Hi, I'm Molly Wood, and welcome to the Buzz Report � the show about the tech news that
everybody�s talking about. This week, it�s liver transplants, political unrest in Iran, and
censorship in China. So, yeah, today�s show should be HILARIOUS. Let�s start with the Gadget of
the Week, shall we?
The Gadget of the Week is HP's new line of Web-connected printers. And they sound
awesome. They�ll let you print maps, coupons, pictures, coloring pages for the kids,
recipes, movie tickets, and other Web content WITHOUT a PC. The printers actually
have apps, like an iPhone or BlackBerry, that let you access Web content and print it
out, using a 4.3-inch touchscreen. Now that is clever. It is so exciting to see printers
be like, innovative and cool and make with the new technology and whatnot! You
know what I still want them to do, though ... just ... like ... print. Reliably. You know,
just print. Seriously, though, these HP things are cool. I hope they print good.
And now for the news. A Tennessee hospital confirmed that Steve Jobs did, in fact,
receive a liver transplant two months ago. The hospital gave few details, but said
Jobs got the transplant because he was the sickest patient on the donor list. And a
London surgeon told the Daily Mail that Jobs was likely in end-stage liver disease,
and that his prognosis before the transplant was probably quite poor.
The news coincides with the fact that it�s now almost the end of June, and that�s
when Jobs is supposed to be back at work, and a witness actually SAW him at Apple
headquarters this week � and now that he has that new liver, he�s rarin� to go and
our long national nightmare can probably end, right?
Except, wow, is Apple going to be in a lot of trouble with the SEC, what with all the
TOTAL LYING about Steve Jobs�s health to investors and the saying he�s fine and all
that. Just � I�m just saying. Tim Cook�s been doing a GREAT job so far. Look at the
iPhone 3G S! Except for the nightmare activation problems at launch, it�s a total
winner! Let�s get used to Mr. Cook, shall we? I think we�re going to be seeing a little
bit more of him lately. And Steve?
In other very serious news this week, I know you�ve heard about the political unrest
in Iran. Citizens have taken to the streets to protest what is widely seen as a stolen
election by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the resulting violence and unrest
have turned into a huge Internet and technology story.
Possibly for the first time, YouTube, social networks and Twitter are almost the ONLY
source of information coming out of Iran. The story, as usual, broke online, and soon
Twitter users called out CNN for failing to pick up the story at all � and then CNN
responded, of course, by blanketing my television screen with images of poor Neda
dying over and over and over again. Seriously, CNN? I�m getting PTSD. Cool it.
And all this information is getting out despite widespread network monitoring,
censorship, and even deep-packet inspection of Internet traffic inside that country.
Reports say Internet speeds have been slowed to about a tenth of normal. But with
almost no Western journalists allowed inside Iran right now, the slow trickle of
Tweets and videos and status updates seem to be the only way to get on-the-ground
information out to a Western world that is captivated by this uprising and the
bravery of these Iranian protesters.
And you know what? You go, Internet. I think you�ve finally achieved your long-
awaited potential as the true voice of the people, and the one that could truly
supplant mainstream media in the case where mainstream media simply cannot do
its job. There truly are no secrets anymore. The flow of information CANNOT be
stopped. This is it. This is a couple revolutions happening all at the same time. This
is big-time stuff.
But can I just say real quick? I can still care about Iran without having to turn my
Twitter avatar that scary Hulk green. Because that doesn�t look pretty. I care. I
really do.
Ok. Let�s keep this oppressive regime train rolling, shall we? I think it�s time for a little China
Update! Despite increasing pressure, even from the U.S. government, China says it will NOT
back down on its mandate that all PCs sold in that country come with filtering software pre-
installed. You know. In case you were still harboring any illusions that China gives a damn.
And in other China news, the country has successfully pressured Google into censoring porn
searches on Google.cn. After China warned Google that its filters were too week, the search
giant snapped to, removed the Google Suggest feature, and developed a new system to remove
pornographic links completely. In a related story, the Microsoft Bing team called Google and
said, �hey, can we get that system? We need that, too � for America.�
And that�s the Buzz Report for this week, everyone. I�m Molly Wood! Thanks for watching.
