WASHINGTON -

With Halloween nearing, there are a few things scarier than someone stalking you online. But that is exactly what could happen if you download certain apps or scroll through some social media sites without paying attention to the permissions page.

It can be easy for someone with evil intentions to find you. And those intentions can be deadly. What you are about to see is a story of a short movie with a very important message.

We showed it to people and watched them react -- with many still frightened.

At first glance, you might think this is a horror movie. And you know what? You're right. But the only thing is that you are the star.

The interactive five-minute film called "Take This Lollipop" was created by Hollywood director Jason Zada.

It shows a very intense version of Facebook stalking.

It's so real, said one girl we showed this to. That's my face and those are all my pictures and those are things that I think are private when I log onto my personal Facebook.

The app takes your pictures, it takes your location, and your friends list, and then shows how someone could take your life in a matter of minutes.

Those are my pictures, said Tom Guarino. It's weird. I don't know what's going on.

Read the original:
FOX 5 Investigates: Online privacy dangers

The Yankees already checked off an important piece of business by finalizing a three-year contract extension with Brian Cashman, who will continue to serve as the club's senior vice president and general manager.

In analyzing the shortcomings of the '14 Yanks, Cashman pointed to issues with the offense and defense, areas that were upgraded as the year went along. The pitching side of the team was a season-long strength.

"We didn't hit, for the most part, all year when we needed to, especially in scoring position," Cashman said. "We were deficient on the defensive side for a good portion of the season; that improved significantly with the additions and subtractions. But offensively, we never really could get it going. The pitching was tremendous and somehow we fixed that, which is harder typically to do, but the offense, we could not fix."

The Yankees believe that some of those problems may correct themselves, particularly in the cases of Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran, who should have their surgical issues further in the past. Teixeira's right wrist was touch-and-go this year, and Beltran will have a bone spur removed from his right elbow.

But there are questions that could be answered from outside the organization, and so it should be no surprise if the Yanks begin to engage with a host of free agents: big-name pitchers like Jon Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields, perhaps, while searching for Derek Jeter's replacement at shortstop.

No one is talking about getting under $189 million this winter, as the Yankees seem on track for another payroll of more than $200 million in 2015. They have about $27 million coming off their payroll in Jeter and Hiroki Kuroda, but will be redirecting most of that to the returning Alex Rodriguez ($25 million). They also added a pricey piece this summer by acquiring Martin Prado ($11 million).

Here is a preview of where the Yankees stand heading into the 2014-15 offseason:

Arbitration-eligible: C Francisco Cervelli, LHP David Huff, RHP Shawn Kelley, RHP Ivan Nova, RHP David Phelps, RHP Michael Pineda, RHP Esmil Rogers, C Austin Romine.

Free agents: LHP Chris Capuano, SS Stephen Drew, 3B Chase Headley, LHP Rich Hill, RHP Kuroda, RHP Brandon McCarthy, RHP David Robertson, OF Ichiro Suzuki, OF Chris Young.

Rotation: Assuming they're healthy, the one-two punch of Masahiro Tanaka and Pineda at the front of the rotation would be a formidable way to set things up, but there are questions attached -- Tanaka missed 10 weeks with a partially torn right ulnar collateral ligament and Pineda was limited to 13 starts by injury. CC Sabathia is coming back from right knee surgery and should be serviceable, though his days of being the lead horse in the rotation seem to be over. McCarthy has expressed willingness to return and would help round out the middle of the staff, especially if Kuroda retires. Nova is coming off Tommy John surgery and probably won't be ready until the second half, but Shane Greene showed enough in his rookie campaign to suggest that he can play a part moving forward.

Read the original:
Yanks could look to market to fill out lineup for '15

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Defections at West Virginia put coach Bob Huggins on the spot to find some scoring help for Big 12 preseason player of the year Juwan Staten.

Front-line additions should soften the burden. Forwards Jonathan Holton and Elijah Macon will make their debuts after sitting out last season.

The Mountaineers were outrebounded in most of their Big 12 games and Huggins believes the roster is better suited to overcome that as well as improve the teams inside scoring. Macon is 6-foot-9 and Holton is 6-7. West Virginia also returns 6-9 sophomores Devin Williams, Nathan Adrian and Brandon Watkins.

I like our front line, Huggins said.

Staten returns for his senior season after leading the Big 12 in scoring at 18.1 points per game. He also averaged a league-high 37 minutes on the court.

I kind of want him to do the same thing he did a year ago, Huggins said. I would like to get the same production with not as many minutes.

Staten, who was slowed by a twisted ankle at the start of preseason practice, was named preseason player of the year in a vote by Big 12 coaches.

Preseason is great, Staten said. Postseason is what I want.

The Mountaineers went 17-16 in 2013-14, missing the NCAA tournament for the second straight season. That hadnt happened to a Huggins-coached team in 22 years.

Whats the difference between having a great year and a good year? Huggins said. Its making some shots at the end, making some free throws and getting some stops when you have to. If we do that, we have a chance to be really good. Think about how many games we lost at the end of the game last year. We lost a ton of them for a lot of reasons.

Read more here:
WVU looking for scorers to help Staten

In the next six years, over 40 DC and Marvel films will hit theaters (including second-party studios Fox and Sony). In recent weeks, Marvel Studios and DC Entertainment have both laid out plans for their shared movie universes with surprise announcements including Suicide Squad, a Green Lantern reboot, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Infinity War, and more! Comic book adaptations are set to dominate the big screen for years to come a trend that has also filtered down to the television side as well.

With Supergirlshow on CBS, a rumoredKrypton prequel from David Goyer, and Netflixs Defenders team-up series (including standalone seasons of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist), the small screen is experiencing its own superhero boom. For two years,Arrowhas proven to be a solid replacement for Smallville (which ran 10 full seasons) but 2013 saw Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.struggle to maintain its viewership leading many to wonder how three new comic book series, The Flash, Gotham, and Constantine would fair in 2014.

As weve previously reported, Constantine debuted to solid, albeit not record-breaking,numbers for a Friday night show (especially when going up against the World Series) and, despite a mixed response from die-hard fans, Fox was satisfied enough with initial ratings of Gotham to order an extra six episodes.

So how are the rest of the superhero shows faring? As mentioned, Arrow is holding steady, mostly coasting on its established audience from the pasttwo seasons. That said, Oliver Queencould certainly see a boost whenthe highly publicized Flash crossover event occurs later-on in the season given that DCs speedster debutedto the CWs best premier ratings in over 5 years.

Yet, after fourepisodes, it sounds as though The Flashs momentum may be slowing only slightly. TV Linereports that this weeks episode dipped six percent in overall viewers (down to 3.4 million)and shed thirteen percent offthe key age 18-49 demo rating (which is now 1.3). To put that in perspective, the seasonpremiere drew 4.5 million viewers for a total demo rating of 1.8. Nevertheless, Barry Allenfans have little reason to be worried. Its typical for ratings tofluctuate week-to-week and the decrease could also be attributed to Flash viewers settling in for the long haul- meaning that, even if though theyre enjoying the series, they may not feel the same immediacy to watch live and havestartedletting episodes build-up on their DVRs for laterbinge viewing.

Of course, its also possible that longtime CWviewers are starting to losesome of their enthusiasm especially considering howclosely The Flash is following in Smallvilles footsteps. Mostepisodes, The Flash is facing a new lightning (as opposed to meteor rock) freak of the week andthe titular hero has already been branded withanondescript Red Streak nickname similar to Clark Kents original monicker The Blur. Even if The Flash is a better show than Smallville(as some have argued) isit a bit too familiar to keep CW viewers engaged?Thecomparison drew semi-heated debate on the latest Screen Rant Underground podcastbut well have plenty of time to see how ratings track in the coming months since the network recently gave the series a full season order.

On the other side of thefence, after hitting an all-time series low (4.36 million viewers) with the episode A Hen in the Wolf House, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.bounced back slightly this week upping their numbers to4.5 million viewers and a 1.7 demo rating. Marvel fans eager to troll DC fans will likely point out thatthe Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. numbers are normally higher than The Flash butits worth noting theseratings are still a major drop from the original series premiere (12.12 million viewers) as well as the season 2 premiere (5.98 million viewers).

Link:
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Ratings Improve; The Flash Drops Slightly

Use your (arrow) keys to browse the slideshow

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

With the Detroit Tigers 2014 season over and the offseason just around the corner, the Tigers are naturally in preparation modepreparation mode in the sense that the team is getting ready for an offseason of change.

Numerous areas of the roster (the bench, the bullpen, center field and the fifth spot in the starting rotation) could be improved in a number of different ways (promotion of internal candidates, trades or free agency).

In the end, the additions made in the 2013-14 offseason weren't good enough to propel the Tigers to a World Series title. Still, those additions greatly improved the team in areas where struggling was commonplace.

With the 2014-15 offseason about to begin, heres a look back at the top five players Detroit acquired before Opening Day 2014.

All stats courtesy ofhttp://www.baseball-reference.com/unless otherwise noted.

Adam Bettcher/Getty Images

Joe Nathan was signed to end the Tigers bullpen woes. After Jose Valverdes implosion and the decision that Joaquin Benoit wasnt going to be the closer, the team settled on Nathan.

Read the original post:
Detroit Tigers: Top Five Offseason/Spring Training Acquisitions of 2013

As we have learned, some kinds of atoms contain loosely attached electrons. Electrons can be made to move easily from one atom to another. When those electrons move among the atoms of matter, a current of electricity is created.

Take a piece of wire. The electrons are passed from atom to atom, creating an electrical current from one end to the other. Electrons are very, very small. A single copper penny contains more than 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1x1022) electrons.

Electricity "flows" or moves through some things better than others do. The measurement of how well something conducts electricity is called its resistance.

Resistance in wire depends on how thick and how long it is, and what it's made of. The thickness of wire is called its gauge. The smaller the gauge, the bigger the wire. Some of the largest thicknesses of regular wire is gauge 1.

Different types of metal are used in making wire. You can have copper wire, aluminum wire, even steel wire. Each of these metals has a different resistance; how well the metal conducts electricity. The lower the resistance of a wire, the better it conducts electricity.

Copper is used in many wires because it has a lower resistance than many other metals. The wires in your walls, inside your lamps and elsewhere are usually copper.

A piece of metal can be made to act like a heater. When an electrical current occurs, the resistance causes friction and the friction causes heat. The higher the resistance, the hotter it can get. So, a coiled wire high in resistance, like the wire in a hair dryer, can be very hot.

Some things conduct electricity very poorly. These are called insulators. Rubber is a good insulator, and that's why rubber is used to cover wires in an electric cord. Glass is another good insulator. If you look at the end of a power line, you'll see that it is attached to some bumpy looking things. These are glass insulators. They keep the metal of the wires from touching the metal of the towers.

Another type of electrical energy is static electricity. Unlike current electricity that moves, static electricity stays in one place.

Try this experiment...

Excerpt from:
The Energy Story - Chapter 3: Static Electricity ... ...

The Braves named former All-Star corner infielder Kevin Seitzer as their new hitting coach Monday, hiring him away from Toronto after an impressive season in his only year coaching Blue Jays hitters.

After Seitzer, 52, and the Blue Jays couldnt agree to terms this month on a new contract, the Braves moved quickly to hire the former two-time All-Star infielder after interviewing him and and at least a handful of other candidates. Longtime minor league hitting coach Jose Castro was named assistant hitting coach.

Seitzer coached a Toronto offense that ranked fourth in the American League in runs (723) and batting average (.259), second in OPS (.736) and home runs (177), and third in on-base percentage (.323) and slugging percentage (.414).

The Blue Jays were seventh or lower in each of those categories in 2013 except homers, where they ranked fourth.

Seitzer will be assisted by Castro, 56, a member of the Cubs major league coaching staff last season after 25 years as a minor league hitting coordinator or coach in four organizations including the Marlins, where he worked with current Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. He was also Seattles interim major league hitting coach in 2008.

This is Fredis staff and he was actively involved throughout the process, John Hart, the Braves new president of baseball operations, said in a news release. With todays two additions, as well as Bo Porter as our new third-base coach, we feel that we have a put a great staff in place.

As recently as two weeks ago it was reported Seitzer would likely return for a second season with Toronto. But the sides had not been able to come to terms on a new deal, and the Braves and Hart hired him away from the Blue Jays.

Seitzer, 52, will be the Braves fourth hitting coach in six seasons. Terry Pendleton was reassigned to first-base coach after the 2010 season, Larry Parrish was fired after one season in the role in 2011, and Greg Walker stepped down this month after three seasons in charge of Braves hitters along with assistant hitting coach Scott Fletcher, who was let go.

Seitzer spent four seasons as Royals hitting coach through 2012 and had mixed results with a young team that operated under serious payroll constraints. He got a lot of credit for helping Alex Gordon get his career turned around in 2011, and for helping shortstop Alcides Escobar have a career-best season in 2012.

An All-Star with the Royals as a rookie in 1987 and the Brewers in 1995, Seitzer hit .295 with a .375 OBP and 74 homers in a 12-year playing career that ended with the the AL champion Indians in 1997, when Hart was Clevelands general manager.

Read more here:
Seitzer hired as Braves hitting coach

"In talking to him a few times, [Seitzer] came across as a guy who had a good plan," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He's organized and detailed. He's worked with different kinds of hitters. He has his own mindset or skill, and that's that he wants to keep the ball in the middle of the diamond. I think he was the perfect fit."

Seitzer became a candidate for the Atlanta job last week, when he was not able to come to terms on a renewal offer made by the Blue Jays, who employed him as their hitting coach this past season. The 52-year-old has ties to both Braves president John Schuerholz and John Hart, Atlanta's president of baseball operations. Schuerholz promoted Seitzer to make his Major League debut with the 1986 Royals, and Hart served as Cleveland's general manager as Seitzer played the final two seasons of his career for the Indians.

The Braves have also hired Juan Castro to serve as their assistant hitting coach. Castro, who worked with Gonzalez in the Marlins' organization, spent this past season as the Cubs' quality assurance coach. He has more than 25 years of experience as a hitting instructor at the Minor League level.

"It's a very exciting time for me," Seitzer said. "I'm going to miss Toronto very much and everybody that I worked with. But this is something I'm very excited about and looking forward to here in Atlanta."

Seitzer was blessed to spend the earliest days of his career playing alongside Brett, and he was reunited with the Hall of Famer while serving as the Royals' hitting coach for four seasons (2009-12). During one of his earliest days on Kansas City's coaching staff, Seitzer said he was shocked when Brett approximated he tried to pull the ball in just 2 percent of his career plate appearances.

Brett's approach mirrors the mindset of Seitzer, who has established himself as a hitting coach who attempts to fight against the urge his players might have to pull the ball. He consistently preaches the value of hitting the ball back up the middle and to the opposite field.

"The more guys try to stay in the middle of the field, it seems like the more home runs that they hit, the more they hit for extra-base hits and hit for power, better [slugging percentage] and better OPS," Seitzer said. "That generates more runs. Frankly, this is all about scoring more runs.

"I'm a big fan of a home run too. I might be the biggest fan on the planet in that I love homers. But I know how you get homers and how you don't get them. Going up and trying to hit homers is exactly the recipe for not only not hitting for power, but for not hitting for average and striking out more and walking less, and being in terrible hitting counts."

Seitzer's approach might prove beneficial to an aggressive, young Braves lineup that scored the National League's fourth-most runs in 2013 and then scored the second-fewest runs in the Majors in '14, when they hit 58 fewer home runs than they had the year before.

The Braves, who have produced the franchise's four-highest strikeout totals over the past four seasons, hit .251 with runners in scoring position in 2013, and .236 (third-worst mark in the Majors) this year.

See the article here:
Braves bring in Seitzer to be hitting coach

This is one of several spots on the roster that could use an upgrade and it's clear the status quo won't get the job done. In part three of a four-part series that examines where things went wrong and where things went right for the Blue Jays in 2014, we take a closer look at the infield and what needs to change:

Dioner Navarro: The big question surrounding the catcher heading into 2014 was whether he would be able to handle a full workload. The answer was yes as he went on to set a career high in games played at 139. It marked Navarro's first time playing more than 89 games since 2009, and despite the daily grind, he was able to finish the year strong. There were some issues with Navarro's ability to frame strikes and some occasional lapses with balls in the dirt, but for the most part, he exceeded expectations. He hit .274 and posted a .712 OPS with 69 RBIs. Navarro has one year and $5 million remaining on his contract.

Edwin Encarnacion: When the Blue Jays were red-hot in May, Encarnacion enjoyed the best month of his career. The first baseman hit 16 home runs to tie Mickey Mantle for the most by an American League player during May. Encarnacion's season hit a sour note on July 5, when he tore his right quadriceps muscle in Oakland. He did return on Aug. 15, but he was noticeably hobbled the rest of the way and couldn't reclaim that first-half success. The 31-year-old should be fully recovered by Spring Training, and he'll continue to form the heart of Toronto's lineup alongside Jose Bautista. Encarnacion is under control for the next two seasons at a combined $20 million.

MLB.com takes a look back at the Blue Jays' top moments of 2014, highlighted by Edwin Encarnacion's power

Ryan Goins: The Blue Jays tried to hand the starting second-base job over to Goins, but the rookie infielder struggled to make consistent contact, and his overall inability to hit at the big league level cost him the role by the end of April. Munenori Kawasaki eventually took over and performed well with the bat for awhile, but he's best served in a utility role. Second base was a noticeable area of weakness for the Blue Jays last offseason and it remains one. Infielder Maicer Izturis will be back next year after a knee injury in 2014, but there's a clear need for additional help from outside the organization. Slotting Lawrie at the position is a fallback plan if the Blue Jays add a third baseman instead.

Jose Reyes: The shortstop hit the disabled list on the first day of the regular season, but he missed the minimum number of games and found a way to get through the rest of the year. It wasn't easy, though, as Reyes battled a shoulder issue midway through the season, and the turf at Rogers Centre took its toll on his legs over the final two months. The .287 batting average was respectable, but Reyes' .328 on-base percentage was his lowest since 2010. Though there were concerns with his range, Reyes and the Blue Jays felt injuries played a role. What's clear is that the club doesn't have any intention of changing Reyes' position any time soon, and the Blue Jays will need to find ways to get him more regular rest to avoid similar health concerns in 2015.

9/28/14: Jose Reyes fields a ground ball hit by J.J. Hardy and turns the inning-ending 6-4-3 double play in the 4th

Lawrie: The third baseman remains one of the more intriguing young players in the Majors, but he has yet to find a way to stay healthy. This year, it was a broken hand and another oblique injury, which limited him to 70 games. Lawrie has yet to play more than 125 games in a season, and if he's going to take the next step, health will have to be on his side. It's sometimes easy to forget that Lawrie is only 24 years old. His versatility in the field is especially valuable for Toronto -- he's a plus defender at third, but his ability to play second will allow general manager Alex Anthopoulos to explore a lot of options this winter. It's hard to envision a scenario where the infield drastically improves unless Lawrie is a focal point.

See more here:
Recent history repeated itself with Blue Jays' infield

Roz Chast drew on memories of her parents and actually drew them for her Kirkus Prize-winning memoir, Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? Bill Franzen hide caption

Roz Chast drew on memories of her parents and actually drew them for her Kirkus Prize-winning memoir, Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

And then there were three: Lily King, Roz Chast and Kate Samworth have all taken home the inaugural Kirkus Prize. The winners in the award's three categories fiction, nonfiction and young readers' literature were announced Thursday night at a ceremony in Austin, Texas.

King's book Euphoria garnered the fiction honors. The novel, her fourth, follows the entangled lives of three rival anthropologists after an early encounter. When it was published, NPR reviewer Jane Ciabattari called it "an intellectually stimulating tour de force" a claim echoed in the judges' own citation: "Euphoria stands out for its perfect construction, its economy and originality, and its fearlessness."

For New Yorker cartoonist Chast, the Kirkus Prize for nonfiction is just the latest honor in a year thick with critical acclaim. Her illustrated memoir Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? has also been shortlisted for this year's National Book Award. On All Things Considered, Chast explained to NPR's Melissa Block why she turned to illustration in order to depict her parents', and especially her mother's, final years. "I think drawing is what I do, and it was a way of being with her and of paying attention."

And Samworth's Aviary Wonders Inc. earned judges' recognition in the young readers' literature category. The darkly comic, vividly illustrated catalog imagines a world in which birds have died out but can still be bought and assembled yourself for a nominal fee. In an interview for Washington City Paper, Samworth told me that the interactive nature of her book hasn't escaped the kinds of ironies it tries to poke fun at. "It's funny," she said. "A lot of people have been asking for a computer app [of the book], and my hope was that people would go outside and look at birds."

The prize, awarded by the literary journal Kirkus Reviews, comes with a purse of $50,000 for each category.

Marginalia: The Cambridge University Library is opening an exhibition Friday on the beautiful doodles, mistakes and downright profanity left in the margins of some of England's oldest books. Beside an inkblot splattered across a book some six centuries ago, for instance, the rueful owner scribbles, "I stupidly made on the first of December 1482." In case you can't make the trans-Atlantic trip for the free exhibit, which is open until April 11, here are a few of the best blotches and additions:

The opening of St. Luke's Gospel in the Gutenberg Bible.

Original post:
Book News: Lily King, Roz Chast And Kate Samworth Win Inaugural Kirkus Prize