After the recent capture of the alleged “Golden State Killer,” who is currently awaiting trial on over 20 counts of murder, law enforcement agencies are looking to expand their ability to gather evidence in the course of their investigations. In order to catch the Golden State Killer, law enforcement officers used data from a popular DNA profile company, Ancestry. Officials took a DNA sample from one of his crime scenes, and ran it through Ancestry’s database. When the DNA from the crime scene matched one of Ancestry’s users, officials investigated the user and found that he had a relative who fit the profile they already had on the killer.

Evidence from a DNA profile site led officials to the door of a man they may not have been able to find any other way, but it has also called into question the ethics of law enforcement agencies being able to access the database of sites like Ancestry in the course of their investigations. Opponents of this process see it as an invasion of privacy, while proponents of it argue that if consumers are willingly giving their DNA to a company, they must accept that it could be used against them by police. Whether you support the practice or not, it’s hard to argue with the results in the case of the Golden State Killer. Law enforcement was able to catch someone who has terrorized, raped, and murdered dozens of people over the last 30 years, a man who likely would have lived the rest of his life unnoticed if they hadn’t used this method to catch him.

I never wanted cats. I’ve always loved animals, but I was more of a dog person. I wanted a pet that would give me love and comfort, and cats always seemed more self-sufficient than loving and affectionate. But when I realized my landlord wouldn’t allow me to have a dog, I was distraught. I found myself still looking on pet websites even though I knew I couldn’t get a dog. That’s when I saw the cutest cat I had ever seen. I had to have her, and when I found out she had a brother, I had to have him, too.

I reached out to the owner and when she told me both kittens were available, I jumped in my car without another thought. They were 45 minutes away, and I wanted them in my arms as soon as possible. I was about halfway to their city, though, when I realized I didn’t know where to go. The cats’ profiles on the site didn’t have an address, and the owner wasn’t picking up her phone. I never thought I wanted a cat, and now I was in tears at the thought of losing these two kittens I had never met. After some online research, though, I was able to find an address, and rushed there as quickly as I could. Luckily, they were still available, and I fell in love with them immediately.

When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their Best Picture nominees for 2018 on January 22, 2019, many rejoiced the Academy’s recognition of Black Panther, the most popular movie of the year. Others, however, pointed to the nomination as a placation of the movie’s fans, arguing that while it was a good movie, it was far from the best picture of the year. While Black Panther didn’t win the award for Best Picture, its nomination is important. Even if Black Panther was not the best picture of the year, it certainly was the most important. Movies that change the landscape of movies for years to come deserve to be recognized, though, so Black Panther’s nomination is entirely deserved. If the Academy doesn’t use their award show to recognize the people who are revolutionizing their industry, what’s the point of giving out awards at all?

The Home Box Office Channel, or HBO, was founded in 1978, and while it gained popularity rather quickly, it took almost 25 years for entertainment companies to really see the potential for subscription-service entertainment. HBO was long seen as a luxury, something that wasn’t a viable business plan in a congested market. HBO was taking the market share, and other companies would just be trying to squeeze into a market that was too small for anyone else. Plenty of other services arose, and some were successful (like Showtime), but it took until the early 2000’s for the entertainment industry to understand the true potential of pay-for-programming services. It’s around that time that HBO began expanding to provide more original content, driving a large spike in subscribers. It was also around that time that Netflix began changing the entertainment world forever. Now, there are a seemingly infinite number of streaming services that customers are willing to pay to receive, and it makes people in the entertainment industry wonder whether they should have learned from the HBO model a little earlier.

There may be nothing more dangerous in our modern-day world than stress, which is specifically linked to six different causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide. On top of that, it’s very difficult to treat, as it often stems from the problems that people face in their everyday lives. Some adults have found a unique way to cope with their stress-levels, though: coloring books.

Coloring books are no longer just for children, and studies are supporting a current movement towards adults using coloring books as a way to manage their stress. According to experts, coloring can reduce stress, relieve anxiety, and help foster feelings of accomplishment. Coloring works a lot like meditation; by coloring, a person gives their brain something fun, creative, and manageable to focus on. Coloring in a coloring book may not be a clinical solution to things like depression and anxiety, it can be a helpful way for people to manage their stress and anxiety on a daily basis.

The term “microbrewery” may not be an accurate way of describing small breweries anymore. Many of these companies are far from “micro” anymore as the popularity of craft beers continues to grow. While traditional beers will always be the beers-of-choice for many people, the bigger companies are starting to feel the impact of these microbreweries. Many of the big beer companies are unsure how to respond. They can continue their business as usual and continue to do well with their demographic of customers. With the rise of the microbrewery industry, however, the customer-base for big beer companies is becoming older and older, so business-as-usual might not be a good long-term strategy. Getting into the craft beer industry themselves, though, might be a fool’s errand. Craft beer drinkers don’t want a craft beer from the big companies and people who love the big beer brands don’t want a craft beer. Unless America’s Goliath-sized beer companies find a way to adapt, microbreweries could be loading their slingshot and taking aim.

Just when people were starting to think that traditional mail was going to become obsolete, Amazon showed everyone the potential for what traditional mailing and delivery services could offer. Now, it’s feasible for someone to do all of their shopping (grocery, gifts, etc.) online, without having to leave their home. Amazon’s transformation of the goods delivery business has turned a slow, expensive process into something that’s quicker, easier, and often even less expensive than going to a brick-and-mortar store. The restaurant industry and companies like Uber have taken a page from Amazon’s playbook and made food delivery even easier as well. People can now order almost anything online, and expect quick and inexpensive delivery. Users can even subscribe to companies who will cultivate packages for them, and send them items that the company thinks the customer will like each month. Amazon’s delivery services have not only revived our reliance on postal delivery, but they’ve also helped to revolutionize the way we shop for everything from furniture to groceries.

In 2018, Childish Gambino became a national obsession when he released his viral video for the song, “This is America.” The video is shocking right from the beginning, as it shows Gambino dancing and singing for a few seconds before brutally shooting a man in the head. The rest of the video is filled with this juxtaposition: Gambino singing and dancing while chaos ensues in the background, likely a metaphor for how Gambino views modern America. America is listening, too, as this video became one of the most viewed videos ever, and Childish Gambino, who was already famous, suddenly was thrust even further into the limelight.

Childish Gambino’s career anything but typical; he didn’t even start his career in music. Many fans know Gambino as Donald Glover, a talented actor/comedian who created the critically acclaimed television show, “Atlanta,” and carried the cult television comedy, “Community.” Only big fans, though, know that Glover’s big break came as a writer on the television show, “30 Rock.” While he was mainly behind the scenes on “30 Rock,” eagle-eyed viewers can spot him with small speaking roles in a few episodes.