Apple's iPhone event last month was undoubtedly crucial for the company, but it left quite a few would-be customers wanting more. Much of Cupertino's product lineup is practically begging for an update. There haven't been new iPads in a year; both OS X Mavericks and the Mac Pro redesign have yet to ...
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/GZqd4ZFPj3w/Um, could this Disney cover BE any more creative?!
The Bottle Boys, who are known for their AH-Mazing musical skills, covered The Little Mermaid's upbeat musical number Under The Sea with just bottles, air and sand!
Yes, you read that correctly. Bottles, air and sand!!
Insane, right?!
They definitely take the word eco-friendly to a whole 'nother level!
Ch-ch-check out their adorable SEA-ful cover (below)!!
The end of the federal shutdown means boats will be back out on the Bering Sea to fish for king crab. Loggers are being allowed back into national forests in Oregon. And barriers keeping nature lovers out of national parks across the country have been removed.
Crews on about 80 boats have been sitting out the multimillion-dollar harvest of red king crab because federal managers who assign fishing quotas were among workers furloughed during the government's partial shutdown. They're relieved that they'll soon be able to start their harvest, bringing back an industry that was one of many private sectors of the economy stalled around the country by the bickering in Washington.
"I'm glad the madness has ended," said Capt. Keith Colburn, a regular on Discovery Channel's popular reality show "Deadliest Catch."
Life started to return to normal as the federal government sprang back to life after the 16-day partial shutdown that came to a close after the House and Senate voted late Wednesday to end it. Even the popular panda cam at the National Zoo was back online, though the zoo itself won't reopen until Friday. Federal workers who were furloughed or worked without pay during the shutdown will get back pay in their next paychecks, which for most employees come Oct. 29.
National parks removed barriers and welcomed visitors who had previously been turned away. The Twitter feed of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state posted a picture of the 14,411-foot mountain backed by blue skies, with the message "What a beautiful morning to welcome us back to Mount Rainier! Park gates are now open."
National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said all 401 national park units — including landmarks such the Liberty Bell and Yellowstone — reopened Thursday.
Visitors from around the world flocked to Yosemite National Park to see such famous sites as El Capitan and Half Dome after weeks of closure brought local economies to a near standstill.
More than 20,000 National Park Service employees had been among the 800,000 federal workers sent home at the peak of the shutdown.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park spokeswoman Dana Soehn said that returning employees faced a backlog of work, particularly emails from people applying for permits, and other requests.
"All of those still required response now that we're back to work," said Soehn, adding that she realizes there could be another shutdown in the next few months.
"That is not a prospect that anyone is looking forward to," she said.
At the World War II Memorial, which became a flash point of anger and blame over the government shutdown, the memorial honoring more than 400,000 who died was calm and peaceful again. The memorial's fountains were turned back on, and there were no signs of the barricades that had limited access to the site during the shutdown.
The U.S. Forest Service started lifting a logging ban on national forests. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services restarted the computerized system used to verify the legal status of workers. Boat trips resumed to Alcatraz, the former federal prison in San Francisco Bay, with 1,600 tickets snapped up by tourists in the first hour of business.
Among the many sites reopening in Washington were the Smithsonian Institution's museums, which lost about $2.8 million in revenue during the shutdown, according to Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is tackling backlogs in several of its programs as furloughed workers return.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan welcomed back workers in a video message posted on the agency's website.
"You are better than what we saw in Washington over the past few weeks," he told them. "And I want you to know that your work here at HUD is valued. It's important. It's necessary."
The Defense Department called back about 7,000 furloughed civilians. In an open letter to the workforce, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the department still faces budget uncertainty as Congress struggles to pass a 2014 spending bill and deal with automatic budget cuts. Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale said the department lost at least $600 million worth of productivity during the four days that civilians were furloughed.
In Cincinnati, Renee Yankey, a government alcohol and tobacco tax specialist, was sleep-deprived after staying up late to watch news of the shutdown-ending deal, but otherwise glad to be back at work with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
"I can tell that the alcohol industry missed us," Yankey said. "The first thing I hear is 'I'm so glad I got a person on the phone!'"
Patrice Roberts, who works for Homeland Security, said she wasn't prepared for the emotional lows of the past 16 days.
"It's just frustrating having that kind of control over your life and just having it taken away from me," said Roberts, who is expecting another shutdown in January. "I'll be better prepared next time."
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La Corte reported from Olympia, Wash. Associated Press writers Rachel D'Oro in Anchorage, Alaska; Matthew Barakat in Reston, Va.; Ben Nuckols in Springfield, Va.; Dan Sewell in Cincinnati; Michael Rubinkam in Pottsville, Pa.; Jeannie Nuss in North Little Rock, Ark.; Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia; Lucas L. Johnson II in Nashville, Tenn.; and Jessica Gresko, Brett Zongker, Andrew Miga and Sam Hananel in Washington contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (AP) — An Arkansas man who police say got lost driving around the city was shot and killed early Thursday, apparently by a man he had just asked for directions.
According to police, a man identified by the Cook County Coroner's office as 55-year-old Robert Franklin, of Blytheville, Ark., was with a friend in a car about 3:45 a.m. when a man that Franklin had asked for directions climbed into the backseat and pulled out a gun.
Officer Jose Estrada said the gunman robbed the men of cash and "as he is getting out he turns around and shoots (Franklin) four times in the back."
Estrada said Franklin's friend drove him to Stroger Hospital, where Franklin was pronounced dead a short time after he arrived.
Police had made no arrests as of Thursday afternoon. Police had not identified the suspect or determined exactly where in the city the shooting occurred.
Chicago's violent crime has been the focus on national attention, particularly last year when the city led the nation in homicides with more than 500.
Police note that the vast majority of slayings and other violent crime in the city are related to street gangs. In most cases, police say, the gunmen typically know their victims or they are bystanders caught in gang crossfire. In one such case that was reported around the world, police say two gang members mistook teenager Hadiya Pendleton and her friends as members of a rival gang and opened fire, killing the 15-year-old honor student not far from President Barack Obama's home on the city's South Side.
But apparently random crimes are not unheard of in the city. A current criminal trial receiving extensive coverage focuses on a brutal baseball attack on two women who apparently were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Jemal Countess/Getty Images
Peter Chernin
COLOGNE, Germany – 20th Century Fox Television has picked up adaptation rights for Norwegian thriller Mammon from indie distributor DRG.
Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope will executive produce the U.S. version of the series via Chernin Entertainment. UTA brokered the deal.
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The original series, from Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, focuses on Peter, an investigative journalist working for the country's top newspaper. He uncovers evidence of massive financial fraud which points to his own brother. When he breaks the story, his brother commits suicide and Peter begins a search for the truth, which leads him to the highest levels of Norwegian society.
The first, six-episode season of Mammon will debut on NRK in January, but the series has already been renewed for a second season. This is the first Norwegian series to be picked up for a U.S. remake, though mobster-out-of-water dramedy Lilyhammer, starring Steven Van Zandt, another NRK production, goes out on Netflix.
Mammon was created by sibling writer/producer team Gjermund and Vegard Steinberg Eriksen. Actress Cecilie A. Mosli (Elling) will direct the Norwegian series.
La Paz (Mexico) (AFP) - Gunmen disguised as clowns at a children's party shot dead the eldest brother of Mexico's once powerful Arellano Felix drug cartel family, authorities said Saturday.
Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix, 63, was gunned down at a family event Friday in Cabo San Lucas, a tourist resort in the Baja California peninsula, state special investigations prosecutor Isai Arias told reporters.
"He was hit by two bullets, one in the thorax and one in the head," Arias said.
Relatives identified the former Tijuana drug cartel lieutenant's body, Arias said, adding that there have been no arrests in the case.
The gunmen were dressed as clowns when they shot Arellano Felix at the party in the luxurious Casa Oceano tourist residence, agents close to the case told AFP.
The Arellano Felix brothers once dominated drug trafficking between Mexico and California through their brutal Tijuana cartel, inspiring characters in the Steven Soderbergh movie "Traffic."
Most of the Arellano Felix brothers have been either killed or arrested, leaving the cartel in tatters. Infighting also weakened the group.
Francisco Rafael's murder is likely "due to unpaid old debts, and old retributions" from the times that the Arellanos were at the height of their power between 1990 and 2000, said Raul Benitez a drug trade expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Nicknamed "El Menso" (The Dummy), Francisco Rafael was arrested in 1980 in San Diego, California, for allegedly selling drugs, but slipped back to Mexico when he was released on bail.
In 1993 he was arrested in Mexico and jailed on drug charges. In 2006 he was extradited to the United States and was sentenced to six years in jail after confessing to selling drugs to an undercover agent.
In 2008 he was released, earning time off his sentence for good behavior, according to his attorney at the time, and repatriated to Mexico.
Benitez said that it was unlikely the former drug lord was back in the trade again.
The Tijuana Cartel "has been completely dismantled, with all of its leaders in prison either in the United States or in Mexico," Benitez said.
One of the brothers, Ramon, was killed in a police shootout in 2002. Three other brothers are in US prisons, including Eduardo, who was sentenced to 15 years by a California court in August for money laundering.
Rivals, especially Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa Federation which also began around 1990, have since eclipsed the Tijuana group and taken over most of its territory.
The Sinaloa group, based in the western state of Sinaloa, is Mexico's most powerful drug cartel, rivaled only by the paramilitary Zetas, who are most active in northeastern Mexico.
Security experts however believe the remnants of the cartel survive in the key border city of Tijuana.
They believe the rump cartel is now run by the brothers' sister Enedina and her son Fernando, known as "The Engineer."
Violence linked to drug trafficking and organized crime has left more than 70,000 dead in Mexico over the past seven years.
This article first appeared on Billboard.com.
Kanye West kicked off his 'Yeezus' tour in Seattle, WA on Saturday and as always, left people talking.
The show, which reportedly started two hours late due to an equipment truck being stolen, lasted two hours. Ye' performed material from his six-album discography, including live debuts of "Yeezus" cuts ("Hold My Liquor," "I'm In It" and "Guilt Trip"), according to Consequence of Sound.
But what has the Internet stunned is the stage production (which included a giant mountain top), merchandise (t-shirts with skulls and confederate flags printed on them), and Kanye West's guest, a Jesus Christ look-alike.
The actor dressed as Jesus walked on stage before 'Ye performed his College Dropout hit, "Jesus Walks." "White Jesus, is that you?… Oh, shit!," he said jokingly, according to MTV News. Ye', alongside a group of women back-up dancers dressed in white, later bowed to the Jesus look-alike as he stood on the mountain top.
Before Kanye hit the stage, Kendrick Lamar performed a nine-song set which included songs off his "good kid, m.a.a.d. city" album.
Check out footage from the 'Yeezus' tour courtesy of DONDA Creative Director, Virgil Abloh:
