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So Long Scrabulous? Not So Fast!

July 31, 2008 2:42 PM

By Nick Schifrin, ABC News

All of a sudden, it was gone.

OK, it wasn’t quite gone without any warning. For months the millions of Scrabulous users heard that the ubiquitous Facebook program was in trouble; was being sued by Hasbro, the makers of the original Scrabble; could just disappear at any moment. But really, did anyone think that one day, it would just not be there when we woke up? Does anyone online think anything is ever going to be taken away from them? (Above: Brothers Agarwalla, in their Calcutta offices.)

It was less than a week ago that Hasbro officially sued the two brothers who made Scrabulous, Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla. On July 29, it was shut down. "Scrabulous is disabled for U.S. and Canadian users until further notice,” read the Facebook page. At the same time, Hasbro released an official Scrabble version for Facebook.

A few months ago, when I was based in New Delhi, India, I traveled to Calcutta to interview Rajat and Jayant.

Rajat is the older one, the one who started RJ Software (as in Rajat and Jayant), a company that did some outsourcing work before it started building Facebook applications (Scrabulous first and now Chess Pro).

They wouldn’t talk about the lawsuit that was then still under way -- "No comment on that, actually,” Rajat said when I asked whether Scrabulous had made Scrabble more popular. But they were eloquent in trying to explain what Scrabulous had to say about social networking.

Because while for most people it was simply a game, the program did help modernize Facebook and in so doing, helped make how we interact with each other online more mature.

“If you want to stay in touch with someone, you can't just say, hi, hello, how are you every day. It gets boring. I mean, you can't poke them every day, you can't throw sheep at them. It gets kind of boring. But if you simply play a move at Scrabulous, it's so much more fun,” Jayant told me. “At least you're heading towards something and both people are into the game. And it's just a fun way to keep in touch and I think that's what makes Scrabulous a lot more popular.”  (Above: a screen grab from the unofficial Scrabulous music video.)

Rajat put it this way: We were “adding value to all these people who were part of a social network. Like they had something more to do. They had something more to look at. And because of the wide choice of applications, it's like people can choose what adds value to their daily lives. Like you might want to have an application that tells you about movies, or lets you play some other game than Scrabulous. It can notify you about where your friends are traveling. And those kinds of applications are already out there and I think a lot of people use them and it's giving them more of a reason to use the social networks than to just be in touch with friends.” 

If the old social networking model was spying on singles (Friendster), Facebook offered a way to better mimic real friendships -- you could only see people who gave you access, and interacting with them became about sharing your movie tastes, figuring out how to mutually reduce your carbon footprints, sharing photos with each other and, yes, playing games with them.  

Before Scrabulous, about a year and a half ago, Facebook had 30 million users. Today, it has 90 million users. Of course, not all of that is directly thanks to Scrabulous. But the program that quickly became the most popular game on Facebook was certainly at the top of many Facebook users’ lists when they said what attracts them to the site most.

As for what’s next for Rajat and Jayant –- they didn't wait very long to unveil a new creation. Feels like Scrabble. Kind of looks like Scrabble. Is it Scrabble? Apparently not: Wordscraper.

Oh, and P.S.: If you live outside North America (Scrabulous is still available everywhere else) and want to challenge Jayant to a game, his average score is 300 to 350. And that was while he was playing 16 games at once.

P.P.S.: Don’t miss this lyric from the Scrabulous encomium music video: “L, T, R, S ain't going to get you very far. J, Z, Q, 'Dub, that's the stuff you gotta love.”

July 31, 2008 in Nick Schifrin | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Car Dealer Struck by Ex-Formula 1 Star

July 31, 2008 2:34 PM

Eliza Browning, ABC News, London

A car dealer in England was sent flying into the air when he was struck by a van driven by one of his favorite car racers:

German ex-Formula 1 star Michael Schumacher.

On Sunday afternoon, Martin Kingham, 39, was putting up the security barriers at his car dealership, Millfield Garage, when a Fiat van struck the edge of the security barrier while driving by the entrance.

The barrier hit Kingham in the leg and he went flying onto the hood of a nearby car in the sales lot.

“Before I knew it, there was this almighty crash and I ended up on the bonnet of the car,” Kingham told ABCNews.com.

When the van turned around Kingham saw the driver, he knew the face looked familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

“I had that feeling that I knew who he was, but it didn’t click at first,” said Kingham.

It wasn’t until he phoned the police and tried to describe the driver of the van that he realized the striking resemblance to the racing star Schumacher.

Kingham said when Schumacher’s “entourage” arrived at the scene he knew he was right.

Police arrived at the scene to investigate the accident soon after the crash. Kingham sustained minor injuries, including a bruise on one side of his leg, but he said he is not planning on pressing charges against Schumacher.

“At the end of the day,” said Kingham, “it was just an accident.”

But Kingham, who has followed Schumacher’s successful career, said his estimation of the racer went down after Sunday’s accident.

“All I wanted was an apology, that’s all I wish I had,” he said.

“After the police left, the first thing I did was phone my wife to tell her but she didn’t believe me,” Kingham said.

A spokesman for the seven-time Formula 1 champion told BBC News that the incident had taken place and that Schumacher had cooperated with the police.

July 31, 2008 in Eliza Browning | Permalink | User Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Environmentally Irresponsible, or a Rich Man’s Choice?

July 31, 2008 12:29 PM

By Stephen Webb, ABC News London

What has four wheels and travels 6,500 miles through the air to have its oil changed?

A superrich Arab’s Lamborghini Murciélago LP640.

Environmental groups are horrified at the news that an unnamed Arab put a $375,000 supercar on a scheduled flight from Qatar to London, got it serviced at a local dealer, and then sent it back.

The round-trip is thought to have cost around $40,000. Servicing the supercar, which is featured in the latest Batman movie, Dark Knight, costs around $7,000.

Using the calculator on the Carbon Neutral Company’s Web site, ABC News worked out a rough estimate of 24 tons of CO2 for the trip. The carbon footprint for the average American in one year is 9.5 tons of CO2.

A member of Plane Stupid, a British anti-flying group, told The Sun newspaper: “This horrifies me.” The group said the super-wealthy were damaging the planet, while poor people are told not to fly for their vacations.

David Price, of Lamborghini Club U.K., told The Sun: “If an owner wants to service his car in that way, it is his choice.”

Read the story here.

July 31, 2008 in Stephen Webb | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Alicia Keys Drops Smoking Sponsorship Of Overseas Concert

July 31, 2008 9:40 AM

By Margaret Conley, ABC News, Jakarta, Indonesia

Philip Morris International has yanked its sponsorship of the Alicia Keys concert that will take place tonight at the Jakarta Convention Center.

Tobacco industries are targeting developing countries the same way they used to target developed countries, such as the United States, decades ago.  In this case, a major cigarette brand sponsored a hip and popular concert in a third-world country.

As ABC’s Rachel Martin reports, “According to the world's largest tobacco seller, Altria, the maker of Marlboro, cigarette sales in the U.S. are declining 2 percent to 3 percent a year. At the same time, international sales jumped by almost 10 percent in 2007.” 

“Keys says she didn't know her show had ties to a tobacco company. In response to questions from ABC News, Keys called for an investigation, and Phillip Morris International withdrew its sponsorship,” Martin reports.   

Key’s record company, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, released a letter requesting that Philip Morris International stop the branding, according to the Associated Press.

"I am an unyielding advocate for the well-being of children around the world and do not condone or endorse smoking," Keys says in the letter.

Philip Morris International responded with a statement today. "Whether tobacco sponsorship of music events leads to youth smoking is a matter of serious debate. Having considered the facts in this specific instance, we have decided to withdraw all branding associated with this concert,” it reads, according to the Associated Press.

Over 30 percent of Indonesia's 220 million-plus people smoke, making it the fifth-largest tobacco market in the world, according to the World Health Organization and the Associated Press.

Also in recent news, as ABC reports on World News, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged to spend $500 million to cut global smoking.

During a press conference according to ABC, Bloomberg urged, "If we do nothing, tobacco will kill 1 billion people by the end of the century."

(above photo by Margaret Conley: A concert billboard promotion in Jakarta, Indonesia that has since been pulled. “A Mild Live Production” is produced by Sampoerna, the Indonesian subsidiary of Philip Morris)

July 31, 2008 in Margaret Conley | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The End of Olmert

July 31, 2008 9:14 AM

By Simon McGregor-Wood - Middle East Correspondent

So it’s finally over.

Two years after he was urged to step down in the aftermath of the war in Lebanon, Ehud Olmert has finally decided to do so.

One Israeli commentator wrote this morning that with Olmert’s departure the last chapter of the failed war comes to a close.

In the end though, it was allegations of corruption that pushed the prime minister over the edge.

Five separate police investigations proved too much, even for a political survivor like Olmert.

In the end he lost the support of his close political allies.

On Friday he will again be questioned by police. All at a time when Israel faces serious challenges.

A smooth transition of power may be what Israel needs right now, but it is by no means clear who will take over and whether new elections can be avoided.

Tzipi Livni the current foreign minister is the favorite to take over leadership of the Kadima Party and therefore be given the chance to form the next government.

She is a moderate and deeply involved in the peace talks with the Palestinians.

But running a close second is Shaul Mofaz. He is the Transport Minister but was a former chief of staff and defence minister. He is casting himself in the light of a security specialist – always popular with Israelis.

Whoever takes over the party must then form a coalition government with other parties.

That coalition must control over 60 seats in the parliament or Knesset. That will not be easy. If they fail there will be new elections and even more uncertainty.

Leading the polling for new general elections is Benyamin Netanyahu leader of the right wing Likud Party.

Netanyahu has been prime minister before and is a security hawk. His victory would call into question the continuation of the peace process. It may even make an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear program more likely.

Whatever happens Israelis are sick and tired of their politicians. Many complain about endemic corruption and yearn for a new generation to emerge.

Ehud Olmert’s resignation means Israeli politicians will spend much of the next few months in back room dealing, jockeying for position and favor.

It is difficult to see how that will be good for the peace process.

And whoever takes over in the White House in January will need a reliable partner in power in Israel. It is very hard to predict who that will now be.

July 31, 2008 in Simon McGregor-Wood | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Gary McKinnon: Hacking Mastermind or Foolish Amateur?

July 30, 2008 12:46 PM

By Stephen Webb, ABC News London

The U.S. government is calling it "the biggest military computer hack ever."

What does it take to earn such a title? Perhaps you would need China’s thousands of military cyber hackers? Or maybe you are a Russian spy, who has infiltrated the Pentagon? Or a new threat from Al Qaeda? 

The answer is Gary McKinnon, a British former computer systems administrator who says he used commercially available software and simply found many military computers with blank or default passwords. He says he was searching for evidence of UFOs.

McKinnon is accused of hacking 97 computers owned by NASA, the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Department of Defense in February 2001 and March 2002.

The U.S. government wants the U. K. to extradite him to stand trial in the United States.

McKinnon appealed the extradition but today lost his case in the House of Lords, Britain's highest court. According to his Web site, freegary.org.uk, he intends to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

In an interview with the BBC, McKinnon claimed that he simply searched military networks for user accounts that had a blank or default password. For example, the password was simply ‘password’.

Rather foolishly, he admits, McKinnon bought some commercial remote control software, which he installed on the military computers he had hacked. Police later traced his purchase and caught him.

Shortly before his arrest McKinnon was leaving antiwar messages on the screens of the computers he had hacked into.

“It got a bit silly," he told the Guardian in 2006. "I suppose it means I'm not a secretive, sophisticated, checking-myself-every-step-of-the-way type of hacker."

McKinnon believed he would face justice in the UK and face, perhaps, a few years in jail. If he is extradited to the U.S., he could face up to 70 years in prison.

The full judgement of his appeal has been published online. It states that McKinnon admits to the hacking but denies causing any damage.  He says he found evidence of other hackers inside the military networks and is being blamed for their actions.

McKinnon claims that he is being treated unfairly and used as a scapegoat. He cites a 1997 case  in which Israeli hackers attacked Pentagon computer servers and were not extradited.

You can read more about the story here.

Photo Credit: AP

July 30, 2008 in Stephen Webb | Permalink | User Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

Tantastic UK Not So Fantastic

July 30, 2008 9:30 AM

By Emily Wither, ABC News London

There was a time back in the 19th century when it was actually desirable to be pale.

It was a sign of class; only the poor peasants who worked in the fields caught the sun, while the bourgeois stayed in the shade and maintained their English rose complexion.

Fast-forward 100 plus years, and the British are falling over themselves to look like they’ve been out in the sun. This is not an easy task in a country notorious for washed-out summers. As a result, frantic men and women are left with no other choice than to hit the bottle, as "Tanorexia" sweeps the nation.

It’s been reported that John Lewis, a popular department store in Britain, claimed a 51 percent increase this year in sales of tanning products such as St. Tropez and Fake Bake.

This could possibly be a back-lash to the credit crunch as hard-up Brits forgo their annual summer holiday to warmer climes to obtain their much-treasured tans. 

But not everyone is happy.

A British school has decided to crack down on their pupils "faking it" and has written to students’ parents asking them to go easy on the tan.

The letter sent by Carol Robinson, principal at Baines High School in Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire, England recognized that while using fake tan was better for her pupils than sunbathing, parents should ensure that it isn’t “over the top.”

The Blackpool Gazette quoted the letter as saying "The current trend for fake/spray tans does little to enhance the appearance of our young ladies… we ask for your support in ensuring that girls do not come to school looking varying shades of orange."

That’s just the problem. "Faking it" is a risky business, as anyone who has tried fake tan will know.

It can give you unsightly orange palms, streaks or you might wind up looking like you’ve picked up some tropical skin disease.

Brits are being warned that such tanning disasters could find them being turned away from some of the most high-profile events on the summer social calendar. It was reported that Royal Ascot, the yearly horse racing event, has decided to tighten its dress code this year, rewriting the rules to “strongly discourage” those attending from attempting to "fake it."

Although for the foreseeable future it looks like tanning is "in," this new shade of orange may portend a "Code Orange" when it comes to fake tanning.

July 30, 2008 in Emily Wither | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Divorce, Arabian Style: Text Message Divorces Worry Arab Women

July 29, 2008 4:25 PM

By Lara Setrakian, ABC News Digital Reporter, Dubai

In some parts of the Arab world divorce can come at the push of a button.

In today’s Gulf Daily News: A women’s group in Bahrain is pushing for laws against the practice of divorce by text message.

Under Islamic law men can initiate a divorce simply by saying out loud “I divorce you,” or something to that effect. In today’s high-tech Muslim world, men from Egypt to Malaysia are opting to deliver the message to a cell phone inbox.

According to Adel Al Mo'awda, a government official quoted in the Bahraini paper, some judges accept text message divorces as legitimate.

“Some [Islamic law] judges will say you can't write the divorce unless you can't speak, but others say you can write it, so it depends on the judge," Al 0Mo'awda said.

Women can initiate a divorce in court through a longer, more complicated process.

Arab women increasingly choose to do so as more of them join the workforce, achieve financial independence, and have less tolerance for an unhappy or abusive marriage. A 2005 study in Sharjah, one of the seven United Arab Emirates, found that 90% of divorces there were initiated by women.

"Unfortunately, many couples are impatient and fail to understand each other….I think a luxury life coupled with the lack of spousal awareness are increasingly becoming a curse,” Umaima Al A'ani, who led the study, told a paper at the time.

Clerics and community leaders have roundly denounced the trend and what they see as the related social upheaval. Saudi Arabia, the most conservative of Muslim countries, sees an estimated 66 divorces per day. By way of percentages, The Associated Press cited one expert’s estimates that at least 30 percent of first marriages in Saudi Arabia end in divorce – not too far from the United States' 33 percent.

July 29, 2008 in Lara Setrakian | Permalink | User Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

Serial Killer Captures Local Headlines In Indonesia

July 29, 2008 9:06 AM

By Margaret Conley, ABC News, Indonesia

A gruesome serial killer captures local headlines in Indonesia.

Yesterday, police exhumed at least five bodies from the backyard of the alleged serial killer’s home, bringing the total number of his suspected victims to over nine.

Verry Henyanksyah, who goes by the alias Ryan, was arrested last week after confessing to murdering his lover and disposing of his mutilated corpse in a suitcase in Jakarta, police spokesman Abu Bakar Nataprawira said, according to the Associated Press.

Henyanksyah also reportedly admitted that five other people reported missing by their families were among his victims. 

"He confessed to the murders when he was shown pictures of the five people," Muhammad Khosim, chief of the Jombang district police, told Antara News.

Last week four bodies were found buried at Henyanksyah’s parent’s house. 

The corpses found yesterday at Henyanksyah’s home, five of them identified as victims all under 30 at time of death, include a 28-year-old woman and her 3-year-old daughter.

Local television footage, according to the Associated Press, showed hundreds of villagers gathered around the area as police dug up the decomposed bodies.

Police are urging anyone who has been in contact with Henyanksyah to contact them, out of fear that there may be more victims.

At this time motive remains unclear.

Experts claim the alleged serial murders are not sexually motivated.  "I believe that he murdered the victims to take their money," criminologist Erlangga Masdiana of the University of Indonesia told the Jakarta Post.

"We have not yet named any other suspects besides Ryan. We cannot make predictions before we have strong evidence," Rusli Nasution, chief investigator of the East Java police, told Antara News.

In an unrelated “suitcase murder” case, local police yesterday arrested three suspects for the murder of Bambang Sapto Nugroho, 50, who was allegedly buried alive and unconscious, and was found dead in a suitcase on Lake Sunter, North Jakarta, according to the Jakarta Post. Two other suspects, including a US citizen, remain at large.   

Over the past month, Indonesia has executed four people convicted for murder. Two were serial killers, according to the Associated Press.

July 29, 2008 in Margaret Conley | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

U.K. Schools to Introduce “Fat” Report Cards

July 28, 2008 1:08 PM

By Ammu Kannampilly, ABC News London

As if British kids didn’t have enough to worry about, now the U.K. government plans to have “fat” report cards sent to their parents.

Under the new scheme, parents will be sent reports detailing their children’s weight at ages 5 and 10.

If a child is considered to be overweight, parents will be sent information about eating healthy and exercising, to help them tackle their child's weight problem earlier in life.

The new initiative is set to roll out in September. It was formulated in response to recent government research that uncovered some startling statistics about child obesity in the U.K.

According to the most recent figures, one in  10 children between four and five is obese, while 13  percent  are  overweight. Among 10 -   to 11-year-olds, 17.5  percent  are obese, and another 14.2  percent are overweight.

Last week in a speech to the thinktank, The Fabian Society, British Health Secretary Alan Johnson called obesity “the biggest health challenge” faced by the U.K.

The British Medical Association has warned that one out of every four British children will be obese by the year 2020, and that the next generation of Britons is likely to have a shorter lifespan than their parents.

Despite all these issues, British health officials have not been terribly forthcoming in their support of the new  plan.

The National Obesity Forum told the U.K. tabloid The Daily Mail that the program did not go far enough, and said that children should be weighed and measured annually.

When ABCNews.com contacted the BMA, the  association  said, “ We are refusing to comment on the scheme.”

Politicians have already weighed in on the issue, with politicians from the opposition Conservative Party criticizing the government for stepping in and taking over from parents.

But Paul Sacher, a paediatric dietician at the Childhood Nutrition Research Centre in London, told the British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph that many parents need help from the government.

“There is a major problem with parents' perception of their children's weight,” he said. 

“As all children are getting bigger, it is becoming more difficult for parents to work out whether their children are overweight by just looking at them and comparing them to other kids. The only way we can work out whether children are getting bigger is to weigh them all.”

But not all parents are keen to get involved. They are allowed to opt out of the weighing program.

Last year, thousands of parents kept their children from attending school on “weighing day.”    

Nevertheless, this new scheme may spark copy-cat programs in other countries battling obesity.

Paul Zimmet, head of the International Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia , and a member of the government's obesity task force, has openly expressed his support for the initiative.

Zimmet told the newspaper, The Australian, that “these are the kinds of options we need to be looking at.”

And, in the U.K.’s Lake District, the first boarding school exclusively for overweight children,  ages  11 to 18 , is set to open shop in 2011.

July 28, 2008 in Ammu Kannampilly | Permalink | User Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)