You won’t see George W. Bush hitting the campaign trail in 2012; he’s sworn off politics for good, he tells C-SPAN in an interview airing tomorrow night. “I don’t want to go out and campaign for candidates, I don’t want to be used as a perpetual money-raiser, I don’t want…
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We’ve been seeing more and more shoes infused with different sorts of technology in recent years, but none quite like this WeSC Karmatech concept developed by some students at Sweden’s Hyper Island “digital school.” Described as a “social take on Nike+,” the shoes apparently wouldn’t have an accelerometer but they do pack an RFID chip that allows the wearer to interact with their surroundings — automatically check in at a location and share it on Facebook or Twitter, for instance, or get access to exclusive deals or special events. Of course, it is just a concept, but the students note that it would be relatively cheap to implement (at least on the shoe end of the equation), as the RFID tags themselves only cost a few cents. Kinda gives a new meaning to “sneakernet,” doesn’t it? Head on past the break for the video. Continue reading WeSC Karmatech concept makes your shoes more social with RFID WeSC Karmatech concept makes your shoes more social with RFID originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 18:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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enlarge Hosni Mubarak (left) with Anwar Sadat (right). Plucked from obscurity and never looked back. Click here to view this media With the fast-breaking news this week of continued and intensified demonstrations against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo and throughout Egypt, I’m reminded of how Mubarak rose to power — as the result of Sadat’s assassination on October 7, 1981. Virtually unknown, even in Egypt at the time, Hosni Mubarak was a General in the Egyptian Air Force when he was chosen by then-President Anwar Sadat to become vice-President . With Sadat’s assassination by a group of military conspirators, Mubarak quickly assumed the role of President — one which he’s maintained the past 31 years, establishing a virtual monarchy in the process. So as a refresher of where these dynasties get started and how, here is a Special Edition of All Things Considered, which aired on the evening of October 7,1981, a few hours after the assassination and the official announcement of Sadat’s death. In the broadcast are several news reports, reactions and speculations on what the future had in store for Egypt. Whether or not it offers any insights as to goings on in the streets of Cairo today isn’t quite clear. Although, a recent item citing support of the Mubarak regime by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce might produce a clue, at least in some circles and the recent release of Wikileaks cables on Egypt in recent years might be another. Still, a story quickly unfolding. And like all stories, it has a history to go along with it.
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IRELAND'S Upper House of Parliament has passed a key finance Bill needed to secure the country's bailout package, paving the way for embattled Prime Minister Brian Cowen to call elections. The Budget – which hikes taxes and slashes spending as part of the price for the 67.5 billion euro ($91 billion)…
Continue reading …Afghanistan will sign a formal agreement at the UN tomorrow promising to stop using young boys as police or military sex slaves, the New York Times reports. Hamid Karzai ordered the deal after Afghanistan was placed on a UN blacklist for “grave violations against children in armed combat.” Officials admit…
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The woman who authorities say killed her teenage daughter and son because she was fed up with them talking back and being mouthy is being treated at a hospital for an unknown condition. (Jan. 29)
Continue reading …Tucson shooting victim explains his threatening outburst: ‘I really meant him no harm’
January 29, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media You may remember Eric Fuller — the survivor of the Tucson massacre who fingered right-wing rhetoric for fueling the tragedy, and then a few days later was arrested for making a threatening remark at a Town Hall gathering directed at a local Tea Party leader. This, of course, made him a major target of right-wing talkers like Bill O’Reilly, who proceeded to demonize the man as a prime example of left-wing hate . Fuller has now given a thoughtful interview to the local station in Tucson, KGUN, in which he tries to explain why he said what he did: “Where Gabrielle Giffords was standing, when I began hearing the gunfire, I turned and looked and there was Jared [Loughner], athletically pumping out the rounds, taking aim and firing,” Fuller recalled. For him, the memory of the shooting is fresh and sharp. So sharp, it got him into trouble. He already believed guns are too easy to obtain when he became one of the shooting victims January 8th. A week later he was part of a town hall meeting sponsored by ABC News. When Tucson Tea Party leader Trent Humphries suggested it was too soon to talk about tighter gun control, Fuller did something that got him arrested. He pointed a camera at Humphries and said, “You’re dead.” Now, Fuller has apologized for the perceived threat that landed him in hot water with the authorities. “I’d like to reiterate my apology to Mr. Humphries. I really meant him no harm. However, what I was trying to do is demonstrate how very quickly within the same space of time as the click of a shutter on a camera that another person can pull a trigger and your life is over, it’s done,” Fuller said. Back when this happened, Nicole suggested this might be what Fuller intended. And as she observed at the time, that’s really no excuse: Even if Fuller intended no threat in his remark, two things remain obvious: A) it would be reasonable for anyone hearing that remark, especially the recipient, to interpret it as a threat; and B) it is nonetheless violent rhetoric in any event. For people who are confronting the real-world ramifications of violent rhetoric, this sort of reaction (especially on an emotional level) is perfectly understandable — but it is also perfectly destructive. Violent rhetoric cannot be beaten by more violent rhetoric. It can only be defused by breaking the cycle of violence, choosing words that advance the debate, as President Obama put it , “in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.” Still, given that the man was still recovering from his wounds, as Karoli pointed out, and was placed in an excruciatingly difficult situation to begin, I’d like to think most reasonable people would cut him some slack and accept his clear apologies. This, of course, necessarily excludes all the hosts, anchors and reporters at Fox News.
Continue reading …Intel’s mSATA SSD 310 reviewed: a pint-size performer through and through
January 29, 2011 No Comment
The forecast for speedy, razor-thin laptops is looking pretty sunny right about now, because it seems Intel’s SSD 310 truly does bring the power of a full-sized solid state drive on a tiny little board. Storage Review and The SSD Review thoroughly benchmarked the tiny 80GB mSATA module this week, and found it performs even better than advertised — easily tearing through 200MB / sec reads and 70 MB / sec writes — which put it slightly behind Intel’s legendary X25-M series but well ahead of the company’s X25-V boot drives . While we’re still not seeing Sandforce speeds from Intel’s tried-and-true controller and 34nm silicon and they might not make Toshiba’s Blade run for the hills, we can’t wait to test it out in some new Lenovo ThinkPads when they integrate the SSD 310 later this year. Oh, by the way, that big green board up above isn’t the drive. It’s actually the tiny one on top. Intel’s mSATA SSD 310 reviewed: a pint-size performer through and through originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Taco Bell has been really , really , really adamant in denying accusations that its taco meat is only 36% beef , insisting that it’s actually 88% beef. But they don’t have to defend themselves, as far as Sandra Fish is concerned. “I’d be OK with even less than 88% beef in my…
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It seems these days whenever Bill Maher opens his mouth, he's bound to stick his foot in it while saying something totally devoid of logic or factual basis. Consider Friday's “Real Time” on HBO when with his final “New Rule,” he claimed the economic business philosophy of NFL football is similar to that of the Democratic Party while Major League Baseball's is more in line with the Republicans (video follows with transcript and commentary): BILL MAHER: So it's not a surprise that some 100 million Americans will watch the Super Bowl next week. That's 40 million more than go to church on Christmas. Suck on that, Jesus. It's also 85 million more than watched the last game of the World Series. And in that is an economic lesson for America, because football is built on an economic model of fairness and opportunity, and baseball is built on a model where the rich always win and the poor usually have no chance. The World Series is like the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”: you have to be a rich bitch just to play. Whereas the Super Bowl is like Tila Tequila, anyone can get in. Or put it another way, football is more like the Democratic philosophy. Democrats don't want to eliminate capitalism or competition, but they would like it if some kids didn't have to go to a crummy school in a rotten neighborhood while others get to go to a great school and their Dad gets them into Harvard, because when that happens, achieving the American dream is easy for some and just a fantasy for others. That's why the NFL literally shares the wealth. TV is their biggest source of revenue and they put it all in a big commie pot and split it 32 ways because they don't want anyone to fall too far behind. That's why the team that wins the Super Bowl in the next draft picks last – or what the Republicans would call punishing success. [Applause] For those of you familiar with how both sports work – something that Maher clearly isn't – you know the “Real Time” host was once again misrepresenting the truth to advance his liberal agenda. The NFL does indeed have what's called revenue sharing, but so does baseball. As reported by CBS Business Network in 2008: After hashing out their competing interests, large-market owners, small-market owners, and the players’ union initially struck a major revenue sharing deal during collective bargaining in 2002. Under the latest version , in effect through 2011, all teams pay in 31 percent of their local revenues and that pot is split evenly among all 30 teams. In addition, a chunk of MLB’s Central Fund — made up of revenues from sources like national broadcast contracts — is disproportionately allocated to teams based on their relative revenues, so lower-revenue teams get a bigger piece of the pie. As such, baseball's revenue sharing is actually more socialistic than football's for the lower-revenue teams get a bigger chunk of the shared funds. Makes Maher look like a bit of a jerk, doesn't it? So does his point about the winner of the Super Bowl getting the lowest pick in the following year's draft. Baseball does the same thing giving the last pick to the winner of the World Series. I guess you could call that strike two. But there were more wildly errant swings still to come: MAHER: Baseball, baseball, on the other hand, is exactly like the Republicans. And I don't just mean it's incredibly boring. I mean their economic theory is every man for himself. The small-market Pittsburgh Steelers go to the Super Bowl more than anybody, but the Pittsburgh Pirates? Levi Johnston has sperm that will not grow up and live long enough to see the Pirates in a World Series. Their payroll is 40 million. The Yankees is 206 million. The Pirates have about as much chances getting to the playoffs as a poor black teenager from Newark has of becoming the CEO of Halliburton. That's why people stopped going to Pirate games in May, because if you're not in the game you become indifferent to the fate of the game and maybe even get bitter. That's what's happening to the middle class in America. [Applause] It's also how Marie Antoinette lost her head. So you kind of have to laugh that the same angry white males who hate Obama because he's redistributing wealth just love football, a sport that succeeds because it does just that. To them, the NFL is American as hot dogs, Chevrolet, apple pie, and a second giant helping of apple pie. But then again, they think they're macho because their sport is football, when, honestly, is there anything gayer than wearing another man's shirt? As San Francisco Giants announcer Mike Krukow often says when someone strikes out, “Take some pine, meat”: The San Francisco Giants won the World Series in 2010. They had the tenth-highest payroll in the league. Their opponent, the Texas Rangers, had the 27th-highest payroll. Only three teams spent less last year. In 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays made the World Series with the second-lowest payroll. In 2007, the Colorado Rockies went with the 26th-highest payroll. In 2006, the Detroit Tigers went with the 14th-highest . In 2003, the Florida Marlins won the Series with the 20th-highest payroll. In 2002, the Anaheim Angels won the Series with the 15th-highest payroll beating the Giants who had the tenth. In 2001, the Arizona Diamondbacks won the Series with the eighth-highest payroll. So much for his “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” analogy. Add it all up, and the differences between the economic philosophies of these two sports as depicted by Maher Friday evening were totally non-existent. Funnier still is that the “Real Time” host completely ignored what does indeed separate these leagues financially: football has a salary cap and baseball doesn't. This is what allows teams like the Yankees and Red Sox to spend so lavishly. Maher ignoring this suggests he really knows little about these sports, for there's nothing more Republican than the belief that achievement should come with unlimited rewards, and nothing more Democrat than it shouldn't. On the other hand, maybe the “Real Time” host didn't bring this up because he doesn't want to admit support for salary caps fearing that such a thing could some day be implemented by one of his employers to spread the wealth within the organization he works for. As likely one of the highest paid at HBO, Maher mightn't think such a program was “Democratic” if he was forced to participate in it. Now THAT'S entertainment!
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