Loaded: Arrogant gadget lovers Video

Loaded: Arrogant gadget lovers Video Transcript

The New York Times gets social, the Swedish government is spying on all digital communication, and gadget lovers are arrogant jerks! And proud of it! Its Thursday, June 19, I'm Natali Del Conte and its time to get Loaded. The New York Times is launching somewhat of a social network of their own with what they are calling TimesPeople. It is basically a way for you to recommend and share interesting articles with fellow Times readers. News.com's Caroline McCarthy was briefed on the product this week and you can find that interview at News.com. Now the blogosphere is all ablaze with people saying, "Too little too late," but I'm actually not of that mindset. I don't think there will be a next big social network like MySpace or Facebook but rather I think that every Web site will have an underpinning social networking function built in. This is the perfect example of that. You can test it for yourself by going to timespeople.nytimes.com. The Samsung Instinct is set to launch on Friday and it will cost 129-dollars. We were expecting it to cost 199-dollars but cheaper is always better. Especially when the iPhone will now be 199-dollars. Kent German reviewed the Instinct last week and he really liked it although he doesn't like to call it the iPhone killer. Make sure you watch his review at CNET.com. Speaking of Sprint, they are still going full steam ahead with WiMax. The company said that its first city-wide WiMax network will launch in Baltimore in September, followed by networks in Washington DC and Chicago. WiMax is in a weird place these days because Nortel recently announced that they would not support WiMax products. No one really knows if it will take hold here the way it has overseas in some countries but the city of Baltimore will give us a test bed. AOL announced a new distribution deal to serve videos from Scripps Networks' HGTV, Food Network, DIY and Fine Living channels. Videos from these networks will be available on AOL sometime this summer. This is the first time I have ever been excited about AOL Video! I've been so frustrated lately when I miss Iron Chef because it?s really hard to find specific episodes of Food Network shows online. This is an answer to my prayers. Well, actually, a working DVR would be an answer to my prayers but Time Warner Cable is not cooperating lately. So this is a close second. This story was sent to me by a viewer and it will blow your mind! The Swedish Parliament has passed a bill that allows the government to monitor all text messages, email, and other data traffic in Sweden. That means that basically all communication is fair game for the Swedish Defense Radio Establishment to monitor for what they are calling "external threats." Of course there were protestors at parliament but the bill passed anyway. Now obviously I think this is preposterous but I don't know enough about the Swedish government to give an informed opinion. But if you know more or perhaps are from Sweden, please write me about this! Loaded@cnet.com. Kid Rock would rather you steal his music than buy it on iTunes. The rocker told the BBC that he is holding out on releasing his albums on iTunes because Apple doesn't share enough of the revenue with the artists. Kid Rock says he will probably eventually sell his music on iTunes but he will try to avoid it for as long as he can just to prove a point. Apparently he doesn't need to yet because his last album went to number one anyway. Maybe he can just skip iTunes and start releasing straight to Rock Band when his popularity starts to dry up. A new study shows that those of us who love gadgets are obnoxious know-it-alls. Duh! Nielsen Online and Mindset Media surveyed 25-thousand people and found avid technology consumers scored higher in personality traits such as leadership, dynamism and assertiveness. They scored low, however, when it came to modesty. But if you have the latest and greatest in gadgetry, what is to be modest about. Those are all of your headlines for today and that wraps up your week of getting Loaded. I'll be back broadcasting in New York on Monday but if you've missed any of this week's episodes from San Francisco, you can catch up at loaded.cnettv.com. Thank you for joining me! I'm Natali Del Conte with CNET TV and you've just been Loaded.