Phil-IT: IT, Lifestyle, Social Interactions

Valve Tricked Half Life 2 Hacker Into Fake Job Interview

After the secret source code for its then-unreleased shooter Half Life 2 showed up on BitTorrent in 2003, game maker Valve Software cooked up an elaborate ruse with the FBI targeting the German hacker suspected in the leak, even setting up a fake job interview in an effort to lure him to the U.S. for arrest.

Woman says man masturbated in front of her during job interv

MORGANTOWN -- A Fairmont woman has filed suit against a Morgantown company, claiming one of its employees masturbated in front of her after offering her a job.

Scales of Attractiveness from Composites of Faces (PIC)

These women do not exist. They each are a composite of about 30 faces that I created to find out the current standard of good looks on the Internet. I collected some photos from Hot or Not, sorted them by rank and created multi-morph composites from them. What can be concluded about good looks from these virtual faces? Read on...

The Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart

I know some folks out there might have had trouble following the Vice Presidential debate. Particularly, trying to parse meaning from the things that Sarah Palin said. With that in mind, here's a handy resource for your perusal.

Home Shopping Fail

A home shopping commercial goes very, very wrong.

Gas Signs Truth in Advertising.

These signs were put up around Los Angeles as a public art piece.

Katie Couric calls Palin out for cheap shot on Biden

CBS clip of Palin bashing Joe Biden "We've been... ya know, hearin' his speeches since I wuz in 2nd grade..." Katie Couric then asks her "Isn't it a little hyprocritical, considering the age of your running mate?" Watch Palin try & weasel her way out of that.

Katie Couric and CBS News Censor Embarrassing Palin Tape

CBS News and Katie Couric censors Palin remarks to show her in a more favorable light in exchange for exclusive interviews from the McCain campaign.

Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder Richard Stallma

The founder of GNU warns that over-reliance on the 'new' Cloud Computing trends could lead to proprietary lock-in.

Newsweek: Palin Is Ready? Please.

Can we now admit the obvious? Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be vice president.... In these times, for John McCain to have chosen this person to be his running mate is fundamentally irresponsible. McCain says that he always puts country first. In this important case, it is simply not true. Bring on the next debate....

War games fanatic Matthew Pyke killed by gamer from Germany

Internet war games fanatic Matthew Pyke was stabbed to death by a fellow player who flew from Germany to murder him after an online dispute, police believe.

Handshake key to landing a job, scientists claim

A good smile and a smart appearance may be key tactics for job seekers but they mean nothing when compared to a well-delivered handshake, a new study claims.

Metal plates send messages to airport x-ray screeners

One of my favorite artists, Evan Roth, is working on a project that will be released soon - the pictures say it all, it's a "carry on" communication system. These metal places contain messages which will appear when they...

Airport Pasta-Sauce Interdiction Considered Harmful

seven simple paragraphs that concisely sum up the lunacy of banning liquids from carry-on luggage.

How Companies Pay Artists to Include Brands in Lyrics

Conscious of the branding value such mentions can bring, some artists have gone so far as to approach companies with offers to include brand and product names in their song lyrics.

John McCain has missed more votes than any other Senator

John McCain missed 738 of 4104 roll call votes (18%) since Feb 4, 1993. The graph below shows the percent of roll call votes John McCain was absent for during the member’s time in Congress.

Wall Street's Problems Are Because Of Harvard MBAs

Ray Soifer, a top-rated banking analyst based in Arizona, has an explanation for the crisis gripping the stock market: Blame Harvard! Soifer has long studied the proportion of Harvard MBAs who pursue careers in finance; when more than 3 in 10 head for Wall Street, it's time for investors to sell, he says. Harvard MBAs, in aggregate, subtract value.

What Campaign Ads Would Look Like If the Voting Age Was 6

At some point in the next 38 days, you're going to watch a campaign ad and ask yourself if these things could get any more stupid and immature. We decided to find out. What would the ads look like if they had to target 13 year-old girls? Or 10 year old boys? Or first-graders? How would they reach these new, powerful demographics?

What else could you buy with $700 billion? [Slideshow]

3.5 billion iPhones! 233,333 Super Bowl ads! 400 Space Shuttles! 12 Bill Gateses! And of course, 56,000 Victoria Secret diamond and ruby encrusted bras! Why waste $700 billion on bailing out Wall Street? Think of the possibilities, man!

Which one is the elitist again?