Microsoft joins the smartphone fray, a dating site for STD sufferers and the NFL's schedule release

- Who isn’t announcing a release of a new smartphone these days? Count Microsoft in, as the makers of the world’s worst computer operating system introduced its new smartphone, the Kin to target what it terms a plugged-in "social generation." The phone was introduced Monday, with Microsoft promoting its ability to easily download photos from the phone to a home screen that's constantly updated with feeds from services like Facebook and Twitter. The Kin will have a heavy focus on social networking sites, makes it ideal for those who can’t go more than 10 minutes without updating their Facebook status. "Self-expression is super important to them," said Robert Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division. "What they are, what they're doing, they want to share the journey every day. It's like constantly publishing a magazine about their life." The Kin name, in Microsoft’s mind anyhow, befits a phone "that knits together a tight community of kindred spirits whose lives are shared and who broadcast all the time." The initial King offering will feature two phones, unimaginatively named the Kin One and Kin Two, available next month in Verizon stores. Verizon will be the U.S. provider for the phone, while Vodafone will be the provider internationally. Omitted from Monday’s announcement were prices for the phones and the plans to go with them, but that didn’t stop Microsoft from having a big rollout event in Redmond, Washington, on Monday afternoon. Those who attended got a look at the square-ish Kin One and the rectangular-shaped Kin Two, stocked with additional features, like more memory, a high-resolution camera and the ability to shoot high-definition video. The Kin One has 4 gigabytes of memory and a 5-megapixel camera, while Kin Two has 8 gigs of memory and an 8-megapixel camera. Kin One has a 2.1-inch screen, while Kin Two's is 3.5 inches, but both phones have the same designer: Sharp. Also, both come with touchscreen capability and a slide-out keyboard. Interestingly, they won’t run the Windows Phone 7 operating system introduced by Microsoft in February. Some of the features will be the same, especially those having to do with Microsoft-produced programs. However, the phones won't run apps designed by outside developers, so Microsoft is being very close-minded in that sense. However, you will be able to select "best friends" and give higher priority to any posts by the people on that list and share videos, photos, text messages and links to Web pages by clicking and dragging them to what Microsoft is calling "The Kin Spot." Sound like something you’ll want to throw away a few hundred dollars on? Not me…………

- The day we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. Yes, there is finally a dating site for people coping with sexually transmitted diseases. Typical dating sites don’t necessarily discriminate against those rocking a nasty case of herpes of gonorrhea, but they also don’t have the ideal setup for those individuals. In response, a collection of new sites have begun to pop up specifically for those individuals who are still seeking love despite having the very real ability to pass along a certain burning sensation to anyone they might hook up with. Those sites -- such as Prescription4love.com, Nolongerlonely.com, and Cisforcupid.com -- serve the needs of people with conditions ranging from bipolar disorder to Crohn's disease. These sites have tens of thousands of members and because of their intended purpose, users don’t have to worry about the inevitable sight (virtually sometimes) of a potential new suitor leaving tracks as they flee in the opposite direction upon learning that the guy or girl they are chatting with is dealing with Chlamydia. The most specific site for STD sufferers is Positivesingles.com, which requires members to disclose their illnesses upfront. Prescription 4 Love is now three years old and currently has 8,000 members who represent nearly 40 health conditions ranging from genital herpes to Tourette's syndrome. The site was founded by Ricky Durham in 2006. Running the site hits home for him because since found it, Durham was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. To be honest, it’s nice that those with mental illnesses or neurological conditions can have their own dating site and that’s not something I am here to mock. However, those who have slept around and ended up with an STD on account of being a little too loose……I guess having them at least congregate in one place is one additional layer of protection (no pun intended) for the rest of us………….

- It isn’t really an event. It shouldn’t be an event. And yet, the annual release of the NFL schedule for the coming season is treated, covered and celebrated like it’s the freaking Super Bowl. Of course, the NFL’s quest is to completely dominate the world sports scene year-round and to that end, next week is going to be a big one for the league. First, the NFL will officially announce its 2010 schedule on Tuesday, April 20. That announcement came down Wednesday and came as somewhat of a surprise because the NFL draft in Manhattan takes place just two days later. In other words, why didn’t Roger Goodell and Co. push the schedule release back a week or two so they could hijack another week of the offseason? Either way, the schedule release, will take place at 7 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN2. Oh, and as it turns out, the schedule release was initially supposed to occur sooner, but Goodell was too busy dealing with Ben Roethlisberger and the league’s other felons, er, debating whether or not to put more divisional games toward the end of the season. Goodell has expressed concern about teams that have clinched division titles early tanking games at the end of the season to rest their players for the playoffs, so putting more divisional games - which carry more weight for obvious reasons - at the end of the season could help address that. One way or the other, that schedule is coming down on Tuesday and fans everywhere will get really, really excited about matchups their team will have five or six months from now even though their team could look completely different by then based on the draft, trades, injuries, etc. But never mind that because the almighty NFL has spoken and its word is freaking gold on the American sports landscape…………

- Everyone is getting on board with the 3-D revolution these days. Joining compatriot Jimmy Cameron, who scored a massive hit with Avatar and has apparently inspired even an old dog like Martin Scorsese to be the latest director embracing 3-D. Scorsese intends to use 3-D for the first time with his forthcoming project “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” which is expected to start filming in June with a potential December 2011 release. To what extent Scorsese will go with the 3-D experience, we don’t know. Whether the film is as visually stunning (and otherwise disappointing) as Avatar, it is interesting to see a Hollywood legend like Scorsese embrace 3-D so late in his career. Perhaps it will help him better tell the story of “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” which is an adaptation of the young-adult novel by Brian Selznick. In the book, 12-year-old Hugo is an orphan, clock keeper and thief who lives in the walls of a train station in the 1930s. An eclectic and unusual cast includes Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen and “Kick-Ass” star Chloe Moretz, with secondary roles to be filled soon. Oh, and I do look forward to Cohen filling a role other than a made-up one stereotyping a specific nationality and played to the most absurd of comedic extremes in the most low-brow of ways. As for seeing Ben Kingsley in 3-D now that he has to be closing in on 150 years old (or so I’m told), we’ll just have to wait and see if that is in fact as terrifying as I expect it may be…………

- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! For the first time in a long time, that doesn’t mean a quick sojourn to Thailand. Today, everyone’s favorite overview of social dissidence ‘round the world is headed to Jakarta, Indonesia for a brutal clash between protesters wielding machetes, sticks and fuel bombs and riot police. It’s the latest in a series of battles over a Muslim cleric's tomb near the Indonesian capital's main seaport. Basically, protesters believed city officials were trying to remove the tomb of an Arab cleric who helped spread Islam in North Jakarta in the 18th century. State-run seaports operator Pelindo II owns the land the tomb is located on, so that only seems to fuel the protestors’ outrage. This was a Grade-A, top-notch riot from the word go. Two people died in the riot, 130 others were injured and among those was an officer who had his stomach slashed and another whose hand was chopped off. Yes, rioters are looking to disembowel or dismember police, that’s how out of control things have gotten. It is widely considered Jakarta's worst civil unrest in years and shows no signs of abating any time soon. If 2,000 city security officers and 600 police using tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and batons to beat back protesters can’t stem the tide, then I don’t know what or who can. The tomb is located near the seaport of Tanjung Priok in northern Jakarta, where burning tires and cars sent a cloud of black smoke over the port. Although police estimated the number of protesters at 500, I have a hard time believing that just 500 people could cause that much chaos. If so, I have even more respect for these awesome rioters. Seeing these maniacs throw rocks and fuel bombs, set fire to at least five police vehicles and destroy dozens of others warmed my riot-loving heart. Of course, there were small victories for The Man as several protesters were beaten by police and dragged away bleeding, including teenagers. There were fistfights aplenty and things got rolling early in the day when hundreds of security officials showed up near the tomb with excavators. Officials claim that the tomb was not the target, but the rioters were in no mood to wait and find out. They took the attack to The Man and when that first round of fighting died down, a second round broke out hours later outside the hospital where the wounded had been taken. By day’s end, the violence had died down but the memories would clearly live on for a long time………..