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14 Sep 2010 23:37

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Culture: Jennifer Lopez on “American Idol”: She’s gonna make bank

  • $12 million deal for being bubbly and offering non-opinions source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Sep 2010 21:58

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Tech: Redesign! Twitter’s finally sprucing things up a little more

  • Looks like someone’s finally dealing with a sore spot! Twitter’s basic design had long been a sore spot for many using the service, and now they’re going to work on it, adding a bunch of multimedia elements and making the design overall more visual. We could see developers complaining about this like they did the Atebits acquisition; Brizzly, for example, just lost its main competitive advantage. The redesign rolls out over the next several weeks, and we’re guessing it’s going to go over a lot better than Digg’s. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Sep 2010 21:12

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Politics: Twitter’s talking about today’s big Congressional primaries


Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Sep 2010 16:58

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Culture: High-fructose corn syrup is so last decade

  • newIf the Corn Refiners Association has its way, high-fructose corn syrup will be replaced with “corn sugar” within the next few years.
  • old “Corn sugar” is actually the same thing as HFCS. They’re just trying to change the name to counteract HFCS’s bad reputation. source
  • what do you do when everyone realizes that your product contributes to one of the leading causes of preventable death worldwide? You change it’s name, of course, so people won’t know what they’re eating! That, and you launch a PR campaign to convince people that it’s actually not that bad for you. In related news, it’s not TV, it’s HBO! source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Sep 2010 11:14

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Tech: 3D printing looks kinda like the wave of the future

Could 3D printing replace manual labor for manufacturing? Well, it’s off to a good start. This architectural model was printed using a 3D printer. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Sep 2010 11:06

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Tech: Microsoft does the right thing in Russian software license case

  • To prevent non-government organizations from falling victim to nefarious actions taken in the guise of anti-piracy enforcement, Microsoft will create a new unilateral software license for NGOs that will ensure they have free, legal copies of our products.
  • Microsoft Senior Vice President and General Counsel Brad Smith • On the company’s response to a New York Times article alleging that Russian authorities were raiding political organizations under the guise of protecting Microsoft’s copyrights. “Ultimately, our goals are straightforward,” he writes. “We aim to reduce the piracy and counterfeiting of software, and we aim to do this in a manner that respects fundamental human rights.” While the nature of them dong piracy hunts is questionable in the first place, the response to this particular problem is one of the better ones we’ve seen. PR people, take note. This is how you handle a crisis. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Sep 2010 10:54

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World: Iran lets hiker Sarah Shourd go for a hefty price

  • good Sarah Shourd was able to walk free on Tuesday after 14 months of being held in Iran for hiking in the wrong place.
  • bad Her “representatives” had to score $500,000 to pull it off. Not fun. Plus, her friends are still in captivity ‘cuz they’re guys. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

14 Sep 2010 10:48

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Politics: Three major things to watch for in today’s primary races

  • delawareGOP establishment candidate Mike Castle takes on Tea Partier 
    Christine O’Donnell; if Castle wins, he wins in November. If O’Donnell does, all bets are off.
  • rangel The ethics-tainted congressman hasn’t lost the establishment and could win today, though that wouldn’t mean he’s out of the ethics woods by any means.
  • palinThe political kingmaker has endorsed five different candidates in today’s primaries. Are any of them gonna win, anyway? It could be a bellwether. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Sep 2010 10:35

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Tech: Mark Zuckerberg talks to the New Yorker; we know you won’t read it

  • Can’t wait for “The Social Network” to come out? We have good news for you! The New Yorker has its own take on Mark Zuckerberg, and this one comes from the Jesse Eisenberg-looking man himself. Key line from the entire thing (from when he regrettably called his own users dumb something-or-others over IM): “If you’re going to go on to build a service that is influential and that a lot of people rely on, then you need to be mature, right? I think I’ve grown and learned a lot.” All grown up! And he’s only 26! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Sep 2010 10:25

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Culture: Facebook movie trip report: Zuckerberg’s a jerk in the film

  • It’s just as rough on the Facebook CEO as his people feared it would be. Not because of scandalous scenes involving sex and drugs–there aren’t many of those, and they’re quite tame. It’s because the film portrays him as an insecure jerk who screws over people and becomes a much-richer insecure jerk.
  • Wall Street Journal reporter Peter Kafka • Offering an early assessment of the most anticipated film of the season, “The Social Network.” While Kafka notes the rumored coke-and-boobs scene is fairly tame (no boobs anymore, sorry), he notes that the film may not be totally accurate. But it’s still a harsh image. “At the end of the movie,” he writes. “there’s a suggestion that Zuckerberg may not actually be a jerk–he may just be someone who acts like one. That’s about it when it comes to the upside of his character: He’s the bad guy in his own creation myth.” A creation myth directed by David Fincher. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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