New career... but at what cost?

The Bellend of the Month for July 2014 is Shanesha Taylor, a woman who generated nationwide attention after leaving her two young sons in a hot car while she went on a job interview. What makes it worse is that Arizona prosecutors will drop child abuse charges against her, with county attorney Bill Montgomery quoted as saying the charges against Taylor will be dismissed once she successfully completes parenting and substance abuse treatment programs and sets up child care and education trust funds for her children. At least she realises there are consequences for her actions, but seriously, you should never leave your kids in a car just because you're attending a job interview. Police discovered the two children in this particular case in the backseat of her car, still buckled in their seat belts with temperatures registering more than 100˚F (38˚C). Officers said the boys were sweating profusely and in obvious distress when they arrived on the scene. There have been cases where the child/children died as a result of this rubbish. Seriously, people, there's no excuse for that crap. Use the services of a babysitter or child-minder instead of leaving them to bake to death.

Batkid Begins

Miles Scott, the 5-year-old leukemia survivor better known as "Batkid," won over the hearts of San Francisco (and pretty much the entire Internet) when his Make-a-Wish request was to be Batman for a day. Last November, the city of San Francisco came together to make that happen, with thousands of people lining the streets to simulate Gotham City. Now, filmmaker Dana Nachman is bringing Miles' story to the big screen. Well, she's trying to. Nachman has started an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for the film, titled "Batkid Begins," which now has its first official trailer, featuring Miles' parents, Hans Zimmer, and more. Watch the official trailer here.

BAD IDEA OF THE WEEK: Air travel... or is it?

In Ukraine, the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17 killed all 298 aboard. Last Wednesday's crash of TransAsia Airways Flight 222 killed 48 in Taiwan, and the day after, Air Algerie Flight 5017 crashed in Mali, leaving 119 dead. Then there's the unexplained loss of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, with 239 aboard, in March. Different circumstances surround the crashes, but when as many as 704 airline passengers and flight crew lose their lives in the span of 138 days, some travelers might be concerned about the global aviation safety net. They may wonder if, statistically, the skies are getting more dangerous. They may ask themselves - is 2014 trending toward one of the deadliest years in aviation history? Experts say no, don't be nervous. Just look carefully at the chart below:

As you can see, the world has actually been enjoying the safest ever overall period in aviation history. The number of yearly aviation deaths and major plane crashes worldwide has been dropping for decades. Last year, 265 people were killed in flight incidents - the safest year in aviation since 1945. This year to date, the worldwide number of aviation deaths has more than doubled, but it's still relatively low. There have been 764 deaths in 12 commercial aviation accidents in 2014, according to late news reports and the Aviation Safety Network, one of several organizations that tracks these statistics. The data — spanning 1946 to the present — includes hijackings, sabotage, and shoot-downs. Just remember that while air travel's going through a bad patch right now, it's nowhere near as bad as it was in 1972 and 1985.

1600 POSTS!

A diaper-clad toddler crashed a Jeep Wrangler into a neighbor's house in Oregon, then he scampered home, sat on the couch, and watched cartoons. The 3-year-old boy was under his mother's watch in Myrtle Creek when the incident happened last week. She was not paying attention to him and he found the keys, got inside the car, and knocked it out of gear. A witness called 911 after seeing the child rolling by in the Jeep before hitting the house. Sensing he was in trouble, the toddler jumped out of the car and dashed home. An officer went to the boy's home and the boy was sitting on the couch watching cartoons like nothing ever happened. Before the accident, an officer saw the boy sitting in the car and warned a relative to keep an eye on him. This is why parents need to be very vigilant and remember that children are very crafty in finding ways to get in trouble. It could be more than just a car being crashed into a house if left unchecked.

NSA's job just got harder

You can run from NSA surveillance, but you can't hide. One way or another, they will be able to snoop on your personal conversations. But there's one tool that could make it much more difficult for the NSA to spy on you. Meet Dark Mail, your personal black box for email. Like Google's Gmail and other email services with robust security tools, Dark Mail encrypts email content, shielding it from government spies. But Dark Mail takes the extra step of cloaking your email's metadata, which includes the subject line and the 'To' and 'From' fields. That way, spies can't easily identify who's sending emails. But why is that important, I hear you ask? Because even if the NSA can't read the body of your message, knowing who you email can trigger extra government scrutiny. The NSA uses email metadata collected on millions of Americans to select specific people for closer surveillance of emails and phone calls. To appreciate how quickly this can balloon, consider that for every one target, nine of their connections get spied on too. This bulk collection of metadata reminds Dark Mail co-creator Ladar Levison of the guilt-by-association of the 1950's commie-hunting McCarthy era. Even though it has now been made harder for the feds to spy on their subjects, Dark Mail is not entirely NSA-proof. The government can still target a person and follow each email's trail. But to do that, the government would have to trace every stop along an email's path - device, server, and everything in between. Using Dark Mail is like mailing an envelope that, on the outside, is only addressed to and from post offices. Finding the actual sender and recipient is not an unsolvable mystery, but Dark Mail does put the drag in dragnet. Used right, this should make it technologically impossible to conduct mass surveillance.

The virus among us

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown virus living in the human gut, according to a study in Nature Communications. Exploring genetic material found in intestinal samples, the international team uncovered the CrAssphage virus. They say the virus could influence the behaviour of some of the most common bacteria in our gut. Experts say these types of viruses, called bacteriophages, have been shown to play a role in chronic diseases. Led by a team at San Diego State University in the USA, scientists scoured genetic information stored in three large international databases. They stumbled upon a piece of DNA, some 100,000 letters long, present in more than half of all samples from the gut, and while cross-checking its identity in global directories, they realised it had never been described before. It is not unusual to go looking for a novel virus and find one, but it's very unusual to find one that so many people have in common. The fact it has flown under the radar for so long is very strange. This begs the obvious question: what other bugs could we be hiding inside our bodies?

FRIDAY FILM BEAT: Sex Tape

They did everything but delete this one. And I'm glad they didn't because it was one of the best comedies to hit theatres in 2014, even though reviews have been generally negative so far with a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 36 out of 100 rating on Metacritic. Despite such bad press, this is one you need to see. You'll thank me later.

Sam & Cat is Sam & Canned

Nickelodeon has canceled "Sam & Cat," with last Saturday's episode serving as its series finale. The show lasted one season. "Sam & Cat," a spinoff starring "iCarly's" Jennette McCurdy and "Victorious'" Ariana Grande, followed two best friends who had an after-school babysitting business. Created by Dan Schneider, the man behind such other Nickelodeon programming as "All That" and "Drake & Josh," the show seemed like a sure thing. But after a successful series premiere, a 40-episode order, a production hiatus in April, rumors of co-star feuds, and more, Nickelodeon has pulled the plug. But the plug won't be pulled on future Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The last we saw of Captain Jack Sparrow, he was on a beach with ol' scallywag Gibbs, reflecting on his decision to deny himself the Fountain of Youth. "Who's to say I won't live forever [anyway], eh?," he says. Despite some delays — and a Lone Ranger-sized hiccup — the long-awaited next chapter in the "Pirates" franchise, following 2011′s "On Stranger Tides," has a new official release date: July 7, 2017 (7/7/17). Common sense dictated that there needed to be another film, even though the fourth film was hardly the best-regarded of Capt. Jack's adventures. Still, it grossed more than $1 billion around the world. A fifth film, at one point titled "Dead Men Tell No Tales," was initially targeted for a 2015 release, with Kon-Tiki directors Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg taking over for Rob Marshall, who in turn had taken over for Gore Verbinski. But last summer, shortly after "The Lone Ranger" had put a $190 million dent in Disney's bottom line, the project was delayed, due to budgetary concerns and an unfinished script. Now, Disney is recalibrating Sparrow's course for 2017, by which point there should be 28 seasons' worth of The Simpsons online. That's right, people, FXX is launching "Simpsons World," a new way of getting on demand "Simpsons" content, in October. For the first time, viewers can access every episode of the series via their computer or other networked devices. Authenticated FX viewers will have instant access on iPhone, iPad, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Android phones and tablets, Smart TVs, and additional set-top devices. Viewers will also be able to search for specific quotes, curate their own own personalized playlists, and share their favorite show clips and quotes. "I don't want to over-promise, but this website can provide you with affordable health care," joked longtime "Simpsons" executive producer Al Jean.

Societal cancer found to cause cancer

That's right, people. Children who are frequently abused by a parent have a higher risk of cancer in adulthood. The new study from researchers at Purdue University, published online in the Journal of Aging and Health, reveals that the effects are particularly significant when mothers abuse their daughters and fathers abuse their sons. Kenneth Ferraro, distinguished professor of sociology and director of Purdue's Center on Aging and the Life Course, commented: "People often say that children are resilient and they'll bounce back, but we found that there are events that can have long-term consequences on adult health. In this case, people who were frequently emotionally or physically abused by their parents were more likely to have cancer in adulthood, and the link was greater when fathers abused sons and mothers abused daughters. Overall, the more frequent and intense the abuse, the more it elevated the cancer risk. We would like to see child abuse noted as an environmental factor that can increase cancer occurrence in adulthood. More research on this topic also could help mediate the effects or improve interventions to help abused children." So all child-abusers need to stop and think - not only do you run the risk of criminal prosecution for your actions now, you could be harming and scarring your victims in more ways than one.

BAD IDEA OF THE WEEK: The iPhone 6 display

The sapphire display set to feature on Apple's iPhone 6 might not be as scratch-proof as first thought. A display panel allegedly belonging to the iPhone 6 got put through its paces on video this month, with the screen's supposed sapphire crystal coating proving "impossible to scratch" - withstanding keys, a knife, and a foot. However, it now seems that the screen might not be as scratch-proof as first thought, as Marques Brownlee - the same chap who treated us to the last video - has gone at the screen once again and this time around he was armed with sandpaper. Brownlee has once again attacked the 4.7in panel - with the iPhone 6 also expected to launch in a 5.5in version - and uses the Mohs scale to try to guage how much sapphire the panel actually contains. First, Brownlee tests the sapphire panel with garnett sandpaper, which ranks about 7.0 on the Mohs scale, meaning it should be able to scratch Gorilla Glass but not the sapphire display. However, the screen manages to pick up a few scratches - which means that the screen on the iPhone 6 is unlikely to be 100 percent sapphire. This is further proven by the handset's TouchID sensor, which being made from 100 percent sapphire, didn't pick up any marks whatsoever. Next, Brownlee tests the screen with emery sandpaper, which ranks around the 8.0 mark on the Mohs scale, and while it holds up much better than the Gorilla Glass panel of the iPhone 5S, it picks up a fair few scuffs. This likely means that, while the screen on the iPhone 6 will contain sapphire, it will likely be a sapphire/glass blend. Let's hope Apple get it right before next year's release.

Airline about to take a dive

James Garner, the US star of hit TV series The Rockford Files and Maverick and films including The Great Escape, has died aged 86, but an airline could soon join him. That's right, shares in Malaysia Airlines closed down 11% in Malaysia following the crash of flight MH17 in Ukraine en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Some Asian stock markets also ended the day lower on fears the crash may intensify political tensions between the West, Ukraine, and Russia. This is the second catastrophe to hit Malaysia Airlines this year after flight MH370 disappeared in March. Even if this is pure coincidence, it's never happened in history that a flag carrier has seen two wide-body aircraft disappearing in a few months, and questions are now being asked about whether the carrier can survive. It's made it this far, but the company has been losing money for many years and its market value has fallen by more than 40% in the past nine months. Without significant funding, the airline may not survive beyond a year, and even if the airline was to secure financing, questions about its longer-term viability remain.

RJ get smoked out by 11-digit fine

A US court has ordered the country's second largest cigarette company to pay US$23.6 billion (yes, billion) to the wife of a smoker who died of lung cancer. RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company was hit with the punitive fine in addition to a tiny-by-comparison US$16.8 million in compensatory damages. Cynthia Robinson first took action against the firm in 2008, seeking compensation for her husband's death in 1996. During the four-week trial, lawyers for Ms Robinson argued that RJ Reynolds was negligent in informing consumers of the dangers of consuming tobacco. This negligence, her lawyers said, led to her husband Michael Johnson Sr contracting lung cancer from smoking after becoming "addicted" and failing multiple attempts to quit. RJ Reynolds plans to appeal against the court's decision, vice president and assistant general counsel Jeffery Raborn said in a statement, adding "this verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness and fairness, and is completely inconsistent with the evidence presented." Tough. RJ Reynolds took a calculated risk by manufacturing cigarettes and selling them to consumers without properly informing them of the hazards. The fine, which is said to be the largest of any individual case stemming from a class action lawsuit filed in Florida, will send a message to RJ Reynolds and other big tobacco companies that will force them to stop putting the lives of innocent people in jeopardy.

We're 200 days into 2014

And here's ten other numbers that have been in the news so far this year:

• 60 - years between Germany's first and fourth World Cup victories
• 5,484 - days between Pam Dawber's last two acting roles (I'll Remember April which according to Wikipedia was released on 5 April 1999, and the third-to-last episode of The Crazy Ones which premiered in the USA and Canada on 10 April 2014 and will air on FOUR in New Zealand exactly seven months later)
• 2 - Malaysian Airlines flights that went wrong (MH370 in March and MH17 a few days ago)
• 3 - Commonwealth Games will have been held in Scotland as of the end of the upcoming edition
• 295 - medals won all up at Sochi
• 51 - points were scored all up in Super Bowl XLVIII
• 25 - months Julian Assange has spent in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London just to avoid extradition to Sweden then possibly to America
• 29 - Indian states now exist with the creation of Telangana early last month
• 4 - American TV shows I can't stand will thankfully be ending after the upcoming season (those are Glee, Two and a Half Men, Parenthood, and Parks and Recreation); maybe The Crazy Ones could come back in fall of 2015 and fill one of those voids
• 97 - more days until Richard Dean Anderson (aka MacGyver) comes to New Zealand

FRIDAY FILM BEAT: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

That was one of the best movies I've ever seen, as were the 3D effects. But don't just take my word for it - upon its release, the film was met with critical acclaim from critics. It currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 91% based on 181 reviews with an average rating of 8 out of 10. The website's consensus reads, "With intelligence and emotional resonance to match its stunning special effects, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes expands on its predecessor with an exciting and ambitious burst of sci-fi achievement." On Metacritic, the film has a "generally favorable" rating score of 79 out of 100, based on 45 reviews. This is one you need to see.

Airbnb logo looks like Airtna

Airbnb released a new logo yesterday, and it looks like a... well, judge for yourself. The online rentals site said the new logo, dubbed "Bélo," is supposed to convey a sense of "belonging." Plenty of people on social media aren't seeing that. They're looking at two bulbs dangling and the circle-within-a-triangle design, and saying what your middle schooler and your psychotherapist were both thinking: That looks like genitalia. The Internet seems split on whether it's male or female genitalia - or both. Breasts and a rear end have also been discussed. But reaction on Twitter has been fairly unequivocal - something's amiss about Airbnb's new logo. Here's what the Twittersphere think:

• "looks majorly obscene," @LouiseMensch tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.
• @TadCarpenter cracked that the "Airbnb's new logo is probably my favorite testicle based logo for sure."
• "I think the new airbnb mark is thoughtful and well done, and anyone who says it looks like genitals is just a big weiner," wrote @zohf.

That about sums it up, doesn't it? Airbnb explained in post on its website that new logo incorporates symbols like an upside-down heart, a mobile map-app pin (in the center), and a letter A for Airbnb. They wanted the logo to be simple to draw so that users can post the logo as a welcoming gesture.

WaterSaver acting like WatersTester

Spend more than 6 minutes a day in the bathroom at Chicago's WaterSaver Faucet company and you'll face disciplinary measures. That's what a union contends the manufacturer is pulling: timing bathroom breaks and warning employees when they can't beat the clock. The union, Teamsters local 743, filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board claiming WaterSaver unfairly disciplined 19 workers in June for "excessive use" of washrooms. The company's human resources department described "excessive use of the bathroom as... 60 minutes or more over the last 10 working days," according to the affidavit. Do the math and it works out to 6 minutes a day. The company has spreadsheets on every union employee on how long they were in the bathroom, and there have even been meetings with workers and HR where the workers had to explain what they were doing in the bathroom. It's not only an invasion of privacy, but also unreasonable given that the human body can't always perform on cue. Also, the company's 140 workers don't have paid sick days. Workers who can't afford to lose a day's pay come into work sick, and may end up using bathrooms more, so paid sick days are also something WaterSaver might want to look into.

BAD IDEA OF THE WEEK: The 25 months Julian Assange has been stuck inside the Ecuadorean Embassy

And of course the 6.8 million pounds the round-the-clock police presence has cost the British taxpayer at time of posting. According to this site, that would've paid for over 5.5 million meals for the needy, 34,000 kids fully vaccinated, nearly 27,000 hospital beds for one night, 12,000 children sent to school for a year, or 300 teachers' salaries for one year. Thanks a lot, Sweden. That's almost eighty million kronor your stubborn refusal to just go to the Embassy and question him about his alleged sexual misconduct there has cost the British taxpayer.

Deutschland, Deutschland, they're the champions

But Singapore scored an own goal with its anti-gambling advert during the World Cup. An ad campaign warning of the perils of gambling that began as just another bland public service announcement by Singapore’s government has turned into fodder for international mockery, and left authorities scrambling after Germany’s World Cup victory. In the TV version of the ad, which debuted last month when the World Cup kicked off, a sullen young boy named Andy tells his friends in the playground that his father had used all of Andy’s savings to bet on Germany to win the tournament. Sad piano music is cued and a message is displayed: "Often, the people who suffer from problem gambling aren’t the gamblers." The PSA wasn’t lampooned until Germany won its first match against Portugal, 4-0. As the World Cup progressed and the Germans looked more and more like favourites to win the title, the mocking of the ad intensified, with many wondering if little Andy and his dad were going to make a killing on the bet, which they did. After Germany’s stunning 7-1 semifinal drubbing of Brazil, the ad prompted ridiculing on The Tonight Show. "Cheer up, kid, your dad bet on Germany," host Jimmy Fallon said. "He’s so rich you don’t even need to go to college anymore." Is he? Not yet, for the council rushed to post a new ad on its website. It features Andy’s friend asking him: "Your dad’s team won. Did you get your savings back?" Andy replies: "No, Dad never stops - he wants to bet one more time." Andy's father, if you're reading this, you need help. That "one more time" will turn into tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands more bets. You could lose more than just Andy's savings by this time next year. It's not too late.

Hey ho, they're gone

Tom Erdelyi hadn’t planned to become Tommy Ramone, but circumstances forced him into a new identity as the drummer and driving force behind one of the most influential and unforgettable rock-and-roll bands of the 1970s. He was the last surviving member of the Ramones, the seminal New York punk group whose buzzsaw music and don’t-give-a-rip attitude have been a lasting influence for more than a generation. Mr. Erdelyi (or Ramone, as he was better known), who was 62, died Friday at his home in Queens. The official Facebook and Twitter accounts of the Ramones confirmed his death. The cause was bile-duct cancer. All four band members were unrelated and had different last names, but as a show of brotherly solidarity, each band member adopted the last name Ramone. The band had read that Paul McCartney had checked into hotels as Paul Ramone, derived from the name of pop-music producer Phil Ramone. The other original Ramones included Joey (Jeffrey Hyman, died in 2001 of lymphatic cancer) on vocals; Johnny (John Cummings, died in 2004 of prostate cancer) on guitar; and Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin, died in 2002 of a drug overdose) on bass. One person that didn't die, however, is Cassidy Stay. Just a day after being released from the hospital, she took center stage at a memorial ceremony yesterday morning to grieve with hundreds of friends and neighbors and to search for light in the horrifying murder of her parents and four siblings. Fifteen-year-old Cassidy thanked first responders, doctors, and well-wishers for their tremendous support as she stood at a podium outside a Spring elementary school in sweltering mid-morning heat. "I'm really thankful for all of the people who have been praying for me and keeping me and my family in their thoughts these past few days," Cassidy said. "I'm feeling a lot better, and I'm on a straightforward path to recovery." That's good to hear, and so is this: Ronald Lee Haskell, a 33-year-old Utah man who was married to Cassidy's maternal aunt before their divorce earlier this year, is charged with capital murder in the deaths of Cassidy's family, and is being held without bail. Authorities say that on Wednesday evening, he arrived at the home of Katie and Stephen Stay, dressed as a FedEx delivery driver. He had worked for the company until January of this year, according to company officials. Haskell asked to see Cassidy's parents, but left after she told him they weren't there. He returned a short time later, and entered the home again, allegedly tying up Cassidy and her siblings and waiting for her parents to return home from the bank. When they arrived, he apparently also tied them up and made them lie facedown, asking for the whereabouts of Melannie Lyon, his ex-wife, before shooting them in the back of the head. Cassidy's parents Stephen and Katie, and her siblings Bryan, Emily, Rebecca, and Zach all died. Cassidy was injured in the head and hand in the shooting, but survived by playing dead and waiting until Haskell fled in the family's Honda sedan, then called authorities. Police intercepted him as he was driving to the nearby home of Cassidy's grandparents, where Lyon and her children were also living.

Tragedy stikes Glee again in lead-up to final season

Almost a year after Cory Monteith died of a heroin and alcohol overdose, the boyfriend of cast member Becca Tobin was found dead in a Philadelphia hotel room. The body of 35-year-old nightclub owner Matt Bendik was discovered a little after 1 p.m. Thursday (Eastern Daylight Time) by a maid at the Hotel Monaco. It’s unclear where the 28-year-old Tobin — who found fame in 2012 by playing cheerleader Kitty Wilde on the Fox series — was at the time. There were conflicting reports about whether she accompanied Bendik on the business trip. No drugs or paraphernalia were found in the room. Just four weeks ago, Tobin posted a black-and-white Instagram picture of herself kissing Bendik on the cheek. As word of Bendik’s death spread, Tobin’s fans posted messages of support beneath the sweet photo. “Stay strong Becca!” wrote one, Brittany Heath. “We love you!” Bendik, who ran Hollywood hot spots DBA and AV, was a go-getter who was just 15 when he got into the club business. He worked as a promoter for the famed Whiskey a Go Go on the Sunset Strip before heading off to study business at Cornell University. When Bendik returned to L.A., it was back to the night life and a career that allowed him to rub elbows with celebrities. Now he can rub elbows with such other dead celebrities as Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, and Cory Monteith.

FRIDAY FILM BEAT: Begin Again

This movie was just brilliant. Not quite as good as some of my previous Friday Film Beat selections, but Adam Levine really pulled it together in his acting debut. This is one you need to see if you haven't already done so.

Parliament takes on CJEU

An emergency law to ensure police and security services in Britain can continue to access people's phone and internet records is expected to be approved at a special cabinet meeting later. David Cameron says the Data Retention and Investigation Powers Bill is needed to fight "criminals and terrorists". But civil liberties groups say it infringes the right to privacy and sets a dangerous precedent. It comes after the European Court of Justice struck down existing powers. An EU directive requiring phone and internet companies to retain communications data - when and who their customers called, texted, and emailed but not what was said - for a 12 month period was ruled unlawful in April by the European Court. I'm on the fence - on the one hand, without a new law being passed in the UK to retain the powers, that information could be destroyed within weeks by companies fearing legal challenges, meaning police and the security services will not be able to access it. The ability to access information about communications and intercept the communications of dangerous individuals is essential to fight the threat from criminals and terrorists targeting the UK, or any country for that matter. But on the other hand, not only could the proposed legislation infringe Britons' right to privacy, it may also set a dangerous precedent where the government of the day simply re-legislates every time it disagrees with a decision by the CJEU. The ruling still stands and these new plans may actually increase the amount of personal data that is retained by ISPs, further infringing on the right to privacy. So who's in the right there? A US pilot, of course. More specifically, one who ordered pizzas for a plane full of passengers as they were stuck on the tarmac for two hours in Wyoming. Gerhard Bradner ordered 50 pizzas (25 cheese and 25 pepperoni) after his plane was diverted to Cheyenne and they waited for thunder and lightning to clear in Denver. Passengers said the entire cabin burst into applause after the pilot announced the delivery on the loudspeaker. The Washington DC to Denver Frontier Airlines flight, with 160 people on board, finally flew on to Colorado. The captain paid for the pizza party out of his own pocket, but he has now been telephoned by the airline's president who has said that he will reimburse him for the cost. That just goes to show that not all airlines are run by complete bellends.

Isis nixes name

Isis is more than just an Ancient Egyptian goddess whose tears were believed to cause the annual flooding of the Nile. Isis is also the abbreviation of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a terrorist group that wishes to establish a pan-Islamic caliphate. Isis is also the mobile wallet service founded by AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, and it has a branding problem. Isis CEO Michael Abbott said Monday that the firm is changing its name to avoid association with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, adding "however coincidental, we have no interest in sharing a name with a group whose name has become synonymous with violence and our hearts go out to those who are suffering." It might mean having to come up with then announce a new name, but then again, a forced rebranding might not be such a bad thing. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile founded it in 2010 with the goal of developing a smartphone-based service to store payment cards, loyalty programs, and merchant offers. Despite gaining powerful backers like American Express and JPMorgan, the service has failed to catch on, and it faces competition from the likes of Google Wallet, PayPal, Square, Venmo, and many others. Maybe a merger with one or more of the above could be in order? Whichever route they take, it won't be the only "Isis" that isn't enjoying the name confusion. One of the world's leading centers for physics and life sciences research is located in the UK and it's also called Isis. It hasn't announced a rebranding yet, but it has made the British press.

BAD IDEA OF THE WEEK: Being a racist prick

A middle-aged woman unloads a racist tirade at fellow passengers on a train in Sydney, and again Australia's attitude to racial diversity comes under scrutiny. The woman was arrested on the New South Wales Central Coast on Thursday, one day after a commuter captured her racist tirade on camera on the train between Central and Strathfield stations. She has been charged with using offensive language and will be forced to explain her actions in court later this month, and I don't think she'll be able to come up with one good enough to justify her stupid outburst. Investigators are appealing to any passengers who witnessed the incident to come forward. In the video, the woman taunts a man and an Asian woman sitting together. The invective is caught on camera and posted online. "Can't you get an Aussie girlfriend? You had to get a gook, you sad, poor pathetic man... Is it really that small you can't get an Aussie girl?" she said. "What's wrong with Hong Kong? Why'd you come to this country? This is our country." The woman also mocked the passenger's accent and pulled at her eyes in a racist gesture. That ain't cool. One needs to remember that more than a quarter of Australians were born overseas. Theirs is a land that considers itself a multicultural success story, but it is one tainted by an indelible stain of bigotry. When you see someone really out of control letting fly with all those prejudices and hatreds, it definitely is depressing. So if you're also acting like such a racist bellend, STOP IT. It's not nice.

You can run, you can hide, and you can escape BH

Sixty-three women and girls kidnapped by Boko Haram last month in Nigeria have escaped from their captors and returned to their burnt village. The hostages were seized from the Kummabza village in northern Borno state on June 18 after a four-day invasion of the village by Boko Haram insurgents. The militants killed 30 men and burned the entire village. 63 hostages escaping is a start, but the group is still believed to be holding over 200 schoolgirls abducted April 14 from their hostels in the town of Chibok. Boko Haram, if you're reading this, you'd better return the rest of them soon otherwise you could soon lose more hostages.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's SUPER THUMB!

Workers at a BMW plant in Germany have been given 3D-printed "super-thumbs" to reduce stress on their joints when they are assembling car parts. Each bespoke thermoplastic polyurethane thumb protector is created individually by measuring the worker's hand in a mobile scanner. It fits like a second skin over the worker's thumb, letting it move freely. But it becomes rigid when straightened, allowing the thumb to press down firmly but with less strain put on the joint. BMW said the use of the technology was part of its efforts to offer the "best possible support" to workers. I would welcome anything that is worker-focused, but this one tiny step, while by all accounts better than nothing, is probably only addressing one part of a complex problem. There are many things that can cause stress like this, including posture and the number of times you do a task. The obvious solution? More 3D printing. It's the only thing for it.

In the heat of the car

Surprising claims came to light during a hearing on Thursday for a Georgia man whose toddler son died after being left in a hot car, a man prosecutors sought to portray as an unfaithful husband who wanted a child-free life. Among the most shocking allegations: Justin Ross Harris messaged six women, sending and receiving explicit texts - some including nude images - from work while his 22-month-old was dying, a detective testified at the hearing. Harris' attorney repeatedly objected to Cobb County, Georgia, police Detective Phil Stoddard's testimony claiming that Harris sexted the women - one of whom was underage at the time - but the judge allowed it. Police say Harris left his toddler, Cooper, strapped into a car seat under a baking sun for seven hours while he went to work June 18. Records show that the mercury topped 92˚F (33˚C) that day, and police say the temperature was 88˚F (31˚C) when the boy was pronounced dead in a parking lot not far from his father's workplace. That is more than just irresponsible. Even that tiger mother Amy Chua or the judge that was covertly filmed beating his daughter in 2004 would be a refreshing step up from Justin Ross Harris. You just don't do that to children.

FRIDAY FILM BEAT: The Face of Love

I will start off the first Film Beat for the month by saying I liked this movie, even though Robin Williams wasn't as funny in it as he was in the likes of Mork and Mindy or The Crazy Ones. I think what really killed it is casting Annette Bening as the widowed Nikki. They cast Robin Williams, so they could've cast Pam Dawber in it as well, then Nikki wouldn't have looked so ugly (no offence, Annette, but it's true - same goes for any film with Meryl Streep in it). Critical reception is on the fence, so go see it and make up your own minds as to whether Annette Bening was right for her role.

Corneas to Grow

Two people have had stem cells transplanted into their eyes as part of a clinical trial to restore their sight. The technique has been developed by Scottish specialists to reverse corneal blindness, and it is believed to be the first treatment of its kind in the UK. Both have corneal blindness, and until now the only treatment was a transplant of cornea tissue from an organ donor. Sylvia Paton from Edinburgh was the first person to have the transplant. It will be several months before doctors will know to what extent the procedure has worked. But why stop at corneas? They could try cloning a whole new eye next. And airlines could ground some or all their planes for maintenance after Qantas Airlines Flight 94 to Melbourne had to turn back to Los Angeles about an hour into its trip yesterday morning when a water pipe started leaking on the upper deck of the plane. The jet is an Airbus A380, the world's only complete double-decker airplane. Water was running down the aisle of the plane, and had made its way through the floor and showered economy-class passengers below. Qantas said the passengers were never in any danger, and they're being put up in hotels while the airline talks to the plane's manufacturer, Airbus, about what might have caused the situation.

Google grows yet another arm

Google has announced that it's acquiring streaming radio service Songza, which creates free playlists tailored for various activities and times of day. The companies declined to reveal the purchase price. Songza, launched in 2010, will complement Google Play Music All Access, the subscription streaming service Google unveiled last year. Google said Songza will continue to function independently for the time being while it "explore[s] ways to bring what you love about Songza to Google Play Music." Let's just hope it doesn't make a huge mess of it like it did with Orkut, which nobody uses anymore, so the service will shut down at the end of September.

BAD IDEA OF THE WEEK: Destroying churches

A Sudanese government force destroyed a church yesterday, ignoring the wails of nearby residents in an attack which came a day after authorities sent a letter saying they would demolish the church. The 70-strong force arrived at the Alizba slums near the capital, Khartoum, around 10am local time. Some were dressed in plain clothes. This is not on. The threat of violence has caused Sudan's churches to empty, and complaints about the predominantly Muslim country's lack of religious freedom are already under the international spotlight after Mariam Yehya Ibrahim, a Christian mother of two, refused to renounce her faith and was sentenced to death. After an international outcry, she was freed and reunited with her American husband, but the church is still contaminated with terror. This sort of nonsense is why the predominately Christian regions in the south became their own country.