Kentucky legislator wants to ban anonymous internet posting

State Representative Tim Couch wants to make anonymous internet posting illegal. The bill would require anyone "contributing" to a website to register their real name, address and email address with that site -- the website would be fined $500 for each anonymous post. Couch wants to cut down on "online bullying." Um... right. The ACLU will love that. Hey Timmy, in addition to trampling the first amendment, we should just repeal all the others-- except the 2nd, of course.

Can I get a collective WTF?

source [ valleywag ]

Jake and Amir Get MTV'd

The deal isn't official yet, but College Humor and MTV plan to launch a TV show together. In the finished pilot, the Tumblr-popular Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld host, rolling clips between skits like the one in the clip below. Sam Reich plays College Humor cofounder Ricky Van Veen. Word has it College Humor insisted on getting online distribution rights and that MTV readily complied. quote from valleywag

fucking. awesome.

Zune Games?!

Well this was as unexpected as a fat man eating a sandwich. But awesome non the less. XNA Game Studio games will be supported by the Zune sometime in 08. With the Zune's unique thumb pad, you can bet on more diverse and original controls! (hopefully) Lets see Apple top this! .....Seriously Apple....We want a Apple gameboy...please....

Source: [ kotaku ]

The Future of Apple's Multi-Touch

Some images on macrumors have recently surfaced revealing new multi-touch patents Apple is applying for. Hopefully this is a insight on whats to come in the nextgen Apple products, and maybe even updates on existing multi-touch devices.

The patent application depicts how one could customize these advanced gestures for Expose and Dashboard, by using four finger swipes up/down/left/right:


The patent application depicts how one could customize these advanced gestures for Expose and Dashboard, by using four finger swipes up/down/left/right:


And even editing operations such as Copy, Cut, Paste, Undo, Select All, Tab, and Cancel using gestures based on your Thumb and Two Fingers:

Source: [ macromors ]

Trailer Emerges For The New Star Wars Movie

New Clone Wars Trailer


This is somewhat of a followup post to Insidious Rodent's article a few days back. A trailer for the highly anticipated Clone Wars movie has surfaced on myspace (wtf).

WOW THIS BLOGGER IS SPEECHLESS

OK everybody. Before you read anything I have to say, watch this Youtube Video first!

OK now that you've seen the trailer you are either indifferent or, like me, just plain in shock. I for one am excited, for now! But this is one of those projects that could either go horribly wrong or be amazingly awesome, depending on the execution. The folks at DC and all the Japanese animators working on the project (which reminds me that I DESPERATELY need to find a list of the directors for this film) definitely have their work cut out for them!

I'm off to find out as much information as I can, and edits are on the way! I PROMISE.

EDIT: According to the Wikipedia page about the film, Saotshi Kon is set to direct one of the shorts. I thought I pegged his animation style in the trailer. THIS IS GREAT NEWS. Satoshi Kon is this blogger's favorite director of animation. I'm very excited to say the least.

Firefox 3 Beta Released

Well, this is somewhat old news by now, and if you haven't already read about this on every online blog the new version of firefox came out. It really isn't intended for normal use, more for developers and people who know what their doing.

Some notable changed and upgrades in this latest version are:

• One-click site info
• Malware Protection
• New Download Manager
• Podcasts and Videocasts
• Integration with Mac
• Integration with Linux
  
• Location bar & auto-complete
• Download & Install Add-ons
• Speed
• Memory usage

Source: [ version 3 release notes ] [ download version 3 ]

Year of the Rat Lucky Sale At Play Asia

A huge sale / contest is going on right down at Play Asia. With a couple huge discounts its defiantly worth checking out.

New Star Wars Movie in Theaters This August?

So last night I was browsing the intorwebs when I happened to stumble upon an interesting little tidbit about the new Star Wars Clone Wars animated series set to run on the Cartoon Network sometime this September. Apparently Lucasfilm has decided to release the first three episodes, which run together as one complete "movie", to American theaters this August! Some notable insights about the series include the appearance of the first female Jedi as a central character, in the form of a Padwan of Anakin's, and a clusterfuck of returning characters from the first three Star Wars films.

For more information on this film that has me very excited, check out this insightful video on SW.com and be sure to listen to the next episode of the Podcast when I'll be doing a story about this.

**A note on the Podcast: Siva is on vacation and the next episode will not be recorded until shortly after he returns. I'm sorry for the inconvenience but, if all goes well, an episode should be churned out sometime this weekend.

I hope someone that reads this is as excited about it as I am!
-Insidious Rodent

This Just In: Trolling Is Legal?!

It seems a group of individuals were charged when they posted some "negative" comments on a public yahoo board. After this trial was processed by a court, they were found not guilty, on grounds of the First Amendment. So does this mean that it is officially legal to troll in California?

A California court has found that trolls are protected by the first amendment and are entitled to anonymity. The ruling comes despite previous cases where trolls have been arrested (be it once they have been disclosed) and hearings in other courts.

The court found that although the Internet is still bound by rules about libel, what was posted were not assertions of “actual fact” and not actionable under defamation law, therefore protected under the First Amendment, in sort of the same way parody is.

Source: [ TechCrunch ]

Apple Games?!

I know news is usually Siva's job but I literally spit out my chocolate milk when I saw this headline!

Apple Trademark Hints at Handheld Gaming Device

Rumors of Apple gunning to enter the handheld games market have been circulating for a while, but a new trademark application discovered by Trademork dated Feb. 5th seems to lend credence to the rumor mill. According to the application, Apple is upping its trademark to include "Toys, games and playthings, namely, hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games."

With the enormous popularity of the iPhone and the phenomenal success of the iPod, anything handheld from Apple seems like a sure fire hit. But on the other hand you have Apple's inability to bring a lot of quality games to their platforms. If this gaming device does come to fruition, will it end up being the next DS or just another Gizmondo?

If anyone actually reads this blog, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

[ Source ]

15 Year Old Almost Outruns Cops

Some fifteen year old kid almost outruns the cops in a full out 150 mile an hour chase. His car broke down after an all out chase for miles. The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way about this video. At almost the end the reporter blames this childish stupidity on video games. Wow, can't anyone fucking take responsibility anymore? This kid obviously is a nutcase, and he took a car out for a leisurely high speed chase. But I guess we need to blame violent media on everything, because we can't control our incessant need to duplicate everything we see in Grand Theft Auto.