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30 Oct 2011 11:34

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Politics: The heat is off: Michele Bachmann’s Iowa polling numbers fall flat

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Oct 2011 09:34

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U.S.: Didya guys hear about all this snow in the friggin’ Northeast?

  • 22″ the amount of snow that fell in one Massachusetts town on Saturday — one of the highest points for the major storm
  • 2.3M the number of people that lost power during the storm, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (oh no!)
  • three the number of deaths reported from the storm, including an 84-year-old hit by a tree that fell into his home source
  • » A Halloween surprise? For many people, the dramatic change in weather was surprising, to say the least. “This is absolutely a lot more snow than I expected to see today,” said New Jersey resident and driveway-shoveler Carole Shepherd. “I can’t believe it’s not even Halloween and it’s snowing already.” (Edit: We’re idiots, we put a single prime instead of a double prime on the first number. Our bad. Fixed.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2011 18:12

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U.S.: Joe Biden is not actually comparing Republicans to arsonists, kids

  • Republicans moralizing about deficits. That’s like an arsonist moralizing about fire safety. These guys have zero credibility.
  • Vice President Joe Biden • Turning up the funny at a speech to Florida Democrats at Walt Disney World on Saturday afternoon. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2011 12:35

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Politics: Gary Johnson on his by-the-seat-of-his-pants New Hampshire filing

  • I don’t want for a second for anyone to think that we didn’t screw up.
  • Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson • Owning up to his longshot presidential campaign’s total fail, in which they had to rush to New Hampshire on Friday to fill out paperwork in person ahead of a major deadline, because they forgot to file. “Bottom line, we just screwed up,” he said. Props to Johnson for being honest about it. It’s kind of endearing, and most presidential candidates wouldn’t be so honest about their failings. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2011 12:09

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Tech: Samsung ships more smartphones than Apple does these days

  • 27.8 million number of smartphone units Samsung shipped in the past quarter, way up from the prior quarter
  • 17.1 million number of smartphone units Apple sold in that quarter, down a bit from the prior quarter source
  • » A fast ramp-up for Samsung: Samsung entered the smartphone market in earnest just last year, and suddenly they’re bigger than Apple. How the heck did that happen? Well, Samsung gained a rep as having the best execution for mobile devices outside of Apple, and as a result, they were able to grow quickly. But it’s entirely possible that Apple could still top Samsung in the next quarter — part of the reason their sales are down is that they took longer than they usually do to iterate to a new iPhone. The iPhone 4S, it’s worth noting, is selling pretty well. (Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story claimed that both numbers reflected sales; as it turns out, Apple’s number reflects sales, while Samsung’s number reflects shipments, according to clarification MacWorld gathered from Apple and Strategy Analytics, the company that put out the report these numbers were based upon. We apologize for the confusion.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2011 10:38

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U.S.: Occupy Wall Street: Protesters lose generators, generate backup plan

  • bad Claiming a fire hazard, yesterday FDNY officials showed up at Zucotti Park and took the generators Occupy Wall Street was using.
  • worse To put salt in the wounds of the protesters, it’s expected to snow tonight (in freaking October!),  with 2-4 inches hitting NYC tonight.
  • betterHowever, the Occupy folk aren’t getting too down — they plan to set up bike generators, which will be ready early next week. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Oct 2011 12:57

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Biz: Et tu, Redbox? Netflix isn’t alone in raising its rental prices

  • $1.20 to rent a Redbox DVD — a 20¢ increase source
  • » And its stock is struggling, too: Coinstar, the parent company of the suddenly-hot DVD-rental kiosk brand, is struggling to keep prices at a level to compensate for operating expenses. Not exactly a good time for Redbox to do this, though — because, you know, Netflix is feeling the heat. And while 20 cents doesn’t sound like much, if you rent DVDs on the regular from the kiosks, that adds up quickly. On the other hand, it probably looks worse than it actually is due to the timing. So let’s look at the silver lining: Blu-ray will stay roughly the same price — $1.50 to $2.00.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

28 Oct 2011 11:04

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Politics: Herman Cain aide Mark Block’s checkered past, abridged edition

  • rise Mark Block started his career in 1974, becoming, at age 18, the youngest elected official in Wisconsin’s history. He spent much of the 1980s coordinating Republican political campaigns in the state.
  • fall In 1997, Block was blocked from Wisconsin politics for a few years for allegedly doing some sketchy stuff with a special interest group. During this time, he worked at Target and his personal life unraveled.
  • recovery In 2005, Block got his mojo back by getting hired as Americans for Prosperity’s director in Wisconsin. He then met a young whippersnapper named Herman Cain, and the rest is chain-smoking history. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Oct 2011 09:00

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Biz, Tech: Hewlett-Packard’s Meg Whitman reverses her predecessor’s moves

  • The market was created by Apple. That doesn’t mean there couldn’t be a strong No. 2 player.
  • Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman • Reversing course entirely on two of former CEO Leo Apotheker’s key decisions as CEO — the departure of the tablet market (and the ensuing lulz) and the spinning off of the PC market. As for the latter, Whitman claims it would’ve been far too expensive — it would’ve cost billions and would’ve proven extremely inefficient. “If you try to hive a division off, it’s really hard because you almost have to recreate the whole thing,” she said. Will this be enough? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Oct 2011 08:35

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Biz: Not every financial outlet trying Bank of America’s debit card fees

  • cause Last month, Bank of America decided that it would start charging monthly for the use of debit cards. Some companies (including SunTrust and Regions) followed suit. Consumers freaked out and totally got up on arms.
  • reaction With some time and distance away from the original decision, a number of large banks have chosen not to follow suit — among them J.P. Morgan Chase, which tested them for months and found that they weren’t working. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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