• bad Underdog smartphone maker Palm is still doing rotten with its stock price and, with the Pre’s lacking success, could die eventually.
• good On the plus side, they just added another carrier. AT&T has the iPhone AND Pre Plus. Is it time to upgrade, iPhone fans? source

• So, if we all lived somewhere with the density of Brooklyn (which is packed, but comfortable), we could all fit into New Hampshire. How cool is that, kids? Kudos to Shane Keaney, who designed this clever graphic as part of a Good Magazine contest. Sadly, some of the graphics are a little messy compared to Shane’s, which does a great job of explaining a very detailed concept in incredibly simple terms. Great job, dude. If we had money, we’d give you a job blogging for us or something. source

• So far, I think a lot of conservatives will agree with me. Now comes the hard lesson: A huge part of the blame for [Sunday’s] disaster attaches to conservatives and Republicans ourselves.
• Conservative columnist David Frum • Regarding the situation with health care, which he says is a huge failure on the part of the Republican Party to do anything to work with the Democrats and share in the success of the bill. Even with the likely victories in November for the party as a result of its passage, he argues, it may be, as he puts it, an “abject and irreversible defeat.” Ouch. source

• Might as well try to use your momentum. The Republicans, still smarting from the health care loss, have used the opportunity to turn GOP.com into this atrocity of a Web site seemingly designed to reflect the anger of whoever designed it. Art is emotion, of course, but Nancy Pelosi behind a fire-heavy background may be a bit much. source

• “Alice” had a good first week, and hasn’t done bad, but it’s not epic. Tim Burton’s latest big-budget hit, which also uses the spectacular 3D technology of “Avatar” (though not as well), looked like it was on the way to a similarly epic run for a couple of weeks. But while it did good this week, it’s now clear that it’ll just be a big hit, not an epic one.

“Alice” in her third weekend

• 45% dip in box-office receipts in weekend three source

• $116M “Alice in Wonderland’s” box-office take after its first weekend
• $209M “Alice’s” second-week mark; receipts dipped 46 percent
• $265M its third-week tally; it managed to stay on top despite competition

“Avatar’s” first three weeks

• 9.8% dip in “Avatar” in its third weekend source

• $77M where “Avatar” stood after its snow-marred first weekend
• $212M “Avatar” after weekend two; it was a huge hit during the week, even
• $352M after its third weekend, it was over halfway to “Titanic’s” $600 million

Why the diverging paths?

• » Did the snow help “Avatar” build staying power? Director James Cameron miraculously had a movie with a similar box-office run to his previous film, “Titanic.” Part of that may have been due to a huge snowstorm which slammed the East Coast in its first weekend, keeping demand for the movie high when the snow was eventually cleared.
• » Blow up, then fade: One of the major differences between “Alice” and “Avatar” is that “Alice” had a more traditional path to success, one that most blockbusters have followed in the last decade. The much-hyped movie with the big first weekend often fades quickly. Some exceptions exist – “The Dark Knight,” for example, came out of the gate quicker than “Avatar” did and had some staying power, but faded by its fifth week. The secret to an “Avatar”-style run? Slow and steady wins the race.

• Now Google suddenly wants to break its promise, and if it’s not satisfied it will criticize China for a worsening of the investment environment. This is entirely unreasonable. What has changed is not China’s investment environment. It is Google itself.
• Chinese official media source Xinhua • Regarding Google’s decision to move out of the Chinese market (a decision reported by the Financial Times today but not formally announced). To a degree, they’re totally correct. Yeah, Google changed. They decided that they couldn’t do censorship anymore, and were optimistic they could get China to bend for them. Not so much. source

• 10% boost in tax refunds,
  Joe Biden sez source

• Missed/didn’t care about yesterday? The Huffington Post put together this great video of the highlights of the epic evening in D.C. They should’ve put it to to Pachelbel’s Canon just for effect. In other news, the person who who called Bart Stupak a “baby killer” last night is having his identity protected by his Republican peers. “Members have a right to make an idiot of themselves once without being exposed,” said Rep. Dave Obey, who knows who said it. Oh boy. source

• At a time when Americans foremost wanted action on jobs and the economy, they were given an unconstitutional mandate that fundamentally expands the power of government. The real winners are insurance companies and big pharma.
• FreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey • Regarding the problems he sees with the health care bill. Armey, one of dozens of voices in a chorus of political voices the New York Times put together after the vote, stands out because he ended his quote with this ominous statement: “This debate is far from over, and will be a critical issue come November.” Armey, by the way, is one of the leading behind-the-scene guys in the tea party movement, so his words should leave Democrats scared. source