Latest Updates
‘Man of Steel’ Has Largest June Opening Ever
Clay Enos/Warne Bros.
With $113.1 million in North America alone.
Move over, Avengers: there's a new top superhero in town. Actually, he's the oldest superhero there is. Despite lackluster reviews, the new Superman vehicle Man of Steel raked it in at the box office on opening weekend, taking in $113.1 million in North America alone, adding to a total $196.7 million worldwide. More significantly for movie-fan purposes, it beat out Toy Story 3 for the biggest June opening of all time and took 60 percent of the weekend market. It's okay, Buzz. You'll always be the best superhero in our hearts. This Is the End came in second, with $38.2 million, while Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring took in $210,000 in just five theatres in New York and Los Angeles—making it Coppola’s best opening since Lost in Translation.
Google to Release Wi-Fi Balloons
Jon Shenk/AP
Balloons will beam Internet to hard-to-reach places.
We're all used to wireless Internet now, but compared to what's coming soon, that could be considered low-tech. Most traditional wi-fi still relies on routers plugged into a wall, but now Google's taking it to the next level. The tech company announced on Saturday that it plans to release 30 wi-fi test balloons into the atmosphere. The balloons are intended to beam down Internet access to areas without ground connections. "Project Loon" will begin on New Zealand's South Island this month and will hopefully, according to Google, "connect people in rural and remote areas, help fill coverage gaps, and bring people back online after disasters." You go, Google!
Microsoft Office Arrives for iPhone
Now available in App Store.
Better late than never! Starting today, Microsoft is now offering Office Mobile for iPhone users. It will be free for Office 365 subscribers. The move was a long time coming, as rumors have swirled since 2010 about bringing Office products to mobile Apple products. With the move, Microsoft Office goes from having a limited impact in the mobile market to having a potentially massive one.
Japanese Balls Doctored
Led to flurry of home runs.
Now this is sleazy corporate behavior people will actually do something about. It’s been a home-run-happy season so far for Japanese baseball, in fact there have been 60 percent more home runs this year than last. Initially, in response to skepticism, Nippon Professional Baseball denied it had done anything to the baseballs. Then, on Tuesday, the NPB copped to its crimes, announcing it had in fact changed the official balls to make them go farther.
S.F. Parking Spot Sells for $82K
Ben Margot
Near Giants baseball stadium.
Single-room space with no views? It doesn’t matter how bad a deal it is, it’s bound to fetch a high price in real-estate-cramped San Francisco. The excesses just keep mounting: an 8-by-12-foot parking space in an enclosed garage near the stadium where the baseball Giants play sold this week for $82,000, after just two weeks on the market. The real-estate agent said he sold a spot in the same building for $95,000 during the last housing boom. San Francisco’s real-estate prices have skyrocketed 22 percent from last year, according to the last measurement in March.
Gene Tests Likely to Spread
Zi xin/AP
After Supreme Court ruling against patents.
Immediately after the Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday against the patenting of genes, several laboratories said they would begin genetic testing for breast cancer, an early sign of the likelihood that the tests will become more widely available and affordable. “It levels the playing field; we can all go out and compete,” the head of one testing company said. The ruling broke a nearly two-decade monopoly by Myriad Genetics on testing for mutations of the BRCA genes that indicate breast cancer. It will not, however, have much effect on the pharmaceutical or genetically engineered agriculture industries, both of which more often use synthetic DNA that is not covered by the decision.
Is Sandberg Leaning Out?
Yonhap/EPA, via Landov
Facebook's rock star chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg insists that she's not leaving the social network. But status updates are prone to change, writes Daniel Gross.
About 66 minutes into Facebook’s annual shareholder meeting earlier this week, a stockowner stood up and posed a question to Sheryl Sandberg, the company’s long-serving chief operating officer who this spring penned a best-selling book, Lean In, and then created a nonprofit group, Leanin.org to promote women in the workplace. “You wrote a great book in the last year, spent a lot of time promoting it, traveling around. I’m sure it did a lot of positive things for Facebook’s ability to attract people.
Anamanaguchi Wins the Internet
Courtesy of Anamanaguchi
Jean Trinh attends Anamanaguchi’s live show and talks with a band member on the heels of their ‘Endless Fantasy’ album release, a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, and more.
Anamanaguchi is moving on up. It’s been three years since the eight-bit electronic outfit last put out an album—the nostalgic Nintendo-laced tracks of the videogame soundtrack for 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game. Since their successful Kickstarter campaign, the quartet released their much-anticipated sophomore studio album, Endless Fantasy, in May (on their own label, Dream.hax); toured across the U.S. in sold-out shows; partied with behavior analysts; and sent pizza into space (really).
Dow Closes Up Big
On economic data and Fed news.
Despite some global markets struggling (Japan) the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 180 points to finish the day above the 15,000 threshold. Better-than-expected retail and jobs numbers provided some of the push for the market. However, investors really jumped with the arrival of Jon Hilsenrath’s Wall Street Journal piece announcing the Fed is pushing back against market expectations of a rate increase.
Bad Teeth, Broken Dreams: Lack of Dental Care Keeps Many Out of Jobs
John Moore/Getty
One of the biggest factors in breaking out of a jobless streak could be … your teeth? CNBC reports that bad dental care may be keeping people in unemployment lines.
by JoNel Aleccia With five broken teeth, three cavities and a painful gum abscess spreading to her sinuses, Patty Kennedy knew she had to get in line early for a free dental clinic held last month in San Jose, Calif.The 53-year-old woman from Modesto, nearly 100 miles away, was counting on the care to repair not only her smile and her worsening health, but also her chances of getting a job."I'd love to work at a grocery store as a cashier.
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