MIT reaffirms its intellectual superiority, Gucci Mane gets a jail break and a brawl brought on by full-body scanners

- The smart people at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have done it again, showing why they are just plain smarter than the rest of us. This time, they have successfully coated paper with a solar cell, a key development in a series of research projects aimed at energy breakthroughs. Vladimir Bulovic, director of the new Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Research Center, showed off the printed solar cells at a news conference this week. While the cells are still in the research and developmental phase and are years from being commercialized, it’s still a very interesting concept. The technique involves coating paper with organic semiconductor material using a process similar to an inkjet printer and could be used to decrease the mass of solar panels. "If you could use a staple gun to install a solar panel, there could be a lot of value," Bulovic said. MIT researchers used carbon-based dyes in the process to create cells that are about 1.5 percent to 2 percent efficient at converting sunlight to electricity. Oddly, the research team on the project wasn’t specifically aiming to use one specific material to spray onto the paper and according to Bulovic, any material could be used if it can be deposited at room temperature, Bulovic said. "Absolutely, the trick was coming up with ways to use paper," he explained. MIT professor Karen Gleason led the research and has submitted a paper for scientific review that has not yet been published. According to both MIT and Eni, this is the first time a solar cell has been printed on paper. Bulovic explained at the media conference that Eni is funding the center because the company believes that solar energy is a viable alternative energy source to current technologies, which will run out sooner or later. "We are not very active (in alternative energy) today because we don't believe today's technologies are the answer of our problems," he said. So even though this is further reinforcement of the fact that MIT is playing several levels above the rest of our heads when it comes to the intellectual playing field of life, at least their efforts will (eventually) have benefit for the world at large………..

- Just a bizarre, bizarre story involving Oklahoma State basketball player Matt Pilgrim came out this week. A female OSU student requested and was granted an emergency protective order against Pilgrim, who she alleges raped her on April 12 in her on-campus apartment. In the petition for the emergency protective order, she claimed: “The student said she received an email from Pilgrim on April 13 and didn’t hear from him again until May 2 at Smith Hall. They had words and she requested — and was granted — a protective order that day.” What makes the story bizarre is how Pilgrim responded to the allegations, which he did on his Facebook page on Wednesday. “I can’t take it no more… I always play the victim. (All) I’ve done was work hard to prove people wrong… People lie and every one that know me know my passion to become somebody, but Satan is working overtime on me…. But I’m (going to) let God handle this… I will still work hard to provide for me and the ones I love. Please don’t believe what’s going on. I just want peace… Sorry to everyone that is affected by this.” I think what he was attempting to do was to invoke his faith and say he’s putting it in God’s hands, but that opening blast about playing the victim is a little disconcerting, as is the implication that “Satan is working overtime on me.” Both the accuser and Pilgrim will appear at Payne County Courthouse on May 20 for a hearing, but as of now Pilgrim has not been arrested or charged with a crime. According to OSU spokesman Gary Shutt, “Pilgrim is still in school and is still a member of the basketball team while the investigation continues.” Coach Travis Ford refused to comment on the issue, but this is a weird and unnerving situation that clearly has some layers left to unravel. Initially, the woman claimed that Pilgrim had raped her but when OSU police and Payne County prosecutors attempted to investigate, she refused to cooperate. Now, she’s doubling back and according to Shutt, “at the request of the (alleged) victim and her family, the investigation has been reopened.” Even though the accuser did back off her initial rape claims, police still could have pursued the case if they felt enough evidence existed to suggest that a crime was committed. This woman doesn’t appear to be the most stable or credible witness and going back and forth on her allegations doesn’t aid her credibility one bit. I’d love to say the truth will come out eventually, but at this point I’m just not sure…………

- Armed with a significant boost to his street cred and possibly a new prison tat or two, rapper Gucci Mane will be released from prison May 12 after serving six months of his one-year sentence at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta. The man previously known (and born) as Radric Davis was sentenced to 12 months in jail last November after violating terms of his probation for a 2005 assault conviction. Being sent to the hole didn’t stop him from releasing an appropriately named album titled "The State vs. Radric Davis" on Asylum/Warner Brothers in December. The album has sold 353,000 copies in the United States so far without the aid of much promotional help from its star, who has a hard time doing appearances to pimp the album while behind bars in an orange jumpsuit. In the meantime, Davis has parted ways with his former management company Mizay Entertainment and booking agency Hitt Afta Hitt Enterprises. Those relationships appear to have gone sour on account of the rapper suing the owners of both companies -Johnnie Cabbell and Davis’ former manager Debra Antney -- based upon claims they booked him for performances without disclosing the rapper was going to jail. He obviously missed those shows, resulting in a couple of lawsuits against Mizay and Hitt Afta Hitt. Compounding the problem, Davis claims both Antney and Cabbell failed to return hundreds and thousands of dollars in advanced payments. In addition to the lawsuit, Davis has also shut down his So Icey Entertainment label and is now fronting 1017 Brick Squad Records Inc. After his release, he’s slated to perform at this summer's Hot 97 Summer Jam concert in New Jersey on June 6thalongside Usher, Ludacris, Drake, Nicki Minaj and Fabolous. Odds are only one of that group will have seen someone shanked in the shower this year…………

- Prepare for high-def, new release movies straight to your home before they are available on Blu-ray or DVD. The Federal Communications Commission has approved a MPAA-led request to allow recently released films to be transmitted to U.S. households via a “secure high definition transmission line from their cable or satellite providers” prior to DVD or Blu-ray release. While taking the risk of making movies available to the public via a transmission that could undoubtedly be hacked by some computer-savvy, pale and pasty dork residing in a basement somewhere, the decision does allow studios to create another release window for films, bridging the gap between the theatrical release of a film and the DVD release, which typically occurs 90 days after a movie opens in theaters. The specifics of the straight-to-home release are still being worked out, but basically, consumers would be able to purchase a film for secure electronic delivery directly to their high definition television sets sometime after it begins its theatrical run. That window could open any time within the 45-90 day range, with 45 days being a likely target because within that time frame, a movie has typically earned 90 percent of its theatrical revenue. Ironically, the MPAA views this new step as a means to protect films from piracy. “This action is an important victory for consumers who will now have far greater access to see recent high definition movies in their homes. And it is a major step forward in the development of new business models by the motion picture industry to respond to growing consumer demand…We deeply appreciate the recognition by the FCC that recently released movies need special protection against content theft when they are distributed to home televisions,” MPAA President and Interim CEO Bob Pisano said in a release. On the one hand, making movies available to the public by direct electronic transmission six or seven weeks after release would thwart dirtbags who sneak handheld camcorders into the theater to produce bootleg version of movies, but on the other hand, you do place a nice big target out there for hackers to aim at. Theater owners are also concerned about the new arrangement because they have long been fighting to preserve their 90 exclusive theatrical window. “The FCC’s decision is not surprising. The theft is a serious problem. The issue of the theatrical release window, however, will be decided in the marketplace,” said John Fithian, the president of the National Association of Theater Owners. With FCC approval in hand, studio chains could start selling the films right away, but the process it only works on cable boxes made within the last two years, along with satellite televisions and the newest gaming consoles, so older cable boxes would have to be upgraded for the secure files. It might take a few months, but eventually you’ll be able to stream films like Iron Man 2 to your home television a month and a half after its release rather than pay bloated ticket prices to get see it in theaters…………

- When new full-body scanners were added at airports around the nation and controversy ensued over whether the scanners were too invasive, I don’t know that this is the sort of issue that people anticipated. At Miami International Airport in Florida, a brawl broke out this week between two Transportation Security Authority workers after one worker allegedly took exception to a co-worker repeatedly teasing him about the size of his genitals. The fight stemmed from scans taken during a training exercise with the airport's full-body scanning machines, according to an incident report filed after the fight. Rolando Negrin, the aggressor in the fight, "stated he not take the jokes anymore and lost his mind," allegedly striking the victim with a police baton. A witness told authorities that he heard Negrin say in Spanish, "get on your knees or I will kill you and you better apoligise [sic]." The TSA issued a statement after the fight denouncing the actions of both men. "At the same time, we are investigating to determine whether other officers may have violated procedures in a training session with coworkers and committed professional misconduct," the agency said in a statement. I would say so, TSA. I don’t think that when the government ponied up for those scanners that they had in mind of a couple of co-workers talking junk and throwing hands because one of them couldn’t take a few jokes about the size of his junk after a training exercise. Way to show class and a sense of humor, guys. Not that I know what sort of history these two have, but this is the sort of joking that goes on between guys a lot of times, so I find it curious that Negrin reacted so angrily after just a few sarcastic barbs were thrown his way. But ironically, there have been other incidents of arguing and confrontational behavior between co-workers at other airports around the world over images seen in full-body scans. If workers have this much trouble keeping their cool dealing with full body scans, how are there going to be no problems when members of the public are involved? Sure, in airports, one screener views the scan in a remote location and does not come into contact with passengers being screened, but if these jokers have so little self-control and level-headedness with one another, it’s hard to imagine there not being problems in dealing with the public. The TSA claims that the images are permanently deleted and never stored, but if you believe that no one could ever hack into the system and recover those images, then you’re the most technologically naïve person living in the world today. In the end, my biggest issue here, as you could guess, is that I wasn’t on hand when Negrin attempted to go upside his co-worker’s head with that police baton…………..