Dear Union Leader: You’re a newspaper. Like the Des Moines Register, no matter how much the Obama campaign pays, you know this crosses a line.
You don’t say.
Personal feeling: It’s probably not even for corporate reasons. It’s probably a matter of it being a difficult topic to describe properly in three minutes. And as the story’s never crept up to the top of the news cycle, they’ve likely had no reason to describe it at any major depth. Not that it’s an excuse, just a reason for it to get ignored. However, one thing to keep in mind is that it’s entirely possibile that the stories got played during the day — Media Matters used Lexis-Nexis reports, which don’t cover daytime cable.
EDIT: In case you want to see an example of a media outlet doing it right, see this Bloomberg interview with a Reddit co-founder.
Not a good day to be Danica Patrick. Spurred on by a Reddit thread earlier today (we mentioned it here), a snowballing boycott against the world’s largest domain registar has picked up such tech-industry luminaries as Cheezburger Inc.’s Ben Huh and Y Combinator’s Paul Graham. And Graham’s Hacker News is currently loaded with GoDaddy-related posts tonight, including this post about how to extricate yourself from GoDaddy’s service. But while the movement is certainly noble, it’s one that could face a lot of trouble going forward. Here’s a quick summary of the challenges boycotters may face going forward:
People upset with the Stop Online Piracy Act have a small reason to cheer this morning. The anti-piracy bill, which many Internet users feel could have a chilling effect on the Web, got tabled until early next year, giving a brief respite and an opportunity for alternative bills (such as Rep. Darrell Issa’s OPEN act) to gain footing. Being a creative bunch, many users have taken to design tricks, boycotts, even music to protest what they feel is a dangerous bill. Here are just a few examples of SOPA protests online:
The fact that there was any debate over whether to call in experts on such a matter should tell you something about the integrity of Congress. It’d be one thing if legitimate technical questions directed at the bill’s supporters weren’t met with either silence or veiled accusations that the other side was sympathetic to piracy. Yet here we are with a group of elected officials openly supporting a bill they can’t explain, and having the temerity to suggest there’s no need to “bring in the nerds” to suss out what’s actually on it… The chilling takeaway of this whole debacle was the irrefutable air of anti-intellectualism; that inescapable absurdity that we have members of Congress voting on a technical bill who do not posses any technical knowledge on the subject and do not find it imperative to recognize those who do.Joshua Kopstein, Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK To Not Know How The Internet Works (via drinkyourjuice)
This used to be funny, but now it’s really just terrifying. We’re dealing with legislation that will completely change the face of the internet and free speech for years to come. Yet here we are, still at the mercy of underachieving Congressional know-nothings that have more in common with the slacker students sitting in the back of math class than elected representatives. The fact that some of the people charged with representing us must be dragged kicking and screaming out of their complacency on such matters is no longer endearing — it’s just pathetic and sad.
Former San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds was sentenced to 2 years probation and 30 days home confinement for his obstruction of justice conviction.
Later, the judge agreed to stay her sentence while Bonds appeals his conviction. - San Jose Mercury News
Photo: Barry Bonds enters the Federal Courthouse in San Francisco. (Gary Reyes / Mercury News)
Think the punishment fits the crime? Bonds’ reputation is already in tatters. But 30 days in home confinement sounds kinda weak for an obstruction of justice conviction.
Amazon’s promotion — paying consumers to visit small businesses and leave empty-handed — is an attack on Main Street businesses that employ workers in our communities. Small businesses are fighting everyday to compete with giant retailers, such as Amazon, and incentivizing consumers to spy on local shops is a bridge too far.Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) • Openly criticizing Amazon’s new price-check app, which allows users to go in stores, scan the barcodes and see if Amazon has lower prices than said shops do — for a discounted price at Amazon. With the location feature turned on, consumers effectively can let Amazon know what their brick-and-mortar competitors are selling something for. What do you all think? Clever or sketchy? Does it empower the consumer or hurt small businesses? source (via • follow)
I can’t add much to what’s already been (and will be) ...
One of the perks of being an early employee...
Over the last 90 days, the Digg...
#FMMDI (at 30 Rockefeller Plaza)
Thanks. I guess my thoughts are as follows:
1. I think...
Two Months Ago I set out to interview the principal cast...
This is clearly a form of bias on the part of the Hollywood entertainment elite. This wouldn’t be tolerated if this was Michelle Obama. It shouldn’t be tolerated if it’s a conservative woman either.Michele Bachmann • Expressing rage after finding out that the music that played ahead of her recent appearance on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” was an instrumental take on the 1985 Fishbone song “Lyin’ @$$ B*@!&” — a song choice by The Roots, who haven’t hidden their political views and aren’t beyond inspired song choices when performing as Fallon’s house band. And you don’t get much more “inspired” than implicitly calling a presidential candidate a something-or-other via a clever song choice. Jimmy Fallon apologized to Bachmann via Twitter; Bachmann hopes The Roots get disciplined over the incident. We like The Roots, but we agree with Bachmann here; if The Roots wanted to get a quick rip in on Bachmann, there are plenty of other songs out there which don’t add a misogynistic element to the whole thing. We recommend “Lies” by The Knickerbockers. source (via • follow)
Bill Gates to testify in antitrust lawsuit today: You may be too young to remember this, but in the early 1990s, Wordperfect was the word processor of choice for millions of people — a major player in the pre-Windows era. But around the time of Windows 95, the owner of Wordperfect at the time, Novell, had an opportunity to bundle the word processor with copies of the forthcoming operating system, but then Microsoft pulled support over what they claimed were crash-related issues. As a result, nobody uses Wordperfect anymore, Word is the 900-pound gorilla, and Novell lost a crapload of money. And 16 years later, Bill Gates has to testify in front of a federal court. Sounds like a fun day already.
Anders Behring Breivik wasn’t allowed to speak at a hearing Monday, the first public hearing since the July bombing and mass shooting that killed 77 people. The hearing drew more than 500 people. The judge, Torkjel Nesheim, was quick to decide on his sanity (and also noted that he most assuredly acted alone), but would not let him recite a prepared statement for the hearing. ”This was not the main trial where he gets to explain himself,” the judge said. “I did not want to give him the opportunity to use this hearing as a platform for him to express his views.” (Check our Tumbl-Zine for more background on this story.) source
More on Paterno protests: While the protests are getting much of the attention — tonight certainly isn’t Penn State’s shining moment — it’s worth noting that some of the protests against Joe Paterno’s firing are much calmer. ”We support JoePa, but it doesn’t need to result in tipping vans,” said Mike Cannata, a freshman at the school. “We can show our support in other ways.” And, as noted above, Joe Paterno’s namesake fan group, Paternoville, reports that some of the protests are peaceful. “Everything is calm at Beaver Stadium - just a lot of emotions,” they tweeted. “We do not agree with any irrational decisions made downtown. Safe up here.”
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
