Elliott C. Back: Internet & Technology

James Kim, missing with his family in Oregon, has been found dead. In a heroic effort to find help for his family, he set out on foot and died from weather and the elements after an unsuccessful rescue attempt.

The route the Kim family took was allegedly from Google Maps. It took them down Bear Camp Road (BLM-34-8-36), a logging road that Wired describes as “not suitable for most vehicles and is CLOSED for all traffic during the winter. The road is not maintained, has no dividing line for oncoming traffic, is littered with potholes, and is impenetrable during the winter due to snow.”

Mathew Ingram suggests we don’t blame Google, but I think that’s exactly what we should do. The Google Maps terms of service say that Google Maps is intended for planning trips:

Map information provided through Google is intended for planning purposes only. You may find that construction projects, traffic conditions or other events may cause road conditions to differ from the map results.

What it fails to mention is that road conditions may differ to the point of putting yourself in mortal danger. If Google Maps gave me a route from NYC to Toronto that involved driving off the Niagara Falls, would I or Google be to blame for my death? A more subtle example–If Google Maps gave me a route from NYC to Toronto that involved driving across dangerous terrain, an off road shortcut, would Google be in any way responsible for injury I sustained by taking that less optimal route? Legally, I think so.

Saddam Hussein, the notorious dictator of Iraq, was sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of 148 people in the town of Dujail in retaliation for an assassination attempt on him in 1982. In response to the verdict, Saddam is quoted as saying, “Long live Iraq! Long live the Iraqi people! Down with the traitors!”

Saddam yells at the court as a guard holds him back

Other crimes against humanity which Saddam is suspected of having involvement with are listed in Wikipedia:

• On March 16, 1988, the Kurdish town of Halabja was attacked with a mix of mustard gas and nerve agents, killing 5,000 civilians, and maiming, disfiguring, or seriously debilitating 10,000 more.
• Shortly afterwards, he convened an assembly of Ba’ath party leaders on July 22, 1979. The 68 people arrested at the meeting were subsequently put on trial, and 22 were sentenced to execution for treason.
• During war with Iran, Health Minister Riyadh Ibrahim suggested that Saddam temporarily step down to promote peace negotiations. Ibrahim’s chopped up body was delivered to his wife the next day.
• Several journalists have reported on Saddam’s ties to anti-Israeli and Islamic terrorism prior to 2000. Saddam is also known to have had contacts with Palestinian terrorist groups.

It’s amazing that dictators and tyrants still exist in this day and age.

1000 cellphones in your texas truck, arabic names, and three men charged with “collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes.” I always thought that US citizens could own … property … without being called criminals?

“Psychologist Alan Marlatt of the University of Washington, a man with an apparent sense of humor, built a complete bar in his laboratory and served drinks to college student volunteers that were actually non-alcoholic but tasted like the real thing.” The moral of the story–watch what you drink.

Wondermark explores the real reason terrorists decided on liquid bombs: to cause terror and inconvenience air travel.

If your kangeroo an amputee? Then there may be a solution: a false leg.