A pregnant man in Oregon. Sending emails to the future. Politicians interfering with drug safety, and the U.S. Air Force’s big gaffe. These are the top stories making headlines around the world.
Technology & Internet
Want to make sure you email your friend on her birthday? You don’t have to wait until the actual day; with the Time Machiner tool, you can send emails to the future, as cgull reported. Just type the message, the email address and the date you want it sent (June 8, 2008, for example) and the Time Machiner does the rest. Wildly enough, the inventor of the app only took four hours to create this relationship-saver.
Several other tech and Internet stories are worth reading: online DVD rental site Netflix suffered a major glitch, momentsintime discovered; the YouTube Video Awards honoured the best and weirdest vids on the user-based community, Maverick reported (Oh Chocolate Rain, how we never tire of you!); the RIAA has falsely accused a father and daughter of illegal file-sharing, Brant David McLaughlin wrote; and a stunning 3D camera with more than 12,000 lenses could add a new dimension to your life. One potential use for this technology would be supplementing facial recognition projects for security purposes.
Health
What does it say about our society when cigarette companies sponsor lung cancer studies that put them in the clear? Find out by reading a stellar story by Cynthia T. on the conflicts of interest discovered in one landmark study, putting a cigarette company on the hot seat.
For your health news fix, take these stories before or after a meal: a transgender man in Oregon is pregnant, momentsintime reported, causing every woman to wonder if this guy can handle the pain of wide-eyed stares and childbirth; a New York restaurant is warning customers of a typhoid fever outbreak at the venue, Susan Duclos wrote; teaching preschool kids about weight management and healthy eating can go a long way to curbing obesity, karateblossom found; obsessive text-messaging on your mobile device could lead to a psychiatric disorder, Angelique van Engelen found (omg, that’s so worth a lmao comment!); scientists can film a blood vessel’s journey to better understand how cancer spreads across the body, Bob Ewing published; and is the U.S. prepared for an epidemic? That’s the main question behind Wanderlaugh‘s feature on the possibility of influenza spreading across the States, unchecked. As he wrote:
Preparing for an epidemic is like preparing for a massive earthquake. You know it’s going to be rough. You can try and do the best you can, but there are a lot of unpredictable elements.
World
We all hear news reports of overseas soldiers being killed by roadside bombs and suicide attacks in Iraq, but it seems like electrocution is the latest culprit, according to momentsintime.
Houston company KBR is in the centre of the wrongful death lawsuit that has seen at least one young soldier killed in his barracks due to electrocution.
Many other world stories won attention: the Tibet uprising is nicely analyzed by a Citizen Journalist who has seen the plight of Tibetan refugees first-hand; the U.S. soldier death mark in Iraq has reached 4,000, and Lieutenant Sean Walsh asks, “What is the cost of the lives of your loved ones?” as Can Tran wrote; major donors aren’t living up to their promise to assist Afghanistan, Bob Ewing found; and the U.S. Air Force is trying to wipe egg of its face for accidentally shipping nuclear fuses to Taiwan, ajzeller1979 posted. What’s next, the Pentagon accidentally sending warheads to Iran?
TopFinds Awards
A lot of ink was spilled recently about the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. But Wanderlaugh doesn’t like relying on the 4,000 figure, as he explained in his well-written TopOpEd Award-winning article. Mirroring the Vietnam War casualties and wounded to the Iraq War equivalent, Wanderlaugh dissected how the ravages of combat can do more damage than the headlines trumpet. He even criticized media stalwarts for failing to do their part: “In terms of actual reports of military activity, the normal freak show of imagery and innuendo tends to be more soundtrack to the spin,” he wrote. Another top-notch opinion piece from this very active Citizen Journalist.
Weapons dealers. Space satellites. Citizen uproar. All these elements are part of the intriguing winner of the TopTech Award, given to mirrorwarp for his article on the controversial sale of MDA, Canada’s largest space technology firm. He wrote about Ottawa freezing the sale of MDA to ATK, an American company known to supply military forces with high-tech weapons. Critics complain a sale of MDA would force the Canadian company to make weapons, even though it’s best known for the Canadarm satellite. mirrorwarp hoped for transparency if the sale goes through and he asked some very pertinent questions applicable to anyone concerned about Canadian sovereignty in the business world.
There’s nothing like an eye-opener of a story about a Citizen Journalist who gets slapped at a pro-troop rally. Chronicling the action is our very own political junkie CJ, Susan Duclos, who takes home the TopPolitics Award for her powerful piece on what transpired in West Chester, Penn. The feature thoroughly explained what happened, and added relevant photos to complement the text. The icing on the cake were the many comments that footnoted the article, adding more layers to an already insightful post.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gets a bad rap. Instead, shouldn’t politicians who speed up the drug approval process take the blame for problematic medicine? That’s the message at the heart of Bart B. Van Bockstaele’s article on the government meddling with drug safety. The piece wins the TopHealth Award for exposing readers to an oft-overlooked controversy — many drugs are approved for consumer use before they have been thoroughly tested. That’s not the FDA’s fault, Bart explained, but politicians should shoulder the responsibilty for passing bills requiring speedy drug approval. Cynthia T. said it all when she commented:
There should never be a limit on the time that a drug company has to research the safety of a new drug.
Speaking of crimes against humanity, the Citizen Journalist taking home the TopCrime Award is Cynthia T. for her timely piece on the charges against Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Even before the mainstream press spent countless hours reporting on the scandal, Cynthia had posted all the facts plus a dose of insight, painting a comprehensive picture with complementary quotes from various lawyers. And as she always does, Cynthia followed up by answering every comment left on her article. Way to stay dedicated to the story and your admirers, Cynthia!
As more TV networks bring their shows online, entrepreneurs are looking for ways to take advantage of that migration. cgull, intrepid report that he is, informed us about Vonage founder Jeff Pulver’s latest idea, PrimeTimeRewind.tv. In this TopEntertainment Award-winning feature, we learn about a website featuring a 3D cube displaying viewable videos on each side. So one side will have ABC content, another side will have Showtime content, and so on. It’s an innovative concept that will surely catch on, if not simply for its ease of use and one-stop hub appeal (but non-Americans are out of luck — only works for American viewers). Thanks to cgull, dedicated fans of CSI will never be without their daily fix.
As he often does, Citizen Journalist-sports nut Navin Vaswani probes deep into Toronto sports team with all the enthusiasm of a general manager. Winning another TopSports Award, Navin wrote a knowledgeable and entertaining piece on the recent ups and downs of the Toronto Raptors, explaining why he “hearts” point guard Jose Calderon and centre Rasho Nesterovic. If you want a different take on the Raps (or the Leafs for that matter), make sure you subscribe to Navin’s news thread. He never disappoints.
