Weekly Roundup – 7/15/12

I’m going to do a condensed version. I didn’t spend a lot of time reading the news this week.

Penn State blamed over Jerry Sandusky sex abuse
Louis Freeh’s report, released on Wednesday, laid much blame in the hands of four of Penn State’s “most powerful people”: President Graham Spanier, Vice-President Gary Schultz, athletic director Tim Curley and head football coach Joe Paterno.

They “failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade. These men concealed Sandusky’s activities from the Board of Trustees, the university community and authorities,” Mr Freeh wrote.

The four men, including the university president, knew that Sandusky was under investigation by university police of allegations of child sex abuse on campus as early as 1998.

It’s easy to look back now and say that.

Boston ranks 19th worst in traffic gridlock study
According to TomTom, a manufacturer of GPS navigation devices, Boston is the 19th most congested city in North America, behind such cities as Vancouver and Miami. The company’s Congestion Index report for the first quarter of the year, which surveyed 26 North American cities, found the absolute worst traffic is in Los Angeles.

On average, Boston commutes take 16 percent longer than they would if traffic were flowing freely — like in the middle of the night. In the evening rush, however, Boston commutes take 35 percent more time than they do when everything is moving well, according to the TomTom report.

By comparison, Los Angeles commutes take an average of 33 percent longer than they would in free-flowing traffic and a whopping 77 percent longer during evening rush hour.
My commute isn’t too bad.

China’s Video Sites Ordered to Censor Content
If you run a video website in China, you will now be charged with a daunting task: watch all your content and censor out any questionable content before posting.

China’s new online video censorship rules came this week via the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), China’s official broadcast regulation bureau. SARFT made the pre-screening policy known through a statement released to Chinese press that was later reported on by The Register.

Chinese video websites can be held legally liable if they fail to comply with the self-screening and censorship policy.

Ouch.

Weekly Roundup – 6/17/12 & 6/24/12

I’m combining these two weeks because I didn’t spend too much time reading stories on the web. 😦

Virginia/US
Dad changing tire on I-95, dies in front of 2 children
Police said Steven Ridley, age 35, was stopped on the right shoulder changing a flat tire on a 2010 Chrysler 300M, when Robert M. Krill, of Pennsylvania, ran off the right side of the roadway in his U-Haul and struck Ridley and his vehicle.

Ridley died at the scene. Police said his vehicle’s hazard lights were activated.

Police said that Ridley’s 14 year-old son was outside the vehicle assisting his father when the crash occurred. He was not injured.

Ridley’s nine-year-old daughter, who was seated inside the vehicle in the front passenger seat, suffered minor injuries and was transported to VCU Medical Center.

I can’t imagine what his children must be going through. It’s so sad.

GOP convention held in Richmond
The GOP also tried to unify their party, especially after a vote this week by the GOP’s State Central Committee. They decided to change their method for choosing candidates for statewide elections in 2013 from an open primary to a convention.

I wonder how this will play out.

Judge: Sandusky defense can call experts on personality disorder
Lawyers for Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach accused of systemic sexual abuse of boys, are expected to begin presenting their client’s case next week, when the high-profile trial resumes.

When they do, they will be able to call experts to testify about whether Sandusky suffers from Histrionic Personality Disorder, thanks to a judge’s ruling Friday.

He definitely has a twisted mind/personality for sure.

For Many Immigrants, Policy Offers Joy and Relief
For many immigrants here, especially students like Ms. Sochitl, Mr. Obama’s announcement on Friday of his plan to offer work permits to some illegal immigrants under 30 years old who came to the United States before age 16, unleashed a wave of joy and relief, undercut with wariness about if and how the policy might be implemented. The policy does not grant any permanent legal status.

I think it’s good news, especially since a lot of these people didn’t have a choice.

Rodney King dead at 47
Rodney King, whose beating by Los Angeles police in 1991 was caught on camera and sparked riots after the acquittal of the four officers involved, was found dead in his swimming pool Sunday, authorities and his fiancee said. He was 47.

RIP Rodney King.

Gas prices break below $3.00 at multiple SWVA gas stations
According to the GasBuddy.com price finder, stations in Troutville, Fancy Gap, and Collinsville are each at $2.99 or $2.98.

Wow, that’s cheap! I wish gas prices were like that around here. I don’t want to drive 4 hours for cheap gas.

Details of the Jerry Sandusky verdict
After nearly 21 hours of deliberations, the jury in the trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky reached a verdict Friday night. It found him guilty of 45 of 48 counts.

There originally were 52 charges against Sandusky. On Thursday, Judge John Cleland announced that three of the counts were dismissed, and earlier this week a fourth charge was withdrawn by prosecutors, bringing the total number of charges to 48.

Thank goodness.

World
Egypt awaits presidential election results
The results are due in the coming hours, after the election commission heard appeals by the two candidates.

Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq have both claimed victory and vowed to form unity governments.

Thousands of their supporters spent the night in the centre of Cairo amid increasing political polarisation.

Correspondents say the atmosphere has been peaceful, but tense.

Political divide. What else is new?

Daredevil Takes a Successful Walk Across a Popular Void
Mr. Wallenda, in a red shirt, seemed to float over the roiling waters beneath him. Shortly after 10:30 p.m., as he neared the end, the crowd of roughly 100,000 people in Canada roared; Mr. Wallenda took a knee, pumped a fist, and ran a few steps to the end. He hugged his family and then called his 84-year-old grandmother to assure her that he was all right.

That’s awesome! Way to go.

Japan to restart first nuclear reactors since tsunami
Japan’s government on Saturday approved bringing the country’s first nuclear reactors back online since last year’s earthquake and tsunami led to a nationwide shutdown, going against wider public opinion that is opposed to nuclear power after Fukushima.

Oh boy, this doesn’t look good.

Health
Deadly bubonic plague found in Oregon: Back to the Middle Ages?
A man has been hospitalized in Oregon who is believed to be suffering from the black plague, a disease that killed about one-third of the population of Europe during the Middle Ages.

The unidentified man in his 50s became ill several days after being bitten when he tried to get a mouse out of the mouth of a stray cat, according to OregonLive.com. The man was listed in critical condition in a Bend hospital on Tuesday.

Oh my goodness! I hope he will be ok.

Technology/Social Media
Nokia to provide incoming Seton Hall University freshman with Lumia 900
Nokia on Tuesday announced a new partnership with Seton Hall University that will see all incoming freshman receive a Lumia 900 smartphone. The handset will be equipped with SHUmobile, an app available across multiple platforms that provides access to campus news feeds, directories and maps. The Lumia 900s offered by the school will also have access to a custom Freshmen Experience section that allows users to communicate with their freshmen peers, academic advisers, roommates and to view housing information. The university will use Nokia Data Gather to conduct polls and gather other information from the students. The entire class of 2016 will receive a Nokia Lumia 900 with free service from AT&T for the fall semester, but they must foot the bill or rely on Wi-Fi networks after the semester ends.

Nice. Good way to move forward with technology.

Flirting App Under Fire, After Three Children Are Raped
Skout, a fast-growing and free flirting app for iOS, has come under fire recently, after it was discovered that a third child was raped by a man posing as a teenager in the app’s separate section for 13- to 17-year-olds.

Ew.

Ethiopia clamps down on Skype and other internet use on Tor
Users already face up to 15 years in jail if they use Skype or similar internet call services.

“The Ethiopian government is trying to attack every means of information exchange,” Ambroise Pierre from the Reporters Without Borders Africa service told BBC News.

“There’s already a very strict control over written press, and last year several journalists were arrested, and now the government is tackling communications over the internet.

Wow, that’s harsh.

Can living without the web increase the social divide?
One third of all Americans – 100 million people – have not adopted broadband at home. In South Korea and Singapore adoption rates top 90%, according to a 2010 study by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

And there is a growing divide between the digital haves and have-nots: Less than one third of the poorest Americans have adopted broadband, while more than 90% of the richest have adopted, says Digital Nation 2011, a US government report.

It’s hard to even function without the internet.

Facebook Now Lets You Edit Comments
But starting Thursday the site is also now offering the ability to edit your comment — and change that pappy back to the puppy you intended in the first place. The edit option appears in the form of a small pencil icon on the right side of your comment. Clicking on the pencil will bring up a drop-down menu the option to edit your comment as well as the option to delete it entirely.

Finally.

Kyck: the Social Network for Soccer Fans
Launched as a website last summer and iOS app [iTunes link] in April, Kyck lets you follow and be followed by other users and get content delivered based on the teams and players you support. Following users means their posts — whether photos, comments on live matches or takes on club or international squads — are delivered to a stream that resembles something of a cross between Twitter and Tumblr feeds.

You can tag your own posts by player or team so that they’re filtered into specific conversations. A Top Kycks section, meanwhile, delivers content the app’s algorithm deems most relevant to you for quick browsing according to the favorites you list in your profile. Checking in to specific club or international matches means you get game updates and stats delivered within the app or via push notification.

That’s pretty cool.

LinkedIn Slapped With $5 Million Lawsuit Over Password Breach
The news just keeps getting worse for LinkedIn. The social network for work professionals is being sued for $5 million after more than 6 million of its users’ passwords were leaked online earlier this month.

Katie Szpyrka, a LinkedIn user from Illinois, filed the lawsuit. She claims LinkedIn deceived its more than 160 million members by having a security policy “in clear contradiction of accepted industry standards for database security.” Szpyrka is seeking class-action status for the suit.
Ouch.

Bill C-11 passes Commons, allowing for U.S.-style copyright law
Bill C-11 passed a final vote at third reading on Monday night, bringing Canadians one step closer to SOPA-like regulation of their media consumption. According to the CBC, the bill was immediately introduced to the Senate after passing the vote, and will likely be sped through the Senate review process, meaning it stands a good chance of becoming law in the coming month.
Regular readers of The Right Click are likely quite familiar with what the copyright bill will mean to Canadians: Bill C-11 would allow rights holders to include ‘digital locks’ on their content, which includes music, video, e-books and software. Users can make copies for personal backups, but all other duplication could result in fines for doing so.

Oh boy… a bunch of Canadians won’t be happy about this.

Business/Money
Super Size It: McMansions Making a Comeback
Reverting back to a “bigger is better” mentality, interest in mega-mansions 3,200 square feet and larger has almost doubled from a year ago, according to new data from real estate website Trulia. About 11 percent of today’s house hunters say they want their own McMansions, up from just 6 percent last year.

How can people afford houses like these? I can’t even begin to fathom.

Entertainment
‘Call Me Maybe’ Tops 100 Million Views
Thanks in no small part to numerous tributes, Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” is up to 120 million views on YouTube. According to YouTube Trends, the video, which was released in February, has picked up momentum over the last few weeks as well, topping 100 million sometime this month.

Wow, that’s a lot of views.

Sports
Thunder face tough choices after loss in NBA Finals
The Thunder enter the offseason with coach Scott Brooks’ contract about to expire, Sixth Man of the Year James Harden and NBA blocks leader Serge Ibaka eligible for new deals and the future of veterans Derek Fisher and Nazr Mohammed up in the air.

It will be up to general manager Sam Presti to determine whether they all can still fit on a team where All-Stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are already locked into expensive, long-term deals.

It doesn’t look good for the Thunder.

Weekly Roundup – 4/22/12

Virginia/US

Shuttle Discovery retires with Washington flypast
Discovery flew over the monuments along the National Mall in Washington DC at about 10:00 EST (14:00 GMT).

Piggy-backing on a modified Boeing 747, Discovery was flying at an altitude of about 1,500ft (457m), Nasa said.

The shuttle programme ended in 2011. Discovery will be on show at the Air and Space Museum in Virginia.

I wish I gotten up early enough to see it.

George Zimmerman Tells Trayvon Martin’s Parents ‘I Am Sorry’
George Zimmerman stunned a Florida court today by taking the stand and apologizing to the parents of Trayvon Martin, who were sitting in the courtroom during Zimmerman’s bond hearing.

“I am sorry for the loss of your son. I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am. I did not know if he was armed or not,” Zimmerman said addressing Martin’s family directly.

His surprising testimony came the same day that ABC News exclusively obtained a photograph showing the bloodied back of Zimmerman’s head, which was apparently taken three minutes after he shot and killed Martin. The photo could give credence to Zimmerman’s claim that Martin had bashed his head against the concrete as Zimmerman fought for his life.

The release of this photo certainly helps Zimmerman and his defense, but it still doesn’t answer who initiated the confrontation.

World

Norway killer sharpened aim by playing video game
Anders Behring Breivik knew it would take practice to be able to slaughter dozens of people before being shot by police. In a chilling account, the far-right fanatic claimed that he sharpened his aim by playing the video game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” for hours on end.

Breivik told an Oslo court on Thursday he also took steroids to build physical strength and meditated to “de-emotionalize” himself before the bombing and shooting rampage that left 77 people dead. He figured he had no more than a 5 percent chance of not being killed by police.

His lack of remorse and matter-of-fact description of weapons and tactics — he even considered using a flame thrower — were deeply disturbing to families of the victims, most of whom were teenagers.

I wonder what drove him to randomly kill people. Crazy. I’m not against video games, but some people should definitely stay away from them.

Entertainment

Dick Clark: ‘American Bandstand’ Host and TV Icon Dies at 82
Legendary TV host and producer Dick Clark died Wednesday of a massive heart attack at the age of 82.

According to his publicist, Clark had entered St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica last night for an outpatient procedure. Attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful.”

RIP Dick. New Year’s Eve won’t be the same without you.

Technology/Social Media

Olympics Unveil Social Media Hub to Connect Athletes and Fans
The Olympic Athletes’ Hub aggregates the verified social media feeds of more than 1,000 current and former Olympians. It will post content directly from their Facebook and Twitter accounts and incorporate a gamification layer incentivizing fans to interact with the site. Users will be able to access exclusive training-tips videos and gain virtual and real-world prizes according to how many athletes they like and follow online.

“Another interesting thing that might come out of the hub is that Olympic Athletes will be able to connect not only with their fans but with each other before, during and after the Games are over, if they so desire,” IOC social media head Alex Huot told Mashable in an email. “If we take a step back we have a pretty cool scenario of fans connecting with athletes, athletes connecting with athletes and the IOC becomes a platform of sorts connecting everybody together.”

This is awesome because I’d love to see the athletes engage with their fans.

How ‘Liquidmetal’ Could Give the Next iPhone Its Special Swagger
Liquidmetal was discovered at the California Institute of Technology in 1992. It’s a class of patented amorphous metal alloys (basically metallic glass) with unique properties including high strength, high wear resistance against scratching and denting, and a good strength-to-weight ratio. Apple was granted rights to use it in August of 2010.

“Liquidmetal allows precision parts to be fabricated similar to plastic injection molding, but with similar properties to metal,” IHS senior principal analyst Kevin Keller said.

I can’t wait to get my hands on this.

Sports

PSU pays Paterno estate $5.5M-plus
A breakdown provided by Penn State included the use by Paterno’s family of a Beaver Stadium suite for 25 years and $900,000 from television and radio revenue from last season. Half the broadcast revenues were paid in February, and the rest will be paid later this year, the school said.

The university also said it would pay the coach’s widow, Sue Paterno, $1,000 a month for life, and provide her with on-campus parking and access to university hydrotherapy equipment.

Other elements of the package include a final paycheck of $34,000, a death benefit of $51,000 and $350,000 — payable over five years — under a 1986 consulting agreement. The university also agreed to forgive $350,000 in outstanding loans and debt. No explanation was provided regarding Paterno’s debts to the school.

While the school said in a news release the total value of the package was “over $5.5 million,” added together the various elements are worth about $6.7 million. The stadium suite was valued at $1.5 million.

I’m glad that Penn State is paying their dues to the former coach and his family.

Fenway at 100: Love it, revere it, blow it up
Two years later, damn near to the day, a new Boston place of business opened its gates to the public. April 20, 1912, turned out to be a big day in that city’s history, even if most of the folks from the Fenway district 100 years ago were still talking about a big tub in the Atlantic that went down with poor Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet on it.

I am pleased to acknowledge that Fenway Park’s centennial is upon us. I am less pleased to confess that — at the risk of offending any Red Sox fan who feels as if you have just spat on his or her great-grandfather’s grave — what I love about Fenway is, to be perfectly frank with you, nothing.

I really want to visit Fenway when I go to Boston in November.

Business/Money
Prepaid Cards Double As Student IDs On College Campuses
These student IDs grant students access to campus buildings and let them check out library books, have campus meals, pay for laundry and go to the gym. Since the cards are offered by prominent lenders, they can be used to pay for products at retailers that accept those cards.

North Carolina State University announced on Wednesday that it is partnering with U.S. Bank to give the Wolfpack One Card to incoming freshmen this fall. Current students, faculty and staff can pay $10 to get the new card.

Unlike most prepaid cards, the Wolfpack One Card has no monthly fees, no fees for point-of-sale purchases, no fees for withdrawals at U.S. Bank ATMs, no enrollment fees for new students, and no minimum balance to keep the account active, according to the press release and the WSJ.

This definitely makes it easier for students to manage all of their cards. I don’t know about you, but I have so many cards in my wallet. I wish Virginia Tech did something like this.

Jerry Sandusky Interview with Bob Costas

There has been an enormous amount of news coverage surrounding the Penn State child abuse sex scandal.  Jerry Sandusky, the man accused of 40 counts of sexual abuse, finally revealed his side of the story.

He agreed to have a phone interview with NBC sportscaster Bob Costas, which was aired last Monday on Rock Center.

Sandusky claimed he showered with boys, but is innocent of all charges.

A grand jury report was released earlier this month citing the allegations against Sandusky, which dates back to the mid-1990s.  He denied any activity of a sexual encounter.

“I could say that I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids, I have showered after workouts. I have hugged them, and I have touched their legs without intent of sexual contact,” he said.

In 2002, a Nittany Lions graduate assistant claimed he allegedly saw Sandusky raping a young boy in the showers.  Again, Sandusky denied the incident took place.

Sandusky eventually contradicted himself saying, “I shouldn’t have showered with those kids.”

Near the end of the interview, Costas dropped the bomb on Sandusky.  “Are you sexually attracted to underage boys?”

Sandusky’s response: “Am I sexually attracted to underage boys?” said Sandusky. “Sexually attracted…no I enjoy young people. I love to be around them. I…but no, I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.”

This interview is a PR disaster for Sandusky.  I think it caused him more damage to his image.  It just confirms what the public already thinks of him.

Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLqz7syHZRI&feature=player_embedded (embedding disabled)