1. IPAD 2 DETAILS LEAKED. Throw out that iPad, because a faster, lighter, thinner version of your tablet is hitting the market at some point in 2011.
2. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NEEDS 37,000 NOSY PEOPLE. Statistics Canada needs to hire 37,000 people to conduct the 2011 census. So far the agency has been “swamped with applicants”. Why? A not-so-robust job market, apparently.
3. THIS WAS UNEXPECTED. A vote to extend key provisions of the Patriot Act was defeated in the House yesterday by Democrats and Tea Party Republicans. Think about that one for a moment.
4. MOSCOW AIRPORT SUICIDE BOMBER’S IDENTITY HAS BEEN DETERMINED. Authorities have identified the suicide bomber from the January 24th incident that claimed 36 lives. Magomed Yevloyev, in case you’re curious.
5. TECHNOLOGY RUINS GREED-BASED BOARD GAME. The best thing about playing Monopoly is cheating. It’s the hidden heart of a game about oligopoly and ruining your competitors. But with the release of Monopoly Live, a tech-enhanced version of the classic game, all transactions are taken care of by a weird monolith in the center of the board that literally watches your moves with little cameras. It also ‘rolls’ your ‘dice’. Gah.
6. 2010 WAS SHARK YEAR. Shark attacks hit a decade high in 2010, with 79 unprovoked attacks (I wonder what constitutes shark provocation?) around the world. The best part of the story? The name of the document compiling these incidents is called The International Shark Attack File. The worst part of the story, in case you’re wondering, is all the shark attacks.