Weezer Internet Meme Video: Pork And Beans

How many internet memes can you spot in this Weezer video?

Barbie Vs. Bratz Lawsuit

The makers of Barbie have accused the makers of Bratz of stealing their idea for a pouty urban fashion doll — and now the case is in court.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

“In a lawsuit set for trial on Tuesday in Riverside, Calif., Mattel accuses MGA Entertainment Inc., the maker of Bratz, of essentially stealing the idea for the pouty-lipped dolls with the big heads. Mattel is trying to seize ownership of the Bratz line, which analysts estimate racks up annual sales of more than $500 million. MGA denies wrongdoing, and accuses Mattel in a separate suit of copying Bratz.”

If that wasn’t enough intrigue in doll-land, the former Mattel designer who took the Bratz idea to MGA has just made a settlement with his former employer. That only adds ammunition to Mattel’s case against the Bratz producers.

At stake: millions and millions of dollars. And you thought Barbie dolls were just kids’ stuff.

Who’s YOUR favorite — Barbie or Bratz?

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Xbox Live Says No To Gay Gamertags

Is Xbox live cracking down on specifically “gay” gamertags?

When the user ‘theGAYERgamer’ had his name banned, he cried foul and wondered if it had to do with the sexual orientation implied in the gamertag.

A spokesperson for Xbox insisted, however, that at issue was the sexual nature of the name, not homosexuality itself:

“We view these situations objectively during our review under the terms of use. To answer the question another way, yes ‘TheStraighterGamer or ‘TheHeterosexualgamer’ would have gotten the same treatment and would have been found to be in violation and forced to be changed. We’ve actually done that to tags like that before.”

(via Computer and Video Games)

Mother-Of-Pearl XBox 360

Talk about an upgrade: apparently Bill Gates had a 100 of these luxury Xbox 360s made for gift-giving purposes. Among the recipients: the president of South Korea.

(via Born Rich)

Study: Plants, Windows Increase Worker Satisfaction

Does your job suck? Add a few plants. And have a window

A study at Texas State University found that job satisfaction was boosted with the addition of plants and in the workplace.

82% of the people surveyed who had plants and windows at their workplace said they were content with their jobs, versus 69% who had plants and no windows. Only 60% of workers without either plants or windows expressed satisfaction with their employment.

Finds this study fascinating:

(via Live Science)

No “Sex In The City” For Jerusalem

Municipal officials in Jerusalem do not want movie posters for “Sex In The City” displayed, according to the Jerusalem Post.

At first they asked to simply remove the word “sex” from the title, but that request was turned down.

A rep for “Sex In The City’s” Israeli distributor, Forum Films, said:

“We told them, the way you don’t remove the word “Coca” from “Coca-Cola” and just leave “Cola,” we can’t do it in this case…”

YouTomb: Where Deleted YouTube Videos Go To Die

YouTomb is a project by MIT Free Culture that tracks down videos taken down from and by YouTube for copyright infringement. The site tells you how long each clip had been up, and who asked it to be taken down.

For example, this video, a review of Cloverfield, was taken down due to a TOS violation after being up for 117 days.

According to their statistics page, the companies who ask for the most videos to be removed include Viacom, Warner Brothers, and World Wrestling Entertainment.

(found via Google Operating System Blog)

Recycle Your Dead Batteries For Big Cash

Instructables explains how you can take all your used-up batteries and get big money for them — by paying attention to the international scrap market:

“The market goes up and down. Right now the dollar is low and China and India are buying scrap like crazy to sell it back to us as products. That drives up scrap values. Our military shooting bullets at villages all over the world doesn’t hurt the value of lead either.”

More at the link.

As for the author of the article, he had an ATM at the scrap center spit out $100 bills at him.  Now that’s the type of eco-friendly thinking that actually pays off.

Calling Scientology A Cult Now Illegal In England

A teenager participating in a peaceful protest outside a church of Scientology in England faces prosecution now for carrying a sign that had the word “Cult” on it.

The Guardian reports:

“The incident happened during a protest against the Church of Scientology on May 10. Demonstrators from the anti-Scientology group, Anonymous, who were outside the church’s £23m headquarters near St Paul’s cathedral, were banned by police from describing Scientology as a cult by police because it was “abusive and insulting”.”

The same article says that London police came under fire two years ago when it emerged that more than 20 officers received gifts from the Church of Scientology.

As for the prosecuted teenager, he is currently looking for legal advice.