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Photos of New Presidential Hybrid Limo Leaked, Critiques Abound

by Lee Bains, posted Jan 6th 2009 at 6:10PM



Covert photographs of an impressive new presidential vehicle have surfaced in recent days, CNN.com reports, and opinions have been spilling forth.

According to CNN, online critics of the Cadillac-manufactured limousine's apparently indestructible design have named it "ugly as sin" and compared it to "an Abrams tank."

Indeed, the car is stout, to say the least; its doors -- encasing windows of ballistic glass -- are eight inches thick.

The fortress-like aspects of the car could disorient a president, says Joe Funk, a former Secret Service agent and driver of President Bill Clinton.

"The everyday noises will be gone, and he will be totally isolated in this protective envelope," he explains. "At the same time, I think he will be surprised at the communication capabilities."

Perhaps the vehicle -- which, on January 20th, will carry President-elect Barack Obama to his inauguration to the presidency -- is representative of the challenges he will face as president. While defending the United States from our zealous aggressors, he must reach out still further to embrace, and increase in number, our allies. Head on over to CNN to check out the leaked spy shots. [From: CNN]

Does Rise of 'Space Faking' Mean More Identity Theft?

by Lee Bains, posted Jan 6th 2009 at 10:09AM



Of late, there have surfaced so many instances of impersonation on social networking sites that critics have given the practice a name: "space faking."

According to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald, "Social networking sites are being overrun by space fakers, who swipe other users' photos and create entirely new identities for themselves."

This ought not be news to social networking site users, who have undoubtedly come across fake celebrity profiles on Facebook, MySpace and their competitors. In fact, a Web site -- FakersBusted.com -- has been established just to expose these masqueraders. But, while such celebrity impersonations are usually benign, performed out of admiration more than much else, some experts find a correlation between the respective rises of "space faking" and online identity theft.

To reiterate a point from last month's report on social networking cyber crime, the most effective way to prevent this sort of identity theft is simple: Don't transmit anything serious, let alone sensitive, over social networking sites. [From: Sydney Morning Herald]

The Cell Phone Comes to Cuba

by Lee Bains, posted Jan 6th 2009 at 8:04AM


While those of us in the United States might consider an iPhone or BlackBerry to be the ultimate mobile status symbol, Cubans are just now lusting after the most basic of cell phones, we learned from the Washington Post via Textually.org.

Cuba's new president, Raul Castro, has introduced cell phones to the Cuban marketplace -- along with other formerly contraband devices like DVD players, microwaves and computers -- and, from all appearances, the average Cuban is anxious to acquire one.

Once he or she can save up for it, that is.

At present, the Cuban government offers a simple Nokia 1112 phone and charger for the equivalent of $58, a small fortune for the average Cuban who, according to the BBC, earns $20 a month.

And billing plans are just as costly. To actually use the phone, a consumer must pay a $65 registration fee and a rate of 65 cents per minute. Due to the latter charge, many essentially use their phones as beepers. In a typical situation, an individual would call a friend's cell phone from a land line. The friend, seeing the number pop up on the cell phone, would then hustle to the nearest land line to return the call.

Some, enticed by the Cuban government's 17 cent per text message rate, prefer to go that route.

As far as overseas calls go, folks fearing communist influence riding the airwaves into the U.S. have nothing to worry about; a one minute call to the States runs a Cuban cell phone user $2.70. [From: Washington Post via Textually.org]

NFL Institutes 'Electronic Lifeline' to Prevent Stadium Bullying

by Lee Bains, posted Jan 5th 2009 at 3:48PM

In an effort to police inappropriate behavior at NFL games, league officials have implemented an 'electronic lifeline,' by which fans can text message complaints to stadium security, the New York Times reports.

The rationale behind this decision should be apparent to anybody who has attended a sporting event with family in tow. Inevitably, a family will encounter loud, drunken, vulgar fans in a situation that can become terribly embarrassing, if not threatening. In those situations, there is no attractive recourse for a protective parent or spouse, as confrontation escalates the tension and physically calling on security does the same. Mercifully, this new system allows for an anonymous, non-confrontational solution.

Apparently, the security measure has found success already, with some teams' owners going so far as to relieve offenders of their season tickets.

Now, if we could only have a similar system in place for college football. Not that anybody drinks at college football games... [From: New York Times]

Teen Threatens Suicide Over 'World of Warcraft,' Gets Arrested

by Lee Bains, posted Jan 5th 2009 at 12:47PM


Last Monday, in a live chat with an employee of Blizzard Entertainment, a seventeen-year-old boy in Fairfield, Ohio threatened to kill himself over frustrations with 'World of Warcraft,' MyFox Springfield learned from the Middletown Journal.

In response, the Blizzard representative immediately traced the boy's IP address and notified local police, who promptly showed up at the boys' house. Explaining to police that the threat had not been sincere, and that he was simply trying "to get what [he] wanted" in regards to the game, the boy was arrested and charged with a first-degree misdemeanor.

We're glad the boy, only 17, is anonymous. Otherwise, he might never get a job. Not because of the arrest, though. Because of the 'WoW.' [From: Middletown Journal via MyFox Springfield]

'New Age' Residents Protest Glastonbury Wi-Fi Network

by Lee Bains, posted Jan 4th 2009 at 2:01PM


Glastonbury, England's recent establishment of a free, municipal wireless network has met fierce opposition from the town's considerable 'New Age' population, Fox News reports.

Concerned citizens have started an online petition in protest of the Wi-Fi network, claiming that the network's "non-ionising, electrostatically pulsating microwave radiation" has caused health problems in the populace, including: "headaches, dizziness, nausea, severe tiredness, brain fog, disorientation and loss of appetite, loss of balance, inability to concentrate, loss of creativity."

Glastonbury -- home to the annual, mammoth Glastonbury Festival -- is rumored to be the final resting place of King Arthur and appeals to many folks fascinated with mysticism and paganism.

At present, the petition hosts 14 signatures, with additional comments including, "Switch it off!" and "Disgraceful nightmare technology." One comment, from signer "27pa," simply reads, "HAHAHAHAHAHA."

So maybe that's 13 signatures. [From: Fox News]

Old-School Games Reborn on the iPhone

by Lee Bains, posted Jan 3rd 2009 at 2:02PM


With the success of the Nintendo Wii's straight-forward games, and the recent wave of 8-bit nostalgia, it is only fitting that the iPhone -- possibly the vanguard of popular personal technology -- is now offering a wide selection of classic games, as USA Today points out.

Among the retro games available for download on the iPhone are 'Super Monkey Ball,' 'Tetris,' 'Pac-Man' and -- as we mentioned earlier -- 'SimCity.'

USA Today reviews one particularly intriguing game known as 'I Love Katamari,' in which a user rolls a ball of junk around various landscapes, continuing to accumulate more and more random items as the ball snowballs into mammoth proportions. Using the iPhone's 'accelerometer,' the gamer controls the direction of the ball by tilting the iPhone one way or another.

Could it be said that all this nostalgia for the tech of yore says something about the persistent evolution of popular technology? Could it be that video games struck the ideal balance between technological appeal and good old-fashioned enjoyment fifteen years ago? Or could it be that, just as we continue to listen to Elvis and read Dickens, we'll continue to go back to those great games of a bygone era? [From: USA Today]

Scientists Hope to Birth Tiny 'Star', Achieve Fusion

by Lee Bains, posted Jan 2nd 2009 at 8:30AM


It is the stuff science fiction is made of.

In Livermore, California, at the National Ignition Facility, scientists talk of creating a star small enough to fit in a large barn, laser beams 1,000 times more powerful than all of the United States' electrical output put together, and -- with hopeful, anxious tones -- a seemingly endless supply of energy.

In the spring, researchers in Livermore will -- with the aid of that high-powered laser, mirrors and lenses, a 32 foot wide 'reaction chamber' and billions of dollars -- set out to initiate nuclear fusion, the Telegraph reports.

Continue reading Scientists Hope to Birth Tiny 'Star', Achieve Fusion

Texts and Tweets to Play Important Role at Inauguration

by Lee Bains, posted Jan 1st 2009 at 5:10PM


Due to the massive crowds speculated to appear in Washington D.C. on January 20th (as many as 4 million), Presidential inauguration organizers and D.C. officials are hustling to put communication networks in place, CNET News reports.

Perhaps surprisingly, these networks will largely depend on text messages and Twitter pages.

Because of the sheer numbers expected to be in the capital during the event, spokesmen of cell providers have already expressed concern about their networks holding up, strategists like those at Sprint Nextel adding equipment to local cell towers and sending satellite trucks on patrol through D.C.

In response, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and a spokesman for Washington's wireless trade group, have both issued statements encouraging inaugural revelers to -- in the interest of freeing up networks -- send text messages instead of call.

Continue reading Texts and Tweets to Play Important Role at Inauguration

Is Bon Iver's Success Proof of Democratic Music Industry?

by Lee Bains, posted Dec 31st 2008 at 5:10PM


As the Internet becomes more and more central to music distribution and promotion, debate concerning the relatively young medium's pros and cons has swirled through communities of musicians.

Just last week, we reported that 85 percent of the albums offered for sale online in 2008 never sold a single copy.

This week, though, Techdirt -- going off a piece from the Wall Street Journal -- reports that, at least in the case of one Great Lakes songwriter, the Internet's offerings are more boon than bust.

When Justin Vernon cloistered himself in a northern Wisconsin cabin to record his rustic, acoustic compositions, he probably didn't foresee those sessions culminating in a proper record, let alone a hit record. But, with the aid of substantial buzz on MySpace and key blogs, that album -- 'For Emma, Forever Ago' -- has sold 87,000 copies, certainly a hit by most artists' standards.

That buzz -- perpetuated by such blogging heavyweights as My Old Kentucky Blog, Brooklyn Vegan and Pitchfork -- facilitated a contract with renowned indie label Jagjaguwar and has verily made Vernon's band Bon Iver a household name. (Or, hipper households, at least).

Truly, Techdirt and the Journal's assessments of Bon Iver's success have merit; the Internet and more independent media outlets undoubtedly can, and do, help bands and artists that major labels and publications wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. Still, though, we're hesitant to proclaim this the Egalitarian Age of Music. While Pitchfork isn't Rolling Stone, it is a major publication in its own right, and one of the sort whose blessing seems to be a prerequisite for success the measure of Bon Iver's. [From: Wall Street Journal via Techdirt]

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