It’s only a matter of time. Somewhere soon, a huge earthquake will strike and it’s anyone’s guess as to where that will be. Or is it?

This graphic by our friends at GOOD puts numbers to the equation and gives us a speculative analysis of the possible targets of the next major earth-shaking catastrophe.

Click to see the entire graphic.

Greenpeace.org has uncovered disturbing information about Nintentdo, Xbox, and Sony Playstation. Their consoles and accessories contain materials that can be hazardous to people and to the environment. According to Greenpeace, there are greener alternatives available to make truly eco-friendly consoles, but they are currently not using these.

The dangers do not stop when the consoles are no longer used. E-Waste, or Electronic Waste, is potentially a greater problem as it is more likely to become an issue during the manufacturing or disposal process.

ArsTechnica took a look at the findings and had mixed feelings. While there is definitely evidence that the manufacturers should get together and share techniques to produce greener consoles, the popular blog still showed less urgency in the matter than does Greenpeace.

Our take on it is this: the solution is too simple to ignore. The companies in question are too profitable to let simple changes pass them by. If, as both Greenpeace and ArsTechnica agree, the three got together to do something about this, it would be relatively easy to make “Eco-friendly Consoles” a reality.

Here is how people can make contact with the manufacturers:

• Write to Nintendo
• Write to Sony
• Write to Microsoft

Here is a video about the findings: Playing Dirty

For more information on anything at all, please check out the homepage.

In the short life of this blog, it has received quite a bit of attention both negative and positive. One of the stories in particular about McCain Fanning the Obama-Clinton Flames has received comments on it as well on Digg and Propeller that are not complimentary.  It has been called names, bashed, yadayadayada.  It’s awesome!

Bloggers are in many ways amateur journalists.  I have written columns for print publications in the past and I prefer the editorial license allowed in blogs.  Why?  Because you can be more bold on the Internet than you can in a newspaper or a magazine.

The article in question speculates that there may be people in the McCain campaign who are intentionally doing whatever they can to help keep Hillary Clinton in the race so she can launch attacks on Barack Obama.  This is a reasonable specualtion and is probably, to some extent, true.  If done properly, McCain can only gain from a longer fight.

The attacks have been in addressing this opinion piece as one that does not offer an proof.  My retort: “If everything on the Internet needed proof, there would be about 1/3rd of the blogs that there are today.”

Blog boldly.  People will bash.  Don’t be afraid to share a controversial opinion or ask an odd question just because people will bash your point of view.  The true beauty of the Internet is that it allows everyday people to ask controversial questions and get outlandish responses in return.  That’s part of what makes it fun and informative.  It’s a blog, a place for people to speak freely.

Write for your audience.  Write for yourself.  Write what you want.  As long as nobody gets hurt, it’s all good.  No harm, no foul.

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This, for those who don’t know, is my blog.  Enjoy it, bash it, ignore it — whatever fits your needs.

Over the past several weeks, I have been privy to many projects in different stages of development. One thing that seems to hold true for many of them is that the developers’ idea of “the next big thing” is a hybrid of sorts.

Some are leaning towards social media mixed with social networking. Most of the social media sites have tried to head in this direction to some extent. All have fallen short. Most notably, the Digg changes a few months ago have turned from an attempt to socialize social media (with shouts and other features) into an unfair way to game the system. The results have been disastrous.

Social networking sites have each tried to crossover to other mediums. MySpace has been attempting (in vane) to offer portal-style integration, while Facebook had Beacon for a couple of weeks before realizing that becoming an advertising medium unlike any other had strangely predictable results.

StumbleUpon has been the only site to have some measure of success in trying new things, but that is at a scale. It isn’t that they have succeeded at anything outside of their core service. They just haven’t outright failed like the rest of the sites.

Enter stage left the Web 3.0 Social Hybrid. W3SH sites are all the rage right now because so few know exactly what will work and what won’t. The first wave of social sites, even the juggernauts like the ones mentioned above, all have glaring holes in them. User dissatisfaction is rampant, larger companies are considering them for buyout but not pulling the trigger because they don’t know how to make real money with them yet, and investors are lining up to start something without knowing what that “something” will be.

Of all of the ideas that I have reviewed over the past couple of months, only one really seems to have the legs, vision, and marketability to truly set the pace in 2008 and beyond. Only one seems to be a true contender to start Web 3.0. Sadly, I’m under strict orders not to discuss it here (or anywhere). Yet. Stay tuned though. If my gut feelings are correct, this one will really take off here in a few months.

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Read more about Web 3.0 soon on this blog.

A glitch in the leap year algorithm has forced Cinco de Mayo to be moved to the 4th of May in 2008 instead of its traditional May 5th home, a spokeperson for the White House announced Monday.

An emergency call center has been commissioned by the Senate to alert bars, restaurants, and cantinas across the nation.  All establishments must be contacted before May 3rd to allow time for changes in drink specials and Piñata placement.  This multi-lingual task force is working around the clock to get the word out.

“So far, the response has not been good,” said Leslie Espinoza, chief coordinator assigned to the task.  “We’ve had a lot of hang-ups and derogatory remarks made to our volunteers.”

Researches at Northwestern University have isolated the cause to a glitch in the calendar algorithm associated with leap years.

According to Paul Galles, spokesperson for the team and Dean of Computer Sciences, “It’s very much like Y2K.  The algorithm was designed to accomodate 365 days a year.  To be honest, we’re not sure how Cinco de Mayo even happened in 2004.”

The algorithm was created in 2001 through an Executive Order of President Bush.  In a statement, the Bush administration blamed al Qaeda and Al Gore for the problem.

From the statement:

“After our mishandling of previous disasters, we intend to make this one right.  Once the immediate issues are corrected, we intend to fix the problem permanently before the 4th of July.”

A press conference is scheduled for May 3rd to detail the effectiveness of the task force and to offer contingency plans for those who were not able to get the original message.  Police, fire departments, and hospitals will be put on alert for the entire weekend.

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Satire is fun. Read more funny news on this blog as soon as we have something else funny to write. Well, hopefully funny.