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

03 Jan 2011 11:27

tags

Tech: Vaporware list: “Duke Nukem Forever” still getting mentioned

  • So, it’s been like a decade since our boy Duke Nukem first showed up on Wired’s long-running vaporware list, and even though it looks like it’s actually gonna get released this year (seriously!), he still made honorable mention on the list. On this year’s list? At least two tablets and a Chrome OS laptop which we’re still waiting for Google to send us. source

03 Jan 2011 11:16

tags

U.S.: Another huge chunk of the animal kingdom dies in Arkansas

  • If it was from a pollutant, it would have affected all of the fish, not just drum fish.
  • Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesperson Keith Stephens • Regarding the mysterious deaths of as many as hundreds of thousands of fish in the Arkansas River, which follows up the mysterious deaths of thousands of birds at the end of last week. So, we think we know which state Springfield is in, guys. source

03 Jan 2011 11:03

tags

Culture: Macaulay Culkin home alone, without Mila Kunis. Sigh

  • Eight years is a long time for a couple to be together when they haven’t married. Especially in Hollywood, where it seems like couples break up every week. So it’s understandable that one might feel bad for Macaulay Culkin, who has been dating Mila Kunis (the girl who started out as a co-star of “That ’70s Show” and the voice of the frumpy girl on “Family Guy,” and ended up a probable Oscar winner for “Black Swan”) for eight years. Poor Mac. Dude has had an ultra-weird life, but the normalcy of dating Mila Kunis probably helped. source

03 Jan 2011 10:42

tags

U.S.: NYC sanitation supervisors: Drinking beer instead of digging out?

  • bad New Yorkers are already upset at the slow pace at which the recent blizzard has been getting cleaned up, and rumors suggest that sanitation supervisors shirked their jobs out of anger over budget cuts.
  • worse The latest rumor going around? Last Monday night, a bunch of sanitation supervisors were sitting around in a car and drinking beer instead of digging the city out of a freaking snowstorm. source

03 Jan 2011 10:31

tags

Biz, Tech: Goldman Sachs investment: Facebook worth more than God

  • $450
    million
    the amount that Goldman Sachs just invested in the massive film-worthy social network
  • $50
    billion
    the valuation of Mark Zuckerberg’s baby, based largely on Goldman’s huge investment source

03 Jan 2011 10:15

tags

Politics: Why RNC chairman Michael Steele has no chance of being reelected

  • $20M the amount of debt the RNC will carry into this year – which is massive and will hurt Steele
  • $10M the amount of debt the fiscally-minded RNC will likely carry into the 2012 presidential year
  • $2M the largest amount of debt the RNC has had in a presidential year (in 2000) – until now source

02 Jan 2011 23:06

tags

Politics: Max Headroom: Darrell Issa has newfound power, car alarms

  • This guy wants to kill $200 billion in government waste: Rep. Darrell Issa is ready to take a hacksaw to the federal budget in an effort to kill waste in a number of organizations, including the EPA. As the chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Issa will have the power to do just that (along with many other things). Fun fact: Issa is rich because his company invented the Viper car alarm system, which features his voice telling people to get away from your car. We want Issa to do the same thing with wasteful spending. “Step away from the pork!”
  • Liberals: scared of Darrell Issa Not everyone likes the idea of the car alarm dude having this much power. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the committee, is one of Issa’s fiercest critics, as MSNBC (and this Politico dude with a kinda weird accent) remind us. You can see the fear in their eyes.
  • Libertarian-a-Palooza John Stossel is probably one of the most well-known libertarians who could be called a journalist. Ron Paul is the current face of the libertarian movement. We don’t know the other guy, but he’s libertarian, too. They just keep agreeing with each other. It’s kinda weird.
 

02 Jan 2011 21:52

tags

U.S.: What’s more important: A massive copper mine or a campground?

  • commerce About a decade ago, the U.S.’s largest copper mine was discovered in Arizona – 7,000 feet deep and with enough copper to cover a fifth of the nation’s supply. It could also create thousands of jobs, and politicians have been helping make it happen.
  • nature Unfortunately for the mining companies and politicians, the area includes Oak Flat Campground, popular with both campers and rock-climbers (and federally protected from things like this). As a result, the move is very unpopular with Arizona residents.  source

02 Jan 2011 21:33

tags

Culture: In general, we’re watching more television – and a LOT less CNN

  • +1% the increase in the total audience on all cable and broadcast television channels in 2010
  • -7% the decrease in Fox News’ total audience – they’re still on top of the cable news game
  • -34% the decrease in CNN’s total audience – the worst of any cable network, period source
  • » Time to bring back “Pop-Up Video”: Behind CNN, the second-biggest loser in cable was VH1 (down 31 percent), which, unlike big gainer The History Channel (up 34 percent), is unable to bank on an antiques-and-pawn-shop lineup to pump up the ratings.

02 Jan 2011 21:15

tags

Politics: House GOP plans useless, ineffective Obamacare repeal vote

  • You’ve seen that the more people learn about Obamacare the less they like it. So we will put forth a clean repeal bill of Obamacare, and you’ll continue to see us make that fight because that’s what the American people want us to do.
  • Rep. Michele Bachmann • Speaking about the House GOP’s plan to vote on a repeal of the health care bill – before the president’s State of the Union later this month. Between this and the reading-the-Constitution thing, the GOP is big on symbolic measures that waste everyone’s time, aren’t they? Then again, the Democrats did something similar with the tax compromise, so maybe we should just hush. source