Kids Prefer the Tinny Sound of MP3s, Survey Shows
record posts
Man Watches TV for 72 Hours Straight, Sets New Record
In a record that will undoubtedly score the record breaker a lot of chicks, Sri Lankan born, Toronto-based TV-watching machine Suresh Joachim has broken his own Guinness world record for "nonstop broadcast-television watching." His latest effort, which took place in Stockholm, Sweden, clocked in at a ridiculous 72 hours. His own previous record, which was set in 2005, was 69 hours and 48 minutes When interviewed about the experience, Joachim said, "I feel fine, I drank between 25 and 30 cups of coffee."
While he was able to get through three full seasons of 24 during the marathon, it's not clear what else Joachim watched. We're guessing it wasn't a selection of films from the Czech New Wave.
Either way, we'd love to know how long he slept for (and what he dreamed about) after it was all said and watched. [From: Yahoo]
Web Sites Need to Be Saved for Good, Experts Say
Living in a digital world was supposed to mean that all information would be at our fingertips at all times, for the rest of time. Unfortunately, things aren't quite working out that way; many historians fear that lots of material is being lost to a digital black hole, thanks to the high turnover of information on the Internet.
Lynne Brindley, head of the British Library, points to two sites, in particular, that have recently disappeared and taken all record of their existence with them: the White House site of the George W. Bush administration and sites pertaining to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. These sites, and much of their accompanying information (such as the booklet '100 Things Americans May Not Know About the Bush Administration'), are no longer accessible to the public. This loss of information might just be a precursor to the large gaps in the public record that are sure to result from more and more sites' being removed, updated and transferred.
Even offline records have been lost, or are in danger of being lost, as the technology originally used to create or archive them -- like that used in tape drives and laser discs, for instance -- becomes obsolete. Saving this information, though, is necessary for keeping a complete historical record. Thankfully, some companies (such as Google and Microsoft) have begun partnering with libraries and other institutions to preserve data for posterity. [From: The Observer]
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Teenager Sends Over 14,000 Text Messages in One Month
For anyone who tries to deny that texting can be addictive, just take a look at 13-year-old Reina Hardesty. Last month, she sent 14,528 text messages, a number that her father couldn't believe at first.When Greg Hardesty got his daughter's 440-page long phone bill, he saw the number and thought, as he put it, "That's insane, that's impossible." Using a calculator, he realized that it means Reina was sending 484 messages a day, which comes out to one every two minutes if she's awake for an average of 16 hours. The monthly average for kids ages 13 to 17 is 1,742 messages, according to a Nielsen survey.
Luckily, Reina's plan included unlimited texts, saving her dad -- who admits to sending 900 texts a month -- from paying almost $3,000. She claims it's because she has a close group of girls around her age who she describes "four obsessive texters." She even admits that during her birthday party, she was texting her best friend -- who was sitting right next to her.
Though Reina isn't in any trouble with her folks, she's now been banned from texting after dinner. [From: The New York Post via Textually]
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The Best-Selling Video Game of All Time? Wii Sports
Considering that the Nintendo Wii has essentially been sold out around the world for roughly two years, is it any surprise that 'Wii Sports' has overtaken 'Super Mario Bros.' as the best-selling game of all time? According to site VGChartz, the game has sold 40.24 million copies in 110 weeks' time. Please keep in mind, though, that 'Wii Sports' is packaged with the Wii console in every country besides South Korea and Japan, so, for the most part, users didn't have the choice to not buy it.
In an editorial over at CNET, columnist Don Reisinger expresses his disappointment in this milestone. His reasoning is that 'Wii Sports' is not really a proper video game because it "lacks a story, offers no measurable ability to get from one point to another, and boasts the most basic functionality," saying that it is more "proof of concept" for the console's motion technology than anything else. Well, we agree that the title does in fact showcase the Wii's abilities, but having played tens if not hundreds of Wii games, we can say that it's still one of the best experiences you can get on the console. Sure, it doesn't have a story, but did 'Super Mario Bros.' really have one, either? [From: CNET]
World's Longest Ringtone Lasts Over an Hour
Japanese cell phone content provider Dwango has crafted a 61-minute, 40-second-long ringtone that it claims is the longest handset melody in the world. Dwango has some experience in the realm of absurd ringtones, having previously released one that was only audible to dogs (again we ask 'why?').
Thankfully, you won't hear the obnoxiously long tone on this side of the Pacific. Dwango's ringtone service is only available in Japan. [From: TechRadarUK, Via: Textually.org]
OMG, US Txtng Brks Rcrd
Ready for some truly staggering figures? VeriSign has reported that it delivered some 95.4 billion text messages between US carriers in the first six months of the year, setting a new record. Single-day and single-hour records were also set in the same period -- 648 million and 42 million, respectively -- proving that Americans are finally warming up en masse to text messaging as a totally valid means of communicating, probably thanks in no small part to the proliferation of devices like the enV2, Rumor, and Blitz. If you can call the complete bastardization of the English language used during texting "communicating," that is. [From: RCR Wireless News]Solar Plane Smashes Flight Endurance Record
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