Bravo to a return to the wizarding world. We grew up on Harry Potter, and so the announcement that J.K. Rowling is penning a screenplay for a Potter spinoff was met with great rejoicing across the Muggle world. It may not be a direct return to Hogwarts, but the adventures of wizarding zoologist and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" author Newt Scamander are sure to be full of the same excitement that made the original seven books and eight movies so wonderful. Boo to journalistic oversight. Last week, the Phoenix New Times blog Jackalope Ranch published a post about ASU students turning to online services that help them find older men willing to fund their educations. There wasn't anything wrong with the post itself — The State Press published something similar last semester — but the picture accompanying it featured a group of four female students who weren't actually looking for sugar daddies. Similarly, Arizona Highways Magazine had to pull its October issue from newsstands because of an in-print error that said a poisonous mushroom was edible.
Bravo to Dutch designer Dave Hakkens and his Phonebloks, an innovative and sustainable prototype for a cell phone with replaceable and interchangeable Lego-like parts.
Boo to horrific disasters that happened in New Jersey and Colorado. A fire tore through the Jersey Shore this weekend, while a flood ravaged parts of Colorado.
Bravo to Sun Devil Athletics for pulling two big upsets last week. The ASU football team is now ranked No. 23 in the country after defeating Wisconsin (No. 20), while ASU volleyball beat Texas (No. 2) in straight sets. The volleyball team is expected to be in the coaches' Top 25 poll when it comes out later this week.
Boo to contaminated water supplies in certain places across the country, from a 4-year-old boy in Louisiana who died after contracting an infection from a "brain-eating" amoeba, to Buckeye residents who were warned not to drink tap water for fear of E. coli contamination.
Bravo to the return of fall TV, including "New Girl," "The Mindy Project," "Bones," "Castle," "Parenthood," "Parks and Recreation" and more. September is always an exciting time for network TV fans, but we're still a little bit in mourning over the end of "The Office." Rest in syndication, Michael Scott.
Boo to the Free Flow of Information Act, which was just passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a 13-5 vote. While protecting journalists and the First Amendment is of course paramount in a democratic society, the bill narrows the definition of "journalist" to "an employee, independent contractor or agent of an entity that disseminates news or information." The First Amendment applies to everyone, not just journalists.
Bravo to the all-digital public library, BiblioTech, which opened Sept. 14 in Bexar County, Texas. The library offers approximately 10,000 free e-books to the public and is sure to save a lot of trees.
Boo to the latest news on iOS 7, which stipulates that the new operating system will kill many apps during phone use.
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