Monthly Archives: January 2012


I haven't been to The Wurst Bar yet, but if my friend Mark recommends it, I'll… 1

I haven't been to The Wurst Bar yet, but if my friend Mark recommends it, I'll second the motion. If you're in Ypsi, go check it out.

#ypsilanti #ypsi

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The Wurst Bar… good meat trumps trough urinals
As you know, I have a policy against recommending establishments that force men to haul out their penises and dangle them over trough urinals. In spite of that, though, I’m going to encourage all of you to visit Ypsilanti’s newest watering hole, The Wurst Bar. While homemade bratwursts seem to be their speciality, I just tried the burger they call The Southerner, which is served with bacon, pimento cheese and a slice fried green tomato, and it was awesome. I’d like to say more about this plac…

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It's good to finally see the US Supreme Court slam the brakes on at least one…

It's good to finally see the US Supreme Court slam the brakes on at least one area of the rapidly encroaching police state we live in here. Since 2001, American police and private security have been given ever more power to interfere with perfectly legitimate activities including photographing public buildings as well as use more force through devices like tasers.

I suspect that even though police will now have to get a warrant to track suspects via GPS, it probably won't inject much of a speed bump into most investigations. It's not often that I agree with the likes of Justice Samuel Alito, but I do believe that the court opinion should have also addressed cell phone tracking, but hopefully they will do that soon.

#policestate

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Supreme Court: GPS Tracking By Cops Without Warrant Illegal, Unconstitutional
Antoine Jones, a nightclub owner in Washington, D.C., was sentenced to life in prison on a drug conspiracy conviction. Prosecutors built their case around police GPS tracking of Jones’ Jeep, which was…

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Another step along the path of educating the world via net along with +Khan Academy…

Another step along the path of educating the world via net along with +Khan Academy and iTunes U. The more people are educated, the better chance we have lifting society as a whole and improving our world.

Reshared post from +DLD Conference

Breaking News: Sebastian Thrun launches Udacity.com, a new free online education platform:
http://dld.tumblr.com/post/16346331252/breaking-sebastian-thrun-launches-udacity-com

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Danny Sullivan explains with a real world example that gets repeated daily around…

Danny Sullivan explains with a real world example that gets repeated daily around the world why we should not even bother to try and protect the business models of Rupert Murdoch and his cronies. They create artificial scarcity where there is no technical or logical reason for it and then wonder why people say "screw it" and just go to Pirate Bay or some other site that is streaming their content.

Don't protect big Hollywood, it doesn't deserve it. Advertisers should go to smaller online content creators like Leo Laporte, Revision3, Felicia Day and many others. Support their production efforts so they can distribute original content online and transform the entertainment and information business.

#sopa #pipa #content

Reshared post from +Danny Sullivan

Watching last week's episode of The Simpsons turned out to be impossible despite all the money I already pay that gets filtered to Rupert Murdoch through DirectTV, Hulu and Netflix. Yet, if I wanted to fire up my computer, he was willing to give it to me for free. A weird lesson this taught my son; bad business model it seemed to me.

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Dear Rupert Murdoch: Let’s Talk Piracy & “The Simpsons”
Rupert, my son had a simple request. “Daddy, can we watch last week's episode of The Simpsons?” No, son, we can't. You can blame Rupert Murdoch for that. Rupert, I know you're all upset ab…

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You know how we keep hearing officials from the movie and music industry whine about… 1

You know how we keep hearing officials from the movie and music industry whine about the hundreds of billions of dollars they lose to piracy? It looks like it's all made up, citing studies that were never apparently never done. You'd think that if someone had actually done these studies they would have stepped forward by now to present the data but it has never happened. It's long past time to dispense with SOPA, PIPA and any other anti-piracy bills they will probably spawn. Hollywood has no credibility.

#sopa #pipa

Reshared post from +Molly Wood

Best breakdown I've seen yet of how the entertainment industry has virtually no hard evidence to back up their claims of massive financial losses from piracy. http://www.itworld.com/security/242587/best-evidence-showing-we-need-sopa-based-govt-studies-never-existed

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Best evidence showing we need SOPA based on 'govt studies' that never existed
No one disputes very seriously that there is a lot of content piracy going on, especially online.

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This is why it's more critical than ever to pass a constitutional amendment that…

This is why it's more critical than ever to pass a constitutional amendment that explicitly eliminates the idea of corporate personhood and reverses the ideas behind the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" ruling.

Reshared post from +Koushik Dutta

Our politicians are so dirty that they're reneging on bribes!

Chris Dodd is threatening politicians that went back on their support for SOPA.

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MPAA Directly & Publicly Threatens Politicians Who Aren't Corrupt Enough To Stay Bought | Techdirt
Reinforcing the fact that Chris Dodd really does not get what's happening, and showing just how disgustingly corrupt the MPAA relationship is with politicians, Chris Dodd went on Fox News to explicitl…

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This is absolutely amazing and if either Fox or Lucasfilm makes any moves to take…

This is absolutely amazing and if either Fox or Lucasfilm makes any moves to take this offline, both companies should be boycotted by all people for all time.

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'Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut' crowdsources Episode IV, 15 seconds at a time
Star Wars Uncut is a global project to re-record the original Star Wars movie in 15-second chunks. Anybody from the internet could submit a fan-made scene and, though you've been able to view these……

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It's previously been demonstrated by researchers that crows are one of many animals…

It's previously been demonstrated by researchers that crows are one of many animals that can and will use tools. This has to be one the of the best examples of I seen with a crow repeatedly using what appears to be a cap from a jar to go sledding down a snow covered roof. https://plus.google.com/114133424228405038490/posts/bQiH9QzG1BU

#crows #smartanimals

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Anybody that knows me, is well aware of my fondness for station wagons 3

I'm a car guy and I personally have no use for SUVs or crossovers, but there are many times when extra cargo space is welcome. A station wagon offers the size and driving dynamics of its sedan siblings while typically offering more useful volume than a similarly sized SUV. Unfortunately most Americans don't seem to grasp the appeal of wagons which means we'll probably never see a Ford Fusion wagon here.

Then again, when the Fiesta was in the planning stages, America was originally only going to get the sedan and the last generation Focus was only available with a trunk. Both of those are now sold as hatchbacks with nearly half of all takers opting for the larger rear opening. Let's hope Ford product planners take that to heart. I'll take a Fusion wagon with the 1.6-liter Ecoboost and a 6-speed stick please!

#ford #fordfusionstory #fusion

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2014 Ford Mondeo Wagon Rendered: We’ll Take It as a Fusion
Now that the 2013 Ford Fusion's sheetmetal has been exposed, one of our illustrators has grafted cargo space onto the back to create a wagon. And a good-looking one at that. Since the new Fusion w…

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How do you feel about addressing the federal budget deficit?

According to Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein on Up with Chris Hayes moments ago the Bush tax cuts of a decade ago amounted to 1% of GDP. When those tax cuts were passed the federal government was running a surplus.

The current tax cut plan being proposed by Mitt Romney actually amounts to 3.3% of GDP and at the same time it actually lets current tax cuts for lower income Americans expire. It's estimated that Romney's own taxes would probably be cut in half if his own plan were passed. Given the push by Republicans to cut the deficit such an enormous tax cut would mean even more cuts in spending. Given that congress can't even agree on the cuts they mandated in last summer's bill that raised the borrowing limit, this is just completely unworkable.
#taxes #indecision2012

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Up with Chris Hayes
Up with Chris Hayes

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