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17 Aug 2009 22:13

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Biz, Tech: Albert Gonzalez probably has your credit card number

  • 130 million numbers were stolen by him and two Russians source

17 Aug 2009 22:00

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Tech: Why EveryBlock’s success should be a call to arms for savvy techies

EveryBlock

Journalism needs ideas like EveryBlock. Everyone's complaining about losing jobs and how big media organizations like the Associated Press don't get it. Why don't you help write the plot? Here's a few thoughts on how.
  • Get to coding If you’re a journalist with tech tendencies who’s been laid off, or even one without tech tendencies who wants to write the plot, start working on your Web skills. Find a niche that’s being underserved or a community that could a new journalism approach. Learn your options, try your hand at coding (don’t be scared; it’s like riding a bike), and put your heart into it.
  • Get to coding If you’re a journalist with tech tendencies who’s been laid off, or even one without tech tendencies who wants to write the plot, start working on your Web skills. Find a niche that’s being underserved or a community that could a new journalism approach. Learn your options, try your hand at coding (don’t be scared; it’s like riding a bike), and put your heart into it.
  • Think bigger Ideas like EveryBlock don’t happen by accident. People behind startups notice niches and find ways to make them flourish. They aren’t modest about their ambitions. They’re willing to try and fail. They’ll sweat heavily and spend long hours working on their project even when it feels like it’s not bearing fruit. But if you want to turn journalism on its head, be bold. Be brash.
  • Get to coding If you’re a journalist with tech tendencies who’s been laid off, or even one without tech tendencies who wants to write the plot, start working on your Web skills. Find a niche that’s being underserved or a community that could a new journalism approach. Learn your options, try your hand at coding (don’t be scared; it’s like riding a bike), and put your heart into it.
  • Think bigger Ideas like EveryBlock don’t happen by accident. People behind startups notice niches and find ways to make them flourish. They aren’t modest about their ambitions. They’re willing to try and fail. They’ll sweat heavily and spend long hours working on their project even when it feels like it’s not bearing fruit. But if you want to turn journalism on its head, be bold. Be brash.
  • Come a-knockin’ Knight News Challenge: In two weeks, the organization that birthed EveryBlock will begin accepting applications for the 2010 version of its venture-capital contest. You should apply.
    Y Combinator: Just this morning, the startup incubator announced plans to fund a journalism-centric company with aspirations of making money. Learn more here.

17 Aug 2009 21:22

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Tech: Kudos to journalism experiment EveryBlock for making it happen

  • I often tell friends and industry colleagues that EveryBlock in is current incarnation is only about 5 percent of what we want to do with it. We’re now in a position to make this happen.
  • EveryBlock founder Adrian Holovaty • Discussing his company’s acquisition by MSNBC.com. This is a BIG DEAL for journalism, because EveryBlock’s experimental model, which leans on using public records and RSS feeds to provide a to-the-block organization of information in a city, is an alumnus of the Knight News Challenge, which encourages Web-centric approaches to journalism. Some have questioned whether what EveryBlock does is journalism; Holovaty has famously said he doesn’t care. For what it’s worth, EveryBlock got a warm welcome from NewsVine founder Mike Davidson, whose own MSNBC-owned site has only benefited from acquisition. • source

17 Aug 2009 20:25

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U.S., World: Bill and Claudette: Two storms living separate lives

  • Bill’s still on track to become a major hurricane, but probably isn’t headed towards the U.S. at all. source
  • Claudette, however, has made landfall in Alabama and Florida and appears to be slowing down. source

17 Aug 2009 20:16

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U.S.: Chicago had Furlough Funday today. They saved; you complained.

  • $8.3 million was saved by annoying people for one day source

17 Aug 2009 11:33

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U.S.: Police brutality on YouTube example No. 193,196: Mom gets tasered

  • The cop clearly pulled her out of the car in this case just to taser her. Jerk. We hope he gets fired for doing this during a routine traffic shop. He claimed that Audra Harmon, by the way, was talking on her cell phone, which she says she wasn’t.source

17 Aug 2009 11:25

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Music: Radiohead: Screw it, we’re gonna upload our songs to torrent sites

  • The new song had a twisted journey online. “These Are My Twisted Words” leaked a few days ago on a torrent site with zero information to go with it, but with a sound that was VERY close to Radiohead. However, the band only confirmed they uploaded the track this morning. While they’re not the first band to use BitTorrent as a distribution mechanism (Harvey Danger comes to mind), they’re definitely the biggest. Kudos to Radiohead for being game for reaching audiences in new, interesting ways. source
 

17 Aug 2009 11:18

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World: Missing Russian ship The Arctic Sea found, with crew still alive

  • The Arctic Sea was discovered at 1 a.m., Moscow time today 300 miles off the Cape Verde islands. All crewmembers are alive and they are feeling well. They were not under armed control.
  • Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov • Regarding the fate of the ship, which had been missing since last month. The ship’s disappearance captured the attention of Europe – with lots of speculation as to whether pirates hijacked it – due to the fact that, well, it’s a giant cargo ship and it went undetected for over two weeks on waters which are well-trafficked. The ship was carrying a lot of wood – $2 million worth of timber. • source

17 Aug 2009 11:09

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Tech: The future of silicon chips: DNA. We’re scared.

Now that research has proven that chips made out of silicon can be made smaller and faster, how long until the chips get a mind of their own? source

17 Aug 2009 10:59

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Culture: Someone spent way too long researching “Groundhog Day”

  • 8 years – the time Phil Connors spent stuck on repeat in Punxsutawney source