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

24 Feb 2011 10:56

tags

Tech: Apple’s new MacBook Pro makes us long for an upgrade

  • Admit it. They’re MacBook Pros. Of course you want to have sex with these machines. That said – the changes in the new MBP lineup appear to be under the hood rather than cosmetic in nature, with a way faster processor and graphics card, a much nicer camera, and something called ThunderBolt, a potential USB replacement that Apple says is 12 times faster than Firewire and 20 times faster than the ubiquitous port technology. It makes our current unibody Mac seem like a piece of crap we picked up from the scrap heap two years ago. source

24 Feb 2011 10:42

tags

U.S.: Toyota’s got floormat issues: They just recalled a bunch of cars

  • 2.17
    million
    the number of cars Toyota recalled today for gas-pedal/floormat issues
  • 5.3
    million
    the number of cars previously recalled for similar issues source
  • » What’s the issue? Simply put, the floormats aren’t fully secure, so that when you’re driving, it can move around and get caught inside the gas pedal mechanism. This issue is unrelated the that acceleration problem Toyota’s cars have infamously had recently.

24 Feb 2011 10:32

tags

World: Christchurch earthquake: Dozens could be inside single building

  • 120 bodies could be in one Christchurch building source
  • » The building in question: The Canterbury Television building, which beyond a television station, also housed an English-language school with many foreign students. The station says that many of its top executives could be in the rubble. None of this count, by the way, is included in the official death toll of 76. So that death toll could go up significantly; shudder.

24 Feb 2011 10:15

tags

World: Gaddafi blames Libyan unrest on al-Qaeda, youths, drugs

  • It is obvious now that this issue is run by al-Qaeda. … No one above the age of 20 would actually take part in these events. They are taking advantage of the young age of these people [to commit violent acts] because they are not legally liable.
  • Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi • Making the argument that a bunch of kids, goaded by al-Qaeda, are behind the attacks on his country. He also said that many were under the influence of drugs. Like Gaddafi has anywhere to speak about the drugs thing. No totally sober guy would be as weird as Gaddafi is. source

24 Feb 2011 01:58

tags

Culture: Daft Punk Coke bottles: Because hey, Tron is old news now

  • Because, let’s face it, the one thing that the world needed was Daft Punk’s motif all over a couple of Coke bottles, right? Awesome, yes, but we’re not even sure if Moby would’ve gone for a sellout opportunity this calculatedly commercial. Good work, French guys. source

23 Feb 2011 23:23

tags

Politics: Mike Huckabee: Obama’s DOMA move conflicts with voters’ views

  • Mike Huckabee no likey what the DOJ did today. The social conservative, who looks like a reasonable bet as a 2012 candidate, gives an interestingly socioeconomic view of why Obama’s move to not defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court is a bad idea. We disagree with him but note that his argument that voters have turned it down at the ballot negates the fact that the public’s views have shifted recentlysource

23 Feb 2011 22:42

tags

Tech: Did you work on “Duke Nukem Forever”? Wanna be in the credits?

 

23 Feb 2011 21:21

tags

U.S.: Edith and Thea: The women behind Obama’s DOMA reversal

  • Meet Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer. This trailblazing couple lived together for 44 years – long before gay rights were recognized and respected. The couple married in Canada in 2007 and lived in New York, where their marriage rights were recognized. Their story is even the subject of a documentary. Spyer, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, died in 2009 at age 77. Windsor, 81, wasn’t recognized as Spyer’s wife due to DOMA and had to pay $350,000 in inheritance taxes after Spyer’s death. So, as one might do when forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars over a law they don’t like, she sued the government. (A male couple, Gerald V. Passaro II and Thomas M. Buckholz, did the same in similar circumstances.) Let’s just emphasize – someone being forced to pay $350,000 in inheritance taxes after their spouse dies, just because they’re the same sex as the person they love? It’s no wonder Obama backed down. source

23 Feb 2011 20:51

tags

World: Italy: Mass exodus from Libya could be “Biblical” in proportion

  • 6.5 million the number of people who live in Libya; about a third are immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa who could migrate easily
  • 300,000 the number of refugees Italy thinks may hit their shores after the Gaddafi regime is toppled – and that’s on the low end, by the way source

23 Feb 2011 20:39

tags

Politics: Obama on Libya: World’s “one voice” needed against injustice

  • The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable. So are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters.
  • Obama • Speaking out finally (and directly) about the situation in Libya. Obama, who is the first president ever to meet with that Gaddafi weirdo, says that he plans to do anything to protect American citizens stuck in Libya during a time of crisis. While Obama has offered to use a full range of options to deal with the crisis, sanctions will only go so far. U.S. sanctions were only $665 million last year, while aid was less than $1 million. Hence why there’s a humanitarian crisis right now. source