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31 Aug 2011 11:28

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Offbeat: Arkansas homeowner spots burglars — while flying overhead

  • Lesson of the day to burglars: Just because a homeowner isn’t home doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a killer home security system. Even if, in the case of Arkansas resident Steven Lynn, the “home security system” was totally unintentional and he was simply taking aerial photos of his home … in a plane. From a vantage point that allowed him to call 911 so the cops could arrest the two dudes attempting to steal his stuff. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 13:57

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Tech: Meme theft drama: The Oatmeal takes on FunnyJunk

  • In one of the great battles of Memedom, this one might be remembered as the “War of Attribution.” What happens when a guy who draws a ton of memeworthy comics goes up against a site that aggregates comics just like his without any attribution whatsoever? Drama. That’s what happened when the guy behind The Oatmeal merely asked for a little credit for his work from the site FunnyJunk — after they stole all his content.
  • Many lulz, no attribution Matthew Inman, the creator of the famous webcomic The Oatmeal has a huge issue with FunnyJunk.com. Users of that site have been taking his comics, removing all forms of attribution, and posting them on the ad-laden site. He’s tried unsuccessfully to get them removed, but they keep showing up. “I realize that trying to police copyright infringement on the internet is like strolling into the Vietnamese jungle circa 1964 and politely asking everyone to use squirt guns,” Inman wrote, but he feels he needs to protect his rights.
  • Reasonable vs. immature All sorts of problems arose came from Inman just asking for FJ to link to his site — not exactly a huge thing — and the whole mess turned into a giant dramabomb that spread beyond The Oatmeal and FunnyJunk and hit Reddit and Facebook. It’s an interesting copyright battle that takes on some of the touches of YouTube vs. Viacom, except with more uses of anti-gay slurs and meme-talk. Honestly … we’re with Inman. And the guy who runs FunnyJunk is kind of an immature baby who tried to turn his entire userbase on Inman. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

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
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Apr 2010 20:59

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Tech: Brian J. Hogan: Some townie sold Gizmodo the iPhone prototype

  • Steve Jobs will see you in his office, STAT. Hogan, 21, found the iPhone prototype at a bar and later sold Gizmodo the device thinking it would be reviewed. Earlier, Hogan had a friend attempt to get the phone back to Apple, but reportedly didn’t try very hard. After that, he and others working with him made the rounds among journalists, asking for money, including Wired (which broke the story). Gizmodo took the bait. And the rest is this guy’s infamy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 20:26

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U.S., World: Could the Baptists in Haiti get tried in the U.S. for child trafficking?

  • problem Haiti wants to try the ten Americans accused of trafficking children into the Dominican Republican. However, with a broken infrastructure, they don’t have a working court system right now.
  • solution The Haitian government may be willing to ship them off to the U.S. to get tried there. Were they acting in good faith when taking away these “orphans” (some of whom actually had parents)? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Dec 2009 15:37

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Offbeat: Stealing an ambulance sounds more fun than it really is

Some guy walked out of a New Hampshire hospital, stole the ambulance and drove it around. It was all fun and games until some jerk cop pulled out a taser. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Dec 2009 21:20

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Tech: Microsoft: Uh, yeah, we totally Plurked that code. Sorry.

  • The company blames a Chinese vendor for the theft. A day after basically getting emasculated by a small developer called Plurk, Microsoft admitted that some of the code for their new Chinese microblogging program, Juku, had been taken from the company. “In the wake of this incident, Microsoft and our MSN China joint venture will be taking a look at our practices around applications code provided by third-party vendors,” they said. Probably a good idea. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 

31 Jul 2009 19:40

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Offbeat: Kidjackers: These four preteens led a carjacking ring in Florida

The combined age of these four kids? 46. Despite the fact none of them can drive, it didn’t stop them from leading an auto theft ring. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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