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Wikipedia issues near-total ban on Daily Mail sources
As a rule, Wikipedia accepts most any publication as an article source. If the information is credible and verifiable, it doesn't usually matter where it comes from. However, it just made one giant exception. The online encyclopedia has issued a near-total ban on using the Daily Mail as a source after editors came to the consensus that the British tabloid is "generally unreliable." It has a history of "poor fact checking, sensationalism and flat-out fabrication," editors say, and things it reports as true can usually be found elsewhere.
Bill Gates' kids 'aren't deprived,' they have Zunes
Bill Gates doesn't give too many interviews, but the Daily Mail's Caroline Graham sure managed to get a lot out of him during their recent sitdown. Gates spent much of the time discussing his global health foundation, which, according to him, has become "full-time work for the rest of my life." And, while he acknowledged that he's still involved with Microsoft on a "part-time" basis, he reaffirmed that he has no desire to return to the throne. Does this mean he's finally ready to lift his household's notorious Apple embargo and allow his kids to own iPods? Not exactly: "They have the Windows equivalent. They have a Zune music player, which is a great Windows portable player. They are not deprived children." Hear that? Bill's kids aren't in need! In fact, they even earn allowances and "do chores," just like your kids. Sure, their pops may have billions of dollars stowed away under his mattress, but he says his offspring will only receive a "minuscule portion" of that fortune. Cue the violins.
Daily Mail runs iPhone 4 recall story based on fake Steve Jobs tweet
No, wait -- it's not credible. Despite the fact that @ceoSteveJobs is 100% fake, which a casual reading of the account timeline shows, Britain's Daily Mail newspaper still ran with a story yesterday that quoted the Twitter account as saying Apple might have to recall the iPhone 4. The story has been removed from the DM's website, but it's still posted on multiple syndication sites and scraper pages. Meanwhile, MacRumors cites a newly received SteveMail that says "There is no reception issue. Stay tuned." This lends credence to the AppleInsider post that anticipates an iOS 4.01 release to correct the signal problems associated with the 'death grip.' Never a dull moment! Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
iPhone photo of "ghost" makes UK tabloids look foolish
It doesn't take much to make yourself look like a fool, but in the case of The UK's Sun and Daily Mail newspapers, they have to be feeling quite idiotic right about now. Perhaps not, as these tabloids have a history of running fabulous stories about celebrities, politicians, and the supernatural as a matter of daily business. John Ware, a 47-year old builder, sent the newspapers a photo he had taken with his iPhone that allegedly showed a ghostly little boy dressed in turn-of-the-20th-century clothing, balefully looking at the photographer. You can see the little boy at the right side of the photo, standing in the foreground. The papers dutifully ran the story, with the Sun's example shown at the top of this post. There's only one problem: as Macenstein pointed out, the same little boy haunts the US$0.99 iPhone app Ghost Capture. That's right -- it's apparent that Mr. Ware snapped a shot of a demolition site with the app, and then submitted the photo. Our guess is that Ware was having a little fun with the papers, and that the "Got a story? We pay £££." tag line you see at the top of the page might have provided some motivation. Here's hoping that the developers of Ghost Capture add The King to the family of ghosts in the app, so the Sun and Daily Mail can report a rash of Elvis sightings to their readers.
Dude, he invented the friggin' iPod. Have you heard of it?
Meet Kane Kramer. In 1979, he filed a patent for a device called the IXI, an early digital device that held about three minutes of music. He let the patent lapse a decade later, and never saw a penny from Apple's blistering success with the iPod. You might think this was a story of a bitter man with an agenda against Apple. There, you'd be wrong. Apple was dealing with a lawsuit from Burst.com in which they claimed to have originally come up with the idea for the iPod. Apple asked Kramer to testify on their behalf, talking about how he filed his patent years before Burst did. Instead of fighting further, Burst and Apple settled out of court. Kramer was paid a consultancy fee for traveling to California and making his deposition. "The questioning by the Burst legal counsel there was tough, ten hours of it. But I was happy to do it," Kramer told the Daily Mail. "To be honest, I was just so pleased that finally something that I had done which has been a huge success and changed the music industry was being acknowledged." Presumably on friendly terms, Kramer is negotiating now for compensation from Apple with regards to his original idea. [Via Valleywag.]
Daily Mail claims iPhone nano ready for Christmas, the rest of us laugh
The Daily Mail (of London) is citing "an industry source" that says Apple will release a £150 (≈$295) "iPhone nano" for O2 pay-as-you-go customers. The 8GB iPhone 3G is currently on offer for £99 (≈$195), but requires a £30 (≈$59) per month service charge for 18 months. In the article, the Daily Mail cites an "expert" who says the iPhone nano will include a touch wheel on the back of the handset so numbers can be "dialed" from behind. As much as I love my rotary-dial telephone, not just no, but heck no. In fact, the seven-sentence, poorly-cited Mail story is little more than linkbait, which is why we're not linking directly to it. The newspaper, from what I understand, is something of a rag in the UK. TechCrunch UK noted that the Mail is going after pageviews, and the crowd that follows Apple rumors would be good for some hits. Shrewd, but crude. Harry McCracken notes that he anticiaptes an iPhone nano at some point in the future, but this ain't it. All I want for Christmas is an iPhone that works on the Verizon network. I'll have a long wait, I reckon.
Steorn redux: more mad "scientists" tout free energy gadget
We don't want to take this seriously, so we won't. Another company has claimed to have produced a device that produces more energy than is put in, which --we shouldn't have to tell you -- is impossible. The Daily Mail is the dumb -- but actually kinda clever, 'cause they'll get lots of readers, and they don't mind bending the truth -- deliverer this time, adding some kind of twisted authority to the "news." The company behind the free publicity is called EcoWatts, who are apparently keen to sell their £1,500-2,000 white tube thing to homeowners, with the aim of reducing their electricity bill (and not solving all the world's energy problems in one fell swoop, apparently.) Altogether now: "ughhh."[Thanks, Alan]
Apple: "iPod City" investigation still underway
Despite recent comments by a Foxconn spokesperson that Apple had already investigated and found no problems with the Chinese factory that has come to be known as "iPod City," BusinessWeek is reporting that the probe is still in fact underway, with an Apple representative reiterating that the company takes "allegations of noncompliance very seriously." According to spokesperson Steve Dowling, Apple is in the midst of a "thorough audit" of the Hon Hai-owned plant, which had recently admitted to breaking labor laws concerning overtime, but which continues to deny other allegations contained in the original Daily Mail exposé. Specifically, Dowling says that the auditors are looking into "employee working and living conditions," conducting interviews with workers and their managers (separately, we hope), and generally making sure that the factory lives up to a supplier code of conduct that supposedly "sets the bar higher than accepted industry standards." This is all very good news indeed, but now Apple faces yet another hurdle in the form of a jaded public highly skeptical of corporate-speak, meaning that whether the investigation turns up violations or not, the company may still have a hard time convincing folks to accept the auditors' final verdict.[Via AppleInsider, image courtesy of Mail on Sunday]
"iPod City" admits labor law violations
In what would seem to be a 180-degree reversal from last week's vehement denials concerning the Daily Mail's "iPod City" exposé, Hon Hai Precision Industry's Foxconn factory has now come forward to admit that it has indeed been in violation of Chinese labor laws. Even though the company -- which was accused of underpaying and overworking employees -- had initially threatened to take legal action over the story, ChinaCSR is now reporting that a Foxconn spokesperson has publicly copped to the fact that its workers are forced to be on duty an extra 80 hours a month, which is 44 more hours of overtime than Chinese regulations allow (or 1.5 to 2 extra hours per day depending on the length of their work week). On the plus side, company representative Li Zong did point out that the workers are being paid according the minimum salary standards of the Shenzhen local government, so at least all those extra hours will help them maintain the highest standard of living for the scant amount of free time they get to spend in their overcrowded dormitories (supposedly pictured above). We realize that a lot of people are arguing that it's not fair to single out Apple when this is an industry-wide problem, but the fact of the matter is that Apple has been called out, and this new revelation only makes it that much more important for the company to conduct its promised investigation in a thorough and open manner.Update: It should also be noted that the ChinaCSR article quotes Li as saying that "Apple has sent a special team to investigate, but has found no problem with Foxconn." While it's not clear when this investigation took place, we're hoping that Apple has more to say on the matter, because it sounds more than a little shady if Cupertino gave Foxconn the thumbs-up while these admitted violations were occuring.[Via The Inquirer]
Apple promises to investigate "iPod City"
Even though the veracity of that Daily Mail story about supposed substandard working conditions in several Chinese iPod factories is still up in the air, the Apple PR machine has already begun rolling out something of a damage control campaign, issuing a statement that reemphasizes the company's commitment to internationally-recognized manufacturing codes of conduct. Citing protocols outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by the International Labor Organization, Apple stressed its own supplier code of conduct's commitment to safe workplaces, environmentally-friendly manufacturing processes, and most importantly to the issue at hand, ensuring that workers are treated with respect and dignity. Instead of flat out denying the Mail's claims, however, Apple seems to be adopting a more contrite approach, claiming that it is "currently investigating the allegations regarding working conditions" in the Hon Hai-owned plant. We're happy to see that Apple has taken notice of this story and is concerned with the folks who are vital in bringing their products to market, but the real test is whether we'll ever actually hear anything else about these factories once the company has completed the promised investigation. [Via iLounge]
Chinese workers reportedly toil in "iPod City"
In much the same way that we'd rather not think about how the Big Macs we eat were produced, we also often ignore the manner in which our favorite gadgets are manufactured, because it's not as fun listening to tunes when you consider that the person who put together your DAP could be living like an indentured servant. And according to a recent report by the UK's Daily Mail entitled "iPod City," indentured servitude might not be a bad description of the working conditions inside the city-size Chinese factories that assemble the iPod nano and Shuffle, where the employees reportedly make about $50-a-month and live in crowded dormitories as thanks for working 15-hour days. It should be noted that even though the Mail story is supposedly based on first-hand reporting, their claim of 200,000 workers at one plant has been called into question, and at least one other factory owned by the same manufacturer has been certified by the International Labor Organization as free of human rights violations. While Apple certainly isn't the only device maker to outsource labor overseas, Wired points out that the company's tacit support of possibly-questionable working conditions is all the more ironic in the wake of its Think Different campaign, which featured the socially-conscious Gandhi and Caesar Chavez, among others. Unfortunately, our own lust for the latest and greatest products only helps fuel the vicious cycle that forces companies to drive down wages and seek the cheapest possible labor, so until we find a way to break our gadget addiction, we'll all be complicit in these practices to some degree.Read- MacWorld summary of Daily Mail story [Thanks, Marc P.]Read- Wired analysis [Via Slashdot]
