Regular News
The writing's on the wall:
Apple Unveils New Marketing Strategy
Apple Computer Inc. unveiled a new strategy Monday: Let customers buy their computers directly from Apple's web site.
Who needed all those pesky middlemen, anyway? Sorry, guys, and thanks for all the years of service and dedication. That's the way it goes.
The article continues:
Jim Browning, Director of Advertising, claimed the new advertising theme would be a winner with potential customers. "As you can see in the accompanying picture, we're trying for a more subliminal approach to woo new customers to the Apple fold. A few strategically-placed stickers are all that's really required with these fools, and I seriously doubt any of them will pick up on the sneaky manner in which we're delivering it. Say, this mic isn't on, is it?"
How the North Korean revolution really started:
Kim Jong-il Blamed for N.Korea's Foolish World Cup Tactics
Grab yer diary — justice prevails:
YouTube Wins Lawsuit from Greedy Asswipes at Viacom
As you may have heard, blind people are very upset that the new electric cars are so quiet and want them to emit noise so they can be heard. The car companies immediately capitulated, of course, and started designing 'noise makers' for their cars, either emitting an engine-like sound or some electronic 'futuristic' beeping sound.
But, as Grandma used to say, "What goes around, comes around..."
Anti-Noise Activists Oppose Sounds for Electric Cars
I have less sympathy for these people than anyone on the continent. Any company that voluntarily makes childrens' products in the Nanny States of America in the year 2010 thoroughly deserves whatever horrific fate befalls it. When will these idiots learn?
2 Million Cribs Recalled from 7 Manufacturers
On a couple of different levels, this is historically a major news story, yet I saw no blogger mention it, and the link I saw was only being used as a throwaway joke.
CNN Drops AP Service to Focus on Own Newsgathering
Tough question: Is this good news or bad news? On one hand, any disaffiliation with the loathsome, biased AP sounds like good news, but letting CNN decide what's "news" or not sounds even scarier than the way it was.
Now here's an intriguing headline:
"Giving Poor Kids Computers, Internet Makes Them Stupider"
Doesn't seem to make much sense, right? Assuming they're not spending all of their time reading online comic books, you'd think, in general, their overall world view would be enhanced, their scope of subjects would be broadened, and — especially if they blundered their way onto a professional news organization such as the Huffington Post — their overall vocabulary would improve. And, when they didn't understand something, they'd simply ask.
"Mommy, what's a baby-killing racist right-wing warmonger?"
"That would be the Tea Partiers, dear."
"Oh."
Then, when you read the real reason, it all makes sense:
The profs suggest that this is because a kid in a disadvantaged home given a computer and internet access will tend to be poorly supervised and use it mainly for gaming, social networking or other timewasting online/computer activities rather than buckling down and doing homework. Thus computered-up poor children actually become dumber than they would have been without the tech.
This syndrome was much less marked or absent in wealthier households where kids are more closely supervised, but so severe was the negative effect of technology on North Carolina that overall the state's maths and reading scores dropped by "modest but statistically significant" amounts as digital technology arrived.
What makes the following particularly impressive isn't just the age, but the quality:
Earliest Known Images of Apostles Discovered Under Rome Streets
Political News
Obama, Lady Gaga, Compete for Facebook Fan Record
