Tag Archives: technology

For some reason I get a lot of PR requests from iPhone app developers, but this one seems pretty cute. We’ve always suspected what your plans were: destroy marriage, recruit children and do lots of cardio. Well, here’s the proof: My Gay Agenda is a first-class personal calendar application and hilarious take on what the well-organized “Velvet Mafia” operative would …

The federal government is considering legislation that would make the installation of anti-DUI devices mandatory for the vehicles of anybody convicted of drunk driving. The driver must blow into the tube and register a legal level for the vehicle to start. The current version of a federal transportation funding bill, which could be debated by Congress this fall, requires all …

The NYPD is still using typewriters for some of their reports. And spending up to $1M a year to do so. Public records show that the city signed a $432,900 contract for typewriter maintenance with Afax Business Machines in 2008, as well as a $99,570 contract with that company in 2009. Typewriter company Swintec received a $982,269 contract from the …

My sturdy digicam finally died this weekend, but I’m ungrumbling this because it was a great little tank-like machine that withstood over three years of disco fog, humid bike rides, rain-soaked leather fairs, and being dropped into the gutters of New York, Berlin, and San Francisco. (Also one toilet, but that’s another story.) Feel free to offer suggestions for a …

Last month Microsoft challenged Google with their own search engine, the (as of yet) little used Bing. Today Google fired back with the announcement of their own operating system. Saying current operating systems were designed for a time when there was no World Wide Web, Google Inc. said Wednesday it will develop a new one based on its Chrome browser. …

According to Scouting NY, there are four outdoor phone booths left in Manhattan and they’re all on West End Avenue. Of course, few of the kiosk-style pay phones actually work, but the city keeps them for the ad revenue panels.

Some Star Trek buffs are pissed after paying $17 to see the movie in IMAX at AMC’s flagship Times Square megaplex, only to find a normal size screen. The flap really got rolling earlier this week when actor/comedian Aziz Ansari went ballistic on his blog, describing how AMC management refused to refund his ticket. The CEO of IMAX has weighed …

The number of Americans who don’t own a landline now exceeds the number who don’t own a cellphone. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey released Wednesday said that fully 20 percent of U.S. households only had cell phones in the second half of 2008. That’s a three point increase since the first half of 2008–a big jump, statistically …

Wingnutistan is up in arms (again!) because the 2010 Census will include GPS data for the front doors every American home. Via World Net Daily: “GPS coordinates of your front door will make it easier for the government to monitor you. The U.S. Census Bureau is simply an excuse – a harmless looking means of obtaining the front door coordinates. …

The Washington Post writes about the latest iPhone app which uses the device’s geolocation function so homos can find other homos that happen to be nearby. We’ve seen a handful of dating applications that cater to the straight community, and today brings the launch of Grindr (iTunes Link), one of the first iPhone applications geared towards gay and bisexual men. …

YouTube users in the UK cannot see music videos at the moment, thanks to another breakdown between Google and the major music publishers. Google Inc. said Monday it will block U.K. users from watching music videos on its popular video-sharing site YouTube after negotiations with Britain’s music royalty-collecting body broke down. Google said it would begin blocking British users starting …

Coolest thing I’ve seen in ages. Mind blowing, even. (Via – Andrew Sullivan)

To mark what was supposed to have been the launch of digital television nationwide, last night’s 20th season debut episode of The Simpsons broadcast in HD for the first time. And it’s the first time the show has made major changes to the opening sequence since the show began. You’ll note that the family now has a flat-screen TV and …

Amazon is unveiling the second generation of its Kindle ebook device today. Details are sketchy at the moment, but CNET predicts a few changes. What the final product will look like is unknown, but if a new Kindle is launched Monday it’s easy to imagine it will be lighter, slimmer, and have an updated look. The original design was largely …

After months and months of nonstop annoying ads warning us about the switch to digital television, the Senate yesterday approved a bill to delay the transition until June. Because they’re out of money to pay for the converter boxes. The Senate unanimously passed a bill Monday to postpone the digital television transition until June 12. The deadline for all broadcasters …

A Hong Kong film studio is about to release a Chinese-language porn flick in 3-D. Hong Kong film makers are preparing to leave filmgoers goggle-eyed by releasing the world’s first pornographic movie in 3D, a news report said on Sunday. Shooting on the Chinese-language film 3D Sex And Zen, budgeted at 4 million US dollars, is scheduled for April with …

Via satellite, CNN provided some amazing shots of the massive crowds on the National Mall yesterday. Each of those black smudges represents probably hundreds of thousands of people. Try embiggening the photo here, click over to Popular Science for a huge version.

Confirming the worst fear of many Apple stockholders, yesterday Steve Jobs announced that he was taking a medical leave from the company. Casting a pall over one of the world’s most closely watched companies, Steven P. Jobs, chief executive of Apple, said on Wednesday that he was taking a leave of absence because of health concerns. Timothy Cook, left, chief …

The NYPD is asking for federal permission to disrupt cell phone service in NYC in the event of another terrorist attack, citing the use of mobile devices to coordinate last year’s bombings in Mumbai. A draft copy of [NYPD Chief] Kelly’s statement to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security says the NYPD believes the Mumbai attacks could be a model …