AUGUST 17, 2009

Full News Archive

• Headline: Fox Business Revamps Strategy with Don Imus. Impact: If Don Imus had not been hired, Fox Business might have opted for a psychic octopus for their ratings boost, leading to a worldwide obsession with marine fortune tellers. Who knows, we could all be consulting sea creatures about our stock portfolios right now!. Fact: Fun fact: Don Imus once said he wanted to be a cowboy. Guess he thought that was more impressive than a radio broadcaster. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t..
• Headline: Bidding Wars: A New Auction Model. Impact: The rise of auction sites like Swoopo.com led to the eventual invention of 'competitive bidding therapy,' where people now pay for the privilege of losing their money repeatedly. The therapy industry is thriving, by the way.. Fact: Did you know that the term 'auction' comes from the Latin 'augere,' meaning 'to increase'? Kind of ironic when you realize most people just end up with a lighter wallet..
• Headline: The Rise of Paywalls in Publishing. Impact: The Financial Times' paywall strategy sparked the great 'paywall wars' of the 2020s, resulting in a bizarre world where reading the news required a subscription fee, a blood oath, and a secret handshake.. Fact: Here's a fun tidbit: the first newspaper paywall was implemented by The Times of London in 2010. Apparently, they thought readers would be clamoring to pay for news about people who forgot to pay their taxes..
• Headline: Dangling Money, Obama Pushes Education Shift. Impact: Obama's push for education reform accidentally led to the creation of an underground network of test-prep boot camps, where students train like athletes for standardized tests, complete with personal coaches and motivational speeches.. Fact: Did you know that standardized tests were originally designed to measure a student's intelligence? Ironically, they ended up measuring how well students can memorize the answers to questions they’ll never encounter again..