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25 Feb 2012 09:43

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U.S.: New study links medical marijuana laws to lower suicide rates

  • 11% reduction in the suicide rate of men ages 20-29
  • 9% reduction in the suicide rate of men ages 30-39 source
  • » Who would have guessed that getting high reduces stress? While the study stopped short of conclusively saying that medical marijuana was the direct cause of the lower rates, the authors did note that, when used in moderation, cannabis acts as an anti-depressant. The authors also found that states with medical marijuana programs saw a reduction in alcohol consumption by young men, and note that alcohol is a known depressant. Read the full results of the study here.
Posted by Scott Craft • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2012 23:08

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Tech: Gaming the system: On the rise of YouTube’s search-friendly “reply girls”

  • We’ve yet to see this phenomenon analyzed anywhere in the media, so let’s give this a signal boost: The secret to becoming popular on YouTube is to build heat. Sometimes you create something so great it goes viral on its own. Sometimes you know the right people and the right places. Sometimes, though, you’re good with the timing and keywords. That is actually an effective way to get popular on YouTube — this Pomplamoose clip, for example, was a very well-timed attempt to bank its success on a popular song at the height of its notoriety. But what if you take that philosophy to the extreme? The answer is that you end up with TheReplyGirl. Let’s explain how this works:
  • The concept A woman who claims to go by the name Alejandra Gaitan, above, has been on YouTube since August, and her main routine is to reply to popular videos, load her responses with ads, and wear something revealing, with the goal of enticing a click. She’s not alone — a woman who calls herself Megan Lee Heart, for example, posted a well-tagged video after Whitney Houston died and got 100,000 views. And hundreds of dislikes on the clip.
  • The precedent Gaitan, Heart and others are essentially pulling off an elaborate search engine optimization scheme on YouTube. Their videos show up high on YouTube search results because of strong tagging and they get clicks because of the eye-grabbing visuals. The result is that the videos themselves are extremely low-quality (Gaitan’s clips can be hard to follow at times), but it doesn’t matter, because the goal is to build up ad impressions.
  • Here’s the thing … TheReplyGirl is interesting because it’s a new twist on a relatively old idea — the production of low-quality content that shows up high in search results, which has the side effect of diluting searches. Minus the human being talking, this was basically Demand Media’s business model. The question is, though, will Google step in? They took on Demand, forcing the company to change its model. Will they do the same on YouTube?
  • Edit: Reworded part of this for clarification.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2012 21:48

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Tech: Microsoft appears to be killing off longtime product lines in Windows 8

  • Zune This death was kinda obvious for a while, but now the Zune appears to have zero presence in the upcoming version of Windows. Seriously, they lost their biggest fan like four years ago — the writing has long been on the wall.
  • Live More surprising is the fading away of the Live brand, which anchors many of their online messaging services; “Microsoft Account” will replace Windows Live ID. The company appears to be trying to simplify their brand naming. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2012 14:48

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Politics: Comedian Bill Maher: Now a major pro-Obama Super PAC donor

  • $1 million donated to the poorly-named Priorities USA Action source
  • » But wait … isn’t that a conflict of interest? Granted, Maher, who leans on the liberal side but has called himself libertarian in the past, doesn’t exactly hide his political views, but considering he’s a commentator who regularly questions both sides of the aisle, you wonder if that crosses an ethical line. Then again, will his audience care? On the other hand, as the Christian Science Monitor points out, Maher tends to do better, comedy-wise, when there’s a Republican in office, so this might hurt him a little. By the way, Maher’s announcement, which came during a Yahoo webcast, was a bit of a shock to those in the audience, though Maher had fun with the announcement, mocking the name of the Super PAC he’s donating to.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2012 11:20

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Culture: Ryan Braun happy, officials aren’t over MLB suspension reversal

  • It is the first step in restoring my good name and reputation. We were able to get through this because I am innocent and the truth is on our side. We provided complete cooperation throughout, despite the highly unusual circumstances.
  • Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers • On the reversal of his 50-game suspension. Braun, the most recent NL MVP, challenged a recent drug-related penalty and was successful in overturning it. Because his urine sample was not sent to the testing facility on the same day it was collected, the MLB Players Association announced the decision’s reversal. Not everyone agrees with this decision; Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, claimed this reversal to be “a real gut-kick to clean athletes.” source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2012 11:06

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Politics: How Mitt Romney’s dad lost his presidential momentum: Brainwashing

  • About 45 years ago, George Romney was looking hot. A popular Michigan governor who did well in the 1964 Republican primary (but did not win), he was considered a frontrunner in the 1968 race. Until this interview above, that is, done in August 1967 by Detroit news personality Lou Gordon. When asked about the Vietnam war, he explained why his views changed so that he was suddenly against the war. His answer? “When I came back from Vietnam, I had just had the greatest brainwashing that anyone could get.” This one comment derailed his campaign, decades before Twitter would’ve made that comment blow up like a forgotten third thing in a debate. MLive has a really great history on this interview that’s worth a read. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2012 08:54

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U.S.: Marines killed in helicopter training at California’s Camp Pendleton

  • what Two military helicopters collided in midair Wednesday night. The collision, which happened during a routine training session along the Arizona-California border, killed seven U.S. Marines.
  • why The investigation is still on-going, so officials have not announced the cause of the collision. The crash occurred at night with a lot of dust in the air from the aircraft, limiting visibility. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Feb 2012 22:54

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Politics: Buddy Roemer: More entertaining than the last GOP debate

  • A long shot who’s quick with a tweet: Buddy Roemer is out of the running for the Republican presidential nomination, but even though he didn’t get a chance to take part in any of the debates, he’s used Twitter as a way to stay in the conversation. Roemer, now running as an independent, is still hoping to one-line your way to a vote in the 2012 election. A couple samples from last night:
  • one On Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a former GOP candidate: “Perry is in the audience. (The clown car needed a driver.)”
  • two On Rick Santorum, the current frontrunner in the race: “Don’t anger the sweater vest. It doesn’t like to be challenged.”
  • three Overall: “BREAKING: The CNN debate has been replaced with a 4-way earmark cage match.” Boom. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Feb 2012 19:27

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Culture: Scifi author shares his series’ ending with terminally-ill fan

  • “You’re going to put him in a coma”: See what happens when one Reddit user surprises his terminally-ill friend with an item that he might not have otherwise lived to see. Prepare to have your faith in humanity restored….and to finish off a box of Kleenex. (h/t 14kgoldnyc) source
Posted by Scott Craft • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Feb 2012 10:26

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U.S.: Virginia lacrosse murder case: George Huguely sentenced to 26 years

George Huguely was convicted of second-degree murder for the murder of fellow University of Virginia lacrosse player (and his ex-girlfriend) Yeardley Love. Juror Ian Glomski on the final verdict: “We all really believe justice was served.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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