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Monkey See
7:51 am
Fri August 31, 2012

Hey, I Know That One: How SongPop Got Millions Of Players Naming That Tune

Originally published on Fri August 31, 2012 10:16 am

Today, four million people all over the world will log on to Facebook — or take out their phones — and play SongPop. This summer, it's become the fastest growing social game on Facebook, taking a run at old standards such as Farmville and Words with Friends.

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All Tech Considered
5:09 pm
Thu August 30, 2012

Drone-Tracking App Gets No Traction From Apple

Credit Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
An unmanned U.S. Predator drone flies over Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan in 2010. Apple has rejected an app that tracks U.S. drone strikes around the world.

Cellphones have ushered in an age of interruption, with apps that notify you when you're mentioned on Facebook or Twitter, or even if your favorite ball team scores a run.

But Apple is the ultimate arbiter of what kinds of notifications iPhone users can receive — and some apps just don't pass muster with the tech giant.

Take Josh Begley's idea, for example. Begley created an app that sends a push notification — or beep — to an iPhone whenever there is a U.S. drone strike anywhere in the world.

Apple blocked it from its App Store.

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Around the Nation
3:34 pm
Thu August 30, 2012

Despite Drought, Some Corn Farmers Reap Bounty

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Grimes Sweetcorn worker Paulette Vandyke waits to sell fresh corn in Grimes, Iowa. The drought has pushed the price of corn per bushel up nearly 40 percent in the past two months.

Originally published on Thu August 30, 2012 7:18 pm

For every farmer who is hurting this year during the drought, others are benefiting. Many fields in the South, Northwest and Upper Midwest are producing bountiful corn crops. And because the drought has pushed prices to record highs, farmers who have corn to sell expect a terrific payday.

"The corn has actually really, really taken off all the way through season. It's grown fast. It's been accelerated. The corn looks really good now," says John Scott, whose family farm in Sargeant, Minn., is just bursting with corn.

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Business
12:25 pm
Thu August 30, 2012

La. company has $11.9M beach contract in Va.

A Louisiana company has won an $11.9 million contract as part of a project to add sand to Virginia Beach, Va., for hurricane protection.

A news release from the Pentagon says Weeks Marine Inc., of Covington, was one of four bidders on the project in support of the Virginia Beach Hurricane Protection Beach Re-Nourishment.

Work will be done in Virginia Beach, with an estimated completion date of May 15, 2013.

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