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11 Dec 2011 21:30

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Tech: Google’s top execs have a surplus of planes hanging around

  • 8 private jets split up between three top executives, or 2.6 per person source
  • » Say whaaaaaaaaaaaa? The news on this one broke in a somewhat sneaky way — the San Jose Mercury News reported that the executives had offered to pay $33 million to finish restoration of a historic air hangar at Moffett Field, which is a stone’s throw from Google’s Mountain View headquarters. It came out, as a result of this news, that the company has eight jets at its disposal between Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt. Google doesn’t own them, mind you; H211, a separate company that has no formal relationship with Google, operates them. Still, though … you gotta wonder why they need eight jets. If they want, they could give one to us.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2011 21:11

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Culture: Box office has worst weekend in three years — so, what’s to blame?

  • $78 million the amount the entire box office made over the weekend, with the strongest movie being the objectively awful “New Year’s Eve”
  • $68 million the amount the entire box office made on Labor Day weekend 2008, the last time the box office dipped this low source
  • » A bad crop of films, or something else? With a bunch of also-rans in the theater and two weak films — a movie that scored 7 percent on Rotten Tomatoes in the lead and a Jonah Hill vehicle, “The Sitter,” right behind — to hold up the box office, it may not have been the best week for films … but December is a very strange time of year for the box office to struggle like this. One analyst blames a lack of male-oriented films. We blame a lack of exposure for Foozie Bear, who is by far the the best part of “The Muppets.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2011 20:32

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World: Russia’s Medvedev promises investigation on Facebook, gets heckled

  • I do not agree with any slogans or statements made at the rallies. Nevertheless, instructions have been given by me to check all information from polling stations regarding compliance with the legislation on elections.
  • Russian President Dmitry Medvedev • Ordering an investigation into last week’s parliamentary elections in a Facebook post, one day after wide protests increased the pressure on the Russian government to do something about the issue at hand. Medvedev’s comments led to many negative and downright ugly responses on Facebook, many of them expressing disbelief at his words. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2011 12:17

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World: Scotland Yard: News of the World scandal much wider than thought

  • 803 victims in News of the World phone-hacking scandal? source
  • » That’s what Scotland Yard says: They’ve investigated over 2,000 cases at length, and think they’ve found hundreds of examples of the same hacking that befell the newspaper earlier this year. “Operation Weeting has been in contact with or been contacted by 2,037 people,” Scotland Yard says, “of which in the region of 803 are ‘victims’, whose names have appeared in the material.” More people are likely to get investigated, but as their personal information is limited, it’s believed they were less likely to be hacked by the newspaper.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2011 11:39

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Politics: The composer mimiced in Rick Perry’s anti-gay ad? “An outspoken gay Jew.”

  • If the ad itself isn’t a big enough gaffe… The background music in the ad has ties to noted composer Aaron Copland, an important 20th-century composer whose “Appalachian Spring” inspired the music that gives Perry’s much-disliked campaign ad its swelling style. (To be clear: That is different from being by Copland; the composer of Perry’s music was lifting the style, not copying Copland verbatim.) Copland represents a number of things Perry speaks against in the ad — particularly, he was gay, Jewish and long-suspected of having Communist leanings, to the point where he once had to testify in front of Congress that he wasn’t a Communist. Not the best idea, Rick. But neither was the ad. (thanks marcushere; photo via Library of Congress) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2011 11:03

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Biz: Amazon’s controversial price-check app draws Senator’s ire

  • Amazon’s promotion — paying consumers to visit small businesses and leave empty-handed — is an attack on Main Street businesses that employ workers in our communities. Small businesses are fighting everyday to compete with giant retailers, such as Amazon, and incentivizing consumers to spy on local shops is a bridge too far.
  • Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) • Openly criticizing Amazon’s new price-check app, which allows users to go in stores, scan the barcodes and see if Amazon has lower prices than said shops do — for a discounted price at Amazon. With the location feature turned on, consumers effectively can let Amazon know what their brick-and-mortar competitors are selling something for. What do you all think? Clever or sketchy? Does it empower the consumer or hurt small businesses? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2011 10:30

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U.S.: More details on Virginia Tech gunman Ross Truett Ashley

  • He visited a shooting range this year, but was often out of bullets. That’s according to Matt Dailey, who calls himself a close friend of the gunman, who reportedly shot himself to death in the aftermath of the killing of police officer Deriek Crouse on the Virginia Tech campus Thursday. “He didn’t keep (the gun) locked away, but all summer I don’t think he had any bullets for the gun,” Dailey said. “He didn’t buy bullets that often because bullets are expensive.” Dailey also claims that Ashley was a little off, but no more than anyone else, and that no red flags showed up before the incident, which also involved auto theft. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

11 Dec 2011 10:10

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World: After 20 years, Manuel Noreiga heading back to Panama

The Panamanian dictator has spent decades in jail in the U.S. and France since a U.S.-led invasion in his country in 1989. He’s going home to serve more time in jail for murders allegedly committed during his rule. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2011 09:57

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World: Surprise: State-owned Russian TV covers protests straightforwardly

  • They showed me on Channel 1 and said I was an opposition leader, which is already a breakthrough. They’re already calling me from Washington and asking what’s going on.
  • Former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Y. Nemtsov • Discussing how, in a fairly abrupt about-face on Saturday, Russian television started straightforwardly covering the protests against the recent Russian parliamentary elections — including showing Nemtsov (who has since become a major opposition figure and a noted critic of Vladimir Putin) in a relatively neutral light, something which hasn’t happened in roughly a decade. Here’s how one TV anchor, Rossia 1’s Andrei Medvedev, put the events: “Today’s protest was a lesson for everyone. It turns out that, to express your dissatisfaction with the authorities, it is possible to gather on a square after getting permission from those same authorities. And to keep order, all you really have to do is give a polite admonition.” Is it possible that the protests were hard for state-funded Russian television to avoid, since they were so heavily covered on the Internet? A fascinating twist. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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