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14 Apr 2010 11:07

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World: In India, a huge storm has left thousands of families homeless

  • 89+ people were killed in the huge storm; hundreds were injured
  • 100k number of mud hut homes that were destroyed by the storm source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2010 11:00

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U.S.: Most building materials don’t have homecomings. This steel is different.

  • 1969 Large amounts of steel leave a Pennsylvania factory, to be used in a massive New York City building.
  • 2010 Those chunks of steel, remnants of the World Trade Center, return to the factory today. Sigh. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2010 10:55

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Culture: Conan should consider second career as cockney Thom Yorke

  • He wants you to notice when you’re not around that he likes doing parody covers of Radiohead’s most famous guilty pleasure. It’s so ducking special. We wish we were special. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2010 10:50

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Tech: Sorry, world: Apparently, the iPad’s really popular in the U.S.

  • Faced with this surprisingly strong U.S. demand, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the international launch of iPad by one month, until the end of May.
  • A statement from Apple • Regarding the company’s decision to delay the international release of the tablet which we’re currently using to read tweets while blogging (Twitterrific for the win). The company says that they’ve already shipped half a million iPads but it appeared demand in the U.S. would top expectations for at least the next several weeks. We blame the awesome Reuters app. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2010 10:41

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Politics: Sarah Palin’s rider almost as over-the-top as Spinal Tap’s

  • A couple of lucky college kids hit a goldmine. The California State University kids found a copy of the speaking engagement rider for Palin’s June speech at the school sitting in a trash can, and boy, is it amusing. Here are a few highlights:
  • one Option for a private jet. Must be large enough to fit the former governor’s ego.
  • two She must have access to straws that bend, or she totally walks. No bending here.
  • three Questions must be pre-screened. At private events, so must the stupid guests.
  • four Palin needs three hotel rooms. At least one of those must be set aside for her accent.
  • five If Levi Johnston shows up, kick him out. (OK, we made that one up.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 6 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2010 10:11

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World: Rescuers in full search mode after major Chinese earthquake

  • 6.9 the magnitude
    of the quake, as reported by the USGS
  • 400+ people have been
    killed in the wake of the major quake
  • 10k+ people reported injured
    in China’s Qinghai province source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2010 10:04

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Tech: After the Tweetie buy-out, are Twitter developers screwed?

Not if you’re Seesmic. No word on other developers, but Robert Scoble reports the Twitter client maker diversified its approach, though they say they’ve felt squeezed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

14 Apr 2010 09:51

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Biz: Even for those on Obama’s foreclosure plan, it’s not really helping

  • 75% of people in Obama’s foreclosure-prevention plan owe more than their homes are worth
  • 50% of people owe more than
    25 percent in negative equity on
    their homes; crazy source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2010 09:43

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Tech, World: Protip to Web-censored countries: Use Opera. No, really

  • 32% of people in Kazakhstan use Opera for browsing source
  • » Why Opera, anyway?: Well, Opera has this Turbo Browsing mode that goes through a proxy. The feature is intended to make Web browsing faster, but has the side effect of getting around the country’s censorship law, which passed last year. Too bad the iPhone app sucks.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Apr 2010 23:13

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Politics: Mitch McConnell continues policy of obstructionism by default

  • The fact is, this bill wouldn’t solve the problems that led to the financial crisis. It would make them worse. This bill not only allows for taxpayer-funded bailouts of Wall Street banks; it institutionalizes them.
  • Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell • Regarding the financial reform bill that the Democrats are trying to push through. Let’s go back in time and remind you that this is the guy whose entire political plan of attack involves disagreeing with the Democrats on everything – a plan which wasn’t enough to sideline the health care law. Democrats wanted to work with Republicans on the plan, by the way. (They’re still working behind the scenes.) Fellow Republican Bob Corker made an effort to work across the aisle, but he couldn’t get any help. A couple of weeks ago, in fact, we posted an article titled “Could financial reform be the GOP’s way out of ‘just say no?’” McConnell gave us our answer (at least from GOP leadership). No. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 10 Comments • Permalink
 
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