Welcome to the nineteenth edition of ForumKorner News. To read any previous editions, inquire the spoiler below.
18th Edition - 5/10/14
17th Edition - 4/23/14
16th Edition - 4/16/14
15th Edition - 4/9/14
14th Edition - 3/4/14
13th Edition - 2/26/14
12th Edition - 2/19/14
11th Edition - 2/5/14
10th Edition - 1/28/14
9th Edition - 1/14/14
8th Edition - 1/8/14
7th Edition - 12/31/13
6th Edition - 12/24/13
5th Edition - 12/17/13
4th Edition - 12/10/13
3rd Edition - 12/2/13
2nd Edition - 11/26/13
1st Edition - 11/19/13
17th Edition - 4/23/14
16th Edition - 4/16/14
15th Edition - 4/9/14
14th Edition - 3/4/14
13th Edition - 2/26/14
12th Edition - 2/19/14
11th Edition - 2/5/14
10th Edition - 1/28/14
9th Edition - 1/14/14
8th Edition - 1/8/14
7th Edition - 12/31/13
6th Edition - 12/24/13
5th Edition - 12/17/13
4th Edition - 12/10/13
3rd Edition - 12/2/13
2nd Edition - 11/26/13
1st Edition - 11/19/13
Happy Birthday, Philly!
Our beloved administrator celebrated his twenty third birthday this week. Many threads were made congratulating him and wishing him a great day. He was away from the site for most of the day celebrating his 23rd. Make sure you wish @Philly a happy late-birthday if you haven't already. Happy birthday to you, Philly!
Leader Joins the Team
This week, @Leader was promoted to the position of staff. His position was very well accepted and he has already begun to ban multis and moderate the forum. Many members were very glad to see this user promoted, and his time has finally come. Be on the lookout for this new staff member and be sure to private message him if you're in need of help.
Reputation Abuse Moderator by @Jason - Yesterday night, former Staff member @Jason came up with yet again another grand idea. In his thread, he suggested that one member of FK, specifically of the forum team, be appointed to handle reputation abuse. This is somewhat of a frequent problem here on the forum, and Jason's suggestion would contribute greatly to fixing everything up. If you'd like to see this suggestion implemented, be sure to show some support on Jason's thread.
Congrats Leader on Staff! by @"Mαtrix" - On Thursday afternoon, we saw one of the forum's most dedicated, reputable members, @"Leader", finally become a member of the Staff team. He's been working hard to achieve this position for quite some time now, and his time to shine has finally come. Well done, buddy. If you'd like to congratulate him on his newest position, be sure to leave a reply on the above thread.
Is this being a racist? by @Valiant - Apparently, @Valiant and @Jamil had a small conflict earlier this week. Well, if you're not aware, @Jamil accused @Valiant of leaving some racist remarks on a thread. In an attempt to determine whether or not his remarks would in fact be considered "racist," he posted a detailed thread in the Philosophy & Debates subforum. If you'd like to leave some insight for either of them to see, be sure to check out this heated thread.
Congratsulations Philly! by @Jeffrey - This past Thursday, ForumKorner Administrator @Philly celebrated his 23rd birthday. There were a few threads posted to congratulate @Philly on turning 23, but @"Jeffrey"'s thread received the most replies.
User News
• @Fade hit 1,000 reputation points.
• @Fireworks attained 1,000 posts.
• @Shaine amassed 500 posts.
• @Shift snagged 6,000 posts.
Temporary Bans
• @Diamonds was banned for the reason "100% Warning Level."
Permanent Bans
• @"8=============D" was permanently banned for the reason "Scammer."
• @Poison was permanently banned for the reason "Banned until GOR, Astro and Wiz are compensated. "
• @Woke was permanently banned for the reason "Selling his FK account."
• @"Tr3nt" was permanently banned for the reason "Scammer."
• @Vaped was permanently banned for the reason "Scammer."
Weekly Lottery Statistics
Current Jackpot: 13.10
Current Tickets Bought: 31
Last Week's Winner: @Narc
Last Week's Jackpot: 274.90
Pregnant Christian Gets Death Sentence
Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag is married, pregnant, and a Christian—a normally happy state of affairs that is proving deadly in Sudan, which has sentenced her to die for it. A Sudanese court convicted the 27-year-old on Sunday, because she abandoned Islam. She had 3 days to change back to Islam, but she stayed Christian so the way she is going to die is by being hanged. Before that, she is going to also get 100 lashes for being married to unrecognized Christian man. From this it has gathered protesters all around, but they still plan to give the death sentence to her.
Turkey Mine Explosion Kills 201 People
An explosion and a fire killed at least 201 workers at a coal mine in western Turkey and hundreds more remained trapped underground, government officials said today. Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said 787 people were inside the coal mine in Soma at the time of the accident and 363 of them had been rescued so far. He said at least 80 miners were injured, including four in serious condition. More than 400 rescuers are racing to save people trapped in the mine, which is located about 155 miles from Istanbul. Authorities say the disaster followed an explosion and fire caused by a power-distribution unit. Yildiz said most of the deaths were the result of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Antarctica is Melting and the Effects of Global Warming
Two groups of scientists studying the West Antarctica ice sheet have realized glaciers have begun a thaw that will cause sea levels to rise 10 feet or more and there's nothing we can do about it. The thaw and sea level rise is expected to happen over the next few centuries, meaning that while there won't be a dramatic rise tomorrow. Researchers believe the thaw is linked to climate change and while the point of no return has already passed, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions could at least slow the process down.
Bangladesh Ferry Sinks
A ferry carrying more than 100 passengers capsized and sank today in a river in central Bangladesh after being hit by a storm, and eight bodies have been recovered says. Many people swam to safety after the accident and it was unclear how many remained missing. Ferries in Bangladesh often don't have accurate passenger manifests. He said the MV Miraz-4 ferry sank in the River Meghna as it was traveling toward Shariatpur from the capital, Dhaka. Hasan said there was confusion about the number of missing people. Ferry accidents are common in Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation, because of overcrowding, faulty vessels, and lax rules.
South Sudan and Rebels make Peace
President Salva Kiir agreed to a peace deal today with rebel leader Riek Machar after five months of fighting, thousands killed, and a million forced to flee their homes. The deal includes drafting a new constitution, calling for new elections, and creating a transitional government—but who will form the government isn't clear yet. In their first face-to-face meeting since fighting started, Kiir and Machar shook hands and prayed together.
US Navy Releases 'Stealth' E-Reader For Sailors
The US Navy is to provide custom e-readers, dubbed the Navy eReader Device (NeRD), to some of its sailors. For security reasons, they will have no ports, wi-fi or roaming data capabilities as these features could be exploited by the enemy. Five devices will be distributed among each US Navy active submarine fleet. A broad range of books will be available from classics to best-sellers. "At this time only submarines will receive devices," explained Nellie Moffitt, manager of the Navy General Library Program. "There will be]\ five per submarine, with a total of 355 for the submarine force. Eventually, we will send NeRDs to all vessels in the active fleet - it will take time as each collection will be tailored for specific audiences," Ms Moffitt told a reporter. Traditional e-readers are not permitted on many Navy vessels as their GPS, wi-fi and roaming data features can give away their position to the enemy. NeRD is said to overcome these issues thanks to its portability and lack of inputs and internet connectivity. Unfortunately the absence of features means new books cannot be added to or removed from the device. As a result, the e-readers come pre-loaded with 300 books, selected from the General Library Program's 108,000 titles. Confirmed authors featured on the device include Jane Austen, Shakespeare and James Joyce. However, there are also popular classics such as The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. Storage restrictions, particularly in submarines, have meant keeping a well-stocked library in the Navy can sometimes prove challenging. The NeRD is the brainchild of the US Navy General Library Program in partnership with Findaway World. Sailors will not be charged for the device.
Minnesota Introduces Kill Switch For Mobile Theft
Minnesota has become the first US state to introduce so-called kill switch legislation. It means that all smartphones sold in the state from July 2015 must be fitted with anti-theft software. Such software allows owners to remotely disable and wipe their stolen handsets. Police departments across the US have lobbied for such legislation. According to the US telecoms regulator, an estimated one in three robberies involve smartphones. In the bill Minnesota legislators lay out the requirements: "Any new smart phone manufactured on or after July 1, 2015, sold or purchased in Minnesota must be equipped with preloaded antitheft functionality or be capable of downloading that functionality." California is close to introducing a similar bill, while Congress is mulling national legislation. Many handset manufacturers already have kill switches installed on their phones. Samsung has such a function and Apple offers a facility to track its devices via a service called Find My iPhone. As well as GPS tracking, it also allows users to remotely wipe their phones. Microsoft and Google have similar functions for their handsets and there are a variety of apps to locate, lock and wipe stolen smartphones. In the US Apple, Samsung, Verizon, T-Mobile and others have agreed that from July 2015 all handsets in the US will be fitted with anti-theft software, although it will not be switched on by default.
DayZ Hacked
The servers for in-development PC zombie game DayZ have been hacked, developer Bohemia Interactive has confirmed. That's the bad news. The better news is that no user data has been compromised and development on the game continues unabated. "We have recently detected an attack on some of our servers, the precise nature and scope of this attack is currently being extensively investigated," a representative told Rock Paper Shotgun. "There were no user data on any of the servers. Current development goals and schedules for our games will not be affected by this attack. More information will follow as our investigation continues." Earlier reports claimed hackers were able to obtain the DayZ source code, but this is unconfirmed, and Bohemia made no mention of this in its statement today.
Flappy Bird Returning In August
Flappy Bird is coming back. The uber-difficult mobile game, which was downloaded more than 50 million times before Nguyen removed the game in February, will return to app stores in August. The new version of Flappy Bird will have a multiplayer mode, and Nguyen says the game overall will be "less addictive," though he didn't say more about what that means. It's unclear if the new version of Flappy Bird will be free (like the original) or a paid download. The return of Flappy Bird could mean a big payday for Nguyen, as the original game netted him some $50,000 per day thanks to in-game ads. In addition to the new version of Flappy Bird, Nguyen said he's working on "a lot of games" for the future, including one that features a character jumping from building to building.
The Sims 4 Gets Adults Only Rating In Russia
Russia has given The Sims 4 an 18+ rating because it allows for same-sex relationships. The Sims’ Russian Twitter account first announced the rating earlier this week. When a fan asked why The Sims 4 was given an 18+ rating while 2009’s The Sims 3 did not, The Sims’ Russian Twitter account explained that it was complying with Russian law number 436-FZ, “On Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development.” In 2013, this law was amended to also make “propaganda” in support of “non-traditional sexual relationships” among minors a criminal offense. Since The Sims 4 can depict same-sex relationships, selling it to minors would be considered a crime in Russia. The Sims 4 is set to release on PC and Mac this fall.
The Crew: @Leader, @"Cann!bal", @Comedian, @Deuce, @Michael, @Prepare, & @Solar
Publisher, Editor, & Proof-Reader: @Leader
Headlines: @Leader
Notable Threads: @Solar
Member News: @"Cann!bal"
Interviews: @Michael
World News: @Comedian
Gaming & Tech: @Deuce
Media & Music: @Prepare
Publisher, Editor, & Proof-Reader: @Leader
Headlines: @Leader
Notable Threads: @Solar
Member News: @"Cann!bal"
Interviews: @Michael
World News: @Comedian
Gaming & Tech: @Deuce
Media & Music: @Prepare
Be sure to let us know what you thought of this week's news edition. We love feedback! Thanks for reading this week's edition of ForumKorner News!
Did we miss something newsworthy? Did we say something faulty? Let us know in the comments and we'll address it accordingly.