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11 Nov 2009 22:29

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Tech: Dear Wolfram Alpha: Working with Bing is actually smart

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  • Wolfram Alpha is a smart idea that has been neutered by bad decision-making – charging an embarrassingly-high price for their iPhone app, treating copyright like something they can control. Well, now they have something to grasp onto: Bing. While their searches aren’t all that useful by themselves (too insular), combined with a decent general-purpose search engine, it starts to feel like a killer app. This specific execution is why people got excited about the product at launch. Not the $50 iPhone app. source

07 Jun 2009 21:31

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Music, Politics: Iggy Pop has a huge problem with wannabe-brainy bands

  • I took great pains not to think first, because the thing I can’t stand is a rock star who thinks he’s got brains. They’re always so damned dull!
  • Rock god Iggy Pop • In a video where he bashes “crappy music” by “idiot thugs with guitars.” He was talking, specifically, about modern rock acts like Smashing Pumpkins and (uh) Limp Bizkit. Pop, by the way, is going a completely different direction with his latest album, “Preliminaires,” which is jazz-influenced and probably a better idea than that Stooges album which critics hated back in 2007. • source