Tech news reports I saw this weekend drop this bombshell on Hollywood as well as PC consumers: the next-generation Windows 8 operating system won’t automatically play DVDs and Blu-ray – even if your laptop has a DVD or Blu-ray drive. instead Windows 8 will require you to fork over cash. Expect from greedy Microsoft an extra-cost option to install a Windows Media Center software upgrade to allow DVD and Blu-ray playback. Let’s hope a 3rd party freebie bitchslaps this abomination.

Pay To Play DVD/Blu-Ray? Windows 8 Sucks

March 16:

Retracting a Bombshell: This American Life has retracted a story that focused on a manufacturer of Apple products in China called Foxconn. The story helped ignite a debate about conditions at that plant. The story included a monologue performed by Mike Daisey called The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. “It detailed alarming labor practices which he claimed to witness during his time visiting Foxconn, ” according to Wired. “Daisey lied to me,” the show’s host, Ira Glass, wrote in a blog post on Friday.  “That doesn’t excuse the fact that we never should’ve put this on the air. In the end, this was our mistake.” via Wired

Disobedient Clooney: A-lister George Clooney has been arrested outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C. with his father, Nick. The actor, who most recently starred in the movies “The Descendants” and “Ides of March,” is a long-time activist and has frequently visited the Sudanese region to raise awareness for the humanitarian crisis that has stricken the region in the wake of the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan. Clooney has been charged with civil disobedience offenses. (11:43 a.m.) via BBC News

Free Vasectomy Pizza: a urology practice in Cape Cod is offering a free, one-topping pizza to any man who has a vasectomy at their office, Cape Cod Times reports. The thinking behind it is to give guys a good reason to be couch potatoes just as March Madness is heating up, while at the same time downing a “pie for the sterile guy.” The practice even has a zesty advertising video. Apparently, March is a busy time for Urology Associates of Cape Cod. (10:04 a.m.) via The Dailywh.at

March 15

Groupon Titanic Trip: In the lead up to the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, a lucky Groupon subscriber won a super-duper cut-rate trip to see the sunken remains of the Titanic reports FoxNews Orlando. While others paid about $60K for trip, which includes descending 12,500 feet to the ocean floor in a submersible with “a team of scientists, engineers, and RMS Titanic historians,” the Groupon discount brought it down to $12,500. Included is a DVD of “Titanic,” signed by a genuine Leonardo de Caprio impersonator. Priceless. (5:28 p.m.) via Underwater Times

EuroMars: NASA caused plenty of upset last month when the space agency announced that it was going to pull out of the Europe-led ExoMars mission. NASA was a key partner in the mission, providing funding, instrumentation and vast amounts of experience of landing robots on the Red Planet. NASA’s pullout put ExoMars in jeopardy. But today, ESA has announced during a meeting in Paris that Russia will step in where NASA stepped out. (2:18 p.m.) via BBC News

Gecko-Stick your TV to the Wall: Forget those cumbersome wall mounts, next time you need to anchor your flat screen TV to the wall, all it may take is a bit of “Geckskin.” Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst studied the tendons of geckos to understand how they connect bone to muscle as well as how they stick and unstick to walls with superhero-like ease. Mimicking the amazing animal’s anatomy, the team came up with “Geckskin,” an index card-sized adhesive patch that can hold a maximum of 700 pounds while sticking to a smooth surface. (12:09 p.m.) via Inside Science

March 14

Argentina Changes Anti-abortion Laws: a court ruling on Tuesday clarified Argentina’s strict anti-abortion laws to allow women who have been raped to terminate their pregnancies without facing criminal charges. Previously the law only permitted abortions in cases where the mother was mentally incapacitated or her life was at risk. (4 p.m.) via CNN

Cheesy Sea Horse: a Cheeto in the shape of a seahorse is up for auction on Ebay, in case you’re interested. a Virginia couple on vacation in the Florida Keys was enjoying a few bags of Cheetos when the wife pulled out one in the shape of a seahorse. The couple recalled other Ebay items in the shape of real-world things (grilled cheese Virgin Mary, anyone?) that pulled in thousands. so they put the Cheeto up for sale on Ebay for a buy-it-now purchase of $8,000 in the hopes of helping coral reef protection. Current bid at the time of writing: $28.00. Free shipping. (1:05 a.m.) via Orlando Sentinal and Underwater Times

New Hip? Hold the Metal: As artificial hip technology gets more sophisticated, more Americans (about 285,000 each year) have gone under the knife to get rid of their chronic pain and regain a smoother walk. But sometimes technology backfires. Metal-on-metal hip replacements, where both the artificial ball and socket are made up of metal, have shown an alarmingly high failure rate of about 6 percent (compared with 1.7 to 2.3 percent for those with ceramic or plastic joints). Now a new British study suggests doctors should stop using the all-metal replacements altogether. In the United States, safety studies on the hips are ongoing. (11:55 a.m.) via New York Times

March 13

Earmuff Day: It’s Earmuff Day today in the United States! yes, really. according to Weather Underground, much of the country was unseasonably warm today, meaning that only people at the tops of mountains in the West needed earmuffs today. most of us needed sunblock. Earmuff Day came about because earmuffs were patented on this day in 1877. 5:25 p.m. via Holiday Insights

Don’t know Much About History…Books: Remember toting around that thick, heavy history textbook in school? Students at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco have lighter backpacks thanks to a history program that uses no textbooks –- and they outscored their peers. Following a model created at Stanford University, the students instead analyze journal writings, memoirs, speeches, songs, photographs, illustrations, and other documents directly from different periods in history. at year’s end, a study found the young historians outperformed fellow students in reading comprehension, historical thinking, recall of historical facts, and general reasoning. The course model is now available as a download to all teachers for free from the Internet. so far the course has been downloaded more than a quarter of a million times. (1:00 p.m.) via Futurity

Enemies of the Internet: Reporters Without Borders has added Bahrain and Belarus to its list of Enemies of the Internet. these are countries that restrict its people from freely using the Internet to find or decimate information, particularly that with a political slant. In some countries, bloggers are imprisoned or even killed. The “Enemies of the Internet” list includes Bahrain, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. (10:33 a.m.) via Deutsche Welle

Rise of RoboCop: Remote controlled helicopter police drones are being increasingly used to apprehend suspects, but there is concern that these robotic “eyes in the sky” could become platforms for non-lethal weapons. Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office has put an order in for a $300,000 ShadowHawk drone and Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel has said he’s open to the idea of attaching non-lethal weapons — such as tear gas launchers and rubber bullets. if this idea goes ahead, how long will it be before not-so-non-lethal weapons are attached to these flying ‘bots? have they not seen RoboCop?! (9:30 a.m.) via Slash Gear

Password Protect: off? As social media evolves from a “tool” into a ubiquitous means of communicating, there’s bound to be some controversy surrounding the balance between privacy and protection — especially when minors are involved. But at what point does protection go too far? In a Minnesota law suit, it is alleged that a 12-year-old girl was bullied by officials to hand over her Facebook password. The dispute began when the student apparently posted strong views against her school and teachers; the school then intervened when they were informed the student was talking about sex on her Facebook profile. The allegations are denied by the school, but it does raise some awkward questions about freedom of speech and child protection. (8:46 a.m.) via MSNBC

March 12

Hitchcock Day: Today is National Hitchcock Day and the lists of his best films are endless. Here’s one and here’s another one, and another. But if you want to hear from the man himself about what makes adults frightened (hint: “It’s all about ‘Red Riding Hood’”) or what he really thought of film in his day, you should check out this interview on YouTube. (5:30 p.m.) via YouTube

Kids on TV: This infographic, from OnlineCollegeCourses.com, outlines the state of children watching TV today, and it’s shocking. We’ve all seen the stats before — kids on average watch more TV per year than hours spent in school, for instance — but it’s always nice to see it all in one place. (3:54 p.m.) via AllTop.com

Mo’ Money: if you live in California and are thinking about buying an electric car, now is the time. The state is offering an additional $2,500 tax credit on top of the federal tax credit of $7,500 for anyone who buys a Ford Focus Electric. That’s $10K off the base price of $39,200. if you drive a Ford Focus Electric (or a Chevy Volt for that matter) in Cali, you can also drive in the HOV lane without a passenger, too. how awesome is that. (3:12 p.m.) via Inhabitat

MOHO Mapped: GOCE satellite gravity measurements have allowed geologists to map the boundary between Earth’s crust and its mantle in unprecedented detail. The discontinuity — called the MOHO boundary, named after its discoverer Croatian seismologist Andrija Mohorovičić — exists at different depths around the world and is a place where rock properties change and allow for seismic waves in the mantle to travel at faster velocities than near the surface where the predominantly baslatic and granitic rocks are less dense than the deeper peridotites. The basaltic-rich oceanic crust is much thinner in general than the granitic continental crust and the Moho boundary as a result is closer to the surface under the oceans. In the new map the details of the more complex geology of the continents shows the variations that occur with depth under the mountain ranges and is expected to help with plate tectonic movements and oil and gas exploration. (12:05 p.m.) via BBC

Spicy fat? no Sweat: Like a spicy curry, but worried about the ghee? There may be less reason to worry. a new study from Penn State finds that strong spice in a meal helps slash the levels of triglycerides, a type of fat, in the blood. Testing foods that included a blend of garlic, turmeric, as well as paprika, rosemary and ginger, the Penn State researchers were surprised to see a drop in blood’s fat levels, as well as a noted 20 percent dip in insulin levels. not only does the study suggest eating spicy foods might hold some health benefit, it might also mean that someday strong spices could play a role in medicines. (10:50 a.m.) via NPR

Photos: Corbis / Ebay

Foxconn Story Retracted: DNews Nuggets

Hines Ward has been released by the Pittsburgh Steelers. despite the outpouring of sadness across Steeler Nation, it isn’t quite the bombshell it would have been even a season ago. in fact, everybody from Hines on down have acknowledged if he were to return next year, it would be under a reworked contract and in a reduced role. nevertheless, just because we knew this was coming doesn’t make it any easier.

Unlike the last great Steeler to retire, the end for Hines comes not with a bang but with a whimper. Our final memory of Jerome Bettis is him announcing his retirement while holding the Lombardi Trophy aloft. Our final memory of Hines will be those annoying shots of him sitting glumly on the bench while the Steelers’ offense tried time and time again to get something going against the stubborn Denver Broncos. While the Bus didn’t exactly set the world on fire his last year, he still contributed 9 touchdowns and 26 heart attacks when he fumbled the ball in Indianapolis. Hines had a totally forgettable season, barely seeing the field for long stretches of time. even what should have been his signature moment, his 1,000th career reception, was somewhat anticlimactic when it was force-fed to him on a little shovel pass which lost five yards.

But let’s not dwell on the sad ending. It’s far better to Hines for what he was, the greatest wide receiver in Steelers history. Not bad for a third round draft choice out of Georgia. He came to Pittsburgh with little fanfare and spent most the majority of his first three years playing special teams and serving as a third receiver behind Plaxico Burress and epic first-round bust Troy Edwards (what the hell were they thinking when they drafted him?). When he finally became a full-time starter in 2001, he ripped off the first of four consecutive 1,000 yard seasons and Pro Bowl appearances. From that point on, Hines Ward and the Steelers became synonymous.While his success catching the ball cemented his place on the team, a lot of the other things Hines did are what made him arguably the most popular Steeler of the current era.  popular with the fans, that is, as Hines frequently topped player surveys asking about the league’s dirtiest player. Hines wasn’t a dirty player, he simply played wide receiver like a FOOTBALL PLAYER. somewhere during this time of the Diva Receiver, it became passe and even taboo for a WR to do things other than jog down the field at half speed on running plays. Hines never took a play off. When he ran a route, he ran it precisely. When the Steelers ran the ball, he looked to throw a block. When somebody else caught the ball, he looked to throw a block.

Many opposing players didn’t take kindly to this. Hines didn’t care. He always saw himself as a blue collar player, one who excels not because of superior athletic ability but because he’ll always play a little bit harder than everybody else. When any other great receiver retires, his fans flood talk shows and blogs with memories of this catch or that one. It really says something that with Hines, the two most commonly cited plays from his career have been the time he obliterated Ed Reed on a Monday Night and the play where he smacked Keith Rivers so hard, he broke his jaw.

Oh, players tried to retaliate. Hines took more than his fair share of big hits during his career. But he’d always pop right back up with a smile on his face. That smile, man, I truly believe Hines’ smile won him a couple of those Dirtiest Player polls because nothing rubs salt in a wound worse than laughing after taking a big lick. the smile really epitomized why Steeler Nation loved Hines Ward. He’d smile after scoring a touchdown, scanning the crowd to gift the ball to a lucky fan in a #86 jersey. He’d smile after a big hit, either giving or receiving. and he’d smile after a win, whether he caught 200 yards worth of passes or 20. in a time when so many receivers are high-maintenance Divas who pout or grouse if they’re not fed the ball on the reg, Hines always cared more about winning than his personal statistics.

Hines, through his agent, released the following message upon learning of his release:

This isn’t how I wanted this chapter of my career to end. I did everything in my power to remain a Steeler and finish what I started here 14 years ago. I want to thank the organization, my teammates and coaches and everyone who made my run as a Steeler the best years of my life. To mr. Rooney, thank you for allowing me to play for one of the greatest organizations in the world. To my fans and in particular, Steeler Nation, thank you for your support and all the great memories. I gave my heart and soul for you every down and I will always bleed black and gold. I do feel that I still have more football left in me and I am looking forward to playing in the NFL, again, this upcoming season.

While this post is sounding like a retirement tribute, it’s important to note Hines has no intention of hanging up the cleats. As you see in the above statement, Hines feels he can still play and will be seeking employment elsewhere next season. Also in the statement, he seems to infer he tried to re-negotiate with the Steelers but either they weren’t offering what he wanted or they weren’t interested in bringing him back at a reduced cost. While this isn’t quite the acrimonious exit long-time Steeler fans will recall happened when Franco Harris and Rod Woodson ended their Pittsburgh careers, it does portend a little bitterness. in that vein, it’s interesting he thanked Dan Rooney without acknowledging his son, team president Art Rooney II. This would be the second big name to pointedly ignore the Deuce during his exit as Bill Cowher famously made it a point not to mention Art II when thanking all his friends in the organization.

So the Steelers will enter next season without the familiar #86 for the first time in fourteen years. if Hines still has gas left in the tank, we will be treated to the unusual site of that #86 clad in colors other than black and gold. Regardless of what color jersey he’s wearing when he catches his last pass, Hines Ward will always be a Pittsburgh Steeler. and some day, we’ll all descend upon Canton to see that famous smile one last time.Similar Posts:

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Hines Ward Era Ends In Pittsburgh