Who is Ethan Haas, And What Is Cloverfield?

Who is Ethan Haas? He’s the subject of a rapidly heating Internet meme and what appears to be a viral marketing / alternate reality game to promote J.J. Abrams’ new movie, “Cloverfield.”

Visitors to the site ethanhaaswasright.com who don’t have the latest version of Flash are greeted with a creepy quote:

“…war came, no longer from the elemental nor from the star’s rain of fire. The world was again remade, and the glow was as the coming of the sun upon the Earth. The children of the gods were again too few, scattered and divided and among them walked the ancients and those whose thoughts were not as to the towers and the marvels, but to the End and the destruction of the Earth and to the fires from which nothing could escape.”

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iPhone Review

Well before you turn on the iPhone it’s clear that this is a phone apart. The first difference takes place at the store (you can buy these only at Apple stores or retail outlets of network carrier AT&T, for the wallet-busting sum of $500 or $600, depending on whether you get 4 or 8 gigabytes worth of flash memory). Instead of going through the usual complicated contract signing and credit-vetting ceremony with a fast-talking and slow-processing salesperson, Apple has come up with a startling idea: you simply buy the thing and go home. Then you open up the snugly fit black box—the design blitz at Apple begins with the packaging— and take out the handset. It’s a classic example of the Apple look: slim, shiny and elegant. As it did with MP3 players, Apple has made even its most stylish competitors look like Soviet-issue contraptions. The iPhone has but a single button on the front—its sole function is to return you to the menu. The only other controls are a small sleep-wake switch on the top and a volume meter and ring/vibration switch on the side; they protrude so slightly that you can hardly see them.

Setup is a snap. As with the iPod, the device is a satellite of Apple’s free iTunes software. Plug the iPhone into a computer with your iTunes library (Mac or Windows) and the automatic sync function not only carries over your songs, videos and movies on iTunes library, but also photos, your contacts and calendar items. It also copies your e-mail address book and information onto your phone. This is one of the few phones that easily imports your information from your PC; because this is usually such a painful process, the vast majority of people with mobile phones never get around to moving over all their contact and calendar items. Signing up for phone service is easily handled in a straightforward process through the iTunes store. The only scary part comes when you have to provide a Social Security number to establish your credit, but Apple assures me that the data isn’t retained. Prices are those of the standard AT&T plans, $60, $80 or $100 a month, depending on how many minutes. All the plans include unlimited data for e-mail and Internet. When I went through it I was unable to move my current mobile phone number to the device, but Apple tells me that this will be implemented by the time the phone launches on Friday. (read more…)

Ban On Female Genital Cutting – Clitoridectomy – In Egypt

A legal loophole that permitted girls to undergo genital cutting, or clitoridectomy, has been closed by a new Egyptian law, Reuters report. Genital cutting of girls, often referred to as female genital mutilation or circumcision, is banned in Egypt although the practice remains widespread as a rite of passage for girls and is often viewed as a way to protect their chastity. The health ministry said in a statement it had now outlawed the practice entirely after an 11-year-old girl died while undergoing the procedure at a private medical clinic. (read more…)

What is Fragile X Syndrome?

Fragile X is a family of genetic conditions, which can impact individuals and families in various ways. These genetic conditions are related in that they are all caused by gene changes in the same gene, called the FMR1 gene. (read more…)

CIA gives up the ‘Family Jewels’

The Central Intelligence Agency violated its charter for 25 years until revelations of illegal wiretapping, domestic surveillance, assassination plots, and human experimentation led to official investigations and reforms in the 1970s, according to declassified documents posted today on the Web by the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden announced today that the Agency is declassifying the full 693-page file amassed on CIA’s illegal activities by order of then-CIA director James Schlesinger in 1973–the so-called “family jewels.” Only a few dozen heavily-censored pages of this file have previously been declassified, although multiple Freedom of Information Act requests have been filed over the years for the documents. Gen. Hayden called the file “a glimpse of a very different time and a very different Agency.” The papers are scheduled for public release on Monday, June 25.

Download the declassified documents | Read more

Carrie Underwood and Kevin Eubanks named “world’s sexiest vegetarians”

Underwood, 24, a Grammy-winning country singer, won the title in 2005. Eubanks, 49, leader of NBC’s “Tonight Show” band, is a newcomer to the winner’s circle. Eubanks leapt ahead of his competitors with help from Jay Leno, who encouraged viewers to vote for Eubanks and “bring honor” to the late-night NBC talk show. (read more…)

I’ll sue you because I am an irresponsible prick

I am so over people suing other people for some miserable reasons. The last “big case” is this guy suing some Asian dry cleaner for $57 million because he was not satisfied with the service…. Come on people… Don’t be so fucking stupid!

I cannot stand people suing other people for such reasons. We all know the case of the smoker’s widow suing Philip Morris because her husband died of lung cancer. That makes me so freaking angry. Or people trying to sue the video game company because their son killed someone after playing a video game….

I think the main problem here is that people are not responsible enough. People are always trying to blame somebody else for their own mistake. In the case of the dead smoker, if I was the judge, I would say:

Madam, your husband died because he smoked too much. He should have known smoking would damage his health and if he didn’t know that, well, he probably was fucking stupid. Now you are trying to make money out of this, you should be ashame of yourself for monetizing your husband’s death.

In the case of the video game company, I would tell the parents that they are responsible for being such terrible parents and not being able to educate their child on what’s good/bad, real/fantasy.

Hey you people, be responsible for your own acts, stop blaming others for your mistakes or for the consequences of your acts.

Roy L. Pearson, worldwide symbol of legal abuse

A judge ruled Monday that no pair of pants is worth $54 million, rejecting a lawsuit that took a dry cleaner’s promise of “Satisfaction Guaranteed” to its most litigious extreme. Roy L. Pearson became a worldwide symbol of legal abuse by seeking jackpot justice from a simple complaint – that a neighborhood dry cleaners lost the pants from a new suit and tried to give him a pair that were not his. (read more…)

Prince William And Kate Middleton Dating Again

Following their April split after dating for five years, Prince William and former girlfriend Kate Middleton have resumed their relationship, according to widespread coverage in British newspapers on Sunday. The two, both 25, attended a party earlier this month at an army barracks where William is posted as an army officer, say the reports. (read more…)

Melanie Brown, her baby, Eddie Murphy and the Spice Girls

Talk of a Spice Girl reunion has swirled for weeks – boosted by Sporty Spice herself – and yesterday the vivacious five said they would make an announcement on Thursday about their “future.” VICTORIA BECKHAM, MELANIE CHISHOLM, GERI HALLIWELL, EMMA BUNTON and MELANIE BROWN formed the Spice Girls in 1994 and became a global hit before splitting in 2001. They sold more than 30 million albums and topped charts around the world before Posh, Scary, Sporty, Baby and Ginger decided to pursue solo careers with differing levels of success. Meanwhile, a DNA test has confirmed actor-comedian EDDIE MURPHY is the father of the newborn daughter of Melanie Brown, People magazine reported. Brown, 32, gave birth to Angel Iris Murphy Brown in April and listed Murphy as the father on the child’s birth certificate. (read more)