John Drury

If you suddenly disappeared, who would notice that you were gone? The neighbors of one woman in Pontiac, Michigan hadn’t seen her in years. She traveled a lot for work–maybe she was working offsite for an extended period, or she had moved away and simply not sold her house yet. No, she was home the whole time. In her Jeep. Dead.

“Haven’t I read this story already?” you might be saying. You’re probably thinking of when more or less the same thing happened a few years ago, in Florida. In this case in Michigan, all we know so far is that the deceased was from Germany, and had moved to Detroit to work in the auto industry. (Based on her owning a Jeep, we’re going to guess that she might have worked for Chrysler.)

Neighbors couldn’t agree on how long it had been since they last saw her. One said six years, and another guessed three. Authorities told TV station WXYZ that the woman was mummified, so she had been dead for at least a few years.

“You’d think because of her job, and we heard she had a son, so you’d think someone would’ve come looking for her,” one neighbor told a reporter.

Woman’s body found in garage of her foreclosed home in Pontiac years after her death [WXYZ]

Basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal is attempting to bring back the mid-'90s fighting game he starred in, Shaq Fu, with a $450,000 Indiegogo campaign for a sequel, Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn.

Electronic Arts released the original Shaq Fu on Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994, and it is now widely regarded as one of the worst video games of all time. O'Neal is partnering with a new studio, Big Deez Productions, that features industry veterans who have worked on franchises like Halo, Street Fighter and Final Fantasy, according to A Legend Reborn's Indiegogo page.

"I'll admit it, Shaq Fu was a horrible game. I'm a huge fan of video games and want to have my name associated with a Shaq Fu game that I'm proud of and...

Not really a deal more of a PSA.  

 

GO GO GO!

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Castle Crashers developer The Behemoth announced that its co-op platformer BattleBlock Theater is coming to PC platforms via Steam this year. The PC version of BattleBlock Theater boasts a number of new features not seen in its initial Xbox Live...

During Apple's annual shareholder's meeting today, CEO Tim Cook angrily rebuffed a representative from the National Center for Public Policy Research or NCPPR -- a conservative think tank -- that asked the company to disclose the costs of its sustainability programs, such as solar energy facilities, and to embrace a corporate policy that focused on profits above all else.

The representative asked Cook about the impact of the company's renewable energy programs on its bottom line, and also asked Cook to commit to only undertaking projects that were explicitly profitable.

The CEO did not take this well, according to a report from MacObserver, which said that Cook's body language changed significantly and his gentle and controlled speaking style gave way to a rapid-fire response.

What ensued was the only time I can recall seeing Tim Cook angry, and he categorically rejected the worldview behind the NCPPR's advocacy. He said that there are many things Apple does because they are right and just, and that a return on investment (ROI) was not the primary consideration on such issues.

"When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind," he said, "I don't consider the bloody ROI." He said that the same thing about environmental issues, worker safety, and other areas where Apple is a leader.

Finally, Cook looked at the questioner and said "if you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock."

Following the meeting, the NCPPR released an incendiary press release that is heavily critical of Cook, claiming that shareholder value is destroyed in favor of efforts to combat climate change.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Earlier today, the FDA finally got around to unveiling the first major change to food nutrition labels in two decades. The new-look label contains mostly the same information as the current version, but with the addition of “added sugars” data, the loss of “calories from fat,” and more emphasis on total calories per serving and servings per container.

As you can see from the side-by-side example above, the two biggest changes — aside from flipping the percentages to the left of the column — are the increased prominence of the calories and the much larger and bolder information regarding servings per container. Additionally, nutritional info that is currently listed as “Amount Per Serving,” will have the actual serving size listed. In the above example, you can see that the proposed label now says “Amount per 2/3 cup,” as a further reminder that 2/3 of a cup is the serving size for this product.

An update that is not as immediately noticeable is the inclusion of an “added sugars” line. The FDA says this was important to include in the label because Americans eat 16% of their daily calories from sugars added during food production.

Meanwhile, the FDA is proposing to get rid of the “calories from fat” info.

“We know that the type of fat is more important than the total amount of fat,” says FDA scientist Claudine Kavanaugh about this change.

A non-cosmetic change to the labels, but one that would impact the data that appears on the nutrition panel, is the FDA’s proposal to update serving size requirements to reflect what people actually eat, not what they should be eating.

For example, a pint of ice cream is currently listed as 4 servings. The FDA proposes changing that to two servings per container.

One final new requirement is the inclusion of Vitamin D and potassium information on each label, as part of an effort to increase public awareness of how littel of each of these nutrients consumers are getting. Vitamin D is to be included because of its importance in bone health, especially among women and the elderly, while potassium helps to lower blood pressure and prevent hypertension.

Proposed Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label [FDA.gov]

King, the developer behind Candy Crush Saga, has abandoned its efforts to trademark the word "candy," according to documents posted by the U.S. Trademark Office.

Signed on Feb. 24, the document states "the applicant hereby expressly abandons the application for trademark registration made." King filed a trademark application Feb. 6, 2013 and was approved on Jan. 15, 2014. If approved by the assigning attorney, such a trademark allows the developer exclusive rights to use the word in apparel, video games, computer hardware and more.

We've reached out to King and the attorney of record for comment and will update accordingly.

In response to the trademark, developers banded together for the Candy Jam, which asked participants to make a...

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nevver:

Modern Toss

(via TumbleOn)

Thief marks a long-awaited return for a series that influenced a generation of stealth titles.

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Following the success of Twitch Plays Pokemon, a massively multiplayer online co-op version of The Legend of Zelda is now being played by commenters through a live Twitch stream.

Using an existing IRC chat bot script, Twitch user Zach Gerlock has programmed an emulator for the classic Zelda title which allows those on the streaming website's chat system to enter commands including basic moves and how long each button should be held for.

"The point of this stream was as a personal challenge, as well as an evolution of the Twitch Plays concept," writes Gerlock following accusations of stealing from the original Twitch Plays Pokemon.

"My goal was to find a game that the concept does not naturally work for, but might still be possible to...

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Prepare for Titanfall with $20 off Xbox Live Gold on Amazon. The 12-month membership card is currently $40. The rub? It's only available in, like, card form. A physical card. Like you're a rube. A rube! Remember that these cards do stack, so...

Daylight, Zombie Studios' procedurally generated horror game built in Unreal Engine 4, will arrive on PlayStation 4 and Windows PC April 8, publisher Atlus announced today.

The game will ship with a feature that allows Twitch stream viewers to spook the player by typing text. As an example, a viewer could type "meow" into the stream's chat, and Daylight would respond with a corresponding sound in-game. The streaming option will be timed to prevent spamming, and players will have to experiment to find the full list of words.

"Streaming has been a huge boon to the PS4 community, and the devs want Daylight to have an involved relationship with livestreams," social media specialist Ryan Clements wrote on the PlayStation Blog. "The hope is...

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GBA4iOS today introduced a 2.0 update for its popular Game Boy emulator for iOS, introducing a full iOS 7 redesign, iPad optimization, support for original and Game Boy Color games, and a built-in web browser for downloading ROMs.

More importantly, the software is now much easier to install, requiring neither a jailbroken device nor a work around to set the device clock to 2012. Prior to the 2.0 update, installing GBA4iOS without jailbreaking required an iPhone's date to be set to 2012. Though it doesn't require an initial date change, GBA4iOS 2.0 does carry a warning that the device clock may need to be set back to 2/19/14 if the app fails to open.


With GBA4iOS 2.0, gamers can play Game Boy Advanced, Game Boy Color, and original Gameboy ROMs directly on their iPads and iPhones, but the software is only compatible with devices running iOS 7. GBA4iOS 2.0 is distributed using an Apple Enterprise certificate, which are designed to allow companies to distribute iOS apps internally.

Downloading games for GBA4iOS previously required navigating outside of the app to find ROMs, but the newest version includes an in-app web browser that can be used to download games from any ROM website. GBA4iOS 2.0 also includes full support for cheats, accepting five different code formats covering everything from Game Genie to Action Replay.

The GBA4iOS update includes an array of controller skins for Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color games and it supports third party controller skins. It also offers full iOS 7 controller support, Dropbox integration, and "Event Distribution" to allow GBA4iOS unlock and distribute features that are not normally included within games.

While several emulators have snuck into the App Store via shell apps, they are always short-lived as Apple pulls the apps within hours or days of release. GBA4iOS is able to overcome Apple's restrictions as it is not installed via the App Store. Instead, GBA4iOS can be installed directly on an iOS device from the website, by tapping the download link on an iPad or iPhone.

Update: Apple has revoked the enterprise certificate that GBA4iOS used to install itself on iOS devices, which means installs now require setting a device date back to February 18, 2014 before downloading the software. After installation, the date on the device can be changed back to the present time.

We've not seen much of Ready at Dawn's PS4 exclusive The Order: 1886 since it was announced at last year's E3, at least not until today with Sony releasing videos showcasing its gameplay for the first time. The third-person shooter, set in a...

BioShock developer Irrational Games is being cut down to a team of 15, Co-Founder Ken Levine revealed in an update on the studio's website. The developer was sitting strong at 200 employees fewer than two years ago. "I am winding down Irrational...

Samsung's upcoming flagship device, the Galaxy S5, will indeed ship with a fingerprint sensor, reports Samsung-focused blog SamMobile. Contrary to earlier reports which hinted at a fingerprint sensor embedded into the display, however, this latest report claims the Galaxy S5 will adopt Apple's model by integrating the sensor into the home button.

Samsung Galaxy S5 render with Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S3 from Move Player
Samsung's fingerprint sensor reportedly is activated using a swiping motion that scans the finger from base to tip, which differs from Apple's motionless scan.

The sensor itself works in a swipe manner, which means that you would need to swipe the entire pad of your finger, from base to tip, across the home key to register your fingerprint properly. Also, you would need to keep your finger flat against the home key and swipe at a moderate speed or else it won’t recognise your fingerprint. The fingerprint sensor is sensitive to moisture, as well.

Samsung supposedly has added support for the scanning technology to various parts of the operating system, enabling users to secure files, widgets and apps using the scanning technology. Similar to iOS 7, Samsung will allow users to store multiple fingerprint scans on a phone or tablet and use them to unlock the device.

The Galaxy S5 is rumored to include a 5.2-inch display with a higher resolution screen than the current Galaxy S4, which is equipped with a 5-inch, 1080 x 1920 pixel display. The S5 also will feature an improved camera, better battery life and a lower price point. It likely will be unveiled alongside a new Galaxy Gear smart watch at Samsung's Unpacked 2014 event, which will be held during Mobile World Congress 2014 later this month.

(via TumbleOn)

Not sure if this has already been posted but.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BGA9WK2/ref=s9_pop_gw_g63_i5/177-7045213-4789562?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1DC7QHC6103EYDCKV8N1&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1263340922&pf_rd_i=507846

I can’t tell you the hours I’ve spent chainsawing paths through hordes of undead, or bashing them over the head with flower pots, in Dead Rising on my Xbox, but I never imagined that someone would manage to make this over-the-top game a reality by combining the two objects and using them in the robbery of a convenience store.

The Queensland Times in Australia reports that a teenager entered a 7-Eleven store around 4:30 a.m. on Monday, carrying a chainsaw and wearing a flower pot on his head.

The man allegedly lunged at the two employees with his turned-on chainsaw, driving them into the store’s back room. He then turned the saw on the 7-Eleven’s poor, innocent window and random shelves while drunkenly demanding cash… all before mooning the employees and fleeing the scene and only making off with a stolen soda.

Police responded to the employees’ call for help and spotted the teen on their way to the store. He was arrested and a police dog was able to sniff out the chainsaw hidden in a nearby bush.

The chainsaw-wielding punk, whose name is sadly not Nick Ramos, was charged with one count of armed robbery, two counts of willful damage, one count of going armed to cause fear, one count of public nuisance and one count of possessing suspected stolen property, reports the Times.

Now if you’ll excuse me, the Xbox controller is calling my name.

[via Philly.com]

You can now follow Chris on Twitter: @themorrancave

Evolve is a 4v1 asymmetrical multiplayer co-op action game from Turtle Rock Studios, the main team behind the original Left 4 Dead. Picked up by 2K for an eyewatering sum at the THQ IP firesale, it’s due for release later this year. A couple of weeks ago, I went to play it.

I’m shaking, which while a state I usually associate with over/under caffeination or discovering that there’s been a distressingly cynical free to play remake of one of my most beloved games, is in this case a good thing. I’m shaking from built up and released tension, and from an infusion of adrenaline into my frail, pale form. I’m shaking because I became a monster, and because I won, and because I beat the real monsters.
… [visit site to read more]

Hmm, I worry that it’s ever so slightly less entertaining now it’s a real thing with a pricetag, as opposed to an out-of-nowhere joke. Now it’s got the Snakes On A Plane problem – it has to live up to its concept. Still, we (including I) asked for it, so down Goat Simulator’s rabbit hole we must go.
… [visit site to read more]

Humanity has yet to invent plasma-based stabbing technology, but we still celebrate Man at Arms' recreation of the iconic Halo weapon, the Energy Sword. Metal isn't a bad substitute for plasma, except when it comes to plastic. Plasma would've done a...

If you’re looking for a relatively cheap and brief Valentine’s Day dinner and also happen to live near Southport, NC, then there’s a McDonald’s that is calling your name.

A Reddit user posted the above sign spotted at their local McDonald’s, advertising its 3rd Annual Candlelight Dinner on Feb. 14.

Since some people actually choose to get married at McDonald’s, it’s perhaps no surprise that they will start that romance at the fast food chain.

“Our crew will greet you at the door, seat you, take your order and deliver it to your,” reads the sign. “All you have to do is just sit back, relax and enjoy your romantic evening with your date.”

Of course, this all only takes place between the hours of 6-8 p.m., so don’t plan on extended, loving gazes into your date’s eyes.

And our favorite part:
“Featuring musical selections by Ron.”

We assume this is a reference to Ronald McDonald, but since we’re terrified of burger-slinging clowns who hang around with known thieves, amorphous purple blobs, and politicians with mammoth cheeseburgers for heads, we’re going to imagine it’s this Ron that will be providing the romantic music:

Following the release of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years last November, Square-Enix today launched Final Fantasy VI for iOS devices. The game's story centers around rebels Terra and Locke as they battle an evil force known as The Empire, with gameplay centering around the series' fast-paced "Active Time Battle" system. Recreated graphics and a touch-optimized battle interface are also present in the release as well, as the game also supports iCloud data syncing across devices.

Features
• Game data saved with iCloud can now be shared across devices! At home or away, on your iPhone or iPad, pick the play style that's best for you.

• All graphics have been painstakingly recreated, bringing the world of FINAL FANTASY VI to your mobile device for the very first time! Kazuko Shibuya, one of the graphics designers involved in the FINAL FANTASY series from the very start, personally worked on the main characters and supervised the recreation of the game's graphics.

• Square Enix's vast experience in A-list smartphone RPG titles has been harnessed in implementing intuitive user-friendly controls that make the game easy to play on touch screens. The battle interface has received particular attention, with a complete overhaul for use on your smartphone.

• This smartphone release includes the new magicites and events that were introduced in the 2006 remake.

• Some events have been optimized to be played with user-friendly touch controls.

Final Fantasy VI was originally revealed to be coming to iOS devices last October in an interview with longtime Square-Enix producer Takashi Tokita, who also teased a potential release of the mega-popular Final Fantasy VII for mobile devices. However, the producer later clarified his comments about a potential Final Fantasy VII mobile release five days later, stating that the game's appearance on iOS devices is "years away" because of the space limitations on the platform.

Final Fantasy VI is available on iOS devices for $15.99 and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]

Screenshots from the latest version of North Korea's home-grown "Red Star" Linux operating system reveal a striking resemblance to OS X, as shown in a new report from IDG News Service. The new look seen in version 3.0 of the software replaces the Windows-inspired design of version 2.0.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, might the folks in Cupertino be pleased when they see the latest version of North Korea's home-grown operating system?

Version 3.0 of Red Star Linux presents users with a radical refresh of its desktop design, one that closely resembles Mac OS X.

Screenshots of the operating system were provided to IDG by Will Scott, a visiting professor at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) who bought the OS in Pyongyang from a local Korea Computer Center (KCC) dealer. KCC is the government's information research technology center and has been in charge of developing Red Star Linux for more than a decade.


Red Star OS is the official operating system of North Korea and is localized for the country. It features Naenara ('My Country'), a version of the Mozilla Firefox browser that connects to the country's nationwide intranet. Version 3.0 shown above was released last year, but has until now not received significant attention outside of North Korea due to the country's relative isolation from the world community.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

(via TumbleOn)

Didn't see a thread here (saw on GAF):

 

Starting today and through Feb. 2, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures Anniversary Edition is free on the E-shop for all 2DS, 3DS, and 3DS Xl systems.

 

Just log into the shop and enjoy.

 

I'll delete if it's a duplicate post.

 

Cheers!

What a difference three months can make.

The last time we played Thief was at an event in October in New York. The build was riddled with problems. At the time, developer producer Joe Khoury said that while the game was "feature complete," it still needed a lot of polish. Recently, we had a chance to check out a more polished version of the game during an event in Sydney. The differences were striking.

During our time with the game in October, we were unable to finish the demo because of the game's unstable state. We ran into bugs that prevented the play from switching arrowheads, froze Garrett in mid-air and crashed the computer to the desktop.

In the October interview, Khoury also told us that the team was past the development woes...

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