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Snoop Dogg Talks BlackBerry With Martha Stewart

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 19th 2008 at 4:56PM


On a recent Martha Stewart Show appearance, Snoop Dogg spoke to Martha about his telecommunication tendencies, as shown in this YouTube clip.

At the clip's outset, Martha -- truly awkwardly -- reads a few of Snoop's e-mails aloud to the studio audience, eliciting quite a few laughs. We at home, though, rest assured, are cringing more than laughing. After questioning the D-O-double-G-Y about "Snoopguistics" and lecturing him on the permanence of e-mail, Martha asks Dizzle about his texting habits. Snoop confirms that he avidly texts on his trusty BlackBerry. Later on in the clip, they go on to share parenting strategies and mashed potato recipes.

For some reason, though, with all of her bantering, Martha never offers to exchange stories about their respective experiences in the clink. [From: YouTube]

British Lord to Be Prosecuted for Causing Fatal Accident by Texting

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 19th 2008 at 2:15PM


Lord Ahmed, a Labour party member in the British House of Lords, will be prosecuted for causing a fatal accident last year, allegedly while texting, Textually.org notes.

On Christmas of last year, Ahmed called paramedics on his cell phone shortly after the wreck in which the other driver died immediately. Authorities later discovered that a text message had been sent from that same cell phone, just prior to accident.

As 'texting while driving' becomes increasingly common, the news of this trial comes at a time rife with stories of text-message-induced traffic accidents, including a texting teen who was struck by a train last year, and the implementation of anti-texting laws by federal and state governments. [From: Textually.org]

Facebook, YouTube Serving as Hot Spots for Hate Groups

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 19th 2008 at 12:36PM



Ugh, the online thugs are at it again. Last week, YouTube executives have removed several videos that were made in tribute to the infamous Columbine school shootings of 1999 and the two boys who perpetrated them, the BBC reported.

In a recent investigative report, the BBC found that a small but thriving Columbine-obsessed community, both in the United States and Britain, was responsible for a large number of YouTube videos championing the Columbine shooters -- fan reenactments of the boys' own homemade videos were also found. After that BBC report brought these developments to the attention of YouTube executives, the offending videos, in clear violation of YouTube's terms of service, were promptly removed. Google UK executive Peter Barron explained, "We do not tolerate videos that glorify school shootings and have removed the videos that fall into that category".

Continue reading Facebook, YouTube Serving as Hot Spots for Hate Groups

Motrin Ad Pulled Due to Online Protests

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 19th 2008 at 10:33AM



Antagonist online response to a recent Motrin advertisement has led Johnson & Johnson to pull the offending ad and offer a public apology, reports All Things Digital.

The ad in question, which features a narrator complaining of the body pains experienced by mothers who carry their babies in modern-day papooses, riled up lots of folks, creating a furor in the blogosphere and Twitterdom. In fact, in the time it took to enter "Motrin" into the search field and wait for the page to load, the search page at Twitter yielded eight new results. It yielded 41 new results in the time it took us to write this sentence.

Due to this online outpouring of frustration, Johnson and Johnson temporarily took down Motrin's Web site to purge the video from the site, and to offer the following statement (after the break):

Continue reading Motrin Ad Pulled Due to Online Protests

'Naked Gun,' the 'Grand Theft Auto' Edition

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 3:35PM



Anybody who has ever been an adolescent boy will jump up and applaud this 'Grand Theft Auto' homage to the slapstick cinema classic 'The Naked Gun,' courtesy of Neatorama.com.

For those who might be too "sophisticated" to know much about that seminal Leslie Nielsen film, 'The Naked Gun' begins with a spoof on that archetypal 'Dragnet'-style scene -- a first-person perspective from a cop car rushing through city streets. Only, in 'The Naked Gun,' the officer driving the car makes a few bizarre turns.

We're all anxiously hoping the creators of 'Grand Theft Auto' have a full-on 'Grand Theft Auto: Naked City' sequel in the works. [From: Neatorama]

Neil Young Argues for Electric Car Revolution in Detroit

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 18th 2008 at 1:54PM



The award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young is bound and determined to tear down and rebuild the motor in Motor City, according to Autoblog and a piece that the singer wrote for Huffington Post.

Sharing popular concerns about fuel prices and efficiency, Young has been hard at work in recent months, trying to develop practical electric car conversions. His masthead vehicle -- a revamped '59 Lincoln dubbed Linc Volt -- has gotten some media attention of late.

Riding that wave of publicity, Young has penned a piece for the Huffington Post, challenging Detroit auto manufacturers to "make a good deal for the future of America" and to "stop building autos that contribute to global warming now." Referencing his Linc Volt model and other competitors for the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, Young vehemently argues that the requisite technology is realistic, if not already available.

Continue reading Neil Young Argues for Electric Car Revolution in Detroit

Why Broken Gadgets Are Easier to Thorw Away Than Fix

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 16th 2008 at 10:15AM


Frustrated with his beloved iPhone acting up on him, Popular Mechanics writer Glenn Derene used the opportunity to write this piece on the iPhone, and the larger state of electronics today.

After struggling to coax functionality from the iPhone's buttons for months, Derene finally caved in, taking the phone to his local Apple Store's Genius Bar. The resulting tale should not be unfamiliar to any trouble-shooting Mac user, or problematic iPod owner; Derene waited for over two hours to receive no suggestion other than the one to buy a new iPhone.

Blame for this "no-fix" phenomenon can be, according to Derene, attributed to the increasingly complex and integrated electronic systems that lie within the most advanced gadgets. While a savvy, tech-minded amateur could -- with some extra time on his hands and help from Radio Shack -- fix most of yesterday's electronics, he is today confined to tossing his misbehaving gadget into the garbage. (The iPhone's backplate can't even be removed without destroying the phone).

So, after all that, what's the culprit? What was it that defeated this fine specimen of machinery? That nearly drove Derence mad? Pocket lint lodged under the buttons, of course. [From: Popular Mechanics]

New Visa Card Features Keypad, Generates Random Security Codes

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 16th 2008 at 10:01AM


In response to popular concerns with online credit card fraud, Visa Europe has announced a newly designed credit card, complete with a keypad and digital number display, according to the Daily Mail.

While the credit card is of the usual size and features a credit card number and magnetic strip for use with conventional card readers, it does not have a security code number in the traditional sense. Instead, cardholders will enter their PIN into the keypad, which will then generate a random number on the display. This random number will serve as the cardholder's one-time security code, which can then be entered to make online purchases.

While we're all about ways to combat identity theft, and think that this card is as valid a solution as any, we still know better than to immediately jump on board with new technology, particularly when it has to do with money, and even more particularly when we're in the middle of a recession. We'll let some other folks try it first, and then have them tell us how it works out. [From: The Daily Mail]

Dating Dilemmas in the Digital Age?

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 15th 2008 at 1:14PM


In the age of telecommunications, romance and technology are not easily reconciled, according to this article from MSNBC. Covering disastrous dating tales of avid texters, overly intimate IM conversations and impulsive texts, this piece is largely telling tech-savvy young singles what they already know: Today's is not your parents' dating scene.

As increasingly high-tech dating sites pop up, and as texting and instant messaging make up more and more of our daily social interactions, many of us have found ourselves immersed in digital-age dating, without any sort of consensus on the guidelines.

We here at Switched can at least make some suggestions: Never ask somebody out on a date via text, IM or e-mail; always break up with somebody in person (with a possible exception for long-distance relationships); and never-ever post MySpace or Facebook bulletins about your relationship troubles (We've seen it happen.).

If, beloved Switched readers, any of your own experiences, horror stories or guidelines come to mind, please let us know. Apparently, folks today can use all the help they can get. [Via: Newsvine]

Remembering Gaming's Golden Age Through Music

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 14th 2008 at 5:27PM



As video game consoles increase in capability, and as the games themselves come to depend more and more upon real songs by real bands for their soundtracks, some gaming musicians are paying homage to the 8-bit tunes of their youth, Urlesque reports.

In the above video, a University of Wisconsin a capella choir called Redefined performs a medley of all your 8- and 16-bit favorites. The first Switched reader to name, in order, the games from which the tunes derive will win our stupefied amazement. To play the Advanced skill level, name the specific stage of the game in which the tune appears.

While these folks, and those featured in Urlesque's other posted videos, reinterpret classic gaming tunes, others are using the format's familiar bloops and bleeps to create their own music. Behold Japanese band YMCK as they achieve the all-time high score for geek nostalgia. [From: Urlesque]

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