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Google search reveals plagiarism by columnist and White House aide

His name is Timothy Goeglein, and, as Paul Kiel at Talking Points Memo points out, it is quite ironic that Google should be the cause of his professional demise.

Goeglein is a White House aide and, until today, wrote as a columnist for the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. He was outed for plagiarism this morning when Nancy Nall, a former employee at the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, posted a blog entry detailing an innocent Google search she conducted on one of Goeglein's subjects. The search revealed that his latest column was almost completely lifted from another source (Jeffrey Hart, in this case, in an article for the Dartmouth review).

Since Nall's original posting, her readers and other bloggers have identified multiple instances of plagiarism. Timothy Goeglein has also fessed up. He told the Journal Gazette, "It is true. I am entirely at fault. It was wrong of me. There are no excuses." The News-Sentinel has announced that Goeglein will no longer be writing for the paper and will look into just how many of his columns may have been cribbed.

It's unclear what the fate of his other job will be. Goeglein serves as a Special Assistant to the President and works in the White House's Office of Public Liason. In 2004, the New York Times published a profile on Goeglein's role in the White House. David D. Kirkpatrick suggested Goeglein is an extension of Karl Rove, "even Mr. Rove has his limits -- calls he cannot make, hands he cannot shake and meetings he cannot attend. For those, he has Timothy Goeglein."… Read more

Animal Collective vs. Stevie Wonder

Getting legal clearance for samples and covers can be a real problem. For samples, if the copyright owner of the sampled song discovers you've used it without permission, they can sue to receive a portion of the proceeds--even if the sample's unrecognizable. Even getting permission doesn't always save you, as the Beastie Boys discovered. An article in a recent issue of SSA explores the issue in detail and concurs with Beck's assessement in 2005 that the legal issues with sampling will basically kill the practice in mainstream commercial music.

Covers generally require permission from the publisher, … Read more

Politicos squabble over 'missing' White House e-mails

Democrats and Republicans were warring Tuesday over reports that the White House has "lost"--or simply failed to keep--archives of e-mails belonging to the president and his advisers.

Since last spring, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been investigating reports that an estimated 5 million messages from 473 days between 2003 and 2005 allegedly vanished from e-mail servers housed within the president's office.

A hearing convened by the committee gave Democratic leaders a new chance to press White House officials publicly on how and when they expect to recover the … Read more

Gadgettes 78: The Last Gadget on Earth Episode

If that one missile that was shot at that one satellite was to, oh I don't know, miss that satellite entirely and redirect itself at the earth and blow everything up except for one of us and a small handful of gadgets...Well, let's just say you'd NEVER see us using them. Not even if they were the last gadgets on earth. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 78 Why didn't I think of that? What the HELL?! This Week in Hello Kitty

The latest TV fashion may be bleached

There's not much that can (or should) be done to create an entirely new design for an LCD or plasma TV without ruining its clean and sleek look. They basically are limited by the same constraints as handheld devices with large touch screens--a lack of unused real estate.

But we hope that won't inspire manufacturers to go crazy experimenting with colors in a big way. It's true that we've seen a pink TV or two, as well as some that have sported natural wood and bamboo finishes (not to mention diamonds and rubies, but we won'… Read more

wikileaks.org shut down by Federal Judge

The First Amendment of the US Constitution has protected the rights of the press in many legal battles throughout history, but last week, when US District Judge Jeffrey White signed a permanent injunction (PDF) ordering wikileaks.org shut down, it was a disturbing indicator of the uncertain status of press freedoms in the United States.

Wikileaks describes itself as "developing an uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis," and indeed, although the wikileaks.org domain is no longer active, the site continues to be mirrored at various domains around the world. As Bob Egelko at the San Francisco Chronicle points out, the "site was the first to post the confidential Defense Department manual about operations of the U.S. detention camp at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, and has also posted rules of engagement for U.S. forces in Iraq."

But it wasn't the publication of subterranean government documents that eventually triggered the federal government's wrath (though it's possible that may have played a motivating factor). According to the Chronicle, the judge ordered the site to be shut down, "after it posted documents purporting to describe offshore activities of a Swiss bank."… Read more

Battle of the diamond uber-phones

It's probably just coincidence, but the timing of this offering from luxury phone maker Vertu is interesting. Just yesterday we noted the resemblance between its handsets and those of rival Obsession, and today that perception was reinforced by Vertu's new "Signature Yellow & White Diamonds" model.

True to form, the company spared little expense in creating this handmade tart, embedding 2.4 carats of yellow diamonds another 4.4 carats of white diamonds in its 18k gold case, according to Sybarites. Even the battery cover is adorned with yellow diamond studs.

Not surprisingly, this is yet … Read more

Pioneer's new twist on black-and-white TV

Pioneer's HDTVs get high marks from Crave's resident TV expert David Katzmaier, so we're not sure why it would want to mess with such a good thing. But it seems that every electronics and computer maker must have a limited edition these days, so it must just be following the pack.

The most notable aspect of Pioneer's special offering, which is headed for the U.K. market, is the color of its frame: white. Other than that, the TV seems to have the same specs as its standard 50-inch plasma, with 1080p resolution and a lighting … Read more

Mobilizing social media: Movial's Social Communicator

If you simply must send a YouTube video to every single person you are connected to, Movial says it will make that possible.

The 6-year-old company makes a white label application for a PC, phone, or any device that wireless carriers can brand as their own. Called Social Communicator, it shows all of a user's contacts and their online status. All at once, instant messages, text messages, music files, or videos can be sent to all contacts listed.

The demonstration here at Demo focused on sending YouTube videos to everyone or anyone. Individual contacts can be selected ,and even … Read more