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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

04 Feb 2010 10:50

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Offbeat: These birds know how to rock, if somewhat unintentionally

  • Let’s place a bunch of random birds in a room with a couple of Les Paul guitars, and see what happens. And what happened was avant-garde goodness that some might find just a little amazing. BBC art critic Will Gompertz compares the style of artist Celeste Boursier-Mougenot, who created this, to Marcel Duchamp, in that it adds chance as a factor in the music’s creation. The result? For more than the birds. source
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04 Feb 2010 10:36

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Offbeat: Awesome nerd decides to mix photos and math together

  • Consider it the merging of art and math. Photography and mathematics student Nikki Graziano has been merging her two majors (which she studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology), finding cool images of clouds, shrubs and other things and then graphing how they would repeat in mathematics. Nerd. Arty nerd. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 10:24

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Tech: Sun Microsystems CEO tweets his resignation, haiku-style

  • Today’s my last day at Sun. I’ll miss it. Seems only fitting to end on a #haiku. Financial crisis/Stalled too many customers/CEO no more
  • Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz • In a tweet about his last day at the tech company, which was recently swallowed whole by Oracle. Schwartz, who shows creativity even in defeat, is the first Fortune 200 CEO to ever tweet his resignation. Seems fitting for a tech CEO to go out that way. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2010 10:15

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Biz: People working harder so companies have to hire less

  • 6.2% increase in worker productivity in 2009 source
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