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If you’ve ever been frustrated with sensationalized crime coverage in the U.S., good news is on the way. Today’s ever-changing media landscape is just the backdrop that’s needed to shake up the way reporters cover crime, courts and prison.

Change.org readers have played a role in this revolution — for example, by funding a great ongoing reporting project at California public radio station KALW, digging into the day-to-day operation of Oakland’s busy court system.

The series was funded through Spot.us, which is leading the way in developing crowdfunded journalism. Thanks to donations from readers and a matching grant from the Harnisch Foundation, KALW sent reporter Rina Palta into Oakland’s courts for two weeks in November to launch her own investigation into the system. She uncovered fascinating stories big and small, and opened up a key window into the daily grind and seldom-exposed recesses of our court system.

The media tends to gravitate toward coverage of the more dramatic breakdowns in the criminal justice system, but what’s also needed is a look at the daily operations that might seem mundane — from court fees to jury selection. For an idea of what this looks like, check out Palta’s blogging here, and a radio segment about her experience here.

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Yes, you’re used to seeing MMA Marketplace run on Wednesdays, but in this case, we wanted to make sure you had the opportunity to see this special item before the auction was up.

Yep, that’s a doll’s professional wrestling belt "customized" for the UFC. From what I can tell, it was customized with white-out. At least they spelled UFC correctly, right? Buy this gem on eBay. 

If you’re thinking of giving your money to slightly more worthy causes, say earthquake relief in Haiti, check out what MMA Warehouse is doing. They are matching donations to Mercy Corps up to $5,000. Make your donation here. 

Thanks to the Fight Nerd on the belt news. 

Stanford President John Hennessy called for the reform of U.S. export controls, citing several examples in which beneficial research at Stanford was halted due to government security restrictions, in testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Friday on campus at the Arrillaga Alumni Center.

The committee chose to meet on the Farm instead of Capitol Hill because of the relevance of the topic to the local high-tech industry. Speaking before them, Hennessy said Cold War era export controls were hurting the nation’s ability to be a leader in science and technology.

Export controls were put in place so that the government could maintain control of the spread of technologies important to national security. But Hennessy pointed out that in many cases, broad export controls were stopping beneficial research, through citizenship requirements and other restrictions.

“Many of the export controls regulations that served the United States well 40 years ago no longer meet the country’s needs. The current system actually impedes our national security and thwarts our ability to compete.”

Hennessy highlighted the experience of a University research team that was asked to collaborate with a U.S.-based Fortune 100 high-technology company. The team was developing a microchip that stimulates the brain, a technology that could be used to treat brain disorders or build autonomous systems. When the University learned that export-controlled technology was central to the project, two Chinese national graduate students would have had to be excluded if work was to continue. For the faculty member and half-dozen graduate students on the University research team, that was a non-starter.

“Stanford does not, nor will it, restrict participation of students based on citizenship,” Hennessy said.

In a heated exchange, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) pressed Hennessy on this point, saying the example he cited was based on a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) grant, and that involving Chinese nationals in defense research was not an option.

Hennessy responded by saying that if a topic is so core to national defense, then universities are not the correct setting for such research.

Replied Rohrabacher: “I would suggest that universities need to think that they are patriotic Americans, too.” He added by saying that he could see an Adolf Hitler-like threat emerging from China in a decade.

The hearing, which included Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D- Calif.), joined by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Rohrabacher, indicates that Congress is interested in overhauling the law that authorizes the system of licensing and controlling technologies, last seriously revisited in the Carter Administration. The White House is also involved, with President Obama ordering a review of the nation’s export control policy.

Although Rohrabacher downplayed the partisan nature of debate on the topic, a split was on display between the Democratic push for significant export control reform and Republican caution at loosening export controls with non-democratic trading partners.

In a room in the heart of liberal Silicon Valley, sitting alongside three House Democrats, Rohrabacher was clearly outnumbered. Still, he made his views clear, and expressed considerable concern about allowing non-democratic countries to gain access to key technologies.

“I support export control reform, I support streamlining the system, I support removing barriers that hamstring U.S. companies,” he said. “However, this reform needs to respect the fact that there are nations that seek to do harm to our national well-being and economic security.”

Rohrabacher said he favored a two-tiered system that opened trade with allies, while tightly controlling trade with non-democratic countries, such as China, saying that even trade with seemingly innocuous Chinese companies was essentially sending technology straight to the Chinese government.

“We are dealing with a ghoulish regime here that a lot of people are making profit out of,” he said of China.

Friday’s hearing occurred in the shadow of Google’s recent announcement that it may withdraw from the Chinese market. Rohrabacher spoke glowingly of what he saw as Google’s patriotism in making the announcement.

“I sent a letter to the president of Google yesterday commending him as a moral giant, as opposed to moral pygmies at other companies,” he said.

As Congress works to overhaul the statutory framework for export control, the tradeoff between maintaining American global competitiveness and national security, especially in cases of technologies of disputed or unclear strategic value, is becoming increasingly important.

In his testimony, Hennessy made it clear that America’s leadership role in science and technology is under pressure, and that export controls are making it more difficult to maintain a leadership position.

“Today, the Untied States is still the overall leader,” he said. “But in many fields, we are one of the leaders rather than the sole leader, and in a few fields, the United States is clearly not at the top.”

Hennessy, along with several others at the hearing, said the goal of reform should be to continue to safeguard security while removing unnecessarily broad controls that hamper beneficial research.

“Our goal should be to design national security controls without negatively impacting our ability to conduct fundamental research that can benefit the United States economically and militarily.”

In May, Hennessy sat down with The Daily to discuss his activism in the area of export control policy.

Screen legend Meryl Streep got more than she bargained for after winning the award for Best Actress at the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards overnight — a kiss from fellow winner Sandra Bullock!

Sandra and Meryl tied for the Best Actress at Friday night’s ceremony — and The Blind Side star wasn’t happy about it.

“This is bulls***!” Sandra yelled upon taking the stage following Meryl’s acceptance speech for Julie & Julia. But the star soon warmed up to the idea, planting a liplock on Meryl that earned cheers from the audience.

“It is a great honor to be in the company of the extraordinary women I was so lucky to be nominated with, because this one here inspired me to do everything better,” she said.

As part of a pact whereby Volkswagen became Suzuki’s biggest shareholder with a 20% stake, VW is looking to its own shareholders for individuals that may be willing to sell their shares to Suzuki, as agreed upon by the two companies as part of their comprehensive partnership plan.

With the auto industry facing an extremely dynamic climate, manufacturers are increasingly commonly striking agreements and entering into joint ventures with each other in order to get around the phenomenal costs associated with developing state-of-the-art powertrains.

“Suzuki is in a comprehensive alliance with Volkswagen. In every field including hybrid, diesel and electric cars, we will carry out joint development with them, or we will learn from them,” Suzuki said.

The two automakers will seek to produce a competitive small car as they see that as key to dominating the developing market. VW currently stands as the number one automaker in China while Maruti Suzuki India (a company owned 54% by Suzuki), dominates the Indian market with a share over 50%. Though the research and manufacturing arms of the companies will operate in sync with each other, sales networks will remain separate.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

First Nokia sued Apple. Then Apple sued Nokia. Last week, Nokia went to the International Trade Commission and requested a ban on the import of infringing Apple products. Today, Apple asked ITC to ban the import of infringing Nokia products.

This game of patent-infringement ping pong dates back to October, when Nokia first sued Apple for violating 10 patents, including holdings related to GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN. About a month and a half later, Apple countersued, claiming that Nokia was attempting to steal their technology. Since then, both sides have filed further lawsuits claiming further patent violations of various sorts.

This week, the squabble’s stage has moved to the International Trade Commission. A few days ago, Nokia requested that the ITC ban the importing of any and all Apple products, from MacBooks to iPhones, that make use of the patents in question. Today, Apple fired back, requesting the same ban on Nokia’s mobile phone imports.

The ITC’s evaluation process takes 15 months, so don’t worry about these companies’ products disappearing from shelves anytime soon. But Apple’s latest filing reminds us that we shouldn’t expect this this legal game of anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better to go away anytime soon. [Bloomberg]

The rapid development of personal entertainment and communication technologies is causing quite seismic changes in the weight the average UK female carries in her handbag. Research conducted for UK Department Store chain Debenhams each year for the last two decades shows that the doubling of weight of the handbag between 2002 and 2006, due to the adoption of laptops, has been completely reversed in just three years by the adoption of smartphones, replacing laptops and filofaxes…

Tags: Computers,
Consumers,
Debenhams,
handbag,
Mobile Phone,
Smartphone,
Women

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Following closely on the heels of Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile has rolled out Windows Mobile 6.5 for its Touch Pro2 and Dash 3G handsets. The update rolled out earlier than the target  date of January 20th and is accessible from T-Mobile’s website once you enter in your handset’s IMEI. While AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile customers now enjoy the new experience offered by Windows Mobile 6.5, Sprint customers are left waiting in the wings. Their patience may be rewarded as Sprint customers may be getting something more than the plain jane Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade. A statement from Sprint suggests that the Sprint flavor of Windows Mobile 6.5 may offer “significant enhancements to the Touch Pro2 user interface which will allow additional customization / personalization options and more integration with the applications users access most.” Is Sprint promoting this upgrade with over-hyped marketing speak  in order to placate Touch Pro2 owners or is Sprint really alluding to the mythical Windows Mobile 6.6 which is rumored to be unveiled at MWC 2010 next month?

[Via TmoNews]

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