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17 Apr 2009 14:44

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Music, Tech: Egad! “Rickroll” anthem co-writer got paid £11 by YouTube

  • Panorama did a documentary on the exploitation of foreign workers in Dubai. I feel like one of those workers, because I earned less for a year’s work off Google or YouTube than they did off the Bahrain government.
  • Pete Waterman • The guy who co-wrote Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” the song behind the Rickrolling phenomenon. Despite 154 million plays of the song on YouTube, Waterman claims to have only made £11 off of it. Waterman was worth £47 million as of 2004. We feel the £47 million should have been taken away from him for writing “Never Gonna Give You Up.” • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Apr 2009 12:00

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Culture, Politics: The Colbert Coalition > National Organization for Marriage

Stephen Colbert wants you to know that he’s afraid of gay marriage and will do what it takes to stop it. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Apr 2009 11:31

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Culture, Tech: YouTube has TV shows now, guys, but they’re mostly ancient

  • From cheeseball comedy (“The Beverly Hillbillies”) to westerns (“Bonanza”) and sci-fi (“Star Trek”), this decade is best represented. source
  • The lineup of ’70s shows clearly pulls from the action/crime wing of TV – “Charlie’s Angels,” “Starksky & Hutch” and “S.W.A.T.” source
  • “MacGyver” and “Married With Children” headline the selection of ’80s shows, unless you consider “T.J. Hooker” a highlight of ’80s television. source
  • Fox dramas “Party of Five” and “Beverly Hills 90210” lead the lineup, but Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert fans should hit up “The Dana Carvey Show.” source
  • The pickings are pretty slim here – recent episodes of “Guiding Light,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Jericho” and new show “Harper’s Island.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

17 Apr 2009 10:25

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Biz: This is why the Associated Press should not fight a copyright war

  • The AP claims copyright ownership in, and makes commercial use of, many photographs that consist almost entirely of copyrighted artwork of Fairey and other artists without permission.
  • Excerpt from “Fairey Answer to AP Counterclaims” • This court document from Shepard Fairey (the guy behind the iconic Obama poster and Obey Giant), among other things, attacks the Associated Press for a double standard. The AP is asking Fairey for compensation for using one of their photos to create his Obama artwork. Fairey then sued to have a court say his art is fair use. The document notes that the AP used his artwork and the artwork of others to create numerous photos which they then sell on their Web site. Double standard, anyone? • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

17 Apr 2009 10:03

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Biz: Citi is back to making profits, but is it sustainable?

  • $1.6 billion Citi’s profits this quarter after over a year of losses and getting bailed out three times by the federal government source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Apr 2009 09:51

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Politics, Sports: Are we alone in not caring about Yankee Stadium, guys?

We realize the new stadium is like the eighth wonder of the world, but given the economy, it feels super-gaudy and excessive. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Apr 2009 09:33

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U.S., World: Alright, Obama. Cuba’s ready to talk. Your move.

  • Lower restrictions Earlier this week, as promised, the Obama administration loosened travel restrictions for people with family in the communist nation. It’s a baby step to much looser restrictions, by the way. source
  • Lower restrictions Earlier this week, as promised, the Obama administration loosened travel restrictions for people with family in the communist nation. It’s a baby step to much looser restrictions, by the way.
  • Raul wants to talk Raul Castro, brother of Fidel and Cuba’s current leader, has taken this overture as a chance to thaw things. Castro said “that we are prepared, wherever they want, to discuss everything.” source
  • Lower restrictions Earlier this week, as promised, the Obama administration loosened travel restrictions for people with family in the communist nation. It’s a baby step to much looser restrictions, by the way.
  • Raul wants to talk Raul Castro, brother of Fidel and Cuba’s current leader, has taken this overture as a chance to thaw things. Castro said “that we are prepared, wherever they want, to discuss everything.”
  • A crazy history It won’t be easy. In the 50 years since Fidel Castro first led Cuba, the relationship with the U.S. has been icy at best. That trade embargo hasn’t helped, but this could be the turning point. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

17 Apr 2009 08:56

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Tech, World: The punishment that The Pirate Bay faces, post-spectrial

  • one
    year     of prison time for each of the defendants – Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundström source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Apr 2009 08:51

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Tech, World: The Pirate Bay lost their spectrial, but they’re not ready to give up

  • We see this as a film. This is the first set-back for the heroes. … In the end we know that the good guys will win, as in all movies.
  • Peter Sunde • One of the defendants in the spectrial in Sweden. A guilty verdict was brought down today, but there still seems to be plenty of swagger in the steps of The Pirate Bay’s owners, who plan to appeal. The site is still up, by the way. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Apr 2009 08:37

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Culture, Tech: Today’s a really big day for Twitter’s popular consciousness

  • Kutcher’s role as celebrity ambassador for Twitter only starts there, as he’ll be on Oprah today talking about the feat. Will Oprah have a book club effect on Twitter? God, we hope not.
  • Ashton
  • Oprah
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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