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12 Feb 2011 18:26

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World: Researchers: We just found a wrecked ship tied to “Moby Dick”!

  • See that down there? That decayed jar of ginger may be a key piece of the Moby Dick puzzle deep in the ocean for three centuries. The inspiration for Herman Melville’s book (and, indirectly Herman Melville’s great-great-great-grandnephew’s stage name), George Pollard, Jr., was the captain of the ship “Two Brothers,” a ship that was struck by lightning and sank way back in 1823. (It was Pollard’s second whaling ship to face such an unlucky fate.) The crew was rescued, but the ship reportedly wasn’t found until recently, 600 miles off the coast of Honolulu. If true, this is awesome. (Photo by Greg McFall, NOAA) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Feb 2011 17:38

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Culture: Justin Bieber’s 3D flick scores biggest opening day of 2011 so far

  • $12.4
    million     made so far by a movie we will admit to having seen twice this weekend (actually, we take that back – we’ve seen it three times)
  • $9.7
    million     made on Friday by a movie that stars two of the best-known actors in the world, Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston – how did this happen? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Feb 2011 17:10

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U.S.: Recap: The NYC serial stabber’s crazed, bloody trail

  • 30 hours – the period key suspect Maksim Gelman was on the run
  • three people were killed as a result of fatal stabbings in the NYC area; three others were attacked
  • one more person was killed in a hit-and-run accident by the serial stabber while he was trying to escape
  • four cars stolen by the suspect while on the run, including two carjackings
  • many death threats against those who got in Gelman’s crazed way
  • 100’s of police officers were hunting him down the entire time source
  • » A man who went berzerk: Lead suspect Gelman, a 23-year-old from the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn who had a criminal record, reportedly killed his stepfather, his girlfriend and her mother, and proved to be a danger to anyone who got into his way. The situation ended quite dramatically in the subway system, with Gelman hiding in the system, eventually getting on a train near Penn Station, stabbing a man in one of the rail cars, and eventually getting caught by an army of police officers, some with machine guns, under Times Square. What might be a normal episode of “Law & Order” makes for a dramatic, pulse-raising real-life experience.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Feb 2011 12:49

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Tech: Pandora used to spend more on buying music than it made

  • 119% the size of Pandora’s revenues that used to go towards acquiring content back in the second quarter of 2009
  • 48% the size of Pandora’s revenues that go towards content acquisition now – they’re profitable now source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Feb 2011 12:21

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Tech: Apple’s big plan to combat Android? A smaller, no-contract iPhone

  • problem Apple’s current iPhone is a one-size-fits-all model which has allowed Android to get a foothold in the market with models of varying shapes and sizes.
  • solution? In response, Apple is reportedly planning a smaller iPhone model which – and this is important – wouldn’t require a plan, and would cost less than $200. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Feb 2011 12:03

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World: How does Mubarak feel about Egypt’s move towards democracy?

  • He called up an Israeli lawmaker just before he resigned to speak his mind a little. To put it simply, Mubarak feels, much like many Israeli officials, that a move towards democracy in Egypt will give rise to extremism. “He gave me a lesson in democracy and said: ‘We see the democracy the United States spearheaded in Iran and with Hamas, in Gaza, and that’s the fate of the Middle East,'” said Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a former Israeli cabinet minister. “‘They may be talking about democracy but they don’t know what they’re talking about and the result will be extremism and radical Islam.'” In other words, Mubarak is all grumblecakey about the rise of democracy in the country, which he feels will hurt the region more than help it. And yes, we said “grumblecakey.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

12 Feb 2011 11:47

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World: Algerian riot police literally puts stranglehold on protests

A number of people reportedly took part in the protests against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, but unfortunately for them, thousands of riot police were out in full force. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

11 Feb 2011 23:56

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Biz, World: Wael Ghonim’s situation a TAD uncomfortable for Google

  • They did not know anything about this and actually when I took the time off and I went to Cairo, they did not know I was going to the protest. But when everything became public, I talked with the company and they suggested that I take a leave of absence and I also suggested that to them and I think it was a good decision for that. Google has nothing to do with this.
  • Wael Ghonim • Talking about the now-unbreakable tie between his activism and his employment with Google. This is not the kind of thing that people like to see in the workforce – employees tied to public companies taking an active role in the political process, and as a result, tying the company’s name to the issue. “It’s one of those things that companies don’t want to touch with a ten foot pole,” one public-relations executive in the tech industry said about the matter. As far as Ghonim’s situation goes, he took a leave a leave of absence with the company and is happy to return at some point. Well, that is “if I’m not fired.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Feb 2011 21:59

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Tech: Nokia, Microsoft forced to fight for smartphone scraps together

  • This photo, showing Microsoft and Nokia’s CEOs, basically explains the entire story on its own. Nokia’s Stephen Elop: Down with whatever random OS we were trying to make that won’t succeed on the market because we waited too long! Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer: Up with our in-just-before-the-wire Windows Phone 7! By the way, how sad is it that Nokia, which basically wrote the script on the modern cell phone, now has to hop in bed with Microsoft to even keep up? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

11 Feb 2011 21:20

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Biz: Consumers, Rep. Jackie Speier has your back on “do not track”

  • These two bills send a clear message — privacy over profit. Consumers have a right to determine what if any of their information is shared with big corporations, and the federal government must have the authority and tools to enforce reasonable protections.
  • Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier • In a statement explaining two consumer-privacy bills she just submitted to the House – one a proposal for “Do Not Track,” similar to “Do Not Call” except for advertising information on the interwebs, and the other that would give consumers more control over financial information. The key part of that bill? Making the process of allowing companies to view your financial information opt-in rather than opt-out. Both of these sound like really great ideas, so kudos to Speier for bringing these issues to the forefront. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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