Click here to view this media In all the discussion of the horrific and tragic shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona today, let’s not forget the other victims, particularly Federal Judge John Roll , who, as Dave Weigel notes was also the victim of numerous death threats for his role in a ruling involving ranchers and immigrants: Hundreds of threats cascaded into the chambers of John M. Roll, the chief U.S. district judge in Arizona, in February after he allowed a lawsuit filed by illegal immigrants against a rancher to go forward. “They cursed him out, threatened to kill his family, said they’d come and take care of him. They really wanted him dead,” said a law enforcement official who heard the calls — which came from as far as Richmond and Baltimore — but spoke on condition of anonymity because no one has been charged. David Gonzales, the U.S. marshal in Arizona, said deputies went online and found Roll’s home address posted on a Web site containing threatening comments. They put the judge under 24-hour protection for about a month, guarding his home in a secluded area just outside Tucson, screening his mail and escorting him to court, to the gym and to Mass. “Some deputies went to church more in a week than they had in their lives,” Gonzales said. It certainly raises the possibility that Roll was also a secondary target of the shooter (witnesses say he clearly targeted Giffords). More on Roll here . We’re still trying to obtain a full list of the names of the victims of today’s tragedy. Here’s what we have so far, via the the HuffPo : Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin said three Giffords staffers were shot in the attack. One died, and the other two are expected to survive. Gabe Zimmerman, a former social worker who served as Giffords’ director of community outreach, died. According to CNN, one of the victims pronounced dead at the hospital was a 9-year-old girl: In all, six people died and 12 were wounded in the shooting, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, according to Rick Kastigar, bureau chief for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. President Barack Obama later said Chief Judge John Roll of the U.S. District Court for Arizona was among the dead. A 9-year-old girl also died in the attack, according to authorities. The child, whose identity had not been released, was pronounced dead at a hospital. We’ll update as the names become available.
Continue reading …MultiTouch Ltd has been at this IR-based multitouch thing since 2007 and it’s hit CES in force this week. Sure, the current 46-inch model requires 12 inches of depth — in order to provide sufficient space for the infrared cameras embedded in its back to capture the whole, ahem , surface — but having unlimited touch inputs is always a wildly impressive sight. We put one of the displays to the test by exploiting a nearby crowd and slapping down a good 40+ fingers on it, all of which were recognized. To be perfectly fair, the IR cameras don’t seem to have a very flat recognition area and many of our inputs were picked up from over an inch from the screen. The 46-incher under hand is already available for a totally affordable $17,000, provides full HD resolution, and hooks up to a PC for processing of input. See our thoroughly intensive test on video after the break. Gallery: MultiTouch Ltd’s 46-inch panel accepts unlimited touch inputs, we put it to the test Continue reading MultiTouch Ltd’s 46-inch panel accepts unlimited touch inputs, we put it to the test (video hands-on) MultiTouch Ltd’s 46-inch panel accepts unlimited touch inputs, we put it to the test (video hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 20:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …The following statement was released by one of the more prominent tea party groups in response to the Saturday shooting in Arizona that killed six people, including a federal judge, and injured 12 more, including a Democratic congresswoman. Tea Party Express Chairman Amy Kremer issued the following statement today: “We at the Tea Party Express are shocked and saddened to hear about the terrible tragedy that took place in Tucson today. It is appalling that anyone would commit such unthinkable violence against Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford[s], her staff, a sitting federal judge and the many other victims and families impacted.
Continue reading …Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head Saturday when an assailant opened fire outside a grocery store during a meeting with constituents, killing at least five people and wounding several others. (Jan. 8)
Continue reading …We all remember our favorite Wii accessory the CTA Digital’s Inflatable Kart, well our friends at Engadget Spanish took it for a test spin. Continue reading Crapgadget CES, round six: CTA Digital Inflatable Kart for the Wii (video) Crapgadget CES, round six: CTA Digital Inflatable Kart for the Wii (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 19:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …We’ve gotten up close and personal with Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc this week at CES , but one bit of information that the firm refused to hand over was an estimated release date. If the outfit’s Indonesian portal is to be believed, however, we’ve just three more months to wait before at least some portions of the world have access. The image shown above translates into “three more months,” which means that we’ll be both saddened and depressed if our pals in the Asia-Pacific region don’t have one by April. Don’t make us weep, SE. [Thanks, Matthew] Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc seeing an April release? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 19:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Click here to view this media The Tucson Police Department have identified Jared Lee Loughner as the shooter in custody in today’s shooting of Rep. Giffords and Federal Judge Roll. I’ve posted a video above posted to YouTube last month by user ” Classitup10 “, who identifies himself as Jared Lee Loughner, resident of Tucson, Arizona. Here’s a screen shot of his YouTube profile: enlarge Loughner spends a lot of words in his video talking about mind control and currency, which carries echoes of Glenn Beck’s rhetoric , particularly with regard to currency and revolution. The cable news stations, including MSNBC, are already trying to spin him as a “loner” who was surely not influenced by anything or anyone other than his own thought life. Yeah, right. Meanwhile, ten victims are in the hospital, five in critical condition (including Rep. Giffords). There are six fatalities, including a nine-year old child and a Federal judge. If any “adult conversations” are to be had, I’d say they should center around the impact of a constant drumbeat of violent rhetoric on the airwaves, the halls of government, and the Internet. I’ll update this with more information as I find it. Update #1: Here’s a link to a backgrounder on Loughner. The more info that emerges, the more I’m convinced the real crime here is ignoring cries for help from people who do not appear to be living in reality. It certainly looks as though he was retreating into a world where most of us do not live.
Continue reading …From TPM, a “Flashback: Giffords Warned Of ‘Consequences’ To Palin’s Target Imagery“: Scarily prescient part starts at about the 2.10 minute mark. Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Balloon Juice Discovery Date : 09/01/2011 00:35 Number of articles : 7
Continue reading …PixelOptics is demoing what it claims is the most significant development in prescription eyewear in 50 years: emPower! PixelOptics’ glasses offer up better field of view and less distortion than traditional lenses by sandwiching an LCD-like layer in the glass that can be focused with an electrical charge. The set’s inbuilt micro-machine accelerometer detects when you tip your head down — when you read, for example — and triggers the glasses’ focal area for presbyopia. The emPower! lens can also be set to manual and is then activated by a swipe of your finger on the frame. The kit includes the glasses and the inductive charger that will keep the eyewear powered up and running for a couple days. We were able to get some video of the lens in action focusing on a tie — it is impressive to say the least — the change happens as quickly as your eye blinks and is not noticeable when not activated. We’d say PixelOptics is on to something here, and if you’re the type to plonk down $1,200 for a pair of glasses, these are definitely worth a peek. The only thing missing is a micro speaker that blasts out Bionic Man sounds each time you fire them up — but we’ve great hope somebody will hack that in. Gallery: PixelOptics emPower! electronic eyeglasses hands-on Continue reading PixelOptics emPower! electronic eyeglasses hands-on PixelOptics emPower! electronic eyeglasses hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 19:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …CNN reports that Jared Lee Loughner has been taken into custody as the suspected shooter who killed six people in Tucson on Saturday. One of our readers pointed us to a YouTube account opened in October in that name. Related Entries January 8, 2011 Were These Bizarre Videos Made by the Arizona Shooter? (Update) January 8, 2011 Gabrielle Giffords’ Favorite Quote
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