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Comment Re:Good luck with that. (Score 1) 39

Nah, you misunderstand Decatur, which is actually part of Atlanta. Decatur disagrees with this notion despite being inside the perimeter, and therefore this is merely one of a number of attempts to be "different" and to distinguish itself as the odd child out-- which it's been trying to do pretty much since being the only town in Georgia to vote against secession during the civil war.

There are even more technological oddities in Decatur that make people want to become Amish, for instance pay parking that requires text messaging to use.

Comment Not news for shocking and obvious reasons (Score 1) 562

Given that many Americans are completely unaware of what Roe Versus Wade is, who the president is at any given time, or how many justices sit on the supreme court, this result is not terribly shocking. It's easy to pick on Texas but It's sort of silly. All you've discovered is that a more rural state is about 10% off of the mainstream.

Media

Submission + - Why are some HD shows S T R E T C H E D? (newteevee.com) 1

Chris Albrecht writes: "There's some science behind some TV networks distorting their shows to fit a widescreen format. TBS uses an algorithm to determine where the action is taking place. It keeps that ratio normal and stretches the rest of the image to fit the screen. Research also says people prefer the stretched image to the original. What do you think?"
Books

Submission + - Is someone selling 5 Star book reviews?

An anonymous reader writes: Is someone selling 5 Star book reviews?

I noticed a book reviewer named "Midwest Book Review" had several 5 Star book reviews, each of which looked liked book blurbs, not reviews. I then checked out the reviewer at:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A14OJS0VWMOSW O/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-4466102-9848954

I wrote Amazon.com the following:

Comments:Dear Amazon,
>
> I love the customer review feature of Amazon.com.
>
> I think a reviewer named "Midwest Book Review" may be abusing the
review process.
>
> It appears they have 31,106 book reviews on your site. The first
200 reviews I looked at all had Five Star ratings. (I only looked
at the first 200 book reviews.)
>
> I have no idea what's going on here, but the sample of reviews I
read seem more like book promotion blurbs than reviews. I'm
wondering if they are selling Five Star reviews to authors.
>
> See http://www.midwestbookreview.com/get_rev.htm
>
> Any abuse of the Amazon.com review process severly weakens my
faith in the review process, which I rely on to make good choices.
>
> I hope you will investigate this matter and find out if the review
process is being abused.
>
> Thanks.
>

Amazon responded:

Thank you for contacting Amazon.com.

We appreciate that you took the time to write to us about this
issue. I have looked into this situation and found that the reviews
posted by Midwest Book Reviewer do not fall outside of our review
guidelines. While we do not condone selling positive book reviews,
we have no way of showing that this is what is happening in this
case and cannot take any action.

We thank you for your interest in our customer reviews. Comments
such as yours help us improve our service and are always
appreciated. Let us know if you have any other concerns.

Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:

************************************************

I am not claiming Midwest Book Review (http://www.midwestbookreview.com/bw/index.htm)
is doing anything wrong. I could not look through all 31,000+ reviews to see if they are all 5 star reviews. The reviews may be honest appraisals. It does, however, look suspicious to me.
Sci-Fi

Purdue Unveils a Tricorder 177

aeoneal writes "According to Science Daily, mass spectrometry is no longer limited to what can be taken to the lab. Purdue researchers have created a device they liken to a tricorder, a handy 20-lb. device that combines mass spectrometry with DESI (desorption electrospray ionization), allowing chemical composition to be determined outside of a vacuum chamber. Purdue suggests this could be useful for everything from detecting explosive substances or cancer to predicting disease. Researcher R. Graham Cooks says, 'We like to compare it to the tricorder because it is truly a hand-held instrument that yields information about the precise chemical composition of samples in a matter of minutes without harming the samples.'"

European PS3 Launch Delayed to 2007 440

An anonymous reader writes "Sony has finally admitted that the November release date for the release of the PS3 is unfeasible. Specifically, it will not be available in any PAL territories until March 2007. Sony cites '(a) delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode', forming a critical part of the much-maligned Blu-Ray drive. With the Xbox 360 having been released for almost 6 months in overseas markets, and the Wii looming large, can Sony afford a delay like this?" Update: 09/06 17:58 GMT by Z : Just to make sure you caught it, the announcement includes the word that the U.S. will only be getting 400,000 units at launch in November, with Japan at 100,000 units. Go Sony.

Can Anyone Beat WoW? 365

Next Generation is running an article penned by DFC Intelligence Analyst David Cole, exploring the overwhelming popularity of World of Warcraft. Coles asks Is It Possible to Surpass World of Warcraft? He explores the reasons behind WoW's success, and what it means for the market as a whole. From the article: "All of these factors point towards one conclusion: World of Warcraft's success, admirable as it may be, will be extremely difficult to duplicate. This will be bad news for all the frothy investors who are suddenly discovering the MMOG business model. In the new DFC Intelligence Online Game Market report we forecast revenue in the MMOG market to grow over 150% from 2006 to 2011. However, this doesn't account for all the investment money that is likely to be lost chasing after that revenue growth."

World of Warcraft In the Axis of Evil 117

Kotaku is running a piece by Wagner James Au, discussing the place World of Warcraft has in 'The Axis of Evil'. From the article: "Then again, there's little reason to think the ban was enforced much at all. Veteran WoW players tell me they often raid with folks who say they are Coalition troops in Iraq who've cleverly hacked around military firewalls to log in. And while it's doubtful that anyone but Kim Jung-Il and his geek cronies could log into World of Warcraft from North Korea, there's still an embargo on Iran."

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