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15 Feb 2009 14:56

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Offbeat, U.S.: Was the cell phone really that important?

  • A woman dies after trying to retrieve one in her car. The scene took place in Fountain Valley, Calif., where the woman, out on Interstate 405, tried to grab the dropped cell phone while driving, crashed into a divider, got out of the car, and then got hit by another car passing by. Other people got injured, and she died, all because she couldn’t wait to get her cell phone. Sigh. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2009 13:33

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Tech, World: And here’s a scary quote about global warming

  • We are basically looking now at a future climate that’s beyond anything we’ve considered seriously in climate model simulations.
  • Christopher Field • founding director of the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University, on the possibility that there might be some truth to this whole global warming thing • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2009 13:28

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Tech, World: Permafrost: A dangerous greenhouse gas source

  • one trillion tons of carbon is stored in permafrost, much of which is thawing right now, scientists say source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2009 13:18

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Sports: The NBA All-Star Slam Dunk contest was a … well …

Kryptonite won over Superman as Nate Robinson toppled Dwight Howard this year. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2009 13:01

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Biz, U.S.: Automaker GM considers the nuclear option

  • General Motors could fold into a new company. The plan, which the Wall Street Journal reported about yesterday, would have the automaker file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reform as a new company. They’re under a lot of pressure to act right now – they got a massive bailout from the government and, along with Chrysler, have until Tuesday to show the government how they plan to restructure. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2009 12:55

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Biz, U.S.: My, isn’t this auto industry quote dramatic

  • If we don’t beat the second half of 2008 this year, then it could be all over. We’re all going to be peeling bark off trees and go back to being an agrarian society.
  • Erich Merkle • An independent auto analyst, on the auto industry’s need to beat its dismal 2008 in 2009. Personally, we like farming. Give us a good mule and a way to cut through the soil, and we’re set for life! • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2009 12:53

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Offbeat: Going fashionable, Barbie-style

NYC’s Fashion Week was loaded with models wearing clothes designed for a plastic doll. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

15 Feb 2009 12:38

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Tech, World: The Pirate Bay + trial + fans = “Spectrial”

  • What’s going on Administrators of The Pirate Bay, that spot where people download their illegal software from because Adobe charges too much, are going on trial for copyright charges in their home base, Sweden, tomorrow. The torrent tracker has long evaded getting shut down due to the country’s fairly lax copyright policies (and some clever thinking on the part of the owners). They have, however, been raided in the past. source
  • What’s going on Administrators of The Pirate Bay, that spot where people download their illegal software from because Adobe charges too much, are going on trial for copyright charges in their home base, Sweden, tomorrow. The torrent tracker has long evaded getting shut down due to the country’s fairly lax copyright policies (and some clever thinking on the part of the owners). They have, however, been raided in the past.
  • What they’re doing The thing that has won the site many fans is that they don’t go down quietly, going out of their way to avoid getting shut down by whatever means necessary. And in the current case, their related political party, Piratbyrån chose to make a spectacle of the trial, a “spectrial” as they put it, complete with Twitter feeds and a cool hacker-ish Web site. They want to stir stuff up. Should be fun to watch, if nothing else. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2009 11:23

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World: Zimbabwe PM Tsvangirai: “We had to act”

  • People have no food, no schools. The country is on its knees. We had to act. We could not be seen to be authors of chaos.
  • Morgan Tsvangirai • The new Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, on choosing to form a unified government with President Robert Mugabe. That unified government is already in crisis due to one of Tsvangirai’s close associates, Roy Bennett, getting arrested. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2009 09:09

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Offbeat, U.S.: Utah got bilked by a Nigerian scam. Wait, what?

  • $2.5 million was stolen from the Utah treasury. Oof. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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