In the not-too distant future (April 14th, 2017 AD), a brand-new season of crowdfunded Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes will hit Netflix . Before then, however, 20 classic episodes of the show have been added to the streaming service globally both to whet appetites and create new fans of the cult classic. The episodes include fan favorites as Manos: The Hands of Fate , Time Chasers and Space Mutiny . It’s not the first time that Netflix has used such a strategy, offering a show across its global audience in time for a revival. For instance, while Gilmore Girls was available in the US since October 2014, Netflix released the show worldwide on July 1st. That paved the way for the Year in the Life revival series, which made its global debut the subsequent November. Similarly, a handful of MST3k episodes have appeared on US Netflix, but this could be its widest rollout since. Owing to the mishmash of varying rights holders, it’s never been easy to watch MST3k episodes outside the US. By releasing 20 of the show’s finest episodes, including Space Mutiny , the number of people who can recall that weird show with the puppets talking through movies should increase substantially. We’d pepper this closing line with in-jokes, but let’s be honest, it is just a show, and we should really just relax.
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Netflix offers 20 classic ‘MST3K’ episodes to the world
We asked for your worst stories of working IT phone support — and boy, did you ever answer our call. You have the patience of saints and the fortitude of soldiers. We’ll never look at a phone the same way again. Read more… 
theodp writes: Citing statistics that showed a whopping 46 more boys than girls passed the AP Computer Science Exam in 2011-12, the 640, 000+ student Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on Tuesday approved a waiver to enable the District to operate a single-gender, all-girls STEM School called the Girls Academic Leadership Academy (GALA). Students in GALA will follow a six year sequence of computer courses starting in middle school that will culminate in AP Computer Science Principles. “Fewer females take AP courses in math, science, or computer science, and they are not as successful as males in receiving passing scores of 3, 4 or 5, ” argued the General Waiver Request (PDF, 700+ pages). “An all girls environment is reasonably necessary for the school to improve the self-confidence of girls in their academic abilities, especially in STEM areas where an achievement gap currently exists. GALA’s admissions shall also comply with AB 1266 to ensure male students who identify as female are admitted to the school.” The school’s CS-related Partners include the UCLA Exploring Computer Science Program, as well as Google-bankrolled Girls Who Code, Black Girls Code, and NCWIT. One of the reasons the all-girls STEM school reportedly got the green light is that its backers satisfied federal regulations requiring a “substantially equal school” for excluded male students by submitting a plan for a companion all-boys school that would emphasize English Language Arts, where they often fall short of girls’ test scores, rather than GALA’s focus on STEM. One suspects the no-fan-of-gender-restricted-public-schools ACLU may call BS on this maneuver. Read more of this story at Slashdot. 
Most people are familiar with DJI as the manufacturers of the Phantom series, one of the most popular consumer drones on the market. The company is continuing to expand its horizons into the pro market with the new Spreading Wings S900 . This professional-grade drone not only looks cool. It also sort of works like a Transformer . Read more… 
Using your smartphone or tablet while driving is not only illegal in most sane states, it’s also just a dangerously stupid thing to do behind the wheel. But since access to your device can make your travels easier, the dashboard-mounted Navdy provides a heads-up display that shares info from your devices, and lets you interact with them through voice and gesture commands. Read more…