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McDonald’s is huge in Japan, and it just got bigger with its Mega Potato Fries. IT Media reports (via Kotaku) that McDonald’s is now offering its largest calorie item in the history of the chain with the Mega Potato. It holds the equivalent of two large fries, but at almost half the price. Unfortunately for you McDonald’s french fry fans, the Mega Potato is only available in Japan. You could hop on a plane to grab some, but you have to be fast. The Mega Potato will only be on sale through the end of June. After that, you’ll have to start forking over $6 for two large fries. This isn’t the first time that a fast food restaurant in Japan has offered ridiculously sized meals. For the release of Windows 7, Microsoft teamed up with Burger King to offer a seven-patty whopper. Earlier this year, Japanese restaurant chain Lotteria outdid everybody with a nine-patty cheeseburger to coincide with the release of Evangelion 3.33.

Talk about getting lost in translation. A Bronx teacher claims that she was fired for using the word “negro” in reference to a student. I must admit, it sounds reasonable at first – except for the fact that the teacher in question was teaching a lesson in Spanish. 65-year-old Petrona Smith, formerly a teacher at bilingual PS 211, says that she was instructing her students on how to say colors in Spanish. “Negro,” of course, is Spanish for “black.” She claims that she was fired after a seventh-grader reported the incident. Smith is black, and a West Indies native. She has filed a lawsuit over the firing. “They haven’t even accounted for how absurd it is for someone who’s black to be using a racial slur to a student,” Shaun Reid, Smith’s attorney, told the NY Post. “Talk about context! There’s a lot of things wrong here.” Smith even claims that she differentiated between “negro” (black) and the Spanish word for black person, “moreno.” According to court documents, Smith was also accused of calling some students “failures,” but she says that this is also untrue. Apparently, she asked students who had failed a test to move to the back of the classroom. In fact, Smith claims that the slurs were coming in the other direction. The Post notes that she reports being called a “f*cking monkey” and a “n*gger.” As of now, facts in the case are pretty one-sided. A spokesperson from the city told The Post that they will review the papers – but that’s all they had to say.

Leonard Mars, a co-founder of beverage company Snapple, has died at the age of 80. According to a New York Times obituary, Marsh died on Tuesday, March 21 at his home in Long Island, New York. The cause of his death has not been released. Marsh grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and began his career selling chicken eggs. Marsh founded the Unadulterated Food Products company in 1972 with his brother-in-law and a friend. According to the Times, the company sold fruit juice to health food stores. Marsh and his colleagues operated the business as a part-time venture while also holding down jobs as window-washers. The company changed its name to Snapple in 1980 and introduced its famous line of bottled iced tea in 1987. In 1994, Snapple was bought by the Quaker Oats Company. Marsh stayed with Snapple as an executive vice president. Snapple is now owned by the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, based in Plano, Texas.

What’s black, white and flat all over? iOS 7 if some reports are to be believed. Sources close to Apple told 9to5Mac that the next iteration of Apple’s iOS software will be getting a complete redesign. That redesign will predominantly sport black and white colors while toning down on the textured look that iOS has been known for since its inception in 2007. Apple Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Jonathan Ive (aka the guy who designed the iPhone hardware) is now in charge of the iOS7 overhaul. He is expected to bring the simplistic design of his hardware to iOS 7. He reportedly feels that Apple’s iOS has become complicated in recent years with different visual designs for different apps. His design would unite all of Apple’s software under a common aesthetic principle while retaining the simplicity of use iOS fans have come to expect. Ive’s new black and white approach to UI design will find its way into pretty much every facet of the next iteration of iOS. Some examples include a lock screen that’s no longer transparent, notifications that ditch the current leather look in favor of a white text on black background, and the home screen will be removing gradient textures from backgrounds and app icons. Speaking of apps, all of Apple’s apps have reportedly been redesigned with the new black and white look in mind. One example is the Notes app, which currently features a yellow notepad look. The new design will likely feature a simplistic white look with black text. Outside of design, the new mobile OS will also reportedly include integration with Flickr and Vimeo. We’re likely to see if the above rumors are true at Apple’s WWDC keynote on June 10. The developer-focused event will likely not feature a lot of new hardware (sorry iPhone fans), but we’ll probably get our first look at iOS 7 and the next version of Mac OS X.

In the high-tech and retail worlds, there is a small group of marketers who seem to believe that they control branding and that even after decades of use, pronunciations and nicknames can be changed by marketing dictate. These people are what is known in retail IT circles as “Wrong. Dead Wrong. Absolutely and forever wrong [...]

Tim Curry, the beloved British actor who rose to fame in campy style with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, is recovering from a stroke in his Los Angeles home. Curry reportedly suffered a “major” stroke but is said to be in good spirits despite rumors that he was having trouble speaking. “Tim is doing great,’ said his longtime Los Angeles agent Marcia Hurwitz. “He absolutely can speak and is recovering at this time and in great humor.” At 67, Curry has had a long and fruitful career; however, in 2011 he backed out of a role in “Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead” due to ill health. Very sad to hear. RT @usatodaylife Tim Curry is recovering after suffering a major stroke at his home in Los Angeles. usat.ly/16T8xKq — Josh Spiegel (@mousterpiece) May 24, 2013 Damn. Wishing him the best. MT @usatodaylife: Tim Curry is recovering after suffering a major stroke at his home usat.ly/16T8xKq — Eric Goldman (@EricIGN) May 24, 2013 Oh no! “Rocky Horror star Tim Curry ‘suffers major stroke’ – (good thoughts) independent.co.uk/arts-entertain… @independent“ — Bethan Jones (@memories_child) May 24, 2013 Keep him in your thoughts: “ROCKY HORROR star Tim Curry ‘suffers major stroke’.” @theindyarts: ow.ly/lmqZt — Howard Sherman (@HESherman) May 24, 2013

Epy Guerrero, the famed MLB scout in the Dominican Republic who is credited with dozens of high-profile signings, has died. He was 71. Guerrero began his career with the Houston Astros, where he famously signed Cesar Cedeno out of his home country. “He was a good friend and great scout, great ambassador for baseball and a great evaluator of talent,” Smith said. “He and Pat Gillick were responsible for signing Cesar Cedeno, one of the finest players in the history of the franchise, and other players. Just a great person and a great baseball man. I’m really, really saddened to hear of his death,” said former Astros president Tal Smith. Guerrero spent a large part of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays (1978-1995), and is credited with helping to load the franchise with great players in the 80′s and 90′s. He signed influential players like Tony Fernandez, Alfredo Griffin and Carlos Delgado. He also played a big part in the drafting of George Bell. He served as a coach for the team in 1981. On Thursday night, The Toronto Blue Jays held a moment of silence before their game with the Baltimore Orioles in honor of Guerrero. In his illustrious career, Guerrero signed over 40 MLB players for four teams – the Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers. He was inducted into the Dominican Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. Guerrero died in his birth city of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. [Image via TheStar]

Kate Upton was kind enough to check her schedule after a Los Angeles teen boldly asked her to prom, but it turns out she won’t be able to make it. Nina Agdal, Sports Illustrated‘s “Rookie Of The Year”, is going to fill in for her. Jake Davidson made his proposal in a video back in March and it quickly went viral; luckily for him, because it made its way to Kate. “You can call me Katie if you want! How could I turn down that video! I’ll check my schedule (wink),” she wrote on Twitter. Her full schedule is Jake’s gain, however, as Agdal has confirmed she will be attending the dance with him and even went dress shopping on “Inside Edition”. Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames. US News | Weird News | More ABC News Videos Image: GQ Magazine

As it typically does with many major Google algorithm updates, Searchmetrics has released of the top losers from the Google Penguin 2.0, which the search engine rolled out this week. Based on this list, some big brands like Dish and Salvation Army were hit, as were some porn sites, travel sites and game sites. Even the Educational Testing Service was hit. “My first analysis shows that many thin sites, sites with thin links and especially untrusted links face the problem,” says Searchmetrics founder and CTO Marcus Tober. “In addition, some small business sites were hit because they haven’t taken SEO serious enough.” Here’s the list: Back in April of 2012, after Penguin 1.0, Searchmetrics put out one of these lists. Google’s Matt Cutts spoke out about it, saying it was inaccurate, because there had also been a Panda update, and the list was likely more indicative of that. The fact is that Google puts out algorithm changes every day, and any of these can potentially play into analysis like this. In fact, Google recently transitioned Panda into a rolling update, meaning it is being pushed out regularly, rather than coming in big waves like it used to. We’re not trying to discredit Searchmetrics’ list here. It’s just always best to take these things with a grain of salt. It’s worth noting that Searchmetrics put out an updated list after Cutts’ comments.

A&E is canceling its award-winning documentary series Intervention this year. The 13th season, which is set to start airing on June 13, will be it last. Intervention’s final season will be comprised of five episodes that feature “fan favorites” from the series’ long history. Some of the addiction specialists tapped to return include Jeff Van Vonderen, Candy Finnigan, Donna Chavous and Ken Seeley. A&E says the final season will feature some rather intense episodes. “As Intervention comes to an end, we’re proud to have paved the way for such an original and groundbreaking series,” said A&E and BIO Channel’s executive vice president of programming David McKillop. “We’re honored to have been a part of the 243 interventions since its premiere in March of 2005, leading to the 156 individuals that are currently sober to this day.” You may have never watched the series, but one episode from the A&E series became a short lived Internet sensation on the Internet a few years ago when the emotional climax was auto-tuned: [h/t: Reuters]