Sprint customers being dumped — actually scammers?

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According to a Consumerist interview with a Sprint employee, the customers being dumped by Sprint weren’t so much customers, as bad boyfriends. Calling up “90 times in a 6 month period was the standard”, the customers were extorting free service credit from Sprint in order to not just walk to other mobile providers. “We’re talking customers that haven’t made a payment since 2005 and still have active service.” The Sprint-er says, “We absolutely will not terminate a customer who had a reasonable claim for calling in. But the ones with the $5k credit balances… they’re going to hear us say no. It’s a harsh decision but it really makes sense to almost anyone who knows both sides of the situation.” Corporate spin, or is poor l’il ol’ Sprint being smacked around by its sugar babies? Developing. [GT]

Sprint Customers Terminated For Complaining Too Much Were Scamming Sprint For Free Service

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Show off your clocksmanship with Furni

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We’ve posted a lot of odd clocks here over the years, but here’s your chance to not only design your own, but to have it be part of the Furni catalog. To enter, download a cut-fold-and-paste PDF of their LED digital clock kit, place it in the peculiar clock formation of your choosing, and email a graphic back to Furni. Submissions so far are heavy on clocks embedded in showers, but I really like the one that appears to be a tape degausser or maybe a primitive Geiger counter. You can never have too many ambiguous clocks. [GT]

Furni’s online shop: “Show us your Skills” (via Moco Loco)

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Gigantic nuclear explosion video

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The Discovery Channel ran footage of the largest nuclear explosion ever captured on film. This bang is so enormous, the plume reaches above the cloud cover, and the fallout radius is a quick 180km. It was detonated by the Russians as part of nuclear testing, and now the footage is online for you to reflect on. Video after the jump. [GT]

Worlds Largest Nuke Explosion (via Futurismic)

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Hong Kong blogger faces HK$400,000 fine, 12 months jail, for linking

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To protest the overly broad province of the Obscene Articles Tribunal of the Hong Kong Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority (TELA), activist Oiwan Lam deliberately linked, in conjunction with writing on the tasteful photography to be found there, the keyword ‘nude’ on Flickr. Result: Lam’s page was classified as a Class II indecent article by the Obscene Articles Tribunal. He faces up to HK$400,000 in fines and 12 months in jail. [GT]

Interview with Oiwan Lam (via Boing Boing)

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iSee acrylic hipster case for iPhone

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The iSee iPhone case from Contour Design fits snugly up against your iPhone, carefully outlining all the ports with excruciating closeness, and then leaves the phone visually alone by encasing it in straight transparent acrylic. Sounds great, and a lot of people report they’re thrilled by how it showcases the phone. The lone exception gives pause, however: a commenter notes the case slipped from his hand, and when the iPhone hit the floor, the case split into its three component pieces, leaving the iPhone to splat, by which I mean, crack. He reports he called up the manufacturer and they said: “We only cover the case itself not the item damaged!” Ouch! $30. [GT]

iSee iPhone case from Contour Design (via iLounge)

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Photo-Mosaic mirror makes you out of everything else

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The Photo-Mosaic mirrors by the Barbarian Group use hundreds of tiny images to create – pop! It’s you! While you might not want to use this to tweeze your eyebrows or even to apply moisturizer if your sense of touch is poor, the effect is pretty spectacular-if-zeitgeisty. Only 100 of these mirrors are being made, but they also plan to announce the 2.0 version at ETech 2008. $6000. [GT]

McLeod Mirror Series 1 by the Barbarian Group (via Radar O’Reilly)

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The Filter gets sociable with MySpace and Facebook

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Not content with being music recommendations software that allows you to create playlists, or with being associated with Peter Gabriel, The Filter now wants to get all up in your Face(book) and invade your (My)Space. Software developers Exabre have engineered a widget version of The Filter that allows users to publish their playlists on their blog, MySpace or Facebook page. The developers call the new version “the digital equivalent of rummaging through your friends’ music collection.” [GT]

The Filter [via Macworld]

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Pricey Philips Pronto TSU9400 controls everything, everything!

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The Philips Pronto TSU9400 is so posh, it actually has a 640×480 television built into it. Controlling, well, everything which has an infrared receiver, yet via Wi-Fi, it claims it has zero line-of-sight issues. It also has a docking station through which it recharges its Li-lon battery. At $900 (!) it had better also control the toaster into coming upstairs with fresh toast — but those who spend thousands of pounds on their televisions and stereos may be willing to shell out for the One Remote To Bind Them All. (Also, given the way technology comes down in price, in five years they may be giving these away with each fill-up of petrol.) [GT]

Philips Pronto TSU9400 [via Technabob]

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USB robot webcam is cheap and cheerful

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The USB robot webcam is recording everything you do to send back to its robot masters to aid them in their quest to destroy all humans! So don’t be lured in by its four LED lights that turn on automatically when it gets dark, its 350K pixel camera, or its 30fps frame rate or that it retails for $24.00. It’s a plot to kill us all! (Though, ah, it does look sort of cute. In a murderous sort of way.) [GT]

USB Robot Cam (viaThe Red Ferret Journal)

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USB combination digital microscope, webcam and hub

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Brando has come up with a device that can turn everyone into scientists. (No, not some kind of mind-ray – yet!) The USB Digital Microscope + Web Cam + USB2.0 Hub is a digital microscope that has a web cam and 2-port USB hub. (Surprise!) This combination allows you to view and capture high quality images and videos, display them on your computer, and show them… to the world! Yes, you’ll show them! No, seriously, it’s a webcam, you’ll show them. $200. [GT]

USB Digital Microscope + Web Cam + USB2.0 Hub

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