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26 Oct 2010 23:25

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Tech: LIMEWIRE IS DEAD. IN ALL CAPS. (FOR EMPHASIS)

  • THIS IS AN OFFICIAL NOTICE THAT LIMEWIRE IS UNDER A COURT-ORDERED INJUNCTION TO STOP DISTRIBUTING AND SUPPORTING ITS FILE-SHARING SOFTWARE. DOWNLOADING OR SHARING COPYRIGHTED CONTENT WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION IS ILLEGAL.
  • A notice on LimeWire’s Web site • Informing the world that the groundbreaking file-sharing service is no more. It lost a permanent injunction, rendering the decade-old site off-limits. You’ll be missed, and not just for all of the spyware you put on our computers. The next step? The RIAA goes for the money grab. Sad.  source

26 Oct 2010 23:10

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Tech: Get of the week: Engadget’s PlayStation Phone story (not bad, guys!)

  • Can’t you hear the fanboys squealing? This device was made for them. This get by Engadget is nearly as awesome as Gizmodo’s iPhone leak. Well-played, kids. And to Sony: This is a very smart way to get people to use your phones. source

26 Oct 2010 22:53

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U.S.: Someone in the D.C. area with a gun doesn’t like the military

  • one Some guy decided to shoot up the National Museum of the Marine Corps last week.
  • two Two days later, someone shot at the Pentagon using the same gun as the first shooting.
  • three Someone shot a Marine Recruiting Station in Northern Virginia. Is it related? source
  • » Why this is disconcerting: Well, among other things, the random nature of the shootings is reminiscent of the D.C. sniper shootings. While the person has hit no people yet, lots of people remember the hysteria around those shootings. Oh, and we can’t forget the fact that the military is involved. Tip to shooter: Find a better way to protest.

26 Oct 2010 22:00

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Biz: GlaxoSmithKline makes a whistleblower incredibly rich

  • $750 million GlaxoSmithKline will no longer have after this
  • $150M the amount in fines and forfeiture the company will have to pay to the U.S. government
  • $600M the amount of the settlement that GlaxoSmithKline will have to pay out
  • $94M the amount of the settlement the whistleblower, Cheryl D. Eckard, gets source
  • » The lesson of the day, guys? It pays to be a lawyer. Or a whistleblower. One thing that doesn’t pay is selling products on the market that don’t do what they purport to do, or are tainted during the manufacturing process.

26 Oct 2010 20:39

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Culture: Marie Claire forced into mea culpa over anti-obesity blog post

  • So anyway, yes, I think I’d be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other … because I’d be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything.
  • Marie Claire writer Maura Kelly • Basically calling fat people ugly and claiming that they’re at fault for their conditions. Kelly, who was responding to a CNN article about Hollywood’s treatment of plus-size characters in TV shows, went on to claim that “obesity is something that most people have a ton of control over” and offered advice to people to lose weight. The result? Well, she’s pretty much the most hated woman on the Internet today, was forced to respond to the article to apologize profusely, and should probably never write anything ever again. Listen, Maura, Julius may have a few extra pounds on his torso, but he’s not going to take your abuse! Say one more word and he’s gonna chase you down with a Twinkie or one of those dumbbells he never uses. source

26 Oct 2010 20:24

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Tech: PayPal (deservedly) gets the freeze from competitor WePay

  • Someone was gonna call them out for this at some point, and it might as well be WePay, a competitor which focuses on setting up group payments (rather than PayPal’s person-to-person payments). They put this giant block of ice outside of a PayPal developer conference in San Francisco earlier today. Publicity stunt? Sure. But PayPal has only been freezing accounts without cause for years, and what a way to call them out on it. source

26 Oct 2010 11:02

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26 Oct 2010 10:53

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Tech: Microsoft departing exec seems a future without Windows

  • Complexity kills. Complexity sucks the life out of users, developers and IT. Complexity makes products difficult to plan, build, test and use. Complexity introduces security challenges. Complexity causes administrator frustration.
  • Departing Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie • In a “post-apocalyptic” memo he released recently to Microsoft employees. What’s interesting about the memo is that it barely even mentions Windows, but instead emphasizes that Microsoft needs to change its overall approach to cheap, easy-to-use devices if it wants to stay in the game. In fact, in a tag cloud someone did of the memo, the top two words were “devices” and “services,” two things that other companies do much better than Microsoft right now. source

26 Oct 2010 10:37

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Politics: Rand Paul backers get violent towards MoveOn.org protester

  • Look, you disagree with someone, you don’t stomp on their head outside of a debate. That’s a basic rule. So, even though you disagree with this MoveOn.org supporter, you don’t stomp on her head. Because that’s not classy. Rand Paul’s people agree with us on this one: “Violence of any kind has no place in our civil discourse and we urge supporters on all sides to be civil to one another as tensions rise heading toward this very important election.” Let us be clear here: We think there’s a lot of tension going on with this election. Both sides need to chill. source

26 Oct 2010 10:23

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Biz: Ford, in blatant display of showing-off, posts record profits

  • $1.7B Ford’s profits in the third quarter of 2010 – a new record for the company
  • 1997 the year Ford set the quarterly record they broke this quarter
  • 69% the increase in profits from a year ago; not bad, auto industry source