What's happening

How many more stories do we have to read that begin like this one from Washington Post?: "Hillary Rodham Clinton is considering the nitty-gritty details of how and when to organize a presidential campaign amid signs that she will postpone making her shadow campaign official until later in 2015 than expected, according to advisers and Democratic strategists."

48 civil society groups and experts from around the world have called on trade ministers of countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership to publish the current draft of the agreement, as well as all nations' negotiating positions. The TPP has been negotiated in secret for the last five years. But we know from several leaks of its Intellectual Property chapter that it contains various provisions that pose wide-ranging threats to users' rights to free speech and privacy online.

Your editor has just formed a new group - Agnostics in Defense of God - for people who believe that in case God exists, he should not be forced to live with false accusations such as claims that he hates gays and abortion. Here's our first new example of a libel against the Almighty; "Kim Kardashian says her weight gain is God’s punishment for being 'too hot.'"

Americans aged 12-24 said they saw 15% fewer films in cinemas versus 2013, according to new research from Nielsen. Meanwhile, moviegoing frequency among moviegoers 25 and older has remained comparatively stable over the same span, according to Nielsen. Overall, 77% of Americans said they saw at least one movie in a theater this year, about the same as in 2013, according to Nielsen. But they’re going to fewer movies: an average of 7.3 films in cinemas this year versus 7.7 in 2013, per the report.

Student workers at the University of California have voted by a landslide to support the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

OBI is like an internet for your bike, with your smartphone as the dashboard. The ability to add over 100 "intelligent" features to any bike makes this connected bike system seem like the Swiss Army Knife of smart biking.

An innovative new cycling accessory is in the works, for both standard bikes and ebikes, which promises to "enhance your biking experience," by using the power of your smartphone to manage and connect to a wide variety of applications and devices, right from your handlebars. The main component of the COBI (connected bike) system mounts on the handlebars of the bike, and holds the rider's smartphone, which then connects wirelessly to the rest of the system on the bike. A small separate controller is also mounted on the handlebars, allowing the rider to easily navigate the apps and functions of the COBI system with a single finger. An integrated headlight provides illumination and visibility up front, a separate tail light and turn signal unit broadcasts the rider's intentions to both cars and other cyclists behind them.

African American Congressional staffers staged a walkout Thursday afternoon, disrupting their workday to gather on the Capitol steps in a display of unity with demonstrations against the Eric Garner and Mike Brown grand jury decisions. More than 150 staffers quietly ascended the House of Representatives steps to lodge a silent protest in response to the deaths of both black men at the hands of white police officers.