By Paul Thomson :: 2:40 PM
When social data visualization startup Vizify was purchased by Yahoo last month, it set off a very quick timetable for shuttering of the service. In an odd move in the mergers and acquisitions world, instead of Vizify moving seamlessly into Yahoo’s current online services, a decision was made to shut down the web-based profile service completely.
Users who had already established Vizify profiles as of the date of acquisition – March 5, 2014 – would have just a little over a month to archive these profiles. Today is the last day that profiles can be archived. And even archiving a profile doesn’t mean it lives online forever. Users who choose to archive their profiles will only seem them live on for a few more months – until September 4.
If you don’t archive your Vizify bio, it will disappear from the site sometime on or after April 7.
Users who opted for a paid Vizify plan will receive a full refund for any money they paid to use the service.
Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Yahoo will not use any Vizify user data except for purposes directly related to Vizify bios and services through the 4th of September.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 1:01 PM
A few days ago, a resourceful group of college students at Aquinas College in Michigan delivered a very effective April Fools’ joke on their professor, who is well known for having a very strict cell phone policy during his lectures.
If a phone rings during class, the professor requires the offending student  answer and take the call – on speakerphone.
So imagine his embarrassment when one of his female students receives a call of a very personal nature. Watch below, and enjoy one of the best pranks we’ve seen in a long time!
By Gilbert Falso :: 4:45 PM
Before he was the chain-smoking, alcohol-swilling, dapperly-dressed advertising executive Don Draper on AMC’s hit show Mad Men, actor Jon Hamm was just like any other aspiring star in Los Angeles – trying desperately to get himself in front of a camera.
And, he succeeded. In 1996, at 25 years old, Hamm was a contestant on The Big Date game show.
The video, below, shows the young Hamm in action, describing how he would craft the perfect date with the girl, if she were to pick him. Judging from his responses, it would be a “fabulous” date.
It would take a few more years before Hamm finally had any decent luck with acting jobs, however. He landed a gig on NBC’s Providence in 2000. His feature film debut came later that year, in Space Cowboys.
Sadly, Hamm was not selected for the date in this episode of Big Date.
By Paul Thomson :: 10:57 PM
If you think you had a bad day at work today, take a look at this video below – because this FedEx driver’s day started off pretty horribly.
After parking his van to deliver packages, it somehow starts rolling backwards after he exits it. Maybe he didn’t set the parking break, or maybe it failed – we don’t know.
Luckily, the driver doesn’t seem to be harmed, and the damage to the van appears minimal – it narrowly missed slamming into the house behind it, and managed to slide between a couple of trees.
Those dogs were pretty excited with all the commotion, that’s for sure!
By Gilbert Falso :: 8:42 PM
The long-time star of late night comedy television, David Letterman, announced his retirement during the taping of his CBS show earlier this afternoon. It did not appear to be a pre-planned event, and CBS later issued a press release about his intentions.
“We don’t have the timetable for this precisely down,” Letterman told his surprised audience. “I think it will be at least a year or so, but sometime in the not too distant future, 2015 for the love of God.”
Letterman also noted that his longtime band leader and fellow Late Show star Paul Shaffer will also be stepping down with him.
News of his retirement traveled quickly, and was kicked off with a Tweet sent by Mike Mills, a performer present at the taping who sent a message reading, “Dave just announced his retirement.”
The studio audience gave the news a standing ovation.
Letterman has been behind the desk for the Late Show at CBS since he moved there from NBC in 1993. Prior to that, he had spent over 20 years on NBC as the host of Late Night with David Letterman. When Johnny Carson left the Tonight Show in 1992, Letterman was shocked when he was not picked as his replacement, and left NBC at that time.
Although frequently a guest and stand-in host on Carson’s show, Letterman’s tenure with NBC started in 1980 when he hosted a morning comedy show called, The David Letterman Show. His show was a hit with critics, and garnered him two Emmy Awards, but was a ratings flop and was canceled in October, 1980.
Still under contract, the network moved him to nights in 1982, and the very first episode of his late night career can be seen below.
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