D’Angelo Russell, Jahlil Okafor among the nation’s ten most entertaining players

D’Angelo Russell, Jahlil Okafor among the nation’s ten most entertaining players

1. D’Angelo Russell, Ohio State: Over the course of the last month, Russell has played his way from being a somewhat-overlooked freshman into a potential top five, a first-team all-american and a kid with a fighting chance at upending Jahlil Okafor’s National Player of the Year campaign. Russell is a combo-guard that shoots 45.4 percent from three, averages just a shade under 20 points and probably has the best vision of any player in college basketball.

2. Yogi Ferrell and James Blackmon, Indiana: The Hoosiers have no size inside, meaning that in order for them to win they have to spread the floor and allow their guards to make plays off the dribble. Ferrell and Blackmon are the two most talented perimeter players on the roster.

3. Jahlil Okafor, Duke: Okafor is the most dominant low-post player that we’ve seen come through the college ranks in a long time. His footwork, his post moves, his passing ability, the way he reads double-teams. He’s a throwback, and while the things he does don’t involve high-flying acrobatics or ankle-breaking crossovers, even the most surly basketball fans will be able to appreciate big men with moves.

4. Jerian Grant, Notre Dame: Grant is unbelievably productive and such a vital cog in Notre Dame’s offensive attack, which is one of the most efficient in the country. He make big plays and big shots in close games, as he is the ‘closer’ that Notre Dame desperately missed last season. Oh, and have you seen what he did against Georgia Tech?

5. Kris Dunn, Providence: If you’re not a fan of the Big East, you may not know the name Kris Dunn, but he’s been as productive as any point guard in the country over the last month. He had a triple-double — 27 points, 13 boards, 11 assists — in a win over DePaul.

6. Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga: Pangos has taken over more of a point guard role this season, allowing his talented front court to do the heavy lifting this season, but Pangos still has the ability to ratchet things up from deep. When he gets on a roll, he can reel off four or five threes in a row.

7. Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming: The son of a dunk champion, it should come as no surprise that Nance is a high-flier. But he’s more than just the dunks, as he has three-point range and is one of the best defensive power forwards in the country. He’s one of the biggest reasons that Wyoming is calling themselves the new Dunk City.

8. Michael Qualls, Arkansas: Qualls is the best dunker in the country and plays in a system at Arkansas where his team presses for 40 minutes and gives him ample opportunity to get out in transition and showcase his athleticism.

9. Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin: Kaminsky is a seven-foot center with the perimeter skills of a point guard. He can hit threes, he can beat you off the dribble and he’s an excellent passer. If you try to put a smaller defender on him, he can overpower them in the post.

10. Keifer Sykes, Green Bay: The lone mid-major player on this list, Sykes is as entertaining as anyone. He’s a dynamic, 5-foot-10 point guard that can go for 30 on any given night.

Apple CEO says smartwatch will fight 'new cancer

Apple CEO says smartwatch will fight 'new cancer  The Apple Watch may be the most eagerly anticipated gadget of the year, but it also has a lot of doubters, who say the $350 device is too pricey or that the design is clunkier than the Moto 360. Or the critics may just be down on the smartwatch category altogether. But, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the Apple Watch possesses several unique strengths, including a variety of designs, Siri integration and, yes, the ability to fight “the new cancer”: sitting. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference on Feb. 10 in San Francisco, Cook likened today’s smartwatches to early MP3 players before the iPod came along. “We weren’t the first company to make an MP3,” Cook said. “They were fundamentally too hard to use, and the user interface was really bad.” Cook was clearly drawing parallels to today’s smartwatches. Android Wear devices, for example, involve a fair amount of swiping to get things done. The Pebble Watch, which uses a somewhat awkward button-based interface, is now on more than a million wrists, but that doesn’t impress Cook. “There are several things that are called ‘smartwatches’ that are shipping,” he said, “but I’m not sure you could name any.” So how does Apple plan to shake up the market? By “changing the way you live your life,” according to Cook. And that could include saving it. Apple’s CEO told conference attendees that the Apple Watch will give you a little tap 10 minutes before the hour if you haven’t moved within the hour. Why? “Because a lot of doctors believe that sitting is the new cancer, right?” Cook said. Apple’s CEO said a lot of his employees who use the watch are now standing up and moving around at 10 minutes before the hour. In addition, the Apple Watch has the ability to track your activity and exercise. But that’s not all the Apple Watch will do for health. Dexcom’s upcoming Apple Watch app, for instance, will be able to help diabetes patients report glucose levels on a graph by working with a tiny monitor that’s inserted under the skin. The app has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Cook believes that, just like the iPhone, the app selection for the Apple Watch will be a huge differentiator to separate Apple’s offering from those of its competitors. “The things third parties are working on? I’m super-excited about,” Cook shared. “Just like when the App Store came out, and you remember the tagline, ‘There’s an app for that’? And the way you felt with your favorite apps, and so you’re going to have a feeling like that.” It’s not as if other smartwatch platforms are standing still. At last count, there were nearly 200 Android Wear apps in the Google Play store, 4,200 Pebble apps and watchfaces and more than 1,000 Tizen-based apps. With Google I/O coming up in May, we expect to see many more enhancements for the Android Wear platform in general, as well as new designs to battle the Apple Watch. Pebble, too, has promised new hardware and software for this year. However, Cook seems confident that the Apple Watch will rise above the competition, and be much more than a novelty. “There’s just an enormous number of things that it will do,” Cook said, “and I think you’re going to find it something that you’re going to think, ‘Wow, I can’t live without this anymore!'”

It's Wonderful That Taylor SwiftTook The Time To Cheer Up A Heartbroken Fan On Tumblr Like This

It's Wonderful That Taylor SwiftTook The Time To Cheer Up A Heartbroken Fan On Tumblr Like This A person in search of relationship advice should always go to an expert. If you want cleaning advice, ask a clean person. If you want relationship advice, go find a cute old couple who just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. But if you want advice on how to handle a breakup, you should always go to Taylor Swift. One heartbroken fan did just that this week, and Taylor Swift actually responded with some very good advice. (Related: You Won’t Be Able To Stop Laughing At This Vine Of Pharrell Judging Taylor Swift’s Dancing At The Grammys) One sad fan posted a Tumblr message directed at Taylor Swift about how her boyfriend had broken up with her and was being a real jerk about yanking her around and toying with her feelings. People must do this sort of thing all the time, but this time Taylor Swift stepped in to help, chatting with the fan and commiserating over her broken heart and hurt feelings. On top of offering sympathy, Swift gave some epic advice and told the fan to cut the dude loose and stop answering when he called to jerk her around. “There is nothing wrong with avoiding people who hurt you,” said Swift. Best of all, Taylor Swift made her fan a break-up playlist to help her get through the heartache. Swift subtly avoided including any of her own songs on the playlist, but recommended “Stay Away” by Charli XCX, “Not Around” by Montgomery, “Wings” by HEARTS, “Coffins” by Misterwives, “Sleep” by Azure Ray, and “Begin Again” by Measure. I can’t think of a single celebrity at this point who is as good as Taylor Swift at relating to her fans through social media. The whole exchange was touching and wonderful, and we’re all going to need that playlist. Check out the whole conversation here: http://breakmelikeapromise.tumblr.com/post/110617500510/nevergooutofstyle-taylorswift-i-hope-you-see-this

World Cup final photo of Messi wins prize.

World Cup final photo of Lionel Messi eyeing trophy wins prize A photograph of Lionel Messi looking longingly at the World Cup trophy has been voted as the best sports image of 2014. The photo shows Messi eyeing the golden trophy in the aftermath of Argentina's 1-0 loss to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final at the Maracana Stadium. Bao Tailiang captured the moment for Chengdu Economic Daily and his work won first prize in the Sports Singles category of the 2015 World Press Photo Contest. The Chinese photographer's image won the award ahead of pictures of the New York Giants' Odell Beckham catching one-handed for a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys andAustralian cricketer Phillip Hughes being helped by his teammates after sustaining a blow to the head which later proved fatal. Messi and his teammates were beaten in extra time as Mario Gotze scored the winner with seven minutes remaining. The Barcelona forward scored four goals for Argentina at the tournament in Brazil and was awarded the Golden Ball for his performances.

What Makes Popcorn Go 'Pop'? Scientists Might Have Just Solved the Decades ....

What Makes Popcorn Go 'Pop'? Scientists Might Have Just Solved the Decades .... It’s befuddled scientists for decades but now, French scientists think they might have finally discovered the answer. The mystery of how popcorn pops and what exactly causes that audible noise led a team of French scientists to place a piece of popcorn on a hot plate and record the process using a high-speed camera. The camera took 2,900 pictures per second as the phenomenon occurred. What they found in their observation is that popcorn bursts open, jumps and then “pops” all in a matter of a few hundredths of a second. The graphic below provides a clearer understanding of the process. “We observe that popcorn jumps with a ‘leg’ of starch which is compressed on the ground. As a result, popcorn is midway between two categories of moving systems: explosive plants using fracture mechanisms and jumping animals using muscles,” the researchers wrote in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. “By synchronizing video recordings with acoustic recordings, we propose that the familiar ‘pop’ sound of the popcorn is caused by the release of water vapor,” they added. The scientists further noted that when the popcorn reaches a temperature of more than 100 degrees Celsius, the moisture contents begin to boil. As the vaporized pressure continues to increase, the hull of the popcorn breaks, jumps anywhere from a few millimeters to several centimeters and around the same time produces the famous “popping” sound. All of this happens simultaneously as starch granules expand, eventually forming the spongy texture of popcorn pieces in many shapes. Such observation suggested that water vapor is the cause of the decades-old mystery of where popcorn gets its “pop.” But to be sure, they conducted one last examination. Going back to the video they recorded, they harmonized the media elements and arrived at this inference. “Concerning the ‘pop’ sound, we synchronized acoustic and video recordings: the scenario of an excitation by the water vapor release is consistent with our observations,” the scientists concluded.

Unofficial PS4 Remote Play Can Be Downloaded on Your Android Device.

Unofficial PS4 Remote Play Can Be Downloaded on Your Android Device. An unofficial Android app has been created that allows non-Sony Xperia owners to use their smartphones to remotely play PlayStation 4 games. Called the Remote Play Port APK, the file must be downloaded outside of the Google Play store, which can open your device to various online attacks. If that doesn’t concern you, however, feel free to click here to learn how to download and install the app. Essentially, the Remote Play Port APK does the same thing that Sony’s official PS4 Remote Play app does — it allows users to use their smartphone or tablet as a screen for their PS4. Unlike the official app, not just Xperia devices can use this program, as the above video shows. Users can either use a PS4 controller with the app, or can use touch controls to play their favorite PS4 games.

Why is Niall Horan HATED? One Directionsinger abused at airport.

Why is Niall Horan HATED? One Directionsinger abused at airport. Yesterday, One Direction stars Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson left Sydney after launching their On the Road Again Tour in the city with two sell-out shows at the Allianz Stadium. They now how a couple of days off and their next gig will be on Saturday, which is Valentine’s Day. However, when the singers boarded a private jet yesterday, Niall was heckled by onlookers at the airport, and one female yelled out “I f***ing hate you, go f*** yourself” among other vile abuse. As you can see in a clip below, Niall obviously heard her but for a second, it seems he wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly as he hesitated before he went through the jet’s door. Later, he favourite a tweet on Twitter which read, “Remember in November when a pap yelled, ‘Why do you hate your fans’ and people were ready to glass him… “But now we’re doing it ourselves.” But apparently, Niall later un-favourited the message. Meanwhile, dozens of Australian One Direction fans have taken to Twitter to complain that the singers didn’t stop to greet them at various places in and around Sydney, but in particular, at the airport yesterday. One Twitter user and One Direction fan bemoaned the fact that the singers are rarely in Australia and evidently felt then that they should make a special effort to stop for fans… However, it seems that these ‘fans’ don’t take into account the fact that not only will the singers have been on a schedule – even the world’s biggest boy band can’t dictate what flight take-off slot their pilot is given – One Direction’s security team may be aware of a specific threat to their safety, and therefore, breaking away to mingle with fans could cost them their lives. Simply because One Direction’s security team don’t make it public knowledge every time there’s a threat against them doesn’t mean there aren’t any. There are, and sadly, lots of them… So while it is of course disappointing for fans who want to meet their idols, there will be times when they cannot take the risk. Perhaps then the One Direction fans who abuse the stars when they don’t stop for them should bear in mind that their lives could be at stake. Would they rather there was a tragedy, as long as they got a selfie?

Manchester United transfer news: Man Utd'still on course to sign Marco Reus in £50m transfer deal'.

Manchester United transfer news: Man Utd'still on course to sign Marco Reus in £50m transfer deal'. Manchester United are still on course to sign Marco Reus – despite the attacker signing a new contract with Borussia Dortmund. United had been leading the race to sign Reus at the end of the season, when his release clause was due to drop to just £20million. However, he shocked the Red Devils this week by signing a new contract with Dortmund, which appeared to put transfer talk on hold. Yet   reports say United are ready to stump up £50million in the summer to get Reus, and Dortmund could accept. Louis van Gaal seems desperate to land the German and while he’ll be more pricy now, the switch can’t be ruled out.

Google’s Android Wear Shipped Just 720,000 Units Last Year.

Google’s Android Wear Shipped Just 720,000 Units Last Year.

Google’s new line of smartwatches isn’t exactly flying off the shelves. According to research firm Canalys, 720,000 Android Wear watches were shipped in 2014. The most popular watch was Motorola’s round-faced Moto 360, though it faced supply constraints during the fourth quarter.

The figure gives Google about a 15% share of the total 4.6 million smart wearablebands that were shipped in 2014. Canalys also revealed that Pebble smartwatch, one of the earliest to market, shipped 1 million units from its launch in 2013 to the end of 2014.

So far, at least, smartwatches seem to be a long way off from reaching mass adoption. For comparison, vendors shipped about 230 million tablets and 1.3 billion smartphones worldwide last year, according to research firm IDC. The arrival of the Apple Watch in the spring will certainly increase the presence of smartwatches, but the devices still have a long way to go before becoming truly mainstream.

Microsoft and Samsung resolve million-dollar dispute over Android device.

Microsoft and Samsung resolve million-dollar dispute overAndroid device. Microsoft and    Samsung  have ended a legal fight over royalty payments related to Android devices, the companies announced late Monday. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Last year, Microsoft sued Samsung after Samsung allegedly failed to pay some fees to Microsoft for a cross-licensing agreement related to patents used in Android devices. Samsung contended that the contract was no longer viable after Microsoft acquired Nokia's mobile division. “Samsung and Microsoft are pleased to announce that they have ended their contract dispute in U.S. court as well as the ICC arbitration. Terms of the agreement are confidential," a statement attributed to bothSamsung  and    Microsoft reads. In 2011, the companies made a patent agreement in which Samsung agreed to pay Microsoft royalties for each Android phone it sold. According to the lawsuit, Samsung still owed $6.9 million in interest. Microsoft holds patent-licensing agreementswith other Android OEMs, such as HTC. Though Android is Google's operating system, the Redmond, Washington-based company asserts that some of the underlying technology uses Microsoft patents. It's never been specified how much Samsung was supposed to pay for each device sold, but the royalty payments totaled at $1 billion in 2013.

Tim Cook says Apple Watch will 'tap' you out of your laziness.

Tim Cook says Apple Watch will 'tap' you out of your laziness. It's not surprising for Apple executives to jump up at the same time during meetings. That's because they're all wearing the Apple Watch that's nudging them for sitting too long, says Apple CEO Tim Cook. Cook, speaking Tuesday during the Goldman Sachs technology conference, said one feature of the Apple Watch -- which hits the market in April -- is a reminder to move around if you haven't done so in the past hour. The watch will "tap" you on the wrist 10 minutes before the top of the hour, he said, and because so many people at Apple are wearing the watch, a lot of people end up standing during meetings. "It took a while to get used to, but it's actually really good," Cook said. "A lot of doctors believe sitting is the new cancer." The company, which announced the device in September, earlier only said the Apple Watch would hit stores in "early 2015." The lowest-end Apple Watch will cost $349. The Apple Watch is the first major new product category for the company since what it billed as the "magical" iPad in 2010. It's also the first new push by the company under Cook's leadership. Cook had promised for over a year that Apple in 2014 would introduce"amazing" new products and enter"exciting new product categories" beyond its wildly successful smartphones, tablets and computers. The Apple Watch, along with the new Apple Pay mobile-payments service, fulfill that vow.

Microsoft Will Give You 100GB of Free OneDrive Storage for Two Years.

Microsoft Will Give You 100GB of Free OneDrive Storage for Two Years. Microsoft is offering a somewhat insane cloud storage deal: You can get 100GB of free OneDrive storage for nearly two years if you sign up for a Bing Rewards account. If you're a US resident, you just sign up for aBing Rewards account, which is free, and then go to the Bing Rewards dashboard. The cloud storage deal is there, ready to go. You don't have to make a permanent switch to Bing to take advantage, though that's clearly what Microsoft is hoping you'll do. That's a small price to pay for a shitload of storage. Microsoft has already offered free unlimited OneDrive storage to Office 365 users, and this is an even sweeter version of a deal they put on last year. Yes, Microsoft will have to wait until 2017 to start charging people, but at that point, they'll have locked in a loyal customer base. Considering how cutthroat cloud storage competition is these days, it's not a bad plan.

Kanye West Apologizes to Beck, Announces Collaboration with Taylor Swift

Kanye West Apologizes to Beck, Announces Collaboration with Taylor Swift

It looks like Kanye West and Taylor 
Swift really did mend fences at the Grammy Awards this weekend. In an interview withRyan Seacrest this morning, West announced that he and Swift aren’t only collaborating on photo opportunities, they’ll be headed into the studio to record together as well.

This announcement, as well as the rest of the Seacrest interview, seems to be a bit of a mea culpa, or at least clarification, on the part of West. The musician came under fire earlier in the week after jokingly repeating his famous 2009 VMA interruption of Swift by hopping up onstage when Beck beat out Beyoncé for album of the year. West took the opportunity to clarify to Seacrest both the light-hearted Beck interruption and the harsher interview he gave post-ceremony.

In that post ceremony interview, West said, among other things:

I don’t even know what [Beck] said. I just know that, the Grammys, if they want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We aren’t going to play with them no more. ‘Flawless.’ Beyoncé’s video. And Beck needs to respect artistry, he should have given his award to Beyoncé.

But West told Seacrest this morning:

So the voices in my head told me go and then I just walked up like halfway up the stage. You know, what I really wanted to do is just joke around about what had happened before, but I just really didn’t want to take away from Beck’s moment or the time he’s having to talk because you know the Grammys, they play music really quick no matter who you are and everything. So I didn’t want anything to take away from his screen time. So I just walked back down because you know, it was kind of a joke like the Grammys themselves.

And when asked directly about Beck, West said:

Well first of all, Beck is one of the nicest guys and one of the most respected musicians in the game. So, there’s nothing that I will want to do as a fellow musician to disrespect him in any way. And the weird thing is like, and I don’t feel like I have the right to take away from people’s moments, but the reality of it is — and case in point by who came up to me right afterwards — is it’s almost like a chiropractor. You know, you just get a little crook out like, “Wow, this crook has been there!” It’s just a little jolt of truth, right? And then you know, everyone feels better after the fact, or everyone is way more famous after the fact, or everyone sells way more albums after the fact, and then Kanye just goes on being an a**hole to everyone.

This is par for the course for Kanye who often (but not always) follows up his more impulsive, outspoken moments with thoughtful interviewsand personal apologies. If Seacrest’s Twitter feed is any indication, this most recent West apology went a long way to soothe ruffled feathers.

As for Swift, Kanye said:

Yeah, she wants to get in the studio and we’re definitely going to go in. Any artist with an amazing point of view, perspective, fan base, I’m down to get in the studio and work. I don’t discriminate.

If Kanye and Taylor are really headed into the studio together seven years after their original conflict, does that mean we can expect a West/Beck collaboration in 2022? Actually, given how serene Beck has been about all of this, that collaboration could come even sooner.