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14 Jun 2010 21:22

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Biz: Three reasons why Starbucks’ wi-fi plan could be big for newspapers

  • Smart synergy USA Today’s most brilliant move was brokering deals with hotels to give free copies of the paper to patrons. It helped them build their brand. Starbucks’ deal with the WSJ could be the modern equivalent of that, except more effective.
  • People do this already If you’ve ever been in a coffee shop, you know that copies of the newspaper are already sitting around for people to read if they so choose. This is the exact same thing without the paper waste. (Or the social elements, but alas.)
  • New business model If this works, it could effectively turn into a new revenue model for the newspaper industry, one that could be replicated in bookstores, restaurants and other public meeting places. Hope the WSJ is getting paid well for this.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jun 2010 21:02

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Biz: Starbucks says “screw it,” stops charging for wi-fi like losers

  • It had reached a point where it was affecting sales. For years, Starbucks was one of the few coffee-shop chains that didn’t have free wi-fi, instead charging high fees for usage. Then, they gave Starbucks Card holders two hours free. Now, they’re opening it up for everybody July 1st – and using their clout to sweeten the deal, big time. The details:
  • yesIt’ll be a simple process to log in – just hit a button and you’re on. You can stay as long as you want, bucking the independent coffee shop trend away from moochers.
  • noThat’s not all – they’ll offer free access to pay sites like The Wall Street Journal, and free music and movie previews. Holy crap. This could be big, everybody. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jun 2010 20:47

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Politics: Andrew Breitbart is making politicians look like idiots again

  • I deeply and profoundly regret my reaction and I apologize to all involved. Throughout my many years of service to the people of North Carolina, I have always tried to treat people from all viewpoints with respect. No matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become, this does not justify a poor response.
  • Rep. Bob Etheridge • Regarding the altercation he had with a couple of “college students” recently. After being asked if he supported the Obama agenda, he got angry, said “who are you?” repeatedly and started hitting the kids. While dude’s reaction wasn’t exactly called for, we argue this statement on BigGovernment.com is just as bad: “Expect more of this. It is going to be a long, hot summer.” Yeah, sure guys. Make more of these stupid fake controversies to draw attention to your crappy site. Play to the worst tendencies of politics. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 31 Comments • Permalink

14 Jun 2010 20:22

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Politics: Rick Barber: He makes bizarro hippies seem calm and collected

  • Transcript of this clip: I’m Rick Barber and I’m trying to get on MSNBC so Rachel Maddow will make fun of me. Then, people will vote for me in this runoff election, despite the fact that three other Alabama candidates tried similar tactics and lost. See the founding fathers? See me ripping out their souls with my stare? Vote for me! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jun 2010 11:14

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Tech: Geniuses take netbook CPUs and make a cool server out of them

  • See this smug bastard? Wondering why he’s so smug? Well, his company, SeaMicro, just blew up the server industry. This device he’s sitting next to uses hundreds of Intel Atom chips – 512 to be exact – to create supercomputer-level performance with a lower energy footprint than traditional servers. Why does Intel Atom sound so familiar? Oh yeah, those are the chips that they use in slow, low-power netbooks. Nice idea. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jun 2010 11:05

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Culture: Reasons Abby Sunderland’s dad might be a bad parent

  • one He let his son go on a solo sailing trip around the freaking world. He came back successfully.
  • two He then let his daughter do the same. She found herself stranded in the ocean. She’s OK.
  • three While his daughter was gone, he signed a deal to do a reality TV show with his family. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

14 Jun 2010 10:57

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Culture: One way to remember Jimmy Dean: His company’s awful food

  • A musician firstDean, who died last night at 81, started his career as a country musician. His biggest hit, “Big Bad John,” went to the top of the charts in 1961. He later became an actor, and even starred in a James Bond movie.

    Crimes committed in his nameLater, he got into the sausage-making business, building a popular brand off his image. Eventually, he sold his company to Sara Lee, who eventually got sick of this old man hanging around and kicked him out. Then they started making crap like the stuff to the left. Pancakes? Sausages? Chocolate chips? At least now that he’s dead, he can roll in his grave. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

14 Jun 2010 10:45

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Tech: AT&T trashes on Goatse Security for pointing out unsecured hole

  • If not for our firm talking about the exploit to third parties who subsequently notified them, they would have never fixed it. We know what we did was right.
  • Goatse Security representative Escher Auernheimer • Responding to a letter from AT&T notifying its users of the iPad security breach the group found last week. AT&T called his group malicious hackers who wanted publicity. (You’d think the name was enough for that, but …) Auernheimer, on the other hand, called AT&T out for taking a number of days to actually inform its users of the breach. Expect some sort of legal action soon. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jun 2010 10:36

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World: Not bad: Tony Blair gets stuff done when it comes to Israel

  • Dude got Israel to agree to open up Gaza. Israel was at the point where they needed to do something, though, because the International Committee for the Red Cross deemed their approach illegal. So, instead of only allowing a small number of things through the border, Israel will allow general goods and specifically block things they don’t want in the country. “Some of these issues, drawing up the negative list, that will take some time,” Blair said. “But we hope very much we can start getting stuff into Gaza.” He’s like a regular Bill Clinton! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

14 Jun 2010 10:28

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Politics: Is is time for Obama to address the nation on the oil spill?

  • YES only took him two months to pull out the TV card source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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