Frank Bitterlich

Exactly 50 years ago, on August 13, 1961, the East German dictatorial government finally admitted its failure by building the “Berlin Wall.” They actually thought that they could control the people by oppressing them, taking away their freedom, and their basic human rights – like freedom of expression. What a funny idea – nobody would consider such measures in any free country any more. Except…

… maybe some authorities in San Francisco, like the Bay Area Rapid Transport (BART), who thought it might be a good idea to shut down all mobile networks in their area to prevent a demonstration.

… or maybe the British government, who are openly considering blocking access to certain social networks and services like Twitter and Facebook, to contain the London riots.

… or maybe the Mubarak government of pre-revolution Egypt, thinking that shutting down mobile networks and blocking internet access would somehow make all these angry people go away. But that was completely different, of course… some far off, dictatorial country. That could never happen here.

The title “Failed Launch of the Month” in December goes to Blizzard.

An extensive media campaign to sell Cataclysm, the latest add-on for the popular Word of Warcraft game, did exactly what it was supposed to do: Get lots of new (and returning) players to buy it. And this, apparently, was something Blizzard wasn`t prepared for.

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Space balloon wipes out car

via Space balloon wipes out car - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

Scientists are always finding new ways to burn money, and fast. Their newest method: Releasing a “weather ballon” type ballon too early, trashing the multi-million dollar equipment hanging beneath it in the course, wrecking a minivan, almost destroying another car and nearly kill the people in it.

Click the link to view a video of it… if you like Will it blend?, then you will just love this one.