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14 Jul 2009 16:39

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Offbeat, Tech: The newest iPhone app: a purity ring pledge

  • That’s one way to show you’re committed.
    A company in the UK has jumped on the iPhone bandwagon in the holiest way possible – by creating a virtual purity ring application. For “just 59p”, or $0.99 this side of pond, you can take a vow of abstinence and display a silver ring on your screen. Well, you’ve gotta give them points for being entrepreneurial. source

14 Jul 2009 15:11

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Sports: Armstrong lurking in third after the 10th round of the Tour de France

What gives? Sure he’s only 8 seconds behind first place, and they still have to tour half the country, but the suspense is killing us! source

14 Jul 2009 13:38

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U.S.: Obama makes a tough concession on unemployment

  • My expectation is, is that we will probably continue to see unemployment tick up for several months. And the challenge for this administration is to make sure that even as we are stabilizing the financial system … are people able to find good jobs that pay good wages?
  • President Barack Obama • Regarding the ticking-ever-higher unemployment rates, which have been a thorn in his side lately, but not one he’s unwilling to take head-on. He’s on his way to Michigan, a state with 14.1% unemployment, to talk about some economic job-type stuff. That’s right, we live in an industrialized nation where a state has 14.1% unemployment. Insane. • source

14 Jul 2009 13:12

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Biz, U.S.: Here’s how Bernard Madoff shall henceforth be known

  • 61727-054 his prisoner number source

14 Jul 2009 13:04

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Tech: Here’s a couple of notable software versions, supernerds

  • 23 The highest software version – that honor goes to Broderbund’s Print Shop, which has been getting new versions nearly as long as we’ve been alive source

14 Jul 2009 10:59

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Tech: Major Web sites like YouTube and Digg are dropping IE6 support

  • The Google-owned video service recently started displaying on IE6 a message that they would be dropping support for the browser soon, recommending that users switch to Chrome, IE8 or Safari, a message met with cheers by some. (Including us!)
  • While Digg isn’t nearly so hardcore about the switch, they have been investigating it, and will likely be ditching login support for IE6. They found that many IE6 users can’t upgrade because companies are lazy and built on crappy, poorly-made IE6-only Web apps.
  • YouTube
  • Digg

14 Jul 2009 10:45

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World: Because we apparently like scaring you, here’s a scary swine flu quote

  • H1N1 epidemic, pandemic as it is now, is unstoppable, and therefore all countries will need to have access to vaccine.
  • Marie-Paule Kieny • The director of vaccine research with the WHO, on the spread of the disease, which has killed 500 worldwide and sickened 1 million. Another scary note: Vaccine production yields have been poor, so supply isn’t as great as it should be. Another report notes that if Tamiflu becomes ineffective against the disease, things could get really scary: “Collectively, our findings are a reminder that (strains of swine flu) have not yet garnered a place in history, but may still do so.” • source
 

14 Jul 2009 10:32

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U.S.: Phrase you don’t want to hear when flying: Football-sized hole

  • The cabin depressurized, but everyone’s OK. A Southwest Airlines plane headed from Nashville to Baltimore had to make an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia yesterday after a giant hole opened up above the cabin 34,000 feet in the air, causing the plane’s oxygen masks to come down. Despite how !#(&@*& scary that sounds, nobody was hurt. Whew. source

14 Jul 2009 10:21

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Tech: Microsoft might again offer a Windows upgrade companies don’t want

  • 59% of companies don’t plan to upgrade their machines source

14 Jul 2009 10:10

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U.S.: Obama’s threatening a veto of his defense spending bill. Here’s why.

  • $1.75 billion cost of the last-minute addition to Obama’s defense spending bill, which adds seven costly F-22s back into the mix source