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28 Jul 2010 23:05

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Tech: Jeff Bezos: Screw competing with the iPad, Kindle does it right

  • For the vast majority of books, adding video and animation is not going to be helpful. It is distracting rather than enhancing. You are not going to improve Hemingway by adding video snippets.
  • Amazon founder Jeff Bezos • Explaining why the new version of the Kindle basically looks like a slicker, cheaper version of the last Kindle. That’s right, no color. No display prowess. Just a sleeker version of the wheel. Anyway, $139 for a wi-fi only version? Sounds like someone’s trying to court the very mass market the device wasn’t priced for in its first two iterations. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jul 2010 22:42

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U.S.: Arnold Schwarzenegger terminates hope of farm worker overtime

  • cause California’s legislature passed a bill giving farm workers the same right to an 40-hour workweek as everyone else. It would’ve been the first of its kind in the nation.
  • reaction Ah-nold vetoed it, saying that the rules don’t really work for farming – something, surprisingly, both organic farmers and big agriculture corporations agree on. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

28 Jul 2010 22:30

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Culture: Are receipts toxic? Might want to check their BPA levels

BPA (or Bisphenol A), a known toxin that’s common in plastics, was found in most receipts tested in a study by the Environmental Working Group. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jul 2010 22:18

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Politics: Arizona immigration ruling: A temporary, but key, decision

  • While we understand the frustration of Arizonans with the broken immigration system, a patchwork of state and local policies would seriously disrupt federal immigration enforcement.
  • Justice Department spokeswoman Hannah August • Regarding the decision made by Judge Susan Bolton to temporarily block most of the key provisions of Arizona’s immigration law. Regarding the key provision, which would force police to check the immigration status of people they suspect may be illegal, Bolton said that the provision will lead to “the intrusion of police presence into the lives of legally present aliens (and even United States citizens), who will necessarily be swept up” as a result of the law. Bolton’s decision has a couple of effects – one, it puts pressure on the U.S. to secure the border, and two, it railroads other states’ attempts to get in on the immigration law action. All in all, big decision. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jul 2010 10:57

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Culture: Ivy Bean: The world’s oldest Twitter user dies, Twitter remembers

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28 Jul 2010 10:07

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U.S.: Arizona’s immigration law: Before it’s enforced, most support it

  • 55% totally favor Arizona’s new immigration law
  • 40% think it’s a bad idea – this number spikes among Hispanics
  • 5% don’t know what immigration is, so they were confused source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jul 2010 09:59

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Offbeat: Question: Which U.S. downmarket beer is upmarket in China?

  • It’s a little vague and blurry, but we think you guys can make it out. (Note: The brand is upmarket, and so is the beer. None of that $2 stuff, guys.) source
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28 Jul 2010 09:53

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Politics: Obama: The Wikileaks documents are sensitive … but not really

  • I’m concerned about the disclosure of sensitive information from the battlefield that could potentially jeopardize individuals or operations. … The fact is these documents don’t reveal any issues that haven’t already informed our public debate about Afghanistan.
  • President Barack Obama • Saying one thing but immediately contradicting himself. If this data was so sensitive, how come it doesn’t reveal an issues that haven’t already informed our public debate? Security experts suggest that the documents don’t create an immediate threat, but note that the tendency is dangerous. Tying this into last week’s “Top Secret America” thang that the Post did, it’s possible that the government’s tendency to overclassify documents hit here too. But this sort of doublespeak simply doesn’t get us anywhere. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jul 2010 09:42

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Offbeat: Protip to Oklahomans: Do not vote for this girl’s father.

  • Dear dad, perhaps you should have done better? A daughter with a bone to pick put up a Web site about her wannabe judge father, who she says “is not a good father, a good grandfather, and” … screw it, you can read what it says on the rest of her newspaper ad over to the left. Let’s just say that the bad blood flows deep in the Mantooth family. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jul 2010 09:26

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World: In Spain, Catalonia takes the lead in outlawing bullfighting

While it’s a longstanding tradition, it’s one that has drawn a lot of controversy for its animal cruelty ramifications. So Catalonia banned it. source
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