Computerworld:

March 26, 2009 (IDG News Service) Facebook Inc. inadvertently handed over administrative control for about 17 Facebook Pages on Wednesday, including pages for Microsoft Corp. and several airlines.

The bug was noticed late Wednesday by Tom Krieglstein, founder of Chicago-based technology training company Swift Kick, who found that he had been granted administrative access to Pages belonging to Microsoft, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines. “I was just looking at my Pages,” he said in an interview Thursday. “I noticed that it was showing me other companies’ as well.”

The largest Page, for Star Wars, allowed him to send a message out to more than 825,000 fans.

Reuters:

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News) is cutting its sales and marketing team by roughly 200 employees, saying it had over-invested in certain parts of the company.

The move is the Web search leader’s latest effort to cut costs amid a tough economy and a broad slowdown in advertising spending. In January, Google laid off about 100 recruiters and it said up to 40 people would be laid off in February, when Google pulled the plug on its radio advertising effort.

“When companies grow that quickly it’s almost impossible to get everything right and we certainly didn’t,” Google Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development Omid Kordestani said in an announcement posted on Google’s blog on Thursday.

MRC:

CNN’s Jack Cafferty gave an interview to the Media Bistro’s “Media Morning Menu” podcast on Thursday and rhapsodized about the “bright” and “terrific” Barack Obama. Talking to hosts Steve Krakauer and Glynnis MacNicol, the Situation Room contributor cheered on the new President. He enthused: “I’m pulling for the guy. I like him. I think he’s terrific.” See BlogTalkRadio for the full audio: www.blogtalkradio.com

Computerworld:

March 24, 2009 (Computerworld) It’s no secret that computers (like their users) slow down with age. Disks fill up with the detritus of use, from old file fragments to the echoes of programs that once lived but are now remembered only by their placeholders in your registry. Meanwhile, your browser retains old images and cookies from sites you’ll never visit again, and Windows itself scatters files in diverse places. All of this slows your computer down.

You can do something about these problems. There’s a disk defragmenter and a disk cleanup utility built into Windows. Your browser will clear out old Internet files. But to use these functions, you have to know that they exist, and you have to make the time to perform each task when you think it’s needed.

Mike Pence at Redstate.com:

Americans are working hard to preserve a secure and prosperous future, but the President’s budget would add nearly $1 trillion to the national debt every year for the next 10 years-for a total of $9.3 trillion. Instead of controlling spending, this Administration seems intent on spending money we don’t have and piling massive debt on our children and grandchildren.

Americans deserve better. That is why House Republicans laid out our blueprint yesterday for economic recovery that curbs spending, creates jobs, lowers taxes, controls debt and is built on principles of growth.

The “Republican Road to Recovery ” is a blueprint for a substantive, comprehensive budget alternative that will be introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives next week. The Republican budget will be built on the values Americans nationwide are practicing every day.

KMBC:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Smith Electric Vehicles announced Friday that a line of electric delivery trucks will be assembled near the Kansas City International Airport.KMBC’s Micheal Mahoney reported that the plant will employ 120 people. It will be a part of the American Airlines overhaul base, with a corporate office nearby off Northwest Ambassador Drive.The trucks will be about the size of a common parcel delivery truck. They’ll be marketed to companies with a fleet of trucks that drive daily routes of about 100 miles.Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon was in Kansas City for the announcement, and he test drove one of the electric trucks.

KMBC:

Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson has pleaded guilty to two counts of disturbing the peace for separate incidents involving women at nightclubs last year.

A Kansas City Municipal Court judge sentenced Johnson to two years probation. His guilty plea will be removed from public record if he finishes the probation period without further incidents.

LifeNews:

South Bend, IN (LifeNews.com) – Leading pro-life Catholics are calling on Notre Dame University to rescind its invitation to pro-abortion President Barack Obama, who is slated to give the college’s commencement address to graduation seniors on May 17. They say a Catholic college should not be giving a platform to an abortion advocate.

The president will also give the commencement addresses at Arizona State University and the United States Naval Academy.

Joe Scheidler, a Notre Dame graduate and the founder of the Pro-Life Action League, is outraged that his alma mater would allow Obama to address graduates of what is supposed to be an institution of higher learning steeped in the Catholic traditions.

“Over the first two months of his administration, Barack Obama has established himself as the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history,” he told LifeNews.com. “My alma mater should not be providing a platform for this president.”

From musician Charles David Smart:

If you like acoustic guitar, the guy from Kansas delivers Jennifer Brooker, Cross Rhythms (magazine), England

www.smartfrets.com
Davidsmart@smartfrets.com
913-780-6190

Thanks always for your continuing prayer support. We have a Living Hope !!!

A secret: “You re getting this newsletter because I thought you might be interested. If not kindly let me know and you ll be off the list”

What a great week We had a crazy weekend in KC. On Saturday, we had snowflakes as big as potato chips. My family was able to stay in.

Delia is working on Michael s graduation book (life memories and photos) for the big day this May. I was able to spend time on genealogical records. I did 20 pages just on people I know. This is a good exercise to discover where you came from. (more…)

Jars of Clay:

JARS OF CLAY - OFFICIAL UPDATE - MARCH 24, 2009

Greetings friends, fans, acquaintances, twitter followers, and anyone else interested in all things Jars of Clay!

Well, we find ourselves busy once again as we count down the days to the release of The Long Fall Back To Earth (available 4/21/09). I wanted to say a big thank you to all our friends at radio; the rest of the band and I have had a great couple of weeks making the rounds to support the release of the first single from TLFBTE, “Two Hands”. So thanks to everyone in Texas at KSBJ, KLTY, and KPEZ; along with our friends along the west coast at Fish - LA, KDUV, KSGN, KLFF, KLOVE, Air One, and KCMS! (more…)

Recent legislative updates from Congressman Moran:

This Week in Congress

By Congressman Jerry Moran

March 30, 2009

www.jerrymoran.house.gov

Dear Friend,

Welcome to “This Week in Congress.” I hope you find this newsletter useful.

Introducing Legislation to Improve U.S. Trade with Cuba

This week, I introduced legislation to improve the ability of U.S. producers to market food and agriculture commodities to Cuba. This legislation, the Agricultural Export Facilitation Act of 2009, will remove barriers for cash sales of U.S. agricultural products to Cuba.

Cuba is an important market for U.S. agriculture. As the current economy is placing new hardships on our producers, this is an opportune time to encourage the United States to change its trade policies toward Cuba.

For U.S. agricultural representatives engaging in sales and transport-related activities with Cuba, this legislation will eliminate delays and denials for obtaining licenses to travel to Cuba. It will also allow Cuban officials to obtain visas for meetings with prospective U.S. exporters and for conducting sanitary and phytosanitary inspections of U.S. agriculture facilities. Finally, H.R. 1737 permits direct payments between Cuban and U.S. financial institutions.

Ninth “Partners in Conservation” Tour (more…)

At Redstate:

Crap like this.

A tea party to protest government spending and taxing is canceled. Canceled by the government.

Why? They feel too many people could show-up.

Lynn Rosko planned to hold a tax payer tea party at Jaycee Park in Cape Coral on April 1st. The idea was announced at a Cape Coral City Council meeting, then an e-mail blast by the Republican Party and it was mentioned in the local media.

With all of that attention, the City of Cape Coral felt there could be more than 500 people attending the tea party.

The government is parodying itself. You know, I’ve never been a big fan of that old Thomas Jefferson quote about the tree of liberty, but dammit perhaps he’s right and we should start with the Cape Coral City Council:

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

No, don’t go do bodily harm to the City Council. Show up at their next meeting - everyone who intended to take part at the tea party, take it to City Council at their next meeting. It’s not like they can shut the public out of their events.

Hot Air — “Paul Ryan: I probably shouldn’t have voted for that AIG bonus tax, huh?”

I remain a fan, but the ineptness of his excuse here is positively Steele-esque.

“Now, that I know - which I didn’t at the time - that this is unconstitutional, I wouldn’t have voted the same way,” Ryan said during a taping of C-Span’s “Newsmakers” on Thursday - the show is set to air on Sunday. POLITICO was one of the participants in the Ryan interview.

Ryan blames confusion about the constitutionality of the plan on Democrats for rushing the bill through the House.

“You rush this thing to the floor. Nobody had time to review it,” Ryan said on the CSPAN program, adding that lawmakers “got conflicting advice on it” before the vote…

But the conservative still agrees with the underlying principle behind the bill.

“The message was sent that should have been sent,” Ryan said. “These bonuses were completely ridiculous. They rewarded failure.”

From Kansas Rep. Mike Kiegerl:

ONE MORE WEEK, ONE MORE REPORT:

After 40+ hours of work in 3 days, both House and Senate adjourned Wednesday evening until Monday, March 30, when the final week of the regular 2009 session will end. Both chambers will reconvene at the end of April for the clean up (veto) session. This will be when bills vetoed by the Governor, if any, will be dealt with. To override a veto, two thirds majorities are required in both House and Senate.
This number is hard to come by and we have only succeeded to do so once in the last five years when we overrode the right to bear arms veto and adopted the right to carry firearms law.

The Governor has indicated she will veto the Sunflower Electric Cooperative’s right to build two power plants in Holcomb, and possibly sections of the Omnibus Appropriations bill.

HOUSE/SENATE ACTIVITIES

Bills passed by either Chamber which differ from the version of the other Chamber in the slightest detail are sent to a House/Senate conference committee consisting of the chairman, vice chairman and ranking member. These 6 people negotiate to find wording acceptable by both House and Senate, then report back to their respective venues where a final vote on the compromise is needed to agree to then send the bill to the Governor for signature. These committee meetings have been going on since Wednesday evening and some progress has already been made so that, come Monday, we can vote on the Mega Budgeting bill. The Senate basically agreed to the House version of that bill.
Dozens of other, less contentious bills are also being negotiated and we’ll remain busy over the weekend. (more…)

The Star:

Now, that I’ve had 48 hours to grieve - although it actually only took 48 minutes - I’ve decided it is past time to talk about 2010. Of course, for us KU basketball fanatics, we’re really talking more like October, 2009. KU will be one of the best teams in the country whether Aldrich or Collins stay or not. If neither leaves, KU may well be rated #1. I’ll do a follow-up on all the other contenders for 2010, but for now I’m simply going to tell you why KU might be the best.

Ohio.com:

One man jumped to his death off the All-America Bridge this year.

Two more used the Akron bridge - more commonly known as the Y-Bridge - to commit suicide in 2008.

Akron hopes to curtail future deaths on what has been dubbed ”Suicide Bridge” by installing a fence.

The controversial fencing - some have been pushing for it, while others think it’s a waste of money - was among the local projects the state approved Thursday for federal stimulus funds.

”It just makes a safer Akron for everybody,” said Robert Conley, who has been urging the fencing since his son, Kevin, jumped off the bridge to his death in 2006.

Computerworld:

March 26, 2009 (Computerworld) Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak has called on fellow geeks to vote, and vote often, next week when he again takes the floor on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, according to a message he posted on Facebook.

“With enough Internet organization, we can win the whole thing and speak for a type of person who isn’t well respected in this world of beautiful people getting all the attention and respect,” Wozniak, one of 11 remaining celebrities on the show, said in the Facebook post.

“When you vote 36 times for us, it means more than anything to me,” Wozniak continued, referring to the 12-vote limit for text, phone and online voting. “But if you can convince 20 people to vote 36 times for us, that’s what will take us over the top.”