Justice for Ramarley at long last

The Los Angeles police chief is asking Google to eliminate a cop-spotting feature from its Waze traffic app. Waze is Google’s popular traffic app that lets users collaborate to report locations of heavy traffic, road closures, police speed traps, and other driving incidents. Publicly sharing information about the location of a marked police car, the LAPD chief claims, jeopardizes police officers’ lives. His evidence? The man who recently killed two cops in New York had used the Waze app at some point before the shooting. So what? They had it coming. American cops have been shooting unarmed black teenagers and getting away with it for too long. And the NYPD have successfully weaselled their way out of a lawsuit in relation to one such shooting that took place in 2012, for the family of a Bronx teenager (pictured) who was fatally shot by a police officer who had barged into his apartment after suspecting him of taking part in a drug deal has agreed to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city for US$3.9 million. The agreement to settle the case comes nearly three years after the shooting of the teenager, Ramarley Graham. But as long as they pay up and accept responsibility for their little "accident", I would still consider that an acceptable outcome. The question now: will they pay the $3.9 million?

You can't unboil an egg... or can you?

It has often been said that you can't unscramble an egg. But you might be able to unboil one. When you boil an egg, the heat causes the proteins inside the egg white to tangle and clump together, solidifying it. New research published in ChemBioChem by scientists at UC Irvine shows how they can essentially reverse the clumping process by adding chemicals to a cooked egg. “Yes, we have invented a way to unboil a hen egg,” UCI biochemist Gregory Weiss said in a statement. “In our paper, we describe a device for pulling apart tangled proteins and allowing them to refold." And they didn't just go for a standard 10-minute hard boiled egg. No, the researchers decided, just to make absolutely sure the whites were cooked, to boil the eggs for 20 minutes at 194 degrees Fahrenheit. Adding urea to the eggs untangled the knotted proteins by chemically breaking them into bits, returning the eggs to a liquid form. (Note: Urea is one of the main ingredients in pee, so these unboiled eggs are probably not delicious.) Then the researcher put the (now liquid) solution into a machine called a 'vortex fluid device.' The device pieces the broken proteins back together within minutes — a vast improvement over older methods of reconstituting proteins, which could take days. But unboiling eggs isn't the main focus for the researchers. “The real problem is there are lots of cases of gummy proteins that you spend way too much time scraping off your test tubes, and you want some means of recovering that material,” Weiss said. That's all well and good, but maybe they should try unscrambling eggs next, then look at reversing several other ways to cook eggs.

Search for crap goes too far

A North Texas school district is investigating after about two dozen elementary students were told to pull down their pants after feces was found on a gym floor on Monday. According to a parent, the children at Gustine Elementary School were forced to show their underwear so officials could determine the source of the feces. It is not clear if the search led officials to the source of the feces, and either way, Superintendent Ken Baugh said he does not condone the search and that partially strip-searching students went too far. He said the district is investigating. If they had security cameras in the gym and they had bothered to look through the footage, they could've found the source that way and determine whether it came from a pupil or an animal or even a teacher or somebody that has no other affiliation with the school.

The transhating is over

Google is generally very progressive when it comes to LBGT rights; it's at times put up quotes and Google Doodles on its homepage seemingly with an advocacy lean. The company in 2012 launched a campaign called "Legalize Love", which both supported gay marriage in the U.S. and pushed foreign countries to decriminalize homosexuality. Google has competitive benefits for gay employees, who commonly refer to themselves as "Gayglers." But they have come under fire from LBGT (lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender) petition site AllOut.org over flaws in Google Translate, which led to translations to some languages yielding homophobic slurs. Google has now fixed the issue and apologized for its mistake. The controversy came after people noticed that when translating neutral words in foreign languages pertaining to homosexuality, the English translations at times suggested English colloquialisms that are commonly considered homophobic slurs among native speakers. This controversial vernacular was also peculiar as searches for neutral foreign equivalents racial terms (e.g. words which would translate to "Asian", "White", or "Black") or gender terms (e.g. words that would translate to "female") did not display racist or sexist slang. Some of the translations seemed to be especially offensive for languages spoken in regions with active homophobia, such as Russia. "гей", for example - a Russian word which means "gay" - offered some pretty wild suggestions:

But remember, people, that just because Google have admitted and corrected their moment of weakness does not make their smartphone OS any better than Apple's. If it's not an Apple, it's crapple.

BAD IDEA OF THE WEEK: Being a creep

And here's what I mean by that: a 70-year-old was arrested for posting dirty knickers through the door of The Corrs star Jim Corr. The sole male member of 90s band The Corrs received some unwanted mail that definitely wasn’t from a fan – it was part of a long-running feud between his neighbours, which also included cars being damaged and dog poo being posted through letterboxes. Jim Corr caught the perpetrator by installing security cameras and catching the knicker-poster in the act. Seriously, this is not only obnoxious but unsanitary. I know popstars are probably used to having underwear thrown at them, just not so much used ones because what if the intended recipient were to touch a bit with skid marks or semen on it? That would be really gross, even more so if germs were to spread and somebody got sick. So please don't send dirty undies in the mail.

100 years of long distance

Making a phone call from New York to California doesn't count as an extraordinary feat these days. But pretend it's 1915, when a verbal conversation spanning the continent was a remarkable — almost unbelievable — achievement in technology. Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of what is often called the first transcontinental phone call, made by iconic communications inventor Alexander Graham Bell, in New York, to his assistant Thomas Watson, all the way out in San Francisco. The phone call also included President Woodrow Wilson, who was in the White House, and AT&T president Theodore Vail in Georgia. The first ceremonial transcontinental phone line opened on Jan. 25, 1915. Of course, the actual first transcontinental phone call probably took place the year before, historians agree, after the phone line was completed for testing. The 1915 call was part of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition that year — a celebration of the Panama Canal's completion and a showcase of the newly revitalized San Francisco, which had been decimated by a 1906 earthquake and fire. It was a heavily scripted conversation, one designed to bring in publicity for the achievement, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The only genuine moment came when Bell first asked Watson, "Are you there? Do you hear me?" Bell was also the man behind the very first phone call of all time, which took place on March 10, 1876 — almost 39 years prior to the transcontinental conversation. That phone call was also made to Bell's assistant, Watson. "Mr. Watson, come here," Bell is reported to have said. "Come here. I want to see you." AT&T built the coast-to-coast telephone system, which included 130,000 telephone poles and 2,500 tons of copper wire that spanned 3,400 miles, according to the company. All that for a four-way conference call — quite a long way from being able to FaceTime using iPhones. But enough about all that because tomorrow is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Meet George Jetson, on the big screen

The Jetsons might just get a second chance on the silver screen. Warner Bros. has hired writer Matt Lieberman to pen a script for a feature film based on the iconic Hanna-Barbera show from the early ‘60s, reports Deadline and Variety. According to those reports, the script is being put together from scratch for an animated feature. Back in 1990, The Jetsons had a less-than-stellar theatrical debut with Jetsons: The Movie. Despite being directed by Joseph Barbera, one of the show's original creators, the film was widely panned. Let's hope they do better this time, because it would be cool if they got back on the big screen.

It was announced a year ago today

During the first five seconds of this clip, the bottom left photo will show the two of them copying two recent fads way before it was cool - Pam has a sweater tied around her neck in a near-perfect copy of the Juvilicious look from the fifth episode of Jonah from Tonga, and Robin is doing a near-perfect imitation of Gangnam Style.

Next round fired in war on bullying

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the powerful U.S. ally who joined Washington's fight against Al Qaeda and sought to modernize the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom, has died at the age of 90. His successor is his 79-year-old half-brother, Prince Salman, who recently has taken on the ailing Abdullah's responsibilities. But enough about that because a Minnesota man is out of a job after a video with some fairly strong language went viral taking aim at his family, who reportedly bullied a 14-year-old African-American girl. Brad Knudson posted a video on YouTube telling the story of his African-American daughter who he says was being bullied with racist messages via Snapchat. The video was posted Monday and already has more than 300,000 views online. Knudson says a set of twin girls in Prior Lake, Minnesota sent his daughter messages on Snapchat making racist statements and cursing at her. He says his daughter, who they were able to adopt eleven years ago, recieved at least four different messages from the twins. Snapchats are typically deleted as soon as they're watched, so he recorded the fourth message. To watch it, click here, but a word of warning: the video contains strong language which may not be appropriate for all viewers.

Netflix about to go global

Netflix wants to stop its customers from using virtual private networks (VPNs), but not through blocking the services; instead, it plans on signing content deals on a global basis, meaning customers anywhere in the world can get the same TV shows and films at the same time. In its Q4 results released on Tuesday, video-streaming giant Netflix announced aggressive plans to complete an expansion across the entire globe in just two years. First off the rank are Australia and New Zealand in March, where the company has been fairly coy in revealing the price, or exactly what shows will be on the service at launch time. There has been fear that the content offering on the Australian service will be inferior to the US service, because much of the content has already been snapped up in exclusive agreements with Foxtel, or other local players like Quickflix or the upcoming Fairfax-Nine venture Stan. The company is also currently refusing to confirm that Netflix-produced content House of Cards and Orange is the New Black will be available on the Australian service at launch, because of pre-existing deals signed with Foxtel prior to the company's plans to enter the Australian market. It is believed that Netflix will have House of Cards at launch due to the rights expiring with Foxtel at the end of last year. But I'm still not using either country's service while there are BitTorrent sites that can provide you with a lot of that content plus much more for free.

Trial of the Joker: The Beginning

The logistics of putting James Holmes on trial are as staggering as the carnage he allegedly committed in a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, in July 2012 when 12 people were killed and 58 others injured in gunfire. Consider this: some 9,000 potential jurors are being summoned, and the jury selection that began yesterday could last until May or June when the trial would finally start. Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. told the first pool of potential jurors that if chosen for the jury, they cannot read, watch, or hear anything about the case. "This will require great effort on your part," the judge said three times. Also in the courtroom was Holmes, whose face remained expressionless. He faced forward toward the judge's bench the entire time without looking around or at the potential jurors in the room. Holmes, who colored his hair red and told police he was "The Joker" upon arrest after the mass killing, is now a different picture. In court, he had a clean haircut, trimmed beard, eyeglasses, gray sport coat, tan slacks, and blue-and-white-striped dress shirt. In all, Arapahoe County residents stand a 1-in-50 chance of receiving a summons. The enormous pool of potential jurors, designed to ensure a fair trial for Holmes, is being called one of the largest in U.S. history. The court is casting such a wide net for jurors that it has unwittingly summoned 12 potential witnesses in the case, but Judge Samour has already excused those individuals from the jury summonses. With the removal of those witnesses from the jury pool, the number of potential witnesses receiving a summons could now be as high as 43, though prosecutors acknowledged in court papers "that it is likely two individuals could have the same names and not be the same person as the endorsed prosecution witnesses in this case." But the potential conflicts don't end there. Four potential jurors are related to the prosecutor's staff: two husbands, a father, and an uncle. Another potential juror is a best friend of a prosecution staff member. A wife and a former colleague of prosecution witnesses are also potential jurors. But the judge declined immediately to excuse those seven potential jurors. "Because neither party asks the court to take any action with respect to these individuals, the court refrains from doing so at this time," the judge said. Let's hope that the right twelve are picked and that justice is eventually served on that loser.

BAD IDEA OF THE WEEK: Protesting against free speech

Tens of thousands of people have gathered in the Russian region of Chechnya to rally against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. They marched through the streets of downtown Grozny, the capital of the predominantly Muslim region, releasing balloons and carrying posters that read "Hands off our beloved prophet" and "Europe has only united us." On Friday, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on his official Instagram account that those who defended Charlie Hebdo were his "personal enemies," and vowed that at least one million people would join the government-sponsored protest in Grozny. Russia, which has a large and restive Muslim population and waged two devastating wars against Chechnya in the 1990s, offered its condolences to France after the attack but has warned local publications against reprinting Charlie Hebdo cartoons that featured the Prophet Mohammed. Seriously, it's just a few cartoons. I don't see what the big deal is about a magazine exercising their right to free speech. It would be a much better outcome than caving in to terrorist threats like a coward.

Webs in Space

Elon Musk, the man who's determined to move our civilization to Mars, will also tackle creating an Internet in space. The CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX said Friday night that he will use a fleet of satellites to make the Internet speedier and to bring it to those without access, according to media reports of a private event in Seattle. While this new network would initially benefit only those of us on Earth, Musk said he has much loftier plans: using the profits to build a Martian city. He didn't offer specifics on how he'll make money off the project, but he did mention the possibility of selling satellites after the network is completed. SpaceX did not return a request for comment. To create the new network, SpaceX will build and launch roughly 4,000 satellites orbiting about 750 miles above earth. Musk is known for his determination to colonize Earth's relatively nearby neighbor, with plans to put humans on Mars by the mid 2020s. I wish him good luck with that. We've been able to put people on the Moon and return them safely, so he should try there first.

The eyes of the Rangers are upon 'em

After a tight and scrappy first hour at Loftus Road this morning, Manchester United turned up the heat and the attacking intent in the second half to secure a 2-0 win over Queens Park Rangers, thanks to substitutes Marouane Fellaini and James Wilson. On a testing surface against committed opposition and five yellow cards, the game had lacked finesse and clinical finishing – on another day Radamel Falcao could have had a hat-trick at least – but, on the back of defeat to Southampton and three league matches without a victory for the Reds, Louis van Gaal will be happy to be back to winning ways. But it is going to take more than just one win to reach the top, as the Reds are still 12 points behind Chelsea and therefore have a bit of catching up to do.

Apple no longer king of the apps

Apple's App Store may have had a record-breaking start to 2015, but as appFigures reports, Google has a new superlative to brag about. For the first time, the Google Play store surpassed Apple’s online store in number of apps. Google ended 2014 with more than 1.43 million apps compared with Apple’s 1.21 million. Amazon may have been the runt of the litter, but its Appstore saw growth of about 90 percent last year, bringing its total number of apps to around 293,000. So Android users have 200,000 more apps to choose from. But Apple always has been, and always will be, where it's at, just like Man United during their horrendous 7th-place finish under David Moyes last season. And even though Louis van Gaal is turning it around, the silverware isn't quite theirs yet. They have to win several more games, starting with this weekend's match against QPR, and hope the teams above them lose or draw their next few before the Reds even have a chance at the top spot.

Apple Watch: now with more info

Today is the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Star Trek: Voyager, and yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the first two North American area codes not to have a 0 or 1 as the middle digit (first one was 334; 360 came a minute later). Fast-forward to 2015, and a leaked iPhone app is revealing new details about Apple’s upcoming Apple Watch, which is due out early this year. The Apple Watch will be able to send text messages using your voice, remind you to stand up once in a while, and track your heart rate. A companion app for your iPhone will help you customize your Apple Watch and arrange its home screen. And you may be able to use your screens as Wi-Fi hotspots at the Marriott again because Marriott International says it will stop blocking guests from using their personal Wi-Fi devices at its hotels after receiving customer complaints. "Marriott International listens to its customers, and we will not block guests from using their personal Wi-Fi devices at any of our managed hotels," the Maryland-based company said in a statement on its website. Marriott, along with the American Hotel and Lodging Association and Ryman Hospitality Properties, had petitioned the Federal Communications Commission last summer to clarify whether or not hotels can disable people's ability to use their mobile phones as personal Wi-Fi hotspots in their conference centers. Marriott had argued that allowing people to do so could expose its hotels to cyberattacks. Google, Microsoft, and other wireless providers had asked the FCC to reject Marriott's request. Soon after, customers became more vocal with their complaints against the practice, arguing that Marriott was trying to force them into paying for the hotel's Wi-Fi. In its statement on Wednesday, Marriott said it would continue to seek guidance from the FCC as to what it can do to keep its network secure. I have a solution for that - it's called a firewall.

Orson-sized tribute to Mork underway in the 585

Robin Williams is being honored at the Dryden Theater in Rochester, New York with a new series featuring nine of the comedian's most loved performances and films. The idea for the series happened after Williams died last year and took months for the theater's assistant curator to gather the films she wanted included. Some of those films include The Birdcage, Good Morning Vietnam, and Good Will Hunting. Caroline Yeager, the Assistant Curator at the Dryden Theater said she felt obligated to honor the tremendous actor and comedian. "When someone like that, a performer like that, people identify with him," Yeager said. "He made so many people happy and brought such joy, he could make you laugh and to lose him it was such a sad thing." That could be worth checking out if you're in the area, but even if you're not, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer have a lot to celebrate. Not only did the second season of their Comedy Central show Broad City premiere a few hours ago, but the cable network has also picked it up for a third season. “It has just been brought to my attention that Broad City is a female-centric show,” the network’s Kent Alterman joked in a statement, “but we’re going to do more anyway.” If you missed it or can't wait for it to air in your country, it will be available right now on many a BitTorrent site, as will the whole first season. Click here now to get your Broad City fix.

Deaths at a funeral

At least 72 people who drank a homemade beer at a funeral in Mozambique over the weekend have died, health officials have announced. Authorities believe that the beer, a traditional millet-based brew called pombe, was poisoned during the course of the funeral. While the death toll has gone up, the number of individuals hospitalized from the beer has dropped dramatically. There are currently 35 in the hospital following the apparent poisoning, regional health official Paula Bernardo told the Associated Press. Yesterday, more than 169 people were reportedly still seeking treatment. “As we prepared to determine the cause of death of people we began to receive a lot of people with diarrhea and other muscle aches. After that we began to receive dead bodies from several neighborhoods,” Bernardo told a state-run radio station in Mozambique. Officials believe that the brew was poisoned some time during the daylong funeral, but have few leads on the cause or motivation. Those who drank the brew only in the morning had no signs of illness, but those who drank in the afternoon were sick by the next morning. And what was the poison, I hear you ask? Carle Mosse, a provincial health director, told reporters that some suspected the brew was poisoned with crocodile bile. So did a district health official going by the name Alex Albertini. But it’s not clear where the evidence for that suspicion is coming from. Testing has not yet been completed on samples taken from the brew and from victims, according to the BBC. The samples sent to the National Laboratory in the capital city Maputo contain “suspicious objects found inside the drum” where the beer was stored, but to make things even more complicated, the Associated Press reported that the drum in which the beer was held has since “disappeared.” Seriously, people. Don't trust home-made liquor, otherwise it could be your funeral the tainted home-brew is being served at.

BAD IDEA OF THE WEEK: Trying to cut the head off

Remember, guys, it will grow back, starting with French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which is publishing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed on the cover of its first issue since the attack that killed 12 people at its office in Paris. The newspaper Liberation hosted Charlie Hebdo staff as they prepared the new issue and is handling its special 1 million-copy print run in numerous languages. Liberation published the Charlie Hebdo cover online late last night, showing a man in a white turban it says represents the Prophet. He is holding a sign reading “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie“) and with a title reading “Tout est Pardonne” (“All is Forgiven“), which French media interpreted as meaning Mohammed is forgiving the cartoonists for lampooning him. In real life, when a pencil is broken, the bit with the rubber on it can be sharpened at the break to make a second pencil. The other bit can be sharpened at the break to make a double-ended pencil, meaning three different ends from where you can write with it. Similarly, if you try to stop Charlie Hebdo, it will come back stronger than ever before. It's called the Streisand effect, people. It got its name from when Barbra Streisand tried to get a photo of her house (pictured) taken down, only for the pic to receive even more attention.

Saints subject Reds to unholiest defeat

Manchester United suffered a first defeat in 12 games and surrendered third place in the Barclays Premier League this morning after Southampton secured a shock 1-0 win at Old Trafford with Dusan Tadic's solitary strike and two of the game's four yellow cards. The Reds controlled large chunks of the game but ultimately struggled to break down an organised Saints team that has increasingly realistic hopes of earning a spot in next season's Champions League. Loser van Gaal has proved himself over the course of the season (except for the Moyes-like start), but there is still more work to be done if the Reds are to win the Premiership. They are twelve points behind the current leaders Chelsea (who currently have 49 points). This means they need to win at least four games to tie for the top, and that's if Chelsea lose their next four games. It can be done, though.

Mad Men finally at its mad end

The climax to acclaimed US drama Mad Men will begin on April 5 when the first of the final seven episodes airs, AMC television announced yesterday. The seventh and last season of the hit show chronicling the lives of New York advertising executives in the 1960s officially got under way last year, with seven episodes being shown. But the last half of the season was held over until 2015, with the final seven episodes now confirmed to begin screening in April. Once that's over, it will join other crap shows like Two and a Half Men and Glee in the "thank goodness it's over" pile where it rightfully belongs. In fact, with all the other bullcrap not coming back for the fall, The Crazy Ones could've come back and filled one of those voids had Robin Williams not killed himself. And maybe Pam Dawber could've been in another episode or two. So think about it, all you suicidal folk out there: do you still want to go through with it?

Shooting suspects join their victims six feet under

A dramatic, violent day ended in France with a hail of gunfire at two separate hostage scenes. Dead are the suspected militants behind the Charlie Hebdo attack - the brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi - who were killed by French law enforcement at a printing shop in Dammartin-en-Goele. An equally tense siege unfolded at a kosher supermarket in Paris, where Kouachi brother ally, Amedy Coulibaly, was killed after a standoff that lasted five hours. That's right, people - just like the gunman who raided a cafe in Sydney last month, the hostage-takers in Paris also died in the crossfire. Before you plan your next siege, ask yourselves this: is it really worth it?

Doubtfire house on fire

A woman has been arrested following an arson attack on the famous house from the Robin Williams film Mrs Doubtfire, according to reports. The woman, 25-year-old Tyqwon Eugenen Welch, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, criminal threats, trespassing, arson, and possession of an incendiary device, a San Francisco police spokesman told The LA Times. Police said petrol was poured onto the doormat and set alight, but it was quickly put out. The homeowner, plastic surgeon Douglas Ousterhout, said he could smell gasoline and called police when he saw the door mat smouldering. The blaze damaged the home's front door and garage. The house, located in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco, has become a popular tourist destination since the film was released in 1993. It was also turned into a memorial following Mr Williams' suicide last August, and what Welch did to it was a crime not only against the homeowner but also Robin Williams' legacy. What if 1619 Pine Street (Mork and Mindy's address in Boulder, Colorado) was next? Or the bench from Good Will Hunting?

Death by Cartoons

Last night at 11:30pm New Zealand Daylight Time, three masked gunmen armed with Kalashnikov rifles, a shotgun, and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher stormed the headquarters of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. They shot and killed 12 people, including Charlie Hebdo staff and two French National police officers, and wounded 11 others. The gunmen entered the building and began shooting with automatic weapons, while shouting "Allahu Akbar". Up to 50 shots were fired during the attack. Following a massive manhunt, the French police believe they have located the attackers and are mounting an operation against them. One suspect has turned himself in. The incident is France's deadliest act of terrorism since 18 June 1961, when 28 people died in a train bombing.

Prior to the shooting, the gunmen had burst into number 6 Rue Nicolas-Appert, where the magazine's archives were based. The gunmen reportedly shouted "Is this Charlie Hebdo?", before realizing they had the wrong address and fleeing. They then went to the magazine's headquarters at number 10 Rue Nicolas-Appert. Cartoonist Corinne Rey reported that two armed and hooded men, speaking perfect French, threatened the life of her toddler daughter whom she had picked up from day care, and forced her to type in the code to open the door to the building. The men then moved up to an office on the second floor, where the staff were in an editorial meeting, with approximately 15 members in attendance. The entire shooting lasted between five and ten minutes. Witnesses reported that the gunmen sought out members of the staff by name before executing them with single shots to the head. Other witnesses reported that the gunmen identified themselves as belonging to al-Qaeda in Yemen.

The targeting of journalists going about their daily work is an attack on the fourth estate and the democratic principles of freedom of speech and expression, which must be strongly condemned. Violence will always lose against freedom and democracy, just like it did when Sony decided they would release The Interview after all. Neither the Sony hackers or al-Qaeda will be able to destroy the most sacred that we human beings have, that is, our rights and our freedoms.

Uber gaming style!

Forget that chubby guy from the North Pole, the real Santa Claus this holiday season is the Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library that now hosts 2,386 DOS games that can be played by anyone at no cost. A digital cache of that size brings with it both good and bad news. On the downside, there's bound to be lots of bad games, even notoriously bad ones like the baffling 1989 fighting game Tongue of the Fatman. But on the upside, the collection also includes some legitimate classics like LucasArts' adventure game adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and the PC version of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Pool of Radiance campaign. With 2,386 games available there's far too many to briefly describe here, but you can browse the collection by visiting the Archive. The best news, though, is that in lieu of simply archiving .exe files for each game, the Internet Archive listings feature an in-browser version of the ubiquitous DOSBox emulator. It won't be exactly the same experience you had playing these games in the late 1980s, but it's far easier than convincing games from the Reagan (or Thatcher depending on which side of the Atlantic you're on) era to play nicely with modern computers. The emulation is in beta, but to check it out, click here.

BAD IDEA OF THE WEEK: That 2014 has ended

And 2015 has begun. But don't despair, we have lots of good stuff coming, for instance, several movies I'm looking forward to (including but not limited to Jupiter Ascending, Fifty Shades of Grey, the sequels to Hot Tub Time Machine and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the first Fast and the Furious entry without the late Paul Walker, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ted 2 [which should hopefully be funnier than the first one], Arnold Schwarzenegger's return to the Terminator franchise, remakes of Poltergeist and Point Break, the sequel to Hotel Transylvania, and the final Hunger Games movie), new TV programs like CSI: Cyber and a reboot of 1970s series The Odd Couple, the 20th anniversaries of major changes to telephone numbering plans on both sides of the Atlantic (i.e. area codes that didn't have 0 or 1 as the middle digit were introduced in North America, and a 1 added to most geographic area codes in the UK, i.e. 0632 became 01632), and the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, among many other things. But right now, it's CES time in Vegas and among this year's attractions is 4K made better. Also known as Ultra HD, 4K offers four times the sharpness of today's high-definition video. Now that 4K TV sets have dropped in price, with some models available for less than US$1,000, TV makers are looking for ways to make their sets stand out. Sharp is turning to an engineering trick to make its high-end 4K set look even sharper. While TVs typically show colors by mixing red, green, and blue subpixels, Sharp's top-of-the-line model will add yellow as a fourth subpixel to improve colors. It then splits each of those subpixels in half, creating a total of eight subpixels in the space of three. Content isn't yet available to take advantage of the five extra subpixels, but Sharp uses some mathematical formulas to fill in the blanks. The Aquos Beyond 4K Ultra HD TV will measure about 80 inches diagonally. It will be out in the second half of the year. The price hasn't been set. But that's not all - Samsung is also offering a premium line with better brightness and richer colors, not just increased sharpness. It uses a technology called quantum dot — essentially a layer of materials that allows for purer colors and a wider color range. Samsung says the TV is also brighter because there's no need for a filter to compensate for color distortion. It will be called SUHD and cost more than regular 4K sets, though specifics haven't been announced. But either way, it will be too expensive and it's best to wait until they go down in price (unless, of course, you've got money to spare when the model you want is out).

The Internet of Pedals

Bike thefts are pretty common in major metropolitan areas, and even those who religiously use a bike lock aren't safe from savvy thieves. But there is a gadget in development that will help you get it back should it ever happen to you - the Connected Cycle. The Connected Cycle is a smart bike pedal equipped with GPS and GPRS sensors that are powered by cycling. As soon as your pedals move, the sensors track your activity so it acts as a basic fitness tracker, recording the speed, route, incline, and calories burned of every ride. That data is stored in a connected app that lets you view this activity over time. As all this data is stored on the pedals themselves, you won't need to bring your smartphone with you to track this activity. And since the pedals are always tracking location, they could even help you recover a stolen bike. Cellular service is included with purchase of the Connected Cycle, though as this product is in development, there is no pricing or availability information at this time. Once it's available for purchase, the company claims the Connected Cycle will be compatible with almost any kind of bike, and can only be removed with a special key held by the owner. But of course it's not as big a deal as if you're regretting your decision to save a few hundred bucks on your iPhone or iPad by opting for the smaller 16GB model (mine's a 64GB). But whether you're low on space or have lots but could do with more, there are ways to boost your smartphone's storage capacity. But because swapping in a larger microSD card just isn't an option in the Apple world, you'll have to settle for an external storage solution. And while there are lots of Lightning-friendly flash drives already on the market, the iBridge from Leef features a clever curvy design that wraps around behind your device in an attempt to be less intrusive. Does it succeed? Not entirely. You'll always know the iBridge is connected to your device, but with the bulk of the drive tucked out of sight behind your iPhone or iPad thanks to its unique J-shaped form factor, it's a fair compromise for an additional 256GB of storage capacity for your iOS device. There are some other compromises and trade-offs you'll need to be aware of, though. Thanks to the closed-off nature of iOS you'll need to copy files to and from your iPhone or iPad using the accompanying Leef iBridge app, and it remains to be seen how robust of usable its UI is. The same goes for streaming multimedia content off the drive, but there's at least the potential for the app to support more file formats than iOS does natively. And a starting price of US$60 for the 16GB model is a little on the pricey side as far as flash drives go these days, but with that Lightning port on one end, the Apple tax is probably invoked here.

Cancer patients lose out due to a societal cancer

2014 was a big year for Apple, which shook up the technology industry when it unveiled the large-screen iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Along with the latest iPhones, Apple also introduced the latest-generation iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, a 27-inch 5K Retina iMac, its HealthKit and HomeKit platforms, the latest OS X Yosemite and iOS 8, and a sneak peek into the still unreleased Apple Watch. It was also a big year for Sony, whose latest film The Interview has won a few fans in between sparking apocalyptic warnings from North Korea, but for defectors who escaped the communist state, there's nothing funny about it. That's not to say they're not watching it. Defectors based in the South have flocked to see the film at the centre of an escalating international row thanks to its lurid depiction of the assassination of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. The United States claims that the film's presentation of Kim, whose family has ruled the reclusive, impoverished state for more than six decades, prompted Pyongyang to launch a massive cyber-attack on Sony Pictures, the studio that made it. Defectors from the north have reacted to the movie with a mixture of shock and bafflement. It's not just that its crass humour is largely lost on a North Korean audience, it's that growing up immersed in a personality cult, which gives god-like status to the ruling Kim dynasty, is not an experience that can easily be forgotten. Even for defectors who have been in the South for years, it is jarring to see Kim ridiculed as a Katy Perry fan who has a complex about his dad. Speaking of jars, for the second consecutive year on New Year's Eve, police are investigating the theft of two donation jars for a children's hospital that were taken from the Speedway on West Fourth Street. In what appears to be almost an exact replica of an incident from 2013, Ontario police are investigating the theft of two donation jars for Akron Children's Hospital Children's Miracle Network taken from Speedway on 2132 West Fourth St. A surveillance video captured this year's incident, which took place at 1:58 a.m. Dec. 30. Ontario police detective Jon Sigler said the video showed a heavy-set woman reaching over the unattended counter to pick up two jars filled with cash. The woman then placed the jars under her arms, left the store, and drove away in a blue Dodge Avenger. Whoever you are, should you come across this post, you better give back those jars. This has become a police matter now and the cops will be coming after you sooner or later. That money you took was meant to help sick children. How would you feel if I or somebody else were to steal stuff from you?

This is Spartan!

Instead of revamping Internet Explorer for the launch of Windows 10, a new report claims Microsoft plans to start from scratch with a new browser, dubbed “Spartan.” Spartan could ship alongside Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 10, due sometime in the latter half of 2015. The purpose of Spartan is twofold, according to the report: first, as a lightweight alternative to IE, but with the foundation for third-party extensions; and as a marketing “do-over” for Internet Explorer, to do away with Internet Explorer’s legacy once and for all. From there, Spartan could eventually debut on alternative platforms like iOS and Android, much like the Bing search app can replace the search widget on Android devices, for example. But I'm sticking with Safari. It's way better than crap browsers like Internet Explorer.

Draw to begin 2015

Radamel Falcao earned Manchester United a battling point this morning as the Reds fought back from going behind early against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium. The Colombian striker struck from close range on 26 minutes after the Reds had fallen a goal down to a neat finish from ex-United defender Ryan Shawcross. Another former Red, Mame Biram Diouf, wasted a chance to double the lead when he shot wide, before Falcao pounced for his third strike of the season. Robin van Persie went close to putting Louis van Gaal’s men in front in the second half, but Stoke’s Peter Crouch rattled the woodwork with a header after the break. Chances were few and far between as the game wound down, but United stood firm to extend the unbeaten run to 10 games in a match where no yellow cards were shown. This is not good enough. If LVG wants the Premiership this season, then his men better start pulling their weight. No more draws - it's time to get some three-pointers on the board.

Burger blunder causes early exit

Before I start tonight's post, I would like to say to our Lithuanian readers Sveiki atvykę į eurą (welcome to the euro). This would also be a great time to remind our readers that the Bellend of the Month will be announced on the first of the month going forward instead of the last. The Bellend of the Month for December 2014 is Whitney Beseler, who will remember her stint on Australian game show Millionaire Hot Seat as the day she became famous. But the P.E. teacher and Contiki tour manager from Ballarat didn't write history as one of the lucky game show contestants who go home with a million. She will be remembered as the blonde who didn't get the $100 question right. She was asked by host Eddie McGuire, "Which of these is not a piece of jewellery commonly worn to symbolise a relationship between two people?" There were four choices: anniversary ring, engagement ring, wedding ring, and burger ring. At that moment her nervousness apparently had taken the best of her and Beseler confidently locked in 'anniversary ring'. When host McGuire had troubles to keep a straight face she realised her mistake. "Oh my God, burger ring!" she exclaimed. "Oh, Eddie - that is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me. Can we cut and start again please?" No, sorry Whitney, we can't start again. For those of you who don't know what Burger Rings are, they are a burger-flavoured Australian and New Zealand snack food distributed by the Twisties corporation but owned by its parent company The Smith's Snackfood Company (which is in turn owned by PepsiCo) in Australia and Bluebird Foods Limited in New Zealand. And I can tell you it would look really stupid if you were to wear one on your finger.