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Overview

What’s Good: Great QWERTY keyboard, nice screen, good battery life, great price.

What’s Bad: 1.3-megapixel camera offers mediocre pictures and video.

Introduction

If you read tech-centric websites on a regular basis, the talk of the town is smartphones and tablets.  Rarely is attention given to featurephones, which despite the non-coverage, still command an important role in the marketplace.  The Pantech Link is a no-frills featurephone that does exactly what Pantech made it to do – calling, messaging, and occasional web browsing.  The neutral colors and design are sure to appeal to all demographics, and the QWERTY keyboard will likely catch the eye of those who want to message without purchasing a smartphone.

Design & Features

The Pantech Link ships with the device, battery, a travel charger, and instruction manuals. Coming in at 4.37 inches long by 2.03 inches wide by 0.61 inch thick, the device weighs 3.2 ounces, making it thin and light – great for anyone’s pocket.  The Link offers a 2.4-inch resistive touchscreen with 320 x 240 pixels and 242,000 colors.  When using the Link for a long phone call, I found the unit to be quite comfortable against my ear and easy to hold, thanks to the lightweight nature of the phone.

The phone sports a clean and professional exterior.  The left side of the device houses the volume rocker and microSD card slot, while the charging port that doubles as the headphone jack and a camera shortcut key can be found on the right side.  The camera and external speaker can be found on the back of the device, while the QWERTY keyboard, navigation pad, send key, end key, speakerphone button, calendar/clear button, and two shortcut keys can be found on the front.  The SIM card slot is located next to the battery (behind the battery door).

Usability & Performance

The Link’s full QWERTY keyboard is excellent, and reminds me of something one would find on a BlackBerry.  Arranged like a traditional QWERTY, it offers a good amount of tactile feedback thanks to the domed keys.  After a few days of use, I was able to text message and e-mail with ease.  As a featurephone, it’s nice to see that Pantech put an emphasis on making the keyboard usable.  Those that message on a regular basis will be very appreciative.

The device offers a 1.3-megapixel camera with a self-portrait mirror, and in my testing, picture quality was less than desirable. Due to the lack of a flash, the camera performed decently only in well-lit areas.  Editing options include white balance (auto, daylight, tungsten, flourescent), effect (normal, sepia, negative, black and white), self-timer (off, five seconds, or ten seconds), picture size (from 320 x 240 to 1280 x 1024), and a few others.  Video quality was equally poor.  The camera will be decent for those looking to take a quick picture or record a video on the go, but it’s not going to come anywhere close to replacing your existing camera.

The Pantech Link was tested in the Charlotte area using AT&T, and call quality was fantastic. Callers were able to hear me well, and there were no problems on my end.  When visiting a known AT&T trouble spot in the Charlotte metropolitan area, there were no dropouts – the device consistently held one bar of service.  When testing the speakerphone in a noisy department store, I was able to hear my callers without issue. Though they said that they could hear the shopping carts and loud people, it didn’t prevent us from having a conversation. I successfully paired my Plantronics Voyager Pro Bluetooth headset to the device, and callers were unable to tell that I was using a headset.

The Link offers 3G UMTS/HSDPA connectivity (850/1900/2100 MHz) on AT&T, so browsing speeds were snappy. The mobile CNN webpage loaded in about 11 seconds, and the PhoneDog homepage loaded in 31 seconds. Other data-intensive tasks such as the AT&T GPS and Mobile E-Mail performed well.

The device offers a 930mAh battery with a rated talk time of 7 hours with HSDPA (3G) connectivity, and about 18 days of standby time.  In my testing, the battery life was quite good.  With moderate use including calling, text messaging, browsing the internet, and use of AT&T GPS, I was able to use it for three days before the Link powered down.  It’s a trooper when it comes to battery life, and is perfect for those who are often away from the office or the car.

Conclusion

A device like the Pantech Link is perfect for the crowd seeking a professional featurephone without the frills and/or high costs of a smartphone.  My father, who is an investment banker, has no interest in carrying a smartphone (“I check e-mail all day; why do it in my free time?” is the typical response I get when I ask why he doesn’t use one).  Thanks in part to the fact that featurephones are regularly targeted toward the youth demographic, he’s been pigeonholed into carrying teenybopper-esque phones.  The fact of the matter is he doesn’t see the need to pay the additional monthly fees for a smartphone, particularly when he has no desire for the constant connectivity.  As a result, the clean look and strong performance of the Link would appeal to someone like him.  From A to Z, the Pantech Link excels at everything it’s marketed to do, and it’s a device that I would recommend to anyone seeking a well-equipped featurephone at a great price.

 

Big Media has been producing (mis)educational videos since it’s early non-hit, "Don’t Copy That Floppy." Most of us have seen those "Piracy: It’s a Crime" clips that incorrectly equate downloading with stealing. The Copyright Alliance offers a whole series of propaganda videos for school children. It’s no surprise that Big Media is ahead of ahead of copyright reform advocates in propaganda. Fortunately, one animator (me) and the nonprofit QuestionCopyright.org are addressing this imbalance with media of our own:

This first Minute Meme explains the obvious: copying is not theft, it’s copying. We first released it with a scratch track of my feeble voice singing a capella. We invited any and all to re-record the audio and redistribute freely. Some pretty great remixes emerged; among my favorites are Taro’s French version and Norman Szabo’s energetic quasi-Punk rendition, with an entirely re-animated bridge. All of these remain in circulation, but Nik Phelps’ bouncy, safe-for-work "party horns" arrangement is now QuestionCopyright.org’s "official" release. It will be interesting to see whether it accumulates more views over time than the first scratch track version.

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Things are really starting to heat up. Bank of America has already breezed through match-ups with Citibank and Walmart, and now only Time Warner Cable with their “metered broadband” stands between the mortgage giant and the Final Four.

Time Warner Cable has been a strong player, beating unpopular competitor Charter Cable in an industry match-up and then stomping on HP.

Which company deserves a kick in the pants?

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2010 series. The companies competing for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america. Print the bracket, here.

Blogging at Naked Capitalism, Edward Harrison provides a persuasive argument for why retail sales and consumption are increasing, despite persistent joblessness and a lack of income growth. He posits that homeowners in foreclosure or struggling with mortgage payments are deciding to stop sending checks to the bank, letting their banks reclaim their homes as collateral at some point but living rent-free until then and therefore having more money to spend on goods and services — an act known as “strategic default.”

If this is happening, it is a worrisome trend for big financial institutions, like Bank of America. Those banks often have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of mortgage and home-equity loan customers — and therefore a lot of losses to stomach if homeowners decide to stop sending in checks and instead to grant the bank a house to try to sell on a very sluggish market.

Harrison explains, though, why strategic default might be a good idea for a homeowner:

Why might someone do this? Basically, someone strategically defaults because one finds oneself in a situation in which repayment no longer makes financial sense. For example, you buy a house for $400,000, $40,000 in cash and $360,000 as a mortgage. The value drops to $300,000, so you are now 20% underwater and rentals are half the price of your mortgage payment.  Meanwhile your repayments are 60% of income and you and your spouse have two children to take care of.

A person in this scenario who could continue paying the mortgage might opt to default, knowing that the bank might even delay in foreclosing on them, giving them rent free accommodation on top of defaulting. Remember banks are playing the pretend and extend game in order to avoid credit writedowns. The growing divide between delinquencies and foreclosures tells you that this is what is happening.

Harrison argues that the data imply that homeowners are taking money that would have gone to their mortgages or other loans — sometimes eating up as much as 60 or 70 or 80 percent of take-home income — and using it for personal expenditures. (I mention the mall in the headline, but I’ll note here that distressed homeowners are generally pretty hard up. Food and gas is more likely.) And he finds a number of anecdotal accounts of just this happening. HousingWire offers a similar argument as well.

Ultimately, if this phenomenon is as widespread as one might imagine — given that as many as 3 million households will receive a foreclosure notice this year — I’d expect to see that reflected in decreased expenditure on housing and increased expenditure on goods, on aggregate. I hoped to find information on how Americans spend their post-tax income, proportionally, but I could not find more recent data than from 2007. (If anyone has it, put it in comments!)

But the Bureau of Economic Analysis does provide often-updated, detailed data on spending on housing, goods, services and other necessities. It turns out that as of last quarter Americans were still spending a bit more on housing last quarter than in the one before it. But given the dire state of the housing market in the first quarter of 2010 and increasing numbers of defaults, I would not be surprised to see that red line bend down soon.

I spent most of last week in Southern Mississippi, via travel through New Orleans, and far far away from a Trader Joe’s.  While this post in no way captures the breadth of Southern cuisine, I thought I’d share a sampling of what I ate with you (and share a very simple dish or two I made while I was there).   I forgot my camera back in San Diego, so all the photos are taken with my new iPhone – please excuse any blurriness or other issues as I fumbled with my phone taking shots of the meals. Upon landing in New Orleans, we met up with my husband’s parents (who live in Mississippi) and headed over to Drago’s Seafood Restaurant where we enjoyed their famous Charbroiled Oysters.  The crew put on quite a show (dangerous prying with sharp knives, setting tall flames, and a few tiny pearls they gave us) as the kids and I watched them shuck and cook the oysters.  The oysters were fresh and good – lots of butter, garlic, spices and salt (maybe a bit too much salt for me…)  It was balanced out with a nice Mediterranean salad tossed with a vinaigrette and topped with fresh lump crabmeat (and a lemon slice dipped in red pepper to squeeze over it all).  More than anything it shows the importance of freshness of your ingredients – in seafood-oriented places like New Orleans, take advantage of local and fresh seafood when you can.

My father-in-law Larry (who has been featured on our blog making his Fish Court-Bouillon ) asked my kids what they wanted to do in Mississippi.  They both excitedly replied, “fishing!” so we set out a few days later to catch dinner.  We drove to a friend’s man-made pond stocked with fish an hour or so away.  On the way there, I heard Larry make a call to someone named Dickie Joe telling him, “If you see someone fishing in your pond, it’s just us so don’t shoot.”  I think he was joking… maybe.  We caught plenty for dinner and a few hours later we were back home with cornmeal-dusted and panfried fillets on our plates.  Now that’s fresh.  While my mother-in-law Mary was preparing some grits and a squash casserole, I found some nice asparagus in the fridge that we could add to the meal.  Asparagus is an early season crop and there is plenty of nice and well-priced asparagus in the stores and at farmer’s markets this time of year.  The stovetop was busy, so I roasted it in the oven, which is a great way to prepare anything from Brussels sprouts to bell peppers to potatoes to green beans to carrots.

Roasted Asparagus
One bunch of asparagus
1 Tbsp olive oil
Dash of salt and pepper

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2.) Toss asparagus with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast in oven for about 10 minutes if asparagus is slender, longer for harder or thicker vegetables.  

Looking around, I found a bag of mixed greens in the fridge, a ripe avocado, some nice-looking tomatoes, and some French feta (milder and creamier than Greek feta) that I crumbled on top.   Salads are so easy and you can be very casual and playful with the ingredients.  Use whatever you have on hand.  For an easy dressing, make a vinaigrette by mixing 2 parts oil to 1 part acid:  that’s the magic ratio.  For example, you can use olive oil and balsamic vinegar, which most people have in their cabinets.   No balsamic?  Use lemon juice, lime juice, or another favorite vinegar.  For an Asian dressing, maybe seasoned rice vinegar and a touch of sesame oil.  If you like, add fresh herbs, add a little kick with a stoneground mustard or a little chili oil, stir in some garlic, or add a little sweetness with agave or honey.   I added a little honey to ours since my in-laws also have their own bee hive out in their woods!  Can’t get honey that’s more local than that!

Easy Salad Vinaigrette
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey or agave nectar
Optional: fresh herbs, 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 clove crushed garlic (or 1 cube frozen Crushed Garlic )

1) Whisk together all ingredients, drizzle over salad, and toss.

When asked what I wanted to do during the trip, I thought it would be great to visit some antebellum homes.  Natchez, Mississippi has a really nice collection of historic homes, several of which are still in the hands of the families that originally owned them.  All the docents are dressed in period costumes, and it’s kind of magical to hear them talk about growing up in the house or saying something like, “that was my great-great–great-grandaddy’s desk.”  Neat!   In the town of Natchez, we grabbed a bite at the Stanton Hall restaurant.  My mother-in-law Mary had been there before, so when it came time to order,  I said, “I’ll have what she’s having.”  It turned out to be Tomato Aspic followed by a plate of classic Southern Fried Chicken and sides.  If you’ve never had Tomato Aspic, it’s a very old-fashioned food and I can only describe it as a mold of V8 Jello.  Yeah, that’s what I thought too.   Mary mentioned that she hardly ever sees Aspic served anywhere and wondered why.  “Perhaps it’s the name,” I suggested.  (If I ever want to have an immature Beavis & Butthead-style chuckle, all I have to do is say,”Tomato Aspic” out loud and that seems to do it). 

On our way out of town, we spent an afternoon back in New Orleans, strolling the French Quarter and visitng a few art galleries and antique shops (most memorable being M.S. Rau Antiques – an amazing museum-caliber collection without the intimidating atmosphere one might expect of a place where nearly everything is too expensive for price tags).  We grabbed a bite at Luke’s Brasserie, which is a John Besh Restaurant.  I ordered a Louisiana Shrimp “En Cocotte” (means served like a small casserole) with McEwen & Sons White Corn Grits and Poche’s Andouille.  I also ordered a Grilled Paillard of Organic Chicken with Local Greens, Crostini, and Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette. The chicken was exceptionally tender with fantastic flavor, and the shrimp was fresh, complex, and spicy (a bit too spicy for the kids, but they happily ate the chicken).  

Later in the day, we made a stop for beignets (French doughnuts topped with tons of white powdered sugar) and coffee with chicory.  Cafe du Monde is the most famous stop for beignets, always crowded, and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week!  My two new rules for eating beignets:
1) Never wear black when eating beignets.
and
2) When taking a bite, do not sharply inhale or else you will choke on the powdered sugar, cough on the beignet, and cover the table with a white cloud of powdered sugar.  At which point refer to rule #1.

If you like joining us for eats on the road, check out our travels to Scotland and Venezuela .

Might We Suggest…

• Droid Incredible Pre-Order: April 19th!
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BMW announced today that it will offer all-wheel-drive capability on its new 2011 BMW 5-Series xDrive Gran Turismo.

“First, starting in June 2010, customers will have the choice of two versions of the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo featuring BMW xDrive all-wheel-drive technology,” BMW said in a statement. “In both the BMW 530d xDrive Gran Turismo and the BMW 550i xDrive Gran Turismo, permanent, electronically masterminded all-wheel drive ensures the appropriate distribution of drive power front-to-rear in every situation.”

Click here to get prices on the 2010 BMW 550i Gran Turismo.

Starting September 2010, BMW will offer the 535d xDrive Gran Turismo and the 535i xDrive Gran Turismo to round off the engine range.

Hit the jump for the press release.

2011 BMW 5-Series xDrive Gran Turismo:

Press Release:

BMW xDrive on All Engine Variants of the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo and the BMW 740d.

Munich. BMW, the world’s leading manufacturer of premium cars, is consistently enlarging its wide range of all-wheel-drive models. Starting in June and, respectively, September 2010, all engine variants of the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo will also be available with intelligent BMW xDrive all-wheel-drive technology. And also starting in September, the BMW 740d xDrive will become the top diesel in the luxury sedan class to feature this innovative drive system.

The BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo combines elegance, spaciousness, comfort and variability in a truly unique car concept – and now this combination offering supreme motoring comfort is becoming even more thrilling and overwhelming

Making its debut in April at Auto China Beijing 2010, the BMW 550i xDrive Gran Turismo is powered by a supreme V8 boasting BMW TwinPower Turbo Technology and High Precision Injection. Displacing 4.4 litres, this outstanding eight-cylinder delivers maximum output of 300 kW/407 hp all the way from 5,500 – 6,400 rpm as well as peak torque of 600 Newton-metres/442 lb-ft maintained consistently between 1,750 and 4,500 rpm.

This superior torque coming in at an early point and maintained throughout a broad speed range is now converted into supreme driving dynamics even more precisely and in even more superior style through BMW xDrive technology, accelerating the car to 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds. Top speed is cut off by the engine’s electronic control unit at 250 km/h or 155 mph. Average fuel consumption in the EU test cycle, finally, is 11.8 litres/100 km, equal to 23.9 mpg imp, with CO2 emissions amounting to 275 grams per kilometre.

The BMW 550i xDrive Gran Turismo is the first model to combine such intelligent all-wheel drive with the supreme driving dynamics, motoring comfort and efficiency of an eight-speed automatic transmission.
The straight-six diesel engine in the BMW 530d xDrive Gran Turismo likewise represents the latest state-of-the-art in BMW engine development. Displacing 3.0 litres, the engine comes with an all-aluminium crankcase, its turbocharger system featuring variable intake geometry ensuring a superior surge of power and performance tailored harmoniously to all kinds of driving conditions.

Fuel is delivered by the latest generation of piezo-injectors operating at a maximum pressure of 1,800 bar. This gives the engine maximum peak output of 180 kW/245 hp at 4,000 rpm, with torque reaching its peak of 540 Newton-metres/398 lb-ft at just 1,750 rpm.

Benefiting from this kind of power, the BMW 530d xDrive Gran Turismo accelerates from a standstill to 100 km/h in 6.9 seconds and reaches a top speed of 235 km/h or 146 mph.

At the same time the car combines this sporting performance with average fuel consumption of 6.9 litres/100 kilometres, equal to 40.9 mpg imp, in the EU test cycle. The CO2 rating, finally, is 183 grams per kilometre.

The BMW 535d xDrive Gran Turismo features a second even more powerful representative of the new generation of straight-six BMW diesels. Boasting BMW TwinPower Turbo Technology and common rail direct fuel injection, the all-aluminium power unit in this equally outstanding model develops maximum output of 220 kW/300 hp at 4,400 rpm as well as peak torque of 600 Newton-metres/442 lb-ft maintained consistently between 1,500 and 2,500 rpm.

The straight-six gasoline power unit in the BMW 535i xDrive Gran Turismo combines turbocharging, High Precision Injection and variable VALVETRONIC valve management with one another. This unique combination gives the BMW TwinPower Turbo an extremely spontaneous and direct response to the gas pedal. This outstanding response is then further optimised by VALVETRONIC valve management as well as the turbocharger system applying the twin-scroll principle both in the exhaust manifold and the turbocharger to separate the ducts and flow channels of three cylinders at a time.

With its high-tech injection nozzles, High Precision Injection doses fuel with maximum precision, delivering the fuel required into the combustion chambers at a pressure of up to 200 bar.

Displacing 3.0 litres, this outstanding six-cylinder delivers maximum output of 225 kW/306 hp at 5,800 rpm. Peak torque of 400 Newton metres/295 lb-ft, in turn, comes between 1,200 and 5,000 rpm.
With the top-of-the-range BMW 750i xDrive and BMW 750Li xDrive already introducing BMW’s intelligent all-wheel-drive system in the 2010 model year in the 7 Series, the BMW 740d xDrive is making its appearance in September.

With its all-aluminium power unit, the BMW 740d xDrive boasts BMW TwinPower Turbo Technology as well as common-rail direct fuel injection with its piezo-injectors operating at a pressure of up to 2,000 bar. Maximum output, as a result, is 225 kW/306 hp, with peak torque of 600 Newton-metres/442 lb-ft maintained consistently between 1,500 and 2,500 rpm.

Permanent, electronically controlled all-wheel drive ensures exactly the right distribution of engine power under all driving conditions. Precise and quick drive power control, finally, gives this supreme luxury sedan absolutely safe and incomparable driving behaviour at all times.

Originally BMW’s intelligent xDrive all-wheel-drive technology was conceived for the BMW X models, then being introduced step-by-step in the BMW 5 Series, the BMW 3 Series, and the BMW 7 Series. The big forte of this superior technology is its uniquely precise control and engine management helping to optimise traction on rough surfaces and at the same time deliver supreme driving dynamics to the road.

The system stands out as a particularly intelligent all-wheel-drive technology by distributing drive power through a power divider with an electronically controlled multiple-plate clutch in exactly the right way and properly dosed to the correct axle and wheels with optimum road contact at any given point in time.

Featuring this superior system, BMW xDrive enhances driving stability also in dynamic bends by recognising even the slightest tendency to over- and understeer at an early point and taking appropriate counter-action right away.

– By: Kap Shah

I reckon that I’m pretty much 0.7% committed and I want government’s around the world to be equally committed. Not much to ask?

Well, judging by last years aid figures, which were released yesterday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), it‘s a lot to ask for many countries. With the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) review conference just a few months away these figures set the scene for how rich nations are doing in delivering their part of the MDGs. Read more about these eight goals and how they have the potential to lift millions of people out of poverty. 

So, the good news. It’s been 40 years since rich countries made the promise to give 0.7% Gross Domestic Product (what they earn) as international aid. The UK is on track to meet this commitment by 2013. Currently, only Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have honoured this.

Further good news comes as the main UK political parties have all pledged to introduce legislation in the next parliament to require the UK government to permanently keep this life-saving promise. That’s fantastic and something that campaigners up and down the country should be proud of.

It goes without saying that we won’t be satisfied until that becomes law! We know that when aid is delivered properly it transforms lives. Have a look at my previous blog from Zambia, there aid money means that the poorest people are getting access to the Anti-retroviral drugs that they need to stay alive.  
 
What else do the OECD figures show? There has been a fraction of an increase in total aid, from $122 to $123 billion. At first glance that seems great BUT (there’s so often a BUT) the amount of aid has actually fallen by $3.5 billion when compared with last year’s prices.

Clearly, not every country is doing as well as those above. Italy, Ireland, Canada, Germany and Japan all cut their aid budgets last year. This isn’t good enough and all rich countries must commit to timetables to meet 0.7 when they meet at the UN Summit in September.

Hopefully the UK government can play a leading role in getting the other countries to show that same level of 0.7% commitment. After all, it’s not a lot to ask for but it can save millions of lives.

Oxfam CEO, Barabara Stocking responds in the Daily Telegraph to the political parties pledges to legislate for 0.7%

“We owe them more than prayers. We owe them action.”

Those were the words of President Obama, who spoke from the White House Rose Garden this morning on steps he plans to take in the wake of last week’s explosion that took the lives of 29 West Virginia coal miners. And he didn’t mince words when it came to assigning fault for the calamity.

“There’s still a lot that we don’t know,” he said. “But we do know that this tragedy was triggered by a failure at the Upper Big Branch mine — a failure first and foremost of management, but also a failure of oversight and a failure of laws so riddled with loopholes that they allow unsafe conditions to continue.”

Although the Upper Big Branch was cited with more than 120 safety violations this year — and although parts of it were closed more than 60 times in the last 15 months over safety concerns — government regulators never took the step of shuttering the entire project. Dozens of other Massey mines, racking up thousands of similar safety citations this year, continue to operate in Appalachia.

Don Blankenship, Massey’s unapologetic CEO, said this week that the company’s long record of safety violations is irrelevant to last week’s blast.

“When somebody says, ‘Did the violations have anything to do with the accident?’ — they should not,” Blankenship told Charleston’s Daily Mail. “Because every violation is abated and agreed to by everyone before there is any further mining. So you would not think that any violation of the past had any relevance.”

Obama, though, isn’t buying it. And today, he outlined a new strategy forward — one that targets all mines, not just those run by Massey.

1) Immediate inspections of all mines. “Starting today, we’ll go back and take another look at mines across this country with troubling safety records, and get inspectors into those mines immediately to ensure they aren’t facing the same unsafe working conditions that led to this disaster.”

2) Closing the loopholes that keep unsafe mines open. “I’ve directed [Labor Department leaders] to work with Congress to strengthen enforcement of existing laws and close loopholes that permit companies to shirk their responsibilities.” That means tackling the backlog of violation appeals that companies have made to delay fines and avoid mine closures.

3) Overhauling the Mining Safety and Health Administration. “For a long time, the mine safety agency was stacked with former mine executives and industry players. … We need to take a hard look at our own practices and our own procedures to ensure that we’re pursuing mine safety as relentlessly as we responsibly can. In addition, we need to make sure that miners themselves, and not just the government or mine operators, are empowered to report any safety violations.”

The steps were immediately applauded by the United Mine Workers of America, which issued a statement saying that Obama “hit the nail on the head.”

“His commitment to miners’ health and safety is, in my experience, unmatched by any previous president,” said UMWA President Cecil Roberts. “The issues surrounding the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine are very troubling, and we need to get to the bottom of what happened there. But we must go further and deal with the larger issue of serial safety violators like Massey that must be addressed.”

Some state officials have already taken it upon themselves to install similar precautions. West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D), for example, has shut down all underground mines in the state Friday, to allow the coal companies to inspect those projects for safety problems.

Congress is making plans to tackle these issues as well. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate labor panel, has scheduled a hearing on mining safety for April 27. And in the House, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), who heads the Education and Labor panel, is planning to do the same, though the date hasn’t been set.

Such steps, Obama said Thursday, are the least the country can do for the miners who toil daily underground to keep energy costs cheap for everyone.

“We owe them an assurance that when they go to work every day, when they enter that dark mine, they are not alone,” Obama said. “They ought to know that behind them there is a company that’s doing what it takes to protect them, and a government that is looking out for their safety.”

If you are anything like me, this whole week has been a pile of stress. I suppose that’s the nature of the game when you have 20 different 1099s from a website that has advertisingm, two rental properties, and the special tax rules around my wife’s military income. Businesses everywhere are trying to win your affection by offering all sorts of freebies. Before you get tempted by all the food-based goodies below, you might want to check out my review of the new KFC Double Down sandwich. (Yep, I just resurrected Lazy Man and Health.)

2010 Tax-Day Freebies

• Cinnabon – Tax Day Bites! Bite back with two free bite-sized cupcakes from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Looks like malls are participating, but not airports.
• Starbucks – Free coffee if you bring in your reusable mug in a push that’s more environment-related than tax related.
• MaggieMoo’s – Free slice of their new ice cream flavor… pizza from 3pm to 7pm. Yeah, you read that right. It seems that it’s more set up to look like pizza than taste like pizza. Smart moooove. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
• Boston Market – Buy one get one free through 4/18 with this coupon
• McCormick & Schmick’s – Dinner and drink specials for $10.40… plus they will give you a gift certificate for $10.40 on a future visit. Maybe this will offset the hatred for you tax form 1040.
• Taco Del Mar – Free taco with the coupon here. You do have to give them your email address, but you can opt out of receiving future email.
• P.F. Chang’s – Enjoy 15% off food, but not any good stuff like alcohol and happy hour deals.
• HydroMassage – Free massage Thursday through Sunday. Book your appointment ahead of time because waiting hours for a massage is stressful enough.
• Chemistry.com – Find love with a free 3-day VIP membership.
• El Pollo Loco – Enjoy a free Loco Value Menu with this coupon and purchase of a drink through Sunday… Meh.
• Subway – There are reports of a free cookie, but you may just have to go there and ask for one. Unfortunately, I can’t get in touch with my friend, a Subway franchise owner, to confirm.
• Jamba Juice – This isn’t related to tax day, but it is still buy one, get one free through 4/25 with this coupon.

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Great news: the BCA has dropped its ill-conceived lawsuit against journalist and skeptic Simon Singh!

WooHOO! My huge and hearty CONGRATS to Simon!

The British Chiropractic Association, an umbrella organization for chiropractors in Britain, had sued Simon for libel because he had written in a newspaper article that they “happily promote bogus remedies”.

They said this was defamatory, and that Singh meant they knew that they were lying about the remedies. If you read what Simon wrote that’s clearly not true; he was obviously saying that they were happy to promote remedies that happened to be bogus, not that they necessarily knew what they were promoting was bogus. What Simon certainly was saying is that a lot of the so-called “remedies” chiropractors claim to work simply don’t, and have no evidence at all to support them. But he never said the BCA was knowingly lying to the public to promote quackery.

They sued anyway, in what was a very clear attempt to silence critics. They didn’t try to defend their practices, or show how what they claim really does have medicinal value. Instead, they sued someone to shut him up and create a chilling effect in journalism.

That, as it now turns out, was a bogus remedy for the problem.

Like many alt-med placebos, it did seem to work for a while. In an initial hearing, a judge ruled that the BCA had a case, agreeing with the BCA that Simon’s words could be interpreted as them knowing they were quacks. This set the skeptic community in an uproar, and we made quite a stink about it. A group in the UK called Sense About Science set up an effort for libel reform to help support Simon and to get the word out about the atrocious and draconian libel laws in the UK.

As the case became more public, the BCA reacted. Eventually, they did make a lame attempt to defend their practices, but that was soundly torn to shreds by real doctors and skeptics. It read an awful lot like the kind of garbage astrologers, antivaxxers, homeopaths, and other nonsense-peddlers try to push on people when trying to defend their evidence-free claims.

Then things got worse when chiropractors all over Britain started panicking about the way they advertise. Again, instead of actually doing something useful, or defending their practice, an association of chiropractors warned practitioners to take down their websites. Isn’t that odd? Instead of fixing any mistakes, they were told to stop advertising by their own umbrella group. Hmmm.

Finally, last week, a wise judge ruled that Simon actually did have a defense, and could argue that his words were an opinion, and not a statement of fact as narrowly defined by the previous judge. That meant that not only could the case continue, but that Simon could mount an actual and strong defense.

We skeptics held our breaths, but we were pretty sure what would happen next, and we were right: the BCA caved. Folded. Bent. Dislocated, you might say.

They dropped the case, and it’s over.

Well, kinda. Actually, there are a lot of unresolved things here. One is that Simon is out over £100,000 of his own money. Had this gone to court and he won, the BCA would have had to pay his expenses. That’s a pretty strong incentive on their part to have dropped the case, not-so-incidentally. I’ll note that fellow skeptic Ben Goldacre says Simon may go after the BCA for costs, something I would dearly love to see.

Second, the libel laws in the UK are still truly awful. I hope that the libel reform groups there keep the pressure on the government to look over those laws and drag them from the 17th into the 21st century. Don’t forget to show your support (even if you’re not from the UK)!

And third, I wonder how this will affect the BCA. Will they be more careful? Will they review their practices, going over them carefully to see which ones are backed by scientific reviews and testing, and which ones may be nothing more than thinly-veiled nonsense that not only do not help but can in fact harm or even kill patients?

Right. Given that after this long, humiliating episode they still have the gall to claim they were even partially vindicated should tell you just how far removed from reality they are.

Given the craven nature of this entire episode by the BCA, and how it exposed them for who they are, and how it put chiropractors who promote bogus treatments on the defense all over England, and how it raised so much awareness about all this, I think Nelson sums things up best.

And as a final note… we have won here, and won big. Have no doubts this was a huge victory for science, for skepticism, and for free speech. But the purveyors of nonsense are still out there, still promoting their wares that are harmful and even deadly. This event will put wind under our wings, and we must use that to continue the fight. The anti-reality forces will never rest, and neither must we.

Fireworks over London image used under Creative Commons license from wobble-san’s Flickr photostream.

When talking about cutting-edge topics like cloud computing and web infrastructure, it can be easy to let startups and niche vendors dominate the discussion. After all, they’re often the ones driving innovation and issuing case studies that illustrate entirely new methods of computing. In the first quarter, however, the IT infrastructure market was all about the big boys.

As I describe in the latest Quarterly Wrap-up at GigaOM Pro (sub req’d), the big news in cloud computing was general availability of Microsoft Windows Azure and its related suite of services. The company had been touting the platform since October 2008, and the reaction when it finally hit the ground was overwhelmingly (but not entirely) optimistic, thanks in part to Redmond’s smart strategies around partnerships and attracting traditional businesses. In fact, Microsoft also had a hand in the quarter’s second-biggest cloud trend, which was the call for deeper looks into the legal aspects of cloud computing. Microsoft’s Brad Smith called for congressional action on existing laws to account for the cloud.

Meanwhile, CA and VMware both made big splashes in the internal cloud space. Systems-management giant CA did so by announcing an aggressive cloud strategy marked by intriguing acquisitions. After buying NetQos and the floundering Cassatt in 2009, CA kicked off 2010 by folding Oblicore, 3Tera and Nimsoft into its cloud mix. However, just when it looked like CA was set to run away with cloud systems management, VMware executed a coup d’état by acquiring parent company EMC’s Ionix business. Now, VMware will be able to match CA (and others) across a variety of core functionalities, including the very important ability to manage and provision both physical and virtual infrastructure.

The cloud-based collaboration space also saw VMware play a big role by acquiring Zimbra. VMware is not, however, the biggest fish in that pond. During the first quarter alone, IBM updated its Lotus Live strategy and convinced Panasonic to move some 300,000 personnel to the system, and SAP finally got its cloud act together by announcing its StreamWork collaboration and corporate networking service.

Perhaps the only place major vendors and providers didn’t make a mark during the first quarter was in the sometimes contentious debate over open-source software. Discussions over the role of open source in cloud computing and web data centers have inspired many different theories about both business and technology, but it’s quickly become clear that proprietary vendors –- especially large proprietary vendors –- have little to no place at the infrastructural level in these brave new worlds. The database tier provided a prime microcosm of this attitude during the first quarter, as developers debated the merits of open-source NoSQL tools vs. open-source MySQL.

We’ll discuss many of these topics onstage at the upcoming Structure 2010 event, and many more will no doubt surface as the cloud’s leading minds mingle in the hallways and networking receptions. The event’s theme is “Put the Cloud to Work,” and the elevated presence of mega-vendors at all levels indicates those aren’t empty words.

Read the full Q1 report here.

Lynne Kiesling

I noticed recently that Steve Levitt opined briefly on the health care bill in ways that are consistent with my earlier argument that unless Congress tackled the third-party payer problem head on they would be wasting our time and money. In his Freakonomics post, Levitt recommends Gary Becker’s analysis to us:

In Becker’s opinion, the health care bill that passed recently is a disaster for at least two reasons.  First, it seems to do little or nothing to deal with the single most important shortcoming of our current system: the fact that people pay very little on the margin for the medical care that they receive.  Imagine that you could show up at a car dealership and have any car you wanted, and as many cars as you wanted, for no marginal cost.  The market for cars would be in complete chaos, and people would have too many cars, and the ones they had would be too nice.

That is more or less the situation we now have with health care.

I second Levitt’s recommendation; Becker’s post provides a thoughtful and careful analysis of the likely unintended consequences of the health care bill, most of them reducing economic welfare. Becker also focuses on the third-party payer problem:

For the most part, however, the bill increases our dependence on employer-based health care by imposing sizable penalties on companies that do not provide their employees with sufficient health insurance. Many companies are already beginning to add to their projected future costs the anticipated increase in the cost to them of insuring their employees. These changes will particularly affect the costs of smaller companies since they are the main ones that do not provide health insurance for their employees. Since smaller companies are responsible for a disproportionate share of additions to employment during recent years, this provision of the bill will tend to reduce the demand for workers and hourly wages.

The US health care market is over-regulated rather than under-regulated. One example is that families in one state are generally not allowed to buy their health insurance from companies located in other states. Another example is the mandates that states impose on insurance companies, such as coverage of the costs of normal birth deliveries. Such coverage has little to do with insurance against unexpected health costs, whereas coverage of extraordinary delivery costs is a desirable protection against unexpected health care risks. The bill generally pushes in the direct of greater regulation, such as the limitations imposed on how much health insurance companies can spend on administrative costs relative to their other costs, the mandated reviews of the premiums charged by health insurance companies, and the mandated provision of health insurance by small companies.

My conclusion matches Levitt’s too: “Ultimately, it is hard to believe that this bill will be a net positive.  It remains to be seen whether it will be a wash, or far worse.”

by Ingrid Wuerth

[Ingrid Wuerth is a Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University Law School]

This Article by John Coyle focuses on U.S. statutes that incorporate treaties into domestic law. As John defines them, incorporative statutes may include implementing legislation for non-self executing treaties, statutes that facilitate the implementation of self-executing treaties, or congressional executive agreements; the key question is whether they give effect to an international agreement. Unlike treaties or the Alien Tort Statute, incorporative statutes do not present obvious constitutional questions, and they have received relatively little attention from commentators. The Article argues that considering these statutes as a group yields two insights: (a) courts should presume that incorporative statutes conform in meaning to the text of the treaty that they incorporate; and (b) pursuant to the Charming Betsy canon, courts should interpret ambiguous non-interpretive statutes merely to avoid violations of international law, not to favor conforming interpretations. The scope and basis of the Charming Betsy canon has been examined and debated at some length, so I will focus my comment on John’s innovative first argument.

Why should courts employ a presumption that incorporative statutes conform in meaning to the treaty to which they give effect? It seems that courts generally do interpret treaties in this way, as the Article explains, and in the end I was not fully convinced that we need this presumption in addition to the Charming Betsy canon. In support of a presumption, the Article argues that the underlying purpose of treaties is to create a “uniform international standard” and that the core function of incorporative statutes is to bring this uniform international standard into domestic law. While the creation of a uniform standard may be especially significant for some kinds of treaties, like those that solve coordination problems, it seems that many treaties (like human rights treaties) may only really be concerned with creating a minimum standard (and this is captured by the Charming Betsy canon), and above that minimum standard there is no reason to presume that uniformity is especially significant for either domestic or international actors. Statutes like the TVPA (which is defined as incorporative) just don’t seem driven by a desire to conform domestic law to international law.

The Article also invokes the “borrowed statute rule” to support the presumption. One aspect of that rule, as the Article explains, is its reliance on the opinions of the high court from the jurisdiction from which the statute is borrowed; here the Article argues that courts should interpret treaties as international tribunals would. Respectful consideration notwithstanding, there seems to be some tension between this approach and the Sanchez-Llamas opinion, which both rejected the dissent’s emphasis on uniformity and gave little deference to the ICJ opinion. Finally, another basis proffered for the presumption is that it largely tracks what courts already do. Indeed there are very good reasons for courts to interpret a statute with an eye toward the treaty that it seeks to implement. And because a treaty is obviously involved, Congress had the opportunity to consider the international implications of the statute it drafted; indeed, the Article argues that Congress intends to conform domestic to international law. Why employ a presumption if courts do pretty well without one, and we have reason to the think that the language Congress uses reflects its views on conformity? Other presumptions—against extraterritoriality and Charming Betsy for example—help courts evaluate aspects of a statute that Congress likely did not consider explicitly.

I only have 28 words left! Just enough to thank John for the interesting Article and for drawing our attention to an underexamined class of statutes. And to congratulate him on the new job at Carolina—go ‘Heels.

It’s become abundantly clear to network providers that just providing connectivity is a difficult business model to maintain. Bandwidth demands are constantly increasing and shaving costs to maintain profitability is no longer a viable option. Providers must shift focus from simply delivering access to delivering services to the end user.

In a paper titled Next-Generation Managed Services: The Key to Business Transformation (PDF), authors from Alcatel-Lucent outline the best practices for evolving the cost/revenue structure of next-gen managed services. Some of these suggestions are daunting to communication-intensive businesses with no relevant experience. That’s why 90 percent are seeking outside help as they build mobility-enriched, IP-centric environments (source: Yankee Group).

Here’s a summary of some of the potential areas for growth and cost-cutting:

Build/operate/manage (BOM) for mobility — Requires the following services: design, planning, engineering, installation, integration, optimization test and turn-up, plus monitoring, fault management, field maintenance, repair, and performance and configuration management.

Managed infrastructure — Share risk of deployment with your trusted partner. No need to consume all the capital expenditures on day one. Use that freed-up cash to get more subscribers.

Managed end-to-end services operations — Your customer service-centric network now extends from your four walls all the way to the customer’s modem or set-top box. You need to manage service at each point across this extended network.

Full outsourcing — Also known as “virtual telco,” this step allows you to transfer assets to a managed services provider, letting you maintain greater accountability and make a smoother transition to your next-generation network.

Click here to view all Alcatel-Lucent posts.

John is in Bolivia. His money is not, thanks to Wells Fargo incompetence that has him making $10 phone calls to executive customer service and his friend wiring him thousands of dollars.

John writes:

I live in Bolivia, S America. I had to close an old Wells Fargo checking account and then open a new one online. Before I opened my new ckg acct your people told me my old debit card would work just fine with this new acct. Well guess what, it didn’t and it took them nearly ten weeks to get a new card and pin to me here in Bolivia.

I couldn’t in the meantime withdraw money from ATMs here or pay any of my monthly US bills like Earth Class Mail, which processes my US mail in Portland and upon whom I depend to scan and email my daily postal mail to me here in Bolivia, because I had no valid debit/ATM card. No debit card for ten weeks! I got nasty emails from my creditors. ECM cut off my acct so I couldn’t retrieve any of my mail online. It was a total mess.

On top of that, I had to spend more than $300 in phone calls from phone booths here in the sweltering heat to Wells exec cust svc (Debbie) arguing about where in the heck that new card was.

She repeatedly promised to call me back so I wouldnt have to pay the long distance charges but she never did. She claimed she “couldn’t get through” even though my family and friends can phone me here in Bolivia anytime they like.

Debbie couldn’t get it thru her thick skull that the card and pin were supposed to be sent to me here and NOT to my US mailing address in Oregon. They sent THREE cards and PINs to Earth Class Mail in Portland. What good were those cards to me in Bolivia when they were sitting in friggin Portland?

My friend Jeff in Chicago had to keep wiring me thousands of dollars via Western Union at my expense until Debbie finally figured out where to send the card and pin. I was and still am livid with Wells Fargo. Absolutely livid.

Now your bank is telling me I need to call them if I want to increase my daily ATM withdrawal limit from $300 to $500, which was my limit on the old card. They won’t increase it via a secure online email request by me at wf.com. So there’s another $10 call.

I want an apology NOW and my $300 back NOW.

John
Tarija, Bolivia

Jeez, that stinks. Maybe start using Skype to make those calls to Wells Fargo?

One day after the Verizon teaser page appeared on the company website, the nation’s largest wireless carrier and HTC have announced the DROID Incredible.  As the first Verizon device to take advantage of the Snapdragon processor, I’m sure it (along with HTC’s Sense UI) will offer a great user experience.  Available on April 29th in Verizon Wireless retail stores, the unit will cost $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate debit card.

Features of the HTC DROID Incredible include:

• Android 2.1 with HTC Sense experience
• 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor for maximum responsiveness
• Friend Stream for unified Flickr, Facebook and Twitter updates
• “Leap” view for quick access to all seven home screen panels
• 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash for crisp, detailed images
• Razor-sharp 3.7 inch WVGA (480×800) AMOLED capacitive touch display
• Optical joystick for smooth navigation
• Dedicated, touch-sensitive Home, Menu, Back and Search keys
• Proximity sensor, light sensor and digital compass
• Integrated GPS
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
• 3.5 mm headset jack

The full press release is below.  It’s official, gang – who’s excited?  Anyone planning on picking one up at the end of the month?  Let me know!

IT’S A DROID, IT’S INCREDIBLE, IT’S ON THE NATION’S LARGEST AND MOST RELIABLE 3G NETWORK
 
DROID Incredible™ by HTC Combines Power of Android™, Usability of HTC Sense™, Exclusively from Verizon Wireless
 
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and NEW YORK – Verizon Wireless today announced DROID Incredible by HTC, the newest Android device on the nation’s most reliable wireless 3G network, will be available beginning April 29.     
 
Featuring a “topographic” design that demonstrates the powerful engineering just beneath the surface, DROID Incredible by HTC is designed with craftsmanship and precision while making it easier than ever to stay connected.
 
DROID Incredible by HTC features the newest version of the HTC Sense experience, a seven-panel home screen with a wide selection of interactive widgets so the most important content is immediately available at a touch.  Customers will enjoy seamless integration with Exchange ActiveSync®, quick and easy access to Flickr for sharing and viewing pictures, video, and Android Market™ with more than 30,000 Google applications.  DROID Incredible by HTC is the first Verizon Wireless phone that takes advantage of Qualcomm’s 1GHz superfast Snapdragon processor, and it’s the first available phone from Verizon Wireless to include an 8 megapixel camera.
 
Shortly after the phone becomes available, customers will be able to enjoy two of the latest exclusive apps from Verizon Wireless – NFL Mobile and Skype mobile™.
 
Additional Key features:          
·         Android 2.1 with HTC Sense experience
·         1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor for maximum responsiveness
·         Friend Stream for unified Flickr, Facebook and Twitter updates
·         “Leap” view for quick access to all seven home screen panels
·         8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash for crisp, detailed images
·         Razor-sharp 3.7 inch WVGA (480×800) AMOLED capacitive touch display
·         Optical joystick for smooth navigation
·         Dedicated, touch-sensitive Home, Menu, Back and Search keys
·         Proximity sensor, light sensor and digital compass
·         Integrated GPS
·         Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
·         3.5 mm headset jack
 
Price and availability:
·         DROID Incredible will be available for pre-order online at www.verizonwireless.com beginning on April 19 and it will be in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores on April 29.  Pricing will be $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.  Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.
·         DROID Incredible customers will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk and an Email and Web for Smartphone plan.  Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access.  Email and Web for Smartphone plans start at $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.
·         For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.
 
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Media can access high-resolution images of DROID Incredible by HTC in the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.)
 
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 91 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 83,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
 
About HTC
HTC Corporation (HTC) is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile phone industry. By putting people at the center of everything it does, HTC creates innovative smartphones that better serve the lives and needs of individuals. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.

 

Nintendo has released the first batch of screenshots from the next pair of Pokemon games, Pokemon Black and Pokemon White. No new info yet, however. Check ’em out after the jump.

If you own a TV, you’ve probably heard of Glee. It’s Fox’s new big thing, starring a surprisingly pretty lot of “geeks” who not only happen to be able to belt out just about any pop tune you throw at them, but can find ways to squeeze those songs into situations where no one would generally be singing (like a guy telling a girl’s parents that he got their daughter pregnant), without anyone raising an eyebrow.

If you own an iPhone, you’ve probably heard of Smule. They’ve had more top iPhone apps (most of which have been music-oriented) than just about anyone else, with apps like Ocarina, Leaf Trombone, and I Am T-Pain in their roster.

Now, bring these things together – what do you get? You get beautiful, beautiful music — and one of the best uses of a content license I’ve ever seen.

Today Smule is launching the official Glee app for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

The premise of the $3 app is pretty fitting, given the subject at hand: you sing. The app comes preloaded with three songs from the show (“Rehab”, “Somebody to Love”, and “You Keep Me Hanging On”), and you can expand your catalog with new songs through In-App purchase for a buck each. The app will scroll the lyrics on your iDevice much in the same way that you’d see on a Karaoke machine, with a pitch chart at the bottom hinting at how well you’re doing.

Okay, great. Singing. Anyone can make a singing/recording app, right? Sure — but things start to get magical when Smule brings in stuff from the armory they’ve built up over past projects.

Lets say I can’t sing worth a damn — because I can’t. Smule has leveraged some of the pitch tweaking/correcting technology they built for I Am T-Pain here, enabling the app to turn the works of folks like yours truly (which sound like a cat fighting a chalk board) into something listenable in real time, on-the-fly.

Smule brings the whole thing together with their “Sonic Network” technology. See that globe over there? Each one of those glowing dots is a performance by someone else with the Glee app. You can share your recordings (on the globe, or via Twitter/Facebook/E-mail) in an effort to acquire fans, known here as “Gleeks” (“Glee Geeks”); the more “Gleeks” your performance has, the more likely it is that you’ll show up on the globe when people search for “Top Performances”.

Cooler yet, you can “join” people in their pre-recorded performances, creating new performances with your vocals harmonized together. Find someone whose voice just clicks with yours? You can start a Glee club of your own, automatically sending your fellow glee club members recordings for them to add their harmonies to.

Smule and Fox went all out here, taking the boring standard affair themed app to something actually worth opening more than once. Is it for everybody? Not at all – but given that Glee is up to just under 14 million viewers right now, I’d say there’s a pretty big market here.

You can find Glee for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad for $3 right here in the App Store – but in the mean time, check out the demonstration of the App by one of Smule’s own below.