Hi, I'm Molly Wood, and welcome to the Buzz Report, the show about the tech news
that everyone's talking about. This week, it's texting help to Haiti, the iPhone saving
lives, literally, fun with Office 2007, and oh for pete's sake. Not the tablet again. Let's
begin with the Gadget of the Week, ok?
The Gadget of the Week is the iPhone. See, an American filmmaker named Dan Woolley
was trapped in the rubble of his hotel in Haiti after the earthquake on January 12th. And
he used an iPhone first-aid app to treat his broken leg and head wound, and to keep
himself from slipping into shock. And then after 65 hours, he was rescued, and now he's
back at home with his family. So, really, his iPhone and the rescue team that found him
saved his life. And that's pretty freaking phenomenal.
Also ... how in the hell did the battery last that long?
And now for the news. Speaking of Haiti, technology is saving lives in other ways, as
you've probably heard. This week, text-based fund-raising campaigns raise more than 27
million dollars in relief aid for the country, and the carriers, after a few stumbles, started
mostly waiving text fees for donations and forwarding money directly to Haiti without
waiting for billing red tape. So, that's all a lot better use of your texting time than voting
for American Idol. And we've posted a list of ways and Websites that you can help, if you
haven't already, at blog.cnettv.com. Do you what you can.
Ok, moving on to tech news and stupid jokes. Apple finally sent out invitations to its
tablet-or-whatever event, saying only, "Come see our latest creation." And the
invitation is covered with paint spatters. So, I'm thinking it's CLEARLY going to be some
sort of e-screen easel that lets you paint using multitouch gestures, and then upload
your creations to the newly created iCanvas social network. Right? Oh, god, fine, I guess
it's probably going to be the tablet, but I'm actually so bored with those rumors that I'm
hoping it's something totally different. Really, mostly, more than anything? Just
announce the darn thing already so I can start talking about how silly it is instead of
talking about how silly it's going to be. Heh, just kidding. I'm sure it'll be awesome.
Speaking of Apple, there were fairly unfounded reports this week that Microsoft and
Apple might be in talks to make Bing the default search engine on the iPhone. Like,
Microsoft and Apple would be teaming up against Google and YOU would end up
Binging on iPhone? That just doesn't feel right.
Microsoft did say this week that it has created a new game to make the frustrating and
often baffling task of using Office 2007 ... a little more fun! They introduced a game
called Ribbon Hero that rewards you for figuring out how to DO things in Office.
Seriously. Microsoft's program manager for Office "said the idea came from watching Office
users take 10 steps to do something that could be done more easily in one or two." But maybe ...
I was thinking just ... instead of like, a funny game, just get rid of eight to nine steps and let
people get some friggin' work done!
Moving on, Bill Gates is now on Twitter, and I, for one, am thrilled. It's about time we
got some REAL celebrities up in this joint.
And finally, let's have a look at what's Clogging the Tubes. This has never happened on
Buzz Report before ... it's Clogging the Tubes: The Sequel.
That's right, everyone, the Shiba Inu puppy cam is back with a new batch of puppies. And the productivity
of a nation is once again at a standstill.
So ... if I like this and I want there to be more, though, am I like ... an Internet puppy mill? This could really
start to feel wrong in a hurry.
And that's the Buzz Report for this week, everyone. I'm Molly Wood, and thanks for watching.
