Megaupload Shut Down, Owners Charged

A day after many websites and individuals on the Internet went dark in protest of SOPA / PIPA, federal prosecutors in the United States shut down the file sharing site Megaupload. Among the charges the site’s owners were cited with included copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit racketeering and money laundering.

In a statement issued by the US Justice department, prosecutors claims,  “This action is among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States.”

Seven people and two companies (Megaupload Limited and Vestor Limited ) were listed on the indictment.  On Thursday, New Zealand police arrested four people at the request of U.S. officials. A federal court in Virginia seized 18 domain names associated with the website, in addition to roughly $50m in assets.

Megaupload boasted endorsements from celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Alicia Keys, who is married to Megaupload’s  CEO, Swizz Beatz.

You can view the indictment in full at Scribd.com: http://www.scribd.com/doc/78786408/Mega-Indictment

[Via]



DC Comics Unleashes New Logos

It’s not just a few new books DC comics launched, today an update to their iconic logo was unveiled.

DC Comics EVP of Sales, John Reed, explains the why behind the redesign:

“It’s a new era at DC Entertainment and the new look reflects a dynamic, bold approach while at the same time celebrates the company’s rich heritage and robust portfolio of characters. It was just a few months ago that Superman, Batman and many of our other Super Heroes were updated when we launched DC Comics – The New 52 and now it’s time to do the same for the company’s identity while remaining true to the power of storytelling which is still at the heart of DC Entertainment.”

What are your thoughts on the new logos?

[Via: DC Comics]



10 Nails to Scratch Them All [Pic]

Think you can come up with a clever alternative to Tolkien’s famous “One ring to rule them all” poem by inspiring yourself from the picture above? Give us your best shot in the comments section below!

[Source]

The Bark Side: The Most Awesome Super Bowl Ad Teaser of All Time [Video]

Ok, saying that this is the most awesome Super Bowl ad of all time may not be entirely true since I may be a little biased on the subject. I do run a site about all things geek after all! :)

A canine chorus barks a familiar tune. Keep an eye out for our 2012 Game Day commercial—it will all make sense.

[Via Jalopnik]

Sh*t Comic Book Nerds Say

You’ve seen a lot of these going around lately, but here’s one with a few things that I know I’ve said on occasion at least. “No one stays dead…”

[Jawiin]

Stargazing Show Inspires Amateur Planet Discovery

Stargazing show inspires amateur planet discovery

A viewer of the UK’s Stargazing Live show has helped discover a planet.

Chris Holmes didn’t notice the planet on his TV set (high definition only goes so far) but rather at Planethunters.org, a site that asks volunteers to search through imagery from the Kepler telescope operated by NASA.

Holmes was inspired to check out the site when watching a report on it on the BBC2 show hosted by Professor Brian Cox and comedian Dara O Briain (pictured). The three-episode series of live astronomy broadcast from the Jodrell Bank Observatory tied in with a series of nationwide events.

Visitors to the Planethunters site are asked to look at charts of light measured by Kepler as it observes various stars. A dip in the light level may suggest a planet has passed in front of a star, and multiple observations can give an indication of its size and position.

While computer systems can keep track of and analyse data from the telescope, they work much better for planets in close orbit to stars where there’s a strong pattern. With planets in wider orbit that pass “in front” of the star less frequently, it’s harder for computers to spot what are literally blips. By displaying the data in graphical form, the project can take advantage of the skills humans use in recognizing faces.

In the space of 48 hours during the run of Stargazing Live broadcasters, visitors to the site checked through more than a million images. Among those was one viewed by Holmes, who saw a light dip that appeared to be from a planet passing the orange dwarf star SPH10066540. His observation allowed researchers to look back through the dataset and find several other instances. However, it will take several more observations before the planet’s existence can be formally confirmed.

Based on the available data, researchers believe the planet is around the size of Neptune, but orbits at a similar distance to its star as Mercury does to the Sun.