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19 Dec 2010 22:59

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Tech: Do Facebook’s new wider ads invade your space too much?

  • Does Facebook disrespect our space by constantly changing its design? And should we complain about it? One thing you may not have noticed about Facebook’s latest design change is that the ads got a lot bigger and more horizontal, at the cost of social media real estate. While we’d argue that it’s not nearly as big a deal as it seems, digital media strategist David Dalka (writing for TechCrunch) would argue that it’s something you should be angry about. “An offline analogy,” Dalka suggests, “might be when a television channel turns down the volume of their shows, while keeping the volume of commercials higher.” We’re not sure if wider column width is the new Billy Mays, but it’s an interesting argument, to say the least.  source

19 Dec 2010 21:40

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Culture: SNL’s clever rip on Time’s “Person of the Year” pick really insightful

  • We missed SNL last night, but we have to say that this clip really says a lot about the Time Person of the Year situation. While making Julian Assange look as creepy as possible, SNL gets a lot of jabs in at the oddity of Time picking a boring guy who runs a company that gives away your private data vs. an endlessly fascinating dude who tries to reveal corruption. Well-played, SNL.

19 Dec 2010 21:22

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Politics: FYI: The 20th Amendment was meant to stop lame-duck sessions

  • problem Throughout history, Congress has actually tried to get things done during lame-duck sessions, which was always controversial.
  • solution The Depression-era 20th Amendment changed the end date of Congress from March to early January to stop lame-duck sessions.
  • problem The amendment, however, didn’t account for the proliferation of airplane travel – meaning that Congress could meet in December. source

19 Dec 2010 21:06

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Politics: South Carolina’s OTHER GOP Senator makes a lame-duck excuse

  • If you really want to have a chance of passing START, you better start over and do it in the next Congress, because this lame duck has been poisoned.
  • Sen. Lindsey Graham • Trying to make an argument that Congress shouldn’t be working on passing the START treaty right now because it’s a lame-duck Congress. WAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT. Are you sure this duck is really all that lame? Seems like they’ve gotten a lot of stuff done in just a couple of weeks. A tax compromise. A major food-safety bill. A repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” a piece of major social legislation … and a bunch of other stuff. Now, Lindsey Graham is one of the more level-headed Republicans in the Senate, but this just feels like a different spin on the whole “it’s Christmas” argument his South Carolina counterpart, Jim DeMint, was trying to pass off last week. Stop whining guys; it’ll be a lot less painful when it’s over. source

19 Dec 2010 20:48

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World: Super-eclipse: Earth’s axis, closest star, only moon align all at once

  • So, tomorrow night is a cool night. See, Tuesday is the Winter Solstice, and coinciding with said Winter Solstice is a lunar eclipse – a star-aligning event we think happens every million years or something. We can’t be bothered to look up the specific number, but we hear it’ll be awesome. Enjoy the moon completely covered in shadows, guys. Well, as long as you live on the Western Hemisphere. Sorry Japan. source

19 Dec 2010 12:10

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Politics: Kirsten Gillibrand: 9/11 first responders’ health bill still on table

  • We have the votes we need. We have indications from several Republicans that they very much want to vote for this bill.
  • Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand • Revealing her hopes of resurrecting the 9/11 first responders’ health care bill before Christmas – this time with GOP support. If this does in fact happen (Gillibrand suggests that they’ve found ways to pay for the bill, which was the main sticking point for the GOP), we think that it will be to Jon Stewart’s credit that this happened, because his cheerleading of this bill kept it on the front-burner even when it looked like it was relegated to the back-burner. Fingers crossed that the $7.4 billion bill passes. source

19 Dec 2010 11:59

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Offbeat: Abu Dhabi hotel has buyer’s remorse over expensive Christmas tree

  • $11 million for a shiny Christmas tree they suddenly regret source
 

19 Dec 2010 11:55

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19 Dec 2010 11:36

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Politics: John McCain’s been really angry lately for some reason

  • I don’t think this will leave any scars. I just think we leave this fight knowing that I was right and he was wrong. I mean, it’s as simple as that.
  • Sen. Joe Lieberman • Explaining his feeling on the flare-up John McCain had over yesterday’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal. While the law’s passage was otherwise calm, McCain (who led the dissent against repeal) got angry at least a few times yesterday, mainly because he wanted more time to debate the bill (which he got without having to be angry about it). Anyway, the former presidential candidate went a little off the deep end, bemoaning “this bizarro world that the majority leader has been carrying us in,” and basically being kind of a jerk about the whole thing. So, this is what it’s like to be a maverick, eh? source

19 Dec 2010 11:22

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World: Ivory Coast election: No, this situation still hasn’t been resolved

  • problem After the Ivory Coast’s recent election, two dudes are fighting for leadership of the country – which has led to violent protests and instability over the last few weeks.
  • cause Laurent Gbagbo doesn’t want to surrender his long-held power, but the international community recognizes Alassane Ouattara as the actual winner of the election.
  • solution Gbagbo had a great way of fixing this – he wanted to kick 10,000 UN peacekeepers out of the country. They said no. Great. This should escalate quickly. source