July 2010
Isolated in the Farallons, Biologists Have Bizarre... →
One scientist dreamed the biologists played the cormorants in a game of hockey on West End Island, cheered on by a crowd of drunken elephant seals. Another dreamed that interns were thrown to the great white sharks that circle the islands during seal breeding season. Biologist Pete Warzybok once dreamed he saw a flamingo on the island, and then he was suddenly riding in his father’s old 1961...
Major Corporations Are Downloading Those 100... →
No surprises here. I know of several who have had crawled data for at least a year. (Via Gizmodo)
“I think there’s an official president’s tweet, but some 20-year-old...”
– Obama
“Jack showed how you could walk up to an ATM, break into it using a common...”
– Guy hacks an ATM machine at the Black Hat security conference. He says he was inspired by Terminator 2. (Via VentureBeat)
“As soon as Franco finished at UCLA, he moved to New York and enrolled in four of...”
– NYMag’s profile on James Franco, who seems to be a real life Buckaroo Banzai.
Judge Neuters Arizona Immigration Law | The... →
Major provisions, such as one requiring authorities to check the immigration status of individuals while enforcing other laws, will not go into effect. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton also barred the state from requiring immigrants to carry their papers at all times.
Awesome news, even though it’ll likely head to the Supreme Court.
100 million Facebook pages leaked on torrent site →
Reality Show Payrolls Rise With Stardom →
This summer, the stars of “Jersey Shore” held out for more money before resuming production in Seaside Heights last week. Together, they shared about $25,000 as a cast for the entire first season; now they will reportedly earn at least that much for each episode.
Here’s hoping the trend continues and reality TV gives way to actual programming. (Via NYT)
A Selection of Injuries from this Baseball Season
Florida Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan tore the meniscus in his knee as he hit teammate Wes Helms with a shaving cream pie during a TV interview.
The Angels’ Kendry Morales hit a walk-off home-run to beat the Mariners and broke his leg after his team mobbed him at home plate.
Mat Latos, of the San Diego Padres, landed on the disabled list after he held in a sneeze and strained his left...
Newspapers Hit New Low as an Information Source →
In other news: online links to newspapers hits new high.
“Google Places is now clearly going after Yelp, and the main way they can do that...”
– So Google tries to buy Yelp for their data, Yelp balks, Google indexes data anyway.
This is perhaps the best example for why product extensions around Google’s search business (like travel or local reviews) is monopolistic behavior.
Can one change Robots.txt to opt out of one Google product...
Shawn Marion seemed genuinely surprised I didn’t know how much the digital mirror in the elevator cost. He wanted one for his house.
“Eventually, most of the ads you see will be tailored to you. Which sounds great.”
– Data mining pushes marketing to a new level | Marketplace From American Public Media
It does?
(via murketing)
R. Kelly's Old Lawyer Closing for Rod Blagojevich →
EFF Wins New Legal Protections for Video Artists,... →
(Via EFF)
Why do jeans always have a point of view?
“In the fall and spring semesters, universities are effectively a cartel....”
– Montclair SocioBlog on summer school economies.
Listicle Without Commentary: The 13 Most Awkwardly... →
7. “Out in the club and I’m eating that grub / And you’re not gonna reach my telephone” (“Out in the club and I’m sippin that bubb / And you’re not gonna reach my telephone,” from Lady Gaga and Beyoncé’s “Telephone”)
(Via The Awl)
Amazon Mobile Sales Topped $1 Billion In Past 12... →
“Jeff Bezos is bullish on mobile, whether it’s Kindles, smartphones or what he calls the “new category” of wireless tablet computers. Why? Amazon customers spent more than $1 billion via mobile device in the past 12 months, including sales by Kindle, and Bezos used the Q2 earnings release to suggest that tablets “over time” could ‘become a meaningful additional driver for our...
chsklly asked: I just read your post about Gov. Jindal. I am a Louisiana native, and yes I was devastated to read what you just posted. I do have one question though:
At the time, would you agree that it might have been the right call? It does seem logical, even though it did fail.
At the time, would you agree that it might have been the right call? It does seem logical, even though it did fail.
“In late April, just days into what has turned out to be the largest oil spill in...”
– NYTimes.com
“This woman deserves her job back. … How and why would you force...”
– Glen Beck(!??!?!) on Shirley Sherrod. (Via The Atlantic Wire)
“It is not following a normal early-adopter curve and then crossing into the...”
– Tim Cook on the iPad.
I was just discussing this with a few people yesterday. The iPad does an end-run around normal adoption curve. While appealing to the usual early-adopters (who risk money on tech for new experiences and first-on-the-block points), the benefits of the iPad more directly...
“Finally, I went out to L.A. to record my lines. And usually when you’re...”
– Bill Murray explains Garfield. (Via GQ)
“We’re really pleased to have generated over $4 billion of cash during the...”
– Apple CFO, Peter Oppenheimer. Funny, he didn’t mention anything about antennae. (Via MarketWatch)
Posterous Steals "Many Thousands" Of Users →
“Thousands!” (Via Business Insider)
China Becomes World's Biggest Energy Consumer →
“Asian Giant Emerges as No. 1 Consumer of Power, Reshaping Oil Markets, Diplomacy.” (Via WSJ)
PSFK Site Visit: Levi’s Print Workshop In The... →
murketing:
“As part of their workwear promotion, jeans maker Levi’s have started a series of workshop programs to engage the local communities. It’s part of the company’s Go Forth marketing campaign where it hopes to pay homage to the principles of hard work and civic engagement. The aim is to help people experience rather than be told about the values of the denim brand.”
Many details ensue,...
The Old Spice Guy, a Media Darling, Has a Dirty... →
Being cool, authentic, or hip isn’t always the best option. Just ask Old Spice or Burger King.
“After this announcement you will all be permitted to move to the other side of...”
– Soman Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Lupesoliai Malielegaoi, marking Samoa’s switch to driving on left.
“The pumps are partial artificial hearts known as ventricular assist devices, and...”
– NYTimes.com
