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01 Jun 2011 15:56

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U.S.: Budget cuts make fire department helpless in man’s drowning

  • ugh On Memorial Day, a man drowned himself in the waters off Alameda. The fire department wasn’t certified for water rescues, and the coast guard couldn’t retrieve him via boat, as it was too shallow. Waiting for a helicopter, the F.D. and coast guard watched the man drown.
  • fix? Seeking to remedy the situation that lets a man drown in full view of rescue teams, the Alameda Fire Department has changed their policy for land based water rescues — the program they’d had for those certifications ended in 2009 due to budget cuts. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Mar 2011 13:38

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U.S.: Air traffic snafu gives way to FAA study on staffing levels

  • Air traffic control lapse at reagan Airport: Two planes were left unguided for about fifteen minutes, and were forced to circle the airport while contacting a regional FAA office. The office, after verifying that the control tower was unresponsive, guided both planes in for the landing. Officials have said the controller may have been asleep, though that isn’t yet certain. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood he said that he’s directed the FAA to study staffing levels at airports, and that only having one controller on duty is “not acceptable.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Sep 2010 21:06

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Tech: Famous first words: Nokia VP quits before being ahead

  • I am committed, perhaps even obsessed, with getting Nokia back to being number one in high-end devices.
  • Nokia VP Anssi Vanjoki • In a blog post he wrote soon after starting in his position with the company way back in July (for those playing at home, it’s September). He’s already submitted his resignation. Why? Nokia is currently in a state of disarray because they haven’t really done anything stupidly innovative in a long time. The Nokia N8 is a start, but it isn’t on the market yet, so we can’t judge. As for Vanjoki, he doesn’t seem so obsessed with getting Nokia back to the top anymore. “The time has come to seek new opportunities in my life,” he said. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Jun 2010 10:42

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Tech: Did Apple recently fire a bunch of its antenna designers?

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jun 2010 21:12

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Culture: Tom Cruise’s star power losing its luster at the box office

  • 1992 the last time a Tom Cruise film opened this low
  • $59M the amount “Toy Story 3” made in its second weekend (a solid showing)
  • $41M the amount Adam Sandler’s “Grown Ups” opened with (OK, not great)
  • $27M the amount Tom Cruise’s “Knight & Day” made – over FIVE freaking days source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jun 2010 09:53

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Tech: iPhones have high failure rates, but they’ve improved over time

  • 26% of iPhones suffer breakdowns within two years as of 2010
  • 31% of iPhones suffered breakdowns within two years as of 2009
  • 35%+ the failure rates of older, first-generation iPhones source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jun 2010 09:46

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Biz: Fannie & Freddie’s stocks so crappy right now, they’re getting delisted

  • what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two massive government-backed mortgage companies, are trading so lo that they’re about to be delisted.
  • when Expect both stocks to get removed from the New York Stock Exchange by July 8. They’ll trade in the the over-the-counter market instead. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

15 Jun 2010 23:25

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Tech: Heckuva job, Brownie: AT&T – again – ruins the day for iPhone fans

The phone company totally blew pre-orders, causing long waits, errors and reported data leaks. Why does Apple work with this company again? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jun 2010 10:56

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U.S.: This angry, not-in-my-backyard quote is about an oil spill

  • This is extremely harmful. I want to know when are you going to send someone to my backyard and clean up my mess because I can’t even live in my house because of the smell.
  • Salt Lake City resident (and biology teacher) Peter G. Hayes • Regarding an oil spill by Chevron that has greatly damaged the city’s Red Butte Creek. Chevron blamed an undetected underground leak for the issue, which spilled 50 gallons of crude oil a minute into the river. What oil spill did you think we were talking about? It’s not that one, although that one is pretty awful. This is the other one. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jun 2010 20:58

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Tech: Yahoo pretty much lets Facebook take over their lumbering corpse

  • You know, because Yahoo doesn’t have any infrastructure like Facebook. Between Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Chat, MyBlogLog, Flickr, and Delicious – all widely-used services that directly compete with various parts of Facebook – Yahoo could create a really awesome social network with the scale of Facebook’s offerings. But instead, Yahoo is going to integrate these sites directly with Facebook. Why? Because they’re a horribly-disorganized company and they don’t realize that they were sitting on all of the parts long before Facebook stumbled upon them. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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