Hasta La Gadget!

A shocking report from PBS Frontline says 76 of 79 deceased NFL players suffered from the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

CTE is caused by repeated head trauma, where the functioning of the brain is interrupted and nerve cells begin to die, according to Frontline. It is associated with memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia.

A recent study of the brain tissue of 128 former football players — professionals, semi-professionals, college players and high school players — conducted by one of the nation’s largest brain banks, found 101 players tested positive for CTE. That means 78.9 percent of all the football players and 96.2 percent of the former NFL players in the study suffered from the disease.

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ brain repository in Bedford, Mass., which conducted the study, said that amounts to a twofold increase in the number of CTE cases it has previously reported.

The study’s brain specimens were donated by players and families who suspected the presence of the disease, presenting a skewed population. But Dr. Ann McKee, the director of the brain bank, pointed to a link between the intensity and length of playing football and traumatic brain injury.

“Playing football, and the higher the level you play football and the longer you play football, the higher your risk,” McKee said.

The report comes as an Oct. 14 deadline nears for retired NFL players and their beneficiaries to decide whether to opt out of a proposed settlement in the class-action lawsuit against the NFL that accuses the league of concealing a link between football and brain disease.

The lawsuit, brought by more than 4,500 former players, is likely to be bolstered by the new report as it suggests a high prevalence of the disease among players, Frontline notes.

The NFL has been under scrutiny over the risks players face in sustaining such heavy hits during practice and games, and how it may affect their brains. Other autopsies of former NFL players has shown that they were suffering from CTE, which may have influenced their behavior.

Frontline’s report comes a day after an autopsy revealed that former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, who killed his girlfriend and then himself in December 2013, likely suffered from CTE. Mike Webster, a former Pittsburgh Steelers player whose autopsy in 2002 sparked the probe into degenerative brain diseases in football players, died homeless and living in a truck. In 2003, NFL Pro Bowler Junior Seau fatally shot himself in the chest and was later diagnosed with CTE. Former Chicago Bears player Dave Duerson died in 2011, also of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, and left notes for his family to donate his brain to science.

Earlier in September, the NFL released data that led it to conclude nearly a third of all retired players will develop a long-term cognitive problem, such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

When asked for a comment on the findings, the NFL did not reply to Frontline.

George Brett gets it.

The retired Kansas City Royals legend was in attendance at Kauffman Stadium when the franchise made its first postseason appearance in 29 years on Tuesday night. He was there as the team fell behind the Oakland A’s three times and rallied just as many. When the home team emerged victorious from a wild, extra-inning affair in the 12th inning, TBS cameras captured Brett’s reaction. Seemingly a mix of relief, delight and exhaustion; it summed exactly what everyone rooting for the Royals felt at that moment.

Video via Yahoo Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — If you’re about to Google Jimmy Kimmel, beware.

Computer security company McAfee says the talk show host is the most dangerous celebrity to search for online. The company said Tuesday that a search for Kimmel carries a 19 percent chance of landing on a website that has tested positive for spyware, viruses or malware. The company has used its own site ratings to make the determination for the past eight years.

Other celebrities McAfee deems dangerous this year include Ciara, Flo Rida, Bruce Springsteen, Chelsea Handler and Christina Aguilera.

Kimmel said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Tuesday that he can’t believe a kid who played the clarinet and carried a briefcase to junior high school grew up to be the most dangerous celebrity of 2014.

Withings does have its fair share of wearable devices, and this time around, the Withings Activité wearable device has appeared over at the FCC – which means it ought to be well on its way to the market in due time. After all, we have already seen a fitness tracker that is known as the Pulse O2 which can be clipped onto a belt or clothing, or simply to keep track of the number of your steps taken each day. Alternatively, you can also slap on the Pulse O2 on your wrist like a watch – which looks rather out of place, of course. The Withings Activité is a whole lot more aesthetically pleasing, as it resembles more like a Swiss watch which sports a bevy of motion sensors that are hidden right under the surface.

Specially designed in France and manufactured in Switzerland, it looks like a watch at first, but there is a tiny circle located within the watch’s face that will inform you of your overall progress in the direction of each day’s activity goals. Majority of the front of the device will point your attention to a classic analog watch design, although there will also be Bluetooth connectivity thrown into the mix, and a vibration motor that acts as a somewhat silent alarm. Expect the Withings Activité to be water resistant, boasting of the ability to withstand both sweat and swimming pools. Choose from black or white shades when it arrives with an expected price point of $390 thereabouts.

Withings Activité Hits The FCC

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Two suicide bombers in the Afghan capital targeted two buses carrying Afghan army troops on Wednesday, killing seven and wounding 21 people, police said.

The bombings, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, came a day after Afghanistan and the United States signed a security pact allowing U.S. forces to remain in the country past the end of the year to support Afghans as they take over the fight against the Taliban insurgency.

The first attacker hit a bus with Afghan National Army officers, killing seven and wounding 15 in west Kabul, said the city’s criminal investigation police chief Mohammad Farid Afzali.

The second attacker, who was also on foot, blew himself up in front of a bus in northeastern Kabul, wounding several army personnel, Afzali said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Under the security pact, along with a separate deal signed with NATO, about 10,000 American troops and several thousand more from other NATO countries will stay to train and advise Afghan forces after the international combat mission ends on Dec. 31.

More than a decade after U.S. forces helped topple the Taliban in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, Afghanistan is still at war with the Islamic militant group, which regularly carries out attacks, mainly targeting security forces.

There are also serious questions about the ability of the Afghan security forces to take on the militants, even with a residual U.S. force remaining in the country.

The pact was long in the making. U.S. officials had first warned their Afghan counterparts that if the security accord was not signed by the end of 2013, the Pentagon would have to start planning for a full withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

But when the year ended, the White House moved back the deadline, saying then-President Hamid Karzai needed to sign off within weeks. Karzai surprised U.S. officials by ultimately saying he would not sign the accord and would instead leave that task for his successor.

But the results of the race to replace Karzai took months resolve, finally coming to a conclusion on Monday with the swearing in of Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as Afghanistan’s second elected president.

Ahmadzai signed the security agreement Tuesday, nearly one year after the White House’s initial deadline.