Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

23 Jul 2010 17:48

tags

U.S.: D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee drops hammer on teachers

  • 261 teachers were fired just before the new school year
  • 165 were cited for having poor classroom performance
  • 737 more educators are on thin ice for the next year source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

23 Jul 2010 17:39

tags

U.S.: Deepwater Horizon’s alarm too noisy, so they shut it off

  • Apparently, there were a lot of false alarms. They apparently were annoying and woke up sleeping workers. That’s what a chief technician for Transocean, the company that ran the oil rig, said about the reasons that safety systems were knowingly turned off – which helped lead to the disaster that killed 11 people and caused the ocean to flood with oil. In other oil-company-friendly news, BP got transparent about their Photoshopped images and posted a set of images up on Flickr – the ‘chopped images and the originals. Which is funny, because none of the images needed any Photoshopping at all. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jul 2010 17:24

tags

Tech: One Laptop Per Child = Old news, thanks to India’s ultra-cheap tablet

  • 1,500 rupees the cost of the Linux-based tablet prototype they showed off
  • $35 dollars the amount that is in American dollars (in other words, cheap!) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jul 2010 16:41

tags

Tech: Apple: White iPhones somehow harder to make than black ones

  • White models of Apple’s new iPhone® 4 have continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected, and as a result they will not be available until later this year. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.
  • A PR statement from Apple • Noting the technical limitations caused by in creating the white iPhone 4. Apple is certainly running into a lot of problems with the phone this time around, aren’t they? Considering how smoothly most of their other launches go, it’s almost absurd. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jul 2010 14:44

tags

U.S.: Bad uses of top-secret clearance: Accessing child porn online

  • bad Dozens of Pentagon officials and contractors with clearance have been tied to purchasing child porn.
  • worse While some cases have been prosecuted, many have languished over a number of years. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jul 2010 14:29

tags

Biz: Kenneth Feinberg: Wall Street gave out a lot of ill-timed bonuses

  • 17 number of firms that made “ill-advised” executive payments during a bailout period
  • $1.6B the amount these firms reportedly paid in the late 2008 and early 2009 periods
  • no pay czar Kenneth Feinberg won’t ask for it back; it’ll open up a can of worms source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jul 2010 14:21

tags

World: Your life sucks less than this: Bear with its head stuck in a jar

  • Poor guy! For the last two weeks, this Canadian bear has been wandering around the forest with a jar stuck on its head. Jokes aside, this is really scary for the guy, because he can’t eat, drink or anything. Animal control has been trying (and failing) to help him out. Some argue that this is a perfect example of the humans having unintended consequences on the environment. Because, really, who wants to see a bear in such an awful situation? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Jul 2010 14:00

tags

U.S.: RIP Daniel Schorr: They don’t build journalists like him anymore

Dude is IN CONGRESS smoking a cigar while at a hearing about whether Nixon tried to give him a job. He worked for both CBS and NPR in his lengthy career. He died today at 93. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jul 2010 13:53

tags

Biz: Ford makes it five straight quarters of actual profit

  • $2.6 billion in profits this quarter; who needs a bailout? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jul 2010 13:48

tags

Biz: European banks put to the test, couldn’t handle the stress

  • seven banks number of EU financial institutions that failed a stress test
  • $4.5 billion the size of the shortfall the banks collectively faced source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>