Gawker
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wtf
Times Front Page Basically Just Digg Now
This New York Times front-page story is about how the Amazon Kindle can't pronounce Barack Obama's name. That's A1 news? Really? The Times really is just a fancy blog. (Or maybe just feeling defensive.)
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By Ryan TateComment by DevilsAvocado: And here was me thinking Rupert Murdoch bought out the Wall Street Journal. Man moves fast. He's like a Ninja. more » | Other threads
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predictions
The Next Gadget Gods
This past year, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs began to focus on priorities other than tech. Who will fill their winged sandals and become the new Gadget Gods? [Gizmodo] -
shopping
Amazon's Frustration-Free Packaging Storefront Sells Stuff that's Easy to Open
We've never been fans of the impossible-to-open packaging holding us twenty tedious steps away from satisfying our gadget lust (surprised?), but apparently neither is Amazon. To address the issue, Amazon has launched a Frustration-Free Packaging storefront:Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging, a multi-year initiative designed to alleviate "wrap rage," features recyclable boxes that are easy to open and free of excess materials such as hard plastic clamshell cases, plastic bindings, and wire ties. The product itself is exactly the same—we’ve just streamlined the packaging.
Amazon wouldn't allow me to embed their wrap rage video, but keep reading for a similarly themed SNL commercial featuring Kristen Wigg as an equally frustrated consumer. [Lifehacker]
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By Adam PashComment by guardianfox: Great idea, slightly more environmentally friendly packaging... how about we just stop buying so much crap? 2 Responses | Other threads
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cloud computing
Amazon.com to add Microsoft OS to its cloud services
This morning, Steve Ballmer promised Windows Cloud, a set of Web-based applications that would enable "light editing" of MS Office docs and who knows what else — he didn't say. It's probably no coincidence that Amazon announced its own sort of Windows Cloud today: Customers will be able to run Windows Server and SQL Server via Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). Amazon CTO Werner Vogels blogged an explanation: More »
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By Paul BoutinComment by Spy from the Land of Rainpeople: Companies will soon have a choice ... Companies always had this choice. There are tens of thousands hosting providers that offer... more » | Other threads
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Blamestorming
Adobe: Amazon.com goof allowed free movie downloads
Amazon.com's Video On Demand service, which allows you to preview and purchase streaming videos online, uses Adobe's Flash Media Server to deliver the video. Late last week, Reuters reported that hackers had discovered an exploit that would allow users to turn the free preview into the full stream, allowing folks to watch movies for free using software like Replay Media Catcher from Applian. Adobe took issue with Reuters' contention that Flash isn't secure — instead suggesting it was Amazon's fault for not enabling various security options such as streaming encryption and player verification. Why did Adobe choose to blame a customer instead of quietly fixing the problem behind the scenes? Probably seemed easier. -
digital music
Want to buy music from Amazon.com on MySpace? Not so fast
Most MySpace Music customers won't go searching for the obscure stuff. The big money is in pop hits. The industry's top 10 singles are all available to preview on MySpace Music — and they're all on Amazon.com's MP3 store as well. But that doesn't mean it's one-click easy to buy the music via MySpace. Trying to purchase downloads of 6 of the 10 directly from MySpace's new music widget failed. And those that worked required plenty of clicks and drop-down menus. [Idolator]
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By Jackson WestComment by nirreskeya: Owen (Van Natta) wouldn't have allowed this. Or maybe he did. Who is the CEO over there, anyway?... more » | Other threads
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online video
Michael Moore's "Slacker Uprising" kind of available free online
The latest shockumentary from portly auteur Michael Moore, Slacker Uprising, has launched today. To watch the film, you have to sign up with an email address. While Moore says his fans should go ahead and download it, there's no actual link to do that. And you can't embed the whole film on third-party sites without pulling some code from the bowels of the HTML source — which I've done here, while also restoring the "share" button so you can easily post it yourself wherever you like. Heck, if Moore just wants the film out there, why not distribute it on BitTorrent and save on bandwidth costs? More »
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By Jackson WestComment by colonelpanic: But go ahead, Jackson, and continue your Valley-esque wank/rant about how techies are superior and old media tycoons like Weinstein... 3 Responses | Other threads
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stocks
10 tech stocks to watch as Lehman disappears and AIG totters
When it became obvious over the weekend that investment bank Lehman Brothers would finally fail and that no one was going to rescue it, Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain realized the market's reaction today would tank his company as well. So Thain met with Kenneth Lewis, CEO of Bank of America, and the pair reached a deal to sell Merrill Lynch to Bank of America for $44 billion. Which is, you might recall, around the price Microsoft wanted to pay for Yahoo. Of course, that kind of offer won't be coming for Yahoo again any time soon. While not so severely or directly, Lehman Brothers' collapse and insurance giant AIG's tottering on the brink will affect your tech portfolio today. Before this morning's open the company's stock was already down 3.83 percent on premarket trading. Watch Yahoo and nine other tech stock's continuing destruction or — dare you hope? — miraculous resilience on live stock charts below. More »
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Comment by ResearchZilla: these are negligible changes, excluding aig - but loading this many charts is a huge browser burden.... 3 Responses | Other threads
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caption contest
Apparently everything gets past security these days
Kindlespotting continues, with a reader sending us this picture of a reader on a flight from Dallas to San Francisco. Considering how much the e-book readers cost and the premium prices for the content, you'd think this reader would be in first class — then again, after paying Amazon $359 plus shipping for the gadget, maybe all he could afford was coach. Go on, write a better caption in the comments. Best one will become the new headline. Yesterday's winner in our very special caption contest: "And now that I've had Firefox dig this hole in the desert for me..." by Beachfront_Perk.
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By Jackson WestComment by SeattleBuzzKill: I see kindles ever single damn day on Seattle Metro route 28. Yawn. 1 Responses | Other threads
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earnings
Amazon.com does what Apple, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft couldn't
Amazon.com beat Wall Street expectations in reporting its second-quarter earnings today. Profits were up 41 percent to $158 million, compared with $78 million during the second quarter last year. Revenues hit $4.06 billion, better than the $3.95 billion expected by Wall Street analysts. Shares up are 3 percent in afternoon trading. [Reuters]
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Comment by Tim Faulkner: Everyone's been too quick with the press release. They missed if you subtract the one-time gain from selling a Euro... more » | Other threads
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yahoo
Yahoo to lease servers, computer power to startups too
As a part of its deckchair reshuffling, Yahoo created a new Cloud Computing & Data Infrastructure Group, led by newish CTO Ari Balogh. For now the group will focus on internal projects, but Balogh told News.com it could eventually offer cloud computing services for startups to compete with Amazon and Google. We recommend Yahoo do this, if only because unlike everyone else at Yahoo, its sounds as though Balogh might understand product marketing. For example, Balogh actually told News.com why Yahoo's service — which runs Hadoop and benefits from ""loosening ACID requirements" — is newer and therefore better than Google's. But Balogh didn't use the phrase "starting point" even once, so we're not optimistic about his tenure under CEO-in-waiting-but-not-very-patiently Sue Decker. (Photo by Yodel Anecdotal)
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Comment by G2GdoB2B: Since all of Yahoo! is going to Microsoft servers, they will have a lot of free space... why not lease... more » | Other threads
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acquisitions
Microsoft buys Powerset search for 90 percent off Yahoo search list price
Powerset never quite managed to launch with their natural language parsing search product. But they did give everyone a glimpse with a preview of search for Wikipedia. Not quite game-changing enough for Yahoo to buy or Amazon's Jeff Bezos to invest in, but just enough to get Microsoft to pay $100 million. Which is considerably less what Team Redmond would have paid for Yahoo's search business. Not bad for a company running on borrowed hopes and dreams. (By Intern Alaska, photo from Powerset) More »
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By Alaska MillerComment by MrMedia: did any Powerset employees make out in this deal? It screams of VC liquidation preference of about 5 :... more » | Other threads
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venture capital
Jeff Bezos invests undisclosed amount in Twitter
The favorite downtime-riddled platform for sharing the lumps life gives you in 140 characters or less, Twitter, has received a hot investment infusion of an undisclosed amount from Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos and Bijan Sabet of Spark Capital. Spokesperson Biz Stone promises everyone that "Twitter will become a sustainable business supported by a revenue model," though they must have been a bit more specific when pitching to Bezos and Sabet. Sabet, for his part, earned himself a seat on Twitter's board with the deal. [Twitter Blog] -
google
Street View finally coming to Seattle
The Google Street View car was Spotted in Microsoft Country last week after launching in many smaller markets around the country first. Apparently the drivers, rather than use some fancy, newfangled Internet doohickey, simply burn the data captured by the rooftop camera array onto a CD and mail it back to Mountain View. The fact that Portland, Oregon and Juneau, Alaska were added to the list of Street View cities before Seattle inspired an April Fools article in local publication Naked Loon quoting a fictional Google spokesmonkey as saying the addition of Seattle was "extremely unlikely, save for some kind of highly localized disaster centered somewhere in Redmond." More »
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By Jackson WestComment by CosmoGolem: This is really creepy technology. I wonder when we'll see people through the walls of their homes! My 85-year-old... more » | Other threads
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quotable
Jeff Bezos just wants his shareholders to know he's still having sex
Attention, Amazon.com shareholders! Your money is not, repeat not in the hands of a sexless technomonk. Jeff Bezos took a moment to share some evidence of this at his annual shareholders meeting in Seattle. He reprised an anecdote about The Joy of Sex and its pivotal role in the early days of Amazon, lifted from his turn as Carnegie Mellon's commencement speaker last month: "I have a whole mess of children," then demurred, "I have to be a little delicate here because my parents are in the audience." -
e-commerce
Amazon.com encourages Kindle casual encounters
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos may not be a sexless monk, but what about owners of the Kindle e-book reader? Hoping to ignite the flame of consumer desire across America, Amazon has set up a page for people to "See a Kindle in Your City."Whether you want to meet at your local coffee shop, a public park, or your favorite watering hole is up to you. We hope you enjoy meeting your fellow Kindlers.
I give the program two weeks before "Kindle owner seeks Tina for PnP" hits the site. -
jobs
Google's siren song calls MBAs to Mountain View
Nearly a quarter of business school graduates surveyed said the number one company they want to land a job at is, unsurprisingly, Google — what with the pools, hair cuts, massages, legendary cafeteria and valuable stock. Other tech companies included Apple in fourth, Microsoft in twelfth and Amazon in 23rd place. For you managers of the future looking to get an interview with Steve Jobs, the school Apple recruits most heavily at is Stanford, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago. [Fortune] (Photo by Sam Pullara)
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By Jackson WestComment by BobDope: @LongAgoYahoo: no doubt. Amazon (and any company not on the list) should get a bounce from this. more » | Other threads
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death of print
Amazon defendant in class action lawsuit brought by BookLocker
BookLocker, one of many print-on-demand (POD) publishers who are threatened by Amazon's move to vertically integrate POD with online sales by priveleging authors who publish with Amazon subsidiary BookSurge, has brought a lawsuit against the Web retailing giant in the United States District Court of Maine. According to the allegations, Amazon and BookSurge have done everything in their power to keep this under the radar — by notifying publishers and authors over the phone instead of in writing, and demanding confidentiality agreements in the proposed contracts. But the case really hinges on the power of the "Buy now with 1-Click™" button. Why should you care? More »
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By Jackson WestComment by johnnypotatoes: And it's still there more than 4 hours later! more » | Other threads
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webtards
Quiz: Are You An Online Jackass?
Everyone has a little online jackass in them; some of us add people on Facebook too soon, some of us beg for votes on Digg, some make white whines on Twitter. But these behaviors can lead to more annoying habits, like constantly bugging people to blog you, getting hooked on Yelp, or writing drug metaphors. Thank god online jackassery can be summed up in a condescending online quiz. Take it below! Maybe you're a Carrie. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by James Del: @Phyllis Nefler: Well that comment right there scored you a bonus 50 points for knowing the name of someone who... more » | Other threads
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taxes
Texas wants to mess with Amazon.com
Thanks to an intrepid Dallas Morning News reporter, Amazon.com shoppers in Texas may soon have to pay sales tax on goods purchased from the site. Maria Halkias asked Robin Corrigan, a sales-tax policy expert in the Texas comptroller's office, why the state doesn't collect sales tax from Amazon. Corrigan said it's because Amazon.com "told me they don't have a distribution center in Texas." That's incorrect. Go ahead and apply to be a senior operations manager at Amazon's Irving, Texas facility. More »
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Comment by Fanning: I think this is very interesting because texas could collect the tax retroactively. If amazon is liable for sales tax,... more » | Other threads
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explainer
Why should you care about Google's App Engine?
Now that the announcement of Google's App Engine is official, it's opening up the company's cloud computing infrastructure as an API platform for Web application developers. Basically, it binds computing power, storage and database tools — much like Amazon.com's EC2, S3 and SimpleDB, respectively, but all tied together into one package. Plus, for the first 10,000 beta users at least, it'll be completely free up to a certain level of usage. What's in it for Google? More »
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By Jackson WestComment by ron_paulite: i agree with scalawag. this thing smells fishy. it will be somewhat proprietary. Google wants to... more » | Other threads
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copyfight
YouTube ad sales hurt by Google anti-meatware policy
YouTube's profitability or lack thereof has long been debated in the absence of facts. In announcing a mildy high six-figure deal for YouTube, VentureBeat's MG Siegler quotes Forbes numbers that aren't much higher than previous arbitrary estimates. From what I hear, Google has sent engineer after engineer to solve a problem that seems intractible — how to guarantee the site's content is kosher. It's become a point of fail in Google business culture, and the solution lays beyond the company's algorithm-worshipping, individualist ken: aggregating human effort. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by matto: Last night, Jason Calcanis replaced you with a Mechanical Turk. more » | Other threads
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breakdowns
Apple's servers slow to a crawl after iPhone SDK announcement
The development kit for the iPhone has been released to the wild and Apple's servers are getting slammed by people looking to download it. I can barely get through to the info page and am having no luck actually downloading the SDK. I guess Steve Jobs should have gotten Amazon's S3 storage service. -
facebook
Amazon.com, Facebook join grandparents in pressuring my bride to make babies
Not three hours after I got married earlier this month, my wife's grandfather pulled her aside. "By this time next year," he said, "I'll hope you'll bring a new baby to visit us." It's the kind of pressure you might expect from grandparents. But Jeff Bezos, too? Get off our backs, Amazon dude, wouldya? We most certainly did not set up a baby registry. And you too, Mark Zuckerberg. I'm sure she matches some sort of ad-triggering demographic criteria being under-30 and married, but Anna would like you to relax with the maternity-clothing ads. More »
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Comment by CJCregg: On my way out of my reception, my sister slapped me on the ass and said "Now go get pregnant."... more » | Other threads
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digital music
Sony strips Justin Timberlake bare for Amazon's MP3 store
Justin Timberlake, released by Sony's Jive label, will soon be available in MP3. This big news we found buried in a report that Sony BMG, the last of the four major record labels to hold onto copy-protection software, is finally going to embrace the MP3 format. The inevitable decision has generated a lot of drivel from mainstream publications about how industry titans are dropping DRM, whatever that is, and banding together to overthrow Apple's stringent 99-cents pricing regime. Amazon.com, the copy-protection-free alternative they're embracing, is more flexible on the cost of individual tracks. More » -
online video
AOL picks up Amazon Unbox for video downloads
AOL has stopped selling videos online and instead is throwing its weight behind Amazon's Unbox download service. AOL, which is shifting from paid downloads to ad-supported video plays, will include Unbox-sold videos in video search results. Amazon.com has not had much success with Unbox and is getting soundly beaten by Apple's iTunes. This deal's unlikely to change that. More » -
apple
Zune outselling iPod on Amazon ... but not in reality
Look where baiting Apple fanboys gets you. Yesterday we noted that the top-selling digital music device on Amazon.com was not the iPod but Microsoft's Zune. Commenter deathbychichi made quick work of this assertion. More »
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Comment by carlfish: And today, the iPod is back to first spot. The top 25 mp3 players on Amazon at time of commenting... more » | Other threads
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earnings
Amazon.com earnings quadrupled to $80 million as sales rose 41 percent, year over year, in the third quarter to $3.26 billion. Amazon also sold 2.5 million copies of the last Harry Potter book — its most popular new product release ever — but failed to make a profit on it because of free shipping and hefty discounts. And totally messing up our editor's delivery. [AP] -
angel investors
Ram Shriram made a mint, invests in Mint
Ram Shriram is No. 271 on the Forbes Billionaires list. He's a veteran of Netscape and Amazon, and an investor in StumbleUpon and Google. He owes his place on the list to the latter, where, as an angel investor, he had more shares than anyone besides the company's founders at the time of its IPO. Now he acts as a "sherpa" to young companies, helping guide them to success. He also participated in financial-planning startup Mint's latest round of financing. Mint CEO Aaron Patzer shares a story about Shriram's investing habits after the jump. If you want this guy as your startup sherpa, take notes. More » -
facebook
What would a Facebook music store look like?
Allfacebook.com is reporting a rumor that Facebook will take on Apple's dominant iTunes by introducing its own music store. Few details are provided, save that they are actively looking to hire someone to head the project and discussions with studios have been ongoing. Music applications such as iLike are popular on the social network, and digital music is a natural fit with the site's original college-kid demographic. But could Facebook really pull this off? At this point, we don't really know what a Facebook music store would be. We do know, however, what it's not. More » -
shipping
Would UPS Lie About Delivering Harry Potter To Stay In Amazon's Good Graces?
Jason Kottke was home Saturday at 3:36 pm when UPS claims they attempted to deliver his copy of Harry Potter. No notice was left on Kottke's door; the neighboring doorman saw no UPS truck; UPS' own website shows that the package never transitioned from the penultimate status of "In Transit To Final Destination" to "Out For Delivery." Why would UPS lie about delivering a copy of Harry Potter? [Consumerist] -
rumormonger
Netflix shares up on Amazon takeover talk. [AP]
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feuds
That bastard did what to whom?
NICK DOUGLAS — It's springtime for Hitler on the Internet as erupts (okay, continues as usual) in war. Let's run through who's been stomping on whom (MySpace on Photobucket, the rapaciously opinionated blogosphere on Kathy Sierra), and whether any of the aggressors have been brought to justice. (Hint: no.) More » -
amazon
Amazon's Complex Design Sells More
The prevailing trends in web design say go minimal or go home, so why then is Amazon's front page cluster bomb of choices? It sells more, writes Alex Moskalyuk. [Consumerist]
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By Ben PopkenComment by John: Too bad I had to stop using Amazon - they continue to sell cockfighting magazines and dogfighting videos/training manuals. I... more » | Other threads
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hype watch
Jeff Bezos getting into Powerset?
Bambi Franciso reportulates that Amazon's Jeff Bezos is considering a personal investment in much-hyped natural-language search engine Powerset. It's been widely reported that Powerset planned to use Amazon computing resources, but this would be an unusual vote of confidence from Bezos. Unless he really is just looking for a new toy. -
amazon
BW Faces Amazon in Softball Season Opener
Valleywag contributor Theo DP shreds BusinessWeek's typically gushy cover story on Amazon and founder Jeff Bezos. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by tokemak: When they emblazon the word "RISKY" over your left lung in a cover story, it's not a softball piece. more » | Other threads
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jeff bezos
Earth to Bezos: Start another company
There's a phrase for startup founders who quickly tire of running just one company and want a new toy to play with: serial entrepreneurs. Or even parallel entrepreneurs, who stay at one company while founding another. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by centralcoast: and ... to make it even worse, he hires Brian Valentine as his VP of technology services. Brian can... more » | Other threads
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ibm
Software Patents for Dummies #1 Seller on Amazon
I.B.M. take Amazon to court over a software patent which according to Big Blue's Sr. V.P. of Shakedowns and Extortion John E. Kelly III: More » -
woz
You may also like this nuclear warhead from Pampered Chef
While these are both doubtlessly fine books (I'll be reading iWoz and blogging it soon), I'm betting that Wozniak's stories about running a Dial-a-Joke line, building Atari games with Steve Jobs, and handing his friends two-dollar bills...doesn't prepare a reader for Pakistani President Musharraf's memoir about leading a bloodless coup, coming close to assassination, and delicately avoiding nuclear war with India while fighting terrorists with the U.S.
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By Nick DouglasComment by Nick Douglas: All high-profile authors do the talk show circuit, but good point re: Stewart and Colbert. more » | Other threads
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amazon
Amazon chief's lawyer sworn in as WA State Bar Association Prez
The rich are different. You, for example, probably have to take care of your own property taxes. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, on the other hand, has the President of the Washington State Bar Association - a Partner at Amazon's corporate law firm who chaired the state's Enron-inspired Ethics Committee - handle the taxes on stately Bezos Manor. More »
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By Nick DouglasComment by Nick Douglas: Theo says: For the skeptical Valleywag commenter who missed that WaMu Tower was the MAILING address for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos'... more » | Other threads
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