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16 Jan 2010 17:09

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Tech: Nokia and Apple still having a massive contest of egos

  • nokia Has lost massive market share after the iPhone’s release. Sued Apple for patent infringement. Apple rebuffed. Sued Apple again, claiming that nearly all products Apple makes infringe their patents.
  • apple Has completely changed the market that Nokia owned for about a decade. Claims Nokia essentially copied their phones. Is now asking the ITC to block all imports of Nokia phones into the U.S. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2010 16:49

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World: Sanjay Gupta officially more helpful than the United Nations

  • What is striking to me as a physician is that patients who just had surgery, patients who are critically ill are essentially being left here, nobody to care for them.
  • Dr. Sanjay Gupta • Regarding a situation where he ended up helping a bunch of earthquake victims out of security concerns after the UN-led group that was there was reportedly told to leave out of security concerns. Gupta stayed overnight with the victims, trying to help them out, but having trouble due to lack of supplies. The UN, for their part, claims it did not tell the doctors and other medical support to leave, but other organizations they were tied to might have. Gupta made sure all the victims survived through the night, because he’s an amazing human being. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2010 16:36

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U.S., World: Nelson Mandela: An example of terror watch resource waste?

  • 15 years on the U.S. terror watch list after he won a Nobel source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2010 15:42

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Tech, World: Germany sez not to use Internet Explorer because it sucks

  • IE has been blamed for the massive hack attack on Google and others. Internet Explorer’s long history of being a sucky browser is catching up with it, and now Germany – a.k.a. a freaking massive country – is telling its citizens to stop using Internet Explorer altogether. The security hole found, by the way, affects all versions of IE, although Microsoft says more recent versions are safer. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2010 13:16

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World: Third time a charm? Karzai’s second attempt at a cabinet rejected

  • 7 of Karzai’s 17 minister picks got approved; the rest, failures source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2010 12:52

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U.S.: Today, Democrats are scrambling to save Ted Kennedy’s old seat

  • Teddy always told me when you’re in a fight, there’s nobody like organized labor. You’re about the future. You’re about moving this country forward. You always have been. We can’t go backwards now.
  • Vicki Kennedy • Stumping for state Attorney General Martha Coakley Saturday morning at the Dorchester headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Coakley’s in great danger of losing the race for Ted Kennedy’s old seat to Republican upstart Scott Brown. If Brown wins on Tuesday, the Democrats lose their essential 60th vote. This is a big deal for the left. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2010 12:40

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Music: ShortFormBlog Saturday Mixtape: Remembering Jay Reatard

  • Jay Reatard was a musical genius of brevity. His great gift was an uncanny ability to write a pop song tighter, more stylistically diverse and with with more hooks than anyone else. Which is why his death earlier this week came as a total shock. His best days weren’t behind him. He was just getting started. So with that said, here are five songs from his fruitful recent period which nail down why he’s essential.

  • 1. “My Shadow” was something of a calling card to the rest of the world about what his hometown of Memphis already knew from his many early bands – Reatard’s ability to reimagine punk as fun, poppy, and dark was unparalleled.
  • 2. “All Over Again” was one of Reatard’s best singles, and he recorded a lot of them. In fact, he released TWO singles compilations in 2008, and both of them were stylistically different enough to warrant purchase of both. Despite its two-minute length, the song doesn’t feel anything remotely close to short. It’s loaded with ideas.
  • 3. In Jay Reatard’s heaven, “Haunting You” should be playing on repeat. It’s quite literally his modus operandi, and it feels like, considering the circumstances of this week, that it was written ahead of time, to his many fans – past, present and future.
  • 4. What Reatard did better than most was the driving chorus, insistent and forceful. “Always Wanting More,” was a great example of what he does best. In a live setting, he played his short songs as quickly as he could, often not stopping for stage banter and plowing through songs as if he was a Ramone.
  • 5. Perhaps the most interesting part of Reatard’s most recent release, “Watch Me Fall” (what an ominous album title), was an evolution of his sound. He started adding elements from 1980s Kiwi-rock on the album, and largely drove the songs with acoustic guitars rather than thrashing electric sound of most of his earlier material. Single “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” (also ominous) showed a sound that was getting more diverse without losing its best elements. What a terrible, awful loss of someone so amazing.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

16 Jan 2010 12:04

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Tech: Unlikely Google Nexus One fan: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak

When asked what his favorite gadget was, he responded: “Well, it’s the latest one. It’s a non-Apple product, but it’s a gadget that just came out yesterday.” WTF? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2010 11:20

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Biz: Scary: Lots of big-name drugs getting recalled over “moldy smell”

  • 54M number of packages of over-the-counter drugs that are getting recalled due to a  strange “moldy smell”
  • 27 number of brands – including Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and Rolaids – that are getting recalled
  • 70 people have gotten sick as a result of the smell, which causes nausea, vomiting, and other ailments source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2010 10:50

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Tech, U.S., World: The U.S. takes Google’s claims on China super-seriously

  • They’re treating it as a foreign policy issue, not a business issue. Next week, in response to Google’s claims of a cyber-attack by China, the U.S. plans to submit a formal protest, according to the State Department. Among other things to note about the story: Google briefed the U.S. before posting its lengthy note (to no objections), and China has had a number of little annoyances like this from the U.S. of late. We just enjoy ticking the Chinese off with our talk of “free speech,” apparently. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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