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Country Music legend Slim Whitman has died at the age of 90. According to First Coast News, Whitman died in Orange Park, Florida Wednesday night of heart and kidney failure. He reportedly passed away “peacefully” at Orange Park Medical Center, surrounded by his family. During his decades-long career, Whitman released dozens of albums, selling over 120 million of them. Though he was best known for early 50s hits such as “Indian Love Call,” “Keep it a Secret,” and “Rose Marie,” Whitman continued to tour and release new music well into the 2000s. Whitman was born in Tampa, Florida and served in the South Pacific with the U.S. Navy during World War II. A self-taught guitarist, Whitman began his music career with RCA Records in 1948 while still working part-time jobs to support himself. Younger generations might be most familiar with Whitman’s music from the role it plays in the 1996 movie Mars Attacks!. “Indian Love Call” is featured in the movie as humanity’s best weapon against invading homicidal Martians, whose brains cannot handle Whitman’s yodeling: (via First Coast News)

A $193 tank top? A $795 belt? A $298 foulard? (For what it’s worth, “foulard” is hoity-toity for “scarf.”) All that money had to end up someplace. But as far as the Italian government is concerned, it didn’t go to the right place. Fashion icons Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have been convicted of evading over $1.3bn dollars in taxes by using a Luxembourg-based holding company called Gado (a clever mix of the first two letters of their last names—given that Dolce has always had the lead position in their branding, this seems like something of a coup for Gabbana). They’ve been caught in the net for some time. The original charge dates from an investigation that began six years ago, when the Italian government began to crack down on tax evasion. The pair were originally cleared of charges in April 2011, but Italy’s highest court overturned that result and granted a new trial for prosecutors. Given that tax avoidance has become something of a hot-button topic in austerity-ridden Europe, this should make for some pretty rotten tomatoes at upcoming fashion shows. The pair have been sentenced to one year and eight months, but the sentence has been suspended pending appeal, meaning they may never serve any actual jail time. Which is a pity . . . I’m sure they could do wonders with an orange jumpsuit.

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Twitter has acquired check-in app Spindle. Twitter will shut the service down, and utilize the team for its own efforts. Spindle says in a post on its blog: We’ve spent the past two and a half years building a product that helps you answer the question: “What’s happening nearby right now?” Every time we’ve experimented and looked beyond local discovery, we’ve been amazed by the breadth and quality of content shared on Twitter. By joining forces with Twitter, we can do so much more to help you find interesting, timely, and useful information about what’s happening around you. The Spindle team will be relocating and joining the Twitter team in San Francisco. As part of this change, we’ll be sunsetting the Spindle service today to focus on these new and exciting opportunities. You can see a video about how Spindle works here. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. [via Mike Isaac]

Three weeks ago, Double Fine started up another massive Kickstarter project, asking fans for $725,000 in pre-funding for Massive Chalice. The game studio has now proven that its success with Broken Age was not a fluke. The Massive Chalice Kickstarter project has now surpassed $1 million, with eight days left to go. The quickly-funded project shows just how much trust gamers put into Double Fine, the creators of games such as Psychonauts and Brütal Legend. Other developers have not fared as well, namely Precursor Games, which recently halted its Kickstarter campaign for Shadow of the Eternals when it became clear its funding goal would not be met. For hitting the million-dollar mark, Double Fine has promised to produce biweekly “teamstreams” with developers showing off their latest work. Massive Chalice Project Lead Brad Muir stated that the livestreams will include concept art and prototypes as the project ramps up – all the way to alpha and beta tests. “We’re really early with Massive Chalice, we’re still in pre-production,” said Muir. “It’s just really inspiring to me and the team that people believe in this idea and they believe in the studio, and I’m super-excited that we’re gonna get to make this game. It’s awesome. Thanks.”

A week ago, we reported that Yahoo was about to give away inactive email addresses. The company said it would be freeing up Yahoo IDs (and email addresses) that have been inactive for at least a year, and resetting them. The idea is that people who actually want Yahoo IDs/email addresses will be able to get more desirable addresses as if it were the 90s. You could get something like albert@yahoo.com instead of albert9330399@yahoo.com, to use the example Yahoo gave in the announcement. Now, some are expressing concerns about the security ramifications of what Yahoo is doing. Wired’s Mat Honan, who got famously had his digital life “destroyed” by hackers last year, calls it a “terrible idea”. “It means that people will be able to claim Yahoo IDs and use them to take over other people’s identities via password resets and other methods,” he writes. “For example someone who uses a Yahoo email address solely as a backup for Gmail, and thus haven’t logged into it for a long time, would be vulnerable to having that address taken over by a malicious individual who only wanted to ultimately get into the active Gmail address. You can see a chain of events where that could lead to taking over online banking accounts, social media accounts and the like.” “Nor would it be hard to discover some of these inactive addresses,” he adds. “You could, for example, find a dormant Flickr account which previously required a Yahoo email address.” Forbes has a similar story out today, with quotes from Graham Cluley, a security expert who has worked for Sophos and McAfee: So, imagine years ago you created yourself a Yahoo address but you subsequently decided to use GMail or Hotmail instead, but maybe – prior to that – you registered some of your third-party web accounts using your Yahoo address,” writes Cluley in an email. “What happens when you forget your password, and you ask the site to send your registered email address a password reset/reminder? Potentially it could fall into the wrong hands.” “Also, what if people have kept their old email address as an archive – they may not have needed it in the last year, but who’s to say that they might not want to access some of its content (emails and photos from since-deceased relatives and the like) in the future?” he writes. “Yahoo is forcing anyone who doesn’t want their Yahoo ID to expire to log into their account before July 15th (if they haven’t checked in for a year). Of course, many people will *never* realise that the clock is ticking and that they could be about to lose control of their Yahoo ID.” He writes more about it on his blog here. Yahoo has yet to comment on security concerns.

What’s the one thing standing in the way between ourselves and a future ruled by nanomachines? Well, actually a lot of things are standing in the way, but one of the most prominent is a lack of tiny batteries to power the devices. Harvard researchers announced on Tuesday that they have finally overcome the tiny battery problem thanks to 3D printers. The team, led by Jennifer A. Lewis, said that it was able to create a battery the size of a grain of sand by printing “precisely interlaced stacks of tiny battery electrodes.” Lewis captured in a statement the two ways in which this breakthrough is pretty amazing – “Not only did we demonstrate for the first time that we can 3D print a battery; we demonstrated it in the most rigorous way.” It’s the latter that’s most impressive as making batteries small enough to fit inside increasingly smaller, yet more powerful, machines has been a headache for a lot of researchers. With the advent of these small batteries, researchers hope that they’ll be able to innovate in medical fields. There’s already work being done on tiny machines that could be used for invasive procedures, and these new batteries may provide them the power necessary to work for extended periods of time inside a person’s body. Speaking of power, the researchers found that the tiny batteries are “comparable to commercial batteries in terms of charge and discharge rate, cycle life and energy densities.” If you want to see how they did it, watch this video: [Image: Jennifer A. Lewis/Harvard University]

Paula Deen–who has built an empire out of Southern cooking, charm, and butter–is involved in a lawsuit by one of her former employees, and now the 66-year old is facing backlash after portions of her deposition were leaked. Deen is accused by Lisa Jackson–who used to work at Paula’s Oyster House in Georgia–of using the “N” word more than once and says Paula’s brother, Bubba, sexually harassed her. Deen admits to using the racial slur, but never towards Jackson. According to TMZ, one portion of the depo reads: Lawyer: Have you ever used the N-word yourself? Paula: Yes, of course. Lawyer: Okay. In what context? Paula: Well, it was probably when a black man burst into the bank that I was working at and put a gun to my head. Sidenote — Paula was held up at gunpoint during a bank robbery in 1986. Lawyer: Okay. And what did you say? Paula: Well, I don’t remember, but the gun was dancing all around my temple … I didn’t — I didn’t feel real favorable towards him. Lawyer: Okay. Well, did you use the N-word to him as he pointed a gun in your head at your face? Paula: Absolutely not. Lawyer: Well, then, when did you use it? Paula: Probably in telling my husband. Lawyer: Okay. Have you used it since then? Paula: I’m sure I have, but it’s been a very long time. Lawyer: Can you remember the context in which you have used the N-word? Paula: No. Lawyer: Has it occurred with sufficient frequency that you cannot recall all of the various context in which you’ve used it? Paula: No, no. Lawyer: Well, then tell me the other context in which you’ve used the N-word? Paula: I don’t know, maybe in repeating something that was said to me. Lawyer: Like a joke? Paula: No, probably a conversation between blacks. I don’t — I don’t know. But that’s just not a word that we use as time has gone on. Things have changed since the ’60s in the south. And my children and my brother object to that word being used in any cruel or mean behavior. As well as I do. So far, Deen has not commented publicly, but this could be a huge blow to her brand, her rep, and her career.

Tesla, the California-based electric car manufacturer, today announced a recall for its Model S vehicle. The company is voluntarily recalling Model S cars manufactured between May 10 and June 8 of this year due to a defect in the strength of a mounting bracket. This is the first recall issued for the Model S, for which production only began one year ago. Tesla Co-Founder and Chairman Elon Musk announced the recall on Tesla’s blog. From the post: After a careful examination, we have concluded that some Model S vehicles manufactured between May 10, 2013 and June 8, 2013 may contain a defect. Specifically, the attachment strength of the mounting bracket for the left hand latch of the second row seat could be weaker than intended. This reduces our confidence that the left hand seat back will be properly retained in the event of a crash. As designed, the striker bracket is both bonded and welded to the vehicle body, either one of which would be sufficient by itself. This is consistent with the primary design goal of the Model S, which is first and foremost to maximize safety. However, we discovered that, due to body side alignment adjustments in the factory, the bonded section of the joint was compromised and the welded section of the joint was weakened in some cars. Musk went on to emphasize that the defect is only dangerous in theory. The weld referred to has not detached from any known Model S, and no customer complaints have been filed about the issue. He also emphasized that no government or other regulatory brought the defect to the company’s attention. Tesla will be contacting the affected Model S owners this week to arrange for their vehicle to be picked up. The cars will then have their left striker bracket reinforced and be returned to their owners. Musk stated that loaner Model S vehicles will be provided to customers if needed. Back in May, the Tesla One received the highest-ever rating for a vehicle in Consumer Reports history. Last month Tesla and Musk made headlines by paying off a $465 million government loan years early after being criticized by conservatives as an example of wasteful government spending.

Well, this is interesting At last week’s E3, Sony thoroughly trounced Microsoft by announcing that the PS4 would not restrict the sale of used games in any way, and that it wouldn’t require a check-in every 24 hours. It was in stark contrast to Microsoft’s policies which were announced before the show. Now, rumors are suggesting that Microsoft will be dialing back its DRM plans for the Xbox One after a week of nothing but pure vitriol being directed at the Xbox One. Giant Bomb’s Patrick Klepek has on good authority that Microsoft will announce the following changes to the Xbox One’s DRM policies today: No more always online requirement The console no longer has to check in every 24 hours All game discs will work on Xbox One as they do on Xbox 360 Authentication is no longer necessary An Internet connection is only required when initially setting up the console All downloaded games will function the same when online or offline No additional restrictions on trading games or loaning discs Region locks have been dropped If this is true, then holy sh*t, this would be the biggest about face ever seen in the gaming industry. For the past few weeks, Microsoft has defended its DRM policies through a series of increasingly asinine statements that showed it was not only out of touch with consumers, but that it was actively, though perhaps not intentionally, stomping all over every consumer right. We’ve reached out to Microsoft for comment on this story. We’ll update if and when we hear back. Just be prepared for the Internet to explode if this turns out to be true.