Hacking Pepsi Machines

Well you probably have read the article on hacking coke machines.. Well we cant forget about those pepsi machines! This article contains the combinations to get into the debug menu on pepsi machines!

Pepsi Debug Menu

Disclaimer
The author of this article cannot be held responsible for any act(s) any person(s) has (have) done as a result of reading this article.

Note: I found out how to do this with the Pepsi machine on my own. I did not get this from a site or a magazine or some other source.

This article is inspired by/based off of the Hacking Coke Machines article.

What type of vending machines this works on

I assume this article can work with any Pepsi vending machine that can be programmed to say the certain things in the small screen. Personally, I’ve only tried this on the Pepsi vending machine that has the big buttons like the one shown below, and this type of vending machine is the type I am going to use as examples.

The Code

Getting into the debug menu is as simple as pressing buttons. Some random person hanging around with friends can accidentally enter in the code and not know it.
This picture shows you (refer to the picture above), in order, what buttons to press from 1-4.
Yes, it is as simple as just pressing those 4 buttons. The manufacturers could have made it a complex series of button presses or at least a button inside the Pepsi machine. I try to remember the code by Left, Left, Right, Right but there are many different ways to remember it.

What Buttons do What

The picture shown above has each button numbered and below is a key to match the numbers with the function the button has. I don’t know what all of the buttons do so I will tell you what the ones i know do. Those buttons are really the only ones you need to know but you can find out the other ones when you try this article out.

1,2 – Cycle right
3 – Enter
4 – Debug Quick Exit

Inside the Debug Menu

I’ve only seen two options in the Debug menu.

Diagnostics - I’m guessing that this tests parts in the vending machine. My guess is based off of the Hacking Coke Machines article. In the Hacking Coke Machines article, it says that there is an option to test the parts in the machine.

Sales Data - Shows you what each product on the buttons made and how much money there is total in the machine. To see what the seperate products have made just use the cycle right button.

Source

Increase the number of simultaneous downloads in Internet Explorer 7

Internet Explorer 7 will only allow you to download two files at one time. This limitation can prove to be quite an inconvenience for anyone who downloads quite a lot on the Internet. A simply registry tweak can be done to remove this limitation.

1) Click on the Start Pearl and type regedit in the Search Bar.

2) Once you are in the registry editor, navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

3) Right click in the empty space, and create a new DWord (32-bit) value. Name it:

MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server (The 0 beside Server is a zero)

4) Double click this entry and modify the value to 3.

5) Create another DWord:

MaxConnectionsPerServer

6) Once again, double click this entry and modify the value to 3.

If you have Internet Explorer open, just restart it and you should be able to have an unlimited number of simultaneous downloads running.

10 Ways To Become A Better Blogger

Takeaway: If nobody bothers to read your blog posts, you might as well just scribble your thoughts on a cocktail napkin. But if you truly want to share your ideas and opinions, check out these pointers for crafting an engaging blog and building a loyal following.

Blogging is the new national pastime–not just for Americans, but for Internet-connected people all over the world. It’s an activity that spans all age groups and occupations. There are personal blogs, social blogs, and professional blogs. Whatever the topic, someone has probably blogged it. Some of us get paid to blog and others pay for the privilege of blogging (on a particular site or with particular software).

The Internet made it possible for anyone to publish content to a worldwide audience. The Web log, or blog format, has made it easier and more convenient. But all blogs are not created equal. Some draw an eager following and others languish in obscurity. Regardless of your reason for blogging, you can make your blog better, more readable and–if it’s what you want–more popular.

#1: Define your purpose

The first step in creating a better blog is to ask yourself why you’re blogging. What’s the purpose of your blog? Is it to be a public version of the personal diary, recounting your experiences, thoughts, and emotions? Is it more of a journal, where you preserve ideas and outline projects? Is it a social site, for interacting with friends, sharing links, getting to know people? Is it an editorial page, for commentary on politics, social trends, and current events? Is it a professional or hobbyist site, for sharing conceptual and how-to information about some field of study or work (e.g., aviation, computer programming, or photography)?

Sure, you can have “just a blog” that combines elements of all of these, but you may find that readers prefer you to specialize. If you want to write about your field of expertise sometimes and your favorite political party at other times, it might be beneficial to maintain two separate blogs to avoid alienating or boring your readers half the time.

Speaking of readers, an important element in defining your purpose is to know your audience. That will help you determine the voice and writing style that’s appropriate for those you’re addressing. You probably wouldn’t use the same style when writing to stock car race fans that you’d use if your audience were made up primarily of stock market brokers.

In keeping with your blog’s purpose, you should have a defined theme. For example, if the purpose of your blog is to express political opinions, the theme might be to promote a low-tax, nonintrusive government.

#2: Create visual appeal

Content isn’t the only thing that matters. Your blog site should also be visually appealing, or at least visually neutral. You don’t want to scare away prospective readers or have them leave in frustration because the page is distracting or unreadable.

The best visual design for the page is dependent in part on your audience and theme. You can use color, font styles, and graphics to set the mood and tone–just make sure the tone matches the content. Whatever your theme, it’s best to avoid dark letters on a dark background, tiny or overly fancy typefaces, and other elements that make your blog hard to read.

If your blog is hosted on a public blog site, you may be limited in how much you can change the design, but there will usually be a number of preconfigured visual themes you can choose from. Keep audience appeal and readability in mind when selecting one.

#3: Use the proper tools

You can create a blog using any WYSIWYG HTML editor, such as FrontPage (soon to be replaced by Microsoft Expression Web Designer), Macromedia Dreamweaver, or the Amaya open source editor endorsed by W3C. You can even use a text editor like Notepad to compose the HTML code.

However, blogging is made much easier, faster, and more convenient if you use a dedicated blogging program or the features of a blogging Web site that lets you compose posts in the Web browser or via e-mail.

If your blog is hosted on a free public blog site, such as Blogger or Windows Live Spaces, you can write your posts in your e-mail client and send them to a special address you’re given when you create your account. For many, this is the easiest way to post, although it doesn’t show you the formatting.

Another alternative is to use a blog program such as WordPress, Movable Type, Post2Blog, or Windows Live Writer, which offer various useful features. For example, Windows Live Writer (free download at http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/) lets you put a button on the toolbar in IE so that if you want your blog to reference a Web site you’re visiting, you can highlight the text you want to quote and click Blog It. This opens Live Writer and inserts the link and the quoted text in your blog. You can publish to your blog on Live Spaces or other popular blogs with a single click.

#4: Make it easy to navigate

If you’re designing your blog site from scratch, it’s important to make it easy for readers to get around and do what they want to do. For instance, if you’re using comments and RSS feeds, make sure it’s clear to readers how to post a comment or subscribe to the feed.

You should also make it easy for readers to find past posts. Make sure archives are organized logically–not just in chronological order but in categories to make it easier to find particular posts.

If your blog is hosted on a public blog site, you can usually change the arrangement of page elements, add or eliminate elements (often called modules), and otherwise influence the navigability of the page. Keep clutter to a minimum but be sure to include the elements that readers need.

Make your site searchable, if possible, so users can find posts using keywords. You can put a free Google search box on your site (for more information, see http://www.google.com/searchcode.html#both).

#5: Stay in one place

Many bloggers experiment with different blog hosting sites and/or with hosting their own sites, especially early on in their blogging experience. It may take you awhile to find the best setup, but try to do so as soon as possible and then stay in one place so your readers can find you. Moving around to different URLs too often is sure to lose you some readers.

If you have an established blog and it’s necessary to move it to a different address, try to publish a last post on the old blog that points readers to the new blog and leave it up as long as possible.

#6: Engage your readers

Perhaps the most important factor in attracting and keep readers is establishing a relationship with them. Even interesting content is rendered less interesting if we don’t know who’s talking (writing) to us. Tell your readers who you are and something about yourself.

You need not go into a lot of personal details if your blog is political or professional, and in some cases you may not even want to reveal your real name (especially, for example, if you’re posting derogatory information about your employer or the police chief in your small town). But don’t just remain nameless; give readers a pseudonym by which to identify you and tell them generalities about yourself that will lend you credibility without blowing your cover. For instance, you might say that you’re a middle-age male who lives in Texas and has worked in the telecommunications industry.

If you don’t have a reason to keep your identity confidential, you may be able to benefit (attract the attention of headhunters in your field, become recognized as an expert in a particular area, etc.) by using your real name and providing contact information.

Regardless of whether you reveal your true identity, you can engage readers by interacting with them through the comments feature or by providing an e-mail address and responding to their input. You can, of course, use a free Webmail address or other alternative to your primary address if you want to protect your identity and/or avoid spam.

Engaging readers involves winning their trust and thinking of the reader first. If you make claims, back them up with cites and links. If possible, don’t link to sites that require a subscription or even free registration (or if you must, warn readers).

#7: Establish a blogging schedule

Blog readers are a fickle bunch. Once you’ve drawn an audience, they expect to find new content when they visit your blog. That doesn’t mean you have to post every day, but you should establish a minimum blogging schedule and stick to it. Let readers know, preferably in a static text box at the top of your blog page, that you will update the blog daily, weekly, on Mondays and Fridays, or whatever. Then do it–even if some of your posts aren’t particular profound or long. Readers will abandon your blog if they think you’ve abandoned them.

If you need to deviate from your schedule (for example, you’re going on vacation for two weeks or you’ll be in the hospital or you have a family or job emergency), let readers know that you won’t be posting at the regular time and give them an idea of when you’ll be back.

#8: Keep it concise

Speaking of posts that aren’t particularly profound or long, don’t think you have to wait until you have something brilliant to say before you post or put off posting because you don’t have time to write War and Peace today. In truth, most readers have short attention spans and/or crowded schedules themselves and would prefer to read a short, pithy post rather than a long, complex one.

If you do post lengthy pieces, break them up into short paragraphs to make them more readable. There’s nothing more daunting to a reader than a huge mass of unbroken text, no matter how skillful your turn of phrase.

You’ll also attract more readers with common words than with obscure ones, so unless you’re writing for a particularly scholarly audience, follow the old KISS advice: Keep it simple, sweetheart.

#9: Proofread before publishing

Even if you’re an English professor, it’s easy to end up with typographical errors, misspellings, and grammatical flaws in your posts if you don’t proofread before you hit the Publish button. Especially if you’re writing in the heat of passion or inspiration, your typing fingers can get ahead of your thoughts and cause words to be omitted or transposed, commas to appear in the wrong places, or sentences to become garbled.

Maybe you pride yourself on not adhering strictly to the rules, but presumably, you still want your readers to understand what you’re saying. That complex sentence that seemed so brilliant in composition may read a little awkwardly once you see it on the screen.

It’s difficult to catch mistakes in your own writing, because you tend to fill in what you thought you typed, rather than see what’s really there. This is particularly true immediately after writing. If possible, have someone else proofread your post before you publish it. Otherwise, let it “cool off” for an hour or a day so you can approach it with a more objective proofreader’s eye.

And although it’s best to catch mistakes before they’re published, one huge advantage of Web content is that, unlike print copy, it’s easy to change if you discover a problem after publication.

#10: Go syndicate yourself

You don’t have to wait for readers to come to your blog every day or every week. Instead, you can take your blog to them. Use RSS to feed your new blog posts to readers who sign up. This makes it easier for your readers, who don’t have to remember to visit your blog Web site to check for new posts–and whatever makes it easier for readers is good for authors. You can syndicate just your post titles, short summaries, or entire posts.

Most public blog hosting sites give you the option to syndicate your blog, and it’s usually as easy as clicking a button or two in the configuration interface. If you want to syndicate your self-hosted Web site, see http://www.xul.fr/en-xml-rss.html for more information.

Automatically Transcode and Import Downloaded Videos to iTunes

iPodifier is a free application that automatically transcodes and imports TV-shows or other video files to iTunes. It works great in combination with BitTorrent. Download your favorite TV-show overnight, and it will be on your iPod when you wake up. It couldn’t be any easier.

Earlier this week we introduced a great tool to automatically download TV-shows. Very convenient, but it can be quite a hassle to get these shows on your iPod. Here’s where iPodifier comes to the rescue.

iPodifier helps you to organize all these downloaded TV-shows, Movies, or other video files. It automatically transcodes these shows, generate playlists, imports the shows into iTunes, and syncs them with your iPod.

The application works great in combination with BitTorrent, TiVo, or any other video source. All you need to do is select the source (download) folder, add the appropriate filters and you’re ready to go. You can choose from low, medium or high quality output, and have the option to select the mpeg4 or h264 codec.

Here’s a list of some of the features:

# Automatically check for new videos
# Transcode new videos into an iPod compatible format
# Import the transcoded videos to iTunes
# Organize videos into playlists
# Sync the videos with your iPod

Unfortunately iPodifier only works on Windows, there are no plans to develop an OS X compatible version in the near future.

Source

Do P2P Blocklists Keep you Safe?

What is a Blocklist?

A blocklist is a list of domains or IP addresses of known and/or suspected spammers originally intended to assist ISPs and corporate domains in blocking email from IP addresses reported to have sent spam. At one time, ISPs and corporate mail administrators turned exclusively to blocklists in an effort to satisfy their customer demands and reduce the impact of spam on their servers.

This approach was effective when spammers didn’t go to so much trouble to hide their identities. Unfortunately ISPs soon found that spam could come from the same servers as good end-user email. And that the use of blocklists also caused them to mistakenly block legitimate email. The industry calls this a “false positive.” In the case of P2P networks such as bittorrent it can help keep you safe from anti-pirarcy organizations…

One of these blocklists is not like the other – vive la difference!

Well-maintained, reputable blocklists operate with clear listing and delisting policies. They provide reliable points of contact and their records are kept up-to-date with current information. SBL (SpamHaus blacklist) and Spam Cop are two such reputable, well- maintained blocklists. Use of these blocklists usually results in a low number of false positives.

Recent findings by researchers from the University of California, Riverside, show that 15% of the IPs people connect to on the Gnutella P2P network are blocked by blocklist applications such as PeerGuardian. Statistics like this do not prove anything about the effectiveness of these lists, however, according to an insider who worked for several anti-piracy organizations, blocklists significantly decrease the risk of getting caught by the MPAA or RIAA.

In a recently published paper, the researchers analyzed the results of a large scale experiment where they examined the number of hits they received from blocklisted IPs in a real P2P network. For a period of 90 days the researchers collected data using three differnet blocklists (PeerGuardian, Bluetack, and Trusty Files) on the Gnutella Network.

Their main conclusion: a user who is not using blocklist software is practically guaranteed to be monitored.

Other conclusions from their research are:

1. 5 blocklist ranges encountered during the experiments contribute to nearly 94% of all the blocklist hits.
2. Most blocklisted IPs belong to government or corporate organizations.
3. Very few blocklisted IPs belong directly to content providers such as record labels.

The researchers also note that the top 15 most encountered IPs operate from so called BOGON IP ranges, which can’t be traced back to a specific owner. This suggests that these sources deliberately want to stay anonymous, which could indicate that they are up to something.

The paper has some interesting findings, and does provide some insight into the workings of blocklists. However, it doesn’t say much about the accuracy and effectiveness of these blocklists.

In an attempt to find an answer, TorrentFreak asked an expert in the field, who worked with several anti-piracy organizations, how effective these lists are. His guess was that approximately 75 – 80% of IPs used by the anti-piracy companies he worked with are on these blocklists. This means that they offer some protection, but that they’re not foolproof.

The cat-and-mouse game between anti-piracy organizations and blocklist managers such as Bluetack will probably continue for a while.

Source

Bottom line? Use blocklists they help!

Hack Attack: Mouse-less Firefox

Learning to use Firefox keyboard shortcuts to reduce your trips to the mouse can lead to a much more fulfilling web browsing experience, especially at those times that your mouse just isn’t doing the trick.

Okay, you got me. I have, on occasion (read: often), neglected to charge my wireless mouse for long enough that, when it’s time to get posting on Lifehacker, I find myself totally mouse-less.

Now you’re thinking, “What, just because this wire-hating jerk can’t remember to put his mouse on the charger every now and then, I’m supposed to get all excited about the idea of using Firefox without a mouse?” But that’s not it at all, people!

I’m the kind of web surfer who’s never terribly happy when he has to move his hand over to the mouse, and frankly, jumping over to the mouse every time you need to follow a link is so 2004. Check out the following Firefox keyboard shortcuts (some well-known, others not), and before long you’ll forget all about the little rodent next to your keyboard.

Navigation from the toolbar

The address bar shortcut should be as instinctual as breathing by now, but there’s a few more shortcuts to that top bar that you should keep in mind.

* Select location bar: Ctrl/Cmd+L or Alt+D
* Select search bar: Ctrl/Cmd+K
* Back: Backspace or Alt/Cmd+Left
* Forward: Alt/Option+Right or Shift+Backspace
* Change search engine: Ctrl/Cmd+Down (Next) +Up (Previous)

The last shortcut, used to change the search engine, was a big discovery for me. I’ve always been interested in additional search bar plugins, but it was never worth the trip to the mouse. No problem any more.

Searching pages

The find-as-you-type feature was an epiphany. While Google is great at getting you to the right web page, Firefox’s find-as-you-type feature gets you the rest of the way.

* Find as you type text: /
* Find as you type link: ‘
* Regular old find: Ctrl/Cmd+F

The link search is very useful, especially when used in conjunction with…

Opening pages

Unless you do all of your browsing in one page, these shortcuts are huge when you don’t want to go running for your mouse.

* Open link in new window: Shift+Enter
* Open link in new tab: Ctrl/Cmd+Enter
* Open address/search in new tab: Alt/Option+Enter

Used together with their respective shortcuts (address and search bar shortcuts and the find-as-you-type link shortcut), the page opening shortcuts go a long way toward mouse-less browsing.

Grab bag

The following shortcuts fall into a more general grab bag of useful shortcuts.

* Caret browsing: F7
* Refresh: Ctrl/Cmd+R or F5
* Refresh (override cache): Ctrl/Cmd+F5 or Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+R
* Switch tabs: Ctrl/Cmd+Tab
* Select tab (1-9): Ctrl/Cmd+[1-9]
* Compose email: Ctrl/Cmd+M

The preceding shortcuts are of mostly obvious usefulness. Switching tabs and reloading pages are must-have shortcuts for any mouse-eschewing Firefox-er. A less-known feature, Caret browsing, inserts a cursor into the text of the page and is very useful for highlighting and copying text.

If you’re looking to change your default mail program (e.g. to Gmail, etc.) to best utilize the Compose email shortcut, check out these tips for setting your default mail program.

So you’re a web writer, huh?

If you’ve recently turned Firefox into a full-fledged web writer, then there are a couple more useful shortcuts that you need to know.

* Spellcheck (with Spellbound extension): Ctrl+Shift+F7
* Save Entry (with Scribe extension): Ctrl+S

And there’s so much more!

Hate the mouse and the keyboard? While I can’t solve that entirely, I can suggest that you throw some very useful and time-saving Quick searches into the mix.

Keyconfig extension

Finally, if you haven’t totally satisfied your shortcut cravings, you can install the Keyconfig extension. Keyconfig allows you to define Firefox shortcuts to your hearts content.

Download Keyconfig

Some of the shortcuts above may be old hat, while others may be news to you. I’ve excluded a lot of the more obvious universal shortcuts (like copy and paste), but I tried to include everything you need to browse just as you would with a mouse in hand. Still not enough? You might want to check out the full list of Firefox keyboard shortcuts.

Source

How to: Encrypt Your VoIP

As VoIP becomes ever more popular, the security of these systems becomes more of a concern. VoIP can be vulnerable to a number of attacks due to the nature of VoIP calls. In short, VoIP traffic flows across the Internet in unencrypted packets, which means anyone that has access to the network between sender and recipient can intercept these packets — essentially allowing them to create a recording of your conversation. How can you help secure yourself against these types of attacks?

One way to help protect your privacy is to encrypt these conversations so that they aren’t simply floating around out there for potential hackers to latch onto. Be advised, however, that some of the best encryption methods aren’t something any layperson can do. They’re at the network level and would be better left for the IT department to handle.

1. Zfone — Created by Phil Zimmerman (who also created some of the first and most widely used e-mail encryption software), Zfone is a relatively new way to protect your VoIP. The software is free to download from the Web and is relatively easy to install and use. It is, in fact, one of the few ways to encrypt your VoIP that you can implement without some serious tech knowledge. One of the advantages of Zfone is that it works with almost all existing VoIP clients, with the exception of proprietary systems such as Skype. Zfone can help defend against a number of different types of attacks including man in the middle, call hijacks, and spoofing. Once installed, the program will let you know what calls you make that are secure, and what calls aren’t. What might not be secure? Well, that is one of the drawbacks of Zfone technology. In order for a call to be secure, both users have to have the program installed. So calls to places not using a VoIP service, like the bank for example, would not necessarily be secure.

2. Built-in Encryption — Many VoIP clients have responded to customer concerns over security by building encryption into their existing software. Skype, for example, has built-in encryption capability in their proprietary software. Worried about trusting an encryption service that you can’t see or evaluate for yourself? Luckily, someone else has already evaluated it for you. Skype’s encryption was found to make a VoIP call, text chat, video or file transfer more secure than conventional phone lines or e-mail. Check with your VoIP client to find out if they provide encryption for your calls, as many are trying hard to address concerns about security and might have services you aren’t aware of to protect your privacy.

3. Transport Layer Security and IP Security — Transport Layer Security (TLS) and IP Security (IPSec) are some of the most common ways businesses encrypt their VoIP calls and they could work for your business as well. TLS and IPSec differ in which level they encrypt data. TLS encrypts information, like a VoIP call, that is traveling between two applications while IPSec encrypts data for two devices and all the applications running on them. These protocols are designed to keep outsiders from tampering with your calls, eavesdropping, or creating false calls, and they are almost impossible to manipulate from the outside. So which should you use? TLS is gaining favor as the preferred method of security because it has proven to be more efficient and eats up less of your network bandwidth. The decision is really up to you and many networks opt to have both (better safe than sorry, right?).

4. Secure Real-Time Transfer Protocol — SRTP is ideal for protecting Voice over IP traffic because it has a minimal effect on the quality of the calls it encrypts. For each call you make, a unique encryption key is created, which makes eavesdropping almost impossible. That alone makes it a good choice for day-to-day calls as well as private ones. Some companies, such as Ingate Systems, have already incorporated this technology into their programs. SRTP could be a simpler way to incorporate additional security into your VoIP network.

5. Virtual Private Network — If you’ve got a business with locations in multiple cities, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution might work best for securing your VoIP. Many companies already have VPN set up for securely transmitting data, but adding VoIP can be relatively simple. An organization that wants to tie two offices together would add the VoIP equipment at each end, giving it an IP address. This process is similar to how they add a PC or server to a traditional network. Calls on the VPN would then be secure, allowing users from remote offices, or even from their laptops to communicate with other offices on the VPN network. VPNs also have the advantage in that users don’t have to worry about firewalls, which are often an obstacle to clear VoIP calls. The downside to VPN? VPN isn’t a practical option for calls being made within the same building. It’s also not a silver bullet for VoIP security. It only protects the data from gateway to gateway. Once calls are on your LAN, you’ll need an additional means of protection.

No matter what you choose, the reality is that with the increased usage of VoIP, there will be increased predation on users. Therefore, security is now less of a luxury and more of a necessary component of your VoIP network. Even if your calls usually just include chit chat about the latest reality TV show or what you’re having for dinner, you deserve to be protected from intrusions on your privacy. Look into security for your VoIP before it ever becomes an issue. You’ll be glad you did.

Source

FINALLY, Mainstream Media Admits Thompson Is Wrong

Finally a breath of fresh air…I am tired of people of pointing the finger at everyone and everything but themselves. While we were focusing on the question of video games and indoctrination, it looks like the American Psychological Association was going back to the old issue of youth violence and videogames, declaring that there’s is absolutely a connection between the two — despite the fact plenty of studies have shown no such link and the incidents of youth violence appear to have dropped consistently as violent video games have become more popular.

A well-written article questions the (incorrect) claims of christian conservative Jack Thompson, following the V-Tech shooting.

The rush to judge games as responsible for the V-Tech massacre was spearheaded by christian conservative and anti-game campaigner Jack Thompson, but now that the evidence shows Cho didn’t own a single video game, the media are starting to question his fervant accusations.

A new article published by media giant MSNBC reads:

“it didn’t require much skill for Cho to shoot as many people as he did. After all, eye witness accounts indicate many of the victims were shot at point-blank range.

And for all of Thompson’s claims that violent video games are the cause of school shootings, Sternheimer [a sociologist at the University of Southern Calfornia and author of the book "Kids These Days: Facts and Fictions About Today's Youth"] points out that before this week’s Virginia Tech massacre, the most deadly school shooting in history took place at the University of Texas in Austin… in 1966. Not even “Pong” had been invented at that time.

“One thing that people often don’t realize is that in the years since video game sales have really exploded, not only have youth violence rates decreased but violence rates in the U.S. have declined precipitously,” she added.

Meanwhile, Sternheimer says the rush to blame video games in these situations is disingenuous for yet another reason. Although it remains unclear whether Cho played games, it seems nobody will be surprised if it turns out he did. After all, what 23-year-old man living in America hasn’t played video games?

“Especially if you’re talking about young males, the odds are pretty good that any young male in any context will have played video games at some point,” Sternheimer says.

“I think in our search to find some kind of answer as to why this happened, the video game explanation seems easy,” she says. “It seems like there’s an easy answer to preventing this from happening again and that feels good on some level.”

The blame game

Jason Della Rocca agrees. “Everyone wants a simple solution for a massively complex problem. We want to get on with our lives.”

As the leader of an organization that represents video game creators from all over the world, Della Rocca knows the routine all too well.

Someone opens fire on a school campus. Someone blames video games. His phone starts ringing. People start asking him questions like, “So how bad are these games anyway?”

Of course, he also knows that this is far from the first time in history that a young form of pop culture has been blamed for any number of society’s ills. Rock and roll was the bad guy in the 1950s. Jazz was the bad guy in the 1930s. Movies, paintings, comic books, works of literature…they’ve all been there.

Still, Della Rocca believes that people like Thompson are “essentially feeding off the fears of those who don’t understand games.”

For those who didn’t grow up playing video games, the appeal of a game like “Counter-Strike” can be hard to comprehend. It can be difficult to understand that the game promotes communication and team work. It can be hard fathom how players who love to run around gunning down their virtual enemies do not have even the slightest desire to shoot a person in real life.

“It’s the thing they don’t understand,” Della Rocca says. “It’s a thing that’s scary.”

Source

Gatorade Destroys Your Teeth Faster than Coke

Time for your unscheduled dose of random curiosity…this made me laugh. It seems that Gatorade is worse then coke…

It has been written in many sports blogs this week; that Florida stole the idea of Gatorade from FSU. Around 1962, The team doctor for the FSU football team, Dr. R.A. Johnson, began producing a sports drink that he called “Seminole Firewater” as early as 1962. Dr. Johnson blended sugar and lime flavoring with electrolytes (salts) to help keep the players hydrated and to prevent cramping. Who ever invented Gatorade is still left out in the open. Is gatorade even good for you?

Gatorade Bad For You?

The University of Iowa researchers covered extracted teeth with nail polish. They left bare two patches on each tooth, one on the enamel and one on the root. Then they dunked the teeth in test tubes filled with regular Coke, Diet Coke, Gatorade, Red Bull, or 100% apple juice.

Every five hours, the researchers refreshed the beverages. After 25 hours, they examined the teeth with a microscope. All of the beverages eroded the bare spots on the teeth. But different beverages had significantly different effects.

On the enamel, Gatorade was significantly more corrosive than Red Bull and Coke. Red Bull and Coke, in turn, were significantly more corrosive than Diet Coke and apple juice.

-Courtesy of Web MD

On the roots of the teeth, Gatorade was more corrosive than Red Bull. Coke, apple juice, and Diet Coke followed in that order.

The difference in the effect isn’t simply due to their sugar content. Gatorade is 6% carbohydrates, mostly sugars. Coke is about 10% sugar. Both are acidic beverages.

University of Michigan pediatric dental researcher Michael Ignelzi, DDS, PhD, has recently reviewed new research on the effects of beverages on children’s teeth. But he says there’s no evidence showing that sports drinks are any worse than other soft drinks.

Source

There is a growing concern in the medical and scientific communities about the harmful effects associated with carbonated soft drinks. Soft drinks have been around for over a hundred years, but many of their deleterious heath effects have not been studied or known.

The National Soft Drink Association says that the average American consumes over six hundred twelve-ounce servings per year. Children consume many more carbonated beverages than adults. The average young male between the ages of twelve and twenty-nine consumes over 160 gallons of soft drinks a year. Studies show that males of this age group are the largest consumers of soft drinks. Many of these males receive over ten percent of their total daily calories from soft drinks. One of the reasons for the emergence of so many soft drink related problems is the sheer number of carbonated beverages that are consumed.

Fifty years ago the average serving size for a soft drink was a six-ounce bottle. Today, soft drinks are sold in twenty ounce bottles and are consumed in much larger amounts courtesy of the large size of soda fountain drinks available at most stores and restaurants. This increase in consumption of soft drink is not a surprise because soft drink manufacturers have spent billions of dollars in advertising to attract more consumers and to increase consumption of their products. Scientific studies have shown how as few as one or two soft drinks a day can increase one’s risk for numerous health problems. Some of these health problems are obesity, diabetes, tooth decay, osteoporosis, nutritional deficiencies, heart disease, and many neurological disorders.

Broadcast live events with Ustream.tv

Conferences for free, remote meetings at minimal costs, and personal tv shows for nothing, that’s what the future of video is about. Ustream is a free online service that allows users to create and watch live streams, as well as chat with other viewers online. It is extremely simple to setup, and only requires a webcam of your choice, preferably with sound, plugged into a computer to get up and running.

Everything has been running fine with the service. The audio seems to lag a few seconds, and video runs choppy when in larger conference rooms or away from strong signals, other than that the Ustream service looks really good. Scoble said that the students at Virginia Tech are actually using Ustream to broadcast events from around the school. Needless to say, it looks like personal content is slowly picking up, so we could see some big developments from Ustream pretty soon.

Never Heard of UStream before? That is because it is new. When I first stumbled on to it I found it had only been up for one month (33 days 30mins to be exact, they have a counter).