Mon 05 January, 2009

Looking for a job? The FBI is hiring 850 new people, its largest ever hiring spree since 9/11. Maybe they'll catch all those shady mortgage crooksters before they Jenga the system! Oh wait, too late. [CNN]

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The New York Times
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Turns out violence is way up in Afghanistan after all. Just ask the Taliban. They slayed more than 5,000 of the hated Crusaders in righteous battle last year. AP: KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban has long exaggerated its military successes, but its recent claim that it killed more than 5,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan last [...]

Source : forward movement (subscribe)

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Daily Mail
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Apparently, when it comes to choosing the next head of the CIA, Barack Obama just can't win. The president-elect chose former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, a relative neophyte when it comes to intelligence issues, because the viable candidates who have experience with the Agency or in other areas of intelligence-gathering are all tainted by the Bush administration's policies. After...

Source : Salon.com (subscribe)

Explore : Political Blogs, Politics

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The incoming Obama Administration says it wants to shut down the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay. But even if Guantánamo closes, it won't end the controversial U.S. practice of jailing suspected al Qaeda militants and other terrorists indefinitely.

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Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will suspend production at all of its Japanese plants for a total of 11 days in February and March because of faltering global demand. Japan's top automaker announced last year it would halt production at its 12 domestic...

Source : San Fransisco Chronicle (subscribe)

Explore : Business

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Prosecutors sought to have Madoff jailed, while SEC officials were grilled on Capitol Hill for having repeatedly overlooked signs of his alleged decadeslong fraud.

Source : Law Blog - WSJ.com (subscribe)

Explore : Business, US

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This should sound pretty obvious, but it isn't. And I think a lot of people have been violating this rule, particularly on wall street and in big corporations and the economic mess we are in is at least partly because...
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A family friend and member of the Bahamian parliament spoke at a press conference Monday evening in front of the Bahamian funeral home where the remains of John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston's 16-year-old son, Jett, are being held. Obie Wilchcombe, a confidant of the Travoltas, said, "I haven't spoken to the Travoltas [today], but I have spoken to some of the family and friends who are here...

Source : The Insider (subscribe)

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Aren't animals just great?

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Israel's ground offensive in Gaza and a dispute between Ukraine and Russia over gas imports pushed oil prices above $48 a barrel Monday. Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose $2.

Source : Salt Lake Tribune (subscribe)

Explore : Sports

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Falcons coach Mike Smith wants to keep his coaching staff in place, but knows that some of his assistants may be presented with other opportunities.

Source : ajc.com (subscribe)

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Cracked.com

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The state got permanent custody Monday of five of the seven children who authorities said they found in a filthy, rat-infested home where their mother had stored her miscarried fetus in the refrigerator.

Source : Houston Chronicle (subscribe)

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A U.S. program to help consumers pay for equipment to keep some television sets working after the switch to digital transmissions Feb. 17 reached its $1.

Source : Salt Lake Tribune (subscribe)

Explore : Sports

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Former president George HW Bush, father of the outgoing US commander-in-chief, has touted another son, Jeb, for a future presidential bid. "I'd like to see him run. I'd like to see him be president some day," the elder Bush, 84 told Fox News yesterday. "I think he's as qualified and able as anyone I know," he said in an interview.

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Four hospitals in New York state paid kickbacks to get more patients into their drug treatment programs, which billed Medicaid for services that weren't standard or necessary and lacked state certification, lawsuits allege.

Source : Boston Globe (subscribe)

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Hackers usually are smart, but can be really, really stupid. The person who hacked Twitter - not the Direct Message phishing expedition that started over the weekend - could have picked pretty much anyone else on the planet and be less concerned of being tracked down.

This person hacked President-elect Obama's Twitter account! There has to be Secret Service people - like the Diane Laine character in Untraceable - crawling through the internet tracking him/her down. That is if the person has not been quietly killed already (for my conspiracy theorist readers).

Barack's account was one of 33 hacked, according to the Twitter blog.

"This morning we discovered 33 Twitter accounts had been "hacked" including prominent Twitter-ers like Rick Sanchez and Barack Obama (who has not been Twittering since becoming the president elect due to transition issues). We immediately locked down the accounts and investigated the issue. Rick, Barack, and others are now back in control of their accounts," the site stated.

If the Secret Service kill the person during the arrest, I have a nomination for the Darwin Awards.

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San Jose, Calif. » In an unprecedented letter to Apple investors and consumers Monday, Chief Executive Steve Jobs revealed that a hormone imbalance is "robbing" his body of proteins, causing him to drastically lose weight and triggering deep concern about his health in recent months.

Source : Salt Lake Tribune (subscribe)

Explore : Sports, Steve Jobs

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Cartoon for Today, Jan 05, 2009
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Wealthy Republican plans run after Schwarzenegger term ends in 2010.

Source : Raw Story (subscribe)

Explore : eBay, Online auction, Politics, Republican Party, Technology

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BART-Police who patrol the Bay Area's subway system came to break up a fight. They had a 22 year old man named Omar Grant in handcuffs and on the ground when an officer shot him point blank in the head.

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Some of them, according to this New Yorker piece by Lizzie Widdicombe, are being sent in by Madoff victims to raise cash: Back in midtown, business was brisk at the Madison Avenue headquarters of CIRCA, a jewelry-buying firm, where Madoff-related jewels had been incoming all month, like expensive shrapnel. "When Madoff hit, then we started to [...]

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And so it begins. Secretary of the Senate rejects Burris appointment (CNN) – The secretary of the U.S. Senate on Monday rejected the certificiate of appointment for Roland Burris, named by Illinois’ controversial governor to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat, according to an aide to the secretary. The aide said Secretary of the Senate Nancy Erickson rejected Burris’ appointment because it does not...

Source : Redstate (subscribe)

Explore : Illinois, Politics

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No more free beer at Busch theme parks. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, will no longer offer free beer at its theme parks, which include Busch Gardens and SeaWorld, due to the "limited appeal" of free beer.

From the St. Louis Business-Journal:

"The hospitality centers had pretty limited appeal because it was for patrons who were of legal drinking age who wanted beer," he said. "We were looking for something that had a broader age appeal."

Park goers who are of legal drinking age will still be able to buy beer at the parks.

The AB InBev is expected to sell the theme parks in an attempt to pay off its debt from the $52 billion acquisition of Anheuser-Busch.

No more free beer at Busch theme parks [Bizjournals via Fark ]
(Photo: Ken1973 )

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AP - Police are puzzling over what would motivate a father and son to haul off six tombstones from a monument company in suburban Albany. Town of Colonie Detective Lt. John Van Alstyne said he's not sure what kind of aftermarket there might be for the hefty granite grave-markers.
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Photos of the abandoned soundstage for The Wire.

So I found out yesterday that the soundstage for "The Wire" still existed. I wasted no time in visiting it and was there almost less than 24 hours. It's one of my favorite TV shows ever and I had to see this before everyone ruined it. The building is also scheduled for demolition and they are going to build a super market on it.

(thx, hurty)

(link)
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Washington » The internal watchdog at the Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday an investigation of the agency's failure to uncover the alleged $50 billion fraud involving Wall Street figure Bernard Madoff will extend broadly to the agency's enforcement operations.

Source : Salt Lake Tribune (subscribe)

Explore : Sports

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At BookCloseouts.com, for every dollar you spend you'll receive a dollar credit to be used to "purchase" free books from a selection of more than 5,000 titles. That's the best such deal we've seen from this merchant. Shipping starts at $2.99. Sale ends January 31.

Note that only certain titles, those listed here, can be redeemed as free books.
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Next month, New Zealand is scheduled to implement Section 92 of the Copyright Amendment Act. The controversial act provides ‘Guilt Upon Accusation’, which means that if a file-sharer is simply accused of copyright infringement, they are immediately guilty. The punishment - summary Internet disconnection.

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Police say a 4-year-old boy in southern Ohio shot his babysitter because the sitter accidentally stepped on his foot. Police said 18-year-old Nathan Beavers and several other teenagers were babysitting several young children in a mobile home in Jackson on Sunday when the shooting occurred.

Source : Boston Globe (subscribe)

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AP - Police say a 4-year-old boy in southern Ohio shot his babysitter because the sitter accidentally stepped on his foot. Police said 18-year-old Nathan Beavers and several other teenagers were babysitting several young children in a mobile home in Jackson on Sunday when the shooting occurred.
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TigerDirect.com offers the factory-refurbished HP Pavilion dv9740us Core 2 Duo 1.67GHz 17" Widescreen Notebook, model no. KC350UA#ABA, for $799.99. With about $15 for shipping, that's $290 under the best price we could find for a new, factory-sealed unit. It features an Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.67GHz dual-core processor, 17" 1440x900 widescreen LCD, 3GB RAM, two 160GB Serial ATA hard drives (320GB total), Blu-ray Disc player/ dual layer DVD burner, 802.11a/g/n wireless, flash card reader, 1.3-megapixel webcam, and Windows Vista Home Premium. A 90-day HP warranty applies.
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AP - A man who police said was shot by his stepfather ended up in the same jail with him after officers discovered outstanding arrest warrants against the victim. Police told The Daily News of Jacksonville that 37-year-old Richard Hayes shot his stepson Thursday night.
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AP - Police say a woman who begged from a wheelchair was caught running from a crime scene on foot in Monterrey, Mexico. Police spokeswoman Sidlayin Robles says 30-year-old Ana Victoria Perez fled on foot after she and her husband allegedly threw a stone through the front window of a furniture store.
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I was listening to the new and excellent Vince Mira CD of Johnny Cash covers (some of them in an elegant Spanish), when Yana asked me to explain Johnny Cash to her. "Does he sing about the South?" was a...
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Bell-bottoms… Designer jeans… Disco… Big hair… Gas shortages. Some icons of the 1970s are emblazoned in the memories of those old enough to remember. A few styles, to the dismay of many, have come back in vogue—oil-related crises among them.

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You know you're not in for a life-changing experience when you get a room at a Super 8 motel, but you at least expect that for $190 a night, there will be hot water and blankets big enough to cover both you and your girlfriend. And no plywood in the bathroom. And four legs holding up the bed. But not at the Super 8 in Pasadena, CA, according to Matt, who was just there for the Rose Bowl.

Here's Matt's story:

I just returned from a nice 6-day vacation from cold Pennsylvania to Pasadena, CA to see the Rose Bowl. All in all, the trip was a blast (despite the outcome of the game), except for my experience staying at the Super 8 on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena.

We weren't expecting much from a Super 8, but we figured we just needed a warm place to sleep and shower, and it was the cheapest thing we could find (at $190/night!) given that we were staying over the Rose Parade/Rose Bowl, so we went with it. When we arrived and checked in our expectations were confirmed as we were met with thin, stained carpets, poor quality bed linens and bath towels, unbelievably firm mattresses, and single-pane windows that did nothing to muffle outside noise. Throw in the stack of wood blocks holding up one corner of the bed and the bathroom vanity made partially of unpainted plywood, and anyone would be disappointed. But we figured, "hey, we're on vacation, so we'll make the most of it and just spend as little time here as possible."

The first night is when we found out about the unbelievable noise made by the water pipes whenever anyone in the building near us ran water; it was loud enough to wake us up. Conversations by people in the parking lot sounded like they were standing in our room due to the thin windows and doors. In the morning, we had some surprises with the shower. First, the water that came out of the bathtub faucet was brown! Second, although we were able to get hot water from the bathroom sink and bathtub faucet, as soon as we turned on the showerhead, we got nothing but slightly-colder-than-lukewarm water, so we all had cold showers. We complained to the front desk, and were told it would be taken care of.

Fast forward to our third day. We arrived back at the room around 6:30pm after having been gone for the parade and Rose Bowl game since 5am that morning, and found that our room hadn't been cleaned. 10 minutes after we returned, housekeeping knocked and asked us if we'd like to let them finish cleaning (apparently they had started and left). We told them we were getting changed and would be leaving for dinner in 20 minutes, so they could come back then.

10 minutes later, while I was in the shower (still cold, as the hot water issue hadn't been fixed), my girlfriend knocked on the bathroom door and told me that I couldn't come out because housekeeping had returned and told us that if we didn't let them in to clean right now it wouldn't get done, so they were in the bedroom cleaning...

I went to the front desk to complain about the still-cold showers, the fact that our room hadn't been cleaned all day, and the unacceptable behavior of the housekeepers giving us an ultimatum like that. While the man at the desk was courteous and offered an apology, he gave me the excuse that they had a full hotel and that it was Rose Parade week, so I needed to understand the amount of work the housekeepers had to do. I made it clear that I did not buy that excuse, and that it should have been a no-brainer to make sure they had enough competent staff on hand for what is arguably the busiest week of the year in Pasadena. He told me they were actively looking for more staff, then explicitly stated that no form of compensation was available, but that I was welcome to contact corporate if I chose to.

Later that night, we returned from dinner and climbed into bed to find that the housekeepers had put a ratty, torn, twin-sized blanket on our double-sized bed. I took the offending blanket to the front desk (making sure to indicate that I had already changed clothes and gotten into bed before realizing the error) and asked for a new one, as well as contact information for corporate. The only thing I was given was a business card for the general manager of that particular location (apparently all Super 8's are independently operated under a franchise agreeement). The new blanket, while big enough, was still ratty and of poor quality, and the showers the next morning (before we checked out) were still cold.

I'm not really sure where to go from here. Had we paid the normal "budget" rate for the room, I would probably be content with chalking it up to bad luck and spreading the word about my horrible experience, hoping that at least one person decided not to stay there as a result. But at $190/night and a three-night minimum stay (due to the Rose Parade), I feel like we've been totally screwed and this kind of bad experience warrants some kind of compensation. I don't think a full refund would be reasonable, since we did have a place to sleep and park our car, but I think a refund of our last night's stay is totally reasonable, given the circumstances: poor quality rooms, no hot showers, and the terrible behavior of the housekeepers. What do you think?

We think you deserve some sort of compensation as well, for the lack of hot water if nothing else. We've contacted the motel to see what they have to say, but you should also contact corporate and turn in this particular location, and see if they can help you secure a partial refund, or discounts on a nicer hotel chain for your next vacation.

But realistically, it's likely going to be a challenge to get an acceptable response from a business when it's as poorly operated as this Super 8—there's a reason it's in disrepair and understaffed, and the terrible management responsible is exactly who you'll have to deal with. Following the bottom-line approach outlined in "Unscrewed," you're going to have to find a way to make your satisfaction worth this Super 8's time. Some things you might want to look at include reporting your terrible experience online as much as possible at consumer travel sites like TripAdvisor, or opening up a dispute with the Pasadena Better Business Bureau, or launching an EECB at the franchiser, Wyndham Worlwide.

(Photo: millicent_bystander)

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HandHeldItems.com knocks up to 85% off select Apple iPhone 1st-generation and 3G cases. Plus, take an extra 20% off via coupon code "20iphonecs". In all, hundreds of items are discounted, most of which are at or near lowest-we've-seen prices. A best bet after coupon is the IGg iPhone 3G Crystal Clear Case in five assorted colors for $7.99 after coupon plus $2.85 for shipping.
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Earlier today, Minnesota's Canvassing Board certified the results of the Senate recount, with former comedian Al Franken holding a 225-vote lead. The Coleman campaign immediately announced that it will file an election contest tomorrow. The status of the recount has been widely misreported and widely misunderstood. Under Minnesota law, the post-election process has three stages: canvassing, in...

Source : Power Line (subscribe)

Explore : Actors and Actresses, Al Franken, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Politics

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It couldn't be simpler!

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You can fairly say I have been overly harsh on Denver based airline Frontier Airlines. Recently, they added the AirFairs program, which is a great step back in the right direction. With AirFairs, the choice is yours! You select the level of flexibility and amenities you want. Check out your options below. It’s as simple as one, [...]
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Directron.com offers the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, model no. B2M-00012, for $23.99. With about $8 for shipping, that's the lowest total price we could find by $3. (It was $7 less in November, since expired.) This USB keyboard features a split-key layout, programmable multimedia keys, and an integrated palm rest.
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NJ.com
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Bailing out the entire human race might turn out to be cheaper than bailing out Wall Street: Spray gigatons of seawater into the air, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, and let Mother Nature do the rest, suggests inventor Ron Acer in a patent petition for “a colossal refrigeration system with a 100,000-fold performance multiplier.”

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AP - A Colorado man sorting through his late grandfather's belongings found a bombshell, sort of: A live mortar round from the Korean War era. A bomb squad detonated the shell at an undisclosed site. No one was hurt. Police said Monday the grandson discovered the shell in a firearms cabinet at his grandfather's home just outside Greeley on Friday.
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(wxiatv.com)
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When I go on my diving vacation at the end of this month, I won't be bringing this video mask. Why anyone would like to attach dumb headlights to vital diving gear is beyond me.

While Liquid Image Scuba Series HD320 is a huge jump over their previous toy-mask—reaching 115 feet and capable of capturing 720p video and 5 megapixel photos—didn't anyone tell these people that one of the first rules of scuba diving is not to have objects protruding out of your personal space beyond your tank and BCD?

Apparently not. Even if the lamps get off easily in case your mask gets stuck in the coral or some underwater plant, it still looks dangerous and complicated. You can use it without lamps, but then you won't be able to use its features to its full potential. Light and color quickly disappear when you go down. In addition to that, in terms of function you will be limited to the movements of your head as far as angles go.

In other words, if you are serious about getting good video or photographs underwater, forget about gimmicks like this and get external equipment. It will be more flexible and safe. [CES Show]

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HandHeldItems.com offers this T-Qualizer T-Shirt, a T-shirt with an embedded graphic equalizer, for $24.99. Coupon code "handheld10" slices it to $22.49. With $5.95 for shipping, it ties our mention from two weeks ago as the lowest total price we've seen by $18. It's available in sizes M, L, and XL and features an 8-band graphic EQ. Deal ends December 30.

Wanna see what this bad boy will look like in the club? Check out the video at the bottom of the page.
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He and a teenaged girl surrendered after a 13-hour standoff; woman, child safe.

Source : ABC News (subscribe)

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CWmike writes "Amazon.com has rolled out a new option for its Simple Storage Service (S3) that lets data owners shift the cost of accessing their information to users. Until now, individuals or businesses with information stored on S3 had to pay data-transfer costs to Amazon when others made use of the information. Amazon said the new Requester Pays option relieves data providers of that burden, leaving them to pay only the basic storage fees for the cloud computing service. The bigger question with the cloud is, who really pays? Mark Everett Hall argues that IT workers do."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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An Illinois prison inmate who killed his cellmate after allegedly warning at least three guards he would harm him has been ordered by a federal judge to pay the dead inmate's mother and her son's estate $13 million, the Daily Herald reports . U.S. Magistrate Judge Byron Cudmore issued the default judgment for Arlington Heights resident Sherree Daczewitz in her 2006 lawsuit against Corey Fox and...

Source : Chicago Breaking News (subscribe)

Explore : Illinois

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Nine countries in and around Europe have now reported problems with their gas supply as a result of Russia's dispute with the Ukraine, after Slovakia, Greece and Croatia today disclosed they were experiencing drops in gas pressure.

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CNN
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GameStop via Barnes & Noble is taking preorders for the Mad Catz Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition FightStick for Xbox 360 for $39.99. With $2.98 for shipping, it's the lowest total price we could find by $117. Sales tax is added where applicable. Built to imitate arcade-style gaming, this controller features an 8-button layout and joystick. It also has turbo settings for each button. It's scheduled for release on February 10.
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Google plans to release on Monday a beta version of Picasa for Mac OS X, helping Apple fans catch up to Windows and Linux users already employing the free tool for editing, cataloging, and uploading photos.

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Craigsphone is an impressively full-featured free Craigslist iPhone app with photo uploads, location sharing (imagine the possibilities!), click-to-call and other goodness. Missing are the "risque" sections, so something you can't find is a "date." [iTunes]

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Meritline.com offers this Meritline 8-Piece Cutlery Set for $39.99. With free shipping, it's among the lowest total prices we've seen for such a set. It features an 8" chef, 7" Santoku, two steak, and 3-1/2" paring knives, sharpening steel, kitchen shears, and acrylic block.
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We don't know what Acer is up to, but they've clearly figured out some way to make a lot of money by mailing unnecessary discs free of charge to customers. Do they own the envelope company? Is Acer secretly owned by the USPS? Or maybe someone at Acer is just trying to look busy. Nick writes:

To date I've received one batch of five flat pacs [and] one batch of seventeen flat pacs. Each flat pac has three restoration discs (for a total of 66 discs), none of the flat pacs I've received has contained the promised system disc.

Having bought an Acer AX-3200 ( a small HTPC with blu-ray, and a great price point) I open it to discover that Acer is too cheap to include restore discs. An obvious necessity what with the miasma of fatal errors lurking out there for the windows PC user.

I call Acer, doe-eyed in my naivete, to request some. Two weeks they say. Meanwhile I try to start the computer up, no dice, Vista falls flat on its face right out of the box. I call Acer, they say they'll send some system restore discs, no charge, three day shipping. Great. I call Newegg, the retailer in all this, and they cheerfully take the computer back, sending me another overnight, stand up guys that they are.

The second computer works just fine. Blu-Ray is a huge pig, but that's something else. Anyway, in the mean time five flat-pacs arrive from Texas each with three 'Restoration Sdics' (sic) and a piece of paper that tells me in four languages to insert the system disc before any restoration sdics. No system disc(s) to be found anywhere. Call Acer. A Texas twang tells me that you really have to have this system disc if you want to do anything. They'll send just the system disc this time, because you know, tough times, and even Acer can't be expected to remain unaffected, in some misty tower of waste. Ok, we'll see.

Two weeks later these show up on the porch [see pic of 17 envelopes], all the same, none with a system disc.

Acer, you and Microsoft need to have a personnel swap meet or something.

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Comcast, which got in trouble with the FCC for its P2P-throttling approach to network management has now completed its plan that deals with bandwidth hogs by slowing all broadband traffic for heavy Internet users during times of congestion. The new system is Protocol-Agnostic which means it isn't targeting P2P protocols only, therefor ok by the FCC

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Sears cuts up to 83% off a selection of Reebok shoes for men and women, as listed below. With $6.25 for shipping, ea