Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on TwitterBe a Facebook FanTumble us!

19 Sep 2009 15:27

tags

Music: Ah, vintage 2002. Our Saturday Mixtape takes a swig or two.

  • 1. Back in our noise-addled 2002 minds, Idlewild’s “You Held the World In Your Arms” was that explosion of R.E.M.-esque bombast that should have been huge in the U.S., but instead remained on the fringes.
    2. Consider this a placeholder for both the Roots and Cody ChestnuTT, who both released killer albums in 2002. (Lala, sadly doesn’t have ChestnuTT’s only album thus far, “The Headphone Masterpiece.”) A lot’s changed since this song came out – The Roots are on Jimmy Fallon, and ChestnuTT is … somewhere. Where did you go, man?
    3. When everyone was going gaga over Interpol (we didn’t get the hype), we were putting The Notwist’s “Neon Golden” on repeat. A slice of IDM+pop, “Pilot” is the German band’s best song.
    4. It wouldn’t be 2002 if we didn’t give due credit to Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” so here we are, giving it. They haven’t been as weird as “Radio Cure” since, but it was weird enough to get everyone to pay attention.
    5. Iron & Wine’s success was a starting point for 21st-century indie folk. The fact that Sam Beam’s been improving ever since doesn’t negate the fact that he wrote the template with songs like “Upward Over the Mountain.”source

19 Sep 2009 14:46

tags

Tech: Nobody likes Google Books, it seems. Not even the DOJ.

The Department of Justice, much like every other major tech company, has zero love for Google Books’ proposed $125 million class-action lawsuit settlement. source

19 Sep 2009 13:51

tags

Biz: Did debt collectors play a role in a Florida guy’s heart attack?

  • Get your act together and make the payments on your mortgage. Why don’t you have that helicopter pick you up and bring that payment to the office.
  • A message left for the now-deceased Stanley McLeod • Regarding the helicopter ride he took after a massive heart attack. The helicopter ride saved his life, but messages like this later killed him, a new lawsuit says. “He’d get very red in the face and short of breath,” said his wife, Dianne, of the phone calls. “I believe it contributed to his death, I really do.” Tampa law firm Morgan and Morgan is fighting for the rights of McLeod and other victims of overly aggressive debt collectors, many of which are breaking Florida law. • source

19 Sep 2009 11:05

tags

19 Sep 2009 10:51

tags

Tech: Augmented reality + billiards: We could still be pool sharks yet

  • Man, pool would be so much easier for us if we could wear special sunglasses that would show us these awesome augmented reality details. Not only could we cheat really easily, we’d look like total pool sharks! These guys also made a pool-playing robot.source

19 Sep 2009 10:43

tags

Sports: The NBA’s ready to use scab referees for the upcoming season

  • They couldn’t reach a deal with the ref’s union. Earlier this week, talks between the league and the National Basketball Referees Association broke down. Now, the NBA’s on its way to using replacements in its ref training camp. The NBRA was ready for it. “I predicted that a lockout was forthcoming and yet it does not mean that both sides cannot continue to talk and work through some of these issues,” said lead negotiator Lamell McMorris. source

19 Sep 2009 10:36

tags

U.S.: Austin’s police chief: I’m going after anonymous interweb trolls

  • A lot of my people feel it is time to take these people on. They understand the damage to the organization, and quite frankly, when people are willfully misleading and lying, they are pretty much cowards anyway because they are doing so under the cloak of anonymity.
  • Austin, Tx. police chief Art Acevedo • On his department’s decision to go after trolls on the Internet. On the Internet. Dude’s playing with fire by suggesting his department might investigate or even charge anonymous posters. Doesn’t he know what anonymous can do? • source
 

19 Sep 2009 10:25

tags

Biz, U.S.: Thanks recession! Stay-at-home moms are going back to work

  • 78% of those who have lost their jobs in the recession are men, many in single-income families source

19 Sep 2009 10:17

tags

Tech: The saga of the Google Voice iPhone app gets more drama-laden

  • Google says Google admitted yesterday that Apple was not still looking into the Google Voice application, but that it was rejected for duplicating functionality. source
  • Google says Google admitted yesterday that Apple was not still looking into the Google Voice application, but that it was rejected for duplicating functionality.
  • Apple says For Apple’s part in the mix, they say that they’re telling the truth. If they weren’t, it would effectively mean they were lying to the FCC. That’s bad. source
  • Google says Google admitted yesterday that Apple was not still looking into the Google Voice application, but that it was rejected for duplicating functionality.
  • Apple says For Apple’s part in the mix, they say that they’re telling the truth. If they weren’t, it would effectively mean they were lying to the FCC. That’s bad.
  • TechCrunch butts in TechCrunch says that Google has a screenshot of the actual rejection letter. It’s offering a T-shirt to the Google employee that sends it along. Classy. source

19 Sep 2009 10:07

tags

Sports: South African official in Caster Semenya case lied about gender tests

  • If we did not let her run, we would be confirming that she is not normal.
  • Athletics South Africa President Leonard Chuene • On the decision to let Caster Semenya run even though they knew gender tests were being performed on her. What’s important to note is that this apology did not come out on its own; South Africa’s Mail & Guardian printed e-mails essentially confirming that they knew the tests were happening before Semenya ran the 800-meter race in Berlin, a race in which she crushed the competition. He lied. • source