http://randalflagg.net Your Source for Social News and Networking Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:40:38 CST en http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/comicsalliances-twilight-drinking-game/ http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/comicsalliances-twilight-drinking-game/ Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:40:38 CST http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/comicsalliances-twilight-drinking-game/ Let's face facts here, folks: "Twilight" is not very good, but at this point, if you want to keep your fingers on the pulse of the pop culture community, familiarity with it is almost a requirement. That's why we've taken it upon ourselves to combine the first installment of the Twilight saga with the one thing that might almost get it to make sense: heavy drinking! Just pour a glass of your favorite adult beverage and read along, but be warned: If you actually do this, you will probably die, and you will definitely remember less about the book when it's over than when you started.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/hobbit-filming-to-begin-in-new-zealand-in-july/ http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/hobbit-filming-to-begin-in-new-zealand-in-july/ Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:52:52 CST http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/hobbit-filming-to-begin-in-new-zealand-in-july/ Shooting of the long-awaited film version of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit is set to begin in New Zealand in July.

Actor Sir Ian McKellen, who reprises his Lord of the Rings role as Gandalf the Grey, revealed casting is taking place in LA, London and New York.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/dramatica-owner-could-face-charges/ http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/dramatica-owner-could-face-charges/ Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:35:50 CST http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/dramatica-owner-could-face-charges/ The US-based owner of a satirical Wikipedia-style website may be charged under Australian law over a deliberately offensive article about Aborigines.

The Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission (HREOC) contacted Encyclopedia Dramatica owner Joseph Evers, after 20 indigenous Australians complained about the article's content.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/in-pictures-undead-gamers-hit-sydney-ready-for-protest-lurch/ http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/in-pictures-undead-gamers-hit-sydney-ready-for-protest-lurch/ Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:19:05 CST http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/in-pictures-undead-gamers-hit-sydney-ready-for-protest-lurch/ Gamers will dress as zombies to raise awareness about the lack of an R18+ rating for video games in Australia.

The protest will begin at Hyde Park Fountain on March 27 and lumber through Sydney, informing the public of the need for a higher classification rating, and causing hysteria in others.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/while-facebook-twitter-sit-on-sidelines-myspace-jumps-into-bulk-user-data-sales/ http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/while-facebook-twitter-sit-on-sidelines-myspace-jumps-into-bulk-user-data-sales/ Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:12:26 CST http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/while-facebook-twitter-sit-on-sidelines-myspace-jumps-into-bulk-user-data-sales/ MySpace has taken a bold step and allowed a large quantity of bulk user data to be put up for sale on startup data marketplace InfoChimps. Data offered includes user playlists, mood updates, mobile updates, photos, vents, reviews, blog posts, names and zipcodes. Friend lists are not included. Remember, Facebook and Twitter may be the name of the game these days in tech circles, but MySpace still sees 1 billion user status updates posted every month. Those updates will now be available for bulk analysis.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/sa-population-vs-adelaide-parklands-preservation-association/ http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/sa-population-vs-adelaide-parklands-preservation-association/ Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:00:40 CST http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/sa-population-vs-adelaide-parklands-preservation-association/ Clipsal is over for another year, so once again its time for the Adelaide Parklands Preservation Association (APPA) to pop up "demanding" bans.

This year they aren't specifically calling for a ban in the Clipsal. This year they are calling for a ban on all events that charge people for entry. The ban would basically cover Clipsal, Fringe, Adelaide Festival, WOMADelaide and the Horse Trials to name a few. So by proxy they would achieve their goal of finally getting the Clipsal banned.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/food-dining/coffee-you-can-inhale/ http://randalflagg.net/food-dining/coffee-you-can-inhale/ Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:16:48 CST http://randalflagg.net/food-dining/coffee-you-can-inhale/
A nutty Harvard professor has put a jolt in the java trade with a strange new inhalable espresso -- allowing caffeine fiends to breathe in their morning cup of joe.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/efa-responds-to-senator-conroy/ http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/efa-responds-to-senator-conroy/ Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:08:22 CST http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/efa-responds-to-senator-conroy/ During yesterday's Question Time, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy again faced questions about the Rudd Government's highly unpopular push to introduce mandatory, nationwide internet censorship. In his answer, the Minister accused this organisation of misleading the public and international organisations. We relish the opportunity to respond and set the record straight.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/filter-trial-vendor-sceptical-over-internet-clean-feed/ http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/filter-trial-vendor-sceptical-over-internet-clean-feed/ Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:49:04 CST http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/filter-trial-vendor-sceptical-over-internet-clean-feed/ Internet filtering won't prevent people deliberately looking for inappropriate material from accessing blocked content, according to security vendor, M86 Security.

Six of the nine ISP participants in the URL-based Internet filter trial last year used M86's R3000 filtering kit.

"When the filter was first launched 10 years ago, I don't think anybody would have thought it would be applied on a national scale," M86 COO, Bruce Green, said.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/filter-out-offensive-material/ http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/filter-out-offensive-material/ Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:01:15 CST http://randalflagg.net/internet-blogs/filter-out-offensive-material/ I have seen a number of arguments from people who think censorship of the internet can be a good thing.
They make comments like "If it filters out the moronic an offensive things on the internet then I am all for it"
I can see where they are coming from in that there are a lot of things on the Internet that I don't like. But I have a choice of not going to those websites. Just like everyone else has a choice to not go to websites that may offend them.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/religion/irish-american-priest-defends-expelling-schoolchild-of-lesbian-couple/ http://randalflagg.net/religion/irish-american-priest-defends-expelling-schoolchild-of-lesbian-couple/ Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:21:47 CST http://randalflagg.net/religion/irish-american-priest-defends-expelling-schoolchild-of-lesbian-couple/ An Irish American pastor in Boulder, Colorado has defended his decision not to allow a child of a lesbian couple to continue to attend Catholic school in his parish. The child is currently in pre-school there.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/news/lesbian-panic-shuts-down-mississippi-high-school-prom/ http://randalflagg.net/news/lesbian-panic-shuts-down-mississippi-high-school-prom/ Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:38:31 CST http://randalflagg.net/news/lesbian-panic-shuts-down-mississippi-high-school-prom/ Mississippi's Itawamba County school district has cancelled a prom after Constance McMillen, an 18-year-old student, asked permission to bring her girlfriend as her date. The student planned to wear a tux. The school district's bureaucratic non-excuse for the cancellation is that it's "due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events." The district appears to be tap-dancing around the reason for the cancellation in an effort to avoid openly saying "We are scared of teh ghey," since that would open them up to legal liability. The ACLU isn't buying it. They've told the school district that they've got until Wednesday to change the policy or else.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/epic-trampoline-skills/ http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/epic-trampoline-skills/ Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:08:30 CST http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/epic-trampoline-skills/ IOSC4BpgVZ8

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/south-park-parodies-the-gingers-do-have-souls-kid-comedy-central-insider-blog/ http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/south-park-parodies-the-gingers-do-have-souls-kid-comedy-central-insider-blog/ Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:32:11 CST http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/south-park-parodies-the-gingers-do-have-souls-kid-comedy-central-insider-blog/ After slamming South Park in defense of his carrot-topped brethren on YouTube to the tune of nearly four million views, the famous "Gingers do have souls" kid has now been immortalized by the very show he claims to hate in this preview clip from South Park's upcoming 14th season.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/exclusive-south-parks-first-ever-deleted-scene/ http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/exclusive-south-parks-first-ever-deleted-scene/ Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:10:03 CST http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/exclusive-south-parks-first-ever-deleted-scene/ Sometimes deleted scenes are cool, but often they're kind of a disappointment. "Oh yeah, I guess I can see why they cut out this 15-minute montage of Iron Man preparing and eating a pastrami hoagie." I don't know if that's why the upcoming South Park: The Complete Thirteenth Season is going to be the series' first DVD set to include deleted scenes, but I do know that from the looks of this one, it was worth the wait.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/computers-consoles/vodafone-distributed-handset-found-pre-installed-with-mariposa-bot/ http://randalflagg.net/computers-consoles/vodafone-distributed-handset-found-pre-installed-with-mariposa-bot/ Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:37:11 CST http://randalflagg.net/computers-consoles/vodafone-distributed-handset-found-pre-installed-with-mariposa-bot/ Security researchers have found the Mariposa bot client pre-installed on a mobile phone handset distributed in Europe, and say that the malware looks to have been installed on the phone's memory card.

The phone, the HTC Magic, runs the Google Android mobile operating system, and is a low-priced handset distributed by Vodafone. A researcher at Panda Security received one of the handsets recently, and upon attaching it to her PC, found that the phone was pre-loaded with the Mariposa bot client. Mariposa has been in the news of late thanks to some arrests connected to the operation of the botnet.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/computers-consoles/the-secret-origin-of-windows/ http://randalflagg.net/computers-consoles/the-secret-origin-of-windows/ Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:36:15 CST http://randalflagg.net/computers-consoles/the-secret-origin-of-windows/ Few people understand Microsoft better than Tandy Trower, who worked at the company from 1981-2009. Trower was the product manager who ultimately shipped Windows 1.0, an endeavor that some advised him was a path toward a ruined career. Four product managers had already tried and failed to ship Windows before him, and he initially thought that he was being assigned an impossible task. In this follow-up to yesterday's story on the future of Windows, Trower recounts the inside story of his experience in transforming Windows from vaporware into a product that has left an unmistakable imprint on the world, 25 years after it was first released.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/food-dining/how-far-can-dexter-hollands-gringo-bandito-go/ http://randalflagg.net/food-dining/how-far-can-dexter-hollands-gringo-bandito-go/ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:44:43 CST http://randalflagg.net/food-dining/how-far-can-dexter-hollands-gringo-bandito-go/ Holland beamed. He usually doesn't deseed peppers, but today is a big day. Those 430 pounds of multihued peppers, along with 70 pounds of green onions and a couple of other secret ingredients, are being prepped before getting processed into more than 500 gallons of Holland's hot sauce, Gringo Bandito. It'll be the biggest single batch ever produced in the brand's four-year history.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/matt-stone-trey-parker-are-not-your-political-allies-no-matter-what-you-believe/ http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/matt-stone-trey-parker-are-not-your-political-allies-no-matter-what-you-believe/ Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:50:46 CST http://randalflagg.net/entertainment/matt-stone-trey-parker-are-not-your-political-allies-no-matter-what-you-believe/ It's hard to believe there's anything these men don't say. They've taken on everything from abortion to molestation to cat orgies over the past 13 years and have not been delicate about it. They've only been censored once and that was during the Muhammad cartoon uproar last year, when they tried to insert a picture of the Islamic holy figure into their show.

1 Flagg(s) ]]> http://randalflagg.net/news/google-htc-respond-to-apple-lawsuit/ http://randalflagg.net/news/google-htc-respond-to-apple-lawsuit/ Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:20:45 CST http://randalflagg.net/news/google-htc-respond-to-apple-lawsuit/
Today's "the day after". The day after Apple started a patent war with HTC and Google. Today, we have statements from both HTC and Google, and a number of other people have weighed in as well as to the possible ramifications of Apple's lawsuit.

1 Flagg(s) ]]>