Information Technology is used in our everyday lives and in more ways than most people probably even realize.
Technology has completely taken over the world, and it’s hard to go anywhere or do anything without using technology in some form or another along the way.
It is what allows us to communicate with our friends and family members who live around the globe. It is a way to keep track of information for businesses as well as personal, everyday use. As technology advances, we are able to access and send information from all kinds of devices such as cell phones, E-Readers and even portable gaming consoles. Devices are all starting to become very similar these days, and it’s really bringing the world together quite nicely. One day, it wouldn’t surprise us if we only needed a single device to get everything done for us. This could include starting our microwave, our car, turning on our lights at home and so forth.
Today we are going to discuss the beginnings of this Information Technology so you can get a better idea as to just how much it has changed and how far it has the potential of going. We are excited for the future because technology just seems to keep getting better and better with age. Who knows what crazy things we’ll be able to do in the near future!
It All Started with Words
Did you know technically Information Technology can be traced back to the very first printed words. Computer and Information Technology as we know it today did not come about until the 1980s. Graphical User Interfaces came about during this time, which allowed people to access their information in brand new ways. This meant the use of a screen as we know them today and the ability to maneuver and click on items to get them to do what we need. (Open and close windows, and so forth). Around this time is when color was introduced onto computers as well, which was a turning point for standard graphics; allowing users to share information like never before. In the past all that existed was a little bit of text and black and white as the only color options.
Apple and Microsoft
Both Apple and Microsoft were founded in the mid 1970s. Their rivalry made all sorts of technology upgrades possible. They were constantly trying to outdo one another with their program and system updates. Over the years, all of these updates have made many wonderful things possible including the use of 3D, an enhancement in video games and movies that many people would have never thought possible. Because of Apple and Microsoft and their amazing technology updates and advancements, there have been more changes in technology in the past 10 years than in the previous 100 years.
From Single Computers to Networks
In the past, information could only be sent and received from one computer to the next but these days, networks are commonly used. This is what allows you to communicate with people around the globe, keep in touch with your boss and upload data, which is received within a mere seconds of being sent. Networks are what allow companies to share their data to an entire group of individuals at any given time, which can be not only shared, but edited as well as saved and moved.
A World without Internet
Did you know, without Information Technology, there would be no such thing as the internet? The internet is so far reaching these days; it’s hard to imagine a world without it. I mean, the internet is not only available on computers anymore. It is also commonly on cell phones, E-Readers and many other devices as well. Could you imagine not being able to get things done on the go and randomly use Google while you are waiting somewhere for your doctor’s appointment or sitting at lunch.
What the Future Holds
It’s hard to say exactly what the future holds when it comes to Information Technology, but we have a pretty good idea. It’s going to get more and more easier to communicate. Sharing files is going to probably almost happen instantaneously. Who knows; one day you may not even need a keyboard. Some day we may just have to think something and the action will be completed on our screens right before our eyes without the need for a single button to be pressed. As long as we have companies such as Apple and Microsoft working hard for us, we are going to live in a very exciting world.
We are excited to get to experience all these changes as they occur because there is nothing quite like having a front row seat when it comes to these wonderful technological advancements.
Regina Perrie is a remarkable writer and provides consultation on IT companies. Learn more knowledgeable facts about IT companies by clicking on the mentioned link orlando it consulting companies.
Letâ??s step back in time today as I share my memories of the Vectrex 1980s gaming console.
Back when I was a kid this was the height of technology and entertained my friends and me for hours on end. The Vectrex was a vector display-based video game console that came out in 1982 and is now fast approaching its 30th Birthday â?? which makes it just a little bit younger than me!
Milton Bradley Vectrex Console
Unlike many other first generation consoles in the early 1980s this one didnâ??t connect up to the TV. Instead it came with an integrated monitor, and my main recollection was the black and white screen. If you wanted to add some color then you had to place the additional plastic screen cards over the display â?? which then gave the game you were playing a different color hue.
Vectrex Arcade System â?? Available Games
I donâ??t think they were loads of games available, but the ones I had included Minestorm. This involved rotating what looked like a jet airplane and blasting asteroid rock type things. The Vectrex games always came on a clunky cartridge which was inserted into the right hand side of the Vectrex. If you search on the WikiPedia website then you can find a list of the available original Vectrex games… here are just some of the better ones, do you remember playing any of these classics?
3D Crazy Coaster
Armor Attack
Heads Up
Mine Storm
Solar Quest
Space Wars
Web Warp
Classic Game Room Video Review of the Vectrex Console
If you want some more comprehensive detail on the Vectrex then search online for the Classic Game Room website â?? they have a superb online video review of the Vectrex 1980s Arcade System which is also available on Youtube. Check the video out on there for a real nostalgic trip down memory lane.
Download Vectrex Emulator for Windows and PC
If you no longer own your 1980s Vectrex and fancy an even bigger trip down memory lane then you will be happy to hear that itâ??s actually possible to download a Vectrex emulator for your PC. The download is available from http://vectrex-emu.blogspot.com and the author is continually making updates and additions to it. Definitely worth a try for any classic gamers out there or perhaps just someone who wants to experience some vintage 1980s arcade game play!
Buy a Classic Vectrex Gaming Console
Believe it or not you can actually still pick up a classic vintage Vectrex home arcade system to buy on Amazon. To check out how much they currently cost and purchase options then head on over to Amazon for their vintage Vectrex listings. Prices start at $150 US Dollars which I donâ??t think it too bad a price!
More Information on the MB Vectrex
For more information on the classic vintage Vectrex home arcade system then you might want to check out the excellent Vectrex Museum website. It contains history, news, screenshots, and much more dedicated to the Vectrex gaming console â?? plus includes links on where you can buy the old systems, games, parts, and accessories. All of the links and resources I have named in this article are easily found on Google.
Author Bio: James Caddy is a technology blogger in his 30s who typically reviews GPS products and the industry related to navigation companies â?? he still loves his gaming though when not contributing to GPS Bites.
Thai Ngoc is a Vietnamese insomniac. He supposedly hasnâ??t slept in 33 years; since a fever in 1973. Although he hasnâ??t been experiencing any mental problems, and is in good physical shape, he did say he was beginning to feel â??like a plant without waterâ? due to lack of sleep in 2008.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi
Yamaguchi is a Japanese man who survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings. He happened to be in Hiroshima on a business trip for Mitsubishi, when the first atomic bomb fell on August 6, 1945. Although he was two miles away he only suffered from serious burns to his upper body and a perforated eardrum. Yamaguchi spent the night in an air-raid shelter with dying people, but the next day he was already on his way back to Nagasaki. After catching a train and traveling 180 miles, he was back at work 3 days after the atomic bomb went off.
At 11 AM on August 9th, he was describing the blast in Hiroshima to his boss, when once again an atomic bomb went off. This time he was uninjured from the explosion which was approximately 2 miles away. Yamaguchi did however develop a high fever since he was unable to replace his soiled bandages.
Yamaguchi died of stomach cancer on January 4, 2010 in Nagasaki at the age of 93. About 7 years more than the average life expectancy for Japan in 2010.
Ann Elizabeth Hodges
This woman is one of the most bizarre women out there. She was napping on November 30th, 1954, 2:46 PM when a grapefruit-sized meteorite crashed through her roof, bounced off a wooden radio, and smacked her straight in the hip.
Ann was 31 years old when this happened, and although her leg was badly bruised, she was able to walk. Other than a manuscript form Tortona, Italy claiming a friar was struck by a meteorite in 1677, or another case in 1992, Ann is one of a few people to have been struck by a meteorite.
The United States Air Force sent a helicopter to take the meteorite. Annâ??s husband hired a lawyer to get it back, and Hodgeâ??s landlord also tired claiming it to cover damages to the house. The meteorite was returned a year later and the Hodgesâ??s were not able to find a buyer; they ended up donating the fragment to the Alabama Museum of Natural History.
3 Undisclosed Human Cadavers
NASA sent three human bodies into space to test for landing forces in 2008. Basically mannequins arenâ??t as accurate when it comes to determining possible human injuries during landing forces. These three selfless people who donated their bodies for science ended up being fired into space, having their bodies being tested to see if their bones would break. I donâ??t know about you, but having your body flown to space and back is pretty cool!
Itâ??s hard to know whether all three of these bodies were sent to space or were used in other tests. It is likely that bodies were sent into space to test radiation levels. Back in the 1990â??s a human skull packed with radiation sensors was flown into space for the same reason.
If anyone knows what NASA actually did with the cadavers in 2008, please let us know in the comments!
Shoichi Yokoi
Yokoi was a Japanese sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army during WWII. He was the third to last Japanese holdouts to be found hiding, 28 years after the end of hostiles in 1945.
Although he found leaflets declaring WWII had ended, he believed they were false Allied propaganda, and continued hiding in an underground jungle cave.
Yokoi was found by two local fishers on January 24, 1972 , and although he thought his life was in danger, they were able to subdue him and carry him out of the jungle. He said â??It is with much embarrassment, but I have returnedâ?, once returning to Japan; A quote that would become very popular. Yokoi received $300 in back pay, and a small pension. He died in 1997 of a heart attack at the age of 82, and was buried at Nagoya cemetery.
The second to last holdout was Hiroo Onoda. He spent 30 years holding out in the Philippines. Although he had been found, he would not leave, insisting on following his given orders. Onodaâ??s commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, flew to Lubang where he fulfilled the promise he made in 1944, â??Whatever happens, weâ??ll come back for you.â? The commanding officer gave Onoda his last orders on March 9, 1974, which were
In accordance with the Imperial command, the Fourteenth Area Army has ceased all combat activity.
In accordance with military Headquarters Command No. A-2003, the Special Squadron of Staff’s Headquarters is relieved of all military duties.
Units and individuals under the command of Special Squadron are to cease military activities and operations immediately and place themselves under the command of the nearest superior officer. When no officer can be found, they are to communicate with the American or Philippine forces and follow their directives.
Onoda than turned over his sword, Arisaka Type 99 rifle (in working condition), 500 rounds of ammunition, a dagger his mother gave to him in 1944, and several hand grenades. He was later pardoned by President Ferdinand Marcos for killing people and engaging in shootouts with the police. The last Japanese holdout was Teruo Nakamura, who was arrested on 18 December, 1974. Unless there are more hidingâ?¦..
Roy Sullivan
Sullivan was one of the most unlucky people to have lived. He was struck by lightning on seven different occasions. Sullivan was struck in a fire lookout tower, inside his car, in his front yard, in a Ranger station, during another storm, and another one, and finally when he was hit in the head while fishing on a pond.
On the last occasion when he was fishing; Sullivan went to his car when a bear tried to steal his trout from his fishing line. Sullivan did the only thing anyone would do, he picked up a stick and smacked the bear away. He claims that was the twenty-second time he hit a bear with a stick in his lifetime.
All lighting strikes were documented by the superintendent of Shenandoah National Park, R. Taylor Hoskins, and were also verified by doctors. If Sullivan was as lucky with the lottery he would have won trillions of dollars.
The chances of being struck by lightning over the period of 80 years are roughly estimated as 1:10,000. The chances of being hit 7 times on different occasions would be 1:100007. These numbers donâ??t really apply to him since he is a park ranger that worked in Virginia where thunderstorms average 35-45 days a year.
Michel Lotio
Lotio doesnâ??t require much of a back story or explanation. Iâ??ll just give you these stats and you think about them.
List of items consumed
Item
Count
Bicycle
18
Shopping cart
15
Television
7
Chandelier
6
Bed
2
Skis (pair)
1
Cessna aircraft
1
Coffin
1
A steel chain
400 m
He liked eating stuff; Stuff that required being cut into the smallest of pieces, and had to go down with mineral oil/tons of water. He claims his diet did not give him any problems when â??passingâ? the food.
Lotito died on June 25, 2007 at the age of 57, due to natural causes.
Mehran Karimi Nasseri
Nasseri lived in the departure lounge of Terminal One in Charles De Gaulle Airport from August 26 1988 until July 2006, when he was hospitalized. His biography has been published and the book inspired the movie The Terminal.
He was expelled from Iran in 1977 for protesting against the Shah. While en route to settling in the UK in 1988, his briefcase containing all his paper was stolen in Paris. When he arrived in London he was returned to France, where he was initially arrested by the French; but released as his entry was legal and he had no country of origin to be returned to.
During his 17-year long stay at Terminal 1, Nasseri blended right in with his luggage. He read, wrote in his diary, and studied economics. Nasseri received food and newspapers from employees of the airport.
Each programmer when they begin their career as a coder remembers the original platform they started with.
For me it was an Atari 400 with the membrane keyboard. I had no storage device and I used Atari BASIC as my first language. I used to type in example programs from the Atari magazines and run their little games that used player missile graphics. Programming was a lot of fun back then and I will always remember it fondly.
Years later I am no longer using the Atari, mores the pity, but a production programmer in Windows using â??Câ?? and Visual Studio. I like the new mobile device programming platforms and all of the documentation that goes with it. The following is a brief explanation of both platforms and some of their attributes.
For the Apple mobile device programmer the choice is clear. You must program on an Apple platform and use their toolset to create applications. There is no open anything and Apple controls the path you take. From the use of Objective-C as a language, to the iOS SDK and the XCode Integrated Development Environment (IDE), and finally submitting your application the App Store Apple has complete control. There are some porting technologies that allow a programmer to develop on a PC and then submit their pseudo code to them for recompiling on their Apple machines but the pricing can get out of line if you submit multiple compile jobs. In addition it is almost impossible to debug the code. If you are going to code for the Apple mobile suite of devices remain native.
Now, is this type of control bad? I donâ??t think so. Objective â??Câ?? is an excellent language and fits in well with the SDK. The XCode IDE is designed specifically of building apps and the emulation path is second to none. The app Store has controls in place to make sure that your app is clean and well written and offers the user a safe environment to purchase the app. All in all Apple, like everything, dots every â??Iâ?? and crosses every â??Tâ?? to ensure that from programmer to user their framework is implemented.
On the other hand the Android platform offers a myriad of choices for the fledgling app programmer. The path I chose was to use the Eclipse IDE for Java development which is the language used to program an Android mobile device. The website for setting up your programming environment gives detailed instructions in how to set up the Eclipse IDE. You need the Android software Development Kit, which comes with the emulator for testing your software.
Android is open source which brings with it the good and the bad. There are many tools, and a broad spectrum of documentation. Some of it is useful, some of it is bogus. To avoid any confusion always use the android developerâ??s website as ground zero.
I have been asked which platform is better for building apps and my answer is always the same. If you are trying to make a living writing mobile apps then go with Android. They have a much larger user base and are growing much faster than Apple. You can build a simple app and make good money with it. If you want to write beautiful apps in a wonderful work environment but make less money then go with Apple. The iOS programming environment is made with the coder in mind and offers a wonderful programming experience.
Who has not seen the Award Winning movie Arachnophobia where the spiders just kind of take over this house and everything in it?
That not only frightens anyone that does not like spiders. But what really messes with most people in their minds is the fact that if they see large spiders they always tend to think that they are the ones that can do the most damage to both people and animals alike and surprisingly that is not always the case.
The Goliath spider is the largest spider that scientists know of at this point. They can reach an amazing 1 foot long with fangs an inch long. Now that is a large spider if you think about it. Could you imagine if Arachnophobia was made and they had a whole house full of these large spiders now that is something that would really mess with your mind? Which is what the movie maker Frank Marshall wanted to do in the whole movie and he did it successfully most would say.
But did you know that although the Goliath spider is the â??King of large spidersâ? when a person receives a spider bite from the Goliath it is compared to a bee sting and there are no side effects for humans. However when it comes to animals the spider bite is deadly. If you think about it although the Goliath is a spider that has bad eyesight they use the hair on their bodies and the silk from their webs to let them know that they have dinner waiting for them. Once they bite in to their prey it is an automatic neurotoxin that paralyzes and kills them that way they do not have to worry about fighting to catch their meal.
So if you are ever in the rain forests of South America and would like to see one up close and personal you can find them and you can be rest assured that a spider bite from the Goliath is not going to be deadly to any human. However the one thing that you want to keep in mind is that you are going to have to wait to nightfall before you find them as they only come out at night. By doing that you are going to more than likely catch them in the act of killing their prey such as a field mouse or a small bird, which will give you first-hand experience and show you how these magnificent creatures are considered the most deadly both in their stealthy capture and how their venom and their fangs react with the animals.
Some could actually say that they are wrongfully labeled when it comes to the most dangerous spiders on the Earth. Because if you think about it they are not that dangerous to people, in reality the only thing that they are dangerous to are animals. What do you think? So knowing now what you do about the Goliath Spider do they really scare you now?
Apparently a majority of Americans. Over the last 200 years grey wolves have been almost eradicated from the lower 48 states, with only minimal numbers left in Montana, Wisconsin, Idaho and Wyoming. There are still decent populations left in Alaska and Canada, but with the current popular attitude toward the grey wolf, their livelihood is in danger.
Red Riding Hood did not help the modern view of wolves. The tales and stories of wild wolves attacking children are actually based on fact. In Europe, wolf attacks used to happen quite frequently. In France alone, between 1580 and 1830, over 3,000 people were killed by wolves, with almost 2,000 from a non-rabid wolf. In Scotland, wolves were seen as a huge threat to travelers and special houses were erected on the side of the highways for protection. During World War One, people weren’t the only ones staving. The wolves gathered in great numbers and attacked fighting forces in Russia as a source of food.
There are very few records of wolf attacks in North America. In fact, there are only two documented deaths in the 21st century, and only 49 cases of aggression towards humans since 1942. Most of these cases are seen by specialists as a result of habituation — living in close proximity to humans and thus approaching them too closely. Also, attackers tend to be lone wolves, and as wolves generally work in packs, the loners have probably been ostracized, which can explain some abnormal behavior.
Wolves are incredibly powerful creatures. The biting capacity for a wolf is 1,500 pounds of pressure per square inch. Imagine them biting through the femur of a moose in about 7 bites. To offer a comparison, the biting pressure for a german shepherd is half that, at 750 pounds per square inch, and humans are coming in low at 300 pounds per square inch.
But wolves need these incredibly powerful tools to capture and eat their prey. The main food source for grey wolves are large hoofed mammals like deer, moose, elk, caribou, oxen, and mountain goat. Working in packs, wolves will travel long distances in search of their prey, using primarily their power of scent, though they must be directly downwind to detect it. Wolves also tend to need the stimulus of a running animal to proceed with an attack. If their prey stands its ground, then the wolves either ignore it and move on, or try to intimidate it into running.
This behavior illuminates many of the documented attacks. Of the two deaths in North America, one was a jogger and the other is suspected of trying to feed the wolves. Most all other wild wolf attacks are a case of the wolf having rabies. The rest of documented attacks tend to be from wolves in captivity. Wolves may react aggressively under provocation, but these attacks are generally limited to rapid bites on arms and legs, and the wolf retreating. For everyday Americans, there is a much greater likelihood of being in a car accident caused by a deer than of having any kind of aggressive encounter with a wild wolf.
Like most things in this world, creating a â??bestâ?? list is difficult at best, since it is totally subjective: it depends on how the list creator perceives each gadget according to his experience of others. So every list creator has his own preferences which are naturally open to contention when made into a list.
Nonetheless, lists have to be made, if only to show oneâ??s preferences and expectations in the forthcoming issues, which benefits not only the consumers but more importantly, the manufacturers, who can thus fashion their new gadgets according to what end-users want. As most lists differ, here is one list of the best gadgets for 2012.
Hewlett-Packardâ??s Envy Spectre14. Released only after the CEBIT fair this year, this ultrabook is the latest in the genre of superthin (7mm), high-capacity (128GB SSD), lightweight (1.8kg), crisper display (1600×900 pixels resolution) new-generation laptops.
Sonyâ??s PlayStation Vita. This handheld gadget, the latest (8th generation)  in PlayStation series of game consoles by Sony, succeeds the PS Portable and was released mid-December last year in Japan and Asia but was made available in the Americas and Europe only February this year. It has 5-inch OLED touchscreen with 16 million colors, front and rear cameras, built-in speakers and microphone, GPS and wi-fi location support among its many features. Its processor is an ARM Cortex 4-core A9.
Lytro Light Field Camera. Â Admittedly, this is an introductory version, but of a different concept than an ordinary camera. The Lytro LFC captures the total visual depth of a scene, so that you can move your focus from one end to the other when the picture after taking it. Unlike a conventional that produces a static picture, the LFC lets you record the whole scene.
Control is literally on the tips of your fingers, which are swiped much like when using a tablet touchscreen to move focus, access the settings, toggle between Everyday/Creative modes and more. The body is a rectangular longish box, again a departure from the conventional camera body design.
4G. Essentially the evolutionary superseding forward step from 3G or third generation technology, 4G (wireless) offers still faster data transmission (up to 1gbps) that will make the storage of data in a mobile device obsolete, cloud computing a truly viable option and messaging literally instantaneous. 4G is expected to boost business, social media and video blogs to heretofore unimaginable heights.
Amazon Kindle Fire. The latest challenge to Appleâ??s iPad 2, the US$199 tablet has a 7-inch Gorilla Glass touchscreen with 1024×600 IPS display. The gadget runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, has 512 MB RAM, a 1GHz processor, 8GB storage capacity and uses Amazonâ??s proprietary Silk browser which can rival Firefox and Safari.
For many, the Kindle Fire is a refreshing alternative to iPad, Flyer, Galaxy, Tablet S and others, mostly in terms of price which is well worth it, even if the tablet is comparatively lacking in features.
Five best gadgets for 2012. But the year is ending, so what can we expect in 2013, gadget-wise? Based on these, probably some more wondrous inventions that will make these same gadgets obsolete. Let us see then.
This was a guest post from Ying from RNA Automation, a company specialising in producing vision inspection systems.
Space really is an amazing place, so impress your family and friends by knowing all these cool space facts! They will probably impress you too!
Modern aerospace started with Sir George Cayley in 1799. He designed an aircraft with a fixed wing and a horizontal and vertical tail. (This ended up being the characteristics of a modern airplane! Who would of thought that an intended space craft would turn into an airplane?!)
In the USA, the aerospace industry employs approximately 500,000 people across the nation! Now is that considered a lot bearing in mind that the USA has a population of 311,591,917!
A whole 2% accounts for the sales of US aerospace products in the gross domestic product.
US aerospace industry has the largest trade surplus of any manufacturing sector in the year 2007 with a foreign trade surplus of $61 million! Now that is definitely is a lot!
An unprotected human can survive up to 1 minute 30 seconds in space with no permanent damage to their body! That is pretty cool!
If two pieces of metal come together in space, then they will stick togetherâ?¦forever! You may be thinking this could be a problem then, how do they travel to space in a metal aircraft? On earth the atmosphere puts a layer of oxidized material between two metal surfaces; letâ??s say stainless steel springs, but in space this does not happen! But as the stainless steel springs have already been on earth they will have had the oxidized material already on!
It is a fact that we know more about space than the deep oceans! You would think that it would be the other way round!
If you shouted on top of your voice in space, the person next to you wouldnâ??t hear you! Hmm that could be interesting!
When Apollo 11â??s lunar module landed on the moon, it was just 20 seconds worth of fuel which remained in the tank! That was close!
It will cost $200,000 for the cheapest ticket to space on the Virgin Galactic! So that means if I sell my house I will almost be able to afford it!
The footprints and tyre prints on the moon which have been left from astronauts will be there forever, this is because that there is no wind in space!
If you weigh 100kg on earth, then on mars you would only weigh 38kg! Now does that count as a diet?!
George Banbury is a self acclaimed space geek who loves to learn about the fascinations of the galaxy. He currently works at http://springs.aero/ designing aerospace springs.
If youâ??ve not heard of this phenomenon before, itâ??s not goosebumps whilst listening to Barbra Streisand.
The phrase was coined after a lawsuit involving the singer. The story goes something like this: Barbra Streisand got wind that a photographer had snapped her beachside home and triedâ?? unsuccessfully â?? to sue him for $50m.
The plan backfired epically, when the image, that had been downloaded only 6 times prior to reports of the case, was downloaded 420,000 in the next month! So, where information is censored, sometimes it has the effect of making it even more publically known.
There are some really obvious examples that youâ??ll have heard about â?? that Welsh football player and Imogen whatshername from Big Brother and all the other Super Injunctions that celebrities took out to hide things that everyone knew about.
Here are some more obscure ones:
Book Burning, Wisconsin style.
Bizarrely, this kind of thing still goes on. In their own take on the â??Bonfire of the Vanitiesâ??, a group of concerned citizens in Wisconsin have been petitioning their local library for permission to burn a certain â??Baby Be-Bopâ?? book about a gay teenager. And casually throwing in a $120,000 lawsuit for â??exposureâ?? to such a book. A calm, rational local said, “We will have demonstrations if they don’t remove it,” he said. “It has to be out of the library. If that doesn’t happen, I will be out there burning.” This story made it onto ABC News, with visitor numbers to the library soaring. The main petitioner said that if fire regulations prevented the burning of the book, heâ??d be just as happy if they â??buried it, ripped it up or shredded itâ?. See? Theyâ??re not totally unreasonable folk in Wisconsin. It wonâ??t surprise you to learn that this town also tried to ban the Harry Potter books. Apparently they have the stake at the ready in case Emma Watson drops by. CC Via Flickr
Madchester Cathedral
In 2007 Sony management received a telephone call (we assume, or a memo, or an email?) to say that The Church of England (yes, that one) was trying to sue them for the inclusion of a cathedral in their PS3 game â??Resistance: Fall of Manâ?. Itâ??s a violent game and the cathedral featured was called Mangester Cathedral. Mangester?? Isnâ??t that up the road from Liderpool and a bit further south than Chewcastle? The Church wanted an apology, which they got. They also wanted Sony to remove the game from shops. It didnâ??t. The publicity on the back of this alliterative mishap has helped make this game one of the most successful PS3 exclusive games of all time.
And finallyâ?¦ Never Seconds
When 9 year old Martha Payne, from Argyll, Scotland, started her blog about her school dinners no-one couldâ??ve expected much interest. After all, school dinners arenâ??t that interesting, and her rating system of healthiness, how many mouthfuls it takes to eat, pieces of hair doesnâ??t sound particularly enthralling. With TVâ??s cheflebrity Jamie Oliver endorsing it as â??shocking but inspirationalâ?? it soon became a big hit. The local council decided it wasnâ??t on, however, and banned her blog. The press had a field day with this and critics lamented the councilâ??s pathetic grasp on the power of social networking. The ban was soon overturned and Martha and friends have overhauled the local school meals and gone on to raise £113,000 for Maryâ??s Meals â?? feeding children in Africa. So, censorship backfired but led to great things. Everyoneâ??s a winner. CC Via Flickr
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Sonyâ??s PlayStation Vita. This handheld gadget, the latest (8th generation)  in PlayStation series of game consoles by Sony, succeeds the PS Portable and was released mid-December last year in Japan and Asia but was made available in the Americas and Europe only February this year. It has 5-inch OLED touchscreen with 16 million colors, front and rear cameras, built-in speakers and microphone, GPS and wi-fi location support among its many features. Its processor is an ARM Cortex 4-core A9.
Amazon Kindle Fire. The latest challenge to Appleâ??s iPad 2, the US$199 tablet has a 7-inch Gorilla Glass touchscreen with 1024×600 IPS display. The gadget runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, has 512 MB RAM, a 1GHz processor, 8GB storage capacity and uses Amazonâ??s proprietary Silk browser which can rival Firefox and Safari.
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