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24 Jan 2012 11:24

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Culture: Our four favorite surprises from today’s Oscar nominations

  • one The amazing silent film “The Artist” didn’t top the nomination list — “Hugo” had one more, despite the fact it was shut out of the acting categories.
  • two “The Tree of Life” must’ve confused the Academy: A strange message, “Nominees to be determined,” accompanies its Best Picture nomination.
  • three Maybe not a huge surprise, but Pixar’s “Cars 2” is the first Pixar flick that didn’t get a single nomination for an Oscar. Perhaps it’s because it sucked? Yeah, probably.
  • four And a surprise going the other way: Melissa McCarthy got an acting nomination for “Bridesmaids,” her breakout role. The question is, will she win? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jan 2012 10:50

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Politics: Five things rumored to be on Obama’s State of the Union agenda tonight

  • one He’ll likely propose reforming taxes, ending the Bush tax cuts and raising taxes for the wealthy.
  • two He’ll likely make another push for the “Buffett Rule,” which would set a minimum tax rate for the super-rich.
  • three More tax breaks for big business, in an effort to encourage them to bring jobs back to the U.S.
  • four More job-training and education, largely meant for high school grads who want technical degrees.
  • five A renewed push to help refinance homeowners who are still struggling to make ends meet. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jan 2012 10:35

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Politics: Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas disses Obama, skips White House event

  • I believe the federal government has grown out of control, threatening the rights, liberties, and property of the people. This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government. Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country.
  • Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas • Describing why he decided to skip an event in which Obama honored the team for winning the Stanley Cup last season. While the event went off without a hitch, Thomas’ no-show has drawn a lot of controversy, as many felt that the move showed a lack of respect to the office. The team has distanced itself away from Thomas’ decision, saying they were disappointed Thomas didn’t join in. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jan 2012 10:17

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Politics, U.S.: Gay marriage bill gets closer to passing in Washington state

  • pastWashington state has had a same-sex domestic partnership law since 2007, and an “everything but marriage” law since 2009. This week, opponents and supporters of same-sex marriage crowded a state Senate committee hearing to see if the state might go a step further.
  • futureState Senator Mary Margaret Haugen became the 25th vote of support of the bill on Monday. “This is the right vote and it is the vote I will cast when this measure comes to the floor,” she said. Washington would become the seventh state to do so. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jan 2012 01:11

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Politics: Mitt Romey’s tax forms finally released: Here are the highlights

  • 14% the effective tax rate for
    Mitt Romney in 2010
  • $21M the amount he made in 2010 — a tally which mostly came from investments
  • $3M the amount Romney paid in federal taxes that year, according to forms he just released
  • $3M the amount in charitable deductions he paid — and got deductions for — that same year source
  • » The “duh” sentence in this story: “His tax bill is significantly higher than the amount paid by most Americans.” What tipped you off, Wall Street Journal, the fact that there’s “million” in the amount?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jan 2012 23:37

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Tech: New bookmarklet turns Google’s unofficial motto against itself

  • “Don’t Be Evil” tool cuts back on Google’s self-promotion: Remember Google’s new social search feature? It features results from your friends — and Google+ accounts — before other results, even if the other social sources are more popular than the Google+ account. The new “Don’t Be Evil” extension “looks at the three places where Google only shows Google+ results and then automatically googles Google to see if Google finds a result more relevant than Google+,” according to Focus On the User. Would you install this? source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jan 2012 23:31

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Politics: Gabrielle Giffords gives her thanks, and gratitude, to fellow survivors

  • It was very touching. I thanked her for her service, wished her well, and she just looked beautiful.
  • Gabrielle Giffords shooting survivor Pat Maisch • Describing her impression of the resigning Congresswoman at her “Congress On Your Corner” event, which Giffords resumed on Monday, over a year after the shooting that nearly killed her. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords thanked the survivors and heroes from that day. Maisch was the one who wrestled the gun away from the shooter. Although Giffords has made incredible strides in her recovery, the Congresswoman has decided to leave office this week — but not before watching Obama’s State of the Union address tomorrow; she’ll be there in person.  source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jan 2012 20:57

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Politics: Debate preview: What you should expect in tonight’s #FLDebate

  • OHMIGOD OHMIGOD BRIWI IS MODERATING!!!!! Seriously guys, after the Gawker thing, this man can do no wrong. But the people on the other side of the stage? They’ve got a ton of issues ahead of the Florida debate, which we’ll be tagging with #FLDebate tonight. (It’ll be live over here.) So, with that said — last week’s debates, especially Thurdsay’s, were nasty — will tonight’s debate have similar fireworks? Here’s what we’re watching for:
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jan 2012 11:23

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Tech: YouTube’s quickly growing — both in terms of uploads and videos streamed

  • 4 billion videos streamed on YouTube every single day (whoa)
  • 60 hours amount of video uploaded to YouTube every single minute
  • 3 billion number of videos the company monetizes each week source
  • » A quickly growing tally: With Google’s quickly-growing advertising prowess, the company is constantly looking for new ways to monetize content. And with YouTube, it offers a lot of opportunities to build upon the $5 billion in revenue it makes each year from graphical ads (many of which run alongside YouTube videos). The level of uploads and views is quickly growing, too: A year ago, the company had 48 hours of video uploaded per minute back in May, and the level of overall video views jumped by 25 percent from eight months ago.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jan 2012 10:31

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Biz: A new PlayBook: Struggling RIM replaces its dual CEOs with one dude

  • In the U.S. we were very, very successful coming from the core enterprise business, and in the public opinion this is still where we’re skewed to. We need to be more marketing-driven. We need to be more consumer-oriented because this is where a lot of our growth is coming from. That is essential in the U.S.
  • Research in Motion’s new CEO, Thorsten Heins • Discussing the difficult issues the company faces as it tries to compete with Apple and Google in a field that they popularized with the BlackBerry: Smartphones. Heins, the former Chief Operating Officer, replaced the company’s two co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, who stepped down over the weekend. It has not exactly been the best year for RIM — to call the company’s tablet, the PlayBook, a flop would be putting it lightly, as its failure cost the company nearly half a billion dollars last year. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg in terms of their problems. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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