Elliott C. Back: Internet & Technology

I saw something interesting at Costco today, called Reversitall, selling for about $20 a bottle. This product is brand new, according to a press release by NeoCell:

NeoCell Corporation will formally launch Reversitall Plus™ made from selected food grade ingredients including patent-pending Reversitall™ at this week’s Natural Products Expo West. Reversitall™ is the newest nutraceuticals ingredient, supported by Phase I of on-going clinical studies, scientifically proven to reduce cell oxidation, deliver higher anti-oxidant activities and reduce SOD (super-oxide dismutase) activities by 35%. Reversitall Plus™ is a unique blend of alcohol-free red wine, Muscadine grapes, grape cluster stems and grapevine extracts. Utilizing proprietary technology that allows the nutrients to remain intact, these combined components create a highly anti-oxidative supplement with naturally occurring Trans-Resveratrol, Trans-e-Viniferin, OPC’s and polyphenols, making it possible to obtain all of the benefits of red wine in a daily dietary supplement.

The big win is that in two tablespoons of Reversitall you can the same amount of Resveratrol as in an entire bottle of red wine, that is about 2,000 micrograms (mcg). For those not in the know, Resveratrol is identified as the primary anti-oxidant and anti-cancer ingredient in red wine, thought to be responsible for the so-called “French Paradox:”

Resveratrol is a phytoalexin produced naturally by several plants when under attack by bacteria or fungi. Phytoalexins are antibacterial and anti-fungal chemicals produced by plants as a defense against infection by pathogens. Resveratrol has also been produced by chemical synthesis, and is sold as a nutritional supplement derived primarily from Japanese knotweed. A number of beneficial health effects, such as anti-cancer, antiviral, neuroprotective, anti-aging, and anti-inflammatory effects have been reported, but all of these studies are “in-vitro” (test tube) or in yeast, worms, fruit flies, fish, mice, and rats. Resveratrol is found in the skin of red grapes and is a constituent of red wine but, based on extrapolation from animal trials, apparently not in sufficient amounts to explain the “French paradox” that the incidence of coronary heart disease is relatively low in southern France despite high dietary intake of saturated fats.

But, is it really good for you? According to QuackWatch, the notorious critic of “nutritional supplements” notes that “…studies in animals and humans are necessary to determine whether resveratrol supplementation makes sense.” Still, I think I’ll try the bottle. Any readers want to comment?

The two who posted a Craiglist ad saying that anyone could take what they wanted from a home in Oregon have been tracked down and arrested by following their IP address. The stunt was a diversion to steal two horses.

It’s nice to see that internet crime doesn’t pay. Unfortunately, it’s also troubling to read this article and realize that had this couple simply used an anonymizing service, a proxy chain, an internet cafe, or a TOR node, there would have been no way to catch them from what they posted on Craigslist.

Last year I wrote a post detailing April Fool’s day pranks in 2007 around the web that was both funny and well received, so this year I’m going to do it again! Let’s start with the worst, political humour:

The goons at Editorial Cartoonists sure know how to make a point

Next Blizzard Entertainment is porting World of Warcraft to the console with their new title, Molten Core:

Yeah, it’s for the Atari 2600 console. ROCK ON!

“Blizzard got its start in console gaming, and we’ve always been excited about returning to this arena,” stated Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Additionally, we’ve wanted to reintroduce the 40-player raid dungeon experience for some time. With World of Warcraft: The Molten Core, we’re able to do both.”

Another treat from Blizzard is the Tauren Marine from Starcraft 2:

While most tauren were satisfied with their agrarian culture and primitive existence, the Confederacy was able to lure away large numbers of young bulls for a life of adventure and violence along the galactic rim. Other tauren referred to these adventurers as ‘mad cows,’ and they were ostracized from the rest of their kine.

Finally, Blizzard gives a new Class for World of Warcraft, the Bard. Endowed with the power of music, he hits awesome riffs and combos for extra damage!

A nice touch is the upside down “axe” as guitar

Armed with a trusty axe, killer riffs, and a ton of attitude, the guitar-wielding bard is the second hero class to be introduced in the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion for World of Warcraft. The bard excels both as a solo performer and as part of a solid group lineup, able to front in a number of roles as varied as his musical repertoire.

YouTube did the unthinkable, and Rickrolled everyone who visited one of their featured videos. So, there have been over 3,707,338 visits to Rick Astley-Never Gonna Give You Up so far today:

Come on, even if you goatse.cx’d them it wouldn’t be that funny

Our friends at Google went nuts today, dropping literally dozens of April fools jokes. Here are the highlights. If you go to Google Documents and create a new document, you can click File, then “New Airplane:”

This is adorable!

Additionally, there’s an “I’m feeling lucky” button on the Calendar which adds random hot dates to your schedule, archiving of pop-up and scratch and sniff books, Virgle, a manned mars station, and the ability to send GMail email in the future … or the past:

Our researchers have concluded that allowing each person more than ten pre-dated emails per year would cause people to lose faith in the accuracy of time, thus rendering the feature useless.

Adsense for real life is hilarious

Adsense for Conversations: “a new type of monetization solution that “puts the ‘context’ in contextual advertising”. Now, in just a few simple steps, you can begin displaying ads that are relevant to the topics you’re discussing — in an unobtrusive screen above your head.”

Computer nerd stuff retailer Think Geek has some skippable April Fool’s Products, including a peeing simulation for the wii, a usb pregnancy test, and caffeine cereal. Yeah, you didn’t miss anything there. On the other hand, the Pirate Bay is moving to Sinai, Egypt. Meanwhile, even the world’s largest criminal computer hackers running the Storm Worm sent out some April 1st spam:

Yet no 0day for the lulz. Lucky us!

Not surprisingly, Anil Dash gets anal about April Fool’s day jokes, declaring “your April Fool’s Day joke sucks.” He’s right about Techcrunch’s “we’re suing Facebook” joke that just makes Michael Arrington, the founder and editor of the blog, look like a massive jerk.

Those are the big highlights, but for more, please check out Wikipedia’s April 1, 2008 entry. It’s full of more links than I could ever gather, read, or take screenshots of!