Sony Announces the PlayStation 4

PlayStation fans, your wait is almost over. Sony officially announced the PlayStation 4 at a press event Wednesday, the next generation of its popular console.

Nine years in the making, the PlayStation 3, the current PlayStation in the market, was released seven years ago in November of 2006.

"The living room is no longer the center of the PlayStation universe, the gamer is," Andrew House, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment said at the event. "We believe that PlayStation 4 represents a shift from thinking of a box or console."

PlayStation 4's lead system architect Mark Cerny said that Sony started working on the console shortly after the release of the PlayStation 3, ultimately creating a console "for developers, by developers." The console sports a completely updated UI, and a number of new features ranging from an updated controller to social features you won't find on any other console.

Updated DualShock 4 Controller

The fourth-generation console has an X86 processor, enhanced PC GPU, and 8GB high-speed unified memory. The console will also have an updated DualShock controller, with a touchpad, share button, and a headphone jack directly on the controller. A light bar on the back of the controller identifies players, and a 3D camera on the console will track the controllers connected to the console.

Digital titles can be downloaded in the background, and games can be played as they’re being downloaded, so you don’t have to wait.

One unique PlayStation 4 feature: a share button direction on the controller that lets you share gameplay with friends and even allows friends to help you get through tough spots in games.
Share Like Never Before

The console has dedicated, always-on video compression, making it easy to share video clips of your gameplay on-the-fly with friends.

Can't get through a particular level? You can ask a friend on the web to virtually take over your controller and get you through. Friends can also watch you playing a game, virtually "over your shoulder," and comment on your screen — if you allow them — while you play using the share button and the console's "broadcast live" functionality.

Remote Play

A Remote Play function allows you to take your PlayStation 4 game from your television to your PlayStation Vita. Similarly to how the Wii U works, the Remote Play functionality can allow your kids to watch a movie on your TV while you're playing a game on the Vita.

Kids go to bed? you can bring the game back to your television and keep playing right where you left off. PlayStation ultimately hopes to make all games playable on the PlayStation Vita.
Not Backwards Compatible

PlayStation 3 titles will not natively be supported, however, Sony says that it is exploring "advanced technologies" to bring backwards compatibility to the console in the future. All existing PlayStation titles will be playable via the PlayStation cloud service.

The PlayStation 2, which originally launched in March 2000, is currently still Sony’s most successful console. The company has sold more than 150 million of the consoles in the past 13 years, and more than 1.5 billion games have been sold for the console. In contrast, in January of this year, Sony had only sold 70 million PlayStation 3s in the 7 years since that console’s launch.
Games on the Way

Several developers showed off games that are already in the works for the PlayStation 4 at Wednesday's event. Upcoming titles include DriveClub, a new team-based racing game by Evolution Studios, as well as Infamous: Second Son, an exclusive game by Sucker Punch.

Jonathan Blow from independent video game creator Braid also showed off his new game, The Witness. On stage he described the game as a puzzle game, where each puzzle has a core idea that the player has to figure out.

A substantial amount of third-party developers have already signed on to support PlayStation 4, so many in fact that there was barely enough space to put all their name on the slide Sony showed during the event.

Capcom showed off a game called Deep Down (working title), and Square Enix also showed a title it is working on for the console. Ubisoft showed off Watch Dogs, a game about smart cities. A live demo, the game was played by someone on stage using one of the PlayStation 4's new controllers.

Watch Dogs was also shown off during E3 last year.

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Robbie Rogers comes out as gay, retires

Former Columbus Crew and United States midfielder Robbie Rogers has come out as gay and announced his retirement effective immediately.

Robbie Rogers announced his retirement from soccer after revealing his sexuality.

The 25-year-old American, who played for Leeds United and left League One side Stevenage last month, wrote on his blog that he had been afraid of revealing his sexuality - but that he is now leaving football.

Rogers, who won 18 caps for the United States men's national team, wrote: "Secrets can cause so much internal damage. People love to preach about honesty, how honesty is so plain and simple. Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay.

"Try convincing yourself that your creator has the most wonderful purpose for you even though you were taught differently.''

He added: "Now is my time to step away. It's time to discover myself away from football.''

"Much love and respect for you," tweeted USA forward Herculez Gomez. Women's national team superstar Abby Wambach, Chivas USA's Juan Agudelo and Los Angeles Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez also weighed in. "Couldn't be happier for you!" wrote Wambach.

Eddie Pope, a three-time World Cup defender for the United States men's national team added: "Brave men like you will make it so that one day there's no need for an announcement. That day can't arrive soon enough."

No British-based professional player has come out since ex-Norwich and Nottingham Forest striker Justin Fashanu in 1990. He committed suicide eight years later aged 37. There has been a thawing of attitudes to the prospect of gay players in Britain in recent times, however.

Last month, West Ham winger Matt Jarvis became the third footballer to feature on the cover of the UK's best-selling gay magazine, Attitude, after David Beckham and Freddie Ljungberg. Although not gay himself, Jarvis insisted gay footballers should feel comfortable enough to come out.

Meanwhile, Clarke Carlisle, the chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), said last year he had been engaged in discussions with eight gay players but none of them wished to go public.

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The Safe Haven Book Is Better Than The Movie

I'm not sure how I've boxed myself into a corner, defending a Nicholas Sparks book, but here we are. I picked up the book of Safe Haven on a whim, knowing I'd probably wind up reviewing the movie and figuring I could use a heads up on what to expect. Then I saw the Safe Haven movie, out in theaters this weekend, and was amazed-- it had the power to make me actually appreciate the book. 

If you're a fan of Nicholas Sparks books but you've never gotten on board with the movie adaptations, well, I think I finally know what you've been through. Here are the 5 biggest reasons that Safe Haven the book is far superior to Safe Haven the movie… and given how little time it takes to read a Sparks book, why you might be better off spending a few hours reading the book instead of seeing the movie this post-Valentine's weekend.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SAFE HAVEN-- THE BOOK AND THE MOVIE-- ARE BELOW.

Katie leaves her husband in a hurry instead of planning it out. We see Katie (played by Julianne Hough) escape her abusive husband Kevin (David Lyons) in the very first scene of the movie, but if you're familiar with the book, it all feels wrong. She's throwing clothes in a suitcase, she's bleeding and frantic, and she rushes over to the neighbors' house for solace before taking off for the bus station. In the book Katie is practical and plans out her escape to a T, in a way that lets us know her character as a very smart woman caught in a nasty relationship. In the movie, she's closer to the typical abused woman you see in movies-- desperate to get out but without any idea of how to do it. It's a much less interesting character to follow. 

We're not even supposed to know that Kevin is her husband until halfway through the movie. Seriously-- around the midpoint we finally learn that Kevin isn't an ordinary detective on the hunt for a fugitive, but the husband Katie has escaped from. Director Lasse Hallstrom treats this like it's supposed to be some huge reveal, but it's hard to imagine anyone walking into this kind of romance who doesn't already know that. Instead of getting into Kevin's head they way the book does, engaging with his twisted logic and fits of rage, we're watching him as if he's just some good-hearted cop… until he's not! Not only is it unfair to the character, but it's pandering to an audience that's definitely too smart for that kind of needless twist. 

You could say that the chemistry between Katie (Julianne Hough) and Alex (Josh Duhamel) is incendiary in the psychological thriller cum romance Safe Haven. This film by Lasse Hallstrom based upon a Nicholas Sparks novel may be on trend in some unforeseen ways. Without spoiling the inflammatory (pun intended) end for its assured volume of fans, no one you fall in love with dies. But there's some serious damage to property. That detail may resonate for recent hurricane, tornado, and blizzard victims.

With a touch of the supernatural, a tear-jerking plot, a loathsome villain, some adorable kids, and a lot of suspense making music, the film is agreeable enough to be a hit. At the movie's New York premiere at Beauty on Essex, Fern Mallis and Phillip Bloch took a break from fashion week. Danny Aiello, Alan Cumming, Nikki St. James, and Lasse Hallstrom's wife Lena Olin chatted with Duhamel and Hough, also celebrating her cover on the newly revamped Self Magazine.

The very buff Julianne Hough grew up in Utah, a Mormon, lived in London, and never went to college. "That's not a choice I recommend," she added. The very tall Josh Duhamel grew up in North Dakota, and is as appealing up close as he is as the film's dreamboat. Lasse Hallstrom said it was a pleasure working with these actors, but had to keep the movie's sentimental twist because it was in the book.

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Michael Jordan beat Michael Kidd-Gilchrist one-on-one

As Tim Grover walked out of the Hall of Fame induction speech four years ago, the observances of Michael Jordan's old slights, the settling of old scores, had already come and gone in the trainer's mind. All those years with Jordan, and Grover understood to always be lurching toward tomorrow with the game's greatest player.

"I heard that speech differently than everybody else," Grover said. Grover heard Jordan raising the idea of playing in the NBA in his 50s, and that was all the nod he needed to begin preparations.

"If I ever get that call," Grover said, "I was going to be prepared for it. And I am."

Fifty pages inside a binder sit on Grover's desk inside his suburban Chicago home now, information and studies and research and innovations into regenerating the muscle fibers and anti-aging advances and nutrition. From his trips to Europe and Asia and the Far East, Grover has incorporated a small library of intelligence – backed with the most intimate knowledge of Jordan's body and mind and drive – to create a program that awaits the comeback of all comebacks at 50 years old.

"There's no doubt in my mind, that right now, Michael is still the best player on the Charlotte Bobcats," Grover said.

[Related: Top 50 Michael Jordan moments: Nos. 50-37, including Nike 'marriage']

Grover had designed the comeback programs from basketball to baseball, from baseball to basketball and back again in Jordan's 40s. In a book to be released in April, "Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable," Grover finally marches the public behind the curtain of decades of work with the likes of Jordan and Kobe Bryant, a riveting read that balances the illumination of the work of those stars and how it can apply to everyone else.

Whether he comes back to the NBA or not, Jordan still can beat you in one-on-one ... unless you're better than the No. 2 pick in the draft.

Charlotte Bobcats rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist said Friday in Houston that 49-year-old Jordan beat him in a one-on-one game. Jordan turns 50 Sunday, while Kidd-Gilchrist is seven months away from turning 20.

This might be easier to comprehend if Jordan had any clear physical edges on Kidd-Gilchrist. But at 6-7, 232 pounds, the rookie out of Kentucky has the exact size and athleticism of the types of players who guarded 6-6 Jordan night-in and night-out for almost two decades in the NBA.

Kidd-Gilchrist hasn't had a great rookie season, averaging 9.1 points and 5.7 rebounds a game.

Maybe the extra weight helped Jordan push around the rookie, though. He had a phenomenal post-up game back in the day.

Or maybe Kidd-Gilchrist went easy on his boss, though he told CSN Houston that he didn't.

Either way, 49-year-olds are not supposed to beat 19-year-olds in this game. But Jordan plays by his own rules.

For all the discussions about why Jordan left the NBA the first time for baseball after the 1993-94 season – the suspicions that it was a gambling-related suspension – Grover says that Jordan grabbed him after the '93 title and told him to start a conditioning program to transition him to baseball.

"He sat down with Phil, and Phil talked him into coming back for another year," Grover says. "But after that '92 title, he pulled me aside and said, 'I'm done. I'm playing baseball. I spent all that summer working on the angles of baseball, and understanding what muscles are used."

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George Ferris's Valentine's Day gift to science teachers

George Ferris, whose 154th birthday is celebrated with a Valentine's Day-themed Google Doodle, didn't just come up with a new amusement park ride; he provided an opportunity for physics teachers to come up with truly terrifying scenarios. 

George Ferris, whom Google praises on its home page Thursday, did more than just invent a beloved theme park ride. His eponymous wheel serves as a perfect opportunity for physics teachers to engage in two of their favorite activities: 1) revealing the simple mathematical equations that govern the motions of everything around us, and 2) coming up with horrifying thought experiments.  

For Valentine’s Day, the Bay Area-based tech titan lets you toy with its heart: Press on the fun-zone button and creatures are paired and made playable in googly-eyed love scenarios. (We won’t pause long enough to ponder the physical implications.)

It’s also a Google two-fer, as the Doodle celebrates the 154th birthday of late inventor George Ferris, as well as the towering wheel that bears his name.

The Illinois-born Ferris, who studied civil engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York, had his own passion: for railroads and bridgework. By the late 1880s, George Washington Gale Ferris founded G.W.G. Ferris & Co., specializing in trains, and how they could move mountains in terms of modern travel became his professional tunnel of love.

Moving its occupants in a circle at a constant rate, the Ferris wheel offers a straightforward lesson in centripetal force, the force that pulls a body moving in a curved path toward the center of the curvature of that path. We often experience centripetal forces as "centrifugal" forces, that is, we feel pushed away from the center. This feeling is the effect of inertia. Like everything else with mass, you tend to travel in a straight line; when you are pulled in a circular motion, say, by a gondola bolted to a giant wheel, from your perspective you will feel as though you are being tugged outward.   

Thanks to gravity, this feeling is most acute at the highest and lowest points of the wheel. The centripetal forces are always pulling the gondola toward the center, sometimes working in the exact same direction as gravity and sometimes working in the opposite direction. At the bottom, centripetal forces accelerate the seat upward into your backside, and you weigh more; at the top, the seat is pulled straight down, and you weigh less.  

Bigger wheels have to spin faster for weightlessness to occur. The world's largest Ferris wheel, the Singapore Flyer, stands at 165 meters. To induce weightlessness, you would have to set the wheel to spin at 28 meters per second, or about 63 miles per hour. But for a wheel whose diameter is only 15 meters, you'd need spin at just 20 miles per hour to experience weightlessness.  

In this era of burgeoning industrial achievement, the grandest thing at the 1889 Paris Exhibition had been the unveiling of a cloud-scraping romantic beacon: the Eiffel Tower. Soon the mustachioed Ferris, wanting to “out-Eiffel Eiffel,” proposed his own towering dream: a massive “bicycle wheel” of a ride — a spoked marvel bespoke for the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition. Ferris overcame initial rejections and engineering challenges, and his 260-foot-high “observation wheel” — requiring new records in forged steel dimensions (including a 71-ton main axle) — moved from riveted vision to riveting reality.

The Ferris wheel was a hit and a spreading sensation. For 20 minutes and 50 cents, more than a thousand riders could be thrilled at a time.

George Ferris would die just three years later in Pittsburgh, of typhoid fever at age 37. But from London to Tokyo, from Texas to Tianjin, China, his invention still turns our heads.

And Google colorfully observes the wheel and its loving father.

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