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04 Feb 2010 23:47

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U.S.: Blago has a few more charges to answer to over that Senate thing

  • 16 number of charges Rod Blagojevich was indicted for last April
  • 24 number of charges Blago faces in an expanded inquiry
  • Why the change? Blago’s former charges had a lot to do with what’s referred to as “honest services fraud,” a statute that allows lawyers to nail corrupt politicians who get a few too many perks for white collar crimes. This law, passed by Congress in the ’80s and responsible for nailing Conrad Black, Jack Abramoff and fellow former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, is likely to get struck down by the Supreme Court in a few months, so they needed something else to nail him on. The eight new charges don’t rely on the law. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 23:34

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Tech: Jesus hell, Facebook, another goddamn redesign? Aargh.

  • Happy sixth birthday dudes, but for the love of God, stop it. In the past, we’ve been for Facebook’s constant push to innovate, but it seems like they’re redesigning again just because. We’re sure it’s powerful and does a lot of cool stuff, but your last redesign was plenty useful. There seems to be no reason to screw with it again so soon. This hits 80 million users tonight, by the way. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 23:27

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Biz: Toyota could call for a recall of their Japanese Priuses

  • 200,000 hybrids to be recalled? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 21:48

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Biz: The stock market went through a pretty hellish day today

  • 268 the number of points the Dow lost today alone, due to debt fears; it’s the biggest fall in 2010 so far
  • 10,002 the closing number for the Dow today; it dipped below 10,000 for a short while today source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 21:31

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World: The accused Haitian kid-nappers formally charged with abduction

  • 15 number of years in prison the Baptists could face source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 21:10

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Tech: Former VP: Microsoft’s shooting itself in the foot, big time

  • What happened? Unlike other companies, Microsoft never developed a true system for innovation. Some of my former colleagues argue that it actually developed a system to thwart innovation.
  • Former Microsoft Vice President Dick Brass • On why Microsoft’s internal structure is hurting its abilities to create future innovations, forcing them to coast on prior victories such as Windows and Office. Basically, he claims that there is a strong system of corporate competition in the culture, one that has the effect of stifling innovative ideas. Their successes led to them limiting risk. He knows, because he was pushing e-Books and tablet PCs years ago, long before Apple made a big deal about it. One of his team’s most innovative ideas, ClearType, was prevented from being fully implemented in Windows for years because other teams held it back. These sorts of image issues don’t help Microsoft’s long-term cause. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 20:43

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Politics: Is Demon Sheep Carly Fiorina’s political suicide? Maybe not

  • Insane concept. Insane execution. But somehow, we’re convinced at the end of the day it worked. Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, running for the California Senate, has an unintentionally awesome hit on her hands in the form of “Demon Sheep,” which is a much more interesting tagline than “Fiscal Conservative In Name Only” (or FCINO), the one they came up with. Here’s why we think, somehow, it works:
  • A new approach The dadaist attempt at smear campaigning, probably inspired by Adult Swim, has never been tried before. It’s been hinted at (see Kinky Friedman’s ads for Texas governor), but it hasn’t been taken quite to this degree. And we think they knew how absurd this ad was when they put it out. Don’t think they didn’t. That’s why it’s viral.
  • A clear message The techniques used in this ad are extremely blunt. The repeated imagery of the sheep, the printed money, the pigs, the sheep, the pigs, the Ken Burns effect, the signs, it rams the images into your head. Even the haters can admit that Fiorina got her point across in this insane ad in a way where you must watch.
  • A memorable mascot Ultimately, though, the reason why this ad works is because of Demon Sheep. Why? See Leahy’s Law (related to Murphy’s Law): “If a thing is done wrong often enough, it becomes right.” There’s no reason why Demon Sheep should work. But it’s brow-beaten to the point where you can’t turn away. She can make this work. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 

04 Feb 2010 12:40

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Biz: Twitter considers the change to Heinz’s ketchup packets



Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 12:35

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Biz: Heinz Ketchup, your main squeeze, now wants to double-dip

  • Innovation is coming to the ketchup packet. Heinz, which has apparently struggled for years to come up with a better idea than the pull-apart packet, has created a mix between the squeeze and the dip, which means you don’t need a spot to plant your crushed tomato-and-vinegar puree any longer. We’re waiting for someone to do the same thing with brown mustard packets. Get back to us then. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 10:55

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Biz: Toyota made a profit last quarter, one to be eaten up by the recalls

  • $900
    million     the size of Toyota’s profit in the final three months of last year
  • $2
    billion     the expected cost of all the recalls for faulty gas pedals source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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