Alabama cops fired after beating unconscious suspect.

Alabama police officers involved in a high speed pursuit on Jan. 23, 2008 were fired Wednesday for beating an unconscious suspect who was ejected from his vehicle during a high speed pursuit. I must say, after first seeing the video. I too thought, that guy deserved a good ass stomping. He barely missed running over a cop. I don’t mean that bullshit you see on your regular episode of Saturday night Cops when the officer always says “you almost hit me". Or “you could have killed me”. You know the episode. The same one the cop says “why were you running?” and the crack head replies: “I was scared”. This officer was about 1/2 inch from having a permanent Dodge logo embedded on his face. But after you take a minute to think about the fact that the guy just got ejected out of his vehicle and was motionless, unconscious on the ground. You start to feel anger towards the cops.

I don’t know about you, but if I just got ejected out of a Dodge Caravan doing 60mph around an off ramp that my first thought would be to resist or run for that matter. But what happens? The cops jump out of their cruisers and proceed to river dance on the guy. Here’s the thing, he’s probably a bad guy, he probably swerved to avoid the stop sticks not to hit the cop, he probably deserved being beat up by the police. If he killed your family on the road you’d want to whoop his ass too I’m sure.

The issue is this. We cannot allow officers or anyone for that matter to just dish out punishment as they see fit. Clearly this wasn’t a black/white issue. The first cop to A-Town stomp on the guy was African-American and the suspect was also African-American. This was just plain ol’ police brutality. If we allow police to go unpunished for the brutality seen in the video then we’re sending a message that next time you pull over someone, feel free to drag them out of their Honda and beat the shit out of them because you’re upset your wife is divorcing you and your kids hate you. Remember the 15-year old girl who kicked her shoe at a cop and got the shit beat out of her by a police officer.

These officers were fired and I think they deserved it. These are the assholes you want to pull you over? These are the guys you want to respond to an emergency and they can’t even control their temper on an unconscious criminal? I think these videos are nothing more than showing what happens on a regular basis. The difference is when the camera is rolling you can’t lie about it. In the past it was just your word against the cops. Now, criminals and civilians alike have a new ally, it’s called the dash cam bitch.

Let this be a lesson to cops who think it’s OK to beat on helpless citizens you never know when the dash cam, or camera phone is rolling. The unfortunate part about this is cops like these give all cops a bad name.

The video is embedded below, here’s a link for those who can’t see the embedded content.  [CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO]

Palm Pre wireless charger, Touchstone. Not so wireless after all.

For the readers keeping abreast of the upcoming Palm Pre Smartphone to be released by Palm, you've probably heard of the Touchstone wireless charging device for the Palm Pre. At first I was pretty excited about it. I mean when you hear the word wireless, you assume that to mean no wires right?

Well apparently Palm doesn't see it the same way. First off the charger (which looks like a hockey puck) sits on your desk/table and requires the charger you would normally plug directly into your Palm Pre, to be plugged into the Touchstone charger. At that point you can just slap your phone on the Touchstone charger which will hold your phone in place using magnets. Oh, but not before you purchase the inductive back cover to replace your shiny black cover to allow for the inductive charging without scratching up your nice shiny back cover.

The idea is neat, I guess. I mean but how is this really any different from having a phone cradle? You know like the cordless phone cradle/dock/charging station? The only difference I see is magnets hold your phone to the actual base.

Also cordless phones tend to have the metal prongs on the base of the cradle and the phone. I still fail to see where all this “innovative”, “first wireless charger” stuff is coming from. Inductive charging is nothing new. It’s the same technology used to charge your electric toothbrush. The basic idea, is nothing new. So what’s all the hype about?

I will say that according to Palm the phone can be used while charging, and if the phone rings while on the base, it can answer in speakerphone mode automatically. And if you pick it up off the base while in speakerphone mode it will switch to handset mode. WOW! Now that’s innovation. Not!

So I told myself I would buy one when it came out. That’s when I was stupid enough to believe that this charger wouldn’t cost more than a typical charger. Boy was I wrong. They want $69.99 just so you can say “look what I can do, look what I can do”. There’s no real value other than the wow factor. It should also be noted that several sources across the web have stated inductive charging is 10-15% less efficient. Hey, but it still looks cool.

Just kill YOURSELF!

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of turning on the news and hearing about some jackass who decided that just because his life wasn't worth living that hell, he might as well take a few people with him. It seems like it's a growing trend. The latest, a UGA professor who murdered his wife and two males outside of their place of employment was found shot in the head, his body already lying in a shallow grave covered with leaves and debris according to police.

Apparently the professor dug his own shallow grave and shot himself in the head in an apparent murder suicide. Wow. Now that takes some fuckin' skill. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of contraption he used to drop some debris and leaves on him. Maybe he was a physics teacher. I have this mental picture of those movies where someone trying to trap and animal digs a hole, and covers it with leaves. Maybe he just stood in front, back facing the leaves and pulled the trigger. Once he fell in, the leaves just kinda floated over top of him. Who says I didn't learn anything in school?

I mean, I appreciate all the effort he put into digging his own grave and all even going as far as to cover himself up. But is a hole in the ground covered with leaves and debris some sort of safety hazard? And did he really have to take out the wife and two innocent guys? Even if they weren't all that innocent and they were on their way to begin their afternoon orgy, killing them? Come on.

To all those contemplating a murder suicide, first remember to kill yourself and please for the sake of us tax payers who actually have something to live for do it in a way that doesn't make me upchoke my fucking breakfast while raking leaves. The last thing I want to stumble on is your dead body in the backyard somewhere.

Lastly, part of the reason you're killing yourself is because you're a selfish cunt. You're not worried about anyone else in the world but yourself. You didn't stop to think how your family, children, friends, and co-workers would feel. I mean really, who's going to super size me next time I'm in the drive thru? And you know Bill is gonna be pissed when he finds out he has to work your shift too. But the most selfish part of all, some of you murder-suiciders (is that a word) feel the need to mount up an arsenal of weapons and go postal on innocent people. I mean people are just at the mall trying to get their iPhone on, why must others suffer because you were abused as a child?

On a more serious note, for those truly contemplating suicide just remember, things could always be worse. That's what helps me make it through the day. Just think, some of you are complaining about losing your house (not that this isn't a big deal) but there are those who don't have houses at all. Worse, they live in places where they've never heard of a shelter or the type of options we have here in the U.S. Some of you are down because you're overweight. At one time (many moons ago) I was fat too. Put the fuckin' toaster strudel down, get up off your fat ass and do something about it.

Whatever your issue, you have to think, things could be worse. At that point you need to start to rationalize what your next step is. How you're going to cope with the issue, and move forward. It's a shame to think someone would kill themselves today never knowing what changes could come tomorrow. Life is about ups and downs (here we go with the corny shit), for every 3 good things that happen to you, 5 will follow. That's just the fucked up nature of things. No reason to kill yourself, and surely no reason to kill others. At the end of the day if you insist on killing, just kill YOURSELF.

Microsoft: "Hold off from buying an iPhone/Pre".

Microsoft on Twitter: "New product launch, that's all I'm allowed to say. Hold off from buying and iPhone/Pre. :)"

I have two words for you Microsoft. Too late. You really think people are going to wait around for a Zune phone?

For those of you who don't know what a Zune is, it's Microsoft's attempt at competing with the iPod which never really happened. In fact I can't think of one person I've seen carrying around a Zune. I really don't see what the hype is about iPods or music players is anyway. Every phone built since 1999 with a headphone jack and a data cable is capable of carrying MP3s (unless you're my wife who has $2 Samsung phone being held up by tape). If the phone is labeled smartphone and has an SD slot of some sort you can upgrade your storage and load up the MP3s. I've never wanted to carry separate music player so I've always used my phone. Then again I'm not a typical music listener. I've never used the iPod on my iPhone. I use Pandora, YouTube, and tend to burn music to CD for the car. When I bought my iPhone it had nothing to do with music but had everything to do with full web access in my pocket. Remember looking at WAP pages? Painful!

Microsoft has long denied developing a ZunePhone to compete with the iPhone. But could their tweet indicate otherwise? Only time will tell, but I for one wouldn't wait around for another Microsoft half-assed product. The problem with Microsoft is they always wait for someone else to do something they should have done from the start. They then try to steal that idea and make it better and ultimately it ends up becoming an EPIC FAIL! Or in this case it's a matter of timing. People are already established with iPods, and are quickly becoming established with iPhones. It's going to take a HUGE breakthrough to swing the popular vote from the iPhone and now Pre to some new Windows Mobile ZunePhone that's sure to fail at taking a unified mobile device to the next level. And at this point that's what it's going to take...it's going to take another game changer and I don't think Microsoft is up to the task yet.

Microsoft should continue to focus on Windows Mobile 7. Try to catch up with Apple and now Palm to make Windows Mobile an attractive platform for developers. Developers are excited about iPhone OS and Palm's WebOS and want to develop for those platforms. The Windows Mobile team got complacent and Windows Mobile has suffered becoming stale, outdated and downright slow and clunky. Microsoft has an advantage in that they've never been controlling like Apple. They've always allowed developers to improve upon any aspect of their products. Apple on the other hand has always been strict with what developers can and cannot touch when developing an application. Palm and WebOS remain to be seen. Even so I think it's still might be too little too late. Maybe next year Microsoft.

[UPDATE - 4/13/09]

Microsoft has denied any connection to the Twitter account used to post the teaser "Hold off from buying and iPhone/Pre". Microsoft also continues to deny working on a ZunePhone. So what led bloggers to believe it was coming from a legit Twitter account?

Recent ads targeting iTunes, and that fact that the account seemed to come from an account -- known by as "Office the Movie" -- that appeared to be attached to the "Office 2010 the Movie" Microsoft marketing team. There had also been previous speculation that Microsoft was working on a ZunePhone. Who needs marketing when you have bloggers spreading the word, albeit erroneous.

So Zune lovers (all three of you) no ZunePhone for you.

[RUMOR] Palm Real Reviewers, Phones Ship This Week

If you're like me you've been checking the tweets, blogsphere, Palm forums, and most importantly your inbox and spam folder to make sure you didn't miss whether or not you were selected to be a part of the Palm Real Reviewer program.

The Real Reviewer program is a program designed to spread buzz about upcoming Palm phones (more importantly, the Palm Pre). Palm is selecting regular ol' folks to receive a free Palm phone (they never specifically said Palm Pre, but I'm guessing that's the one you'll get) and 6 months of free Sprint service. What's the catch you ask? They simply want you to tweet, Facebook, blog, and quite simply spread the word be it good or bad. We all know they'd prefer the latter. No word on whether you'll be asked to return the phone or keep it and sign a two year contract. So don't go prepping your E-bay store to rape a pressed fanboy for $1,000 for the Palm Pre just yet.

There's a rumor going on across the blogsphere that the individuals selected by Palm to be Real Reviewers have phones being mailed out this week and could receive them as early as Wednesday.

The big question is why has it been so quiet [the tumble weed rolls]. There have been no tweets, Facebook posting, blogs, or forum postings regarding people who were selected to be a Palm Real Reviewer. This has lead to speculation that Palm will either:

1. Contact those selected today (Monday 5/11).
2. Just send you the phone and the info with no selection notification.

Others speculate that Palm Real Reviewers may have been put under an NDA and aren't allowed to disclose the details. I beg to differ as that would seem contradictory to the entire idea of creating a viral campaign and is sure to put a hamper on buzz and fanboys alike.

Stay tuned!

Stay Tuned For....

The derrickisONLINE blog is about more than just technology, although it's mainly going to be about technology and politics. Below are some upcoming topics to stay tuned for.

• iPhone 3.0 Update - [YAWN] Thanks for adding copy and paste Apple. Boy are you innovative!
• The killer dream phone - A list of what people really want in a phone.
• Made in the USA - The real reason why people are losing their homes, and why GM is in the position they're in now.

I'll also try to find something controversial as I love a good debate. Be sure to post comments, subscribe to my RSS feed, and keep checking out http://www.derrickisonline.com/ for more blogs and maybe one day I'll make a real website.

Why the Palm Pre may knock the iPhone off it's throne.

Unless you've been under a rock (or you're my wife). Then you know all about the upcoming Palm Pre smart phone poised to knock the iPhone off it's throne and revive one of the companies that put the smart in smart phone.



The iPhone is no doubt one of the best phones out. I recall early on I was totally against the iPhone and even told my friends not to buy it. I told them it was a bunch of hype and that Windows Mobile was where it's at! Boy was I wrong. One day I decided to go to the AT&T store and try one out. I was sold as soon as I launched Safari and got a real web experience complete with gestures to make browsing the web on a phone actually useful. We can thank Apple for finally bringing a real web experience to cell phone users and for getting everyone else to follow suit. I've had the original iPhone and now the 3G iPhone. We (my iPhone and I) have a love/hate relationship. I love many things, and hate others (i.e. no copy and paste, though it's finally a feature being added in the iPhone 3.0 update slated for June). Then I got tired of Apple and their dictatorship with the App store. Limiting what apps were available and what those apps are allowed to do.



I decided to switch back to Windows Mobile going for an HTC Touch HD. But you know what? I ended up going right back to the iPhone. Why? Well the experience on the iPhone is smooth, the Apps are useful and gorgeous, and Windows Mobile is outdated compared to the iPhone OS. Plain and simple. So why can't a single smart phone maker combine all the things we want into one phone, and one OS. To make a killer phone (something to compete with the iPhone) you need to talk to people, get a list of needs and wants and combine them into a nice package and call it the Palm Pre?



Maybe. The Palm Pre takes the best of Windows Mobile and the iPhone and puts them together in a nicely integrated and polished package. The Palm Pre has a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard for those business users or chronic texters that must have a keyboard. It also has all the touch screen goodness of an iPhone, and like the iPhone has a capacitive touch screen instead of a resistive touch screen. That is what makes the iPhone touch screen so responsive and smooth. It has a slick WebOS interface. It multitasks (settle down kids), a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a replaceable battery. Hey Apple, why couldn't you make a 3.5mm headphone jack and replaceable battery? Oh yeah I forgot, you like to stick it to the consumer every chance you get.




Another feature that stands out (and is often talked about) are the unobtrusive notifications built into WebOS. Basically when you're working in/on something with the phone, any alert, call, email, or instant message will not interrupt you, but rather pop up in a small window beneath what you're working on . This keeps you focused on what you're doing instead of taking over the screen with a call or alert. Good job Palm. There's nothing more irritating than surfing the web on your phone and being kicked off the web because some jerk decided to call you on your cell phone. How dare they call you on a cell phone who does that?



From every video and news report I've seen, I'm impressed. I think this is the first real iPhone contender. I think many have tried to develop a phone that could really compete with the iPhone but failed. Some did miserably, and some did ok. But when you're running something like rusty, clunky, Windows Mobile behind the scenes, it really doesn't matter what interface you slap over top of it it's still just Windows Mobile...I'm talking to you HTC!



Windows Mobile is behind the curve and is losing ground daily. Android in my opinion has been a disappointment, I think the hardware isn't compelling enough. There's a lot to be worked out. Symbian? I don't review Symbian. Apple iPhone OS is the one to beat at this time and I think the Palm Pre might just do it. If they don't beat out Apple they'll surely give them a run for the money. Only time will tell. A key part of making the Palm Pre a success is the application development. Palm has released their Palm Pre SDK called Mojo. Let's see if developers take to the Pre like they did to the iPhone.

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Some Palm Pre highlights and specifications.

Operating system
Palm® webOS™

Network specs
3G EVDO Rev A

Display
3.1-inch touch screen
24-bit color
320x480 resolution
HVGA display

Keyboard
Physical QWERTY keyboard

Email
Microsoft Outlook® email with Microsoft® Direct Push Technology
POP3/IMAP (Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, etc)

Messaging
Integrated IM, SMS, and MMS

GPS
Built-in GPS

Digital camera
3 megapixel camera
LED flash
extended depth of field

Sensors
Ambient light
accelerometer
proximity

Media formats supported
Audio Formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, AMR, QCELP, WAV

Video Formats: MPEG-4, H.263, H.264
Image Formats: GIF, Animated GIF, JPEG, PNG, BMP

Wireless connectivity
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g with WPA, WPA2, 801.1x authentication
Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support

Memory
8GB of user storage (~7.4GB user available)
USB mass storage support

Phone as laptop modem
Bluetooth tethering

Connector
MicroUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed

Headphone jack
3.5mm stereo

Palm® Touchstone™charging dock
Compatible

Dimensions
Width: 59.5mm (2.3 inches)
Height: 100.5mm (3.9 inches)
Thickness: 16.95mm (0.67 inches)
Weight: 135 grams (4.76 ounces)