There are many tin-foil-wearing nutjobs out there who believe Osama bin Laden is not actually dead. Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization he founded, is not among those in denial over his death. More »

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Using choice fuel sources is not just a matter of environmental responsibility. It’s not just relating to assuaging your conscience. It’s good sense, and highly regarded planning. I know some roofing contractor tracy businesses that make use of it for their vehicles. Although most of us are in denial, the fossil fuels that form the backbone of our earth economy are dwindling pretty abruptly, even as we go relating to our daily business in our cars. It’s not a small piece of niche knowledge, it’s widely known. Although few Americans make use of an choice fuel source to commute, those who do are soon going to be at an benefit. If your choice fuel source is your feet, whether through walking or bike riding, you are already at an benefit, taking care of your body and utilizing transportation that is basically free. Still, even if you can not accept around solely on your feet, it makes sense to start planning your life around alternate fuel sources nowadays, before things go any farther.

Once the big oil crash happens, it will be a hardship on those who are unprepared to make use of an choice fuel source. There won’t be straightforward food sources, so you won’t have to wonder how to get rid of belly fat. There will be a run on biodiesel vehicles, and an even greater demand for electric vehicles, causing skyrocketing prices, and shortages. In addition, loads of areas will doubtless not be adequately equipped to work with an choice fuel source. There may be no where to even refill your biodiesel cars, and that will make things pretty awkward. Individuals will have become so hooked to the ease of their gas powered vehicles, that they will not be able to truly cope anyhow. But if you plan your life around an choice fuel source, you will have no issue adjusting.

The most foolproof choice fuel source is your own two feet, but after that comes public transit. If you live in an theme where public transportation is already in place, and runs on electric vehicles, the opening is that your local economy will suffer far less damage from the fuel bust. The public transit, driven by an choice fuel source, will be able to pick up the extra passengers who have been forced to abruptly give up their cars, and there will be minimal inconvenience. If you have an electric car, you will similarly be in a good position, as electricity will forever be a good choice fuel source. No matter how bad the fuel crises gets, there is just no road that the government could let the national power grid collapse. Therefore, electricity makes loads of sense.

YES. The FCC is looking into Apple’s chickenshit shenanigans with Google Voice, asking whether AT&T was involved, why it was rejected and what’s going on with this Google Voice thing. Updated with correspondence among FCC, Apple, AT&T and Google.

The request is part of a broader-ranging inquiry by the commission on exclusive deals between cell phone carriers and handset manufacturers for hot phones. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Thursday that the FCC wants to look into rural areas where customers can’t buy the latest fancy phones because of such exclusive deals.

Update: We now have access to the letters sent by the FCC to Apple, AT&T, and Google, trying to sort this whole mess out. The questions to Apple and AT&T are exactly what we ourselves want to know: What role, specifically, does AT&T play in Apple’s app approval process? What are Apple’s specific reasons for pulling the Google Voice app, among others? And why in the hell is Google Voice approved for BlackBerrys and not the iPhone? Check out the letters here at Techcrunch.

AT&T responded with a very frosty denial that they have any influence on the app approval process, which is a tough argument to make when everybody everywhere is convinced they do. Here’s their statement:

AT&T does not manage or approve applications for the App Store. We have received the letter and will, of course, respond to it.

We’ll keep you updated when AT&T, Apple, and Google formally respond to the FCC’s inquiry.

This doesn’t signal, by any means, that Google Voice is going to get onto the iPhone, but it does put some pressure onto Apple to not pull moves like this in the future. [WSJ]

We’ve covered the pain ray before — millimeter wave radiation emitted from a dish that excites the water in the top layers of your skin. It heats you up something fierce, but technical issues and widespread protestation of the use of such a ridiculous weapon has forced the Pentagon to aim it at something a little less likely to complain: geese.

Now, if you’re in the northwest like me, you know that Canadian Canada geese, while great-looking birds and majestic creatures, are a huge pain in the ass. They bite kids, they crap all over the place, and they never stop honking. So while I normally don’t advocate shooting pain rays at animals, this is probably the best non-lethal way of making sure those things don’t come back.

Actually, the “avian denial system” would be used mainly at airports, to keep flocks of birds from interfering with takeoffs and landings. I just kind of wanted to get a dig in there against the geese.

I also happen to have a more lenient stance on its use than most people. It’s not like Dune’s pain box or something, it’s reportedly like touching a hot light bulb with your whole body, and you’re never hit for longer than a second (usually because you jump the hell out of there). Not that I want it to be deployed the next time I’m marching in support of this or that, but I don’t think it’s the death ray everyone thinks it is. What do you guys think?

I like Sony. Who doesn’t? They’ve got a lot of great games, they’re leaders in technology and research, they have their fingers in lots of good pies, and so on. But if they keep pulling this kind of garbage, they’re going to be begging for mercy from the rest of the industry in five years. “At the end of the day, the iPhone is just a phone,” says Kaz Hirai. Sure, buddy. I’m not iPhone maniac like the rest of the CG crew, but calling it “just a phone” is like calling Godzilla “just an iguana.” What it is, Mr. Hirai, is an effective assault on almost every device your company makes, and you’d do well to consider it so. But this isn’t the only time Sony has shot itself in the foot lately.

How about the PSP Go? Pricing it at $250 misses out on a huge opportunity to put it below $200, entice upgraders, put it in the “casual buy” section of people’s minds. But Sony is “comfortable with where the prices are sitting right now.” The PS3 has been priced too high since launch, yet they’re comfortable with that as well. Sure, Nintendo hasn’t exactly lowered its price either, but that’s because they picked the right one to begin with. You didn’t, Sony! You never do! And then you just plug your ears and start singing about how it’ll all work out with your 10-year plan.

Sony, you had it so good. With the momentum of the PS2, you could have completely dominated the console gaming market, but you refused to capitalize on your success. You may have lost money with every PS3, but no amount of lost money will make up for lost market share you’ll never capture again. And you had so much money anyway. It was as simple as pricing it equal to the Xbox 360, at which point you could say “It’s newer, it’s better, it’s more powerful, and it’s a Sony.” Your sales would be great, you’d lose a ton of money, and then you’d gain it back because all your PS2 partners would still be your friends. The Wii would have taken off anyway, but at least Microsoft wouldn’t be eating your cake right now. Remember all those great exclusives you unveiled at E3? Neither do I.

Being completely disconnected from market realities and pretending everything will be all right is no way to go through life, Sony. And I’m afraid that at this point there’s no turning back. If, during the first year of the PS3 and PSP’s lifetime, you’d seen the terrible sales and said “we blew it,” you might have been able to save yourself. But I’m convinced you’re going to keep missing opportunities until you’re out of the race.

Just don’t croak until the PS3’s magnum opus comes out (probably The Last Guardian, let’s be honest). You may not even compete in the next generation, but at least people will look back at the PS3 the way they look at the Saturn or Dreamcast, and say “What a waste. There were some decent games on that thing.”

Twitter have unveiled plans to introduce “Verified Accounts” in order to prevent fake tweeting. The announcement came as Twitter issued a strict denial that they had agreed a settlement with Tony La Russa, coach of US baseball outfit The St. Louis Cardinals with respect to fake tweets made in his name. Co-founder of the microblogging giants Biz Stone admitted that: “Impersonation violates Twitter’s Terms of Service” and admitted that they “take the issue seriously.” However, he went on to describe La Russa’s lawsuit as “an unnecessary waste of judicial resources bordering on frivolous.” Stone stated that the verified accounts service will use a verification seal and the service will first be aimed at “public officials, public agencies, famous artists, athletes, and other well known individuals at risk of impersonation.” He did warn, though, that the lack of a seal does not necessarily mean that a Twitter account is fake and insisted that “the vast majority of Twitter accounts are not impersonators.” (via Twitter Blog)