WEIRD NEWS
Fate in a Fax
Joshua Miles, a 36-year-old inmate at South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, W.Va., should have been out of jail last week. Instead, because a release fax failed to transmit, he was left in his cell...where it is believed he committed suicide. Miles was found unresponsive in his cell early on Thursday and was later pronounced dead, despite medical assistance from jail officials. Just a day earlier, a Kanawha County magistrate had tried to fax a release order for Miles to the jail, where he had been placed on Feb. 27. But the fax failed to go through, per a "communication result report." That report was placed in Miles' case file in Kanawha Magistrate Court; it's unclear if anyone reviewed the printout before filing it. Officials are investigating. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
New Prince EP Tomorrow?
Well good news Prince fans...maybe. There's supposed to be a new Prince EP out tomorrow - by indie label Rogue Music Alliance - to commemorate the first anniversary of his death. The six-track Deliverance - which can be preordered online at iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon - is a posthumous compilation of songs co-written and co-produced between 2006 and 2008 by the Minnesota pop star and Ian Boxill, whom he often worked with and who finished up the songs after Prince's death. The title track, which Rolling Stone says "unleashes fervent guitar and vocal performance," is already available to stream and download. However, there's a legal action threatening to put the entire thing on hold. A lawsuit filed by Paisley Park and Prince's estate accuses Boxill accuses the label of breaking a confidentiality contract and "trying to exploit one or more songs for his personal gain." The complaint values the songs at more than $75,000. The press release notes "the majority of all sales of Deliverance will benefit Prince's estate." If the EP drop does happen, there are also plans to distribute it as a disc at stores such as Walmart and Target. "I hope when people hear Prince singing these songs it will bring comfort to many," Boxill says in the release. (Rolling Stone)
Don't Waste Time - Get Smarter!
How much "wait-learning" have you done today? That's the new term MIT scientists have for picking up knowledge while you'd otherwise be wasting time lingering in an elevator, waiting for a reply to your text, or doing other things that would normally have you simply staring off into space. Well now there's an app for that - one that will help you maximize those "micro-moments" and get smarter in the process. First introduced in a paper last month published in the ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction journal, the WaitSuite language software developed in MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory detects when you're idling during five distinct tasks - the elevator and text message scenarios, as well as while uploading content to your phone, searching for a WiFi connection, and sending or receiving emails - and then shows you new vocabulary words in a language you're trying to learn. Because the technology sends the words directly onto the screen you're currently viewing, rather than being a discrete feature to open separately, you're able to learn "without leaving what you were already doing," project lead Carrie Cai says in a release. (Newser)
You Cannot Tweet "Trump Must Hang"
Just so you'll know - freedom of speech doesn't mean you can say - or tweet - anything. Fresno State history professor Lars Maischak is taking a "voluntary leave of absence" over a tweet about Donald Trump. Fresno State President Joseph Castro says Maischak will spend the rest of the spring semester doing research instead of teaching after a February tweet he sent out to a few dozen followers which read: "To save American democracy, Trump must hang. The sooner and the higher, the better!" The tweet went basically unnoticed until Breitbart publicized it and other Maischak tweets in an April 8 article. Since then, the FBI and Secret Service got involved in the probe, and an online petition went up calling for Maischak's firing for "inciting violence." In a written statement last week, Maischak apologized for the "cathartic" tweet, which he said wasn't meant to spur violence and was "the end point of a dark train of thought" from his "despair over the actions of the present US government." He said he didn't think anyone other than a few people who knew him well would ever read his remarks and that he has taken down his Twitter account so no one sees his comments as "encouragement to act violently or unlawfully." (Washington Post)
Trump-loving Tom Brady Skiped the White House
Tom Brady was a very public supporter of Donald Trump back during the election, but the superstar quarterback did not join his New England Patriots teammates when the Super Bowl champions visited the White House yesterday (Wednesday) to accept congratulations from now President Trump for another NFL title. But it's not over politics. The White House said it was notified that Brady was dealing with a "personal family matter" and could not attend the ceremony. Team owner Bob Kraft is also a longtime Trump friend, and Brady supported Trump during the campaign. About two dozen other players also declined the invitation over political reasons. (Newser)
Drive Thru Weed
A businessman in Colorado wants make getting marijuana even easier with drive thru service! The Tumbleweed Express officially opens today (Thursday), and is a new development for the state, which legalized marijuana in 2012. Customers drive in, select what they want from a menu and order it from the parking lot outside. They then drive up to a counter in the former car wash and pick it up. CEO Mark Smith said, "Almost like ordering sushi, we're going to have paper menus where people can fill out exactly what they want and then give them to the security out there." The "dispensary" in the town of Parachute offers three entrances for people to pick up what they choose, including one designed for discretion. They'll also be selling snacks so it can be a one-stop-shop for all your pot-based needs. Well, provided you can prove you're at least 21. (Newser)
What the What?
In South Lebanon Township, Pennsylvania, a 76-year-old grandma is accused of making harassing phone calls and walking around her neighborhood in her underwear! Linda Corp has been charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and public intoxication. She allegedly made 16 harassing phone calls to 911 and two to South Lebanon Township police just after midnight on April 9. She was also reportedly walking around her neighborhood in her underwear, through peoples' yards, ringing doorbells and standing in the street screaming. (Penn Live)
Joshua Miles, a 36-year-old inmate at South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, W.Va., should have been out of jail last week. Instead, because a release fax failed to transmit, he was left in his cell...where it is believed he committed suicide. Miles was found unresponsive in his cell early on Thursday and was later pronounced dead, despite medical assistance from jail officials. Just a day earlier, a Kanawha County magistrate had tried to fax a release order for Miles to the jail, where he had been placed on Feb. 27. But the fax failed to go through, per a "communication result report." That report was placed in Miles' case file in Kanawha Magistrate Court; it's unclear if anyone reviewed the printout before filing it. Officials are investigating. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
New Prince EP Tomorrow?
Well good news Prince fans...maybe. There's supposed to be a new Prince EP out tomorrow - by indie label Rogue Music Alliance - to commemorate the first anniversary of his death. The six-track Deliverance - which can be preordered online at iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon - is a posthumous compilation of songs co-written and co-produced between 2006 and 2008 by the Minnesota pop star and Ian Boxill, whom he often worked with and who finished up the songs after Prince's death. The title track, which Rolling Stone says "unleashes fervent guitar and vocal performance," is already available to stream and download. However, there's a legal action threatening to put the entire thing on hold. A lawsuit filed by Paisley Park and Prince's estate accuses Boxill accuses the label of breaking a confidentiality contract and "trying to exploit one or more songs for his personal gain." The complaint values the songs at more than $75,000. The press release notes "the majority of all sales of Deliverance will benefit Prince's estate." If the EP drop does happen, there are also plans to distribute it as a disc at stores such as Walmart and Target. "I hope when people hear Prince singing these songs it will bring comfort to many," Boxill says in the release. (Rolling Stone)
Don't Waste Time - Get Smarter!
How much "wait-learning" have you done today? That's the new term MIT scientists have for picking up knowledge while you'd otherwise be wasting time lingering in an elevator, waiting for a reply to your text, or doing other things that would normally have you simply staring off into space. Well now there's an app for that - one that will help you maximize those "micro-moments" and get smarter in the process. First introduced in a paper last month published in the ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction journal, the WaitSuite language software developed in MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory detects when you're idling during five distinct tasks - the elevator and text message scenarios, as well as while uploading content to your phone, searching for a WiFi connection, and sending or receiving emails - and then shows you new vocabulary words in a language you're trying to learn. Because the technology sends the words directly onto the screen you're currently viewing, rather than being a discrete feature to open separately, you're able to learn "without leaving what you were already doing," project lead Carrie Cai says in a release. (Newser)
You Cannot Tweet "Trump Must Hang"
Just so you'll know - freedom of speech doesn't mean you can say - or tweet - anything. Fresno State history professor Lars Maischak is taking a "voluntary leave of absence" over a tweet about Donald Trump. Fresno State President Joseph Castro says Maischak will spend the rest of the spring semester doing research instead of teaching after a February tweet he sent out to a few dozen followers which read: "To save American democracy, Trump must hang. The sooner and the higher, the better!" The tweet went basically unnoticed until Breitbart publicized it and other Maischak tweets in an April 8 article. Since then, the FBI and Secret Service got involved in the probe, and an online petition went up calling for Maischak's firing for "inciting violence." In a written statement last week, Maischak apologized for the "cathartic" tweet, which he said wasn't meant to spur violence and was "the end point of a dark train of thought" from his "despair over the actions of the present US government." He said he didn't think anyone other than a few people who knew him well would ever read his remarks and that he has taken down his Twitter account so no one sees his comments as "encouragement to act violently or unlawfully." (Washington Post)
Trump-loving Tom Brady Skiped the White House
Tom Brady was a very public supporter of Donald Trump back during the election, but the superstar quarterback did not join his New England Patriots teammates when the Super Bowl champions visited the White House yesterday (Wednesday) to accept congratulations from now President Trump for another NFL title. But it's not over politics. The White House said it was notified that Brady was dealing with a "personal family matter" and could not attend the ceremony. Team owner Bob Kraft is also a longtime Trump friend, and Brady supported Trump during the campaign. About two dozen other players also declined the invitation over political reasons. (Newser)
Drive Thru Weed
A businessman in Colorado wants make getting marijuana even easier with drive thru service! The Tumbleweed Express officially opens today (Thursday), and is a new development for the state, which legalized marijuana in 2012. Customers drive in, select what they want from a menu and order it from the parking lot outside. They then drive up to a counter in the former car wash and pick it up. CEO Mark Smith said, "Almost like ordering sushi, we're going to have paper menus where people can fill out exactly what they want and then give them to the security out there." The "dispensary" in the town of Parachute offers three entrances for people to pick up what they choose, including one designed for discretion. They'll also be selling snacks so it can be a one-stop-shop for all your pot-based needs. Well, provided you can prove you're at least 21. (Newser)
What the What?
In South Lebanon Township, Pennsylvania, a 76-year-old grandma is accused of making harassing phone calls and walking around her neighborhood in her underwear! Linda Corp has been charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and public intoxication. She allegedly made 16 harassing phone calls to 911 and two to South Lebanon Township police just after midnight on April 9. She was also reportedly walking around her neighborhood in her underwear, through peoples' yards, ringing doorbells and standing in the street screaming. (Penn Live)
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