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02 Jul 2009 22:52

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Offbeat: We’re not sure what this sewer monster is, but it’s a YouTube hit

  • This looks like the craziest thing we’ve ever seen, and we’re sure it’s going to eat us. This video managed to top Michael Jackson as the most popular thing on YouTube this week, and we can see why. We’re guessing Jackson died because he was afraid it was going to eat him at his imaginary tour stop in Raleigh. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2009 22:30

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Culture: You have to register to go the the Michael Jackson memorial

  • 11,000 free tickets for fans to fight over source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2009 22:18

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Biz, U.S.: Pay-for-play journalism with the Washington Post? No way, Jose!

  • We will not participate in events where promises are made that in exchange for money The Post will offer access to newsroom personnel or will refrain from confrontational questioning. Our independence from advertisers or sponsors is inviolable.
  • Marcus W. Brauchli • Executive editor of The Washington Post, talking about a report in Politico about a series of “salons” to offered lobbyists access to Washington Post journalists in exchange for their soul … er, money. The first meeting was reported to be at the publisher’s house July 21, and was going to have Post reporters, Obama administration officials and Congressmen. Word is that the flyer for the event leaked early and without proper vetting, and it was likely a marketing person’s vision. In other words, someone’s getting yelled at in a boardroom right now. (Disclosure: ShortFormBlog editor Ernie Smith is affiliated with The Washington Post’s Express, but the blog itself has no ties to The Post, nor does it express the opinions of the company.) • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2009 21:59

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U.S.: Who’s to blame for California’s IOU budget crisis, Ahnold or the Dems?

  • Ahnold sez the Democrats Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger isn’t very happy that the state’s budget situation has gotten so bad that they have to hand out IOUs. “We don’t have the money to pay our bills,” he said. “It’s a sad story.” The Governator blames the Democrats in the legislature for hewing too closely to labor interests at the cost of the state.
  • The Democrats say Ahnold On the other hand, the lefties that the man who once was pregnant in a movie is blaming claim that his demand that the budget be fixed all at once caused the crisis. “I think the first priority is fixing the deficit,” said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, “and it seems the governor’s first priority now is fixing his legacy.” Ouch! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2009 21:33

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Culture: That’s the night that the lights went on in Neverland …

… that’s the night when they mourned an innocent man. That’s the night when the hype for Michael Jackson … took a turn for the creepy once again. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2009 21:26

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Biz: Unemployment sucked last month = stocks sucked today

  • -223 point decline of the Dow Jones Industrial today, due to crappy employment numbers
  • -2.6% percentage decrease of Dow; the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell just as badly, if not worse source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2009 16:15

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U.S.: South Carolina police: Mark Sanford broke no laws with his tryst

  • What he did on his own personal time doesn’t require him to pay back anything. He did that for his own reasons. There was no legal requirement that he pay back any of that.
  • S.C. State Law Enforcement Division Director Reggie Lloyd • On Gov. Mark Sanford’s affair and whether or not he did anything wrong. Lloyd says, after an investigation, he did nothing wrong and in fact didn’t have to pay back any money for that business trip to Argentina he took – during which he had a free day where he was with his mistress. He’s getting called on to step down at the moment, but has avoided the pressure thus far. In other news, he’s a poster boy for why you shouldn’t use e-mail to have an extramarital affair. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

02 Jul 2009 15:49

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Tech: In case you’re looking to make enemies, go to MySpace

See anything missing from the MySpace logo? Like, perhaps, a suggestion that you might find friends here? Hmmmmmm. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2009 15:28

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Tech: An unabashed plug for an RSS reader: Meet Feedly, brahs.

feedly0702
  • As you might know about us at ShortFormBlog, we’re not against the occasional plug for something we really dig. And in this case, Feedly, which mashes up Google Reader into a very easy-to-read format, totally deserves it. Like other Web products we’ve liked in the past, such as Apture (who likes us back, apparently), it has this way of carrying itself like it the Internet should have always been this way. We like giving nods to cool things like this. Makes life easier – especially when it comes to tweeting links. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2009 15:06

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Biz, Tech: We want you to retweet this, but you won’t ’cause it’s self-referential

  • What the frack? It’s true. We want you to talk about us, but a recent set of statistics gathered by internet smart guy Dan Zarrella shows that you won’t retweet this because we’re talking about ourselves. Really, it plays into the viral nature of the Internet. You’re way more likely to trust your friends finding something than us saying it.
  • Other notes Zarrella also notes that if you want to be retweeted, you need to include a link. A link is key to the process, and nearly 60% of retweets have one (versus fewer than 20% of non-retweeted links). Also: Say something original. Make up some stuff! Use some unusual big words! Play on our emotions! But make sure it’s original.
  • Our takeThis explains a lot about how people use social media, but not everything. Seemingly everyone on Twitter’s a marketing expert who would like nothing better than for you to retweet them. Some people are better at this than others – the social media equivalent of Neil Strauss. But in the end, we don’t want to be gamed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 6 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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