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04 Sep 2009 15:13

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Tech: Harmonix: Lots of failures before major “Rock Band” success

  • I was watching people interact with our product, and the realization came crashing down on me – we had spent 18 months on a music system that was fundamentally flawed.
  • Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos • On a karaoke system that Harmonix developed that turned out to be a big failure. It was one of many miscues for the company before hitting on a formula that would bring them lasting success – music games with peripherals. With the help of Red Octane, they created the early “Guitar Hero” games, then took it in a whole new direction with “Rock Band.” Regarding a fairly unpopular poll question we asked the other day, whether the company had sold out, Rigoulos says “we didn’t feel that way at all. We felt that our time had finally come to compete in the big leagues.” A great interview that deserves to be read in full. • source

04 Sep 2009 14:52

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04 Sep 2009 14:30

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Sports: Ernie Harwell, you’re an icon. We miss you already.

Last night, the legendary Detroit Tigers announcer told the world that he was suffering from inoperable cancer. He’s an icon. His loss will be felt. source

04 Sep 2009 13:11

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Offbeat: Conspiracy theorist convinces newspaper The Onion’s story was real

  • We thought it was true so we printed it without checking. … We didn’t know the Onion was not a real news site.
  • The Daily Manab Zamin associate editor Hasanuzzuman Khan • Describing the thought process that led to his Bangladesh-based paper printing the false-on-its-face story “Conspiracy Theorist Convinces Neil Armstrong Moon Landing Was Faked,” which the Onion put online earlier this week. Total feather-in-cap situation for The Onion, we’re sure. • source

04 Sep 2009 12:01

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Politics: Nutjobs afraid Obama might brainwash kids with school speech

  • Oh, whatever. The big controversy facing our country right now? Apparently Obama wants to make a speech telling kids about the value of education, and some parents are freaked that Obama might use the opportunity to indoctrinate their kids on issues he holds dear. Yo, right-wingers: BOO! Didn’t see that one coming, did ya! So, what’s it like living in a self-created climate of paranoia? source

04 Sep 2009 11:51

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World: NATO’s attack on hijacked Afghan oil tankers may have hit civilians

  • 90+ people were killed in the airstrike early this morning source

04 Sep 2009 11:28

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Biz: American Apparel’s Dov Charney very sad about immigrant layoffs

  • Many of you have been with me for so many years, and I just cry when I think that so many people will be leaving the company. It is my belief that immigrants bring prosperity to any economy.
  • American Apparel CEO Dov Charney • In a letter to employees. The letter is one of those things that could come off like some jerk CEO just saying nice things, but instead it comes off really sincere. In the letter, he notes that his grandmother worked as an immigrant in a clothing factory, and his grandparents later paid seed money for him to start his company. He’s also offering priority to laid-off employees in getting new jobs with the company once their immigration status is straight. Charney gets lots of criticism from the press, but this screams “class act.” • source
 

04 Sep 2009 11:18

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Biz: American Apparel just had to lay off a bunch of illegal immigrants

  • 1,500 factory workers were found to be illegal immigrants
  • 10% of its workforce is getting canned due to their status source

04 Sep 2009 10:51

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Music: Snoop Dogg is using a new name on his next record

  • Niggarachi no, really guys source

04 Sep 2009 10:39

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Tech: *shakes head* … Someone had to compare Snow Leopard to Vista.

  • This is the Vista of Apple’s history. Not that much. I know – I’m misconstruing the gravity of it, but this is kinda the closest thing to Apple’s Vista.
  • CNET’s Brian Cooley • Describing the various incompatibilities created by the new version of Mac OSX. On top of many programs not working (100 is a number being thrown around), it includes ancient versions of Flash and Java, and has bricked some machines. Hmm. And one thing we noticed: Dragging and dropping to the dock doesn’t work right anymore. The result? NERD RAGE. • source