In the Catholic church it is taught omission, the choice not to do or say something correct, is itself a sin if the lack of action is intentional. Making omission an outright sin is a predominately Catholic doctrine, but the idea itself is ecumenical. Most branches of the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches recite a confession of contrition which seeks forgiveness for acts done and not done. It isn't just a religious issue either. The Nuremberg Trails developed this concept further by claiming military commanders are responsible for acts committed by inferiors if they failed to prevent or prosecute such...
Muji, the "No-brand brand", has announced the winners of its third design award, and they're rather odd. The Gold prize went to Yuki Lida of Japan for the Straw Straw. It's a drinking straw, made out of, yes, straw. Real, cut-from-the-fields straw, trimmed to length and stuffed into a minimalist Muji plastic bag. Even more literal is the Granpa's Nail Hook. Designed by Masashi Watanabe, also from Japan, this hook was inspired by the nails Watanabe's grandfather pounded into the wall to provide a place to hang coats. What will you find inside the box? You're ahead of me...
A new feature of the MSN Music Channel in the UK, Unsigned will showcase upcoming bands and provide music industry advice. How to submit material - Each month, the team at MSN Music will select acts to be viewed and downloaded by 5.4 million MSN UK users. The bands with the best submissions will also have their very own profile page built by Microsoft. Interested artist should submit videos via Soapbox. Artists can also submit tracks to be featured on a monthly Unsigned Podcast. MSN Unsigned will also feature interviews with key music industry figures and upcoming bands....
Listen to Jeffrey Rosen, a law professor, find so many ways to say that acts of torture, when perpetrated by political leaders, should have no legal consequence. Just censure from the Congress, or if we must enforce the rule of law, do it on a few low-level grunts. Jeff actually appears to defend Bush for ordering up the Yoo memos - because the president - the poor guy - feared future prosecution for war crimes! Then Jeff actually - I'm not making this up - analogizes Bush's torture and abuse regime with Jefferson's machinations against John Adams. I'm unaware...
The terrorists in Mumbai might have committed inhuman acts, but in at least one way, they are just like you and me. When authorities cut the cable feeds to the hotels where the terrorists held over 200 hostages, they relied on another piece technology to monitor the police response and the world's reaction to the attacks: BlackBerrys. Commandos were not only surprised to find the devices in the terrorists' rucksacks, but that they used the internet to look beyond local Indian media for information, watching the global reaction in real-time as well. It's somewhat striking that the terrorists' use of...
Do you remember the Facebook group “I bet I can find 1,000,000 people who dislike George Bush!“? The group easily attracted more than a million people with Facebook members joining willingly and spreading the group’s popularity virally to all their friends. It all looked like an innocent way to express one’s feelings about the president of the US but it looks like in some countries such activity can be viewed as far from innocent and can even result in arrest. I have just heard that a man has been arrested in Croatia for creating a Facebook group with a very...
Filed under: Audio, Fun, GamesOops, there goes my entire day! I just discovered an addictive new musical puzzle game called Auditorium, and I'm trying to play though all of the demo levels. Gameplay in auditorium is centered on a flow of "audiovisual particles" that you can direct by moving and resizing different objects that are available to you. The object is to direct the flow across musical audio containers, using arrows, attract and repel symbols, and any other special tools that pop up. The audio containers each represent a different piece of the music, and they get louder the more...
Ilan Schifter, a recent graduate of NYU's ITP, came up with a inflatable game-space for toddlers called ToddlePuff. Here's how Ilan describes it: ToddlePuff is an inflated interface that incorporates 16 proximity sensors and acts as a game controller for toddlers. It surrounds the child and encourages full body motion. It blocks the toddler's eye sight to create an immersive experience and is wider than a toddler's arm span to encourage movement. An animated children's story is displayed on a screen and told through the speakers. Images of characters from the story are placed on different locations inside the interface....
Another terrorist attack in India, this time in India’s capital city Bombay. I have been following this for a while on Twitter, where people from the city are reporting whatever updates they can get. It is a depressing start to a Thanksgiving weekend here in the US. You can follow the news here on Twitter, or watch some of the live reports on NDTV and CNN. I am just shocked at the sheer magnitude of the attack which has left over 75 killed, 200 injured along with news of people being taken hostages. The ghastly acts saw terrorists attacking various...
What's black and white and acts like a bamboo(m) box? The iPanda, an adorable iPod docking station by animal-themed audio system makers Speakal! The China bear-shaped dock boasts four speakers and a 4” subwoofer for 25 watts of sound and “360° sound distribution.” Pump up the volume by touching the panda's left ear, or lower the sound by touching the right. Don't worry, give it a go—unlike real pandas, this one won't bite you when you try to hug it. Turn the speaker dock on and the iPanda's little smiley mouth will light up. Use the included remote, and...
Filed under: Industry, SportsAround the Engadget HD Thanksgiving table, we never fail to mention our gratitude for HD sports. Beginning December 3, our cricket-loving friends in India will (hopefully) be able to discover this joy for themselves as ESPN Star Sports airs Champions League Twenty20 cricket. It's the first HD sports broadcast in the Indian subcontinent, where HD is so new that it is unclear how viewers will actually receive the signal -- there are no HD options available to pay-TV customers. So, we're keeping our fingers crossed that in the days left, providers either: get their acts together and...
Google’s Gmail service has lots of fans, but it may also be the cause of a number of domain name thefts in recent weeks. Attacker Creates a Gmail Filter According to a proof of concept by Geek Condition, there is a security flaw in Gmail that allows an attacker to forward GoDaddy account reset information to the offending party unbeknownst by the victim. This is done by creating a filter that forwards GoDaddy’s “change of password” mail to the attacker and deletes it from your inbox. Such acts have been documented three times already this month. How Your Account is...
