greece

The 404 1,079: Where we ban all the skinnies (podcast)

On today's 404 episode, we'll solve the mystery of phantom cell phone vibrations and why we're so often tricked into thinking our phones have a mind of their own. One psychologist from the University of Sydney thinks that it has to do with electrical currents running through parts of the body surrounding the phone, while another professor of psychology believes it's in ours heads, that our addiction to technology has made us paranoid about e-notifications.

Walking around New York in this heatwave is enough of a workout for anyone these days, but some gym-goers in Canada are so sick of skinny people making them look bad that they've issued a ban on anyone that can't be described as "plus size."

According to the NY Daily News, Body Exchange gym in Vancouver claims to be a "safe haven" for overweight people that feel scrutinized when they work out next to those without an addiction to food. Unfortunately, we'll have to defer to Richard to comment on this story, as neither Jeff nor I have ever been inside a gym.… Read more

The 404 1,078: Where Europe's heating up, but NY is even hotter (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 show, featuring Aunt Jill Schlesinger, editor-at-large for CBS Moneywatch.com:

Check out the latest episode of Jill's podcast, Jill on Money: this week's episode rounds up the European crisis, retirement, and Social Security. Euro crisis: The 10 things to do right now to prepare for a potential euro zone melt-down.… Read more

100 Apple iPads save Greece $140 billion

The daunting task of restructuring Greece's debt fell to Bob Apfel and his company, Bondholder Communications Group, according to Fortune.

To help complete a complicated series of transactions in which the country's Finance Ministry agreed to settle for far less than the $270 billion owed, Apfel and his team used a network of iPads.

The task involved capturing approval from nearly 100,000 debt holders scattered around the world in a very short amount of time.

Armed with a custom-built debt-restructuring app, the effort's leadership, including representatives from the Finance Ministry, the Hellenic Exchange, the Bank of … Read more

The 404 998: Where we draw the ace of spades (podcast)

Aunt Jill won't be here for our 1000th episode this Friday because she only works out of the CNET office on Wednesdays, so we're popping bottles prematurely because hey, it's the 90s.

Along with a light wine tasting, Jill also gives a quick duster on the state of the Greek debt crisis and the Dow cracking 13000 after almost four years. In return, we'll tell Jill about the wonders of Instagram and Kim Dotcom's release from the New Zealand prison system.… Read more

Report: Sony Music Greece, Indonesia hacked

Sony Music Greece was hacked with its user data published to the Web and Sony Music Indonesia's Web site was defaced, according to an online news report.

The attacks, if confirmed, would be just the latest in a series of security problems the company has had in the past month starting with a distributed denial-of-service attack by the loosely organized hacker group Anonymous in early April to protest Sony's taking PS3 hackers to court.

A Sony spokeswoman provided this statement via e-mail this evening: "There was an online tweet that one page of Sony Music Indonesia's … Read more

Man sued by Apple support firm for complaining gets new iMac

Happy endings do happen. Sometimes.

So I am delighted to report the existence of at least a slightly cheery ending in a troubling legal case involving an Apple support company and one of its customers.

You might remember this difficult tale.

In what was a landmark case in Greece, an Apple support company, Systemgraph, decided to sue one of its customers when he complained (very mildly) about its service on his blog.

Dmitri Papadimitriadis, the Greek physician who was bold enough to declare publicly that he was not pleased with Systemgraph's service, was unhappy that his iMac seemed to … Read more

Greek isle taps BrightSource for solar

The Greek island of Crete is planning for a 38-megawatt solar plant an BrightSource has been tapped to help build it.

Oakland, Calif.-based BrightSource has signed a deal with Nur Energie, the U.K. company developing the solar project, to use its LPT 550 energy system, the solar manufacturer announced today.

When complete and running at full capacity, the plant is expected to generate enough electricity for 13,000 homes.

BrightSource is known for its signature solar "power tower" technology that employs hundreds of sun-worshipping heliostats. The solar-tracking mirrors reflect solar rays on a common tower containing … Read more

Apple support firm drops case against customer

A doctor who, in a fit of strangely modern communication, complained online about the service he received from an Apple support company in Greece, has won a partial victory.

Dimitris Papadimitriadis was not a happy man after he put his iMac in for a little repair with an official Apple support company called Systemgraph. There were gray shadows all over the screen.

However, there were gray shadows all over Papadimitriadis' face when Systemgraph sued him for telling his story (in a very polite way, for an angry man) online.

The company demanded 200,000 euros, which seemed a little steep … Read more

Apple support company sues customer for complaining

Returning to my inbox after the New Year's break, I found it full of Greeks bearing rifts.

The national press, the tech blogosphere, even normal, ordinary human beings on Twitter are railing against Systemgraph, a support company officially approved by Apple to be its reseller and authorized service provider.

Dimitris Papadimitriadis, a physician in Greece, was apparently having a little trouble with his iMac, so he took it to Systemgraph in order to enjoy its authorized servicing skills. According to the Greek newspaper Proto Thema, Papadimitriadis discovered dark patches on the screen of his machine.

As Papadimitriadis describes the story, … Read more