Baby Shaker Game - Apple Apology

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) -- Apple Inc. is apologizing for allowing a 99-cent iPhone game called "Baby Shaker" that let a player quiet a virtual crying infant by shaking the device.

Apple removed the program from the iPhone's App Store on Wednesday, but critics pressed for an apology Thursday.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said Thursday that the game was "deeply offensive" and said it should not have been approved for sale.

"We sincerely apologize for this mistake," Kerris said in a statement.

Apple approves the programs that outside software developers make available in the store. "Baby Shaker" came from a company called Sikalosoft, which has not commented.

The game asked players to see how long they could endure a baby's cries and then shake the phone to stop the wailing.

Top Stories Here

FIRE cause for climate change

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a vicious cycle made worse by humans, scientists now believe fires spur climate change, which in turn makes blazes bigger, more frequent and more damaging to the environment.

A man watches as a massive bush fire sweeps across Cape Town's Table Mountain March 18, 2009. (REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/Files)

Climate experts have known that a warmer world would spawn more fires, but in research published on Thursday in the journal Science, scientists reported that fires -- especially those set by humans to clear forests -- influence climate change.

Smoke particles sent into the atmosphere by fires inhibit rainfall, which makes the land drier and encourages more fires to start, said study co-author Jennifer Balch of the University of Santa Barbara in California.

On a global scale, burning releases vast amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, making fires more likely in a warming world, Balch said in a video news briefing.

The report's authors estimate that greenhouse emissions from the world's fires equal about 50 percent of emissions that come from the burning of fossil fuels.

Deforestation fires, like those set to clear forest for pasture in tropical areas like the Amazon, are part of an unintentional "extreme experiment," Balch said: "We're testing how burning forests will influence the climate system."

Full Story

Why Kids don't Listen

It's always nice when a smarty pants scientist "discovers" an explanation to some frustrating or bizarre toddler behavior. Stuff like why they refuse to nap even though they are tired, or why they think it's okay to eat a month-old waffle from under their car seat, or, in this particular case, why they just don't listen to anything we say (over and over and over again infinity).

Like this morning:

"Aidan, put on your coat. It's cold out."

"Carolyn, please stop playing with your baby and go potty."

"Aidan, the coat. Now, please. We're late." (Me forcing him into his coat.)

"Carolyn, did you go potty yet? Put the doll down and ..." (Me dragging her into the potty.)

Now, researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder say my children are not intentionally trying to push me over the edge. What they are really doing when I think they are blatantly ignoring me is taking all my directions, helpful suggestions, and words of wisdom and filing them away in their little monkey brains until later. A lot later. Like age 13. Okay, maybe not that much later, but you get the point.

See, toddler brains don't work the way adult brains do. They can't take data from the present and use it proactively for the future. So, tiny kids neither plan for the future nor live completely in the present. Instead, they call up the past as they need it.

The example that the researcher gave was similar to what happened this morning with the winter coat and my 5 year old.

"Let's say it's cold outside and you tell your 3 year old to go get his jacket out of his bedroom and get ready to go outside," the researcher says. "You might expect the child to plan for the future, think 'okay it's cold outside so the jacket will keep me warm'." But what we suggest is that this isn't what goes on in a 3-year-old's brain. Rather, they run outside, discover that it is cold, and then retrieve the memory of where their jacket is, and then they go get it."

A better way to reason with a toddler with selective hearing?

"Somehow try to trigger this reactive function," the (obviously childless) researcher suggests. "Don't do something that requires them to plan ahead in their mind, but rather try to highlight the conflict that they are going to face. Perhaps you could say something like 'I know you don't want to take your coat now, but when you're standing in the yard shivering later, remember that you can get your coat from your bedroom."

I had to try this new approach, but I'm using a hot stove instead of a coat. Let's see if it works ...

"Aidan, please get your hand away from the hot, gas flame."

"Aidan, I know you don't want to take your hand away from the hot, gas flame, but when your hand catches fire and you get third-degree burns and I have to rush you to the hospital for four months of skin grafts, remember that Mommy told you that you should have kept your hand away from the flame. Ooops. See! Well, maybe you'll remember to trigger your reactive function next time."

Somehow, I think I'll stick to my old method and let my kids continue to ignore me.

Would this method work for you? C'mon, really?

Written by Cynthia Dermody on CafeMom.com

source

Wifi's on Airplanes

Passengers on airliners and business jets may differ in terms of what they pay for their flights, but thanks to the development of airborne broadband technology, they can now access the Internet, e-mail and text message while enroute regardless of whether they fly commercially or privately.

In August, American Airlines became the first U.S. air carrier to offer inflight broadband service.

Passengers on the airline's Boeing 767-200 aircraft can access coast-to-coast coverage on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami.

"We are pleased to provide our customers with the unprecedented ability to stay connected to their family, friends and business associates on the ground via the Internet while traveling at 30,000 feet above the United States," said Dan Garton, American's executive vice president — marketing.

Source

World's Deadliest Spider

One of the most deadly spiders in the world was found in the produce section of an upscale Oklahoma grocery store.

Or was it?

An employee of Whole Foods Market in Tulsa discovered what an expert said was a Brazilian wandering spider in a bunch of bananas from Honduras on Sunday and managed to catch it in a container.

The spider was given to University of Tulsa animal facilities director Terry Childs, who identified the arachnid and said that type of spider is one of the most lethal in the world.

Childs said a bite will kill a person in about 25 minutes, and while there is an antidote, he doesn't know of any in the Tulsa area.

But a Tulsa Zoo official disputed the findings, saying his analysis through video and photos he'd seen led him to believe that it was a Huntsman spider — which is harmless to humans.

"There's pretty definitive evidence it has been misidentified," said Barry Downer, the zoo's curator of aquariums and herpetology.

Source

For better or worst its for work

Checking your Facebook page while your boss isn't looking?

You might actually be a better employee, Australian researchers have found.

"People who do surf the Internet for fun at work — within a reasonable limit of less than 20 percent of their total time in the office — are more productive by about 9 percent than those who don't," says Dr. Brent Coker of the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Melbourne.

In fact, taking short breaks helps the mind refresh and improves concentration, says Coker.

"Firms spend millions on software to block their employees from watching videos on YouTube, using social-networking sites like Facebook or shopping online under the pretense that it costs millions in lost productivity," he notes. "However, that's not always the case."

source