Digital shopping carts. Huckabee’s strange homophobia. Scientists extending lifespan to 800 years. Digital Journal presents top news from around the world in technology, health, politics, sports and much more.
Technology & Internet
MediaCart sounds like a beta news site but it is actually Microsoft’s foray into bringing digital advertisements to shopping carts. Also, shoppers can scan items with the MediaCart console, place them in their cart and a running total will show up on the screen, ashley.woods4 reported. Will MediaCart curb grocery overspending or simply place ads in another corner of our life?
Several other tech and Net stories taught us about the ever-changing digital world we live in: MySpace and 45 U.S. states are teaming up to fight sexual predators, cgull wrote; gaming predictions for 2008 include PlayStation 3 gaining ground, casual gaming winning more attention and GTA IV giving Rockstar a boost, MadMoneyWannabe reported; and major news from Macworld saw the arrival of iTunes movie rentals, MacBook Air, iPhone updates and the back-up device, Time Capsule. But are some of these Apple goodies worth your dinero?
Special kudos to editor Chris Hogg for revealing Lenovo’s dirty customer service secret in a ground-breaking investigative piece that should make tech companies think twice about installing a crappy ordering system full of bugs. Sorry, too soon?
Politics
When a U.S. presidential candidate equates homosexuality to bestiality, everyone takes notice, including the very vocal DigitalJournal.com community. Find out why Mike Huckabee has stirred such a massive bowl of controversy, staying afloat is his best option.
What else informed us in the political arena? The U.S. National Director of Intelligence has labelled water boarding as torture, even though the U.S. Attorney General is staying mum on the issue, Can Tran wrote; a former Republican Senator has been indicted for funding terrorism, affiliating himself with both the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, Samantha A. Torrence discovered; TruthMan dissects the differences between Obama and Clinton, which tend to be more stylistic than policy-related; and speaking of Clinton, Hargrove accused Hillary of staging events to elicit voter sympathy, saying:
The beauty of campaign 2008 is that the pressure of this election is forcing the ringmasters out into the open, where people can see who’s jumping through the hoops, and who’s pulling the strings.
Entertainment
Beatles fan, this one’s for you: 15 unreleased live tracks from the Fab Four may soon be available on store shelves, Eric S. Wyatt reported. Songs from a Hamburg, Germany, gig include “A Taste of Honey” and “I Saw Her Standing There,” while also featuring a true rarity — Paul McCartney singing Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues.”
Many other entertainment stories caught our eye: the Rolling Stones will work with director Martin Scorcese once again for a rock-umentary about the band’s life, Planet Janet wrote; surprise surprise, American Gladiators from the NBC show have been tested for steroids, although the results haven’t been published, MadMoneyWannabe told us (Wow, I actually miss Hollywood writers); another installment of the movie franchise The Chronicles of Narnia will hit theatres soon, aarontrippedout reported; Oprah is planning to launch her own TV network, cgull reported, but no word yet on how many living rooms will soon be ghost towns; and Yoda and Darth Vader will make guest appearances in the new video game, Soul Caibur IV, according to Can Tran. Just as long as Jar Jar Binks stays on the cutting-room floor.
TopFinds Awards
Citizen journalism thrives on the diverse backgrounds of its contributors, and it’s always heartening to see a foreign correspondent post intriguing articles from a different part of the world. Digital Journal extends a kudos and the Top New Citizen Journalist of the Week Award to Knightshield for his contributions from Brazil. His articles have touched upon the recent yellow fever scare in that part of the world, along with informative pieces about odd and shameful deeds committed by Brazilian politicos. We look forward to more thought-provoking pieces from our latest worldly reporter.
When a Digital Journalist debunks a sketchy myth that was even reported in national newspapers, we take notice. Susan Duclos did an incredible job at finding out the truth behind the UK supposedly removing the Holocaust from its curriculum, while also penning such an investigative piece we have no choice but to award the article the TopJournalism Award. Susan explained the falsehoods of the many reports on this supposed British anti-Semitism, which turned out to be more molehills than mountains. She sources emails and well-known documents, eventually concluding: “This is no more than a rumor that took a speck of truth and built a whole false story around it, then passed it around to as many people as they could.”
An opinion article that demonstrates sound logic and an entertaining writing style will always be in contention for the Top OpEd Award. And winning on both those counts is Wanderlaugh‘s insightful piece on the U.S. economy, news-hooking us with its implications in the presidental candidate debates. Wanderlaugh clearly illustrated the problem with U.S. finances, saying “America can’t afford this level of destruction in its economy.” For a foreigner (Australian) to write so passionately and eloquently about another country’s fiscal health — well, it goes to show that a writer’s knowledge base can be spread far beyond his or her borders.
Original reporting flexes a useful muscle for citizen media, which is why the TopSports Award is deservedly given to Charles Kim (sbreporter1) for a fascinating look into a gambler’s struggle with compulsion. He interviewed a gamber who believes the media is to blame for many betting obsessions, saying published point spreads and odds contribute to this mental disorder. The article was detailed and well-reserached, giving readers a complete overview of what this gambler is going through and what other people think of his complaint. The post is not only a good example of enterprising journalism but also great fodder for philsophical rumination about who’s to blame for the spread of gambling obsessions.
Do you want to live to 800? No, I haven’t been reading articles about Methuselah but I’ve been poring over the TopHealth Award winner, Geneticists Discover a Way to Extend Lifespan to 800 Years. Written by cgull, this fascinating piece explained how California scientists found a way to extend a yeast bacteria’s lifespan 10 times its normal rate. And yes, humans are vastly different than yeast but the study’s findings show promise for a way to extend the lifespan of the average homosapien. That fountain-of-youth era may be eons away but cgull’s reportage is a thorn in the side of pessimists and science haters who say the world is only regressing further every day.
In our rush-rush move-move world, we often miss the inspiring stories of quiet towns contributing to their community to help them flourish. One of the best examples of this community activism is in the townships of Cape Town, South Africa, where organic gardens and “a revolution fuelled by vegetables” is taking root in this formerly troubled area. Bob Ewing‘s glimpse into this model community wins this week’s TopFood Award for showcasing how women are taking the reigns in their gardening pursuits in order to improve their quality of living, and eating. Bob nicely complemented the article with a YouTube video showing the fruits (and vegetables) of Cape Town’s labours.
