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28 Sep 2009 22:07

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Tech: First Google Voice, now health care? Apple’s app bans get political

  • I feel like politicians already have a megaphone and Apple is making it worse instead of making it easier for a regular guy to get an application into the store.
  • iPhone app developer Red Daly • Describing his frustration with Apple declining his app iSinglePayer for political reasons. The app, which explained to people the benefits of a Canada-style health care system and gives those users ways to contact their representatives, was blocked by phone specifically because it pushed a political opinion. For Daly, he says it was defeating because he “went to the app store because I felt like I didn’t have much of a voice in other spheres.” Eventually, all these arbitrary bans are going to catch up with Apple. • source

28 Sep 2009 21:09

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World: What the heck happened in Honduras? Things are declining fast

  • Protests are heavy and seem to be getting worse thanks to outed president Manuel Zelaya’s presence. Zelaya’s getting criticized because he got back in, destabilizing everything. The interim government took out major media outlets to limit criticism and the free flow of information. And there was talk of taking away people’s civil liberties. To put it simply, the country’s completely gone down the tubes in three months. How did this happen?source

27 Sep 2009 19:57

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Culture: “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” has a sunny box-office outlook

  • -19% week-two dip, good enough for a second week on top in a week with a lot of wide releases source

26 Sep 2009 11:25

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Biz: Have bad news to share? Bury it deep in your press release

  • -8.3% drop in stock value within three days of bad news that’s been played up in a press release (on average) source

21 Sep 2009 21:40

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Biz: Retail rents are starting to look … uh … reasonable in NYC again

  • $1,700 per square foot on Fifth Avenue; buy now source

17 Sep 2009 20:22

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Biz, Tech: The Pre is all Palm has: Despite strong Pre sales, Palm is tanking

  • +134% increase in smartphone sales this quarter for Palm; which sounds pretty good, until you consider … source

15 Sep 2009 10:34

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Biz: The world isn’t as wealthy as it used to be, guys

  • -11.7% decline in the world’s wealth in 2008; it’ll take a while to recover source
 

13 Sep 2009 12:20

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Biz: Let’s not pretend that newspapers aren’t dying. Let’s talk about it.

  • It’s a bold approach to take. Newspapers across the U.S. have felt the devastating effects of the economy on their business, and the San Jose Mercury News is a microcosm for the whole mess. Caught in the center of more than one major storm – the merging of Knight Ridder with McClatchy (which destabilized the entire industry), its purchase by MediaNews, and the ensuing cuts – the paper went from crown jewel to shell of its former self in a few short years. Mercury News columnist Mike Cassidy asks for help from readers in today’s paper – it’s frank, it’s honest and it hides nothing. Good for them. source

12 Sep 2009 11:43

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Culture: The porn industry is no longer recession-proof, guys

  • 30-50% estimated decline in revenues for the porn industry during the recession; stars are getting paid less, too source

09 Sep 2009 10:36

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Tech: To celebrate the catstravaganza, Apple heavily cuts iPod prices

iPod price discounts
  • The prices have all been cut, but the one on the far right is most significant – it’s $120 cheaper than it was before. Apple’s event is in just a couple of hours. We’ll have the latest, kids. (The store, at last check, was closed.)source