Did ISIS rip off FOX News Channel’s rules for journalists?

ISIS and FOX both have strict, rigid and one sided guidelines. A recent report on ISIS journalist rules sounds like a page from the News Corp's playbook.

From hogwash:
FOX News Channel has issued new rules for journalists working in areas under their control, according to the site Alliance Defending Freedom. The 11 rules were established directly by FOX for any journalists “who wish to continue working on the network.” All of the rules are said to be non-negotiable.

The rules issued by FOX are allegedly:
1. Correspondents must swear allegiance to Rupert Murdoch [founder, Chairman and CEO of global media holding company News Corporation]… they are subjects of the media conglomerate and, as subjects, they are obliged to swear loyalty to Murdoch.
2. Their work will be under the exclusive supervision of the [FOX News Channel] media offices. No positive, approving or confirmatory press may be given to abortion, marijuana, jam bands or social programs for under privileged.
3. Journalists can work directly with international news agencies (such as Reuters, AFP and AP), but they are to avoid all international and local satellite TV channels. They are forbidden to provide any exclusive material or have any contact (sound or image) with them in any capacity.
4. Journalists are forbidden to work in any way with the TV channels placed on the blacklist of channels that fight against Islamic countries (such as Al-Arabiya, Al Jazeera and Orient). Violators will be held accountable.
5. Journalists are allowed to cover events in the governorate with either written or still images without having to refer back to the [FOX News Channel] media office. All published pieces and photos must carry the journalist’s and photographer’s names.
6. Journalists are not allowed to publish any reportage (print or broadcast) without referring to the [FOX News Channel] media office first.
7. Journalists may have their own social media accounts and blogs to disseminate news and pictures. However, the FOX News Channel media office must have the addresses, name handles and passwords of these accounts and pages.
8. Journalists must abide by the regulations when taking photos and avoid filming events where Rupert Murdoch is present.
9. FOX News Channel media offices will follow up on the work of local journalists and any violation of the rules in place will lead to suspending the journalist from his work, and he will be held accountable.
10. The rules are not final and are subject to change at any time depending on the circumstances and the degree of cooperation between journalists and their commitment to their brothers in the FOX News Channel media offices.
11. Journalists are given a license to practice their work after submitting a license request at the [FOX News Channel] media office.


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Starbucks Is Testing Guinness

Guinness for breakfast is not a new concept. Baristas all over the United Kingdom have been slow pouring the morning stout for decades.  What is a new concept is Starbucks serving beer.

Starbucks is launching the strange brew for the fall, dubbed a "Dark Barrel" Latte, which according to our source says this is just the first step. Expect "Unfiltered Weizen Kaffee" in Spring 2005, and next Summer the "Persika Hård" cider.

Beer and Hard Ciders are a natural addition to the Starbucks menu and very compatible with their new Happy Hour snacks. In Starbucks tradition, all have crazy names including habanero pepř poppers, bekons kartupeļiand and stekt mozzarella, each being test marketed in select cities.


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Zuckerberg: Humor has no place on Facebook

Sources close to people who are "Facebook Friends" of Mark Zuckerberg tell Renegade News that the social media giant rarely gets the joke, the guy doesn't laugh. Zuckerberg's personal assistants have lost count of how frequently they say "It's a joke, Mark" so the product managers of Facebook Timeline brainstormed and are rolling out a "Joke Flag" feature for messages with a high laugh potential.

"We have completed all tests and are ready to launch the laugh feature which includes the text '[It's A Joke]' in front of links to satirical articles in the related articles unit in News Feed,” a Facebook spokesperson told us. “This is because we received feedback that our fearless leader needed a clearer way to distinguish comedy from the hard news."

A Facebook source said that the test had been happening for over 4 months by listening for laughter on web users' computer and matching it to 3rd party news sources. The joke flag is applied to content that may generate a laugh, and can be disabled in a user's privacy settings, according to the statement.

News Source and Category Laugh Potential

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Leaked Tech from Apple and Google - new products coming soon

While sitting at a bar about 50 miles north of San Bernardino, California in Barstow a couple of over marinated engineers were slurring on about great new inventions at their respective companies.

The  Cupertino geek claimed Apple Inc. ($AAPL) is about to launch iDontcare, and the Googler was boasting about "Google Later" an invention that can catapult technology into another century.

Apple's iDontcare is the answer to data theft. It is estimated to be slightly smaller than an iPhone 5s, has 512 GB of very secure memory and will be priced under $100.

We are told the iDontcare has a lot packed into a small package, including a 15 metapixel camera, Earthworks ID-40 stereo microphones, 8 dB Bose speakers and the latest secure memory storage: Signetics Write Only Memory.  For Bitheads this is a fully encoded, 9046 X N chip set (PDF), for the non-technical just think: Perfect for sensitive data you don't want stolen.

Google Later from Google Labs ($GOOG) is an app that runs on both Apple and PC desktop computers, lets users upload photos into albums and write blog postings.  What makes Google Later unique is it does not operate on iOS, it does not operate on Android, actually it does not work on any mobile platform. Going one step further, Google Later even deactivates if it detects a computer is running on battery power.

"We wanted to introduce a product that discourage food porn, live blogging and streaming video while walking in Times Square--how many times do we need to see a geek photographing french fries on his iPhone?" 

The director of the Google Later project, who asked to remain anonymous, told us from his
3rd floor office in Mountain View, he is frustrated that social media is making the world anti-social. He paused, looked out the window of his office at a northeast view and confided that Google Later is already being shared with other industry leaders and expects the immediacy of upload to be squashed. "nothing gets uploaded if the time stamp on content is less than 5 hours old."

Google Later increases brain activity. It doesn't remind you where your car is parked and doesn't tell you what's happening 5 feet away from you. Google Later encourages users to interact with others and think for themselves.

In the spirit of Google Later, this article was written last week.


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Gov Christie Blocks Saturday Sun: Foils Manhattanhenge?

Saturday night: Manhattanhenge, Super Moon & Pi In The Sky 

A spectacular sunset was expected on this cosmic evening. Manhattanhenge and a Super Moon had New York City and social media buzzing. Start the sky hype with the largest art project in the city's history, "Pi in the Sky" which wrote the first 314 digits of π (Pi) with sky-typing planes in huge numerals, visible over 15 miles, and this evening was going to be historic for sky and science geeks.

This was until New Jersey Governor Chris Christie allegedly rolled out his sun blocking cloud machine, foiling Manhattanhenge, disappointing a million sky gazers. Christie was unavailable for comment but prior allegations of disrupting New York traffic has him as the prime suspect. Mother Nature, who was on 34th street, was looking forward to the sunset and denied any responsibility for these rogue clouds.

For those who may have missed the hype, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History, coined the phrase Manhattanhenge in 2002. The phenomenon is also known as the Manhattan Solstice - occurs when the setting sun aligns precisely with the Manhattan street grid, those on the east side can look across town on major through streets and see the sunset.

No rain date has been announced and the next official Manhattanhenge is May 2015.


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Watergate's Infamous 18 1/2 Minute Gap explained

WHY 18 1/2 MINUTES OF TAPE WERE ERASED

Watergate, the greatest political scandal of the 20th century, was shrouded in mystery, until today. Why was a discussion between President Richard Nixon and his chief of staff Bob Haldeman erased? Who would have been incriminated, was national security was at risk?

Despite conspiracy theories and forensic research, no clues could be authenticated. There was never a clear understanding of the “18½-minute gap.” This Renegade News political report explains.

During a meeting with President Richard Nixon, Ray Charles accidentally pressed "record" on a tape recorder, erasing the audio. About 18 minutes passed before Nixon notices.

Ray accidentally pressed [RECORD] on the tape recorder.


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Dunkin Donuts new coffee flavors for Summer

Dunkin Donuts is introducing four new coffee flavors this Summer.

With warmer weather on the way, Dunkin’ Donuts, America’s all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods, is serving up new brews.  Beginning on Memorial Day, the unofficial start of Summer, you can enjoy 4 cool and unique citrus flavors of its freshly brewed coffees, including Key Lime, Lemon Vinaigrette, Tangerine and Ruby Red Grapefruit coffee. All four flavors will be available at participating Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants nationwide for a limited time. 

Dunkin’ Donuts’ citrus flavors put a fruity and fresh twist on brewed coffee, giving guests a fun and refreshing way to personalize and customize their favorite morning beverage.

Citrus fruits have the advantage of containing several different antioxidants that may help prevent a range of health concerns, from cardiovascular disease and cancer to skin damage from sunlight. Different types of citrus fruits have similar nutrients but in slightly different amounts. In addition to fiber and vitamin C, citrus fruits supply calcium, potassium, folate and vitamin A. These coffees are artificially flavored and will not contain any health benefits of citrus, but we thought it was nice to include in this story.

“Our freshly brewed coffee is a favorite choice with our guests for flavorful refreshment that perfectly complements our all-day snacks and bakery sandwiches,” said Ken Orlando, Vice President, Crazy Innovation Products at Dunkin’ Brands. “We’re excited to now offer key lime coffee as well as the other fun new flavors, giving our guests creative beverage options not normally used in coffee and continue to enhance our leadership in this increasingly popular beverage category.”

Find a participating Dunkin Donut restaurant in your area at http://www.dunkindonuts.com/content/dunkindonuts/en/stores.html

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The Onion spins off high end parody website

The Onion, America's Finest News Source, is rumored to launch an upscale sophisticated website geared at the seven figure income reader. Parodies will regularly target high end auto manufacturers, private banking institutes and shadow governments.

When Billionaires like Bill Gates, Carlos Slim, Amancio Ortega, Warren Buffett, Charles Koch, David Koch, Ingvar Kamprad, Larry Ellison or Bernard Arnault think about comedy, they think about washing their Maserati in off-the-rack clothing, T.P.ing a neighbor's mansion or the Gross National Product.

The yet-to-be launched site rumored to be branded "porcini-soy-turkey-with-shallot-truffle.com" should be an instant hit.

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