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13 Mar 2010 12:06

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Tech: Chatroulette’s founder feels your naked creepy guy pain

  • People that are naked are all over the Internet. I don’t like it, because I want a clean site, so I have added a ‘Report’ button. Now if someone is reported three times they are banned from the site.
  • Andrey Ternovskiy • Regarding the proliferation of naked people on Chatroulette, his site. Ternovskiy who is in the U.S. on a venture capital mission, says he won’t sell his nest egg right away and wants to protect the privacy of his users, a privacy slightly uncovered by Chatroulette Map, a Google Maps mashup which is actually kinda cool. He plans to do more to protect users’ privacy from sites like that one. source

13 Mar 2010 11:42

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Tech: A hat tip to our friends at Apture, and their latest upgrade

  • As might be clear to the people who regularly use ShortFormBlog, we’re big fans of the Apture contextualization technology, and we’ve actually been testing out the newest version on the site for months. However, and this is big news, they’ve launched a public beta, with some significant(ly awesome) changes. You might notice that the bar on the bottom of the site has been replaced with a branded pop-up bar on the top with really cool social functions at your fingertips. They’re really excited about it (and have some awesome ideas about context), and so are we.
  • » Want to see something cool? Select this text: “Elvis bananas.” Then hit Control-C/Command-C to copy it. You should see something really awesome happen. Just sayin’. source

13 Mar 2010 11:24

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Tech, World: What are the odds that Google will leave China, anyway?

  • 99.9% that’s a lot of nines, guys source

13 Mar 2010 11:20

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Tech, U.S.: Coming soon to Congress: A broadband Internet battle royale

  • FCC The Federal Communications Commission wants to expand broadband access (especially to rural areas that lack fast internet) and widen the wireless spectrum, saying the U.S. is falling behind.
  • telecom The TV industry is concerned that losing chunks of over-the-air spectrum could affect their signals; major telecom providers are also feeling mounting pressure to improve their networks. source

13 Mar 2010 11:01

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Politics: Harry Reid has a Tea Party competitor. Did Harry put him there?

  • Some Tea Party members thinks he was planted by Reid’s buddies. Jon Scott Ashjian, who just declared as a candidate in the 2010 election for Harry Reid’s Nevada senate seat, is drawing more than a little controversy. “Nobody in the Tea Party knows who he is. He didn’t know any of the principles of the Tea Party,” said Danny Tarkanian, one guy who’s gunning for the Republican nomination (and whose dad is a famous former UNLV basketball coach). Sue Lowden, the GOP frontrunner, says she’s never seen him at a Tea Party event. Strange. source

12 Mar 2010 21:57

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Culture: Corey Haim’s death blamed on … wait for it … prescription drug ring (?!)

  • Corey Haim’s death is yet another tragedy linked to the growing problem of prescription-drug abuse. This problem is increasingly linked to criminal organizations, like the illegal and massive prescription-drug ring under investigation.
  • California Attorney General (and gubernatorial candidate) Jerry Brown • Regarding the cause of Haim’s death. Despite the autopsy having left evidence of this unconnected as of yet, an unauthorized prescription note in Haim’s name was found during an unrelated investigation on prescription drug fraud – meaning, even if it wasn’t the cause (still possible), he was illegally getting his vicodin and other drugs with forged doctor’s notes. Is it us, or is Jerry Brown trying to win political points with this quote? source

12 Mar 2010 19:04

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Culture: Play him off, next-generation Keyboard Cat! Play him off!

  • What’s great about Keyboard Cat is that the original video is 26 years old. But that means that Fatso, the original cat, is long dead (sadly). But Charlie Schmidt’s awesome goofy video is no longer just encased in amber for all eternity. The next generation of Keyboard Cat has been introduced. Meet Bento. (Hi Bento!) See him play the keys like a king. source
 

12 Mar 2010 18:56

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Tech: A couple of iPads reportedly got presold today. Just a couple.

  • 90,000 sold, at last report (!); holy crap source

12 Mar 2010 18:27

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U.S.: Ever think you were overcharged in a NYC cab? You’re probably right

  • 1.8
    million
    the number of trips that were charged by a higher non-city rate
  • $8
    million
    the amount the overcharging made by over 3,000 sketchy cabbies source

12 Mar 2010 16:23

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Politics: Glenn Beck takes on religion, gets more people to hate him

Glenn Beck suggested that people should quit churches that support “social justice,” saying it’s a codeword. Now he’s got another boycott on his hands. source