Netflix just released its first teaser trailer for the second season of its original program "House of Cards" featuring Kevin Spacey.
It doesn't show much — just actress Robin Wright smoking — but does tease a return date of February 14. So Happy (early) Valentine's Day.
The show won three primetime Emmys earlier this year.
SEE ALSO: New "Amazing Spider-Man 2" poster hints at multiple villains
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DJ Earworm just released his annual mashup of the year's biggest pop songs.
It's called the "United State of Pop 2013" and he does one every year.
You can listen to the song below! It's pretty flawless, and somehow gets better with each passing minute. Can you hear all of the songs?
Here is the full list:
Avicii feat. Aloe Blacc - Wake Me Up
Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man
Capital Cities - Safe & Sound
Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams - Get Lucky
Eminem feat. Rihanna - The Monster
Florida Georgia Line feat. Nelly - Cruise
Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
Imagine Dragons - Demons
Jay-Z feat. Justin Timberlake - Holy Grail
Justin Timberlake - Mirrors
Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z - Suit & Tie
Katy Perry - Roar
Lady Gaga - Applause
Lorde - Royals
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton - Can't Hold Us
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz - Thrift Shop
Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop
OneRepublic - Counting Stars
P!nk feat. Nate Ruess - Just Give Me A Reason
Rihanna - Stay
Robin Thicke feat. Pharrell & T.I. - Blurred Lines
Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin - Don't You Worry Child
Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble
Will.I.Am feat. Britney Spears - Scream And Shout
And for fun, here's the mashup from 2009 that got everyone officially hooked on DJ Earworm's annual song production:
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Ben Affleck spoke with Playboy Magazine for the start of its 60th anniversary celebration and dished about past regrets and playing Batman and past regrets.
Clearly a lot of fans were upset when the "Argo" actor was announced to take over the Bat mantle from Christian Bale in the "Batman / Superman" movie because of his past performance in 2003's "Daredevil."
Well, Affleck hears you loud and clear. He finally admits he wasn't happy with the Marvel movie either.
Movie and pop culture site Latino Review got their hands on an early copy of the lengthy interview before the magazine hit store shelves where Affleck describes how the superhero film was his biggest career mistake and how playing the Caped Crusader may be one way of making up for the movie.
"The only movie I actually regret is Daredevil. It just kills me. I love that story, that character, and the fact that it got f----- up the way it did stays with me. Maybe that’s part of the motivation to do Batman."
And to all the Batfleck haters, Affleck defended himself in Batman's shoes:
"If I thought the result would be another Daredevil, I’d be out there picketing myself. [laughs] Why would I make the movie if I didn’t think it was going to be good and that I can be good in it?"
The Batman / Superman movie comes to theaters July 17, 2015.
SEE ALSO: Warner Bros. registers eight possible names for the "Batman / Superman" movie
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"Anchorman" star Ron Burgundy, aka Will Ferrell, interviewed Peyton Manning on Tuesday during a segment of SportsCenter.
Ron Burgundy and co-star Champ Kind (David Koechner) will host the 6 PM SportsCenter on Thursday.
Peyton can't help but start laughing:
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While promoting his new film "Philomena" on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" Tuesday, English actor/comedian Steve Coogan did his best impressions of Sean Connery, Liam Neeson, Michael Cane, and Martin Sheen.
And they're pretty spot-on. Watch below:
SEE ALSO: The First 'House Of Cards' Season 2 Teaser Trailer Doesn't Reveal Much
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Sure we all know Paul Walker was the face of the "Fast and Furious" franchise or perhaps you recall him in the 1999 classic "Varsity Blues" — but not everyone knows that the late actor started his career in Hollywood at just 12-years-old.
As a child star, Walker played a mentally challenged boy in "Highway to Heaven" and a glasses-clad kid in the horror film "Monster in the Closet."
As a teen heartthrob, Walker had cameos on some of the biggest TV shows, such as "Charles In Charge" and "Who's The Boss."
Watch some of the late actor's older work below:
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Variety reports that "Fast and Furious" actress Gal Gadot will play Wonder Woman in the "Batman / Superman" movie.
Gadot will star alongside Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck in the "Man of Steel" sequel.
The actress played a minor role in Universal's summer blockbuster "Fast and Furious 6" with Vin Diesel and Paul Walker.
Last month, Variety reported Gadot was one of three actresses testing for the role of the Amazon Princess.
The "Fast and Furious" actress was reportedly up against Elodie Yung ("G.I. Joe: Retaliation") and Olga Kurylenko ("Quantum of Solace").
In comic iterations of the character, Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince has had romantic ties to Bruce Wayne / Batman.
The entry of the heroine helps pave the way for an eventual Justice League film that could compete with Disney and Marvel's already well-established "Avengers" storyline.
Variety also speculates that other members of the DC team could make appearances in the film including the Flash.
The untitled "Batman / Superman" movie will be released July 17, 2015.
SEE ALSO: Ben Affleck says "Daredevil" was one of the motivations behind taking on the role of Batman
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Following the Nov. 30 death of Paul Walker in a car crash in Santa Clarita, Calif., the "Fast & Furious" franchise — for which he's most famous for — has released a touching two-minute video tribute to the 40-year-old actor.
The video highlights Walker's five appearances as the Brian O'Conner character in the series (he was not in Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift) before finishing with a message of "In Loving Memory."
The song “Coming Home” by P. Diddy featuring Skylar Grey plays in the background, according to Variety.
The Youtube description of the video advises fans and friends to donate to Walker's charity, Reach Out Worldwide (ROWW), instead of sending flowers or other gifts.
Production of "Fast & Furious 7" has been put on hold indefinitely, and some Hollywood insiders are saying the actor's death puts the studio in "uncharted territory" with no clear way forward.
Here's the video:
SEE ALSO: How Hollywood grieved Paul Walker's death
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Two recent events illustrate that most people do not protect their data very well online.
On October 4, Adobe reported that its systems had been penetrated by attackers who stole 38 million user accounts and passwords.
BBC reports that "123456" was the most popular password among the comprimised Adobe users. About 1.9 million people used the sequence.
This week security experts from Spiderlab said they discovered a trove 2 million stolen social media passwords from all over the world in a criminal cyber network and analyzed that.
Spiderlab reported that "there were more terrible passwords than excellent ones, more bad passwords than good, and the majority, as usual, is somewhere in between in the Medium category."
After comparing it the 2006, Spiderlab concluded that "people still choose comfort over security."
Here are the 20 most popular passwords in the hands of the Adobe hack (Spiderlab's top 10 is similar). Users with these sequences are essentially inviting hackers to take data in very litte time:
As BI's Julie Bort noted: "If you recognize your favorite password here, it's really time to pick something else." Here are some tips on choosing strong passwords.
SEE ALSO: CYBER EXPERT: I Can Create A Real-Time Profile Of You
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The first trailer for one of next year's biggest films, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" is out, and the trailer looks pretty great.
Andrew Garfield returns as Peter Parker who will not have to face one, but three villains. Electro (Jamie Foxx), the Rhino (Paul Giamatti), and the Green Goblin were all teased on a triptych poster officially unveiled earlier this week.
Emma Stone also returns as Parker's love interest Gwen Stacy.
One thing we're excited for from the trailer is that looks like the sequel will finally delve into the story of Peter's parents which was hinted at in the first film.
"The Amazing Spider-Man 2" comes to theaters May 2014.
Now that you've watched the trailer, here are a few things we noticed:
A link to a Tumblr account for The Daily Bugle:
Giamatti as the Rhino taking shots at Spidey.
The Rhino in a Transformer-like outfit:
Spectacularly creepy shot of what looks like the Green Goblin (unless he's going by the Hobgoblin in this film).
Is that actor Dane DeHaan who joined the cast as Peter Parker's "friend" Harry Osborn?
Foxx as a menacing Electro:
Andrew Garfield at the grave of Uncle Ben, his parents, or someone else? ... 
And that awesome blast shot of Spider-Man where it looks like he's fighting the Rhino. What else could that horn be?
SEE ALSO: Two more future villains were teased in the trailer. Did you spot them?
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East Asia is trapped in a vicious cycle of escalating tensions, with China's rising power giving Japanese hawks legitimacy in their bid to bolster the military -- exactly what Beijing says it fears.
The United States -- rival to one power, ally to the other -- finds itself walking a tightrope, with Vice President Joe Biden in China this week urging restraint to "reduce the possibility of crisis or mistake", according to a US administration official.
But that is hard when relations between Asia's two biggest economies are so poisoned by history. Every time Beijing summons the demons of Japan's past aggression, Tokyo plays on fears of Chinese domination to come.
"This is a battle about pride," said Takehiko Yamamoto, international security professor at Japan's Waseda University. "I cannot, for now, see there being any compromises."
Simmering tensions heated up with Japan's September 2012 purchase of some of the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islands, in the East China Sea, from their private Japanese owners. China, which calls them the Diaoyus, regards them as its territory.
Since then, China has sent ships and aircraft into the area on scores of occasions, prompting counter-deployments by Japan, and last month Beijing declared an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) covering a large stretch of the East China Sea.
Japan already has an ADIZ, which now overlaps China's. In October, a Chinese drone flight prompted Japanese threats to shoot down unmanned aircraft that enter its airspace, something Beijing said would amount to "an act of war".
Each escalation is blamed on the other side, with Japan claiming China is trying to "forcefully change the status quo", and China saying it must stand up to a re-emerging militarism it sees in Japan under conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe's bid to stoke Japan's slumbering economy has given him political capital to push his long-cherished aim of also rehabilitating Japan's military, which under the post-war pacifist constitution is restricted to defence only.
Abe has used the tense diplomatic situation "cleverly" to manage his government, said Tomoaki Iwai of Nihon University, painting each Chinese action as a crisis and promoting policies that might otherwise be unpopular among a populace deeply wedded to peace.
"Mr Abe has not directly provoked China. He has been waiting for the other side to give," Iwai said.
'No scope for optimism'
Fears about China have opened the door for Abe to boost Japan's defence budget for the first time in 11 years -- albeit by a small fraction of the double-digit rises enjoyed by China's armed forces over the past decade.
Abe has also established a US-style National Security Council, which came into operation Wednesday and is expected to bolster the power of the premier and a handful of senior ministers. China plans a similar body, although details remain scant.
Beijing's declaration of its own air defence zone was largely a response to the way it thinks Japan has "exaggerated the threat of China", said Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing.
China's ruling Communist Party regularly seeks to bolster public support by tapping into deep-seated resentment of Japan for its brutal invasion of the country in the 1930s.
The island sovereignty row is portrayed in China as righting a historical injustice.
Beijing says the islands -- believed to harbour vast natural resources below their seabed -- were its possessions for hundreds of years before Japan stole them at the close of the 19th century.
Japan's nationalisation move was greeted by sometimes-violent protests on Chinese streets, a consumer boycott of Japanese goods, and an outpouring of anti-Japanese sentiment which refuses to fade.
"Little Japan is a mean and shameless country," wrote one user on a Twitter-style weibo site on Thursday. "Die little Japan," added another.
These hardened attitudes sometimes play into Beijing's actions.
Its relatively benign response to initial overflights of the ADIZ by Japan and the US -- China said it had "monitored" the incursions -- was lambasted by the domestic media and online.
When Japan next flew planes over the area, China sent up fighter jets.
Jin at Renmin University said China, which has blown past once-mighty Japan to become the world's number-two economy, is proving a point with the new defence zone: it is a force to be reckoned with.
"Now China is really confident about itself," he said.
A conventional solution for taking the heat out of a geopolitical squabble -- one that Biden alluded to while visiting Tokyo this week -- is to establish a hotline, like the one that links Beijing and Washington.
But frayed relations mean even talking about such a crisis-management tool is off the table for now.
"The Abe administration will never back down. Neither will China," said Yamamoto of Waseda University.
"There is no scope for optimism in the immediate future."
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In October, Bloomberg's Stephanie Ruhle, Mary Childs, and Julie Miecamp reported that private equity firm Blackstone structured a strange financial maneuver to pay a company to force it to miss a debt payment, thereby triggering a credit default swap to the tune of $15.6 million.
One way to describe this is is, dang, that's brilliant (and legal). Jon Stewart, famed financial skeptic, had a different take on the Daily Show last night.
"Now I'm sure you're asking yourself, 'Hey, I think I saw something like that in Goodfellas, when they get insurance on a restaurant and then deliberately blow the restaurant up," Stewart says. "But in Goodfellas, it was illegal. In the financial world, it's above board."
Later in the segment, correspondent Samantha Bee interviews a reporter at the New York Times, skewering the paper for failing to cover the story. She also meets with members of the BuzzFeed business team to spice up an otherwise dry CDS story with some Nicolas Cage GIFs.
The whole segment is worth a watch.
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Kanye West has compared himself to Steve Jobs and Jesus. He started public beefs with both Jimmy Kimmel and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. He insists his "Bound 2" music video is high art. He revels in his ego.
Advertising creative directors shape the public's tastes. They dismiss hours of work after a brief glance. They are aspiring Don Drapers. They revel in their ego.
Obviously not all creative directors are egomaniacs, but a new site is poking fun at the stereotype by asking if you can distinguish between an actual Kanye quote and an actual adman quote.
Here are some examples from "Kanye vs Creative Director," with the answer key at the bottom of the post:
1."If I haven't heard of it, it hasn't happened."
2."I think that's a responsibility that I have, to push possibilities, to show people: 'This is the level that things could be at.'"
3."I have a lot of time on my hands because I'm rich."
4."Sometimes I get emotional over fonts."
5."I have nothing left to prove."
New York agency The Concept Farm created the site. Their own creative director John Gellos told Digiday that his team was inspired after seeing Kanye's power tripping interview with Jimmy Kimmel that settled their feud.
Check out the full quiz experience at Kanye vs Creative Director's website. Visitors can also submit anonymous quotes said at their own agency
Answer Key— Kanye: 2, 4. Creative: 1, 3, 5.
SEE ALSO: Kanye West Paid A Visit To Fancy, And Said He Wants DONDA To Become A Trillion-Dollar Company
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Will Ferrell co-hosted "The Dan Patrick Show" as Ron Burgundy to promote his upcoming film, "Anchorman 2." During one segment, Dan Patrick had Burgundy read play-by-play calls from some of the biggest moments in sports history.
Of course, Burgundy gave the calls a bit of his own touch and the results were hilarious. The calls include Kirk Gibson's home run in the 1988 World Series, Doug Flutie's Hail Mary to beat Miami, the 1980 Miracle on Ice, and the ball through Bill Buckner's legs in the 1986 World Series.
Here is the video (via NBC Sports Network).
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Sony and Columbia Pictures released the first trailer for "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" today.
While we've spotted a few cool things — an ad for The Daily Bugle Tumblr along with a few looks at the next incarnation of the Green Goblin — the best image shown in the nearly 3-minute teaser hints at what's in store for the Spider-Man franchise down the road.
We've talked quite a bit about how Sony / Columbia Pictures could really flesh out Spidey's character for the future if they wanted to compete with the likes of Disney's Avengers gang and Warner Bros. Batman / Superman duo.
The most obvious answer would be to introduce the Sinister Six — a legion of Spidey's biggest villains joined together. Over the years, the members of the group have varied, but has consistently comprised of villains ranging from Electro, Doctor Octopus, The Vulture, the Hobgoblin/Green Goblin, Mysterio, Venom, and Sandman.
Not convinced?
Here's proof Sony's leaning that way from midway through the trailer:
Those are what look like costumes for The Vulture and Doctor Octopus, two known members of the Sinister Six.
We know Sony has spinoff movies for "The Amazing Spider-Man" in the works.
This would be a great move for the studio.
Not only would it provide them with plenty of original content for more original Spider-Man films, but in the future, it could result in a potential pairing with the "Avengers" if Sony ever wanted to make some sort of deal with Disney for a crossover.
After all, the Avengers have fought the Sinister Six before (Spidey can't do it all alone, right?).
The idea doesn't seem foreign.
There's been speculation that after the next two films in the franchise are made — a third for 2016 and a fourth in 2018 — that Marvel / Disney may eye up the character to join the Avengers gang.
It makes sense — pairing Spider-Man (a known Avenger ally / member) up with more heroes rather than forcing him fight crime alone because different studios own the rights to other characters that interact with Peter Parker.
Even "Amazing Spider-Man" actor Andrew Garfield said at San Diego Comic Con he'd like to team up with Iron Man's crew.
Are those future villains we could very well see in Spidey's future or is Sony Pictures just teasing us?
SEE ALSO: The first trailer for the film
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Each time Spotify plays a song, your favorite singer or band gets as little as 0.6 cents, the company said.
At that rate, a song would need to be played 166 times for the artist to earn $1 in royalties (100 cents divided by 0.6 = 166).
The info comes from a fascinating — and hugely welcome — article Spotify published on its revenue model. In a single post, Spotify has done more to demystify artist royalties in streaming music than Pandora and Apple have ever done, combined.
But before you get angry at the fantastically tiny amount of cash that bands get for each song, remember that those fractions of pennies add up.
This is Spotify's revenue picture (below). The company says it has 6 million users paying $9.99 (or £9.99 or €9.99) in 2013: That would imply its gross revenues from users are somewhere north of $720 million annually:
The company also said it will pay out $500 million in royalties this year:
Spotify says it pays 70% of its gross revenue in royalties to artists. Again, that would put Spotify's annual revenue from users at around $720 million. (Spotify didn't talk about advertising revenue, which it generates on top of that.)
In terms of per-song fees, Spotify said: "Recently, these variables have led to an average 'per stream' payout to rights holders of between $0.006 and $0.0084."
Here is how that breaks down for artists over time (below). Spotify has also projected future revenue for artists if the service grows to 40 million paid subscribers:
SEE ALSO: Spotify’s Valuation Soars Over $4 Billion After $250 Million Fundraising Round
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It was Jay Z's 44th birthday yesterday, and to celebrate, not only did the rapper go vegan with his wife Beyoncé, he took to his website Life+Times to rank all 12 of his studio albums.
Here are Jay Z's rankings, best to worst, plus his added commentary:
It's no surprise that Hova's first album, the 1996 "Reasonable Doubt," earned top spot.
The rapper's debut went platinum and ended up on Rolling Stone's list of the '500 Greatest Albums of All Time' alongside 2003's "The Black Album" and 2001's "The Blueprint."
And Jay's most recent project? This year's "Magna Carta Holy Grail," came in at number six, also not too surprising considering the album's mixed reviews.
(Pitchfork called it "weirdly distant and safe" while Rolling Stone says, "Even at his most checked-out, Jay-Z remains a great MC.")
Do you agree with Jay Z's ranking?
SEE ALSO: It's Jay Z's 44th Birthday And To Celebrate, He's Going Vegan
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While at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA Beyoncé dedicated a performance of 'I Will Always Love You' and her hit "Halo" to the late Paul Walker.
Walker passed away in a car accident November 30 in Santa Clarita.
Beyoncé is currently on her Mrs. Carter World Tour.
Listen to it below:
SEE ALSO: The emotional video tribute "Fast & Furious" made for Paul Walker
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For anyone looking for a new way to play video games, a man has created two very unique game controllers — one that can be controlled by your mouth and another by your rear.
Really.
Ben Krasnow, an engineer at video game developing company Valve, created the two controllers. In the videos below, he demonstrates how the two controllers work, though Krasnow doesn't say why he came up with the ideas.
The mouth controller uses hardware from a computer mouse connected to a retainer that you wear.
Krasnow points out that it would be impossible to use this to play an actual game. It's not really for precise movements but more for swiping gestures and movements.
You'd also have to wear a retainer to use the mouth controller.
The one for the rear that's made out of a bathroom scale and Xbox 360 controller let's you turn a character left or right while you sit on top of it.
It's not really clear what either of these would add to the gaming experience. It sure doesn't seem like the "rear" controller would make me any better at first-person shooters.
As silly as they look or sound, these controllers could be useful prototypes for someone with physical disabilities.
SEE ALSO: Here's why I just bought a Wii U instead of a PS4 or Xbox One
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A very interesting piece of memorabilia showed up in The Daily Mail today.
It's the secret memo that eventually led to the James Bond movies.
A lot of people forget this, but Bond creator, Ian Fleming, was himself instrumental in the modern spy apparatus of both Britain and America.
Fleming served as the personal assistant to Rear Admiral John Godfrey, Director of Naval Intelligence of the Royal Navy, and later helped design the Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the CIA.
In the memo, Fleming stresses that he wants the movie to be "as fast-moving and packed with incidents as possible. To my mind the chief weakness is the thinness of the Mafia threat and this must be considerably strengthened."
"I am badly in need of good Italian names for the Mafia gangsters and these could perhaps be obtained from the Venice telephone directory!"
Though this first movie was never made, it was eventually retooled to become the Bond original "Thunderball".
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