Our weekly roundup of the good, the bad, and the ugly on the 'net. See last week's here.
ONE: SNEAKER SPEAKERS!
ONE: Google+ gets an update
Google+ now has “Communities,” which is basically Facebook Groups. The company also announced new stats: 500 million accounts, 235 million using Google+ features of some sort and 135 million actually using the newsfeed.
ONE: The Silicon Valley of Europe
“Poor, but sexy” Berlin has become Europe’s tech capital thanks to cheap rent and a young trendy population. “Berlin is punk meeting tech," says SoundCloud co-founder Swedish-born Eric Wahlforss, one of the founders of SoundCloud.
ONE: Neil Gaiman and Neil deGrasse Tyson talk dirty
ZERO: Congress voted to remove the word “lunatic” from federal law, while keeping “idiot”
The vote was basically unanimous.
ONE: The bizarre story of Liechtenstein's first Grammy nominee
ZERO: The rise of ransomware
Where hackers lock your computer with a virus and promise to sell you back the access for a steep fine. The worst part? They usually don’t unlock it, even if you pay.
ONE: This delorean taxi
ZERO: Windows 8, a Christmas gift for someone you hate
Ouch.
ZERO: Rent a boyfriend on this Japanese website for $364
You can sleep in his arms, go out for a date, or even have him clean your apartment. Just nothing sexual.
ONE: This cheetah video
ONE: Life and death in the United States visualized
This site simulates the birth and death of Americans across the country in real-time.
ZERO: China's foreign minister has no idea who Elton John is
Something the Chinese people found quite amusing.