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From Jack Johnson to Eliot Spitzer
When a self-righteous crusader like Eliot Spitzer is caught with his pants down, a lot of onlookers might feel a tinge of glee to see such hypocrisy revealed. But the law under which he may be prosecuted, the Mann Act, is a relic that should give pause to anyone looking to hold Spitzer accountable in…
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The First Internet President
Barack Obama is far more than the first black president; he is the first Internet president. Certainly, integrating the White House is the more historic accomplishment, but Obama’s remarkable innovations in campaigning may have a longer-term impact. From this moment forward, ambitious candidates around the world will be trying to copy the successful, Web-based code…
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Three Problems with the New Kindle
On Wednesday, Amazon announced the launch of the Kindle DX, a large-screen newspaper- and textbook-friendly edition of the Kindle. Though the new Kindle sports a number of upgrades that will improve its appeal to students and newspaper junkies, Amazon has yet to show that it really understands reading in the digital age. I haven’t tried the DX, but I…
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10 Very Last Minute Gift Ideas
iTunes:With iTunes you can send a song, an album, TV show, movie or virtual mix-tape with just a few clicks. The recipient gets an elegant email and, within minutes, has access to the digital goodies you sent. If you want to deliver the gift in person, select the print option for a hardcopy. You can…
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Was Harry Reid Right?
CNN is aflutter. Bloggers are calling it a “big-time” mistake. Newspapers describe the “racially tinged” remarks as “sensational.” What is this “juicy revelation”? Apparently, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid privately told two journalists in 2008 that Obama was more electable because he’s “light-skinned” and lacked a “Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” With…
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Why Michael Steele Is Wrong About Harry Reid
GOP Chairman Michael Steele and other leading Republicans have called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to resign for suggesting in 2008 that then-Sen. Barack Obama had better chances of winning the presidency because he was “light-skinned” and didn’t speak with a “Negro dialect.” On Fox News Sunday, Steele said, “There is this standard where…
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Who Needs an iPad?
I confess that I was skeptical Apple could create a successful digital tablet when dozens of prior efforts, including those from Apple, have failed. Like some kind of tech holy grail, the future of tablet computing has always been full of promise and fully unrealized. The big question hanging over the iPad has been who’s…
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The Techies Are Wrong about the iPad
When the Apple iPad was announced in late January, techies across the Web carped endlessly about what was wrong. It lacked a camera. It couldn’t do videoconferencing. The bezel around the edge of the screen was too big. It wouldn’t support Flash video. Worst of all, the Holodeck option wasn’t truly immersive 3-D with full-on hot tub time-travel functionality.…
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The iPad Will Revolutionize Reading
Omar Wasow is an assistant professor in Princeton’s Department of Politics. His research focuses on race and politics, protest movements and statistical methods. Before joining the academy, Omar served as a regular on-air technology analyst and was co-founder of BlackPlanet.com. Follow him on Twitter.
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It's Too Early for an iPad Backlash
In a widely retweeted comment, Wesley Chan, an investment partner on Google Ventures, wrote on Saturday that he was “very underwhelmed by the iPad [he] bought today. That said, 300 other people also waited to buy an oversized iPhone that can’t make calls.” Similarly, Jeff Jarvis, new-media supercritic and author of What Would Google Do? wrote on Sunday, “After having…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
