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12 Aug 2010 13:50

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Culture: “Eat Pray Love” the latest gripe of disgruntled literary agents

  • Oh my God, it was insane. It’s my most-hated thing as an agent.
  • Russell & Volkening Literary agent Jesseca Salky • Discussing how the success of “Eat Pray Love,” and its universal theme of redemption after major change has annoyed literary agents to no end. Salky said she used to get up to 30 submissions per week that referenced the ultra-popular book, and she wasn’t alone. The type of novel it was suggested anyone could write a book like it. And well, they can’t. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Aug 2010 12:59

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Tech: OK, we take it back. TweetMeme and Twitter are still buddies

  • In case you haven’t seen, that Tweet Button has launched. And rather than being a half-baked thang, it’s totally full-baked, with lots of early support out of the gate. And rather than taking the scorned lover role like it seemed at first, TweetMeme is an equal partner here. “Firstly we will be assisting Twitter with the technical challenges involved with the button,” wrote TweetMeme CEO Nick Halstead, “and secondly we will be working even more closely in the future on delivering real-time curation of the Twitter Firehose.” Oh, yeah, check this out. Those buttons were just the start. DataSift is the future. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Aug 2010 10:40

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Tech: Apparently, you’ll be able to see a freaking meteor shower tonight

  • It’s August, so it must mean meteor showers! At least that’s what NASA says, which is why they’re hosting a chat later on today to discuss the Perseid meteor shower peaks, which will be hitting today and tomorrow., leading to awesome images like this one. We like space. It’s kind of a big place. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Aug 2010 10:27

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Biz: GM’s profits: Here’s your beacon of hope, depressed investors

  • $1.3 billion in profits this quarter, the best since 2004 source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Aug 2010 10:22

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U.S.: Did they catch him? Serial stabber suspect arrested at airport

  • It makes me feel a lot better, and a lot safer for everyone. Hopefully, it’s him.
  • Barbara Motley-Embry • Regading the reported arrest of a man tied to a series of stabbings mostly in Flint, Michigan. Motley-Embry’s son David Motley was the first victim of the purported serial killer, who also has ties to attacks in Leesburg, Va. and Toledo, Ohio. All but two of the victims in the attacks were black, leading many to believe that there is a strong racial motivation to the case. Here’s hoping they got their man – this guy was reportedly about to board a flight to Israel. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Aug 2010 23:09

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Offbeat: Breakdown: Yesterday’s ultra-viral hoax featuring Jenny, a.k.a. Elyse

  • anyone fooled by this needs to try harder. Jenny, the employee who quit her job via dry-erase board, was proven to be a hoax today. But then again, it did fool some people. We’re actually not disappointed. Anyone who looked at those photos would wonder why the quality of them was basically perfect, like they had been shot in a studio. Because they had been. This hoax flew through the Internet in a matter of hours, which leaves a lot of questions about both the girl (real name: Elyse “I’m freaking famous now” Porterfield) and the traffic she drew. So, let’s throw out some numbers.
  • 20 girls applied to an ad looking for an actress for the role; Elyse was the obvious choice
  • two the number of hours the photo shoot took – half of which was spent on waiting for a battery to charge
  • 421,000 total Facebook shares (whoa)
  • 2.5Mthe amount of traffic TheChive.com usually gets each month
  • 2.5M the amount of traffic TheChive.com got yesterday alone
  • 2.5M the amount of traffic TheChive.com got today (at last count)
  • » How has it worked out for Elyse? Well … her Facebook fan page is brimming with new fans. Like, 4,100 or so. While she claims to have gotten more marriage proposals than job offers, she did get a few of those, too. She should do a commercial with the Old Spice Guy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

11 Aug 2010 22:28

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Tech: Treesaver and Nomad Edition: The latest web magazine twist

  • While the magazine is interesting, the technology is way more interesting. Treesaver is a HTML5 platform designed for magazine content in a way that is very versatile and adapts to the viewport on the screen. Which is frickin’ rad. As for Nomad Edition, the magazine format which will use the to-be-open-sourced technology first, we liked the idea until we read the phrase “links will not be embedded in the Nomad Editions content” in this New York Times article. Boo. You don’t get the advantages of this format. You lose instantly. Go directly to jail, do not collect $200. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

11 Aug 2010 21:57

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Biz: Increased trade deficit + nervous investors = SELL! SELL! SELL!

  • 18.8% increase in the trade deficit, to $49.9 billion
  • 2.5% decrease in the Dow because of this news
  • 2.8% fall in the S&P 500 for the same reason
  • 3% dip in the Nasdaq today; sigh source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Aug 2010 21:41

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World: Osama bin Laden’s cook gets prison time for feeding bin Laden

  • 14 number of years Ibrahim al Qosi was sentenced in a military tribunal for conspiring with al-Qaeda and providing material support for terrorism
  • two number of years al Qosi may actually serve, based on a plea agreement which has been kept secret and may not be publicized for months, when nobody cares anymore source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Aug 2010 21:31

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Politics: Dear Robert Gibbs: We love you, but you should zip it

  • Robbie, it’s been a love affair for us. You seem like a genuine fun-loving guy and have generally been a decent press secretary. But recently, you’ve just been opening up your mouth too much. While refreshing honesty is nice and refreshing, it’s not your job. Your job isn’t to fight the “professional left” for respect. Your job is to help Obama communicate with the press. And if you become the news, you aren’t doing your job anymore. We love you and your demeanor. It’s refreshing considering some of the guys Bush had in that spot (Scott McClellan, anyone?), but don’t it get in the way of your job. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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