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02 Sep 2009 23:58

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Tech: Lordy lordy, look who’s turning 40! Happy birthday internet!

Internet Birthday Cake
  • You’re the best series of tubes ever! September 2, 2009 marks a major milestone in technology, communication, spam, pornography, copyright flaunting and insurance that shut-ins will have something to do. On this day, the internet turned on. To commemorate, we totally ganked a random 40th birthday cake from Flickr. It’s only the Web’s nature, guys.source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Sep 2009 23:41

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Tech: Protip: If you installed Snow Leopard, upgrade Flash. Now.

  • The new Mac version installs a long-outdated version of Adobe’s app. You might have had a fully-upgraded version of Flash before upgrading to Snow Leopard last week, but you probably don’t have it this week. That’s because, as part of Apple’s install process, it installs Flash Player 10.0.23.1, an old version with known vulnerabilities. (The current version is 10.0.32.18.) So, do yourself a favor, guys. Upgrade Flash. Now. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Sep 2009 23:29

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Music: The Revenge of the Revenge of Roxanne Shanté’s Revenge



Nothing like unsubstantiated claims to brighten an evening. Roxanne Shanté, above, was a hip-hop icon before hip hop had its big mainstream breakthrough. Everyone forgot about her for a good twenty years, until this New York Daily News story broke, claiming that Warner Music paid for her to get a doctorate at Cornell. Problem is, it's not true.
  • The lies As reported by the New York Daily News (which will have an interesting retraction to write), the hip-hop icon (who scored her one-hit wonder at 14) had a clause in her contract saying they would pay for her education for life. She fought hard to get the label to pay for her education, eventually earning a doctorate at Cornell in 2001. She’s now a “hip-hop” psychologist. source
  • The lies As reported by the New York Daily News (which will have an interesting retraction to write), the hip-hop icon (who scored her one-hit wonder at 14) had a clause in her contract saying they would pay for her education for life. She fought hard to get the label to pay for her education, eventually earning a doctorate at Cornell in 2001. She’s now a “hip-hop” psychologist.
  • The truth According to Slate, Warner never had a contract with Shanté. School records say that she went to Marymount Manhattan College, but never graduated. She admitted to Slate that she never got a Ph.D. from Cornell or elsewhere. She doesn’t have a license to practice psychology. And Warner says the Daily News never tried to contact them, like the story says. source
  • The lies As reported by the New York Daily News (which will have an interesting retraction to write), the hip-hop icon (who scored her one-hit wonder at 14) had a clause in her contract saying they would pay for her education for life. She fought hard to get the label to pay for her education, eventually earning a doctorate at Cornell in 2001. She’s now a “hip-hop” psychologist.
  • The truth According to Slate, Warner never had a contract with Shanté. School records say that she went to Marymount Manhattan College, but never graduated. She admitted to Slate that she never got a Ph.D. from Cornell or elsewhere. She doesn’t have a license to practice psychology. And Warner says the Daily News never tried to contact them, like the story says.
  • Slate’s dirty work Ben Sheffner put together an article for Slate that ranks up there with anything The Smoking Gun has put together in recent memory. It’s just devastating. The way he dissected the Daily News’ article is admirable. The paper only quoted two sources in the article – Shanté and hip-hop Russell Simmons. Protip: When a story’s this good, fact-check your sources. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Sep 2009 21:35

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Tech: Nokia’s sorta-Netbook has a sorta-laughably-high price

  • $800 for an underpowered Nokia Netbook; pricing fail source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Sep 2009 21:18

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Biz, U.S.: Lucky bastard: The Pfizer case whistleblower got a big payday

  • We’re going to be staying right here in San Antonio in the same house, and my wife tells me when we go to the movies we’re still getting one tub of popcorn – the large tub.
  • Former Pfizer pharmaceutical rep John Kopchinski • On the massive payday he won as whistleblower in the legal battle against his former employer. Dude made a cool $51.5 million, which is about as good as winning the lottery, even though it took longer – six years, in Kopchinski’s case. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Sep 2009 20:58

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Biz, U.S.: We wish we had a 1% of this Pfizer fine in our bank account

  • $2.3 billion for wining and dining (and influencing) doctors source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Sep 2009 20:43

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Biz, U.S.: Way to bungle the Bernard Madoff case, U.S. government

  • 1992 the year that the Securities and Exchange Commission was informed that Bernard Madoff might be doing some sketchy things source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

02 Sep 2009 20:33

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Sports, U.S.: Curt Schilling in Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat: Why the heck not?

  • I do have some interest in the possibility. That being said, to get to there from where I am today, many many things would have to align themselves for that to truly happen. I am not going to comment further on the matter since at this point it would be speculation on top of speculation.
  • Former Boston Red Sox star ace Curt Schilling • Discussing a potential Senate candidacy on his blog, “38 Pitches.” It’s one of those things that makes some roll their eyes, until you consider that some really great politicians – Jack Kemp (Bob Dole’s running mate in ’96!) and Jim Bunning – came from pro sports backgrounds. So, why the heck not? He may not have the political clout of Ted Kennedy (and his far-right conservatism might make him a long shot in Massachusetts), but he may be good at the job.  • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Sep 2009 11:18

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Offbeat: This talking parrot: Officially smarter than us

  • We’ve been trying to answer questions like these all our lives, and we haven’t been able to figure them out. Cute animals – especially birds – always seem to upstage us.source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Sep 2009 11:09

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Tech: Daily Poll: Is The Beatles’ “Rock Band” game just a cash-in?

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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