@hblodget Where do people use them? No more mobile than laptops.
via Gabriel Snyder’s Stellar faves http://twitter.com/jyarow/status/291928717708640257
Michael Idov · 66,390 followers 24 minutes ago near Neuilly-sur-Seine, Ile-de-France ·
Gearing up for the end of 30 Rock, rewatched a few Season 1 episodes last night. You know, as much as people like to complain about the late-season stuff being mean and fractured and pointedly unconcerned with characters, the early episodes are far worse. Theres the syrupy sitcom writing I have blocked out Liz and Jenna are wacky squabbling equals – in “Rural Juror,” they literally learn a valuable lesson and hug; ill-advised impressions the 30 Rock that I love goads someone like Barbara Walters into doing a self-immolating cameo, not has her impersonated by Rachel Dratch. In every episode, you can just see the writers naturally absurdist sensibilities strangled by the pressure of being a Thursday Night NBC Sitcom back when it still sort of meant something. Remember, when 30 Rock got greenlit, Friends and Frasier were barely off the air. The later seasons, conversely, have a drive-this-thing-off-a-cliff exhilaration that can come only from a brush with oblivion – a feeling that, I suspect, was condoned if not cheered in the boardroom as well, because the suits themselves are feeling it: appointment TV is dunzo, BET has just beat all four major networks in prime time on early 30 Rock, this could have been a comic plot point, 4 million viewers is a megahit. In short, network TV died so that 30 Rock could get better.
Algerian forces attack gas plant held by Islamic militants, killing more than 30 hostages, 15 captors: reports
Many people were killed when Algerian forces opened fire on a vehicle at a remote gas plant where gunmen were holding dozens of Western hostages, a resident of the locality and Arab news reports said on Thursday.
Robert Stone to Publish First Novel in Decade
Mr. Stone is the author of “Damascus Gate” and “Dog Soldiers,” which won the National Book Award in 1975.
via NYT > Most Recent Headlines http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/robert-stone-to-publish-first-novel-in-decade/
Winfrey’s Armstrong interview comes at key time for OWN
Winfrey outmaneuvered bigger networks to land the interview with the disgraced cyclist. Her network, which averages just 329,000 viewers a night, needs more of what her staff calls the ‘Oprah DNA.’
Lance Armstrong will face millions of Oprah Winfrey fans Thursday night in a play to restore his tarnished image.
via L.A. Times – Entertainment News http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ct-oprah-network-20130117,0,4873923.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fentertainment+%28Entertainment+News%29
All Your Base Are Belong To Us: What Is the Question?
Does interest on reserves change anything fundamental?
via NYT > Most Recent Headlines http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/all-your-base-are-belong-to-us-what-is-the-question/
U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz Releases Statement Regarding Aaron Swartz’s Death
The conduct of the U.S. Attorney’s office was “appropriate” in the bringing and handling of the case, says Ortiz.
Carmen Ortiz has released a statement regarding the death of Internet activist Aaron Swartz. In it, the U.S. Attorney defends her department’s conduct, calling it a “difficult task” to enforce the laws that govern the use of computers and the Internet. “The prosecutors recognized that there was no evidence against Mr. Swartz indicating that he committed his acts for personal financial gain, and they recognized that his conduct… did not warrant the severe punishments authorized by Congress.”
As well as expressing sympathy to Swartz’s family and friends, calling his suicide a “tragic result,” Ms. Ortiz reveals that prosecutors were seeking a six-month jail term in a low-security setting. “At no time did this office ever seek–or ever tell Mr. Swartz’s attorneys that it intended to seek–maximum penalties under the law. Do you think that a six-month, low-security sentence was acceptable, or do you feel that, after Swartz’s tragic death, the law needs changing?
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Facebook Rolling Out Free Phone Calls In U.S. For iPhone Users
The VoIP service is just another way for the social network to become the Internet’s one-stop shop.
Facebook users in the U.S. will now be able to make free phone calls on their iPhones. The new service is an expansion of the firm’s move two weeks ago into VoIP calls, which has initially been testing in Canada. It’s the second big announcement this week for the social media network, which unveiled Graph Search, its occasionally NSFW new search feature, two days ago.
The service works on the Messenger app–no update is needed. Just tap on the “i” button in the top corner and select Free Call. It’s just the latest move by Facebook to position itself as the Internet’s one-stop shop, displacing Google in the process.
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They’re Happily Married. They Created The Smash-Hit Game “Temple Run.” How Perfect Is This Union?
For Imangi Studios’ Keith Shepherd and his wife/business partner Natalia Luckyanova, love is talking mobile-gaming apps. Their sequel to “Temple Run” is out today. They say none of it would have happened without marriage.
“It’s very polarizing when we say that we’re married and work together,†says Keith Shepherd of his partnership with his wife Natalia Luckyanova. The couple founded Imangi Studios, a mobile gaming company, back in 2008; their app Temple Run is iconic, having garnered over 170 million downloads, with a sequel out today. “It’s always either, ‘Awesome, that sounds great,’” says Shepherd of reactions to their working arrangement, “or ‘Oh my God, that sounds like the worst thing ever.’â€
For Shepherd, 33, and Luckyanova, 31, it’s mostly been awesome. Indeed, without having their life partner also be their business partner, Shepherd and Luckyanova wonder whether this journey would have even been possible. The two met as software engineers in Washington, DC; when they married a little over five years ago, they found themselves continually scheming about how they could work for themselves. When news came out about Apple opening up its app store to independent developers, they decided to take the plunge.
“We knew that if one of us could support the other while we got something going, it was less risky than going it by yourself.”
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Rolling Stone remembers “30 Rockâ€
Eccentric “30 Rock†star Tracy Morgan’s New Jersey home is filled with snakes, sharks, a sparkly Michael Jackson glove under glass and a custom-made…
via NY Post: Page Six http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/jungle_at_home_ttdjDJa9seKI7BWU21A3EK?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=%20%20%20%20%20%20Page%20Six