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17 Jun 2011 17:20

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Biz: AOL Employee: My experience with them really freaking sucked

  • Errors didn’t matter. Grammatical errors — be they major or minor — didn’t matter. The brainless peons who read the website simply wouldn’t notice. What mattered was getting the ‘product’ published.
  • Former AOL TV writer Oliver Miller • Describing his experience with writing for the online megacorp in the pre-HuffPo days. Miller, who says that he was overworked and had to plow through dozens of stories each week, lost his job in an interesting way: He made a stupid aside about Alec Baldwin that the actor saw, then wrote a tirade about … on HuffPo. (Miller didn’t name the actor, but the story was well-circulated. We even wrote about it a long time ago.) After that point, he claims, editors intentionally put errors in his pieces. Miller lost his job five months ago, roughly around the time the AOL-HuffPo merger was announced. (Disclosure: I used to do freelance for AOL News pre-merger, and my experience wasn’t like this at all. It was stressful, but that’s only because I was writing a daily news blog and also working a full-time job at the time.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jun 2011 14:36

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U.S.: Pentagon scare: Marine reservist claimed he had explosives

  • claim Someone left a car near the Pentagon early this morning, and authorities thought that it might have a bomb in it. When the owner, a lance corporal in the Marines, was found at the then-closed Arlington National Cemetery and questioned, he claimed that he had explosive material on him.
  • truth Yonathan Melaku, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Ethiopia, carried an unknown quantity of ammonium nitrate, a non-explosive chemical fertilizer often used in explosives, in his possession. While nothing was in his car, he possessed a notebook with al-Qaeda-related notes in it — scary stuff. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jun 2011 13:43

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World: Yemen: Allies suggest injured president Saleh will return soon

  • Rebels in Yemen do not welcome this news. A few weeks ago, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was badly injured and burned in an attack on his palace, forcing him to receive medical treatment in nearby Saudi Arabia — a situation which led to an interim leader and celebrations in the streets. But the celebrations might have been a little premature if there’s any truth to reports that Saleh will return to the country soon, having recovered significantly from his injuries. “He will return home after medical reports said he is getting better,” ruling party official Yasser al-Yamani explained. Protesters rallied in the wake of the news; as you might guess, they’re not ready to welcome him back. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jun 2011 13:20

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Tech: The rise of the mysterious BitCoin: The nerdiest currency around

  • I spoke to one guy who thought aliens might have come to earth to bring us this technology, it’s so perfect.
  • BitCoin enthusiast Bruce Wagner • Discussing the origin of the mysterious open-source peer-to-peer currency project. The project was started by some guy who disappeared from online forums back in December — just as the currency was taking off. The currency is akin to BitTorrent if you could use it to send money — in good ways and bad. And without an easy way to trace the currency, it’s got some somewhat sketchy fans, like hackers and drug dealers. And the value of the currency itself (tied to no government, so no Federal Reserve) is leaping quickly — roughly 6,000 percent since the year started. So, would you buy some stuff with bitcoins? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jun 2011 11:28

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Politics: Early New Hampshire poll: Romney flying high, Bachmann rising fast

  • The field has a pretty obvious split: Those who like Mitt Romney and those who don’t. But there are some interesting details to note about New Hampshire Republican primary voters. First, Bachmann’s debate performance now has her polling above Sarah Palin, which is kind of a big deal. Second, Newt Gingrich is totally sucking. Third, despite many reasons to love him right now, Jon Huntsman has low polling numbers and low likability, which makes no sense. Finally, Rick Santorum is bringing up the rear — as he should. Either way, with the first big debate now in the rearview, the polling nonetheless is fascinating. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jun 2011 20:41

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Biz, U.S.: Amendment killing ethanol subsidies passes — but bill may not

  • The best way for ethanol to survive is to stand on its own two feet, without spending something we don’t have to get something we’re going to have anyway.
  • Sen. Tom Coburn • Making an argument against handing out ethanol subsidies — which cut gas prices but also cost the federal government $6 billion per year. An amendment to kill the subsidies passed both the House and Senate. In the case of the Senate, it was a straight-up bipartisan vote: 73-27. And a number of groups — including environmental groups — note that the subsidies are no longer needed because the federal government already requires refineries to mix ethanol and gasoline. However, don’t get too excited, budget hounds: The amendment is tied to an economic development bill that likely will not pass. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jun 2011 20:11

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Biz, Tech: Pandora’s crappy day: When day two of an IPO totally bombs

  • $16 the amount per share Pandora set its initial public offering for
  • $26 the price the internet radio company reached at its peak yesterday
  • $13 the price the stock closed at today; not looking so hot source
  • » This isn’t a good sign: Generally when a stock has a steep decline immediately after its IPO, it means that the pricing is totally off. In the case of Pandora, the company initially planned to enter the stock market at $7 to $9 per share, but with the current investor fervor over internet companies, the IPO price doubled. Meanwhile, other recently-added tech stocks — LinkedIn and Yandex — have fallen from their peaks, but remain above their IPO prices. In the case of LinkedIn, they’re a solid 52 percent above their IPO price.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jun 2011 17:51

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World: Counter-terrorism experts fear intro attack by Zawahiri

  • relief? Ayman al-Zawahiri’s rise to the top spot in the al-Qaeda organization bears some positive realities for the United States. Namely, he is nowhere near as charismatic or effective a leader as Osama bin Laden was.
  • danger One big risk with having a new leader uncertain of how loyal his people are, is that he might feel the need to assert himself with a splash. As such, counter-terrorism experts fear a possible “big” attack in the near term. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jun 2011 17:15

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Politics: Mitt Romney, unemployed American everyman

  • I should tell my story. I’m also unemployed.
  • Presidential candidate Mitt Romney • Cracking the sort of joke that only really goes over well with a crowd that likes you. A memo to all multi-millionaires out there: I hope this doesn’t sound like “class warfare,” but don’t make jokes about having hardships that you demonstrably don’t have. Does having tons of cash mean you can’t have problems in your life? Not at all. Would unemployment be one of them? Not really. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jun 2011 17:12

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Politics: New York senate may vote on marriage equality soon

  • New York close to marriage equality: As it stands now, New York could become the 6th state to legalize gay marriage, if they can convince just one more Republican state senator to support it. The problem is that in situations when one legislator’s vote tips the balance, that person might get labeled as having cast “the deciding vote.” The question is what a Republican on the fence fears more: conservative backlash against gay marriage support, or the ire of pro-equality advocate groups (58% of New Yorkers support gay marriage). It’s possible this could get a vote tomorrow — we’ll be following it. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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