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01 Feb 2010 10:00

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Biz: Super Bowl ads: A symbol of a quickly-disappearing era?

  • It’s so expensive to buy time and produce a Super Bowl ad, and you have so much competition and so many distractions, that you must hit an absolute home run to be able to get return on investment.
  • Quell Group senior vice president Jim Cain • Regarding the evolution of the Super Bowl ad. In recent years, many companies have balked at the $2.5-$2.75 million price tag per 30-second slot, the latest being Pepsico. Despite this, ads have been selling for as high as $3.2 million and are still in high demand. But with the added diversity in the advertising sphere – the Web is a pretty formidable option nowadays – along with the recession, many big brands are staying out of it altogether. Which used to be unheard of. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 09:50

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Biz: The Adventures of Newsday Customer No. 36: Still no bill, kids

  • This photo turns Long Island into a cliche the way “Fargo” turned Minnesota into one. Can you guess what the story’s about? (Hint: It’s got to do with the kid.) Man, the only image more cliche than this we could think of is perhaps a picture of the Seaver family from Growing Pains – you know, before Kirk Cameron went off the deep end. Anyway, we’ve been with the site nearly a week, haven’t paid yet, and get the feeling that the paper is not offering anything close to the $5/week price tag, a price tag that’s supposed to be a deterrent to guys like us signing up outsides of the confines of Cablevision’s walled garden. Unimpressed. (Note: This article is behind a paywall, but maybe it’ll give you enough of a hint to tell you what it’s about.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 09:40

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Biz: Toyota’s got a fix to their big problem coming this week

  • A fix to the accelerator problem should be coming soon. Ah, Toyota, the most trusted name in cars. Well, until last week, when the accelerator-sticking problem turned into a full-on mess. Anyway, Toyota plans to give dealers a well-tested friction-cutting fix to the problem, which affects millions of cars, later this week. Yay. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 09:34

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Tech: Social networking no longer immune to the advances of spam

  • 57% of social networking users have been spammed in the last year
  • 70% increase in social networking spam from 2008 to 2009
  • 39% of social networking users have been offered malware in 2009 source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 09:29

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World: In Iraq, a bunch of Shiites killed during a pilgrimage

  • 41+ were killed by a suicide bomber today, while on a pilgrimage for the Shiite mourning day of Arbaee
  • 122+ were injured in the attack, which happened while they were traveling to the holy city of Karbala source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 09:21

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U.S.: Obama’s ditching many of Bush’s most ambitious plans for NASA

  • We are proposing canceling the program, not delaying it.
  • Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag • Regarding the decision to scrap the new moon mission, Constellation, that NASA has been working towards since the Bush administration gave it the green light a few years ago. Instead, the money will go to building technology for an eventual mission to Mars. Why? The Constellation program needed an extra $3 billion a year to work. In other news, the Obama administration is pushing for commercial firms to develop space taxis to send crews between Earth and the International Space Station. All this adds up to a massive shake-up of the NASA program. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 09:10

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Music: Every time we see Michael Jackson’s kids, it’s a big scene

  • Prince Michael Jackson did a great job of speaking in front of a massive crowd, all the more impressive because we don’t think we’ve ever actually seen the dude. Paris, who you remember from Jackson’s funeral, holds up well. Either way, this moment (where they accept Jackson’s Lifetime Achievement Award) is, again, great television. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

01 Feb 2010 09:01

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Music: A handful of quick numbers from last night’s Grammy adventure

  • six the number of awards Beyonce took home; that’s better than everyone else
  • 20 the age of Taylor Swift, the youngest winner of an “Album of the Year” honor, ever
  • 2004 the year the Zac Brown Band released its debut; they won Best New Artist source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 08:51

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Biz: Exxon Mobil has a crappy quarter of not-record profits

  • 23% decline in their massive oil-driven profits source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 08:43

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Tech: Steve Jobs reportedly has a Jobsian fit against Google and Adobe

  • Word on the street is that Steve Jobs had a pretty epic unloading session on both Google and Adobe late last week at Apple headquarters in the wake of the iPad launch, noting how 1.) Google got into the phone business even though Apple didn’t get into the search business, 2.) Google’s “Don’t be Evil” motto is “bull*%*^” or “a load of crap” depending on who you ask, and 3.) Apple doesn’t support Flash on its iPhone and iPad because it’s so buggy, and the company makes no effort to do anything with the technology Apple makes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 
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