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08 Mar 2011 14:09

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Culture: Acting legend Al Pacino’s pockets may get a little lighter

Al Pacino is in trouble with the IRS, on the hook for $188,000. He blamed his former manager, Kenneth Starr (not that one), who is currently in prison for stealing his client’s money. source

07 Mar 2011 10:42

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World: Libya: The United Nations pushes for large humanitarian offering

  • 400k the number of people leaving Libya that the United Nations expects to need aid
  • 600k the number of people inside Libya that the UN thinks will need varying degrees of help
  • $160M the amount that the UN wants to set aside to help with the crisis in Libya source

25 Feb 2011 11:58

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World: Libya throwing money around in effort to buy support from citizens

  • $400 would be given to every Libyan family; sure it’s nice, but it’d be nicer if it was to every PERSON
  • 150% the offered increase in wages for state workers; all in an attempt to appease upset people source

21 Feb 2011 11:02

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World: Egypt: Top prosecutor trying to freeze Hosni Mubarak’s assets

  • liquid During Hosni Mubarak’s time as Egyptian leader, it’s been rumored that his family amassed a fortune as large as $70 billion. Whew.
  • frozen? After Mubarak’s departure, top prosecutor General Abdel Magid Mahmud has been working to get Mubarak’s assets locked up. source

12 Feb 2011 12:49

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Tech: Pandora used to spend more on buying music than it made

  • 119% the size of Pandora’s revenues that used to go towards acquiring content back in the second quarter of 2009
  • 48% the size of Pandora’s revenues that go towards content acquisition now – they’re profitable now source

03 Feb 2011 13:38

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World: Egypt’s economy hit hard by internet shutdown

  • six
    days
    amount of time the internet was offline during Egypt’s huge protests
  • $90
    million
    in losses the forced lock-down cost Egypt’s economy source

21 Jan 2011 19:32

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Biz, Tech: Mark Zuckerberg swimming in Facebook cash infusions right now

  • We know what Mark Zuckerberg’s doing right now. He’s taking his daily swim in Facebook money. (We’re sure the Winklevi are rowing through their much smaller pile of litigation money.) As we’re sure you’ve heard, Facebook has been making fast friends with Goldman Sachs to increase its funding base without going public, which they’re going out of their way to not do for some reason. How much money have they raised? Well, to give you an idea:
  • $1.5 billion raised by Facebook in the last freaking month
  • $500
    million
    the amount Facebook raised in that shady-sounding Goldman Sachs deal a while back
  • $1
    billion
    the amount Facebook raised from Goldman Sachs’ uber-rich individual international clients source
 

14 Sep 2010 23:37

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Culture: Jennifer Lopez on “American Idol”: She’s gonna make bank

  • $12 million deal for being bubbly and offering non-opinions source

29 Aug 2010 21:39

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Tech: We hate Shane Dawson and his money-milking Youtube clips

  • $315,429 made by that stupid prick
  • YouTube’s model is broken. Here’s why. A kid like Shane Dawson can prime the pump of YouTube’s model and make clips that are the unfunniest things you’ve ever seen. We couldn’t even make it though the first minute of this piece of crap here. This guy isn’t the only insane YouTube moneymaker out there, either. All of these guys brand the heck of of themselves, and some of them are pretty unfunny for the most part. We don’t understand their appeal at all.
  • The annoying orange This video, which is minorly charming, got approximately 29 million views since its October launch. Since then, its creator has made $288,375 from YouTube and has a TV deal in the works.
  • Ray William JohnsonThis guy is something of a low-rent Tosh.0, who basically re-appropriates viral clips for his own brash commentary and quick edits. Funnier than Shane Dawson, he made $278,048 from YouTube.
  • Philip DeFrancoAs overly-popular YouTube figures go, this guy is better than most. In this clip, he make fun of his long-windedness using that Radiohead cover from “The Social Network” trailer. He made $181,706. source

22 Aug 2010 10:06

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Biz: The final stage of the Credit Card Act of 2009: The big changes

  • one The law limits the penalty fees on credit cards so that you’re not paying a $20 penalty for a $5 overage.
  • twoOther fees will disappear, too: You can’t get punished for not using your card for a while anymore.
  • threeAnd if you buy a gift card starting today, the balance will be active for a full five years after you buy it.
  • fourFinally, if a card company raises your interest rate for any reason, they have to tell you why. source