Author: Josh Wolford

Japan, say hello to Square. The mobile payments platform has just announced that it is now available in your country.

Square is available in Japan with the support and partnership of Sumitomo Mitsui Card Corporation (SMCC). Responsible for introducing Visa to Japan, SMCC is widely recognized and respected for its ability to provide a wide range of solutions, including a comprehensive and highly secure credit card and payment solution.

This marks the first international expansion for Square outside of North America, where they service over 4 million individuals and businesses. Square says that they are now processing over $15 billion in payments annually.

And like in North America, Square will take a 3.25% cut of transactions in Japan.

Here’s what Square co-founder and CEO, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, had to say about the move:

“I am honored to introduce Square to a country with a rich history of design, innovation and tradition. Square shares the same values and attention to detail in our products. Our tools are made to enable business owners to create a delightful, seamless experience for their customers. I look forward to Square assisting in Japan’s continued economic growth and entrepreneurship opportunities.”

Also, he’s been Vining the news:

Square: now available in Japan. squareup.com/jp vine.co/v/b9YgW3W6Wj7

— Jack Dorsey (@jack) May 23, 2013

You can check out Square Japan here.

Trevor Bolder, English rock bassist and songwriter who is best known for his time with David Bowie’s The Spiders from Mars and progressive hard rock band Uriah Heep, has died of cancer. He was 62.

Bolder played with Bowie’s The Spiders from Mars across four studio albums: Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Pin Ups. He also played with The Spiders From Mars with Mick Woodmansey and the late Mick Ronson on the subsequent Bowie tours. In 1976 Bolder joined Uriah Heep, replacing John Wetton.

“Trevor was a wonderful musician and a major inspiration for whichever band he was working with. But he was foremostly a tremendous guy, a great man,” said David Bowie.

Uriah Heep had this to say in a statement on their website:

It is with great sadness that Uriah Heep announce the passing of our friend the amazing Trevor Bolder, who has passed away after his long fight with cancer. Trevor was an all time great, one of the outstanding musicians of his generation, and one of the finest and most influential bass players that Britain ever produced.

His long time membership of Uriah Heep brought the band’s music, and Trevor’s virtuosity and enthusiasm, to hundreds of thousands of fans across the world. He joined the band in 1976 and, barring one short break, was a fixture until his ill health forced him to take a step back early this year.

Mick Box said, “Trevor was a ‘World Class’ bass player, singer & songwriter, and more importantly a World Class friend. He will be sadly missed by family, friends and rock fans all over the world. We are all numb to the core”.

“I had the great pleasure of knowing Trevor for the best part of 30 years, he was one of my idols growing up, I got to know him when Uriah Heep opened for DL on the Pyromania tour in 1983 and we became firm friends. I stayed with him, he stayed with me and we recorded and toured together as The Cybernauts. For myself & Phil it’s devastating because we were looking forward to finishing up some new Cybernauts recording pretty soon, that may now not happen, but our real thoughts right now are with his family. TB was one of the good guys, I’m sure Mick Box & the guys in Heep feel the same way, we have lost a brother, a great bass player, a funny, funny man who lit up any room he walked into. I guess now, him & Ronno have a bit of catching up to do…RIP my friend,” said Def Leppard’s Joe Elliot

CBS has just added another comedy to its 2013-2014 season – Bad Teacher.

Based on the 2011 film of the same name, Bad Teacher is a single-camera comedy that follows the exploits of a former trophy wife posing as a teacher. The show will star Ari Graynor, who you may know from Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Youth in Revolt, and the TV hit Fringe.

The show will also feature Roseanne and The Talk‘s Sara Gilbert, Sex and the City‘s Kristin Davis, and David Alan Grier.

Here’s CBS’ description of the show:

Based on the hit feature film, BAD TEACHER stars Ari Graynor as an always inappropriate, fearless and unapologetic former trophy wife who masquerades as a teacher in order to find a new man after her wealthy husband leaves her penniless.

CBS recently unveiled their Fall lineup, including a handful of new comedies and dramas. Notable additions include the new show The Crazy Ones, starring Robin Williams and Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Wayne F. Miller, the photographer best known for his portraits of black America in post-WWII Chicago, has died. He was 94.

Miller got his start studying banking at the University of Illinois at Urbana, only doing photography work on the side. He later studied at the Art Center School in Los Angeles. As a lieutenant in the Navy, Miller took some of the iconic photos from the war. He was one of the first to photograph the aftermath at Hiroshima.

He is known for his work The Way of Life of the Northern Negro, which was later published in the book Chicago’s South Side, 1946-1948. He also worked on Dr. Benjamin Spock’s A Baby’s First Year.

Miller served as a contributor to international photographic cooperative Magnum Photos since 1958. Here’s what president Alex Majoli had to say about Miller’s passing:

“The first time I met Wayne Miller I was surprised to see a white man. Having known his legendary pictures of the Southside of Chicago for so long, I had always imagined the man to be black. He paved the ground for the rest of us who tried to depict the streets, the real life. He was a pioneer. Only recently, I learned that he served in the navy as a photographer in WWII, and then a contract photographer for LIFE. It might have seemed like golden years for photographers now, but he had to invent himself in many ways, a character trait I highly appreciate in people. With the utmost respect and great sorrow I have to say goodbye to a master I was so fortunate to meet, even if it was only on a few occasions.”

You remember Charles Ramsey, right? He’s the normal guy turned hero after he helped rescue Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, all of whom were being held prisoner on Cleveland, Ohio’s West Side. Out of that nightmare of a story, Ramsey was one bright spot – a genuine, unassuming, utterly hilarious hero with a love for McDonald’s.

Now, it looks like some local Cleveland establishments are looking to say thanks to Ramsey – in a great, big, juicy way.

According to The Cleveland Plain Dealer, about a dozen restaurants have partnered to give Ramsey free burgers for life. This includes AMP 150 at the Marriott Cleveland Airport; Washington Place Bistro and Inn in Little Italy; Fahrenheit restaurant in Tremont; Market Garden Brewery, Bier Markt, Bar Cento and Nano Brew in Ohio City; Welshfield Inn in Troy Township; Hodges and Pura Vida in downtown Cleveland; 87 West at Crocker Park in Westlake; Orchard House restaurant in Brunswick; Flour restaurant in Moreland Hills, and the Allegheny Grille in Foxburg, Pennsylvania.

“We want to honor our local hero with local food,” said Scott Kuhn, who runs a few of the eateries involved in the gift. “He stopped his meal midway through to help those women. We’re now making sure he has other opportunities to go out and fully enjoy his burger.”

Ramsey will be gifted with the only “Chuck Card,” which will entitled him to at least a free burger in all participating restaurants.

He sure wasn’t shy about his love of burgers. Remember this classic line?

“I’m eating my McDonald’s; I come outside; I see this girl going nuts,” he said, “…I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man’s arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway!”

Oh Charles. We hope you enjoy your burgers. We really do.

[Image via reddit]

When playing the Powerball, I guess there’s nothing like a little home-field advantage.

A cashier at the Heartland Pit Stop in Doniphan, Missouri is a Powerball winner after she sold herself a winning ticket Saturday morning. As you probably know, the Saturday drawing made someone $600 million richer – but they’ve yet to come forward to claim their prize.

Mary-Jane Hart didn’t win the big prize, but she matched every number except for the Powerball. That makes her the winner of a cool $1 million (before taxes, of course).

According to Hart, she used the numbers of NASCAR drivers to fill in her ticket. Apparently, she’s a pretty big fan.

“I’ve always wanted to win a jackpot so that I could go to way more Nascar races than I go to, which is a lot.” said Hart.

She won’t be spending it all on NASCAR races, however. She says she plans to take a trip to Hawaii, as well as help her son out with the winnings. She also plans to keep her job at the convenience store.

If you were Netflix, with the massive success of House of Cards, the love-it-or-hate-it buzz generated by Hemlock Grove, and the pure madness surrounding the launch of season 4 of Arrested Development – why wouldn’t you want to expand your content offerings?

In a lengthy interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix’s Content Chief Ted Sarandos hints at just that – possibly doubling Netflix’s content output next year (by the end of 2013, they will have put out 8 new shows).

“It’s feasible that we would double the load that we did this year. People’s tastes are wildly diverse, and I want to be able to appeal to all of those tastes and across demos. Hemlock Grove is totally different from House of Cards. Orange Is the New Black is a very different show. I think we can support a lot of specific tastes,” said Sarandos.

As far as what kind of specific tastes, Sarandos says that sci-fi is a good direction, as is “tween” content.

Also, sitcoms and comedy:

“And then we’re doing quite a bit in the original standup comedy space, too. Bill Burr, for example, is somebody who has had a great cult following, and now his audience is getting so large from him being on Netflix. He is touring in all of the parts of the world where Netflix is, like Norway and Finland, because he has an audience there now. So, we’ll definitely be competitive [with HBO and Showtime] in that space. it’s also a great way to cultivate talent for future scripted projects,” he said.

But as far as original movies go – Sarandos isn’t quite sold on the idea…yet:

“The reason why I’ve shied away from original movies has been that there are so many more great movies that get made than ever get distributed, and I think we function better as a distributor for movies than we do as a creator or marketer of movies for now. But I probably would have said the same thing about TV shows three years ago.”

After a series of high-profile hacks and calls from the user base, Twitter has finally unveiled their form of two-step verification.

“Every day, a growing number of people log in to Twitter. Usually these login attempts come from the genuine account owners, but we occasionally hear from people whose accounts have been compromised by email phishing schemes or a breach of password data elsewhere on the web. Today we’re introducing a new security feature to better protect your Twitter account: login verification,” says Twitter.

It works similar to other two-step verification systems you may be familiar with (Google, for instance). Once you enable login verification, the next time you attempt to log in you’ll also need to enter a code that Twitter will send to your mobile device. So, it’s your password + mobile code. Two steps.

All you have to do to enable it is visit your account settings page.

Twitter says that you existing applications you’ve enabled via Twitter login should be unaffected:

“With login verification enabled, your existing applications will continue to work without disruption. If you need to sign in to your Twitter account on other devices or apps, visit your applications page to generate a temporary password to log in and authorize that application.”

Of course, two-factor authentication won’t solve all of your security problems, and it’s not foolproof. But it’s a much-needed buffer between you and everyone out there eyeing your account with malicious intent.

YouTube user MagicofRahat is becoming YouTube famous for his various pranks – many of them involving drive-thrus.

You see, Rahat likes to drive his car up to various drive-thrus and scare the crap out of poor, innocent, food workers. Various pranks involve scary dolls, fake hands, and headless drivers. This time, he’s combined a zombie drive-thru prank with a headless drive-thru prank. The results are nice:

If you ever happen to get an invite to one of Justin Bieber’s house parties (you won’t, but you can keep on reading), just make sure you don’t tweet about it or post any photos to Instagram. If you do, Bieber reserves the right to sue the absolute hell out of you.

TMZ obtained a copy of a waiver that guests must sign upon admittance to his Calabasas, California home.

There, in plain writing, it reads that “”under no circumstances will you divulge the details of you entering and being on the Property or engaging in the Activities by any means or through any media whatsoever, including without limitation, through photographs, video, blogging, texting, ‘Tweeting’ or posting any such information on any social media site.”

The waiver also forbids guests from discussing “all information concerning [Bieber and company’s] business and personal activities, including, without limitation, their legal and financial affairs, physical health, or the philosophical, spiritual or other views or characteristics.”

The document stipulates damages of up to $5 million for violation of the terms.

TMZ notes that this is hardly news in the celebrity community – other celebs also make guests sign these types of waivers.

After reports emerged that Seattle Seahawks backup quarterback Josh Portis has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, news comes that he has now been waived.

The report comes from John Boyle at the Everett Herald:

The #Seahawks have waived QB Josh Portis, who earlier this month was arrested on suspicion of DUI.

— John Boyle (@johnpboyle) May 21, 2013

Reports claimed that Portis had been arrested on May 5th after being stopped for speeding. Portis reportedly smelled of alcohol, and later blood tests confirmed that his BAC was .092, just a bit higher than the legal limit of .08. He’s scheduled to appear in court on May 28th.

In a tweet, Portis’ agent JR Rickert insisted that his client had not been arrested, but that tweet has since been deleted. Police reports indicate that Portis’ passenger named-dropped the Seahawks during the stop:

“Portis asked me if I knew who he was and I stated yes,” wrote the arresting officer in the report. “(The passenger) exited the vehicle and began to cry. (The passenger) stated I was arresting a Seahawk, and I was going to ruin him. … (The passenger) shouted at me and stated she couldn’t believe that I was from Seattle, and was arresting a Seahawk.”

Portis was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2011. In August of that year Portis played in a preseason game against the Chargers. He’s never actually played in a regular season game. Last year, Portis was cut by the Seahawks and later resigned. Before his recent waiver, Portis sat behind Russell Wilson and Brady Quinn on the depth chart.

Foursquare has just released an update to their iOS app that lets users apply more filters to all of their searches.

“Looking for a cheap brunch spot that your friends go to, but you haven’t tried yet? With new filtering options in Explore, you can narrow down your search results to find exactly what you’re looking for. Tap the search bar at the top of the screen, then select different options like, ‘price,’ ‘haven’t been,’ ‘saved’ or ‘open now’ to find the perfect spot,” says Foursquare.

Before today’s update, Foursquare allowed users to narrow their searches in variety of ways – by category, trending places, recently opened locations, place they haven’t been before, places friends have been, and so on. With today’s update, Foursquare is letting users narrow their searches through multiple filters.

Here’s what the new filter screen looks like. It’s accesible via a “filter” button when open up the search box.

As you can see, users can now apply different filters at the same time, including price, previous check-ins, open now, and locations that are currently offering specials. You can sort your results by best match of by distance.

Minor update? Maybe. But it’s a useful one. And it also falls in line with Foursquare’s recent push to become a true player in the local search game.

You can grab the update today over at the App Store.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo says he hopes to be out on the field for the team’s mini-camp next month after undergoing a minor procedure to removal a cyst on his back.

The cyst removal, however, will keep Romo out of team activities for the next three weeks. The Cowboys’ mini-camp runs from June 11th to the 13th.

“That’s why I did it now. This will have no effect on training camp. No way will it have an impact. And I still think there’s a good chance I’m on the field for mini-camp,” Romo told The Dallas Morning News. ““It was something I felt like was nagging me just enough. I wanted to make sure to get it done now. I wanted to take care of it earlier rather than later.’’

Romo says that the back cyst began bothering him in April, and he wound up having the removal procedure a short time after that. He confirms that it wasn’t cancerous.

Training camp starts on July 19th, and Romo is adamant that the medical procedure will not have any lingering effects.

“If this was the regular season and I had to play next week, I could,” said Romo. “This is just about being smart.”

Last month, as rumors swirled of a possible run for New York City mayor, former congressman Anthony Weiner rejoined Twitter – the service the led to his downfall back in 2011. He began tweeting out links to a 20-page roadmap for NYC called “Keys to the city,” and it sure looked like the actions of a man gearing up for a comeback.

Today, Weiner officially entered the mayoral race with a YouTube video.

“…The classic New York story: you work hard, you make it into the middle class, and you make life a little bit better for your kids. That’s how this city was built,” says Weiner.

“But it’s getting harder and harder every day – some of the highest rents in the country…goog jobs with benefits disappearing, our schools aren’t what they should be, and we need to keep this city safe.”

Weiner doesn’t shy away from his past indiscretions:

“Look, I made some big mistakes, and I know I let a lot of people down. But I’ve also learned some tough lessons. I’m running for mayor because I’ve been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it my entire life. And I hope I get a second chance to work for you.”

According to recent polling, Weiner trails Democratic frontrunner Christine Quinn by a margin of 15% to 25%. That same poll indicated that 49% of people felt the Weiner shouldn’t run for mayor.

Check out his announcement below:

You know the Van Halen song “Eruption” – that two-minute blister of a track where Eddie Van Halen just shreds. Yeah, you know it.

Well, this 14-year-old girl named Tina knows it. She knows it well. And she’s so much better at guitar than you are. How does that make you feel, guy-playing-Wonderwall-at-the-party? Huh?

Best YouTube comment: Typical 14 year old girl. Doing something awesome, looks bored while doing it.

See how they compare below. I think she does more than admirably.

According to police, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was robbed over the weekend.

Reports indicate that Rice’s home was burglarized some time between the hours of 8:30 pm Friday and 12:50 am Saturday. In the end, $2000 and two guns were reported stolen.

Rice wasn’t at home during the robbery – he was out of town. But a friend was staying at the house and reported the crime. Police say that the burglar made his way into Rice’s home through a back window.

Luckily for Rice and police, it appears that the whole thing was caught on surveillance video.

“My family and I are fine, which is the most important thing,” Rice said in statement. “This is an unfortunate incident that I am dealing with through the proper channels.”

Rice, a prolific Twitter and Facebook users, isn’t using social media to discuss the crime. Instead, he used Facebook on Monday to send his condolences to those affected by the Oklahoma tornado.

Ray Rice1 day ago

Thoughts and prayers for the people affected in Oklahoma. Absolutely heartbreaking. Powered by socialditto  1,000+ likes ·  151 comments

In the last few years, former Hootie & the Blowfish singer Darius Rucker has been refashioning himself as a country music artist. And a recent performance and the surprising reaction on Twitter led Rucker to express disbelief at the racism happening in the year 2013.

One Twitter user took issue with Rucker recently covering the Bob Dylan-inspired Old Crow Medicine Show hit “Wagon Wheel” at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

“Leave the country to white folk,” said user @pqkullman.

“WOW is this 2013 or 1913,” tweeted Rucker. “I’ll take my Grand Ole Opry membership and leave your racism. Wow.”.

“@pqkullman: @dariusrucker Leave country to the white folk”. WOW. Is this 2013 or 1913

— Darius Rucker (@dariusrucker) May 19, 2013

“@pqkullman: @dariusrucker Leave country to the white folk”. Ill take my grand ole Opry membership and leave your racism. Wow

— Darius Rucker (@dariusrucker) May 19, 2013

He was then asked why he responds to racists on Twitter:

“@urbaneremite: @dariusrucker serious question why do you respond to the racists?”So the world can see them.

— Darius Rucker (@dariusrucker) May 19, 2013

Since Sunday, Rucker has had to battle even more pointed racist tweets. Like this one, for instance:

“@ashleyzolanski: @dariusrucker nigger”. Holy crap!!

— Darius Rucker (@dariusrucker) May 22, 2013

It’s almost here, folks. In less than a week – the wait is over. You’re almost there. Ready to marathon the new season of Arrested Development?

Netflix will unveil all 15 new episodes from season 4 on May 26th at 12:01 am PT. While you wait, enjoy this awesome supercut of 18 running gags from the first three seasons. “No touching,” questionable magic tricks, and “I’ve made a huge mistake,” – they’re all here.

And while you’re here, bask in the glory of the official season 4 trailer:

[via Slacktory]

NFL Team owners have voted to approve $200 million in NFL G-4 stadium financing that will help the Atlanta Falcons construct a brand new multi-purpose stadium.

Falcons Owner and Chairman Arthur Blank will put up most of the funding for the project, which could run upwards of $1 billion.

Blank hopes the Falcons will be in the new stadium by 2017.

Blank had this to say in a statement:

Today’s approval by the NFL team owners is an important milestone in moving the new stadium project forward. The consideration of G-4 financing for new stadiums requires thoughtful analysis on the part of the NFL Finance and Stadium Committees, including compliance requirements that protect the best interests of all owners and the league.

The NFL has supported new stadium construction through various means for decades. Our club owners understand that investments such as G-4 financing are important to the long-term strength of the league, and we thank them for their support.

We are pleased with the outcome of today’s vote, and we look forward to continued progress in designing and constructing the new multi-purpose stadium over the next four years. We, along with our City of Atlanta and State of Georgia partners, are excited to participate in a project that will benefit the city and state for many years to come.

Upon completion of the new stadium, the Georgia Dome will be torn down.

Is Jurassic Park 4 going to be a reboot of the classic 1994 film? Sam Neil, who played Dr. Alan Grant in the first and third installments, seems to think so.

“I’m told it’s a big reboot, a total re-jig,” he said in a lengthy interview with The Dominion Post.

Jurassic Park 4 has been in various stages of production for awhile. Back in 2011, we heard rumors that Steven Spielberg himself was holding meetings with possible screenwriters, last summer we heard that Rise of the Planet of the Apes writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver would helm the script. Then, in an interview with Collider, producer Frank Marshall hinted at a 2014 release date for the much-anticipated film.

“I would say that it will be on the screen within two years,” he said.

He also suggested that the film would be a true sequel, not a reboot.

“That’s what’s gonna be great about it, technology’s taken a leap now that we can really do some great things,” he said.

Then, earlier this month, we heard from Universal that the film would be delayed.

“In coordination with filmmakers, Universal has decided to release Jurassic Park 4 at a later date giving the studio and filmmakers adequate time to bring audiences the best possible version of the fourth installment in Universal’s beloved franchise,” said the studio.

We’ve also heard rumors that the film would take place at the location of the original blockbuster, Isla Nubar. Sounds about right for a reboot.

Reboot…sequel…reimagining…whatever the case, we’ll probably not see Jurassic Park 4 until 2015, at the earliest. While you wait, please enjoy some Goldblum.