Google’s chief executive made a surprise appearance on stage on Wednesday, taking questions from software developers in the audience. … Read More
Yahoo bails on Dailymotion acquisition due to French government
Back in March it was reported that Yahoo was interested in purchasing a controlling stake in online video website Dailymotion. The acquisition, rumored to be valued at up to $300 million, would have given Yahoo a wider audience in parts of Asia and Europe and enabled them to better compete… … Read More
“Star Trek’s” Wil Wheaton tells newborn girl why being a nerd “is awesome”
In a panel at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo on April 27th, “Star Trek” and “Big Bang Theory” actor Wil Wheaton fielded a question from an audience member, who asked him to explain to her newborn daughter “why it’s awesome to be a nerd.” Wheaton launched into nearly 4-minute speech on growing up feeling like “there was something wrong” and then realizing, as an adult, that being a nerd is something to be valued. It’s “not about what you love — it’s about how you love it” and “finding other people who love it the way you do” is the defining characteristic of “why being a nerd is awesome,” said Wheaton.Continue Reading… … Read More
Why Jason Collins isn’t a Jackie Robinson figure — and that’s a good thing
In the 25 or so hours since NBA center Jason Collins came out on the cover of Sports Illustrated, he’s been praised by everyone from Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant to presidents Bill Clinton (turns out Collins and Chelsea Clinton attended Stanford concurrently) and Barack Obama.And yet there’s an audience Collins may have to work to win over — gay writers, who have been taking him to task since he came out.Bloomberg View’s Josh Barro, for instance, implies that Collins, who is in the twilight of his career at 34, has been dragging his feet and shirking “an obligation to lead” for years:Continue Reading… … Read More
Colbert shares Yelp prison reviews for benefit of ‘violent criminals’ in his audience
Stephen Colbert shared some stories from the review site on Yelp Monday, he said, because he was looking out for his audience. “I know that a large segment of my audience is violent criminals,” he explained, before advising viewers on how to use his show’s new phone app while…
Colbert Busch goes there in debate with Sanford
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Republican Mark Sanford and Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch planned to hit the campaign trail a day after a spirited debate in their race for a vacant congressional seat along the South Carolina coast.”I rocked it,” Colbert Busch said following Monday’s 75-minute debate before an audience of about 500 at The Citadel, which was telecast on C-SPAN. Sanford, a former two-term governor trying to revive a political career damaged by an extramarital affair, said he would let the pundits decide who won.With Election Day just a week away, both have separate appearances Tuesday, then appear before a Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce group on the city’s waterfront before attending a forum sponsored by the Goose Creek NAACP. During both appearances, the candidates will address attendees but won’t debate.They did debate Monday, before a lively audience where supporters frequently broke into shouts or applause.Early on, Colbert Busch, the sister of political satirist Stephen Colbert, reminded Sanford that he once used taxpayer funds to “leave the country for a personal purpose” – referring to the extramarital affair with an Argentine woman he had while governor. In general, Colbert Busch has refused to bring up Sanford’s personal past during the campaign.Continue Reading… … Read More
Edith Wharton anticipated Kim Kardashian
One hundred years ago, in 1913, Edith Wharton wrote a novel called The Custom of the Country. The country is America; the custom is divorce. And the first line is: “‘Undine Spragg—how can you?’ her mother wailed.”I imagine the question “How can you?” delivered with inflections of astonishment. In both her mother’s opinion, and her author’s, Undine gets away with things other people just can’t. Throughout the book Wharton questions Undine: How can you be so superficial? How can you be so self-involved? How can you be so heartless? How can you marry and divorce so easily?Undine can, and does; in part because she is so beautiful. Wharton both condemns her character’s choices, and envies them. Not only is her heroine fiction, she is fantasy. Best-selling fantasy. Undine tapped into the desires of women across America. At that time fiction was serialized just as TV is today and the American audience was hooked. “Undine is making the press ring,” Wharton boasted. Note she did not say: “Custom is making the press ring!” Wharton recognized the novel is defined by its heroine.Continue Reading… … Read More
