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Kwame’s Last LOL?
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Cell Phones, Editorial
If you live in the environs of Detroit, Michigan, then you already know that we are in the midst of political controversy. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had a more than business relationship with his now former chief of staff Christine Beatty. We wouldn’t presume to know or care what the politician does with his personal life as he is always up to some shenanigans, but one of the things mentioned during the uncovering of the scandal was text messages between the two. Apparently there were over 40,000 of them recovered.
We guess we assume that everyone text messages, so we found it somewhat amusing when they showed some of them and had interpreted them with differing versions of “LOL.” Local news anchors either literally said “L - O - L” or “hehehe.” Go figure.
While there is more to the story (including a public apology tonight after getting caught) that you can read if you are curious or simply want a giggle, we wondered about two things. Can a cell phone hold that many messages at a time? And even weirder, if you were supposedly in charge of an entire city, married, and having an affair, would you keep those messages around for just anybody to read? Hmmm. Like we said, we just wondered. Blogs are great for initiating discussions about topics like that.
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Count Down For Hillary
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Toys
Last March, we told you about a Bush Countdown Key Chain that was ticking down the days and hours until the demise of our current president. We have found its companion piece. For those of you have made your political choice already, we are featuring the super-optimistic Hillary Countdown to Election Key Chain created by Bush’s Last Day. While Republicans will undoubtedly not appreciate the sentiment, we thought we might send one to la Winfrey for a chuckle, just in case she has a sense of humor. Pick this one up for $13.95.
Read More 
| Merch-Bot
Myanmar Bans Internet
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Editorial, Internet, Misc. Tech
Recently the Burmese government shut down the country’s Internet connection in an effort to keep prying eyes from seeing what is going on there. No wonder the country of Myanmar is upset over more than just its name change. Earlier this year, researchers at Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, and the University of Toronto issued The OpenNet Iniative to study other countries who had have done the same. China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, South Korea, and Pakistan are among those that have at least partial blocks. We may complain about our state of our Union, but we never forget that we are grateful to be in a country that allows us to have our FI (Freedom of Internet.)
Read More | Technology Review
John Edwards Dialogue Set for MySpace and MTV
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Editorial, Internet, Music
MySpace and MTV have teamed together to host a one-on-one Presidential Dialogue for John Edwards, which we means that various politicos and viewers get to grill him live. It will be on this Thursday, Sept. 27 at noon, like we are going to give up our all-important lunch hour. You can ask questions via both venues and a Flektor poll is supposed to track results, although we are not quite sure why that is necessary. We don’t know if all the candidates have MySpace pages and plans, but we did note while on Edwards’ page there was a clever Google ad for Mitt Romney sandwiched in there.
Read More | Mashable
My Damn Channel Features Funny to the Max
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Misc. Tech, Music, Videos
Now we know where the comical In people go when they feel crowded at YouTube. Harry Shearer (the voice of Mr. Burns/Rev. Lovejoy/Ned Flanders, etc. on The Simpsons,) recently posted his “Waterboarding, U.S.A” video, his comment on America with a Beach Boys twist. Check in on the 29th for his second hosting of his Silent Debate. Also on the site are bits by Janeane Garofalo and Ozzy Osbourne. Take a peek at the ones posted or try to upload one of your own. You might get to be the next guest voice on The Simpsons.
Read More | My Damn Channel
California Senator Questions the ESRB’s Decision on Manhunt 2
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Politics, Survival Horror
After finally agreeing to grant the embattled Rockstar title Manhunt 2 a retail-friendly Mature rating, the ESRB is drawing some fire from California senator Leland Yee. Yee, best known for his failed 2005 video game legislation, is questioning what changed to entice the ESRB’s about-face. In a statement he says, “The ESRB refuses to use the AO rating for violence despite the descriptor calling for such a rating when there are ‘graphic depictions of violence.’ If Manhunt doesn’t qualify, what would?”
Somewhat surprisingly, Yee does have a valid question. It does seem like game publishers ought not to be under the typical pre-release scrutiny for something as inconsequential as ratings determination, but is there any reason why the ESRB can’t be forthcoming with specifics about how and why it comes to its conclusions?
Read More | Game Politics via Evil Avatar
Al Gore Wins Oscar for “Inconvenient Truth”
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Editorial, Home Entertainment, Movies, Science
Okay, so Al Gore didn’t personally win. But “AIT”’s (as the crew refers to it) director Davis Guggenheim brought the man who proclaims “he used to be the next president of the U.S.” up on the stage with him because he is truly the man behind the movie. Gore has always been interested in the subject of global warming and during his vice-presidential years used his term to draw attention to that and other environmental issues. This leads us to the political question: In the race against Queen Hillary and Prince Obama, can “The Goracle” become our next
President? We hope he will just continue to aid our planet.
Read More | Climate Crisis
The Internet Invades Politics
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Editorial, Internet, Videos
Every day the web becomes a more powerful social network. Iraqi assassinations were posted on the Internet in their entirety. Viral videos helped to cause the demise of former senator George Allen and comedian Michael Richards. It also was the source of coming out parties for both Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama. Just as TV was the turning point in the race for President during the debates between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960, we consider the possibilities that those of you interested in the politics of our U. of S. will be turning more to the likes of YouTube than the boob tube for next year’s big race. After viewing last night’s “The Agenda” on tvo.org with Steve Paikin, we see that we aren’t the only ones.
Read More | The Agenda
Editorial: Sony Bullies Lik-Sang Right Out Of Business
Posted by Rob Stevens Categories: Corporate News, Editorial, Features, Video Games
Playfeed is reporting that Sony has managed to win a major battle in the war against grey market imports, basically by suing the company into the ground. The company in question is Lik-Sang, one of the largest import companies on the internet, and one that I’ve personally used in the past for games I knew would not be released stateside.
Never mind the fact that Lik-Sang already had a British judge rule against them for selling the PSP without Sony’s permission, and never mind the fact that Sony made the PSP region-free and is now trying to put that genie back in the bottle. Hell, let’s even ignore the fact that Sony’s own upper-tier executives in Europe purchased PSP’s from Lik-Sang because they couldn’t get them from their own company.
Sony could have filed a single lawsuit and have seen this reach a decision, which is exactly what happened. Sony stooped to new lows by filing the same lawsuit in every single EU country, basically drowning Lik-Sang in paperwork and lawyers fees. Sony wins because Lik-Sang can’t afford to defend themselves. The end result is that Sony didn’t just say, “Hey, stop selling our stuff, if you don’t mind.” They proceeded to nothing less than thuggery by beating the company while they were down.
Click to continue reading Editorial: Sony Bullies Lik-Sang Right Out Of Business
Arnie Bans Handheld Cellphones
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Cell Phones, Wireless / WiFi
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that he will sign into law legislation that bans the use of handheld cellphones while driving. Although 38 state legislatures have considered similar bills, only New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Washington D.C. have actually passed them. Under the new law, which takes effect in 2008, a minimum of a $20.00 fine will be given when using a cell without a headset, speaker phone, or other wireless device.
“Public safety is the governor’s No. 1 priority,” said Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson, “and this bill will make the streets and highways of California safer by ensuring that drivers have both hands available for driving.”
Senator Joe Simitan (D-Palo Alto) has taken five years to bring his idea to fruition. The California Highway Patrol indicates that last year alone there were 775 accidents involving drivers who were using hand-held cellphones. Statistics show that the risk of death is 9 times greater for those drivers. Our only question is if public safety is Arnie’s #1 priority, why are they waiting until 2008?
Read More | LA Times
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