Viral marketing: What makes a movie a hit today?
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:21 pm PST
 Exclusive to Yahoo! News - By Peter Guber Guest Contributor As a boy growing up in Boston, the movie theaters were always filled with a glow, a glow from the vast number of smokers, puffing away during the show. This was a time, in the … Full Story | Top |
Why the Web may unleash the largest construction boom in history
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 05:05 am PST
The Christian Science Monitor - The Internet has already reshaped our mental space. Thanks to the Web, the way we read, recall, and relate is vastly different from the way it was just 15 years ago. Today, an even bigger change is afoot. The Internet is about to change our physical space. And this change may well usher in the largest construction boom in human history. Full Story | Top |
Ireland's exodus: By the numbers
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 04:27 am PST
The Week - Tens of thousands of Irish people are leaving their country for continental Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere, in a wave of emigration not seen since the potato famine Full Story | Top |
Did Google's New Search Algorithm Hurt the Huffington Post's Google Juice?
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 03:58 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - Google rolled out a new algorithm in the U.S. on Friday to prevent so-called "content farms" from gaming the system with a seemingly never-ending supply of low-quality how-to articles. The Atlantic's Alexis Madrigal decided to test the enhancement by querying the phrases "drywall dust" and "is botox safe" in the new system, that is the U.S. version of Google, and the old system by way of a proxy server that accessed Google's overseas search where the new algorithm hasn't been released. His conclusion? The new algorithm yielded "far superior results." Full Story | Top |
Lawmakers Come Under Rocket Fire in Iraq, Claim They Weren't Scared
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 03:18 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - Five members of Congress came under rocket fire while visiting a military base in Iraq Friday, Politico's Marin Cogan reports. They were herded into a bunker and guarded by soldiers while they listened to the explosions. But don't worry folks--they weren't scared, not for a minute. Full Story | Top |
Why Isn't the GOP Learning From Chris Christie?
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 02:21 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - Daunted by the bitter budget battle in Wisconsin, GOP leaders in "several states" are softening their positions on public employee unions, reports the Associated Press. In Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) implored GOP legislators to abandon a "right to work" bill. In Ohio, GOP senate leaders have watered down a bill prohibiting collective bargaining rights for public employees. Michigan's and Florida's GOP governors have agreed to take a "conciliatory approach" to union groups. The question that should come to mind for Republican strategists is why now? Whether one considers the fight against public unions an example of malicious Republican scapegoating or genuine budgetary problem-solving is beside the point. Politically, there's a strong argument to make that union-bashing has never been a more popular issue. In his cover story in The New York Times Magazine, Matt Bai makes precisely that argument in his assessment of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's recent successes: Not only are public employees' contracts no longer untouchable for any politician who wants to stay in office, but it turns out that the opposite is true; taking the fight to the unions is a good way to bolster your credentials as a gutsy reformer with voters who have been losing faith for years in public schools and government bureaucracies. This, more than anything else, is the lesson that Chris Christie has impressed on his contemporaries. Full Story | Top |
Quote of the Day: Gates Says No More Wars Like Iraq and Afghanistan
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 01:54 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - "In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as General MacArthur so delicately put it." -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in a speech to West Point cadets Friday. Full Story | Top |
Number of Abortions Performed Drops in Latest CDC Tally
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 01:54 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - The Center for Disease Control has released its data on abortion statistics for the year 2007. One of the most noteworthy findings is that abortions were nearly at a 10-year low during that year. "The new report indicates 827,609 abortions were done in 2007," notes the pro-life Web site LifeNews. "The 2007 total is the second lowest since 1998, with only the 2005 figure of 820,151 showing fewer abortions." Nationwide, numbers have been on a gradual decline since 1998, except for a spike in 2006, as seen on the graph below. Full Story | Top |
Is DOMA Dead?
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 01:31 pm PST
The Nation - The Nation -- On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder stunned lesbians and gay men and allies by announcing that the Obama administration will no longer defend Section 3 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Full Story | Top |
Obama decision on gay marriage shows government trying to abolish God
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:53 pm PST
The Christian Science Monitor - In a controversial decision, President Obama this week abandoned the Defense of Marriage Act – the 1996 law that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and forbids the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. Mr. Obama ordered his administration to stop defending it in court because he has decided it’s unconstitutional and unfair. Full Story | Top |
Do Journalists Hate Their Jobs?
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:18 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - An informal survey of 146 journalists who lost their jobs two years ago when the Rocky Mountain News closed has revealed a surprising finding: A majority of the journalists who've left the industry say their lives are now better--even though most are making less money. The results come from John Temple, the former publisher of the paper. In a piece for The Atlantic, Temple writes that a number of his former employees say "more time with family, learning new skills, and new opportunities made up for the loss of a job."His survey found that 70 percent of the laid off journalists are making less money today than they did at the Rocky Mountain News. So what's happening here? Is journalism such a soul-crushing profession that when its adherents leave and subsequently earn less money they're actually more satisfied? Maybe, maybe not. If anything, the experience of journalists at the Rocky Mountain News seems to be an outlier. Another recent survey by The Journalism Shop, questioned 124 writers, editors, news editors, managers and artists who were laid off at The Los Angeles Times. Though the respondents weren't directly questioned about quality of life, the responses were anything but upbeat. “Week-to-week takes on a whole new meaning,†wrote a man in his 40s. Full Story | Top |
Arab revolt is a tidal wave. Does the West get what's really behind it?
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:22 am PST
The Christian Science Monitor - One of the great challenges in intelligence analysis is predicting big changes. The safest analysis is nearly always that the forces that have shaped things until now will continue. A continuation of the status quo is thus the most likely outcome – right up to the moment that status quo disappears. Full Story | Top |
White House Picks First Gay Man to Be Social Secretary
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 10:55 am PST
The Atlantic Wire - President Obama has tapped Jeremy Bernard to be White House social secretary, making him both the first man and the first openly gay person to hold the job. Bernard was an early supporter of Obama and raised a lot of cash for his 2008 presidential campaign. The job was once held by Desirée Rogers, who was celebrated for her glamour in several glossy magazines before eventually stepping down following Michaele and Tareq Salahi's crashing of a state dinner. Full Story | Top |
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