Author: Sean Patterson

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that three people have been arrested in connection with the theft of an 82-foot yacht earlier this week. The three people, all of them over the age of 50, were arrested on suspicion of grand theft and conspiracy.

The yacht, named the “Darling” was found grounded on a sandbar off the coast of Pacifica, California on Monday. Pacifica is a suburb on San Francisco.

According to the chronicle, the owner of the boat reported it stolen after seeing it featured on the news. What had been a rescue then turned into an arrest and police surrounded the boat, ordering its passengers to surrender.

The yacht was reportedly stolen from a harbor in the North San Francisco Bay. The trio’s joyride would have taken them underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and miles down the southern coast. The Chronicle report states that pizza boxes and beer cans were found on the ship.

Most press junket interviews are incredibly boring. Celebrities sit in one spot with movie art in the background and talk to a variety of reporters, answering the same boring questions over and over. Throw in a rookie BBC Radio reporter and Equire’s sexiest woman alive, though, and you have some of the most awkward flirting seen on YouTube.

BBC Radio this week posted the interview, between Oz The Great and Powerful star Mila Kunis and Chris Stark, a reporter who claims the confrontation is his first celebrity interview. When Stark begins to make things awkward by voicing his fears, calling Kunis “hot,” and soliciting reviews of his interview skills, Kunis takes control of the moment. The conversation quickly shifts to drinking, sports, and nude wedding dances.

Before watching what could be the most interesting Mila Kunis interview ever, it’s worth noting that Kunis describes her condition as “deathly ill.”

Over the years, may hypotheses about how the fire aboard the Hindenburg started have been proposed. One of the more popular theories in conspiracy theory circles is that the airship was sabotaged, by anyone from communists to Adolf Hitler. This week, a new documentary on the disaster will endorse one of the more mainstream explanations for the explosion.

According to a report by The Independent, the new documentary, to air Thursday on the U.K.’s Channel 4, states that static electricity may have set the zeppelin ablaze. In this scenario, an electrical storm had charged the airship while gas had somehow leaked into the Hindenburg’s ventilation shafts. Crew members who took up the zeppelin’s landing ropes may have grounded the ship’s frame, but not its skin, causing the spark that set off the fire at the tail end of the ship.

According to the Independent, a group of experts led by aeronautical engineer Jem Stansfield set fire to quite a few scale models of the Hindenburg before reaching this conclusion. The research team recreated different scenarios for the disaster using the replicas, and tested multiple theories, including sabotage.

The Hindenburg, a German passenger airship, caught fire on May 6, 1937 over an airfield at the Lakehurst Naval Airstation in New Jersey. The blaze took down the airship in under 20 seconds, causing the deaths of 35 of the 97 people on board the ship. Newsreel footage of the disaster, featuring commentary from radio reporter Herbert Morrison, has become famous and is the origin of the popularization of the phrase, “oh the humanity!”

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released a 128-page report into the life of singer Whitney Houston.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the report was part of an FBI extortion case that was closed before any charges were filed. The document shows that Houston was blackmailed in 1992, with a letter from a woman stating that details of her private life would be revealed if $100,000, and later $250,000 were not paid.

Houston had told the FBI that the woman was “a friend.” Houston’s father, John Houston, later sent the woman a “confidentiality agreement” and paid her an amount of money which was redacted in the FBI document.

The document also contains letters from adoring fans, some of which were of interest to the FBI because the agency was afraid certain fans might hurt someone because of their obsession. FBI agents were compelled to interview several of these obsessive fans, once going as far as Brussels, Belgium. In the cases detailed, these fans were determined to not have broken the law and did not appear to have actual plans for hurting anyone or extorting Houston.

Houston died just over one year ago, on February 11, 2012. She was found unconscious in a bathtub in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The cause of death was later determined to be an accidental drowning related to heavy drug use.

Baily O’Neill, a 12-year-old boy who was bullied and beaten at his Pennsylvania school, has died. He was taken off of life support on Sunday, March 3 – just days after his twelfth birthday.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, O’Neill was a sixth grader at Darby Township School in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. He was allegedly bullied by classmates, one of whom punched O’Neill in the face, breaking his nose and causing a serious concussion. Soon after, O’Neill began having seizures and was put into a medically induced coma.

Stephen Butz, superintendent for the Southeast Delco School district, has released a statement expressing condolences and assuring the public that the school district is working with authorities to investigate the death.

The statement, in full:

Dear Southeast Delco School Community,

Late yesterday, we were informed about the death of Bailey O’Neill. Bailey was a sixth grade student at Darby Township School. Our school community is deeply saddened by this loss. Our condolences are with Bailey’s family and friends during this very difficult time.

Additional counselors have been made available to assist our students and staff with the emotions around the death of Bailey.

The school district continues to work with local authorities in their investigation into the cause of Bailey’s death.

During this time, our thoughts and prayers are with Bailey’s family and friends.

Stephen D. Butz, Ed.D.
Superintendent

The Inquirer report states that there is video of the bullying incident in which O’Neill was punched. The Delaware County District Attorney’s office is investigating the incident, and an autopsy will reveal more about the cause of O’Neill’s death.

(Image courtesy the Prayers for Bailey O’Neill Facebook page)

Casey Anthony, the woman acquitted of the murder of her daughter, Caylee Anthony, in 2011, today arrived at a federal courthouse in Florida to attend a bankruptcy hearing. As soon as she stepped from her car, she was swarmed by cameramen and microphones. Anthony wore large sunglasses and was escorted through the paparazzi by her lawyer, Cheney Mason.

One extremely confrontational reporter can be heard saying, “Did you get away with murder Casey?” and ” Do you think you’d be better off if you pay a price?”

Anthony was arriving at the courthouse for a bankruptcy hearing. She claims debts of almost $800,000, and recently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. During the hearing, Anthony is expected to be questioned by a bankruptcy trustee and her creditors about her finances. She will also be asked questions about how she has been supporting herself in the past months.

Reports hold that Anthony has not held a job since the murder trial in 2011. During that time she has secluded herself in hiding, only occasionally being glimpsed in online videos. Today was the first time since the trial that she has appeared in public.

Though blaming the media and labeling it “liberal” is a common refrain for conservatives in the U.S., hearing the accusation come from a woman who could have been First Lady shows just how divisive political media in the country has become.

During a Fox News interview with Chris Wallace this weekend, Ann Romney, wife of former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, stated that she is “happy to blame the media” for not portraying her husband accurately.

“Anytime you’re running for office you always think that you’re being portrayed unfairly,” said Ann Romney. “We, of course on our side believe that there is more bias in favor of the other side. I think…that’s a pretty universally felt opinion.”

It’s an odd accusation, given that much of the media reported on the 2012 presidential election, right up until the end, as if it were a close race. Many Republicans who believed Romney had a shot at the White House were blindsided by President Obama’s solid victory on election night. In hindsight, the most accurate predictions of the election, such as Nate Silver‘s 538 blog, showed that Romney never had much of a chance.

Ann Romney also accused both the media and her husband’s campaign for concealing her husband’s true personality.

“He really is a selfless person that really truly cared about the American people,” said Ann Romney. “He truly cares about making a difference and about helping others. And for him to be portrayed in a very negative light…was very hard,”

(Image via Mitt Romney’s Facebook Page)

TMZ is reporting that former MLB pitcher Dwight Gooden has had a restraining order filed against him by his estranged wife. Monique Gooden had called police on March 1, claiming Gooden had made “terroristic threats.”

A temporary restraining order has been granted against Gooden. Though he had been living with Monique while a divorce is in progress, Gooden has now left the premises. The order also prevents Gooden from visiting his children until a court hearing on March 11, where a judge will evaluate the restraining order and consider whether it should be permanent.

Unnamed documents quoted by TMZ stated that Monique claims Gooden said, “All bets are off an I will hurt you and your family. You’ll see, just wait.”

Gooden was arrested in 2005 for allegedly hitting Monique, whom he accused of throwing a phone at him. He was later released on a misdemeanor battery charge.

Gooden has a history of substance abuse dating back to 1987, when he tested positive for cocaine during spring training. He is currently on probation related to DWI and child endangerment charges.

(Image courtesy Jeff Marquis via Wikimedia Commons)

Casey Anthony, the woman famously acquitted of the murder of her daughter, Caylee Anthony, is back in a Florida courtroom, this time to face a bankruptcy case. Anthony has been in hiding since the end of the trial, appearing only occasionally in videos posted online.

Anthony’s debts stem from the 2011 murder trial and fines levied against her for lying to police about the whereabouts of her daughter. She recently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, claiming she is almost $800,000 in debt.

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that during today’s bankruptcy hearing Anthony will answer questions from a bankruptcy trustee and her creditors about her finances.

Anthony has been unemployed since the end of the murder trial in July 2011. Part of today’s questioning will concern who has been supporting her since that time. Also, rumors of a book deal for Anthony’s story could play into the hearing, an if true could prevent her from being declared bankrupt.

Cameras will not be allowed in the Federal Courthouse where the bankruptcy hearing is being held.

A new miniseries titled The Bible has begun airing on the History Channel. The show premiered on Sunday March 3, and subsequent episodes will air each Sunday in March, with the last episode coming on March 31, also known as Easter Sunday.

The series is being produced by Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey. Burnett is best-known for network reality TV shows such as Survivor, and Downey found fame in the 90s for playing an Angel in the series Touched by an Angel.

According to The Bible‘s website, the show will depict dramatizations of some of the best-known stories from the bible, including Noah’s ark, the Israelites’ exodus, and the birth of Jesus. The role of adult Jesus in the series will be played by Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado.

Despite being on the History Channel, The Bible will not be an examination of the historicity of the Christian bible. Instead, the series is a docu-drama based on various popular stories from the book. Also, some of the stories depicted have been altered to “create a moving story” within the series’ time constraints.

Rather than historical documentaries and research, the History Channel in recent years has been characterized by its pseudoscientific programming, such as Ancient Aliens, and reality TV shows such as Ax Men and Pawn Stars.

Doctors at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center are reporting a “functional cure” of an HIV-infected infant.

The infant, known only to have been born in Mississippi, was given antiretroviral therapy (ART) within 30 hours after its birth. Doctors believe the early treatment may have stopped the HIV virus from forming viral reservoirs that can reignite the infection after treatment ends.

“Prompt antiviral therapy in newborns that begins within days of exposure may help infants clear the virus and achieve long-term remission without lifelong treatment by preventing such viral hideouts from forming in the first place,” said Dr. Deborah Persaud, lead author of a report on the case.

Doctors have declared that the child is “functionally cured,” meaning it will likely not need lifelong treatment to suppress the virus. Standard clinical tests on the child’s blood have not been able to find the presence of HIV. This does not mean, however, that the child is completely rid of the virus.

“Our next step is to find out if this is a highly unusual response to very early antiretroviral therapy or something we can actually replicate in other high-risk newborns,” said Persaud.

The baby had been given antiretroviral treatment since its birth, but missed follow-up treatments after 18 months. Ten months after that, blood tests failed to find the presence of HIV or HIV-specific antibodies.

Researchers believe this case could change the way infants at risk for HIV are treated. Currently, infants born to HIV-positive mothers with poorly controlled infections are given a combination of antiviral and prophylactic medication.

“Complete viral eradication on a large scale is our long-term goal but, for now, remains out of reach, and our best chance may come from aggressive, timely and precisely targeted use of antiviral therapies in high-risk newborns as a way to achieve functional cure,” said Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga, an investigator on the study and an immunologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Soul singer Robert “Bobby” Rogers has died. The singer was a founding member of The Miracles, the first group signed to Motown Records.

Reuters is reporting that Rogers had been sick for some time. He died at his home near Detroit on Sunday, March 3 at the age of 73.

The Miracles were formed in 1955 by Smokey Robinson. The group The group’s original lineup included Rogers, Robinson, Pete Moore, Ronnie White, and Rogers’ cousin, Claudette Rogers. Their stardom began with the hit “Shop Around,” and further hits such as “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” and “Mickey’s Monkey” cemented their place in music history.

Though Robinson was inducted alone into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, it took decades for other members of The Miracles to be inducted. Rogers and the rest of the group were finally inducted in 2012.

Rogers continued to sing with the Miracles, even after Robinson left the group. He currently holds the honor of having been a member of The Miracles for longer than any other singer.

While most of the fighting game news for the past few weeks has involved epic battles between D.C. Comics superheroes in the Injustice: Gods Among Us tournament, Sony would like to remind gamers that their whimsical Smash Bros. clone is only a few months old.

Sony this week released new videos showcasing the new characters coming to PlayStation All-Stars BAttle Royale. Dead Space protagonist Isaac Clarke will be joining the brawler with his RIG suit and plasma cutter, while Zeus as depicted in the God of War series will be bringing the thunder of Olympus.

In addition to the new fighters, Sony will be adding a new MediEvil stage that also blends elements of The Unfinished Swan. In the middle of a fight the level background may be wiped and then slowly revealed with ink splotches. Both the fighters and the new stage will be available starting March 19.

Isaac’s video shows the engineer using his many tools, including the plasma cutter, ripper blades, and kinesis and stasis modules. His level 3 super blows other fighters out an airlock, where Isaac uses them for target practice.

Zeus will use hard punches, lightning strikes, and teleports while fighting. His level 3 super transports fighters to Mount Olympus, where he submits them to a God of War-style boss fight.

NASA announced today that Mars rover Curiosity has switched onboard computers as a result of a “memory issue” experienced on its active computer. The issue has brought research by the rover to a halt.

The swap to the rover’s redundant computer took place yesterday and placed the rover into a “safe mode.” Over then next several days the rover team will be bringing the rover into operational status.

“We switched computers to get to a standard state from which to begin restoring routine operations,” said Richard Cook, project manager for the Mars Science Laboratory Project at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

These computer issues are surfacing just as Curiosity is in the midst of a historical sample analysis. Earlier this week the rover had begun analyzing two small samples of rock powder taken from the inside of a Martian rock using the rover’s hammering drill.

The computer issue was revealed on Wednesday, February 27 when the rover failed to send recorded data back to Earth, instead sending only status information. It was found that Curiosity had not entered its latest planned “sleep mode.” The “memory issue” on Curiosity’s first computer is thought to be related to a corrupted flash memory.

The rover will now operate on its “B-side” computer, which was tested during its flight to Mars. The “A-side” computer was used from the rover’s landing on the red planet until this week.

“While we are resuming operations on the B-side, we are also working to determine the best way to restore the A-side as a viable backup,” said Magdy Bareh, leader of the mission’s anomaly resolution team at JPL.

(Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The second SpaceX mission to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) began early this morning as a Falcon 9 rocket lifted the Dragon capsule into orbit.

Though the launch was successful, a problem with three of the capsule’s four thruster pods delayed the opening of its solar arrays. SpaceX engineers had to wait until the capsule was over its Australia-based ground station to “command inhibit override” and reactivate enough of the thruster pods to deploy the arrays. While only one of the thruster pods was reactivated, it was enough to successfully deploy the arrays.

SpaceX spent hours trying to reactivate the two thruster pods that were still malfunctioning. At around 3 pm EST Space X founder Elon Musk tweeted that the thruster pods were back online and that the capsule is no longer drifting:

Follow @elonmusk

Elon Musk
@elonmusk

Pods 1 and 4 now online and thrusters engaged. Dragon transitioned from free drift to active control. Yes!!

 Reply  ·  Retweet  ·  Favorite
11 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

The problems caused the capsule to miss one of its scheduled burns that would take it toward its scheduled docking with the ISS. As a result, the docking could be delayed.

SpaceX and NASA have scheduled a teleconference for 3 pm EST. More details about the Dragon capsule and its docking schedule should be revealed during the call.

The Dragon capsule is carrying 1,200 pounds of cargo and science equipment that will be delivered to the ISS’s crew of six international astronauts. The capsule is scheduled to return with refuse and used equipment on March 25. SpaceX successfully completed its first resupply mission to the ISS back in October 2012 when it delivered 882 pounds of supplies to the satellite.

The launch of the capsule can be seen in the video below, which NASA released earlier today:

NASA this week revealed that its Van Allen Probes have discovered a third radiation belt around the Earth. Before now, the Earth’s Van Allen belts were thought to be two belts of radiation surrounding the planet.

The newly discovered belt of radiation was observed for four weeks before a shockwave from the sun blew it apart. The new belt could improve researchers’ understanding of how the belts react to space weather, and in particular solar winds. The research was published this week in the journal Science.

“Even 55 years after their discovery, the Earth’s radiation belts still are capable of surprising us and still have mysteries to discover and explain,” said Nicky Fox, Van Allen Probes deputy project scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. “We thought we knew the radiation belts, but we don’t. The advances in technology and detection made by NASA in this mission already have had an almost immediate impact on basic science.”

The new belt was detected by the Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope (REPT) on-board the Van Allen Probes. The probes discovered that a region thought to be two belts had actually become two distinct belts with space in between.

“This is the first time we have had such high-resolution instruments look at time, space and energy together in the outer belt,” said Daniel Baker, lead author of the study and REPT instrument lead at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado. “Previous observations of the outer radiation belt only resolved it as a single blurry element. When we turned REPT on just two days after launch, a powerful electron acceleration event was already in progress, and we clearly saw the new belt and new slot between it and the outer belt.”

The Van Allen Probes were launched back in August with the mission of studying the Van Allen belts and how space weather can affect them. By December of last year data from the probes was already revealing to scientists just how much influence the sun has over the Earth’s magnetosphere.

“The fantastic new capabilities and advances in technology in the Van Allen Probes have allowed scientists to see in unprecedented detail how the radiation belts are populated with charged particles and will provide insight on what causes them to change, and how these processes affect the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere,” said John Grunsfeld, NASA’s associate administrator for science.

It’s been less than one month since CD Projekt RED (CDPR) officially announced The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but the Polish developer is already addressing key details an providing screenshots of the game. In fact, ever since it became official that the game would be coming to the PlayStation 4 it has seemed as if CDPR has completed much of the game’s design. The reveal that the game will be released in 2014 lends some credence to that hypothesis.

This week, CDPR has revealed even more about their upcoming open-world fantasy RPG. In a statement released today the developer is now making bold proclamations about Wild Hunt, such as the claims that all of the players’ decisions in major plot quests and some side quests will interact with each other in some way and change the game world, “creating an even more nonlinear experience than ever before.”

“The Witcher 3 is full of impactful decisions, and gamers will choose between storylines that exclude one another in a single playthrough, ensuring extensive replay value,” said Adam Badowski, managing director of CDPR. “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt crowns the trilogy with the main narrative, revolving around Geralt’s search for his loved ones and his conflict with the Wild Hunt. As players travel through the game, they visit lands with their own unique atmosphere, communities and memorable characters. CD Projekt RED didn’t create an open world with a singular theme, but concentrated on delivering diversified and engaging environments, 30 times larger than those in The Witcher 2.”

That may sound like a BioWare or Peter Molyneux-level claim, but CDPR is one of the few studios that might be able pull off an in-depth next-generation RPG. At the very least, the game will provide days worth of entertainment. The studio has announced that the game’s main campaign will take around 50 hours to complete, and that “additional stories” will add another 50 hours of gameplay.

It’s been known for almost a year that Juno star Ellen Page did extensive motion capture work for Beyond: Two Souls, and that her likeness would star in the new Quantic Dream/David Cage video game.

A release date of October 8 has also been announced for the game.

Today, Sony has revealed that Willem Dafoe himself will co-star with Page. Dafoe is well-known for his acting in movies such as Platoon, Antichrist, Spider-Man, in which he played the Green Goblin. In Beyond: Two Souls, Dafoe will play Nathan Dawkins, a “government scientist” who grows close to Page’s Jodie Holmes while studying her metaphysical powers.

The teaser trailer released today showcases a scene in which Dawkins meets Holmes as a child. The graphics don’t seem quite as amazing as those seen in the trailer shown last year, but it does seem more in-line with what gamers can expect to see when playing it on a PlayStation 3.

In addition to the game footage teaser, a behind-the-scenes footage trailer has also been released. It features a short interview with Dafoe and footage of him acting with Page in the motion capture studio:

Rovio and DreamWorks Animation today announced that they have teamed up to create a new game for mobile platforms. Rovio is best known as the creator of the Angry Birds games. The new game will be base on DreamWorks’ upcoming movie The Croods and will be released to Android and iOS platforms on March 14.

“Rovio set the industry standard in mobile gaming with Angry Birds, and we believe their massive community of active users will go wild for The Croods,” said Chris Hewish, head of Global Interactive at DreamWorks. “We’ve developed a close and collaborative relationship with Rovio in which our world class filmmakers created an incredible piece of custom animation on the home screen that introduces players to the game’s beautifully rich aesthetics.”

Judging from the previews of the movie, The Croods doesn’t appear to be the next Shrek or Kung Fu Panda, but Rovio’s skill at developing mobile games and marketing products based on them is unparalleled. The last time Rovio created a movie tie-in game was with Fox in 2011. Angry Birds Rio went on to become a mobile hit and eventually a part of the Angry Birds Trilogy.

The companies have released a trailer for the new game, which unfortunately contains no gameplay or even a hint at what type of game The Croods will be.

It seems like a joke, but The Sims 3‘s made-up language has now been used to cover a real-life pop song. With less than a week to go before The Sims 3 University Life releases on March 5, EA is choosing to promote its game by featuring a 16-year-old girl singing in a made-up language.

The new trailer released today features Blaise Thresher, a British “newcomer” who EA had record a song she wrote, but sing it in Simlish, the gibberish language spoken by sims characters. The game’s developers have even recreated Thresher’s likeness in the game, which can be downloaded through The Sims 3 Exchange.

It’s not clear where Thresher will fit into University Life, if at all. The game does feature several different majors and clubs for college sims, though, so perhaps a glee club has been included.