A few months back, word came out that Netflix was wheeling and dealing behind the scenes to build up its young streaming video catalog. But given the relatively low revenue from the streaming catalog, content providers (movie studios) were reluctant to offer much in the way of content–so Netflix made them an offer.

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Netflix Isn’t Giving Up on First-Run Films Yet

No matter what kind of computer you have or what OS you use, VLC is usually the best way to play back video. On Mac, Windows, and Linux, VLC is an ultra-lightweight program that plays anything you throw at it, whether it’s a pirated high-def video in .MKV, a ripped DVD in H.264, or a streaming Flash video. It takes a little bit of know-how to get the most out of it, but for most uses, it couldn’t be simpler: drag a video, any video, onto VLC, and enjoy

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Will Apple Let the VLC iPad App Survive?

A shark man! Cash cannons! Mexican stereotypes! A dance-off! The New York Times and Wall Street Journal could both learn a few things from Next Action Media about sexing up a dull story. Rupert Murdoch has a shark fin. He circles the Statue of Liberty and climbs onto land, flanked by a swarm of yellow helicopters

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Dorsal-Finned Rupert Murdoch Attacks Sad Arthur Sulzberger in CGI Deathmatch

The days of getting caught talking in class are over–and so aren’t the days of even getting caught. According to a new survey by app developer textPlus, which surveyed more than 600 of its users aged 13 to 17, texting is more rampant than ever in the classroom

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Who’s That Texting Your Kids in Class 66% of the Time? Parents

According to an unconfirmed (but very plausible) story from Bloomberg , GM is planning to revamp its in-car communications service, OnStar, to better compete with newer systems like Ford’s collaboration with Microsoft , Sync.

Original post:
GM’s OnStar To Add Facebook, Music?

Apple patents come , and Apple patents go (and some get shelved for future legal battles). Yet occasionally one stands out: Like this one, for a cosmetically attractive composite material. It may point the way to future indestructible iDevices

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Apple Patent Foresees Sexy, Bulletproof iPhone 5

The smoke has literally cleared from BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster. Now comes the dirty work of figuring out who to blame

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What Caused BP’s Deepwater Horizon Disaster?

It’s no secret that China is crushing the U.S. in the race to produce clean energy. But Ernst & Young has made it official: China is the most attractive location to invest in renewable energy projects.

Link:
Investor Report: China Now Winning the Green Energy War

Google Instant promises to save you up to 5 seconds every time you search the Web, but you’ll only see those savings if you know how to take advantage of its new real-time mind-reading.

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Train Your Fingers: How to Get the Most Out of Google Instant

Who needs to think when Google can do it for you? That seems to be the premise of Google Instant, a “search enhancement” rolled out by Google this morning. The feature, which will be available for all U.S.

Original post:
Google Gets Psychic With Google Instant

Sean Parker is already famous in today’s Web-connected tech world, mythical perhaps. He was around at the start of Napster , Facebook, and more recently Chatroulette .

Originally posted here:
Why You Should Care About Sean Parker: The Man Behind Napster, Facebook, and Chatroulette

Tested only in Africa, the service will now be available in the Middle East and beyond.

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The Grid, Vodacom’s Mobile Social Network, Goes Global

Here’s a measure of how far cell phones have permeated into our society: T-Mobile is launching a new promotion that means your kids can get free ones. It’s to keep us all connected. T-Mobile’s new “Kids are Free” means anyone who signs up for a new contract between now and November 2nd (and also, impressively enough, existing customers) on a family plan can get free lines for up to three of their kids

Originally posted here:
Even Kids Have Cell Phones, So T-Mobile’s Using Them as a PR Tool

China keeps inching further ahead of the U.S. in the clean energy development race, first with a multi-billion dollar investment in electric cars and hybrids, and now with news that the country has completed its first offshore wind farm. The U.S

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China Beats U.S. to First Offshore Wind Farm

Get them while they last. As New York Fashion Week kicks off tomorrow, here’s the lowdown on a little, but very edgy, company and magazine, Love Contemporary , showcasing designer sex toys throughout fashion week. Love Contemporary is a progressive, artsy publication that debuted in January, focusing on the theme of love and modernity and with offices in Miami, New York, and Helsinki, the transnational team has not only been busy writing, they’ve also been busy marketing sex toys.

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New York Fashion Week to Include Designer Sex Toys

Google’s mysterious press event is still hours away, but it seems the details are starting to leak.

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Google Rumor Roundup: Goodbye Search Button, Hello Real-Time and Scribe

Photograph by Chris Crisman President, ZedX Bellefonte, Pennsylvania Russo, 61, creates programs that help farmers better manage their water use. “GPS-enabled yield monitors allow us to get site-specific field information for 1- to 5-meter areas.

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Joe Russo Modernizes Agricultural Water Management With Modeling

”How many people are there left who are neither locked up nor standing guard at the gate?” JM Coetzee’s honest, compelling and brave novel reminded me of Knut Hamsun’s Hunger , and it reminded me of Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich . The writing has the same kind of quality of these other novels, in that it takes a simple story about a simple man and elevates it by way of language into a terrifying masterpiece. Huckleberry Finn is in there, too, of course, watching the river flow.

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Life and Times of Michael K

Social Security is not in crisis and is not bankrupt. According to the annual report authored by the Board of Trustees for Social Security released last week, Social Security will have a surplus of $77 billion by the end of this year.

Continued here:
Social Security is NOT in Crisis. What the 2010 Trustees Report Says About It

Last week, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) celebrated Women’s Equality Day and we continue to commemorate the women who came before us and advocated for our right to vote. Even today, however, there are still women’s issues to address, like equal pay. We encourage you and your networks to participate with us next month in a push to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act

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Keeping the Promise of Social Security for Older Women and their Families