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A bit of beige here, a touch of forgotten heritage there, all spiced up with lack of innovation. Welcome to the most boring car makers of 2013.

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Everyone wants to work from home, and as technology improves, more positions each year are available to the pajama-clad home workforce — but scams also seem more prolific as time passes.

A legitimate work from home job is considered the Holy Grail for many families battling work life balance issues, and reduced childcare costs and commuting expenses are two of the myriad reasons more workers hope the opportunity to telecommute presents itself.

But work from home scams that prey upon this ever-present desire have made many wary of the leap to a home office, and rightly so. A recent Wisconsin work from home opportunity that turned out to be an elaborate version of a common banking scam cost a single mom of four more than $3,000, and she tells local news sources:

“I went to the bank, deposited the checks (they sent me two checks) totaling almost $4,000. About three days later – received note saying they`re fraudulent checks and I was now in a hole.”

Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen says that type of work from home scam is all too common, leaving work from home hopefuls on the hook for thousands and even possibly in danger of arrest and jail time:

“The scam artist is counting on the bank releasing the money or you having sufficient funds in your account to cover the expense check back to the scam artist. You don`t discover the check is going to bounce until after you`ve wired or sent the money back to the scam artist.”

Ultimately, in a “soft” job market, work from home jobs are going to be at least as hard to come by as work at work jobs — but not all opportunities are scams.

The battle becomes less difficult if you already have a job and can potentially transfer to at least some at-home hours, and Salary.com has tips on negotiating a work from home sitch. (Case in point: studies show work from home employees are more productive and effective than their on-site counterparts.)

In the not too distant future, HuffPo UK theorizes, you may not even have to ask your boss to work from home.

One writer says employers are, on their own, coming around to their own work from home benefits, saying:

“I’ll give you an example and for simplicity’s sake, let’s say your commute is an hour each way. Your work year contains 253 days in 2013, and if you work from home two days a week that’s a saving of 25.3 days. That means that you’re saving 10% of your work year simply by not commuting two days a week. At a company level, given that 60% of hours are recycled back to work – that’s an efficiency increase of 6%. For every 16 people who work from home two days a week, your employer will create a whole person’s worth of time each year.”

So while work from home opportunities are out there and for real, it’s worth keeping in mind that “too good to be true” offers are undoubtedly a huge risk — and as the writer above suggests, simply selling an employer on why a work from home spot saves them money is your best bet to finagle a telecommuting job.

Not already employed? You can also work from home by offering an existing skill on a freelance basis, and many junior-level administrative employees have built successful careers as virtual assistants.

Have you managed to find a legitimate work from home job?

How To Work From Home Without Getting Scammed is a post from: The Inquisitr

Apple has made its iTunes Radio service available on Apple TV through a newly-released beta.

These gorgeous maps have the answer. Created by datavisualization expert John Nelson, these "Tornado Travel Maps" depict the relative proportion of more than 60 years of U.S. tornadoes by their direction of travel. Notice a pattern?

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Who cares about plastic 3D-printed models of your head when an amazing, ornate room is being 3D printed out of sandstone? Digital Grotesque, as the project is called, looks like it was ripped from the frames of a sci-fi film.

Designers Benjamin Dillenburger and Michael Hansmeyer recently previewed a 1:3 scale model of the room at Materializing Exhibition in Tokyo, and before that at the Swiss Art Awards in Basel, Switzerland. The entire room will be unveiled on July 22.

The oddly-detailed room looks like a cross between an alien skeletal system and a cathedral on another planet. Which makes sense, because it's being created using an algorithm that divides and repeats forms seen in the work of Swiss surrealist artist H.R. Giger to create crazy patterns. For a little background, Giger won an Oscar for his work on the visual effects team of the movie Alien. This is what Dillenburger and Hansmeyer had to see about the piece:

Inspired by the natural process of cell division, we develop an algorithm that iteratively divides and transforms the initial geometry of a simple cube. Despite simple rules, a complex world of forms arises at multiple scales: between ornament and structure, between order and chaos, foreign and yet familiar: a digital grotesque.

Check out some pictures of the process below, but otherwise you'll have to wait another month to see the whole thing. Sigourney Weaver alien baby not included. [Creators Project]

The Obama approval rating drop among young adults has experts wondering why.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Obama approval rating dropped to 45 percent according to CNN/ORC surveys. Even former President George W. Bush’s approval rating is higher than Obama’s popularity.

The Barack Obama approval rating seemed to be scandal proof at first. Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the AP/Fox News scandal, and various other scandals didn’t put a dent in Barack Obama’s public popularity for years.

But the IRS scandal caused Obama’s approval rating to drop quickly. Now the Obama NSA spy programs have people continuing to question President Obama’s decisions and trustworthiness.

People are essentially saying, “Where there’s smoke there’s fire.” So far the evidence for the IRS scandal doesn’t directly connect to Obama himself. Just people in Washington, the Obama administration, and the White House. Even Obama’s aides supposedly knew about the IRS scandal while the President remained ignorant.

Steve Forbes probably didn’t affect the Obama approval rating with claims of Obama publicly encouraging senators to force the IRS to investigate Tea Party groups. The only direct link connecting Obama is the IRS documents leaked to Obama’s 2012 campaign.

Regardless of the claims of Edward Snowden, details of the NSA PRISM spying program are out and people aren’t happy. Despite Senator Obama claiming President Bush was going above the law in 2006, the Obama administration was quick to continue the work started under the Bush White House. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which Obama voted for and supported, empowered the NSA to do more things than was previously allowed under President Bush. Even the guy who headed the NSA spy programs back then says today’s NSA spying goes way beyond what was previously considered acceptable. But despite all the controversy, President Obama defends the NSA PRISM spying.

A good chunk of President Obama’s stalwart supporters have been the young adults under age 30. But the Obama scandals have caused President Obama’s approval rating to drop:

“The drop in Obama’s support is fueled by a dramatic 17-point decline over the past month among people under 30, who, along with black Americans, had been the most loyal part of the Obama coalition.”

What do you think caused the Obama approval rating drop among young adults?

Obama Approval Rating Drop Explained By Young Adults is a post from: The Inquisitr

There are many places you’d expect to see an announcement of the PC version of a game. Xbox Wire – the official news pipe for Microsoft’s various, randomly numbered console boxes – isn’t one of them. Despite that, Jeff Strain, founder of Undead Labs, used an interview with the site to confirm the PC version of their open world zombie survival game State of Decay. The man at Microsoft whose job is to systematically exorcise all mention of the PC is going to be in a lot of trouble.

When asked what’s next for the game, Strain replied, “We’re currently working on a PC version for release on Steam. Fortunately it’s been in development alongside the Xbox 360 version since Day 1, so we just need to integrate with the Steam platform and add native support for keyboard and mouse control.” That would seem to suggest that a release isn’t too far off, and that the game will be coming to Steam. That Microsoft exorcism guy is really going to be in trouble.

Even so, we previously heard from the game’s community manager that a PC release “isn’t going to be soon by any meaningful use of the word ‘soon’.” That was just over a week ago; which would suggest the release is slightly further off than I assumed a paragraph ago.

Thanks, PCGamesN.

The post State of Decay confirmed for Steam release, date still unclear appeared first on PC Gamer.

We're big fans of Pop Chart Labs, the Brooklyn-based company that charts out everything from the constitutions of classic cocktails to pie charts of pie. Now the data-loving group has turned its attention to the glorious world of cheese, creating a wheel of 66 cheeses from around the world.

The cheeses are organized by type and texture, and the wheel covers everything from all-time faves like cheddar, Brie, and mozzarella, plus more advanced offerings like Stinking Bishop and Humboldt Fog. (Not familiar? Brush up on our Serious Cheese archives to get the curd nerd lingo down.)

New Yorkers will be pleased to know that Pop Chart has partnered with Murray's Cheese shop through July 6th to give away five $100 gift certificates. But if you're not in New York, you're still in luck: we're giving away three copies of this awesome poster to have for all of your future cheese-procuring needs. To win, tell us in the comments below: if you were a cheese, what kind of cheese would you be and why?

Contest will end and comments will close at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 21. One entry per community member. Winners must provide US mailing address, sorry, posters cannot be shipped abroad. Standard Serious Eats contest rules apply.

The post Real-Life Autocorrects: Ho Did That Happen? appeared first on Damn You Auto Correct!.

The hype around Kanye West’s new album Yeezus can’t really get any bigger. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t watch Scott Disick in this American Psycho inspired commercial for the new album.

West unveiled the short film commercial at a listening party in Los Angeles last week but the video didn’t make it online until today.

The video features Scott Disick and Jonathan Cheban from Keeping Up With The Kardashians and uses American Psycho as inspiration.

The Yeezus commercial mimics a speech from the movie in which Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale) talks about Huey Lewis and the News. In Kanye West’s video, Disick uses Yeezus as the musical topic.

Disick says: “The early work was a little too hip-hop for me and my taste, but when Dark Twisted Fantasy came out in 2010, I think he really came into his own both musically and lyrically. (Yeezuz is Kanye West’s) most exciting record by far.”

And then, of course, Disick takes an axe to Cheban.

Here’s Kanye West’s American Psycho ad for Yeezus. If you don’t like cursing, gore, or terrible acting you should probably skip this video.

What do you think of Kanye West’s Yeezus commercial?

If you haven’t seen American Psycho here’s a look at Christian Bale’s Huey Lewis And The News murder scene.

Sickos! http://t.co/qsO8T3rrWV

— Scott Disick (@ScottDisick) June 17, 2013

Got blood on my face http://t.co/8pF0o402Mp

— Scott Disick (@ScottDisick) June 18, 2013

Kanye West ‘Yeezus’ Commercial Features ‘American Psycho’ Scott Disick [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

“They’re the biggest bird on the planet, but they have to start somewhere. These tiny adorable chicks will grow up to be up to 9 feet tall and weigh 350 pounds. With spots and stripes and porcupine like backs they don’t look much like the adults they become, but who can complain? Their too cute for words. Warning: This may be the cutest two minutes of your life.” — camelsandfriends

“Sunscreen works against UV rays by both reflecting and absorbing them. Inorganic materials repel the rays and the organic ones take the rays in and then shed them as heat. 8,15,30,50. If you guessed that what all of these numbers have in common is that they are grades of sunscreen, you’re right. But, beyond that what do they really mean, and, for that matter, how does sunscreen really work, anyway?” — geobeats

Unlike the Emmett Till controversy, Lil Wayne didn’t take too long to issue a statement about a video making the rounds, showing the “No Worries” rapper desecrating the American flag.

In a statement released via his Facebook, Wayne says:

It was never my intention to desecrate the flag of the United States of America. I was shooting a video for a song off my album entitled “God Bless Amerika”. The clip that surfaced on the Internet was a camera trick clip that revealed that behind the American Flag was the Hoods of America. In the final edit of the video you will see the flag fall to reveal what is behind it but will never see it on the ground. In most people eyes including my own who were raised in that environment, the Hood is the only America they know and the only America I knew growing up. I was fortunate from my God giving talents to escape the Hood and see the other beautiful places this country has to offer but most people who are born in that environment don’t get that chance. That’s their view of their America. That was Dwayne M Carter from Hollygrove New Orleans view of America. That’s who I’m speaking for in this song.

And there you have it. A camera trick is why it looked like Weezy was trampling all over the American flag.

Thanks NG

Jon Stewart thinks it’s “strange” the Obama approval rating is as high as it is.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Obama approval rating among young adults dropped hard.

So how is Jon Stewart connected to the Obama approval rating? A good chunk of President Obama’s stalwart supporters have been the young adults under age 30:

“The drop in Obama’s support is fueled by a dramatic 17-point decline over the past month among people under 30, who, along with black Americans, had been the most loyal part of the Obama coalition.”

Young adults affecting Obama’s approval rating so quickly can be explained by several factors. Millennials are suffering the worst unemployment rate. The second is that over half of all young adult Americans use the Daily Show and Jon Stewart as their primary news source. But while Jon Stewart was dismissive of Benghazi and other Obama scandals, ever since the IRS, AP, and NSA scandal Jon Stewart started openly making fun of Obama.

Even Jay Leno recently started bashing President Obama. Interestingly enough, both comedians are finding themselves out of a job soon.

In a recent candid interview Jon Stewart said he thinks it’s “strange” that Obama’s approval rating isn’t lower:

“Wow, I didn’t know it was up around 50 percent. He’s doing better than I thought. I didn’t realize, really? 50 percent? Pretty good…I didn’t realize he was even up close to there so that’s not so shabby. What do you think it is like 48, 49? Pretty close. Strange. I wouldn’t think so.”

Do you agree with Jon Stewart that Obama’s approval rating is strangely higher than it should be?

Jon Stewart: Obama Approval Rating Should Be Lower, Strange is a post from: The Inquisitr

Florida health officials are urging swimmers to uses caution and steer clear of stagnant water because it could be home to brain eating amoeba.

Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba which is invisible to the naked eye. Stagnant, warm water is where the amoeba is more likely to be found in.

According to the CDC, “Naegleria fowleri is found in many warm freshwater lakes and rivers in the United States, particularly in southern-tier states.”

While the amoeba is usually harmless, according to ABC News, the amoeba can cause a fatal brain infection if inhaled through the nose.

“Naegleria was eyed in the death of a Minnesota child last summer, when the state experienced a heat wave. And in the summer of 2011, the amoeba killed four people in Virginia, Florida, Kansas and Louisiana, all of whom had been swimming in freshwater lakes.”

The brain eating amoeba has been reported all over the world, one incident reported 10 deaths in Pakistan.

Other news had reported that Neti Pots were responsible for transmitting the brain eating amoeba.

The CDC reported:

“The risk of Naegleria fowleri infection is very low. There have been 31 reported infections in the U.S. in the 10 years from 2003 to 2012, despite millions of recreational water exposures each year.”

There are no tests to detect the presence of the amoeba, but the CDC say there are new detection tests under development.

So how can you reduce the risk of infection? The CDC posted some easy to follow tips:

• Hold your nose shut, use nose clips, or keep your head above water when taking part in water-related activities in bodies of warm freshwater.
• Avoid putting your head under the water in hot springs and other untreated thermal waters.
• Avoid water-related activities in warm freshwater during periods of high water temperature and low water levels.
• Avoid digging in, or stirring up, the sediment while taking part in water-related activities in shallow, warm freshwater areas.

With the weather warming up, the Florida health officials are urging swimmers to use caution and as the saying goes, “keep your nose clean” in order t prevent being infected by the brain eating amoeba.

[Image via Nixx Photography ]

Brain Eating Amoeba Lurking In Florida Waters is a post from: The Inquisitr

The pay-TV business is finally starting to show some cracks in its facade.

In the last twelve months, pay-TV lost 80,000 subscribers. This is the first loss of its kind, and it can be partially attributed to the rise of the web.

While this could be the start of the end of the pay-TV business, it won't mean the collapse of the traditional TV industry. The traditional TV businesses — cable, satellite, TV show producers — have created a number of ways to defend their turf even as competition heats up.

Bloomberg recently reported Time Warner Cable is actively trying to stop media companies from licensing content to web-based TV alternatives, companies like Intel, Google, Microsoft, and Apple who have all kicked around trying to do their own version of TV.

Time Warner Cable, the second biggest cable company in the country, doesn't want to see that happen.

Rightfully so, since it generated $2.67 billion in revenue from its residential customers last quarter. That's close to half of its total revenue for the quarter, which was $5.5 billion. It also had $661 million in free cash flow.

With money like that, it's naturally going to be willing to spend a little extra to keep content away from companies like Intel, which is working on its own cable alternative. For some context, Intel reportedly burned through $100 million in six months just working on its own version of pay-TV. And that's before it nailed down key agreements with content companies.

While Intel has a plenty of money to spend — it had first quarter revenue of $12.6 billion and earned $4.3 billion in cash from its operations — its investors aren't going to let it waste hundreds of millions trying to go into an entirely new business like pay-TV.

Other tech companies have been skittish to enter the TV fray. They see a low-margin business that's deeply entrenched.

So, smaller companies like Aereo are trying to take on the big boys.

Aereo is a startup funded by billionaire Barry Diller. Diller, by the way, got his start at Fox. Aereo wants to sell you broadcast TV via the Internet for $12 a month. Aereo has raised $63 million in funding, and presumably a big chunk of that has gone to lawyers. Because since it launched, Aereo has been sued by companies like CBS, whose broadcast signals it's sending to users.

Broadcast signals are free with bunny ears, but when Aereo sends it through the web to users and charges, broadcast companies think it's stealing.

"I think Aereo is wrong, it is illegal, and it is opportunistic piracy," Anne Sweeney, president of ABC television, said. "It's taking advantage of our content, of our creative community, and using it for their own gain. That's why we're prosecuting it, and we will continue to do so."

Whether the lawsuits work or not remains to be seen. In the meanwhile, ABC is doing something much smarter to kill Aereo. It's offering its own competitive service.

As long as you have a cable subscription (and live in New York or Philadelphia), you can get a stream of ABC on your iPhone or iPad. ABC is owned by Disney. Disney also owns ESPN, which offers the same service.

In this way, cable companies and content providers are working together to offer users a better product to keep them hooked into cable subscriptions.

But, there are those undeniable cracks in the pay-TV business. What happens as they get bigger?

Cable companies have a back-up plan — broadband Internet.

Time Warner Cable generated $1.4 billion in high-speed residential data services last quarter. That was up 17% compared to the video revenue, which was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis.

If things were to truly collapse for Time Warner Cable, and all of its users dropped video for services like Aereo, or Netflix, then you can bet the price of high-speed Internet will go through the roof.

As for the content companies that make lots of money from Time Warner Cable ... They would probably find plenty of money from services like Netflix.

Netflix, which was once seen as a threat to the traditional TV business, is increasingly just another player in the game.

It is reportedly paying $4 million an episode to produce original TV shows to compete with HBO and Showtime. For now, Netflix can keep its subscription fee low. But if it continues to invest in original content, then there's a chance it would have to raise its rates.

And at that point, a consumer who would consider something like Netflix plus Aereo to replace traditional pay TV would look at an inflated Internet bill and ask, "Is this worth it?" 

So, yes, there are some cracks in the traditional pay-TV business. But, cable companies are working to keep you hooked, and keep its competition from ever even entering the industry. 

Join the conversation about this story »

Celebrity baby names are always an interesting topic of conversation. Now that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have welcomed their new little bundle of joy, the speculation is what will they name the baby girl.

We take a look at some of the most cringe worthy names celebrities have chosen for their off springs. Don’t try this at home.

10. Moon Unit Is the daughter of musician Frank Zappa and if you think her name is bad, listen to this. Her siblings are called Dewwzil, Ahmet, and Diva. What? Diva is actually sort of normal, if you can call it that. Moving on.

9. Harper Seven The youngest and only daughter of Victoria and David Beckham, she was born in 2011. Her siblings share some unusual names as well. Brooklyn Joseph, Romeo James, and Cruz David are all boys.

8. Jermajesty Jackson Son of Jermaine Jackson, who is one of Michael Jackson’s brothers. Jermajesty was born in 2000. In November of last year Jackson filed a petition to change his last name from Jackson to Jacksun for artistic reasons. Next.

7. Pilot “Standard” Inspektor This is for real. The son of actor Jason Lee (The Other Side). The name for the child was inspired by the song He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot by the band Grandaddy. What would be an appropriate nickname?

6. Fifi Trixibelle Is the daughter of Irish singer Bob Geldof and Paula Yates. Her first name is not too odd, but Trixibelle? You can check her out at Twitter.

5. Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily The daughter of Australian musician Michael Hutchence from the popular eighties band INXS. Not much needs to be commented on about this name choice. What would her friends call her?

4. Moxie CrimeFighter The daughter of Penn Jillette an American illusionist, actor, and comedian. She has a brother with a somewhat more toned down name, Zolten Penn Jillette. Zolten is their mother’s name.

3. Tu Morrow This child is the daughter of American actor Rob Morrow from the TV show, Numb3rs. what exactly is Tu supposed to mean? Her full name is actually Tu Simone Ayer Morrow, her mother is actress Debbon Ayer. Got it? Debonair.

2. Petal Blossom Rainbow A sweet floral name for the daughter of international chef Jamie Oliver. Him and his wife Juliet Norton have certainly chosen some interesting names for their children. Daisy Boo Pamela, Poppy Honey Rosie, and Buddy Bear Maurice rounds up the Oliver household. Could you remember all those name?

1. Audio Science The son of actress Shannyn Sossamon from A Knight’s Tale and 40 Days and 40 Nights, born in 2003. His full name is Audio Science Clayton and he has a brother called Mortimer.

After going through this list, Surie Cruise, Apple (Paltrow), Coco Arquette, and Ocean Whitaker don’t sound as over the top names for little ones.

What do you think of this list of cringe worthy celebrities names? Would you name your baby any of them?

[Image via Featureflash / Shutterstock.com]

Top 10 Celebrity Names That Make Us Cringe. is a post from: The Inquisitr

While IndieCade's E3 booth may not be as boisterous as others at the show, its impact cannot be denied. IndieCade has been home to games such as Braid, Dear Esther, and Skulls of the Shogun long before they were on anyone's radar and this year looks to continue that trend. Here are some of the more notable games I got to check out.

Spaceteam

One of my favorites was Sleeping Beast Games' Spaceteam for iOS (pictured above). The idea is to gather up to four friends locally via a Bluetooth connection to pilot a starship. Everybody gets their own panel with different instruments. The game will prompt for a switch or toggle to be activated, deactivated, or adjusted. If the instrument requested isn't on your screen, then it's on a friend's screen and you must yell out which one needs to be adjusted, so that your friend can do so before time runs out. You'll occasionally hit anomalies along the way, like asteroid fields and magnetic storms that make hitting switches more difficult, which ramps up the stress factor to fun levels.

I started off in a two-player setting, which allowed for clear communication. If I didn't have the right switch, I'd calmly tell my partner to flip it. As the pace quickened, so did our voices. Two more people came along and we jumped into a four-player session, where all sense of simplicity got tossed out the hatch. We soon started yelling over each other and couldn't make heads or tails of what we were supposed to switch on and off, unless someone yelled out "ASTEROID!" at which point we shook our devices simultaneously to avoid it. Each instance that time runs out on an order, the space craft will hit turbulence, knocking panels loose and flooding the panel with goop. Panels could be put back together and goop could be cleared with the touch screen, but too many hits meant the end of the game. The end came sooner than later with four players, but it showed the potential that Spaceteam has to be a breakout title. It is maddeningly fun and it's available now on the App Store.

TowerFall

I definitely didn't expect an OUYA game to crack my list, but TowerFall, a 2D platformer from Matt Makes Games, strikes the right kind of competitive chord that makes me want to keep coming back to it. Taking place on a single screen, four players start off on opposite corners and battle it out to remain the last person standing. Whoever racks up three wins is the overall winner. Each player starts off with a limited number of arrows and must strike down their opponents. The tower is also filled with treasure chests--some of which offer items or boosts, while others activate hazardous traps.

Games of TowerFall often turned into chaotic free-for-alls, with some players grabbing some of the climbable walls and shooting arrows from there. Others tried to fall through the pit at the bottom and fall through the top of the screen, landing on opponents with a deadly stomp. Most of the fun at the beginning of the game comes from activating some of the traps, like rising lava, but there's a real sense of tension that seeps in when there are only two people left. This is when real strategy sets in and players must take into account the limited arc of each arrow shot before attacking. Each time there were two people remaining, small crowds gathered behind me to see who would remain and almost every game resulted in raucous laughter. For such a simplistic platformer that only really utilizes a "jump" and "shoot" button, TowerFall proved to be surprisingly deep and very entertaining.

TowerFall

7 Grand Steps

I've been having a great time with Mousechief's 7 Grand Steps, which released on Steam shortly before E3 started. This game puts you in ancient Greek/Roman times and has you contributing to your personal life and to society as you see fit. It's operated with a penny arcade-style presentation that has you moving pawns across a board to tell your own story. The goal is more than survival, it's also to forge your entire family tree, one move at a time. Likewise, your neighbors are also moving and will sometimes interact with you by helping you complete certain tasks or by impeding your progress.

The game starts to get interesting when children are introduced. As the next generation in your family tree, the children are literally your future. Investing tokens in them is a must, as educated and strengthened children will help ensure future prosperity. However, it will come at the expense of your current moves. There are also story sequences that will allow you to help shape how your children turn out and whether they become a beneficial member of society or wind up becoming a moral drain. The possibilities are far too endless to experience on the E3 floor, but I have been jumping into the game on Steam and it's every bit as complex as Mousechief said it would be.

Perfection

Perfection, from Dumb and Fat Games, is an iOS puzzler that scales down the pressure factor significantly, thanks to an overall minimalist aesthetic. The idea is to cut large chunk of paper and slice them down to fit within a specified paramter. The touch screen makes it simple to pare down cuts the way you want it and you can take as many cuts as you need to. Stages are randomly generated and you're more than welcome to skip stages that prove too frustrating. Although, with no clear overall goal or campaign to speak of, the frustration factor of this game is almost nil. In fact, Perfection's greatest strength (its clear lack of overall goals, penalties, and scores) also doubles as its biggest weakness, since there isn't particularly anything to accomplish in the game. It's simply a time-waster, albeit an enjoyable one. Perfection is as simplistic as games gets and, without any time limits, it also feels relaxing. Those aching for more of a challenge will more than likely pass this one by, but Perfection is good for anyone that doesn't want to feel pressured by "gamey" limitations. Perfection is available now on the App Store.

Perfection

Voronoid

17 Bit Studios made some headlines when Sony revealed that their game GalakZ would be coming to PS4, but Zach Aikman of the Skulls of the Shogun creator has another game in the works. Voronoid is a competitive local multiplayer game about territories. Up to four players control different-colored circles, with each one reflecting light in a certain direction. The idea is to push the other players aside, in order to shine your light across the screen until you collect enough points to win the round. The first person to win three rounds is the overall victor.

Players are aided by a limited boost that allows them to ram into opponents. A successful bump will subtract from their score and vampirically add to your own. Power-ups will also appear on the playing field, replenishing boost, while also dropping rocks that will reflect light in different angles. It takes a while to get used to, especially the boosting and ramming mechanics. But Voronoid gets pretty intense and is definitely a game worth keeping an eye on. It's still undergoing the testing phase, but there's a playable version of Voronoid available here.

Voronoid

Soundodger

Michael Molinari is an IndieCade veteran who last appeared at the event in 2011 with BasketBelle. Now the one-man developer is working on his next: Soundodger, a PC title that puts a twist on the music genre. On the surface, it appears to be similar to games like Beat Hazard Ultra and Symphony, in the sense that the music's beat determines what appears in the game. However, Soundodger isn't about shooting anything. In fact, your craft is completely defenseless. The game is about avoiding all obstacles by using the mouse and a limited slow motion mechanic.

Simplistic in graphical design, the playing field is comprised of a circular area, with sharp pointy objects spawning outside the area and piercing through to the beat of the background music. Breakdowns and solos will spawn in objects in recognizable patterns and players will spend most of their time trying to find a free spot to hide. Getting hit means the track briefly speeds up, throwing the rhythm slightly out of whack. Scores are determined by how many obstacles you're able to avoid and how sparingly you use the slow motion mechanic. It's a clever twist on an established formula and I look forward to seeing some of the other original music tracks included in this game from artists like Fez composer, Disasterpeace.

QuickDraw

IndieCade has also been known for developers thinking outside the normal parameters of a console and creating a unique, physical experience. Greenfly Studios is keeping this spirit alive with their newest game, QuickDraw. Like Johann Sebastian Joust (which was also playable on the show floor), QuickDraw utilizes up to seven PlayStation Move controllers. The idea is that the Move controllers are holstered to you, not unlike a six-shooter back in the Wild West days. Everyone stands in a circle and faces one another in a Mexican standoff, as some western-themed music starts playing. When you hear gunshots, you draw your controller, point at your target, and pull the trigger button on the back of the controller. Controllers with red lights mean their holders are dead, with the game continuing until one person is left standing.

While it doesn't have that same kind of physical chaos that JSJ has, QuickDraw is a fun game in its own right. It's about putting on your best poker face and not giving any hints to your potential target that you're about to blow them away. While the aiming didn't feel entirely precise, I can't deny that I was having a good time. It's a fun and different way to play games with the PlayStation Move controller and, once its refined, it shows the potential to be an awesome party game.

The Supreme Court’s Fifth Amendment decision affecting our Miranda Rights essentially means we cannot merely keep our silence.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Fifth Amendment protects Americans against forced self-incrimination.

But the Supreme Court’s Fifth Amendment decision came as Congress is quietly scuttling various rights for anyone identified as, or linked to, terrorists. Still, Lois Lerner of the IRS scandal was allowed to plead the Fifth.

The Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling on Salinas v. Texas affects the Fifth Amendment and Miranda Rights because of the way a crime was solved. Genovevo Salinas was questioned by police without reading his Miranda Rights because they were expecting to “clear him as a suspect.” But when Salinas was asked whether his personal shotgun ”would match the shells recovered at the scene of the murder” he went silent.

This silence was suspicious and led to the arrest and conviction of Salinas in court. Prosecutors even used this silence as evidence of guilt. Texas courts claimed that “pre-Miranda silence is not protected by the Constitution” and the Supreme Court agrees.

Justice Samuel Alito explained how the Supreme Court’s decision affects Fifth Amendment rights and Miranda Rights:

“[Salinas'] Fifth Amendment claim fails because he did not expressly invoke the privilege against self-incrimination in response to the officer’s question. It has long been settled that the privilege `generally is not self-executing’ and that a witness who desires its protection `must claim it.’”

Basically, the Supreme Court’s Fifth Amendment decisions say that simply hearing your rights is not enough. As an American citizen you have to specifically invoke your rights verbally in order to have the right to remain silent. Unless, of course, the police officer remembers to read off your Miranda Rights.

Do you agree with the Supreme Court’s decision on Fifth Amendment rights and Miranda Rights?

Supreme Court: Fifth Amendment, Miranda Rights Do Not Protect Your Silence is a post from: The Inquisitr