Ever hear of a kid named Jason McElwain who is probably better known as J-Mac? If not then you missed out on one of the most inspirational stories ever. This young man with autism was the team manager for his high school basketball team in 2006. He finally got a chance to play in a game so he decided he would make the most of the time he got to play. With about 4 minutes to shine and this kid did not disappoint. He scored 20 points and hit six 3 pointers. When the game ended the whole gym went crazy because they were so happy for this guy.

We have come across all kinds of cellphones these days including wooden ones. The only difference being the so called wooden phones were actually made of a kind of plastic. Hyun Jin Yoon and Eun Hak Lee have designed a cellphone concept which is made of real wood, Maple and the phone is rightly christened Maple [...]

Because of Cai Guo-Qiang, the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympic Games was not something abstract, hard to decipher and boring. It was a blast. Literally. The New York-based, Chinese-born Cai is an installation artist who revels in using explosives (primarily gunpowder) to create violent displays of pyrotechnics, or, as he calls them, "explosion works." And because of his considerable talents with both art and fire, he was commissioned to produce Friday's opening Olympic ceremony.

Because of Cai Guo-Qiang, the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympic Games was not something abstract, hard to decipher and boring. It was a blast. Literally. The New York-based, Chinese-born Cai is an installation artist who revels in using explosives (primarily gunpowder) to create violent displays of pyrotechnics, or, as he calls them, "explosion works." And because of his considerable talents with both art and fire, he was commissioned to produce Friday's opening Olympic ceremony.

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Lots of great tech news tonight, lots of trouble in the iPhone space. Mix up on OLPC resolved I hope. Congrats to our July money winners

Full Length Show notes to the Podcast Click Here

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The Canadian employment report will highlight Friday's economic releases as U.S. markets receive a first look at second-quarter nonfarm productivity and unit labour costs followed by June wholesale inventories.

Aunty Virus

The U.S. dollar index is at its highest levels since February, gaining over a point on sheer greenback strength on Friday. Even after the release of a slightly worse-than-expected preliminary second-quarter nonfarm productivity report at 8:30 a.m. EDT, the U.S. dollar index is up 1.074 points to 75.621. It had a session high of 75.662, 1.090 points above session-open levels.

X Factor's Ashley plans to sue paper over free downloads

Hastert on Impact of McCain Celebrity Ad

Mark Cuban is among many who are bidding to buy the Chicago Cubs. Whether you like this guy or not it would be fantastic for Major League Baseball, not to mention the Cubs. MLB has had all kinds of troubles over the past decade or so from steroids to player strikes to an incompetent commissioner in Bud Selig. While these things have hurt "America's Pastime", it is the refusal to do new things & let the status quo go unchecked that bothers me most. Mark Cuban is one of the brightest people on the planet so I'd be more apt to make him commissioner than just an owner of a single team. As owner of the Cubs he could affect change by changing how his team does things so others will follow suit. I think Mark would have better ideas than turning a blind eye to steroid use just to get attendance numbers back up. He might actually institute some new technology and ideas.

Let me share my feelings on Apple products. I don’t like them period. It is not because they suck or are not easy to use. Clearly they are user friendly and from what I hear do not suck. That is why they are so popular. But the company is so controlling about what you can do with their products. And make no mistake it is their product even after you put down your hard earned money for it. Sure you can use it when you want, take it where you want, even sell it when you get ready to do so. But try to alter it or use it in a way Apple does not care for, then you have trouble. And they can even disable your device in cases like the iphone. Try to move your itunes library to another computer or media device not made by Apple and you will see who really owns “your” stuff. I tried to get my wife’s songs from her itunes library into mp3 format so I could place them on a new Creative Mp3 player. Well if I wanted to burn cds of all the songs and go on a digital adventure that would last hours I would have went ahead. But I just gave up. I understand why they create a walled garden. It is to keep people using their devices the way Apple deems appropriate. But it also keeps people like me who like a little flexibility in their tech devices from buying Apple products. I know Steve Jobs will make it without my few dollars though:) .

The story Todd did on the last podcast about some people’s iphones getting disabled because they had an unauthorized application loaded on it really got to me. Either the phone is yours or it is not. The fact that a small percentage of people may get over in some way by not giving Apple more money does not justify keeping every single user from using their property how they want. When you by a new Dodge truck you have the ability to get accessories after the fact that were made by companies other than Dodge. When you buy a house from a builder he does not lock you out of your home when you don’t let him build on a new deck that your brother will do for free. I understand this is comparing apples to oranges but the principle holds true. Just because Apple can lock you out because it is a digital product does not make it right to do so. Wikipedia defines ownership as “the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property”. If Apple controls your iphone or ipod after you bought it do you really own it?

Publisher Ubisoft today issued the minimum and recommended system requirements for the PC edition of Ubisoft Montreal's open-world shooter Far Cry 2, which is also due out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this fall.

Update: Speaking with Shacknews, Capcom has explained that the higher price point for the PC edition of Bionic Commando Rearmed is not due to piracy, but lies "with different business terms/expectations in [PC] sector" and higher distribution costs.