By Cynthia Herbert :: 1:13 AM
If you’ve searched for anything on Google today, you’ve probably seen the image above, and wondered who it is. Google’s doodle today marks what would have been the 88th birthday of Celia Cruz, considered to be one of the most popular salsa performers of the 20th century.
Cruz was born on October 21, 1925 in Havana, Cuba to a railroad worker and his wife. The family had dozens of children. In her teen years, an aunt took Cruz along with other young female family members to cabarets in Havana, to learn how to sing, and the rest was history.
She had her first big break in 1950 when she was named  lead vocalist for a big band called La Sonora Matancera. In 1959, after the Castro regime took over Cuba, she fled to America, and continued to spread her love for Latin American music throughout the world. Castro barred her return to Cuba, and Cruz died in the U.S. in 2003.
Below, a video of Cruz singing Guantanamera:
By Katherine McClosky :: 6:03 PM
Google’s popular Chromecast
Now, the Chromecast app won’t do much for you without the accompanying device, but this might signal that Google is getting ready to allow the sale of the gadget outside of the U.S. for the first time.
Chromecast hooks up to your HD television by plugging in to an HDMI port, and then synchs with your local wireless network. You can use the Chromecast app on your tablet or smartphone to control the Chromecast device and send content to it from supported applications. Right now, the only apps that are supported on the iPhone and iOS devices are YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix, and on Android devices, those three are supported, plus the Google Play Music and Movies apps.
In addition to apps, computers running the Chrome operating system can download an extension that will allow users to send a tab from the browser to appear on the television.
At this time, it is not possible to send content from your computer to Chromecast, such as a DVD or downloaded movie.
The following companies or apps are said to be developing versions that will work with the Chromecast device:
AOL On, Bitcasa, Blip, BubbleUPnP, Devour, HBO Go, Pandora Radio, PlayOn, Plex, Pocket Casts, PostTV, Qello, Redbox Instant, Revision3, Simple.TV, Songza, Tonido Home Cloud, Twitch.tv, VEVO, Vimeo, Zattoo.
By Gilbert Falso :: 11:03 AM
UPDATE: As of 3:25 PM local time, Time Warner representatives claim the outage has been fixed. “Today’s technical issues affecting our services have been resolved. We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding,” they wrote in a Tweet.
If you live in NYC, and are having difficulty getting online this morning with your Time Warner Cable Road Runner service, you’re not alone.
The company has confirmed, via its Twitter account, that it is experiencing issues with connectivity across the region.
Many users have taken to social media to complain about lack of Internet access, starting earlier this morning. The company has not identified what has caused the issue, and has not yet provided an estimated time of repair.
By Paul Thomson :: 1:36 AM
Nintendo today announced that U.S. sales of its Wii U console gaming system rose over 200% last month over August sales due to a price cut of $50 on September 20.
In the U.K. sales were up over 600%, due to a special bundled offering of a limited-edition Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD package that was introduced at the beginning of this month.
The Wii U isn’t the only bright spot for Nintendo right now. The company also discussed data from the NPD Group, that showed its 3DS was the best-selling game system in the U.S. for the fifth month running. The company declined to provide specific sales numbers for either the Wii or the 3DS.
“Nintendo has one of the strongest and most diverse video game lineups in our history,” Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo’s president and COO in its Americas division said back in August when it announced the price drop for the Wii U. “We’re making those unique Nintendo experiences more accessible and affordable.”
Indeed, the Wii U is expected to be a major player in this year’s holiday wish list, with many retailers already working on additional incentives and bundles to bring shoppers in the door who are hoping to put a Wii U under the Christmas tree.
Many gamers are eagerly awaiting the fall lineup of new games, which is expected to include:
- Wii Party U: Launches Oct. 25 bundled with a Wii Remote Plus controller and stand at a suggested retail price of $49.99.
- Super Mario 3D World: Launches Nov. 22 at a suggested retail price of $59.99.
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze: Launches Dec. 6 at a suggested retail price of $49.99.
- Wii Fit U: Launches this holiday season. Availability date not set yet.
- • Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Availability date not set yet.
Third-party titles expected soon for the Wii U include: Call of Duty: Ghosts (Nov. 5) from Activision Publishing; Sonic Lost World (Oct. 22) from SEGA, Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag (Oct. 29) and Watch_Dogs (Nov. 19) from Ubisoft.
By Paul Thomson :: 10:37 PM
Two Florida girls, Guadalupe Shaw, 14, and Katelyn Roman, 12, were arrested on Monday in connection with the suicide death last month of 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick.
Sedwick jumped off of a tower on September 19th after enduring repeated harassment from the Shaw and Roman, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s office. Sedwick had allegedly dated Shaw’s former boyfriend, which is what started the bullying and attacks against her.
The verbal harassment occurred from December 2012 to February 2013
Police investigating the circumstances of Sedwick’s suicide discovered that the girls sent messages to Rebecca on social media sites, like Facebook, which called her “ugly,” and told her to “drink bleach and die.” At least one message was sent that encouraged Rebecca to take her own life. In addition to the online threats, both girls had made physical threats against Sedwick, and engaged her in a fight at least one time.
The girls were charged with felony counts of aggravated stalking.
Over the weekend, the older girl published this message to her Facebook account: “Yes I know I bullied Rebecca and she killed herself, but IDGAF.”
Both Shaw and Roman were booked into juvenile facilities in the county, and then released to the custody of their parents, where they will remain on home detention until a trial date is set.
