Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/O_rogQOfvu4/will-christmas-defeat-porn-this-year
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Sunday, December 25, 2011
Will Christmas Defeat Porn This Year? [Christmas]
Saturday, December 24, 2011
What if Siri went evil?
By Rosa Golijan
Rooster Teeth
Whenever my iPhone acts up, I throw my hands in the air and announce that my gadget must be "spiteful" or "out to get me" somehow. But what if that wasn't just an irrational way of explaining technical hiccups? What if??Siri?? the?virtual?assistant built into the iPhone 4S?? really went evil?
The folks?in comedy team Rooster Teeth must've been wondering the same thing when they made this video:
Yes, all the typical clich?s are there. Yes,?it's just as cheesy as any real horror movie. And yes, I am looking at my iPhone 4S suspiciously right now.
If I disappear under mysterious circumstances, tell someone to interrogate nearby Apple gadgets.
Related stories:
Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.
Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/22/9631997-what-if-siri-went-evil
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Arlington grave markers may need replacement
ARLINGTON, Va.?? Thousands of grave markers at Arlington National Cemetery may need to be replaced or added to accurately account for the dead, following a meticulous Army review of each of the nearly 260,000 headstones and niche covers on the grounds.
In a report to Congress on Thursday, the Army found potential discrepancies between headstones and cemetery paperwork on about 64,000 grave markers ? about one in four.
Congress ordered the review last year following reports of misidentified and misplaced graves that led to the ouster of the cemetery's top executives.
The report found no further evidence of misplaced graves, though it cautioned that its review is not complete and that some errors could have gone undetected.
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There are potentially thousands of minor errors, including misspelled names, or incorrect military ranks and dates of birth and death.
Story: Senator: Arlington Cemetery has improved since scandalThe Army compared information on every headstone to its internal records, scouring handwritten logs of the dead from the Civil War and a hodgepodge of other records to verify accuracy.
In an interview, the cemetery's executive director, Kathryn Condon, said reviews are ongoing and it's premature to try to estimate exactly how many headstones may need replacement.
To be sure, many of the 64,000 discrepancies will turn up no problem with a headstone ? it may be as simple as a typo on an internal record. And in many cases, the discrepancies are not errors at all but reflect past practices at the cemetery that are now considered outdated.
Story: Volunteers lay 90K wreaths at Arlington cemeteryOne of the biggest surprises uncovered by the review was that in most of the early 20th century, the cemetery did not include the name of a wife on a headstone when she was buried next to her husband. Under current practices, the name of the spouse is etched onto the back of the headstone.
Condon said the cemetery will correct that by adding the spouse's name to the gravesite. She said it is not only the right thing to do but is also required by law.
Accounting for the forgotten spouses alone will require thousands of corrections, officials said. In some cases, replacement headstones will be made. In cases where the headstones are considered historic, footstones will be added.
The Army and a team of 70 analysts are undertaking painstaking reviews of every case where they find a potential discrepancy to ensure that records are made accurate. Those reviews are expected to be completed in the summer.
The process began with a hand count, using simple mechanical clickers, of every gravesite ? 259,978 to be exact. (More than 300,000 people are buried at Arlington, but some grave markers have two or more names.) Then, during the summer, members of the Army's ceremonial Old Guard unit used iPhones to photograph the front and back of every headstone, so the information could be compared against internal records.
Officials cited Christian Keiner, a Civil War veteran from New York who died in 1919, as a typical example. The headstone reflected only his name, but internal records showed that his wife, Caroline Keiner, had also been buried there in 1915. In addition, the internal records spelled Caroline Keiner's name as "Kiner." Officials reviewed handwritten Census records from 1900 and Civil war-era military and pension records to confirm that "Keiner" was indeed the correct spelling.
John Schrader, co-chair of the Gravesite Accountability Task Force, said recordkeeping methods varied widely over the cemetery's 147-year history, from handwritten logs to index cards, to typewritten forms and two different computer databases. That sometimes compounded problems, as transcription errors were common. To avoid those problems, all of the old records have been scanned and digitized, rather than transcribed, to avoid introducing further errors, he said.
The sheer size of the cemetery also made the task difficult. It is the second-largest cemetery in the country as well as a tourist site that draws more than 4 million visitors a year, all while conducting nearly 30 burials a day, some with full military honors.
The most significant part of the review, Condon said, is that the cemetery for the first time has a single, reliable database that will allow officials to fix past mistakes and plan for the future.
The cemetery is currently testing an interactive, web-based version of its database that will allow visitors to click on a digital map to see gravesites and learn who is buried there, ensuring the cemetery's records are open and accessible going forward.
"We'll have 300 million American fact-checkers," Schrader said.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45768646/ns/us_news-life/
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Friday, December 23, 2011
Will Lindsay Lohan Playboy Issue Break Sales Record?
Despite Hugh Hefner's mixed feelings at the start, the Lindsay Lohan Playboy issue has become a major hit for the magazine - one well worth the nearly $1M price.
Hef Tweeted that “The Lindsay Lohan January-February Double Issue is breaking sales records.” While he didn't elaborate, there's no doubt it's been flying off shelves.
But will it rank among the magazine's top selling issues ever, if not THE top seller? Not necessarily, although it's certainly one of the best performers in years.
Playboy sold around 7 million copies per month back in its heyday of the early '70s. Today, its circulation is closer to 1.5 million ... damn you free Internet porn!
Nonetheless, the Lindsay Lohan pics may well end up doubling Playboy's current average and move approximately 4 million copies, according to estimates.
Some of Playboy's best-selling cover girls of the last 10 years: Cindy Crawford, figure skater Katarina Witt, Pam Anderson, and Marge Simpson. Seriously.
Where will Lohan rank among those all-time naked greats? Will she be in a jail cell at the time she cements her name in the record books? Only time will tell.
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/will-lindsay-lohan-playboy-issue-break-sales-record/
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Nigeria on alert as Shell announces worst oil spill in a decade ?Satellite pictures obtained by independent monitors Skytruth suggested that the spill was 70km-long and was spread over 923 square kilometers (356 sq miles)?.Yesterday Shell said it had also
Monday, December 19, 2011
CA startup sees entrepreneur-ship as visa solution (AP)
SUNNYVALE, Calif. ? You've heard of tech companies starting in a Silicon Valley garage. What about on a ship?
That's the idea being floated by a California startup that wants to dock a vessel off the coast to house foreign entrepreneurs who have dreams of creating the next Google but can't get visas to work in the United States.
Sunnyvale-based Blueseed Co. says current immigration rules can sink promising ventures and torpedo innovation and job creation.
The ship aims to provide a remedy by giving foreign entrepreneurs a place to build their companies only a short boat ride from high tech's hub.
"A lot of people say, `I'd like to go to Silicon Valley' but there is no way for them to do it," said Max Marty, Blueseed CEO and co-founder.
Marty, the son of Cuban immigrants, thought of the ship after listening to international classmates of his at the University of Miami business school lament about having to leave the U.S. after graduation.
Politicians have wrangled with the issue, but efforts to change the system have stalled.
Last July, President Barack Obama said during a Twitter town hall he wanted to make sure talented people who studied in the U.S. were able to stay to create jobs.
"We don't want to pay for training them here and then having them benefit other countries," Obama said.
A bill to address so-called brain-drain was reintroduced this year by Sens. Mark Udall, D-Colo., John Kerry, D-Mass., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind. The Startup Visa Act would allow immigrant entrepreneurs and foreign graduates from U.S. universities to appeal for a two-year visa "on condition that they secure financing from a qualified U.S. investor and can demonstrate the ability to create American jobs."
But Blueseed founders don't expect any real reform from a bitterly divided Congress during an election year.
"Our solution is an entrepreneurial solution," said Dario Mutabdzija, Blueseed's president.
From cruise ships to oil rigs to military aircraft carriers, there are several examples of individuals living and working on ships. This one would accommodate about 1,000 people and be docked 12 miles southwest of San Francisco Bay, in international waters.
It would be registered in a country with a reputable legal system, maybe the Bahamas or the Marshall Islands, Marty said. Residents would be subject to the laws of that nation.
Residents would be ferried ashore with temporary business or tourist visas, which are easier to get, to meet with investors, collaborators, partners and others. Mutabdzija said the ability to have face-to-face meetings cannot be underestimated when trying to gain trust ? and secure funds ? from investors.
"Yes, we live in an interconnected age with Skype and other video conferencing. But if you want to grow a company, physical interactions are of paramount importance," Mutabdzija said. "We're a startup. We ran into this. Some people said if you're not within a 20 mile radius, we won't talk to you."
The proximity to high-tech's center, Silicon Valley, is also important.
"The talent, the money, the expertise and a cultural acceptance of risk. Elsewhere if it doesn't work out, you're a black sheep and the funds dry up," Mutabdzija said.
The ship would be a remodeled cruise ship or barge that Blueseed leases or owns. It would have all the high-tech amenities expected of a startup incubator and the look of employee-friendly Internet giants Facebook and Google, famous for their modern campuses complete with gourmet cafeterias, exercise facilities and an environmentally-sustainable design.
A live-work space would cost about $1,200 a month.
Logistical support, including food and other supplies, would come from local businesses along the coast, helping the economies of Half Moon Bay and San Francisco, though it hasn't been determined exactly which port Blueseed would use.
A helicopter also would be available for emergencies.
Critics deride the ship as a publicity stunt, and say investors would be better served contributing to ventures that help Americans create businesses.
"I would say the whole thing is a perfect metaphor for how in corporate America the practice to grow talent and incubate business locally is drifting away ? quite literally," said Bob Dane, of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates for limited immigration.
But supporters of foreign entrepreneurship say immigrants are responsible for some of the most successful businesses in the world and if the U.S. doesn't try to attract them, others will.
"The ship may sound like a crazy idea but it illustrates how seriously flawed the immigration system here is," said John Feinblatt, who runs Partnership for a New American Economy, which advocates for immigration reform.
The organization published a report in June that said 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children.
Feinblatt said countries including Chile, Singapore and the United Kingdom have programs to attract immigrant entrepreneurs.
"While the U.S. is driving people away, other countries are welcoming them with open arms," he said. "If you miss out on them, you miss their talent, their ideas and ultimately the jobs that they create and the taxes that they pay."
Christopher S. Bentley, a spokesman with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the agency has not seen the proposal and it's premature to comment.
Maritime experts say such an idea is feasible, but very costly.
"A good single point mooring costs in the millions of dollars but it could restrain a ship-shape vessel in quite severe storms and in deep water," said Bil Stewart, CEO of Houston-based Stewart Technology Associates, an engineering consultancy specializing in offshore and marine structures.
"But it would be prudent if the vessel had its own propulsion if you had a Pacific hurricane come along," Stewart added.
Blueseed's idea has started gaining steam.
Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel, a founder of PayPal, announced he would lead Blueseed's financing search. Thiel has been a big supporter of "seasteads" ? self-ruling cities on the ocean ? and both Marty and Mutabdzija worked at the Seasteading Institute.
Blueseed wants to raise $10 million to $30 million over the next year and a half. The goal would be to launch in late 2013.
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Is 2012 the year N.Y. lets the fracking begin? (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
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