It’s easy to forget how sky-high expectations were for the Facebook IPO. The day before the company went public, some investors reasonably assumed that by the close of the market, Facebook would be worth $140 billion since the average first-day pop for tech companies was 32%.

Forbes also urged investors to “Buy Early And Buy As Much As You Can.” A poll of 800 people determined that Facebook would close at $55 on its first day as a public company, putting it in that ethereal $140 billion range.

A year later, we all know how things actually turned out. Facebook’s stock price jumped a mere $0.23 on that first day. Over the next few months, the stock bottomed out at $17.55 — less than half its opening price. The backlash was so fierce that there was even a movement to dump CEO Mark Zuckerberg in favor of a more seasoned chief executive. Viewed in cold economic terms, the Facebook IPO was a bust.

Sometimes a kick in the teeth can be therapeutic. Sometimes it can even be a lifesaver. Sometimes a kick in the teeth can be therapeutic. Sometimes it can even be a lifesaver. Consider, for instance, why investors were so down on the stock: Facebook was caught flat-footed by the mobile revolution. Indeed, in early 2012, the company appeared to have no mobile strategy at all. Though its users were rapidly abandoning desktop for phones and tablets, Facebook wasn’t making a nickel from either. Bearing in mind that even though mobile advertising typically sells for a fraction of the rates of ads on desktop, there were lots of reasons to believe Facebook’s future looked bleak. No wonder Wall Street was bailing.

We’ll never know what would have happened if Facebook hadn’t gone public when it did. Perhaps the company would have realized that its was about to get hit by a Mack truck. Perhaps not, though. Either way, Wall Street analysts performed a valuable function by downgrading the stock and putting so much emphasis on mobile.

A quick study, Zuckerberg was soon predicting that Facebook would make more money from mobile than desktop. In July 2012, Facebook announced it was earning about $500,000 a day (roughly $45 million a quarter) from mobile ads. By the first quarter of 2013, 30% of Facebook’s ad revenues (about $375 million) came from mobile.

Looking back, Facebook’s mobile monetization strategy looks inevitable, but that’s not necessarily the case. By December 2011, Facebook already had 425 million monthly active users who used the company’s mobile products. Yet throughout 2011, there was little activity on the mobile front. The company went about a year — from November 2010 to October 2011 — without a major mobile release. The company’s lead iPad app developer, Jeff Verkoeyen, left to join Google after he became frustrated with Facebook’s slow progress on its iPad app.

Facebook had some reasons for its ambivalence about mobile. On iOS, since Apple controlled the ecosystem, Facebook couldn’t make any money from apps. The only other choice was Android, which was controlled by another archrival, Google. While Facebook debated its mobile strategy, it appears that little thought was given to advertising on a platform that, as Zuckerberg later noted, would one day become the default.

The IPO seems to have provided the nudge that Facebook needed. Faced with failure for the first time in its gloriously short life, Facebook was publicly shamed into focusing its energies on mobile.

Though Facebook has yet to match its $38 opening price, it appears to be a much healthier company than a year ago. The ass-kicking, courtesy of Wall Street, was just what the upstart social network needed.

It may not be so lucky next time.

Forbes also urged investors to “Buy Early And Buy As Much As You Can.” A poll of 800 people determined that Facebook would close at $55 on its first day as a public company, putting it in that ethereal $140 billion range.

A year later, we all know how things actually turned out. Facebook’s stock price jumped a mere $0.23 on that first day. Over the next few months, the stock bottomed out at $17.55 — less than half its opening price. The backlash was so fierce that there was even a movement to dump CEO Mark Zuckerberg in favor of a more seasoned chief executive. Viewed in cold economic terms, the Facebook IPO was a bust.

Sometimes a kick in the teeth can be therapeutic. Sometimes it can even be a lifesaver. Sometimes a kick in the teeth can be therapeutic. Sometimes it can even be a lifesaver. Consider, for instance, why investors were so down on the stock: Facebook was caught flat-footed by the mobile revolution. Indeed, in early 2012, the company appeared to have no mobile strategy at all. Though its users were rapidly abandoning desktop for phones and tablets, Facebook wasn’t making a nickel from either. Bearing in mind that even though mobile advertising typically sells for a fraction of the rates of ads on desktop, there were lots of reasons to believe Facebook’s future looked bleak. No wonder Wall Street was bailing.

We’ll never know what would have happened if Facebook hadn’t gone public when it did. Perhaps the company would have realized that its was about to get hit by a Mack truck. Perhaps not, though. Either way, Wall Street analysts performed a valuable function by downgrading the stock and putting so much emphasis on mobile.

A quick study, Zuckerberg was soon predicting that Facebook would make more money from mobile than desktop. In July 2012, Facebook announced it was earning about $500,000 a day (roughly $45 million a quarter) from mobile ads. By the first quarter of 2013, 30% of Facebook’s ad revenues (about $375 million) came from mobile.

Looking back, Facebook’s mobile monetization strategy looks inevitable, but that’s not necessarily the case. By December 2011, Facebook already had 425 million monthly active users who used the company’s mobile products. Yet throughout 2011, there was little activity on the mobile front. The company went about a year — from November 2010 to October 2011 — without a major mobile release. The company’s lead iPad app developer, Jeff Verkoeyen, left to join Google after he became frustrated with Facebook’s slow progress on its iPad app.

Facebook had some reasons for its ambivalence about mobile. On iOS, since Apple controlled the ecosystem, Facebook couldn’t make any money from apps. The only other choice was Android, which was controlled by another archrival, Google. While Facebook debated its mobile strategy, it appears that little thought was given to advertising on a platform that, as Zuckerberg later noted, would one day become the default.

The IPO seems to have provided the nudge that Facebook needed. Faced with failure for the first time in its gloriously short life, Facebook was publicly shamed into focusing its energies on mobile.

Though Facebook has yet to match its $38 opening price, it appears to be a much healthier company than a year ago. The ass-kicking, courtesy of Wall Street, was just what the upstart social network needed.

It may not be so lucky next time.

Raymond Boyd was on his way home from Cray Croft Island when the whale breached near Kelsey Bay.

With no way to avoid it, his boat collided cracking the hull and sending Boyd flying through the windshield, barely able to make to shore on his own.

Now, after undergoing extensive facial reconstructive surgery, he’s recovering at a hospital. But his story is prompting a warning.

“The absolutely value of learning about this case is – know that there are humpbacks in the waters of British Columbia. They are very unpredictable, and very unaware of boats,” says Jackie Hilderling with Marine Education and Research Society.

Adult humpbacks are roughly 13 to 15 meters long, weighing up to forty tones.

As the population starts to make a comeback in this area, encounters are becoming more common and it’s not only humans who are at risk.

“We know of cases of people coming back with pieces of humpbacks on the fronts of their boats,” says Hilderling. “We know of fatalities to humpbacks. We see the scars on the humpbacks, so this is happening with incredible regularity.”

While it can’t always be avoided, reporting any incident goes a long way in ensuring a whale’s safety.

“By having public report any injured or distressed animals, it helps us keep track of where there may be issues or problems,” says Paul Cottrell with Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

As for the whale involved in this latest encounter, it has yet to be located with any success.

It’s the manual’s first major facelift in nearly 20 years and its revisions are causing some controversy. Grieving could be labelled as depression. Binge eating turns into an illness. And kids with temper tantrums could even be medicated.

Global News takes a look at why you should care about the DSM-5.

The effects seep into Canada

With more than a decade of editing and the wisdom of 1,500 experts from around the world, the DSM has always held some clout in the medical field.

Dr. Oren Amitay, a Toronto-based registered psychologist, says that the manual is referred to more often than patients know.

“We are beholden to the DSM, so whatever happens with the DSM, changes will affect Canadians, so we should be concerned,” Amitay told Global News.

“Psychologists, psychiatrists, any medical doctors that deal with mental health – this is the book that we use.”

Its identification and classification of mental health conditions play a part in diagnosing, medication and treatment, services available to kids and adults, how these therapies are covered and who is eligible for disability insurance and benefits.

The thin line between grieving and depression

Some critics are worried that alterations could spark unnecessary diagnoses.

The new DSM, for example, could morph conventional bereavement into major depression. If you’ve just lost a loved one and you’re experiencing sadness, lack of focus, loss of appetite, trouble sleeping and reduced energy, even for a mere few weeks, you could be labelled with depression.

That mental condition is treated with antidepressants, Dr. Allen Frances says.

“Their grief is medicalized and they would be subjected to medical rituals and pills instead of the traditional consolations from family,” he said.

Frances is a former Duke University psychiatrist and an outspoken critic of the DSM, often penning editorials and chronicling its revision progress online. He was chair of the DSM-IV taskforce and oversaw that revision in 1994.

The former DSM insisted that those who lost a loved one within the past two months shouldn’t be diagnosed with depression, but this update is dropping that time limit.

Diagnosing children and seniors with mental disorders

If your daughter or son is acting up with extreme temper tantrums and you turn to your doctor for help, your toddler or young child could be diagnosed with “disruptive mood dysregulation disorder,” which is a new diagnosis.

Conventional parenting may call these temper tantrums “the terrible twos,” but the APA suggests this new diagnosis is meant to help kids who were once labelled as having bipolar disorder.

On the other end of the spectrum are seniors. Older Canadians who may have lapses of forgetfulness could now be suffering from “mild neurocognitive disorder.”

In this new diagnosis, experts were trying to strike a fine balance in identifying what could be the precursor to dementia. If you end up with mild neurocognitive disorder, reports suggest there’s a 50 per cent chance you’ll develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Still, critics worry that this label will cause some fearmongering and misidentify “senior moments” as a mental illness.

New mental disorders introduced

One of the most talked about additions to the DSM-5 is binge eating. This is not characterized by a night of glutton while watching the Super Bowl – it’s described as out of control feasting on an inordinate amount of food in a single sitting at least 12 times in three months.

Keep in mind, North Americans, along with much of the rest of the world, are battling steep rates of obesity and lack of exercise. Frances says he estimates that five to 10 per cent of the American population fit the criteria of binge eating, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have a mental disorder.

Canadian data suggests one in five people living with obesity binge eat.

“It’s medicalizing something that’s a problem, not necessarily a mental disorder. It should not be a psychiatric illness that people eat too much,” Frances said.

Other issues such as hoarding, skin-picking disorder and hypersexual disorder could be additions to new diagnoses as well.

The concern in introducing a wave of “fad” conditions lies in overdiagnosing and treating.

“Once a diagnosis becomes official, it can take on a life of its own becoming terrifically overused and that can have dire unintended consequences,” Frances said.

Some people may face social stigma, others may shirk personal responsibility, and even worse, some patients may be given prescription treatment for illnesses they may not have.

About 50 to 60 people suffered injuries ranging from critical to superficial, but no fatalities were reported. Three of the worst injured were flown by helicopter to area hospitals. Their conditions weren’t immediately available.

Another 12 to 15 victims were taken to hospitals by ambulance and the rest were treated at the scene, where some paramedics and other first-responders were participating in the parade.

It happened around 2:10 p.m. during the Hikers Parade at the Trail Days festival, an annual celebration of the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, near the Tennessee state line about a half-hour drive east of Bristol.

Damascus Police Chief Bill Nunley didn’t release the driver’s name or age but said he was participating in the parade and he had traversed the Appalachian Trail in the past. Multiple witnesses described him as an elderly man.

Nunley said the man’s 1997 Cadillac was one of the last vehicles in the parade and the driver might have suffered an unspecified medical problem when his car accelerated to about 25 mph and struck the crowd on a two-lane bridge along the town’s main road. The driver was among those taken to hospitals.

“It is under investigation and charges may be placed,” Nunley said.

Witnesses said the car had a handicapped parking sticker and it went more than 100 feet before coming to a stop.

“He was hitting hikers,” said Vickie Harmon, a witness from Damascus. “I saw hikers just go everywhere.”

Amanda Puckett, who was watching the parade with her children, ran to the car, where she and others lifted the car off those pinned underneath.

“Everybody just threw our hands up on the car and we just lifted the car up,” she said.

Keith Neumann, a hiker from South Carolina, said he was part of the group that scrambled around the car. They pushed the car backward to free a woman trapped underneath and lifted it off the ground to make sure no one else was trapped.

“There’s no single heroes. We’re talking about a group effort of everybody jumping in,” he said.

Nunley cited quick action by police, firefighters, paramedics and hikers to tend to the victims, including a volunteer firefighter who dove into the car to turn off the ignition. The firefighter, whose name wasn’t released, suffered minor injuries.

Mayor Jack McCrady encouraged people to attend the festival on Sunday, its final day.

“In 27 years of this, we’ve never had anything of this magnitude, and is it our job to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

McCrady said a donation fund was being set up to assist the injured, some of whom don’t have medical insurance.

“We want to make sure they don’t suffer any greater loss than they already have,” he said.

And imagine being injured in that last tour after a roadside bomb exploded from beneath a trashcan as your Humvee rolled by. Your buddy sitting next to you was killed. After you left the Army and returned home, you had trouble focusing. You had headaches and issues with your vision. You realize you returned with what might be a Traumatic Brain Injury. And maybe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, too.

Imagine you also have two kids younger than 7 who haven’t seen you very much for the last half decade. Imagine you’re struggling to find a job. You’ve got a lot on your plate. And you’re understandably stressed.

You summon the courage to overcome the stigma, and you go to your local Department of Veterans Affairs to get some help. You file a claim for disability benefits to get the care and compensation you’ve earned and the support you need to keep your family afloat financially. You’re hopeful.

Now imagine waiting 600 days before you get an answer from the Department of Veterans Affairs. 600 days.

600 days of staring at your mailbox. 600 days of phone calls to check in. 600 days of bills piling up. 600 days of disappointment.

Sounds crazy, right? Well, for thousands of veterans nationwide, it’s real life.

If you are a young vet who’s filed a claim with the Department of Veterans Affairs in New York or Los Angeles, you will wait an average of 600 days. And you’re not alone.

More than 900,000 veterans of all generations are stuck in a bureaucratic logjam that, in 2013, is the almost too absurd to believe. After 10 years of war, three VA secretaries, and anincrease in the overall department budget of 40% since 2009, anincredible 97% of veteran’s claims are still on paper.

Yep, paper.

America has soldiers in Nevada piloting drones remotely that can strike a target thousands of miles and two continents away, but 97% of our veterans’ benefits claims are still on paper.

Earlier this month, the Center for Investigative Reporting released a leaked internal VA document that showed the entire world what veterans nationwide have known for years: the VA backlog problem is even worse than reported.

The VA has reported that the average claim wait time was 273 days. For the first claim filed, it’s longer: 316 to 327 days. In Los Angeles, that figure is 619. In New York, it’s 642. In Indianapolis, it’s 612 days. And vets with first-time claims in Reno, Nevada, wait 681 days.

The VA has testified that it has hired 3,300 new claims processors, but it has failed to report that, because of staff turnover, the net increase in processors is only 300 since 2010. And, in Chicago; Waco, Texas; and Oakland, California, the overall number of claims processors has gone down.

Since the internal documents were leaked last week, we’ve yet to see a public response from VA Secretary Eric Shinseki or from the commander in chief.

Some 2.6 million men and woman answered the call to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. But now, a decade later, President Barack Obama is not answering their calls for help. And the public still doesn’t seem to get it.

That’s why this week I’m joining veterans from across America as we take our stories to Washington.

Hans Blix: Why invading Iraq was a terrible mistake

Veteran leaders from some 22 states are converging on the Capitol to ”Storm the Hill,” where we’ll be pressing elected officials to confront and solve the backlog. You can see their faces and read about their stories at the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America website, www.IAVA.org. They are an amazing group of men and women (and one dog) that have overcome tremendous obstacles. And now, they’re taking on another one: the VA backlog.

Just like we’ve been trained, we won’t quit until the job is done. No matter how long it takes, we’ll keep fighting.

Our brothers and sisters deserve support for their sacrifices. And every single American should stand with us to #EndTheVAbacklogonce and for all.

Ten years after the start of the Iraq War, there are a lot of folks who say they support the troops. Now is the time for them to show it.

The OSPCA says the Niagara Falls amusement park has complied with four out of seven orders issued as part of the agency’s investigation into the allegations.

The agency’s chairman, Rob Godfrey, says Marineland has asked for — and been granted — more time to fulfil the remaining orders.

He says the completed work involved having a vet examine the park’s seals and sea lions, repairing the ceiling of an animal enclosure, improving the killer whale’s living environment and conducting a full assessment of the water filtration system.

Godfrey says Marineland still has to neuter its bears, increase shelter for its deer and elk, and fix its water quality and filtration system.

A spokesman for Marineland wouldn’t comment on the OSPCA’s remarks, but says the company is stunned the agency would openly discuss an active investigation.

The amusement park has been under scrutiny in recent months after a number of former employees claimed the quality of the water compromised the health of the animals.

Read it on Global News: Global News | Marineland making moves to improve animal care after abuse allegations: OSPCA

Rovio also said the series would premiere today, March 17. And sure enough, Angry Birds Toons can now be watched on your iDevice through a dedicated video channel within the Angry Birds apps.

Presumably, all you need to view Angry Birds Toons is any of the latest versions of the original Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Space, and Angry Birds Star Wars for iPhone and iPad.

But as of this writing, we’re unable to view the series in Angry Birds for iPhone. We are, however, already able to watch it in Angry Birds HD for iPad.

The series is apparently off to a great start.

After launching the Angry Birds app of your choice, you should see a new Toons button beside the Play button. Just tap the Toons button to access the Angry Birds Toons video channel.

Currently, the channel contains three videos.

There’s a behind-the-scenes video featuring supervising director Eric Guaglione and the rest of the Angry Birds Toons team.

There’s a video entitled “Meet the Flock,” in which the different characters in the series, both avian and porcine, are introduced.

And then there’s “Chuck Time,” the first episode of Angry Birds Toons.

“Chuck Time” showcases Chuck the yellow bird’s apparent ability to slow down time in a superbly hilarious manner. In this episode, which clocks in at 2 minutes and 44 seconds, Chuck attempts to break the red bird’s fall off a cliff, which Chuck himself accidentally caused.

It’s funny, it’s well-made, and it’s reminiscent of the best of Looney Tunes.

Check it out now on your iDevice. It should also be up on the official Angry Birds Toons site soon.

Aside from appearing in the app, the Angry Birds Toons channel is also available on all of Comcast’s video platforms in the U.S., including Xfinity on Demand, online at Xfinity.com/tv and the Xfinity TV Player app. The series is also available through Rovio’s partner TV networks in Australia, Brazil, Chile, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Korea, Norway, and Ukraine.

A new Angry Birds Toons episode is set to premiere every week. Having watched and enjoyed the first one, we’re already looking forward to seeing the next episode. Squawk!

According to Geek.com’s “multiple sources,” Google will build Babble into everything from Google+ to Gmail. You’ll be able to share photos in live chats as well as start an Google+ Hangout with anyone in your contacts. Users will see the same type of chat window — with the same features — no matter what Google product they’re using.

The “grand unification” of Google’s myriad communication services is a long time coming. Anyone who uses Google Talk, Google+ Hangouts and Messenger, Google Voice and Google Drive’s chat function has probably been frustrated at some point about how different the multiple services are, and the need to switch services to reach various people. For example, you can’t currently start a Hangout from Google Drive.

Although Babble would be a boon to Google users, other services, such as Skype or AOL’s AIM, probably won’t get to share the love. As Geek notes, Google has been moving toward building its own closed communications platform, walling off other services that don’t use the same open-chat platform (called XMPP). However, the report says Babble will have notably good quality and performance.

When will Babble be officially unveiled? That would be at the Google I/O developer’s conference in May, Geek says, which makes a great deal of sense. That will also likely be when Google shows off the new version of Android “Key Lime Pie.”

“We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them,” said executive VP of Samsung’s mobile business, Lee Young-hee, during an interview in Seoul.

Lee gave no details about the features of the watch or its price, merely saying that the company has been “preparing the watch product for so long.”

Samsung’s admission comes after months of rumors about an Apple wristwatch, followed by the unearthing of patents for a wearable accessory device.

Still, nothing about Apple’s watch has been officially confirmed at this point, so we now have two “upcoming” watches which may turn out to be nothing but smoke and mirrors.

What do you expect from a Samsung smartwatch? How about Apple’s? Share your thoughts in the comments!