Posts Tagged iPhone

Study: Voice-activated texting while driving no safer than typing – The Washington Post

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Perspective on April 23, 2013


Study: Voice-activated texting while driving no safer than typing

By Ashley Halsey III, Published: April 22

It had appeared that technology might have solved a problem of its own creation when voice-
activated texting came along so that drivers could keep their eyes on the road. Not so, says the first major study of the subject.

It’s every bit as dangerous to speak into a mobile device that translates words into a text message as it is to type one.

“It didn’t really matter which texting method you were using, your reaction times were twice as slow and your eyes were on the road much less often,” said Christine Yager, who did the research for the TexasTransportation Institute at Texas A&M University.

With Americans swapping 6.1 billion text messages every day, several mobile-application developers came up with voice-to-text software. Yager tested two developed for the popular iPhone and Android devices as drivers performed tests on a closed course.

“We were using a tracker, measuring how often they looked at the roadway and how long it took the driver to complete each text-messaging task that we asked them to do, and we also were looking at how long it took them to respond to that light that turned on periodically,” she said.

The finding: Voice-to-text applications “do not increase driver safety compared to manual texting.”

“We aren’t surprised,” said Jonathan Adkins, deputy executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association. “Anything that takes the driver’s concentration away from driving is a potential distraction. Our message to drivers is to hold off on sending a text until the car is parked.”

Using a hand-held device to tap out a text message while driving has been banned in the District and 39 states, including Virginia and Maryland. The District, Maryland and nine other states also prohibit use of hand-held devices for almost all purposes.

In a survey released this year, almost 35 percent of drivers told the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety that they had recently read text messages or e-mail while driving, and 26 percent said they had sent a text message.

About 3,300 people a year die in crashes attributed to distracted driving, with 387,000 more injured in 2011, federal data show.

For the study, Yager recruited people who were familiar with sending and receiving texts, and some of them already were using voice-to-text applications.

“One of the common comments was that they felt an inclination to look down at the screen to see if it heard them correctly, so that could be one possible explanation of why they were not looking at the roadway more frequently,” Yager said.

She said drivers said they felt safer when using voice-activated texting than when entering messages on a keyboard.

“Perhaps it is because they view it as safer and therefore it must be, but still they have this inclination to look down at the screen,” she said. “We found that their driving performance suffered equally with both methods.”

As has been proven in studies of cellphone conversations, Yager said drivers engaged in any form of texting were distracted by the communication effort.

“Whether you’re talking on the cellphone, whether you’re trying to send a message, whether you’re typing it with your hand, speaking it, driving is not a simple, mindless task,” she said. “So any of these types of activities that are not about driving have the potential of seriously taking your mind off what you’re doing in operating that vehicle.”

 Study: Voice-activated texting while driving no safer than typing – The Washington Post.

Related articles

 

, , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

Cagle Post – Political Cartoons & Commentary – » Those Who Say ‘I Support the Troops’ Should Just Stop, Out of Respect for the Troops

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Opinion, Perspective on January 4, 2013


MICHAEL MOORE

Those Who Say ‘I Support the Troops’ Should Just Stop, Out of Respect for the Troops

 

I don’t support the troops, America, and neither do you. I am tired of the ruse we are playing on these brave citizens in our armed forces. And guess what — a lot of these soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines see right through the bull**** of those words, “I support the troops!,” spoken by Americans with such false sincerity — false because our actions don’t match our words. These young men and women sign up to risk their very lives to protect us — and this is what they get in return:

Adam Zyglis / Buffalo News

1. They get sent off to wars that have NOTHING to do with defending America or saving our lives. They are used as pawns so that the military-industrial complex can make billions of dollars and the rich here can expand their empire. By “supporting the troops,” that means I’m supposed to shut up, don’t ask questions, do nothing to stop the madness, and sit by and watch thousands of them die? Well, I’ve done an awful lot to try and end this. But the only way you can honestly say you support the troops is to work night and day to get them out of these hell holes they’ve been sent to. And what have I done this week to bring the troops home? Nothing. So if I say “I support the troops,” don’t believe me — I clearly don’t support the troops because I’ve got more important things to do today, like return an iPhone that doesn’t work and take my car in for a tune up.

2. While the troops we claim to “support” are serving their country, bankers who say they too “support the troops,” foreclose on the actual homes of these soldiers and evict their families while they are overseas! Have I gone and stood in front of the sheriff’s deputy as he is throwing a military family out of their home? No. And there’s your proof that I don’t “support the troops,” because if I did, I would organize mass sit-ins to block the doors of these homes. Instead, I’m having Chilean sea bass tonight.

3. How many of you who say you “support the troops” have visited a VA hospital to bring aid and comfort to the sick and wounded? I haven’t. How many of you have any clue what it’s like to deal with the VA? I don’t. Therefore, you would be safe to say that I don’t “support the troops,” and neither do you.

4. Who amongst you big enthusiastic “supporters of the troops” can tell me the approximate number of service women who have been raped while in the military? Answer: 19,000 (mostly) female troops are raped or sexually assaulted every year by fellow American troops. What have you or I done to bring these criminals to justice? What’s that you say — out of sight, out of mind? These women have suffered, and I’ve done nothing. So don’t ever let me get away with telling you I “support the troops” because, sadly, I don’t. And neither do you.

5. Help a homeless vet today? How ’bout yesterday? Last week? Last year? Ever? But I thought you “support the troops!”? The number of homeless veterans is staggering — on any given night, at least 60,000 veterans are sleeping on the streets of the country that proudly “supports the troops.” This is disgraceful and shameful, isn’t it? And it exposes all those “troop supporters” who always vote against social programs that would help these veterans. Tonight there are at least 12,700 Iraq/Afghanistan veterans homeless and sleeping on the street. I’ve never lent a helping hand to one of the many vets I’ve seen sleeping on the street. I can’t bear to look, and I walk past them very quickly. That’s called not “supporting the troops,” which, I guess, I don’t — and neither do you.

6. And you know, the beautiful thing about all this “support” you and I have been giving the troops — they feel this love and support so much, a record number of them are killing themselves every single week. In fact, there are now more soldiers killing themselves than soldiers being killed in combat (323 suicides in 2012 through November vs. about 210 combat deaths). Yes, you are more likely to die by your own hand in the United States military than by al Qaeda or the Taliban. And an estimated eighteen veterans kill themselves each day, or one in five of all U.S. suicides — though no one really knows because we don’t bother to keep track. Now, that’s what I call support! These troops are really feeling the love, people! Lemme hear you say it again: “I support the troops!” Louder! “I SUPPORT THE TROOPS!!” There, that’s better. I’m sure they heard us. Don’t forget to fly our flag, wear your flag lapel pin, and never, ever let a service member pass you by without saying, “Thank you for your service!” I’m sure that’s all they need to keep from putting a bullet in their heads. Do your best to keep your “support” up for the troops because, God knows, I certainly can’t any longer.

I don’t “support the troops” or any of those other hollow and hypocritical platitudes uttered by Republicans and frightened Democrats. Here’s what I do support: I support them coming home. I support them being treated well. I support peace, and I beg any young person reading this who’s thinking of joining the armed forces to please reconsider. Our war department has done little to show you they won’t recklessly put your young life in harm’s way for a cause that has nothing to do with what you signed up for. They will not help you once they’ve used you and spit you back into society. If you’re a woman, they will not protect you from rapists in their ranks. And because you have a conscience and you know right from wrong, you do not want yourself being used to kill civilians in other countries who never did anything to hurt us. We are currently involved in at least a half-dozen military actions around the world. Don’t become the next statistic so that General Electric can post another record profit — while paying no taxes — taxes that otherwise would be paying for the artificial leg that they’ve kept you waiting for months to receive.

I support you, and will try to do more to be there for you. And the best way you can support me — and the ideals our country says it believes in — is to get out of the military as soon as you can and never look back.

And please, next time some “supporter of the troops” says to you with that concerned look on their face, “I thank you for your service,” you have my permission to punch their lights out (figuratively speaking, of course).

(There is something I’ve done to support the troops — other than help lead the effort to stop these senseless wars. At the movie theater I run in Michigan, I became the first person in town to institute an affirmative action plan for hiring returning Iraq/Afghanistan vets. I am working to get more businesses in town to join with me in this effort to find jobs for these returning soldiers. I also let all service members in to the movies for free, everyday.)

 Cagle Post – Political Cartoons & Commentary – » Those Who Say ‘I Support the Troops’ Should Just Stop, Out of Respect for the Troops.

Related articles

 

, , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

Social Media Is a Romance Contraceptive – Room for Debate – NYTimes.com

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Opinion, Perspective, Social Media on December 31, 2012


Put the Smartphone Down. Now.

David Wygant

David Wygant is a dating and relationship coach. He is also the author of “Naked!: How to Find the Perfect Partner by Revealing Your True Self.”

UPDATED DECEMBER 30, 2012, 7:01 PM

 

Social media is what I’d call a romance contraceptive. It prevents romance from happening every single day.

Every day when I’m out and about, I’ll see people in elevators, I’ll see people in grocery stores, coffee shops, and at restaurants. And they’re all checking Facebook! Or they’re tweeting something to their 3.7 followers. We’ve become a society of people who are obsessed with what’s happening in the imaginary world.

Save the social media checking for when you’re at home. When you’re out and about, drop it, and be uncomfortable again.

Facebook is an imaginary world.

Checking in on what your friends are doing at noon when you can be flirting with a handsome stranger or the cute girl next to you in line at Starbucks is a complete social block.

Just the other day, I was in a supermarket in Los Angeles and I saw this guy checking out this girl. He was standing next to her in line at the juice bar. He kept looking at her, and she kept looking down … at the Facebook app on her iPhone.

Now, I know some of you right now are thinking, maybe she wasn’t interested. That wasn’t the issue. Because what I’m about to share with you is something most of you have probably done.

He gave up and disappeared. But I was crazy curious so I stood next to her in line and got real close and peeked at what she was typing into her phone.

Her status update: When am I going to meet a nice guy? It seems like all the good men are taken.

Think about what just happened.

She complained about not finding good men, but here was an interested man, standing next to her. Now, granted, nobody knows if the romance would have worked, but think about this: for every moment that you’re checking your Twitter feed, or your so-called friends’ updates on Facebook, you’re missing another opportunity to connect with somebody in real life … which could be another opportunity to fall in love.

Wake up, and walk away from the social media every once in a while. Drop the smartphone. It’s not making you smart; it’s actually making you pretty dumb. Save the social media checking for when you’re home. When you’re out and about, drop it, and be uncomfortable again. Sit in a restaurant, and look around, but don’t read Facebook: be present, and smile at the people that are around you. We don’t need to be constantly doing things on our phones.

So, my advice to all of you who would like to find romance this holiday season: Leave the phone at home. Sit with the discomfort of being without your contraceptive coping aid — the smartphone — and start looking at all the available people that have been there the whole time wanting to meet you. Then, maybe you will return home and type a status update like this:

You wouldn’t believe what happened today in Starbucks, I met the most amazing person; I can’t wait to see him tonight.

 Social Media Is a Romance Contraceptive – Room for Debate – NYTimes.com.

Related articles

 

, , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

Nothing Says Native American Heritage Like White Girls In Headdresses | Alternet

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Opinion, Perspective on December 14, 2012


Nothing Says Native American Heritage Like White Girls In Headdresses

Maybe it’s totally cool to be an oblivious racist these days. Whatever the case, there have been unusually high rates of “playing Indian” this year.

December 11, 2012 

 

Gwen Stefani in No Doubt’s “Looking Hot” video. Via theinsider.com

There is something insidiously ironic about being American Indian during the fall of the 21st century. It all starts with Columbus Day to mark our “discovery,” then moves right into the “it’s totally not racist to dress up as a hypersexualized Indian” for Halloween parties, and goes out with a bang on Thanksgiving when we celebrate the survival of the Pilgrims and that harmonious, mutually beneficial relationship forged between colonizers and Indigenous peoples everywhere! However romanticized or factually inaccurate, these holidays happen to be the three days when Native peoples actually enter the mass psyche of American culture.

I don’t know about you, but I usually spend the autumn months parading around in my Navajo Hipster panties, feather headdress (on loan from model Karlie Kloss and singer Gwen Stefani), Manifest Destiny T-Shirt and knee-high fringed moccasins made in Taiwan while watching a Redskins game, smoking a pack of American Spirits, and eating genetically modified Butter Ball turkey, because I’m just that traditional.

Perhaps it was that warm Indian summer weather that seemingly made non-natives so eager to sport culturally demeaning faux Indian apparel and legitimize it under the guise of “ignorance” or “appreciation.” Maybe it’s totally cool to be an oblivious racist these days. Whatever the case, there have been unusually high rates of “playing Indian” this year.

A lot of the recent coverage and commentary on cultural appropriation has emphasized the lack of education surrounding Native history and a greater need for sensitivity toward Native culture. While I certainly agree that invisibility continues to shroud Native issues and that there is a tremendous lack of education when it comes to the history of America’s Indigenous peoples, I think that the issue of why these circumstances exist is often overlooked. Why are Americans so clueless when it comes to the history and contemporary reality of Native peoples? What is it about this particular narrative that threatens the collective American psyche?

To be honest, while angered and outraged, I am not shocked about the most recent occurrences of Native cultural appropriation and denigration. Racism, dehumanization, and intellectual-property theft are not new to Native Americans. We have been confronting them in some form or another beginning with the Doctrine of Discovery and the arrival of Columbus in 1492. Imperialism and the genocide of Indigenous people have been justified under the premise of progress and growth and in the process our lands, cultures, and bodies have all been portrayed as inherently violable.

The sexual conquest and deliberate dehumanization of Native women has been used as a colonizing tactic for centuries. Sexual violence perpetrated against Native women was a strategy of domination used in the Indian Wars and as we can see, this type of mentality of domination persists today. Native women, stripped of their humanity, are still objectified as a sexual fetish or exotic other. In fact, these kind of derogatory stereotypes have become a fixture of both American mythology and pop culture. What is different today is that, in the digital age of Instagram and Twitter, you can see a picture of Karlie Kloss donning a feather headdress on your iPhone the moment she starts strutting the runway.

Recent acts of cultural appropriation do not occur in a vacuum and should not be viewed as isolated instances separate from their social and historic contexts. It is far more complex than hipsters in Navajo panties and pop stars in headdresses. These contemporary instances of cultural appropriation and stereotypes are really byproducts of ongoing colonialism, systemic racism, and the deliberately false narratives perpetuated about Native peoples by white society. Cultural commodification and dehumanized stereotypes extended far beyond any single corporation, retail franchise, or celebrity.

Despite what dominant society and mainstream media say, Native culture is a vibrant and living culture. We are not a relic of the past, a theme or a trend; we are not a style or costume; we are not mascots, noble savages or romantic fictional entities. We are human beings and, despite all odds, we have survived. As sovereign Nations, Indigenous peoples have the right to speak for ourselves and not have dominant Euro-American society project and profit from an artificial and socially constructed image of “Indian” identity.

November has been declared Native American Heritage month, and I think next year would be an opportune time for corporate executives and members of the fashion and music industries to come visit Indian country and actually meet some of the people they are attempting to mimic. There are 565 federally recognized tribes in the United States, each with their own distinct culture, language, and history, and each with multitude of artists who could teach them a lot about beauty and dignity. Gwen, Karlie, Ke$ha and all you other culture vultures, maybe you should leave your synthetic headdresses at home. And by the way, I am sorry if any of you are offended by me calling you out for being offensive.

 Nothing Says Native American Heritage Like White Girls In Headdresses | Alternet.

Related articles

 

, , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

Cagle Post – Political Cartoons & Commentary – » The Top Ten Comedic News Stories of 2012

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Opinion, Perspective, Politics on December 13, 2012


WILL DURST

The Top Ten Comedic News Stories of 2012

 

 

Raging Moderate, by Will Durst

First a disclaimer: The Top Ten Comedic News Stories of 2012 should not under any circumstances be confused with the Top Ten Legitimate News Stories of 2012. They are as different as red satin cummerbunds and Liar’s Dice. Duck liver and Spanish moss. Matched pearl necklaces and motorcycle handlebars.

Daryl Cagle / msnbc.com

For those of you itching to point out that some stories, especially those involving death, destruction, devastation and disaster are not proper subjects for this sort of fanciful folderol — way ahead of you. Totally agree. Exactly why the Aurora, Colo. movie theater massacre, Hurricane Sandy, Jerry Sandusky and the movie John Carter failed to make the cut.

Also left off the list are a few of the fiendishly frivolous footprints despoiling the sands of this annus horribilis such as Lindsay Lohan’s continuing struggles with sobriety, that curious craze called Gangnam Style, the introduction of the iPhone 5 and Facebook’s roller-coaster IPO.

That said; here they are, the key stories from the past year providing the purest opportunities for major mocking and scoffing and taunting as determined by the executive council of the Comics, Clowns, Jesters & Satirists Union. Me.

10. Donald Trump. Assumes figurehead post of Birther Movement. Then refuses to shut up all year long, including several embarrassing tweets on Election Day. An ever-gushing political comedy material fountain with all the grace and elegance of tumbling dumpsters.

9. First Presidential Debate. Turned what was becoming a slam-dunk into a horse race. Seventy million Americans tuned in. But for some unknown reason, President Obama was not among them.

8. The entire GOP primary campaign. Party plays Candidate Whack-A-Mole for five months. Everybody takes turns beating Romney like a red-headed stepchild, including some folks who aren’t even running.

7. London Olympics. Ann Romney’s horse Rafalca competes in Dressage. Event where the horse and the rider perform predetermined movements. Which you would think would be illegal in Utah. But horse fails to medal and probably gets shipped home strapped to the fuselage of a 747. McKayla Maroney remains unimpressed.

6. Vice Presidential Debate. Joe Biden goes all Malarkey on Paul Ryan. Two words — decaf. Bold Choice Ryan blames Obama for GM plant closing in ’08. Fails to implicate POTUS in fall of the Roman Empire. But just barely.

5. Barack Obama comes out in support of gay marriage. Emerges from his own personal policy closet like a butterfly emerging from a conflicted cocoon.

4. Mitt Romney vows to get rid of Big Bird, losing him pivotal pre-adolescent vote.

3. Democratic National Convention. Specifically, Bill Clinton laying out the precise reasons why America should re-elect as president… Bill Clinton.

2. Republican National Convention. Specifically, Clint Eastwood upstaging the nominee’s acceptance speech by getting into an argument with an empty chair. Which he proceeded to lose. Probably upset him so badly he rushed back to the hotel room where he got into a squabble with his armoire.

1. Mitt Romney. All the charisma of a plastic picnic fork with three of the tines snapped off. May have run the worst campaign ever. And that includes New Coke, McCain/Palin and France in ’39.

 Cagle Post – Political Cartoons & Commentary – » The Top Ten Comedic News Stories of 2012.

Related articles

 

, , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

Anger Flares as Recovery Inches Ahead – NYTimes.com

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Government, Social on November 2, 2012


Anger Flares as Recovery Inches Ahead

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Gary Hershorn/Reuters

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Gary Hershorn/Reuters

John Minchillo/Associated Press

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Robert Stolarik for The New York Times

Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times

Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times

Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times

Earl Wilson/The New York Times

Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters

Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

People waited for food to be distributed in Long Beach, N.Y.

<nyt_byline style=”font-family: <span class=” hiddenspellerror”=”" pre=”">georgia, ‘times new roman’, times, serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”>

By KATE ZERNIKE and CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: November 2, 2012

Patience wore thin over gas shortages, power failures and long lines for everything from buses to food handouts on Friday, as many parts of the New York City region struggled to recover from the devastation left by Hurricane Sandy.

Live Updates

But even as people cleaned up the debris from wrecked homes, there were still painful reminders of the toll in lives lost that the storm took.

On Staten Island, the borough that bore the brunt of the city’s casualties, rescuers pulled two bodies from a house in the hard-hit Midland Beach neighborhood on Friday afternoon. Neighbors who had been carrying ruined furniture and trash to the street watched as two body bags were carried out of a house on Olympia Boulevard, about two miles from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

The two victims, who were not immediately identified, brought to five the number of bodies found in Midland Beach, a low-lying area of bungalows and newer two-story houses that was hit hard by the surge that accompanied the storm.

The borough has become the epicenter of the devastation wrought in New York by the hurricane, which swept through the area after making landfall on Monday, as most of the more than 40 fatalities have occurred there.

As more than one million New Yorkers continued to cope with power failures, even the planned New York City Marathon became a source of bitter derision when news emerged that generators being used by organizers could have served hundreds of residences on Staten Island. City officials and the event’s organizers decided Friday afternoon that the race would not be held Sunday, according to a person familiar with the decision.

Government officials continued to emphasize their round-the-clock efforts, many by volunteers or employees whose own homes had been damaged, to restore normal life.

But people were becoming exasperated. At a housing project in Coney Island, residents who stayed behind expressed mounting frustration at the absence of electricity, services and, in some cases, security. Some said they were so frightened that they locked themselves in their apartments at night and refused to open the doors to anyone.

“It’s terrible,” said Marilyn Smalls, 48, who lives at the housing project in Coney Island. “Totally black. It’s dangerous.”

Government officials have asked for patience. City departments tried to stave off the anger by opening help lines, handing out free meals, updating citizens with progress in restoring services and monitoring Twitter feeds, where they answered residents directly about their individual commutes. Fees were waived for bus and subway travel.

Amid the continuing grief and hardship, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced on Friday that the death toll in the city had risen to at least 41.

But there were some positive signs: parts of Lower Manhattan might have power by the end of Friday, New Jersey Transit started running partial rail service, more of the Metro-North Railroad system was back and the Staten Island Ferry started up again.

Mr. Bloomberg also said that a rule that required cars traveling into Manhattan on all tunnels and bridges, except the George Washington Bridge, to have at least three people would be lifted at 5 p.m. on Friday.

Consolidated Edison, he said, hoped to have power restored to “most” of Manhattan by midnight Friday, although residents who live in boroughs served by overhead lines will have to wait “a lot longer” for power to return. The East Village had its power restored Saturday afternoon.

But perhaps mindful of the realities of disaster recovery, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s briefing was filled with encouraging updates along with expressions of caution. He said the city had made “great progress,” with service restored to about half of the two million customers who lost electricity during the storm.

Noting that progress in restoring power to Manhattan’s downtown area in particular would be a “big step forward” for transportation serving the area, he also hedged his remarks, noting it “did not mean that every light” would work.

Speaking about the shortages, including of gas, he said: “It is going to require some patience, it is not going to get better overnight, it is not going to be a one- or two- or three-day situation. A little patience, a little compassion, a little understanding will make it better for everyone.”

“It has been a long week for everyone,” Mr. Cuomo added. “It is not over. There are still inconveniences but it could have been a lot, lot worse.”

The financial losses, too, continue to pile up, approaching $50 billion, according to an early estimate from economists at Moody’s Analytics — about $30 billion in property damage, the rest in lost economic activity such as meals and canceled flights.

Live Updates

But increments of progress, including a second day of limited subway and bus lines, have been made in the aftermath of the hurricane, which made landfall on Monday night as what officials now describe as the worst storm to hit New York. Its punishing floods, rains and wind left millions of people with overwhelming problems they too had likely never faced.

Gina Braddish, 27, had four feet of water flood her home in Long Beach, on Long Island, leaving a slick of oil, gasoline and raw sewage across her floors.

“I have oil slicked on my floors, and they tell me it’s not an emergency,” she said. “When the house blows up, then it’s an emergency. I just want someone to come down here and help.”

As the week drew to a close, the widespread shortages disrupted some rescue and emergency services. The effort to secure enough gas for the region moved to the forefront of recovery work.

Mr. Cuomo said that as ports were reopened, the gas shortages should start to ease.

But local officials sprang into action in the meantime. The town of Belleville, in Northern New Jersey, passed an ordinance rationing gas Thursday night that was reminiscent of the 1970s oil embargo. Starting Monday, and until the governor lifts the state of emergency, people whose license plates end in odd numbers can buy gas only on odd numbered dates, and those with even numbers on even numbered dates. The mayor of nearby Montclair suggested to the town council that it consider a similar plan.

In New Jersey, drivers had been waiting in lines that ran hundreds of vehicles deep, requiring state troopers and local police officers to protect against exploding tempers. Some ran out of gas waiting.

At stations that were open, nerves frayed. Fights broke out Thursday at the block-long Hess station on 10th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, forcing the Police Department to send three officers to keep the peace, a police official said. By evening, the police had to close two lanes of the broad thoroughfare to accommodate a line of customers stretching eight blocks, to 37th Street.

Abhishek Soni, the owner of an Exxon in Montclair, N.J., called the police and turned off pumps for 45 minutes to cool nerves when disputes in the line Wednesday night became heated. “My nose, my mouth is bleeding from the fumes,” he said. “The fighting just makes it worse.”

On Friday, the Queens district attorney’s office said a St. Albans man had been arrested after he pointed a pistol at a motorist who complained when he tried to cut a line at a Queens gas station. The man, Sean M. Bailey, 35, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree menacing.

Some have questioned whether the volunteers for the annual marathon, scheduled for Sunday, could be better deployed to assist with disaster relief. The New York Post coverquestioned its use of generators. Mr. Bloomberg said the race should go on, defending the response of his predecessor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. He said donations from runners would help.

Earlier, when Mr. Cuomo was asked, he said that it was a decision better left to local officials, but that he understood “both sides.”

Commuters have had to adapt to new rules to get to work with ingenuity and patience. On Friday in New York City, subway trains, which pressed back onto the rails on Thursday, continued with limited service, with downtown trains in Manhattan going as far as 34th Street before stopping because of power problems there.

Leslie Watson, 43, a supervisor for AM New York, said that he took the M train over the F line but that he would normally take the E.

“Yesterday, there were a couple of people from M.T.A. giving out information, but otherwise, like today, you’re on your own,” Mr. Watson said. “Not bad, but not good. My commute was 12 minutes late.” Traveling between Staten Island and Manhattan became a little easier on Friday with the resumption of ferry service.

By midmorning on Friday, long lines grew for the Williamsburg ferry service and they snaked around the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where people boarded shuttle buses to Manhattan to connect with other stops in the transit system. Many adapted, eating breakfast where they stood.

“I am rereading ‘Game of Thrones,’ ” Colin Wiggins, 30, who works in student affairs for CUNY in the northwest Bronx, said as she waited. “I chose this book because I knew I wanted something long and interesting for the next days.”

For Friday’s commute, East River crossings by private passenger car were reportedly slightly more fluid as drivers apparently realized the authorities meant business when they required cars to carry three passengers or more in order to cross into Manhattan. When those rules went into effect on Thursday, cars were turned back if they failed to gather up the required passenger loads, creating the unintended effect of more traffic jams.

 Anger Flares as Recovery Inches Ahead – NYTimes.com.

Related articles

 

, , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

Apple loses another unreleased iPhone (exclusive) | Apple – CNET News

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Society on October 28, 2012


Apple loses another unreleased iPhone

An Apple employee lost yet another unreleased iPhone in a San Francisco bar last month, leading to an investigation by San Francisco police and Apple security, CNET has learned.

by Greg Sandoval and Declan McCullagh

  August 31, 2011 12:45 PM PDT

 

Cava22, the San Francisco bar where another unreleased iPhone apparently went missing

Cava22, the San Francisco bar where another unreleased iPhone apparently went missing.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

 

In a bizarre repeat of a high-profile incident last year, an Apple employee once again appears to have lost an unreleased iPhone in a bar, CNET has learned.

The errant iPhone, which went missing in San Francisco’s Mission district in late July, sparked a scramble by Apple security to recover the device over the next few days, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

Last year, an iPhone 4 prototype was bought by a gadget blog that paid $5,000 in cash. This year’s lost phone seems to have taken a more mundane path: it was taken from a Mexican restaurant and bar and may have been sold on Craigslist for $200. Still unclear are details about the device, what version of the iOS operating system it was running, and what it looks like.

While Apple has not publicly announced any plans for future phones, unconfirmed reports in the last few weeks suggest the launch date for the iPhone 5 is likely to be in early October. Otherreports from Taiwan have set the date at September or October. (See CNET’s iPhone 5 rumor roundup.)

Apple declined to comment after being contacted this morning. A spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department said the company did not file a police report based on the loss at the bar. Craigslist did not respond to requests for comment.

A day or two after the phone was lost at San Francisco’s Cava 22, which describes itself as a “tequila lounge” that also serves lime-marinated shrimp ceviche, Apple representatives contacted San Francisco police, saying the device was priceless and the company was desperate to secure its safe return, the source said.

 

Cava22, in San Francisco's Mission District, where another unreleased iPhone apparently went missing last month

Cava22, in San Francisco’s Mission District, where another unreleased iPhone apparently went missing last month.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Apple electronically traced the phone to a two-floor, single-family home in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood, according to the source.

When San Francisco police and Apple’s investigators visited the house, they spoke with a man in his twenties who acknowledged being at Cava 22 on the night the device went missing. But he denied knowing anything about the phone. The man gave police permission to search the house, and they found nothing, the source said. Before leaving the house, the Apple employees offered the man money for the phone no questions asked, the source said, adding that the man continued to deny he had knowledge of the phone.

In an interview this afternoon, Jose Valle told CNET that neither the police nor Apple security ever contacted him. Valle, who owns the bar with his family, said however he does remember a man calling multiple times about a lost iPhone about a month ago. He told the man he would call him back if he ever found the phone.

“I guess I have to make my drinks a little less strong,” Valle said.

After last year’s embarrassing loss, Apple reportedly has taken extraordinary steps to protect its prototype devices from leaks. Next-generation iPhones are sent to carriers for testing “inside locked and sealed boxes so that the carriers can carry out checks on their network compatibility in their labs,” according to the Guardian.

Apple developers have been given new iPhones with an upgraded processor — the one that is used in the iPad 2 and is expected to appear in the next-generation iPhone. But the device “is virtually identical to the iPhone 4, and there is no way anyone can tell it’s not an iPhone 4 based on the phone’s exterior,” a report at 9to5Mac.com says. Even last year’s prototype wasenclosed in a case designed to make it look like an iPhone 3GS.

Last year’s prototype iPhone went missing when Robert Gray Powell, an Apple computer engineer who was 28 years old at the time, left it in a German beer garden in Redwood City, Calif.

In early August, San Mateo County prosecutors filed misdemeanor criminal charges against two men, Brian Hogan and Sage Wallower, for allegedly selling Powell’s iPhone 4 prototype to Gawker Media’s Gizmodo blog. An arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow.

Prosecutors obtained a warrant to search the home of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen, andindicated they might prosecute Gizmodo, but eventually decided not to file charges.

Under a California law dating back to 1872, any person who finds lost property and knows who the owner is likely to be–but “appropriates such property to his own use”–is guilty of theft. In addition, a second state law says any person who knowingly receives property that has been obtained illegally can be imprisoned for up to one year.

 Apple loses another unreleased iPhone (exclusive) | Apple – CNET News.

Related articles

 

, , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

Foxconn workers on strike over iPhone 5 production, labor group says | ITworld

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Technology on October 7, 2012


 

Foxconn workers on strike over iPhone 5 production, labor group says

2,000 to 3,000 workers are said to be on strike, halting some iPhone 5 production

By James Niccolai, IDG News Service

October 05, 2012, 4:03 PM — Thousands of workers went on strike at a Foxconn factory in China on Friday, bringing some iPhone 5 production lines to a halt, a labor rights group said.

The strike at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory began at 1 p.m. local time and involved 3,000 to 4,000 workers, according to New York-based China Labor Watch, which said it received its information from workers at the plant.

The workers are upset about stricter quality-control requirements introduced for the new Apple smartphone, the labor group said. They are also upset at being made to work through a Chinese national holiday this week, it said.

“According to workers, multiple iPhone 5 production lines from various factory buildings were in a state of paralysis for the entire day,” China Labor Watch said. It also reported that quality-control inspectors were attacked.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment and Foxconn, based in Taiwan, could not be reached for comment. It was not possible to confirm independently the number of workers striking.

It wouldn’t be the first disruption at a Foxconn plant in China. Last month, 2,000 workers rioted at a factory in Taiyuan after what workers described as aggressive behavior from security guards.

This latest incident followed tighter rules to prevent tiny indentations on the phones and scratches to the phones’ frames and back covers. The new iPhone 5 is said to be more susceptible to such markings.

A fight between workers and quality-control inspectors resulted in some injuries and people being taken to the hospital, China Labor Watch said.

“They have such high expectations for these products, even if you raise the demands a little bit it makes a huge difference to the pressure on the workers,” Li Qiang, China Labor Watch’s executive director, said in an interview.

He last heard from workers at the plant late Friday night and the strike had not been resolved, he said.

 Foxconn workers on strike over iPhone 5 production, labor group says | ITworld.

Related articles

 

, , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

Apple Advises Maps Users Not to Go Anywhere : The New Yorker

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Apple, Borowitz Report, Humor/Parody on September 28, 2012


 

The Borowitz Report

 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

APPLE ADVISES MAPS USERS NOT TO GO ANYWHERE

POSTED BY ANDY BOROWITZ

 

tumblr-iphone.jpg

CUPERTINO (The Borowitz Report)—Apple C.E.O. Tim Cook apologized for the ongoing problems with its Apple Maps app today, recommending that until it is fixed customers “should try not to go anywhere.”

“Until we get this straightened out, I strongly urge you to stay at home,” Mr. Cook advised iPhone users. “That’s your best bet for not getting lost.”

Even as he apologized, Mr. Cook downplayed the number of Apple customers affected by the Maps glitch: “This only impacts Apple customers who have someplace to go. From what we can tell, most of our customers just go back and forth to the Apple Store and that’s pretty much it.”

The Apple C.E.O. also advised customers whose iPhones consistently drop calls to “try using a land line.”

 Apple Advises Maps Users Not to Go Anywhere : The New Yorker.

Related articles

 

, , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

Uncle Ben’s To Compete Against Apple With Brand-New Smartphone | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Humor/Parody, The Onion on September 22, 2012


 

Uncle Ben’s To Compete Against Apple With Brand-New Smartphone

JULY 24, 2012  

The new 4G Basmati phone from Uncle Ben’s.

HOUSTON—Hoping to boost profits by cutting into the valuable market share currently occupied by Apple’s popular iPhone 4S, top American rice manufacturer Uncle Ben’s announced plans Tuesday to release its first-ever smartphone.

Uncle Ben’s, a company traditionally known for producing white, whole-grain brown, and flavored rices, confirmed a Nov. 23 launch date for its new “Basmati” phone, a 4G-capable device expected to serve as the brand’s flagship product as the company makes its entry into the lucrative mobile technology sector.

“Whether it’s instant rice, country-style rice, boil-in-a-bag rice, or smartphones, Uncle Ben’s has always been committed to innovation,” a statement from the company read in part. “In 1942, we introduced the world to easy-to-cook parboiled rice. Today, we wish to introduce you to a new vision, one in which people can cook up some Uncle Ben’s on the stove and, at the same time, be on their Basmati browsing our marketplace for some new apps and texting their friends with our Instant Rice Messenger.”

“Our customer base is increasingly young, connected, and on the go,” the statement continued, “and we’re uniquely positioned to become the only company in America to simultaneously offer international phone service, Internet access, GPS, broccoli rice au gratin, and MP3 downloads of top recording artists.”

Traditionally, the Uncle Ben’s company has been best known for manufacturing rice.

 

As first reported by TechCrunch and the USA Rice Council, the Basmati will feature a 5.3-inch display with a density of 285 pixels per inch, a dual-core 1.5 gigahertz processor, and two gigabytes of RAM, as well as a “robust set of entertainment features” that includes a rear-mounted 8-megapixel autofocus camera, dozens of preloaded stir-fry recipes, and Adobe Flash support.

In addition, the Basmati will run on Uncle Ben’s proprietary Long-Grain Operating System, a platform designed to optimize graphics performance and speed using processes that, according to technical specifications released by the rice producer, “are entirely gluten-free.”

“Uncle Ben’s is a name Americans already know and trust,” said company president Vincent Howell, adding that he hopes the Basmati will become the iPhone’s foremost competitor within three years. “When they see that face smiling up at them, they’ll know they picked the right phone. It’s time for us to build on Uncle Ben’s success, and that means making a run at Apple. Amazon, Google—they’re all in the game here, and if we don’t get on this, we’ll be left behind. Right now those guys are eating our lunch.”

“We have the brand recognition,” the president of the rice company added. “So let’s capitalize on it with this smartphone.”

Many at the company expressed a like-minded confidence in the project, with one board member enthusiastically saying, “I think people are going to like an Uncle Ben’s phone even if they don’t like rice all that much.” Executives noted that their marketplace was rapidly changing, and whether they liked it or not, they would have to change with it.

“Rice just isn’t going to cut it anymore,” said Tim Snyder, Uncle Ben’s vice president of marketing. “If we don’t get a smartphone on the market soon, we’ll have nothing to offer the millions of consumers out there who are eager to shell out hundreds of dollars for the latest high-tech gadget, but who—let’s face it—aren’t nearly that enthusiastic about rice.”

Reached for comment, experts in the rice and tech industries questioned the company’s strategy, noting that besides Apple and Google, Uncle Ben’s will face stiff competition from Hamburger Helper, which unveiled its much-hyped “Helping Hand” smartphone earlier this year.

 Uncle Ben’s To Compete Against Apple With Brand-New Smartphone | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source.

Related articles

 

, , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 263 other followers

%d bloggers like this: