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05 May 2009 10:31

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Offbeat, World: It’s Cinco de Mayo! Have a cold one on us!

We wanted to be able to hand this to you though the screen, but the technology isn’t available yet. Ah well, maybe next year. source

05 May 2009 10:18

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Biz, U.S.: The stress tests on banks show some structural weaknesses

  • 10 of 19 big banks tested flunked with flying colors, need more $$$ source

05 May 2009 10:13

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Tech, World: Why are text messages 160 characters or less? Blame this guy.

  • My friend said this was impossible for the mass market. I was more optimistic.
  • Friedhelm Hillebrand • The german man behind the technology used to create SMS, more commonly known by drunk teenagers at parties as texting. Hillebrand made the realization that 160 characters was, as he put it, “perfectly sufficient.” But early technology could only handle 128 characters. Fortunately, they kept working and got it up to 160. Did his technology make him rich? No, but everyone uses it, so isn’t that enough? • source

05 May 2009 10:01

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World: Mexico’s swine flu fears seem to be easing up a bit

  • last week PANIC!!! Close the schools, close the movie theaters and everything else so that we can hold back swine flu!
  • this week OK, we think we’ve seen the worst of it. We’ll open everything back up Wednesday. Fingers crossed guys. source

05 May 2009 09:43

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Tech: Blackberry’s Curve > iPhone 3G? How did that happen?

  • Blame it on more carriers and better deals. RIM is glowing in the fact that its Curve, still a well-received phone even without the press of the iPhone, managed to beat the iPhone in 1st quarter sales. Part of it was Verizon, who offered help in the form of a buy-one-get-one-free sale for Blackberries. So, not only is the Curve at the top of the handheld market, but two other Blackberry phones grace the top five. Not a bad racket. source

05 May 2009 09:04

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Biz, U.S.: Obama: The Cayman Islands are nice, but not as a tax haven

  • I want to see our companies remain the most competitive in the world. But the way to make sure that happens is not to reward our companies for moving jobs off our shores or transferring profits to overseas tax havens.
  • Barack Obama • Putting the fear of God yesterday into large corporations who have done this for years in an attempt to avoid U.S. taxes. Obama plans to put billions of dollars to work over the next decade – much of it in the form of IRS employees – to prevent tax havens. • source

05 May 2009 08:53

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Offbeat: Homemade X-Men Wolverine claws – they make you look crazy

  • Uhhhhhhh … we’re at a loss for words on this one. Let’s just hope this guy gets the help he needs before he hurts anyone. source