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14 May 2010 12:07

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Biz: Seattle’s Best pre-fabs its way into being “the coffee of the poeple”

  • Starbucks owns this brand. That’s all you need to know. The company has owned this coffee offshoot for about seven years, and now plans to market it as if it’s the Old Navy to their Gap. To that, we say, “Caribou Coffee.” source

11 Mar 2010 20:31

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Politics: Is the mainstream media missing the gay marriage boat?

  • 16% of all links on the blogosphere last week were related to same-sex marriage, as many as Chile
  • 0.1% of newspaper coverage focused
    on it, and instead was health-care-obsessed source

21 Jan 2010 10:08

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Tech: Seesmic Look: Is the world ready for a “mainstream” Twitter client?

  • Today, the good people at Seesmic are launching “Look,” which is a Twitter client designed not for the power users that most Twitter clients are made for, but for the mainstream. It’s an attempt to give some visual polish to a medium that can feel slightly obtuse to people who don’t use it. It’s also designed for an audience completely at odds with fans of TweetDeck or Seesmic Desktop. Would you use it? source

19 Apr 2009 21:38

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Politics, U.S.: 420 advocates celebrate 4/20, hope for pot legalization

  • It is the biggest moment yet. There’s a sense that the notion of legalizing marijuana is starting to cross the fringes into mainstream debate.
  • Ethan Nadelmann • Founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. Nadelmann notes that there’s growing mainstream support of pot legalization. Annoying loudmouths on different sides of the political spectrum Glenn Beck and Jack Cafferty both support legalization. It’s high times for High Times, apparently, who will be holding a beauty pageant tomorrow. • source

19 Apr 2009 10:55

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Tech: The Twitter anti-Oprah backlash is in full effect, guys

#herebeforeoprah puts a line in the sand for Twitter fans afraid that it might jump the shark thanks to Oprah. source

08 Apr 2009 09:00

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Tech: Most computers still use Windows XP, but MS is cutting support

  • Mainstream support of XP ends next week. Microsoft owns a hefty chunk of the PC market, sure, but they own it on a seven-year-old operating system. 63% of all Internet users – not just Windows users, but the overall market – use XP, and it’s still sold with new computers. They’ll still provide security fixes, but bug fixes are done after this week. MS officials say that since the platform is so mature it shouldn’t be a problem, but this still seems kind of sketchy. Meanwhile, Vista cries in the corner, all gussied up for the school dance but without a date. source

05 Mar 2009 10:50

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Music: Editorial statement: Pitchfork is mainstream now. And that’s OK.

  • We’ve noticed, guys Hey, Pitchfork, you’ve been cropping up in new, interesting places lately. You somehow managed to pull this trick of covering indie rock for ABC News. And now you’re working with NPR? Whoa. Seems like someone is in line for a backlash. I’m sure Stereogum would like to be the indie tastemakers of choice.
  • Stop whining, indie kids Some people might claim that Pitchfork stretching its brand beyond the confines of a Web site that once unforgivably trashed “Travistan” means they’re losing their edge like a James Murphy song. We claim otherwise. If nothing else, they’ve become that rare brand that remains hip and mainstream. source
  • We’ve noticed, guys Hey, Pitchfork, you’ve been cropping up in new, interesting places lately. You somehow managed to pull this trick of covering indie rock for ABC News. And now you’re working with NPR? Whoa. Seems like someone is in line for a backlash. I’m sure Stereogum would like to be the indie tastemakers of choice.
  • Stop whining, indie kids Some people might claim that Pitchfork stretching its brand beyond the confines of a Web site that once unforgivably trashed “Travistan” means they’re losing their edge like a James Murphy song. We claim otherwise. If nothing else, they’ve become that rare brand that remains hip and mainstream.
  • Why we still like them They put on good festivals. They seem to actually give a crap about their mission. (Unlike, uh, Rolling Stone, which was Pitchfork 40 years ago.) And ultimately, if their opinion shows up in a major public forum, it doesn’t hurt their brand. It helps the brand of the bands they like. The bands they don’t like? Well, sorry, N.A.S.A. source