Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on TwitterBe a Facebook FanTumble us!

18 Jan 2011 13:32

tags

U.S.: Sen. Kent Conrad will not seek reelection in 2012

  • After months of consideration, I have decided not to seek reelection in 2012.
  • Senator Kent Conrad • The moderate Democrat announced his pending retirement this morning. He’s been in the Senate since 1987, representing North Dakota, a fairly conservative state. With his announcement, the Democratic Party is likely feeling some angst that a new window of congressional opportunity may be opening for their Republican counterparts. Conrad scoffed at the notion he feared losing a potential reelection bid, insisting his age was his primary motivator (Conrad is 62). source

18 Jan 2011 11:01

tags

Biz, Tech: Apple’s stock not reacting well to Steve Jobs’ medical leave

  • 5.2% decline the drop in Apple’s stock in the wake of yesterday’s announcement that Steve Jobs took medical leave
  • $19
    billion
    the amount of market value that was erased in the wake of Jobs’ temporary departure source
  • » Not enough to kill their swagga: Apple shares are still up 66 percent over the last twelve months, and have a higher market capitalization than any other technology stock. So, even without Jobs, they’re still in a good financial position.

18 Jan 2011 10:45

tags

Tech: Facebook deals with blowback from another privacy kerfluffle

  • Over the weekend, we got some useful feedback that we could make people more clearly aware of when they are granting access to this data.
  • Facebook’s Douglas Purdy • On temporarily disabling a feature that would allow Facebook apps to access addresses and phone numbers. Because that’s not creepy or anything. As Purdy’s wording suggests, they won’t be getting rid of it, but merely reworking. “With this change,” he noted, “you could, for example, easily share your address and mobile phone with a shopping site to streamline the checkout process, or sign up for up-to-the-minute alerts on special deals directly to your mobile phone.” Or you could just not do this. The choice is up to you guys, really. Phone numbers and addresses: A step too far? source

18 Jan 2011 10:26

tags

Tech: App Store: 14-year-old’s “Bubble Ball” game topples “Angry Birds”

  • See this game right here? It’s more popular than “Angry Birds” right now. And it was built by a 14-year-old Utah kid. “I was pretty astonished,” said Robert Nay, an eighth-grader, about having the most-popular program in the App Store. “When I released it, I didn’t think it would do so well.” Instead, the physics-oriented “Bubble Ball” has done gangbusters. Nay made the game on the suggestion of friends, using Ansca Mobile’s Corona SDK to simplify the task. Nay still had to write 4,000 lines of code, and it appears it was totally worth it for Nay, who managed to impress the heck out of the Corona SDK developers.  source

18 Jan 2011 10:12

tags

World: Iraqi suicide bomber attacks police recruits waiting in line

  • 45+ killed in the attack on a line of police recruits waiting for jobs in Saddam Hussein’s hometown, Tikrit
  • 100+ wounded in the attack that’s the worst since Nuri al-Maliki was reappointed Prime Minister source

18 Jan 2011 09:27

tags

Biz: Cheezburger Network: Stupid videos, insanely high funding

  • $30 million in funding for cat videos and The Daily What source