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25 May 2011 16:12

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Politics: Kathy Hochul’s NY-26 win a big deal for Democrats?

  • Harbinger or happenstance? It’ll be curious to see how last night’s upset win by Kathy Hochul is received and interpreted by political media, and by the parties themselves. (We’ve already seen a bit of it from man of the hour Paul Ryan.) You may remember back when Scott Brown defeated Martha Coakley to become a Senator from Massachusetts, for example — his win in a traditionally Democratic stronghold was seen as an early signal the Democrats were in trouble in the 2010 mid-terms, a special election turned bellweather. With evidence now that Ryan’s Medicare plan is a huge political liability, will it cost the GOP in 2012? And should they be verbally flogging their only candidate who came out against it? source

20 Sep 2010 10:47

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31 Jul 2010 15:12

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Offbeat: Washing machine + brick = Somehow the funniest thing ever

  • Poor washing machine. It didn’t even know what hit it. The key moment here hits at the 55-second mark, and it somehow adds a human element to the nature of washing machine destruction. LOL. It just turns into a jittering mess. source

02 Jul 2010 21:28

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Culture: The Muppets – and Swedish Chef – were born for YouTube captions

  • This is a truly innovative use of YouTube. Not only does it take advantage of the medium in a way that understands the element of surprise, it’s funny, and it’s especially funny because of the way it uses captions. Somehow, the Muppets Studio is getting even better at using YouTube.

21 May 2010 11:44

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Tech: “Insert Coin”: Google comes up with awesome Pac-Man doodle

Pac-Man turns 30 this year, but it’s never been feted quite like this. We can’t wait for a Super Mario Bros. doodle. source

04 Mar 2010 22:06

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Tech: TiVo seeing green as a result of winning a huge patent case

  • $300M the amount EchoStar owes TiVo for essentially ganking their idea
  • 8M the number of DVRs that could be affected by the court’s decision
  • 52% the amount TiVo’s stock went up as a result of the massive ruling source

09 Oct 2009 11:44

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U.S., World: Obama, straight up: I don’t deserve the Nobel Peace Prize

  • You know that feeling you get when you go to a surprise party and the gifts are extra-awesome, to the point where it feels a bit overdone? That’s how Obama feels right now. He does a good job twisting it, though, as something not personally about him but the country’s overall changed diplomatic direction. When the guy winning the Nobel Peace Prize feels like he doesn’t deserve it, the Nobel committee is giving it for the wrong reasons. Hey, Nobel people: Call back in four years when the president has made it worthwhile (or not).source
 

09 Oct 2009 05:21

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U.S., World: Daily poll: Did Obama deserve the Nobel Peace Prize this year?

  • We know. We’re still taking it in, too. But it’s a massive, seriously big accomplishment to win an award like this. We want to know if he’s ready to be worthy of such an honor. Vote here.source

09 Oct 2009 05:15

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U.S., World: Obama had a lot of competition for the Nobel Peace Prize

  • 205 people were nominated this year – that’s a record source

13 Sep 2009 10:46

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Sports: Serena Williams, wow. Just wow. Way to lose a match all crazy-like.

  • Dear Serena Williams, thank you for making tennis vaguely exciting for once. Sincerely, the ShortFormBlog staff. xoxosource