peta

PETA wages war on Pokemon for virtual animal cruelty

Pokemon has begun his struggle for freeman and liberation, fighting his trainers, doling out group hugs and going to protests... in PETA's alternate universe, that is.

The animal rights group has launched a campaign against Pokemon Black and White 2, saying that the game condones animal cruelty and that its creatures are treated like abused animals.

"The amount of time that Pokemon spend stuffed in pokeballs is akin to how elephants are chained up in train carts, waiting to be let out to 'perform' in circuses," PETA wrote on its Web site. "But the difference between … Read more

PETA releases erotic .xxx site

This may well make your day.

At least, that's what PETA -- the organization created to remind you that animals are people -- would like.

For, never fond of being retiring, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has launched its brand, um, spanking, new .xxx site.

It is clearly intended to appeal to animal desires.

The first thing you see when you arrive on its home page is a true legend of pornography, Ron Jeremy. With his clothes on.

Actually, that probably isn't the first thing many will see. For, just to his left, appears Sasha Grey, … Read more

The 404 947: Where we are the keyboard cowboys (podcast)

Apple's update to iTunes 10.5.1 brings a new scan-and-match service for music that gives users a way to stream their entire collection across multiple devices in the Apple family.

Even better, Apple will actually fill in the blanks of your files' metadata and replace your "matched" files with high-quality 256k-encoded AAC files--an audiophile's dream!

The three of us are so excited that it sounds like we're hosting an infomercial, but check out today's episode to hear more details about iTunes Match.

Also leaked from today's episode: LivingSocial gets into home food delivery with Room Service, PETA puts Mario and his Tanooki suit in its crosshairs, and more events unravel in the ongoing War Against Infographics!… Read more

PETA goes after Mario and his Tanooki suit

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recently began calling the new Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS insensitive to the hunting and killing of real-life tanuki racoon dogs for fur. I guess PETA never had an issue with everyone's favorite plumber stomping on turtles and using their shells as weapons all these years.

From the "Mario Kills Tanooki" section of PETA's site: "Tanooki may be just a 'suit' in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur." … Read more

This Day in Tech: Google Wallet launches

Too busy to keep up with today's tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET and elsewhere for Monday, September 19.

Google Wallet launches today, but you probably can't use it yet. The digital wallet is available for the Samsung Nexus S on the Sprint Nextel network. The wallet uses near-field communication to allow you to pay with your mobile phone. "In the future, our goal is to make it possible for you to add all of your payment cards to Google Wallet, so you can say goodbye to even the biggest traditional … Read more

The 404 888: Where you have a weak electrochemical bond (podcast)

You can stop holding your breath for someone to port Android onto the HP TouchPad--it turns out someone already has, in secret! This Reddit thread has pictures and video evidence of an HP TouchPad purchased at Best Buy on Saturday that boots up with Android already on it.

And if that doesn't work out, Hack N Mod is offering a $1,500 bounty to anyone who can successfully achieve the five different tasks involved in rooting and booting Android.

In other news, did you know that the "Fifth Element" movie was based on only the first half of director Luc Besson's original 400-page script? Reddit strikes again and tells us that the second story, called "Mr. Shadow," wasn't made, but we can't help but dream about its story...

Also, PETA is launching a porn Web site that pulls the old bait 'n' switch by drawing in Netizens with dreams of dirty movies, then exposing them to gruesome movies exposing the mistreatment of animals. Those two things go together, right?

The 404 Digest for Episode 888

A guy who gets a TouchPad at Best Buy discovers Android already on it. Modders offer a bounty for an HP TouchPad Android port. PETA plans to launch a porn site. Today I learned that "The Fifth Element" was based on only the first half of Luc Besson's original screenplay.

Episode 888 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Report: PETA to launch porn site

Animal love is a difficult thing.

Sometimes, it can lead people to such extremes that they tend to diminish the significance of, well, people.

These thoughts course through my being as I read reports that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals intends to unleash a porn site.

Reuters, in the midst of a wider exposition of .xxx domains, reported that PETA doesn't intend, as do so many ethically upright companies, to block its .xxx domain. No, the organization's representative reportedly declared that Peta.xxx will be a porn site that "draws attention to the plight of … Read more

Dog Wars app for Android is Trojanized

An older version of a controversial Android app called "Dog Wars" has been modified to include a Trojan horse that takes actions without the device owner knowing it, according to security firm Symantec.

The app sends a text message to everyone in the contact list that says, "I take pleasure in hurting small animals, just thought you should know that," and signs United States-based devices up for a text alert service operated by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Irfan Asrar wrote in a post on the Symantec blog.

"We have no reason to believe that PETA had anything to do with this app, and that it is most likely the work of someone attempting to associate the app with PETA," he writes.

A PETA representative provided this statement when asked for comment: "We don't know who created this version of the app, but we think it is ingenious. When someone creates a game that glorifies animal abuse, you can bet that people will come up with clever, smart ways to take action against it." … Read more

PETA launches app in response to 'Dog Wars'

Animal rights group PETA has unveiled its own iPhone app as a way to counteract what it sees as the animal cruelty expressed in an Android app that pits dogs against each other.

Originally dubbed "Dog Wars," the app, made by Kage Games and found on the Android Market, touted itself as a way to train virtual pit bulls to fight other dogs and pick up "street cred" along the way. But the game quickly upset members of People for the Ethnical Treatment of Animals and other animal rights groups who called for it to be removed from the app store.

After temporarily being taken down from the Android Market, the $2.99 app quickly resurfaced with the new name of KG Dogfighting but the same theme, proclaiming that "the controversial dogfighting Android "DogWars - Beta" app by Kage Games LLC has been renamed and uploaded here to the market as a paid app!"

Also boasting that the "app will never appear in the iPhone app store"--a reference to Apple's more stringent guidelines--Kage says that the goal is to feed, water, train, and fight your virtual dog against other players.… Read more

Go Daddy CEO: I was smiling with dead elephant out of 'relief'

Once you post a video of yourself shooting an elephant dead--especially if you happen to accompany that video with AC/DC's "Hell's Bells"--you might anticipate a little more excitement.

So it has proved.

Should you have been unaccountably detained by the Mounties, you might not know that GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons adorned his blog with a video of his good self killing an elephant.

The video wasn't entirely suitable for lunch and explained that the elephants eat sorghum that is sorely needed by starving Zimbabwean villagers.

Naturally, animal activist group PETA rebutted Parsons and … Read more