Carsten Stroud GOOD
  Good hardboiled crime novel, usual 50s crime caveats.

• Perfidia: A novel by James Ellroy MEH
  I love early Ellroy, and I found this rough and disjointed.

• Acceptance: A Novel (The Southern Reach Trilogy Book 3) by Jeff VanderMeer EXCELLENT
  Literary horror, unpredictable to the end. Will give you nightmares. Start with book one.

• Black Water Transit by Carsten Stroud GOOD
  Perfect hardboiled crime.

• Husk by Matt Hults EXCELLENT
  Great horror, unpredictable. Will keep you up at night.

• Bird Box: A Novel by Josh Malerman EXCELLENT
  This premise shouldn’t work, but it does, and it keeps you turning the pages. Masterful literary horror.

• Watchers by Dean Koontz MEH
  Formulaic, beach reading. Not exceptional in any way.

• City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer GOOD
  Really well written, but not easy to get into. Not sure if I recommend it.

• The Third Bear by Jeff VanderMeer EXCELLENT
  Not all stories in this collection are great, but the one that is… is fucking amazing.

• Authority: A Novel (The Southern Reach Trilogy Book 2) by Jeff VanderMeer EXCELLENT
  This trilogy is outrageous literary horror. It stained my subconscious.

• Pines (The Wayward Pines Trilogy, Book 1) by Blake Crouch MEH
  A chilling mystery that ended up disappointing me with its cliches about humanity and weak ending.

• Annihilation: A Novel (The Southern Reach Trilogy Book 1) by Jeff VanderMeer ZOMFG SO GREAT
  Scary, completely fucking weird, lyrical, hypnotic, and reality-warping. Not for everyone.

• The Homecoming (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) by Carsten Stroud EXCELLENT
  I can’t wait for book three, though this has weak spots. Still, I’ll be re-reading parts for inspiration in my own writing.

• Niceville (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) by Carsten Stroud ZOMFG SO GREAT
  Unpredictable, beautifully written crime horror. One of my all-time favorites.

• Discount Armageddon: Book One of InCryptid by Seanan McGuire EXCELLENT
  Strange, satisfying action, really great female protagonist who kicks a lot of ass. Not the best writing, but a terrifically fun tale.

• Blackout (Newsflesh Book 3) by Mira Grant EXCELLENT
  Not as all-out fucking amazing as FEED, but really great.

• The First Law Trilogy Boxed Set: The Blade Itself, Before by Joe Abercrombie GOOD
  I devoured these. They’re not perfect, but if you’re craving Game of Thrones after the season finishes…

Thanks to Jiz Lee for mentioning this on Twitter: It looks like Kink shot its first glorious scene with a BBW performer — none other than friend and award-winning adult performer, April Flores!

The shoot is a treatment of David Lynch’s iconic Blue Velvet scene where Dennis Hopper menaces Isabella Rossellini while huffing through a gas mask, and it looks compelling. In Baby Wants to Fuck, Flores joins forces with Mistress Mona Wales to turn the tables on “Frank Booth” and they top the living daylights out of lucky Will Havoc. Kink’s set and atmosphere for the shoot lends it a “Black Lodge” (the “Red Room”) vibe that really works. The commenters are loving it, with at least one female viewer praising the sexy scene. Another commenter adds, “Plz more BBW on Divine Bitches!”

Here is Kink’s scene description for the scene, Baby Wants To Fuck:

Divine Bitches is proud to introduce 2x AVN BBW performer of the year, April Flores! She shines as the ULTIMATE DIVINE goddess alongside Mistress Mona Wales. In this surrealist femdom porn flick, every curve and every inch of her creamy white flesh is worshipped. (…) Goddess April Flores is the embodiment of what every Divine Bitch strives to be. She is the archetype. Will Havoc begs to be penetrated by both goddesses at the same time until he sprays his load all over Goddess April’s round belly and licks her clean!

Hope you enjoy this pornographic femdom homage to David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. Soundtrack sung and recorded by resident Divine Bitch, Mistress Mona Wales.

Would you flirt with an A.I. (artificial intelligence) companion? Would you try out a dirty talking chatbot? I would. Apparently the author of Love and Sex with Robots wants to make people like me happy, because David Levy (in partnership with Paul Andrews of House of Erotica) has launched Erotic Chatbots Ltd. — and they now have a fundraising page.

Our flirty chatbots are designed for people who enjoy amorous conversations without any overtly sexual content. We believe that the flirty style will also appeal to shy people and to those who would be embarrassed by a more adult style of conversation. The adult style is designed for users who prefer to chat dirty.

If this sounds like the film Her, then you’re getting the picture. While these chatbots won’t be anywhere near that level of omnipresence or awareness, it’s highly likely that if Erotic Chatbots succeeds with their ideas, achieving Her will eventually be a matter of development and adoption. Despite all the dystopian sci-fi I consume, which tells me this is only going to end with the machines enslaving us, I can’t wait for my potty-mouthed artificial companions.

Last week, Erotic Chatbots Ltd. launched its Indiegogo campaign to raise development money, and the perks are pretty sweet (though they need a better video). They’re going to have two offerings for the erotic chatbot lines, Flirty Chatbots and Sexy Chatbots.

Each of our chatbots will have the personality of an entertaining, interesting and amorous partner, who remembers its past conversations with you, learning more and more about you as time goes on.

(…) Our chatbots will be driven by our own Artificial Intelligence software. They will be able to converse on a huge variety of subjects, and their conversation will exhibit several humanlike characteristics. The primary purpose of our chatbots is to entertain, which they will do by providing an engaging conversational capability, but they can also help you to practice and improve your own flirting and erotic chat skills.

Our chatbots are being developed by a team which has twice won the prestigious Loebner Prize contest for human-computer conversation.

The page explains that the bots will come in standard gender binary flavors (female and male), with a heterosexual focus. Their plan is to later expand into lesbian and gay versions, which is great, though I’m wondering if that means bisexuality is already in there somewhere. Let’s hope so. I also hope that since the entire product has shed the construct of bodies, they’ll also eventually shed the antiquated notion of binary gender and expand to embrace the gender spectrum.

But here’s one of the really cool parts:

We are also creating a limited edition of personalized chatbots, each of which is designed and programmed to know about and be affectionate with a particular person. That person can be you, or anyone to whom you decide to gift one of these personalized chatbots.

They will be programmed with information acquired from a “personalizing questionnaire” which you will receive shortly before we are ready to deliver your chatbot(s). The questionnaire will ask about the user’s likes and dislikes, their interests, and various other aspects of their lives. Whatever answers you give when you return the questionnaire(s) to us will make a chatbot more knowledgeable about its user. Your chatbot can therefore start its “life” knowing quite a lot about its user, and what it knows will often be worked into its conversations. That same knowledge will also make the chatbot more interested in its user, and make the user’s personal characteristics more appealing to the chatbot’s persona.

I really hope to see this happen. It’s not the first erotic chatbot venture, but it’s the best. Until now, erotic chatbots haven’t exactly been used for good. In 2013, Security research firm Cloudmark documented the rise of a flirty bot called Text Girlie (covered a year later on BBC). After obtaining a victim’s name and telephone number from their Facebook profile, TextGirlie would send the victim a personalized message asking them to continue the conversation on Skype or Yahoo Messenger. A few coquettish exchanges later, and the victim would be asked to click on a link to an adult dating/cam site. According to Cloudmark, Text Girlie failed the Turing test.

I struggled to rewrite A.L.I.C.E. until 2008 (having started work on her in 2004), to make her sex-positive and sexual, but something like this requires time and resources. Either way, I’m really excited to see what ends up coming out of the mad science labs at Erotic Chatbots, Ltd.

Main post image via this gallery, by artist biomechanoid56.

• Porn Time is based on existing Popcorn Time code and works in a similar fashion to other forks. It uses BitTorrent under the hood and works on most popular platforms. In addition, the streams can be cast directly to the big screen with Chromecast, Airplay or DLNA.
  Now There’s a Popcorn Time For Porn Too (TorrentFreak)

• I made a fun discovery this weekend: The author of Love and Sex with Robots, David Levy (in partnership with Paul Andrews of House of Erotica), has launched Erotic Chatbots Ltd. — and they now have a fundraising page.
  Exciting launch: David Levy’s Erotic Chatbots Ltd. now raising funds (TinyNibbles | Violet Blue)

• The place where molester of 5-year-olds Josh Duggar got his “counseling” was actually the Institute of Basic Life Principles’ (IBLP) Little Rock Training Center, one of many scattered throughout the country that were once run by 80-year-old cult leader Bill Gothard, who was forced to formally step down in 2014 in response to 34 charges of sexual abuse.
  The Truth About Josh Duggar’s Sham Cult-Center “Counseling” (Gawker)

• A Food and Drug Administration panel recommended a drug called flibanserin — dubbed “the female Viagra” — for approval this week. But experts say the comparison to the erectile dysfunction medication is problematic and gives the wrong impression to women seeking treatment for sexual problems.
  ‘Female Viagra’ FDA Approval: 5 Facts Women Should Know About Flibanserin (International Business Times)

• “They [the members of the FDA advisory committee] were emotionally blackmailed by the Even the Score campaign, whose activists maintained “something was better than nothing,” said Thea Cacchioni, a sociologist and assistant professor in the Department of Women’s Studies at the University of Victoria.
  Astroturfers rule the day: FDA’s flibanserin reviewers were “emotionally blackmailed” by a slick lobbying campaign (Health News Review)

• Of the fortune 500 corporations, fewer than 1,420 executives (directors, VPs and above) were members of Adult Friend Finder. Another 230,000 or so rank and file employees of fortune 500 companies were also members – following in the footsteps of their admired superiors no doubt. Their interests ranged widely. Of the 2,400,000 odd employees of the Federal Government, we find a measly 120,000 or so who were members.
  How the most damaging hack In cyber history was met with little notice (SiliconANGLE)

• “We’ve talked to trans people in crisis for 2574 hours since November. We have answered 11,300 calls and have 200 operators, all trans identified,” said Greta Gustava Martela, founder of the suicide hotline Trans Lifeline. She is a person who’s looking to create one such resource, by trans people, for trans people.
  Where Is The Support For Trans People In Crisis? (Eros Media)

• Prior to the disastrous “perfect storm” year of 2008 when the stock market crashed, banks failed, consumer credit card limits were crushed and porn became a primarily free commodity on the internet, many studios were able to find angel investors and venture capitalists that were more than happy to throw some money at porn productions. Those days are very much over. Investors, not just in regards to porn, but pretty much anything, are now very wary to invest in anything that is not already making a profit.
  The Challenges Of Crowd Funding Porn (EroticScribes)

• Vibrating, Bluetooth-enabled, custom-fit and applicator friendly? Yep, the condom game has changed. Sound a little sci-fi? It’s just one of the many industrious takes on the condom underway as the focus on contraception turns to enhancing pleasure. From creations like foldable condoms to $100,000 grants for condom innovation by the Gates Foundation, we’re finally rejecting the status quo in favor of condoms that take advantage of technology — and feel really, really good.
  These Are the Revolutionary Condoms Our Sex Lives Have Been Waiting For (Mic)

• Hot Girls Wanted has been widely heralded as “eye opening,” “thought provoking,” and “the film that will make you think about the actual human beings you’re jerking off to.” But it’s also been panned—particularly by sex workers—as a piece of simplistic, hyperbolic, and fraudulent propaganda, guilty of portraying its subjects as victimized naifs devoid of agency.
  Hot Girls Wanted Tries and Fails to Turn Its Porn-Star Subjects Into Victims (Reason)

• Sexxpot, derived from a low-THC strain called Mr. Nice, has been grown, packaged, and branded (with an extra x) by Karyn Wagner, founder of Paradigm Medical Marijuana, as an “aphrodisiac weed” — the first to specifically target women.
  Meet The Woman Making Aphrodisiac Weed (Huffington Post)

• A cockring that counts calories during sex? The gentleman puts Lovely – for that’s its name – around the base of his appendage. It monitors his body movements during sex and sends the data to the accompanying app. He can then look back over how many calories he burned during the act, as well as other stats like his duration, force, and even top speed.
  This sex toy wearable will track your performance (T3)

• Carolina and Alberto – Cream (more)
• Apolonia and Julia – When Girls Play
• Carolina and Pablo – Come Over My Feet

• Heidi, Lucy, Sapphira – Greece

• Kiara L., Lutro – Cream That Pie (more)
• Kenna J., Lena N. – Stripped
• Lutro, Taylor Sands – Dutch Delight
• Caprice – Private Show

• Miley Cyrus may have just outdone herself in the interview that accompanies her newest photo shoot for Paper. She says she has come to consider her own sexuality — even her own gender identification — fluid. She added, “I don’t relate to being boy or girl, and I don’t have to have my partner relate to boy or girl.”
  These 21 Words About Sex May Be The Most Important Words Miley Cyrus Has Ever Said (Huffington Post)

• NY Post writes, “So Apple has a new sex-tracker app? Hilarious. But the new feature makes about as much sense as Absolut having a sobriety app, or Hostess managing your weight loss program. The sex tracker is a new component of Apple’s pre-installed Health app. (…)”
  Hey Apple, your new app is killing our sex lives (NY Post)

• Mr. McMullen, the creator of the RealDoll, says he has sold over 5,000 customizable, life-size dolls since 1996, with prices from $5,000 to $10,000. Mr. McMullen’s new project, which he is calling Realbotix, is an attempt to animate the doll; he is first focusing on developing convincing artificial intelligence, and a robotic head that can blink and open and close its mouth.
  Sex Dolls That Talk Back (NY Times)

• Pornhub, the global leader in streaming pornography, is asking its fans for $3.4 million to launch two “sexplorers” — porn stars Eva Lovia and Johnny Sins — into space to have sex.
  Porn stars could be the first humans to have sex in space (Quartz)

• The question the weirdos are asking: Is San Francisco still our home? Is there room for all of us, or is it time to move on to stranger pastures? No one is struggling harder with those questions than the misplaced dolls, dandies and deviants of Mission Control.
  San Francisco’s freak flag is flying at half-mast (Mashable)

• Free Speech Coalition, the national trade association to the adult entertainment and pleasure products industry, has issued a statement relative to the “outings” of adult performers and other adult industry workers. “The truth is these sometimes life-threatening outings, whether they’re the work of a stalker, an ex-lover or a rival, have become all too common. And just as commonly, the defense of the ‘outing’ is free speech. As an organization dedicated to free speech, we thought it was time to address the issue.”
  FSC Makes Statement on Adult Performer, Worker Personal Privacy (XBIZ)

• In hopes of uncovering Osama bin Laden’s pornographic predilections, a determined bro named David Covucci decided to send the CIA a FOIA request on behalf of the esteemed online periodical of jockish 20-somethings known as BroBible.
  A ‘bro’ asked the CIA about Osama bin Laden’s porn stash. The agency answered. (Washington post)

• Josh Karp’s new book, Orson Welles’s Last Movie: The Making of The Other Side of the Wind — written up recently in these pages — contains a marvelous, little-known story about the legendary filmmaker’s involvement in a high-end mid-1970s pornographic film.
  NSFW: Watch the Porn Scene Edited by Orson Welles (Vulture)

• KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A government official blamed the recent deadly earthquake in Malaysia on a group of 10 foreigners who “showed disrespect to the sacred” Mount Kinabalu by posing naked at the peak last week.
  Malaysian official blames deadly quake on naked tourists (CBS News)

• Gay-dating app Grindr LLC recently hired investment bank Raine Group LLC to help it find a buyer, according to a person familiar with its finances. More than 10 other dating companies were acquired in the past year, two by Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActive Corp., which already owns nearly 22% of the market through an amalgam of sites and apps that includes OkCupid, Match.com and Tinder.
  The Dating Business: Love on the Rocks (Wall Street Journal)

• As an apparent result of not initializing memory, the DynaMike ROM is filled with some fairly unfortunate leftovers from whatever else the developer was doing at the time the game was built. They only really get out of hand at 0×7000, when a 4KB portion of an HTML file begins.
  RAM Contents in Unitialized Memory (The Cutting Room Floor)

• Photographer Lauren Engel captured beautiful Australian model Laura Wells for C-Heads, and chatted to her about the most difficult thing about being a plus size model, her bikini line that is made out of recycled PET water bottles, and more.
  Laura Wells talks about the plus size industry, ecological footprints and her environmental bikini line (C-Heads Magazine)

• Northern Ireland recently changed the law to criminalize the act of paying for sex. This follows a trend set in Sweden, where selling sex is legal but buying it is criminalized.
  Disabled People Pay For Sex Too: What Happens When Buying It Is Criminalized But Selling Isn’t? (Science 2.0)

• If Abdelaziz Aouragh, who heads El Asira, ever does open a Mecca location of the “sex shop” it wouldn’t be so out of place. Victoria’s Secret storefronts abound across Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom even even has its own popular brand of lingerie, Nayomi, which has several locations in Mecca. Still, Aouragh understands why the story, though faulty, drew so much interest. He says that a lot of people — including many Muslims — don’t understand the role of sexual pleasure within Islam.
  The Real Sex Lives Of Muslims (Think Progress)

You’re looking at a completely new TinyNibbles! New design, evolved style, refined topics, faster everything, mobile prettiness, and better security (with a few more added security features wrapping up as I write this). As much as I hated not posting here for a week, now you know what’s been keeping me so busy. Working on this site is where I’ve been day and night (and several all-nighters). It’s not that anything was a particular problem, but that I don’t have the cash to hire help, and this website is entering its 15th year. That’s hundreds of articles, thousands of posts, and countless feels; it’s a lot to re-organize.

I’m really happy with the results. When I started this website I was hand-coding pages, everything was tables, and I kept a ‘journal’ then… Because commercial blogging software wasn’t available for websites yet.

This website has been refined into what you see now: A dedicated resource for sex culture and information, and an outlet with which to view and discover art, sex-positive erotic entertainment — as well as a safe place for elements of life those in power would readily see censored, sidelined, and relegated to the discriminatory corners of the internet.

The new, sleek menu across the top has everything you need for navigation, though there is a dedicated search box on the top right for specifics, such as names, sex acts, that one post you’re trying to find, or the news item you wanted to share. Social sharing buttons are at the bottom of each post.

New sections include That Devil Pornography, Sex Culture, Literate Smut, Ms. Violet Blue, and Accurate Sex Information.

• * That Devil Pornography is a porn resource where you’ll find lots to think about regarding anti-porn arguments, consent and exploitation, the evolving relationship between women and pornography, advice articles, information on privacy and safe surfing, and my porn recommendations.
• * Sex Culture has dedicated sections for Art posts, Sex Culture posts, Erotic Fashion posts, and Sex/tech news (if you just want to read the main blog, here on the front page, you’ll get it all).
• * Accurate Sex Information is a complete resource of sex ed articles, anatomy and advice, news and information about sexual health and safety, and more — including all my handpicked, recommended sex links.
• * The Ms. Violet Blue section is a sprawling bio of things that should be on the Wikipedia page about me, and needs to be expanded and added to… whenever I can stand it (everyone dreads writing their own bio, myself included).
• * Literate Smut is the erotica epicenter, including all the free erotica on this site, my Kink Your Kindle erotic reading list posts, and all manner of Digita Publications news and erotica excitingness.

Speaking of erotica excitingness, today also happens to be the day that our newest Digita Pub erotica collection is available for sale! Please click on over and say hi to the first book by Alison Tyler I’m honored to publish — Bent Over His Desk: Hot Office Kink ($4.49 on Kindle; $4.29 direct on DigitaPub.com).

It’s a superb anthology, and has a different curation style that I think you’ll really like; Tyler adds a voice to Digita Pub that makes my indie-pub catalog into something greater than I’d ever hoped. That Bent comes out right now makes today a very celebratory day for my two biggest labors of love, TinyNibbles and Digita Pub. I hope you enjoy both!

I plan to add more features to TinyNibbles now that I’m fully upgraded in every department. I can’t wait! I’m going to launch a Patreon soon to help offset the costs of everything here, and so I can add more (I hope to pull enough in to bring back the podcast). I had to sideline valuable freelance gigs to get this move done, and it had to be done ASAP, because Google’s algo changes were (are) really hurting me. I’m actually not done fixing everything here. But, if you have suggestions for anything you’d like to see me add (Disqus? Discussion forum? Newsletter?), let me know. Also let me know if you find any 404s that I can fix :)

Thank you for sticking with me. Here’s to another 15 years of fighting the sex-positive, inclusive, indie fight.

The post All new site design, the release of Bent, and 15 years of sex-positivity online appeared first on Violet Blue ® :: Open Source Sex - Journalist and author Violet Blue's site for sex and tech culture, accurate sex information, erotica and more..

Darling Diamante features Ellen von Unwerth shooting Luma Grothe, for Vogue Brasil; it’s a video from their stunning September 2014 shoot that von Unwerth only put online two weeks ago. Via Portraits of Girls.

The post Darling Diamante: Luma Grothe by Ellen von Unwerth for Vogue Brasil appeared first on Violet Blue ® :: Open Source Sex - Journalist and author Violet Blue's site for sex and tech culture, accurate sex information, erotica and more..