Week in Review

This week we learn that Google Chrome is pretty popular, DC Comics is outing one of it’s characters and some games are just so good that you want to tie up a 4-year-old.

You Are Probably Using Google Chrome to Read This

Oh, how the mediocre have fallen. Back in the day, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer was cool. Really cool. Then people realized the browser sucked way more RAM and CPU cycles than it needed to, but there wasn’t really an alternative. Mozilla came out with the Firefox browser in 2004, and offered the first real challenge to IE’s superiority, with tabbed browsing and helpful extensions. Google followed with Chrome in 2008, and with two viable solutions – not counting Safari if you’re a pesky Mac-user – the worldwide usership of Internet Explorer waned. (Link)

DC Says One Of Its “Iconic” Heroes Is Gay

When you get down to it, there’s something about superhero comics that is just inherently homoerotic. You have these strapping, square-jawed men in skin-tight spandex with rippling muscles forging lasting bonds with equally spandex-clad muscle-men – it’s like the locker room after a football game. In that light, it’s a wonder that there aren’t more openly gay superheroes. However, DC Comics says that one of its major heroes will be soon joining the ranks of Northstar and the Midnighter as an openly gay crimefighter. (Link)

High Schooler Builds Portable X-Ray Machine

With a bit of research and tenacity, a high school student by the name of Adam Munich has completed probably one of the most interesting science projects to date: a fully-operational, portable, battery-powered X-ray machine. Munich was inspired to build the portable device after speaking with two friends online, one of whom lived in Pakistan and complained about the rolling electricity blackouts affecting his country, and another whose local hospital had problems finding a working X-ray machine to help him deal with a broken leg. (Link)

Entire 38 Studios Staff Laid Off, Effective Immediately

After weeks of uncertainty regarding the future of Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios, which saw everything from missing paychecks to fleeing executives, every single employee has been officially been laid off. 38 Studios, which employed nearly four hundred workers between its Maryland and Rhode Island offices, have informed employees of their termination through a succinct, impersonal email. “The Company is experiencing an economic downturn,” it read. (Link)

Guy Ties Up 4-Year-Old So He Can Play Videogames

According to a court affidavit, one Heath Howe, a 27-year-old gentleman from Sarasota was arrested after he tied up a four-year-old girl with rope and left her in the kitchen while he retired to the living room to play games. Howe’s relation to the girl is currently unknown. The girl told police she didn’t think she was being punished because Howe didn’t say anything to her while he tied her up. (Link)