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09 Feb 2009 22:54

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U.S.: Ex-eBay CEO plans California governor run, auctioning of seat

  • California faces challenges unlike any other time in its history – a weak and faltering economy, massive job losses, and an exploding state budget deficit. I refuse to stand by and watch it fail.
  • Meg Whitman • One of Silicon Valley’s most prominent conservatives. Whitman plans to run for governor of California in 2010. On a side note, how weird would it be to go from the Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to someone who made her money auctioning off Beanie Babies? • source

09 Feb 2009 22:43

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Culture: Chris Brown isn’t a Doublemint twin anymore – for now

  • The gum company plays wait and see. Brown is part of one of their current advertising campaigns, and one of his ads aired during the Grammys last night – an event Brown missed due to being arrested on assault charges (possibly involving his girlfriend Rihanna, though neither side is talking). The gum company plans to give the pop star the benefit of the doubt, but for now is suspending their ad campaign with him. source

09 Feb 2009 22:35

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Sports: Compare and contrast: How three MLB stars handled steroid allegations

  • Barry Bonds He continued his major league career, ignored the allegations, set a home run record many fans consider invalid while the rest of his team struggled, and has spent much of the last year in court. source
  • Barry Bonds He continued his major league career, ignored the allegations, set a home run record many fans consider invalid while the rest of his team struggled, and has spent much of the last year in court.
  • Roger Clemens He stopped his many-year trend of showing up to training camp somewhere and possibly playing in June if he felt like it. But he didn’t admit anything, despite a massive report that mentions his name more than anyone else’s. source
  • Barry Bonds He continued his major league career, ignored the allegations, set a home run record many fans consider invalid while the rest of his team struggled, and has spent much of the last year in court.
  • Roger Clemens He stopped his many-year trend of showing up to training camp somewhere and possibly playing in June if he felt like it. But he didn’t admit anything, despite a massive report that mentions his name more than anyone else’s.
  • Alex Rodriguez He admitted almost immediately after the news came out. He’s going to have a career after this. Good on him. source

09 Feb 2009 22:25

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Sports: A-Rod & steroids: The man knows his PR crisis management

  • I’m finally beginning to grow up. I’m pretty tired of being stupid and selfish, you know, about myself. The truth needed to come out a long time ago. I’m glad it’s coming out today.
  • Alex Rodriguez • In an interview on ESPN where the slugger admitted his steroid use and apologized for it. He said that he used performance-enhancing drugs between 2001 and 2003 while a player for the Texas Rangers • source

09 Feb 2009 11:04

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Biz: U.S. automakers aren’t alone: Nissan announces massive layoffs

  • 20,000 jobs will go away into the ether source

09 Feb 2009 10:57

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Tech: Who needs cable TV when you have online video services?

  • 14.3 billion videos were watched online in December, many at YouTube, the medium’s 900-pound gorilla source

09 Feb 2009 10:50

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Tech: The new Amazon Kindle actually looks kind of sweet

Amazon must’ve heard us loudly complaining about how ugly their old eBook machine was. source
 

09 Feb 2009 10:45

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Tech: Back to piracy: University-minded tunesmith Ruckus shuts down

  • What their deal was Ruckus was a product of a much simpler time, when the RIAA was suing college students left and right, and the music industry needed to provide an alternative to Limewire. Ruckus, with its Windows-only software and DRM-heavy music collection, was the answer to a question few wanted answered. source
  • What their deal was Ruckus was a product of a much simpler time, when the RIAA was suing college students left and right, and the music industry needed to provide an alternative to Limewire. Ruckus, with its Windows-only software and DRM-heavy music collection, was the answer to a question few wanted answered.
  • The end of Ruckus Ruckus was acquired last year by TotalMusic, a music-industry-owned company that attempted to be the driving force behind the failed Facebook Music initiative. TotalMusic is kind of not doing so hot, though they just launched a streaming music site. As for Ruckus, it shut down without warning on Friday night. source
  • What their deal was Ruckus was a product of a much simpler time, when the RIAA was suing college students left and right, and the music industry needed to provide an alternative to Limewire. Ruckus, with its Windows-only software and DRM-heavy music collection, was the answer to a question few wanted answered.
  • The end of Ruckus Ruckus was acquired last year by TotalMusic, a music-industry-owned company that attempted to be the driving force behind the failed Facebook Music initiative. TotalMusic is kind of not doing so hot, though they just launched a streaming music site. As for Ruckus, it shut down without warning on Friday night.
  • What about my tunes? Did you download some DRM-addled tunes from Ruckus? Well, you’re in luck. You can continue to listen to your music until it phones back home to the DRM server, which died along with Ruckus. That should happen in the next couple of weeks. Aren’t you glad that digital rights management exists? source

09 Feb 2009 10:29

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U.S.: The grandmother of the octet is ticked at her daughter, a.k.a. mom

  • She already has six beautiful children, why would she do this? I’m struggling to look after her six. We had to put in bunk beds, feed them in shifts and there’s children’s clothing piled all over the house.
  • Angela Suleman • Mother of Nadya Suleman and grandmother of the octuplets born last month. Suleman was interviewed by celebrity news site RadarOnline.com, which also posted photos of their disheveled three-bedroom home. In other news, Nadya has a publicist *sigh*. • source

09 Feb 2009 10:16

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Culture: “Dancing With the Stars” thinks Steve Wozniak is a star

The Apple co-founder (and Kathy Griffin ex) will a cut a rug this season. source