Bill Cosby may be one of Temple’s biggest alumnus but that doesn’t mean that all of his thoughts are in order. Here he is talking about Temple Football’s game against Ohio University. We didn’t know their mascot was the Chitlin legs…

(ESPN2, tempel, promo)

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Filed under: Cell Phones, BlackBerry

There are three primary rules to tattoos that we’re aware of:

• 1. “I love my mom” tattoos are really cool.
• 2. “I love my short-term-girlfriend” tattoos are questionable at best.
• 3. “I love this gadget” tattoos have greater built-in obsolescence than sliced apples and pretty much clench the fact that nobody will ever go out with you. Also, they’re really awesome.

CrackBerry.com reader T.J. fell hard for rule number three and got a life-size tattoo of the BlackBerry Storm on his large, hairy calf to prove his undying devotion and win a free Storm. He even got some video of the happening (peep it below the fold), most likely to be shown in middle schools in the coming years as a huffing deterrence. We’re looking forward to a Bumfight-like battle between T.J. and Zune Tattoo Guy before long, or perhaps a support group to get through this awkward, humiliating stage of life together. We’d prefer the Bumfight.

Continue reading Man Gets BlackBerry Storm Tattooed on His Ankle

Man Gets BlackBerry Storm Tattooed on His Ankle originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two guys running for president, two dancing posse’s, one winner in this uber creepy dance-off between the two. Pick your sides!

Unbelievable McCain Vs. Obama Dance-Off - Watch more free videos

(dancing, photoshop)

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Filed under: Audio/Video, iPhone

As more and more music is bought (or otherwise acquired) online, physical sales of CDs have plummeted over the past few years and have dragged liner notes and album artwork down with them. But some folks in the music business, while they cope with the decrease in sales, are not willing to let liner notes and artwork go the way of the 8-Track, Reuters investigates.

As Pink and Snow Patrol have already done, the band Fall Out Boy plans to release an iPhone app resembling a CD booklet, prior to the December 16th release of its newest album, ‘Folie a Deux.’ Featuring the track listings, photos and lyrics of every Fall Out Boy album (as well as links to buy the albums in iTunes), the app doesn’t sound all that different from the band’s Web site.

Fall Out Boy and its various publicity and management teams, are just now beginning to respond to complaints that music fans have been voicing since, in some small part, the fall of vinyl records.

During the ’80s and ’90s, as popular musical mediums shrank (vinyl to cassette to CD), the packaging of those albums shrank, too, giving concern to some music lovers who swore that they could barely see or read a CD’s diminutive cover art or liner notes. Now that the musical medium of choice is so small that it’s invisible, artwork is even more incidental, and liner notes have largely been left behind.

While we do commend Fall Out Boy’s attempt at resurrecting this lost art, we’re not sure how well this iPhone app will come off. We just hope that some young mind figures out a way to bring album art back, in a significant way.

Otherwise, what will kids in the future look at while they’re listening to Led Zeppelin’s “Houses of the Holy?” [From: Reuters]

Rock Bands Reimagine Album Art and Liner Notes in the Digital Age originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Computers, TV, Green Tech

Any self-respecting gadget hound knows that China is responsible for packing millions of shipping containers with the consumer electronics we crave. What you may not know is what we ship in return: our waste for recycling. Of growing concern is e-waste, resulting from the deluge of PCs, cellphones, televisions and crapgadgets we churn through at an accelerating clip each year.

While domestic recycling programs are good-intentioned, often the most toxic of our e-waste is shipped illegally back to China and boiled down for its precious metals under some of the most crude conditions you can imagine. When faced with the choice of familial poverty or the slow accumulation of poison in their bloodstream (for $8 per day), it’s not hard to imagine what many rural Chinese people will choose.

So while we give Greenpeace’s self-congratulatory promotions and oft-subjective “Guide to Greener Electronics” company ratings the occasional hard time, its attempts to raise e-waste awareness are commendable. Now go ahead, check the video from 60 Minutes’s intrepid reporters after the break and let the guilt wash over you (especially after you see how some particularly angry e-waste workers try to jump the CBS news crew).

Update: As noted by reader Jason, a more thorough (and disturbing) exploration of these e-waste dumps can be found in a Current TV video shot last year in the same region. [From: CBS News]

Continue reading ‘60 Minutes’ Explores America’s Massive E-Waste Exports to China

‘60 Minutes’ Explores America’s Massive E-Waste Exports to China originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We have to admit, we don’t watch much British TV but this interview was just smashing! Apparently, Kerry Katon was the member of a pop group called Atomic Kitten and has had Britney Spears-level drama in her life. She was supposed to go on the morning show This Morning, to chat with hosts Fern Britton and Philip Schofield about her new show on MTV. It seems like this little lady was slurring her

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Filed under: Car Tech

We’re always hearing about some fantastical, nigh-mythical creation that Carnegie Mellon University is in the midst of cobbling together from spare parts, crazy ideas, and pure, simple genius, so maybe we shouldn’t be frothing over the new robotic truck they’ve partnered up with Caterpillar to create, but this one promises to be the “world’s largest.” Adapting software CMU used in the DARPA Urban Challenge, the team hopes to end up with fully automated, 700-ton trucks capable of moving up to 42 miles per hour which will be used for mining. The trucks would theoretically reduce costs, increase productivity, and save lives.

The Frankenstein-ed vehicles will boast GPS, laser range finders to identify large obstacles, video equipment, and a “robotic driver.” The scientists somewhat predictably foresee some (as of now) rather far-fetched consumer applications in cars and trucks over the “next five to ten years,” but we’re taking that with a few salt grains for now. The trucks aren’t ready quite yet but we hear their arrival is imminent, and and we can only imagine that somewhere in the world, Grave Digger is crying to himself.

Update: We’ve changed the title to reflect the accurate arrangement, which is a teaming up of CMU and Caterpillar, not DARPA. Thanks to the commenter who pointed that out.

Caterpillar and CMU Team Up to Create World’s Largest Robotic Truck originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 08 Nov 2008 17:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not exactly sure what would posses someone to build a half-sized replica of the F-35 Lightning II (AKA the Joint Strike Fighter). We’re even more puzzled by the fact that this impressively accurate reproduction is actually powered, and a full sized adult can cruise around in this thing at a whopping 5 miles per hour.

The 49 year old Arthur van Poppel took 3,500 man hours to construct the model from wood, iron, foam, fiberglass, and epoxy. Poppel told the Telegraph that he had only a couple of photographs and a small-scale plastic model to work from.

If the whole thing wasn’t perplexing enough, the small flourishes push the whole thing past line that separates eccentric from crazy. Its jets spray water and emit chemicals that mimic the smell of diesel engines as it moves about. It even produces fighter plane sound effects and has functioning navigation and cockpit lights. If this guy was younger he’d totally be into to LARPing. [From: Telegraph]

DIY Guy Builds Replica Fighter Jet originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Brits may not only be good at soccer…I mean ‘football’ afterall. This kid pwned NBA star Devin Harris in not one but two games of one-on-one basketball. We aren’t quite ready to accept a British basketball invasion but it’s a start.

(Devon, deven, baseball, sports)

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Filed under: Computers, MySpace

While folks danced in the streets late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning in celebration of President-Elect Barack Obama’s win, pulses danced — just as vivaciously — through Ethernet cables across the country, as USA Today details.

Videos of celebrants, Facebook notes, MySpace bulletins, Twitters and blogs all kept the party going, while many plugged-in McCain supporters lamented the election’s outcome and stoically hoped for Obama’s success in his presidency. The tech-savvy President-Elect himself (already known to gamers everywhere), sent out an e-mail thanking supporters just moments before taking the stage for his acceptance speech.

The digital revelry wasn’t quite as inclusive as the real thing, though. While Chicago’s Grant Park teemed with ecstatic voters, President-Elect Obama’s Second Life headquarters had to turn away would-be revelers, due to its being full to maximum capacity. Apparently, the Second Life Fire Marshall is a real stickler. [From: USA Today]

Cyber Citizens Celebrate Obama Victory Online originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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