Yelp review spurs test case for online defamation

By Sterling “Chip” Camden
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Popular review site Yelp is a great place to get that anger off your chest about how you were treated by a crappy, overpriced restaurant or any other vendor/service provider, but a lawsuit filed last February may chill out some of those heated reviews in the future.

Christopher Norberg of San Francisco is being sued for defamation regarding a negative review he posted on Yelp about a Dr. Biegel of the Advanced Chiropractic Center in that same lovely City by the Bay.  I obtained a copy of that review from Christopher’s lawyer, Michael Blacksburg — but I won’t repost it here to avoid creating any legal troubles of our own.   To summarize, Christopher related a dispute over billing after being treated for injuries resulting from his being hit by a car.  He says that he expected a bill for $125, but received one for over $500 — apparently due to delays in payment caused by Mr. Norberg not having health insurance and having to sue the driver of the car to get reimbursed.  Eventually, the doctor accepted $125, but the experience left such a (figurative) pain in Christopher’s backside that he decided to vent about it on Yelp.

That review was included as Exhibit A in the original filing of the defamation suit against Christopher.  Since that time, Christopher removed his review and replaced it with a more carefully worded version.

Now I’m no lawyer, but  I believe that in order to obtain damages, Dr. Biegel’s lawyer (Eric L. Nordskog) will have to prove that the original review includes knowingly incorrect statements of fact that are defamatory.  For instance, if the phone calls Christopher mentioned in the review never happened, or the conversations were materially different than represented.  According to the original filing (also obtained from Christopher’s lawyer), Dr. Biegel claims that all but a few phrases of the review is false.

You might argue that any posting on Yelp or similar sites should be taken as opinion by definition.  But just as in any other publicly available medium, if you include facts they’d better be solid.  Should the court decide in favor of the plaintiff, this could have wide implications for not only sites like Yelp, but also for posts and comments on blogs and other forums (I know I’m going to revisit my old reviews to look for ostensible facts that might be shaky).   The case is scheduled to go before the San Francisco Superior Court on March 2, 2009.

In the long run, I think that the negative publicity from this suit may do far more damage to Dr. Biegel’s business than Christopher’s original one-star review.   Personally, I wouldn’t want to have that doctor’s hands around my neck — but that’s just my opinion.

All Things JVC – Japanese Victor Corp. Aiming To Become a Major CE Player, Again

By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

JVC has kept a relatively low consumer electronics profile in recent years—especially compared to its glory days—e.g. basically taking a “wait-and-see” attitude during the recent Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD format war, certainly failing to keep up with its competitors on most audio/video technologies. Their HDTV offerings have been less restrained (their current L-CoS front projectors still remain the PJs to beat in terms of actual, observable contrast/shadow detail, for example). However, JVC apparently is out to give its competitors battle on multiple fronts, if their flurry of product rollouts is any indication.

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Order your Force-Training Star Wars Kit Today!

Fear not my young apprentices! With the new force training kit, the force shall soon be strong in you!

Does that make me sound like a delusional loon? Yeah, I thought so too…

The Force Trainer, which is expected to sell for around $100, is a headset that allows you to use brain waves to manipulate a sphere located inside a 10-inch-tall transparent tube, just like Yoda did with Luke’s ship in Star Wars episode V.

If you’re wondering if you’ll be able to choke people from a distance after a few weeks of training, the answer is fortunately no. The device reads your brain activity, a bit like an EEG medical test, and then transfers it to a remote, which blows some air up and makes the sphere float inside the tube. As you become better, the unit will cue you in to help you progress to a new level of proficiency (from “Padawan” to “Jedi Master.”) Sounds fun doesn’t it? Unfortunately, there’s no word about availability or release date as of yet.

[Via USA Today]

FREE Nationwide VoIP Long-distance with Ooma’s Telo Cordless Phone

By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

If you live in the U.S., how does “free long distance telephony” grab ya? If sales of the $20/yr. Magic Jack are any indication—the #1 “hottest holiday gadget” according to NPR’s gadget guy—then totally free VoIP LD oughta kick up a veritable buttload of interest. Boasting DECT 6.0 protocol compatibility—for extended, interference-free range—up to six handsets per system, connected phone book, mobile transfer, speakerphone, and voice mail, Ooma’s new Telo looks to be quite the impressive bit of tele-kit. Back to that “mobile transfer” part…Engadget quotes CMO Rich Buchanan: “[The Telo] helps combine the home phone and cell phone so you can enjoy the benefits of both without any compromises.” We’ll see if we can’t discover more about just how this works…stay tuned!

CES Preview: AMD Debuts New “Yukon” Platform and “Athlon Neo” Processor in New Hp dv2 Ultrathin Notebook: Watch Out, Intel Atom?

By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

AMD has found the perfect target class for its new Yukon platform and Athlon 1.6GHz Neo processor—the svelte, new ultrathin hp dv2 notebook fits in with AMD’s plan to fill all the 12-inch to 14-inch skinnies it can with the new chips, even as Intel also moves its Atom up into laptop territory at CES (e.g. the ASUS S101, the MSI X320). Laptop Magazine seemed really to like the machine, an upmarket SKU from the $699 entry-level model (perhaps ~$900), which also was paired with the ATI Mobility Radeon 3410 and a 500GB HD. At under 4 lbs., with a nice keyboard and decent screen, it looks like a winner. Check out their pics and hands-on vid, below!

[Read/Watch Laptopmag.com’s hands-on review and video]

Sony Unveils the Much-Rumored Vaio P, World’s Lightest 8-inch Netbook!

By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Is this thang cool, or what? At only 1.4 lbs, the Sony Vaio P certainly won’t break your arm—or the bank: although quite a bit more at $900 than the standard, generic, commodity-priced netbooks from everyone else. Even then, it is still considerably lower-priced than the diminutive UMPCs it probably should be lumped with, as it’s about the size of a business-class envelope, and about as thin as a cell phone. Boasting an 8″ XBrite-ECO screen with a whopping 1600 x 768 resolution (that’s HD territory, folks, if not full HD), Vista, 3G broadband, Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth, real-time GPS functionality, and a 1.33 Ghz Atom processor with 2GB of RAM, this thing looks like a keeper…as long as you don’t lose it, of course! Video after the jump.

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CES Preview: Denon A1UDCI is First Announced Blu-ray Universal Player—and Priciest

By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

The pre-CES backtracking continues: A week ago, I announced the Oppo BDB-83, a Blu-ray/Universal player from that well-regarded Chinese manufacturer—at a rock-bottom $499-$599 price. Not mentioned on [GAS] (except buried in my followup comment to the original post) has been the first such universal player, from Denon, the A1UDCI, announced for Europe a month ago (Dec. 4, 2008).

I have nothing but the greatest respect for Denon, but the now-confirmed $3800 MSRP (down from the $5,800 estimate based on the yen/dollar conversion a month ago!!!) is still so far removed from reality as to be absurd. Sure, check out the Denon (see link, below), but give a VERY long look and listen to the oppo, at ~15% of the price, and chock full of electronics goodness, including the well-regarded new Anchor Bay Technologies (ABT) video processor, discrete analog and digital stages—with shielding—and high-end parts…

[Via Sound and Vision’s “Bitstream” Blog]

CES Preview: LG Adds Built-in Netflix Streaming Capabilities to New HDTVs

By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

In the week(s) prior to CES every year, manufacturers often “pre-release” info to whet the appetites of journalists about to be bombarded by the cacophony and cognitive dissonance that truly is the lasting experience of the Consumer Electronics Show. Even though today—the day before the official start of this year’s CES—is the normal day for endless manufacturers’ unveilings of new products and lines, some co’s already have jumped the gun; so, we have to backtrack a little before giving the lowdown on today’s pre-show events..

LG announced a few days ago that its upcoming spring line of Plasmas and LCDs would include Netflix-streaming (“Watch Now”) capabilities, which currently requires a set-top box (such as Ryan’s Roku Christmas present!) or an HTPC (Home Theater PC) to accomplish. No word on models, availability, features (e.g. Netflix HD streaming) or pricing—but Engadget reports that the AP has estimated this will add $200-$300 to the price of sets…OUCH! See Ryan’s review of the Roku by hitting the link above: at 1/2 to 1/3 the price, what’s another tiny box in the ol’ entertainment center, eh?

[Via Engadget]

When you want it clean, there’s Cyber Clean!

Are you tired of whacking your keyboard face down on your desk to get all the old bread crumbs out? Do you feel ashamed when your favorite tech support person has to come replace your keyboard because you dropped too much crap in it? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then please watch the following video!

Apparently, The Cyber Clean compound can clean all your favorite tech gadgets while killing most germs on contact. Unfortunately, the Cyber Clean goo doesn’t last forever, and as it absorbs dirt, it progressively changes color from yellow to greenish-blue. Oh, and in case you’re wondering what’s inside this mysterious substance, just have a quick look at its data safety sheet (PDF)… ethanol, glycerol… “Repeated or prolonged exposure may cause irritation of eyes and skin.” Hmmm, that doesn’t sound like a very healthy substance… but most cleaners aren’t anyways. If it can kill germs, it can’t be good for you either.

[Product Page | Via Technabob]

A Lesson in Password Security

By Miss Cellania
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

twitbird1Wired’s Threat Level blog has an interview with GMZ, the hacker who briefly helped himself to some high-profile accounts at Twitter a few days ago. The way he got in was ridiculously simple.

1. He identified a very active account. It later turned out to belong to a Twitter employee who had access to all account passwords.

2. He used an automated dictionary program that tries common English words as passwords. He ran the program all night, with no interference.

Cracking the site was easy, because Twitter allowed an unlimited number of rapid-fire log-in attempts.

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