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BMW X5 Security Plus.

BMW presented its all-new armored X5 Security Plus SUV this week at the Moscow International Auto Salon. To show off the true toughness of the high-security sport utility, the company did what was only logical: attack it with a barrage of machine gun and rifle fire.

The key to any successful vacation is in the planning. The same can be said for making a vacation destination a thriving hot spot. But as it turns out, many tourist attractions weren’t thought out that well. Case in point: Revel Casino. After two years in business, the luxury resort and casino in Atlantic City just announced that it would be closing its doors forever in September.

And while this seems to be a big fail, it isn’t the worst travel flop on record.

Shockingly, there are lots of hotels, entertainment parks, and even beaches that have proved the saying “the devil is in the details.” We rounded up the worst travel flops ever.

Founder Of Angry Birds Company Rovio Gives Up CEO Job After Collapse In Profits

Rovio's Mikael Hed and Pekka Rantala

Rovio, the maker of Angry Birds, has a new CEO. Pekka Rantala succeeds founder Mikael Hed in the position.

The move comes after Rovio's profits fell 52% to €26.9 million in fiscal 2013, on revenues that ticked upward only 3% to €156 million. Staff headcount, meanwhile, ballooned from 500 to 800.
Hed had run the company for five years prior. He will become chairman of Rovio Animation Studios, the company's movie division, and likely ascend to a post on the board of directors.
Rantala joined the company as chief commercial officer in June. He came from Nokia, where he was SVP/worldwide marketing.
The move seems to indicate that Rovio is aware that it needs an experienced outsider to get it back on track.
The mobile games business is notoriously difficult: Games are essentially fads, and the Angry Birds fad is long over — eclipsed in part by Supercell's Clash of Clans and King's Candy Crush Saga. Rovio has extended the life of Angry Birds impressively; the game is now in its 13th different iteration. It also spawned a merchandising and media empire — which probably cushioned its revenues, according to Techcrunch.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has been described as a mixture of Amazon.com Inc. and EBay Inc. during the preparation for its U.S. initial public offering. In the last quarter, Alibaba earned more than those companies combined.

Operating income at China's biggest e-commerce operator rose to $1.1 billion in the three months ended June, or 42 percent more than the combined profit of Amazon and EBay for the period. After including one-time gains, Alibaba's net income was more than double those of its competitors.
More from Bloomberg.com: Jack Ma Emerges as China's Richest Man Before Alibaba IPO
Alibaba's results, probably the last before the IPO, underscore how its Taobao and Tmall platforms are connecting consumers to businesses in the most populous nation and how the company is transitioning to mobile services. Alibaba may kick off its roadshow meetings to market the share sale next week, people with knowledge of the matter have said.
"Alibaba still has huge potential for making money, mostly because of its mobile platform," said Li Muzhi, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Arete Research Service LLP. "Alibaba has advanced more than EBay in that it also has its own business-to-consumer business, instead of just linking individual buyers and sellers."

South Korea's Samsung and LG unveiled new smartwatches Thursday with upgraded functions and design as they step up their drive to lead an increasingly competitive market for wearable devices.

The "Gear S" is Samsung's first smartwatch able to make stand-alone phonecalls with built-in 3G alongside Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity.
Users can make and receive calls directly from their wrist, or get calls forwarded from their smartphones. Notifications from social networks, calendars and applications can also be received.
"It will let consumers live a truly connected life anywhere, anytime," said JK Shin, head of Samsung's IT and mobile communications division.
Global handset and software makers have struggled to diversify from the saturated smartphone sector to wearable devices.
Global smartwatch sales are expected to grow this year by more than 500 percent from 1.9 million units in 2013, according to the market researcher Strategic Analytics.

If Scotland votes “Yes” on independence, it will begin a long process of creating its own naval defence force, a process that could leave its coastline at risk. The Royal United Services Institute, a British military think tank, said last week that Scottish independence would trigger a national debate over the U.K.’s nuclear weapons if the submarines carrying the Trident missile system were relocated to the south coast of Britain, away from the fleet’s current base in Scotland. The relocation could add £3.5 billion to the cost of maintaining the U.K.’s armed forces.
But there are larger concerns over the future of Scotland’s naval defenses. While Scottish independence would indeed spark a debate on Britain’s nuclear future, as well as kickstarting a costly process to relocate the submarine fleet, some experts caution that Scottish independence could leave it vulnerable to naval threats.

Putin Directly Addressed Rebels In Ukraine For The First Time, And He Used A Frightening Word To Describe Them

RIA-Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service/AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time on Friday publicly addressed pro-Russian rebels fighting in southeastern Ukraine, praising their "major success" inside Ukraine.

The Kremlin released a late-night statement from Putin on its website in which he appealed to the militia of "Novorossyia," or "New Russia."

Astronomers have spotted the wreckage of a mammoth collision around a distant young star, a landmark find that could shed light on how our own solar system's rocky planets took shape long ago.

The researchers detected a huge disk of dusty debris around a sunlike star called NGC-2547 ID8, which lies about 1,140 light-years from Earth in the constellation Vega. The cloud was likely spawned when two planetary building blocks slammed into each other just two years ago or so, scientists said.

Californian lawmakers passed a law on Thursday requiring universities to adopt "affirmative consent" language in their definitions of consensual sex, part of a nationwide drive to curb sexual assault on U.S. campuses.
The measure, passed unanimously by the California State Senate, has been called the "yes-means-yes" bill. It defines sexual consent between people as "an affirmative, conscious and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity".
The bill states that silence and a lack of resistance do not signify consent and that drugs or alcohol do not excuse unwanted sexual activity.

The latest endeavor to emerge from Google Inc. GOOGL -0.07% 's advanced-research lab is flying into a field buzzing with competitors.

Google X said Thursday it is developing a system of drones to deliver goods. Rival Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.23% is also testing delivery drones, and Domino's Pizza Inc. DPZ -0.05% tested delivering pies via drone in 2013.

Google said a 5-foot-wide single-wing prototype from its Project Wing carried supplies including candy bars, dog treats, cattle vaccines, water and radios to two farmers in Queensland, Australia, earlier this month. VIDEO

We have good news and we have bad news, Apple fans. The good news is that you’ll soon finally be able to get your hands on an iPhone with a significantly larger display, as Apple has sent out invitations to its big iPhone 6 event set to take place on September 9th. The bad news is that from the looks of things, the new iPhone with a significantly larger display is also going to be significantly uglier than its predecessor.

Astronauts looking down on Earth from the International Space Station in June were left scratching their heads when they spotted a “strange pattern of spikes" crossing Siberia's Kulunda Steppe.
The astronauts were so puzzled that they called down to Houston to ask for an explanation, according to NASA. But only recently have scientists at the agency's Johnson Space Center been able to explain what the astronauts were looking at when they saw the dark green spikes stretching over the rural landscape.
siberia spikes

You might not be able to swap this V-8 into your car to make it into a mean drift missile or rocket it to 60 mph in sub-three-seconds, but you could strap it to a bicycle or put it in an RC car for some ridiculous fun. Why? Because it’s a tiny nitromethane-powered V-8.

Hand-built by what appear to be a gang of rowdy, bare-footed Aussies, there are no specs on this engine as to horsepower and torque, but judging by the sound, it’s a feisty little powerhouse.

The work put into making the quad-carved little V-8 sing is amazing, too. From the valve covers to the pulleys to the block itself, it’s a truly impressive bit of craft. VIDEO

As exciting and intriguing as the CyanogenMod-powered OnePlus One might be, perhaps it’s a good thing that the phone is so difficult to purchase right now; with a relatively small number of OnePlus One handsets in the hands of the public, we already have out first report of an injury having been sustained when the handset randomly exploded in a user’s back pocket.

OnePlus forum poster “MiYzu” recently shared a story and a series of photographs that could be cause for concern for prospective OnePlus One owners. According to his post, the man’s phone randomly exploded in his back pocket, spewing out so much heat that it actually burned the back of his leg.

The AM General Humvee has been a workhorse of the U.S. military for decades, but now it's due for replacement. Rather than wait for a replacement from U.S. contractors, a company called Israeli Military Industries has developed their own extreme vehicle which they call Combat Guard.
Looking like a rock crawler that collided with an up-armored Humvee with a little Lamborghini LM-002 thrown in for the cool factor, the Combat Guard looks like it's ready to take on all threats, dead or undead. Naturally, it has four wheel drive and a big 300 horsepower General Motors Diesel engine, but it's also fully armored against small arms fire, landmines, and IEDs and can carry up to eight soldiers in relative comfort. For further protection, it also has an electronic countermeasures system called Bright Arrow that can be used to deflect or destroy guided weapons fired at the Combat Guard before they reach their target.

PHOTO: Justin Ross Harris, the father of a toddler who died after police say he was left in a hot car for about seven hours, wipes his eye as he sits during his bond hearing in Cobb County Magistrate Court, July 3, 2014, in Marietta, Ga.

The Georgia dad charged with killing his toddler son by leaving the boy in a hot car all day could face the death penalty, a judge said Thursday at a court hearing.

Justin Ross Harris, 33, was denied bond and faces child cruelty and felony murder charges after he said he forgot his 22-month old son in his SUV while he was at work at Home Depot.

A detective said Harris spent part of the day while his son was dying in the overheated car sending explicit messages and photos to "multiple women." One of the females Harris sexted was 17, the detective said.

The prosecutor said that he brought up the sexting during the probable cause hearing because it "goes to the state of mind" of the defendant.

A Florida police dispatcher will be disciplined for not offering help to a frantic mother whose toddler son had locked himself inside her broiling car, officials said today.

Shana Dees had just left a Tampa drug store on Saturday when she strapped her 10-month-old son in the backseat of the car and shut the door, she told WFTS, ABC’s Tampa Bay affiliate. She quickly realized baby Jack, who often plays with her keys, had them in his hands – but it was too late. He hit a button that locked the doors, trapping himself inside the car on a day the temperature reached 95 degrees.

Dashcam video shows the terrifying scene as a Texas mom and four kids are pulled over by police at gunpoint. WFAA reports VIDEO

A St. Louis County police officer, who was seen pushing a CNN anchor during protests in Ferguson, Mo., this week, was suspended from duty after a controversial video surfaced, in which he fashions himself as a merciless killer.

“I personally believe in Jesus Christ as my lord and savior, but I’m also a killer,” said officer Dan Page, a 35-year veteran, in the video. “I’ve killed a lot. And if I need to, I’ll kill a whole bunch more. If you don’t want to get killed, don’t show up in front of me. I have no problems with it. God did not raise me to be a coward." Page added, “I’m into diversity — I kill everybody. I don’t care."

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said Page has been suspended, pending a review by the internal affairs unit, which will begin Monday. The video was brought to Belmar’s attention by CNN's Don Lemon.

China has executed eight people for "terrorist attacks", including three it described as "masterminding" a suicide car crash in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 2013, state media announced.

The official Xinhua news agency said early Sunday that the eight were involved in several cases connected to the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where Beijing says separatist militants are behind a string of attacks that have rocked China in recent months.

Three of the condemned, named by Xinhua as Huseyin Guxur, Yusup Wherniyas and Yusup Ehmet, were "deprived of political rights to life" for their role in the brazen assault in Tiananmen Square in October.

Two tourists were killed in the attack, in which a car rammed into bystanders on the iconic square in the heart of Beijing before bursting into flames.

Three attackers also died in the incident Beijing blamed on Xinjiang separatists.

Xinhua said five others were executed, including Rozi Eziz, who was convicted of an attack on police in Aksu in 2013.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — A 38-year-old man died Saturday after he was shot multiple times backstage during a concert at a popular Silicon Valley venue, authorities said.

The shooting occurred at Shoreline Amphitheatre, where Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa, Atlanta hip hop artist Jeezy and others had finished performing Friday night. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, died at a hospital.

Police rushed to the outdoor venue after receiving multiple calls that shots had been fired. However, no arrests have been made, and officers were still looking for a male suspect believed to be in his 20s and armed with a handgun.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Archaeologists have found two ancient Mayan cities hidden in the jungle of southeastern Mexico, and the lead researcher says he believes there are "dozens" more to be found in the region.

Ivan Sprajc, associate professor at the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, said his team found the ancient cities of Lagunita and Tamchen on the Yucatan peninsula in April by examining aerial photographs of the region.

Sprajc said the two cities reached their heyday in the Late and Terminal Classic periods (600-1000 AD). At each site, researchers found palace-like buildings, pyramids and plazas. One of the pyramids is almost 20 meters (65 feet) high.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Two Mormon missionaries serving in Taiwan and another in Oklahoma have died.

Connor Benjamin Thredgold, 19, of Springville, Utah, and Yu Peng Xiong, 24, of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, were found dead Saturday in an apartment they shared in Taiwan, the Mormon church in a statement Saturday to The Associated Press.

Authorities said they do not suspect foul play, but they haven't determined a cause of death, church spokesman Eric Hawkins said.
In the U.S., Nancy Ann Vea, 19, of West Jordan, Utah, died from injuries sustained in a Tulsa car crash on Friday, Hawkins said.

Only a few missionaries die each year, and it is rare for deaths to occur within such a short period, Hawkins said.

Thredgold's family told the Salt Lake Tribune (http://bit.ly/1q8h03V ) on Saturday that he loved serving overseas.

(Reuters) - The police chief of a small south Texas town was shot dead during a traffic stop on Saturday, a county sheriff said.

Michael Pimentel died of multiple gunshot wounds suffered in a confrontation with a motorist shortly before noon in Elmendorf, a rural community of about 1,500 people just southeast of San Antonio, said Bexar County Sheriff Susan Pamerleau.

“We don’t know exactly what ensued between the two individuals but it did result in the suspect firing a weapon that hit the chief several times,” Pamerleau said.

Pimentel was taken by air ambulance to a San Antonio hospital where he died a short time later, she said.

It should come as no surprise that tech employees in Silicon Valley make boatloads.

We learned just how many boatloads they make in a recent post by SFGate.

The average tech worker in San Francisco made $156,518 in 2013, a gain of roughly 19% from 2012.
If you head south on the Peninsula, salaries are even higher.

The mean salary in San Mateo County is $291,497. That's up 8% year-over-year.

It's important to remember these are averages, not median salaries. That means they can be distorted by outliers, like one person making a ton.

Washington (CNN) -- As debates swirl about the "militarization of police," President Barack Obama has ordered a review of programs enabling state and local law enforcement to buy military equipment, a senior administration official said Saturday.

The decision follows public criticism of the recent use of such assets -- including armored vehicles, high-tech weaponry and stun grenades -- in Ferguson, Missouri, where police have faced off with protesters ever since the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown.

Acquisition of military surplus equipment by local police departments became possible through the military's Defense Logistics Agency, a law enforcement support program established in 1999.

But, once in the hands of these departments, it's "up to local law enforcement to determine how and when and where and under what circumstances they use excess military equipment," Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said earlier this week.

Spy vs. Spy takes on new meaning if you're talking about Tor. The popular software used to obfuscate a user's digital shadow has been targeted by state intelligence agencies like NSA and GCHQ and defended by counter-intelligence reports from other agents in those same agencies, alleges a Tor Browser engineer.

"There are plenty of people in both organisations who can anonymously leak data to us to say - maybe you should look here, maybe you should look at this to fix this," [Andrew Lewman] said. "And they have."

Mr Lewman is part of a team of software engineers responsible for the Tor Browser - software designed to prevent it being possible to trace users' internet activity. The programs involved also offer access to otherwise hard-to-reach websites, some of which are used for illegal purposes.

In a first, Americans will likely buy more crossovers than midsize sedans this year — unseating the 4-door car as the default vehicle of choice. The crossover has become the family wagon equivalent of today, with hybrids and compacts SUVs expanding as the cars of choice for young singles, couples and families.

A long list of other model types now find themselves in the less-visited areas of new car dealerships. These vehicles that once drew enough buyers to justify new engineering now represent the endangered species of the auto industry. Some are in decline, others nearly defunct, and a few, sadly, may never return.

Revel, the sleek, stylish $2.4 billion beachfront resort that opened in April 2012, will close its doors at 11am ET on Monday, Sept 1. Revel, the fourth Atlantic City, NJ casino to shut down this year, has been plagued by financial problems from the start: construction was delayed in January 2009 because of lack of funds and Revel has filed for bankruptcy twice since opening.
Revel Casino

Revel was seen as the answer to Atlantic City's gambling woes; industry insiders, state politicans and locals believed Revel would attract the crowds that have slowly been leaving AC for gambling venues in New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Its modern design, open spaces and Vegas-like entertainment drew people to the resort, but Revel failed when it came to AC's bread and butter: gambling. LINK

In today's auto market, competition is stiff. Every car seems built to last, which makes it difficult for automakers to tout reliability as their sole selling point. Consumers can shop nearly any brand, confident that they'll drive home in something that will hold up for years. That's led to the demise of brand loyalty -- especially among younger buyers.

But brand loyalty hasn't completely died out. Experian Automotive showed us that some brands do pretty well on that front, while USA Today compiled data from Kelley Blue Book to reveal that some automakers are doing...less well.

(CNN) -- With a ruined centuries-old castle looming up on the hill above, the Slovakian village of Cachtice could easily take a starring role in a Gothic horror film.

However, exactly 400 years ago, on August 21, the horror was all too real, as the life of the most prolific female mass murderer of all time -- a noblewoman by the name of Countess Elizabeth Bathory -- came to a grim end.

It's not an anniversary they're likely to celebrate in Cachtice, where Bathory's reign of terror still haunts locals, but for some -- me included -- there's a strange fascination.

In the lovely Slovakian town of Trencin, my friend Martin and I are joined by two guides, Ivan Kralik and Peter Pastier, who work in the local tourism office.

Mills Police Department Officer Zachary Miller entered his plea on Friday, a month after drug-sniffing police dog "Nyx" died, the Casper Star Tribune reported.
Citing court filings, the paper reported that Miller left Nyx in his patrol car, parked outside the police station, with the windows rolled up.
Police dogs are prohibited from the Mills police station, the paper said.
If convicted of the misdemeanor charges, Miller faces up to six months in jail and a fine of $750, the paper reported.
Calls to the Natrona County District Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting the case, were not immediately returned on Saturday. LINK

The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon may replace third party ads on its websites with a new in-house ad platform. Experts say that Amazon is a "sleeping giant" in the industry because it has a large amount of rich consumer data but has not fully leveraged it for advertising.

For Amazon, more advertising offers the prospect of more revenue and potentially higher profit margins. Amazon remains primarily a retailer, buying goods from suppliers and selling them to customers with small markups. The company operates on notoriously thin profit margins, and frequently posts losses, as it invests for expansion.

Google's ad-supported business is highly profitable. It generated more operating profit in the first six months of this year than Amazon has since it was founded 20 years ago, according to researcher S&P Capital IQ.

The movie is fantastic anyway, but in the wake of Robin Williams’ tragic death, there’s no better time to dig back into The Fisher King — so why not let Terry Gilliam guide your journey?

Gilliam’s long out-of-print commentary for The Fisher King, which was included on the Criterion Laserdisc release in 1991 (remember those?), has resurfaced in full thanks to the magic of the Internet. It’s a fascinating listen, and having Gilliam explain the ambitious tale brings a whole new dimension to the performance.

Some people don’t like riding in a car if they can’t literally put their feet up while ensuring the cabin has exactly the fragrance they desire. Others prefer cars that can stand up to terrorist attacks. For those who fall into both categories, Mercedes-Benz offers the new S600 Guard, the armored version of its flagship S-Class sedan.
To protect dignitaries, diplomats and the 1 percent from gunfire, hand grenades and other threats, Mercedes made the body of the 2015 S600 tougher than a $5 steak. It added liberal amounts of armor to the underbody. It stuffed “special steel”—Mercedes isn’t saying just what makes it special—between the body structure and the outer skin. And it coated the windows and windshield with polycarbonate.

A recent project from Thom Atkinson's documented the kits british soldiers took into battle throughout the ages. This collection is from the Battle of Hastings in 1066. You notice how few objects soldiers had compared to now--that's because of weight.
In the 13th century, if you wanted to kill a man your best bet was using a battle axe. By the 16th century, swords and daggers had given way to muskets. During World War I, hand grenades were a standard part of every British soldier’s inventory. And today? Soldiers carry iPads alongside their rifles.

Sort of reminds me of "Blade Runner"..

Antonio Banderas really, really believes in his new sci-fi movie, Automata.
How do we know? Because he not only stars in it, but produced it as well, calling the film "my baby" in a recent Reddit AMA session. He also described the movie as "an approach to science-fiction in a very European way, in an independent way," adding that the film is about "a philosophical, scientific concept called singularity, which is the time in which machines actually overcome the human mind. So it’s a very reflective philosophical science-fiction, going back to the science-fiction I love, like Isaac Asimov. That’s the type of movie we tried to do.”

Soldiers board an SDV, which deploys from a larger host submarine that can't maneuver in the shallow water near the shore.
Here’s the scenario: After suiting up with diving knives and silenced assault rifles, a team of three Navy SEALs on a submarine prepare to head to shore for a sneak attack. They put on their scuba gear and climb into a vessel that shaped like a torpedo and not much bigger than a shower. Powered by a single rear propeller, it deploys from the host submarine. After hours of slow, calculated movement through water too shallow for any submarine, radar indicates the SEALs have reached shore. Still underwater, they slide back the top canopy of their vessel and swim the last stretch to the beach under cover of night.

I think more and more people are starting to realize something you guys have known for a long time, buying games at launch is not such a good idea.

Early adopters pay the most for a game and get the least finished version of the release. It’s often worth it for them to play it along with the huge rush of other fans who want to be there first, but you don’t have to join them, even if many are perfectly happy to sign up for the journey of a game’s patches and updates and price drops rather than the pure destination of just playing the damned thing.

The SSD Review crew just put the finishing touches on their review of the Kingston SSDNow V310 SSD. If you are looking for a large solid state drive, this review will be of interest.

Although performance may not be the best, Kingston is targeting a specific demographic with this SSD, that being the beginner who will be migrating from a hard drive. Having said that, the included accessories within this SSD present a completely different outlook, one that we have yet to see from any other.

If you've been to a UPS franchise store this year, you are probably going to want to read this.

UPS said Wednesday that 51 of its franchised stores were hit with a malware attack that put customer credit and debit card data at risk from Jan. 20 to August 11. In a statement, UPS Store said that it was hit with a broad malware attack that anti-virus software didn't pick up. UPS Store was notified by federal investigators and then reviewed its systems.

What do you guys think? Will a new design change people's opinion about Google Glass?

US Patent D710,928S was granted to Google engineer Mitchell Heinrich on August, 12 2014. The patent appears to be focused solely on a new version of Google Glass that looks a lot less obtrusive than the current model and may finally remove the robot stigma that some Explorers have been feeling out in public.

Intel and Unity Technologies today announced a strategic collaboration to advance the development of Android*-based applications on Intel® architecture. The agreement accelerates Intel's mobility push as millions of developers using the Unity development platform can now bring native Android games and other apps to Intel-based mobile devices. Unity adds support for Android across all of Intel's current and future processors including both the Intel® Core™ and Intel® Atom™ processor families. Unity will ensure Intel product enhancements, including both graphics and CPU performance improvements and features, will be seamlessly integrated into future releases of the Unity 4 and Unity 5 product lines. As Intel architecture continues to gain market segment share on mobile devices, these improvements will help ensure that the Unity developers' games run natively as well as look great and perform beautifully on Intel platforms.

Here’s video of the cop pointing gun last night and saying “go fuck yourself” when asked his name http://bit.ly/1mmq2X2 #Ferguson

At roughly 11:55 PM CDT, a Ferguson police officer was spotted randomly pointing an assault rifle at protesters. This event was captured by the citizen journalist Rebelutionary_Z. The officer pointed his rifle at Rebelutionary_Z's companion, identified as Josiah (an African-American), and said "I will fucking kill you, get back." When asked for his name by Rebelutionary_Z, the officer responded "Go fuck yourself."

The full video is here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/51598475
The clip begins at around the 20 minute mark. The video quality is better on the original; my apologies. I don't really know what I'm doing.

Well before "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," Jerry Seinfeld was known in automotive circles as a consummate car collector, especially for classic Porsches, and his garages include the first 911 built. And as any car collector knows, the value of owning such vehicles isn't just in looking at them, but driving them as they were meant to be.

(CNN) -- In a single column, a veteran police officer has catapulted himself into the national debate over the death of unarmed teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

"I'm a cop. If you don't want to get hurt, don't challenge me," the Washington Post headline blares. The piece was written by Sunil Dutta, a 17-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department.

"Even though it might sound harsh and impolitic, here is the bottom line: if you don't want to get shot, tased, pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground, just do what I tell you," he wrote.

Dutta cautions against arguing, insulting, or screaming at officers, "and don't even think of aggressively walking towards me. Most field stops are complete in minutes. How difficult is it to cooperate for that long?"

Exchanging sex for positive press? Damn, no one offers me sex for positive press.

It turns out that Zoe has become somewhat infamous online, often accused of playing the victim to gain publicity. Speculation turned to accusation yesterday, when Zoe’s ex-boyfriend make a post on his own blog, accusing her (with proof) of cheating with a number of prominent industry figures. Among them was current Kotaku writer Nathan Grayson, apparently solicitating sexual favours for positive press.

Hacked three times in three years and this is the first we are hearing of it? That's just lovely.

Citing an internal investigation, the Nextgov website reports that computers at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were successfully hacked on three occasions. Two of the attacks were conducted by foreigners and a third came from "an unidentifiable individual," according to Nextgov, which obtained an Office of Inspector General report through an open-records request.

£36 Starfish is a weight-activated sensor that fits to child's car seat

It automatically pairs to parent's iPhone or Android using Bluetooth

When activated, Starfish creates a 'geo-fence' radius around itself

If the phone leaves the geo-fenced area, Starfish will notify the parent

On average, one child dies in a hot car every nine days in the US

A young father horrified by the number of babies left alone in hot cars has invented a device to alert parents if they forget to take their child with them.

Matthew Sheets, 26, has designed a weight-activated seat sensor which notifies a parent's mobile phone when their child is still in their baby seat.

The alert appears on their phone once they step outside of a 20ft (6 metres) radius from the baby seat if they've forgotten to take their child out of its seat.

The Mountain from Game of Thrones is officially Europe's Strongest Man. Or as The Viper might say, "D'oh!"

Hafþór "Thor" Björnsson, who plays Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane on the HBO drama, won this year’s Europe’s Strongest Man contest last week. The 6-foot-9, 420-pound Iceland native won four of six strength competitions: Deadlift, Yoke, Forward Hold (Thor's Hammer), Giant Dumbell for reps (100 kg), Atlas Stones, and Loading Race.

Second chances are rare in sports, but when surfing phenom Jesse Billauer got his, he also wanted to share it with others like him.
As a 17-year-old amateur surfer in 1996, Billauer was flung head first from his surfboard onto a sandbar. Billauer sustained a spinal cord injury, and doctors diagnosed him as a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the midchest down.

Then in 1999, with the help of his family and friends, he founded a non-profit organization, Life Rolls On, that uses sports to improve quality of life for those suffering from spinal cord injuries. That same year Billauer got back on his surfboard. That led to the creation of Life Rolls On's signature program, They Will Surf Again, inspired by Billauer’s determination to ride the waves once more despite his paralysis.
“What that means is just get them on the waves and skateparks and just having that freedom and independence of having the wind and the water on their face and just getting out of their wheelchairs," Billauer told ThePostGame. "Whether it be surfing or skating, they're just doing new things -- just a whole different sensation and just a beautiful feeling."

Sunil Dutta, a 17-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department and professor of homeland security at Colorado Tech University, has a suggestion for victims of police violence searching for someone to blame: Look in the mirror.
In a column published Tuesday in The Washington Post titled, "I’m a cop. If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t challenge me," Dutta responds to mounting criticism of the policing tactics on display in Ferguson, Missouri, amid the hyper-militarization of law enforcement and accusations that officers have violated the First Amendment rights of both demonstrators and journalists covering the events. In a particularly telling passage, Dutta argues that citizens could deter police brutality if they were simply more cooperative, even when they're unjustly targeted.
"Even though it might sound harsh and impolitic, here is the bottom line: if you don’t want to get shot, tased, pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground, just do what I tell you," he writes. "Don’t argue with me, don’t call me names, don’t tell me that I can’t stop you, don’t say I’m a racist pig, don’t threaten that you’ll sue me and take away my badge. Don’t scream at me that you pay my salary, and don’t even think of aggressively walking towards me. Most field stops are complete in minutes. How difficult is it to cooperate for that long?"

While those driving the flashiest sports cars and poshest luxury models are justifiably vigilant – if not downright obsessed – when it comes to protecting their precious rides, it’s actually the familiar family car that gets stolen far more frequently. That’s according to the most recent “Hot Lists” of both new cars and vehicles from past model years compiled by the National Insurance Crime Board (NCIB) in Des Plaines, Ill.

You won’t see the likes of a Chevy Corvette or Mercedes-Benz SL on either list, but both contain models that would otherwise blend into a crowded parking lot like the Toyota Corolla and Nissan Altima sedans, and the Ford F-150 pickup truck. In fact, top-selling older cars are stolen far more often than brand new cars; such models are typically taken to so-called “chop shops” where they’re quickly dissected into replacement components (water pumps, alternators, engine blocks, etc) that are subsequently marketed on Internet sites and/or sold to unscrupulous auto-parts dealers.

Slingshot Global Media announced Monday that Keanu Reeves will star in and executive produce its upcoming television series “Rain,” based on the best-selling novels from Barry Eisler.

Reeves will play John Rain, a half-Japanese, half-American contract assassin who struggles to find an identity beyond being a killer. It will be Reeves’ first starring and producing role in television, and Slingshot’s first announced project since the company formed in February.

If the name Cayenne wasn’t already taken by Porsche’s midsized luxo-SUV, it would suit the Macan very well, because this new compact crossover may be the hottest, sportiest-driving SUV to date.

The peculiar Macan moniker supposedly comes from an Indonesian word for tiger. (Not to be confused with Volkswagen’s Tiguan, named for both a tiger and iguana. Don’t ask.) Natural competitors would include the Audi Q5, BMW X3, and Mercedes-Benz GLK, but the Macan is an order of magnitude pricier.

We just bought a Macan in the lower of its two trim lines, S. With its typical array of options, our Macan set us back $63,290. For someone like me, who happens to have a 160-mile daily commute, the Macan is proving to be an exceptionally enjoyable and engaging way to munch those miles.

Skip to the two minute mark if you just want to see this thing get blown to bits.

Is game developer harassment as bad as this article makes it seem or does the game industry just need to grow thicker skin?

So what difference has a year made? Not much, it seems. Developers are still harassed, the IGDA decided against support groups but are creating a special interest group to investigate mental health. It is also looking at ways to train gamers to be more polite in their interactions with developers.

I don't care what anyone says, if I was Steve Ballmer, I'd take my bag o' billions and split too.

Given my confidence and the multitude of new commitments I am taking on now, I think it would be impractical for me to continue to serve on the board, and it is best for me to move off. The fall will be hectic between teaching a new class and the start of the NBA season so my departure from the board is effective immediately.

Exactly how do you go about "wiping pirate sites from the internet?"

A U.S. federal court in Oregon has granted a broad injunction against several streaming sites that offer pirated content. Among other things, the copyright holder may order hosting companies to shut down the sites' servers, ask registrars to take away domain names, and have all search results removed from Google and other search engines.

I don't know, kid-friendly accounts for YouTube and Gmail seems like a pretty good idea. What do you think?

The Web giant is reportedly working on versions of YouTube and Gmail that are specifically geared towards children. If Google goes through with the plan, it would be the first time the company has offered accounts to children under 13 years old, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed people familiar with Google's plans.

City officials call for 'nighttime quiet' after another night of chaos, arrests.

It was another episode of chaos and unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, on Monday night and early Tuesday as two people were shot and 78 people arrested — including several journalists — during clashes between police and protesters just hours after President Barack Obama called for calm and Gov. Jay Nixon lifted a curfew in the hopes that National Guard troops could maintain order. Below, updates from Day 10 of the protests.

4:30 p.m. ET: Ferguson Mayor James Knowles said that he is concerned Tuesday's fatal shooting in north St. Louis will give "agitators" another reason to riot.

"The slightest thing can inflame people's anger," the mayor said on CNN.

Earlier on MSNBC, Knowles said racial tensions are not present in Ferguson.

“I don’t believe that’s the case," Knowles said. "There’s not a racial divide in the city of Ferguson."

“According to whom?” MSNBC's Tamron Hall replied. “Is that your perspective, or do you believe that is the perspective of African-Americans in your community?”

“That is the perspective of all residents in our city, absolutely,” Knowles said.

Facebook, Twitter, and What a Social Network Owes Its Members

Over the past few days, Topic A on Twitter has been the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Mike Brown by police in Ferguson, Missouri, and the ensuing protests and the police response.

For much of that time, Topic B has been “Why hasn’t this been Topic A on Facebook?”

Sociologist Zeynep Tufekci asked that in a post on Medium. Why, she asked, would one social network apparently ignore the biggest topic on another network?

The disparity didn’t last long, she wrote, but what if Twitter’s unfiltered feed hadn’t helped this discussion take off? “Would it ever make it through the algorithmic filtering on Facebook? Maybe, but with no transparency to the decisions, I cannot be sure.”

Black smoke poured from the wreck, with flames erupting across the highway.

The fireball formed Aug. 11, after the driver of a Lincoln Town Car failed to yield while merging in 70-mph traffic along the I-10 Freeway in Gulfport, Mississippi. The car collided with an 18-wheeler, crashing into the truck’s gas tank.

Trucker David Fredericksen approached the crash, stopping his vehicle a safe distance away.

“Holy cow!” his partner Walter Letterman said. “That guy’s dead, dude.”
“You want me to go out there and see if I can get him out of the car?” Fredericksen said.
“No, what are you gonna do?” Letterman said.
Fredericksen paused. “I got a fire extinguisher,” he said.

Ummm, someone ain't getting laid tonight.

A court in Naples has ordered a woman to take down photos posted on Facebook from her honeymoon after her husband complained that he did not give his permission for her to post them. She may even have to pay damages.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, was indicted on Friday on charges relating to his efforts to try and force a local district attorney to resign.

A Travis County grand jury handed up the charges.

Ferguson, Missouri (CNN) -- The Ferguson police officer who shot Michael Brown didn't stop him because he was suspected in a convenience-store robbery, but because he was "walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic," the city's police chief said Friday.

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson -- hours after documents came out labeling the 18-year-old Brown as the "primary suspect" in the store theft -- told reporters the "robbery does not relate to the initial contact between the officer and Michael Brown."

So why did Ferguson police decide to release surveillance video of the convenience-store incident Friday -- the same day they named, six days after the shooting, the white police officer who fatally shot the African-American teenager -- if the two situations are not related?

Jackson said he distributed the store videotape "because the press asked for it," noting he couldn't withhold it indefinitely.

The chief added "we needed to release that at the same time we needed to release the name of the officer involved in the shooting," though he didn't elaborate on why. This week, as days and nights of demonstrations passed without the officer being identified, pressure mounted on authorities, as did allegations from some of a coverup.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A decorated retired Marine whose career as a sniper was derailed by a video that showed him urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters has died, his attorney said Friday.

Cpl. Robert Richards, 28, was found dead Wednesday by his wife at their Jacksonville home, Attorney Guy Womack said. Neither foul play nor suicide is suspected.

The death was most likely from Richards changing medications he took because of injuries he suffered in a roadside bomb during one of his three tours in Afghanistan, Womack said.

I can almost hear Arnold's voice in my head saying something about "becoming self-aware" two weeks from now and killing us all.

I had no idea that developers even needed freedom to fail. Hell, most of us can do that failing part without even trying.

"That extra year of development time, particularly with the new consoles and the more powerful hardware, has really paid off thus far to iterate, innovate and try new things," said Hirshberg. "To find out which things didn't work and have the freedom to fail in the creative process, so what goes on the disc is the best ideas."

Toyota has revealed two new versions of its stunning FT-1 sports car concept, which is thought to preview the look of an upcoming Supra successor as well as lay the groundwork for the design of future models from the Japanese automaker. The original FT-1 concept was shown back in January at the Detroit Auto Show; one of the new versions will be shown at a Monterey event coinciding with this weekend’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance while the other will remain in virtual form only, at least for now.

We already knew the virtual version, which is dubbed the FT-1 Vision Gran Turismo, due to its association with the 15th anniversary celebration of the Gran Turismo video game series, was coming. But the second car, which features a graphite exterior hue, is quite the surprise. Toyota calls this additional version an “upscale interpretation” of the FT-1 and the concept hints at what the Supra successor could offer buyers in terms of luxury and refinement.

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — A suburban St. Louis police chief on Friday identified the officer whose fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager ignited days of heated protests, and released documents alleging the teen was killed after a robbery in which he was suspected of stealing a $48.99 box of cigars.

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson released several police reports and documents during a news conference where he also identified the officer involved as Darren Wilson, who has been on administrative leave since he shot 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9. VIDEO

Mansion has five stories -- mostly underground

At Yahoo Homes, we've written about a tiny home adorned with tomato cans and grocery bags, young designers' experiments with college housing that fits in a parking spot, and even (our recent favorite) a TV star's tiny, clever house.

Man Punches Pregnant Woman In Brutal ‘Knockout Game’ Attack [VIDEO]

A 34-year-old Brooklyn woman who is six-months pregnant was laid out cold in a vicious “knockout game” attack.

The violent assault was caught on video which was published by the New York Post.

The victim, Jannatul Ferdous, was walking with her sister in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood Thursday when 33-year-old Willie Stephens slugged the pregnant woman with one single blow, knocking her unconscious.

Wal-Mart's Supercenters Are Becoming A Major Problem

A customer pushes her shopping cart past a display at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Rogers, Arkansas June 5, 2008.

Wal-Mart's supercenters are struggling as consumers increasingly choose convenience stores over one-stop shops.

The retail giant's mega stores suffered a .3% same-store sales decline in the second quarter compared with last year. During the same period, foot traffic for Wal-Mart's U.S. stores fell by 1.1%.

By comparison, Wal-Mart's smaller-format stores, or Neighborhood Markets, generated same-store sales growth of 5.6% and traffic increased by 4.1%.

Reminder: You Have a Right to Record the Police

A suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, has been under a dramatic siege since Saturday, when a police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown. In the wake of the killing, protests have engulfed the community — drawing a heavy-handed police crackdown with St. Louis County police officers armed with assault weapons and outfitted with military equipment. Many of the striking images have come from reporters on the front lines, but also from citizens and their smartphones.

Around 10 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday night, a St. Louis County police line demanded that a crowd of protesters turn off their cameras. Minutes earlier, the police had ordered what appeared to be a peaceful crowd to disperse, firing smoke grenades and rubber bullets. But none of them have to turn their cameras off.

I'll go ahead and just leave this right here. You're welcome.

Comments

The new USB Type-C cable design is finished. Now all you have to do is wait until manufacturers start using this and then we'll still be stuck needing "old" USB cables until devices that use them are finally phased out.

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