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Based on this month's election, the idea legalizing marijuana seems more popular than ever. Two states, Washington and Colorado, have legalized pot at the state level. With the legal marijuana market looking stronger than ever, there are companies out there looking to build around big-marijuana when commodity reaches critical mass. For now, most of those companies are waiting in the wings, but not medical supply distribution producer MedBox, which has been thrust into the spotlight. The company, which makes vending machines for hospitals, pharmacies, and “alternative medicine clinics,” has seen their stock price rise by 3,000 percent since the 2012 election. You'd think MedBox' executives would be ecstatic, but in reality, the company is terrified of what will happen now that they've suddenly become so popular on Wall Street.

The end of the year can a be a very lonely time for a smartphone. When the holidays roll around, people tend to get together with their families and speak to each other in person, so the phones just sit there in their owners' pockets or on a table somewhere. Well, after years of abuse, Android-based phones have decided they aren't going to take it anymore. As a sign of protest, (or because of unforeseen bug) Android Jelly Bean 4.2 skips the month of December, 2012 in certain apps.

A new era of video game consoles kicked off at midnight with the launch of the Nintendo's dual-screen wielding platform, the Wii U. Whether you've already run to the store and picked one up, or still aren't sure whether you see a new Nintendo console in your future, you probably have a lot of questions about it: "What exactly can this thing do?" "What games should I buy?" "Do I really need to download that day-one patch?"

Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy complete may have only just reached its epic conclusion a few months ago, but you can bet that DC Comics and Warner Bros. are already hard at work figuring out an excuse to squeeze out another film and capitalize on the series' success. The guys and gals over at Movieclips Trailers have a suggestion: Turn Batman's origin story into a high school dramedy.

1. 8 frustratingly bad tie-in video games ever (io9)
2. The 100 most depressing death scenes (Movie Miscellany)
3. Windows 8 isn't easy to use when you're drunk (Mashable)
4. Upcoming Mass Effect 3 DLC won't be coming to Wii U (Polygon)
5. How To: Make a Twinkie (and other Hostess desserts) (Instructables)
6. Apple own the rights to "turning the page" on tablets and e-readers (Gizmodo)
7. Famous literary Feuds that Fizzled (Flavorwire)

(title pic via Klat)

The 2012 presidential election is over, and despite a valiant campaign, Halo series hero Master Chief will not be bringing his personal brand of interstellar diplomacy to the White House any time soon... Or will he? There's still a chance that fans could get the government to bring everybody's favorite nondescript space marine to the nation's capital, at least as a lawn ornament. You see, someone filed an official petition this week suggesting that president Obama commission a statue of Master Chief petty officer spartan John-117 and put it outside the White House.

Singing in the shower, like complaining about things on the internet and watching reality TV, is one America's secret pastimes. It's not a secret because no one knows you do it — trust me, they do — but because it's something that may show us in a less flattering light. A shower radio may help to mask the sound of your out-of-tune crooning, but between you and the sound of the shower, it may as well not be playing anything at all. If only there was a shower (or shower head) designed with musical accompaniment in mind...

Black friday may not be until next week, but tomorrow may be the most intense shopping day of the year for gamers. The Wii U will be available starting at midnight, tonight, kicking off a new generation of game consoles. Millions of Nintendo fanboys have been counting the days, clutching at pre-order receipts that represent a specific console in a box that's waiting for them in a store somewhere even now... Or so they thought. Yesterday, with less than 48 hours to go before the console is expected to hit stores, Toys R' Us has started contacting customers to warn them that their Wii U shipments have been delayed, and pre-ordered consoles may not be available on launch day.

Sending an inappropriately revealing email to the wrong person is the working adult equivalent of that high school nightmare where you show up to school naked: It's something you're pretty sure you'll never do, but thinking about the idea just stresses you out. Unfortunately for some of us, making a mistake while writing an email is much easier to do than leaving the house without figuring that you're naked. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmedi learned that the hard way yesterday when he sent a press release that accidentally outed his entire mailing list.

Final Fantasy XIV has had a tough life. Panned by critics and released at a time when the traditional subscription-based MMO is on the decline, Square Enix's second online adaptation of the classic RPG franchise undeniably fell flat, even by the relatively low standard set by cult classic Final Fantasy XI. This weekend is the game's so-called "grand finale," where loyal players can sign on and take giant, high-level boss battles before the servers shut down tonight at midnight, Pacific time. In honor of the game's "ending," Square Enix has released an extended cutscene to serve as the game's cinematic climax.

1. 2012 electoral math for alternate history scenarios (Buzzfeed)
2. Yes, there is a japanese porn film based on Lollipop Chainsaw (Kotaku)
3. Picking Film Crit Hulk's brain (The Verge)
4. An R2-D2 engagement ring (Geekologie)
5. An endless supply of completely useless websites (The Useless Web)
6. A limerick to summarize every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Waffle Meringue Productions)
7. How to: Charge a laptop with AA batteries (Funny Hacks)

(title pic via MachoMachi)

I think we can all agree on something: Sex and finding ways to stay alive longer are two things that most people spend a lot of time thinking about. Doctors of all stripes have been finding ways of connecting sexual activity to mental and physical health for years, so the idea that they're linked isn't crazy.  You know what is a little crazy, though? The idea that, like everything else in life, robots will eventually do a better job of using sex to make people live longer, healthier lives than people. According to the Center of Transhumanity, however, that's exactly what's going to happen.

DC Comics isn't nearly as organized about making movies as Marvel. They claim that they're going to make a Justice League movie by 2015, but as far as we know Disney has made more progress on the new Star Wars. While DC's uncertain future may be unfortunate for certain projects, it leaves the door open for other, less conventional projects. Guillermo Del Toro, creator of fantastically weird, dark films, may be looking to take advantage of the situation: According to io9, the Hellboy director has been talking to DC about making a movie based on Justice League Dark, the company's supergroup comprised of darker heroes from imprint Vertigo.

In the wake of a series of invasive hacks earlier this year, Battle.Net users are taking their anger and frustration out on Blizzard with a new class action lawsuit. While lawsuits are par for the course when it comes to potentially leaking users' credit card information, it seems that WoW and Diablo III fans are enraged over a different aspect of the scandal. Rather than focusing on the allegedly lackluster security of Battle.Net, users are suing over the fact that Blizzard tried to take advantage of the event by strongly recommending that insecure users buy the Battle.Net authenticator, a little keychain dongle that generates random passwords for players' accounts.

After two years of saber-rattling and a ever-increasing stakes, Apple and HTC have finally settled their patent disputes. Wait a second. There's another melodramatic tech patent lawsuit and we didn't know about it?