RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Former "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken is running for Congress in North Carolina.

Aiken said Wednesday he'll seek the Democratic nomination for the seat currently held by Rep. Renee Ellmers.

The 35-year-old Aiken is expected to face former state commerce secretary Keith Crisco of Asheboro and licensed professional counselor Toni Morris of Fayetteville in the Democratic primary.

Aiken has been a special education teacher in Wake County. He says he decided to put his entertainment career on hold and seek to represent the state's 2nd Congressional District.

He says he considers Washington to be dysfunctional and will focus on jobs and the economy and the importance of education.

Ellmers faces radio talk show host Frank Roche of Cary in the Republican primary.

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Lauren Conrad is a reality TV star, clothing designer and author, and she was asked an extremely inappropriate question during a 2012 interview with SiriusXM. The interview was recently resurfaced by UpWorthy:

"What's your favorite position?" she drew from a "mystery bag" of questions. She was forced to answer it live on air.

She read it out loud, paused for a moment then replied:

"CEO."

The interviewer high-fived her and said she was "so smart."

The clip is below and the question begins at the 5:20 mark.

Here are two GIFs, via Tumblr and Upworthy:

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This morning, Microsoft announced a big system update coming to the Xbox One next week. 

Among the improvements, users can expect better voice commands that will be “more fluid and responsive over time.” 

For anyone who users the Kinect’s voice commands to go back and forth between playing games and watching TV that could be helpful. 

The update will come February 11. 

Here’s a list of some of the features that will be included via the announcement on its blog: 

• The ability to see and manage your storage space. With this update, you will find it easy to find how much space your content takes up and better manage your content. You can also control your install lineup and more easily manage your download queue. We’ve separated My Games and My Apps into separate lists, so you can easily create separate queues for both. Now you can pick the order in which you want your content to load and we’ve added a boot progress indicator so you can better track updates while they load.
• The battery power indicator is back! You can see it right on the home screen, so you can easily track how much battery life is left on your controller.
• And, you will be able to use your USB keyboard with your Xbox One.

You can check out the full announcement HERE.

SEE ALSO: Microsoft will give you $100 toward Xbox One if you ditch your PS3

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When Kanye West and Kim Kardashian announced the arrival of their baby girl, her name — North West — nearly caused the Internet to explode.

Similarly, no "Star Trek" fan could take their eyes off the Twitter IPO when legendary actor Patrick Stewart rang the opening bell.

Celebrities and their offspring serve as major influencers in all spheres of life: entertainment, business, politics, tech, and fashion.

We rounded up the top actors, directors, producers, studio executives, and industry insiders from just under one year old to 100 years old who will surely make headlines in 2014.

AGE

Daughter of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian

What makes her powerful: Little Nori sparked a media firestorm when she was born, and all of Twitter had an opinion about the name "Kimye" chose for their first child.

The 8-month-old has been pretty absent from the spotlight, but Kardashian did release a photo of her Christmas present: a miniature Lamborghini to match the one her rapper daddy drives.

AGE 2: Blue Ivy Carter

Daughter of Beyoncé and Jay-Z

What makes her powerful: In the lavish style of her parents, Blue Ivy Carter celebrated her second birthday at Miami's exotic Jungle Island.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z rented out the entire wildlife park and zoo for their little girl's big day. That's what happens when you're the daughter of the Queen.

AGE 3: Julian Fuego Thicke

Son of Robin Thicke and Paula Patton

What makes him powerful: The "Blurred Lines" singer says his little tyke keeps his ego in check and inspires his music. Julian plans to follow in his dad's footsteps into entertainment, according to actress-mother Patton, and always requests to accompany Thicke to sound check.

Other powerful three-year-olds: Gideon Scott and Harper Grace, Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka's adopted twins who inspired their own BuzzFeed list.

Two members of the anti-Putin performance group "Pussy Riot" are in the U.S. right now, embarking on a mini-media tour and generally becoming darlings of the American press.

With top billing at an Amnesty International concert at Brooklyn's Barclay Center this week (though not actually expected to perform), Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina gave a press conference yesterday to much of the world's news media, where they talked about their transition from punk band to human rights activists.

Perhaps more importantly, they gave a remarkable, but generally heartwarming, interview on The Colbert report, playing along with Stephen Colbert as he described how he went on shirtless hunting trips with Russian President Vladimir Putin ("Sometimes we don't even get to the hunting").

Here's part two:

The appearance was so popular that Mediaite judged it the "funniest, best Colbert Report interview ever."

All in all, the Colbert interview shows the strength of Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina, and why "Pussy Riot" — whatever that actually means these days — has so much potential. These two women spent almost two years in prison for playing a performance art "song" in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior ("We sang a fun song in a church"), in conditions widely reported to be miserable and cruel. Yet, when they came abroad to a country where they didn't speak the language and sat opposite a TV satirist, they were able to give a confident, witty, and persuasive takedown of the man who put them in prison.

You have to wonder if Putin will regret pardoning these two.

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If you have a kid, you're probably taking them to see "The LEGO Movie" this weekend.

That's a good bet since the Warner Bros. film based on the brick toys is expected to have a huge opening.

All of the reviews for the film so far have been overwhelmingly positive. (It currently stands at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.) Box office estimates are tracking the film to bring in $40 million. 

We were able to see a screening of the movie this weekend filled with families — probably the best audience with which to gauge the film. The kids loved it, the adults seemed to enjoy it, and we had a blast also. 

The movie comes from Phil Lord and Chris Miller — the minds behind the successful "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and "21 Jump Street" franchises.

"The LEGO Movie" follows Emmet (Chris Pratt) as he tries to stop the evil President Business (Will Ferrell) from destroying the LEGO world with a mysterious weapon named "Kragle." (Spoiler: It's Krazy Glue.)

Warner Bros. is so sure the movie will do well that it already announced plans for a sequel. It's not difficult to see why. This could very well be a lucrative animated franchise for the studio.

Here's why "The LEGO Movie" should crush it this weekend:

1. Appeals to both boys and girls

While "Frozen" may have sneakily got boys into theater seats with its clever marketing (it's really a girl-power film), "The LEGO Movie" caters to both audiences with a wide range of characters.

Elizabeth Banks offers a strong female lead in the form of tough, no nonsense Wildstyle. Young boys will be taken with the appearance of Batman (Will Arnett) — during a late night appearance earlier this week on David Letterman, Arnett said his kids were already referring to the film as the "Batman: LEGO Movie."

This was probably the smartest move Warner Bros. could ask for given the Caped Crusader's popularity in both video games and Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy.

While Batman's presence is prominent in the film, Chris Pratt ("Parks and Recreation") voices the hero kids will rally behind, Emmet, and Alison Bree ("Community") voices a chipper, upbeat unicorn / cat mix.

2. Not Just A Kiddie Movie

The movie contains a mix of new and classic nostalgic LEGOS for an older audience to appreciate. Moviegoers may recognize space-themed LEGO sets they played with from the late '70s and early '80s on screen. Older viewers will also want to look out for humorous one-liners that will go over kid's heads. Arnett makes a few clever asides as Batman.

However, it's the end of the film that will really resonate with adults, bringing up the question of whether LEGOs are toys or collector's items meant for display. (It's a topic that keen eyes will remember was addressed in "Toy Story 2" and works also in this "toy story.")

Major spoiler: In an unexpected twist, the film removes itself from the animated world to reveal that the entire movie is the construct of a young boy's imagination. He sneaks down into the basement of his house to play with his father's (played by Will Ferrell!) elaborate LEGO collection that is permanently held together by Krazy Glue.MAJOR SPOILER 

3. Smart Marketing

Theaters have had giant LEGO replicas of its main characters including the Caped Crusader in movie theaters.

Trailers prominently featured Batman to sell the movie to kids. Warner Bros. also released a clever parody trailer mocking "Man of Steel." Behind-the-scenes teasers had no problem poking fun at the movie itself.

This one from Will Arnett is gold.

Ahead of the movie's release, LEGO familiarized kids with the film's characters by releasing a series of LEGO sets featuring scenes from the film. Separately, the company released 16 minifigures for purchase.

4. Dominance of the LEGO brand

LEGOs have always been a popular toy, not only for the nostalgic factor with parents, but also the educational value in the individual sets.

Since 1997, in addition to selling brick sets, LEGO has put out a successful line of companion video games to popular movie franchises from "Harry Potter" to "Batman" and "Lord of the Rings." The Lego Batman series alone has sold 14.4 million copies as of last year. 

5. Catchy Song

It isn't Oscar-nominated "Let It Go" from "Frozen," but kids will definitely walk out of the theater singing "Everything is Awesome."  

The lyrics aren't groundbreaking— Everything is awesome / Everything is cool when you're part of a team / Everything is awesome / When we're living our dream — but they are upbeat, send a positive message that parents will be okay with, and are undeniably infectious.

Parents and older audiences may recognize the simple song from Tegan and Sara featuring The Lonely Island.

Listen to a preview of the song from the opening sequence of the film below. Just seeing the animated world of Legos on screen is, well, awesome.

SEE ALSO: Reviews for George Clooney's delayed "Monuments Men" aren't good

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Yes, that's Goose, everyone's favorite wingman from the iconic film "Top Gun."

It's also screengrabbed from an embedded Tweet in a long line of Tweets that seem to be documenting the movie shot-by-shot.

The handle, 555 µHz, seems to have been specially created for just this task— screengrabbing a subtitled version of the movie and posting the pics into a Twitter feed.

Following the account means watching the whole movie, one picture at a time.

Here's the unforgettable "birdie" scene.

pic.twitter.com/TLmS4nkWrE

— 555 µHz (@555uhz) February 4, 2014

Maverick can't fire on the MiG and cause an international incident.

pic.twitter.com/XdhEFSNXKg

— 555 µHz (@555uhz) February 4, 2014

But ...

pic.twitter.com/NYLJbpGyyr

— 555 µHz (@555uhz) February 4, 2014

Frame by frame ...

pic.twitter.com/Tx3TGYC2ww

— 555 µHz (@555uhz) February 4, 2014

He can maneuver on him ...

pic.twitter.com/RzBeVzx9JV

— 555 µHz (@555uhz) February 4, 2014

And flip the birdie.

pic.twitter.com/apqFPoro4x

— 555 µHz (@555uhz) February 4, 2014

Say hi to the birdie!

pic.twitter.com/gM0SBj7rTN

— 555 µHz (@555uhz) February 4, 2014

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The Woody Allen family saga continues.

After 28-year-old Dylan Farrow alleged her father sexually abused her as a young girl in a recent open essay, many have come to the filmmaker's defense.

The latest to join Team Woody is his adopted son, Moses Farrow —  Dylan's brother.

Moses, now 36 and a family therapist, opened up to People magazine on why he supports his once-estranged father during the current family controversy.

"My mother drummed it into me to hate my father for tearing apart the family and sexually molesting my sister," Moses tells the magazine. "And I hated him for her for years. I see now that this was a vengeful way to pay him back for falling in love with Soon-Yi." 

Moses believes his father is innocent.

"Of course Woody did not molest my sister," says Moses, who is now estranged from Farrow and many of his siblings, but is close to Allen and Soon-Yi. "She loved him and looked forward to seeing him when he would visit. She never hid from him until our mother succeeded in creating the atmosphere of fear and hate towards him."

Here's Moses' account of what happened on that now infamous day decades ago:

"The day in question, there were six or seven of us in the house. We were all in public rooms and no one, not my father or sister, was off in any private spaces. My mother was conveniently out shopping. I don’t know if my sister really believes she was molested or is trying to please her mother. Pleasing my mother was very powerful motivation because to be on her wrong side was horrible." 

He adds that it was not always easy living with his famous mother.

"Our mother has misled the public into believing it was a happy household of both biological and adopted children," says Moses. "From an early age, my mother demanded obedience and I was often hit as a child. She went into unbridled rages if we angered her, which was intimidating at the very least and often horrifying, leaving us not knowing what she would do."

Dylan Farrow, who brought the sexual abuse allegations back in the spotlight over the weekend, responded to People magazine about her older brother Moses' comments.

"This is such a betrayal to me and my whole family," she told the magazine. "My memories are the truth and they are mine and I will live with that for the rest of my life." 

"My mother never coached me," Dylan assures. "She never planted false memories in my brain. My memories are mine. I remember them. She was distraught when I told her. When I came forward with my story she was hoping against hope that I had made it up. In one of the most heartbreaking conversations I have ever had, she sat me down and asked me if I was telling the truth. She said that Dad said he didn’t do anything. and I said, 'He's lying.' " 

Farrow, who declined to respond to Moses's accusations and has stayed rather quiet amid the hoopla this week, Tweeted: "I love my daughter. I will always protect her. A lot of ugliness is going to be aimed at me. But this is not about me, it's about her truth." 

Allen, meanwhile, has only spoken through his attorney, who says the 78-year-old filmmaker blames Mia for using Dylan as "a pawn" and is "devastated" by the renewed claims.

SEE ALSO: Woody Allen, Cate Blanchett, And Alec Baldwin Respond After Being Called Out In Dylan Farrow Allegations

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Darryl Robinson, a celebrity mixologist and host of "Drink Up" on the Cooking Channel, has been found dead in his New York City apartment, the New York Daily News reports.

Robinson was found in the second-floor bedroom of his apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn after a friend called police because he couldn't reach him.

There were no signs of trauma on Robinson's body. He was 50 years old.

His death is under investigation. Police didn't find any drugs in his apartment.

Robinson's show on the Cooking Channel got canceled, but re-runs still air on the network.

The Cooking Channel has posted this on its website:

SEE ALSO: Hollywood Reacts To Philip Seymour Hoffman's Shocking Death

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In a New York Times Op-Ed piece over the weekend, Dylan Farrow alleged her father Woody Allen sexually abused her as a child.

Now Woody Allen wants the right to respond in the same publication.

“They asked and we said, ‘Yes, send it in,’” Times Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal said in an article by Public Editor Margaret Sullivan posted on Wednesday.

But the Times isn't certain it will publish the piece.

"It comes down to the editing process,” says Rosenthal. “Normally, we don’t publish a direct response but in this case, it was so personal, we thought that we should.”

Up until this point, Allen has only spoken through his attorney, who says the 78-year-old filmmaker blames Mia for using Dylan as "a pawn" and is "devastated" by the renewed claims.

Sullivan says that the Allen response may appear in The Times in the next few days.

SEE ALSO: Moses Farrow Defends Father Woody Allen Against Sister's Sexual Abuse Claims

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Yesterday, Netflix took out $400 million in new debt to begin expanding in Europe and investing in more original series. Both of these factors are crucial for Netflix's continued evolution.

Content costs can be so high they derail otherwise reasonable web TV projects. Intel abandoned its experiment OnCue after failing to make headway in content acquisition, and ended up selling the unit to Verizon for $200 million.

Apple has been rumored to have a TV in the works for a while now. But there are rumors it is now delayed to 2015 because content deals take so long.

A recent New York Times profile of "House Of Cards" show-runner Beau Willimon shows how Netflix believes it has unlocked this puzzle. The story explains that Netflix had two big flaws in its early business model. Content was expensive, and the best syndicated TV shows kept getting snapped up by cable channels:

Around three years ago, Netflix realized it had a problem: It was paying large sums to license other people’s content — TV shows and movies produced by other companies — in order to then show them to you, the Netflix subscriber, at home. This initially proved successful, but there were two troubling aspects to this model: 1) It left Netflix very vulnerable to competition, since the shows and movies it licensed could, theoretically, be licensed by anyone willing to outbid them, and 2) the most popular TV shows, episodic dramas like “CSI” and sitcoms like “The Big Bang Theory,” were already being sold for huge deals into syndication at basic cable channels like TBS and USA.

The content Netflix could afford to buy was long-form serialized drama:

What was left to Netflix were the kind of serialized shows that don’t typically play well in syndication, like “Lost” and “Breaking Bad,” which have complicated story arcs that compel a viewer to watch all the episodes in order. Traditionally, while these kinds of serialized shows could be big hits in their initial broadcast runs, they proved tough sells to aftermarkets, precisely because of the demands they placed on the audience.

Syndicated serial dramas are a tough sell for cable channels because viewers need to watch them from the beginning or they won't understand them. Lose the audience in the first couple of episodes, and you've lost them for good.

Netflix also noticed that its own viewer data showed that people would binge-watch serial dramas in a way that they would not do for sitcoms.

That's why Netflix launched "House of Cards" and "Orange Is the New Black" — they're both the type of show that people will watch on-demand when they have a free day, but cannot dip in and out of if they were syndicated in fixed timeslots on cable TV.

Here's where the $400 million comes in: if Netflix can create for itself the shows it would normally have bought in syndication, and create shows that lend themselves to binge-watching rather than a dip-in/dip-out cable format, then it will end up with the same (or more) content but be able to control the price.

And with interest rates near zero, the money is cheap to borrow. Given the returns — Netflix revenue rose 24% to $1.2 billion — it would almost be more expensive not to borrow it.

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SEE ALSO: The Funniest Highlights From Will Ferrell's Reddit AmA

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The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi will begin Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern. TV networks will host an incredible amount of coverage, but there will be options for viewers to stream events to smartphones, tablets, and PCs.

Here are the best choices:

NBC

NBC will offer a variety of platforms to stream from for customers. The only event that won't be available for your streaming pleasure is the opening ceremony. 

Despite that, go to nbcolympics.com, which will post important video highlights from every major competition. NBC social media accounts like the official Facebook page will be constantly updated with news, information, and videos. 

The network will offer two apps to stream the games. One of them is the NBC Sports Live Extra app. Once the Sochi games officially begin, the app will stream over 1,000 hours of content to smartphones and tablets. Download the app here for iPhone and Android.

The other option is NBC Olympic Highlights. This app will deliver scores, highlights, and other breaking news to you, but it's only available for Android. Download it here.

Unfortunately, these apps have one catch. You must have a cable subscription to be able to use it.

The BBC and CBC

The BBC will stream 650 hours of free Olympics content on its own website and Canada's primary TV network CBC will stream 12 feeds of live event coverage on its site.

Both networks have apps that you can watch the games on as well, but Forbes writes that viewers in the U.S. must use a virtual private network service to trick the servers into thinking you're in Canada or the U.K. The International Olympic Committee forced both networks to restrict streaming content in the U.S.

One way to get around that is Tunnelbear. The setup process is easy. Download the app, create an account, and designate the location of the content you want to view. For $5 a month, Tunnelbear will alter your IP address and let you access the streams in Canada and the U.K. It's available for iPhone, Android, and PC.

Here's one disclaimer for streaming the Sochi games with this method: The Forbes article warns U.S. viewers to be careful since this technically violates the terms of service for the BBC and CBC. There's always a chance you'll be blocked out.

The Hola App

Hola is another VPN service that's free and can bypass any Internet censorship. Internet users have deployed this tool in accessing streaming sites like Hulu that could be blocked in certain countries. 

It could be a great tool to watch the opening ceremonies, but we won't know for sure until the event begins. The app is available for Google Chrome, Firefox, Android, iPhone and Windows.

Aereo

U.S. customers can sign up for Aereo, but there is one catch. This service streams live TV programming to smartphones, tablets, and computers. However, CNET writes some streams could be restricted since NBC, the main source of coverage for these games, is showing a majority of the Olympics through its cable channels. Aereo focuses on the main broadcast networks. That means you'll only be able to stream whatever the regular NBC channel has on.

It could be worth a shot for $8 a month. It's only available in select markets, but you can sign up for it here. 

Other options

FilmOn, a competitor to Aereo, offers 500 live streaming TV channels in multiple different languages. Customers can purchase a Slingbox too. This gadget streams shows to phones and tablets from your own cable subscription.

Also, one website that might work could be sidereel.com. Viewers could catch some streams that the broadcast networks may have missed.

SEE ALSO: Critics Claim TV Is Dying, But The Super Bowl Ratings Prove It Still Has A Pulse

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The most vivid description of what happened to the victims of real-life Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort's stock pumping scam unquestionably came from Christina McDowell, formerly Christina Prousalis. 

She is the daughter of Tom Prousalis, who along with Belfort pled guilty to money laundering and wire fraud. In an op-ed for LAWeekly in December, McDowell wrote about the pain she suffered growing up as the daughter of a criminal:

The day my father had to surrender to prison, I drove him. My mother had locked herself in the bathroom crying and throwing up, becoming nothing short of a more beautiful version of Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine. Ironically enough, Marty, she looks like a cross between Sharon Stone and Michelle Pfeiffer. Totally your leading ingénue type. Anyhow, after my father successfully laundered money in my name, hiding what was left of our assets from the government in a Wells Fargo bank account, I arrived home to discover multiple phone calls from creditors and attorneys threatening to sue me. He'd left me in nearly $100,000 worth of debt. He left and never told me.

The thing is, America can't get enough of anything having to do with "The Wolf of Wall Street," good or ugly.

So it's not too surprising that the Hollywood Reporter's Andy Lewis writes that McDowell is getting a book deal.

The Simon & Schuster imprint is pitching it as "a classic father/daughter story and a cautionary, yet ultimately positive, tale of starting over" that shows the "consequences not just for one family, but for society as a whole." McDowell's story, the publisher says is a "younger, more innocent, true-life version of Woody Allen’s recent hit film, Blue Jasmine."

The book is set to drop in spring of 2015.

SEE ALSO: Inside The Cryptocurrency Trading Pit

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It's no secret Hollywood is becoming more and more dependent on the foreign box office to make a profit on films.

China is currently the largest source of international box office earnings, and by 2018, it's predicted to be the number one source for box-office income. Thus it's no surprise that "Iron man 3" had alternate scenes for Chinese audiences and upcoming sequel "Transformers: Age of Extinction" was filmed in China.

Which films received the biggest boost overseas last year?

We looked at the top 100 grossing movies of 2013 from the biggest studios and narrowed it down to films where the overseas gross accounted for 70% or more of the film’s box-office gross. These films are ordered by increasing dependence on foreign earnings.

Though "Runner, Runner" bombed opening weekend in the US ($7.7 million), it picked up in the foreign markets.

(Source: Box Office Mojo)

Ron Howard's "Rush" was a slow draw domestically. It's international gross helped bring it near $100 million.

(Source: Box Office Mojo)

DreamWorks Animation's snail tale "Turbo" was one of the weakest-performing animated films in the states.

(Source: Box Office Mojo)

The man who was the musical brains behind a supposedly deaf composer dubbed "Japan's Beethoven" claimed on Thursday that the mock maestro was not hearing-impaired -- and couldn't even write sheet music.

The startling allegations come a day after composer Mamoru Samuragochi, 50, confessed to hiring another man to write his best-known works, as he shot to fame in the mid-1990s with classical compositions that provided the soundtrack to video games including Resident Evil.

Samuragochi has not responded publicly to the fresh allegations.

In an interview with weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun published Thursday, ghost composer Takashi Niigaki painted the picture of a carefully orchestrated fraud which saw Samuragochi -- who once called his hearing loss a "gift from God" -- play the role of tormented artist.

Niigaki, who said he became fed up with the fictitious story of a "digital-age Beethoven", said the composer would frequently slip out of his deaf persona.

"He may use some hand signs or read lips at the beginning, but he starts carrying on normal conversations as the discussion gets going," the part-time Tokyo music school teacher was quoted as saying.

"I think he had tough time pretending to be completely deaf. Recently, when I met him alone at his home, we talked normally from the start."

Niigaki added in a press conference broadcast live on Thursday that "from the day I first met him until now, I never once felt that he was deaf".

The ghost writer claimed he thought initially he was being hired as the composer's assistant.

"But later I found out that he cannot even write musical scores," he said, adding that "in the end, I was an accomplice".

The 43-year-old said he came forward after learning that Winter Olympics medal hopeful, figure skater Daisuke Takahashi, chose one of the composer's works for his programme in Sochi.

"I was afraid such a precious opportunity as the Olympics would be used to enforce the fiction that Samuragochi had constructed over years," he told the magazine.

Before his confession Wednesday, the composer said he went completely deaf about 15 years ago, but continued to work -- notably producing "Symphony No.1, Hiroshima", a tribute to those killed in the 1945 atomic bombing of the city.

The work became an extraordinary hit for a classical music CD, selling 180,000 copies in a genre where a hit often only logs 3,000 sales, according to its distributor.

The composer's reputation grew when broadcaster NHK aired a documentary in March last year entitled "Melody of the Soul", in which it showed him touring the tsunami-battered Tohoku region to meet survivors and those who lost relatives in the 2011 catastrophe.

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Amazon has acquired a gaming studio called Double Helix Games, but financial terms have not been disclosed.

Double Helix Games, founded in 2007, is merger of two well-known game development shops, The Collective, Inc. and Shiny Entertainment. It has about 75 employees who will now fold into Amazon employment.

TechCrunch, who confirmed the news of the buy from Amazon, reports,

The Double Helix deal may fuel to the recent rumors that Amazon is preparing to release its own gaming console in the coming months. Last week, the video game industry blog VG247.com reported that Amazon is planning to launch an Android-powered “dedicated games and entertainment device this year priced below $300… [that] will compete directly with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.” Buzz about an Amazon console has been around for a while: This past summer, the rumor was that the company was planning to debut a Qualcomm-based console system. Amazon declined to comment on the console speculation when reached today.

You can read more on the deal here.

Here is a game trailer for one of the Double Helix games called "Killer Instinct." 

SEE ALSO: Apple has a brand new iPhone ad.

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Michael J. Fox's return to television will be short-lived.

NBC has announced it will not renew "The Michael J. Fox" show for a second season, according to The Wrap.

The show walked a fine line between real life as it followed Fox returning to work years after a diagnosis with Parkinson's Disease.

Betsy Brandt ("Breaking Bad") starred as Fox's wife.

Though the show premiered to 7.5 million viewers, it was never a rating's winner for the Peacock network.

It's most recent episode, "Sochi," about Fox covering the Olympics, scored an audience of 2.2 million.

15 of the season's 22 episodes have aired. It's unclear when the final episodes will air.

SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about the return of "24" on Fox

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Amazon Studios, the division responsible for creating original shows for Amazon Instant Video, released 10 new pilots to compete today. Viewers can stream the first episode of each series for free. People can vote on which show should become a series and Amazon will stream a full season of it later this year.

Last year, Amazon tested this crowdsourcing strategy with a slew of original comedies. "Alpha House" and "Betas" were the two shows that made it through the first round, but Amazon trying something different this year.

Five kids shows and five dramas are posted for 2014. There are also two hour-long dramas including "Bosch," which is based on the best-selling series of novels from Michael Connely, and "The After," which is a mysterious apocalypse drama from the creator of "The X-Files."

You can watch all of the first pilots here. Watch the sizzle reel Amazon Studios posted below.  

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Last month, we took a look back at the cast of "Mean Girls" to mark the film's 10-year anniversary this spring.

For the occasion, Vulture has a great read on the casting of the movie with director Mark Waters.

Turns out Lindsay Lohan wasn't supposed to play the sweet, innocent lead of Cady Heron.

Instead, the "Scary Movie 5" actress was originally cast as blonde-haired villain Regina. 

Via Vulture:

"We did a read-through, and we were trying to look for somebody to play the role of Cady, but frankly, we didn't find anyone we liked who felt strong enough to go up against Lindsay." While the studio searched far and wide for a suitable foil to Lohan, Freaky Friday finally hit theaters, "and it was a much bigger hit than we expected it to be," Waters admitted. "Sherry Lansing, who was heading Paramount at the time, told us, 'We have to have Lindsay play the lead in Mean Girls. It's just not going to work having her play the villain, because she now has an audience that won't accept that.'"

In the end, Rachel McAdams ("The Notebook") landed the role. As it turns out, McAdams originally read for Lohan's role but it was decided she was too old — the actress was about 25 at the time — for the role of the high schooler.

You can read the entire Vulture article here.

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