Both Samsung and Sony, two of the world's largest television makers, have begun enforcing minimum prices on their HDTV sets, in an effort to preserve profit margins, The Wall Street Journal reported. The plan could also protect retail chains such as Be... Read more »
Anonymous Online Speech: Soon To Be Banned In New York?
Illustration: Helodrgt (CC)
WTF Albany? Remember the authors of the Federalist Papers? Victoria Bekiempis writes in the Village Voice:
Read more »Legislation is pending in Albany that would make illegal anonymous online commenting, City & State tweeted this morning. Looks like Wired was among the first to report on the measure.
The bill’s backers, according to the mag, want to curtail “mean-spirited and baseless political attacks” and “spotlight on cyberbullies by forcing them to reveal their identity.”
The legislation would make New York-based websites, such as blogs and newspapers, “remove any comments posted on his or her website by an anonymous poster unless such anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post.”
The measures would also apply to messages on social networks and message boards or “any other discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages,” Wired points out, and requires that sites offer “a contact number or e-mail address posted for…
Anonymous Online Speech: Soon To Be Banned In New York?
Illustration: Helodrgt (CC)
WTF Albany? Remember the authors of the Federalist Papers? Victoria Bekiempis writes in the Village Voice:
Read more »Legislation is pending in Albany that would make illegal anonymous online commenting, City & State tweeted this morning. Looks like Wired was among the first to report on the measure.
The bill’s backers, according to the mag, want to curtail “mean-spirited and baseless political attacks” and “spotlight on cyberbullies by forcing them to reveal their identity.”
The legislation would make New York-based websites, such as blogs and newspapers, “remove any comments posted on his or her website by an anonymous poster unless such anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post.”
The measures would also apply to messages on social networks and message boards or “any other discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages,” Wired points out, and requires that sites offer “a contact number or e-mail address posted for…
On Romantic Matchmaking By Smell
Possibly superior to online dating? Via Paleofuture, on when the new romance rage was organizing marriage by odor:
Read more »Dating sites claim they can find you the perfect match by using algorithms. This idea–wanting to make the frustrating world of romantic love into something quantifiable–is nothing new. The April 1924 issue of Science and Invention magazine ran an article by Hugo Gernsback, the magazine’s publisher, which examined the “scientific” ways to determine if a marriage will succeed or fail.
Gernsback claims that more marriages are probably wrecked by body odors than any other cause. During the body odor test, the couple is made to smell each other (“not a pleasant experience,” Gernsback opines) by one person being placed inside a large capsule with a hose coming out the top. The hose is led to the nose of the other person and if the smells aren’t found too objectionable (again, measured by devices strapped…
Auction House Claims It’s Selling a Vial of Ronald Reagan’s Blood
Perhaps in a future post-apocalyptic America, this will be a holy relic. Remember ask yourself, “WWRD”? As Greogory Katz reports in the Associated Press:
Read more »A Channel Islands auction house says it’s selling a vial that allegedly contains blood residue from Ronald Reagan — a move denounced Tuesday by the late U.S. president’s family and his foundation.
The vial being auctioned online was used by the laboratory that tested Reagan’s blood when he was hospitalized after a 1981 assassination attempt in Washington, the PFCAuctions house said.
Reagan’s son Michael condemned the auction but said he was confident it was not his father’s blood.
“Whatever’s in the vial — could be mouse blood — it’s certainly not Reagan blood,” Reagan said in a telephone call from Los Angeles. “And what an outrageous thing to do to (Reagan’s widow) Nancy and the family. I hope the world calls on this organization to cease and desist because it’s…
60,000 Ultra-Orthodox Jews Protest the Evils of the Internet
The sub-headline is priceless, “15,000 Hasidic women watched speeches at six sites thanks to live-streaming on the Internet.” Via the New York Daily News:
Read more »A mass rally for men only drew more than 40,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews to Citi Field Sunday to denounce the Internet and its pervasive impact on family life.
An overflow crowd of another 20,000 bearded men sporting long black coats and big black hats filled nearby Arthur Ashe Stadium for the unprecedented attack on modern technology.
Unable to enter the Queens stadiums because of the strict separation of the sexes enforced by the organizers, more than 15,000 Hasidic women watched the speeches at six sites across the tristate area — thanks to live-streaming on the Internet.
The rally was organized by a little-known rabbinical group called Ichud Hakehillos L’tohar Hamachane — the Union of Communities for the Purity of the Camp — to spread the word that online activities can lead…
Female Terrorists Contradict Stereotypes
Via ScienceDaily:
Much like their male counterparts, female terrorists are likely to be educated, employed and native residents of the country where they commit a terrorist act, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. The findings contradict stereotypes presented in previous studies that describe female terrorists as socially isolated and vulnerable to recruitment because they are uneducated, unemployed and from a foreign land, psychologists reported in a study published online in the APA journal Law and Human Behavior. These assumptions are not supported by evidence, according to the study authors. "We discovered that some of the popular notions about female terrorists do not reflect what has occurred in the past," said the study's lead author, Karen Jacques, PhD. "A more realistic description is helpful because it provides insights into the social dynamics that might promote an individual's involvement in terrorist activities."...Read more »
Twitter jumps on Do Not Track bandwagon
Computerworld - Twitter yesterday announced support for "Do Not Track," immediately implementing it to halt online tracking of users who trigger a setting in their browsers. The announcement was made by an official with the U.S. Federal Trade Commissio... Read more »
Robot Puts Mind Over Matter
Two patients, completely paralyzed by stroke, were able to use a thought-controlled robotic arm to reach and grasp three-dimensional objects. Gautam Naik has details on The News Hub. Photo: braingate2.org Two paralyzed patients used their thoughts to d... Read more »
More details emerge about Ikea’s Uppleva HDTV
Summary: The Swedish furniture company is planning a TV built into a home entertainment system that includes a wireless subwoofer and support for online apps from YouTube and others. A few weeks ago, Ikea surprised the world by announcing it was going ... Read more »
