- Let the mapping begin, America. Google, which is in a perpetual quest for world domination, has previously made its Map Maker tool, which lets locals contribute mapping information to Google Maps, available in nearly every country except the United States. That’s not an exaggeration, either; Map Maker has previously been open to 183 countries and regions around the world. Google’s reasons for withholding Map Maker from the U.S. haven’t always been clear, but most experts believe the wealth of data already available in Google Maps as a primary cause for the Web giant’s patience in adding the Map Maker app to the equation. As of today, Map Maker is available in the United States, meaning a nation full of people mostly absorbed in their own little world can now take time and effort they have no interest in sharing and use it to provide information about their local neighborhoods, businesses, campuses, roads, and lanes in order to boost the collective knowledge base of Google Maps’ satellite-gathered data. Much like Wikipedia entries, all submitted changes are reviewed by an editor and if they are approved, the edits are made available for everyone to see within Google Maps. The Map Maker app launched in 2008 and has been the source of both great progress in mapping many of the world’s locations in Google Maps and a fair amount of controversy. More than a few neighborhoods and individuals have objected to Google showing their homes, streets and properties in great detail for all the world to see. According to the company’s official blog, more than 30 percent of the world’s population now has detailed online maps of their neighborhoods, about twice as much as before the tool’s existence. Google Maps is already one of the company’s most used products and also provides local information and directions to users across many devices and platforms, including the iPhone and Google’s own Android. Because of its varied uses, Google is perpetually seeking to increase the amount of available mapping information, having most recently added locations of electric car charging stations. So like it or not, chances are that your street, avenue, road or boulevard will soon be added to Google Maps’ ever-growing database…………
- The outcome of Game 2 of the Dallas-Mavericks' first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers will be decided by the players on the court, but in case the Mavs lose, their fans will have a built-in excuse. That excuse will come in the form of a middle-aged white dude wearing a striped shirt and black pants, sporting a whistle and, in the mind of Mavericks fans anyhow, a chip on his shoulder when it comes to their favorite team. Referee Danny Crawford will work the game as the lead official of the crew that will be charged with calling the fouls and keeping order on the court. Why is one official’s presence such an issue? It probably has something to do with the Mavs’ 2-16 record in playoff games officiated by Crawford, including 16 losses in the last 17 games. They are 48-41 in the rest of their playoff games during the ownership tenure of Mark Cuban, who has accrued literally millions of dollars in fines over the last 11 years for publicly complaining about officiating. Asked about Crawford’s assignment to Tuesday night’s game, Cuban tersely replied, "Not saying a word.” The NBA office likewise had no comment when queried as to whether the league has reviewed the Mavericks playoff games officiated by Crawford or considered not using him in a Dallas series. Should the Mavs overcome their troubles with Crawford, they will snap a six-game losing streak in games he has officiated. The drama began with Game 3 of the 2006 NBA Finals, when the Miami Heat rallied from a 13-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter in a series widely viewed as one of the most poorly officiated in Finals history. Crawford also worked Game 6 of those Finals, when the Heat won their fourth consecutive game to claim the championship. Combined, the Heat had a 71-49 advantage in free throws in those two games. Statistics from Crawford-officiated games do nothing to silence the conspiracy theorists, as the Mavs have been called for 2.3 fouls per game more than their opponents in playoff games officiated by Crawford, compared to a nearly even foul differential in their other playoff games since 2001. As expected, current Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle downplayed any potential controversy when asked about it early Tuesday. "I don't consider that a factor," Rick Carlisle said. "It would be pretty defeatist if we did. He's a great official and history shows that." The series has already experienced turbulence when it comes to the men in striped shirts, as Blazers coach Nate McMillan was fined $35,000 for publicly commenting on the officiating after the Mavs' 89-81 win Saturday night. McMillan’s beef was with Dallas’ 19-2 advantage in free throws during the fourth quarter of that game. Complaints about officiating have quickly become a dominant storyline just a few games into the postseason, so Crawford’s assignment to a game involving the Mavericks is extremely appropriate at this point…………
- Sweeeeet, it’s international conflict time, a magical time when neighboring (or non-neighboring) nations oppose each other on important issues, throw out vague threats, posture, claim violent military action is on the way and generally put on an entertaining show for anyone not directly involved in the conflict. The key players in this particular dispute are Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, with the latter three squaring off against Laos on its proposal to build the first hydropower dam on the main stream of the lower Mekong River. Laos says the dam will cause no serious problems, but its neighbors aren’t convinced and insist more information is needed about its environmental and economic effects. To settle the conflict (theoretically), delegates from Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam postponed a decision Tuesday on the plan to build the hydropower dam on the lower Mekong. The meeting of the Mekong River Commission in the Lao capital, Vientiane, was contentious as the meeting’s Lao delegate said the dam likely would not affect the environment of its neighboring countries and will meet international standards. Those claims did not satisfy Te Navuth, chairman of the MRC's Joint Committee, who said Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam have lingering concerns. "The three countries want additional information while Laos... Laos wishes to have the process completed after six months.” By comparison, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam want a comprehensive assessment of cross-boundary environmental effects that would likely take several months, if not longer. All four countries agreed to hold a ministerial-level meeting later this year to come to an agreement, but considering they’ve made about as much progress as NFL owners and players working on a new collective bargaining agreement (i.e. none), resolving all issues in a single ministerial-level meeting does not seem likely. Yet this laborious process is exactly what the four countries set themselves up for by creating the commission, which requires them to consult each other on projects along the river without requiring each other’s permission. Vietnam has been the project’s most vocal critic thus far and has demanded that all plans for dams on the Mekong’s main stream be put on hold for at least 10 years. Both Cambodia and Vietnam are concerned the dam, one of 11 planned for the Mekong, could adversely affect fish stocks and rice production, two staples of both nations’ economies. One commission study concluded the dam would affect fish migration and push several endangered species native to the region to extinction. Then there are Taiwan’s concerns, most significantly its worries about the sustainability of the $3.5 billion project. Projections for the dam are 1,260 megawatts of electricity daily, 95 percent of which would be sold to Thailand. However, another commission study said the dam could lose up to 60 percent of its operating capacity in 30 years because of sediment building up in the reservoir. With 60 million people dependent on the Mekong for their livelihoods, any change to the geography of the region could be disastrous. Laos, an impoverished communist nation ruled by an oppressive regime, wants the dam to raise revenue. At present, the only dams built on the Mekong’s main channel are in China, where it is known as the Lancang river. Oddly enough, the communist regime there built the dams without consulting any of its neighbors and plans to build four more in the coming decade. Something tells me the Chinese wouldn’t have listened even if objections had been voiced…………
- In the interest of honesty, writing about the following comment from one of the most manufactured, artificial acts in music history without laughing uncontrollably the entire time was an impossibly difficult task. But with that disclaimer out of the way, lets…..HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA……sorry…..let’s HAHAHAHAHA……okay, okay, let’s try to move forward. So clearly, the walking, contrived freak show that is Lady Gaga is the only one aware of the artificial reality in which she exists. Anyone who has seen one of her music videos or live performances or listened to even one of her artificial, crappy pop songs would immediately use words such as “manufactured” or “artificial.” The reasons for that, without delving too deep musically, is that her songs use a HEAVY amount of synthesized, computer-generated sounds, especially auto-tuning. Before she struck it big as a hack pop star, she was much more punk rock-oriented, but she sold out any and all credibility in that area in order to churn out predictable, overproduced pop garbage that would ensure her more mainstream acceptance and radio play. On top of that, her entire career is built on a very manufactured image based on bizarre stunts and shock value, doing, saying and wearing whatever is necessary to get people talking and draw attention to her instead of her musically worthless songs. Just don’t pass that wisdom along to Lady Gaga herself, because she’s busy comparing herself to musical legends whose dirty socks she’s not worth of washing. Asked about critics (i.e. everyone with a brain and a shred of musical integrity) who say she is manufactured, Lady Gaga has declared that they can all "f*ck off.” In an in-depth interview with a British music publication, she spoke about misguided assumptions that she employs songwriters to pen her hits. "If you want me to be a manufactured act, you can f*ck off, " she stated. Reading those words, perhaps some semantic issues are muddying the waters when it comes to her feelings about the aforementioned criticisms. Yes, having songwriters craft songs for you is one way to be a manufactured act, but so are auto-tuning, digitally enhancing your songs and intentionally doing “controversial” things to generate buzz. When she was through attacking her critics, Lady Gaga then made the biggest musical reach ever by likening herself to John Lennon in that she struggles to ever be completely happy with her songs. "I am perpetually unhappy with what I create," she said. "Even though I might tell you that 'Edge Of Glory' is a pop masterpiece, when it's all said and finished there will be things I dread, and every time I listen to it I'll hear them. In John Lennon's [1980] Playboy interview he talked about how he hated certain songs because of the way they were finished. And they might be my favorite songs, but Lennon couldn't listen to them." See, the key difference there is Lennon was unhappy with his songs because he believed they could be better, whereas the reason to be happy with Lady Gaga songs is because they unequivocally suck…………
- Showers and personal hygiene may not be a party of the daily routine of many New York City taxi cab drivers (just kidding, cabbies), but bulletproof vests will now be just such a staple. Following a series of attacks on city livery cab drivers, the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers announced plans Monday to provide some of its drivers with bulletproof vests donated by New York-based security firm Security USA. The vests, which cost $400 each, are part of a pilot program to provide additional protection for drivers working the overnight shift in several neighborhoods deemed the most dangerous in the city. NYSFTD representative Sergio Rodriguez explained that drivers will be selected to receive a vest based on their typical daily route. "We chose drivers from East New York, Jamaica Queens, the South Bronx - areas that where we've had a number of high assaults," he said. "We didn't just necessarily pick an area because it was crime-ridden, because sometimes there could be a crime ridden area where our drivers aren't really getting assaulted. We took it to where most of our drivers have been getting assaulted over the years based on statistics.” The initial implementation of the program will give 12 drivers bulletproof vests in addition to 15 to 20 already being used after a donation earlier this year by retired NYPD police officers and veteran servicemen, Rodriguez said. The vests worn by cab drivers will be nearly identical to those worn by NYPD officers except for a front metal shock plate that will be removed to make driving more comfortable - unless you’re actually shot. Anyone wondering if such measures are really necessary for taxi cab drivers simply hasn’t been paying attention to the news of late, as city livery cab drivers have been the target of numerous robberies and assaults - some fatal - over the past several months. Earlier this month, 64-year-old driver Julio Lora was left paralyzed from the neck down after he was shot during a failed robbery attempt in the Bronx. Now if we could only install those in-car showering systems…………
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