STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

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The Edge Of Tomorrow Sequel Is Actually Moving Forward

Everyone involved in the first Edge of Tomorrow has been talking about a sequel for a while; they’d love to do it, it depends on timing, we have an idea, all that kind of stuff. Well now, for the first time, a significant step toward actually making the thing has been taken.

Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote the first movie, will produce and develop the script with writers Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse (who just wrote the Jesse Owens film Race). Doug Liman, who directed the original, is also in talks to return, as will Cruise. No word if Emily Blunt’s character will return, but we hope so.

Of course, this is great news, not least because Edge of Tomorrow was one of the best (if the most generically titled) movies of 2014. It means the parties involved are excited about this movie and have at least some general idea of where the story could go. You can bet McQuarrie, who not only wrote the original but is an Oscar-winning screenwriter, will have plenty to say too.

McQuarrie is currently prepping the sixth Mission: Impossible film, also with star Tom Cruise, which will happen first, so there’s no schedule of when EoT2 may happen. It could be right after M:I6, or it could be a year or two after that, or it could be never, if the script isn’t right. Liman was attached to do Gambit, but since left that project.

Either way, if this movie does happen, I just hope there’s some way to duplicate the mechanics and tone of the first movie with a story that’s as engaging this time around.

Deadline initially reported that Christopher McQuarrie would be directing. They have since amended their story to include Liman.

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The World's Smallest Pacemaker Can Be Implanted Without Surgery

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved an injectable pacemaker that doesn’t require wired leads, which often lead to complications.

The 2.5cm long Medtronic-built device, called the Micra Transcatheter Pacing System, is about a tenth the size of traditional pacemakers — making it the smallest in the world.

It’s intended for patients with atrial fibrillation (an irregular or rapid heart rate) and other dangerous arrhythmias, including bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome. The FDA approved the device in light of a Medtronic clinical trial involving 719 patients who were implanted with the device. After six months, around 98 per cent of the patients experienced adequate heart pacing. A small fraction (seven per cent) of patients experienced major complications, such as cardiac injuries, device dislocation and blood clots.

Conventional pacemakers, which are surgically implanted, require wired leads that run from the pacemaker to an implant located just below the collarbone. These leads run through a vein directly into the heart’s right ventricle, delivering electrical impulses to treat irregular or stalled heart beats. The problem with these wires, aside from the clunkiness of it all, is that they sometimes malfunction. They can also cause problems when infections develop in the surrounding tissue, requiring a surgical procedure to replace the pacemaker.

Micra doesn’t use wired leads at all. The device latches onto the heart using small hooks, where it delivers electrical pulses that keep the heart beating more regularly. The device is implanted through a thin 105cm-long tube inserted into a vein in the patient’s groin. It travels through the vein, making its way to the heart’s right ventricle. Micra only paces the lower chamber of the heart, so it can’t be used for patients who need pacing in both the upper and lower chamber.

“As the first leadless pacemaker, Micra offers a new option for patients considering a single chamber pacemaker device, which may help prevent problems associated with the wired leads,” noted the FDA’s William Maisel in a press statement.

The FDA said it shouldn’t be used for patients who already have implanted devices, as they could interfere with pacemaker function. It also can’t be used for people who are severely obese, or who are intolerant to materials in the device or the blood thinner heparin.

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YECUP 365 SMART MUG

The laws of physics kind of suck sometimes; primary example being that we can’t fly when we feel like it, second being that cold objects don’t stay cold during hot days and visa versa when it comes to warm. A group of designers and engineers in San Francisco are hoping to find a workaround with their Yecup 365.

Billed as the wireless mug for all seasons, it’s equipped with internal hardware that works in conjunction with an app (or buttons on the mug) to heat up or cool down your beverage. This means that on cold days, you can bring water to a boil for tea and coffee, while also being able to cool down your favorite sports drink on hot summer days. With a stainless steel construction that charges on a wireless port, no-leak lid, and USB port for juicing up your phone when you need it – this is a great mug to keep close on hand. The mug retails for $150. [Purchase]

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EXPLORA PATAGONIA HOTEL

Given its name, you'd expect the Explora Patagonia Hotel to give you both a stay and an education on the surrounding lands. And this all-exclusive getaway doesn't disappoint. In addition to its 49 rooms, including six suites, the hotel offers over 50 different guided hikes and horseback rides for every level of experience, letting you explore both the Torres del Paine National Park and Lake Pehoé. To keep you properly fueled up, every dish they serve is designed to give you plenty of energy while warding off sluggishness, and is paired with a standout local wine. Should you feel the need to indulge, there's also the Explorer's Bar, as well as an on-site spa with a heated, covered pool, sauna, massage room, and four open-air jacuzzis for when it's time to relax and reflect.

[MIKA27]

BĒT VODKA

Minnesota is the largest producer of sugar beets in the United States. And sugar beets are the main ingredient in BET Vodka. Produced by two local friends with a shared interest in farm cooperatives and sipping vodka, BET Vodka uses the hearts of sugar beets that are distilled down to their essence and then crafted into this premium-pour vodka. Mix it in your favorite vodka cocktail or sip it neat for a pure representation of this unique spirit.

[MIKA27]

We Finally Know Why the North Pole Is Moving East

Something strange is happening to our planet. Around the year 2000, the North rotational pole started migrating eastward at a vigorous clip. Now, scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have figured out what’s going on—and you’ll be shocked to learn that humans are behind it.

The rotational axis of any planet, including our own, is in constant flux. That’s because planets aren’t perfect spheres, but bumpy, pitted things whose mass is always on the move. “If you take a chunk of material from some area, you are breaking the symmetry, and the spin axis starts moving,” Surendra Adhikari of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory told Gizmodo.

Through careful observations and mathematical models, Adhikari has discovered that our planet’s recent polar wanderlust has two causes: the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, and changes in the global distribution of water stored on land. Both of these are related to a single underlying phenomenon.

“The bottom line is that climate change is driving the motion of the polar axis,” Adhikari said. His findings are published in Science Advances today.

Scientists have taken careful measurements of Earth’s spin axis since 1899. Prior to the 21st century, the pole wandered toward Hudson Bay, Canada, moving at a rate of about seven centimeters a year. This long-term migration is believed to be related to the loss of the Laurentide ice sheet, which blanketed Canada and much of the northern United States during the last ice age.

But around the turn of the century, our spin axis charted a new course. The planet’s north rotational pole is now heading east, along the Greenwich Meridian, and it’s moving twice as fast as it was before. “Scientists believed that this must be related to the melting of the Greenland ice sheet,” Adhikari said. “That’s been the general understanding.”

Relationship between continental water storage and the wobble in Earth’s spin axis. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

But it turns out ice sheets don’t tell the full story. By combining mass distribution models with data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite, Adhikari teased out another critical factor: the storage of water on land, and in particular, across Eurasia. Humans move tremendous volumes of groundwater through pumping, but also indirectly via climate change, which is causing some places to become drier and others wetter.

Taken together, these changes are causing our planet to tip over ever so slightly.

Land water storage is also directly related to another curious feature of our planet’s spin axis: a decadal oscillation from east to west. The poles don’t migrate along a straight line—rather, they trace a sine curve that wobbles back and forth. “Here, for the first time ever, we have presented a plausible physical mechanism for this,” Adhikari said.

And that mechanism points to an important reason for studying polar wander—reconstructing past climate. We have polar migration records stretching back to the beginning of the 20th century, and now, we know that these records are related to patterns of wetness and dryness.

“This means, you can start answering questions like, during the 20th century, was there an intensification of drought or wetness in some region of the planet,” Adhikari said. Which is exactly what Adhikari is now starting to do, in collaboration with hydrologists at the JPL.

Perhaps most importantly, the findings offer a powerful new piece of evidence humans have become the dominant force of nature on the planet. Later this year, a group of scientists will formally review a proposal to move us into a new geologic epoch—an age of humans and machines dubbed “the Anthropocene.” I can’t help but feel like the revelation that we’re shifting the very axis on which our world spins only strengthens the case.

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The Turtles Have A Crisis Of Faith In The New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 Trailer

It’s a sequel superhero movie — what else would Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 be about if not the heroes doubting their ability to work together and be heroes, right?

The new TNMT 2 trailer has a few fresh moments beyond what we saw in the first one and the Superbowl TV spot. We get to see a little more of Stephen Amell’s Casey Jones in action, and we get to see the transformation of Bebop and Rocksteady from humans into mutant animals.

It’s the transformation that prompts one of the two moments of doubt for the half-shelled heroes — some of whom, like Raphael, suddenly want to use the mysterious purple ooze to turn themselves into humans rather than… back to turtles? Also, the team is in danger of falling apart and all that jazz! Like I said, it’s a sequel to a superhero movie, there has to be that moment of doubt, regardless of how little it makes sense.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Out of the Shadows drops in theatres June 9.

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Everything Looks Miserable For The Starks In The New Game Of Thrones Trailer

I mean, everything looks miserable for everyone — this is, after all, Game of Thrones. But the Stark kids get the misery focus in this awesome new teaser for Game of Thrones‘ sixth season.

Yes, there are more trials and tribulations for the entirety of Westeros here. We get to see Cersei plotting revenge with Tommen, Daenerys captured by Dothraki and the Night King and his White Walkers in action. Oh, and Tyrion comes face to face with Daenerys’ dragons quite literally! Check it out.

But the focus is mostly on what’s up with the three remaining Stark children (well, two and a bit). Jon Snow is busy being a corpse as per usual — and there seems to be a battle brewing over his body. Arya gets a second chance at the House of Black and White and fights the mysterious waif, and even Sansa is getting in on the plotting revenge game. Fun times ahead!

Game of Thrones returns April 24.

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A Jedi Master Would Surely Approve Of Spending $3300 On This Life-Size Yoda

Jedis are supposed to be the wise peacekeepers of the galaxy, eschewing personal belongings and human desires. But they’d surely make an exception for this life-size 32-inch tall Yoda figure from Sideshow Collectibles, even if they had to sell their lightsabers to afford one.

At $US2,500 ($3,300) you’d expect this figure to include at least some level of articulation, but apparently Sideshow would rather you put it on display than actually play with it. With tattered robes, a near perfect sculpt and paint finish, and a Dagobah-themed display stand (complete with a morp critter on the back) you won’t feel too bad about only being able to stare at this collectible, waiting for words of Jedi wisdom that will never come.

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Asus's Windows 10 VivoStick Is Out Now In Australia

For years, we’ve been tempted by the idea of tiny Intel Atom-powered PCs built into Chromecast-esque dongles, plugging into our TVs’ and monitors’ HDMI ports with proper Windows 10 onboard. Asus’s VivoStick might be the best version of that ideal yet, with a new Cherry Trail processor, a healthy serving of RAM and flash storage, and two USB ports.

The VivoStick is like the Intel Compute Stick in that it’s built around a HDMI connector, plugging into your TV or monitor directly to display a Windows 10 desktop. Power doesn’t come through the HDMI port’s measly current, though — there’s a microUSB port on the VivoStick’s side that needs its own AC power adapter. And, conveniently, audio output is handled through the combined mic/headphone jack.

Two USB ports — one USB 3.0, one USB 2.0 — mean both a keyboard and mouse can be connected separately, or external storage can be used to supplement the VivoStick’s internal 32GB capacity. There’s only a single variant with an Intel Atom Z8350 system-on-chip and 2GB of RAM, but even that is significantly more powerful than the last-generation Compute Stick — at least until Core M-powered Windows-on-a-stick devices come out later this year.

With Windows 10 running on every VivoStick sold, this is probably one of the cheapest Windows 10 devices you can buy. Asus improves the experience with a few of its own apps, including VivoRemote, which functions as a rudimentary keyboard or mouse via a companion app on your smartphone. The VivoStick TS10 is out in Australia now, and will set you back around $249 — although we’ve already seen it a little cheaper than that RRP at a few online retailers.

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Chris Pratt Joins The Avengers: Infinity War Cast (Probably)

We’re still two years away from Avengers: Infinity War Part 1, but we’re slowly but surely figuring out which characters from the massive Marvel cinematic universe are going to show up. And we now know that Star-Lord is one of them. Probably.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, directors Joe and Anthony Russo talked about their upcoming epic. Anthony Russo teased Christopher Pratt’s appearance as Star-Lord this way:

The movies are intended to be a culmination of everything that’s happened before in the MCU so you don’t want to get into spoilers but I’m a big fan of what James Gunn has done. [Joe Russo and I] are both big fans of what James Gunn has done. Star-Lord is a fantastic character and Chris Pratt is an awesome performer so you’d be very excited.

He does stop just short of coming out and saying that Pratt’s going to be in the movie, but it’s kind of hard to interpret this quote any other way. But this is Marvel, so, while this tips the scales, there is always a possibility that it doesn’t mean what it looks, sounds and feels like it means.

Joe Russo, on the other hand, said that he’s “excited to work with Thor”, confirming that Thor would be in it. Not a huge shock, since Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans reportedly had three movies left on both of their contracts after Age of Ultron, which would include both Infinity Wars and a standalone movie for each. We also know that Mark Ruffalo is going to be in both films.

I think it’s rapidly going to be less a question of who is going to be in this giant two-parter than who isn’t.

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3 Shipwrecked Men Were Rescued Thanks to Their Giant 'HELP' Sign

Sometimes, lost-at-sea stories do have happy endings. This is one of those.

Three men were traveling on a skiff between islands in the Pacific Ocean when their 19-foot boat capsized, according to NBC News. After losing their vessel to a giant wave, the men swam through the night—nearly two miles in the open ocean surrounded by blackness—until they reached land, a small, uninhabited island, which based on its unsearchability on Google Maps is literally in the middle of nowhere.

There, they spelled out "HELP" with palm leaves and waved their orange life jackets until a U.S. Navy plane, searching the area upon news of the wreck, spotted them three days later. Three days: not nearly enough time to grow Cast Away-esque facial hair, but certainly enough time to be hungry, dehydrated, sunburned, and despairing. Let's hear it for humans, like these men, who refuse to give up hope.

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According to Charlie Cox The Defenders starts shooting really soon

It's only been a month since the release of Daredevil season two and the Man Without Fear himself, Charlie Cox, is teasing the future of Hell's Kitchen's favorite vigilante. While he's still uncertain about a Daredevil season three, during a recent Netflix event in Paris Cox did drop a surprising bit of intel on another show: The Defenders.

As you may know, Marvel's TV universe plans to roll out four individual series - Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist - before the quartet join forces for The Defenders. The thing is, we don't know how many seasons of each individual series Marvel plans to release beforehand. With Luke Cage's first season due later this year, Iron Fist currently shooting, and a second season of Jessica Jones on the cards, it was widely assumed that we wouldn't see the foursome unite onscreen for a few years.

Apparently it may happen a lot sooner. "What we do know is at the end of this year we’re going to be making The Defenders," Cox told press, "and, of course, Daredevil is very much a part of that foursome."

As is often the case with Marvel matters, Cox remained cagey on the specifics of that superhero team-up. "I have no idea what the storyline is going to be for that show. I'm very excited to see how those worlds combine, and interested to see tonally how those shows become one."

But the big question is; might the show address some of the story threads left dangling at the end of Daredevil season two? I mean, that Elektra tease is just begging to be revisited, right? Again, he remained tight-lipped. "In terms of wrapping up any storylines, maybe they’ll do some of that in The Defenders. Or maybe they won’t.”

That's that sorted, then.

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Star Wars: Rogue One rumors cast a Game of Thrones White Walker as Darth Vader

Despite his seeming absence from the Star Wars: Rogue One trailer, the shadow of Darth Vader looms large over any events that happen during the original timeline. No surprise then that reports suggest not only will Vader make an appearance, but that he'll play a major role. Flickering Myth even claims to know who'll be inside the suit - and it's not anyone you'd probably guess.

The site reports that the former Jedi known as Anakin Skywalker will be played by Stephen Wilding. Name not ringing a bell? Thanks to his bulk and towering frame at 6 feet, 7 inches (about 200 cm), Wilding has often been cast as intimidating characters, though he himself has often been hidden behind prosthetics and makeup.

He had a bit role as the alien trying on Star-Lord's headphones in Guardians of the Galaxy, the creature in Victor Frankenstein, and a White Walker in Game of Thrones. I'd say making him a Dark Lord of the Sith fits well with this resume.

Flickering Myth also reports that Wilding has been delivering lines on the set. This would suggest that, much like in the original trilogy, one man will be the physical presence of Vader, while another man provides the voice. James Earl Jones is rumored to be reprise the role, and - hnnnnngh, can November just hurry up and get here already?!

Directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen and Alan Tudyk, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is scheduled to open in UK and US cinemas on December 16, 2016.

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H20 NINJA FULL FACE SNORKEL MASK

Chances are that if you are snorkeling, then you are also going to be wearing a big set of googles through which you can check out all the fish and sea life hanging out on the reef. The folks at H20 Ninja figured, “Why not combine the two?” Not long after that, they turned out this seamless full face snorkel mask.

With this thing on hand, you can forget the hassle of plugging a snorkel into your mouth and the fear of gulping in big mouth-fulls of sea water. While enabling you to breathe naturally while swimming around, it also has a GoPro mount so you can focus on enjoying your time in the water. You can pick one of these up for your summer trips starting at $150. [Purchase]

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URB-E

URB-E is an electric folding scooter, a great add-on to the shelf of electrically moved vehicles, it´s kind of a hybrid because you can carry it with you, it has a reasonable carrying weight of 35 lbs, but you can ride it like a bike, so it does feature portability and comfort, two apparently difficult features to combine. You get a 20 mile range, ideal for the urban commuters but don´t forget it´s foldable, so you can carry it with everywhere, this greatly enlarges your radius of action to go run your errands if you should need to get on board other means of transportation. URB-E can go as fast as 15 mph and charges in just 4 hours. American designed and built, it looks quirky but still makes heads turn its way, choose different color and engine combos to best suit your look and power needs. A fun, portable, eco-friendly ride; what more could you ask?

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DEDICATO A DAVID TABLETOP CIGAR CUTTER

Inspired by the cutters used to halve cigars over a century ago, the Dedicato A David Tabletop Cigar Cutter is a useful throwback to a simpler time. Its sharp stainless steel blade is ideal for slicing through wrappers and leaves, and the 20mm hole will accommodate most cigars. It comes attached to a wooden base and has a handsome ox horn handle.

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FOUNDERS SUMATRA MOUNTAIN BROWN ALE

Almost every brewery has a coffee infused beer in their lineup. But no-one does coffee in beer better than Founders Brewing. Sumatra Mountain Brown Ale is the latest to be bottled and joins the already stacked Founders lineup. It's an Imperial Brown Ale made using caramel, flaked barley, and chocolate malt. Add in the rich, Sumatra coffee and you've got a 9% ABV beer that's the third release in Founders specialty lineup for 2016.

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World’s Longest Snake Captured, Promptly Dies

Late last week, an absolutely ginormous python was found caught under a tree that had fallen near a Malaysian construction site. Its length has been pegged at 26 feet (8 meters), which, if verified, would make it the longest snake ever captured.

The snake, a reticulated python, was spotted from the air during a flyover in Paya Terubong, a district of Penang. Malaysia’s civil defense force was called in to deal with it (yes, really), and it took them a half hour to trap it. Sadly, it died on Sunday after giving birth, three days after it was captured. Or at least that’s the story we’re being given.

A member of the defense force told The Guardian that the python measures 26.2 feet (eight meters), which would be a world record. Currently, Guinness Records recognizes the longest snake ever in captivity asMedusa, another reticulated python, which currently lives in Missouri. This behemoth measures 25.1 feet (7.67 meters) and weighs 350 pounds (158 kg). That’s over 200 pounds (90 kg) lighter than the new Malaysian specimen.

It’s possible that larger snakes live in the wild. Back in 1912, a 32-foot-long (10 meter) python was reportedly discovered in Indonesia.

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The Impossible Project Created A Brand New Camera For Its Resurrected Polaroid Film

After successfully bringing Polaroid 600 instant film back from the dead, the people behind the Impossible Project realised that hunting down a working Polaroid camera for the film wasn’t always easy, so they have designed their own. Except this isn’t your parent’s Polaroid.

The I-1, which will be available starting on May 10 for $US300 ($394), still works like a classic Polaroid camera. You insert a film cartridge, take a photo and out pops a blank photo that slowly develops all by itself.

The I-1 also bares a passing resemblance to the original Polaroid cameras, but that’s where the similarities end. Surrounding the lens you’ll now find a circular flash ringed with LEDs that can automatically adjust its intensity based on the distance to your subject and the available ambient light. There’s also a rechargeable battery inside it, although to some photographers not being able to easily swap in a fresh set of disposables isn’t exactly an upgrade.

The Impossible Project I-1’s best new feature, however, is a companion smartphone app that allows the camera to be wirelessly controlled over a Bluetooth connection. It gives photographers manual control over shutter speed and aperture, it can override the intelligent flash’s automatic adjustments, and it can even be used as a remote shutter trigger.

The app will also make it easier to get more creative with instant photos, helping photographers to set up double exposures or artsy long exposure light streak shots. It still seems focused on the photography experience, keeping it as simple as possible, but with a few modern tricks and amenities thrown in. That way, when you’re spending $US24 ($32) on just eight instant photos, every shot turns out a keeper.

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Get Ready For Augmented Reality Contact Lenses

Augmented Reality has become reality, as Samsung has patented the world’s first “smart” contact lenses.

With the blink of an eye one may one day be able to take a photograph. The contact lens would project an image directly into the wearer’s eye. The lenses would have a tiny display, a camera, antenna and sensors detecting movement. The camera and sensors would be controlled by blinking. The content/images would be wirelessly transferred through the lenses built-in antennae to the wearer’s smartphone for processing.

Samsung’s “Smart” Contact Lens Patent

Image quality would be superior to smart glasses and would offer discretion, which can bring up issues of privacy.

Samsung’s “Smart” Contact Lens Patent

The actual 29-page patent with blueprints was filed in September of 2014 but just recently published. Whether this patent will become a product is questionable, though Samsung had already trademarked the name GEAR BLINK™

Google has two similar patents, also filed two years ago. However, these deal with “smart” contact lenses for medical purposes, monitoring sugar levels for diabetics.

If these contact lenses become reality, they may add further distraction and even less face-to-face communication in our “connected” society.

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‘Grim Sleeper’ Didn’t Sleep: Lonnie Franklin Jr. Accused of 30 Murders, New Survivor Emerges

Los Angeles — After three years chasing down a serial killer, Dennis Kilcoyne spends his retirement growing lilacs.

As a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, Kilcoyne led the “800 Task Force” (named after the same room at headquarters) tasked with finding a serial killer. After a stretch of murders in the 1980s, the trail went cold until 2008 when bodies of young black women were being found again in South Central L.A.

The serial killer was back; the “Grim Sleeper” was awake.

In 2010, Kilcoyne’s team arrested Lonnie Franklin Jr. for the murder of 10 women and attempted murder of another. He now stands trial, although he has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, Franklin could be sentenced to death.

Taking no chances that he’ll dodge death row, prosecutors plan to present five more alleged victims during the sentencing phase of Franklin’s trial, Kilcoyne and Det. Daryn Dupree of the LAPD told The Daily Beast.

“We know he wasn’t sleeping,” Kilcoyne told The Daily Beast on his lilac farm about an hour north of L.A. “You’ll hear about other cases soon.”

In fact, the death toll is much higher than even that 15.

“I think he’s good for probably 30 murders,” Kilcoyne said.

That would make Franklin the most prolific serial killer in California history and place him in the ranks of notorious serial killers like John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy.

Franklin is a married father of two who in 1981 worked on cop cars at the LAPD’s 77th Division and then collected garbage for the city’s Sanitation Department before retiring in 1989. Both jobs granted him unfettered access to city vehicles, landfills, and countless dumpsters—all helpful for hiding human bodies.

The “Seven Seven” and neighboring police precincts cover South Central L.A., which was ground zero in the crack and murder epidemic during the 1980s.

Franklin’s first alleged victim was 29-year-old Debra Jackson, who was killed and dumped in an alley on Aug. 10, 1985. He would allegedly kill six more women up until Nov. 20, 1988 when he shot but did not kill Enietra Washington.

She has been long believed to be the serial killer’s “sole survivor.”

According to prosecutors, the human predator hibernated until March 9, 2002, when 15-year-old Princess Berthomieux was discovered beaten and strangled to death in an Inglewood alley.

When two more women were found dead matching the same M.O., Valerie McCorvey in 2003 and Janecia Peters in 2007, police realized the killer was back.

The 800 Task Force was soon created in secret (and uncovered by Christine Pelisek ofL.A. Weekly) and it had something the LAPD didn’t in the ’80s: a huge DNA database of convicted felons and parolees. DNA from Christopher Franklin, Lonnie’s son, obtained on a 2009 weapons charge was a close match with DNA found on several victims.

Christopher, 28, was obviously too young to have been the killer, but police went to work on his father.

With some Hollywood magic, an undercover officer played a busboy at a pizza parlor where the Franklins were having a family party and collected Lonnie’s unfinished pizza crust.

DNA from it matched DNA from saliva recovered from some of the victims’ breasts.

When cops raided Franklin’s home, they found a cache of photos including Enietra Washington’s picture.

“I’ll tell you what, when we found that Polaroid [of Washington] 25 years later that was gold, man,” Kilcoyne said. “And if a jury doesn’t buy that I don’t know what to tell you.”

“I’m the one with a pink dress and asleep with natty hair. That was me,” LaWana Wilson told The Daily Beast of photo 125.

LaWana wanders back in time from behind bulletproof glass of a bodega she co-owns with her brother Ed located in the Vermont Square section of L.A., sharing for the first time publicly her story of being attacked twice by Franklin during the time when he was said to be sleeping.

In 1999, LaWana was working as a prostitute, and Franklin was working on cars in the same neighborhood, tricking out many of them for gangbangers.

“We called him The Mechanic,” she said.“But nobody knew his first or last name. Back then, it was ‘the homeboy’ or ‘the homegirl’ and we just called him The Mechanic.”

One day, The Mechanic parked his hatchback across from the 74th Street Elementary School.

“I thought he would be a good trick,” she said. “I got some dope from my homeboy and I said to him, ‘Let me get in your car and smoke.’”

Franklin let her in.

“I’m sitting there in the front seat hitting my stuff and my mouth started twitching,” she said.

Franklin allegedly snapped.

“The back of his fist came across my face ‘Bow’ and I was out. That was it. He socked me in the middle of my two eyes and I went out.”

LaWana says she was beaten and raped while she was unconscious. It’s during this time when Franklin must have photographed her, she surmises.

Franklin allegedly left her for dead in the the front seat of a U-Haul truck parked on 83rd Street and Western Avenue.

“The woman watering her grass called the cops to complain about the truck in front of her house, but when she peeked in the window she sees me laying across the seat panting for air,” she said.

Paramedics spirited LaWana to the now-defunct Martin Luther King Hospital where she lay in a coma.

“The first words I heard was ‘Is she dead? I don’t want to see her if she is dead.”

It was her mother.

The next time LaWana awoke to a person’s voice, it was a police officer asking her about the incident. LaWana says the questions were more like accusations.

“Why would you get into a car with someone you barely knew? This guy that assaulted you, you was over with him and your friends? So how many times had you seen this guy over there with you and your friends?” she said the officer, whom she could not name, asked her.

LaWana says the interrogation was her only interview by police.

The brush with death didn’t scare LaWana straight though.

“I told myself ‘Just be careful next time.’”

By April 1999 LaWana started attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. One took place inside a private home off Hoover and 50th Streets. Her mother dropped her off and handed her $2 for bus fare home.

“I had my AA book, my ID, and my mama’s keys to her house and my birth certificate inside the purse.”

When the meeting was over, LaWana couldn’t find a bus stop. That’s when “this guy pulls up.”

The man appeared lost—until he pointed a gun in her face.

“*****, get in the car. If you run I’m going to shoot you in your back.”

LaWana obeyed.

“I kept saying to myself: ‘If I just do what the man say. You know how the streets go. It’s best I play the role and keep quiet. Do what he wants—all he’s gonna do is rape you and let you go.’”

He pulled into an almost empty field across the street from Manchester Avenue Elementary School off West 87th Street.

“By this time the sun is going down and it’s dark as **** in this damn field,” she said. “There’s a duplex behind me and I can see someone’s TV flaring.”

Franklin allegedly unzipped his pants.

“With his gun pointed at me he said, ‘*****, you’re going to hook me up.’”

But the car posed a problem.

“It was too small and my head kept getting stuck trying to go up and down on him,” she remembered.

Franklin reclined his seat to make room and then set the pistol down.

“I opened up the car door and jumped out,” but not before Franklin punched her in the face, LaWana said.

She ran as fast as she could as Franklin spit more venom.

“*****, I’m going to get my gun!”

“When I heard that sound it clicked. It’s the same *******er from before,” she said.

LaWana ran toward the light of the television in that apartment she saw.

“Bam-bam-bam-bam I knocked on his door and he said, ‘Get the **** away from my door. I’m not getting involved in that ****, *****.’”

Frantic and gushing blood from her nose, LaWana dashed across the courtyard.

“There was a young man and an older lady and he said, ‘Come in here.’”

LaWana lay on the floor and told them a man was trying to kill her.

Moments after the woman called 911, the pitch black night became day with the spotlight from a LAPD helicopter. Squad cars and an ambulance rushed in.

After she was discharged from the hospital, LaWana was back at her mother’s house when she received a manilla envelope in the mail. Inside was the ID and birth certificate she said she left in Franklin’s car.

It would be another decade until LaWana realized the man who she says almost killed her was a suspected serial killer.

Det. Dupree, who has taken over as lead investigator in the Franklin case, told The Daily Beast what the LAPD told LaWana:

there’s no rape kit, no police report, and therefore, no case.

“This is a DNA case and a ballistics case,” he said. “Miss LaWana Wilson’s case, or lack thereof a case, has been vetted and investigated.”

And with LaWana’s case he said “we have no DNA and we have no ballistics.”

Dupree says he’s been in touch with Wilson on multiple occasions and remains unconvinced she was attacked by Franklin because he says her facts changed.

“I’ve known Miss Wilson for five years and dealing with her and her family,” he said. “She never once until recently said she was attacked by him.”

Kilcoyne, without knowing all the particulars, was open to the possibility of women like LaWana out there.

“There are other surviving women,” he said. “One in particular we’ve been helping her with therapy and money and everything for years now but she’s just—there’s no way in hell you could bring her into the courtroom.”

And while he can’t place LaWana’s case Kilcoyne tried to endorse her as truthful.

“We did have other women that came to us after this happened,” Kilcoyne said after the cops caught Franklin. “They were women with crazy stories about him. I have no reason to doubt this lady. She probably did run across him more than once.”

With other survivors Kilcoyne recalls one who “jumped out of a moving truck window” to get away from Franklin and another who he regrets has had a rough time battling “drugs all her life.”

Not every accusation turns out to be right, though.

“There’s been a number of women saying ‘He’s the guy!’ And we tell them ‘We checked it out and no he isn’t and we hate to tell you that.’”

Contrary to LaWana’s feeling that she’s being ignored, Kilcoyne said the LAPD continued looking for victims even after it had enough evidence to charge Franklin with 10 murders and one attempted murder.

“We didn’t stop,” he said. “I was amazed at the police department, because it has to be run like a business and there’s new business every day.”

After the 800 Task Force was disbanded, Kilcoyne remained on the LAPD payroll for more than a year after he retired in order to follow through on leads.

With Franklin’s DNA in the system, Kilcoyne and company set off to follow up on an estimated 400 cases and some 50 women who claimed they either dated or were attacked by Lonnie Franklin Jr.

Still, the force is a massive machine that can move fast but often crawls. “You have a police department of 10,000 people telling the lab, ‘Well, do my DNA,’” he said.

And the forensic work is often more of a lottery ticket than a coin toss. “Franklin is in all of the data banks and we thought it would go off like a slot machine once his profile entered.”

In fact, many of the cases came through calls fielded by Kilcoyne’s team. “There was one or two where the DNA was good for on its own but most of them were from people calling and saying, ‘Well, hey would you look at my daughter’s case?’ And when we did, sure as **** it was him.”

What’s more, Kilcoyne is adamant the case “is not closed out.”

“Once we got him we started looking at things,” Kilcoyne said.

That meant vetting hundreds of leads and cases, fresh and cold.

And while LaWana believes she is more than entitled to be part of the case or at least a witness, Kilcoyne said that would only “restart the clock” in what has been an insufferable delay for all the victims.

A Los Angeles District Attorney spokeswoman told The Daily Beast that they are “aware” of LaWana but were unable to divulge any information about the credibility of her claims, stating, “because this case is in the middle of trial, we decline to provide further comment.”

Kilcoyne testified as a witness for the prosecution and said he told people at the courthouse, “Your sisters or your daughters—they’re gone. He got them. We haven’t found them. We can’t prove it—but he’s got their pictures and their identification in his stuff.”

Indeed, there are missing women whose Torrance High School identification or Nevada driver’s license were in Franklin’s stash of human memorabilia. One has been gone 20 years, another 30.

“We know exactly where she is,” Kilcoyne said. “She’s in a landfill somewhere.”

LaWana might have ended up dead anyway thanks to drugs, but she’s been clean and sober for years, though it’s been hard since she learned about what Franklin has been accused of doing to women other than her.

“I go to sleep at night and lay my head on my pillow—that’s when it haunts me. I can’t stand the sleepless nights.”

For LaWana, the Grim Sleeper never sleeps.

[MIKA27]

DOCTOR STRANGE TRAILER BEGINS MARVEL’S CHAKRA AND AWE CAMPAIGN

The mystical arm of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has finally progressed beyond still photos and into the Trailer Zone. Thanks to the first trailer for November’s Doctor Strange, which aired tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (Disney-ABC-Marvel synergy strikes again), we’ve now got a few more dots to connect. Just as in the comics, Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a gifted surgeon whose career is jeopardized by a car accident; just as in the comics, he gets in touch with his mystical powers via a powerful being known as the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). Not just as in the comics, Strange lacks a tiny pomade-laden mustache. Probably for the best. Doctor Strange hits theaters November 4.

Pause at: :15 for Strange trapped underwater after his accident; :37 for a first look at Rachel McAdams as an as-yet-unnamed surgeon; 1:09 for the Ancient One punching the very soul out of Stephen Strange; 1:25 for a sneak peek of Mads Mikkelsen, who plays the movie’s primary villain;

1:26 (that was quick, right?) for a shot of Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Strange’s rival in the quest to inherit the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme from The Ancient One; 1:30 for a magical-urban-topography move straight out of Inception.

Key Quote: “You wonder what I see in your future? Possibility.” (The Ancient One, just prior to the aforementioned chest-punch)

[MIKA27]

Only Clock

Czech design studio Kibardindesign first caught our attention a couple of years ago with their popular White & White Clock. Now designer Vadim Kibardin is back to purity and simplicity, with the sleek Only Clock, a digital wall/desk LED clock with a hollow round face, a modern 3D interpretation of a traditional analog wall clock. The frame displays hour digits and minute points crafted in a choice of white or black body. An eye-catching and functional piece of art that can be placed on a desk or on a wall, and will surely turn some heads.

[MIKA27]

In A Monster Calls, Liam Neeson Is a Tree Monster and It's Awesome

I've been excited about this fantasy fairy tale movie A Monster Calls for months. It’s directed by J.A. Bayona (The Impossible, The Orphanage), written by Patrick Ness (who wrote the source book), produced by Belen Atienza (Pan’s Labyrinth), and it stars Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver—and the booming voice of Liam Neeson.

Neeson’s character—a tree monster that’s thousands of years old—really shows his powers and impressive presence in this latest teaser. Suffice to say that Neeson has acquired some very particular skills this time.

A Monster Calls is due out October 14.