Gizmodo: prostitution

Afternoon News: HP and Compaq Laptops May Brick, Comcast and DirecTV Have a Catfight, I Weep For My Home Town and More

Benny Goldman — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:59:00 EST

• A security researcher published code that is capable of ~~bricking~~ corrupting Windows boot sectors on most HP and Compaq laptops. That doesn't sound too good. [Slashdot]
• Microsoft continues to rename everything in sight, this time folding IPTV, HD DVD, and Media Center into one group called Connected TV. [News.com]
• Comcast settled a lawsuit with DirecTV about the latter's hissy fit over an ad campaign last spring. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but from the sound of it, Comcast came out on top. However, when anything involves these two companies, does anyone really come out on top? [Ars Technica]
• THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS LOSE!!!...At a chance to show their last game to Time Warner Cable customers after TWC would not agree to binding arbitration with the NFL. Gotcha! [Consumerist]
• Finally, stepping out of the gadget world for a second, here's something that happened in my home city of Detroit. A bus driver transporting special needs students was arrested for soliciting an undercover cop for prostitution at 7 in the morning! It's funny because it's tragic! [Detroit News]

Cute Girl Succeeds having People Buy Her a MacBook Pro

Travis Hudson — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 17:46:13 EST

Remember way back in the day when Leah Culver was trying to buy a MacBook Pro by selling laser-etched advertising? Well, she succeeded, and here is the final creation. Honestly, it doesn't look too bad.

Nice work, Leah. Now, since uh, I posted about it back in the day and partially helped you get recognized, want to go get a drink? – Travis Hudson

Laser-Etched Laptop

Bill Gates Gives Smart Cards to 500 Hookers

Gizloco — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 17:32:17 EDT

Bill Gates, who recently announced his phased departure from Microsoft, said that one of the things he plans to do after leaving is to focus on his charity organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Now it seems that 500 Indian prostitutes can thank Gates for all his charity with reports that a project under the foundation's auspices recently gave them free smart cards. The smart cards, which are embedded with chips, will let the prostitutes from the city of Mysore (insert STD-related joke here) receive discounts in hotels and shops as well as earn "loyalty points," which can later be exchanged for more discounts. Isn't charity great?

It's not all free candy and soda pop for Mysore's ladies, however, given that the smart cards will hold their medical history. Obviously, the idea here is to encourage the prostitutes to get checked for sexually transmitted diseases more often. The smart cards will interact with an Indian computer known as a Simputer, letting doctors easily look up the prostitutes' medical data.

See, Bill Gates isn't evil—he's trying to make the world safe for everybody, one prostitute at a time. – Nicholas Deleon

Gates gives 500 hookers smart card [The Inquirer]