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08 Apr 2009 23:58

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Biz, Tech: Looking for an alternative to wire services? Check out Smartnews

Our friends in N.C. are trying to turn wire services on their head. We wish them luck. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

08 Apr 2009 23:52

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Biz, Politics: We’re using this site to protest the Associated Press tomorrow

  • We’re only using AP content tomorrow. Consider it civil disobedience. The Associated Press has made a lot of questionable decisions lately, what with that whole going against bloggers and Google News thing. But the latest takes the cake – they went after a radio station and AP affiliate for embedding a YouTube video on their site. (WTF?) AP put up the embed code on YouTube for people to link. So, as a protest, tomorrow, we’ll only post news from AP sites. We want them to get hits from us because they’re great. We hope the AP understands. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Apr 2009 22:31

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Culture, Offbeat: Jack Wrangler, 1946-2009: A contradiction of a human being

  • one Before turning to gay porn, he started his career in a religiously-themed NBC TV series in the 1950s.
  • two Wrangler starred in some landmark 1970s porn movies. We’ll trust you to Wikipedia them yourselves, kids.
  • three Despite being openly gay, he married a woman named Margaret Whiting – a big-band-era pop singer – in 1995.
  • four Whiting is 22 years Wrangler’s senior – and he admitted being openly gay as recently as last year. That’s crazy.
  • five His honest, open sexuality made him a gay icon. Wrangler died Tuesday at 62. Peace, bro. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Apr 2009 22:09

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Culture: Fox turns layoffs into a competitive sport with its new show

  • 15-20 number of employees at the tiny companies “Someone’s Gotta Go” will target during each episode of concentrated evil
  • one unlucky sap will lose their job, because Fox has no respect for human beings when it comes to ratings source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Apr 2009 22:01

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Offbeat: It’s apparently a slow enough news day for a dog yoga story

Dogs and their owners are trying to find their aura together, while we’re in the midst of rolling our eyes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Apr 2009 21:11

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Tech: The guy behind much of EA’s bottom-line, Will Wright, is leaving.

  • But he’ll still be working with them, he says. Wright, the crazy detail-oriented maniac behind such classics as SimCity, The Sims, and Spore, will be leaving to start a new game firm called Stupid Fun Club, which will try to think up new forms of innovative entertainment. Electronic Arts is backing the move both diplomatically and financially. They better; Wright is the guy behind some of their best games. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Apr 2009 20:48

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World: How many hostages are currently being held by Somali pirates?

  • 200+ crew members on 12 ships, on top of the U.S. one source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

08 Apr 2009 20:44

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World: Somali piracy? It’s like a business, really.

  • A lot of the vessels that had been taken have been previously released, so like any other businessman, when you’re out of stock, what do you do? You go and get more stock. The Somali pirates are businessmen.
  • Jim Wilson • Middle East correspondent for Fairplay International Shipping Magazine, on the recent increase in Somali pirate attacks in the last couple of weeks, after a slow period. They’ve made tens of millions of dollars this way, by the way. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Apr 2009 20:35

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U.S., World: Wow, that Somalia pirate story got really crazy quick

  • revolt! The dudes on the ship managed to fend off the Somali pirates and most got free easily.
  • hostage! Capt. Richard Phillips, shown in this hilariously dated photo, is still in the pirates’ captivity.
  • help! A U.S. military destroyer arrived to help the with that pesky Somali pirate problem. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Apr 2009 10:28

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Biz, Tech: Google CEO Eric Schmidt thinks newspapers need more innovation

  • innovate Schmidt spoke at the the Newspaper Assn. of America conference yesterday, where he told his audience, “You can architect a structure where innovation is welcome, and where it’s taken advantage of.” (In other words, don’t lay people off!)
  • aggregate Schmidt also told the audience that the AP’s crazy plan to piss off their customers wasn’t going to work. Information doesn’t flow that way, so putting it back into the bottle isn’t going to work. He suggests embracing the aggregation instead. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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