10 Reasons Why You Should Jailbreak Your iOS Device Today

|by J.R. Bookwalter

From: http://www.maclife.com/

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The cat and mouse game between Apple and the iOS hacker community took an interesting turn this week, with the return of a simple, one-click jailbreak that hasn’t been seen since the early days of the iPhone’s existence (iPhone OS 1.1.1, to be exact). Now that it’s so easy to do--and so easy to undo with a simple restore--we have a list of the top ten reasons you should go jailbreak your device, right now. Or, you know, right after you read this article first.

So what exactly is jailbreaking? At its core, it’s a hack that allows you to install most anything you want on your iOS device, which include mods to change its appearance (such as “themes,” which make iOS look like other operating systems or show off your particular pop culture tastes), apps that have been kicked out of the App Store such as GV Mobile and even a carrier unlock to free your device from AT&T, or to use it with local SIM cards when traveling to another country.

If you’re not quite sure why you would want to do such a thing, keep reading and see if any of our suggestions might sway your opinion.

Give Apple the One-Finger Salute

It probably goes without saying that Apple doesn’t want you to jailbreak your iOS device. They claim it’s a security risk (jailbreaks generally take advantage of bugs in the operating system to do their magic in the first place) and that your device is less stable. Despite how insanely easy it is to do now thanks to Sunday’s release of JailbreakMe.com (more on that later), there is some merit to Apple’s claims, which even the hackers probably couldn’t deny.

But isn’t that a good reason to do it anyway? Like a spoiled kid who defies their parents at every turn, we iOS device owners have the ability to defy CEO Steve Jobs and the whole Apple corporation, just by hacking our device to do things the folks in Cupertino simply won’t allow. After all, Apple themselves used to sell their computers with the "Think different" mantra, and even go so far as to claim that Macs were the computers for the rest of us. So we say: Why shouldn’t our iOS devices have the same free-thinking, independent spirit? Jailbreaking your device tells Apple that you’re not just one of the crowd anymore.

Reclaim Those Banned Apps

It seems like an eternity since Google’s own Google Voice app had the App Store door slammed in its face, which also caused a few third-party variations to also be shown the door at the same time. Apple’s official stance is that they’re still “evaluating” such apps--as usual, AT&T got the finger of blame pointed in their direction as well, but here we are, more than a year later and still no dedicated Google Voice app for the iOS.

While many users have since moved on to Riverturn’s VoiceCentral Black Swan (a feature-laden web app that requires no hackery), it does have limitations, including the inability to directly access your device’s address book. After his full-featured GV Mobile app was kicked out of the App Store, developer Sean Kovacs headed to Cydia, the jailbreaker’s equivalent of the Island of Misfit Toys. And he’s certainly not the only App Store outcast to do the same.

Back in May, we told you about an ingenious new app called Wi-Fi Sync from developer Greg Hughes, which wirelessly syncs your iOS device with iTunes. Not surprisingly, Apple denied the app access to the App Store, so Greg also hightailed it over to Cydia and for a mere $9.99, it can now be yours. Of course, most developers would still prefer to get into the App Store “holy grail” since that’s where the real money is, but it’s nice to know that we have another way to access choice apps that the folks in Cupertino would rather you not.

App Store, Cydia or Rock: Freedom of Choice

The best news is that Cydia is not your only choice for jailbroken fun (although it’s the most popular one, and included with most jailbreaks, including JailbreakMe.com). Search for “RockApp” inside Cydia and you’ll be able to install Rock Your Phone, another jailbreak-only marketplace which is home to a number of popular apps, including My3G (just updated to allow FaceTime calls over 3G on a jailbroken iPhone 4) and MyWi, which allows your 3G-equipped iOS device to become a wireless hotspot, sharing your connection with up to five other devices at once.

Both Cydia and Rock offer paid apps as well as plenty of free extensions, tweaks and mods. Certainly there is plenty of duplication on their virtual shelves, but it’s worth having both apps installed on your jailbroken device, particularly when Rock offers free trials for its most popular apps so you can try before you buy. It’s also worth noting that Rock has the ability to save a backup of your jailbroken apps and restore them easily, which is important if you want to restore your device and jailbreak it again later, particularly if you use a lot of jailbreak-only apps.

Get Unshackled from AT&T

While many of us are perfectly content with signing a two-year commitment to AT&T and their often-troubled service, anyone who has ventured outside of the United States has seen the beauty of how other countries handle their cell phone service. Prepaid SIM cards are commonplace in Europe and many other countries, but since your iPhone is locked to AT&T, you can’t take advantage of bringing your handset with you when you go. If you travel overseas and use your iPhone, you'll pay exorbitant calling and data rates for international roaming.

That is, unless you have jailbroken your handset. Head to Cydia or Rock and download ultrasn0w, then restart your iPhone and experience what freedom from AT&T truly tastes like (you’ll have to trim down a full-sized prepaid SIM to fit in your micro-SIM sized iPhone 4). You can grab a T-Mobile SIM card and use it to your heart’s content (although their 3G service is not compatible with the iPhone, so you’ll be stuck with EDGE service for now), or head to your local Best Buy and pick up prepaid SIM cards from the likes of O2 for a mere $9.99, which gives you 50 free minutes and additional minutes as low as four cents per minute, plus free international calls to more than 50 countries.

The Best User Experience

Some of the iOS features we take for granted now were actually available to jailbreakers well before Apple officially blessed them and did their own. Copy & paste, multitasking, streaming audio & video over 3G--you name it, the jailbreakers did it first (and some would argue, still do it the best).

Because jailbreaking your iOS device often gives you the best user experience while Apple is slow to play catch up, you can expect to enjoy such amenities as wi-fi syncing with iTunes well before the cooks in Cupertino add it to the iOS menu.

Make It Your Own

Head to Cydia’s Sections tab, scroll down to Themes and be amazed and astounded by how many new choices you’ll have for dressing up your iOS device. At press time, there are nearly 2,000 themes in Cydia alone, which allow your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad look like most anything you want it to just by applying a simple theme which uses an app called Winterboard.

Themes include screen dressing from popular movies such as Star Wars and Harry Potter, video games or even celebrity images such as Megan Fox, Scarlett Johanssen, Cameron Diaz and many more -- and yes, that includes even adult celebrities that Apple CEO Steve Jobs would likely frown upon seeing on an iOS device. The Winterboard app required to use the themes is donation-ware and comes courtesy of Cydia founder Jay Freeman (better known to jailbreakers as “Saurik”).

Holy Cow, Thousands of Free Ringtones!

Remember the dark early days when you couldn’t even have a custom ringtone on your iPhone? Apple finally plugged that glaring omission by offering 99-cent ringtones you could make yourself on iTunes, but most iPhone owners wanted complete freedom to create their own for free, using the music library they already owned (Apple’s selection was limited to tracks where music labels and rights holders would allow ringtones).

If you’re not the resourceful type, or maybe you’re just too lazy and unmotivated to create your own ringtones, chances are you’ll find something to love from the selection of nearly 3,000 free ringtones featured in Cydia or Rock. A few clicks and your iPhone could be spewing Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” the next time somebody calls. Seriously, who wouldn’t get excited about that?

Because It’s Legal Now

Jailbreaking has been going on since the debut of the original iPhone in 2007, and while it wasn’t exactly the kind of lawless, illicit activity that might land you in prison, it was definitely frowned upon by Apple, including being a clear violation of your warranty with them.

Apple’s hardline warranty stance remains the same three and a half years later, but a recent ruling by the Library of Congress makes one thing very clear: Users are legally permitted to jailbreak and/or unlock their devices here in the United States, whether Apple and AT&T likes it or not. Obviously, that didn’t stop jailbreakers prior to the ruling and should the laws change in the future, it’s unlikely to deter them from continuing to do so--but at least we have a clear legal precedent, knowing that the U.S. government gives the practice a thumbs up.

Support the Hacking Community

Largely a community effort, most of the folks involved with creating jailbreaking tools do it simply out of love, rather than for profit. While some of the hackers who work on iOS devices do accept donations, the policy of some of the better-known groups like the Dev Team (who is responsible for the aforementioned ultrasn0w, as well as popular tools such as redsn0w and Pwnage Tool), do not.

While Apple may be in a “cat and mouse game” with the hackers, frowning with disapproval at each new jailbreaking attempt, let’s not forget that Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak also started their own illustrious careers by doing such things for both fun and profit. In fact, one of their earliest efforts was a “phone phreaker,” a box that attached to the telephone and allowed you to make free long-distance calls. Ironically, the enterprising Steves were also quite happy to rail against “The Man”--in this case, telco giant AT&T. The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Do It Now, Before Apple Plugs the Hole

Perhaps the best reason to jailbreak your iOS device is the simplest one: Because you can. Open Mobile Safari on your device, head to JailbreakMe.com and you’re one step away from having a jailbroken device. That’s a far cry from some of the gyrations that jailbreakers have had to endure over the years, worrying about certain versions of iOS being incompatible or fretting that their modem firmware wasn’t capable of being unlocked.

Thanks to the hacker known as Comex and his unruly team of jailbreak wizards, you can throw just about any device (the original iPhone isn’t supported, but it’s freely jailbroken using Pwnage Tool or redsn0w), recent operating system version (3.1.2 or higher for most devices, including iOS 4.0.1) and firmware at JailbreakMe.com and still enjoy the fruits of freedom. The full list of devices compatible with JailbreakMe.com:

iPod 1G on 3.1.2
iPod 1G on 3.1.3
iPod 2G on 3.1.2
iPod 2G on 3.1.3
iPod 2G on 4.0
iPod 3G on 3.1.2
iPod 3G on 3.1.3
iPod 3G on 4.0
iPad on 3.2
iPad on 3.2.1
iPhone 3G on 3.1.2
iPhone 3G on 3.1.3
iPhone 3G on 4.0
iPhone 3G on 4.0.1
iPhone 3G[S] on 3.1.2
iPhone 3G[S] on 3.1.3
iPhone 3G[S] on 4.0
iPhone 3G[S] on 4.0.1
iPhone 4 on 4.0
iPhone 4 on 4.0.1

Of course, Apple is sure to plug the exploit used by JailbreakMe.com with an iOS 4.0.2 or maybe 4.1 update, but one thing that the last few years have taught us: Nothing is impossible when it comes to jailbreaking, and the hackers will always find a way, eventually.

Perhaps Apple should see the light and offer Cydia and/or Rock as “alternative” app stores someday -- but for now, it’s fun and (mostly) free to enjoy the spoils of the jailbreak warriors who keep thwarting the iOS guardians in Cupertino just the same.

Happy Van Damme Friday: Is that Van Damme training as BATMAN???

British Person Goes Insane On Bus Then Turns Terminator watch!

youtube.com — Who said the British are polite. This guys goes ape sh*t on the bus. 4 minutes of total rage. I don't understand a single word he says. At the end, he goes terminator.

Shaquille O'Neal and Justin Bieber....dancin?

By Trey Kerby

If there are two things in the entire world that Shaquille O'Neal(notes) loves more than anything else, they are:

1) Dancing
2) Being famous

Somewhere further down that list is playing basketball, but in the summer that definitely takes a back seat to chillin', loungin' and cuttin' up. However, there is another activity that Shaq enjoys, and it's rapidly rising up his list of favorite things — hanging out with Justin Bieber.

You've seen him singing to the 16-year-old wunderkind, now you get to marvel in the glory of Shaq learning a dance routine from Biebdawg. Why? I don't know, but it really happened.

With moves like that, it's easy to see why the Celtics wanted — or perhaps more accurately, couldn't find a good reason to pass up — the well-traveled giant. The Celtics' dancers are a recent addition to the storied franchise and adding a well-known choreographer will really legitimize the squad in the eyes of Boston fans. Shaq's already earned his stripes as a premium rug-cutter, so adding him to the team is a no-brainer. Instant credibility.

Wait. Shaq's playing for the Celtics? Not dancing? Oh. Nevermind.

In that case, this must be part of "Shaq Vs." for when he'll take on the teenage heartthrob in a dance competition. That makes a lot more sense than my cockamamie Shaq dancing for the Celtics theory. Well, not a lot more since it's still a Hall of Fame center challenging a 16-year-old to a dance-off on national television, but at least a tiny bit of sense is made with this explanation.

(h/t You Been Blinded)

Disney parks raising ticket prices

From: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/

Disney ticket prices for parks in California and Florida are set to go up on Thursday.

(CNN) -- It's going to cost vacationers more to visit with Mickey Mouse starting Thursday, when Disney parks in California and Florida will raise ticket prices.

Disney posted an announcement about the price hikes Tuesday on its Disney Parks blog.

At Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, the base price for one-day, one-park passes will rise from $79 to $82 for ages 10 and up. Tickets for children ages 3 to 9 will go from $68 to $74. The additional fee for park-hopper tickets will jump by $2 for one-day access, to $54.

One-day, one-park tickets to Southern California's Disneyland Resort will rise from $72 to $76 for ages 10 and up and from $62 to $68 for ages 3 to 9. Prices for one-day park-hopper tickets will go up by $4 for both age groups.

Increases will also apply to multi-day passes at both parks.

Prices for annual passes will rise by $10 to $18 at Disney World and by $20 for premium annual passes at Disneyland.

Prices for tickets and passes already purchased will not be affected.

Disney's blog provides links to information about the new pricing, going into effect August 5.

Katy Perry's 'California Gurls': Frame By Frame

MTV Shows

Katy Perry's 'Naughty Twist' On Candy Land

Masato Akamatsu Makes The Greatest Home-Run-Saving Catch Ever (Video)

From: http://www.totalprosports.com/

Last season when Dewayne Wise climbed the center-field fence to rob Gabe Kapler of a home run, many considered it to be the greatest home-run-saving catch ever. While the grab was an impressive one, much of that label could be attributed to the timing of the catch, which took place in the ninth inning with Mark Buehrle's perfect game still intact. The catch would keep things that way and pave the way for Buehrle to enter the history books.

As for this outstanding over-the-fence catch by Masato Akamatsu of the Nippon Professional Baseball League's Hiroshima Carp, it may not have saved a perfect game, but just the sight of him scaling the entire wall is easily enough to make this the new front-runner for greatest home-run-saving catch ever.

Hat Tip - [NESN]

14-year-old girl begins attempt to sail around the world

By the CNN Wire Staff

Laura Dekker, 14, waves goodbye as she leaves the harbor in Den Osse on August 4, 2010.

(CNN) -- A 14-year-old Dutch girl set sail Wednesday morning on a journey to travel around the world.

Laura Dekker left her home port of Den Osse at 9:10 a.m., her spokesman Peter de Lange confirmed.

"She will arrive in Portugal, near Lisbon, in two or three weeks," de Lange said. "She is traveling in her yacht, Guppy, with her father until Lisbon where she will start the official solo sailing trip around the world."

Dekker's attempt to circle the globe hasn't always been smooth sailing.

Last August, Dutch authorities placed Dekker under state care for two months after her parents refused to prevent her from undertaking the potentially dangerous voyage.

Last October, a Dutch court ruled against letting Dekker sail solo around the world, saying she is not experienced enough to make the trip on her own. However, she would be allowed to travel this year if she fulfilled certain requirements the court established for her to sail.

Dekker is seeking to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world.

Ex-UFC Star in Bloody Street Fight -- Caught on Tape

by TMZ Staff

from: http://www.tmz.com/

---

TMZ has obtained footage of former UFC superstar Roger Huerta engaging in a bloody street fight in Austin, Texas this weekend -- against a man who appears to have socked a woman in the head.



27-year-old Huerta -- who was once featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated -- was in front of a bar in Austin around 2 AM on Saturday morning ... when some other people began fighting. Roger was near the scuffle ... when he saw one of the men involved punch a female who was standing near the ruckus.

Once Huerta sees the woman collapse to the ground -- he instantly tries to confront the attacker saying, "You just punched a f**kin' girl."

Moments later, Huerta takes off his shirt ... slams his hat to the ground ... and rushes after the man.

Chaos ensues and people scramble after the fighters, blocking the camera -- but seconds later ... a shirtless Huerta can be seen finishing his attack on the other man ... who is sprawled out on the street.

People rush in to aid the bloody man on the ground -- who eventually gets off the pavement -- as Huerta walks away from the battle ground.

Austin PD tells TMZ that officers were called to the scene -- but so far, no arrests have been made.

Huerta's manager tells us, "I have not spoken to Roger yet about this incident, but I can say that it's in his nature to be very protective of women."

The 20 Worst Construction Fails (PICS)

heavy.com — Construction is hard, and failing at it is hilarious.

The Johnsons loved having coffee on their new balcony. On the first morning at least.

Unfortunately, Flordia law makes it illegal to disturb a palm tree in any way.

Click here for the Full Gallery: http://www.heavy.com/comedy/2010/08/the-20-worst-construction-fails/

Head Like a Hole Meaning

From: http://www.shmoop.com/

How deep is your love for this song? Go deeper.

Nine Inch Nails has to be one of the modern-day recording industry's more unlikely multiplatinum success stories. Nine Inch Nails isn't really a band at all; it's really just a vehicle for the abrasive musical genius of Trent Reznor, who writes all NIN material and typically performs all instrumentation on NIN tracks. (For live shows, obviously, Reznor has to bring along some other musicians since he can't play everything at once.) So why should it be so surprising that NIN has sold more than 20 million records worldwide since its 1989 debut? Well, for one, when it all started Reznor was working as a janitor in a Cleveland recording studio, stealing unused studio time to lay down his musical vision while no paying customers were using the equipment. And that musical vision itself isn't quite what you'd usually expect for a bestselling pop artist; Reznor's music is deliberately challenging, if not even unpleasant, to listen to. And finally, Reznor hates the recording industry itself and has spent much of the last two decades feuding with his own record labels. Not exactly the usual recipe for selling tens of millions of albums, perhaps, but hey, somehow it worked.

And it really started working with "Head Like A Hole," the second single off NIN's debut album, Pretty Hate Machine (1989). The song wasn't dissimilar from the album's first single, "Down In It" (which was also the first song Reznor ever wrote). Both songs combined a drum-machine dance beat with raw vocals, layered sampling, and a generally dark mood. But "Head Like A Hole" was probably the more successful piece, more fully realizing Reznor's dark vision. The song remains a fan favorite staple of NIN live sets today, fully two decades after its first release. Some have even called it an anthem, the industrial-dance equivalent of Nirvana's groundbreaking grunge staple "Smells Like Teen Spirit," which emerged about the same time and plumbed similar themes of alienation and sexualized angst.

Thrasher magazine captured well Reznor's genius in describing Pretty Hate Machine as "the clammy warmth of psychosexual angst set against the detached cold of coarse rhythmic aggression. NIN is an entrancing juxtaposition of imagery and energy built on a foundation of intermingled repulsion and desire." Songs like "Head Like A Hole" offer an intoxicating blend of attraction and repulsion, heat and cold, passion and detachment, agony and alienation. "Head Like A Hole" is, like "Teen Spirit," a song for the disillusioned. With its lyrical tirade against those greedy ones who lust after wealth as if it were "God Money," becoming sucked into its seductive wickedness, this song is told from a non-mainstream American point of view. This is a song that people who'd reject the dominant socio-economic ideologies of the Age of Reagan. At the same time, it's also a song of more carnal and perhaps even deviant passions; suggestive lines like "nail me up against the wall" were carnal enough to help turn Trent Reznor into a sexual icon of the goth world in the '90s.

The binaries established in the lyrics are echoed in the way the music plays against itself. Trent Reznor himself insightfully described Pretty Hate Machine as an album "about juxtaposing human imperfections against very rigid, sterile, cold arrangements. You can't just have icy vocals over icy music. If the music is very precise, make a vocal tape that's less perfect, so you've got this meshing of man versus machine." Clearly we've got an artist who knows what he's doing here. How does "man versus machine" work in context of the meaning of the song, its attractiveness as an "anthem," with regard to the music itself?

You do not have to be a musicologist to make some observations about the music and the vocals. The music is, as Reznor said, very precise. With most instruments synthesized electronically, this is machine-cut precision, if you will, like a finely crafted watch. Then there's the looping of various samples, which also feels precise and mechanical. The vocals, however, are very much the opposite. Reznor said that they were imperfect, and as a result he sounds very emotional and honest. The opposition of cold music and hot vocals echoes the lyrical theme of opposition between righteous "us" versus the greedy "thems." The bloated, distorted, robotic, yet sexual grind of the music contributes to the sense of what God Money is all about, while Reznor's single-take vocals ring out as a lone voice in angry opposition. (This could almost be the soundtrack to Ridley Scott's famous "Big Brother" Apple TV commercial.) Indeed, Reznor sings as if he were one of the bruised upon whose backs God Money and his hedonistic followers carelessly dance. And there is power in that; Reznor's anger and imperfection translates into a charged, energetic honesty that is, frankly, inspiring.

Hands On with the BlackBerry Torch 9800

By: Sascha Segan

From: http://www.pcmag.com/

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 for AT&T isn't all-new and all-different, but it's new and different enough.

On Tuesday, Research in Motion (RIM) announced the company's first slider-style BlackBerry, the Torch 9800, which is also the first BlackBerry with both a touch screen and hard keyboard, and the first device to run the new OS 6. We received a bit of hands-on time with the new phone.

The Torch feels and looks very much like a BlackBerry, with the proper BlackBerry Bold-style arrangements of plastic, metal and glass; there are also BlackBerry fonts on the keys and the now-standard BlackBerry trackpad. Like a good BlackBerry, it feels rock-solid and like a premium device in the hand.

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But of course it also has that touch screen. The Torch's 3.2-inch, 360-by-480 screen is a standard capacitive LCD touch screen, not that weird "click-screen" from the BlackBerry Storm that RIM seems to have finally given up on. The screen is bright and sharp, but it's obviously behind the competition in terms of resolution.

The phone's sliding mechanism feels tight and solid; RIM says it's been rated for 150,000 slides. The QWERTY keyboard, on the other hand, feels tighter and flatter than previous BlackBerry keyboards.

The new BlackBerry 6 OS adds touch to the interface mix, but you can still navigate with the trackpad or QWERTY if you prefer. Applications now appear in a pop-up drawer - a little like on Android - with swipeable panes that take you to "All," Favorites," "Media" or "Downloads." There's a little bit of a delay when swiping, which I found a bit disconcerting.

I was very happy to see universal search here – just start typing a word and results pop up from contacts, email, programs, and media files. That's quite slick.

According to RIM, the new WebKit-based Web browser speeds up data transfers by compressing data two to three times, while still providing the kind of fidelity you see on the iPhone and Android platforms. That should, in part, help make up for the phone running at HSPA 3.6 speeds rather than HSPA 7.2, and it should let AT&T users get more Web pages out of their $15/month, 200-MB data plans.

I haven't comprehensively tested the speed, but it displayed Expedia.com with great fidelity. Unfortunately, there's no way to change the user agent to pretend to be a desktop browser, which means lots of sites (such as ours) just show dull WAP pages.

RIM appears to have totally rewritten its media apps. There's a new Desktop Manager coming with BlackBerry 6, and a Social Feeds app that combines Twitter, Facebook, and various instant messaging conversations.

More specs: the Torch has a 5-megapixel camera with VGA video recording, Bluetooth 2.1, 512 Mbytes of program memory, 4 Gbytes of built-in storage, and 802.11n Wi-Fi. As is usual for BlackBerrys, these aren't super-duper, top-of-the-line specs. Rather, the BlackBerry experience is about providing solid reliability.

BlackBerry 6 is exclusive to the Torch for now, but it may come to other existing BlackBerries. The Torch has the same 624-MHz Marvell processor and screen resolution as the existing BlackBerry Bold, so there aren't any hardware hurdles to get the new version onto higher-end existing phones.

The BlackBerry Torch is an AT&T exclusive, though RIM execs I spoke to said they would like to turn this form factor into a platform. That means if AT&T's Torch is successful, they may build versions for other carriers.

You can look at the BlackBerry Torch two ways. If you live in BlackBerry World, it's obviously a big step forwards. But on AT&T, it's competing against the Samsung Captivate and iPhone 4, with their gigahertz processors, "retina" screens, and thousands upon thousands of apps. Can the Torch compete with the new round of super-phones? We'll have a full review of the BlackBerry Torch soon.

Gamerator: a Video Game Cabinet with bonus Kegerator

From: http://www.toplessrobot.com/

​Behold the Gamerator. It's one of those home arcade cabinets that I've always wanted. It has 85 classic arcade games on it, which isn't a ton but it also comes with a Gametap Gamefly subscription so you can play all those games as well. It has joysticks and buttons and a trackball and yadda yadda yadda. So why am I so excited about the Gamerator when these sorts of things have been available for years?
​BECAUSE IT'S ALSO A KEGERATOR. This arcade cabinet also houses "a refrigerated interior capable of holding a pony keg of domestic beer." Without fear of hyperbole, I can say AAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAA AAAAAAA THIS IS THE GREATEST THING IN THE HISTORY OF EVER. Infinite thanks to Vaderfan70 for the tip.keg

Hidden Tunnels May Hide Tombs Under Ancient Ruins

| Associated Press

AP

click here for slideshow

Artifacts are being found in a long-sealed tunnel found under the ruins of Teotihuacan which may lead to the discovery of an ancient tomb.

TEOTIHUACAN, Mexico -- A long-sealed tunnel has been found under the ruins of Teotihuacan -- and chambers that seem to branch off it may hold the tombs of some of the ancient city's early rulers, archaeologists said Tuesday.

Experts say a tomb discovery would be significant because the social structure of Teotihuacan remains a mystery after nearly 100 years of archaeological exploration at the site, which is best known for the towering Pyramids of the Moon and the Sun.

No depiction of a ruler, or the tomb of a monarch, has ever been found, setting the metropolis apart from other pre-Hispanic cultures that deified their rulers.

See pictures of the excavation

Archaeologists had suspected the hidden tunnel was there after a heavy rainstorm in 2003 caused the ground to sink at the foot of the Temple of Quetzacoatl, in the central ceremonial area of the ruins just north of Mexico City.

Starting last year, they began digging, and after eight months of excavation, they reached the roof of the tunnel last month, 40 feet (12 meters) below the surface.

They lowered a small camera into the 12-foot-wide (4-meter) corridor, which had been carved out of the rock early in Teotihuacan's history, and got the first glimpse of the space that they say was intentionally closed off between A.D. 200 and 250.

"I think the tunnel was the central element, the main element around which the rest of the ceremonial center was built," archaeologist Sergio Gomez said. "This was the most sacred place." The camera showed the tunnel appearing to extend about 37 yards (meters) before it is blocked by a wall or mound.

Ground-penetrating scanner images found the tunnel extends beyond the blockage and ends in a large chamber that measures 10 yard (meters) on each side, lying almost directly beneath the temple. Two smaller chambers appear on either side of the rough-hewn corridor.

All the signs point to it being a ruler's tomb, Gomez said, including the rich offerings tossed into the tunnel at the moment it was closed up: almost 50,000 objects of jade, stone, shell and pottery, including ceramic beakers of a kind never found before at the site.

"Up to now, every archaeologist who has worked in Teotihuacan has tried to find the tombs of the rulers," Gomez said.

"There is a high possibility that in this place, in the central chamber, we can find the remains of those who ruled Teotihuacan," he added.

The complex of pyramids

, plazas, temples and avenues was once the center of a city of more than 100,000 inhabitants and may have been the largest and most influential city in pre-Hispanic North America at the time.

Nearly 2,500 years after the city was founded -- and about 2,100 years after the Teotihuacan culture began to flourish there -- the identity of its rulers remains a mystery.

The city was built by a relatively little-known culture that reached its height between 100 B.C. and A.D. 750. It was abandoned by the time the Aztecs arrived in the area in the 1300s and gave it the name "Teotihuacan," which means "the place where men become gods."

Luis Barba, of the Anthropological Research Institute of Mexico's National Autonomous University, said that because there are no images, names or other references to rulers among Teotihuacan's rich murals and stone carvings, some experts suggest the city might have had a shared leadership, with rulers alternating between its four precincts.

"People have looked for these rulers for many years," Barba said. "Perhaps they will be found now. There is nothing to rule it out or make it impossible, but at this point, we have nothing." Gomez said it will take at least two more months of digging before archaeologists can actually enter the tunnel.

Unsinkable Gecko

from:http://blogs.discovery.com/

Being small sometimes has its advantages. The Brazilian pygmy gecko, which is so tiny insects dwarf it, escapes the notice of many predators and can hide in the minutest of spaces. Not only is it unusually small, it has some other very odd and extremely cool adaptations.

To see these adaptations in action, check out this BBC video clip, narrated by Sir David Attenborough (and raise your hand if you want do be David Attenborough when you grow up).

Evolution of Video Games

From: http://kokugamer.com/2010/08/03/info-graph-evolution-of-gaming/

Source [Online Schools.org]

Why You Shouldn't Dance Into Traffic.

Batman Married Wonder Woman

By Rob Bricken in Nerdery

From: http://www.toplessrobot.com/

​
Shockingly, this is not from an official DC comic. Instead, it's just a couple of British nerds who tied the knot this past weekend in England, while dressed as the Caped Crusader and Wonder Woman. From the Sun:

Caped Crusader Neil Vaughn, 46, and Wonder Woman wife Sharon, 40, tied the knot dressed as their comic book idols with their guests following suit.

Best man was Robin while The Joker was master of ceremonies with the Powerpuff girls as bridesmaids.

Among the guests in Paignton, Devon, were Superman, the Incredibles, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk and Captain America.

Neil said: "We're not particularly traditional, and we wanted to have a fun day with our friends."

My favorite part about the picture -- besides tiny Iron Man firing a repulsor beam at the cameraman -- is how awesomely happy the groom looks. It's like Brian Blessed in a Batman suit... and now I just made myself dizzy at how awesome that idea is. Thanks to Joe Dono for the tip.

Top 8 Best And Free Antivirus Software For Windows 7

by Yogesh Mankani

from: http://savedelete.com/best-free-windows7-antivirus-software.html

Having done with the top 10 best free antivirus software for year 2010 two months before which was appreciated by our readers and downloaded best antivirus software according to their needs.

I switched from Windows Vista to Windows 7 some time before as I was pretty annoyed by the slow speed of Vista. And believe me Windows 7 is really brilliant operating system that I am waiting for long enough from Windows team. It is not only fast but the glossy looks, default sounds and themes make it more awesome.

But we all know that as earlier Windows OS versions, Windows 7 is also prone to virus and spyware attacks. And to stay free from viruses, it the most basic and fundamental task of any Windows user to find the antivirus software programs. So, I thought to research best antivirus software for Windows 7 and end up with some really great options that provided maximum security against viruses, malwares and several other threats.

Antivirus software listed below are fully compatible with Windows 7 – 32 and 64 OS and available freely on the internet for single and non-commercial use.

So, have a look on SaveDelete’s assorted list of Top 8 best and free antivirus software for Windows 7 to keep your computer safe against various virus threats and hackers.

1) Microsoft Security Essentials : Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. For more details and how to download MSE, you can check our article totally dedicated on MSE.

2) Avast Free Antivirus : avast! antivirus software is available for free and commercial use. It provides complete virus protection for your computer. Antivirus engine is complemented by anti-spyware, firewall and antispam modules to protect you against phishing schemes, identity theft and internet-distributed web viruses. Automatic updates for greater user convenience and safety.

3) AVG Free Antivirus : AVG has been around in the Antivirus market from ages and gained lot of loyal users to their kitty. They also provide upgraded version which is very costly but I believe that their free Antivirus program is great for users having personal computers. AVG user interface is pretty simple and it takes a minute to install on your computer.

4) Avira AntiVir Personal : One of the simple to use and light Antivirus software in the market. It works perfectly fine to detect virus, spyware, rootkit threats. The best part of Avira is that it is quiet outstanding in terms of finding malware. Few false positives about Avira is that it does not inlude E-mail scanner in free version, but if you open any infected E-mail, it comes again into action.

5) Panda Cloud Antivirus : The first free cloud antivirus against viruses, spyware, rootkits and adware. Panda Antivirus Beta3 supports Windows 7 (32 and 64bit). . The antivirus carries out BackgroundScan by deactivating many unnecessary operations.

6) Comodo Firewall + Antivirus : Comodo Firewall and Antivirus is now Comodo Internet Security.Comodo Internet Security 4.0 includes a built-in sandbox which combines file system/registry virtualization and least-privileged user account principle in order to combat unknown malware.

7) ClamWin Free Antivirus : ClamWin is a Free Antivirus program for Microsoft Windows 7 / Vista / XP / Me / 2000 / 98 and Windows Server 2008 and 2003. It comes with an easy installer and open source code. Please note that ClamWin Free Antivirus does not include an on-access real-time scanner. You need tomanually scan a file in order to detect a virus or spyware.

8 ) Free eScan Antivirus Toolkit Utility : eScan Antivirus Toolkit 12.x is compatible with Windows 7 – 32 & 64-bit OS. eScan Antivirus Toolkit is a FREE utility that enables you to scan and clean Viruses, Spyware, Adware and any other Malware that may have infected your computer. The eScan Antivirus Toolkit requires no installation and can be run directly from anywhere, on your computer, USB Drive or from a CD ROM. It can also be run even if you already have other antivirus software installed on your computer.

Unbelievable and Outstanding Photos of Li Wei

From: http://smashinghub.com/

Li Wei is an outstanding artist from Beijing China. His gravity defying photos have been attention-grabbing the world, capturing impossible looking moments of apparent extreme danger. You will find each photo hanging on in dangerous situation. He has done this unbelievable and impossible scaffolding with Photoshop to create photos.
Here's a collection of some of Wei's most outstanding photos.

Gisele: Breastfeeding Should Be Mandatory

From: http://www.thebostonchannel.com

Super Model Says There Should Be Worldwide Law

• Images: Photos: Gisele Turns 30!

First-time mom and world's richest super model Gisele Bundchen has some pretty strong words about parenting. Bundchen, the wife of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, said in a recent interview that she thinks there should be a "worldwide law" requiring every mother to breastfeed their children."Some people here (in the US) think they don't have to breastfeed," she told Harper's Bazaar UK. "And I think 'Are you going to give chemical food to your child when they are so little?' I think there should be a worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months." Bundchen went on to recall how easy it was to give birth to her son Benjamin with Brady, thanks to a little meditation.

SURVEY Gisele Bundchen thinks there should be a "worldwide law" requiring mothers to breastfeed for six months. I agree I disagree Not Sure Results | Disclaimer | E-Mail

"It prepared me mentally and physically. It's called 'labor' not 'holiday' for a reason, and I knew that," she said."You want to go into the most intense physical experience of your life unprepared? That doesn't make any sense to me," she said. "Then I was ready and I thought 'OK, let's get to work'. I wasn't expecting someone else to get the baby out of me." She said it, "didn't hurt in the slightest." By the way, her Patriots husband turns 33 Tuesday.

New Evidence About Prisoners Held in Secret CIA Prisons in Poland and Romania

By: Andy Worthington, t r u t h o u t | Report

(Photo: Prisoner 159753; Edited: Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t)

On Friday, the Polish Border Guard Office released a number of documents to the Warsaw-based Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, which, for the first time, provide details of the number of prisoners transferred by the CIA to a secret prison in Poland between December 5, 2002, and September 22, 2003, and, in one case, the number of prisoners who were subsequently transferred to a secret CIA prison in Romania. The documents (available here and here) provide important information about the secret prison at Szymany, in northeastern Poland, and also add to what is known about the program in Romania, which has received far less scrutiny.

The existence of the prisons was first revealed in The Washington Post on November 2, 2005, although the Post refrained from "publishing the names of the Eastern European countries involved in the covert program, at the request of senior U.S. officials." However, on November 6, 2005, Human Rights Watch identified the countries as Poland and Romania, and stated that it had seen "flight records showing that a Boeing 737, registration number N313P - a plane that the CIA used to move several prisoners to and from Europe, Afghanistan, and the Middle East in 2003 and 2004 - landed in Poland and Romania on direct flights from Afghanistan on two occasions in 2003 and 2004."

Although the Polish and Romanian governments denied the claims, Swiss Sen. Dick Marty, a rapporteur for the Council of Europe, concluded in a report in June 2007, based on two years' research and interviews with over 30 current and former members of the intelligence services in the United States and Europe, that he had enough "evidence to state that secret detention facilities run by the CIA did exist in Europe from 2003 to 2005, in particular in Poland and Romania." Marty also identified both sites, noting that the flights to Romania flew into the Mihail Kogalniceanu military airfield, and also explained how the flights were disguised using fake flight plans.

In September 2008, a Polish intelligence official confirmed that between 2002 and 2005 the CIA had held terror suspects inside a military intelligence training base in Stare Kiejkuty in northeastern Poland. He said that only the CIA had access to the prison, and that, although Prime Minister Leszek Miller and President Aleksander Kwasniewski knew about it, "it was unlikely either man knew if the prisoners were being tortured because the Poles had no control over the Americans' activities."

It was not until March 23, 2009, however, that the first details of specific flights into Szymany were officially confirmed in Poland, when the Polish Air Navigation Service Agency released information about a Lockheed L100-30 Hercules, registration number N8213G, which had flown in on February 4, 2003. This was followed up on September 16 with far more incriminating records, demonstrating that a notorious "torture jet," a Gulfstream V, registration number N379P, had flown into Szymany on six occasions between February 8 and September 22, 2003, (see here and here), and on June 2 this year, a further release identified a Gulfstream IV, registration number N63MU, which had flown in on July 28, 2005.

Friday's revelations by the Polish Border Guard Office are, however, even more significant, firstly because they include, for the first time, confirmation that N63MU flew into Poland on December 5, 2002, and secondly, because they provide details of the number of passengers on seven of the flights, as follows:

December 5, 2002: 8 passengers delivered
February 8, 2003: 7 passengers delivered; 4 others flown to an unknown destination
March 7, 2003: 2 passengers delivered
March 25, 2003: 1 passenger delivered
May 6, 2003: 1 passenger delivered
July 30, 2003: 1 passenger delivered
September 22, 2003: 0 passengers delivered; 5 flown to Romania

Who Are the "High-Value Detainees" Held in Poland?

In identifying these 20 passengers, the documents provide more questions than answers, as it is not known how many of them were prisoners, and how many were US government operatives accompanying them.

However, what can be stated with certainty is that three of the men who arrived on December 5, 2002, were the HVDs (HVDs) Abu Zubaydah, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who had all been held previously in a secret CIA prison in Thailand.

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In the CIA Inspector General's Report on "Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities (September 2001-October 2003)," published in May 2004, but only made publicly available last August, it was stated that the "enhanced interrogation of al-Nashiri continued through 4 December 2002" and that, "after being moved, al-Nashiri was thought to have been withholding information," indicating that it was at this time that he was rendered to Poland.

Moreover, in research for a "Joint Study on Global Practices in Relation to Secret Detention in the Context of Counter-Terrorism," published by the United Nations in February this year, an analyst

identified a flight from Bangkok to Szymany, Poland, on 5 December 2002 (stopping at Dubai) ... though it was disguised under multiple layers of secrecy, including charter and sub-contracting arrangements that would avoid there being any discernible "fingerprints" of a United States Government operation, as well as the filing of "dummy" flight plans.

This, clearly, is the flight identified in the newly released documents as having flown into Poland via Dubai.

In addition, according to information provided to "ABC News" by "[c]urrent and former CIA officers" in December 2005, seven other high-value detainees, as well as Zubaydah, al-Nashiri and bin al-Shibh, were held in Poland, while an 11th, Hambali, was held elsewhere (possibly on the British island of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, which is leased to the US). "ABC News" identified these men as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Waleed bin Attash, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, Abdul Rahim al-Sharqawi, Mohammed Omar Abdel-Rahman, Hassan Ghul and Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani.

Of these seven, Hassan Ghul (whose whereabouts are still unknown, although he was reportedly held in a Pakistani prison in 2006) and Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani (who was one of 14 HVDs transferred to Guantanamo in September 2006) were seized in 2004, outside of the period from December 2002 to September 2003 covered by the documents, but the other five may all have been held in Poland.

In April 2009, Der Spiegel reported that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (another of the 14 HVDs, and the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks) was flown to Szymany on March 7, 2003, and if this is the case (and the date, noticeably, corresponds with one of the dates in the newly released documents), then it is possible that Mustafa al-Hawsawi, who was seized with him on March 1, 2003, (and who was also transferred to Guantanamo in September 2006), was the other passenger who arrived with him on that date - although it is also, of course, possible that the second passenger was an interrogator or a psychologist.

As for the others identified by "ABC News," Waleed bin Attash (another of the 14 HVDs), seized in Karachi, Pakistan, on April 29, 2003, could be the passenger delivered on May 6, and Mohamed Omar Abdel-Rahman, one of the sons of Omar Abdel-Rahman, the "Blind Sheikh," imprisoned in the US, could have been on any of the flights. Seized in Quetta in February 2003, his detention has never been officially acknowledged by the US authorities, and his current whereabouts are unknown.

More contentious are the claims that Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi and Abdul Rahim al-Sharqawi were held in Poland. Al-Libi, the emir of the Khaldan training camp in Afghanistan, which was closed down by the Taliban in 2000 after he refused to cede control of it to Osama bin Laden, was, notoriously, rendered by the CIA to Egypt soon after his capture in Afghanistan in December 2001, where, under torture, he came up with the false allegation that Saddam Hussein was working on a chemical weapons program with al-Qaeda, which was used to justify the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

According to an account by the journalist Stephen Grey, al-Libi was rendered back to Afghanistan in November 2003, and according to another account, by a Libyan who talked to al-Libi in a prison in Tripoli before his suspicious death last May, he was rendered from Egypt to prisons in Mauritania, Morocco and Jordan, before his return to Afghanistan, where he was held in three separate prisons run by, or under the control of the CIA, before his eventual return to Libya (possibly in 2006). As a result, although it's possible that he was also held in Poland for a while, it is by no means certain.

As for al-Sharqawi (also identified as Sharqwi Abdu Ali al-Hajj or Abdu Ali Sharqawi), the available reports suggest that, after he was seized in a house raid in Pakistan in February 2002, he was rendered to Jordan, where he was held for nearly two years - and tortured on behalf of the CIA - before being transferred to the CIA's "Dark Prison" near Kabul, and then, via Bagram, to Guantánamo, where he arrived in September 2004. As with al-Libi, however, it is possible that at some point he was transferred to Poland.

A Program Still Shrouded in Secrecy

Given the intense secrecy that still surrounds the HVD program, all that we can state with certainty is that, in May 2005, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Bradbury of the Office of Legal Counsel stated in a memo (updating the notorious "torture memos" of August 1, 2002, by John Yoo and Jay S. Bybee) that the CIA had, by that point, "taken custody of 94 prisoners [redacted] and ha[d] employed enhanced techniques to varying degrees in the interrogations of 28 of these detainees." These figures do not include prisoners rendered to prisons in other countries that were not directly under CIA control.

As these are essentially the only details about the program's scope that have ever been made publicly available, it is impossible to state with any certainty how many of these 94 prisoners were held in Poland. However, research undertaken for the UN's secret detention report indicated that the majority of the 94 were probably held in secret prisons in Afghanistan, and the figure of ten men in Poland that was cited by "ABC News" is close to the figure quoted by Marty, who noted, "a single CIA source told us that there were 'up to a dozen' high-value detainees in Poland in 2005, but we were unable to confirm this number." If this is the case, then the 20 passengers referred to in the newly released documents may include just eight prisoners, with two more - Hassan Ghul and Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani - arriving in 2004, and the rest being interrogators and psychologists.

One more question, however, concerns the origin of one of the flights. Although the first flight came from Bangkok via Dubai, and the rest appear to have flown directly from Kabul, Afghanistan, the flight on February 8, 2003, which contained seven passengers, and left the next day with four passengers (again, perhaps US personnel) arrived from Rabat, Morocco. Given that Morocco was one of a handful of countries (along with Jordan, Egypt and Syria) that were used either as proxy torture prisons or in order to "disappear" prisoners entirely, it is possible that the flight picked up three prisoners in Morocco, and flew them on to Poland.

If this is the case, then three possible candidates are Abu Zubair al-Haili, a Saudi seized in Morocco in June 2002, who was known as "the Bear," because of his size, and who was reported to be "one of the top 25 al-Qaeda leaders," and to have had "a very close relationship to Abu Zubaydah," plus two other Saudis seized with him. The whereabouts of all three men have never been explained by either the US or the Moroccan authorities, although, in September 2002, The Independent reported that al-Haili was "in U.S. custody."

Romania's Role in the CIA's Secret Prison Program

The final piece of the jigsaw revealed by the new Polish documents concerns Romania, as it seems clear that, on September 22, 2003, five prisoners were taken from the Polish prison to what may, at the time, have been a new project in Romania. In his report for the Council of Europe, Marty stated:

For reasons of both security and capacity, the CIA determined that the Polish strand of the HVD program should remain limited in size. Thus a "second European site" was sought to which the CIA could transfer its detainees with "no major logistical overhaul". Romania, used extensively by United States forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in early 2003, had distinct benefits in this regard: as a member of the CIA's Counterterrorist Centre remarked about the location of the proposed detention facility, "our guys were familiar with the area."

Marty added:

Romania was developed into a site to which more detainees were transferred only as the HVD program expanded. I understand that the Romanian "black site" was incorporated into the program in 2003, attained its greatest significance in 2004 and operated until the second half of 2005. The detainees who were held in Romania belonged to a category of HVDs whose intelligence value had been assessed as lower but in respect of whom the Agency still considered it worthwhile pursuing further investigations.

While this avenue remains to be explored, the UN secret detention report suggested that three of the men held in Romania may have been the Yemenis Salah Nasser Salim Ali (seized in Indonesia in August 2003), Mohammed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah (seized in Jordan in October 2003) and Mohammed al-Asad (seized in Tanzania in December 2003), who, after being held in secret prisons in Afghanistan, were transferred in April 2004 to "an unknown, modern facility apparently run by United States officials, which was carefully designed to induce maximum disorientation, dependence and stress in the detainees ... Research into flight durations and the observations of Mr. al-Asad, Mr. Ali, and Mr. Bashmilah suggest that the facility was likely located in Eastern Europe."

All three were eventually transferred to Yemeni custody in May 2005, but they were clearly more fortunate than the other men rendered to Romania, whose stories have never emerged, and are as unknown as those of the five men transferred from Poland to Romania on September 22, 2003, whose existence has just been revealed.

In conclusion, while the release of these documents provides only a tantalizing glimpse into a program that is still shrouded in secrecy, it also provides some much needed information to be used in an attempt to compel the Polish government, the Romanian government and, most of all, the US government, to stop pretending either that these prisons did not exist, or that "we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards," and to come clean about both the prisons and the men held there.

This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

Facebook + Fantasy Football = Heaven

sportsillustrated.cnn.com — Two real world social-life killers unite.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/fantasy-football-2010/