No, a Stolen iPod Didn't Brick Ben Eberle's Prosthetic Hand

New submitter willoremus writes A wounded Army vet had his $75k prosthetic hand bricked when someone stole his iPod Touch? Yeah, not so much. I'm a tech reporter for Slate.com, and a Slashdot post earlier this week prompted me to look into this story and ultimately debunk some of the key info. Sorry for self-posting, but I thought folks here might be interested in the truth since the false story was one of the top posts earlier this week.

Comments

Rule of thumb

[nysus]

If something sounds too crazy to be true without substantial evidence to back it up, it probably is. I take everything I read on the Internet with a very fine grain of salt.

Re:Rule of thumb

[i kan reed]

Yeah, apparently "what engineer would ever design a product like that?" was the correct question to ask.

Because the answer is "no engineer"

Re:Rule of thumb

[viperidaenz]

But... what committee would design a product like that?Quite a few probably.

Re:Rule of thumb

[Voltara]

Something didn't seem quite right, but I just couldn't put my finger on it...

Re:Rule of thumb

[Richy_T]

Or a marketer (vendor lock-in) or an auto company (special tool #16)

Re:Rule of thumb

[kdataman]

As the OP of the original post, I would like to point out that I listed 3 possibilities and the first was that the story was wrong, maybe even intentionally wrong.

Re:Rule of thumb

[i kan reed]

You don't need vendor lock-in when your product costs $100,000, and your customer can use at most 4.

Re:Rule of thumb

[mysidia]

If something sounds too crazy to be true without substantial evidence to back it up

If something sounds crazy, on the internet, especially Facebook,etc; It's probably click-bait. They just want your clicks to earn ad revenue.

They will earn money, even if it's false or bogus. Also, there are unlikely to be any negative ramifications at all.

"Sorry, our bad"

And everyone will forget.

Sort of.... i'm sure there will be many repeats, and we'll just never get it.

Re: Rule of thumb

[jd2112]

Personally I use two or three large salt mines. A single grain just doesn't cut it anymore.

Re:Rule of thumb

[Anonymous Coward]

This is Slashdot, most of the initial commentary is in reaction to the titles, a few people read the summary, and roughly once a Earth-Mars eclipse someone reads the linked articles.

Re:Rule of thumb

[nmoore]

The article even quotes you, but does not appear to indicate that you were the submitter of the slashdot story you were "incredulous" of.

Re:Rule of thumb

[Applehu Akbar]

But you could have had you backed up your iOS device to the cloud like everybody else.

Re:Rule of thumb

[Anonymous Coward]

If something sounds too crazy to be true without substantial evidence to back it up, it probably is. I take everything I read on the Internet with a very fine grain of salt.

I too only use a fine grain of salt. However, I've been around the internet enough to now be diagnosed with acute hypertension thanks to my total sodium intake.

Re:Rule of thumb

[richlv]

also, if a slashdot submission excludes key facts in the hope that we will read the article, they must be smoking something stroooong.
we'll go in offtopic rants instead.

Re:Rule of thumb

[dcollins117]

As the OP of the original post, I would like to point out that I listed 3 possibilities and the first was that the story was wrong, maybe even intentionally wrong.

This is Slashdot. We don't let facts get in the way of a good story.

Re:Rule of thumb

[ihtoit]

I have one of those.

It's a keyed 16mm 12-point triple square bolt driver. Mine wasn't from the Mercedes-Benz or Audi kit though, it's part of a generic garage set.

Re:Rule of thumb

[ihtoit]

something about bricked fingers but I'm sure one of those ACs that I can't see has already brought himself and no bottle to that party.

Re:Rule of thumb

[Anonymous Coward]

Now we're expected to read lists? Fuck, next thing you'll be expecting us to read articles.

Re:Rule of thumb

[c]

Yeah, apparently "what engineer would ever design a product like that?" was the correct question to ask.

Because the answer is "no engineer"

I once pulled apart a cheap shop vacuum to fix an electrical problem. The motor was held in with about 10 screws evenly spaced around the core.

Nine of those screws were a phillips head.

The other screw? Otherwise identical to the others, nothing special about its location or anything to differentiate it from the others. Security torx.

Because some engineers are just assholes.

Re:Rule of thumb

[HornWumpus]

BMW secret decoder ring tools are now common enough. Just in time for all the German cars to be junk.

Re: Rule of thumb

[Anonymous Coward]

That's not an engineering decision. That's management told the product team to make the vacuum impossible for consumers to repair. He could have used ask security torx. Or he could have used all different bits. He used but one since that was sufficient to placate management and should be easy for you to defeat with a dremmel (cut a slot; now it's a flat head screw).

He wasn't an asshole. He was being as nice as he could without being fired.

Re:Rule of thumb

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Not quite true. The article likens this to GM bricking a Corvette for losing the keys, but that's exactly what happens to a modern Toyota computer if you lose the last key (cost of replacing a key for my Prius $175. Cost of replacing key + computer $1,275, I checked and that convinced me to spend the $175 for a second key for my used Prius).

Re: Rule of thumb

[russotto]

He used only one because security torx is expensive compared to Phillips and minimizing the BOM while fulfilling the requirements (including making user repairs a pain) was his job. Naturally he had to balance this against the cost of having separate tooling to insert the security screw.

Re:Rule of thumb

[zwarte piet]

I prefer fleur de sel.

Re: Rule of thumb

[AmiMoJo]

More likely he was just keeping costs down. If you can remove one security screw you can remove them all, so might as well only use cheaper standard ones for the other nine positions.

Re:Rule of thumb

[AmiMoJo]

Your Prius is only worth $1,275? Also, in the US they don't give you two keys when you buy it? In the UK the dealers can look up your car by it's VIN number and generate new keys, even if have lost them all.

Re:Rule of thumb

[baegucb]

I actually read the articles, even if I don't post a comment.

Re: Rule of thumb

[LeadSongDog]

(cut a slot; now it's a flat head screw).

Exactly what I did when my (name and shame) Shopvac stopped. Once I got past the "security" barrier, as usual, the last facade of quality fell away and the crap that it truly was stood exposed. I was astounded that this thing hadn't spontaneously burst into flames: the motor windings were exposed to sawdust! I replaced it with a different brand, but of course I'd be deluding myself to think it's really any better.

Re: Rule of thumb

[RavenLrD20k]

Assuming genuine Shock and Awe at the concept... yes, it is.

Re:Rule of thumb

[Marxist Hacker 42]

My prius was $6500 used. It is a 2006. They only gave me one key, the previous owner had lost one.

With the Prius, the vin number can be used to *create* a new key, but you need the old key as part of the programming sequence to pair the new key with the computer. Can't even boot the computer up without a paired key (really just an RFID tag in the fob, the actual physical key is only good for unlocking the door and cannot boot up the computer). So if all keys are lost, the master computer is effectively bricked. Also, due to the fact that the neutral is engaged only through software and when the computer is off, a steel bar locks the planetary "Synergy Drive" transmission, you need a flatbed tow truck with a very strong winch to drag the car up onto the flatbed if you can't boot the computer up.

There are other interesting design choices. For instance, the rear truck release is only electric. If the 12 volt battery that boots up the computer dies, you have to fold down the rear seats, unload the trunk, open the trunk, remove the tool box, climb in on your belly, reach in a hole blind to pull a lever to push up on the hatchback with your shoulders to open the hatchback so that you can then get to the battery compartment.

Though this has been fixed since, the gear shift lever (really just an analog joystick with 4 positions in a lower case reverse h and a spring to bring it back to center) is non-instinctive, you push it forward to go reverse and back to go forward.

Finally, I think the fuel cap release lever was designed for 5' tall asians, not 6' tall Americans. Even at a measly 5'6", I need to get out of the car to be able to reach it.

Re: Rule of thumb

[nmr_andrew]

While using a Dremmel is fun if you have one around, you can also get a set of security bits. IIRC, I got the smaller set at Harbor Freight for something like $4.

Re:Rule of thumb

[cwsumner]

... I too only use a fine grain of salt. However, I've been around the internet enough to now be diagnosed with acute hypertension thanks to my total sodium intake.

Actually, sodium does not cause hypertension. Some reports are wrong, it seems. It might be a problem if you already have it, though.

Re:Rule of thumb

[ihtoit]

sshh, don't tell anyone but I know how to make a stock nut extractor for an Air Arms S-200 split stock. ;)

Slashdot got a sensational story wrong?

[Nimey]

Say it ain't so!

Re:Slashdot got a sensational story wrong?

[Nimey]

Now I hope all you jackasses who immediately piled on with your superiority complexes ("oh, how could an engineer be /that/ stupid? I know better than him, hee hee") have learned something, but I doubt it.

Re:Slashdot got a sensational story wrong?

[CanHasDIY]

I'm more incredulous that Slate ran a factual story that wasn't 99% opinion.

Re:Slashdot got a sensational story wrong?

[Applehu Akbar]

CNN would have run the same story as a shaky amateur video with two advertisements bracketing it and no audio.

Re:Slashdot got a sensational story wrong?

[the gnat]

their No Nukes anti-vax GMO-free science illiterate readership.

Uh, which readership would that be? I've been reading Slate almost daily for a while now, and they've been very consistently against the anti-vaxxers and, to a lesser extent, haven't had much sympathy for the anti-GMO crowd either. They even employ Phil Plait, who rarely misses an opportunity to denounce scientific illiteracy. Perhaps you confused them with Salon?

Re:Slashdot got a sensational story wrong?

[gman003]

Are you reading the same Slate I read? Slate got my eyes by hiring Dr. Phil Plait, who is basically a full-time anti-science debunker, one who is specifically against anti-vaxxers, astrologers and conspiracy theorists. And although I don't often read many of their other authors, I've never seen an anti-vax or anti-GMO article there either. They've got their share of inanity (the advice blogger is almost hilariously bad), and they link to bullshit sites like Buzzfeed, but "science illiterate" isn't one of the complaints I'd voice about them.

Re:Slashdot got a sensational story wrong?

[Nimey]

I doubt he reads Slate at all: most of what he wrote was anti-liberal dogwhistles, so you bet he gets his news from somewhere that tells him what he wants to hear.

Re:Slashdot got a sensational story wrong?

[im_thatoneguy]

I think he's confusing Salon.com with Slate.com since they both start with "S".

Re:Slashdot got a sensational story wrong?

[the gnat]

yes, Slate's columnists seem to have sensed that the anti-vaxers have crossed a line in their Luddism

You're still grappling with a straw man. Slate writers have repeatedly denounced anti-vaxxers in fairly strong terms, and I have yet to see a single article taking the opposing view. More generally, they've been strongly anti-pseudoscience. You're assuming bad faith by making it sound like Slate has only grudgingly decide that there's a limit to their left-wing lunacy, rather than being firmly opposed to such nonsense on principle. If their "readership" really consisted of hardcore Luddites why would the editors consistently go out of their way to piss them off? Besides, you find find people saying stupid shit on virtually any Web forum - every Slashdot post about creationism inevitably attracts a slew of pissed-off religious fundamentalists, but I don't go around complaining that Slashdot's readership consists of superstitious morons.

Re:Slashdot got a sensational story wrong?

[Applehu Akbar]

It's certainly commendable that Slate is taking as strong a stand as it is on vaccination. The problem is overall pandering: the well-meaning science columnists there like Phil Plait would probably like to take a similar stand against the wall of anti-science, anti-engineering prejudice that has dominated the left since the Seventies, but are afraid of pissing off what the site sees as an important segment of the readership. It almost seems as though they're hoping that taking a strong stand on that one issue will gently remind readers that perhaps they need to rethink other topics in science.

A prime example of 'Slateism': on climate change, Slate's columnists not only demand that we accept the most apocalyptic interpretation of the data as gospel (scientists are not used to using terms like 'believe' and 'denier', but okay, the Maoists take taken over the issue), but that we automatically reject every proposed solution. We're all going to die, because that's the just fate Gaia intends for us as punishment for being fat and eating meat. We can't go nuclear to eliminate carbon! We can't bioengineer better crops! We can't geoengineer for carbon control, even by doing something as mild and self-limiting as seeding deep ocean waters with iron sulfide to promote algal blooms. Even the new California solar plant attracted its own firestorm of opposition.

I have no interest in political conversion here. Left and right are different cultures, each with its own set of values evolved over generations. What I would really like to see is a leftist site that reclaims the spirit of Roosevelt. If we have problems like climate change, energy shortage, war and poverty, let's attack them by building the giant public infrastructure projects that Steinbeck waxed so lyrical about. An energy independence Apollo would address all of these problems at once.

Re:Slashdot got a sensational story wrong?

[LeadSongDog]

More likely because they both end with ".com". This is, of course, a perfectly understandable error. No commercial website would ever do anything in order to benefit the reader, after all.

Re:Slashdot got a sensational story wrong?

[the gnat]

Slate's columnists not only demand that we accept the most apocalyptic interpretation of the data as gospel (scientists are not used to using terms like 'believe' and 'denier', but okay, the Maoists take taken over the issue)

Again, you're painting with a broad brush, and you seem to have no idea what the people you're talking about actually believe in. I'm a scientist, I don't vote, I'm a libertarian on most issues, and I'm pessimistic about our ability to actually do anything about global warming, but I still think the so-called skeptics are lying sacks of shit. Most scientists I know feel the same way, not because we're committed to some utopian vision of. . . cap-and-trade legislation? - but because we hate seeing paid shills distort the evidence and accuse our entire community of bad faith. It's the same reason that creationism drives us batty.

but that we automatically reject every proposed solution. We're all going to die, because that's the just fate Gaia intends for us as punishment for being fat and eating meat. We can't go nuclear to eliminate carbon! We can't bioengineer better crops!

Okay, time to back that up: when has Slate published screeds against a) meat-eating, b) nuclear power, c) bioengineering? I know for certain that they've run multiple articles in support of bioengineering, and I can remember at least one or two making fun of vegetarians. And it's not like you need to look very far to find a "left" outlet supporting your favored policies; the New Yorker just ran a very critical article about an anti-GMO activist that basically ended with the statement that only bioengineering would save the world.

What I would really like to see is a leftist site that reclaims the spirit of Roosevelt. If we have problems like climate change, energy shortage, war and poverty, let's attack them by building the giant public infrastructure projects that Steinbeck waxed so lyrical about. An energy independence Apollo would address all of these problems at once.

Liberals have been talking about this idea for years, usually by analogy to the Manhattan Project rather than Apollo. You don't see it getting wider reporting because everyone with a brain realizes that it has a snowball's chance in hell of getting through Congress.

Main Confusion Stems From Vocabulary?

[Anonymous Coward]

Bricked means you can't recover from brickedness. If you have a chip or device that can be reset with a programmer, or if you can download software for this prosth-arm and have it working again, it wasn't bricked.

Yeah, yeah, language changes, go suck a brick. "Bricked" is such new jargon that it barely had time to be properly used before the definition got raped. (I know rape doesn't apply here, but you know, languages evolve.)

Re:Main Confusion Stems From Vocabulary?

[jsepeta]

but bricks build houses! or (charcoal briquettes) can be used to grill meat.

Re:Main Confusion Stems From Vocabulary?

[HornWumpus]

They come over from Redit.

They should just look for the Redit cookies and redirect them to an echo chamber, where they can complement each others spelling.

Re:Main Confusion Stems From Vocabulary?

[sjames]

Generally bricked means the device cannot be recovered using a normal end-user procedure. Needs JTAG to recover (especially if you must solder the connection in) ==bricked. Needs to be turned on while holding volume up key == not bricked (wedged hard). Needs reset button or power cycle to recover == wedged. No procedure can recover it == dead.

The truth?

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot readers don't want the truth, they want their own version of reality that fits their particular political/sociological/etc. slant.

Mythbusters

[dfsmith]

Maybe the hurried journalists quietly noted that there are now 66% fewer Mythbusters and thought, "Let's run with it—what's the chance of being caught now, eh?" B-(

Re:Mythbusters

[viperidaenz]

Hang on... there were 5, now there are 2. That's 60% fewer, not 66%.

Re:Mythbusters

[dfsmith]

I thought, "I'll run with it...".

Re:Mythbusters

[viperidaenz]

You can cite your previous headline in a new article titled "Discovery Channel Removes 30% of Adam Savage"

Thanks

[alvinrod]

Thanks for actually looking into this. Reporting in general seems (or perhaps it's always been this way, but I just wasn't as aware of it.) to have gotten a lot more lazy recently, especially with the explosion of news blogs and other internet only news sources. There's such a rush to be the first to break a story and get the massive number of clicks and associated ad revenue that reporters have lost focus on digging deep and getting to the bottom of a story. After that everyone just links to the original without bothering to verify the information and the facts gets buried under a combination of half-truths and/or agenda-driven opinion.

Re:Thanks

[Krishnoid]

Sorry for self-posting, but I thought folks here might be interested in the truth since the false story was one of the top posts earlier this week.

The additional research you did is definitely very valuable, but it's going to take a lot more than a simple 'sorry' to make up for all the self-posting so far, Bennett.

Re:Thanks

[Type44Q]

especially with the explosion of news blogs and other internet only news sources.

Causation vs correlation: internet-only news sources are a mixed bag but if you want breaking-headline stories that definitely have a political slant/bias (whether it's the blatant "Fascism-masquerading-as-Conservativism" spewed by the likes of Fox News or the far-more-subtle and carefully-concocted "Fascism-masquerading-as-Progressive-Socialism" you'll hear on NPR), be sure to tune-in to Mainstream Media...

Re:Thanks

[schnell]

Reporting in general seems (or perhaps it's always been this way, but I just wasn't as aware of it.) to have gotten a lot more lazy recently, especially with the explosion of news blogs and other internet only news sources.

You are correct, it has gotten a lot more lazy recently. Once upon a time, when newspapers were printed once or twice a day and TV news aired only at 6 pm and 10 pm, there was a lot more time to get your facts straight and - most importantly - request a balancing comment from the "other side of the story." Today, there are so many sources of "news" - heavy finger quotes there - that operate in near real time that people are exposed to lots of rumormongering in the guise of journalism due to pressure to be first to get clicks (and the low reportorial standards that accompany a rush to publish in minutes).

Generally speaking, if I see something sensational online I will wait until I see it from an outlet that hires actual reporters (like CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, et. al.) instead of "bloggers" who just scour Twitter for unsubstantiated scoops (like Gawker properties, Deadspin, whatever) or "writers" who are just paid to write opinions with no pretense at balance (like Slate, HuffPo, Fox News, et. al.). So even if Facebook "told" me that Robin Williams was dead at noon, I was perfectly content to wait until someone did some fact checking and reported it on cnn.com two hours later before I believed it.

Re:Still

[Nimey]

^^^ proof that any story can be derailed by conservative jackasses who want to complain about the government, right there. Needs more random CAPITALIZATION to make A POINT, though.

More Cracked Feedstock

[gurps_npc]

I love Cracked's series that lists "Fake news stories you fell for". Most of the time I did not really fall for them, but every once in a while I do.

This one was along the lines of "I don't think so, but there might be a designer about to be fired for stupidity".

I have a logical explaination

[viperidaenz]

The guy said "they stole my iPod now I can't use my hand until I get a new one"
The media interpreted that as need a new hand, not need a new iPod. Since need a new hand means more clicks on headlines, they run with it without clarifying.

Re:Rule of thumb: expand it.

[Anonymous Coward]

You need to include printed sources too since this story was originally reported in the San Antonio Express - News and picked up by the national press - see link again.

If this Slate reporter/blogger didn't follow up, we would have never known for sure.

And here's the kicker, I guarantee you that Touch Bionics will be disputing this story for years to come.

All you need is someone who is careless or just lies because it sounds good, and it catches on, people remember the misinformation and never the truth. - mostly because it falls into their world view and they ignore anything that disputes it

I am no exception to the rule and I have been weening myself off of all news. If it's really important, I'll hear about it from my friends and neighbors. Everything else is just fluff, out of my control and irrelevant to me.

As a result, the World seems much safer, nicer, and I can listen to my neighbor's opinions and disagree without getting angry. Burying my head in the sand? Am i uninformed? What good is it to know everything happening in the Middle East when I cannot do anything about and it is irrelevant to my life? Who cares what the current leader of N. Korea says? Or the idiocy coming out of the politician's mouths? It's all lies, anyway. And don't get me started on the moronic cable news channels and the professional Trolls/Pundits like Hannity, O'Reilly, and those overpaid assholes.

Now, to ween of the Internet and all it's shit.

Sorry Slate reporter and Slashdot, but my life will be better without you.

Re: Still

[jd2112]

It's all Obama's fault!!! I can't think of a single reason why at the moment, but that is Obama's fault as well.

Re:Still

[CanHasDIY]

^^^ proof that any story can be derailed by conservative jackasses

Um, it's only possible for a person to derail a story if you let them.

Which it appears you have done.

Ever consider just ignoring the people you find annoying? Works pretty well for me.

Re:Thank you

[jsepeta]

big city reporter? or unpaid blogger? you decide, story at 10.

may need to reprogram?

[fermion]

While he can keep the same hand, it’s possible that he’ll have to reprogram some specific settings on his new device, said a spokesman for the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where Eberle is a patient.

I don't see why that would be needed. The iPod should be backed up to something. Even if the setting are not backed up to a computer or icloud, it would seem for that amount of money the firm supplying the app would provide a cloud based service to make the service device independent. What if the iPod no longer had charged and you wanted to use your phone?

It still seems kind of fishy.

Speaking of unsubstantiated statements of fact

[Anonymous Coward]

Submitter wrote in his TFA:

The Daily Mail, in a rare instance of actual reporting, did at least take note of Eberle’s Facebook post.)

I keep seeing this here on /. and other sites, but is it really true? Is the Daily Mail any worse than any other media outlet, like CNN, the NY Times, Spiegel, etc.? Or is this just one of those internet born factoids that's been passed around so often that its just accepted as to be true, and is mindlessly repeated by careless individuals who didn't bother to verify its veracity?

Re:Speaking of unsubstantiated statements of fact

[Nimey]

That paper didn't get known as the Daily Fail and Daily Hate for nothing.

Re:Speaking of unsubstantiated statements of fact

[HornWumpus]

It's about the same as fox news. The same as the others, but from the other side.

Don't believe anything any of them report.

Amazing story

[almostadnsguy]

I'm not sure what's more amazing to me that 1. a newspaper in America still has reporters (not relying on th AP) or 2. that they got something wrong.

Re:Notice how they refused to address the issue

[techno-vampire]

What made you think that the vet got screwed over? He lost his legs and his arm, meaning that his disability is service connected and he's responsible for none of the costs related to it. I know; I have a minor service connected disability (hearing loss caused by being around too much outbound shore bombardment back in '72) and all of my hearing aids, batteries, repair and replacement are done at no charge.

You'll not only go blind, but...

[Tablizer]

There's a ROFL episode of Big Bang where a cast member is using a robot hand for "personal pleasure", when it locks up.

Re:You'll not only go blind, but...

[HornWumpus]

Penny? Gotta find that episode.

Re:You'll not only go blind, but...

[Tablizer]

Not unless she has a wanker

Hijacked limb?

[Tactical Bacon]

While it's good to read that his prosthetic isn't useless due to the loss of an inexpensive device, I really hope there's some way to lock out that old iPod Touch from his hand. If the thief realized what he had stolen he could cause some mischief with it. Presumably his identity is unknown since he hasn't been caught, which means he could get close enough without being noticed. So unless the limb can be programmed to ignore the old device, could the thief just get within range of the prosthetic and cause the poor guy to unwillingly and repeatedly flip everyone around him off or otherwise mess with him?

Fox News

[Princeofcups]

It works for Fox News. Make outrageous statements, and let people get all riled up about it. The next say explain that it was wrong, but you have already won with that emotional tie. Same for Apple haters. Rationality never enters into it.

Mutual authentication?

[manu0601]

TFA says the iPod finds the hand by its unique serial number. But how does the hand authenticate the iPod?

Re:Notice how they refused to address the issue

[techno-vampire]

If you'd bothered to RTFA, you might have kept your foot out of your mouth: "The money will come from the government, but a new hand is worth $75,000, authorities said."

Oh you Republicans are all alike.

Yet another pointless, irrelevant unproven argumentum ad hominum from an aptly named Anonymous COWARD.

Re:Still

[ildon]

> Needs more random CAPITALIZATION to make A POINT, though.

No need for the strawman. Random pointless capitalization knows no political affiliation.

Journalism only in the correction...

[gweihir]

It is pretty pathetic when original stories do not contain any journalism as in verification and clarification and using plain, apparently old-fashioned common sense. The correction is the only good thing here, and how common "journalism" fails to deliver seems to have become a story in its own right. Again.

Re:Just goes to show that slashdot is retarded...

[gweihir]

Aehm, moderators can down-mod but not "delete".

Typical of Slashdot

[EmagGeek]

Rush to post a story without even an ounce of research or fact-checking.

Really, I only come here anymore for the profound amusement I get from watching this train wreck continue in super slow motion.

Amazing innovations

[LordLimecat]

It seems that Slashdot has adopted CNN's recently invented journalism technique guaranteed to at least double traffic:

1) Find a barely-newsworthy story
2) Twist the facts so severely that the resulting summary /headline are factually false
3) Create a story out of someone debunking said nonsense
4) make sure to monetize at each step.

With this technique, we can double the number of postings on slashdot! Monday:"FLYING CAR INVENTED!" Tuesday: "SLASHDOT LIES ABOUT FLYING CAR-- HOW IT HAPPENED"

What incredibly forward-thinking times we live in...

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Really? A hand-held touch device to control...

[coughfeeman]

..a prosthetic hand? So to make it work, it has to be remotely operated by the working hand? Otherwise, isn't it just a narcissistic recursive device: command hand to poke at iPod so it can command the hand to poke at the iPod?

Do they make pedal powered wheelchairs?