Future, Cupertino — After a long and fruitful tenure as CEO, Steve Jobs steps down in early 2009 to fanfare and industry fawning. Apple needs a new leader. It's time to choose your own adventure.

Much deliberation and coin tossing goes on in the back rooms of Apple. Their board of directors choose a person who they strongly believe can lead Apple into its next phase of growth, a person who can, at the very least, match Steve Jobs' product development whip cracking, if not his outsized public persona.

The board chooses...

• Jonathan Ive, Apple's Senior Vice President of Industrial Design. Turn to page 10.
• Phil Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing. Turn to page 11.
• Tim Cook, Apple's Chief Operating Officer. Turn to page 12.
• Bill Gates, Super Rich Dude. Turn to page 13.
• Yourself, Super Poor Dude. Turn to page 14.

Choose Your Own Adventure is property of CYOA.com.

Add to the spacey sound track a truly silly marketing line of "space lights" known to the rest of the world as "under body neon," a classy lightning bolt logo below a yet even classier rear spoiler on the back, new leather interior and leather floors and you have a vehicle truly fit for Captain Kirk.

World Debut at the Essen Motor Show 2008

The Very First Tuned Electric Car Comes From BRABUS:
BRABUS Customization Program for the Tesla Roadster

The first tuned electric car comes from BRABUS: The first project of the future cooperation between Tesla Motors, Inc. and the new BRABUS business division Zero Emission celebrates its world debut at the 2008 Essen Motor Show. BRABUS (Brabus-Allee, D-46240 Bottrop, phone + 49 / (0) 2041 / 777-0, fax + 49 / (0) 2041 / 777 111, Internet www.brabus.com) presents an exclusive customization program for the Tesla Roadster, the world’s first electrically powered production sports car.

The new BRABUS logo with added lightning bolt is the trademark of BRABUS Zero Emission vehicles.

To give the sports car a more exciting sound the BRABUS electronics specialists have developed a ‘space sound generator.’ The occupants on-board the Tesla Roadsters can choose from several simulated engine sounds including that of a typical V8 combustion engine, a racecar engine and two futuristic soundscapes named ‘Beam’ and ‘Warp.’ The volume of the sound is dependent on the momentary power output of the electric motor.

A custom-tailored BRABUS tire/wheel combination further improves handling characteristics. The two-seater is refined with weight-optimized BRABUS Monoblock S light-alloy wheels in size 7Jx18 in front and in size 8.5Jx19 in back. BRABUS technology partner Pirelli provides the corresponding P Zero Nero high-performance tires in size 215/35 ZR 18 in front and in size 255/30 ZR 19 on the rear axle. These tires were developed to deliver minimum rolling resistance.

The two-seater also receives an even more striking exterior at BRABUS. The customization measures include a special high-quality ‘matte white’ paintjob. To give the mid-engine sports car an even more enticing face the BRABUS designers treat the front apron to a lightweight carbon-fiber front lip and daytime running lights integrated into the front grille. Matte-white surrounds for the headlamps add interesting detail to the overall effect.

The sides of the Tesla are upgraded with BRABUS entrance lights shaped like futuristic space lights. They are activated with the keyless fob or by pulling on a door handle. BRABUS carbon-fiber air inlets add even more sporty flair. Immediately apparent in the rear are the BRABUS rear wing and the BRABUS rear diffuser, both made from light yet extremely strong carbon fiber. The round taillights are accentuated further by matte-white applications.

The BRABUS customization program for the Tesla Roadster also includes exclusive interior options. The range of products starts with scuff plates with illuminated BRABUS logo. They are integrated into the top of the rocker panels.

The company-own BRABUS upholstery shop masterfully handcrafts exquisite custom interiors for the Tesla. The designers chose a combination of especially soft yet durable BRABUS perforated lightweight leather and Alcantara. The cockpit features white seams to reflect the exterior color. The vehicle floor is also upholstered with lightweight leather for added exclusivity.

The goal of the BRABUS customization concept for the Tesla Roadster is to define a potential limited edition as well as an individual tuning program for the Tesla driver.

For additional BRABUS information please visit our web site at www.brabus.com

[Source: BRABUS]

I have to think Card's work also resonated with another demographic of kids who felt set apart from the crowd: Gay teenagers. Which makes Card's antigay screed, published in the Mormon Times, all the more hurtful. Card, a practicing Mormon, says he's against gay marriage. But he's really against gays, period — and thinks we should overturn the U.S. government to put his views into practice.

No matter how sexually attracted a man might be toward other men, or a woman toward other women, and no matter how close the bonds of affection and friendship might be within same-sex couples, there is no act of court or Congress that can make these relationships the same as the coupling between a man and a woman. This is a permanent fact of nature.

If Card really meant "the same as," I'd actually find that statement hard to disagree with; there are aspects of gay relationships which differ from straight ones. But what Card really means is that gay relationships are not as good as straight ones — and that's just hateful.

AfterElton.com, in an editorial, deftly shreds Card's argument to pieces. It mostly makes me feel sad to see such a brilliant imaginer of worlds incapable of empathy on such a basic issue.

So what does this mean for Ender's Game, which Marvel is now turning into a comic-book series, after which a big Hollywood movie seems inevitable? It is a surpassingly fine work. Though the hero is schooled for warfare, he ultimately learns empathy for those who are different. Perhaps Card should read it himself.

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The Idea
David Levine, a second-year teacher placed in Chicago through the Teach For America program, faced a common problem: how to get students to take the same interest in their studies as in Grand Theft Auto IV. His school, the Al Raby School for Community and Environment, serves populations from the predominately African American neighborhoods on Chicago's West Side, a place where the median income is more than 40% lower than the city as a whole. How could he motivate his students to invest their time and interest in the scientific process?

Levine settled on one of the biggest issues facing this generation of students: the impact, both environmental and political, of our dependence on foreign sources of fuel. According to the UN Human Development Reports, the US emits 21% of the world's carbon dioxide despite having only 4.6% of the world's population. We're currently engaged in our second war in the oil-rich Middle East. Using these issues as a starting point, Levine sought a project that would address the problems while at the same time providing an educational and compelling experience for his students. Thus the Algae Biodiesel Van was born.

The goal was to create enough biodiesel from algae, grown and processed in the classroom, to power a vehicle from the school to Chicago's Sears Tower and back, an approximately 20-mile round trip. Because algae sucks carbon out of the atmosphere, it is relatively carbon neutral to produce and, unlike corn or soybeans, isn't a food crop. But how do you turn single-celled plants into viable fuel within the confines of a classroom?

The Process
You can't miss the algae-processing unit that occupies the corner of Levine's science classroom. Giant bags filled with a specific strain of fuel-producing algae are stacked on top of one another, connected by a series of tubes that pump the bright green organic slime around a stack of fluorescent lamps to encourage photosynthesis. This would actually make a great lighting fixture for a trendy LA sushi place.

Students have been working with Levine to cultivate the algae in their classroom and refine it down to fuel. Almost all the work was done on-site, though at one point the solution had to be taken to a centrifuge at the University of Illinois Chicago for final separation, an event which afforded students a chance to see a fully operational lab.

After spending a large portion of their junior year working through the process, the students were able to create what they hoped was enough fuel to power a vehicle the full distance: one gallon. Right before the trip one of the students showed off their beaker of algaediesel, which I can attest smells much better than petrodiesel. Though that's not saying much.

The Van
Working with a small grant from BP America's A+ For Energy program, there wasn't much room in the budget for buying a car specifically for the purposes of the test. Thankfully, the fuel is of such high quality that, when mixed with vegetable oil, it can run on most unmodified diesel engines. Here's where the 1982 Vanagon Diesel Westfalia Camper comes into the picture.

Faded orange with a white camper top, this particular Vanagon was loaned to the class for this experiment by a trusting friend of Levine's family. Still used for camping, the small fridge inside the van features remnants from previous outings, plus a bed, kitchen and radio; it's actually a small home they're running on their fuel, made all the more so due to the absence of seat belts.

The Fantastic Voyage
After draining off the low-sulfur petrodiesel in the tank, a large crowd of students, faculty and media collected around the van to see if it would actually start. There was a sense of hopeful expectation as Levine slowly poured a gallon of his student's labors into the VW. After taping the plastic back over the fuel tank (they had trouble getting the cap back on), Levine lodged himself in the driver's seat, while his fellow science teachers piled in to provide moral support and, should the van break down, actual physical support. Engaging the clutch, a few held their breath has he turned the key. Put, Put, Put, Put, Put. The familiar register of a diesel engine filled the air, overtaken immediately by the applause of students.

Levine drove the van around the block and returned victoriously to this group of excited students suddenly filled with that sense of accomplishment that comes from a job well done. But one more test remained. Had they made enough good fuel to get the van to the Sears Tower and back? In traffic?

The principal decreed that students couldn't ride in the van since it lacked safety belts and, really, anything resembling safety equipment. Besides, limiting weight was a primary concern: The range calculations for a single gallon of fuel were fairly rough. The driving would be handled by James, David's father and a veteran of the One Lap of America (he raced a Porsche 911 RS). Navigation was up to Evan, another science teacher involved in the program. I had the final seat on the back couch where I would serve as the historian and archivist. After a slight top-off with the remaining fuel mixture and a check of the systems (assuring the plastic was completely taped over where the gas cap should go) we set off for the Sears Tower.

Driving into downtown Chicago, especially on a Friday afternoon, requires an ability to improvise. Construction, traffic and frequent fender benders all lead to the sorts of complex traffic patterns that we don't currently have the processing power to comprehend. Thankfully, the Tower is the tallest building in the city and, therefore, was easy to spot out the van's windows.

Given our limited resources, we decided to tack east using a narrow road that runs predominately underneath the elevated train tracks. Though not the most direct route, we hoped to avoid congestion and keep track of our chase car, piloted by students and running on good ol' 89 octane. The first few minutes out everything was going well. There was no foul smell or smoke and the engine was running smooth for a van older than the students who fueled it.

That's when the oil light blinked at us. Could the fuel be interfering with the engine's oil pressure or temperature? Were we just unlucky enough to be having an unrelated problem while winding our way towards the city's most recognizable piece of architecture? James gets on the phone with David and they quickly decide that it's unrelated and not a concern.

Pushing forward, we keep spotting the peaks of the Tower between the other building that ring the outer loop. As we get closer to the city we start getting looks from the commodity traders, receptionists, service employees and others who are hoping to escape the city for the weekend. Even without the knowledge we're running on algae, the van is hard to miss.

The oil light still illuminated, we weave our way past cabs and around buses until we see the sign for the Tower's parking garage. We've made it... halfway at least. Given the beefed up security downtown, I'm hoping we don't get stuck and have to explain why we parked this funny-smelling van right next to the building's foundation.

James parked the van down the street from the amazing structure, thus lowering the risk of clogging traffic any further and providing a better location for photos. After a quick picture with two of the students, we raced back across town to the school. Worried about fuel levels, there wasn't time to dawdle. We cut south before going west, hoping to avoid the worst traffic. Our gambit worked, and we arrived at the school a few minutes earlier than planned. So early, in fact, that there was no one around to celebrate our victory over the forces of fuel consumption. Where the hell were the students?

It turns out they were inside munching on donated snacks and enthusiastically sharing their research and work on environmental projects they designed as part of the "Green Fair" planned around the launch of the Algae Car. Inspired by the fuel project, more students than usual actually completed their assignments. One of the coaches at the school remarked that in high school he just did his assignments to do them, but that Levine's kids "were actually doing the work because they cared and believed in it." Talking with some of the students and teachers, it's clear that this may be the day's biggest victory.

Victory And Hope
It's hard to overestimate either the technical or educational achievement of this project. While this particular journey back-and-forth from the school to downtown isn't going to fundamentally change our nation's energy policy, it did impact the very people who will be involved in finding solutions in the future. The next night I joined a tired but proud Levine for dinner. In addition to the joy he felt from successfully completing the project, he also had great news about his student's educational progress.

The students in his classes dramatically improved their scores on the scientific portion of the ACT compared with the previous year. It isn't easy to quantify the amount that this specific project contributed to the leap in test scores, but it would be hard to deny the impact after seeing his excited students cheer on their project car.

Having driven another special diesel prototype, the Audi R8 V12 TDI LeMans, I can't say that the Vanagon is quite as menacing. And instead of being flanked by black SUVs driven by off-duty cops, we were followed by an old silver Camry driven by a couple of students. But if I had to choose which experience I thought was more important, more impressive and more downright awesome I'd have to go with the Algae Car. With a significantly smaller budget, a group of determined students and their dedicated teachers proved our options for the future are only limited by our own imagination.

"Save this show" drives are a tradition among cult favorites like Firefly and Star Trek. Like those shows, Jericho drew an impassioned response from angry viewers — including myself — when it was cancelled the first time. In a rare instance that proved the exception to the rule, the fan reaction got Jericho back on the air. In the end though, low ratings just proved that CBS executives were right to yank it all along. It just didn't have the mainstream pull required of a big-budget network TV show. Supposedly there has been interest from the NBC-owned cable channels Sci-Fi and USA Network, but nothing has gotten beyond rumor.

Brace yourself for the commentards who will no doubt petition CBS to stream Jericho online in 2-minute microchunks, and promote it via YouTube links on Twitter. That's not the solution. Making a show as good as Jericho costs millions of dollars. If the viewers aren't there, online or off, it will never make back its production costs. Want to save Jericho? Start your own TV network, bub.

The page design doesn't look like much, but the video looks great. Even without the polished design, this is a clear shot at Hulu, which currently hosts content from News Corp., NBC, and some other partners — but not CBS.

Is it just a coincidence that these episodes go live so soon after the writers' strike ended? That's the great thing about running the classics — the scripts, and the contracts, are already written. CBS runs ads before the show starts, and in mid-episode, likely commanding a healthy CPM. But enough about business: Pull up your office chair and watch Kirk battle some bizarre alien dragon. It'll bring back your childhood. Alas, no embedding allowed — likely because CBS also makes money on the banner ads surrounding the video player..

Blogger Todd Lappin's theory is all the more entertaining for having a grain of truth. Barack Obama won his Senate seat in Illinois after Jack Ryan, the incumbent, withdrew from the race. Ryan suffered from disclosures that he had asked ex-wife Jeri Ryan "to perform sexual acts with him in public, and in adult clubs in New York, New Orleans, and Paris." Jeri Ryan played Seven of Nine, an escaped drone from the android-alien hybrid Borg, on Star Trek: Voyager. Did one Borg make way for another? Only in the fevered fantasies of bored Valley residents. But it its a little disturbing how readily Obama assimilates new supporters.

• Business will bribe customers with discounts so they'll hand over access to private information like shopping history and online activity. Algorithms will help store clerks make better personal recommendations.
• Spectators at sporting events will be able to order nachos from their seat.
• Expect more iPhone-esque touch screens.
• Videogames will become more like movies as new technologies improve animated facial expressions.
• Motion sensors will take videogames another step beyond the Wii as users control on-screen actions with just their body.
• Made-for-Internet feature films with budgets around $10 million will proliferate.
• So will big-budget 3D movies, like James Cameron's 2009 film, Avatar
• One box will deliver the video you get from satellite, broadcast, cable and the Internet now.
• Holographic TV.
• Social networks will keep your friends abreast of all your activities including where you are and what you've purchased. (Apparently the WSJ believes Facebook will figure out how not to creep people out with Beacon.)
• After tracking your behavior through GPS, Google will give you a list of restaurants you might like for lunch when you get into your car. Directions included.
• You'll be able to locate where old home videos took place.
• News will come to you on a mobile device, from multiple sources, based on your declared tastes.

NASA has no answers to that. Nor does the agency have any idea how to build its virtual training grounds. It's openly requesting advice on how exactly to bring its vision of a fun, scientifically accurate recruiting tool into reality. Our advice: Don't copy Linden Lab. (Photo by NASA

Sure, maybe it's five to twenty bucks now, and it's just one game. But once Battlefield makes loads of cash in an increasingly competitive market, especially with the support of casual gamers who play for free and hardcore gamers who buy every upgrade, the model will spread, and soon your neighbor will be signing a record deal because he spent so much on Rock Band upgrades that he's technically equivalent to Bono, and you'll be in your dank little basement losing at Oregon Trail because you can't afford medical bills for your dysentery.

A surfeit of self-expression: San Francisco may not have furries actively roaming its streets, but you'd be hard pressed to find another community so accepting of trannies, facial piercings, fauxhawks, and assless chaps. Oh wait — this June, San Francisco will have furries actively roaming its streets. See? Just like Second Life.

Toleration for public sex: Second Life has always been plagued by a seedy, fornicating underbelly. San Franciscans simply need visit SoMa.

City of lost souls: Anyone who visits San Francisco's Civic Center has witnessed the crazies, drug addicts, alcoholics and other afflicted. On Second Life, they just don't stink.

Statistical self-delusion: San Franciscans believe they're the center of the universe, though the city they live in isn't even the largest in the Bay Area. The same can be said of Second Lifers, who can't believe that the other 99.7 percent of the world doesn't want to join their party.

A plague of wantrepreneurs: When Anshe Chung became the first Second Life millionaire, she started a gold rush, though one mostly without the gold. People have flocked to the virtual world in the hopes of striking it rich, just as countless misguided startuppers race to South Park in hopes of running into a venture capitalist.

A ghost town much of the time: With a population of 744,000, it's hard to argue that San Francisco is a big empty, but if you've tried to find a restaurant open after 10 p.m., you might start to believe it. Much like Second Life, whose residents are all too fleeting in their visits.

A sense of impending doom: There's no escaping it. Some day all those Second Lifers will wake up from their bad dream and realize the whole experience is just some terrible pyramid scheme. It will crumble into ruin — just like San Francisco after the Big One strikes.

Valleyfag: Let me guess at your instructions to the designer for the io9 illustration: "Think Hello Kitty meets the Borg Queen." t3chn0ptimist69: hahaha we just said, "give us a cute gender-neutral thing with a brain implant" Eliza Gauger, the illustrator, is a genius