Gizmodo: 60 minutes

The Grumpiest Old Man Talks to Us About Computers

matt buchanan — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:26:44 EST

Andy Rooney was my weekly lesson in crotchetiness growing up, but I increasingly get the sense he's a corpse animated by secret government technology to keep senior citizens in line. He loves computers. And taxes. [The Awl]

60 Minutes Reporter Investigates China's E-Waste Pits, Gets Attacked

Elaine Chow — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:25:00 EST

60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley went to Guiyi, China to document the lives of Chinese e-waste workers there. He was able to get footage of what these pits, which process much of the toxic electronic scrap we in the West throw away, look like—despite being jumped by angry e-waste lot owners and nearly having his camera confiscated.

The Chinese who attacked them were trying to keep mum on the lucrative business of mining e-waste for valuable components, including gold. According to Jim Puckett, who works for a group working to stop the dumping of toxic materials in third world countries, “A lot of people are turning a blind eye here. And if somebody makes enough noise, they're afraid this [business] is all going to dry up.”

The workers who sift through these e-waste pits get paid about $8 a day. They use caustic chemicals and often burn plastic without any type of protection uniform. The air is full of toxins, potable water needs to be trucked in, and pregnancies in the city are six times more likely to be miscarriages. All to deal with the mess we ship over. Sometimes it's easy to forget that even though we don't see our trash anymore, it still exists. And even though America has laws against e-dumping, companies regularly flout them with little repercussion.

Pelley's investigation will be broadcast on CBS this Sunday at 7pm. [CBS News via China Digital Times]

Retromodo: Bill Gates, Panhandlers and Hamburglers On 60 Minutes

Brian Lam — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:05:45 EDT

One of the best Bill Gates interview clips to float the web in the last few years is this one where Bill tells us how easy school was while chowing down on burgers at his favorite fast food joint. At the end, some homeless guy knocks on the window and asks if he can spare any change.

Heat Ray Causes Unintelligible Yelping from 60 Minutes Reporter

Christopher Mascari — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:00:57 EST

Remember the US Military ray gun that makes people feel like they're on fire? Well, 60 Minutes sent out a reporter to see if he could take the heat. Standing in plain view of the ray gun made his body feel like "scalding water," so David Martin attempted, with little success, to hide behind a piece of plywood and later a mattress. Some claim they can only take the heat ray 4 - 5 seconds, so when David tried it we think he only made it 2 seconds, even if he did say, "ONE ONE THOUSAND TWO ONE THOUSAND THREE ONEEEAAHHHHRRHHR" [CBS via TechEBlog]

"Andy Rooney" Reviews the iPhone

Mark Wilson — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:21:04 EST

We were never huge fans of Frank Caliendo's George Bush impersonations (they just seemed to lack the satire of, say, Phil Hartman's Bill Clinton). But this clip from Caliendo's FrankTV in which he does an impression of Andy Rooney reviewing the iPhone actually made us chuckle a bit. Oh, but no crying in the comments if you don't find it funny. In fact, if you are the type who, like, flips out if they waste a minute of your life on an internet video that doesn't meet some laugh per second quota, just remember—it's all a lot better than that work you're supposed to be doing. [via macenstein]