Random

World's saddest TV pitchman loses his marketing department

Regular readers -- at least those with a heart -- might remember the saddest man at this year's CES.

He was selling Sharp's televisions. No one was listening. And now I hear of more woes that might impact his performance next year.

For AdAge is reporting that Sharp has eliminated its whole marketing department. Entirely.

There were reportedly 12 people in Sharp's marketing. Now they have been entirely blunted.

Sharp's PR agency offered this commentary to AdAge:

The functions of (Sharp's) Marketing and Communications Department will now be contained within its individual business units. These … Read more

Google's Olympic doodle (with no reference to the Olympics)

I fear that Google might be afraid of being treated like the butcher of Weymouth.

You might not have heard the meat of this, but Dennis Spurr tried to put sausages up in his butcher's shop in Weymouth, England. They were in the shape of the Olympic rings.

The Olympic thought police came and ordered his rings unhung.

I mention this because, in celebration of today's Olympics opening ceremony (no, of course it's not being transmitted live in the U.S., not even online), Google has created a doodle.

It is lovely little thing. But in order … Read more

Passenger films 737 in frightening aborted landing

Some things don't entirely make sense.

Why did a passenger film a plane's landing on what may have been his or her smartphone, when passengers are supposed to have all their gadgets turned off? Well, because people do such things, I suppose.

And why would an airline claim that the very same aborted landing was caused by a mixture of fog and sun turning everything white for the pilot, when the video doesn't seem to show that at all?

I have no answer to that one, but I can, at least present some evidence.

The flight was … Read more

The songs remain the same (but louder), say scientists

It isn't true until the numbers say so.

That is the mantra of the modern world.

So I bring you news that the figures have been counted and the declaration has been made by unimpeachable scientists: pop songs are becoming noisier and increasingly homogenized.

Yes, should you wonder, on hearing a Lady Gaga song: "Gosh, haven't I heard that somewhere before?" you might well have, but this time it's accompanied by a few more decibels.

You might be wondering what sort of scientists have taken time out of their busy schedules to put a number … Read more

Did Chick-fil-A really pretend to be a teenage girl on Facebook?

Never having sampled the product, I am not sure which of one's A's Chick-fil-A is supposed to fill.

However, the company is currently being accused of Class A filling of a slightly misleading sort by those who believe the fast-food chain is pretending to be a teenage girl on Facebook.

The general kerfuffle began when Chick-fil-A's president, Dan Cathy, declared that he supported "the biblical definition of the family unit."

He then went on a radio show and reportedly offered: "I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake … Read more

Greece kicks out Olympian for 'contrary' tweets

The Olympic movement will not tolerate politics.

Well, when I say "politics," I mean public political statements that might make things a little embarrassing around Olympics time.

So it is, perhaps, no surprise that Greece has removed champion triple jumper Voula Papachristou from its team, after she mocked African immigrants and retweeted a tweet from right-wing party the Golden Dawn.

I am grateful to Business Insider for offering me a Google translation of her own tweet. It apparently read: "With so many Africans in Greece...At least the mosquitoes of West Nile.. will eat homemade food."… Read more

The computer technician who's allergic to technology

Imagine if you were a food critic and suddenly developed a wheat/dairy/corn/carb/fat allergy.

Or what if you were a car mechanic and the smell of gas brought you out in itchy purple hives and then made you have convulsions?

This is the fate of computer technician Phil Inkly. Or, rather, former computer technician.

Inkly, you see, claims to be allergic to pretty much everything to do with, well, technology.

You name it and it affects him. If it's some kind of gadget, if it's even a battery, it might give him nosebleeds, burning headaches, … Read more

Thunderstruck! A tale of malware, AC/DC, and Iran's nukes

The next big war will apparently be bug-based.

Perhaps some people are putting a lot of practice in.

For this morning reports are emerging that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has been subjected to a particularly malicious form of malware. Yes, the kind of malware that plays AC/DC.

And worse, not merely any old AC/DC, but specifically "Thunderstruck."

I am grateful to Venture Beat for warning me of this possibility.

Conjecture began when an Iranian scientist was said to have e-mailed F-Secure's chief research officer, Mikko Hypponen, with a cry for help. Or, who … Read more

Google releases gorgeous Landsat imagery

I confess that waking up today, I didn't wonder why I'd forgotten to send Landsat a birthday card.

However, it seems that the Earth-observing satellite has been floating and watching for 40 years now.

Though it doesn't seem to have quite deserved a doodle, this birthday has deserved something just as visually rich: the release of live imagery of the Earth's surface by Google, as well as some fascinating time-lapse video.

I am grateful to 9to5Google, which discovered these mind-enveloping images.

Personally, I was enchanted by one video that showed the changes in Vegas over the years. … Read more