allvoices -

New Yorkers to fight crime with video evidence

mediapirate — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:30:33 -0700

The New York Police Department instituted a new measure last week by which witnesses of crime can upload video or photographic evidence directly to its website. "Everybody has a camera in their telephones. When people can record an event taking place that helps us during an investigation, it's helpful," said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. "It's a fact of life."

The move will not only enable New Yorkers to participate in crime-fighting, but also to report misconduct by police officers. Videos such as the one depicting a police officer pushing a bicyclist to the ground in Times Square bring attention to police brutality. The video has already attracted over one million views on Youtube.

Said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, "it's appropriate for the police department to invite video reports of wrong doing both by ordinary people and police officers."

Crime witnesses to digitally upload evidence to the NYPD

mediapirate — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:23:53 -0700

A measure instituted last week by the New York Police Department allows New Yorkers to participate in crime-fighting by uploading videos or photographic evidence directly to the NYPD. Said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, "Everybody has a camera in their telephones. When people can record an event taking place that helps us during an investigation, it's helpful."

The service can also be used to report misconduct of officers, as in the example of the circulating video of a police officer pushing a bicyclist in Times Square. The video has already attracted one million YouTube views and has raised valid concerns as to the abuse of brutality by law enforcement.

Ludacris disses Hillary, Bush, McCain. Only Obama is spared.

mediapirate — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:40:14 -0700

After being called "one of my favorite rappers" by presidential candidate Barack Obama, Ludacris has released a rap in which he celebrates Obama's candidacy and urges listeners to make history.

Here are the lyrics:

I'm back on it like I just signed my record deal
yeah the best is here, the Bentley Coup paint is dripping wet, it got sex appeal
never should have hated
you never should've doubted him
with a slot in the president's iPod Obama shouted 'em
Said I handled his biz and I'm one of his favorite rappers
Well give Luda a special pardon if I'm ever in the slammer
Better yet put him in office, make me your vice president
Hillary hated on you, so that b**** is irrelevant
Jesse talking slick and apologizing for what?
if you said it then you meant it how you want it have a gut!
and all you other politicians trying to hate on my man,
watch us win a majority vote in every state on my man
you can't stop what's bout to happen, we bout to make history
the first black president is destined and it's meant to be
the threats ain't fazing us, the nooses or the jokes
so get off your ass, black people, it's time to get out and vote!
paint the White House black and I'm sure that's got 'em terrified
McCain don't belong in ANY chair unless he's paralyzed
Yeah I said it cause Bush is mentally handicapped
Ball up all of his speeches and I throw em like candy wrap
cause what you talking I hear nothing even relevant
and you the worst of all 43 presidents
get out and vote or the end will be near
the world is ready for change because Obama is here!
'cause Obama is here
The world is ready for change because Obama is here!

Google claims privacy has been eradicated from the world

mediapirate — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:16:50 -0700

A Pennsylvania family is suing Google for posting pictures of its house on its 'Street view' feature of Google Maps. The family claims a Google van trespassed on a clearly marked private road and stepped into the driveway of the home in order to obtain photographs.

In response, Google's team of six lawyers issued the statement, "Today's satellite-image technology means that even in today's desert, complete privacy does not exist. In any event, Plaintiffs live far from the desert and are far from hermits." They do however, admit that the photographs of the property were obtained after "brief entry upon their driveway."

The web giant says it is prepared to demonstrate that there was no aforementioned private road, and that the photographs, which have since been removed from the site, do not constitute grounds for a lawsuit.

What Is the Cost of Democracy?

mediapirate — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:36:08 -0700

In 1945, at the conclusion of the Second World War, the United States participated in bringing democracy to the Axis powers. 30 years later, the United States was defeated in its quest to bring democracy to Vietnam. What will happen in Iraq?

Cost of Democracy in Germany and Japan:
4 years
7,293,000 German lives
2,700,000 Japanese lives
418,500 American lives
$3,393.11 billion USD

Verdict: Success
Germany GDP - $2.81 trillion
Japan GDP - $4.29 trillion

"World War II was ultimately a victory for democracy in Western Europe, where representative governments were established that reflected the general will of their citizens [...] Japan adopted a new constitution during the postwar Allied occupation, with initial elections in 1946."

Cost of (attempted) Democracy in Vietnam:
16 years
1,176,000 North Vietnamese lives
1,581,000 South Vietnamese lives
58,159 American lives
$579.08 billion USD

Verdict: Failure

"The achievement of a military victory by U.S. forces in Vietnam was indeed a dangerous illusion."

Cost of Democracy in Iraq:
5 years and counting
654,965 Iraqi lives
4124 American lives
$561.56 billion USD

Verdict: pending...

"The U.S.-led coalition occupied Iraq and attempted to establish a new democratic government. But shortly after the initial invasion, violence against coalition forces and among various sectarian groups led to asymmetric warfare with the Iraqi insurgency, strife between many Sunni and Shia Iraqi groups, and al-Qaeda operations in Iraq."

courtesy of Wikipedia, the NYTimes, zFacts, and Christian Science Monitor

Obama's response to Paris/Britney video

mediapirate — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:12:23 -0700

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said this:

"What we decided to do is find the top three international celebrities in the world, and I would say from our indications, Britney and Paris came in second and third. Will people think of this as negative advertising? Look, it is the most entertaining thing I have seen on TV in a while. It is not our campaign that is trying to make him into an international celebrity. It's his campaign... I don't know Paris Hilton and Britney Spears but they are international celebrities, so, you know, apples to apples."

In response, Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor returned this:

"On a day when major news organizations across the country are taking Senator McCain to task for a steady stream of false, negative attacks, his campaign has launched yet another. Or, as some might say, 'Oops! He did it again."

Good work, McCain.

Is cooking oil the new gasoline?

mediapirate — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:42:03 -0700

In Manila, police forces are attempting to have police cars run on a mixture of diesel and cooking oil to counter rising prices of fuel. The mixture will contain 40% diesel and 60% cooking oil, which is to be donated by McDonald's franchises.

One vehicle has already converted to this new formula, and police forces are debating the pros and cons of converting more. Thus far, things have gone smoothly.

"It's a win-win situation for us because we will both benefit," said police chief Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz. McDonald's gets an effective way to recycle used cooking oil, and the police department sidesteps the outrageous cost of gasoline.

Seacrest suffers sharkbite

mediapirate — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:03:53 -0700

While vacationing in Mexico last week, American Idol host Ryah Seacrest reported being bitten by a shark. The television personality said he was swimming in the ocean outside the LG Villa Cabo when a shark approximately the size of a cat swam up to him and bit his toe. At first, he didn't realize what had happened, thinking the collision had been with a stick, but quickly came to his senses and got out of the water. Luckily, the shark didn't stick around, and Seacrest suffered only minor injuries. He says he is in pain from the three holes left in his toe from the attack.

World's Largest Family Welcomes One More

mediapirate — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:10:37 -0700

A Romanian couple now living in Canada has just welcomed their 18th child into the world. Abigail Ionce was born to parents Alexandru, 51, and Livia, 44, last week, and her family could not be more thrilled. The couple did not intend to have 18 children, but are happy nonetheless.

"We never planned how many children to have," said Alexandru Ionce. "We just let God guide our lives, you know, because we strongly believe life comes from God and that's the reason we did not stop the life. They currently have ten girls and eight boys. They had been hoping Abigail would be a boy, just so they would have an even number of boys and girls, but despite having two X chromosomes, "[they] love her. She is surrounded with love and joy from everyone in [the] family."

The family has been approached by various media stations in the UK, Germany, and Romania, but thus far, they are not interested in the attention. For now, says Alexandru, the priority is caring for the newest member of the family, though he certainly finds the attention amusing.

Riot of 300 teens breaks out in mall

mediapirate — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:19:35 -0700

A riot of 300 people happened after a gang fight broke out in the Triangle Town Center Mall in Raleigh. Six teenagers were arrested and are currently being charged with a range of offenses including inciting a riot, second-degree trespassing, disorderly conduct, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, assault on a law enforcement officer, and engaging in an affray.

Officials say this is not the first gang-related incident the town has seen. Rival gangs often enter into conflict to distinguish territory or seek revenge. The fray resulted in a 15 year old boy being stabbed. He was immediately taken to the hospital where he was treated.

The incident has caused mall officials to consider implementing saftey measures, such as a curfew for teenagers. Officials are currently in meetings regarding the situation.

Google alum take on the search engine with new search: Cuil

mediapirate — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:53:31 -0700

Pronounced 'cool,' Cuil is a new search engine engineered by ex-employees of the web behemoth Google that promises a better way to scan the internet. The brains behind the operation is Anna Patterson, who in 2004, created a search so powerful that it was acquired by Google. Now, however, Patterson says she's outdone herself. She and three other colleagues, Russell Power, Louis Monier, and husband Tom Costello have raised $33 million over the past two years since Patterson quit Google, and are launching their search engine Monday.

Cuil is expected to differ from Google in a couple of key ways. Firstly, the layout of search results will be presented in magazine-form, rather than as a series of links. There will be multiple columns for results, and sidebars that offer more information or different search queries. Additionally, Cuil boasts an index of 120 billion web pages, which Patterson speculates is at least 3 times as many as Google. This can't be verified because Google no longer publicly releases its indexing information, but in 2005, the last time Google did divulge that information, it's search had indexed just over 8 billion web pages. Finally, Cuil says it will not store information about its users' search habits or patterns. Google, by contrast, stores extensive information about its users' web activity.

Google has yet to recognize Cuil as a legitimate threat. "Having great competitors is a huge benefit to us and everyone in the search space," said a Google representative. "It makes us all work harder, and at the end of the day our users benefit from that." The company has not verified whether Cuil's index is more extensive than its own. Other competitors that have challenged Google in the past include Teoma, Vivisimo, Snap, and Mahalo.

Check out Cuil.com for more information.

Man shoots lawnmower, gets arrested

mediapirate — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:53:43 -0700

A Milwaukee man has been arrested for shooting his lawnmower Saturday because it reportedly would not start. 56 year old Keith Walendowski is now being charged with disorderly conduct and illegal possession of a shotgun.

The weapon was discovered at his home, where he lives with his mother, along with a handgun, a stungun, and a stock of ammunition. Walendowski now faces fines up to $11,000 and up to six years in prison

When questioned, Walendowski claimed, "It's my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want."

Series of Blasts Kill 29 in Ahmadabad

mediapirate — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:36:51 -0700

29 people were killed and 88 more were wounded after 16 bombs exploded around various neighborhoods of the city in Gujurat. The bombs exploded in two waves, and officials say they are unsure whether the two sets of explosions are connected. They have alos been unable to identify those who are responsible.

The minister of gujurat Narendra Modi has called a "crime against humanity." And though no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, officials certainly have theories. "Anti-national elements have been trying to create panic among the people of our country. Today's blasts in Ahmadabad seem to be part of the same strategy," said federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

California Says Goodbye to Trans-Fat

mediapirate — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:03:38 -0700

California has become the first state in the nation to institute a state-wide ban on trans-fats in restaurants and retail baked goods. Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill on Friday that will phase out trans-fats from all restaurants by 2010 and have them completely eliminated by 2011. The policy has already been implemented in cities around the country such as New York City, Philadelphia, and and Stamford, Conn., but as of yet, no entire state has signed the ban into effect.

“California is a leader in promoting health and nutrition, and I am pleased to continue that tradition by being the first state in the nation to phase out trans fats,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “Consuming trans fat is linked to coronary heart disease, and today we are taking a strong step toward creating a healthier future for California.”

The consumption of trans-fat has been demonstrated to correlate directly with coronoary heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in California. It can be found in some oils, margarine, and shortening, all of which will henceforth be excluded from California kitchens. Infractions will cost restaurant owners anwhere from $25 to $1000.

The ban is one of many actions taken by the state to ensure the health of Californians. Already, California has addressed health concerns with measures such as banning junk food from school cafeterias. These measures will hopefully be adopted by other states in the near future.

Pictures of the 40 Signature Series Yacht

mediapirate — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:20:40 -0700

The YachtPlus' 40 Signature Series Yacht, designed by Norman Foster, is currently being constructed in Italy and should be available in September. The luxury yacht design features unique use of space and lighting to create the greatest amount of interior comfort

Features:

Unrivalled space and innovation captured in a visionary design
Four Genuine Decks
Full beam owner’s cabin on main deck with forward facing windows leading to his and hers private balconies
Four guest / VIP cabins below, aft two cabins convertible into one large family cabin
Segregated crew access corridor between crew and guest cabins
Accommodation for up to 8 crew
Glass walled main saloon wth unrestricted 180 Degrees view
Glass walled upper saloon with aft, side and forward views
Extensive outer deck space, both forward and aft
Expandable main deck aft
Grand Staircase at transom
Unrivalled open space, both inside and out, with unobstructed view
Submergible beach deck
Separate jet ski storage from tender
Side launch of tender

Aliens exist, says NASA astronaut!

mediapirate — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:29:39 -0700

According to former NASA astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, aliens really do exist. Dr. Mitchell was a crew member on the Apollo 14 mission and participated in the longest moonwalk performed by man, which lasted 9 hours and 17 minutes. In an interview with radio host Nick Margerrison, Mitchell had this to say about aliens:

"I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real.

"It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it.

"I've been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes - we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it's been happening quite a bit."

He described the aliens as "little people" with large eyes and heads, resembling the alien icon ET. He also said that these aliens were far more advanced that humankind, and possessed the technology to eliminate us if they so desired: had they been hostile", he warned "we would be been gone by now," claimed Mitchell.

NASA's official stance on the matter does not corroborate Mitchell's theories. According to one spokesperson, "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe."

"Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinions on this issue."

Is Google Ready for the next Google bomb?

mediapirate — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:18:34 -0700

According to Rick Klau, a member of Google's strategic partner development content acquisition team, the Google bomb is no more. At a earch engine optimization training session for political bloggers in Washington, D.C., Klau told bloggers that "it was fun while it lasted," but that Google hacks will no longer be able to outsmart the web giant's search algorithm to manipulate searches to return rude or offensive results.

In the past, political bloggers with a little tech savviness have used Google bombs to cause searches for politicians of the other wing to return offensive or rude results. For example, in an episode in 2003, a Google search for "miserable failure" returned the biography of George W. Bush. The search engine has since removed this bomb, and now can reportedly stop any future bombs as well.

However, it seems that determined bloggers are co-evolving with Google. Past bombs incorporated backlinks that wrapped HTML code around a particular keyword. Now that Google can see through this strategy, bloggers will have to find new ways to con the rankings, such as linking a politician's name to sources that scorn him.

50 Cent Sues Taco Bell

mediapirate — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:30:31 -0700

Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, is seeking $4 million in damages from Taco Bell for using his name in an advertisement. The ad features a picture of the rapper and asks him to change his name to 79 Cent, 89 Cent, or 99 Cent, corresponding with 79 cent Cinnamon Twists, 89 cent Crunchy Tacos, and 99 cent Bean Burritos that are featured as part of the restaurant's menu.

According to Taco Bell Corp. spokesman Rob Poetsch, the company sent a letter to 50 Cent asking for his blessing, but his lawyer says the rapper was unaware of the ad until he saw it himself in a news report.

Said Poetsch, "We made a good faith, charitable offer to 50 Cent to change his name to either 79, 89 or 99 Cent for one day by rapping his order at a Taco Bell, and we would have been very pleased to make the $10,000 donation to the charity of his choice."

This incident will be the second time 50 Cent has sued over his image. In 2007, he sued a web company for featuring him in a shooting game in which the user shoots him and is then redirected to a web page on the company's services.

Residents of island Lesbos try to ban word "lesbian"

mediapirate — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:51:42 -0700

A request made to an Athens court by residents of the Greek island Lesbos that called for the term "lesbian" to be eliminated in reference to gay women was rejected last week. The residents claimed the word was offensive to their identity, but the court found this claim to be insubstantial. The plaintiffs have been ordered to pay court expenses of 230 euros. They are free to appeal the decision in a higher court, but it is unclear whether they will seek this action.

Vassilis Chirdaris, lawyer for the Gay and Lesbian Union of Greece, applauds the decision. "A court in Athens could not stop people around the world from using it. It was ridiculous," he said.

Who Earns the Most In Hollywood?

mediapirate — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:54:58 -0700

Hollywood's top earners make many millions annually. Check out which stars raked in the dough last year:

1. Will Smith - $80 million
2. Johnny Depp - $72 million
3/4. Eddie Murphy/Mike Meyers (tie) - $55 million
5. Leonardo di Caprio - $45 million
6. Bruce Willis - $41 million
7. Ben Stiller - $40 million
8. Nicolas Cage - $38 million
9. Will Ferrell - $31 million
10. Adam Sandler - $30 million

Forbes found that Hollywood men earn twice as much as Hollywood women. The top earning actress of last year was Cameron Diaz, who walked away with $50 million.