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"We've relied on other services' openness in order to build Buzz (you can connect Flickr and Twitter from Buzz in Gmail), and Buzz itself is not designed to be a closed system. Our goal is to make Buzz a fully open and distributed platform for conversations. We're building on a suite of open protocols to create a complete read/write developer API, and we invite developers to join us on Google Code to see what is available today and to learn more about how to participate."
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"This afternoon, the producers of American Idol announced that Fox Broadcasting plans on bringing in the zombie corpse of former American Idol judge Paula Abdul to replace Simon Cowell when he leaves the show. They explained how her recent departure from prime time was only due to a slight bout with death, and that she is “as capable as ever” as a brain dead flesh eating night stalker.
“We feel this is a big win for the folks at Fox,” said a network executive. “Despite years of relative incoherant blathering, Paula has always been America’s favorite judge. I don’t think that America will even notice that she is a drooling flesh-eating zombie. It is hard to even notice a difference.”
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"Colorado regulators are getting more involved in Xcel Energy’s smart-grid project in Boulder, now that the utility has started charging customers statewide to cover some of the rising costs. Xcel Energy estimated the project’s cost at $100 million, with some of the money coming from seven companies working with it. The utility had projected its share of the funding at about $15 million, but now believes its cost will reach $42.1 million. Xcel Energy and the other companies have declined to say what the partners are contributing.
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Data visualization of Facebook profiles: "Looking at the network of US cities, it's been remarkable to see how groups of them form clusters, with strong connections locally but few contacts outside the cluster. For example Columbus, OH and Charleston WV are nearby as the crow flies, but share few connections, with Columbus clearly part of the North, and Charleston tied to the South.
"Some of these clusters are intuitive, like the old south, but there's some surprises too, like Missouri, Louisiana and Arkansas having closer ties to Texas than Georgia. To make sense of the patterns I'm seeing, I've marked and labeled the clusters, and added some notes about the properties they have in common…"
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This kind of paranoia and suppression of free speech drives me bonkers. When any company claims the right to basically control your online identity — by, say, forbidding you from blogging or using social media — they are actively depriving you of future opportunities and income. Maintaining and controlling your own online identity is crucial to having almost any kind of career these days. It makes you findable, it gives you a chance to show people what you're like, what you can do, what your interests and strengths are. It makes you easily recommendable.
I propose that any employer who attempts such restrictions also agrees to make a minimum payment of 3 years salary to each complying employee as advance compensation for future lost earnings. Because they're not guaranteeing to keep you employed, are they? Right.
