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13 Oct 2010 21:49

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Biz, Tech: Rumor mill: AOL interested in buying fellow giant also-ran Yahoo

  • Good freaking god, could you imagine? Yahoo and AOL together would be like Scott Baio and Tony Danza doing a sitcom together. It’d be diminishing returns all around. It’d be a sitcom on ABC Family instead of ABC, trying its best to win a smaller audience than either star once had, and the jokes will almost certainly feel old and worn by the time they make ’em. On the other hand, we really like AOL’s current editorial-leaning direction, but Yahoo has not done anything of note since around 2000. AOL would strip Yahoo of most of the extra crap and turn it into a big advertising company. How would this work? And why is AOL acquiring so much stuff right now? And would Tim Armstrong boot out Carol Bartz? We wanna know what Alec Baldwin thinks of all this. source

13 Oct 2010 21:13

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Politics: Aww, how sweet: Christine O’Donnell pulls out the “Marxist” card

For those keeping score at home: Chris Coons is a Marxist. Christine O’Donnell, on the other hand, is you. We’re left scratching our heads. source

13 Oct 2010 21:02

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World: ALL THE MINERS OUT. LET’S CELEBRATE USING ALL CAPS! WHOO!

  • KNOW HOW WE KNOW THIS IS A HUGE STORY? Because CNN put their headlines IN ALL CAPS. SCREAMING. CONGRATS!

13 Oct 2010 20:21

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Music: Live your life: T.I. talked a guy out of jumping to his death (wow)

  • T.I. just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
  • Atlanta Police spokesman James Polite • Explaining how rapper T.I., a.k.a. Clifford Harris, convinced a man on the rooftop of a 22-story Atlanta hotel not to jump. The rapper reportedly came out of nowhere in the middle of police negotiations with the man and talked the guy out of the jump. T.I., known for both his chart-topping success and for going to jail at the peak of his career, will face a judge this week and may possibly get his probation revoked over drug charges in Hollywood. Wow, that guy leads a busy life. source

13 Oct 2010 19:44

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World: Chilean miners about to be painfully blinded by spotlight

So to clarify, this guy wants to have a normal life. Yeah, this one. Mr. Iconic Photo that Will Be On the Cover of the Tell-All Biography. Good luck with that. source

13 Oct 2010 18:46

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Politics: Jack Black’s Obamacare parody: Clever or simply a mistake?

  • We’re not so sure about this. We like Jack Black. We like the point it’s making. But we think it’s the kind of clip that will preach to the converted rather than convince others to think. We could see a few conservatives who might be angry enough about a clip like this to skip out on “Kung Fu Panda 2.” Or “Orange County: The Next Generation.” Or “Tenacious D: The Oboe of Destiny.”

13 Oct 2010 11:24

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Culture: Sesame Street: What worked for Old Spice didn’t work for Katy Perry

  • Sesame Street has always used spoofs of popular culture to draw in and connect with its audience. We use spoofs and celebrity appearances to draw in the adult, because research shows that a child learns best when co-viewing with an adult.
  • Sesame Workshop vice president and executive producer of Digital Media Miles Ludwig • Explaining the quick success of last week’s Grover “Old Spice” parody, which has earned millions of views in just a few days. You know what’s funny, though? That’s exactly what another Sesame Workshop employee said about the Katy Perry thing on Good Morning America not so long ago. It seems to us that when they hit it, they hit it out of the park, but when they miss, something like Katy Perry happens. source
 

13 Oct 2010 11:07

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World: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad chillin’ in Lebanon, gettin’ some love

“Yes yes, I know, you all love me for helping train Hezbollah. But you know what’d be really freaking great? If you loved me more! Bwahahahahaha I’m so awesome!” source

13 Oct 2010 10:54

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Biz, Tech: Don’t own any Apple stock? Start kicking yourself now, loser

  • $300.20 Apple’s opening stock price this morning, which is the first time it’s been above $300
  • 43% the stock’s increase this year alone; guess that iPad pushed it over the edge or something source
  • » And it gets better: In the time that Steve Jobs has been behind the wheel – since 1997 – the stock has increased immensely. It’s 30 times bigger than it was just seven years ago, when everyone was first going gaga over the third-generation iPod.

13 Oct 2010 10:47

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Tech: Graduate student redesigns U.K. three-prong plug impeccably

  • So, here’s something you may not know about electrical outlets in the United Kingdom. The three-prongers are really freaking big. And not in a way that can usually be avoided. They’re very cumbersome, and make U.S. power outlets look svelte in comparison. Fortunately for the Brits, Royal College of Art graduate student Min-Kyu Choi is on the case with this device, which folds out only when necessary, and (even better) is designed in such a way that multiple cords can fit into one plug. Expect Apple to have a job offer at this guy’s feet by tomorrow morning. source