Marisa Taylor 
103 posts and columns on Marisa Taylor
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SeaWorld Shuts Down Shamu's Twitter Feed After Trainer's Death
Following the death of SeaWorld whale trainer Dawn Brancheau, the Twitter account of killer whale Shamu has been silenced. Yes, Shamu has a Twitter account, and boasts more than 10,000 followers.
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How Justin Timberlake and Sony Wound Up at Fashion Week
Technology and fashion mixed–or tried to, at least–during William Rast’s New York Fashion Week show Wednesday night. Sony joined forces with the label by streaming his runway show on video site Vevo, projecting it on enormous Bravia screens and providing Vaio notebooks and “Bloggie” video cameras to reporters.Voices
IPad Reviews: The Morning-After Edition
Did anything other than the iPad happen Wednesday? Did anything even matter before the iPad? Or did the lives of tech geeks as they knew them officially begin today? Answers: No (unless you count Larry Ellison’s dream of buying the Golden State Warriors), no, and finally, yes. Especially if you have at least $499 burning a hole in your pocket and a desire to browse the Internet for 10 hours straight.Voices
Fake Apple Tablet Photos and Ads Abound
As the countdown goes on to the moment when the almighty Apple tablet is introduced (and geekery as we know it is forever changed), a preponderance of fake “leaked” photos and even commercials for the much-hyped gadget have spread across the Internet like wildfire.Voices
A Fatwa Against Muslim Prayer Ringtones
Mufti Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt and the country’s highest religious legal authority, denounced the use of the Muslim prayer call or verses from the Quran as cell phone ringtones, saying that it trivializes the word of God.Voices
Txting Cld Help Kids Read Reg Eng
Will children who grow up in the age of excessive text messaging see their spelling and reading skills suffer as a result? Not necessarily, according to a new study from the British Academy.Voices
FTC Not Sure How to Enforce Blogger Disclosure Rules
The Federal Trade Commission is still trying to define how it will enforce new disclosure guidelines for bloggers who may have received free products from the companies they cover, according to northeast regional director Leonard Gordon. “If the consumer wouldn’t understand that the endorser, whether it’s a celebrity or a mommy blogger, is being paid…to talk about the product, that’s something that we’re concerned about, because we think consumers are being misled,” said Mr. Gordon in a panel discussion on Thursday.Voices
CES: Ed Hardy Tries Cellphone Accessories
There’s not much that’s subtle about Ed Hardy, the clothing line splashed with rhinestones and vintage tattoo designs that’s favored by the likes of Jon Gosselin.Voices
CES Goes Gaga
If Polaroid wanted attention by hiring Lady Gaga as its new creative director, it certainly succeeded. I arrived 45 minutes early for Polaroid’s CES event Thursday, only to find 200 people already crowded into a press pen. The pop star’s music, with lyrics such as “I love your psycho, your vertigo stareschtick,” blared from the speakers (sadly, I know all the words).Voices