World's Tallest Dog - The 7 Foot Gret Dane

GRASS VALLEY, Calif.—A canine resident of the Sierra Nevada town of Grass Valley is set to star in an hour-long British documentary about the "world's tallest dog."

Gibson is a harlequin great Dane who is nearly 3 1/2-feet tall at the shoulder and more than 7 feet tall when he stands on his hind legs.

He's been certified the world's tallest dog by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Gibson is set to be filmed by a crew from London's Firefly Film and Television Production on St. Patrick's Day in downtown Grass Valley.

His owner, Sandy Hall, says the crew is particularly interested in recording children's reactions.

Source: http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories/040108kvuegibston-bkm.21afefff.html

The Awesome Samsung Instinct

Sprint (NYSE:S) and Samsung are looking to take a bite out of the Apple (NSDQ:AAPL) iPhone's reign as the touch-screen mobile device of choice with their announcement Tuesday of the Samsung Instinct, a full touch-screen device that Sprint claims supports the lightning fast speeds of Sprint's broadband network.

Coming in June, the Instinct is an EV-DO Rev. A device which Sprint said "speeds up the user experience like no other touch-screen phone," an obvious jab at Apple's iPhone, which dominates the touch-screen space.

"The iPhone set the bar for user interface," Sprint product commercialization director David Owens told Reuters. "We wanted to have an equivalent experience."

Sprint expects the Instinct will be its top seller this year in its bid to win back customers who ran to AT&T, the country's exclusive provider for the iPhone.

"Our goal is clearly that it's a large volume," Owens said.

According to Sprint, the Instinct features a touch-screen with localized tactile feedback, called haptics, which allow the virtual QWERTY keypad and other operations to become "a sensory experience." The mobile phone also features a Voice to Action button offering access to functions through voice activation, including call, text, picture message, traffic, movie, sports, news and search.

The device measures 2.17 inches by 4.57 inches by 0.49 inches and weighs less than 4.5 ounces, Sprint said. It features advanced functions like Visual Voicemail, which lets users listen to messages in their order of preference and manage them with a screen tap. It also offers support for corporate and consumer POP3 email accounts, multitasking that lets users play music in background mode while surfing the Internet, texting or playing games; a 2.0 megapixel camera with camcorder and expandable microSD memory of up to 8 Gb. Other features include stereo Bluetooth 2.0; an integrated world clock, SMS voice and text messaging with threaded text, phone as a modem, picture caller ID and Sprint Mobile Sync.

The Samsung Instinct marks Sprint's first EV-DO Rev. A consumer device. It offers Web browsing, business and personal email access, picture sharing, commercial-free radio and other features at broadband speeds. Additionally, the device opens up access to Sprint exclusive services and multimedia content including Sprint Navigation, a system powered by Telenav with GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, one-click traffic rerouting and more than 10 million local listings; and live search, delivered through Microsoft, which offers access to director information, GPS-enabled directions, interactive maps and one-touch click-to-call access.

The Instinct also boasts entertainment features like Sprint TV, which offers live and on-demand programming; Sprint Exclusive Entertainment, a made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video programming network; and Sprint Music Store, which lets users browse and wirelessly download full songs directly to the device for $0.99 each.

Lastly, the device offers Pocket Express, which gives up-to-date information on sports, weather, news, movie times and other customized options based on the user's zip code.

According to Sprint, the majority of its mobile broadband network has been upgraded to EV-DO Rev. A technology, allowing the Samsung Instinct to offer "blazing fast" speeds. Currently, Sprint's mobile broadband network reaches more than 242 million people in 15,325 cities and touches 1,452 airports.

With the EV-DO Rev. A network, peak download data rates can reach 3.1 Mbps and peak upload rates can hit 1.8 Mbps. Average download speeds on EV-DO Rev. A can hit 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps and average uplink speeds between 350 Kbps and 500 Kbps.

"Instinct brings customers what they want with the immediacy they want," said Sprint senior vice president of product development and chief marketing officer John Garcia in a statement. "Every decision during the development process focused on simplifying the user experience. The end result is a great-looking phone that makes the value of Sprint's fast NOW Network come to live, but most importantly, it is fun and easy to use."

Along with its multimedia capabilities, Samsung's Instinct has three dedicated keys -- phone, back and home -- on the lower portion of the handset to ease operation and navigation. The phone key takes the user back to voice calling and features such as speed dial, visual voicemail, contact and the dial pad, while the back key lets the user take a step back. The home key offers access to the four main function menus on the user interface: favorites, main, fun and Web.

The favorites icon gives one-touch access the most used features, allowing customization and personalization. Favorites can include Web sites, TV channels, text messaging and more. The main function offers access to applications like messaging, voicemail, GPS navigation and more. Fun takes users to their music, TV, photos, games and more. And the Web tab accesses the Internet and all things Web-related like weather and news.

"Samsung designed the Instinct after spending years developing innovative touch-screen technology," said Samsung Mobile chief marketing officer Bill Ogle. "What really sets the Instinct apart is the ability to access users' favorite features with just one touch of the device. The three navigation keys that Samsung positioned at the bottom of the Instinct are instrumental in making the user experience quick and easy."

While pricing of the Samsung Instinct has not yet been determined, Sprint said it would cost less than $300. The cheapest iPhone model currently costs $399, while the iPhone model with additional storage reaches just under $500. Sprint said the device will require activation on a Sprint Everything pricing plan, which offers 450 voice minutes and unlimited data for $69 and unlimited voice and data for $99.

Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart told Reuters the device alone can't won't necessarily save Sprint, but offering the Instinct with unlimited data plans could be a silver lining.

"Everyone's going to offer you something that looks like an iPhone," he said. "Here's something that also offers you a lot of cool things to do with it at a flat rate."

The Instinct comes with a 2 Gb microSD card that holds roughly 2,000 songs from the Sprint Music Store; two standard 1,000 mAmp batteries that offer up to 5.75 hours of continuous talk time each; a battery charging sleeve; a travel charger; a USB cable; 3.5 mm headphones with a built-in microphone; and a leather case with a stylus.

Source: http://www.crn.com/networking/207001104

Is The Legend Of Zelda Becoming A Movie?

GN is reporting that a Legend of Zelda movie is in production and will be released on April 1st 2009.

The fantasy adaptation of one of the great properties in gaming history is being written and directed by newcomer Sam Balcomb. Link is played by JR Killigrew, Camille C. Brown portrays Princess Zelda, and Gregory Lee Kenyon stars as Ganondorf. No mention of who will be playing Navi, we'd like to suggest Richard Simmons.

Check out the trailer!

In related news, did you get so excited by the Zelda movie that you forgot what day it was for second? April fools, biotch!

Source: http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/684102/Legend_of_Zelda_Movie_On_The_Way.html

Beckwith Syndrome

It's 6 a.m. when Clifford Weaver flips on the overhead light in his son's bedroom.

Ryan is still covered by his green and black panda bear bedspread, but he is awake and looks his father in the eye.

Clifford runs down a checklist with Ryan of the activities his son will do that day.

"School, then what?" Clifford asks. "What comes after school?"

"School," Ryan replies, his big hazel eyes peeking out from the covers.

"Come on, talk to me," Clifford prods.

Clifford will tell Ryan each activity, and Ryan will repeat it.

"Wal-Mart," Clifford says, signaling Ryan's afternoon trip to the store, where he'll be able to buy a small toy and coloring book.

"Wal-Mart," Ryan repeats quickly.

"Burger, fries," Clifford says, referring to the nearby McDonald's where Ryan will have a Happy Meal.

"Burger, fries," Ryan says with excitement.

"Come on buddy, you need to get ready," his mother Abby shouts from the kitchen, inside the Lodi family's modest East Oak Street home. "It's time for school buddy, you need to get ready."

Ryan, their darling son, is 6 foot 7 inches, 314 pounds and 22 years old.

He has a severe form of autism and is mentally retarded.

He's among hundreds of thousands of other young people in America with developmental disabilities — mental or physical disorders that can cripple one's chances of living an independent life.

Source: http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2008/03/23/news/2_ryan_080322.txt

Green For All

Since we reported on the idea in last year’s Earth Day issue, “green collar” jobs, have generated quite the buzz. After cycling through the mainstream media and the blogosphere, the term is now common parlance among business leaders and community organizers who want to bring about a New Green Deal. It even got some play during the presidential campaign, with contenders on both sides of the aisle citing it as a way to end dependency on foreign oil, protect natural resources and reduce carbon emissions.

Green for All, a new advocacy group out of Oakland, CA, is the organization driving the discussion. According to director and environmental visionary Van Jones (author of last Earth Day’s cover story), green collar workers are the labor force of the future — they’ll be the ones weatherizing buildings, installing solar panels, servicing electric vehicles and building green rooftops. They’ll be the local union members getting livable wages in positions that can’t be outsourced to India. And if Green for All succeeds, this first generation of workers will come from today’s impoverished inner cities. Their message is that the legacy of American inequality can be reversed through environmental innovation. “The green economy will simultaneously address our economic, ecological and moral crises,” said Jones at a recent conference of green builders.

While serving as director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Jones, along with a coalition of groups including the A pollo Alliance and the Center for American Progress, lobbied congress and the Oakland City Council to establish a green jobs corps. Their efforts paid off. Last summer’s massive federal energy bill included the Green Jobs Act providing $125 million to train veterans, formerly incarcerated workers, at-risk youth and the urban poor for clean-tech occupations. Now Jones and his new organization need to hold Washington to its promise. Field director Jeremy Hays said that the Green Jobs Act has yet to be cemented into the 2009 federal budget. “We’re going to keep on top of them until congress gives us a clear signal of an actual allocation.”

But federal procrastination hasn’t deterred the Green for All vision. Now that one act has passed, they’re pressing lawmakers to fund another $1 billion in national green jobs training by 2012 that will bring 250,000 workers out of poverty and boost green industries. In preparation, they’re building a national network of green entrepreneurs, educators, union workers and government officials who are sharing best practices and getting technical assistance for the job training programs.

Since opening in March, Green for All has been responding to a deluge of interest. “One minute we plugged in the fax machine,” said Hays, “and the next minute we’re standing in a pile of messages from community leaders and activists all wanting to work with us.”

Early this month, Green for All is putting on “ The Dream Reborn,” a conference in Memphis commemorating the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination. One of the conference’s goals is to facilitate partnerships between labor, activists and communities of color. “The green economy is a complicated puzzle,” remarked Hays. “Some people are banging away on job creation strategies and others are doing training programs, so we want to develop ways for people to talk to each other and create a community of practice that brings the green economy to the next level.”

When the federal funds become available next year, Green for All will help manage a competitive grant process to determine allocations to various training programs. To stay informed and find out how you can get involved, visit greenforall.org .

Source: http://commongroundmag.com/2008/04/oor_5_0804.html

Jay Leno's Gayest Look Comment

I don't watch much television, especially late-night shows. Conan, Letterman, the whole bunch - I just don't find them funny. But worse than all the others, in my mind, is Jay Leno. Though I shiver at the thought, I could sit through a Fall Out Boy concert in its entirety before I could do the same for the Tonight Show. To top it off, Leno is so lacking in wit that his only apparent back-up is bigotry.

On March 20, Ryan Phillippe stopped by the set of the Tonight Show to promote his new film, "Stop-Loss." Leno's initial discussion with the actor revolved around earlier portions of his career, including his stint on the soap opera "One Life to Live" as Billy Douglas, the first gay teen character on television. After inquiring whether or not Phillippe's mother was proud of him when he got the role, I guess Jay just couldn't help himself from proceeding with what he thought was comedic gold. He asked Phillippe to give camera two his "gayest look," pretending it was his gay lover Billy Bob just having ridden in shirtless from Wyoming.

Oh, Jay! Those Brokeback Mountain jokes were so hilarious the first time around, why not reuse them!

What I'm dying to know at this point is what exactly does Mr. Leno consider a "gay face"? A male one? An "effeminate" one? One covered in bruises due to hate-motivated violence, as Jeff Whitty (librettist for "Avenue Q," among other things) pointed out on his personal Web site? And while many in the gay and ally communities are in an uproar, what will the network do about it?

My guess is probably nothing. But frankly, if ABC can refuse to renew Isaiah Washington's contract for an incident of prejudice that occurred on the set of Gray's Anatomy, then NBC needs to get their act together.

The lack of public knowledge already says something to me. When Washington called fellow cast member T.R. Knight a "faggot," it exploded in the media, and Washington didn't do himself any favors with his statements that followed regarding what had happened. It has been over a week since Leno's stunt, and I did not even hear about it from someone until this past weekend, completely by chance.

Incidents like this are exactly the kind of heteronormative reinforcement that we as a general public so often let slide. Though he appeared visibly uncomfortable and threatened (though somewhat jokingly) to leave the set, Ryan Phillippe remained to finish the rest of his interview. What we needed him to do was walk offstage. I hope he at least makes good on his comment that that might have been his last visit to the Tonight Show.

There are plenty of people out there who will think I take this too seriously, but if we all just laugh it off, we become just as complicit in the ongoing oppression of LGBTQ individuals and their rights. The late-night television hosts are the cream of the crop when it comes to people with privilege in this country - old, white American males who can seemingly make disgusting displays of bigotry into humorous monologues.

Jay Leno has about as much right to demand to see anyone's "gayest look" as he does to relegate someone as talented as Kevin Eubanks to the role of a "token black guy who I require to laugh in response to the worthless drivel I spout".

Some might argue that humor is what brings the public's attention to sensitive social issues like these. Be real, folks: There is a huge difference between satire and plain old humor (neither of which Jay Leno exhibits successfully). Where satire proves a point through its disconcerting moments, garden-variety humor encourages amusement at the expense of someone else. Even people present in the audience that night who might have found themselves laughing uncomfortably at Leno's pressing request were still laughing, not thinking.

The fact that a mainstream entertainment source finds it acceptable to contribute so wholeheartedly to the ongoing intolerance of the LGBTQ community is my justification for watching as little television as I do. Allowing Leno to strengthen societal inequality without reprimand because "it's just a joke" is exactly how prejudiced attitudes and heterosexism get transmitted to future generations. So, Jay, consider my columnist photo my "gayest look" - and assume that like all the other photos on mygayestlook.com, you're getting the bird as my final word.

Source: http://media.www.dailyillini.com/media/storage/paper736/news/2008/04/02/OpinionColumns/Lenos.gayest.Look.Joke.Not.Funny-3297046.shtml

Ha Ha! Bush Was Booed At A Ballgame!

So any time that President Bush leaves the White House, he takes what’s called the press pool with him. It’s a handful of reporters and photographers from various types of media — one newspaper reporter, a couple of wire reporters, one TV network, etc. In the case of newspaper reporters, the job of the pool reporter is to capture every detail that he or she sees and report it back to all other reporters who cover the White House, and they’re then free to use it in their stories.

Once a month, I have pool duty, and I had it Sunday. Weekend pool duty usually means you have to be at the White House very early to caravan out into the woods so Bush can ride his bike around out of your sight. Such was the case Sunday morning, and here was the first of the day’s pool reports that I filed:

“Pool report 1, 3-30-08

President left the White House in motorcade at about 8 am for biking at Secret Service training facility near Beltsville, Md. He was joined by Secret Service agents and, possibly, unidentified guests.

Pool did not see him, but did enjoy a Godfather marathon on AMC while we waited.

Arrived back at White House shortly after 10, with a lid until 5:50.”

Later Sunday night, Bush headed to Nationals Park for the local baseball team’s season opener against the Braves. It was also the first regular-season game at the new stadium. This was a better-than-average pool assignment. (Pool duty, incidentally, is doled out alphabetically each month, so as far as I know, the White House does not choose reporters based on which events are coming up on the schedule).

Here’s my pool report from the game:

“Pool report 2, 3-30-08

Potus (President of the United States) and motorcade arrived at Nationals Park about 7 pm. He disappeared for more than an hour for clubhouse visits.

After both the Braves and Nationals were introduced on the field (Nats’ starters came in from outfield), and after Denyce Graves sang the national anthem, the two teams cleared the field. Nationals manager Manny Acta, 3B Ryan Zimmerman and owner Ted Lerner came back on. Then Bush emerged from the Nationals’ dugout to throw the first pitch. He wore a red Nationals jacket and dark slacks.

It seemed there were more cheers than boos, but not by much. He walked quickly to the mound and almost immediately, with a high delivery, threw a high fastball that would have been a ball to anyone other than Yao Ming. Acta rose to catch it, manager and president quickly shook hands and Bush was waving to the crowd as he walked back into the dugout. The crowd reaction after the pitch was decidedly mixed. Bush, back in the dugout, gave the ball to team President Stan Kasten and he went back up the tunnel. Bush smiled throughout, despite the boos.

We’re told Potus is watching the game from the owner’s box and will do ESPN commentary in the third inning. It is now bottom of first and pool is watching from what appears to be a press conference room.”

We left the game in the fifth and ended up back at the White House for the night.

My description of the crowd reaction is catching some criticism on the blogs, based on what people heard at the game or on television. You can watch for yourself on YouTube. All I can say is that I reported what I heard, which has been backed up by people at the game — they announced Bush, there was a heavy amount of cheering initially, then the booing kicked in, he threw the pitch, and there was a continued mixed reaction afterward. I was right behind home plate on the field, which I think was a good place to gauge the stadium-wide reaction. But based on where you were sitting or where the ESPN microphones were, you might have heard something different. I think I got it right, but I’ll admit it’s more an art than a science. The booing certainly intensified after the pitch.

For you wrestling fans out there, think of a typical John Cena reaction.

Source: http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2008/03/31/pool_duty_at_the_new_stadium.html