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13 Dec 2009 10:43

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Culture: Business time over: Flight of the Conchords ditch the TV show

According to the duo: “While the characters Bret and Jemaine will no longer be around, the real Bret and Jemaine will continue to exist.” Too bad. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2009 10:37

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Tech: MySpace screws over its musicians big time with iMeem deal

  • lame Despite music being a huge bedrock of the company’s business model, MySpace paid less than $1 million for bankrupt iMeem, which ran the dead pay-for-music service SNOCAP (founded, BTW, by Napster founder Shawn Fanning).
  • lamer MySpace did NOT buy iMeem’s liability to pay royalties to musicians who used, umm, MySpace to sell music. Some artists haven’t been paid for over a year. And some of these artists are owed a lot of money. This is bull#)&!. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2009 10:18

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Biz: Mortgage rates super-low, but good luck taking advantage

  • 4.7% the low point of mortgage rates, hit in the 1940s thanks to post-WWII government intervention
  • 5+% the place it’s been most of the time since the 1950s – at one point, it was near 17%, which is insane
  • 4.8% the current rate, caused by massive government intervention; too bad banks don’t want to refinance source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2009 10:05

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Biz, World: Dubai has a big bill due tomorrow; will they pay it?

  • $3.5 billion due tomorrow; it’s like a big credit bill source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2009 09:56

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World: A couple of weapons were found on a plane from North Korea

  • one cargo plane was intercepted in Thailand this morning; it was headed to Sri Lanka
  • 35 tons of weapons were discovered on the plane; holy crap, Kim Jong-Il … what’s wrong with you? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2009 09:47

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Culture: Good luck with that: Reality TV’s trying to improve its image

  • Vetting processes are going to get a lot stricter. The background checks are becoming more and more rigorous. Clearly, each time there’s a slip-up, the bar goes higher.
  • Former VH1 exec (and current Ish Entertainment owner) Michael Hirschorn • Describing the state of the reality TV industry at the moment. After the triple-whammy of the Ryan Jenkins case (which directly affected his former network), Balloon Boy and White House gate crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi, TV producers are trying their best to improve their vetting processes. The Jenkins case in particular – which wasn’t a media stunt but a brutal murder that led to a suicide – has increased background checks by 25%. Still, it may not be enough. “People will go to pretty extreme measures to make themselves stars,” Hischorn said. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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