Interactive Map Pinpoints Wildfires and Updates

by Tiffany Rider

ABC 7 News has been covering the wildfires raging across Southern California daily since last Sunday. The ABC 7 website now has an interactive map for those who want to get up to date information on where the old and new fires are, if they have been contained, where the evacuation areas are, and more. You can view the map in standard map form, get a satellite view of the area, or a hybrid of both. The hybrid view allows you to see where the fires are located. The map has fire icons that you can click to learn more about that particular fire. This morning there is a blue "parachute" shaped icon that pinpoints the fire that has begun at Camp Pendleton. By clicking these icons, options for submitting photos, viewing photos, reading articles, and viewing maps to and from the location.

Here is an image of the map from 10:53am today.




To view the current fire updates, click here.

Music Technology Lab

Apparently high school band class is getting re-vamped.

River Hill High in Baltimore is going to get a music technology lab, where students can learn to use music-making programs on the computer, like GarageBand, Logic and Sibelius. They'll also have electric pianos, guitars and 20 Mac computers. All of this added up to a $120,000 cost.

Apparently right now the high schoolers are just able to test the equiptment in class. It will mainly be used for after-hours classes for high schoolers and adults, and summer camps.

Representatives from the school say that they want to make music appeal to those who aren't interested in classical instruments or orchestra. Plus, the technology is more representative of modern music.

The full story from The Baltimore Sun can be found here.

--Anna Mavromati

New version of PS3 in the works, won't break the bank

by Tiffany Rider




Beginning Nov. 2, Sony will have a new version of the PlayStation 3 on the market.






Photo Credit: www.playstatic.com


This version will have a smaller 40GB drive and, unlike the current PS3, is not compatible with PS2 format games. Sony does not believe this is will pose a threat to the new product because of the broadened collection of games for PS3. This announcement has already been made in Japan and Europe, and the introduction of the product to the U.S. has been widely anticipated. The price for the new console is $399.

For more on this, check out this CNN article and information from the Sony website.

The fake iphone By jan Gray

I don’t know about you but I really, really hate my phone. It looks terrible with canyons of paint carved out of it, the person on the other end is always yelling “what!?” because they can’t understand a damn word i'm saying, and my 3,6, and power button don't work anymore. This means if my phone ever ran out of battery I would no longer have a phone.
I hate how people make fun of me so I want to show off my next phone without spending a boatload of money because I’m a cheap bastard (much like the rest of you). So the solution is the fake I phone.
The phones are able to be purchased on several websites that import goods to the United States directly from China. China’s economy is in its heyday and their electronic manufacturing industry couldn’t be better. In fact, the very iphone itself, the real apple version, is manufactured in none other than China. So if these phones are literally made down the street what’s the real difference.
First off the fake iphone actually has more features than the real one. The first main difference is the ability to remove the battery. This has been a problem with the iPod for years. The thing freezes up and your left virtually stranded with no music to listen to until a power source is plugged into the pod physically. The iphone did not touch on this subject at all, leaving a fixed battery.
Another difference is the fake iphone’s ability to be run on multiple networks. This means that you do not have to sign up for a plan with Cingular. You can use any network with a sim-card. T-mobile claims to have the cheapest internet rates at literally half the price of what Cingular is charging. T-Mobile also claims to help you up with the set up process, something that many people have complained about in the blogosphere.
The main difference is the price. The iphone, even with the price reduction is still a $400 piece of hardware let alone the Cingular charges. The fake iphone range from about $100-$200.
Here are some links where you can buy it:

http://www.bigtimekicks.com/product_info.php?products_id=5623?osCsid=4b5bf8a94215493e6c6da03808568a48

http://www.bluelans.com/

http://www.shopextreme.de/ifone

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5179~r.23845165

Why people will soon be marrying and having sex with Robots!

Sounds out-of-this-world? Well it's about to be part of ours sooner than you think...

People could be falling in love and having sex with robots in a few decades and even marrying them, according to a British artificial intelligence researcher.

David Levy, originally from London, has made the controversial forecasts about the future of human-robot relationships in his Ph.D thesis.

In "Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners", he argues that current trends in robotics and artificial intelligence mean the leap to humans and robots forming relationships is not far away. Mr Levy, also an International Master in chess, believes robots will soon appear so like humans in the way they look and act, in their personality and how they express emotions, that many people will fall in love with them.

His predictions are based on his analysis of certain trends and on what he sees as the inevitability of how they will continue in the future.

Cheers,

~Noor Z.

Report slams Chinese government for internet censorship

The French-based watchdog group Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres, or RSF) released a report on Wednesday that examines and criticises Chinese government for its censorship of online news and websites.

The report is titled "China: Journey to the heart of Internet censorship" and is a collaborative work between the RSF and Chinese Human Rights Defenders.

The author of the study, a Chinese internet expert and researcher, cites surveillance and propaganda as the principal tools of the Chinese government to control internet content. He prefers to remain anonymous, using the pen name "Mr. Tao".

"Mr. Tao" points to a number of bureaus that play a hand in internet censorship, most of them suppervised by the Information and Public Security Ministries. He goes on to outline their methods of blocking websites, use of intimidation tactics that encourage self-censorship, and prosecution of rebellious users and bloggers.

The publishers hope to raise worldwide awareness of Chinese censorship before the 2008 Olympic Games, to be held in Beijing.

According to the China Internet Network Information Centre, China has about 162 million Internet users.

***Hyperlinks coming once I get to a PC

View the report here:
http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Voyage_au_coeur_de_la_censure_GB.pdf

Or visit the Reporters Without Borders website here:
http://www.rsf.org

J.K Rowling sues Hogwarts Castle look alike

If you go to this link here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071011/ennew_afp/entertainmentindialiteraturepottercourtreligion_071011142707 you will see that J.K Rowling is suing an India company for their replica of Hogwarts Castle for their religous festival. Sue is suing for over $2 million ruppes ($50,0000)

Personally, I love J.K Rowling to death, her books are awesome, and she is the perfect example of a rags to ritches story, but does she REALLY need all that money? I mean she's already one of the most wealthy people in Britan, does she really need to sue these poor people who obviously don't have the money to pay her.

posted by Ashley Brown