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13 May 2009 09:47

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Offbeat: This guy can eat bricks better than you can. Mmmmm.

  • Hey, if he can do it, why not? His doctor appears not to have a problem with his bizarre dieting habit. source

13 May 2009 09:39

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Tech: Twitter apparently took a cue from the Facebook playbook

  • Retweet this if you disagree w Twitter’s decision to hide replies to ppl you don’t follow. #fixreplies
  • A current retweet floating around Twitter • After the announcement that Twitter would hide replies from people you don’t follow yesterday, a decision that seemed arbitrary and caused many people to shake their fists in anger. However, compared to a Facebook dramabomb, this is comparatively nothing. • source

13 May 2009 09:30

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World: Swine flu is causing overreactions. Who would have thought?

  • WHO to world: Lay off the Tamiflu, we need that jank. Despite the fact that the outbreak has proven relatively minor so far, WHO’s insistence that WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE OMG has caused a few people to overreact and use resources needed for severe outbreaks for any minor ailment. As the Tamiflu supply is limited, WHO has asked that you back off. Only use it if you actually have H1N1. source

13 May 2009 09:20

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Tech, U.S.: The Hubble rescue mission continues for Shuttle Atlantis

  • The goal Astronauts from Shuttle Atlantis are up in space attempting to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, a 19-year-old beast of technology which needs new batteries and gyroscopes, a new camera and pointing mechanism, and a 300,000-mile oil inspection.
  • The perils Well, beyond the fact that they’ll be chilling outside attempting to fix a broken telescope via spacewalk, there’s lots of space junk in that part of the orbit, and if a piece hits the shuttle, NASA might need to send a rescue mission. Scary. source

13 May 2009 09:09

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Biz, U.S.: Nothing like watching foreclosures accelerate in speed

  • April was a shocker. I would have bet on a dip because March foreclosures were so high.
  • RealtyTrack spokesman Rick Sharga • On April’s cruddy foreclosure numbers, which saw a record 342,000 homes receiving default notices. On the plus side, though, repossessions fell 11%. Still though, that’s like saying torture’s way up but beheadings are down. • source

13 May 2009 09:01

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World: The Taliban makes a series of threats to Pakistan. Jerks.

  • the request The Taliban, in response to attacks on them, wants all Malakand Division-based Pakistani parliament members – both national and provincial – to resign from their posts in three days.
  • the threat “Otherwise,” threatened Muslim Khan to CNN, “we will arrest all their families,and we will destroy all their buildings.” Clearly, Khan has been taking advice on hostage negotiations from “Die Hard.” source

13 May 2009 08:53

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U.S.: Now that the U.S. has their stimulus, they’re not in a rush to use it

  • $787 billion size of the stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by Obama
  • $45.6 billion or 6 percent, has been used so far, mostly for social programs source
 

13 May 2009 08:46

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Offbeat: Our favorite phrase of the day: Zombie fire ants

Apparently, if parasitic flies do their thing right, they can successfully control the fire ant population by turning them into zombies. Awesome. source

13 May 2009 08:38

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Tech, World: The European Union gives Intel a good reason to cry

  • $1.45 billion record fine for breaking antitrust laws source