King of Pop is Dead

Please take a moment of silence to remember this amazing role-model. Michael Jackson was pronounced dead today at 2:26pm after suffering a heart attack. He was 50 years old. I am surprised he has lasted this long given the amount of chemicals and facial procedures he's gone through. Although, he has "looked" dead for quite some time now. More details inside.


Despite Michael Jackson's insanity, he did give us some freakin' sweet stuff: Thriller, the moonwalk, the white glove, and lots of great music.

Here's the story from [NYDailyNews]

Pop icon Michael Jackson died Thursday after being taken to a Los Angeles hospital in cardiac arrest, officials said. He was 50.

The "Thriller" superstar was unconscious and not breathing when Fire Department paramedics were summoned to Jackson's Bel Air home by a 911 call at 12:26 California time.

They desperately tried to resuscitate the faded King of Pop as a cherry-red ambulance sped him to UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

"You've got to save him!" aides to the star screamed as he was wheeled into the hospital on the stretcher, the Web site TMZ.com reported.

Jackson's mother and his sister LaToya were seen rushing into the hospital, apparently after he had already died.

The cause of death was unknown. The Los Angeles County coroner said an autopsy would be performed Friday.

Apparently Michael's death spawned some rumors that Harrison Ford and Jeff Goldblum died today as well. Totally fake.

XBOX Project Natel = Broken Bones

Microsoft thinks they're ready to play in the world of the Wii. They are rolling out contoller-less play on the Xbox. Watch it in action.






Remember when people started going to the hospital and breaking TV's because they would whirl the Wii nunchucks around?




I have a feeling there are going to be a lot more injuries and damaged TV's as people pretend to ride their skateboard around the living room. Here's how easy Microsoft thinks playing Xbox with no controller will be:

Finally! A Sunscreen For Men

I know that many of you out there have been wondering why we don't have sunscreen just for men. Well, Will Ferrel has got you covered. He now endorses sunscreen from CancerforCollege.com. He's like Paul Newman giving proceeds to charity.

The proceeds go to a scholarship fund for people who have survived cancer. Consumer Reports covered the story, although they didn't actually test the product. They do tell you who usually wears sunscreen the most and who needs it the most: women and teenagers. Hopefully, we men will be less likely to get skin cancer with Will leading the way.

Oh, and in case you need to pick some up, it competitively priced at $11.99 a bottle with $7 for shipping.

Special Delivery, pt. 2

How hard is it to walk a package 15 feet to the door? Apparently this USPS guy gets creative and delivers the package without using his back OR his knees. This reminds me of our Skeeball UPS delivery driver.


This doesn't really surprise me. Getting packages delivered has been one of the most frustrating things for me. I can never get USPS or UPS to actually deliver my packages. I've had so many packages returned to sender for no reason, a $160 watch magically disappear on transit from Provo to Sandy, and some just never show up.

This takes the cake: In the summer of 2007, UPS arbitrarily changed the correct address on my MacBook Pro to an old address I lived at 2 years previous. When they discovered I no longer lived at the old address, they kindly delivered it to some random lady in Orem over off Geneva Rd. I ended up showing up at the lady's house to claim my package! When I inquired about the error, their response was, "Oh, that's weird."

New Domain!

Its official. The Man-Log now has its own domain name: www.man-log.com. So go ahead and change your bookmarks. If you don't have the Man-Log bookmarked, what are you thinking?! Press Ctrl+D now!

Spot a Pyramid Scheme

As a man, we expect you to be smart. That includes not getting duped into some pyramid scheme. You may remember on The Office when Michael tries to recruit his co-workers to sell calling cards. Pyramid schemes are being disguised and re-invented every day. We expect you to know how to spot one.



Before we go into how to spot a pyramid scheme, understand this:

There are only two things that will happen if you get involved -

1. You will piss off a lot of your close family/friends
2. You will NOT make any real money
   

[USA Today] has this to say about pyramid schemes:

"It's going to sound really good. You're going to be tempted. Should you give in to temptation?

In a word: NO. Stop and read this first!

Let me explain how MLM or network marketing works and how it differs from regular sales or a regular business.

•Single-level sales: You go out and sell a product or service and you either get paid for your time, or more typically, get a commission on the amount of product or services you sell directly to customers.

•Multi-level programs: You go out and recruit other participants. You make money not only on the sales you make but on the sales of those you recruit...

Here's what the FTC advises: "If a plan offers to pay commissions for recruiting new distributors, watch out! Most states outlaw this practice, which is known as 'pyramiding.' State laws against pyramiding say that a multilevel marketing plan should only pay commissions for retail sales of goods or services, not for recruiting new distributors."

Even if a program isn't fraudulent, from a business point-of-view, MLM programs share the same fundamental flaws, including:

•Recruiting competitors. No one in legitimate business wants competitors. In MLM programs, your goal is to get lots of others selling the same product or service. In real businesses, you'd pay for exclusive territories. In MLM, you recruit competitors from among those nearest to you — in your church, neighborhood, friends – your best sales targets.

•Pay to be a customer. You'll buy products or services you sell as well as training materials. Overwhelmingly MLM revenue comes from those recruited to be 'business owners' within a program. I view most MLM programs as thinly-disguised schemes to find customers, not build businesses.

•You'll face pressure. Expect to be required – or pressured – to buy samples, marketing materials, training courses and tapes, attend seminars, and more. You're very likely to spend far more than you'll ever bring in from sales.

•You turn your friends and family into "prospects." MLM programs typically suggest you sell to – and recruit – people you know well. Do you really want to be constantly beseeching those closest to you?"

PyramidSchemeAlert.org Is a website is dedicated to uncovering the truth about all pyramid schemes. I did a search for a well-known "super fruit" company and came up with these results :


-- The top 1% (0.77% or 1 out of each 130) received 65% of all the commissions. These commissions came out of the pockets of those at the bottom.

-- The bottom 91% of the entire company sales force, received no company payments at all!

-- Of the 9% who did receive a commission check, the bottom 99% of them earned on average only $59 a week, before product costs and all business expenses.

-- The average income of the bottom 99% of all Monavie distributors was $3.75 a week before all product costs and business expenses.

These amazing company figures need to be repeated! 91% earned zero. Of the 9% that earned something, 99% of them earned only $59 a week on average, before all product costs and business expenses.

Domino's and Nasty Employee Recap

This story may sound familiar to the Burger King Bather. This post details what it takes to get famous nationwide and the roller coaster ride that follows. Two idiots names Kristy and Michael got bored one night a made some videos of them doing nasty things to customers' food and put the videos on YouTube. This story has been evolving from April 13 until May 6.

While Kristy narrates, you can see Michael do things like put pieces of cheese up his nose, wipe a sponge on his butt, and fart on some meat. Watch the videos here. (link opens new window.)

Within a few hours of the blog Consumerist posting the story, readers used detective work to figure out where the store was: Conover, North Carolina. The sluethy readers were given free Donino's for 1 year.

Once discovered, they were immediately fired. Kristy tried to quickly dodge legal bullets with this email apology to Domino's Vice President:

"I am sorry about all of this! It was all a prank and me nor Michael expected to have this much attention from the videos that were uploaded! No food was ever sent out to any customer. We would never put something like that on you tube if it were real!! It was fake and I wish that everyone knew that!!!! Michael never would do that to any customer, EVER!! I AM SOO SORRY! You see all the time of the pranks that people upload and the pranks need to seem real in order to get a laugh out of people but this prank was very very immature and I am sorry for the embarrassment that I have caused your company!"

The VP completely rejected the apology, calling it a lie. Arrest warrants were issued for their arrest and Domino's plans to sue the duo.

The store was shut down and sanitized.

The President then issued this YouTube video response:




Then the story was featured on Nightline. Watch the video here on Consumerist or here on ABC.

Now, Kristy can't get a job. [ABC News]

"Kristy Hammonds, 31, tells ABC News that she has become a local pariah and cannot find work to support her two children...

Hammonds, a registered sex offender who faces felony food tampering charges from the Domino's incident, says she has been turned down at several area fast food restaurants, including Taco Bell and McDonalds, when employers recognized her name and face.

She says her inability to find work has made it difficult to raise her two children, aged 4 [years] and 8 months, whom she conceived with the aid of a sperm donor. The baby, she said, has special needs."

Did you Know?

Ever watch those short video clips that show you random statistics about a scattering of daily and well known facts that compound into something amazing? Well....

Cell Phone Hackers

So, there has been a lot of chatter in the news lately about how someone can take over your cell phone without you even knowing. They can listen in on your calls, read your text messages, and even use your phone's gps to locate you. They can also turn on your phone's microphone and listen in on a conversation you are having face to face with someone. This can all be done without you ever realizing it. Here are some tips on how to avoid becoming a victim.

Here is how they work..

This is software someone downloads directly into the phone, using the phones web browser and Internet connection. The software then captures all the options the user selects (SMS, Call Logs, Email, call monitoring, microphone activation, GPS location) and uses the phones Internet connection to send it to their private web account where they can view it from any computer or cell phone. It will also send them the text messages direct and allow them to listen to all your phone traffic in real time…

To gain access to the phone the software is either loaded via Bluetooth or an Internet Connection.

With the Bluetooth option the spy can load the software from any location close enough to the phone to connect. (up to 60 feet) To prevent the Bluetooth loading you must either turn off Bluetooth or disable the “Allow Bluetooth device to discover this connection”

To load from the web they must have physical access to your phone. It is strongly recommended that you password protect you phone so it locks when you do not use it for a certain period…

Keep in mind this type of program also works on laptops. (anything with Bluetooth and Internet connections) You may want to turn off the Bluetooth feature on your laptop if you are not using it…

How do I know if my phone is bugged?

One of the few ways to check and see if your phone is infected is to check and see if the phone is set up for an “Internet Access Point” and seeing if the location of the point is something other than your Phone company. Anything like flexspy, phonespy, or any other name you do not recognize may indicate your phone is bugged. (Check with you phone provider before you delete or change this) This is not foolproof but is one of the few ways for the user to locate the software. Some of the programs even block the ability of you to see this information.

Other things to look for to determine if your phone is infected include

• You seem to have trouble shutting it off, or it stays lit up after you’ve powered down.
• The phone sometimes lights up when you aren’t making or receiving a call, or using any other function.
• You regularly hear odd background noises or clicks when you’re on the phone.
  

Don't Download Movies in Mexico!

You may be really excited from my previous posts on how to download movies, but don't take it too far. Case in point: Recently a man went to Mexico and used the wireless card he received from his cell phone company to download Wall-E for his nephew. He got a bill for $62,000.


Now that's one expensive movie. If you're going to Mexico please unplug/disable/leave at home your wireless card for your laptop. Its idiots like this that disgrace our gender. "Luckily" his cell phone provider was able to lower his bill to their cost: $17,000.