Join Rise In Robberies Blamed on iPod
According to several police chiefs in the UK, the popularity of the iPod may be behind a 5% increase in robberies. Ian Johnston, chief constable of the British Transport Police had this to say last Friday about the iPod and other valuable gadgets, “The mobile phone explosion is continuing. The iPod explosion is continuing. All of these gadgets that people carry around with them are very attractive to robbers, so that puts the opportunities up. We’ve obviously got to respond to that…”
Apparently just wearing an iPod in the UK can make you a target for a mugging. If you are extremely worried about being attacked for your iPod, you should consider not using the white earbuds that come with every iPod. White headphones are a dead giveaway to everyone around you that you own an iPod.
Even though overall crime in the UK has dropped, robbery rose by about 5% compared to last year. Violent crime was also slightly up nationwide mostly due to street brawls and pub fights.
In case you are curious, here’s the breakdown in recorded crime in the UK compared to last year:
- Drug offences up 16%
- Other offences against the person-with no injury up 6%
- Robbery up 5%
- Criminal damage 0%
- Theft of and from vehicles 0%
- Domestic burglary down 4%
- Other burglary down 5%
- Other thefts and handling down 6%
- More serious violence down 13%
- Other offences against the person-with injury down 4%
- Sexual offences down 6%
- Total recorded crime down 2%
World’s First YouTube Band
If you get a chance, head over to YouTube.com today. The number one video is something called “Internet Killed the Video Star” by the ClipBandits – the world’s first YouTube only band.
There are currently only 3 members in ClipBandits – J-Pe$o, Girl Bass Player and ClipBandit. They don’t even know each others real names, just their YouTube IDs, and have never met in person. They also live in 3 different states, California, New York and Texas. So how does an Internet only band practice or play gigs together? Easy. They do it all via YouTube. J-Pe$o and Girl Bass Player record their separate parts and upload their clips to YouTube. Then the ClipBandit syncs up their clips on several large video screens in his recording studio and plays his part live. He then uploads the final product to YouTube.
ClipBandits all got started when J-Pe$o uploaded a video to YouTube of a song he wrote during college. Then The ClipBandit saw the video and submitted a video response of himself playing along with J-Pe$o’s clip. Several songs later they’ve added a bass player, are considered the front runner for the Cingular YouTube Underground Band Contest and are looking for a drummer. We wish them luck.
If you want to download any of the ClipBandits videos and convert them for your iPod then check out this tutorial: How to Copy Videos Off YouTube.
Red iPod Helps Fight AIDS
Looks like all the rumors were true. Say hello to the new special edition red iPod Nano.
Bono, Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities have partnered with Apple Computer on a special red-colored iPod Nano to help raise money for a new charity aimed at battling AIDS in Africa called PRODUCT RED.
To help promote the new red iPod, both Oprah and Bono bought 10 red iPods at Apple’s retail store in Chicago. The video aired last Friday on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” (video).
Apple has agreed to donate $10 from the sale of each red iPod to the PRODUCT RED charity to help women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa.
The PRODUCT RED charity was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, Chairman of DATA. They hope to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world’s most iconic brands to produce PRODUCT RED branded products. Other companies that plan on offering special PRODUCT RED items include the Gap, Converse, Armani, American Express and Motorola.
According to AppleInsider, rumors of a red-colored iPod first surfaced when Bono was overheard at Dublin’s Patrick Guilbaud restaurant “discussing a new charity red AmEx card and red iPod.”
Live News via Treo Phone
When a single-engine plane crashed into an Upper East Side apartment building on Wednesday, Fox News Channel delivered early video to its viewers from the crash site using a hand-held mobile phone with live streaming video.
Scott Wilder, a Fox cameraman, had been about 20 blocks away on another assignment when the crash occurred. Wilder ran uptown and reported live from the scene using a hand-held Palm Treo Smartphone that uses the existing mobile network to transmit video to the Fox News control room. From there, Fox News sent it out live on TV to supplement other video being shot by local traffic helicopters.
The picture quality from the crash site wasn’t spectacular, but it was live. Wilder was also able to talk to “Studio B” anchor Shepard Smith on the same phone and give a live “man on the street” report to Fox viewers.
As these advanced video phones become more and more popular, we can probably expect a surge of citizen journalism. If YouTube can make anyone an Internet celebrity, a video phone can make anyone a reporter. Right?
Muslims Offended by Apple Store
Jason O’Grady from PowerPage.org found an interesting research report that says the 5th Ave Apple Store is offensive to some Muslims. Why? Apparently the glass cube shape of the Apple Store entrance resembles the Ka’ba in Mecca (see image). The report, which was translated by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), also finds problems in people referring to the glass cube as the “Apple Mecca,” the store being open 24 hours a day like the Ka’ba, and because “alcoholic beverages” are served inside at a bar.
Obviously the offended Muslims in question have never actually been to the 5th Ave Apple Store. The only bar in the Apple Store is the Genius Bar and although the advice of a Genius Bar employee may be intoxicating, it isn’t alcoholic. For those of you unfamiliar with the Apple Genius Bar, it’s a booth inside the Apple Store where you can bring your broken iPod or computer and have them take a look at it. There are no alcoholic drinks served at the Genius Bar, just knowledge. The purpose of the Genius Bar must have gotten lost in translation. For the record, Apple Stores do not serve alcohol. People getting drunk and playing with expensive computers and iPods probably isn’t a good idea.
As far as building a cube shaped store entrance that’s open 24 hours a day…. Apple’s 100% guilty of doing that. But can a simple glass cube really be blasphemous? Please write a comment below and share your thoughts.
Video Message From YouTube Founders
It’s official. Say hello to Chad and Steve, the worlds newest millionaires. Web-search giant Google has acquired YouTube for roughly $1.6 billion. The acquisition of YouTube makes Google the 500 gorilla of online video. And that’s a perfect place to be at a time when consumers are rapidly increasing the amount of time they spend viewing video clips online, and Internet video advertising is booming.
Thank goodness Rupert Murdoch didn’t buy YouTube.
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HD TV? No thanks, I will grab a 3D TV!
The latest buzz on the market is High Definition Television (HDTV), no doubt. But what if I tell you that in a couple of years you will be able to have a 3D television? And that is without the crap glasses that you were forced to wear when you went to the movies some time ago.
Philips claims that its 3D television sets will be on the market already in 2008 while Toshiba and Sharp confirmed that they are developing similar products. The basic idea is to force each eye to focus on a different part of the screen, combining a special set of pictures so that the brain will perceive a 3D effect.
Continue reading » HD TV? No thanks, I will grab a 3D TV!
1000 pages per minute? That is what I call a printer!
What if we could make printers work similarly to a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)? That is, instead of having an ink head moving back and forth across the page you would have one large head (the size of a sheet of paper or larger) composed of many ink spots, called nozzles. The printer would then emit pixels of ink just like the LCD emits pixels of light. The “whole page” printing technique would incredibly increase the printing speed.
Continue reading » 1000 pages per minute? That is what I call a printer!
