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01 Mar 2011 11:10

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Tech: Fortunately they have backups: Google explains that Gmail hiccup

  • what Thousands of people lost access to their Gmail accounts recently. When they got back into the accounts, they were empty. Yikes. (This is our nightmare.)
  • why Google explains that a bug caused the issue, and that although they lost several copies of the data, they fortunately had a backup that was disconnected from the cloud. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Mar 2011 10:57

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Politics: Tom Coburn: Overlapping programs make legislators look stupid

  • It makes us all look like jackasses. Anybody that says that we don’t look like fools up here hasn’t read the report.
  • Sen. Tom Coburn • Expressing his frustration over the the Government Accountability Office’s report that suggests that there are large amounts of overlap in the federal government, and that by cutting them, we could save billions of dollars each year. Coburn, who pushed for the report as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling, says that any changes to the budget should get rid of wasteful or duplicative programs. Coburn’s office counts 33 areas where programs overlap and hundreds of individual programs, by the way. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Mar 2011 10:41

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World: German defense minister learns about the dark side of plagiarism

  • In case you need a reminder that plagiarism doesn’t pay, meet Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. The German defense minister, who is a rising political star in the country and makes our career look like the joke it is, resigned over allegations that he pilfered large parts of his doctoral thesis. “I informed the chancellor in a very friendly conversation that I’m resigning from political offices and requested to be relieved. It’s the most painful step of my life,” he said. He admitted to “grave errors” in the 2007 thesis, but emphasized that he did not plagiarize it. However, this goes against what German media found – scores of pilfered phrases from other documents. The end result? Guttenberg no longer has a doctorate. On the plus side, we’re now on the same playing field as he is. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Mar 2011 10:26

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Politics: Was Scott Walker’s union push an overreach of his power?

  • I think it’d be fair to categorize the proposal (to cut union bargaining) as an overreach. Maybe the biggest reason for that claim is the fact that he didn’t campaign on this.
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor David Canon • Offering his take on Scott Walker, whose stance on unions is hurting his popularity among many. Many Wisconsin political scholars, even the ones more charitable to his position, agree that the overall end result doesn’t bode well for Walker’s long-term prospects, but may be motivated by something else entirely. “As for his political future, I’m not sure this is going to benefit him in the long run,” said University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Thomas Holbrook. “I see it as more of coming from conviction and opportunity.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Mar 2011 10:14

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World: Quickly: How democracy will work in post-Mubarak Egypt

  • 03/19The Egyptian military will vote on a motion to rewrite the country’s constitution.
  • June The country plans to hold fresh parliamentary elections (which is a pretty fast timetable).
  • then … Six weeks later, Egyptians should plan to vote for the country’s new president. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Mar 2011 10:04

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U.S.: Libya: Gaddafi’s forces unable to overtake opposition stronghold

  • plan In an attempt to regain ground lost during the recent protests, Muammar Gaddafi’s forces attempted to overtake the opposition-held Zawiyah, which is 30 miles from Tripoli.
  • failure Gaddafi’s forces were unable to do so, however – but the other side didn’t really gain any ground, either. The forces attacked from six directions, but didn’t succeed with any of them, really. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Mar 2011 01:25

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World: Defense Secretary to successor: Don’t be an idiot, ‘kay?

  • “Any future Defense Secretary who advises the President to again send a big American land army into Asia, or into the Middle East, or Africa should have his head examined.
  • Defense Secretary Robert Gates • Offering some candid advice to his (as of now unnamed) successor. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

01 Mar 2011 01:13

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Tech: Facebook: Yeah, we’re planning to give out your personal info

  • YES Facebook will share your address with 3rd parties source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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