Posts by Tim Stevens at Switched

The Transparent Weatherman: Why Not to Wear Green on TV

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 5th 2009 at 2:14PM

If you've never been in a television studio before, there's a reason why television 'green screens' have that name -- they're actually green. Computers replace anything close to the color with a background image and, hey presto, the weather forecast is magically displayed behind your overly chipper local weather personality. What happens if you should accidentally wear the same color tie? Why, you appear to have a hole in your chest, as in the video above.

Watch it through and you'll hear the flustered forecaster say: "dude we just made YouTube." We're not sure about his meteorology skills, but he certainly got that prediction right. [From: BuzzFeed]

Man Calls OnStar for Help, Gets Arrested for Drunk Driving

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 5th 2009 at 12:01PM

If you've ever been in an accident you've probably wished that you had someone there to help you get everything figured out -- call the police, line up a tow truck, etc. That's exactly the sort of help that GM's OnStar service offers, all conveniently piped through a friendly blue button on the rear-view mirror. The service connects you directly to an operator. But, when one man called for help on January 1st after getting stuck, he got more than he bargained for -- he got arrested.

22-year-old Paul W. Sinker III of Stroudsbourg, PA got his car mired in the mud early on New Year's Day after an evening of partying. He called OnStar for assistance and, after the police were called, things went downhill for him. He was given a field sobriety test and subsequently arrested. Next time, we hope he'll just call a cab -- or a tow truck. [From: Autoblog]

Workers Return to Inboxes Full of Spam

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 5th 2009 at 10:10AM

For those of you lucky enough to take a few weeks off at the end of the year, today may very well be your first day back to the office. If so, chances are it isn't just a case of the Mondays that's got you down this morning -- you may have found that your inbox didn't take any time off, and is now bursting to capacity with unwanted spam.

It's being dubbed a "spamalanch" by communications consulting firm Expert Messaging, who estimate that e-mail power users may have over 3,000 unread messages awaiting them this morning, 70-percent of which would be spam. That's a daunting prospect, but it seems a bit unrealistic to us -- who could really go two weeks without at least checking their e-mail? [From: Mail Online]

IBM Exec Believes Gaming Good for Developing Leadership Skills

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 2nd 2009 at 1:56PM

Games Help Kids Develop Real-World Skills

Still on the fence about whether video games offer good real-world experience and lessons for kids, despite the many studies that report findings to the contrary? If so, an executive at IBM would like to change your mind, as he firmly believes that gaming is good for children, including his own.

David Laux, a Global Executive for IBM in charge of their interactive entertainment division, thinks that video games teach children valuable lessons, and refers to his own 11-year-old daughter's experience playing 'Zoo Tycoon,' a game that tasks players with managing the day-to-day tasks at a zoo. While playing that game she has to not only worry about keeping the creatures alive, but keeping the grounds clean, the employees happy, and of course customers streaming in the front gates. It's a complex mix of prioritizing and budget-minding, skills that he says are "directly transferable to a real life environment."

Continue reading IBM Exec Believes Gaming Good for Developing Leadership Skills

New Study Reveals GPS Navigation Systems Often Give Poor Directions

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 2nd 2009 at 12:01PM

British Automobile Association Recommends Caution while Using GPS

Do you have an in-car GPS navigation system? If so, do you find yourself relying on the thing a little too much? Maybe watching its LCD when you should instead be looking out the windshield? You're not alone, with a recent study from the British Automobile Association finding that 55-percent of GPS users find the devices distracting, and a similar number have been given poor directions.

The survey was among 7,380 U.K. motorists, among whom 40-percent have a satellite navigation system in their cars. Because of the poll's less than stellar findings, the association is recommending caution when people use the devices, lest you wind up adrift in a river, or playing chicken with a freight train. [From: Mail Online]

Next >> The Ten Best Road Trip Gadgets

Collectible Video Games Made Worthless by Digital Re-Releases

by Tim Stevens, posted Dec 31st 2008 at 3:24PM

If you own a Wii, Xbox 360, or PS3, and you haven't tried any of the many downloadable games that they offer, you're seriously missing out! Each system has a collection of fun and simple games available to download, usually for $10 or less. Many are new, but a large number of them are re-releases of classic titles, and some of of those were games that had become quite rare. That's good news for those who missed a chance to own them the first time around, but bad news for serious game collectors.

Certain games, like the Dreamcast title Rez HD, had been selling for upwards of $50, the same as new despite being a 10-year-old game, but after the game was re-released electronically for the 360 those games are now going for just $15 or less. That's more than it would cost to download the game, but not by much, and a huge loss for anyone who was hoping to retire on a box full of classic titles. Surely there will always be some willing to pay extra to get the original games in their original format, but clearly they are in the minority. [From: arstechnica]

Next >> Top 11 Geek T-Shirts

Gangsters Finding Fans on Facebook

by Tim Stevens, posted Dec 31st 2008 at 1:46PM

Do you have friends on Facebook? Sure, we all do. How about fans, though? If you're a person of some notoriety, you can create what's called a "Page" on the site dedicated to yourself, and other Facebook users can sign up to show their adoration for all things you. All sorts of people have created pages for themselves and for others -- including some shady characters, like mafiosos who have become unusually popular on the site.

One such person is Italian Salvatore "Totò" Riina, who is serving 12 life sentences after being convicted of over 100 counts of murder. Yet this man has nearly 3,000 fans on his Facebook page. Other shady figures are similarly popular. Disconcerting? Yes, a bit, but we're happy to report that Mother Theresa is also quite popular on the site, having nearly 100,000 fans. [From: The New York Times]

30GB Zunes Mysteriously Failing

by Tim Stevens, posted Dec 31st 2008 at 12:00PM

The Zunes are failing! The Zunes are failing!

Do you have a Zune 30? If so, does the thing look something like the above? That is to say, stuck at a loading bar and completely non-functional? If so, you are not alone. We've been flooded with tips about users whose 30GB players started locking up at midnight last night, essentially bricking themselves without any help from their owners. The failures are coming 24-hours ahead of the big '09 changeover, but that hasn't stopped Zune aficionados from dubbing this unfortunate flaw "Z2K." No official word yet from Microsoft, but we're guessing a made-for-TV doomsday movie staring Lewis Gossett Jr. can't be too far off. Trailer after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading 30GB Zunes Mysteriously Failing

Man Turns to YouTube to Stop Public Urination

by Tim Stevens, posted Dec 31st 2008 at 10:25AM

Have you ever been waiting for a cab after a long, inebriated night and felt a sudden urge to relieve yourself? If so, did you do so right there on the curb, or did you wait until you got home? If you just couldn't wait, you'd better watch the above video, because that could be you, posted on the Internet for all to see!

The video was posted by a shop owner in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, whose business is located near the bar district. When the bars shut down for the night, the patrons are given the boot onto the street, and while we commend them for waiting on taxis rather than drying to drive home, how they choose to empty their bladders is causing concerns.

The shop owner, frustrated by the city's government not doing anything to help discourage the practice, has started posting these videos online in the hopes that people will be humiliated enough to hold it until they get home, or think to make a pit stop before heading for the door. But, if YouTube won't stop people from stealing, we're not too sure it'll help here, either. [From: FoxNews.com]

Embarrassing Online Photos: Not Going Away Anytime Soon

by Tim Stevens, posted Dec 31st 2008 at 9:35AM

More Online Embarassment To Come Before Lessons are Learned

Remember the tale of Kevin Colvin? He was an intern who called in sick, only to be caught lying to his boss thanks to pictures of himself attending a party posted on his Facebook page. Colvin was famously called out by his boss, and then fired, leaving many shaking their heads and wondering how someone could do something so stupid. The answer, according to columnist Helen A. S. Popkin at least, is evolution -- or the lack thereof.

Popkin makes the case that we're simply not used to the ramifications of our online behaviors because it's all too new. We know instinctively, for example, to not go taunting grizzly bears or jumping from tall places, but sharing pictures of ourselves online is something new, exciting, and, as we're increasingly learning, equally dangerous. Unfortunately it's going to take a long time before you get that same queasy feeling in your stomach before posting that you might get before taking a leap from a high diving board, so until then keep reading and keep laughing -- you're learning something. [From: MSNBC]

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