E-reader News Edition
com
Armed (and dangerous?) in America’s national parks
by Ed Stoddard (Front Row
Washington)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:42:31 AM
One of the biggest expansions of
U.S. gun rights in decades took
affect on Monday – and it was
signed into law by President
Barack Obama, whom many
conservative groups claim is
plotting to disarm law-abiding
Americans.
People can now take firearms
into many of America’s national
parks, provided they legally
possess them under federal laws
and laws that apply to the state
where the park is located. You
can see the National Park Service
press release here. The usual
prohibitions on hunting or
discharging firearms within the
parks still apply.
The new “guns in national
parks” regulations were signed
into law by Obama last May and
were part of a new credit card act
(yes, American law making is a
mysterious thing) that also came
into affect on Monday.
What is striking about this state
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of affairs is that it stands in sharp
contrast to the constant mantra in
some conservative circles that
the Obama administration plans
to attack America’s second
amendment rights — the right to
bear arms — which are regarded
as sacred by many and were
upheld by the U.S. Supreme
Court in 2008.
As a journalist and gun owner,
my e-mail address has found its
22/02/10 - 23/02/10
way to various lists and I get
daily e-mail blasts from different
groups telling me that Obama
plans to take away my gun.
The Citizens Committee for the
Right to Keep and Bear Arms is
one. Here is an example of one e
-blast I got last Thursday:
STOP Obama-Napolitano Gun
Harassment-
Activate All Gun Owners
NOW!
http://www.LibertyNewspost.
concerns. This is America NOT
Iran!
The Department of Homeland
Security, led by leftist anti-gun
rights Secretary Janet
Napolitano, has a history of
trying to suppress gun owners
and conservative opponents of
the President …
This is quite typical. But given
the fact that I can now take my
10-guage single-shot shotgun
into Yellowstone National Park
because of a law Obama signed,
does this kind of alarmist
commentary stand up to scrutiny.
What do you think?
(Photo: Elizabeth Barmanti
shoots a toy gun at a target range
Alert: ABC News is reporting
supplied by the National Rifle
that Obama’s Department of
Association at the Conservative
Homeland Security is monitoring
Political Action Conference
the comments and posts of
(CPAC) during their annual
conservative Americans and gun
meeting in Washington,
owners on web sites and within
February 19, 2010.
social networks like Facebook
REUTERS/Joshua Roberts)
and Twitter.
Obama You Can Keep the
“Change” I Support the Second
Amendment.
This raises very serious
2 Top News/ World/ Politics/
Obama healthcare on political
operating table
by Tabassum Zakaria (Front
Row Washington)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:32:05 AM
Last year, President Barack
Obama tried to get Congress to
pass healthcare legislation that
came from the minds of
lawmakers.
We all know how well that
went.
So today, Obama put his own
version on the table.
The response from Republicans
was (shock of shocks) — they
don’t like it. House Republican
leader John Boehner says
Obama’s proposal jeopardizes
bipartisan healthcare work (You
might ask what bipartisan
healthcare work? We’re not quite
sure).
The response from Democrats
was (shock of shocks) — they’ll
review it. House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi said it contained positive
elements from the separate bills
that passed the House and Senate
last year.
All of this is a prelude to the big
healthcare summit on Thursday
where Obama wants Democrats
and Republicans to break bread
at the same table and come up
with areas of agreement.
But being that it’s an election
year and all, a major
A Walk on the Edge
(Little Green Footballs)
breakthrough between
Democrats and Republicans at
the summit would seem about as
likely as snow removal on my
street after a major storm.
“This week’s summit clearly has
all the makings of a Democratic
infomercial for continuing on a
partisan course that relies on
more backroom deals and
parliamentary tricks to
circumvent the will of the
American people and jam
through a massive government
takeover of health care,”
Boehner said. (In case there was
any question about where
Republicans stand.)
E-reader News Edition
Gardeners urged to
weed out exotic
invaders
(Latest news, breaking news, fish to breed. Floating pennywort
current news, UK news, world and water fern can block
news, celebrity news, politics
drainage passages and cause
news) flooding.
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:24:28 AM Miss Dimmock urged gardeners
to pull up the plants and make
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you can, please donate to the full destroyed, rather than just
-text RSS service so we can chucked on the compost heap
continue developing it. where the roots can still take
By Louise Gray, Environment hold
Correspondent “Ponds and rivers give us a
Published: 1:24PM GMT 23 bounty of amazing wildlife, but
Feb 2010 sometimes the balance can be
Aquatic plants like water- upset, harming our natural
primrose and parrot’s feather are biodiversity. Pond-lovers, like
Basically in the political theater,
used to liven up ponds with the me, must all play our part in
the game is who can make who
bright flowers and exotic foliage. making sure invasive aquatic
look more partisan. Democrats
However the plants, that can plants don’t cause serious
will say they tried to get
grow up to eight inches a day, d a m a g e t o o u r b e a u t i f u l
Republicans on board, and
take hold quickly in the waterways. By being plant wise
Republicans will say Democrats
countryside and have caused in our gardens we can help
didn’t make any acceptable
havoc for native plants and protect natural habitats in the
moves.
animals. wild and ensure all ponds and
Who do you think will win in
Species like Japanese knotweed rivers thrive,” she said.
casting the other as the problem?
is even capable of growing Five Filters featured article:
For more Reutes political news,
t h r o u g h c o n c r e t e a n d Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
click here
destroying buildings. New PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
Photo credit: Reuters/David
Zealand pygmy, that sucks Term Extraction.
Mdzinarishvili (breaking bread
oxygen from the pond, can
in Georgia, 2008), Reuters/Jason
make it impossible for frogs and
Reed (Obama at meeting with
state governors)
E-reader News Edition
Obama hits back at Republicans over stimulus
by Caren Bohan (Front Row
Washington)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:43:03 AM
The White House is stepping up
its efforts to call out Republicans
for what Democrats see as
hypocrisy over the $787 billion
stimulus package.
Republicans have slammed the
bill as wasteful and ineffective at
creating jobs but the Obama
administration says some of the
same politicians who have
lambasted the package have
lined up for a share of the money
for their states and districts.
“Independent economists credit
the Recovery Act with growing
the economy and for two million
jobs that otherwise wouldn’t
Gang member was on bail for murder when he killed Matalan
shop manager
(Top stories from Times
Online)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 3:12:44 AM
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-text RSS service so we can
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A member of the robbery gang
that killed a shop manager was
on police bail for a previous
fatal stabbing, it can be reported
today.
Anthony Maina, 20, took part in
the deadly raid at a Matalan store
five months after knifing a
teenager during a mobile phone
exist,” President Barack Obama
told a gathering of the nation’s
governors at the White House.
“Now, I understand that some of
you still claim it’s not working
or wasn’t worth it, but I also
know that you’ve used it to close
robbery.
Jamie Simpson, a popular shop
manager, 33, was stabbed in the
neck with a 10in kitchen knife
during the botched Matalan raid
in March 2008.
Today it emerged that Maina
had been arrested shortly after
the murder of a teenager,
Rizwan Darbar, in October 2007,
but was given police bail due to
lack of evidence.
He was at large for 15 months,
during which time he took part in
the killing of Mr Simpson as
well as being caught with a
knife, cannabis, crack cocaine
your budget gaps or break
ground on new projects,” he
added. “I’ve seen the photos, and
I’ve read the press releases, so it
must be doing something right.”
At a conservative gathering in
Washington last week, former
and heroin, before finally being
charged in January last year over
the earlier death.
The full extent of his violent
criminal history, which began at
the age of 14, was kept from the
jury in the Simpson case.
Yesterday the Matalan gang
were convicted: Kobina Essel —
known as "Aggro", 19, of east
London, was found guilty of
murder while Maina, of Canning
Town, east London, and Randy
Osei-Owusu, 17, of Poplar, east
London, as well as Simeon
Jumah, 25, were found guilty of
manslaughter.
Top News/ World/ Business/
presidential candidate Mitt
Romney blasted the stimulus
package, saying it had failed to
spur private-sector hiring.
Obama got some support over
the weekend from California
Republican Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger, who credited
the stimulus with creating
150,000 new jobs in his state.
For more Reuters political news,
click here
Picture Credit: Reuters/Jason
Reed (Obama speaks at a
meeting with state governors in
the State Dining Room of the
White House in Washington,
February 22, 2010)
They had planned to steal
between £20,000 and £30,000 in
weekend takings from the store
but fled empty-handed after the
killings.
Jurors had been unable to agree
on a murder charge against
Maina, Jumah, and Osei-Owusu.
It was only today, after
prosecutors decided not to press
for a retrial on that count, that
the full extent of Maina’s violent
past could be revealed.
The four killers and three others
convicted of conspiracy to rob
have been remanded in custody
and are all due to be sentenced
3
What Personality
Traits Do
Designers Share?
by Cliff Kuang (Fast
Company)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 9:18:57 AM
65 designers take the Myers-
Briggs personality test, offering a
window into the way designers
actually think--and the meaning
of "design thinking."
In other words, designers are
less akin to the stereotypical
touchy-feely artist, and more like
engineers who always keep the
big picture in mind.
[Via Michael Roller]
next month.
Maina was jailed for life with a
minimum term of 14 years after
being convicted of Rizwan’s
murder by an Old Bailey jury in
August 2009. His name could
not be reported as by then he was
facing a second trial over the
death of Mr Simpson.
Five Filters featured article:
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PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
Term Extraction.
4 World/ E-reader News Edition

Parents given power to demand change of leadership in

schools
(Latest news, breaking news, £10 million of investment, which merging with or taking over our provider to be brought in to ''turn are not doing well enough, and
current news, UK news, world will support other primary weaker and coasting schools.'' things round''. if you are dissatisfied with the
news, celebrity news, politics schools and work to raise them The PM said Labour will offer If local surveys find progress your local school is
news) to the same standard. parents ''guarantees not gambles'' dissatisfaction among parents making, you will be able to
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:50:22 AM Speaking at a school in north for their children's schooling, over the choice of schools in demand change and get a new
London, Mr Brown described of and ''opportunity for all not the area, the authority will be and quality-guaranteed
Message from fivefilters.org: If the ''anger and frustration'' he privilege for a few''. required to produce an action provider.''
you can, please donate to the full f e l t a t s e e i n g h i s o w n ''I stand for excellence in plan, including bringing in But shadow children's secretary
-text RSS service so we can contemporaries fail to fulfil their education. And I stand for accredited providers to take over Michael Gove said: ''This is Ed
continue developing it. potential because of poor excellence in education for all,'' existing schools. Balls's weak attempt to close
Published: 1:39PM GMT 23 e d u c a t i o n a l s t a n d a r d s . he said. ''Because education is a Mr Balls said: ''Today's down a dividing line he knows
Feb 2010 And he promised: ''We simply ladder to social mobility. And announcement is about putting he's on the wrong side of.
Education authorities would will not accept second best when as Britain comes out of recession the best school leaders at the ''Real choice for parents means
t h e n h a v e t o b r i n g i n a n it comes to the future of our - so through education - a new heart of making our schools allowing new schools to open
accredited provider with a children.'' age of aspiration is within system great. which are free from the control
track record of successfully Mr Brown announced the first reach.'' ''The successful schools and of politicians and therefore
operating schools elsewhere. six groups accredited to run three He also attacked Conservative organisations announced today properly answerable to parents,
Gordon Brown and Schools or more schools, including: plans for a Swedish-style are amongst the most not a ballot system allowing a
Secretary Ed Balls announced B a r n f i e l d C o l l e g e , L u t o n ; initiative, under which parents' outstanding school providers in tiny handful of existing schools
the first wave of providers to Outwood Grange, Wakefield; groups, community organisations the country. They have a track to federate.
be given an Accredited School K e m n a l T r u s t , B r o m l e y ; and charities would be able to record in not only running just ''This glorified federation system
kitemark, enabling them to run Woodard Schools; Greenwood set up independent schools one excellent school, but the won't allow new schools to have
chains of secondaries. Dale Trust Nottingham; and within the state system. ability to spread this excellence academy-style freedoms which
Some 200 schools are already the Harris Federation of south Mr Brown described the Tory to other schools that need more they really need to tackle under-
eligible to become accredited, London schools. proposal as a ''reckless support. performance. Far from a
and ministers expect this figure Mr Brown said: ''When schools experiment'' that was failing in ''That's why we're giving them radical plan to raise standards, it
to rise to 500 by 2015, when partner with other schools - Sweden and represented a this kitemark today, and moves the Government even
every school will have the operating under a common ''gamble with our children's encouraging more to apply. We further away from the reforms
opportunity to join a chain. leadership brand, with a shared education''. want to see every part of the that were introduced by Tony
From today, interested schools ethos, and a shared commitment Under today's announcement, a country covered by the Blair.''
and organisations will also be to excellence, standards are ballot would be triggered where programme. Five Filters featured article:
able to apply for accredited raised for all - the stronger a ''significant group'' of parents ''It's right that parents drive Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
status to set up chains at primary schools and the weaker say they are dissatisfied with change where it is needed, so this PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
level. schools. local school leadership. Local is our offer to parents: if your Term Extraction.
The Government plans to recruit ''So today I want to set off a education authorities will then child is falling behind in the 3Rs
150 primary accredited providers chain reaction in our schools have to hold a vote on whether we will guarantee them extra
over the next year, backed by with these recognised brands parents want an accredited help; and if your local schools
E-reader News Edition World/ 5

Minister Phil Woolas launches personal attack on In pictures:

sculptures made
Christine Pratt out of sticky tape
(Top stories from Times “Gordon’s the man that I know yesterday after criticising Economist magazine, Mr Brown (Latest news, breaking news,
Online) and the man that I love. People Christine Pratt, the founder who gave his first direct response, current news, UK news, world
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:13:44 AM
have heard me talk about him had given a series of interviews insisting: “The Cabinet Secretary news, celebrity news, politics
and they probably know implicating No 10 staff in has made it clear that he’s had news)
Message from fivefilters.org: If everything that I would have to bullying. no inquiries, there’s been no Submitted at 2/23/2010 6:05:33 AM
you can, please donate to the full say about him,” she told GMTV. Ed Balls, Mr Brown’s close reprimand, there’s been no
-text RSS service so we can “I know him as a strong, hard Cabinet ally and former advisor, private message to me... [The] Message from fivefilters.org: If
continue developing it. working decent man and he isn’t told the BBC Radio 4 Today story is completely wrong.” you can, please donate to the full
Government criticism of the anything else. What you see is programme: “I’ve known However, journalist Andrew -text RSS service so we can
head of an anti-bullying charity what you get with him.” Gordon Brown for 20 years and Rawnsley stood by the continue developing it.
morphed into an outright The intervention of the Prime at no point has it ever occurred allegations raised in his book The sculptures in this picture
personal attack today when Minister’s wife came after an to me that Gordon Brown is or The End Of The Party, pointing gallery are all made out of sticky
Christine Pratt was mocked by a apparent campaign in recent would ever be a bully. out that three statements had now tape, and are entries in an
minister as a “prat of a woman”. days for Gordon Brown to open Mr Balls, who was chief been issued by Downing Street unusual art competition. They
The founder of the National up his family life to the public. economic advisor to Mr Brown on Sir Gus’s behalf. are made by by sticking bits of
Bullying Helpline has faced a She was speaking after Mr for five years, was branded a He told the BBC’s Newsnight tape together in a "free-form"
concerted campaign to discredit Brown flatly dismissed claims bully himself in autumn last programme: “What they have not style or by wrapping them
her and her organisation since that he had intimidated junior year. denied on behalf of the Cabinet around objects which are then
claiming that staff at No 10 had staff. The Prime Minister said He added: “I know it is Secretary is that he had a removed from the piece
asked for help to flight bullying the allegations were wrong after something which personally he conversation with the Prime A Roman helmet by artist
at work. Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet feels very upset about because Minister about his behaviour ... Nathan M Picture: SOLENT
Phil Woolas, the Immigration Secretary, ruled out holding a he knows there is no truth to one person’s idea of a verbal Five Filters featured article:
Minister, launched the most f o r m a l inquiry into his these allegations. In fact, warning could be another Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
aggressive attack yet while b e h a v i o u r . Andrew Rawnsley’s book — person’s private word.” PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
suggesting that she would be After a series of high profile despite its narrative truth — Mr Rawnsley’s book includes Term Extraction.
regretting her actions. “It’s a criticisms, the National Bullying turns out on every one of these accounts of Mr Brown allegedly
tough business, politics. It’s 18, Helpline was thrown into chaos allegations to be incorrect,” he forcing a secretary from her
20 hours a day that people like after all of its patrons quit said. “I don’t think it damages chair, “roughly shoving” an aide
the Prime Minister work,” he yesterday, citing a breach of him. It hurts him personally." and four-letter-word rants that
told LBC, a London radio callers’ confidentiality. David Cameron has demanded frightened staff.
station. Ann Widdecombe, a an inquiry into what he said were Five Filters featured article:
“I think this attack on him by C o n s e r v a t i v e M P , S a r a h “very serious matters” about Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
this prat of a woman down in - Cawood, a television presenter, what went on in Downing Street, PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
where’s she from, Swindon? - I M a r y O’Connor, Tory while Liberal Democrat Nick Term Extraction.
think that’s backfiring on her." councillor for Hillingdon, and Clegg said the allegations of
Sarah Brown also defended her Professor Cary Cooper, a stress bullying were “very important”
h u s b a n d a g a i n s t b u l l y i n g expert, all severed ties with the and should be cleared up.
a l l e g a t i o n s t h i s m o r n i n g . National Bullying Helpline In an interview with The
6 World/ Popular News/
Sterling plunges as King warns on money scheme
(Top stories from Times
Online)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 3:06:57 AM
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Sterling fell sharply today after
Mervyn King, the Governor of
the Bank of England, warned
that it may be necessary to
continue the Bank’s asset
purchase programme and pressed
the Government to reveal its
plans to reduce the country's
record £178 billion deficit.
In his last appearance before
MPs before the general election,
Mr King outlined the political
challenges facing the economy.
He said: “The crisis has left us
facing many serious challenges.
Among them are how to reform
the international financial
system, how to reduce our
largest peacetime fiscal deficit,
and how to restructure our
Sculptures made from sticky tape
(Latest news, breaking news,
current news, UK news, world
news, celebrity news, politics
news)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:53:17 AM
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Published: 2:00PM GMT 23
banking and financial system to
prevent another, more serious,
crisis in future.
"The crisis did not originate in
the non-financial sectors of the
economy but that is where most
of the costs are falling.
“You don’t need me to tell you
that its impact is not just
economic but also social and
political in nature.”
The Governor, who was
appearing before the Treasury
Select Committee, said that
ratings agencies were looking for
a “detailed explanation” of how
Britain intended to reduce its
budget deficit.
But he warned: “You certainly
can’t eliminate the deficit in one
year. There has to be a
programme announced that will
start and continue right through
the lifetime of the next
parliament.”
The pound lost more than one
cent against the US dollar after
the Governor also told MPs that,
Feb 2010
They are made by by sticking
bits of tape together in a "free-
form" style or by wrapping
them around objects which are
then removed from the piece.
The fisherman and pregnant
woman are each made from four
rolls of tape. But a drum set is
made from a staggering 48 rolls
and an office desk is made from
although the UK economy had
“embarked on a process of
healing”, this would take time.
Mr King added: “The risks to
the [Monetary Policy]
Committee’s central view of a
gradual recovery of output
remain to the downside.”
Sterling fell sharply on Mr
King’s remarks, falling from
$1.5529 — just before the
Governor began speaking — to
$1.5398, when he finished giving
evidence to MPs.
Jeremy Cook, chief economist at
the currency exchange broker
World First, said: “Mervyn
King’s constant assertion that we
may see further quantitative
easing later in the year is acting
like a dead weight around
sterling’s neck at the moment.
"This, alongside concerns over
our fiscal deficit heading into the
election and how we are best to
deal with it, will leave the pound
unloved in the short term.”
Against the euro, sterling fell
36.
There are also models of a
dragon, a postman and a child on
a swing.
Other materials, such as wire,
cardboard and paint, can make
up to 10 per cent of the model
if used to support or enhance it.
The models had to be made
using Scotch packaging tape and
the winning entry will receive
from €1.1406 earlier in the
session to €1.1317, meaning that
one euro buys 88.23p — the
single currency’s strongest level
against the pound for nearly two
weeks.
The Bank's Monetary Policy
Committee voted unanimously
this month to halt money
scheme at £200 billion.
Mr King also warned that bank
lending could prove scarce
during coming months.
He told MPs: “We would like to
get back to a situation where the
banking sector can expand its
lending, but I am not sure that is
going to happen until we have
seen further consolidation in the
balance sheets of the banking
sector.
"There’s still quite a way to go
on that front.”
Five Filters featured article:
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3,200 pounds when judging
takes place next month.
Darrell Coutu, from Scotch,
said: "The contest provides an
opportunity for people to
showcase their originality using
a unique art medium.
"The strength and durability of
Scotch Packaging Tape has
inspired artists to create some
amazing entries, from jellyfish
E-reader News Edition
Record-breaking
stick bomb
[video]
(Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 6:07:42 AM
Take a mid-week mental break
and check out kinetic artist Tim
Fort's world recording breaking
stick bomb. Fort weaved
together 2,250 tongue depressors
(think "ahhh" at the doctor's
office) to construct his
xyloexplosive device. The
tension built up by weaving the
sticks together means that the
slightest movement or removal
of one stick sets off the
explosion.
Full story at BoingBoing.
Bored? Have some fun.
Permalink| Leave a comment »
and octopuses to peacocks and
pop icons.
"The judges have a tough
decision to make, and I don't
envy them one bit."
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E-reader News Edition
Balls defends last-minute 'U-turn' on sex
education
(Top stories from Times
Online)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 2:57:51 AM
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-text RSS service so we can
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Ed Balls today defended the
right of faith schools to teach
that contraception, abortion and
homosexuality are wrong as
campaigners accused him of
"betraying" children in faith
schools and capitulating to the
faith lobby by watering down
new laws on sex education.
The Schools Secretary said that
schools should be allowed to
preserve the right to teach their
pupils about sex and
relationships in accordance with
their own religion despite new
legislation making sex education
compulsory.
"It has always been the case, for
years and years, that any school
teaching sex and relationship
Cablevision: Incremental Progress
by Joseph Lazzaro
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 6:00:00 PM
Filed under: Stocks to Buy
Cablevision Systems
Corporation ( CVC), post-spin
off of Madison Square Garden (
education can do so within the
context of their own faith," Mr
Balls told the BBC. "The bill
does not change this."
From next year teaching about
sex and relationships will
become a compulsory part of the
national curriculum and parents
will also lose the right to remove
their children from the lessons
once they are over 15.
But Mr Balls has tabled an
amendment to his Children,
Schools and Families Bill,
which completes its passage
through the Commons today,
reinforcing the right of faith
schools to teach about issues
such as contraception, abortion,
homosexuality and civil
partnerships in a way that
reflects their religious character.
David Laws, the Liberal
Democrat schools spokesman,
has accused ministers of being
in a “terrific muddle” over the
issue, arguing that the last-
minute change “completely
MSG), has understandably
dipped, but the latter has been
more than offset by MSG's
current share price, about $19, as
Cablevision subscribers were
allocated 1 share of MSG for
every 4 shares of CVC.
I'll review MSG's business
undermines the objectives of this
part of the Bill”.
But Mr Balls said that critics of
the Bill were worrying
unnecessarily. The revolutionary
aspects of the bill - requiring all
schools for the first time to teach
about sexual relationships in a
fair and balanced way, and
abolishing the right for parents to
opt their older teenage children
out of sex education classes -
were unchanged by the
amendment.
The Bill has secured the backing
of a large number of faith
schools and organisations, and
has the support of the Most Rev
Vincent Nichol, the Archbishop
of Westminster, who is the head
of Britain's five million
Catholics.
The Catholic Education Service
claimed that the amendment
being debated today was
"secured" thanks to its lobbying.
Mr Laws told BBC Radio 4's
Today programme that the
model in the weeks ahead. For BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Feb Volatility of 39 Near 20-Month
now, I still like Cablevision, first 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see Lows originally appeared on
written about on May 29, 2009 at our terms for use of feeds. BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Feb
a price of $19.03.
Continue reading Cablevision: C o m m e n t s
Incremental Progress
amendment would allow faith
schools to dodge requirements to
promote equality and respect for
diversity in a way which some
people would consider intolerant,
he said.
“The issue is, in the 21st century,
are we going to have a school
system which is going to be
tolerant of intolerance in the
name of religious freedom?"
asked Mr Laws.
“Or should we say in the 21st
century that it is right that all
state-funded schools should be
teaching tolerance and respect
for diversity? After all, there are
already opt-outs for parents and
there is already the wider
obligation to teach in relation to
the religious and culture
background of pupils.”
Five Filters featured article:
Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
Term Extraction.
Cablevision: Incremental
Progress originally appeared on Options Update: UnitedHealth
P e r m a l i n k | E m a i l t h i s | 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see
World/ Business/ 7
Options Update:
UnitedHealth Volatility
of 39 Near 20-Month
Lows
by Paul Foster
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 9:00:00 AM
Filed under: Sirius Satellite
Radio (SIRI), Options
UnitedHealth( UNH) closed at
$33.08. President Obama
announced a proposal giving the
federal government new power
to block excessive rate increases
by insurers as part of the health
care bill. March put option
implied volatility is at 39, June is
at 38, versus its 26-week average
of 40, according to Track Data,
suggesting non-directional price
movement.
Three stocks with IV rise on Feb
22: Sirius Satellite Radio ( SIRI)
+14%, Sequenom ( SQNM) +
11%, Salix Pharma ( SLXP)
+14%, according to IVolatility.
CBOE Volatility Index( VIX) at
19.94; 10-day moving average is
22.91, 50-day is 21.47, 200-day
moving average is 24.95.
t
Update is by Stock Specialist
P a u l
h e f l y o n
F o s t e r
t h e w a l l . c o
o f
m.
our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink| Email this|
Comments
8 Business/ E-reader News Edition

How to Improve Your Presentation Skills

by Sarah Kessler (Inc.com) your nerves - Aguilera suggests
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:34:00 AM changing the word
“presentation” to “conversation”
The opportunity to pitch your when thinking about your big
services to a potential client, interested in during his speech. your outcome in mind. You mirror, talk to a wall, or ask a day. Feel better yet? If not, you
spell out your business plan to a 2) Structuring your presentation. don’t have to write out your family member to listen. Some c a n a l s o q u e l l p a n i c b y
potential business partner, or “The classic format is to tell presentation word for word (or people volunteer to speak at conditioning yourself to be in
promote your business at an them what you’re going to say, worse, memorize it) if you just c h u r c h o r j o i n t h e i r l o c a l presentation-mode. Aguilera
event may require that you give a present, and then tell them what remember to keep going back to toastmaster club for practice imagines that he is going to stand
presentation. Whether or not you told them,” says Aguilera. your main points and working speaking in public. Do whatever up and give a presentation when
your presentation achieves its “What I advise is to start off with toward your desired outcome. Be works for you, but make sure it he’s at restaurants, in meetings,
desired outcome can be affected the benefits of what you’re going prepared to present both sides of includes practicing out loud so or, one time, even at an outdoor
by your skills as a speaker, so to say, the benefits to the an issue. You’ll appear more that you can get a sense of amphitheater. “I walked all the
it’s important to step in front of audience, and then present and credible if you acknowledge timing. • Rehearsing does not way to the front of the stage as if
your audience with your best review.” Braithwaite says that y o u r c o m p e t i t o r s o r a n y m e a n m e m o r i z a t i o n - I were looking for someone,” he
foot forward. The following most presentations can benefit opposing arguments. After Memorizing your speech can says. “Then I stood there and
guide explains how to prepare, from using this simple structure: you’ve explained the other side, make you sound mechanical and looked at the audience and said
deliver, and answer questions • Opening - Your opening you can spell out exactly why over-rehearsed. “Really the only to myself, ‘this is what it would
about a stellar presentation.How should be something that makes your company is better or your p e o p l e w h o a r e g o o d a t feel like to present to 25,000
to Improve Your Presentation an emotional connection with the argument is stronger. • memorizing things are actors,” people.’” • Stop working on
Skills: Preparation audience. It can be a story, a Closing - The closing of your Braithwaite says. “if you’re it - “You really need time to start
1) Research your audience. question, or a shocking static. It p r e s e n t a t i o n i s t h e l a s t going to do it well, you actually getting into relaxation mode,”
Knowing the needs of your should not be an introduction of opportunity you have to give have to act it out and play a Braithwaite says. “You can’t be
audience can help you tailor your yourself or five minutes of thank your audience something that character, and most speakers i n y o u r h y p e r r e w r i t i n g ,
presentation to target their -yous. David Parnell, the founder will stick in their minds. You can aren’t very good at that.” Even if restructuring mode right up to
interests and explain how your of an attorney placement firm go back to your opening or end you are good at acting, Parnell your presentation.” Take a
company can be of use in their who recently finished an 850- on a clever slogan or a call to s u g g e s t s t h a t y o u d o n ’ t couple of days to relax before
specific situation. If you’re going page book on the psychology of action. Parnell suggests that m e m o r i z e y o u r s p e e c h t o your speech.
to be giving a presentation at an e f f e c t i v e c o m m u n i c a t i o n , w h e n m a k i n g a b u s i n e s s perfection. “When an individual Dig Deeper: Polishing and
event, Santa Barbara, California- suggests that any stories you use proposal, you end on a positive is too polished, it makes them R e h e a r s i n g f o r a P e r f e c t
based public speaking coach Lisa should represent your audience’s forecast. “Your forecast will relatively inaccessible in the P r e s e n t a t i o n
Braithwaite suggests sending a position in life and should use provide fodder that can serve to mind of the audience,” he says. How to Improve Your
questionnaire to a handful of characters that are analogous to validate any subconsciously “The audience is human at the Presentation Skills: Delivery
people who will be in the your audience. • Body - Try generated optimism,” he says.3) end of the day, and this person 1) Verbal Delivery • Be
a u d i e n c e b e f o r e y o u s t a r t to stick to your three most Practice, practice, practice…but doesn’t seem to be like them. It Brief - A 2005 study by the
w r i t i n g . M i k e A g u i l e r a , a important points. It’s more don’t memorize. “It’s different r e a l l y r e t a r d s t h e r a p p o r t Helsinki institute found that the
communication expert who has important to engage the audience for everybody, but I will say one b u i l d i n g p r o c e s s . ” • average adult was able to focus
g i v e n m o r e t h a n 1 , 0 0 0 than to tell them everything you thing: If you practice your Videotape yourself - You can’t on a loading web page for only
p r e s e n t a t i o n s o n e f f e c t i v e know. You will need to leave speech only once, you’re going know how you come off to four to eight seconds before
communication, says that if he some information out, but it is to stink,” Braithwaite says. She p e o p l e u n t i l y o u s e e i t . l o o k i n g s o m e w h e r e e l s e .
doesn’t have time to do research likely that what you don’t cover recommends starting to rehearse Recording yourself is the best Attention spans are short; don’t
beforehand, he will talk to the in the presentation will come up your presentation about a month way to target the areas where
audience at his presentation or when you take questions. Keep in advance. You can talk into a you can improve. • Calm HOW page 9
will even ask them what they’re
E-reader News Edition
HOW
continued from page 8
dwell on a specific subject too
long. • Ask questions to keep
the audience engaged - This can
be something as simple as
pausing to ask if your audience
understands everything you’ve
presented thus far. • Speak to
your demographic - Match the
semantics of your audience as
closely as possible. Speak their
language. “If you’re selling a
skateboard, for instance, your
semantics are going to be a lot
different than if you’re working
with a litigation attorney,”
Parnell says. • Work on your
tone - Evolutionary psychology
suggests that people of both
sexes respond better to deep
male voices and high female
voices, Parnell says. It takes
practice to change the tone of
your voice, but it can be done.
• Avoid speaking softly or
other speech patterns that make
you seem unconfident - For
example, avoid ending sentences
in an escalating tone that
suggests every sentence you
speak is a question. • You
should, Umm, avoid, Uh, fill
words - Aguilera offers one
strategy for kicking a fill-word
habit: Say the offending word
and concentrate on it.“Then tell
yourself, ‘this is a fill word, I’m
avoiding this,’” he says. “When
you say this, it creates that
pattern of changing it so that
One week without Google
by Tom Krazit (Webware.com)
you’ll catch yourself when you
start saying it.” • Don’t use
words like don’t - Don’t think
about elephants. Ok, now what
are you thinking about? Aguilera
says that is why it’s important to
avoid phrases like “don’t worry.”
Tell your audience what they
should do instead. Similarly,
don’t say “I hope you will enjoy
this presentation.” Say, “I am
confident that you will enjoy this
presentation.”
2) Body Language • Stand at
a comfortable distance - Parnell
suggests remaining within 2.5 –
7 feet of your audience. This
presupposes (at a subconscious
level) a personal to social
relationship. • Eye contact -
Don’t surf the audience with
your eyes. Rather, make eye
contact with one person at a
time. • Appear confident:
a) Shoulders back b)
Arms at your sides or held in
front of your body when making
gestures c) Hands open or
only slightly closed d)
Smile slightly or keep your face
neutral. e) Take long
strides f) Make every
movement purposeful and
decided g) Treat props
(like your resume or a handout)
as though they are of value.
Don’t let a paper in your hand
flap back and forth carelessly.3)
Powerpoint • A Good
Google is not nicotine, despite
what competitors may think: you
Powerpoint… a) Relies
heavily on images. b)
Has only one or two sentences
per slide. c) Entertains.
d) Enhances your presentation,
but doesn’t summarize it. • A
Bad Powerpoint… a)
Contains font smaller than 32pt.
b) Has more than five or six
lines of text per slide. c)
Displays a logo on every slide
(your audience won’t forget who
you are). d) Is printed and
distributed as a handout. Dig
Deeper: The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective Presenters How to
Improve Your Presentation
Skills: QuestionsBeing prepared
to answer questions plays a
major role in appearing credible
to your audience. Parnell says
that immediately before their
meetings, he asks his clients to
write down questions that may
come up regarding their
presentations. This primes their
brains for answering them. It’s
also important to anticipate any
challenges to your presentation
that might arise during Q&A
time and to prepare
responses.Braithwaite
recommends taking questions
before the end of your
presentation. You’ll have to let
the audience know that you plan
to continue after questions so
that they don’t start packing up
their things, but this approach
can live a Google-free life Originally posted at Relevant
without too much difficulty. Results
Popular News/ Tech/
allows you to close your
presentation on your own note.
“The audience will leave with
your final message in their minds
instead of some random question
that someone asked that maybe
was off-topic,” she says.
Also, keep in mind that you
don’t need to answer every
question. If you don’t know the
answer or don’t want to answer a
question, a graceful exit line is,
“I don’t have that information
right now, but I would be happy
to get it to you as soon as I can.”
Did Deeper: Free Speech
Resources on the Web
ResourcesLisa Braithwaite’s
blog about effective
c o m m u n i c a t i o n :
http://www.coachlisab.blogspot.c
om/ David Parnell’s blog about
the psychology of
c o m m u n i c a t i o n :
http://www.davidjparnell.com/
Inc. Magazine’s Guide to
Communication Skills:
http://www.inc.com/guides/grow
th/23032.html Find a local public
speaking club through
toastmasters International:
http://www.toastmasters.org/
9
Best rendition of "Truly,
Madly, Deeply"
(Football hooligan
remix)
(Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 10:46:40 PM
A friend of mine once said, “I
believe at any given moment in
the world, someone is listening
to ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply.’” This
time, it’s the hardcore British
football rendition as sung by The
Hardchorus (slogan: They want
to be in your arms. You want to
be in the stands.). Turn up the
bass and enjoy!
See their Web site.
For the soccer lover.
Permalink| Leave a comment »
Google revamps
DoubleClick ad
management tech
by Tom Krazit (Webware.com)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 10:27:00 AM
New tools for Web publishers
are designed to help them
manage display ad sales and
placement on their Web sites,
and fulfill the promise of
Google's DoubleClick buy.
Originally posted at Relevant
Results
10 Business/ Tech/ E-reader News Edition

Walmart Jumps Into Streaming Video With Vudu Purchase

by Dan Nosowitz (Fast charitably be called a "family-
Company) friendly" course in terms of
Submitted at 2/23/2010 8:33:18 AM
which TV and movies it stocks--
and Vudu has, among other
The New York Times is things, a porn channel, which
reporting that Walmart has Walmart will presumably nix as
agreed to buy Vudu, a streaming soon as possible.
movie rental service. Despite its Other video rental companies
status as one of the biggest DVD should be nervous about this
and Blu-ray retailers in the acquisition. Netflix is the
country, Walmart has yet to obvious target, and Vudu has a
make any moves into online long way to go before it's a
video--until now. And Walmart legitimate challenger to Netflix's
(one of Fast Company's 2010 throne--but that's not to say it
Most Innovative Companies) has can't happen. Microsoft is
the ability to shake up the field making a big push with Zune,
more than any other retailer. but it's currently only available
Vudu is a well-regarded on PC, Xbox 360, and a few
streaming video service; they portables--not enough. Apple is a
started out making set-top boxes non-starter (nobody, even Apple
but recently abandoned that fanatics, likes the Apple TV),
market to focus on packaging and both Amazon and
their software into TVs and Blu- BlockBuster are fading fast.
ray decks from partners like Redbox is the most interesting
boasts some of the highest- relationships with hardware category.
Vizio, Samsung, LG, Sharp, and competition here; its dirt-cheap
quality streaming video around, manufacturers, and a source Walmart should be able to
Toshiba. Unlike Netflix, the kiosks are in thousands of
but lacks the name recognition, claims that Vudu was courting promote Vudu-enabled hardware
current big dog in the streaming Walmart stores, and now the
back catalog, and big-money Best Buy (Walmart's main brick- better than Vudu themselves ever
video scene, Vudu also little company that could has to
push of Netflix. That last item is and-mortar electronics could--hardware manufacturers
incorporates other media services contend with one of its biggest
certainly no longer a problem, competitor), Comcast, and would be much more inclined to
like Pandora and Flickr, and partners essentially backing a
with Walmart at Vudu's back. Amazon due to its excellent bundle in Vudu if they know
compatibility with social different horse. Redbox declined
Peter Kafka over at All Things optimization technology. their product will have the
networking services like FastCompany.com's request for
D puts the purchase price Walmart needs Vudu; the retailer backing of the country's biggest
Facebook and Twitter(although it comment, but you've got to
at"more than $100 million," a lags behind competitors like Best retailer. Whether Walmart will
remains to be seen whether believe they're a little irked at
hefty sum for a company that's Buy in sales of Internet- get more involved in the
anybody, anywhere, actually Walmart promoting a competing
never actually made money. But connected TVs, and needs to software side of things remains
wants to read Twitter on a service.
the purchase makes a lot of make a stand in this lucrative and to be seen, but Walmart is
television). Vudu was the first to [Via The New York Times]
sense: Vudu already has great forward-looking market known for taking what could
stream 1080p video, and still

Mint founder on branding: Keep it simple

by Caroline McCarthy Aaron Patzer, who founded entrepreneurs should start their Originally posted at The Social
(Webware.com) Mint.com and sold it to Intuit for strategy with the most basic of
$170 million, tells CNET that items: the company name.
E-reader News Edition Business/ 11

Twitter's Success: Tweeting 600 Times Per Second, But How

To Monetize This?
by Kit Eaton (Fast Company)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 9:02:30 AM
Twitter has released some
analytical stats that reveal how
much of a rocketing success
story it is: Forget rumors Twitter
has plateaued--Tweeps are now
Tweeting over 600 times every
second. The sheer volume of that
data is astonishing. But can
Twitter monetize all this
activity?
Looking at the curve of Tweets
per day over time, the growth of
Twitter's popularity can only be
described as exponential. Since
Twitter's very raison d'etre is
somewhat viral--like most social
networking systems--perhaps
this curve shouldn't be too
surprising, as more people
engage in Twitter it becomes a
richer data source, and that
makes it more attractive for
incoming users. They find it a
more exciting, useful
experience...and they stay and
take part, in greater numbers
than Twitter's early days (when
frequently Tweets were
something like "What is this
thing for?")
So, we have 5000 Tweets per
day in 2007, with relatively few
users exchanging information,
and only just beginning to flesh
out Twitter's capabilities. In
2008 more people were aboard,
Tweeting 300,000 times per day.
Last year, 2009, 2.5 million
Tweets went out each day, and
Twitter itself evolved: People
were re-Tweeting, inventing
phenomena like #musicmonday
and #followfriday (which
actively helps expand the social
network) and linking their
profiles into Facebook. Twitter
began to seriously appear in the
public's eye. In December came
the great Google feed live switch
-on, which definitely bumped
Twitter's public profile even
more. And right now Twitter's
shepherding a flock of 50 million
Tweets per day, 600 per second.
Assuming the average Tweet is
about 100 characters, that
amounts to 5 billion characters
per day--an astonishing
wellspring of fresh new content.
But here's the thing: We think
that Twitter's begun to claw in
cash, thanks to the deals with
search engines, and it's clear
from its founder's stance that
Twitter is in no rush to be bought
up by somebody--its business is
sustainable. So exactly how can
Twitter leverage the enormous
amount of data pouring through
its servers every day to earn even
more cash? It's a tricky one,
especially as the company's
already sealed a deal with the
world's biggest search engine. It
can always re-negotiate the terms
of that, if its live news feed into
Google becomes more valuable
in user's eyes...
No. Now's the time for Twitter
to really roll out its business
analytics, those premium paid
services that Biz Stone described
last year. At 50 million Tweets a
day, many of them containing
useful links and opinion data,
and with more and more
companies using Twitter for PR
and customer liaison, its obvious
Twitter's status stream has
reached critical mass.
[ Twitterblog]

RadioShack Earnings Surge, But Investors Not Impressed

by Steven Mallas quarter results on Monday after operations for the full year did But Investors Not Impressed
(BloggingStocks) the bell. Sales increased well contract by 10%; it would have originally appeared on
Submitted at 2/23/2010 8:30:00 AM
over 4%. Same-store sales at been nice to see an increase in BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Feb
company-operated locations and cash flow to go along with the 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see
Filed under: Earnings Reports, kiosks in the United States rest of the data set, but at least our terms for use of feeds. Read|
Wal-Mart (WMT), Best Buy expanded by over 6%. The the bottom line was ahead of Permalink| Email this|
(BBY), RadioShack Corp (RSH) bottom line jumped 25% to 60 estimates(if only by a penny). Comments
R a d i o S h a c k ( R S H ) , a n cents per share. Continue reading RadioShack
electronics chain in competition RadioShack had a relatively cash equivalents line on the Earnings Surge, But Investors
with Best Buy ( BBY) and Wal- strong quarter. Gross margin balance sheet (long-term debt Not Impressed
Mart ( WMT), posted fourth- improved, as did the cash and went down, too). Cash from RadioShack Earnings Surge,
12 Business/ Popular News/ Tech/
Macmillan's New Digital Textbooks Let Profs
Reorder, Rewrite, and Stick It to Rival Academics
by Dan Nosowitz (Fast
Company)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 8:42:48 AM
Macmillan's newly announced
DynamicBooks textbooks are a
huge change for the stodgy, ultra
-conservative world of academic
writing. The digital textbooks
give professors the power to
reorder chapters, insert extra
reading, delete irrelevant
passages, rewrite individual
sentences, and scribble in the
margins. Oh, and they'll cost half
the price of physical textbooks.
The inherent question here is
whether professors should
actually have the right to alter
textbooks as they see fit--but the
fact of the matter is, they'll do
that anyway. Today's college
classes often require a textbook,
of which only half the content is
relevant and which costs over a
hundred dollars, as well as a
coursepack or smattering of
disorganized articles to
supplement it. These
DynamicBooks would allow
profs to simply streamline their
existing syllabus into a single
digital file--essentially, allowing
them to do what they already do,
and better.
TextFlow partners with Box.net to solve its big weakness
by Josh Lowensohn
(Webware.com)
E-reader News Edition
Twitter hits 50
million tweets
per day
(Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:53:00 AM
The Twitter team can break out
the Dixie cups and pop open a
bottle of bottom shelf
champagne because the
microblogging site has hit 50
million tweets per day. That's up
from 5,000 tweets per day in
2007 and 300,000 tweets per day
DynamicBooks will also be $134.29, but the DynamicBooks monitor changes." But reaction in 2008. Not too shabby, Twitter.
offered at a heft discount, partly version will sell for $48.76. has mostly been very positive, Full story at TechTree.
b e c a u s e m o d e r n p h y s i c a l Some writers and students have especially from students--and Tons of Twitter tidbits.
textbooks are designed to be e x p r e s s e d c o n c e r n t h a t this summer's launch of the Permalink| Leave a comment »
resold after use (which in turn professors might change books Apple iPad tablet may encourage
gives the publishers license, or at to reflect personal beliefs--say, a incoming college freshmen to be
least they presume license, to science teacher might change a the first to really embrace digital Zynga: No, we're
charge a ridiculous premium). chapter on evolution to instead textbooks. Macmillan expects to
Digital books can't easily be promote intelligent design. launch its first 100 titles this not charging for
resold, but they also eliminate Macmillan doesn't condone that August, just in time for the
the need for printing, so those kind of rewriting, but also 2010/2011 school year.
Farmville
savings are passed on. For doesn't provide a built-in way to [Via The New York Times] by Caroline McCarthy
example, Psychology, by Daniel check it--instead saying they (Webware.com)
L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert, "would rely on students, parents Submitted at 2/22/2010 10:46:00 AM
and Daniel M. Wegner, lists for and other instructors to help
A rumor posted to a blog
suggests that the Farmville social
gaming craze may be switching
from free to paid. Not true, its
TextFlow is working with skills into practice on files Crawler parent company says.
Box.net to put its Microsoft people have stored on Box. Originally posted at The Social
Word document comparison Originally posted at Web
E-reader News Edition
Apple's "Boobie Apps" Banning
Resulted In the SuicideGirls'
Removal
by Gizmodo Staff (Fast
Company)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 7:49:59 AM
Apple claims they removed
those 5,000 boobie apps because
women were complaining over
the "degrading" and
"objectionable" content. Correct
me if I'm wrong, but the removal
of the SuicideGirls' app--which
actually empowers women--
seems most questionable.
Sure, the free app features
nudity. If you count nudity as
being of the bras 'n knickers
kind. But when the site was set
up by a woman, and populated
entirely by women, it just means
Apple really does have to define
what criteria an app has to meet
before it's pulled down. Tarring
all titillating apps with the same
brush, yet allowing some cases
such as Sports Illustrated's app to
remain on the App Store will end
up backfiring on Apple--and I'm
sure this won't be the last time
we hear about the SuicideGirls'
app, with the community being
very, very vocal. The app
actually had over 5 million
Will the real Dalai Lama please tweet up?
(Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 10:33:00 PM
The Dalai Lama joins
downloads before it was pulled
this week.
SuicideGirls co-founder Missy
Suicide is going on G4's Attack
of the Show to discuss the
removal of the free SuicideGirls:
Flip Strip app today at 7pm EST,
which used the iPhone's
accelerometer to remove the
girls' clothes when the phone is
tilted. Without straying too much
on Jezebel's turf, Phil Schiller's
comments about Sports
Twitter—for real this time
(unlike the last time when the
handle @OHHDL fooled folks
into thinking it was the spiritual
Illustrated's app allowed to
remain in the store because it's "a
well-known company with
previously published material
available broadly in a well-
accepted format" shows he's
never acquainted himself with
the many SuicideGirls books
available.
[ SuicideGirls via Gizmodo]
leader. And thus verified
Business/ Popular News/ 13
Before the Bell: Futures
Slip Ahead of Confidence,
Housing Data
by Melly Alazraki
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 8:15:00 AM
Filed under: Before the Bell,
International Markets, Home
Depot (HD), Market Matters,
Sears Holdings (SHLD),
Economic Data U.S. stock
futures were lower Tuesday
Chairman Ben Bernanke is due
morning as investors were to give a testimony on Capitol
cautious about the strength of the
Hill starting Wednesday, perhaps
economic recovery, awaiting giving more clues about the
several key indicators to get a
Fed's direction.
better feel of the recovery, Continue reading Before the
including data on consumer
Bell: Futures Slip Ahead of
confidence and the housing Confidence, Housing Data
market.
Before the Bell: Futures Slip
U.S. stocks closed generally Ahead of Confidence, Housing
lower on Monday following a
Data originally appeared on
choppy session devoid mostly of BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Feb
economic news. Investors are
2010 08:15:00 EST. Please see
still jittery about possible interest our terms for use of feeds.
rate hikes following the Federal
Permalink| Email this|
Reserve's surprise move to raise Comments
the discount rate last week. Fed
accounts were born). You can Permalink| Leave a comment »
tweet him up at@DalaiLama.
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14 Popular News/
1,000-Mile Commute for Some GM Employees
(FOXNews.com)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 2:04:59 AM
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JANESVILLE, Wisconsin In
the early dawn, after another
week building cars, Michael
Hanley leaves his job in Kansas.
He quickly zips into Missouri,
then heads up a ribbon of
highway past grain silos and
grazing deer, across the frozen
fields of Iowa, over the
Mississippi River and into the
rolling hills of Wisconsin.
Finally, he pulls into his
driveway — 530 miles later.
It's one heck of a haul: more
than 1,000 miles round trip, 16-
plus hours of driving, every
week.
"I like to say I gave up an eight-
minute commute for an eight-
hour commute," Hanley says
wearily, running a hand through
salt-and-pepper hair as he
watches his two sons play
basketball for the first time this
season.
After the aging General Motors
plant where he worked for 23
years was idled about a year ago,
Hanley faced a Hobson's choice:
Stay with his family and search
for an autoworker's salary ($28
an hour) in a county where more
than 40 percent of its
manufacturing jobs disappeared
from 2006 to 2009. Or hang on
to his GM paycheck and health
insurance and follow the job, no
matter where it leads.
In his case, it led to Fairfax,
Kansas, the same place his
brother and two brothers-in-law
— also GM workers, and now
his roommates — landed. For
others, it has been Indiana or
Texas.
The long commute is not just a
story of hard times, tough
choices and a shrinking
American auto industry. It also is
a case study of what happens
when an aging industrial town
loses an anchor, when workers
too old to start over and too
young to retire are caught in a
squeeze, and when economic
survival means one family, but
two far-flung street addresses.
———
Hanley is not one to complain.
"GM has been good for us," he
says. "This whole town knows
that."
For 90 years, the sprawling
plant — it originally built
tractors — became a different
kind of family business. Through
the decades, sons followed
fathers onto the line, sometimes
rubbing shoulders as they built
Chevy Cavaliers, Caprices,
Tahoes, Suburbans and more.
Hanley's father and brother
worked there. So did his father-
in-law, two brothers-in-law and
an assortment of uncles, cousins,
nieces and nephews.
But as GM's financial troubles
mounted, car and Sports Utility
Vehicle sales fell and gas prices
climbed, the automaker closed
several plants and eliminated
thousands of jobs.
Janesville, then the oldest of
GM assembly plants, ended
production of sport utility
vehicles in December 2008,
months before the automaker
received billions of dollars in
government loans and filed for
bankruptcy. (The factory is on
standby status; some hold out
hope it will reopen one day.)
Some of about 1,200 remaining
workers took buyouts or retired;
some began new careers.
Hundreds more stayed with GM,
relocating, commuting or just
waiting for an opening. The
automaker has about 6,500 laid-
off workers nationwide.
Even before the doors closed,
Hanley began preparing for life
after GM. He returned to college
to complete two credits he
needed for an accounting degree,
but an offer in Kansas came first.
He did not hesitate. Auto work
these days is like playing musical
chairs. You grab an opening
where you can.
Hanley did not want to lose his
health insurance while his wife,
Laura, was receiving costly
chemotherapy treatments for a
blood disease that probably will
lead to cancer. The medical bills
last year, she says, were in the
tens of thousands of dollars.
"There's no way I could possibly
go through one treatment without
him having insurance," she says.
Like many other divided GM
families, the Hanleys decided
even though the job was
important, there were reasons not
to uproot everyone: Laura works
at their sons' Roman Catholic
school, the boys are immersed in
band, Boy Scouts, basketball and
church, and the sale of a house
was an iffy and perhaps money-
losing proposition.
Hanley knew it would be a trade
-off — financial security for a
lonely existence.
His eyes mist as he talks about
what he misses: dinner with his
family, coaching basketball,
going to the YMCA with his
boys, wrestling with them at
night, attending their concerts
and games, watching them grow
up.
"It's an adjustment, not being
home," he says. "I probably
sounded cruel because I said I
wouldn't miss my wife as much
because she's going to be there
when I come back, when I retire.
But those years with the kids
aren't going to be there. That's
the hard part, not being able to
be around them. ... I don't know
if I really appreciated it before."
Hanley plans to commute
another 18 months, until he turns
50, hoping for a retirement
package then, which he says he
"prays about every night."
Laura, meanwhile, does double
duty as a single parent. It is all
overwhelming: working,
shuttling her sons around,
keeping an eye on her elderly
mother and worrying about her
husband's long commutes.
"The kids are tired of seeing
mom cry because she's stressed
and seeing dad cry when he
E-reader News Edition
needs to go back to work," she
says. "We're really close — the
four of us. You can't talk to a lot
of people, either. They have no
sympathy. They say at least he's
working."
And that is nothing to take for
granted in this southern
Wisconsin county where
unemployment has been in the
double-digits for more than a
year.
For every one of about 4,500
GM and auto supplier jobs that
disappeared, another was lost
outside the industry, says Bob
Borremans, head of the
Southwest Wisconsin Workforce
Development Board. The ripple
effect was enormous: About
9,000 of the county's 75,000 jobs
vanished.
The plant, itself, had long been a
polarizing presence in the
community, he says.
"Because of the benefits, the
working conditions, the pay ... it
was THE coveted job in the
area," he explains. "In many
cases, people, because of who
they knew, were able to walk in
and get a job there. That created
animosity."
"There are those people who
worked there who have lost
something they thought would be
around forever and provided
them with a real good lifestyle,"
he adds. "But there are others, I
would say, who were jealous of
folks who had that opportunity.
1,000-MILE page 15
E-reader News Edition
1,000-MILE
continued from page 14
And they don't have a lot of
sympathy for the stress the (GM)
people are feeling these days."
———
After seven months of
commuting, Brad Morrison
measures his world in numbers.
—169,000 miles (272,000
kilometers): The odometer
reading on his 2002 Silverado.
—$180: The cost of gas for
weekly trips between Fairfax
(just outside Kansas City) and
Wisconsin.
—Six years, two months. That is
when Morrison will have 30
years at GM and can retire with a
full pension. He'll be 49 then.
Morrison started at GM as a
teen, married his high school
sweetheart, Sarah, and they had
three children. With "two in
college and one in braces," he
says, he didn't consider changing
careers.
"I'm kind of trapped now," he
says.
With his shock of white-blond
hair, Morrison looks a decade
younger than 43 but says 24
years of stooping, lifting car
parts and standing have taken a
toll — three surgeries on his
knees, one on his left shoulder,
another on his left wrist.
Now, he says, there's a grueling
Monday to Friday work
schedule, heading home at 2:40,
arriving around 10 p.m., often
too wired to sleep. On Saturdays,
it is reconnect-with-the-family
time. And that can mean more
driving: His 15-year-old son's
recent choral competition put
him on the road five more hours
one Saturday.
On Sundays, he heads back at
about 1 p.m. — 39 hours after
arriving.
"I'm worn down," Morrison says.
"You never get any rest. You're
always on the move. ... It's hard
to have a family life or marriage.
Try to be a husband or father at
500 miles (805 kilometers)
away."
He never considers skipping a
weekend. "I don't know how a
wife or kids can be too much of a
hassle," he says. "The hassle is
just not having them with me."
Morrison and his wife, a school
aide, talk several times a day. In
between, they text each other
with endearing "I miss you" and
"I love you" messages. "We're
hopeless romantics," he says.
She concurs: "He's my best
friend."
But living apart is more than an
emotional strain. It is expensive,
too.
Morrison refinanced his house
to free up more money for
monthly expenses that include
gas — $720 when he drives
alone — and $425 in rent and
utilities for an apartment he
shares with another Janesville
transplant. (GM, in many cases,
provides some compensation for
workers who relocate.)
This is temporary.
The Morrisons decided they do
not want to live this way; they
plan to sell their Wisconsin
house, and Sarah and their
youngest son, Austin, will move
when the school year ends.
Although they will be together,
Morrison does not feel secure.
"This plant is no safer (from
downsizing) than any other," he
says. "I don't take my job for
granted anymore. ... Do I regret
working for them? No. It's good
money. It was a good company
back then. It still is."
"The auto industry is a lot like a
roller coaster," he adds. "When
the going is good and you're at
the top, everything is boom.
When it's times like this, you're
at the bottom. But I still feel
fortunate even to be there. I can
still hold on. And I count my
blessings for that."
———
John Dohner can be forgiven if
he has that feeling of deja vu
when he pulls into the parking
lot of the GM plant outside Fort
Wayne, Indiana.
He has been there before.
Decades ago.
Then a fresh-faced 20-year-old,
Dohner moved from Janesville to
Indiana, following his job
building pickup trucks. He
returned to Janesville when a
spot opened seven years later.
Now he is reversing course as a
44-year-old family man with a
wife, three kids (21, 17 and 15),
a house, a 13-acre (5-hectare)
farm and a good life almost 300
miles (480 kilometers) and one
time zone away. It is a life he is
not about to abandon.
Ditto for his job.
"I'm not going to walk away," he
says. "I'm not giving them the
satisfaction of giving them 25
years of my life and not get
anything in return."
Like others, he has his eye on
the prize: the 30-year finish line.
Dohner is among dozens of
Janesville commuters who form
a caravan every Saturday
morning to make the 275-mile
(440-kilometer) trek home. (He
turned down a GM job in
Kansas. The drive was too long,
he said.)
Soon, one of his laid-off
brothers will join him in Indiana;
another still is waiting. Their
father, John Sr., heads United
Auto Workers Union Local 95.
With Dohner gone, his wife,
Jane, has become skilled at
everything from repairing water
tanks to installing furnace filters.
Her day starts at 4:45 a.m., when
she and the children feed the
dogs, rabbits, cows, chickens and
horses. The two boys take care
of their dad's snow plow
business. Dohner still keeps up
his duties as chairman of the tiny
township (population 800), using
vacation days to attend monthly
meetings.
On Sundays, Jane gives her
husband spaghetti casseroles,
brownies and other dishes for the
week, and waves goodbye.
It is much easier than last
summer. She sat on the front
porch and cried the first time he
left. "You can't think of five
years," she says. "I think I can't
do it for so long. ... I just texted
him Thursday night and said,
`This stinks."'
15
There seems no good solution.
"We built this place and worked
so hard to get it to where it is, so
do you want to leave?" she says,
glancing outside at the tranquil
snow-covered countryside where
the dogs frolic and horses graze.
"But some days," she says, "I
think we should have all gone as
a family."
———
Steve Kerl now knows about the
rodeo, the Texas Rangers and
traffic jams — all part of his new
surroundings.
He works at the GM plant in
Arlington, Texas. His home
remains in Janesville, about
1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers)
away, making it impossible to
return more than a handful of
times in the past year, although
his wife, Kristy, and two
children have visited.
When Kerl first drove down last
March with his wife, they talked
several times about turning
around. He forged on, but his
wife didn't like what she saw, so
she returned home.
If it is any comfort, Kerl can
look around the factory floor and
see others who have picked up
stakes, coming from Michigan,
Tennessee, Missouri and, of
course, Wisconsin.
Kerl says he transferred to
Texas because it was the only
option then and auto jobs were
fast disappearing. "I figured it
would be better being on the
inside looking out rather than the
1,000-MILE page 25
16 Popular News/
To some, suicide attack on IRS made pilot a hero (AP)
(Yahoo! News: U.S. News)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 5:21:00 PM
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DALLAS – Flames were still
shooting from the building when
the suicide pilot who crashed his
plane into the IRS office in
Austin was being hailed in some
corners as a hero who struck a
courageous blow against the
tyranny of the U.S. tax code.
While most Americans surely
see Joseph Stack as an angry,
misguided man whose final act
was repugnant, his suicide
mission has clearly tapped a vein
of rage among anti-tax, anti-
government extremists.
The way they see it, "he did the
ultimate flipping of the bird to
the man," said JJ MacNab, a
Maryland-based insurance
analyst who is writing a book
about tax protesters. "He stuck it
to the man, and they love that."
It is not surprising Stack would
be portrayed as a hero on fringe
Web sites such as stormfront.org,
a forum for white supremacists.
But admirers also are expressing
their appreciation on mainstream
sites such as Facebook, where a
fan page supporting some of the
things he said in his six-page
manifesto had more than 2,000
members Monday.
Stack, 53, left behind a
rambling, 3,000-word screed in
which he ranted about his
financial reverses, his difficulty
finding work in Austin and his
hatred of big business. Mostly,
though, he focused on his clashes
with the IRS, including one after
he failed to file a tax return
because he said he had no
income. Stack traced his
problems to a 1986 change in the
tax code affecting software
contractors like him.
In Texas, Republican
gubernatorial candidate Debra
Medina told a San Antonio radio
station last week she did not
sympathize with Stack, but that
his act reflected "the
hopelessness many in our society
feel."
"There is a sense in all of our
country that we are not on the
right path," she said.
Asked whether she considered
her father a hero, Stack's adult
daughter, Samantha Dawn Bell,
said during a telephone interview
broadcast Monday on ABC's
"Good Morning America": "Yes.
Because now maybe people will
listen." But she stressed that his
actions were "inappropriate."
Later, though, in an interview
with The Associated Press in
Norway, where she lives, she
said she does not consider her
father a hero. She said she
understands her father's
animosity toward a "faulty" and
"unbalanced" American tax
system. But she said he should
have found "a completely
different way" to address it.
"Write letters — that's what he
should have done, rather than
actually doing what he did," she
said.
Threats against IRS employees
have steadily increased in the
past five years, climbing from
834 in fiscal 2005 to 1,014
threats in 2009, according to J.
Russell George, the Treasury
Department's inspector general
for tax administration.
"The new commissioner of the
Internal Revenue Service has
made it clear, and rightfully so,
that people who owe the IRS
money should pay the money
they owe," George said. "That
activity, coupled with the
economy as well as a general
sense of unease, have caused
people to react in ways we all
hoped they would not."
Since the attack, security has
been tightened at IRS offices
across the country, he said.
IRS Commissioner Doug
Shulman, who joined U.S.
Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner in a Monday meeting
with employees who were inside
the building when Stack flew
into it, said employees would
"continue to serve their country
and the nation's taxpayers with
dignity and respect."
"An act like this won't get in the
way with us doing our job,"
Shulman said.
Geithner read a letter of support
from President Barack Obama. "I
think all Americans owe them
their support and their
encouragement in this time of
tragedy," Geithner said
afterward.
Mark Potok, a director at the
Southern Poverty Law Center,
which tracks white supremacists
and other hate groups, said the
attack on the IRS has been
endorsed by extremists even
more enthusiastically than the
shooting rampage last June at the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum in Washington that left
a security guard dead.
"I think Joseph Stack has tapped
into a very deep vein of rage
against the government," he said.
On one Internet thread full of
praise for Stack, one person
wrote that he must "suppress the
urge to take flying lessons."
Pensacola, Fla., pastor and radio
host Chuck Baldwin wrote on his
Web site that he wished Stack
had not died "because we need
each other." He added: "My
heart goes out to Joe Stack! The
sentiments expressed above are
shared by millions of Americans
who are also fed up with Big
Brother."
Larken Rose, a 41-year-old
Pennsylvania man who served a
year in prison for willful failure
to file an income tax return, said
he does not consider the IRS
employee killed in the attack and
the man's injured co-workers to
be innocent victims.
"I don't know how many people
they harassed or how many
houses they had stolen or how
many bank accounts they had
swiped," he told the AP. Stack's
letter "shows quite obviously he
was not crazy. He was frustrated.
He had been wronged over and
over."
E-reader News Edition
The IRS kept a master list of tax
protesters until 1998, when a
change in the law prevented the
agency from tracking them.
MacNab estimated there are
more than 500,000 tax protesters
today, the vast majority of whom
do not file tax returns.
"There are people who
sympathize with this crime and
turn the criminal into a hero,"
said Fathali Moghaddam, a
psychology professor at
Georgetown University. "At tax
time, what better authority figure
to hit than the tax man?"
Moghaddam also said the ease
and anonymity of the Internet
have helped bring like-minded
zealots together.
"It may be that 50 years ago,
there would be 200 people who
would like to express support for
this kind of action but they
couldn't, because there was
nobody in their neighborhood to
connect with," the professor said.
Stack has not been linked to any
specific political philosophy or
party, though his anti-
government views are sometimes
espoused by Tea Party members
in Texas who have supported
Medina's surprising run against
Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Sen.
Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Phillip Dennis, a leader of the
15,000-member Dallas Tea
Party, disavowed any connection
to Stack.
"We never advocate violence and
SOME, page 18
E-reader News Edition Popular News/ Politics/ 17

NYC bomb plotter plea deal might help broaden case (AP)
(Yahoo! News: U.S. News) organization. The 25-year-old, Denver suburbs and cooked up stayed. Zazi was arrested. a similar lying charge.
Submitted at 2/23/2010 3:55:53 AM part of what prosecutors consider in a Colorado hotel room. He One of the people familiar with Authorities say the cabbie and
one of the most serious U.S. then drove the materials to New the investigation said that Zazi another former high school
Message from fivefilters.org: If terror threats since the attacks on York just before the eighth told prosecutors that he made classmate of Zazi's, Adis
you can, please donate to the full Sept. 11, 2001, faces life in anniversary of the Sept. 11 roughly 2 pounds of a powerful Medunjanin, traveled to Pakistan
-text RSS service so we can prison without parole when he's attacks. and highly unstable explosive with Zazi. Medunjanin has
continue developing it. sentenced in June. His plan was to assemble the called triacetone triperoxide, or pleaded not guilty to charges he
NEW YORK – Distressed over The jailed Zazi had recently bombs over the weekend and TATP. The same explosive was conspired to kill U.S. soldiers in
the deaths of civilians in his volunteered information about detonate them within days. used by would-be shoe bomber Afghanistan and remains jailed.
native Afghanistan, a man who the bomb plot in the first step Asked by federal Judge Richard Reid in 2001 and by the Officials earlier confirmed
once operated a coffee cart near t o w a r d a p l e a d e a l , T h e Raymond J. Dearie on Monday if terrorists who carried out the Zazi's uncle had been arraigned
the World Trade Center site Associated Press learned earlier he had been willing to be a London bombings that killed 52 on a felony count in secret, a
hatched a plan to join the Taliban this month from officials who suicide bomber, Zazi said, "Yes, people in 2005. sign he could be cooperating.
and fight the U.S. military. spoke on condition of anonymity your honor." Zazi decided to cooperate after Holder used the case to rebut
Najibullah Zazi traveled to because the terror investigation While entering the city, Zazi being warned that his mother Republican critics who've said
Pakistan in August 2008 but was ongoing. His cooperation was stopped by police for a could face criminal immigration the Democratic administration
never made it to Afghanistan. Al suggests prosecutors hope to routine traffic violation on the charges, one of the people should try such terrorism
-Qaida operatives spotted him. expand the case and bring George Washington Bridge, familiar with his case told the suspects before military tribunals
They had more ambitious plans charges against other suspects. which connects New Jersey and AP. rather than through civilian
and conspired with him to try to Already charged are an imam, a New York. Suspicious officers Zazi's father was accused this courts.
help him die a martyr in a cab driver and Zazi's uncle and allowed him to go free but kept a month of trying to get rid of "To take this tool out of our
bombing of the New York father, who's been accused of close watch on his movements. chemicals and other evidence. hands, to denigrate this tool,"
subway system, he admitted trying to dispose of chemicals. "The plan was to conduct Prosecutors, after initially Holder said, "flies in the face of
Monday. U.S. Attorney General Eric martyrdom operation on the demanding that he be jailed in facts and is more about politics
"I had discussions with al-Qaida Holder said in Washington that subway lines in Manhattan as Brooklyn without bail, agreed to than it is about facts."
l e a d e r s , i n c l u d i n g t a r g e t the planned bombings "could soon as the material was ready," a deal on Feb. 17 releasing him ___
locations, such as New York have been devastating." Zazi said. on $50,000 bond and allowing Associated Press writers Devlin
City subways," he said. "This attempted attack on our Sometime after the traffic stop, him to return to his home in Barrett and Pete Yost in
Zazi, a former Colorado airport homeland was real, it was in Zazi realized authorities were suburban Denver. Washington and Larry
shuttle driver, pleaded guilty motion and it would have been investigating him. By contrast, bond for a Queens Neumeister in New York
Monday in Brooklyn federal deadly," he said. "At that point, we threw away imam charged with lying to the contributed to this report.
court to conspiring to use Zazi admitted using notes taken the detonator explosives and FBI about phone contact with Five Filters featured article:
weapons of mass destruction, at an al-Qaida training camp in other materials," he said. Zazi when Zazi was in New Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
conspiring to commit murder in Waziristan, Pakistan, to build Authorities raided several York was set at $1.5 million. A PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
a foreign country and providing homemade explosives with Queens apartments, including a friend of Zazi's, a New York cab Term Extraction.
material support for a terrorist beauty supplies purchased in the friend's home where Zazi had driver, was jailed without bail on

Video: World Net Daily Columnist Supports Uganda Death Penalty for Gays
(Little Green Footballs) Molotov Mitchell comes right the death penalty” for gays. This gays” rant. obnoxious rock music
Submitted at 2/22/2010 5:46:34 PM out and defends Uganda’s bill to caveman even quotes Martin This has to be one of the soundtrack, how is this different
make homosexuality a capital Luther King as some kind of stupidest, most hateful videos from the Taliban?[Video]
World Net Daily columnist offense — because “God created twisted support for his “kill the I’ve seen yet. Apart from the
18 Popular News/
NYC Terror Plotter Plea Deal May Broaden Case
(FOXNews.com)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 1:34:55 AM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
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NEW YORK Distressed over
the deaths of civilians in his
native Afghanistan, a man who
once operated a coffee cart near
the World Trade Center site
hatched a plan to join the Taliban
and fight the U.S. military.
Najibullah Zazi traveled to
Pakistan in August 2008 but
never made it to Afghanistan. Al
Qaeda operatives spotted him.
They had more ambitious plans
and conspired with him to try to
help him die a martyr in a
bombing of the New York
subway system, he admitted
Monday.
"I had discussions with Al Qaeda
leaders, including target
locations, such as New York
City subways," he said.
Zazi, a former Colorado airport
shuttle driver, pleaded guilty
Monday in Brooklyn federal
court to conspiring to use
weapons of mass destruction,
conspiring to commit murder in
a foreign country and providing
material support for a terrorist
organization. The 25-year-old,
part of what prosecutors consider
one of the most serious U.S.
terror threats since the attacks on
Sept. 11, 2001, faces life in
prison without parole when he's
sentenced in June.
The jailed Zazi had recently
volunteered information about
the bomb plot in the first step
toward a plea deal, The
Associated Press learned earlier
this month from officials who
spoke on condition of anonymity
because the terror investigation
was ongoing. His cooperation
suggests prosecutors hope to
expand the case and bring
charges against other suspects.
Already charged are an imam, a
cab driver and Zazi's uncle and
father, who's been accused of
trying to dispose of chemicals.
U.S. Attorney General Eric
Holder said in Washington that
the planned bombings "could
have been devastating."
"This attempted attack on our
homeland was real, it was in
motion and it would have been
deadly," he said.
Zazi admitted using notes taken
at an al-Qaida training camp in
Waziristan, Pakistan, to build
homemade explosives with
beauty supplies purchased in the
Denver suburbs and cooked up
in a Colorado hotel room. He
then drove the materials to New
York just before the eighth
anniversary of the Sept. 11
attacks.
His plan was to assemble the
bombs over the weekend and
detonate them within days.
Asked by federal Judge
Raymond J. Dearie on Monday if
he had been willing to be a
suicide bomber, Zazi said, "Yes,
your honor."
While entering the city, Zazi
was stopped by police for a
routine traffic violation on the
George Washington Bridge,
which connects New Jersey and
New York. Suspicious officers
allowed him to go free but kept a
close watch on his movements.
"The plan was to conduct
martyrdom operation on the
subway lines in Manhattan as
soon as the material was ready,"
Zazi said.
Sometime after the traffic stop,
Zazi realized authorities were
investigating him.
"At that point, we threw away
the detonator explosives and
other materials," he said.
Authorities raided several
Queens apartments, including a
friend's home where Zazi had
stayed. Zazi was arrested.
One of the people familiar with
the investigation said that Zazi
told prosecutors that he made
roughly 2 pounds of a powerful
and highly unstable explosive
called triacetone triperoxide, or
TATP. The same explosive was
used by would-be shoe bomber
Richard Reid in 2001 and by the
terrorists who carried out the
London bombings that killed 52
people in 2005.
Zazi decided to cooperate after
being warned that his mother
could face criminal immigration
charges, one of the people
familiar with his case told the
AP.
Zazi's father was accused this
month of trying to get rid of
chemicals and other evidence.
Prosecutors, after initially
demanding that he be jailed in
Brooklyn without bail, agreed to
a deal on Feb. 17 releasing him
on $50,000 bond and allowing
him to return to his home in
suburban Denver.
By contrast, bond for a Queens
imam charged with lying to the
FBI about phone contact with
Zazi when Zazi was in New
York was set at $1.5 million. A
friend of Zazi's, a New York cab
driver, was jailed without bail on
a similar lying charge.
Authorities say the cabbie and
another former high school
classmate of Zazi's, Adis
Medunjanin, traveled to Pakistan
with Zazi. Medunjanin has
pleaded not guilty to charges he
conspired to kill U.S. soldiers in
Afghanistan and remains jailed.
Officials earlier confirmed
Zazi's uncle had been arraigned
on a felony count in secret, a
sign he could be cooperating.
Holder used the case to rebut
Republican critics who've said
the Democratic administration
should try such terrorism
suspects before military tribunals
rather than through civilian
courts.
"To take this tool out of our
hands, to denigrate this tool,"
Holder said, "flies in the face of
facts and is more about politics
than it is about facts."
Five Filters featured article:
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SOME,
continued from page 16
overthrow of the government,"
Dennis said. "We have a
framework to solve problems,
and that framework does not
include flying airplanes into
buildings."
What Stack did do, Dennis said,
was "tap into some people's
anger with a large and growing
government, a government that
doesn't listen to the people."
The family of Vernon Hunter,
the longtime IRS employee and
father of six who was killed in
the suicide attack, rejected any
suggestion Stack was a hero.
"People say (Stack) is a patriot.
What's he a patriot for? He hasn't
served the country," said
Hunter's son, Ken Hunter. "My
dad did two tours of Vietnam
and this guy is going to be a
patriot and no one is going to say
that about my dad?"
___
Ian MacDougall reported from
Oslo; Associated Press writers
April Castro and Jim Vertuno
contributed to this report from
Austin.
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E-reader News Edition Popular News/ Politics/ Tech News/ 19

Calif. insurer to face questioning over rate hike (AP)

(Yahoo! News: U.S. News) rebates for consumers. rising as more people lose it complies with a 2006 Anthem Blue Cross did not
Submitted at 2/23/2010 3:46:41 AM The state legislative hearing is employer-sponsored coverage. California law requiring insurers respond to a request for
the first public examination of After extensive media reports to spend 70 cents of every comment on the Tuesday
Message from fivefilters.org: If the rate proposal, which the and pressure from state premium dollar on medical care. committee hearing.
you can, please donate to the full insurer announced in November. regulators, Anthem agreed "I have a healthy skepticism that California isn't the only market
-text RSS service so we can On Wednesday, a U.S. House of earlier this month to postpone the the increase complies with the facing premium hikes. In Maine,
continue developing it. Representatives committee will start of the increase from March law," State Insurance Anthem Blue Cross has asked
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – question executives from 1 to May 1. Commissioner Steve Poizner for increases of about 23 percent
Anthem Blue Cross executives A n t h e m ' s p a r e n t c o m p a n y , In a Feb. 8 letter to Anthem said Monday. this year for some individual
are scheduled to testify Tuesday WellPoint Inc. of Indianapolis, president Leslie Margolin, U.S. Poizner said Anthem's 57 policyholders.
before a California legislative about its rate proposals. Health and Human Services percent market share in In Michigan, Blue Cross Blue
committee about an attempt to The company has said it needs Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said California is evidence that state Shield, which is not part of
boost insurance premiums by up to increase premiums in part she was disturbed by the residents lack sufficient choice WellPoint, requested approval
to 39 percent, a proposal that has because younger, healthier proposed increase and called for when it comes to choosing health for increases of up to 56 percent
become a flash point in the people have been dropping the insurer to justify the need for insurance providers. in 2009. State regulators
national debate over health care health insurance coverage during such a significant hike. Deputy Insurance ultimately approved an average
reform. the recession, leaving it with a Last week, her agency released a Commissioner David Link is increase of 22 percent.
The rate hike by California's pool of policyholders that is report condemning Anthem's scheduled to take part in Applications for rate increases
largest for-profit health insurer older and more dependent on recent actions. In it, Sebelius Tuesday's hearing before the in California are not made public
would affect the company's health care services. noted that profits for the Assembly Health Committee. He until the insurance department
roughly 700,000 individual The latest increase would country's 10 largest insurance will be joined by Margolin and officially acknowledges them.
policy holders in the state. average 25 percent but could be companies rose 250 percent numerous health insurance Poizner's spokesman, Darrel Ng,
The Obama administration has as high as 39 percent for some between 2000 and 2009 — 10 experts and consumer advocates. said the department has not
referenced Anthem's rate customers who purchase times faster than inflation. The hearing is intended to help acknowledged any significant
p r o p o s a l f r e q u e n t l y i n i t s individual policies. Anthem's WellPoint reported a $2.7 the Legislature develop policies rate increases by California's
arguments for greater federal remaining 7.3 million customers billion profit in the last quarter of to protect Californians from rate other health insurers.
authority over premiums. On in California are covered by 2009, according to the report. hikes like those proposed by Five Filters featured article:
Monday, President Barack employer-sponsored plans and The state insurance department Anthem, said the committee's Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
Obama put forward a national would not be affected, company lacks legal authority to stop rate chairman, state Assemblyman PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
health care plan that would give spokeswoman Kristin Binns said. increases but can complicate Dave Jones, D-Sacramento. Term Extraction.
the Department of Health and Individual insurance plans cover insurers' practices in other ways. "A 39 percent rate increase on
Human Services the authority to about 30 percent of Californians, The office has hired a consulting top of prior increases is simply
deny or limit substantial a c c o r d i n g t o t h e s t a t e firm to review Anthem's rate unconscionable," he said in a
premium increases or demand Department of Insurance. That is proposal and determine whether statement Monday.

Monday Afternoon Music: Don Ross
(Little Green Footballs)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 1:08:54 PM
The great Don Ross plays his
composition “Tight Trite Night,”
on a terrific-sounding Beneteau“
fan fret” guitar. This tune is on
the album Passion Session.(The
The Future of Money: It's Flexible,
iTunes Store has it too.)[Video]
Frictionless and (Almost) Free
by Daniel Roth (Wired Top card cartel is ending. A new
Stories) wave of financial upstarts is
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:00:00 PM
liberating your cash -- and the
economy.
The reign of the bank and credit
20 Popular News/ Tech/ E-reader News Edition

Toyota took 'too long' on recalls

(BBC News | Americas | 1100 local time (1600 GMT). recalls appear to be Media focus
World Edition) In a prepared statement, he said: "misleading". Toyota president Akio Toyoda
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:02:47 AM
"It has taken us too long to come Mr Waxman also wrote to Ray had initially said that he wished
to grips with a rare but serious LaHood, Secretary of the to stay in Japan and planned to
Message from fivefilters.org: If set of safety issues, despite all of Department of Transportation, send Yoshi Inaba, chief of
you can, please donate to the full our good faith efforts. who will also be questioned. Toyota's North America
-text RSS service so we can "The problem has also been
continue developing it. compounded by poor
Toyota has admitted it took "too communications both within our
In the letter, he criticises the
National Highway Traffic Safety
operations, to face Congress.
But last week he signalled a Macworld
Administration for "lacking change of heart and said he
long" to deal with safety issues company and with regulators and
which led to the recall of 8.5 consumers."
expertise" and said its response
to complaints about sudden
would testify, after the chairman
of the House Oversight and
2010: Adam
million vehicles worldwide. He went on: "In the case of
James Lentz, head of Toyota in sticking accelerator pedals, we
the US, said that on one issue, failed to promptly analyse and
unintended acceleration appears
to have been "seriously
deficient".
Government Reform Committee
formally called for him to do so.
Mr Toyoda, the grandson of the
Jackson
by Victor Agreda, Jr. (The
"we failed to promptly analyse respond to information emerging In Mr LaHood's prepared company's founder, will face Unofficial Apple Weblog
and respond" to information from Europe and in the United testimony, he said regulators tough questioning from the (TUAW))
provided. States. would continue to investigate committee. He has been
Submitted at 2/23/2010 3:00:00 AM
Mr Lentz will face questions " W e a c k n o w l e d g e t h e s e "all possible causes" of criticised for being too slow to
f r o m a U S c o n g r e s s i o n a l mistakes, we apologise for them unintended acceleration. react to the safety issues and for Filed under: Macworld Adam
committee later over the recall and we have learned from them." Robust sales the company offering unclear Jackson has been attending
and Toyota's handling of it. 'Serious flaws' Toyota said on Tuesday that its explanations. Macworld since 2003, including
Toyota president Akio Toyoda Commitee chairman Henry global sales were 15% higher in His performance will be closely the New York and Boston
will appear in Congress on Waxman wrote to Mr Lentz on January - when many of the watched. It is not yet known shows. His devotion to Apple
Wednesday. Monday and raised three recalls had already been whether he will speak in English and the Macworld Expo was
'Poor communications' concerns following a preliminary announced - than they were a or Japanese. highlighted in the excellent
In recent months, Toyota has r e v i e w o f t h e d o c u m e n t s year ago. He was criticised by the " f a n b o y " f i l m
been hit by three main safety p r o v i d e d b y T o y o t a : Domestic sales jumped 45%, Japanese media earlier this Macheads(available via iTunes).
problems - faulty accelerator • T o y o t a " c o n s i s t e n t l y while overseas sales rose nearly month for not bowing deeply When I sat down with him at
pedals, accelerator pedals getting dismissed" the possibility that 9%. enough at a news conference Macworld we spoke about the
stuck in floor mats, and a electronic failures could be On Monday, Toyota said it had arranged for him to say sorry for past, present and future of
problem with braking systems on responsible for acceleration received subpoenas asking it to the recalls, leading to questions Macworld. Video after the link
its hybrid models. problems produce documents relating to about the sincerity of his (pardon the abrupt start).
The majority of the recalls have • T h e r e p o r t t h a t T o y o t a the safety problems and the apology. TUAW Macworld 2010: Adam
taken place in the US. Mr Lentz c o m m i s s i o n e d t o l o o k a t company's disclosure policies. Print Sponsor Jackson originally appeared on
is the first Toyota executive to be potential electronic problems The subpoenas were served Five Filters featured article: The Unofficial Apple Weblog
g r i l l e d i n a s e r i e s o f appears to have "serious flaws" earlier this month by a federal Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: (TUAW) on Tue, 23 Feb 2010
c o n g r e s s i o n a l h e a r i n g s . and the company was too slow in grand jury in New York and by PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, 03:00:00 EST. Please see our
He will appear before the House initiating it the US financial watchdog, the Term Extraction. terms for use of feeds.
E n e r g y a n d C o m m e r c e • Toyota's public statements Securities and Exchange Read| Permalink| Email this|
Committee in Washington at about the adequacy of its recent Commission. Comments
E-reader News Edition
Leaders 'back claim on Falklands'
(BBC News | Americas |
World Edition)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 11:19:00 PM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.
Latin American and Caribbean
leaders have backed Argentina's
claim over the Falklands,
Argentine President Cristina
Fernandez de Kirchner has said.
At a regional summit in Cancun,
Mexico, a document has
reportedly been drafted giving
Argentina unanimous support.
It comes a day after a British oil
company began drilling for oil
off the islands, a move Argentina
objected to.
The UK's defence minister said
the government would take
whatever steps necessary to
protect the Falklands.
Argentina and Britain went to
war over the South Atlantic
islands in 1982, after Buenos
Aires invaded the archipelago.
The conflict ended with UK
forces wresting back control of
the islands, held by Britain since
1833.
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Hugo Chavez: "Queen of
England, the empires are over" -
footage courtesy of VTV
No official statement has been
made in Cancun, but Mexican
President Felipe Calderon
reportedly said a document had
been drawn up offering Buenos
Aires full support in its territorial
dispute with London.
The Argentine president accused
the British government of
ignoring international law by
allowing a British oil exploration
company to begin drilling near
the islands.
She said: "I think the important
thing is that we have achieved
very strong support, something
that legitimates our claims
fundamentally against the new
petroleum activity."
The BBC's Andy Gallacher in
Cancun says that any broad
agreement at the summit could
put more pressure on the British
government in what has become
an escalating diplomatic row.
'Return the Malvinas'
Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez reiterated his support for
Popular News/ 21
an oil industry in its waters.
Mr Rammell said the UK would
take "whatever steps necessary"
to protect the islands and that it
had made Argentina "aware of
that".
Argentina has ruled out military
action and is trying to pressure
Britain into negotiations on
sovereignty.
During the seven-week war in
1982 over the Falklands, 649
Argentine and 255 British
service personnel were killed.
Last year Argentina submitted a
claim to the United Nations for a
vast expanse of ocean, based on
research into the extent of the
continental shelf, stretching to
the Antarctic and including the
island chains governed by the
UK.
Argentina. as an alternative to the
It is due to raise the issue at the
"We demand, and I think all of Organisation of American States,
UN later this week.
us should do the same, the the main forum for regional
What do you think of the
withdrawal of the submarine affairs in the past 50 years.
regional support given to
platform, and that the English The British-contracted rig
Argentina over the Falklands?
government... give that land Ocean Guardian began drilling
Are you in the Falklands,
back," he said. 100km (62 miles) north of the
Argentina or one of its regional
Before leaving for the summit, Falklands on Monday, despite
neighbours? What do you think
Nicaraguan President Daniel f i e r c e o p p o s i t i o n f r o m
is the solution to the escalating
Ortega called for "Britain to A r g e n t i n a .
row concerning the islands?
return the territory of the Desire Petroleum, which is
Send us your comments using
Malvinas to its real owners - to overseeing the operation, said
the form below.
return it to Argentina" on drilling had started on the Liz
The BBC may edit your
Venezuelan Telesur television. 14/19-A exploration well at 1415
comments and not all emails will
Leaders at the summit, between GMT.
be published. Your comments
the Rio Group and the Caribbean Argentina claims sovereignty
may be published on any BBC
Community (Caricom), are also over what it calls the Islas
media worldwide.
said to have discussed plans for a Malvinas and has imposed
Print Sponsor
new pan-American alliance shipping restrictions.
Five Filters featured article:
which would exclude Canada But UK Defence Minister Bill
and the United States. Rammell said the government
The new grouping would serve had a "legitimate right" to build LEADERS page 22
22 Popular News/ Politics/ Tech News/ E-reader News Edition
Scott Brown's Tea
Ill will for slain Mich. activist as trial nears (AP) Party Honeymoon
(Yahoo! News: U.S. News) shocking as his signs. not disclosed a motive, although often accompanied by his
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:39:41 AM In high-profile trials, it's they have referred to a possible shouting at passers-by, gave his is Over
typically the accused seeking a grudge between him and the cause, indeed his town of (Little Green Footballs)
Message from fivefilters.org: If new venue because of too much victims. Owosso as well, a bad name."
you can, please donate to the full publicity or other issues. Not in Submitted at 2/22/2010 6:56:10 PM
His family has denied any rift Judy Jackson, 64, of Owosso,
-text RSS service so we can this case. and said Drake suffers from said she wouldn't be comfortable
Oops. Scott Brown voted the
continue developing it. "What's the assumption here?" depression and was having on a jury.
wrong way on the Senate jobs
OWOSSO, Mich. – In life, anti- said Drake's defense lawyer, trouble with his medicine. He "I don't agree with someone
bill, and now he has tea party
abortion activist James Pouillon Robert Ashley. "That people feel attempted suicide in jail. taking someone's life," Jackson
heartache.
spent years trying to influence someone who had an obnoxious "We'll ask for a verdict of not said. "But I don't miss the man
C o m m e n t b y
people in his small Michigan city way of exercising his First guilty by reason of insanity," on the corner or his foul mouth.
Relentless_Righteous_and_Right
with large signs of dead fetuses. Amendment right should die for Ashley said. He would chase you, call you
31 minutes ago
In death, that combative style it? That's extreme. ... I think we Pouillon's death led to tributes names. He was evil. His pictures
Great. Another marxist. Case
could make it difficult to find a can get an impartial jury." from national anti-abortion were so gross."
closed. Thanks, Scott. Guess
jury for the trial of the man Judge Gerald Lostracco is groups. President Barack Obama A barber, Jim Corrin, 63, once
we’ll have to wait another 6
charged with killing him. keeping the trial in Shiawassee called the shooting "deplorable." asked Pouillon, a regular
years to find a real Conservative
Jury selection was scheduled to County, population 71,000, Hundreds of people, most from customer, why he didn't display
to fill the dead kennedy’s seat.
start Tuesday in the first-degree unless the prosecutors turn out to outside the Owosso area, two pictures of happy children
(Hat tip: cronus.)
murder trial of trucker Harlan be right and a fair-minded jury attended a memorial service at on his sign instead of just one
UPDATE at 2/22/10 7:16:07
D r a k e , w h o i s a c c u s e d o f can't be chosen this week. the football field. accompanied by an aborted fetus.
pm:
gunning down Pouillon outside "We'll give it a sincere effort," A perception that Pouillon was "He said, `I want to show people
Scott Brown was actually the
Owosso High School on Sept. a s s i s t a n t p r o s e c u t o r S a r a being turned into a martyr the truth,'" Corrin recalled. "I had
first Senator to vote for the bill.
11, then later shooting business E d w a r d s s a i d . irritated many in Owosso. No no problem with his message. He
As soon as the vote was called,
owner Mike Fuoss. Pouillon, 63, was holding a sign one publicly defended the drive- was just overboard with it. He
he strode quickly into the well
But prosecutors have warned a depicting a dead fetus when he by shooting, but letters in the knew how to push buttons on
and interrupted the clerk as he
judge that it will be "almost was fatally shot as students were local newspaper described people, but Jim didn't deserve to
read the roll.
impossible" to seat jurors who entering the high school across Pouillon as belligerent and a "nut be executed on the sidewalk."
“Yes,” Brown said quietly, and
h a v e n ' t s e e n P o u i l l o n ' s the street. Fuoss was shot case" who brought children to Five Filters featured article:
then, having become Reid’s first
demonstrations or formed an minutes later at his gravel tears with his signs. Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
vote, he rushed out of the room
opinion about him. He was company, just outside Owosso, "We had to admire his PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
before Republican colleagues
everywhere — the farmers which is 70 miles northwest of persistence but did not admire Term Extraction.
arrived. He stepped into the
market, City Hall, the county Detroit. his modus operandi," The Argus-
hallway, then waited for
courthouse, football games— Police say Drake, 33, confessed Press said in an editorial five
reporters to assemble around
with verbal taunts that were as to the killings. Authorities have days after the killings. "His sign,
him.
LEADERS Walmart Jumps Into Online Movie “I’m not from around here,” he
continued from page 21
said. “I’m from Massachusetts.”
Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: Rentals, Buys Vudu
PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, by Ryan Singel (Wired Top Netflix for the title of king of
Term Extraction. Stories) online video rentals, with its
Submitted at 2/22/2010 5:22:22 PM
upcoming purchase of video-
streaming site Vudu.
Walmart is set to challenge
E-reader News Edition
Guilty plea in New York bomb plot
(BBC News | Americas |
World Edition)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 2:46:03 PM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.
An Afghan-born Colorado
airport bus driver has pleaded
guilty to plotting to blow up New
York's subway system.
Najibullah Zazi told a federal
court in the city that he had been
planning what he called a
"martyrdom operation".
Zazi pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to use weapons of
mass destruction, conspiracy to
commit murder and providing
material support to al-Qaeda.
US Attorney General Eric
Holder said the plot was one of
the most serious threats to the
US since 9/11.
Twenty-five-year-old Zazi
changed his plea from one of not
guilty. He faces a sentence of life
in prison without parole.
Zazi said he had agreed to carry
out the attack as a protest against
American military operations in
his homeland, Afghanistan.
The US intelligence community
has been under pressure ever
since it failed to prevent an
attack on an airliner bound for
Detroit on Christmas Day, says
the BBC's Matthew Price in New
York.
'We will not rest'
Mr Holder said the US
intelligence community had
foiled what could have been a
"devastating" attack.
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requires JavaScript to play.
US Attorney General Eric
Holder: "It would have been
deadly"
"This was one of the most
serious terrorist threats to the
nation since September 2001,"
he said, adding that there was no
doubt American lives had been
saved.
The plot had been months in the
planning.
The US Department of Justice
said Zazi flew to Pakistan in
2008 with a view to fighting for
the Taliban.
But he was recruited and trained
by al-Qaeda on the Afghan-
Pakistani border, and then
dispatched back to the US armed
with the knowledge to attempt an
attack on the New York subway
system.
Last September he rented a car
in Denver, Colorado, and made
the long drive to New York.
With him, he brought
homemade explosives, planning
to assemble the bombs over the
weekend, and hit the subway just
after the anniversary of the 11
September attacks.
Mr Holder said Zazi was under
surveillance throughout his trip,
and the investigation was
ongoing.
Popular News/ Tech News/
"We will not rest until everyone
responsible is captured," he said.
"We are at war with a very
dangerous, intelligent and
adaptable enemy and we must
use every weapon we have to
win that war."
Another two suspects - Adis
Medunjanin and Zasrein
Ahmedzay - said to be associates
of Mr Zazi - were arrested over
the plot last month.
Print Sponsor
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Term Extraction.
23
Extreme Test:
Going Ballistic on
Bulletproof Vests
by Kelsey Hazlewood (Wired
Top Stories)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:00:00 PM
Three bullet-resistant vests (no
garment is truly bullet proof) feel
the heat of a dozen .44-caliber
rounds. Only one holds up
exceptionally well.
Feb 23, 1987:
'Quintessential'
Supernova Bursts on the
Scene
by Alexis Madrigal (Wired Top
Stories)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:00:00 PM
Supernova 1987A's light reaches
Earth. It's the brightest of the
20th century, and the first visible
to the naked eye since 1604.
1933 Ford 'E-Rod'
Is EV for the
NASCAR Set
by Chuck Squatriglia (Wired
Top Stories)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 5:00:00 PM
Take one classic American hot
rod, add some 21st-century
technology ... and vroom!
24 Popular News/ Tech Blog/ E-reader News Edition

Mom Finds Snake Head in Frozen Twitter-as-a-weapon

Green Beans demo script
(FOXNews.com) severed snake head. The company also claims it (Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:23:17 AM "When I saw it was a snake's wasn’t a snake head - it was a Submitted at 2/22/2010 10:36:00 PM
head I just threw it down and frog head.
Message from fivefilters.org: If called my kids and said I got a "But it's still gross whether it's a This is the script that I created • Canon.alltop
you can, please donate to the full snake head in the green beans, frog or snake," said Jamison. for a speech for the Photo • StumbleUpon
-text RSS service so we can everybody said 'Oh lord, you got Now Jamison has to try harder Marketing Association called • SmartBrief
continue developing it. a snake head in the green than ever to get her children to “How to Use Twitter as a
A mother of four found a snake beans'," Jamison said. eat their greens. Weapon.” I designed it for How to Get More Followers:
head in a bag of frozen green After the screaming subsided, "Vegetables, umm, I don't look people in the photo industry, but Step 2: Tweet It Out
beans while cooking for her 15-year-old Sarah Jamison at vegetables the same, I never it illustrates Twitter’s usefulness • Automatic tweeting, analytics,
family in Houston, Texas, grabbed her camera and took really liked the vegetables but for most consumer-facing campaigns: Objective
MyFoxPhoenix.com reported video and pictures of their like now I can't even go near industries. Monitor Marketer— (disclosure: advisor).
Monday. uninvited dinner guest. vegetables," 17-year-old Mariam • Search Note: these links will work only
Ernestine Jamison said she "I saw big eyes, with a mouth Jamison said. • Nikon for me.
opened the bag of Pictsweet open and a tongue coming out, it MyFoxPhoenix attempted to • Nikon or Canon • Calendar
frozen cut green beans last looked like it was ready to contact Pictsweet several times • Nikon or Canon or Sigma • Campaigns
month to find what she first attack," she said. in recent weeks to respond to the • Campaign details
thought was a rock. Jamison called Pictsweet, and report, but calls were not Engage • Repeat posts
"I saw something in there I they offered her $150. returned. • Virgin America • Use promo code “wiseguy” for
wasn’t for sure what it was. I But she wasn’t looking for More from MyFoxPhoenix.com ninety-day free trial
thought it was a rock because it money and turned it down. Five Filters featured article: Sell
was hard," Jamison said. A letter sent by the company’s Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: • Dell Outlet • Automatic tweeting:
But upon further review, the insurance provider to Jamison PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, • Kogi BBQ Twitterfeed Note: this link will
Jamison family concluded the c l a i m s P i c t s w e e t " i s n o t Term Extraction. work only for me.
green and black frozen object responsible for this accident," Support
nestled in their dinner was a and they are "denying liability". • Comcast Cares Indispensable Tools
• Twitter client: Tweetdeck
When to be worried Prospect • Build traffic
(Scripting News) ideas, without explanation, • Photography Tweetmeme(disclosure: advisor)
without answering questions. • Advanced searches
Submitted at 2/22/2010 8:08:50 AM
And when that company shuts • Photography near Anaheim The Only Best Practice That
When big pieces of our culture off alternate channels for that You Need to Know: Get
flow through one company's culture to flow, with nonsense How to Get More Followers: retweeted! Final step: text
servers. like they're being "open..." Step 1: Find Good Content “Alltop” to 44133
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company takes an interest in the beginning to be too late to be • Nikon.alltop
ideas that are expressed in that worried.
culture, shutting off certain
E-reader News Edition Popular News/ Tech/ 25

Ex-US Vice-President Cheney ill Hints of video chat for

(BBC News | Americas |
World Edition)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 5:38:11 PM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
January last year, has a history of
heart problems.
He has had four heart attacks
and quadruple bypass surgery.
Hospital doctors told NBC
News that the former vice-
president was stable and may
other members of the Bush
administration on Friday, for the
first time since they left office in
iPhones and iPads
by Chris Rawson (The
January 2009. Unofficial Apple Weblog
Mr Cheney has undergone (TUAW))
several operations to clear
blocked arteries and was fitted Submitted at 2/23/2010 9:00:00 AM

continue developing it. receive additional treatment on with a pacemaker in 2001.

Former US Vice-President Dick
Cheney has been taken to
hospital in Washington after
experiencing chest pains, his
office has said.
They said Mr Cheney, 69, was
"resting comfortably" at George
Washington University Hospital
and his doctors were evaluating
the situation.
Mr Cheney, who left office in
1,000-MILE
continued from page 15
outside looking in," he says.
He wishes he could see his
daughter's cheerleader activities
and would have liked to have
taken his son to college. "He's
only going to be a freshman
once," he says.
And yet, he is reluctant to gripe
about his life.
"You can't put a negative spin on
it and say you hate it. I'm
working long hours, making
good money," he says. "My kids'
educations are being paid for. ...
I can tell you right now that a lot
of the people who took the
buyouts are struggling now.
Tuesday.
The television network said that
Mr Cheney had had an
angiogram test so that doctors
could look into his coronary
arteries, and that the results
showed he might need more
treatment.
AFP reported that Mr Cheney
was due to meet former US
President George W Bush and
They can't find a job anywhere."
It may get worse, too, this
summer when health care and
unemployment benefits expire
for some former GM workers.
"I don't think the community has
felt the entire blow yet," says the
elder Dohner, the UAW local
president. When the benefits are
gone "and it's time to build roads
and keep the schools open,
everyone is going to realize
there's a big, big hole."
Now 43, Kerl has seven more
years to reach the 30-year
milestone.
He does not expect that he will
In October 2008 he underwent
treatment to correct an abnormal
heart rhythm.
Print Sponsor
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spend all that time in Texas. But
that is fine.
"If they announced this plant was
closing, I'd pack up my stuff and
go to the next one," he says.
"We'll get through it. I'm going
to ride this to the end."
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Filed under: Rumors, iPhone,
SDK, iPad 9to5Mac reports that
it has found both icons and code
in the iPhone 3.2 SDK that could
be indicative of video chat
functionality coming to future
iPads and/or iPhones.
Specifically, there are icons
labelled "AcceptVideo" and
"DeclineOrEndVideo" complete
with camera icons reminiscent of
those already used by iChat, as
well as a text string in the
TelephonyUI which reads:
"setButton2:_updateButtonSettin
gs:_buttonWidthinitForVideoCh
atWithFrame" -- both of which
are indicative of at least the
embryonic beginnings of coding
for video chat.
This isn't the first hint we've
heard of video conferencing
coming to some future iDevice.
Apple-issued replacement parts
for the iPad's frame contain a slot
identical to the one used for
iSight cameras on the MacBook,
and another repair company has
recently issued pics of what it
claims is the next-gen iPhone's
front face, complete with a
mysterious hole that could be
used for a front-facing camera.
Many have cited the lack of any
kind of camera and therefore the
impossibility of video
conferencing as one of their
biggest disappointments
concerning the iPad. General
consensus among analysts is that
even if Apple doesn't include a
camera in the first-gen iPad, it
almost certainly will next year;
9to5Mac's unearthing of video
chat code in the iPhone 3.2 SDK
is only the latest bit of evidence
in support of that theory.
[Via MacDailyNews]
TUAW Hints of video chat for
iPhones and iPads originally
appeared on The Unofficial
Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue,
23 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST.
Please see our terms for use of
feeds.
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26 Tech/ E-reader News Edition

Getting a handle on celebrity Twitter IDs

(CNET News.com)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:00:00 AM

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you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.
Many Twitter users are said to
be confused as to what the
company's policies are regarding
reassigning IDs. For now, the
company is not handling
individual requests, unless they
fall under its impersonation or
trademark rules.(Credit: Daniel
Terdiman/CNET)
In the fall of 2008, most likely
after watching an episode of
"Survivor," I hopped over to
Twitter.com and registered the
ID @jeffprobst.
I have absolutely no memory of
doing this, or why I signed up
using the name of the host of
long-running reality show, but
I've been a fan of the (CNET
parent company) CBS series
since 2000 and it must have
seemed like a funny idea at the
time to anonymously post little
tidbits like "The tribe has
spoken" or "I'll go tally the
votes." But I quickly forgot I'd
done this, and for more than 16
months, the account lay fallow.
And it would have probably
stayed forgotten forever, except
that on Thursday, for reasons I
still can't figure out, messages
began flooding into my Yahoo
Mail account, alerting me that
one person after another was
now following me on Twitter. I
didn't even know what Twitter
ID this involved until I logged
into my e-mail and read, "Hi,
jeffprobst, [such and such a
person] is now following your
tweets on Twitter."
Using a tool that lets you see
when a Twitter ID was
registered, I discovered that I had
claimed @jeffprobst on
September 28, 2008, something
that was possible since Twitter
has few if any restrictions on
what names you register, so long
as they're available.
I was also able to determine that
Probst himself had registered
@Jeff_Probst on April 28, 2009.
Sheepishly realizing the
situation, I dashed off literally
the first tweet in the account's
history, "@jeff_probst I'd like to
return this account to you. Do
you want it? No strings
attached."
He has yet to take me up on my
offer.
ID reassignment
With tens of millions of users,
Twitter has become one of the
most popular sites on the
Internet. Along with that has
come the inevitable customer
service nightmare of dealing
with what must be thousands of
users seeking resolution about
some account name issue or
another.
The instances that get the most
attention, of course, are those
involving celebrities. For
example, Tony LaRussa, the
manager of Major League
Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals,
recently sued Twitter, claiming
his trademark rights were being
damaged by someone using
@tonylarussa to post some rather
insensitive tweets under his
name. Similarly, rapper Kanye
West threw a much-publicized fit
about the fact that someone else
had registered @kanyewest
before he did.
It seems that folks like LaRussa
and West are among the few who
can get Twitter to quickly
respond to complaints about
account IDs. Situations like
theirs fall under Twitter's
impersonation policy, which
reads, "Impersonation is
pretending to be another person
or entity in order to deceive.
Impersonation is a violation of
the Twitter rules and may result
in permanent account
suspension."
Under that policy, if Probst had
petitioned Twitter for control of
@jeffprobst, he would almost
certainly have gotten
satisfaction, and pronto, and
there would have been nothing I
could do about it.
The company's policy governing
trademarks works much the same
way. "Using a company or
business name, logo or other
trademark-protected materials in
a manner that may mislead or
confuse others or be used for
financial gain may be considered
trademark infringement," the
policy reads. "Accounts with
clear INTENT to mislead other
will be immediately suspended."
Both impersonation- and
trademark-related complaints fall
under what Twitter calls "name
squatting." Those who feel they
have a legitimate name squatting
complaint can contact Twitter
and fill out a support ticket.
On the other hand, Twitter's
GETTING page 28
E-reader News Edition Tech/ 27

One week without Google

(CNET News.com) have picked a better week to quit organizational and spam reasons.
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:00:00 AM using Google. Between buying a I decided that setting up an
house, planning a wedding, and a IMAP (Internet Message Access
Message from fivefilters.org: If trip to Lake Tahoe, my normal Protocol) connection through
you can, please donate to the full routine was already out of another e-mail client was
-text RSS service so we can whack. And the launch of cheating since Gmail would still
continue developing it. Google Buzz meant I had to be working things on the back
A Microsoft executive recently break my pledge on occasion to end. So Yahoo Mail got the nod
compared quitting Google to stay on top of the changes for this experiment, since we use
quitting smoking. As I approach Google made to that service. Yahoo Instant Messenger
the 10th anniversary of my last But if you're one of those people internally for communication
cigarette, I decided to put that to freaked out by Google and its across different offices.
the test. expansion across the Web, fear There are loads of ways to set
If it weren't for hyperbole, of not: you have a wealth of up free Web e-mail, so this is an
course, marketing wouldn't be options. easy switch to make. The only
nearly as effective. But Google's Search pain came in managing the
presence across the Web does This was perhaps the easiest overlap between the two e-mail
provoke that sort of response product to avoid. I'm a Mac user systems, but that's mainly
from competitors and even who primarily uses Firefox as because I was getting a ton of e-
friends. From search and Google my default browser. Switching to mail from my real estate agent
Maps to Gmail and YouTube, it another search engine is as easy and mortgage broker and didn't
can be difficult to steer clear of as clicking on the search bar want to confuse them by giving
the Google experience during a within the toolbar. It's more them a temporary e-mail address.
daily trip around the Internet. complicated if you use Safari and Simply forwarding Gmail to the
But it's not impossible, and it's its built-in Google search bar, Yahoo address did the trick.
not even remotely comparable to but you don't have to use Safari While I suppose that's
giving up one of the most to browse the Web. technically cheating, it was
addictive drugs on the planet. I decided to go with Bing easier than trying to get house-
During a week in which I (which requires Firefox users related contacts to update their
pledged to avoid using anything who want it in their toolbar to address books at a crucial time.
made, owned, or otherwise download an add-on, but that's Mobile
produced by Google, it was easily done), and didn't really As an iPhone user, you're locked
surprisingly easy to cut ties. notice a difference in the into Google search as the default
Google is a habit; smoking is an experience. But the experience option within the Safari browser.
addiction. And for the most part, did drive home something that But both Yahoo and Bing offer
Google lives up to its pledge to Yahoo's Prabhakar Ragahavan iPhone apps for search, mail,
avoid locking users into its pointed out two weeks ago surface that kind of structured to improve. news feeds, and driving
system. I only missed a few during a Yahoo search event. content, which means that a E-mail directions.
Google products during a week Bing and Yahoo are spending a majority of searches still produce I've been using Gmail as my Bing's iPhone app was key to a
in mid-February and mostly lot of time trying to differentiate the "ten blue links" that primary e-mail for about a year, G o o g l e - f r e e mobile
because I was unfamiliar with themselves from Google by Microsoft and Yahoo consider and although the "conversations" experience.(Credit: Microsoft)
their substitutes. working images, graphics, and dirty words. If they really want view takes some getting used to,
That's because ( with apologies videos into the search results to change surfing habits, that has I've come to prefer Gmail for ONE page 29
to Steve McCroskey) I could pages. Niche searches don't
28
GETTING
continued from page 26
rules make it abundantly clear
that the service permits parody
accounts, so long as users do not
have "clear intent to deceive or
confuse."
"Twitter users are allowed to
create parody, commentary or
fan accounts," the parody policy
begins. "Twitter provides a
platform for its users to share
and receive a wide range of ideas
and content, and we greatly
value and respect our users'
expression...In order to avoid
impersonation, an account's
profile information should make
it clear that the creator of the
account is not actually the same
person or entity as the subject of
the parody/commentary."
Not cut and dried
For Twitter, which is still a
small company, despite its tens
of millions of users, situations
involving the clear
impersonation of celebrities or
companies are surely the easiest
and quickest to resolve.
But what about the countless
situations where things aren't so
cut and dried?
One example involves Denny's
restaurants. As I wrote last week
in a story about Denny's social-
media efforts, its dinner menus,
as a result of a misprint,
mistakenly invite customers to
visit the company's Twitter
account, " twitter.com/dennys."
But that ID actually belongs to a
Taiwanese man named Dennys
Hsieh.
While Denny's restaurants invite
diners to visit twiter.com/dennys,
the account is owned by a
Taiwanese man. Had he not
posted to the account in the last
few days, he might have lost it
due to inactivity. Now, however,
the question of whether the
restaurant chain can claim the
account is up in the air.(Credit:
Daniel Terdiman/CNET)
In an interview, Bill Ruby,
Denny's vice president of sales
and field marketing, said that the
company had been in touch with
Twitter and that, because Hsieh
hadn't tweeted in more than six
months, "They've essentially told
us it's our domain."
Indeed, Twitter's official policy
governing accounts considers
them " inactive" if they haven't
"been logged into or updated in
over six months" and states that
"inactive accounts may be
automatically removed from
Twitter."
And while Twitter did not make
a spokesperson available for an
interview for this story, a
spokesperson did e-mail CNET
last week acknowledging that,
"after [six] months of inactivity
we may be able to release
accounts to another party."
In the past, the company had
considered nine months the
inactivity threshold and had been
known to be responsive to
requests to take over such
accounts.
If Dennys wasn't Hsieh's first
name, the Denny's situation
would be simple. But according
to Laura Fitton, the author of
"Twitter for Dummies," "This
one is a hard call, because it's the
guy's name...If it was a real
trademark thing, they wouldn't
have to wait the six months.
Because it's the guy's real name,
it's in a gray area."
Contacted for my previous
article about the Denny's
situation, Hsieh responded after
publication that the restaurant
chain had never reached out to
him about the account. He also
said that he had stopped tweeting
last July only because of a glitch
in his RSS software that had
resulted in his blog no longer
automatically forwarding his
posts to his Twitter account.
Indeed, in the days following the
publication of the Denny's
article, Hsieh has resumed
tweeting, meaning the ownership
of @dennys is once again in a
very gray area. Denny's may well
find itself having to stick to its
other two Twitter accounts,
@DennysGrandSlam and
@DennysAllnightr.
Due to high volume
The vast majority of Twitter
users' account ID support
requests, however, likely have
nothing to do with impersonation
or trademark infringement.
Rather, they are surely almost all
related to someone seeing that
what would be a great ID for
them is sitting inactive, just
begging to be reassigned.
However, despite the fact that
Twitter's policy is that accounts
may be removed after six months
of inactivity, the company states
rather sternly that, "We are not
releasing inactive accounts on an
individual basis at this time
unless in cases of Terms of
Service violations."
Instead, the company notes that
it "is currently working on bulk-
releasing all inactive user
names," a procedure that would
free up registered IDs that have
been left unused in much the
same way that expired URLs can
eventually become available.
Fitton said that she has heard
that Twitter hoped to complete
this bulk-releasing project early
this year but that, "unfortunately,
they haven't been able to do that
yet."
So does that mean that there's no
way to retrieve an inactive ID?
Hardly, said Fitton.
The best thing to do, she
explained, is to try to reach out
to the owner of the account and
politely ask if there's any way
they would be willing to turn
over the ID to you. It may, of
course, be difficult to figure out
who such a person is, since
there's no way to direct message
a Twitter user unless they're
following you and because
someone who has abandoned an
account may well never become
aware of someone sending them
a so-called @ message. But by
E-reader News Edition
Googling their name, or
messaging some of their
followers, it may be possible to
figure out another way to find
them.
For example, I used Facebook to
find Hsieh, since that service
allows any user to send a
message to any other. But
Denny's apparently didn't try
such an approach in its attempts
to claim twitter.com/dennys, at
least as far as Hsieh can recall.
Ultimately, unless it's a case of
impersonation or trademark
infringement, Twitter users who
want to get their hands on
someone else's ID may well have
to wait for the company to come
up with its automated process
and for the account they want to
be inactive for six months or
more. Until then, short of
reaching an accommodation with
the account owner, there is
probably little that can be done.
But what about a situation
where the owner of the inactive
account wants to hand it over to
the rightful owner? Jeff Probst, I
have something for you. All you
have to do is get in touch.
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E-reader News Edition Tech/ Gadgets/ 29
ONE
continued from page 27

Bing's iPhone app was very
useful, with voice-activated
search and precise driving
directions that came in very
handy in Lake Tahoe. The maps
part of that application also has
nice filters for searching for
different kinds of restaurants and
shops in a given area. I'd have to
quite possibly the worst Mac e-
mail/calendar client ever
invented and the only one
supported by our IT department--
is definitely worth it.
YouTube was hard to dismiss.
There's simply no other online
video service with the breadth
and depth of what is available on
my Yahoo Mail before the self-
imposed ban went into place.
But one look at Google's
product list shows just how
many services I never use, such
as Blogger, Picasa, Google
Product Search, Knol, and
countless others. I have
registered accounts with some of
walk away from its products
with their data intact.
That is, if you're a regular Don't Bring Laptops
person. Advertisers who wish to
be online have little choice but to to Class or Else
dance with Google and its [Practical Science]
immense reach. And that's what
may one day trip up the by Jesus Diaz (Gizmodo)
company, assuming its hold on Submitted at 2/23/2010 8:49:00 AM

say I preferred the Google Maps
aesthetic, but Bing Maps
definitely got the job done.
Everything else
Because of the controversy
surrounding the privacy options
on Google Buzz after its launch,
I had no choice but to break my
pledge for professional reasons
to stay on top of that experience.
But as my Buzz followers (and
Facebook friends) are aware, I'm
not a big updater of social-media
services in general and wouldn't
have missed Buzz otherwise.
I completely and totally forgot
that I was using Google Calendar
synced with my iPhone and
desktop iCal application until I
was writing this story, so go
ahead and ding me for that.
Avoiding Microsoft Entourage--
YouTube, and I was forced to
pass on undoubtedly hilarious
(yet probably fleeting) links sent
to me by friends. Another
difficult separation was from
Google Reader: the Web-based
alternatives I tried were much
more buggy and confusing,
although NetNewsWire's desktop
application worked very well.
Google Docs was another
service that I missed, but only
because I had already uploaded
so much data into that service for
wedding planning and real-estate
documentation. Several
alternatives exist (most notably
Microsoft Office Live
Workspace) if I was planning to
make this a long experiment, but
I was able to get around it by
forwarding crucial documents to
those services just to see what
they are all about, but don't
actively use them.
Competition really is a click
away
There are really no excuses for
lamenting Google's reach across
the Internet: if you don't want to
use their services, you are rarely
required to do so and you won't
miss all that much by going with
alternatives.
Google has actually made this
one of its calling cards. It
reminds regulators and foes alike
that "competition is a click
away" when forced to defend its
amazing growth over the past
several years. And through
projects like the Data Liberation
Front, Google has made it a
priority to give its users ways to
online advertising continues to
strengthen.
But otherwise, a Google-free
life is quite attainable. Still, if
your objection to using Google's
services is that the company
stores too much data on your
online habits, don't be fooled into
thinking that other Internet
companies aren't doing the same
thing.
Five Filters featured article:
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Some people may ask why a
physics professor used liquid
nitrogen to freeze and shatter a
laptop against the floor, just to
tell students that laptops were
prohibited in class. Personally, I
think that's cool, but I have
another question:
What is Dr. Egon Spengler
doing working as a physics
professor at the University of
Oklahoma?

Amazon Has To Pay Microsoft To Use Linux?

by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) usual FUD. Last year was the and Microsoft have done a patent The deal covers both Amazon's seem pretty problematic, doesn't
Submitted at 2/23/2010 2:31:46 AM first time the issue ever actually cross-licensing deal. These sorts Kindle product as well as the it, when a company has to "pay"
showed up in a lawsuit, when of "we won't sue you, if you company's use of Linux-based Microsoft (whether in cash or via
Every few years, Microsoft tries Microsoft sued TomTom, but for don't sue us" deals are pretty servers. Even though it's a licenses to its own patents) just
to convince the world that Linux the most part, it's still not clear common in the tech world, and straight cross-licensing deal, it to use Linux? Perhaps it's time
violates its patents. Usually the what about Linux infringes on hardly noteworthy, other than the doesn't sound like any money to redefine the "Microsoft tax."
company gives some arbitrary Microsoft patents. Still, that fact that apparently some of the changed hands, Amazon still had Permalink| Comments| Email
number of patents. However, doesn't mean Microsoft can't use patents Amazon are getting to pay cash to Microsoft, on top This Story
when asked to show proof, the such FUD to get others to pay protected against being sued over of effectively paying more by
company goes quiet. It's the up. The latest is that Amazon -- concern how it uses Linux: licensing its own patents. It does
30 Tech/ Gadgets/
As Cars Get More Complicated, Maybe Open
Source Is The Way
by Dennis Yang (Techdirt)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:30:56 AM
Back in 1999, a well-circulated
false press release made the
rounds, supposedly written in
response to Bill Gates' jab at the
auto industry at COMDEX that
year. The memo joked: If GM
had developed technology like
Microsoft, we would all be
driving cars with the following
characteristics:
1. For no reason at all, your car
would crash twice a day. Of
course, fast forward 10 years,
and this is no longer really a joke
anymore. Cars are now more
complicated than ever, and now
computers play a crucial part in
the safe and efficient operation
of modern automobiles. Today's
premium vehicles probably
contain close to 100 million lines
of software code. That fact,
coupled with the recent massive
Toyota recall, seems to have
spurred Slate's Farhad Manjoo to
ask " Should we be worried that
our cars are controlled by
software?"
Perhaps if you're really into
worrying for the sake of
worrying, sure, I suppose the
increasing complexity of the
software in cars seems like a
good reason to don a tinfoil hat.
Certainly, compared to cars a
quarter century ago, there's a
huge amount of new technology
between you and the road. But,
cars are also safer and more
efficient than ever before. While
it's true that the software in cars
may have bugs, that's really
nothing new to be that concerned
about -- car manufacturers issue
recalls and maintenance updates
all of the time to deal with not
just software bugs, but
mechanical problems as well. In
the future, regular software
updates may replace oil changes
as regular maintenance for cars.
But, the biggest Toyota recalls
this year were still mechanical in
nature: the floor mats and gas
pedals, neither of which are
remotely affected by any
software in the car. Finally, as
Manjoo points out, driver error is
still the most common cause of
accidents, so until we remove the
human element from the driving
equation (along with all of the
driving distractions), recalled
cars are really nothing to get
worked up about.
That said, Michael A. Spiegel
over at the Software Freedom
Law Center makes an interesting
point about this situation: If
Toyota truly wanted to repair its
public image and reputation for
quality, it would make its source
code available to anyone
interested, not just a single
government regulator. The
public is far more likely to
discover bugs and suggest
improvements than a relatively
small number of overworked and
potentially inexperienced
government employees. This is a
intriguing proposition for a
number of reasons. By releasing
its software to the open source
community, they could become
key participants in the growing
open source car ecosystem. By
doing so, they could potentially
benefit from the collective
intelligence of that community
looking at their code. Sure,
Toyota may scoff at sharing what
they consider to be proprietary
IP with potential competitors, but
in this case, Toyota could stand
to gain more than it would
potentially be giving away.
After all, while software
definitely is playing a critical
part in automotive systems, by
itself, it is not the selling point of
a car. Even the e-voting industry
is coming around to open source,
after balking at the idea for
years. For a variety of reasons,
the automobile industry seems
ripe for the exploration of new
models right now. Programs like
CityCarShare and ZipCar could
be seen as "Automobiles As A
Service" -- so maybe we'll start
to see a Red Hat-like automobile
company emerge in the near
future.
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E-reader News Edition
It's February 23rd, do
you know where your
Spring Design Alex is?
by Tim Stevens (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 8:44:00 AM
We hate to be the bearers of bad
news, but it looks like the lovely
Spring Design Alex has quietly
missed its ship date. Back at CES
the word was Febuary 22nd and,
after spending a little quality
time with the thing, we've been
counting the days. Here we are
on February 23rd and the only
thing up for sale at the Spring
Design website is a "coming
soon" note, and we already have
more of those than we know
what to do with. Even more
discouraging, the Borders site is
still listing only Sony Readers up
for sale. We've reached out to
Spring Design to see what's up,
so hang onto your pulp until we
get a response.
[Thanks, Matthäus]
It's February 23rd, do you know
where your Spring Design Alex
is? originally appeared on
Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010
08:44:00 EST. Please see our
terms for use of feeds.
Permalink| Spring Design| Email
this| Comments
E-reader News Edition
TextFlow works with Box to solve its big weakness
(CNET News.com)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 6:00:00 AM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.
Here's a useful partnership: take
a company that lets people
compare and selectively combine
multiple versions of a Microsoft
Word document ( TextFlow),
and put it together with a
company that hosts documents
and has built-in communication
tools ( Box.net).
That's the news from these two,
which on Tuesday are taking the
wraps off an OpenBox
integration that lets Box users
use Nordic River's TextFlow
technology right inside their
storage folders.
The partnership solves one big
problem, and that's wrangling
multiple versions of a file.
Instead of the onus being on one
editor to herd them together by e
-mail, they can just have each
user edit a single copy stored on
Box. Those users can then save
the file back as a version of the
file, which an editor is able to
Rocket House, Or What We Get When We
Privatize the Space Program [Space]
by Mark Wilson (Gizmodo)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 9:08:05 AM
"It's like, you know man, you
compare--at up to seven versions
at a time, from a TextFlow page
within Box.
Box.net users are getting a new
option to merge multiple
versions of a Word document
from within the Box interface
using TextFlow.(Credit:
Screenshot by Josh
Lowensohn/CNET)
Another benefit of having Box
handle the storage is that
know. People like us were meant
for something important,
something different than this
whole fucked up society. Oh, that? That's the rocket facade left
TextFlow can now save charts
and images from within
documents. Previously, these
were stripped out in the
TextFlow conversion. Users can
even move them around within
the document, just as if they
were in Word.
This has one big effect on work
flow, specifically the bit at the
end, which is where TextFlow's
system fell apart. Sure, it was
great to speed up the edit
process, but at the end, you were
stuck adding these document
elements back in from a previous
copy.
According to Nordic River CEO
Tomer Shalit, who spoke with
CNET last week, this same kind
of functionality, which includes
the images and charts within
documents, will eventually
trickle down into TextFlow
over from our last house party." [
flickr/ sfist via io9]
Tech/ Gadgets/ 31
proper.
The only other road bump--and
one Shalit anticipates will be
fixed later on--is that Box's
system does not allow users to
select multiple files and compare
them--only multiple versions of
the same file. This is the exact
opposite of how people use
TextFlow on its own, which is
where some confusion may
initially crop up with long-term
TextFlow users.
The new feature is free to use--
at least on the TextFlow side.
Users, however, will have to be
paid Box business users to use it,
since it takes advantage of Box's
file-versioning system, which is
available only with the higher-
end plans. To that end, this will
be the first tool for Box users to
compare different versions of the
same file from within the
service. Previously, users would
have had to get local copies of
each of these, then run them
through TextFlow or
CompareMyDocs.
Five Filters featured article:
Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
Term Extraction.
32 Tech/ Entertainment/ E-reader News Edition

Send Coupons to Almost Any Cell Bad Publicity, BBB Complaints

Phone With MixMobi
by Samuel Axon (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 7:50:46 PM
This post is part of Mashable’s
Spark of Genius series, which
highlights a unique feature of
startups. If you would like to
have your startup considered for
inclusion, please see the details
here. The series is made possible
by Microsoft BizSpark.
Name: MixMobi
Quick Pitch: MixMobi provides
easy, fast, realtime, graphics-rich
promotions for any social media,
SMS or email campaign,
reaching all web-enabled
mobiles.
Genius Idea: MixMobi lets you
create graphical coupons then
send them out to your customers’
mobile phones. You don’t need
any programming or advanced
design skills to make it happen.
Coupons can be shared through
SMS text messages, Facebook,
and Twitter. Each promotion
also has a web address that you
can direct people to, so you can
send out the deals via e-mails
and instant messages too.
While most competing services
only work for customers with
smartphones — still less than
month of the plan that covers
two offers and 5,000 hits if you
want to try the service out.
Sponsored by Microsoft
BizSpark
BizSpark is a startup program
that gives you three-year access
to the latest Microsoft
development tools, as well as
20% of the market— MixMobi connecting you to a nationwide
uses web-based coupons that can n e t w o r k o f i n v e s t o r s a n d
be viewed by any phone with a incubators. There are no upfront
web browser. costs, so if your business is
Another plus: No one needs to privately owned, less than three
install any software on his or her years old, and generates less than
handset, and no sign-up is U . S . $ 1 m i l l i o n i n a n n u a l
required to view the coupons. revenue, you can sign up today.
That makes promotion much Entrepreneurs can take
easier. Once your coupons are advantage of the Azure Services
out there, MixMobi offers platform for their website
analytics tools to track how hosting and storage needs.
much attention they’re getting. Microsoft recently announced
MixMobi charges a monthly fee the“new CloudApp()” contest–
d e t e r m i n e d b y h o w m a n y use the Azure Services Platform
promotions you plan to run at for hosting your .NET or PHP
once and how many hits you app, and you could be the lucky
expect your promotions to winner of a USD 5000* ( please
receive. It’s $19.95 per month see website for official rules and
for 2 concurrent offers and 5,000 g u i d e l i n e s ) . ” R e v i e w s :
hits, $34.95 for 4 offers and F a c e b o o k , P H P , T w i t t e r
10,000 hits, $79.95 for 10 offers Tags: coupons, mixmobi,
and 25,000 hits, and $349 for 40 promotions, social media, spark-
offers and 500,000 hits. of-genius, startups
You can sign up for a free
Causing AT&T To Reconsider
Metered Broadband?
by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) A year ago, after a ton of bad
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:20:00 PM publicity around metered billing,
Time Warner Cable backed off
In the US, there's been an plans to implement it on a
ongoing battle by a bunch of widespread basis, and now it
ISPs who want to implement l o o k s l i k e A T & T m a y b e
metered broadband as a way to recognizing the same thing.
increase revenue. While they've AT&T, of course, has been
been spinning this as getting running a few small scale tests,
heavy users to "pay their fair and it's been pissing people off
share" you'll note they never so much that they've been
promote any plans to drop prices c o m p l a i n i n g t o t h e B e t t e r
for the person who barely uses Business Bureau, which isn't
their internet connection. But making AT&T happy. For now,
one thing that has become pretty the company has stopped signing
c l e a r i s t h a t c o n s u m e r s new customers up for the
a b s o l u t e l y h a t e m e t e r e d metered trials and has said that
broadband -- not just because it the "experiment" will end on
can increase fees, but because it April 1. Whether or not the
changes the way they use the experiment ending means no
internet. Rather than being free more metered broadband... or
to just use it and experiment, m o r e w i d e s p r e a d m e t e r e d
suddenly you need to keep track broadband, remains to be seen.
of all that usage (without any But large number of complaints
kind of reliable meter). This being filed should make AT&T
introduces amazingly annoying think twice before deciding to
transaction costs that lead people roll this out further.
to just not want to use the Permalink| Comments| Email
internet as much -- decreasing This Story
the value of the connection, even
as the price is increasing.

Big Guns Show Up at Premiere of 'Cop Out'

(ETonline - Breaking News) flash their NYPD badges in 'Cop Bruce recalled, "We just had fun nothing but rave reviews of that I've ever done in my career
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:00:00 AM Out' and premiered the film on the set," and talked about working with the veteran actor. and it was with Bruce Willis,"
amongst the finest in the Big working with funnyman Tracy. "Just to be able to star in a big said an awed Tracy.
Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan Apple on Monday night. Tracy reciprocated, having action movie, the biggest thing
E-reader News Edition
Tech Company Lobbying Group Explains
The Importance Of Letting Countries Make
Their Own Policy Decisions On Copyright
by Mike Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 7:19:00 PM
The Computer & methodology that the big pro-
Communications Industry
Association (CCIA), which
represents a variety of big tech
companies, including Microsoft,
Google, eBay, Oracle and others,
has come on strong lately as a
defender against the ridiculous
and unnecessary expansion of
overly aggressive copyright law.
This is good news -- seeing as
some of the companies it
represents haven't always
seemed so enlightened on the
subject. I was lucky to meet
with some CCIA folks about a
month ago, and they definitely
seemed to recognize that a more
draconian copyright policy
actually does much more harm
than good to the companies
whose interests they represent.
You may recall that it was the
CCIA, a few months back, that
put out the marvelous report that
used the same exact
copyright lobbyists have used to
claim the "size" of the economic
impact on copyright, to point out
that the economic impact of fair
use trumps that by a wide
margin.
So it's great -- if not surprising --
to see that the CCIA's filing to
the USTR for the Special 301
report(pdf) actually matches
much of my own filing, though
from a more legalistic
perspective (and focuses on
Canada). The key points are the
same, however: the
Constitutional basis for
copyright has never been that
"more is better," but that we
should be seeking the most
effective ways to "promote the
progress." Second, it notes that
countries should be free to make
Tech/ 33
Evernote Integrates with
Lexmark Printers to
Sync Your Scans
by Ben Parr (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:00:32 AM
Social note-taking service
Evernote may be available on the
desktop and six different mobile
platforms including the iPhone,
but now it can boast its presence
on a unique piece of hardware:
your printer. have surpassing 2 million users
their own policy decisions on and be on a lot of platforms, but
Starting today, Lexmark’s
copyright law, rather than being SmartSolution Interact, Prestige, we wouldn’t have ever thought
pressured into them by the US. and Platinum printers will come that they’d stick the app onto
It further notes that the USTR with the ability to automatically printers.
Special 301 process shouldn't be send and store your scans in your This integration was probably
focused on legislative and policy Evernote account through a new inevitable though, especially as
issues, but merely enforcement Evernote SmartSolution app, a more and more devices gain app
of the law. Unfortunately, it's modified version of its mobile stores, and it’s a big partnership
gotten far away from that. app. It doesn’t even require a for the note-taking startup. It
There were a ton of great filings computer to use. faces some tough competition
to the USTR that I've seen Lexmark’s SmartSolution line from Microsoft’s OneNote
already, and hopefully the USTR of printer already comes with software, so getting on these
really does pay attention to those apps — about 20 of them to be platforms is definitely vital to
beyond the usual crew of exact — that range from fueling its growth.
entertainment industry and MSNBC Headlines to Google Does having apps on a printer
p h a r m a c e u t i c a l i n d u s t r y Calendar. It’s an interesting line make you want to buy these
lobbyists, to recognize that this of touch screen printers that printers? Would having an
issue is a lot more complex than provides a lot of functionality. Evernote app on your printer
it has, at times, been treated in Now with the addition of the make you want to use it more?
the past. Still, it's great to see a E v e r n o t e a p p , i t b e c o m e s Let us know what you think in
g r o u p l i k e C C I A a d d i t s ridiculously easy to send your the comments.
i m p o r t a n t v o i c e t o t h e scan into the cloud and access it Tags: evernote, Lexmark
discussion, too. from anyway. Evernote may
Permalink| Comments| Email
This Story
34 Tech/ Entertainment/
Your local park: Actually not that
bad for the planet
(CNET News.com)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:46:00 AM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.
Amy Townsend-Small wants to
set the record straight on her
park maintenance emissions
study.(Credit: Steve Zylius/UC
Irvine)
A report asserting that well-
maintained parks in the Irvine,
Calif., area were technically
polluting the environment has
been amended and its official
results have been re-released.
The study led by Amy
Townsend-Small, an Earth
system science postdoctoral
researcher at the University of
California at Irvine, originally
reported last month that the
amount of carbon emissions
emitted from lawn-related
maintenance was roughly four
times the amount of carbon
naturally collected and stored by
the lawn itself.
But that is not true.
Due to an error in data in the
study, the amount of emissions
given off by the plethora of park
Battle of the Olympians! Who's Your Fave on Team USA!?
(ETonline - Breaking News)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 2:56:00 AM
maintenance has actually been
found to be similar to or greater
than the amount of carbon
naturally collected and store by
the lawn itself.
CNET News was contacted
Friday by the media relations
department of UC Irvine and
made aware of the amended
study.
"The original version of this
news release, distributed January
19, has been updated here to
reflect the correction of a
spreadsheet error in the scientific
paper regarding carbon dioxide
emissions during lawn
It's a battle between Olympians!
Apolo Ohno or Shani Davis?
Johnny Weir or Evan Lysacek?
Smartphones in 2009:
Symbian Dominates, iPhone,
RIM and Android Rising Fast
by Stan Schroeder
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:38:20 AM
Research and advisory company
Gartner has released their
worldwide mobile phone sales
report for 2009, showing a
seemingly unchanged
smartphone landscape, but with
trends that paint a very different
picture.
Smartphones as a category grew
fast in the last quarter of 2009,
with 53.8 million units sold, a
41.1% increase compared to the
maintenance. Please update your same period in 2008. Looking at
stories accordingly," the e- individual platforms, it’s obvious
mailed statement said. that this growth came largely
The rest of Townsend-Small's from iPhones and Android-based
data, which can be found in the devices, as iPhone OS nearly
original CNET News article(also d o u b l e d i t s m a r k e t s h a r e ,
corrected to reflect the new data) jumping from 8.2% in 2008 to
is still accurate. 14.4% in 2009, while Android
UC Irvine did not respond to a improved from meager 0.5% in
request for further information 2008 to 3.9% in 2009.
regarding the new carbon- Yes, Symbian is still on top, but
emissions statistics. it dropped from 52.4% to 46.9%
Five Filters featured article: market share, while its nearest
Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: competitor, RIM, grew from
PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, 16.6% to 19.9%. Another big
Term Extraction. loser is Windows Mobile, which
dropped from 11.8% to 8.7%
Shaun White or Scott Lago? Team USA is your favorite?!
Lindsey Vonn or Lindsey Cast your vote!
Jacobellis? Which member of
E-reader News Edition
market share in 2009, and this
trend will probably continue at
least until we see the first
Windows Phone 7 based devices.
As far as the entire mobile
market is concerned, worldwide
mobile phone sales to end users
totalled 1.211 billion units in
2009, which is a 0.9 per cent
decline compared to 2008.
Top five mobile vendors lost
some market share to other
vendors, with their combined
share dropping from 79.7 in
2008 to 75.3% in 2009. Their
order, however, is unchanged:
Nokia sits on top with 36.4%
share, followed by Samsung,
LG, Motorola and Sony
Ericsson.
Tags: android, apple,
blackberry, iphone os, Nokia,
RIM, smartphones, Symbian,
trending
E-reader News Edition Tech/ Sports/ 35

FCC: Cost is the Biggest Barrier to Did The UK Gov't Back Down
On Three Strikes... Or Did It
Broadband Adoption in the US Just Change What It Called It?
by Stan Schroeder and cost are their biggest barriers
(Mashable!) for adopting broadband internet by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) wordsmiths decided that
Submitted at 2/23/2010 1:45:25 AM
access. Finally, the Near Submitted at 2/22/2010 11:23:00 PM "disconnection" is too harsh a
Converts make up 10 percent of word to describe the policy (even
FCC has a report on broadband the population, they’re relatively There were a smattering of if it's accurate), and are now
adoption in the US, based on a youthful, they have computers, reports that the UK gov't was going with "temporary account
survey of 5,005 Americans in but monthly access cost is the backing down on plans to suspension" (even though it does
October and November 2009. barrier that prevents them from implement three strikes rules as mean you're disconnected from
The report found that 78 percent adopting broadband internet. part of Peter Mandelson's Digital your account). So when a
of adults are Internet users, and have a computer and/or don’t On March 17, the FCC is to Economy Bill. That would be a petition came through asking the
6 5 p e r c e n t o f a d u l t s a r e know how to use one, and cost of deliver a national plan that pretty big surprise, if true, as government not to disconnect
broadband adopters. It then c o m p u t e r a n d b r o a d b a n d should bring high speed internet kicking people off the internet those accused of file sharing, the
divides users who haven’t got connection is also a big barrier. t o u s e r s t h a t d o n ’ t h a v e b a s e d o n a c c u s a t i o n s ( n o t government had no problem
broadband into four groups. The Then there are the Digitally broadband access. According to convictions) had been the key saying "sure," even though it still
Digitally Distant make up 10 Uncomfortable, who make up 7 these findings, lowering the cost thing Mandelson wanted after his supports temporary account
p e r c e n t o f t h e g e n e r a l percent of the population; they of access will be their first little dinner with David Geffen suspension. And copyright
population; this is the group that mostly have computers and the priority. last summer (after barely caring supporters accuse those in favor
simply doesn’t want to be online. resources for broadband access, Read the entire report here. about this particular issue at all). of reform as playing word
The Digital Hopefuls make up 8 but they lack the skills. Lack of Image credit: iStockphoto, enot- But, it appears that reality is that games?
percent of the population; they’d available infrastructure, low poloskun Reviews: iStockphoto this is just UK politicians Permalink| Comments| Email
like to be online but lack perception of the Internet’s Tags: broadband, fcc, internet playing games with words. This Story
resources to do so; many don’t relevance, low digital literacy Apparently, the political

Found Footage: Photoshop v1.0 recreated on Commuting

iPhone by Sky in
by Chris Rawson (The
Unofficial Apple Weblog
(TUAW))
mere two weeks of development.
The application is not available
on the iTunes Store; Adobe only
and RGB channel adjustments.
Even though the app isn't
available to the public and is of
era chimes. Now, if someone
ever ports HyperCard over to the
iPhone, I think my geek-meter
Canada
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 8:00:00 AM created the app as a promo for limited utility compared to more might go right into overload.
Submitted at 2/22/2010 3:04:17 PM
their 20th anniversary Photoshop modern offerings, it was still TUAW Found Footage:
F i l e d u n d e r : M u l t i m e d i a , celebration. The app is really pretty cool to see UI elements Photoshop v1.0 recreated on
iPhone, Graphic Design A seaplane between Vancouver
only valuable as a bit of from Classic Mac OS running on iPhone originally appeared on
T o c e l e b r a t e t h e 2 0 t h nostalgia anyway, as Adobe's and Victoria, British Columbia,
the iPhone. Using the Mac The Unofficial Apple Weblog
anniversary of Photoshop, Adobe free iPhone app, Photoshop.com allows money-saving Canadian
startup chime when Photoshop (TUAW) on Tue, 23 Feb 2010
recently recreated Photoshop 1.0 Mobile, has far more features commuters to enjoy breathtaking
1.0 launches on the iPhone was a 08:00:00 EST. Please see our
-- on the iPhone. Porting the than the Photoshop 1.0 app views. WSJ’s Adam Thompson
particularly inspired touch, even terms for use of feeds.
venerable application over to the demoed above, which only reports:
if they did use the modern chime Read| Permalink| Email this|
iPhone reportedly took Adobe a seems to perform global level rather than any of the three 1990- Comments
36 Tech/ Gadgets/ Entertainment/
Microsoft and Amazon
Sign Patent-Sharing
Deal
by Ben Parr (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 5:50:08 PM
In a new deal announced today,
Microsoft and Amazon will gain
access to each other’s portfolio
of patents, including patents
related to the Amazon Kindle
and the shopping giant’s Linux
server technology.
The patent cross-license deal
makes both companies closer
allies, as they are now sharing
some of their most important
intellectual property, although
Microsoft didn’t specify in its
announcement exactly which
product IPs it would share with
Amazon. However, it is known
that patents for the Amazon
Kindle and the shopping giant’s
Linux server technology are part
of the patent-sharing deal.
In addition to the sharing of
intellectual property, Amazon
has also agreed to pay Microsoft
an undisclosed sum. Microsoft
says that it has engaged in over
600 of these types of agreements,
New Pics: 'American Idol''s Top 24
(ETonline - Breaking News)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 3:00:00 AM
"American Idol"'s first live
performance show airs tonight
although we bet the Amazon deal
is one of the more high profile
agreements.
Details are limited at best, and
we’re emailing both sides to get
more information. At first glance
though, it seems that Microsoft’s
interested in bettering its cloud
computing and server
technology, something Amazon
is famous for through Amazon
Simple Storage Service (
Amazon S3). Its Kindle
technology could also be useful
to Microsoft in whatever tablet it
may build to compete against the
Apple iPad. Reviews: Apple
Ipad, Linux
Tags: amazon, microsoft
when the 12 gals of the Top 24
perform a Top 10 hit from the
Hot 100 chart on the "Idol" stage
for the first time. Then the phone
lines will be opened and America
E-reader News Edition
SanDisk G3 solid state
drive boasts speeds up to
Macworld 2010: twice as fast as 7200
RPM drives
iFixit.com by Doug Aamoth
(CrunchGear)
by Dave Caolo (The Unofficial brand new Apple hardware. Submitted at 2/23/2010 6:30:23 AM
Apple Weblog (TUAW)) When I sat down with Kyle
Weins from iFixit during It’s beginning to look like
Submitted at 2/22/2010 10:30:00 PM
Expensive Speed Day here at
Macworld Expo, he revealed that
CrunchGear, what with the USB
F i l e d u n d e r : M a c w o r l d , who gets the privilege of the first
3.0 products and now this solid
H a r d w a r e , I n t e r v i e w s O n e teardown is determined by the
website that must reside in nearly flip of a coin. He also talked state drive from SanDisk. The
every Machead's bookmarks about the site's history, current G3 SSD is a solid-state drive
collection is iFixit. They provide offerings and of course the iPad. available in 60GB and 120GB
detailed, step-by-step repair You can watch the full interview capacities for around $230 and
guides (and parts) for nearly after the break. $400, respectively.
every Mac, iPod or iPhone fix TUAW Macworld 2010: All that dough will get you a
drive that “opens files up to
y o u c a n t h i n k o f . T h e i r iFixit.com originally appeared on
instructions are always clear and The Unofficial Apple Weblog twice as fast as a 7,200 RPM
thorough enough to make even (TUAW) on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 HDD,” according to SanDisk.
t h e m o s t d a u n t i n g r e p a i r 22:30:00 EST. Please see ourRead speeds reach up to 220
possible. If you lack those terms for use of feeds. megabytes per second while
special tools, they've got those, Read| Permalink| Email this| write speeds top out at around
too. Comments 120 megabytes per second. The
They're also known for being drive “can endure up to 80
among the first to take apart teraytes of data written to it over
its lifetime,” which is either a lot
or a little depending upon what
you’re planning to do with this
will get its first chance to vote. to the end of their "Idol" dreams. drive.
On Wednesday, the 12 guys will "American Idol" airs on FOX. SanDisk G3 Solid State
perform, and then on Thursday, D rive[SanDisk.com]
the results will be revealed and Press Release
two girls and two guys will come
E-reader News Edition Tech/ Politics/ Sports/ 37

Macworld 2010: Interview with Roland Saekow UConn gets

much-needed win
of BearExtender n3 over No. 7 WVU
by David Winograd (The your iPhone or a Bluetooth- by Associated Press
Unofficial Apple Weblog enabled iPod touch, you can (ESPN.com)
(TUAW)) click on this YouTube link. Submitted at 2/22/2010 10:15:18 PM
Submitted at 2/22/2010 11:30:00 PM We apologize for the poor audio
sync. Message from fivefilters.org: If
Filed under: Macworld, Video, TUAW Macworld 2010: you can, please donate to the full
Interviews At the TUAW booth Interview with Roland Saekow -text RSS service so we can
on the Macworld show floor the of BearExtender n3 originally continue developing it.
other week, I was fortunate appeared on The Unofficial Top Performers
enough to interview Roland Apple Weblog (TUAW) on West Virginia: D. Ebanks 17
Saekow, the developer of the Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:30:00 Pts, 9 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Blk
BearExtender n3, a product that Roland and BearExtender n3 general interest in the product. EST. Please see our terms for Connecticut: S. Robinson 15
replaces your Airport card giving were nice enough to do a TUAW Roland has a fascinating story to use of feeds. Pts, 13 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl
any wireless network a much givaway that ended last week. tell, and you can see and hear Read| Permalink| Email this| Five Filters featured article:
wider wireless range. The best The contest garnered over 600 him tell it by clicking on the Comments Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
part is that is sells for US $49.97, comments from entrants, a huge 'Read More' link to watch the PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
about one third the price of its number, which speaks to the video it in Viddler. To see it on Term Extraction.
competition.

Has American Thinker Saved the World from the AGW Hoax?
(Little Green Footballs) “Our results provide direct the opposite conclusion of the evidence for the Dunning-Kruger competence. This leads to the
Submitted at 2/22/2010 12:20:51 PM experimental evidence for a papers’ authors. I first effect. unfortunate result that unskilled
significant increase in the Earth’s encountered Harries 2001 when Another good read at Skeptical people rate themselves higher
Recently I received several g r e e n h o u s e e f f e c t t h a t i s documenting the empirical Science: The Dunning-Kruger than more competent people. The
emails with links to an article at consistent with concerns over evidence for an enhanced effect and the climate debate. phenonemon is known as the
American Thinker by Gary radiative forcing of climate.” greenhouse effect. After reading One of the best titles for a Dunning-Kruger effect, named
Thompson, claiming to have the Skeptical Science has a good the paper, I had many questions. scientific paper has to be the Ig after the paper’s authors, and is
“smoking gun” that disproves post on this, with graphs and Rather than let the gaps in my Nobel prize winning “ Unskilled often seen in the climate debate.
global warming once and for all. everything: Have American understanding lead me to think I and unaware of it: How There are many with a cursory
That’s it. It’s over, Johnny. Time T h i n k e r d i s p r o v e n g l o b a l knew more than the authors, I difficulties in recognizing one’s understanding who believe
to fold up those weather stations w a r m i n g ? emailed my questions to the lead own incompetence lead to they’re discovered fundamental
and go home. So what do we learn from the author John Harries, an inflated self-assessments”. The flaws in climate science that
Except that one of the scientific A m e r i c a n T h i n k e r a r t i c l e . approachable scientist who was paper compares people’s skill have somehow been overlooked
papers that Thompson thinks is a Thompson cites peer-reviewed forthcoming with prompt and levels to their own assessment of or ignored by climate scientists.
paradigm-shattering disproof of papers but his analysis consists detailed replies. The American their abilities. In hindsight, the Some take this a step further and
AGW is, in reality, exactly the of eyeballing graphs while Thinker article does not disprove result seems self-evident. believe they’re being deceived.
opposite. The paper’s authors spurning the peer-reviewed data the greenhouse effect. It does Unskilled people lack the skill to
concluded: analysis. This approach leads to however provide further rate their own level of
38 Politics/ E-reader News Edition

Bipartisanship!
by Jonathan Cohn (The New awards, as several states have to operate under a cloud of a scheme cut down on frivolous Senate health reform bills
Republic - All Feed) already done. California, for suspicion, without necessarily lawsuits. It might also improve encourage more experimentation.
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:00:00 PM
example, limits pain and punishing those physicians who the quality of care--which would, But they don't set aside enough
suffering awards in malpractice are truly negligent. It encourages in theory, reduce the incidence of money. If Republicans wanted to
Message from fivefilters.org: If to just $250,000 per case. the use of tests and treatments actual malpractice. do something to change
you can, please donate to the full More often than not, Democrats that are frivolous, if not The good news is that Obama malpractice, they could call for
-text RSS service so we can h a v e o p p o s e d m a l p r a c t i c e downright harmful. And it leaves doesn't need convincing on this more funding of these programs-
continue developing it. reform. They've pointed to the vast majority of people who front. Back in 2005, while he -and, perhaps, more aggressive
Ever since President Barack studies questioning just how big need compensation for medical was still just a senator, he co- guidance about how to handle
Obama announced he'd be o f a n i m p a c t m a l p r a c t i c e errors with no easy way to get it. sponsored (with Hillary Clinton) the results.
having a bipartisan meeting to litigation has on overall health The key is finding ways to fix a bill that would have Of course, that would mean
talk about health care reform, costs. They have also cited the malpractice system so that it implemented a "sorry works" achieving malpractice reform, a
R e p u b l i c a n s h a v e b e e n evidence--fairly incontrovertible- helps both physicians and the model nationally. It didn't cause they've long championed,
denouncing it as a charade. He's -that most victims of medical patients, rather than one at the become law, but Obama kept in a different manner than the
not really interested in their e r r o r s n e v e r g e t a n y expense of the other. And there talking up malpractice reform. Republicans have traditionally
ideas, they say. And he doesn't compensation at all. As such, are several promising Last year, he instructed the embraced. But that's the
really want their support. Democrats have argued, capping possibilities for achieving that. Department of Health and definition of compromise:
But is the problem that Obama damages won't do a lot to reduce One is to have doctors report Human Services to sponsor a Finding common ground with an
won't listen to the Republicans-- health care costs. What's worse, medical errors to hospital series of demonstration projects adversary in order to achieve a
or that the Republicans won't it might discourage people with administrators, who would then around the country. goal you both share. Obama has
listen to Obama? One way to legitimate claims of malpractice notify patients and begin Michelle Mello, a Harvard shown he's willing to do that.
answer that question is to watch from bringing legal action. negotiations. A version of this professor and leading expert in Will the Republicans do the
what happens at Thursday's The parties' allegiance to special "sorry works" model is in place the field, says experimenting same?
health “summit” meeting if interests has reinforced the at the University of Michigan with the different models is Jonathan Cohn is a senior editor
discussion turns to medical political stalemate. Business Health System, where it has precisely the right approach to for The New Republic. This item
malpractice reform. groups, which traditionally reduced lawsuits, cut litigation take--because the data on the is a collaboration between TNR
The issue is familiar to anybody support Republicans, have costs and sped the resolution of different reforms is still very and Kaiser Health News. KHN is
who follows health care policy promoted malpractice reform cases. sketchy. But, she adds, the an editorially independent news
or, for that matter, anybody who because it's part of a broader Another idea is to create a no- experiments HHS has launched service and is a program of the
has ever spoken to a doctor at campaign to rein in liability fault system, similar to the way probably won't go far enough, Kaiser Family Foundation, a
length. Republicans have long l a w s u i t s . ( S u c h l a w s u i t s workers' compensation works, or because they are too limited. To nonpartisan health care policy
said that frivolous malpractice frequently target corporations to channel most malpractice really see which approach works, research organization, which is
lawsuits make medical care more and result in large jury awards.) cases through special "health it's essential to get more data-- not affiliated with Kaiser
expensive, by forcing doctors to Trial lawyers, who traditionally courts" that would come before and, whenever possible, to get Permanente.
s p e n d m o n e y o n l a w y e r s , support Democrats, have fought jury trials. (The Scandinavian data that covers an entire area (or For more TNR, become a fan on
malpractice insurance and in malpractice reform for the same countries and New Zealand have areas) rather than one hospital or Facebook and follow us on
some cases large jury awards. In reason. (Trial lawyers are the such systems in place.) One hospital network. Otherwise, it's Twitter.
addition, they say, physicians ones arguing and making a living other proposal--perhaps the most difficult to tell whether a Five Filters featured article:
who fear malpractice end up from such lawsuits.) intriguing--is to tie malpractice program has worked simply Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
practicing "defensive medicine," But there are ways to break the to quality incentives, by offering because of idiosyncratic factors PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
ordering up unnecessary tests impasse. While malpractice may some sort of legal protection to like a particularly dedicated staff. Term Extraction.
and procedures that cost a lot of not be a major factor in rising physicians who demonstrate they This is where the Republicans
money. The solution, according health care costs, the system is have abided by accepted clinical could push the discussion BIPARTISANSHIP! page 39
to the Republicans, is to cap jury clearly broken. It forces doctors guidelines. Not only might such forward. Both the House and
E-reader News Edition Politics/ Entertainment/ 39

Terrorists Without Borders

by David Rohde (The New school in the town of Makeen, in serve as a fulcrum where settlement, unless the surge of The area, which is dominated by
Republic - All Feed) South Waziristan. The Pakistani Afghan, Pakistani, Arab, and thirty thousand additional an Afghan Taliban faction
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:00:00 PM
Taliban politely ushered my Uzbek militants work together in American troops in Afghanistan known as the Haqqani network,
Afghan Taliban guards, myself, a broadbased ideological coincides with a serious military is one of the last major Taliban
Message from fivefilters.org: If and the Afghan journalist and movement--is affirmed by these or political drive by the Pakistani strongholds in the tribal area.
you can, please donate to the full driver who had been kidnapped two new books. Decoding the government to pressure the These books suggest--as does as
-text RSS service so we can with me, into a back room. There New Taliban is a valuable Afghan Taliban on the Pakistani my own experience in captivity--
continue developing it. they fed us tea, rice, and bread collection of scholarly and side of the border. that the Pakistani differentiation
Decoding the New Taliban: for dinner. Then they transported journalistic analyses, and My While American troops are on between the two Talibans is
Insights from the Afghan Field us to an empty house nearby, Life With the Taliban is the their way to Afghanistan, false. The Afghan and Pakistani
Edited by Antonio Giustozzi which would serve as our new autobiography of a former senior however, Pakistani military Taliban work closely together,
(Columbia University Press, 318 prison. Taliban official. Both books officials are refusing to confront strengthening and supporting
pp., $40) Over the next several days, it offer important clues that could the Afghan Taliban inside their each other in various ways. For
My Life with the Taliban became clear to me that our help to answer some of the most borders. For years, Pakistani this reason, the American surge
By Abdul Salam Zaeef Afghan Taliban abductors had pressing foreign policy questions officials have differentiated in Afghanistan appears unlikely
Edited by Alex Strick van not sold us to the Pakistani now confronting the Obama between Afghan and Pakistani to achieve a military victory until
Linschoten and Felix Kuehn Taliban. Instead the two groups administration. Who are the Taliban groups, insisting that the Pakistanis themselves move
(Columbia University Press, 331 w e r e w o r k i n g s e a m l e s s l y Taliban? And can they be Afghan militants pose no threat more aggressively against the
pp., $29.95) together. When we departed defeated, or convinced to lay to the Pakistani state. They also Afghan Taliban. From its
After several hours of driving from the area six weeks later for down their arms? say that they hope to use the Pakistani base, the Haqqani
down one of the two-lane asphalt u n k n o w n r e a s o n s , t h e In their very different ways, Afghan Taliban as proxies to network has carried out a series
r o a d s t h a t w i n d t h r o u g h coordination between the Afghan both books demonstrate that the prevent attempts by India to gain of high-profile attacks in Kabul,
Pakistan’s tribal areas, our T a l i b a n a n d t h e P a k i s t a n i Afghan Taliban have become influence in Afghanistan after including a recent attack on the
kidnappers entered the territory Taliban was equally flawless. significantly stronger, broader, the Obama administration begins Central Bank that paralyzed the
of Baitullah Mehsud, the widely T h r o u g h o u t o u r c a p t i v i t y , and more sophisticated since withdrawing American troops city. As long as the Haqqanis
feared leader of the Pakistani Afghan and Pakistani militants they were toppled in 2001. They from Afghanistan in 2011. As remain unchallenged in Pakistan,
Taliban. It was the middle of spoke in one voice of their desire also suggest that the Afghan long as they persist in this view, American and Afghan security
March in 2009. We had feared to topple the American-backed Taliban leadership is it appears that the Afghan forces will have a very hard time
that our kidnappers--Afghan governments in Afghanistan and increasingly confident, as its Taliban will continue to enjoy a containing them--let alone
Taliban who had abducted us Pakistan, and halt what they saw military successes multiply and it sanctuary in Pakistan. In defeating them.
outside Kabul four months as the oppression of Muslims continues to enjoy safe havens in January, Pakistani officials Five Filters featured article:
earlier--would sell us to the worldwide. Pakistan. And the books leave rebuffed a request from Defense Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
Pakistani group. But instead our By itself, this anecdote is not the reader to conclude that hard- Secretary Robert Gates that PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
car pulled into the parking lot of significant. But its central lesson- line Afghan Taliban are unlikely Pakistan launch a military Term Extraction.
a large government building or -that the tribal areas of Pakistan to agree to a negotiated peace offensive in North Waziristan.
BIPARTISANSHIP!
continued from page 38
"I'll Have the Veal." [Open Caption]
by Richard Lawson (Gawker) [ Angelina Jolie filming a new
Submitted at 2/23/2010 9:08:27 AM movie in Paris; image via
Splash]
40 Politics/ Sports/ E-reader News Edition

The Republican Obama Video: Carl

by John B. Judis (The New
Republic - All Feed)
had no easy task ahead of him.
This year’s CPAC reminded me
decades ago, for the insistence of
its founder, Robert Welch, that
His trick consisted partly of
echoing the great themes of
Lewis Hearts
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:00:00 PM
of the Christian Coalition
meetings of the early 1990s. It
Message from fivefilters.org: If was carefully staged; the rhetoric
Dwight Eisenhower was a
Communist. In its booth, the
conservative America:
opposition to big government, Curling
Birch Society was selling CDs of support for free enterprise, a (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
you can, please donate to the full was generally inflammatory; the Welch’s speeches. How was determination to defeat “radical
Submitted at 2/22/2010 5:45:57 PM
-text RSS service so we can participants, who numbered someone with dreams of Islam and the threat it poses
continue developing it. 10,000 or so, were passionate in becoming a U.S. senator in a through terror.” But he breathed This is not a piece of
Politicians who hold or aspire to their beliefs; and their beliefs state larded with independents life into these weather-beaten information we expected to learn
high office have learned the hard oftentimes veered into the realm and moderates supposed to cope notions by infusing them with when we first arrived in
way (e.g Trent Lott speaking at of the preposterous. A good with this assemblage? his own life story, which proved Vancouver: Olympic track
Strom Thurmond’s birthday many thought the best way to get Well, precisely as Rubio did. their worthiness and their legend Carl Lewis has fallen in
party) that when you speak to a out of the current economic His speech to the group was a applicability. Unlike many a love with curling. Geoffrey A.
select group of loyalists in these slump was to drastically cut masterpiece of political prominent Republican, Rubio Fowler caught up with him to
v i r a l t i m e s , y o u a r e a l s o government spending, abolish positioning. He assiduously could not be said to have been find out why.
addressing a national audience, the income tax and the Federal avoided endorsing any of the born with a silver or even
including people who would like Reserve, and go back on the gold notions of the crackpot right. stainless steel spoon. The son of
nothing better than to latch onto standard. Some wanted to close Nothing about abolishing the Cuban exiles—his father worked
some gaffe or fringe conviction. the borders, get rid of the United Fed. He was against “cap-and- as a bartender and mother as a
So when Marco Rubio—the Nations, and impeach Obama. trade,” but did not brand global maid—Rubio first attended
former Speaker of the Florida In the booths on the main floor, warming a hoax. He also didn’t college on a football scholarship.
House of Representatives who is where many of the CPAC criticize Obama himself. In fact, His is the classic story of the
running for Senate against visitors mingled, one of the he didn’t mention Obama’s American dream fulfilled.
Governor Charlie Crist (and largest and most popular displays name. Yet, he had the audience Five Filters featured article:
leading in the polls)—spoke to was from the John Birch Society, on its feet, and for the remainder Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
the annual Conservative Political which had been banished from of the three-day event, it cheered PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
A c t i o n C o n f e r e n c e i n the conservative mainstream by lustily whenever a speaker Term Extraction.
Washington last Thursday, he William F. Buckley Jr. three mentioned his name.

Murtha's Widow Won't Run for His U.S. House Seat

(Newsmax - Politics)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 10:54:12 PM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.
The wife of the late Rep. John
Murtha will not run to finish his
term in the western Pennsylvania
House seat that he held nearly
four decades.
The Murtha for Congress
Committee said in an e-mail
Monday that Joyce Murtha feels
it's "too soon after his death to be
on the campaign trail."
A special election to fill the
vacancy will be held as part of
Pennsylvania's May 18 primary.
Murtha died Feb. 8 following
complications from gallbladder
surgery.
Democrats running include
former Pennsylvania treasurer
Barbara Hafer, former lieutenant
governor Mark Singel and
Cambria County Controller Ed
Cernic Jr.
Prospective Republican
candidates include William
Russell, who unsuccessfully
challenged Murtha in 2008, and
Tim Burns, a businessman from
the town of Eighty Four.
© Copyright 2010 The
Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed.
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Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
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E-reader News Edition
Texas Tea Parties Hold 'Virtual'
Debate in Gov's Race
(Newsmax - Politics)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 12:11:11 PM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.
In yet another sign the
conservative grass-roots
movement is moving further into
the political arena, a coalition of
tea party-type organizations
called The Common Sense
Texans Network is planning a
"virtual debate" among
Democrats and Republicans
vying to become the Lone Star
state's next governor.
"We're clearly looking to affect
legislative action by determining
who gets to make the decisions
in state and federal positions,"
Greg Holloway, co-founder of
Common Sense Texans
Network, tells Newsmax. "What
we're all about is trying to get
conservatives elected … [and]
the best way to do that is to meet
with the candidates and see who
has those values within their own
belief systems."
The virtual debate poses
videotaped responses to 10
questions submitted by members
of the Texas grassroots-
conservative movement. The
questions touch on tax policy,
border-control efforts, trimming
the state's budget, and the
privatizing of activities currently
managed by the state
bureaucracy.
Holloway, who also serves as a
director for Austin Tea Party
Patriots, says that over the next
three days the video responses of
each candidate will be posted on
YouTube. The "virtual debate"
will also air on the group's Web
site, CommonSenseTexans.net.
The Common Sense Texans
Network is a coalition of tea
party activists and grass-roots
conservatives from throughout
Texas.
The Texas primary will be held
on Tuesday, March 2. Leading
Republican candidates include
incumbent Gov. Rick Perry,
GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison,
and Debra Medina, a Wharton
County GOP chairperson and
business executive who has
mounted a surprisingly effective
upstart candidacy.
A recent Rasmussen poll
showed Perry leading Hutchison
44 percent to 29 percent, with
Medina at 16 percent.
Medina, who stubbed her toe on
the Glenn Beck show by
suggesting she might believe in
9/11 conspiracy theories, could
grab enough votes to keep Perry
from winning 50 percent of the
vote. That would trigger a run-
off election.
The main Democratic
challengers are former Houston
Mayor Bill White and
Palestinian-American Farouk
Shami, a prominent Houston-
area business executive. White is
thought to be the clear front-
runner.
"We've gotten some really
interesting answers," Holloway
tells Newsmax. "And I think
they've been honest answers by
the candidates. The candidates
show themselves to be real
people, and very interested in
making people's lives better in
Texas. It just so happens they
have different ways of trying to
do it."
© Newsmax. All rights reserved.
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Politics/ Tech News/ 41
Is Jive Software Taking
Steps Toward An IPO?
by Alex Williams
(ReadWriteWeb)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 10:45:42 PM
If there is any doubt about the
social Web moving into the
enterprise, then the news today
from Jive Software has to make
even the hardest skeptics start to
wonder.
The Portland, Oregon company
that has built its success on
providing a social layer to the
enterprise is pursuing a path that
technology companies in the
may lead it to a public offering.
market. For instance, Jive has a
Fueled by venture capital, the
Sharepoint integration with
company said today that it is
Microsoft. But the reality is the
looking for a new CEO.
two companies are vying for the
Sponsor
same accounts.
Current CEO Dave Hersh is
The issue is size. Companies
stepping aside from his role to
like Microsoft have huge sales
become chairman of the Jive
channels. Jive does not have that
board. The interim CEO will be
kind of reach. An IPO would
Tony Zingale, a Jive board
give Jive the resources to
member.
compete more effectively with
Hersh has lead the company
the giants of the tech world.
since 2001. He will lead the
It's also a clear sign that the
search effort for a new CEO.
market is there for social
Zingale is an experienced CEO.
software in the enterprise. Hersh
He most recently lead Mercury
said to us in an i nterview
Interactive, a company acquired
recently that there is a mad chase
for $5 billion. He was also CEO
for all applications to be social.
of Clarify, a CRM company.
That's quite true. And Jive's
In a phone interview today,
dreams of an IPO are
company executives said an IPO
representative of that reality.
is a possibility. It's a move that
Discuss
makes sense. Jive is now
competing with the largest
42 Consumer Reports/
CR Names Six New Top Pick Cars For 2010
by Press Room (Consumer
Reports)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:59:59 AM
CR Names Six New Top Pick
Cars For 2010
Mazda5, Cheverolet Traverse
and Volkswagen GTI among the
new additions
YONKERS, NY — Consumer
Reports names six new models
to its annual Top Picks car list
for 2010. Comprised of nine
different car brands, this year’s
list is the most diverse group of
Top Picks in over a decade.
Findings from Consumer
Reports’ Annual Auto Issue,
including the new Top Picks,
were announced today at a
Washington Automotive Press
Association (WAPA) press
conference in Washington, D.C..
The Mazda5, Nissan Altima,
Subaru Forester, Volkswagen
GTI, and Chevrolet Traverse and
Silverado join the Hyundai
Elantra SE, Infiniti G37, Toyota
Prius and Lexus LS460L as
Consumer Reports’ selections
for best models of the year based
on performance, reliability, and
safety.
“The diversity of this year’s Top
Picks reflect how competitive the
industry has become,” said Rik
Paul, Consumer Reports’
automotive editor. “Today’s car
buyers have more choices than
ever when looking for good all-
around cars.”
Consumer Reports’ Top Picks
are the best all-around models in
their categories and must meet
stringent road test, reliability,
and safety requirements. Each
Top Pick scores at or near the top
of its category among the more
than 280 vehicles Consumer
Reports recently evaluated at its
Auto Test Center; has average or
better predicted reliability (based
on the problems subscribers
reported on more than 1.4
million vehicles in Consumer
Reports’ Annual Auto Survey),
and performed adequately in
overall safety if tested by the
government or insurance
industry. In addition, each model
must offer electronic stability
control (ESC), a proven
lifesaving safety feature as
standard equipment or as a
readily available option. All of
this year’s Top Picks provide
standard ESC and curtain air
bags.
In recent years, Toyota and
Honda models have had their
share of spots among Consumer
Reports Top Picks list. But the
automotive landscape continues
to grow more competitive. This
year, the Nissan Altima managed
to dethrone the Honda Accord as
the Top Pick for Family
Sedan—making it the first time
since 1998 that a Honda model
was not selected.
The Toyota Prius retains its
position as the Top Pick for
Green for the seventh
consecutive year, while the
Lexus LS460L returns as
Consumer Reports pick for Best
Overall vehicle. At the time of
publication, sales of the Toyota
Highlander and RAV4 had been
halted and currently Consumer
Reports has suspended its
recommendation for both
vehicles removing them from
contention in the Small and
Family SUV category.
“The competition is quite fierce,
and often the difference between
a Top Pick and a runner-up can
be slim. We believe all of our
Top Picks this year to be
exceptional vehicles that excel in
a number of areas,” Paul added.
Consumer Reports’ testing
procedures are the most
comprehensive of any U.S.
publication or Web site. More
than 50 individual tests are
performed on every vehicle,
including evaluations of braking,
handling, comfort, convenience,
safety, and fuel economy.
Roughly 6,000 miles of general
driving and evaluations are
racked up on each test car during
the testing process. CR buys all
its test cars anonymously from
dealers. Other reviewers base
their evaluations on press cars
that are hand-picked by the
automakers.
Here, by category, are the 2010
Top Picks.
• SMALL SEDAN: Hyundai
Elantra SE. The Elantra SE
($18,695) made the Top Picks
list for the third time this year. It
is a solid, all-around car that’s
relatively comfortable, quiet, and
roomy, and provides good fuel
economy and plenty of features
for the money. The SE comes
with standard ESC, a critical
safety feature that’s absent on
other small cars (including the
lower-end Elantras).• FAMILY
SEDAN: Nissan Altima. The
Altima ($23,970 to $30,335) has
been a Consumer Reports top-
rated family sedan for a couple
of years, but lacked easily
available ESC. A 2010
freshening made it better and
improved gas mileage and for the
first time provides standard ESC
in all trim lines. It offers an
appealing balance of comfort and
performance, while getting some
of the best fuel economy in its
class: 26 mpg overall in four-
cylinder models and 24 mpg
with a V6. The cabin is roomy,
well finished, and quiet. And the
secure handling, comfortable
ride, and spirited acceleration
make the car enjoyable to drive.•
SPORTY CAR: Volkswagen
GTI. Freshened for 2010, the
GTI ($27,504) is the sport
version of the Volkswagen Golf
(formerly called the Rabbit). The
GTI is exhilarating to drive and
easy to live with. It delivers the
agile handling, spirited
acceleration, and responsive
steering of a true sports car,
along with a decent ride, a well-
finished interior, and the cargo-
carrying practicality of a
hatchback. Good fuel economy
of 27 mpg overall is another
plus, although premium fuel is
required.• SMALL SUV:
Subaru Forester. The Forester
($20,972 to $28,860) provides
one of the most carlike driving
experiences of any SUV. It
E-reader News Edition
combines agile handling with the
most comfortable ride in its
class. Passengers are treated to a
spacious cabin, with a roomy
rear seat and excellent visibility.
The 2.5X provides an impressive
22 mpg overall with an
automatic, 24 mpg with a
manual. And the turbocharged
2.5XT delivers effortless
acceleration and 20 mpg, but it
takes premium fuel. The 2.5X
has had excellent reliability,
while the 2.5XT’s is average.•
BEST CAR OVERALL: Lexus
LS 460L. The LS ($76,572)
scored an outstanding 99 out of
100 in Consumer Reports road
tests, making it the highest-rated
vehicle. It provides a
comfortable ride and luxurious
driving environment, including a
roomy, well-crafted and
exceptionally quiet interior. It
offers a plethora of electronic
amenities, including an optional
self-parking system. Yet, its
controls are easy to use. Its
efficient 380-hp V8 and eight-
speed automatic transmission
deliver smooth, brisk
acceleration and a relatively
good 21 mpg overall. All-wheel
drive and a hybrid version are
available.• FAMILY SUV:
Chevrolet Traverse. The
Traverse ($39,920) stands out as
an impressive overall package
with a quiet, spacious cabin that
can comfortably seat up to eight
adults and leave room for cargo.
NAMES page 46
E-reader News Edition
Automaker Report Cards: Honda and Subaru Lead, Hyundai
Makes Strides, Chrysler Lags
by Press Room (Consumer
Reports)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:59:59 AM
Automaker Report Cards:
Honda and Subaru Lead,
Hyundai Makes Strides, Chrysler
Lags
YONKERS, NY — Honda and
Subaru have earned class leader
status for building the best all-
around vehicles for American
drivers, according to the
Automaker Report Cards
published in Consumer Reports’
2010 Annual Auto Issue. This is
the fourth consecutive year that
Honda has topped CR’s list. At
the opposite end of the annual
ranking is Chrysler, which fared
even worse than last year.
However, Chrysler had one
recommended vehicle this year,
the Ram pickup, compared to no
recommended vehicles last year.
Tied with an overall score of 77
out of 100 points, Honda and
Subaru were followed by Toyota
(74) (Recommendations for eight
recalled Toyota models were
temporarily suspended), Hyundai
(73) and Nissan and Volkswagen
tied at (72) in overall score.
Although the best vehicles
overall are being built by Honda
and Subaru, South Korean
carmaker Hyundai, and its
subsidiary, Kia, has shown the
most dramatic improvement,
jumping to fourth place from
ninth last year.
The full report, “Rating the
carmakers” is in the Annual Auto
Issue, which goes on sale March
2. It is also available to
s u b s c r i b e r s a t
www.ConsumerReports.org.
The overall score for each
automaker is based on the
average of its vehicles’ overall
scores in Consumer Reports’
road tests and their average
predicted-reliability ratings from
Consumer Reports’ Annual Auto
Survey. Manufacturers received
a report card only if five or more
of their vehicles were tested.
Honda continues to make many
of the best all-around vehicles.
Overall, its Honda and Acura
models, are the most reliable
vehicles in CR’s predicted-
reliability ratings. The most
recent models from Honda,
however, have not shown the
same dedication to interior
quality and fuel economy that
earlier models did. Despite its
outstanding reliability, CR
doesn’t recommend the new
Insight because of subpar
emergency handling and a
compromised rear seat.
The redesigned 2010 Legacy
sedan and Outback wagon raised
Subaru’s overall test score from
78 points to 81. That helped
contribute to its tie with Honda
in CR’s rankings. However,
Consumer Reports no longer
recommends the Subaru Impreza
WRX because its subscribers
reported a relatively high number
of problems, including
transmission troubles, in the
latest survey. Last year, CR
recommended every Subaru
model.
Hyundai/Kia showed a dramatic
improvement in CR’s report-card
rankings, led by newer models
such as the Hyundai Genesis and
Elantra sedans, Santa Fe SUV,
and Kia Optima sedan. Their
reliability continues to improve
with only the Kia Sedona
minivan below average.
Not all Asian models are
reliable or good performers.
Although many models from
Honda, Toyota, and Mitsubishi
are very reliable, several scored
too low in CR’s tests to be
Recommended. Toyota recently
issued safety recalls and
temporarily stopped sales of
eight models because of rare
occurrences of a sticking
accelerator pedal. Consumer
Reports has suspended its
recommendations of those
models, which caused Toyota’s
percentage of recommended
vehicles to drop off by almost
half.
The past year was especially
rough for American automakers
but there is some good news:
reliability of some Ford models
now rivals their competitors
from Honda and Toyota. But in
CR’s testing, Ford vehicles were
not always among the best
Consumer Reports/
performers. Although the Flex
and Fusion scored highly, most
models from Ford, Mercury, and
Lincoln rate only midpack. Still,
the freshened Ford Fusion and
Mercury Milan are excellent
overall packages that provide
good performance and fuel
economy. Consumer Reports
recommends 75 percent of the
Ford models that were tested, up
from 70 percent last year.
New models from GM now rank
among the best in CR’s testing,
although overall reliability, even
among some of the new models,
still lags behind most of the
competition. GM models that
score well in CR’s tests include
the Buick Enclave and LaCrosse,
Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet
Corvette, Equinox, Malibu, and
Traverse, and GMC Acadia.
Chrysler’s grades fell to the
bottom of the class, and it is the
only automaker to drop from last
year in all measures. Most
models from the manufacturer
have noisy, inefficient, unrefined
powertrains; subpar interiors;
and poor visibility. The Ram
1500 pickup is the only Chrysler
model on Consumer Reports’
Recommended list.
If all that consumers cared about
were performance, comfort, and
safety, Mercedes and
Volkswagen (including Audi)
models would go to the head of
the class. They have the highest
average test scores because they
43
ride and handle especially well,
have comfortable seats, and have
relatively good fuel economy
and acceleration. In recent years
those vehicles have lagged in
reliability. But that has begun to
change, with several models
from Mercedes and Volkswagen,
as well as BMW, Saab, and
Volvo, attaining average or
better predicted reliability.
The best vehicles often set the
standard for their competitors to
follow or improve upon. In the
end, it’s the consumer who ends
up the ultimate winner.
With more than 7 million print
and online subscribers,
Consumer Reports is one of the
most trusted sources for
information and advice on
consumer products and services.
It conducts the most
comprehensive auto-test program
of any U.S. publication or Web
site; the magazine’s auto experts
have decades of experience in
driving, testing, and reporting on
cars. To become a subscriber,
consumers can call 1-800-234-
1645. Information and articles
from the magazine can be
accessed online at
www.ConsumerReports.org.
Subscribe now!
S u b s c r i b e t o
ConsumerReports.org for expert
Ratings, buying advice and
reliability on hundreds of
AUTOMAKER page 45
44 Consumer Reports/
Seven Car Problems That Can Leave You Stranded and How
to Prevent Them
by Press Room (Consumer
Reports)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:59:59 AM
Seven Car Problems That Can
Leave You Stranded and How to
Prevent Them
YONKERS, NY — Most of us
don’t like surprises when it
comes to our cars, especially the
kind that leave us stranded on the
highway in bad weather. In the
magazine’s Annual Auto Issue,
the editors of Consumer Reports
provide advice on how to avoid
unwelcome surprises like
blowouts, dead batteries, blown
fuses, and broken drive belts,
and suggest how to deal with
them if they do happen.
Titled “Unwelcome Surprises,”
the complete story is available in
Consumer Reports’ Annual Auto
Issue, which goes on sale March
2, and online at
www.ConsumerReports.org.
U p d a t e d d a i l y ,
ConsumerReports.org is the go-
to site for the latest auto reviews,
product news, blogs on breaking
news and car buying
information.
• Dead Battery: This is often the
culprit when the engine won’t
turn over or start. All batteries
will weaken over time. Certain
activities can leave the battery
undercharged, like infrequent
use, a lot of short trips, or using
multiple accessories when the
headlights are on. Even
forgetting to turn off a light or
listening to the radio with the
engine off can drain the juice out
of your battery, making it too
weak to start when you need it.
How to prevent it. Although the
effect of a drained battery often
shows up on cold mornings, it’s
the high temperatures of summer
that usually do the most damage.
So a battery can fail at any time.
Be sure to have the battery and
alternator tested as part of an
annual inspection.• Flat tire or
blowout. Flats and blowouts can
be caused by road hazards, a tire
defect, or lack of care, and can
cause you to lose control of the
vehicle. If you experience either
of these, Consumer Reports
recommends taking a firm grip
of the wheel and gently guiding
the car off the road as soon as
possible. How to prevent it.
Many tire problems result from
underinflated tires that overheat,
due to low tire pressure. Keep all
tires, including the spare,
properly inflated to the
automaker’s recommended
pressure by checking them
monthly. Also, inspect the tire
sidewalls for bulges or cracks.•
Fluid Leak. An undetected leak
in a critical system can be
devastating, possibly resulting in
a blown engine or transmission
or even brake failure. How to
prevent it. Check the car’s fluid
levels regularly, using your
owner’s manual as a guide. Look
for leaks on the pavement where
you park. Black drips are oil;
green, orange, or yellow are
coolant; and brown or reddish
oily drips can be transmission or
brake fluid. Any of those can
spell trouble and warrant a trip to
the mechanic to inspect your
car.• Worn out wipers or no
fluid. Many accidents are a result
of poor visibility. Often drivers
don’t realize their wipers are shot
or their washer tank is empty
until they need them most. And a
torn wiper blade can allow the
wiper arm to rub against the
glass, possibly ruining the
windshield. How to prevent it.
Consumer Reports’ auto testers
have found that wipers usually
degrade in their first six months
so it’s best to replace them twice
a year. Wipers that have done
well in Consumer Reports’ tests
include the Valeo 600 Series,
RainX Latitude, Anco 32 Series,
and Michelin RainForce. Stash
spare wiper blades and a gallon
of nonfreezing washer fluid in
the trunk.• Blown fuse. When a
fuse goes, it can disable a critical
electrical system, such as the
headlights, defroster, or antilock
brake system, any of which
could lead to an accident. What
to do. You can’t prevent an
electrical problem, but a blown
fuse should be the first thing you
check if one happens. Consumer
Reports recommends carrying a
selection of spare fuses and a
fuse puller in the car. Fuse kits
range from $5 to $20 and can be
purchased at auto parts stores. Be
sure to check your owner’s
manual to make sure the fuses
you buy are the correct amp
rating and size. If the same fuse
blows repeatedly, have a
mechanic inspect the system.•
Broken drive belt. It can disable
the car’s water pump or
alternator, leading to engine
overheating and battery failure.
And when it comes to
maintenance, belts are easy to
forget. How to prevent it.
Consumer Reports advises
periodic checks under the hood.
If a belt has cracks or the rubber
is fraying or feels brittle, it
should be replaced. If there’s a
lot of slack in the belt, the
underside is shiny, or you hear
squealing while driving, it
should be adjusted or repaired.
Most drive belts should be
replaced after about 60,000
miles.• Locked out. We’ve all
done it. At best, it’s a minor
annoyance; at worse, it’s a
serious problem when you’re in
an unsafe environment. How to
prevent it. Some carmakers
provide a valet key or a plastic
key for emergency use. If your
spare key won’t fit in your purse
or wallet, consider a magnetic
box for $5 to $10, which you can
hide beneath the car or behind
the license plate. Often a dealer
can cut a door key for much less
E-reader News Edition
than a locksmith would charge.
Telematics services, such as
GM’s OnStar, can unlock a car
remotely.
With more than 7 million print
and online subscribers,
Consumer Reports is one of the
most trusted sources for
information and advice on
consumer products and services.
It conducts the most
comprehensive auto-test program
of any U.S. publication or Web
site; the magazine’s auto experts
have decades of experience in
driving, testing, and reporting on
cars. To become a subscriber,
consumers can call 1-800-234-
1645. Information and articles
from the magazine can be
accessed online at
www.ConsumerReports.org.
Subscribe now!
S u b s c r i b e t o
ConsumerReports.org for expert
Ratings, buying advice and
reliability on hundreds of
products. Update your feed
preferences
E-reader News Edition Consumer Reports/ Gadgets/ 45
AUTOMAKER
2010 Consumer Reports automaker report cards continued from page 43

products. Update your feed

by Consumer Reports road tests and their average economy. preferences
Shopping Blog (Consumer predicted-reliability ratings from New models from GM now rank
Reports) Consumer Reports’ Annual Auto among the best in CR’s testing,
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:14:59 AM Survey. Manufacturers received although overall reliability, even
a report card only if five or more among some of the new models,
2 0 1 0 C o n s u m e r R e p o r t s of its vehicles were tested. still lags behind most of the
automaker report cards Honda continues to make many competition. GM models that
Honda and Subaru have earned of the best all-around vehicles. score well in CR’s tests include
class leader status for building Overall, its Honda and Acura the Buick Enclave and LaCrosse,
the best all-around vehicles for models, are the most reliable Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet
American drivers, according to vehicles in CR’s predicted- Corvette, Equinox, Malibu, and
the Automaker Report Cards reliability ratings. The most Traverse, and GMC Acadia.
published in Consumer Reports’ recent models from Honda, Chrysler’s grades fell to the
2010 Annual Auto Issue. This is however, have not shown the bottom of the class, and it is the
the fourth consecutive year that same dedication to interior only automaker to drop from last
Honda has topped CR’s list. At quality and fuel economy that year in all measures. Most Street Fighter IV for
the opposite end of the annual earlier models did. Despite its rankings, led by newer models models from the manufacturer iPhone Will Cost $10
ranking is Chrysler, which fared outstanding reliability, CR such as the Hyundai Genesis and have noisy, inefficient, unrefined
even worse than last year. doesn’t recommend the new Elantra sedans, Santa Fe SUV, powertrains; subpar interiors; From Next Month
With an overall score of 77 out I n s i g h t b e c a u s e o f s u b p a r and Kia Optima sedan. Their and poor visibility. The Ram [IPhone Apps]
of 100 points, Honda and Subaru emergency handling and a reliability continues to improve 1500 pickup is the only Chrysler by Kat Hannaford (Gizmodo)
were followed by Toyota (74) compromised rear seat. with only the Kia Sedona model on Consumer Reports’
Submitted at 2/23/2010 7:15:22 AM
(Recommendations for eight The redesigned 2010 Legacy minivan below average. Recommended list.
recalled Toyota models were sedan and Outback wagon raised The past year was especially Full details and rankings are Street Fighter IV is almost here
temporarily suspended), Hyundai Subaru’s overall test score from rough for American automakers available in the article “ Rating for the iPhone, and Capcom is
(73) and Nissan and Volkswagen 78 points to 81. That helped but there is some good news: the carmakers.” tantalizingly drip-feeding us with
tied at (72) in overall score. contribute to its tie with Honda reliability of some Ford models Visit the annual auto issue details about the coolest thumb-
Although the best vehicles in CR’s rankings. However, now rivals their competitors special section for quick access masher to hit the App Store. It'll
overall are being built by Honda Consumer Reports no longer from Honda and Toyota. But in to the latest Ratings, articles, and cost a rather large $9.99, and will
and Subaru, South Korean recommends the Subaru Impreza CR’s testing, Ford vehicles were videos. Subscribe now! have eight playable characters,
carmaker Hyundai, and its W R X b e c a u s e s u b s c r i b e r s not always among the best S u b s c r i b e t o including Ryu.
subsidiary, Kia, has shown the reported a relatively high number performers. Although the Flex ConsumerReports.org for expert Gamepro got an early hands-on
most dramatic improvement, o f p r o b l e m s , i n c l u d i n g and Fusion scored highly, most Ratings, buying advice and with the iPhone and iPod Touch
jumping to fourth place from transmission troubles, in the models from Ford, Mercury, and r e l i a b i l i t y o n h u n d r e d s o f version, and while they haven't
ninth last year. latest survey. Last year, CR Lincoln rate only midpack. Still, products. Update your feed published their first impressions
The overall score for each recommended every Subaru the freshened Ford Fusion and preferences yet, they were able to confirm
automaker is based on the model. Mercury Milan are excellent with Capcom that it's due to hit
average of its vehicles’ overall Hyundai/Kia showed a dramatic overall packages that provide the App Store next month—and
scores in Consumer Reports’ improvement in CR’s report-card good performance and fuel film the below video showing
the game in action. [ Gamepro
via Kotaku]
Image credit: IGN
46 Gadgets/ TV/
NAMES
continued from page 42
It provides a pleasant ride,
communicative steering, and
responsive handling. The tested
model returned 16 mpg overall,
which is respectable for its size.
Rear visibility isn’t great, but
small convex side mirrors and an
optional rear-view camera help.•
SPORT SEDAN: Infiniti G37.
The G sedan ($37,225) tops this
category for the fourth straight
year. It is one of the highest-
rated sedans tested, with a score
of 95 out of 100. It provides
agile handling, blistering
acceleration, a refined
powertrain, a fairly comfortable
ride, and a high-quality,
luxurious interior. The G37 is as
inviting to drive on a twisty road
as it is on the highway. But
compromises include a snug
cabin and small trunk. Rear-
wheel drive is standard; all-
wheel drive is optional. Coupe
and convertible versions are also
available.• FAMILY HAULER:
Mazda5. The Mazda5 microvan
($23,805) offers lots of
practicality in a compact,
affordable package. With three
The madness continues: Paris airport installs full-body
scanning machines
by Nicholas Deleon
(CrunchGear)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:00:42 AM
Another international airport has
adopted those full-body scanners
that have proven to be so
rows of seats and sliding rear
side doors, it combines the
convenience of a minivan with
the maneuverability and stingy
fuel economy—24 mpg
overall—of a wagon. The
interior is airy, with good fit and
finish. It’s fun to drive, with a
nimble feel and a comfortable
ride. The addition of standard
ESC for 2010 improved its
emergency handling. If you need
more room, consider the Honda
Odyssey minivan.• GREEN
CAR: Toyota Prius. The Prius
($26,950) received a redesign for
2010 and leads this category for
the seventh straight year. It’s still
the most fuel-efficient car in
Consumer Reports’ ratings, with
44 mpg overall. The Prius is a
pleasant car to drive, with a
roomy interior, a steady ride,
hatchback versatility, and
excellent reliability and crash-
test results. The 2010 redesign
also gave it a more solid feel and
a dedicated EV mode that allows
it to run longer on electric power
at low speeds, an advantage in
slow, congested traffic.•
controversial. Paris’ Charles de
Gaulle has installed the machine
on a three-month trial basis.
Concerned about being
bombarded with millimeter
waves? Don’t be, for the head of
the country’s Direction Générale
PICKUP TRUCK: Chevrolet the issue.
Silverado. The Silverado 1500
($37,235) returns to the top of
With more than 7 million print
and online subscribers,
the list after a year off. The crewConsumer Reports is one of the
-cab 4WD model is a well- most trusted sources for
rounded pickup with a roomy information and advice on
cabin, generous payload consumer products and services.
capacity, decent ride quality, It conducts the most
available full-time 4WD, and, on comprehensive auto-test program
higher-end models, very good of any U.S. publication or Web
interior fit and finish. The GMC site; the magazine’s auto experts
Sierra is a twin of the Silverado. have decades of experience in
Reliability has been average. driving, testing, and reporting on
cars. To become a subscriber,
consumers can call 1-800-234-
1645. Information and articles
from the magazine can be
accessed online at
www.ConsumerReports.org.
Subscribe now!
S u b s c r i b e t o
ConsumerReports.org for expert
Ratings, buying advice and
Consumer Reports’ Annual r e l i a b i l i t y o n h u n d r e d s o f
Auto Issue goes on sale March 2 products. Update your feed
wherever magazines are sold. preferences
Free highlights from the issue
will be available at
www.ConsumerReports.org.
Subscribers will be able to access
all the stories and ratings from
equivalent of the Federal
Aviation Authority—says
they’re totally safe.
Incidentally, the French seem to
be cool with the idea of full-body
de l’Aviation Civile—the French scanner, if this Le Monde poll is
to be believed, with 43 percent of
E-reader News Edition
Prison Break Video
Game Breaks
Loose Next Month
by Danny Gallagher (TV
Squad)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 11:07:00 PM
Ever wanted to plot a prison
break without having to endure
the embarrassment of receiving a
felony, disappointing your loved
ones or showering with total
strangers? Now you can!
A new video game version of
Fox's 'Prison Break', developed
by Deep Silver and ZootFly
Studios, is set to hit the store
shelves next month and the
official trailer has hit the web.
Watch it when the guards aren't
looking.
Video Games| Prison Break:
The Conspiracy| UK Debut
Trailer XBox 360| Playstation 3|
Nintendo Wii
Filed under: Other Drama
Shows, Video, Software, Reality
-Free
Permalink| Email this| |
Comments
respondents saying they’re in
favor of the scanners.
Very exciting all around. Allez
les bleus, etc.
E-reader News Edition Consumer Reports/ Gadgets/ Entertainment/ 47

2010 Consumer Reports new-car best Video review of the iRex

value list
by Consumer Reports
Shopping Blog (Consumer
Reports)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:29:59 AM
2010 Consumer Reports new-
car best value list
The Honda Fit and the Toyota
Prius topped the list of new-car
best values according to
Consumer Reports’ 2010 Annual
Auto Issue beating out more than
280 cars in eight categories.
The Honda Fit and the Toyota
Prius each earned a value score
of 2.08 and provided the best
overall value despite being very
different cars. Scores are
expressed in relation to the value
of the average vehicle
(designated 1.00). A score of
2.00 represents twice the value
of the average model. While the
Prius IV ($26,750) is more
expensive than the Honda Fit
($16,020) and has a higher cost
per mile (47 cents vs. 42), the
Prius performed notably better in
Consumer Reports’ battery of
road tests, earning a score of 80
DR800SG Digital eBook
Reader by Mobile Tech Review
cars Toyota Prius IV Dodge
Avenger R/T (3.5, V6) by Tablet better of you. It will be a while
Wagons/Minivans Hyundai (BestTabletReview.com) before you get to play with it
Elantra Touring Dodge Grand Submitted at 2/22/2010 7:44:16 AM
unplugged. It seems very quick
Caravan SXT (3.8) Small SUVs on page turns and the
Subaru Forester 2.5x Dodge Message from fivefilters.org: If newspapers look pretty fantastic
Nitro SLT (3.7) Midsized SUVs you can, please donate to the full o n i t . W h i l e y o u ’ r e n o t
Hyundai Santa Fe Limited Jeep -text RSS service so we can completely screwed over if you
Wrangler Unlimited Sahara continue developing it. lose the tiny stylus included
versus the Fit’s 68. Both cars Upscale sedans Acura TSX (4- As we reported last week, the (there are buttons you can use on
have excellent reliability. cyl.) Dodge Charter R/T (V8) iRex DR800SG Digital eBook the side), the iRex is dependent
To determine which cars are the Luxury sedans Infiniti M35 Reader has gone on sale at Best on the pen as an input device.
best values, Consumer Reports (RWD) Mercedes-Benz S550 Buy for $399. Talk about the M u c h l i k e o t h e r W a c o m
looked at a combination of S p o r t y c a r s M i n i C o o p e r iRex has been leaking out for products, it has to have the
p e r f o r m a n c e , u t i l i t y , a n d Chrysler Sebring Convertible months now so its refreshing to Wacom pen to work. We didn’t
r e l i a b i l i t y f o r t h e m o n e y , Limited finally see such a detailed video like the dull, tasteless gray look
considering total owner costs Full details and ratings are r e v i e w o n t h e e R e a d e r . of the eReader in press photos,
over the first five-years. available in the article “ Best MobileTechReview turned in but after seeing how it matches
The better a car performs in values.” nearly 20 detailed minutes of the light gray of the EPD screen
Consumer Reports’ road tests Visit the annual auto issue video review on the product, it looks much nicer when on.
and reliability Ratings and the special section for quick access i n c l u d i n g s i z e a n d s c r e e n The direct Sony Daily Edition
less it costs to own, the greater to the latest Ratings, articles, and comparisons against the Nook, Reader comparison is very useful
its value. videos. Subscribe now! Kindle DX and Sony Daily to see the difference in screen
Consumer Reports identified the S u b s c r i b e t o Edition Reader. It’s certainly a clarity between the two similarly
best and worst values among the ConsumerReports.org for expert must watch if you’re even the -priced eReaders.
hundreds of vehicles it has tested Ratings, buying advice and slightest bit interested in the iRex Source: MobileTechReview
in eight vehicle categories: r e l i a b i l i t y o n h u n d r e d s o f eReader. Five Filters featured article:
B E S T V A L U E W O R S T products. Update your feed Some of the bits we found Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
VALUE Small cars Honda Fit preferences interesting: it takes around 15 PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
Chevrolet Aveo5 1LT Family hours to give the iRex a full Term Extraction.
charge out of the box, so don’t
let “new toy syndrome” get the

The Women of 'The Bachelor' Tell All About Rozlyn

(ETonline - Breaking News)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:05:00 AM
Last night on "The Bachelor: On
the Wings of Love -- Women
Tell All," they sure did! And ET
was there to find out what
several of the bachelorettes had
to say about this season's scandal
involving ousted bachelorette
Rozlyn Papa.
"I was the one who saw Rozlyn
and the producer on the stairs,"
Jesse tells ET. "I wasn't feeling
very good. I was outside with the
girls -- the other ones were on
their date -- so we are all sitting
by the pool. I went in to mix
myself some vitamin C and the and "The Bachelor" host Chris
staircase is right by the Harrison came to ET to tell their
bathroom. I heard something and respective sides of the story.
I saw Rozlyn and the producer
on the stairs kissing."
Earlier this season, both Rozlyn
48 Tech News/
From the Tips Box: Faster Browsing, Local Businesses, and
Wish Lists [From The Tips Box]
by Whitson Gordon
(Lifehacker)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 5:00:00 PM
Readers offer their best tips for
getting the quickest browsing
experience out of bookmarks,
checking out local businesses
using Google Maps, and setting
up family wish lists for holidays
and birthdays.
Don't like the gallery layout?
Click here to view everything on
one page.
About the Tips Box: Every day
we receive boatloads of great
reader tips in our inbox, but for
various reasons—maybe they're
a bit too niche, maybe we
couldn't find a good way to
present it, or maybe we just
couldn't fit it in—the tip didn't
make the front page. From the
Tips Box is where we round up
some of our favorites for your
buffet-style consumption. Got a
tip of your own to share? Add it
in the comments, share it here, or
email it to tips at lifehacker.com.
Use IP Addresses in Bookmarks
for Fast Browsing
rovert.haegenschlatt shows us
another way to shave a few
milliseconds off our page
loading time:
When I bookmark commonly
accessed websites such as
Google, instead of typing the
web address into the bookmark, I
type in the IP address instead.
This way, I can get around DNS
and makes my surfing a bit
faster.
To find the IP address of a
specific site, you can use the
ping command in your OS's
command line program (i.e. ping
google.com). You can also do it
in the address bar of your
browser if it supports custom
search engines. Also note that
this only works for the domain
itself - maps.google.com's IP
address will just take you to
google.com, for example - also,
some sites (like Lifehacker) just
plain don't work for some reason
or another (at least when I tried it
this morning). Pretty useful for
some bookmarks, though.
Use Google Maps to Find
Popular Local Businesses
soldstatic lets us know how to
find local businesses in other
communities:
There's a google maps labs tool
that puts a * in your search bar
and searches for it. Kind of
stupid, but what IS cool is that if
you go to a residential
neighborhood and search for *,
you're likely to see some peoples'
home based small businesses pop
up. In Lenexa, KS my own small
DJ biz popped up, but also a lady
that does flowers who I'm going
to contact about doing flowers
for my own wedding.
Local small and home based
businesses usually cost less than
the big names, and you usually
get more too. I'm all about bang
for the buck, and this is a neat
idea to find some other small
businesses you may not have
known you needed.
keep in mind, neighborhoods are
NOT equal. Certain areas likely
won't have very many reputable
businesses, small or big.
Use Wiki Software to Organize
Holiday Wish Lists
dongola7 shares his family's
holiday wish list method:
We're now using a mediawiki
installation to host all of the wish
lists for my family.
Over the holidays, I set up an
individual wish list for each of
my family members and seeded
the lists with their e-mailed
Christmas lists (that way they
would have a good starting
point). Each wish list belongs to
E-reader News Edition
the "Wish List" category, making
it easy to quickly find all of the
pages.
For the holidays, each family
member kept their wish list up-to
-date. The rest of us used the
discussion pages to list what we
had bought or discuss future gift
ideas. The owner of the list knew
not to look at the discussion until
_after_ the holidays.
This kept us organized and
worked very well. We'll be using
the same system year-round for
birthdays and other minor
holidays.
Use Bubble Wrapped Mailers as
a Laptop Sleeve
Stan sends along some
instructions for a super cheap
laptop sleeve:
I needed a laptop sleeve for my
iBook, but didn't feel like
waiting days for a glorified
computer glove. Using a bubble-
mailer is a cheap replacement if
you plan on carrying your laptop
in a schoolbag.
The bubble mailer itself is a
sufficient sleeve for the duties of
a backpack. I wouldn't want to
drop-test it, but so far have no
complaints. I also added a simple
Apple logo to the front using
transparent printer sheets. If you
don't already own these, it might
be cost-prohibitive (at least in the
sense of using a bubble-mailer to
protect a laptop.) I bought my
FROM page 49
E-reader News Edition
Why The iPad May Save The Internet Fridge
by Richard MacManus
(ReadWriteWeb)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:00:00 AM
In part 1 of our interview with
Adam Greenfield, author of
Everyware: The Dawning Age of
Ubiquitous Computing, we
discussed the impact of the
iPhone and other smartphones on
the Internet of Things.
In Part 2, we explore how the
Apple iPad may also become a
key device. Adam Greenfield
thinks it may become the missing
link between Internet-connected
items in your home, for example
the Internet fridge, and the Web.
Sponsor
In yesterday's post, we talked
about how Asian cities are
ahead of the curve in deployment
of Internet of Things
technologies. One reason is that
quality of life can be more easily
be delivered as a service in a
country like Korea, because its
citizens are more open to
futuristic appliances like the
Internet fridge.
The counter-argument is that the
Western market has never taken
to the Internet fridge because of
the poor utility of such
appliances. The answer may be a
device that acts as an effective
Marc Jacobs Heels
by ELLE.com (ELLE News
Blog)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 1:50:37 PM
intermediary between the fridge
and the Internet. The iPad could
be that device.
Adam Greenfield explained to
me that the iPad may become the
kind of device that people carry
around with them everywhere
inside the house, from the lounge
to the bedroom to the kitchen.
That got me to thinking.
Imagine this use case: you're
feeling peckish, so you wander
into the kitchen for a snack.
Your trusty iPad is tucked under
your arm, as usual, and you place
it on the kitchen bench while you
open the fridge. You guiltily pick
up a chocolate bar and you're
about to close the fridge door
when your iPad beeps. You
glance at the iPad, where a diet
management iPad app has
automagically opened and is
flashing the message: "Hey
buddy, you've already had too
many calories today - put that
back!" Blushing, you return the
chocolate bar into the fridge and
pick up a punnet of strawberries
instead. You glance back at your
iPad, which now displays a large
green check mark on its screen!
There are many other scenarios I
could describe, but the point is
the iPad may well become a
linking device between Internet-
Malina Joseph, Fashion
Bookings Editor, in Marc Jacobs
heels
“The upturned toe reminds of a
Tech News/ Fashion/ 49
FROM
continued from page 48
pack in the clearance section of
awkwardness of attaching a Staples. My Mac is an iBook, so
tablet to and from a fridge. I picked a representative apple.
The iPad, however, will be used Choose yours accordingly.
anywhere and everywhere by its The last modification was the
users - inside and outside the strip of Velcro. The section at the
house. So it's a natural device to opening comes with a plastic
use to connect (virtually, not strip protecting the sticky side.
physically) to your fridge - along Over time the plastic strip begins
with other appliances and to peel away and defaults to
connected appliances and objects o b j e c t s . melding with the other side,
in your house, and the Web. This isn't restricted to inside the turning your sleeve into a ready-
Adam Greenfield explained that house either. We've written to-mail package. I don't want to
the mistake we've made with before about cars as a service. mail my laptop, so I put Velcro
Internet fridges in the past was to This is where you, the consumer, on to replace the glue strip.
think of them like a dumb can effectively subscribe to a car That's it! I've been using it for a
sensor. He remarked that it's not or a car provider. This is already couple weeks so far and it's
the instrumentation that is happening with the American working great. I hear the
important in an Internet fridge - service Zipcars. Greenfield noted occasional bubble pop once in a
it's the network. that cars will become a "network while, but for a total cost of three
The data will probably be r e s o u r c e " - a d d r e s s a b l e , dollars it's worth it.
collected by the fridge, in time scriptable, queryable, and so on. Be sure to check out Stan's
v i a R F I D - e n a b l e d f o o d And once again, the iPad may be original blog post (linked above)
packaging. But the fridge itself is the device which connects you to for more tips on the sleeve,
a clumsy interface to that data. cars and all of the data that is including putting stylish logos on
Early examples of Internet p u m p e d o u t b y c a r s a n d the front.
fridges have tried to be an c o n n e c t e d w e b s e r v i c e s .
interface for the consumer. In the not too distant future,
Although some have had tablet- household appliances and other
like devices that could be real-world objects such as cars
disconnected from the fridge and will be connected to the Internet.
used on the kitchen bench, users The iPad may well become the
have not found even those very connector to all of those things.
compelling. There are a variety Discuss
of reasons, including limited
utility of fridge-tablets, poor user
experience, and the sheer
memories of when I used to do Become our Facebook fan!
theater."
Photo: Kelly Stuart
court jester. These bring back Follow ELLE on Twitter.
50 Tech News/ Entertainment/ Fashion/ E-reader News Edition

Blazing the Path to Email Collaboration: Without

all of the Buzz
by Mike Kirkwood an account *anyone* can send has it's own rules and nuances -
(ReadWriteWeb) you a message. Google reminded the world
Submitted at 2/22/2010 8:48:00 PM
• Spammers are the single recently with the launch of Buzz
largest sender of email traffic. that connecting email and social
Today, email is nearly as • Email messages can include networks is harder than it looks. Right-Wing Start to See
ubiquitous as the computer itself. file attachments that offer a way YouSendIt might be onto
It offers a simple process that to send a file from one computer continuing to use email "as-is". something. Instead of IRS Suicide Bomber as
"just works" for most users and it to the user on another one. Collaboration Happens: Did a Hero [Wtf]
reinventing the entire social
has become a defacto You Get my Email?
context of email, the company is by Ravi Somaiya (Gawker)
communication process for By offering a cloud solution to
Improving the flow of focused on enhancing the
enterprises and individuals alike. attachments is part of email is deliver the files, YouSendIt was existing email system as it works Submitted at 2/23/2010 6:35:53 AM

YouSendIt found its place in the that YouSendIt specializes in. also able to track whether the today. YouSendIt Adopts the
evolution of email by providing Large Files Needed a Home recipient downloaded the file. Joseph Stack, the man who
Enterprise
existing email users a solution to The company currently has has divebombed a tax office in Texas
For both user experience, Microsoft Exchange has become
a common problem - sending technical infrastructure, and cost about 5 million "file batches" in his small plane last week is
the dominant email system in the
large files. Along the way, the reasons many email systems cap sent per month with over 10 being held up, albeit mainly
enterprise. YouSendIt spent a lot
company has leveraged its the size of attachments they million downloads. On average, euphemistically and
of time working closely with
position in cloud based solution allow to pass through the each file is being read by two anonymously, as an anti-big-
Exchange and its client
to offer additional benefits to its g a t e w a y . L a r g e f i l e s a r e persons on the other side and the government hero by the tea party
counterpart Outlook to bring its
users. sender is able to see which ones. movement.
routinely blocked, causing email cloud-based attachments solution
Sponsor This audibility provides The Associated Press report that
users the challenge of figuring to the platform. This solution
What do we Know about Email out another way to get them YouSendIt users a way to close a Facebook page lauding his
offers an approach to a gradual
A few things about using email across the network. the loop and gain a deeper actions has over 2000 members,
transition to cloud computing -
t h a t d e f i n e i t a s a One way to think about it, is that insight to the status of their that far right Texas gubernatorial
one message at a time.
c o m m u n i c a t i o n s t o o l . large file attachments "real" communications. candidate Debra Medina said
Change is in-the-air around
• Each message can be targeted home is not the inbox, but more Imagine the sales person, who Stack embodied "the
collaboration and email. We
to a person, a list of people, or an rightfully the filesystem (aka My s e n d s a b r o c h u r e t o t h e hopelessness many in our society
wonder if the next generation of
entire group of people. prospects, getting a report back feel," and that his own daughter
Documents). And, increasingly email going to evolve into the
• Individuals can respond to the these files are being stored in the for who opened it and who sees him as a hero — though one
killer app for bringing social
message, ignore it, or mark it as cloud rather than the filesystem. didn't. It automatically separates whose actions were
networking it into the enterprise.
Spam. out the interested from the others "inappropriate."
A diagram describing how it What do you think, will email
• It's security and privacy model works shows how it creates a and gives an opportunity to And obviously right-wing
ever fade away?
that starts as opt-out, rather than new channel for connecting the target the next message. forums on the internet are rife
Discuss
op-in. Meaning that if you get u s e r t o t h e i r f i l e , w h i l e Email is a social application that with people saying they have to
"suppress the urge to take flying
lessons," in the wake of Stack's
Runway Beauty Face-Off: Roksanda Ilincic glowing example.
They should just be thankful he
by ELLE.com (ELLE News Which Roksanda Ilincic Follow ELLE on Twitter wasn't Muslim. That would
Blog) hairstyle wins?( survey) Become our Facebook fan really have confused them.
Photo: Imaxtree
—Emily Hebert
E-reader News Edition
Dolly Parton Says: Mobile Roadie on Modded Asus Eee PC 701
Android Rocks
by Frederic Lardinois
(ReadWriteWeb)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:01:00 PM
Mobile Roadie, the popular do-it
-yourself platform that allows
bands, celebrities and regular
users to create iPhone apps
without knowing how to
program, just announced that it
has now expanded its service to
Google Android. With this new
service, Mobile Roadie users can
now create and manage both
Android and iPhone apps
simultaneously. Dolly Parton,
Ashton Kutcher and Madonna
are among today's launch
partners. A Mobile Roadie-based
Taylor Swift app is also in the
works.
Sponsor
Mobile Roadie is mostly
targeted towards musicians,
athletes, politicians, celebrities,
blogs, conferences and venues,
though you could also use the
service to create your own vanity
app.
For a set-up fee of $499 and a
monthly management fee that
starts at $29, Mobile Roadie
allows users to create apps that
include integration with third-
party services like YouTube,
Fashion Week Fall 2010 Runway Visions: Isaac Mizrahi
by ELLE.com (ELLE News
Blog)
tablet features Flash, snappy
Brightcove, Flickr, Ustream,
Topspin Media, RSS feeds,
Twitter and Facebook. Mobile
Roadie also allows bands to
integrate ticket sales through
Ticketmaster and LiveNation.
Mobile Roadie will give a
discount to publishers who
choose to use the service for both
their iPhone and Android apps.
Customers can also choose to
use the service to only create an
Android app.
Vanity Apps for Android
While there are a quite a few
DIY app-creation
services(including
MobileAppLoader, MobBase,
Sweb Apps, App Breeder, etc.)
for the iPhone on the market, this
business hasn't really caught on
in the Android world yet.
AppLoop, one of the first app
generators for Android, for
example, isn't even in business
anymore. Currently, iSites and
MobileAppLoader are among the
few app generators that allows
users to create and manage both
Android and iPhone apps.
As the market for Android apps
continues to grow rapidly,
however, it only makes sense for
Plenty of sparkle lit up the
runway as Isaac Mizrahi
showcased his fall ready-to-wear
Tech News/ Gadgets/ Fashion/ 51
companies like Mobile Roadie to
offer support for both platforms.
touch input and lots of ports
by Tablet even incorporates flick scrolling
The advantage of using services (BestTabletReview.com)
like Mobile Roadie is that users through an additional plugin. As
can manage assets in both apps Submitted at 2/22/2010 3:43:24 PM
mxjf states in the video, it has no
simultaneously. If bands want to multitouch capability, but it can
Message from fivefilters.org: If multitask, play Flash and has
highlight new videos or songs,
you can, please donate to the full plenty of USB ports and an SD
for example, they don't have to
-text RSS service so we can card slot to fulfill all of your
make changes to two apps to
continue developing it. desires. Some people may desire
send these updates to their fans.
We love when people build that a certain turtle-necked man
But Really, What Does Dolly
tablets out of modified software. sat down in a chair and played
Parton Think?
It shows that people really love with something like this, rather
Mobile Roadie's PR release also
the form factor of a tablet and than the demo we saw last
includes a great quote from
want it so bad that they’re month.
Dolly Parton, who clearly prefers
willing to build it themselves. In All we want to say to mxjf and
Mobile Roadie over smoke
this case, the modder is mxjf others like him is keep up the
signals:
from the EeeUser forum. He good work. If you feel the same,
"My first phone was two tin cans
takes an Asus Eee PC 701 and stop by his YouTube page and
tied together with string, and it
puts on quite a show. leave some encouraging
worked pretty good. But now
The tablet mod features comments for him.
you can watch TV, download
Windows XP, 1GB of RAM, Source: EeeUser via EeePC
music and surf the web from
4GB SSD, Ethernet, 3 USB, Five Filters featured article:
your phone. Sure beats smoke
audio in/out, VGA, SD card and Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
signals. I never thought in my
an Intel Celeron 900MHz CPU. PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
lifetime, that you'd be able to
The speed of the touch interface Term Extraction.
watch movies, read books and
in the video puts a lot of
listen to music from a phone, but
manufactured tablets to shame. It
I guess the technology of
tomorrow is here today. And to
think that folks will be able to
watch my Video Diaries and
listen to my music on the go is
just fantastic." Discuss
All Photos: Kelly Stuart
Click here for our complete fall
collection.
2010 Fashion Week coverage
52 Tech News/ Gadgets/ E-reader News Edition

Remains of the Day: The Day Credit

Cards Change Edition [For What It's
Worth]
by Adam Pash (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 4:00:00 PM

U.S. authorities identify the

hacker behind the Chinese cyber
attacks, Twitter hits 50 million
tweets per day (which is still
Project Natal coming in
significantly below the
emails/day mark), and the Credit October, says Jonathan
Card Act of 2009 goes into
effect. Ross (video)
• Credit card protections in by Vladislav Savov altogether we find this both
effect Consumer Reports points (Engadget) credible and logical considering
out that today's the day that the Submitted at 2/23/2010 8:29:00 AM
the natural urge to try and get the
majority of the consumer latest gaming tech in well before
protections from the Credit Card As unexpected sources of tech t h e h o l i d a y s . N e e d m o r e
ago), but it's still impressive. dead." [Gizmodo]
Act of 2009 take effect. Make news go, UK television presenter convincing? Skip past the break
[Mashable] • Codeorgan This web site plays
sure you know what that means Jonathan Ross is pretty high up to see the Wossmeister having a
• If Eric Schmidt Thinks Privacy web sites based on their source
to you. there. But lo and behold, the whale of a time with that balloon
Doesn't Matter - He should code. Not terribly useful, but if
• Chinese Hacker Responsible man's had a chance to spend - b l o c k i n g g a m e t h a t ' s
Publish His Own Browsing you ever wondered what
For Google Attack Code s o m e q u a l i t y t i m e w i t h embarrassed many a journalist
History A lot of people are upset Lifehacker sounds like, there you
Identified U.S. authorities Microsoft's Project Natal setup already.
with Google CEO Eric Schmidt's go.
identify the man who tried to and while he's not altogether Continue reading Project Natal
recent comments regarding user • Microsoft may end up
hack Google in China—the event impressed with the current state c o m i n g i n O c t o b e r , s a y s
privacy and the mistakes Google resorting to M&A in mobile
that prompted Google to stop of it, his note on when it's J o n a t h a n R o s s ( v i d e o )
made when they launched Buzz. Reuters suggests that if
censoring search in China. coming out is the one thing Project Natal coming in
This is one such response. Microsoft wants to compete with
[Gizmodo] nobody has known for sure yet. October, says Jonathan Ross
[BlindReason] Apple and Google in the
• Twitter Hits 50 Million Tweets "Got until October" may mean (video) originally appeared on
• Windows Phone 7 and the End smartphone market, they may
Per Day The popular micro- an October release, or it may Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010
of Hardware Choice Gizmodo need to consider buying other
blogging service is pushing out imply they can work on it 08:29:00 EST. Please see our
notes that, with the impending manufacturers like Nokia or
tweets like nobody's business. Of through October in time for an terms for use of feeds. Permalink
Windows Phone 7 launch, the BlackBerry.
course, it doesn't beat the e a r l y N o v e m b e r r e l e a s e ( MVC| Twitter| Email this|
"'slap our software on any old
estimated 210 billion emails a something we heard earlier), but Comments
hardware' open platform is
day(and that's from two years
E-reader News Edition
Weekly Poll: Why Is Apple Building
a Massive, $1 Billion Data Center
by Alex Williams
(ReadWriteWeb)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 1:14:04 AM
In last week's poll, we asked if
one company will come to
dominate cloud computing. We
had 115 responses.
Today we posted about the
massive data center that Apple is
building in Maiden, NC. We
know so little about what Apple
plans to do with the 500,000
square foot data center. So, we
want to ask you: Why is Apple
building a massive, $ billion
data center?
Sponsor
Why is Apple building a
massive, $1 billion data center?(
answers)
Speculation runs the gamut.
Is it to give Apple the ability to
deliver its own content?
From Dan Rayburn:"...it does
indicate that over time, third
party CDNs like Akamai and
Watch Burberry’s Fall 2010 Runway
Show Live, Tuesday at 10:45am
by ELLE.com (ELLE News
Blog)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 3:30:00 PM
Want a front-row seat to the fall
2010 Burberry runway show?
Apple did with the original
iPods, Lala realized that any
music solution must include
music already possessed by the
user. The Lala setup process
provides software to store a
personal music library online and
then play it from any web
browser alongside web songs
Limelight could very well lose a they vend. This technology plus
large portion of Apple's business. the engineering and management
While it's way to early to team is the true value of Lala to
speculate what kind of content Apple." Will One Company
Apple will deliver and in what Come To Dominate Cloud
volume, this strategy is nearly Computing?
identical to what we've seen We asked that question last
Microsoft do over the years." week. We had 115 people
People point to Apple's Lala respond. About 45 percent of
acqusition as a case in point that you said, no, there is too much
Apple wants to offer iTunes in diversity in the market for it to
the cloud. be dominated by one company:
Michael Robertson, the founder So, what do you think? Why is
o f M P 3 . c o m g i v e s t h i s Apple building this massive data
scenario:"What is of value is the center? Discuss
personal music storage service
which was an often overlooked
component of Lala's business. As
show from the Chelsea College
Tune in tomorrow, Tuesday, of Art in London, plus behind-
February 23, at 10:45 a.m. EST the-scenes, backstage, and red
to see the collection live on carpet access.
ELLE.com. The brand will
stream its womenswear runway
Tech News/ Gadgets/ Fashion/ 53
Kondo KHR-3HV robot
celebrates Engadget Award with
a new Linux backback (video)
by Tim Stevens (Engadget) set you back ¥60,000, or about
Submitted at 2/23/2010 9:13:00 AM $660, and yes that's just for the
backpack. (The bot itself goes
Yes, Kondo KHR-3HV, you for somewhere north of the
were our choice for robot of the $ 1 , 3 0 0 range.) So
y e a r , a n d w e s e e y o u ' r e congratulations again on your
celebrating by going out and victory, 3HV -- just don't let it go
getting yourself some new gear. to your webcam.
We like your taste. Inside that Continue reading Kondo KHR-
fancy new backpack is a 32-bit 3HV robot celebrates Engadget
Samsung ARM CPU running at A w a r d w i t h a n e w L i n u x
200MHz, powerful enough to b a c k b a c k ( v i d e o )
handle Linux and things like Kondo KHR-3HV robot
onboard image processing and celebrates Engadget Award with
object recognition. It also a new Linux backback (video)
supports WiFi, meaning Kondo originally appeared on Engadget
can beam what he sees wirelessly on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:13:00
and become a roving security EST. Please see our terms for
guard -- a very small and non- use of feeds. Permalink| Plastic
lethal security guard, but a guard Pals| Email this| Comments
nontheless. This kind of tech
(shown off in a video below) will
54 Tech News/ Gadgets/ Economy/
Learn How Google's Search
Algorithm Learns From You
[Google]
by Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:30:00 AM
There's a whole lot of mystique,
paranoia, and guessing as to how
Google comes up with its
generally best-in-class search
results. Steven Levy at Wired
digs in to discover what really
makes Google's search engine
different, and how it learns from
us.
PageRank, the generally
accepted metric of, among other
things, how often a page is
linked to, is only a small part of
the larger story at Google.
Talking to Google's engineers
and tracing the history of
publicly announced search
features, Levy discovers that a
good deal of what Google has
learned about search comes from
the searchers themselves.
Take, for instance, the way
Google's engine learns which
words are synonyms. "We
discovered a nifty thing very
US federal grand jury subpoenas Toyota
(Financial Times - US
homepage)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 1:58:34 PM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
early on," Singhal says. "People
change words in their queries. So
someone would say, ‘pictures of
dogs,' and then they'd say,
‘pictures of puppies.' So that told
us that maybe ‘dogs' and
‘puppies' were interchangeable.
We also learned that when you
boil water, it's hot water. We
were relearning semantics from
humans, and that was a great
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.
By John Reed in London and
Stephanie Kirchgaessner in
Washington
Published: February 22 2010
E-reader News Edition
Project Natal's Lag
Timed at 1/10 of a
Second [Xbox 360]
by Mark Wilson (Gizmodo) as an input device alone, such a
advance."
Submitted at 2/23/2010 8:30:50 AM delay will mean certain
If you're at all intrigued by what
gameplay situations just aren't
Google gets right or wrong,
Ever since our hands-on, we've possible (Natal might not make
Levy's piece is well worth the
been shamelessly excited about the best jet simulator).
read. It's a lot of straight talk
Project Natal...except for one key However, I still see the delay as
from inside Google about search,
piece: The slight but undeniable a non-issue for the aspect of
written up in plain English.
lag. And now, MTV has actually Natal that's still gone without
Exclusive: How Google's
put the difference between your m e n t i o n by most
Algorithm Rules the Web[Wired
m o v e m e n t a n d o n s c r e e n publications—that of head
via Gizmodo]
r e s p o n s e t o a s t o p w a t c h . tracking. You'll see what I mean
Over the course of several in this demo by Johnny Chung
demos, MTV found that the lag Lee who, it just so happens,
ranged from .08 seconds to .12 works on the Natal team now.
seconds, and .10 proved to be a The same can be said for vocal
19:04 | Last updated: February pretty consistent average. (You commands, facial recognition,
22 2010 21:58 can time .10 seconds here.) and heck, even just spotting your
Five Filters featured article: During our demo, I likened the exact position in a room. [ MTV
Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: delay in a driving game to via Kotaku]
PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, steering an old Cadillac. Indeed,
Term Extraction.
E-reader News Edition
Keep Tiny Screws Together With an NYT and NYU partner
Index Card [Clever Uses]
by delphinus87 (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 6:00:00 AM
Ed. note: If you're inspired to
tackle a DIY project this week
that involves computers or small
parts, reader delphinus87 has a
simple tip on keeping tiny
screws together with an office
supply standard.
(Every day we keep a close eye
on our #tips page to see what
readers have to offer. Often we
receive links, other times full-
fledged how-to guides, but
sometimes just clever little
suggestions. Here's one of those
little "Huh!"-inducing bits.)
In case you ever have to take
something apart with many little
screws, like a computer, I find
the best method for keeping track
of those various screws is a
simple index card.
Just puncture the card with as
many screws as you like. You
can also draw boxes around
similar screws and label them as
'24' - '12:00 AM - 1:00 AM' Recap
by Mike Moody (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 12:36:00 AM
(S08E09) Now the clock is really
ticking.
Farhad's crew raised the stakes
for the season with a plan to set
off a radiological bomb in New
York. And things finally erupted
on East Village site
"Power Supply,", "DVD Drive,"
or whatever function they have
to label them further. I find this
better than the old stand-by of a
bunch of bowls. Granted, there
are better solutions for larger
screws and bolts, but for the little
ones in a PC, this method is
perfect.
If you're pulling screws up from
the depths of a dark computer
in a big way with the
Dana/Kevin/Cole storyline. Jack
got Renee out of the hot seat, but
it cost him his plane ride back to
his family (again).
The moral of this episode? You
just can't trust anyone these days.
Josef stabbed his daddy in the only to get gunned down by
back by stealing the nuclear rods, Farhad and friends. Looking to
Tech News/ Tech Blog/ TV/ 55
(Scripting News)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 2:24:22 PM
When I started at NYU, I said
there was a project I was going
to help with, but I couldn't talk
about it. Now it's been
announced. Here's the press
release:
NYTimes.com to Collaborate
with New York University for
'Local' East Village Community
Site.
That's why I started an East
Village aggregator, to follow
what the local bloggers are would probably ask if I were
chassis, consider dabbing a bit of writing about. The community outside this project -- what about
vaseline on your screwdriver to site will incorporate work of the paywall. I've never asked the
keep them loosely attached to the NYU journalism students and question myself. I assume this
end. And if you've tried the members of the community. site is outside any NYT paywall.
index-card-punching method of Further, there are computer My own opinion is that the
screw organization, or have a science students from NYU Times will never actually
better one, do let us know in the participating in the project. implement the paywall. That's
comments. Thanks for the tip, My role is simply to help the the nice thing about being in
delphinus87! students when I can, and of academia, I can say what I
course to learn from the process believe.
myself.
Jim Posner asks the question I
make a big bloody statement, AM - 1:00 AM' Recap
Farhad's goons double-crossed Filed under: 24, Episode
their boss with a plot to use the Reviews, Reality-Free, Episode
rods as a weapon. And Weiss set Recaps
Renee up to take the fall for the Permalink| Email this| |
mission's failure (I never trusted Comments
that guy). Let's talk about that
last development.
Continue reading'24' - '12:00
56 Tech News/ TV/ E-reader News Edition

'Men of a Certain Age' -

'Back in the S#!t' Recap
(Season Finale)
by Jason Hughes (TV Squad) Bakula was particularly
Submitted at 2/23/2010 2:25:00 AM impressive this week, I
remembered a couple of scenes
Gloobus Provides Snappy, Sleek File (S01E10) A lot of things have between Andre Braugher and
changed for our favorite trio of Richard Gant (as his father) that
men over the past nine episodes, were simply awe-inspiring. And
Previews in Linux [Downloads] and yet this tenth and final then there's Ray Romano in the
episode of the season managed to car with his son Albert, played
by Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) a double-click as GIMP or p r e v i e w . I f y o u l i k e h o w push each of them boldly into by Braeden Lemasters. With
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:30:00 AM another heavy tool loads up with Gloobus looks, you can install even bigger moments in their very little dialogue, that moment
your file. And thumbnail icon CoverGloobus, which shows the lives. For one, the change is was just oozing with emotion.
Linux: Sometimes you just need previews aren't available for cover art for the music you're definitely good. For another, it In a word (and I'll use it to sum
to see what's inside a file without every file you can create or currently playing, whether certainly has the potential for up this entire season): amazing!
actually opening the application download. Gloobus aims to you've downloaded it or not. g r e a t n e s s . T h e t h i r d i s Continue reading'Men of a
meant to handle it. Gloobus, a provide universal file previews Gloobus and its related plug-ins c o m p l e t e l y u p i n t h e a i r . Certain Age' - 'Back in the S#!t'
sleek, dark file previewer based inside its dark, stylish interface. are free downloads for GNOME- Everything that's great about Recap (Season Finale)
on the Mac Quicklook tool, Installing Gloobus isn't quite a based Linux systems only. Hit this show was on display in this Filed under: Other Drama
wants to make file previews one-step process—you'll need to the link below and its Installation installment. There is not a Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews,
elegant and convenient. install either a repository or page for help getting Gloobus up member of this cast who isn't Reality-Free
Ubuntu and other GNOME- compile from source to patch and running. Gloobus – A Quick knocking their performances out Permalink| Email this| |
based Linux distributions have your system's desktop display L o o k f o r G N U / L i n u x [ v i a of the park on this show. Just as I C o m m e n t s
their own built-in file preview program (Nautilus) to work D o w n l o a d S q u a d ] was about to write that Scott
tool, sure. But that previewer better with Gloobus. Once it is
doesn't act on every file type, there, though, smacking the
leaving you sometimes regretting space bar on any file brings up a
E-reader News Edition Gadgets/ 57

Belkin launches pricey USB 3.0 products

by Doug Aamoth
(CrunchGear)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 6:00:01 AM

In an age when standard USB

2.0 cables can be purchased for
next to nothing, the $40 price tag
on Belkin’s 4-foot USB 3.0 cable
ought to be enough to keep most
of us out of the early adopter
demographic for a while.
If you’re hell bent on transfer
speeds that are “three times
faster than USB 2.0,” though,
you’ll be able to pick up a few
products from Belkin starting in
April.
There’s the SuperSpeed USB
3.0 PCIe Add-In Card for $80,
the SuperSpeed USB 3.0
ExpressCard for $80, and four
different cables: a 4-foot A-B
cable for $40, an 8-foot A-B
cable for $50, a 4-foot Micro-B
cable for $40, and an 8-foot
Micro-B cable for $50.
Those are the suggested retail
prices, so they may be a bit
lower once they hit the market.
Everything’s backwards-
compatible with USB 2.0 3.0 USB 3.0 is specified to transfer products, you can do the data from February 2010, Belkin
devices, too. at five gigabits per second, or 10 following faster than before: is the current market leader in
Full Press Release: P L A Y A V I S T A , C a l i f . – ( times faster than USB 2.0*. In • Download HD movies and USB connectivity**.
Belkin Introduces SuperSpeed BUSINESS WIRE)– Belkin our tests we observed speeds of other multimedia
USB 3.0 Products a n n o u n c e s a n e w l i n e o f up to 180 megabits per second, • Transfer high-bandwidth AVAILABILITY
• SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Products SuperSpeed USB 3.0 products, or three times faster than USB media and files back and forth • April 2010 in the US.
Deliver Transfer Speeds of up to including a PCIe Add-In Card, 2 . 0 , w h i c h i s a g r e a t • Charge and sync devices, like • May 2010 in Canada.
Three Times Faster Than USB ExpressCard, and Premium A-B improvement for activities such a digital camera or smartphone
2.0 and Micro-B Cables. SuperSpeed as large file transfers. USB 3.0 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 PCIe Add-
• Download HD Movies, Charge USB 3.0 products provide a high p r o d u c t s a r e b a c k w a r d - STATISTICS In Card(F4U023) – $79.99
Mobile Devices, and Transfer rate of transfer speed that allows compatible with USB 2.0 devices • An In-Stat 2008 report shows • Connects up to 127 USB
Videos and Photos from Your you to move content-rich media and will interoperate with them more than 3 billion USB-enabled devices (through cascading
Camera to Your Computer More back and forth between different as well. devices currently being shipped. BELKIN page 59
Quickly with SuperSpeed USB devices. With SuperSpeed USB 3.0 • According to The NPD Group
58 Gadgets/ E-reader News Edition

Maybe used game sales are actually good for the industry?
by Nicholas Deleon
(CrunchGear)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:15:57 AM
What is it with publishers
fascination with second-hand
sales? Yes, for every used video
game you buy on eBay, the
publisher sees zero dollars and
zero cents, but are they operating
at such razor-thin margins that
teens auctioning off their old
PSP games is worth their
attention? You don’t see Ford or
GM or Toyota or Honda or
anything complaining about used
cars sales, do you? (Actually, do
you? I know next to nothing
about cars.) Electronic Arts’
“Project Ten Dollar” was
concocted to battle against the
scourge of second-hand video
game sales, forcing gamers to
pay upward of $10 for DLC that
usually comes for free alongside
the purchase of a new video
game. Turns out, not only does it
hurt consumers and retailers, but
it hurts publishers in the long
run!
Anyhow, the deal is that
retailers that specialize in second
-hand sales have explained that,
the reason why so many people
sell their old games is to fund the
purchase of new video games.
Little Timmy sells Madden NFL
09 for $10 so he can afford
exclusive DLC is a menace. Why
do I have to buy the game from
four different stores to get, say,
all of the available weapons and
armor in the game? To me, rather
than being a “value add” (“bonus
armor when you buy from us!”),
it’s a removal of functionality.
“Oh, so if I pre-order the game
from Store A, I won’t get the
weapons and armor from Stores
B, C, and D? Well that stinks.
Way to sell me an incomplete
Madden NFL 10. Of course, at some point) and not the game.”
publishers like EA are far too enabled Madden NFL 10 sale. Not that I buy used video games
myopic to see this—all they see It’s but a part of the same ethic much—I think I bought a used
is the “lost” Madden NFL 09 that I complained about, quite Castlevania for the GameBoy
sale (assuming the game is sold shrilly, might I add, the other: Advance like five years ago.

The Digitalrise S1 and X9 tablet PCs go on sale

by Tablet their“embarrassingly dongle. So the real question is (if
(BestTabletReview.com) underpowered” PC-729 tablet you’re even interested in the
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:11:20 AM
PC. tablets themselves): is $130
Now Digitalrise has issued two worth it for multi-touch and 1GB
Message from fivefilters.org: If new tablet PCs, both running or RAM?
you can, please donate to the full Windows 7 and an Intel Atom The S1 is currently on sale while
-text RSS service so we can N270 1.6GHz CPU, the S1 and the X9’s sale date has been
continue developing it. X9. These tablet are identical delayed until March 3rd.
The Digitalrise S1 and X9 tablet s a v e t h r e e e l e m e n t s : t h e Source: China Grabber
PCs single/multi-touch input, Five Filters featured article:
Digitalrise has put out a few memory and the price. The S1 Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
tablet PCs in the last few months. features single-touch input, 1GB
600 resolution touchscreen, - 1 c a r d r e a d e r PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
If you don’t recall the name o f R A M a n d i s l i s t e d f o r
160GB SATA HDD, a Li-Ion (SD/MS/MMC/MS-Pro), SVGA, Term Extraction.
there’s probably a reason for $659.99. The X9 has multi-touch
3000mAh battery (rated for a u d i o i n / o u t a n d n e t w o r k
that. The last time they were input, 2GB of RAM and costs
around 4 hours of use), 1.3MP connector. They also come with
m e n t i o n e d o n B e s t T a b l e t $789.99.
webcam, 3 USB 2.0 ports, a 4-in WiFi a/b/g and a GPS/Bluetooth
R e v i e w i t w a s d u e t o Both feature a 10.2-inch 1024 x
E-reader News Edition
BELKIN
continued from page 57
additional hubs)
• Supports plug and play and hot
-swap functionality
SuperSpeed USB 3.0
ExpressCard™(F4U024) –
$79.99
• Fully compliant with
ExpressCard specification 1.0
and Universal Serial Bus 3.0
specification Revision 1.0
• Supports plug and play and hot
-swap functionality
• Connects up to 127 USB
devices (through cascading
additional hubs)
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Premium
A-B Cable, 4 ft. (F3U158-04) –
Report: Samsung No. 1 in global flat TV market, LG now on
par with Sony
by Serkan Toto (CrunchGear)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:21:26 AM
What was unthinkable 10 to 20
years ago, has been reality for
quite some time now: Not
Japanese but Korean electronics
companies are dominating the
TV hardware market. American
market research firm
DisplaySearch says regarding
shipment value, Samsung has
maintained its position as the
leader in the global flat-panel TV
market last year. And another
$39.99; 8 ft. (F3U158-08) –
$49.99
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Premium
Micro-B Cable, 4 ft. (F3U165-
04) – $39.99; 8 ft. (F3U165-08)
– $49.99
QUOTE
RJ Theodore, General Manager
of Core Products, at Belkin:
“Belkin has always led in
adopting new technology and
bringing products that support
these new technologies to
consumers. USB 3.0 is
positioned to have a major
impact in connectivity for
computers, media players, and
other devices. Similar to when
USB 2.0 was first introduced, we
Korean company is becoming
stronger, too.
Samsung now commands a
market share of 23.3% (up 0.2
points from last year) in the flat
TV segment, which – under
DisplaySearch’s analysis –
includes LCDs, plasmas and
even OLEDs for some reason
(the picture shows Samsung’s 40
-inch OLED TV prototype).
And for the first time, another
Korean electronics company,
LG, has managed to climb up the
ranking to reach the second
plan on leading the integration of
USB 3.0 with a line of
thoughtful solutions that are easy
for our customers to understand
and use.”
*This is the theoretical
performance of the USB 3.0
standard as specified by the USB
-IF. Real-world throughputs will
vary.
**USB connectivity consists of
the following NPD categories:
USB Hubs and USB Cables.
position: With 12.4% market
share, LG (+2 percentage points)
is now on par with Sony (whose
share fell 2.9 points). According
to DisplaySearch, 2005 was the
Gadgets/ Entertainment/ 59
Alyssa Milano is
'Romantically
Challenged'
(ETonline - Breaking News) Bornheimer plays her romance-
Submitted at 2/23/2010 2:01:00 AM aholic best buddy. Josh Lawson
is Kyle's slacker roommate and
Alyssa Milano dives into the Kelly Stables is Alyssa's sassy
d a t i n g p o o l f o r h e r n e w , sister.
u p c o m i n g A B C s i t c o m The former child star is lucky in
"Romantically Challenged," and love in her real life, telling ET
ET is first on the set! with a smile, "I am recently
The former "Charmed" and married -- I don't have to go
"Who's the Boss" star plays a through the awkward dating
recently divorced mom of a 15- anymore. … I have a lot to tap
year-old boy stepping back into into, though, let me tell you."
the world of dating. Kyle
competitiveness and the weaker
won. Apparently, the Korean
companies were also more
successful in selling LED-backlit
TVs last year, an area in which
the big Japanese makers (namely
Sony, Panasonic and Sharp) are
lagging.
Via The Nikkei[registration
required, paid subscription]
last year Sony was on top of the
TV market.
The research firm says both
Samsung and LG have benefited
from strong price
60 Gadgets/ TV/ Economy/ E-reader News Edition

Nokia and Symbian Still on Top in PBS Launching New

Gartner's Annual Sales, Android Sherlock Holmes
by Allison Waldman (TV
Creeping Up Slowly [Smartphones] Squad)
by Kat Hannaford (Gizmodo) Submitted at 2/23/2010 9:29:00 AM

Submitted at 2/23/2010 7:56:30 AM BBC Worldwide and PBS have

decided that it's time for a new
The iPhone 3G may be the most 'Sherlock Holmes.' The 1984
popular phone in the US, but series, which ran ten years and
Gartner's annual phone sales 41 episodes, had Jeremy Brett as
tally still puts Symbian as being Sherlock and is still widely
the most-used smartphone OS regarded as the best Holmes
worldwide. Snapping at its heels, since Basil Rathbone's
BlackBerry's OS has less than incarnation in the movies, but
half the sales. after the success of Guy Ritchie's
And the iPhone? They may have kinetic Robert Downey Jr.
14.4 per cent market share version last Christmas, the
worldwide (a nice rise from people in a position to make
2008's 8.2 per cent share), but things happen are ready to give
they're still a far way off from us a 21st century variation on
S y m b i a n ' s 4 6 . 9 p e r c e n t . fall. They're still top of the list Windows Mobile should be on Holmes and Watson and 221B
a Holmes, and he was in
Android's done very nicely for for worldwide sales, though (on the rise with the launch of Baker Street.
'Atonement' and was nominated
itself, rising from 0.5 per cent paper) need to be watching out W i n d o w s P h o n e 7 , a n d Thus far the casting is for a BAFTA playing Stephen
market share in 2008 to 3.9 per for Samsung and LG, who Motorola, buoyed by Droid sales promising. Martin Freeman, who
Hawking in a BCC drama.
cent in 2009. Windows Mobile increased their sales by 3.2 per and whatever else they have in is best known as the British
Continue reading PBS
unsurprisingly fell from 11.8 to cent and 1.7 per cent each. store for us this year, should version of Jim in the UK'The Launching New Sherlock
8.7 per cent in the last 12 The full scorecards of stats are hopefully be seeing an increase Office,' will play Dr. Watson. In
Holmes
months. included here for your perusing, in market share, not a decrease the role of Sherlock, the actor Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities,
Symbian sales may've dropped but it's worth noting that next like they've seen in the last year. chosen is named Benedict
Awards, Casting, Reality-Free
5.5 per cent between 2008 and year's Gartner report is bound to [ Gartner via Hexus] Cumberbatch. That's a great Permalink| Email this| |
2009, but Nokia's doing a bit show some major shaking-up. name for an actor cast as Comments
better, with only a 2.2 per cent Holmes; it just sounds so British.
But Benedict also has the look of

Hummer deal faces Beijing hurdle

(Financial Times - US
homepage)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:03:44 AM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.
General Motor’s deal to sell its
troubled Hummer brand to a
Chinese company is facing
possible collapse after the buyer
failed to secure approval for the
purchase from Beijing, according
to people close to the deal.
GM and the Chinese buyer, the
previously little known Sichuan
Tengzhong Heavy Industrial
Machinery Co, have set a
deadline of Sunday to conclude
the $200m deal. The two sides
had already extended that
deadline by a month, due to
problems gaining regulatory
approval.
Five Filters featured article:
Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
Term Extraction.
E-reader News Edition Gadgets/ Sports/ 61
Source: Carolina
Panthers won't put
franchise tag on Julius
Peppers
by Adam Schefter
(ESPN.com)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:26:33 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If

you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.
Carolina Panthers defensive end
Julius Peppers will not be given
the franchise tag, a team source
said Monday night.
The official announcement is
likely to come Tuesday, when
the Panthers hold a news
conference to address a number
of issues.
If the Panthers had opted to tag
Peppers, it would have cost them
$21.4 million -- about $1.3
million per game -- which the
team deemed too pricey. Peppers
will be one of the highest-profile
free agents since Reggie White.
Polaroid PoGo instant digicam on sale next week, Teams have until 4 p.m. ET on
Thursday to use their franchise
toilet graffiti will never be the same tags.
Five Filters featured article:
Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
by Thomas Ricker (Engadget) price in Japan compared to the hands-on. What it lacks in specs, megapixel a930. Lady GaGa
$199 price announced at CES. though, is made up for by its must be so proud. PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
Submitted at 2/23/2010 7:38:00 AM
Of course, you still have to shell novelty. 2-inch by 3-inch photo Polaroid PoGo instant digicam Term Extraction.
We still don't have the European out for the ZINK instant photo stickers in 60 seconds? Urban on sale next week, toilet graffiti
or US release dates for the paper 10-packs scheduled to run ego tagging just got a brand new will never be the same originally
Polaroid Pogo instant digicam for $4.99, or $12.99 for the 30- playbook. appeared on Engadget on Tue,
but they can't be far behind the pack variety. As a camera, it's Also announced is a bevy of 23 Feb 2010 07:38:00 EST.
F e b r u a r y 2 6 t h d a t e j u s t not much with its 5 megapixel forgettable budget shooters, Please see our terms for use of
announced for Japan. Looks like sensor, SDHC storage, weak- including the 12 megapixel feeds. Permalink| Impress| Email
we might see a price cut too, sauce LCD, and 0x optical zoom t1235, 12 megapixel i1237 with this| Comments
given the ¥10,000 (about $110) as we discovered during our touchscreen LCD, and 9
62 Gadgets/ TV/ Economy/ E-reader News Edition

Rachael Leigh Cook to

Star in 'Nirvana'
by Danny Gallagher (TV
Squad)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 9:00:00 AM

The gal from the "This is your

brain on drugs" PSA has come a
long way from smashing some
poor sap's house up with a frying
pan. Now she's got her own Fox
sitcom.
Rachael Leigh Cook will play
the female lead in a new sitcom
called'Nirvana.'
The series revolves around two
Indian-American brothers trying sitcom'Outsourced.'
to assimilate into the American Filed under: Other Comedy
culture, and Cook plays one of Shows, Celebrities, Pickups and
the boys' girlfriends. It's one of Renewals, Reality-Free
two Indian infused shows Permalink| Email this| |
coming to a television set near Comments
you, along with the NBC office

Home Depot swings to

MSI converges everything with 24- profit on DIY demand
inch 3D HD Wind Top all-in-one (Financial Times - US
homepage)
yourself” renovation projects as
they gained confidence in the
by Vladislav Savov list of goodies. The new preparing a small army of AIOs Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:36:55 AM
value of their homes.
(Engadget) flagships will be known as the to display at CeBIT, and you can The company, whose results
Submitted at 2/23/2010 8:06:00 AM
Wind Top AE2420 in the 24- bet the house we'll be there to Message from fivefilters.org: If beat the expectations of Wall
incher category and AE2280 in touch and ogle at their latest and you can, please donate to the full Street analysts, announced its
Now here's a spec sheet maven's the 22-inch class. They're joined greatest. -text RSS service so we can first dividend increase in three
dream: MSI has just announced by a selection of high-efficiency MSI converges everything with continue developing it. years and raised its outlook for
its new Wind Top all-in-ones, machines, such as the AP1920 24-inch 3D HD Wind Top all-in- Home Depot, the world’s 2010.
and the top model brings every and AE1920, which promise to one originally appeared on biggest home improvement Five Filters featured article:
modern spec you can think of. cut down the electricity bills for Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 retailer, swung to a profit in the Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
Full HD resolution, 3D "environmentally-minded 08:06:00 EST. Please see our fourth quarter as customers PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
capabilities with 120Hz refresh business users." That's still terms for use of feeds. turned increasingly to “do it Term Extraction.
rates, Intel processors up to Core hardly scratching the surface, Permalink| PR Newswire| Email
i7, and even multitouch adorn its t h o u g h , a s M S I i s r e a l l y this| Comments
E-reader News Edition Apple/ Economy/ 63

Apple, It’s Time to Focus on the iPhone’s Camera

by Liam Cassidy London where everyone with a Nerdvana ‘shutter release’? The delay is
(TheAppleBlog) camera is considered a terrorist You just knew I had a list of simply the time needed for the
Submitted at 2/22/2010 7:58:02 AM
these days). suggestions, right? Hardware app to load into memory, for the
My iPhone is always where I One easy way to greatly auto-focus and white balance to
With the next iPhone revision happen to be. That means most improve the camera’s quality is do their thing and for images to
theoretically only months away, of the time, day or night, my to use an actual optical lens be processed, geo-tagged and
attention is turning again to what iPhone is the best camera I have. made from precision-ground stored. It all makes sense, but
we can expect in the form of And that’s a pretty galling glass rather than the current boy could it use a speed-
updates. Obviously, we’re all thought, given how limited it is. arrangement — a tiny blob of bump. Increasing the iPhone’s
looking forward to the fourth And, I might as well mention resin atop an image sensor. Just horsepower will help
generation iPhone sporting an now, before the inevitable this one change alone would enormously, and if the iPad’s A4
octocore A4 processor, 3D backlash from fanboys defending produce far higher-quality processor proves anything, it’s
OLED HD screen and, naturally, Apple from even the tiniest struggle without a powerful images. It would also increase that Apple knows how to make
Flux Capacitor. But the question criticism; it’s not an unforgivable flash. Significantly larger, more the iPhone’s manufacturing cost, custom silicon that delivers
on my lips is — what will Apple crime to point out the iPhone’s sensitive image sensors fare not to mention its waistline — impressive results while
do with the camera? Because, failings, and that little camera better without a flash, but due to c a n y o u s e e S t e v e J o b s remaining power-efficient. We
let’s face it — something needs has always been something of a their size (and the need for a p p r o v i n g t h a t ? S o f t w a r e can only hope the next iPhone
to be done. disappointment. Bigger Picture, absolute rock-solid stillness Most cellphone camera software gets something like an A4…
Both the original iPhone and More Noise when shooting) they tend not to is appalling. Even well-regarded As it stands, I get a little anxious
iPhone 3G sport a fixed-focus The obvious prediction I could find their way into cellphones. megapixel handsets are often when I have only my iPhone’s
two megapixel camera. The make for the next iPhone is an Some might argue at this point hobbled with fiddly, lackluster camera to rely on — it makes me
iPhone 3GS offers a beefy 3.2 upgrade to a five megapixel (somebody almost always does) c a m e r a s o f t w a r e ( N o k i a , feel like I have to settle for
megapixel camera with auto image sensor. Those sensors are that I’m expecting too much. “If anyone?) By comparison, the second-best those times when I
focus, auto white balance and cheap, they’re proven technology you want to take better photos,” iPhone’s Camera app is light- can’t take my beloved Canon
video recording. Even so, the and they could fit into the goes the argument, “just use a y e a r s a h e a d o f o t h e r DSLR. But it doesn’t have to be
camera in the 3GS is nothing to existing iPhone form. But even if real camera instead.” manufacturers. And yet, it’s still this way. And now that Apple
write home about. that happened, the results Y’know, three years ago I was really tricky hitting that button if has perfected so much else that
As the saying goes, your best wouldn’t be much better than we so impressed with everything you find you must use only one was once considered ‘wrong’
camera is the one you have on get with the 3GS. Sure, they’d be else Apple had accomplished hand. Plus, a more sophisticated with the iPhone, it’s about time it
you, right now. Your Canon bigger pictures, but they’d just with the iPhone I’d have been c a m e r a w i l l d e m a n d m o r e focused (ahem) a little more on
DSLR might have cost a small contain more noise than ever i n c l i n e d t o a g r e e . T o d a y , sophisticated configuration & the camera.
fortune and produce stunning before. Y’see, the problem is however, my response is a shooting options which the Related GigaOM Pro Research:
photos, but it’s pretty much light; there’s just not enough of Mosspuppet-inspired “Shut up!” current software simply doesn’t How Apple’s New Nano Makes
useless if it’s not within reach it, unless you’re standing outside You see, there is simply no offer. Processor Power Pocket Video Mass Market
when you need it. When I leave on a bright sunny day. r e a s o n A p p l e c a n ’ t v a s t l y Ever noticed that awkward lag
m y h o u s e i t ’ s n o t a l w a y s In moderately low-light (indoors improve the camera in this when launching the Camera app
practical (or appropriate) to take in your home, for instance) most device. Three Steps to Camera and waiting for the iris to open?
my pro-kit with me (especially in c e l l p h o n e c a m e r a s w o u l d Or the lag when you hit the

Supplemental Directive: Foreclosure & Bankruptcy Changes

by Barry Ritholtz (The Big Message from fivefilters.org: If continue developing it. Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
Picture) you can, please donate to the full Policy Proposals SD 10-02 PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
-text RSS service so we can Five Filters featured article: Term Extraction.
64 Apple/ Game/ E-reader News Edition

Hints & Tips: Google Chrome for Mac

by Alfredo Padilla etc., by using keywords in your heartily endorse VerticaTabs,
(TheAppleBlog) search. In Google Chrome you which is both simple and stable.
Submitted at 2/22/2010 8:31:48 AM
can set this up by right clicking Get rid of unresponsive tabs
on the address bar and select Edit One of Google Chrome’s most
Historically I have always been Search Engines… from the list. interesting features is that each
a loyal Safari user. Sure, I’ve If you’ve been using Chrome for tab is an independent process.
flirted with Firefox occasionally, a while you’ll notice that several
but I always came back to Safari websites have already been
With Safari when a tab became
completely unresponsive I was
Dragon Age
eventually. I’m afraid, however, populated, this is because
that I’ve finally found a browser Chrome automatically adds any
often forced to relaunch the
entire browser. With Chrome,
comic delayed
that has led me to leave Safari search engines you use to the list.
for good: Google Chrome. To make any search engine
however, you can use the built-in
Task Manager to get rid of a tab, until April
I started using Chromium, the easily accessible double-click on are working on an alpha as we even if clicking on it does by Richard Mitchell (Joystiq)
open-sourced branch of the it and change its keyword to speak, and even though it’s not nothing. Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:00:00 AM
browser, a few months ago and something easy to remember, perfect yet, it’s good enough for Simply go to View > Developer
switched to the developer branch such as fb for Facebook. From me to use it on a daily basis. To > Task Manager to see a list of It looks like Dragon Age fans
of Chrome when it got support now on you can use that specific use the extension you’ll need to all processes, including your hoping to delve further into its
for extensions. Even though the search engine by entering the download the latest beta build of extensions. Pick the offending fantasy realm will have to wait a
Beta version of Chrome for the keyword first in the address bar 1Password, which you can do tab from the list and press the little bit longer. IDW Publishing
Mac now has extensions support and then entering your search from your update settings in the End Process button. Please note editor-in-chief Chris Rydall tells
I’m sticking with the developer query. Sync your bookmarks program. You can get the that you may need to be on the Big Download that the planned
branch just because I like getting with Safari and the iPhone 1Password alpha extension here. developer branch of Google March release of its Dragon Age
new goodies before other people. If you’re an iPhone user, one of If you’d prefer to avoid alpha Chrome to use this feature, as comic has been pushed to April.
Whatever version of Chrome the problems with switching software, which is certainly I’m not sure it’s been added to Furthermore, the second issue
you’re using on the Mac, you away from Safari is that your something to consider, there’s the Beta version. Get on the will release in June.
now have access to most of the n e w b r o w s e r d o e s n ’ t also this workaround available developer channel of Chrome The comic was announced last
features that people will want synchronize bookmarks with until we get a final shipping Speaking of the developer year, and is slated to feature a
from a browser, so if you’re your phone. Thankfully the version. Keep track of your tabs channel, if you’re willing to put story written by Orson Scott
ready to take the plunge and Xmarks extension offers a handy If you’re anything like my wife, up with some risk and want Card. The plot itself focuses
make Chrome your default w o r k a r o u n d s i n c e i t w i l l your browser windows quickly Google Chrome goodies before around a band of rogue mages
browser here, are a few hints and synchronize both your Chrome become crowded with tabs. the more stable Beta channel gets that "will defy the rules of the
tips from you from someone and Safari bookmarks with the Finding the exact page you’re them, then you can switch to the Templars and change the course
who’s been using it for a while cloud. Thus when you make a looking for is difficult when d e v e l o p e r c h a n n e l . T h e of the world forever."
now. Set up custom search change to your bookmarks in those tabs shrink down to the developer channel is a bit more Dragon Age comic delayed until
engines Chrome it will automatically size of a thimble. Thankfully s t a b l e t h a n t h e C h r o m i u m April originally appeared on
A feature that’s been available synchronize with Safari and by there are a variety of tab nightly builds, which include all Joystiq on Tue, 23 Feb 2010
on other browsers for a long time extension the iPhone. Get m a n a g e m e n t e x t e n s i o n s the latest updates to the open- 05:00:00 EST. Please see our
but was always missing from 1Password into Chrome available for Chrome. I’ve gone source version of Chrome, but I terms for use of feeds.
Safari is the ability to set up 1Password is my go to password through almost all of them, and can’t promise it won’t crash on Read| Permalink| Email this|
custom search engines. This manager and not having it in have found some unstable and you. Comments
allows you to directly search Chrome was a pain. Thankfully some just plain ugly, but I can
websites, Google Images, Yahoo the helpful folks over at Agile
E-reader News Edition Apple/ Entertainment/ 65

Once Upon a Time, Long Before the iPad, Steve Jobs Rode a
BMW Motorcycle
by Charles Moore interviewed by Johnston over performance through the current
(TheAppleBlog) herb tea at a vegetarian economic recession, the
Submitted at 2/22/2010 12:22:43 PM
restaurant, was modestly at the company seemed to be
time to become “the weathering a late ‘82 downturn
Two years before the Macintosh V o l k s w a g e n ” o f t h e the microchip sector rather well,
was unveiled, Apple’s then-and- microcomputer sector rather than with revenues soaring 81 percent
future CEO was photographed its BMW — which became a year-over-year and Apple
by Charles O’Rear for a National popular automotive analogy with occupying 22 buildings in
Geographic Magazine feature on Apple-watching commentators Silicon Valley as well as having
Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, l a t e r o n — a l t h o u g h h e plants in Texas, Singapore, and
riding a 1966 BMW R60/2 emphasizes that “We’d rather Ireland.
motorcycle. call the Apple a personal than a Plus ca change, plus c’est la
27 years old, with longish hair home computer.” meme chose.
(no helmet), wearing tan boots The article notes that the Apple Read here for a scan and
and a light-colored shirt with c o m p u t e r “ h a s i n s p i r e d a transcript, with photos, of the
sleeves rolled back (no black dedicated cult of hard-core entire National Geographic
turtleneck), Jobs looks like he’s enthusiasts who trade new uses article.
having the time of his life riding for the computer in the columns A tip of the hat to Modern
the two-wheel Bimmer in San of Apple magazines” and that Mechanix for posting the article
Francisco freelancer Moira Jobs had “become a potent role Johnston also reports that age,” who still preferred scan and to Peter Orosz of
Johnston’s feature “High Tech, model for a new breed of bright besides the BMW two-wheeler, according to an unnamed friend jalopnik.com for drawing my
High Risk, and High Life in kids who are writing and selling Jobs, already holding $100 quoted, “to drive his motorcycle attention to this fascinating
Silicon Valley,” published in the software programs and, with million worth of Apple stock, to my place, sit around and drink snippet of history.
magazine’s October 1982 issue. their arcane computer skills, also owned “the requisite wine, and talk about what we’re
However, notwithstanding his gaining the prestige formerly Mercedes,” but that “success going to do when we grow up.”
(excellent) taste in bikes, Steve’s tasted only by the high-school seems not to have spoiled the Of more than passing interest is
s t a t e d a m b i t i o n , w h e n football team.” first folk hero of the computer that not unlike Apple’s

Prosecutors and Judges May Bone One Another in Texas, No

Problem [LOLaw]
by Hamilton Nolan (Gawker)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 9:13:53 AM
The Texas Court of Appeals
ruled that a condemned man's
execution should go forward
even though the judge in his case
was sleeping with the prosecutor.
And the judge in question has an
unintentionally comical rebuke,
for her detractors!
Judge Verla Sue Holland
(pictured) has had just about i n m a t e ,
enough of this Death Row
"assassinating [her] reputation" licked without any input.'" Judge
(he's now appealing to the Verla Sue Holland demands
Supreme Court) just because she input prior to being licked! Go,
sentenced him to death after Texas! [ NYT. Pic via]
boning the man prosecuting his
Charles H o o d , case. "She was 'tired of laying
over,' she said, and 'getting
66 Entertainment/
Lindsay Lohan Broaches the Subject of Her Daddy Issues
[Gossip Roundup]
by Maureen O'Connor
(Gawker)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 7:04:43 AM
Papa Lohan's acting out
coincided with LiLo's "rock
bottom." The search for Andrew
Koenig continues. Russell Brand
leaves Katy Perry"bedridden" for
days. Lady Gaga wants to make
babies with her stylist. Tuesday
gossip is in need of a father
figure.
• Lindsay Lohan told all about
her drug abuse to The Sun: "I
tried to mask my problems with
alcohol, cocaine and mind-
altering substances." She hit
"rock bottom" "when my father
was going public." (Subtle laying
of blame? I mean, it obviously
was his fault.) She went to rehab
three times, including one time
that she took Ambien, turned on
the bathtub, then woke up on the
bathroom floor in a watery
swamp. "When I woke up I was
so scared, I called my therapist
and said, 'Can I just go
somewhere for a month?'" She's
learned how to dump bad
influences (Samantha Ronson?
Nicole Richie? We want names!)
and is "allowed to drink now but
I know my limits." [ Sun]
• for "three men convicted of
• Now, LiLo is addicted only to
shots of Vitamin B12. Isn't that
the stuff from carrots? Is this a
new fad diet? She's chain
smoking, too. [ P6]
• once considered "style
• Katy Perry says Russell Brand
leaves her "bedridden most of
the week." Eww. "He's a walking
genius. Just standing next to him
makes me smarter." Aww. (But
kinda "eww," too.) [
ShowBizSpy]
• • Sen. Chuck Schumer opened
• Vancouver police have been
flooded with Andrew Koenig
sightings ever since they went
public with the Growing Pains
star's disappearance over the
weekend. Some of the sightings
sound pretty wild but cops say
they're still looking "for a living
person." Meanwhile, a Brooklyn
friend says Koenig returned
borrowed items and had good-
bye-ish interactions before going
to Vancouver. [ TMZ] [ NYDN
• constantly and cheated.
• At least one tabloid editor says
he's "thinking twice before
printing lies" about Brangelina.
Judging by yesterday's Angelina
plastic surgery story, the
honeymoon is already over. [
NBN second item]
• going 50 in a 35MPH zone. He
• This is a new take on movie
promotions. Johnny Depp is
taking a break from the Alice in
Wonderland circuit to advocate
murdering three boys in a
suspected satanic ritual," in part
due to their love of heavy metal
and Stephen King. One man is
on death row; the other two have
life sentences. Depp is going on
48 Hours Mystery to say the trial
wasn't fair; he joins peculiar
company of Winona Ryder,
Metallica, and the Dixie Chicks
in this cause. I sort of think they
could find a better advocate than
Johnny Depp, though. He's kinda
satan-y, himself. [ P6]
• stint there. Rehab-to-the-stars
• Lady Gaga is ready to make
babies and have a husband, and
E-reader News Edition
collaborator Matthew Williams"
for the role (can you believe her
stylist is straight?) but "mixing
work and love became too
difficult" so now she's back on
the market. [ ShowBizSpy]
•
his car door all fast and almost
killed two scooter riders, who
cursed him out until they
suddenly realized it was a
famous person, and got all quiet.
[ P6]
•
• Remember how yesterday's
Philippe-Cornish break-up spin
was that he was a family man,
and she ran out without reason?
Looks like Abbie's people are
firing back: Ryan partied
Gatecrasher is on Abbie's side:
"We'll say: Most recently,
Phillippe was out and about in
NYC, and Cornish was nowhere
in sight." [ Gatecrasher]
•
• Pee Wee Herman got caught
was driving a 2009 Lexus. No
word whether he honked a laugh.
[ TMZ]
•
• Charlie Sheen's wife Brooke
Mueller is suing her rehab
facility for leaking info about her
LINDSAY page 68
E-reader News Edition Entertainment/ 67

The Newest Hotspot in NY: Some Dude's Apartment [Only In

New York]
by Ravi Somaiya (Gawker) stream, for pre and post club someone. "I'm like dude she's
Submitted at 2/23/2010 8:04:03 AM debauchery. As many as 150 probably a hooker, don't give her
people have crammed into the a $50 glass of MacAllan."
Beatrice Inn and the Jane Hotel space. In the same cabinet is Mike's
w e r e c l o s e d b y p r i s s y It happened because Mike has pickle collection — he's been
neighbours. Downtown stalwarts worked in the restaurant industry collecting and making pickles for
like Lit and the Box face for nearly a decade. While about three years. It has
constant scrutiny from the city. developing a new nightclub remained mysteriously
So the newest hangout for project over the last few months untouched. "This one," he said,
celebrities (not to mention he accumulated some fairly on a recent afternoon, holding up
strippers and transsexuals) is a unorthodox nightlife friends — a jar of green, unripe tomatoes in
random apartment. who eventually started hosting spiced brine "is my favourite
Mike is from Rumson. He lives impromptu parties at his place. "I because my mom grew the grape
in a reasonable-sized studio/loft get text messages and phonecalls tomatoes herself."
downtown somewhere. His decor whenever anyone wants to bring Journalists from the New York
is sparse; the former dance studio a crew through," he explains. Post, NBC, and the New York
is painted battleship gray with a You enter the building through a Times have been through. "But
large L-shaped couch around a red door — the buzzer is broken everyone seems to be sitting on
coffee table, which has a copy of so you have to call someone it, keeping it to themselves," said
Wine Spectator magazine on top. inside to let you in (there are Mike. And we're not mentioning
There are Phish and Wilco rumors that Mick Jagger fell at Mike's full name, or the location,
posters, abstract paintings and a this hurdle last week). You walk or running any pictures that
Y u c c a p l a n t . H i s w i r e l e s s past a trash can, up some rickety, might give away either, so as not
password is Nirvana1. black-painted stairs and turn left. to ruin perhaps the last refuge for
Over the last couple of weeks During the evenings, ashtrays New York debauchery in the era
Mike's apartment — it has no and bottles are filled with of smoking bans and wealthy
other title — has hosted rockers cigarette butts and thick smoke neighbors who expect perfect
like Guns'n'Roses and Sebastian wafts through the air. There is no Over the next two weeks, along Inside are several $500 bottles of
quiet downtown. "No one is
Bach of Skid Row and the soul smoking ban here. The neighbors with the usual crowds, a high- O p u s O n e C a b e r n e t . H e
here, and this doesn't exist," said
singer Daniel Merriweather. An in the six story building are end New York fashion house estimates that $5000 of whiskey
one regular as he reached into
a f t e r p a r t y f o r t h e t h i r d either at the parties or don't care will have a party here, and an has been sneakily consumed
the cabinet for a nip of
anniversary of the Box ( where a about noise. Unconstrained by artist will host a reception for a since his apartment turned into
Glenfiddich 21-year-old
transsexual threw up on Susan licensing laws, the parties tend to major exhibition. Mike is mostly an unexpected hotspot — despite
whiskey, on that recent
Sarandon) came complete with go until sunrise — or until the happy about the development. the hardest door in New York.
afternoon. "There will never be a
boxers, debutantes, strippers and last of the booze is gone and CIA But it's not all harmonious. He gets particularly upset when
Tweet sent from this apartment."
models. Promoters from Avenue, analysts and starlets are strewn M i k e k e e p s h i s e x p e n s i v e guests give it away to mysterious
1OAK and Greenhouse bring across the floors and couches in whisky and wine collection in an u n k n o w n w o m e n w h o
their crowds here in a steady unfeasible positions. unlockable wooden cabinet. sometimes turn up, invited by
68 Sports/ E-reader News Edition
LINDSAY
continued from page 66

joints must be so used to this View is winning because Joy

particular legal battle. [ TMZ]
•
• Arizona Cardinals wide
receiver Larry Fitzgerald got out
of five traffic tickets because
cameras revealed the driver was
a white guy and thus could not
be him. This is the first time that
driving while black got someone
off the hook. [ TMZ]
• gay of the certain age. He came
• David Remnick strenuously
disagrees with the
characterization of his
forthcoming Obama book as a
"pimped out" version of that one
New Yorker article. It will be
"pumped up," he says. It's all
pomp to me. [ P6]
• game since Feb. 5.
• Producers for Ellen and The
View are fighting for Oprah's
time slot, and right now The
Behar is on fire these days. Did
you know Joy is from
Williamsburg, Brooklyn? Back
when it was an Italian
neighborhood. She's O.G. [
NBN]
• (ESPN.com)
• "You became gay in the '70s" is
how 58-year-old B-52's frontman
Fred Schneider explains being a
out to his mom and she said "Oh
I know, Freddie." So he was like,
"Well, OK. I guess I'll go back
outside and smoke some pot." [
Popeater]
• sprained left ankle and strained good."
Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant
'good to go' against Memphis
Grizzlies
by Dave McMenamin through strength." Angeles played the Grizzlies
Los Angeles went 4-1 with when Bryant scored 44 points on
Submitted at 2/22/2010 4:53:04 PM
Bryant out of the lineup. The 16-for-28 shooting and L.A. lost
loss came down to the final the game 95-93. Bryant picked
Message from fivefilters.org: If possession against Boston. apart the 6-foot-4 O.J. Mayo, and
you can, please donate to the full "He's not coming back in the Jackson said Monday that Bryant
-text RSS service so we can same position he was at two, likes to take advantage of smaller
continue developing it. three weeks ago, but it's good to guards, but after that Grizzlies
The 18-day layoff has paid off. have him out there on the floor," loss there were rumblings in the
Kobe Bryant will end his five- Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. locker room about the Lakers
game absence because of a "I thought his movement was post players not getting enough
touches.
tendon in his left leg Tuesday in Jackson and Bryant said the Bryant seemed intent on the
Memphis and play in his first shooting guard's minutes will not Lakers keeping the chemistry
be limited Tuesday despite the they developed with him on the
"I'll be good to go," Bryant said o n g o i n g h e a l i n g , b u t bench.
after Lakers practice Monday. Wednesday's game in Dallas "I think now everybody is
The 14-year veteran said that could be a challenge. playing with a pretty good
strength still remains an issue in "There's always the ultimate test rhythm," Bryant said. "So the
the ankle, but overall, "it's to see how it develops and how it key is just to keep it going."
healthy." holds the stress or the pressure of Dave McMenamin covers the
"Where I'm at now, I feel travel and playing in a back-to- L a k e r s f o r
confident about playing and back," Bryant said. "That's ESPNLosAngeles.com.
while I play getting to 100 always a huge test. We'll just Five Filters featured article:
percent," Bryant said. "It's about have to see how it does." Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
probably 80-85 [percent] right A dialed-back Bryant could PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
n o w a n d t h e r e s t o f t h e benefit the Lakers considering Term Extraction.
percentage is made up just what happened the last time Los

LT Out: Fantasy Implications

by R.J. White (FanHouse the best running back in their about the former top fantasy narrows down the field
Main) franchise's history. Our own pick's worth in each potential considerably.
Submitted at 2/22/2010 1:10:00 PM
Nancy Gay wrote that two NFL landing spot.
executives think LaDainian Tomlinson himself said he'd
Filed under: NFL Waiver Wire, Tomlinson may be finished, and only look towards signing with a
NFL Bust a Move It's official -- then went on to point out a few land. I'll throw a couple more contender that has an elite
San Diego has severed ties with locations where Tomlinson may into the mix and briefly talk quarterback in place. That
E-reader News Edition Sports/ 69

LaDainian Tomlinson released by Chargers after 9 years

by ESPN.com news services Since then, it has been downhill. players and people that I've ever never see that again," for. I'm sure he's going to do
(ESPN.com) "It was a long time coming, but I had a chance to be around and he quarterback Philip Rivers said some research, talk to some
Submitted at 2/22/2010 9:09:44 PM
knew it was coming," Tomlinson will be missed," outside before accepting an award at a teams and present some options
said, according to SI.com. "Now linebacker Shawne Merriman sports banquet Monday night. to me."
Message from fivefilters.org: If that it's official I can kind of look said in an e-mail to The "You're not just going to replace Agent Tom Condon said he'll
you can, please donate to the full to the next step in my career and Associated Press. L.T. himself. He was more than a spend time at the forthcoming
-text RSS service so we can playing football for someone Tomlinson reaction running back." NFL combine in Indianapolis
continue developing it. John else." The San Diego Chargers The Tomlinson years were some determining interest from other
Clayton On Tomlinson's Release Tomlinson ranks eighth on the released running back LaDainian of the best in Chargers history. teams.
John Clayton On Tomlinson's all-time rushing list with 12,490 Tomlinson on Monday, and fans Tomlinson established himself as "I think they did us a favor in
Release VIDEO PLAYLIST yards. His 138 career rushing want to know if he's going to a star during a rookie season in terms of releasing him before we
• John Clayton On Tomlinson's touchdowns rank second, and his wear their colors. Could he end 2001 when he rushed for 1,236 go to the combine. That part of it
R e l e a s e J o h n C l a y t o n O n 153 total touchdowns rank third. up in the AFC East? Blog yards and scored 10 touchdowns. was positive," Condon told the
Tomlinson's Release He was the NFL's MVP in 2006, • Blog reaction from around the His ability to run, make big plays AP. "L.T. during Super Bowl
• Chargers Release Tomlinson when he set single-season NFL and score touchdowns helped week had indicated it was time to
Chargers Release Tomlinson records with 31 touchdowns and Tomlinson, who turned 30 last allow quarterbacks Drew Brees move on, and they
186 points. Tomlinson won the summer, was injured early in the and Rivers to develop into Pro accommodated him. He's had a
SAN DIEGO -- The slashing, NFL's rushing title in 2006 and 2009 season and finished with Bowl stars. Hall of Fame run there as a
d a z z l i n g r u n s c a m e l e s s '07. 730 yards on 223 carries for an The Chargers reworked Charger."
frequently. The yards didn't pile "This is a part of the business average of 3.3 yards per carry, Tomlinson's contract last Condon doesn't think Tomlinson
up as easily as in previous that I hate, and it's particularly all career lows. offseason to give him one more is finished.
seasons. hard when you're dealing with Perhaps his most memorable chance to re-establish himself as "It's one of those things with the
LaDainian Tomlinson was someone I consider a friend," moment as a Charger came on a top running back. He was very, very special players, like
slowing down because of injuries Chargers president Dean Spanos Dec. 10, 2006, when he swept scheduled to get a $2 million Emmitt Smith, Marcus Allen,
and age, becoming less and less said in a statement. "Change into the end zone late in a game bonus in March and a $3 million guys like that," Condon said.
the face of the franchise as his involving great players is never against the Denver Broncos for base salary under the "You can't predict what they're
role was reduced in a pass-happy easy. I respect L.T. as much or his third touchdown of the restructured contract. The going to do. They seem to defy
offense. more than any player I've ever afternoon to break Shaun Chargers will pay Tomlinson a the odds. He keeps himself in
On Monday, he was released by known. And no one appreciates Alexander's year-old record of $1 million bonus, guaranteed if tremendous condition. I think he
the San Diego Chargers, a h i s c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o t h i s 28 touchdowns in a single the team released him. feels like he can go forward for
franchise he helped revive with a organization more than I do. season. "The main thing for me now is to several more years."
brilliant nine-year run in which That is why this is such a His linemen hoisted him onto try to win a championship," ESPN.com senior NFL writer
he became one of the NFL's difficult announcement for me to their shoulders and carried him Tomlinson said to SI. com when John Clayton, ESPN senior NFL
greatest running backs. make." toward the sideline, with asked about the future. "That's analyst Chris Mortensen and The
At the age 30 and with declining General manager A.J. Smith Tomlinson holding the ball high my No. 1 goal. That's why I still Associated Press contributed to
numbers, Tomlinson has been called it "a tough day, a sad day in his right hand and waving his work hard and train like I do, this report.
anticipating his release for the f o r e v e r y b o d y i n t h e left index finger, while the fans because I still believe there's a Five Filters featured article:
past month. organization. But it's always chanted "L.T.! L.T.!" and "MVP! chance of winning that Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
Declining Returns tough to part ways with great MVP!" championship. So the next team I PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
LaDainian Tomlinson had his players who helped you win "What L.T. has meant to this go to has to have a chance of Term Extraction.
MVP season in 2006 when he set games. It's not a pleasant day, town and to this team, in nine winning a title. I can think of a
NFL single-season records with but we're working through it." years, the impact he's had both few teams off the top of my
31 touchdowns and 186 points. "He was one of the greatest on and off the field, we may head, but that's what my agent is
70 Sports/ Economy/ Picture/
The Count: Canada Shoots Blanks Against Team
USA
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 2:37:32 PM
Canada outshot the U.S. 45-23
on Sunday in the men’s Olympic
hockey tournament. And yet the
U.S. won, 5-3, with the fifth goal
an empty-netter. “If you outshoot
a team 45-23, you have to win,”
ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun
wrote. European Pressphoto
Agency Martin Brodeur takes
little solace in knowing his
teammates outshot the U.S.
But it’s not that simple.
Consider, for instance, that just
three days earlier Canada beat
Switzerland, 3-2, in a shootout.
In that game, the Canadians
outshot the Swiss, 47-23,
according to the match’s official
stats. Behind the Net blogger
Gabriel Desjardins, citing his
stats showing a shooting margin
of 46-23, reported that over the
last 15 years, when an NHL team
outshoots its opponent by
between 21 and 25 shots, it wins
about 60% of the time.
Outshooting your opponent
hardly guarantees victory.
One reason is that the trailing
Mavericks, the Spectators
by Zack Sheppard (Flickr
Blog)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 4:07:29 PM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
team often outshoots its
opponent in the third period in a
bid to catch up. Those shots are
likely to be of lower than
average quality. Last night,
Canada outshot the U.S., 14-4, in
the final period, connecting only
once. However, overall
Desjardins counted twice as
many close shots for Canada
than for the U.S., so there
doesn’t seem to have been a lot
of desperate peppering of the
U.S. goal from far out.
Another factor is goaltending.
ESPN’s LeBrun calls for
Canadian goalie Martin Brodeur
to be benched. As noted here
before, Brodeur has assembled a
very good NHL career but isn’t
quite as good as his stats suggest.
But also keep in mind the role of
luck. Desjardins considers seven
of the Olympic men’s teams to
be good — the U.S, Canada,
Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech
Republic and Slovakia. There
have been five games between
those teams. Overall, the losing
teams in those games have
outshot the winning teams, with
more opportunities from up
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.• About
Flickr
Flickr is a revolution in photo
storage, sharing and
organization, making photo
close. Desjardins attributes the
winning teams’ wins, in such a
small sample, primarily to luck.
Consider that Canada has gotten
2.42 times as many close-in
shots as its opponents, while the
U.S.’s ratio is just 1.15. Because
of such lucky breaks, Desjardins
figured a few days ago that
Canada, even as the favorite,
probably had just a 20%-25%
chance to win the tournament,
with a format that requires the
winner to survive at least three
single-elimination games.
Goals and wins, not shots, are
ultimately what count, though.
At Sports Reference’s Olympics
blog, Neil Paine tallies those
from every Olympic tournament
since 1998 to rate each country
and each individual team, and
finds that this year, the U.S.
ranks highest, followed by
management an easy, natural and Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
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Sweden, Russia and Canada in a
virtual dead heat for second
place. None of this year’s teams
is historically dominant, with 10
teams from the last three
Olympics rating higher,
including the Canadian teams in
1998 and 2002 and the 2002
American team. And when
combining all four Olympic
tournaments, barely half a goal
separates the top six teams:
Finland, Russia, Czech Republic,
Sweden, Canada and the U.S.
Paine also finds virtually no
home-ice advantage in the
Olympics, which will come as no
great surprise to disappointed
Canadian fans this morning. But
let’s not overstate this upset.
Desjardins points out that the oft
-repeated 50-year dry spell for
Team USA against Canada in the
Olympics isn’t very meaningful,
since for most of that time
neither country sent its NHL
stars. In the last 14 years at
major international tournaments,
the two teams have split eight
games.
E-reader News Edition
Euro’s relapse
halts rally in
stocks
(Financial Times - US
homepage)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 5:59:19 AM
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By Jamie Chisholm, Global
Markets Commentator
Published: February 23 2010
08:34 | Last updated: February
23 2010 13:59
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Northug Kicks His
Way to Gold in Cross
-Country Sprint Relay
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 2:58:44 PM
Americans will never learn to
appreciate cross-country skiing.
That’s too bad, especially
NORTHUG page 71
E-reader News Edition Sports/ Fashion/ 71
NORTHUG
continued from page 70

considering what Norwegian
Petter Northug is capable of on
waxed skis and with a pair of
long poles in his hands.
Associated Press Norway’s
Petter Northug, right, skis
towards the finish line to win the
gold medal followed by Russia’s
Alexey Petukhov, left, and
Germany’s Axel Teichmann.
Northug was a good eight
meters behind Germany’s Axel
Teichmann enetering the stadium
in the men’s sprint relay final
Monday when he put on his
signature kick to the finish. With
five overpowering thrusts of his
poles, Northug flew by
Teichmann, giving the
Norwegians yet another gold
medal and giving his country
redemption after a week in which
they have not performed up to
expectations in their national
sport.
Northug has proven
controversial in recent years for
relying on his prowess in the
finish and not taking turns at the
front of the pack where the wind
is strongest. But no one waving
Norway’s red, white and blue
flag would dare complain about
that Monday afternoon. He
thrilled his countrymen, who
dominated the hillsides at
Whistler Olympic Park. If there
is one Olympic highlight to
search for today on the Internet
— because don’t expect NBC to
give the country much play in
prime time — this is the one to
watch. Northug’s kick is like a
Michael Jordan dunk or a home
run from David Ortiz —
something to savor.
In the women’s race, Germany
pulled away from Sweden to win
a gold medal in another race that
came down to the final lap
through the stadium. The U.S.,
which is improving but still
struggling in Nordic skiing,
finished sixth in the women’s
event on the strength of Kikkan
Randall, and 9th in the men’s on
strong skiing from Andy Newell,
who kept the U.S. near the front
for much of the race, but faded in
the end.
Christopher Kane’s Fall
2010 Collection: Bad
Girl With a Twist
by ELLE.com (ELLE News
Blog)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 5:07:25 PM
Today in London, 27-year old
designer Christopher Kane added
a touch of nice to his naughty
new look for fall: leather mixed
with lace, while pretty little
flowers blossomed out of shiny
black patent. Topping it all Photos: Imaxtree
off—a lace-up dominatrix shoe, Click here for our complete fall
of course. 2010 Fashion Week coverage
Click here to shop Kane's spring Follow ELLE on Twitter.
collection. Become our Facebook fan!
—Violet Moon Gayn or

Enduring Legacy of the Miracle on Ice

by Lisa Olson (FanHouse both earn substantial paychecks exhausting seconds had ticked
Main) from the New Jersey Devils. down on Team USA's 5-3 upset
Submitted at 2/22/2010 4:15:00 PM
They are friends and teammates victory over Canada here Sunday
eight months of the year, but for night.
Filed under: USA, Ice Hockey a f o r t n i g h t t h e y a r e f a u x "Imagine if we had been that
V A N C O U V E R , B r i t i s h enemies, competitors who'll do friendly and familiar with guys
C o l u m b i a - - F r o m s e a t s whatever it takes to win a gold who wore the other sweaters,"
comfortably above ice level, they medal for their respective Peter Stastny observed later, as
watched as Jamie Langenbrunner countries. Langenbrunner has he waited for his son Paul, center
buzzed around the Canadian insight into Brodeur's deep, dark for Team USA's top offensive
crease, pestering goalie Martin s e c r e t s , s u c h a s h o w t h e line, to emerge from the crazy
Brodeur. Langenbrunner was up Canadian goaltender despises crush inside the cathedral called
in Brodeur's mask, rattling him, traffic congestion in front of him. Canada Hockey Place. "We
and it was a fine and timely "That right there illustrates the now, but it's really impossible to didn't really know that much
example of how Olympic hockey difference compared to when we compare what we went through about the other players. That's
has changed in 30 years. played. The atmosphere was to this," Jim Craig (right) was what made it so special."
Langenbrunner and Brodeur similar, it's just electric right saying not long after the tense,
72 Sports/ E-reader News/
Ilgauskas' Buyout Could Happen
Soon
by Matt Watson (FanHouse
Main)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 2:40:00 PM
Filed under: Cavaliers, Wizards,
NBA Rumors The NBA will not
block a potential Cleveland
homecoming for Zydrunas
Ilgauskas if he's able to
successfully negotiate a buyout
with the Washington Wizards, a
league official has informed the
Associated Press.
Under current rules, a player
who is traded and subsequently
released or bought out is allowed
to sign with another team
immediately or return to his
original team after sitting out for
30 days -- provided that a return
to his original team was not
agreed upon prior to the trade.
When reached via email on
Samsung's E6, E101 and E61
e-readers shown on video
(Engadget)
(Yahoo! News Search Results
for e-readers)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 10:15:50 AM
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you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it. Boss of
the Year Entry Form
Now that we've thrown 'em off
Monday, Ilgauskas' agent Herb
Rudoy informed FanHouse that
he hoped to negotiate a buyout
"in the next 48 hours" but denied
having an agreement with
Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry or
any other team in place.
the trail, use the form below to
get in touch with the people at
Engadget. Please fill in all of the
required fields because they're
required.
Five Filters featured article:
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"I have not heard a word from
the NBA about stopping Z from
playing for the Cavs should he
choose to return to them," Rudoy
wrote. "I had no deal with the
Cavs or Ferry before the trade!"
The AP's report and Rudoy's
statements run contrary to a
report over the weekend by Mark
Heisler of the Los Angeles
Times, who cited an unnamed
source of his own indicating the
NBA would not allow Ilgauskas
to return to Cleveland. But
considering the rules are clear
about how long a player must sit
out before returning, it seems
unlikely the league would (or
could) prevent it unless there
were indisputable proof of some
kind that an agreement was in
place before the trade.
A Kick to
Canada's
Collective Gut
(FanHouse Main)
Filed atunder: Ice
Submitted KICK page
2/22/2010 73Hockey,
3:00:00 PM
E-reader News Edition
Big 12 Notebook:
Kansas State Contending
for a No. 1 Seed
by Terrance Harris (FanHouse
Main)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 3:45:00 PM
Filed under: Iowa State, Kansas,
Kansas State, Oklahoma,
Oklahoma State, Texas A&M,
Texas, Texas Tech, Big 12,
Missouri The Kansas State
Wildcats were maybe the biggest
surprise team in the nation a
couple months ago.
They are no longer surprising to
anyone.
The sixth-ranked Wildcats, led
by an experienced starting five
that includes guards Denis
the moment which means
Clemente(right) and Jacob
focusing on Tuesday night's
Pullen, are good and perhaps
game at Texas Tech.
worthy of elite status. So much
"We don't spend a lot of time
so, Kansas State has a shooter's thinking about it," Martin said
chance of possibly securing the
Big 12's second No.1 seed in the
during Monday's Big 12 Men's
Basketball Media
NCAA Tournament depending Teleconference. "But we've
on how the next few weeks talked about it and we talk about
finish out. that opportunity being the reason
The Wildcats are No. 6 in the
latest RPI estimate, but would
our next practice needs to be the
biggest practice in our time
need to be among the top four by we've had at K-State and our
the time Selection Sunday rolls
around March 14. Third-year K-
next game being the biggest
game we've had at K-State.
State coach Frank Martin,
however, would prefer to stay in
E-reader News Edition
KICK
continued from page 72
Canada
VANCOUVER, British
Columbia -- Over a fine Chinese
lunch, a friend of mine in this
polyglot city, who was born and
reared in Ottawa, assured me a
few days ago that whatever
discomfort he and his
countrymen were feeling from
failing to Own the Podium of
their own Olympics would be
assuaged by success in a single
sport.
"We just care," Brian Wood, a
literary agent, told me with a
dismissive chuckle between
stabbings of vegetarian pot
stickers, "about hockey."
Indeed, it was reported on
Monday that more Canadians --
10 million plus -- watched their
guys on Sunday play the U.S.
team in hockey than viewed any
Sports/ Picture/ 73
televised game in history. Some
Canadian fans who attended the
match said they forked over
$1,000 for tickets that were $80
face value. Some ticket buyers
slept in line overnight outside the
arena to get the last tickets to be
sold to the public.
Group masochism would've
been less painful and certainly
Mavericks,
not as expensive. Canadians
could've found someone to beat the Surfers
them over the head collectively by Zack Sheppard (Flickr
for free. Blog)
For what this hockey-crazed
Submitted at 2/22/2010 12:53:52 PM
country witnessed was its team
fall, extremely unexpectedly, 5-3
to the Americans south of its
border.
U.S. Comes in 11th in Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
Ski Jumping, but Still continue developing it.
There are lots of amazing photos
Bests the Canadians from the Mavericks Surf
Competition last week. To see
more, try a search for mavericks
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix) between the two teams. The
surfing. To see photos from this
Submitted at 2/22/2010 1:09:38 PM Austrian team, led by Gregor
year only you can do an
Schlierenzauer, ran away with it,
advanced search and limit it to
AFP/Getty Images The U.S.’s besting Germany in a romp,
photos posted after Feb 12, 2010.
Nicholas Alexander jumps in the followed by Norway.
(The competition was on the
men’s team ski jumping round 1. But perhaps we should give the
13th.)
Coming into the Olympics, there Americans a break. The U.S. Ski
Photos from Eggz, vonvonvon,
was no sport the Americans had and Snowboard Association
vonstanger, gemmamio,
less of a chance to medal in than p r o v i d e s n o f u n d i n g o n a
elsparquito, prgibbs, and
ski jumping. Now that the national team level for ski
BarCad.
jumping competition is over, it’s jumping since it doesn’t view the
Five Filters featured article:
safe to say the Americans have U . S . a s c o m p e t i t i v e
Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
met those expectations, failing to internationally as has to pick and
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crack the top 30 in the individual choose where to spend its limited
Term Extraction.
competitions or make the final resources. So not only did the
round of the team event. team of Anders Johnson, Peter
The Americans came in 11th Frenette, Taylor Fletcher and
place in the team competition Nicholas Alexander beat the
M o n d a y , b e s t i n g o n l y t h e Canadians on their home hill,
Canadians and winning a bet they did it on their own dime.
over a jug of maple syrup
74 Game/ E-reader News Edition

Warner Bros. acquires Batman dev Rocksteady Studios

by Ludwig Kietzmann applause and has since shipped [ Update: Square Enix Europe
(Joystiq) over three million copies. (Eidos) has confirmed that it still
Submitted at 2/23/2010 8:36:00 AM
Jamie Walker, studio director of retains a 25.1 percent stake in
Rocksteady Games, expressed Rocksteady.]
Holy strategic acquisition, pride in the deal -- the cost of Warner Bros. acquires Batman
predictable Batman reference! which has not been disclosed. dev Rocksteady Studios
W a r n e r B r o s . H o m e "We are proud to strengthen our originally appeared on Joystiq on
E n t e r t a i n m e n t G r o u p h a s association with WBIE, a world Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:36:00 EST.
announced its purchase of a class publisher that we have Please see our terms for use of
majority stake in Rocksteady enjoyed working with since we feeds.
S t u d i o s , t h e d e v e l o p e r began developing Batman: Read| Permalink| Email this|
responsible for towing Batman's Arkham Asylum," he said. In forward to creating more great Rocksteady revive next? Comments
star vehicle out of a muddy addition, games director and games based on widely Whatever it is, it'll have to wait
Gotham ditch. Rocksteady's excellent sniper position Sefton recognized Warner Bros. brands until construction is completed
B a t m a n : A r k h a m A s y l u m Hill noted, "The Rocksteady like Batman." on the unnamed Arkham Asylum
debuted in 2009 to critical team is very much looking What Warner license will sequel.

Get your big break in Pro Gaming

thanks to Doritos
by JC Fletcher (Joystiq)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 9:27:00 AM
Do you want to get in fighting
shape for your pro gaming
debut? Turn to Doritos! The
"bold, intense snack brand"
announced a "Pro-Gaming
Combine" -- essentially a
training camp for kids who want
to play Halo 3 for a living.
During the three-day event,
players who show promise in the
areas of "slaying power,
teamwork/communication,
leadership, objective play and
support play" will undergo
further evaluation by the "MLG
Scout Team," just like in sports!
One four-person team and four
Team passes for the first event,
in Nashville, Tennessee, go on
sale at 7PM EST tonight, with
individual passes available
tomorrow at the same time. The
full schedule of Combines is
available after the break.
Continue reading Get your big
break in Pro Gaming thanks to
Doritos
Get your big break in Pro
Gaming thanks to Doritos
originally appeared on Joystiq on Zeno Clash now at retail
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:27:00 EST. by Richard Mitchell (Joystiq)
and a quick search reveals the
individuals from each location Please see our terms for use of Submitted at 2/23/2010 2:00:00 AM game is available from several
winning a trip to the Major feeds. other sources, including Newegg
League Gaming Pro Circuit Read| Permalink| Email this| Tripwire Interactive has and Amazon. The retail version
E v e n t a n d N a t i o n a l Comments announced that the retail version includes Steam Achievements,
Championship Competition. of Zeno Clash is now available. the full single-player campaign,
The press release notes that the
game is available at Best Buy, ZENO page 75
E-reader News Edition Game/ Economy/ 75
ZENO JANET
continued from page 74 continued from page 75

survival mode and free extra package. direction.

content known as "The Pit." For
those unfamiliar with the game,
it's a first-person adventure in
which you beat up lots of weird-
looking dudes in a bizarre
fantasy world. If that doesn't
help, we've handily embedded a
trailer for the upcoming XBLA
version after the break.
Zeno Clash has landed some
decent reviews since it launched,
so those of you who held out on
the downloadable release might
Catch Jirachi at your consider picking up the $20 retail
Continue reading Zeno Clash
now at retail
Zeno Clash now at retail
originally appeared on Joystiq on
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:00:00 EST.
Please see our terms for use of
feeds.
Permalink| Email this|
Comments
Let me start with the good news.
Real gross domestic product, or
GDP, the broadest measure of a
country’s total output, has turned
around impressively. It rose at a
robust 5.7 percent annual rate in
the fourth quarter of 2009. That’s
a very welcome change from the
huge declines we saw during the
recession. In fact, it’s the best
gain in GDP we’ve seen in six
years. If we were able to sustain
JANET page 76

local GameStop on Janet Yellen: Outlook for Economy

February 27 and Monetary Policy
by Guest Author (The Big The Outlook for the Economy years. My comments reflect my
by Griffin McElroy (Joystiq) As an added bonus, trainers who Picture) and Monetary Policy 1 own views, and not necessarily
Submitted at 2/23/2010 3:00:00 AM have Jirachi in their collection Thank you, William. It’s very those of my Federal Reserve
Submitted at 2/22/2010 3:00:08 PM
will have access to a special nice to see a familiar face and to colleagues.
Is your elite Pokémon fighting training route on HeartGold and Message from fivefilters.org: If r e c e i v e s u c h a g r a c i o u s Given the dismal economic
f o r c e l a c k i n g a c e r t a i n SoulSilver's bundled accessory, you can, please donate to the full introduction. And it’s a pleasure news we faced for so long, it’s a
adorability factor? Starting this the Pokéwalker. That might just -text RSS service so we can to be here with you in beautiful great relief for me to report that
coming Saturday, February 27, be enough to give us the courage continue developing it. San Diego. This morning, I will the tide appears to have turned.
GameStop will have the perfect required to suffer the judgmental President’s Speech try to cover a lot of ground. I’ll We are seeing convincing
remedy to your problem -- the looks of our local GameStop's Presentation to the Burnham- survey the economic landscape, evidence that an economic
r e t a i l e r w i l l o f f e r a f r e e customers and employees. Moores Center for Real Estate and give you my reading of the recovery is well under way. Still,
download of the legendary Catch Jirachi at your local S c h o o l o f B u s i n e s s outlook for the national as I’ll explain in greater detail in
Psychic/Steel-type Jirachi for GameStop on February 27 Administration, University of economy. I’ll also discuss the a few minutes, the fact that the
anyone who treks to the store originally appeared on Joystiq on San Diego situation in San Diego and finish economy is growing again
with a copy of Poké mon Pearl, Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:00:00 EST. San Diego, CA with some comments about doesn’t mean we’re where we
Diamond or Platinum in tow. Please see our terms for use of By Janet L. Yellen, President monetary policy. In particular, I ought to be. Far from it. In
The promotion will run until feeds. and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank want to go over a matter that’s particular, the unemployment
March 13 -- the day before Read| Permalink| Email this| of on the minds of many people rate is unacceptably high,
HeartGold and SoulSilver hit Comments San Francisco right now: the Federal Reserve’s creating real hardship for
store shelves. For Delivery on February 22, strategy for winding down the millions of Americans. But, at
2010, 8 AM Pacific time, 11:00 extraordinary measures taken least we’re heading in the right
AM Eastern during the financial and
Download PDF Version(79KB) economic crisis of the past few JANET page 75
76
JANET
continued from page 75
growth like this, we would
experience a vibrant V-shaped
upswing like those that occurred
following past severe recessions.
Unfortunately, I’m not at all
convinced that a V-shaped
recovery is in the cards. That
fourth-quarter leap in GDP
overstates the underlying
momentum of the economy.
Much of it was due to a
slowdown in the pace at which
businesses were drawing down
inventory stocks compared with
earlier in the year. Less than half
of the fourth-quarter growth
reflected higher sales to
customers. Those sales did grow,
but at a lackluster 2.2 percent. It
appears that businesses are
getting their inventories closer in
line with sales, which is a good
thing. But such inventory
adjustments can be a potent
source of growth only for a few
quarters. I’d feel much more
confident about the prospect for
a sustained robust recovery if I
saw evidence of more vigorous
growth in actual sales.
On that front, the most recent
data show consumers releasing
somewhat their tight grips on
their wallets. But that doesn’t
mean that people have thrown
caution to the wind and returned
to their spendthrift ways. Indeed,
my business contacts tell me the
consumer mindset is still in a
fragile state. Clearly, the big
weight hanging over everyone’s
heads is jobs. The current high
level of unemployment is
severely restraining income and
undermining confidence as
people worry whether they will
have a paycheck in the months
ahead. Even those with secure
jobs may worry about their
finances since debt burdens were
near historic highs at the onset of
the financial crisis and, since
then, equity and house prices
have declined sharply. At this
point, households are actually
paying down debt, a
development that partly reflects
the reluctance of banks to lend to
households with battered balance
sheets.
The housing sector appears to
have stabilized, but here too I
don’t see any signs of a sharp
turnaround. New home sales and
construction finally stopped
falling last year and have been
reasonably stable, albeit at very
low levels, for several months.
Existing home sales surged late
last year in response to the
homebuyer tax credit. But, the
credit expires this spring, so this
source of support won’t be
around much longer. The
housing sector has also been
benefiting from the Fed’s policy
of buying mortgage-backed
securities. These purchases
appear to have helped keep home
finance rates low. But, the Fed is
now in the process of tapering
off these purchases and plans to
stop them at the end of March.
As support from Federal Reserve
and other government programs
phases out, there is a risk that the
housing market could weaken
again.
If the consumer and housing
sectors aren’t up to the task of
delivering a V-shaped recovery,
can business investment
spending do it? It’s true that, in
past recoveries, business
investment typically grew
rapidly once the economy turned
the corner. And, in the current
recession, businesses sharply
curtailed capital expenditures, so
they will eventually need to
rebuild capacity and replace old
equipment. In fact, we have
already seen a rebound in
business spending on equipment
and software, and recent
indicators for this type of
spending point to solid growth.
Arguing against too much
optimism, however, is that
businesses remain very nervous
and exceedingly cost conscious.
One of my contacts referred to a
“scarring effect” in the wake of
the recession that has left
businesses focused on survival
and leery of investing. Many
businesspeople say they are
concentrating instead on process
improvements, keeping supply
chains lean, waiting for purchase
orders before they produce, and
meeting increases in demand
with higher productivity from
their existing workforces. True,
they are beginning to plan with
greater confidence. But the
watchword remains caution.
Even for those businesses ready
to expand—especially smaller
ones—financing remains an
impediment. Credit is becoming
more available, but terms such as
collateral requirements can be
onerous. What’s more, the crisis
made businesses keenly aware
that they can’t count on being
able to get credit. Some of my
contacts say they plan to keep
more cash on hand, rather than
investing it, as protection against
a renewed credit crunch.
Meanwhile, commercial real
estate remains a bleak spot and
investment in nonresidential
structures is likely to stay
depressed for some time. The
recession drove up vacancy rates
for office, retail, warehouse, and
other income-producing
properties, severely reducing
demand for new buildings. In
addition, credit is tight. Lenders
and investors are demanding
extra compensation for risk,
driving up commercial real estate
financing rates compared with
pre-recession levels. And the
market for commercial mortgage
-backed securities remains
distressed, despite support from
the Fed’s Term Asset-Backed
Securities Loan Facility, or
TALF. So, I just don’t see this
sector contributing to growth for
quite some time. 2
Put it all together and you have
a recipe for a moderate rate of
economic growth, well below the
spritely pace set in the fourth
quarter. The current quarter
appears on course to post growth
of around 3 percent. I see the
economy gradually picking up
steam over the remainder of this
year as households and
businesses regain confidence,
E-reader News Edition
financial conditions improve,
and banks increase the supply of
credit. I expect growth of about
3½ percent for the year as a
whole, picking up to about 4½
percent next year, with private
demand coming on line to pick
up the slack as government
stimulus programs fade away.
In addition to some of the weak
spots I already mentioned, a
number of other factors are
holding back recovery. First,
even though the banking and
financial systems are gaining
strength, they still bear wounds
from the financial crisis, and
these will take a long time to
fully heal. Second, losses on
mortgages, commercial real
estate credits, and other loans
continue to mount, and the full
weight of foreclosures and bank
failures on the economy has yet
to be felt. Finally, the Fed, as
well as central banks in other
countries, has faced limits in the
amount of monetary stimulus we
have been able to generate.
That’s because we can’t push
interest rates below the near-zero
level where they’ve been for
more than a year. To be sure,
we’ve developed many
innovative programs to make
credit cheaper and more readily
available. But, all in all,
monetary policy can’t give the
same kick to the economy that it
delivered in past recoveries.
Earlier I noted that, even though
the recession appears to be over,
JANET page 77
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continued from page 76
it does not mean that we are
where we want to be. Even with
my moderate growth forecast,
the economy will be operating
well below its potential for
several years. Economists think
in terms of what we call the
“output gap,” which measures
the difference between the actual
level of GDP and the level where
GDP would be if the economy
were operating at full
employment. The output gap was
around negative 6 percent in the
fourth quarter of 2009, based on
Congressional Budget Office
estimates. That’s a very big
number and it means the U.S.
economy was producing 6
percent less than it could have
had we been at full employment.
That’s equivalent to more than
$900 billion of lost output per
year, or roughly $3,000 per
person.
I’m afraid that the economy will
continue to operate well below
its potential throughout this year
and next. Let me do a little math
for you. The San Francisco Fed
estimates that the potential level
of output is increasing roughly
2½ percent a year due to growth
in the labor force and increases
in productivity. Hence, over the
next two years, potential output
will increase by about 5 percent.
My forecast is that real GDP will
increase about 8 percent during
that period, or 3 percentage
points more than potential
output. This implies that the
output gap will shrink from its
current level of negative 6
percent to around negative 3
percent by the end of 2011. In
fact, I don’t expect the output
gap to completely vanish until
sometime in 2013.
This brings us to a subject that is
of paramount concern to all of
us—the job situation. This
recession has been very severe,
indeed. The U.S. economy has
shed 8.4 million jobs since
December 2007. That’s more
than a 6 percent drop in payrolls,
the largest percentage point
decline since the demobilization
following World War II. The
unemployment rate, which was 5
percent at the start of the
recession, rose to around 10
percent in late 2009. The rates of
job openings and hiring are also
stuck at very low levels. These
statistics represent a tragedy for
our country, our communities,
and each of the families and
individuals who have had to
cope with a loss of livelihood.
There is a glimmer of good
news on the employment front.
The pace of job losses has
slowed dramatically and some
indicators, such as gains in
temporary jobs, suggest that we
may be close to a turnaround in
the labor market. I was
encouraged to see the
unemployment rate drop from 10
percent to 9.7 percent in January.
Nonetheless, given my forecast
of moderate growth and a
shrinking, but still sizable, output
gap, I expect unemployment to
remain painfully high for years.
The rate should edge down from
its current level to about 9¼
percent by the end of this year
and still be about 8 percent by
the end of 2011, a far cry from
full employment.
I should warn that there is a
great deal of uncertainty
surrounding this forecast. In the
past, a given level of economic
growth produced a more-or-less
predictable change in the
unemployment rate. Historically,
a pattern emerged in which
unemployment declined by half
as much as the difference in the
growth rates of actual and
potential GDP. This is
commonly referred to as
“Okun’s law” after the
economist Arthur Okun, who
first described this relationship
back in the 1960s.
Let me sketch out how this
should work. In my forecast,
GDP growth exceeds the growth
rate of potential GDP by 1
percentage point this year and 2
percentage points next year.
According to Okun’s law, the
unemployment rate should fall
by about one-half percentage
point by the end of this year and
a full percentage point during
2011. These figures are in line
with my unemployment forecast.
However, Okun’s law let us
down big-time in 2009. Given
that GDP was stagnant last year,
the unemployment rate should
have gone up by about 1¼
percentage points, according to
Okun’s law. In fact, it shot up 3
percentage points. Understanding
what happened last year has
important implications for what
unemployment does in the
future.
Economists have come up with
a number of possible
explanations for why the
unemployment rate rose so much
last year. The first explanation
for the failure of Okun’s law is
that special factors not directly
related to output growth may be
pushing up the unemployment
rate. One possibility is that the
severe recession is
fundamentally altering the labor
market, shifting jobs away from
such sectors as manufacturing,
real estate, and finance to other
sectors. This reallocation takes
time. Until it is complete, we
will see higher levels of
unemployment. A second
possibility is that extended
unemployment benefits are
artificially boosting reported
unemployment rates because
workers who collect
unemployment checks may be
saying they are looking for work
even if they have given up. In the
past, such people might not have
said they were searching for jobs
and would no longer have been
considered part of the labor force
and counted in the official
unemployment statistics.
Still, there is little evidence that
structural shifts in the labor
market or extended
unemployment benefits have had
large effects on the
unemployment rate. Take the
unemployment benefits
explanation. If true, we would
77
expect to see a large increase in
the labor force participation rate,
that is, the percentage of people
who are working or saying they
are looking for work. In fact,
currently, the labor force
participation rate does not appear
to be unusually high.
A second possible explanation is
that last year’s enormous decline
in employment was somehow an
aberration. GDP was basically
unchanged over the four quarters
of 2009. But payroll employment
fell by 4 percent over the same
period. In other words, the
economy produced roughly the
same quantity of goods and
services with 4 percent fewer
workers, which translates into a
4 percent increase in output per
worker. That’s a huge rate of
productivity growth, well above
estimates of the long-term trend
in productivity gains that stem
from such factors as improved
technology. So, if we ask where
Okun’s law went astray, we can
see the fingerprints of this
unusual pattern of employment
and productivity last year. But
that’s not the end of the mystery.
What would cause employment
to dive and productivity to soar
during such a severe recession?
And is it a temporary or
permanent phenomenon?
Those who believe it’s
temporary point to the unusual
nature of this terrible financial
crisis and recession. Its severity
made employers believe that it
JANET page 78
78
JANET
continued from page 77
would be a long time, if ever,
before they would need as many
workers as they previously had.
The credit crunch may also have
caused some to fear that they
wouldn’t be able to borrow in
order to meet their payrolls.
These factors prompted
employers to break from the
normal cyclical pattern in which
workers are laid off relatively
slowly and some are kept in
reserve in case demand picks up.
In this scenario, workforces have
been cut to the bone and perhaps
beyond. Businesses were able to
continue to produce the same
level of output despite big cuts in
their workforces by working
their employees harder. But that
can only go so far. If demand
continues to increase and
businesses become more
confident, they will eventually
begin hiring again. If so,
productivity growth will slow
and the unemployment rate will
fall faster than usual, reversing
its unusual rise last year.
There is an alternative
explanation regarding the events
of last year though that bodes
poorly for rapid employment
gains going forward. According
to this view, last year’s large
increase in productivity is here to
stay. In that case, we won’t see a
quick drop in unemployment and
may be in for a jobless recovery
akin to those in the early 1990s
and early 2000s. This is closer to
my view and broadly consistent
with my forecast.
According to this perspective,
the recession has forced
businesses to reexamine just
about everything they do with an
eye toward restraining costs and
boosting efficiency. Strapped by
tight credit and plummeting
sales, businesses have
overhauled the way they manage
supply chains, inventory,
production practices, and
staffing. Stores don’t order
merchandise unless they think
they can sell it right away.
Manufacturers and builders don’t
produce unless they have buyers
lined up. My business contacts
describe this as a paradigm shift
and they believe it’s permanent.
This process of implementing
new efficiency gains may have
only begun and we may be in
store for further efficiency
improvements and high
productivity growth for some
time. If so, the rate of job
creation will be frustratingly
slow.
I’d like to bring this discussion
home now by talking a little
about San Diego. Obviously, the
area economy was hit hard
during the recession, but it does
seem to have weathered the
storm better than many areas of
California. And, significantly,
the San Diego area has shown
signs of a job market turnaround
in recent months. Employment
grew notably in October and the
gains were largely maintained in
November and December. To be
sure, San Diego still has far to
go. The unemployment rate was
significantly above the national
average in December, the most
recent data we have.
San Diego is among the nation’s
leading biotechnology centers
and this industry has been a
bright spot. Biotech accounts for
about two-and-a-half times as
great a share of employment and
income here as it does
nationwide. Biotech wasn’t
entirely immune—if I may use
that word—to the recession. But
demand for medical services
continued to expand and that
supported the industry. It appears
that local biotech employment
has largely held up during the
past two years. Makers of
pharmaceuticals, medical
equipment manufacturers, and
providers of research and
development services even
registered significant
employment gains. Moreover,
growth should continue. After
bottoming out in early 2009,
venture capital spending has
risen substantially, with an
important share going to biotech.
The local housing market
appears to be improving as well.
Fortunately, San Diego never
saw as big a subprime mortgage
boom as Nevada, Arizona, and
some other places in California.
Nevertheless, home foreclosures
have surged in the San Diego
area, rising from under 1 percent
in the fall of 2007 to slightly
over 3 percent of existing
mortgages in December of last
year. The trend, though, may be
heading in the right direction.
Foreclosures declined slightly in
San Diego in December, even as
they continued to rise
nationwide.
Overall, the San Diego economy
will likely recover along with the
national economy. At the same
time, I would not be too
surprised to see the recovery take
hold here with a bit more vigor
than in the nation as a whole for
the reasons I mentioned a
moment ago.
Let me move on to the outlook
for inflation nationwide. You can
get into quite a debate on this
topic. Some people worry that
sustained federal budget deficits
and the huge increase in the
Federal Reserve’s lending and
stimulus programs could
eventually lead to high inflation.
Others take the opposite view,
arguing that economic slack and
downward pressure on wages
and prices are pushing inflation
down. I would put myself
squarely in the second camp.
I’m no fan of persistently large
budget deficits. I’ve warned
against them throughout my
career. But the real danger I see
from them is not inflation.
Rather, they may be harmful
once the economy recovers
because they are apt to boost
interest rates and absorb private
savings that would otherwise
finance productive investments.
This is potentially a serious
problem in the long term that
could reduce investment and
lower living standards, although,
in the short run, federal deficits
have cushioned the blow from
E-reader News Edition
the financial crisis and recession.
As far as inflation is concerned,
there’s no evidence that big
government deficits cause high
inflation in advanced economies
with independent central banks,
such as the Fed. Japan is a case
in point. Japan has run enormous
fiscal deficits for many years and
its government debt has risen to
very high levels. Yet is has
suffered from persistent
deflation, not inflation.
I believe that the more
worrisome challenge for price
stability over the next few years
stems primarily from the sizable
amount of slack in the economy.
Whether measured by the output
gap, the unemployment rate, the
manufacturing capacity
utilization rate, or whichever
measure you like, the economy is
running well below its potential.
As a result, inflation is already
very low and trending
downward. Over the past 12
months, the personal
consumption price index,
excluding volatile food and
energy prices, rose a modest 1.5
percent. This increase in core
inflation was below the 2 percent
rate that I and most of my fellow
Fed policymakers on the Federal
Open Market Committee
(FOMC) consider an appropriate
long-term price stability
objective. And, with slack likely
to persist for years and wages
barely rising, it seems quite
possible that core inflation will
JANET page 79
E-reader News Edition
JANET
continued from page 78
move even lower this year and
next.
So where does all this leave
Federal Reserve policy?
Traditionally, the main tool of
Fed monetary policy is the
federal funds rate, which is what
banks charge each other for
overnight loans. The Fed
controls that rate by varying the
amount of reserves it supplies to
the banking system and we have
pushed that rate to zero for all
practical purposes. This is as low
as it can go. Such
accommodative policy is
appropriate, in my view, because
the economy is operating well
below its potential and inflation
is undesirably low. I believe this
is not the time to be removing
monetary stimulus. Consistent
with that view, the FOMC has
repeatedly stated that it expects
low interest rates to continue for
an extended period.
Of course, in response to
financial and economic
emergency, the Fed has done a
lot more than simply lower the
federal funds rate. It has
provided secured loans to banks
and other financial institutions to
make sure key credit markets
were functioning. It is also in the
last stages of purchasing $1.25
trillion dollars of mortgage-
backed securities guaranteed by
agencies such as Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac, and $175 billion of
the direct debt of these agencies.
These programs were vital in
preventing a complete financial
breakdown, which would have
done immeasurable damage to
our society.
As financial and economic
conditions improve, the need for
such extraordinary support
diminishes. Accordingly, the Fed
has begun to phase out its
emergency lending programs.
Special lending programs for
primary dealers in the Treasury
securities market, for money
market mutual funds, and for
corporate short-term debt have
already been ended. So too have
we shut down special
arrangements to make dollars
available to foreign central
banks. The Term Auction
Facility (TAF) and the TALF,
which respectively supported
financial institutions and credit
markets, will be largely closed
next month. 3 Finally, the
Federal Reserve has readjusted
the terms of its loans to banks
and thrifts—so-called discount
window lending. During the
financial crisis, we encouraged
depository institutions to borrow
from us when they needed cash
to meet essential obligations.
Now that financial markets are
functioning more normally,
banks can meet their usual
funding needs by tapping private
markets.
As we carried out our
emergency lending programs and
eased monetary policy in
response to the recession, our
balance sheet swelled from
roughly $800 billion to its
current level of over $2.2 trillion.
Despite the reduction in our
lending programs, our balance
sheet remains, for want of a
better word, enormous, owing to
our holdings of mortgage-backed
securities and agency debt. Now
I just said this is not the time to
be tightening monetary policy.
But eventually the economy will
gain enough momentum and
won’t need today’s
extraordinarily low interest rates.
When that time comes, we will
begin to tighten policy and
remove monetary stimulus. And
when we start doing so, we will
face some technical issues due to
the size of the balance sheet, as
Chairman Bernanke noted in
recent Congressional testimony.
4 Let me briefly outline our
strategy.
In normal times, the Fed raises
interest rates by reducing the size
of its balance sheet, say by
selling Treasury securities to the
public. This draws in cash from
the economy, or, as we say,
reduces the supply of bank
reserves, which in turn causes
the price of those reserves, that
is, the federal funds rate, to go
up. Since the fed funds rate is the
benchmark for banks’ cost of
money, other short-term market
interest rates tend to follow suit.
Higher interest rates in turn help
slow the economy and reduce
inflationary pressures.
But these aren’t normal times.
Our securities purchases have
caused the quantity of reserves in
the banking system to swell to
something like $1 trillion—far
above the pre-crisis level of
around $50 billion. If we were to
follow our standard approach of
selling securities to raise interest
rates, we would have to sell off
many hundreds of billions of
dollars of securities to reduce the
supply of reserves enough to
have any chance of pushing rates
higher.
The problem with doing that is
that such massive sales of
mortgage-related and Treasury
securities could be disruptive to
markets and cause mortgage
interest rates and other long-term
rates to shoot up when we are
still in the early stages of the
recovery and the financial
system, although improving, is
still not at full health.
There is an alternative. To push
up short-term interest rates
without selling off our securities
holdings, we can instead raise
the interest rate that we pay on
reserves held at the Fed. Because
banks would have the
opportunity to collect a higher
reward for keeping funds on
deposit at the Fed, they would
demand commensurately higher
returns on the overnight loans
that they make in the federal
funds market. So an increase in
the interest rate paid on reserves
would raise the fed funds rate
and tighten financial conditions
more generally. The ability to
pay interest on the excess
reserves that banks deposit with
the Fed is an important new tool
that Congress gave us just over a
year ago. It will play a lead role
when the time ultimately comes
79
to tighten monetary policy. And,
to make sure this works
smoothly, we have developed
some technical tools that can
help keep the federal funds rate
near our preferred target. 5
Eventually, after economic
conditions have improved and a
policy tightening has begun, we
may then start a gradual process
of selling securities in order to
help return the Fed’s balance
sheet to its pre-crisis levels.
The bottom line is that we are
already unwinding the
emergency programs we set up
during the financial crisis. When
the day comes to start raising
rates again, we have tools at the
ready. But, for the time being,
the economy still needs the
support of extraordinarily low
rates. Thank you very much.
# # # End Notes
1. I would like to thank Rob
Valletta, John Williams, and
Sam Zuckerman for assistance in
preparing these remarks.
2. See Yellen 2009 for an in-
depth discussion of commercial
real estate.
3. The TALF for loans backed
by new-issue commercial
mortgage-backed securities will
remain open until June 30.
4. See Bernanke 2010.
5. See Bernanke 2010 for a
discussion of reverse repurchase
operations and the term deposit
facility.
References
Bernanke, Ben S. 2010.“Federal
JANET page 80
80 Economy/ E-reader News Edition
JANET
Health reform: Looking for progress continued from page 79

Reserve’s Exit Strategy.”

(The Economist: News ago. After months of wrangling, contained in a comprehensive The administration estimates that Testimony before the Committee
analysis) the Democrats did manage to health bill passed by the Senate its bundle of proposals will cost on Financial Services U.S.
Submitted at 2/22/2010 10:24:14 PM
push (slightly different) reform just before Christmas. Using a some $950 billion, a price tag House of Representatives,
bills through the House and the mix of regulation and subsidies, which falls between the cost of Washington, DC, February 10.
Message from fivefilters.org: If Senate; all they needed to do was Mr Obama’ s plan would also the Senate bill ($871 billion) and Yellen, Janet L. 2009.“The
you can, please donate to the full to reconcile them into a final restructure the health-insurance the House version (over one Outlook for the Economy and
-text RSS service so we can law. But before they could, the market so that individuals would trillion dollars). This estimate Real Estate.” Presentation to the
continue developing it. upset Republican victory in the be required to purchase coverage breaks Mr Obama’ s pledge to Phoenix Chapter of Lambda
Health reform Barack Obama r e c e n t S e n a t e r a c e i n and insurers would be mandated keep any reform effort under Alpha International, Phoenix,
unveils a revised health-reform M a s s a c h u s e t t s r o b b e d t h e to provide it. But seizing on $900 billion. And that $950 AZ, November 10.
plan Democrats of the 60 votes they recent popular outrage at rate billion figure may yet grow. The Five Filters featured article:
Feb 23rd 2010 | NEW YORK | need for easy passage in the increases announced by regional Congressional Budget Office, an Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
From The Economist online upper house. health insurers (rises of 39% official agency that is the referee PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
HEALTH reform has been the That has made it extremely were announced for some in such matters, this week said Term Extraction.
Obama administration’s main difficult for Democrats to pass Californians, for example), Mr that the president’s plan does not
domestic policy priority for health reform this year. But not Obama’s proposal would go offer enough detail for the
nearly a year, but the president impossible: Democrats could yet further, creating a panel to watch agency to determine its likely
himself has been frustratingly win over a few Republicans, or for “unreasonable or unjustified” cost.
slippery on the topic. Although try to push a bill through the increases. In sum, the proposal looks like a
he has given plenty of speeches Senate using a manoeuvre Mr Obama’s plan does differ in gamble. Because budget Treasury Looks to
on the topic and discussed k n o w n as “budget some other ways. To get the reconciliation must be finalised Mandate Foreclosure
various worthy ideas, he has reconciliation”—which requires Senate bill passed, Democratic within two months, the strength
sounded more like a chin- 51, not 60, votes in that chamber. leaders had to cut special deals of his hand will become clear Abatements, Mortgage
stroking academic than a tough- Either, veteran analysts agree, that stank of corruption. For shortly. Even if health reform Mods
minded politician. Until now, he would be a long shot. example, labour unions hated a does fail this year, however, by Barry Ritholtz (The Big
has preferred to let Congress Mr Obama insisted in his state- tax on gold-plated insurance critics can no longer say that was Picture)
come up with specific proposals. of-the-union speech that he plans found in the Senate bill because Mr Obama refused to
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:15:50 AM
Then, on Monday February would push for comprehensive (because their members often enter the scrum. Readers'
22nd, Mr Obama at last unveiled r e f o r m t h i s y e a r . H e h a s enjoy such plans), so dealmakers comments Message from fivefilters.org: If
his own set of proposals for promised to listen more carefully carved out an exemption for The Economist welcomes your you can, please donate to the full
reforming America’s troubled to Republican ideas and plans to them. Nebraska’s Senator Ben views. -text RSS service so we can
health system. hold a televised health summit Nelson refused to join the caucus Five Filters featured article: continue developing it.
I t i s a g a m b l e b r e d o f with the opposition on February unless the federal government Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: One of the most disappointing
desperation. Mr Obama’s aloof 25th. His aides suggest that he is paid for his state’s extra costs for PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, policy initiatives of the
strategy, adopted in response to n o w o p e n t o u s i n g t h e Medicaid, a government health Term Extraction. Administration to date has been
the failure of Bill Clinton’s controversial tactic of budget scheme for the indigent. Now Mr the expensive and ineffective
micro-managed attempt at health reconciliation for health reform. Obama’s plan simply extends attempts to fight foreclosures at
reform over a decade earlier, At heart Mr Obama’s reform these special deals to everyone. all costs.
seemed shrewd just a few weeks proposals are similar to those This largesse comes at a price. The net impact of this is to
artificially prop up home prices
and reduce the number of real
TREASURY page 81
E-reader News Edition
TREASURY
continued from page 80
estate transactions. In the high
foreclosures regions (California,
South Florida, Arizona, Las
Vegas), the foreclosure process
have driven prices down to the
point where buyers have
materialized and sales numbers
are improving significantly. The
uptick in real estate transactions
benefits durable good sales,
increases mortgage volume, and
positively impacts other real
estate related activities.
As wrenching and unpleasant a
process as foreclosures may be,
the net impact of artificially high
real estate prices is even more
problematic. It punishes savers
and first time home buyers (think
Newlyweds).
This is what makes the latest
proposal out of Treasury —
found here: Supplemental
Directive: Foreclosure &
Bankruptcy Changes— so
disappointing. It seeks to
mandate Foreclosure Abatements
and Mortgage mods. These (and
other related) policies that have
shown themselves to be
Cost of Home Ownership
by Barry Ritholtz (The Big
Picture)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 3:31:58 AM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.
With Case Shiller out later
today, its as good a time as any
ineffective, and ultimately,
counter-productive.
Some of the highlights of the
proposal:
• Mandate a 30 day freeze on
foreclosures until a delinquent
borrower is evaluated and found
ineligible for HAMP;
• Once a borrower is in a
mortgage mod program,
“servicers must stop all
foreclosure action” during the
trial period;
• Banks must produce “written
certification that a borrower is
not HAMP eligible” prior to
proceeding to foreclosure;
• Requires servicers to consider
borrowers in bankruptcy for
HAMP’ (!?!)
• Removes other bankruptcy
barriers for mortgage mods;
In this proposal, all 60+
delinquent borrowers (who meet
eligibility) must be solicited for
HAMP. Even newly bankrupt
mortgagees should be considered
for mortgage mods.
The problem we have in housing
is that over the past decade, 5-10
to take a look at what the actual
cost of home ownership is.
The current Fed policy of ultra
low rates, have made ownership
costs on a monthly basis appear
cheap. However, the most
important ratio — median annual
Income to Housing costs —
shows that prices still remains
elevated at at 363% versus the
million people bought homes
they cannot afford. Many of
these homes are now worth less
than their underlying mortgages.
The best options in these cases
are: 1) A negotiated capital cost
reduction (i.e,, “cramdown”)
with their lenders; 2) A short
sale; 3) Walkaways.
The Treasury Department
proposal accomplishes nothing
more than keeping people in
homes they cannot afford with
payments that are onerous. The
mortgage mods are failing in
huge numbers because lowering
the interest rate and or/extendingreflected sound waves include Sound waves that hit the panel
the terms does not address the
basic issue . . .
Five Filters featured article:
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prior decade ratio of 300-325%.
>
via Visual Economics
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PopSci/ Economy/ 81
Acoustic Metamaterials Could
Make Ultra-Thin, Ultra-Effective
Noise-Cancelling Panels
by Jeremy Hsu (Popular grid of squares, with a small
Science - New Technology, weighted plastic button sitting in
Science News, The Future the middle of each square.
Now) Related Articles The Sound of
Submitted at 2/23/2010 6:18:12 AM Silence... Almost FYI: Why
Does My Voice Sound Different
Hong Kong researchers have When I Hear it On a Recording?
combined simple latex with What Sound Does Space Make?
some plastic buttons to create Tags Technology, Jeremy Hsu,
metamaterial panels that can stop absorb, acoustic, metamaterials,
sound waves very effectively, reflect, sound waves, soundproof
according to New Scientist. The materials, soundproofing, sounds
low-frequency bass sounds that cause the latex membrane and
typically manage to sneak weighted buttons to resonate at
through the walls. different frequencies that cancel
T h i c k p i e c e s o f c e r t a i n out the sound waves. Individual
materials, such as the commonly membranes are tuned based on
used foam, can typically absorb the weight of the plastic buttons,
or reflect sounds, but creating a so that each can cancel out a
thin soundproofing material that certain frequency band of sound
can block low-frequency sounds waves.
has proven extremely difficult. Stacking five differently-tuned
F o r i n s t a n c e , a t h i n l a t e x membranes together can produce
membrane by itself cannot a soundproof panel that works
resonate at the right frequency to from 70 to 550 hertz, and is just
either absorb or reflect the bass slightly thicker than a ceramic
rumble of a jet taking off. bathroom tile. At least one
The team at the Hong Kong independent researcher envisions
University of Science and such tiles seeing use at airports
T e c h n o l o g y i n K o w l o o n or other noisy environments --
managed to solve the problem by and we're not saying that your
creating a "membrane-type home doesn't count. We're also
acoustic metamaterial with not saying that soundproofing
negative dynamic mass" that will discourage your neighbors'
combines latex and plastic robotic drum circle.
buttons. Each soundproofing [via New Scientist]
panel consists of latex stretched
over a 3mm-thick rigid plastic
82 Gallup Poll/ E-reader News Edition

Underemployed Report Spending 36% Less Than Employed

(All Gallup Headlines) personal doctor (63% vs. 81%)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 7:00:00 PM or to have visited a dentist in the
last 12 months (57% vs. 72%).
Message from fivefilters.org: If Demographics
you can, please donate to the full There are several important
-text RSS service so we can demographic differences
continue developing it. between the employed and the
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- underemployed. While numerous
Gallup's daily measure of U.S. reports have highlighted men's
employment reveals that 19.9% struggles to find employment
of the U.S. workforce was during the current economic
underemployed during the month downturn, Gallup data indicate
of January, translating to close to that underemployment levels
30 million Americans who are among women (21%) are similar
working less than their desired to those among men (19%).
capacity. Those who were Adults aged 18 to 29 are almost
underemployed reported twice as likely (31%) to be
spending 36% less than those underemployed as 30- to 49-year
who were employed, $48 per day olds (17%) and 50- to 65-year-
versus $75 per day. olds (17%) are.
These results are based on Underemployment declines with
January interviews with more increasing education levels.
than 20,000 adults in the U.S. While nearly 4 in 10 respondents
workforce, aged 18 and older. j u s t o n e o f m a n y w a y s about the amount of money they Additionally, respondents who (38%) with less than a high
Gallup classifies respondents as underemployment costs the U.S. have to spend, while only half as are underemployed are more s c h o o l d i p l o m a a r e
"employed" if they are employed and hurts its workforce. Gallup's m a n y ( 2 9 % ) o f t h e likely to report that they did not underemployed, the figure drops
full time or are employed part e m p l o y m e n t m e a s u r e a l s o underemployed report feeling have enough money for food, to 12% among those with a four-
time but do not want to work full r e v e a l s f u r t h e r d i s p a r i t i e s g o o d . Further, t h e shelter, or healthcare at some year college degree and further
t i m e . G a l l u p c l a s s i f i e s between the employed and the underemployed are less likely time during the past 12 months. to 10% for those with education
respondents as "underemployed" u n d e r e m p l o y e d o n v i t a l than the employed to say they Healthcare beyond college.
if they are employed part time indicators such as attitudes a r e a b l e t o m a k e a m a j o r Access to preventative care and Among racial and ethnic groups,
but want to work full time or are t o w a r d m o n e y , a c c e s s t o purchase, such as a car or home health insurance also differ blacks (27%) and Hispanics
u n e m p l o y e d . " T h e healthcare, demographics, and repair, if needed (25% vs. 58%, between the employed and the (29%) are most likely to be
underemployed are less likely wellbeing. respectively). underemployed, illustrating the underemployed, while non-
than the employed to say they Personal Finances Particularly noteworthy are the s t r a i n that h i g h Hispanic whites (17%) are least
a r e a b l e t o m a k e a m a j o r Underemployment is generally d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e g r o u p s ' underemployment can place on likely.
purchase, such as a car or home associated with a less-than- reported ability to afford basic the healthcare system. The Taken as a whole, the
repair, if needed." desired income, and Gallup data necessities. Slightly more than underemployed are less likely employment status of certain
As unemployment rates remain highlight the stark contrast in half (56%) of underemployed than the employed to have health demographic groups is bleak.
high, reduced spending by spending attitudes between the respondents say they have i n s u r a n c e ( 5 9 % v s . 8 7 % , Gallup's data illustrate that full
millions of underemployed e m p l o y e d and t h e enough money to buy the things respectively), to have had employment is not available to
A m e r i c a n s h a s o b v i o u s underemployed. Sixty percent of they need, compared to 84% of enough money for healthcare
i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r e c o n o m i c employed respondents feel good employed respondents. (63% vs. 85%), to have a UNDEREMPLOYED page 84
recovery. Spending is, however,
E-reader News Edition
Obama Approval Rating Continues to Hover Around 50%
(All Gallup Headlines)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 7:45:00 AM
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PRINCETON, NJ -- President
Barack Obama averaged 49%
job approval from Americans for
the week of Feb. 15-21. His
recent approval ratings, based on
Gallup Daily tracking, have
shown a high degree of stability,
with the weekly averages
ranging between 48% and 51%
since mid-November.
At the beginning of an important
week in his presidency,
highlighted by the bipartisan
healthcare summit on Thursday,
the latest three-day rolling
average of Obama's job approval
rating (based on Feb. 19-21
polling) is also 49%. Since mid-
November, Obama's daily
approval ratings have ranged
from a low of 47% (several
times, most recently Jan. 27-29)
to a high of 53% (three times,
most recently Feb. 12-
14)."Democratic approval of
Obama has shown a small but
noticeable decline since mid-
November."
Obama hopes to jump-start
momentum for healthcare reform
after it stalled following
Republican Scott Brown's
victory in the Jan. 19 special
election for U.S. senator from
Massachusetts. Obama has for
the first time submitted his own
version of healthcare legislation,
after previously deferring to
House and Senate Democrats to
put forth a plan.
The most recent weekly
approval averages by party
nearly match those that Gallup
has measured since mid-
November -- 83% approval
among Democrats, 45% among
independents, and 17% among
Republicans.
Democratic approval of Obama
has shown a small but noticeable
decline since mid-November.
Obama averaged 86% approval
from Democrats the first two
weeks of November, but his
approval rating from his fellow
partisans has since averaged
83%.
Independents' weekly approval
averages of Obama have
exceeded 50% just once since
early August, about the time the
debate over healthcare reform
intensified. Republican approval
of Obama has not exceeded 20%
since that time.
Bottom Line
There has been a lot of inertia in
President Obama's job approval
ratings, which have been right
around the 50% mark since mid-
November. His recent ratings
rank on the low end compared
with other presidents at this time
in their presidencies. Generally
speaking, those near the bottom -
- including Bill Clinton, Ronald
Reagan, and Jimmy Carter --
were dealing with struggling
economies. That certainly
applies to Obama, though
healthcare also seems to be
Gallup Poll/ 83
holding his approval rating
down, given that his support
dropped as the healthcare debate
intensified in August. Obama is
taking a major step to turn the
tide on healthcare reform this
week, and has also said jobs are
his top priority this year.
Survey Methods
Results are based on telephone
interviews with a random sample
of 3,596 national adults, aged 18
and older, conducted Feb. 15-21,
2010, as part of Gallup Daily
tracking. For results based on the
total sample of national adults,
one can say with 95% confidence
that the maximum margin of
sampling error is ±2 percentage
points.
Interviews are conducted with
respondents on land-line
telephones and cellular phones.
In addition to sampling error,
question wording and practical
difficulties in conducting surveys
can introduce error or bias into
the findings of public opinion
polls.
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Term Extraction.
84 PopSci/
UNDEREMPLOYED
continued from page 82
all U.S. workers, and
opportunities for employment are
in short supply for American
youth and minorities.
Presidential Approval
Employment status is related to
a number of political and
ideological variables. As one
example, underemployed
Americans (55%) are more likely
than the employed (48%) to
approve of the way Barack
Obama is handling his job as
president. During the same time
period, 49% of the American
population approved of Obama's
job performance. As a point of
reference, among the employed,
29% identify themselves as
Republicans, 31% as Democrats,
and 33% as independents.
Twenty-two percent of the
underemployed identify as
Republicans, 34% as Democrats,
and 35% as independents.
Wellbeing
Individuals who are employed
(60%) are more likely than the
underemployed (40%) to be
classified by Gallup as
"thriving." Those who are
thriving respond affirmatively to
present- and future-circumstance
questions based on the Cantril
Self-Anchoring Striving Scale,
which asks respondents to
evaluate their present and future
lives on a ladder scale, with steps
numbered from 0 to 10. By
comparison, 53% of the U.S.
population in general was
classified as thriving during the
same period.
Bottom Line
Gallup data spotlight the
stressors faced by 30 million
underemployed Americans.
Underemployed Americans
report spending 36% less than
their employed counterparts on
average, potentially costing the
U.S. economy hundreds of
millions of dollars as
underemployment continues to
remain high. Compared with
employed respondents,
underemployed respondents also
report greater difficulty in
affording basic necessities, have
lower levels of access to
healthcare, have less satisfaction
with their financial resources,
and evaluate their lives less
favorably.
E-reader News Edition
Learn more about Gallup's
economic measures.
Survey Methods
Results are based on telephone
interviews with 20,503 national
adults, aged 18 and older,
conducted Jan. 2-31, 2010. For
results based on the total sample
of national adults, one can say
with 95% confidence that the
maximum margin of sampling
error is ±1 percentage point.
Interviews are conducted with
respondents on land-line
telephones (for respondents with
a landline telephone) and cellular
phones (for respondents who are
cell-phone only). An Astronaut Peeks Out from
In addition to sampling error,
question wording and practical the Space Station's Lovely
difficulties in conducting surveys
can introduce error or bias into
the findings of public opinion
New 360-Degree Window
by Jeremy Hsu (Popular resident Soichi Noguchi has
polls. Science - New Technology, already made good use of the
Five Filters featured article: Science News, The Future cupola to take pretty Earth
Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: Now) Twitpics with his 800mm lens
PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
Submitted at 2/22/2010 11:16:08 AM camera.
Term Extraction.
Speaking of Noguchi, the
I see you, space shuttle astronaut also took advantage of
Space shuttle Endeavour has his fresh vantage point to capture
landed safely after installing a this stunning image of the space
new observation deck on the shuttle making an s-turn while
International Space Station. But undergoing atmospheric reentry
the Endeavour astronauts didn't on its return home.
leave without first checking out Besides providing stunning
the new view from the cupola sights, the cupola gives ISS
window. residents a better view to control
Here we get a view of George the space station's robotic arm.
Zamka, NASA astronaut and That feature should come in
STS-130 commander, peeking handy, considering that NASA's
out from the newly-installed new budget has extended the
cupola on February 19 while the space station lifetime until at
space shuttle remained docked least 2020.
with the space station. ISS
E-reader News Edition
World's First Junctionless Transistor
Could Revolutionize Chip Industry
by Clay Dillow (Popular
Science - New Technology,
Science News, The Future
Now)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 11:59:04 AM
Transistor junction, what's your
function now? Irish researchers
at the Tyndall National Institute
have fabricated the world's first
junctionless transistor, a
nanotech development that could
change the way semiconductors
are manufactured.
The challenge over past decades
has been to keep up with Moore's
Law by cramming more and
more transistors into the limited
real estate provided by silicon
chip fabrication methods. But as
future tech leans more heavily on
smaller, lighter, more mobile
devices with increased
computing power, the imperative
to slim down chip design while
increasing efficiency has grown
increasingly greater.
Unfortunately, existing
transistor junctions -- two pieces
of silicon with opposite polarities
that allow the current to be
switched on and off within the
transistor -- aren't all that
efficient. Current can leak from
junctions, upping power
consumption and causing overall
inefficiency in devices that
increases with the number of
transistors. Junctions are also a
major factor in driving up costs
in the chip manufacturing
process; as gateways for current,
they are the key mechanisms in
transistors, and manufacturing
high quality junctions can
quickly become very expensive.
The junctionless transistor
circumvents the need for
junctions by pumping current
through a thin silicon wire just a
few atoms in diameter. A
component nicknamed the
"wedding ring" regulates the
flow of current by electrically
"squeezing" the wire to stop the
electron flow, much in the way
you might crimp a drinking
straw to stop liquid from moving
PopSci/ 85
through it. The architecture of
the junctionless transistor is
simple enough that it can be
cheaply produced even at very
small sizes, meaning that the
tech could contribute to
significantly cheaper transistors
in future. And because the
current is moving straight
through a silicon wire, it leaks
very little current, making these
new structures a good deal more
efficient.
Of course, crimping a silicon
nanowire to control current in a
lab setting and manufacturing
these junction-free transistors en
masse are two completely
Stars Can Teach Us a Thing or
different things, and it remains to
be seen whether the innovation
Two about Manufacturing
can scale effectively across the
chip industry. But if the
Carbon Nanotubes, NASA Finds
technology does indeed pan out by Jeremy Hsu (Popular surprising by-products of lab
Science - New Technology, experiments at NASA's Goddard
on a large scale, the Science News, The Future
breakthrough could lead to a Space Flight Center in Maryland.
Now) Researchers used a mixture that
paradigm shift in chip
architecture. Submitted at 2/22/2010 1:55:28 PM included graphite dust particles,
[ Silicon Republic] carbon monoxide and hydrogen
Efficient space-born recipe gases as they tried to figure out
requires no metal how carbon gets recycled after a
Carbon nanotubes may push star dies in a supernova. They
future innovations ranging from published the findings about
self-repairing electronic devices their surprise chemical reaction
to batteries based on nanotube in the February issue of
ink and paper. Now NASA Astrophysical Journal Letters.
scientists may have uncovered a "I am amazed at the implications
new recipe for making carbon of this paper, not only for
nanotubes based on interstellar astrophysics but also for
processes. materials science," says Dick
The tiny but strong carbon
nanotubes emerged as the STARS page 87
86 PopSci/ E-reader News Edition

Obama Pledges $475 Million to Rescue Great

Lakes
by Jeremy Hsu (Popular
Science - New Technology,
Science News, The Future
Now)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 12:45:00 PM

Top threats include toxic

contamination, loss of wildlife
habitat and invasive species
Pollution and ravenous Asian
carp may threaten the U.S. Great
Lakes, but the Obama
administration has now put forth
a four-year, $475-million rescue
plan that would clean up the
huge lake ecosystem and
institute a "zero tolerance policy"
against future incursions by Agency. would provide 25,000 young industry. Instead, the coalition
invasive species, AP reports. Goals for 2014 include cleaning sturgeons for restocking suggests that such funds should
The Great Lakes supply five toxic hot spots, cutting down programs, and also try to combat come from another part of the
drinking water to more than 30 the invasive species discovered overfishing and loss of habitat. federal budget.
million people, and also support in the lakes by 40 percent, The proposal has largely drawn Keeping the Asian carp down
regional shipping, outdoor reducing phosphorus runoff, and praise from environmental has proven a tricky battle for the
recreation, tourism and extending protection over almost groups. But one quibble comes U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
manufacturing. This latest effort 100,000 acres of wetland. from the Healing Our Waters- which has deployed electrical
goes toward fulfilling a Part of the plan also involves Great Lakes Coalition, which barriers and mass poisoning to
campaign pledge by President saving native species such as the says that too much restoration try and keep the intruders from
Obama to spend $5 billion over a massive lake sturgeon, a money has gone toward fighting spreading.
decade on rescuing the lakes, and prehistoric fish that can reach 8 the Asian carp that threaten the [via AP]
will launch under the aegis of the feet and 200 pounds. The plan region's $7 billion sport fishing
Environmental Protection
E-reader News Edition
STARS
continued from page 85
Zare, a chemist at Stanford
University in California. "Could
Nature know a new chemistry
for making carbon nanotubes
that we have yet to discover?"
Scientists previously discovered
the existence of natural cousins
similar to carbon nanotubes,
called graphite whiskers, inside
three meteorites in 2008. They
speculated that a hazy cloud of
such graphite whiskers in space
might explain why some
supernovas appear dimmer and
thus farther away than they
should be, according to computer
simulations.
The latest experimental results
with carbon nanotubes show how
such graphite whiskers might
have emerged, and may also
point toward a future method of
creating carbon nanotubes. That
process is a variation of Fischer-
Tropsch synthesis, a well-known
way to produce gas or liquid
fuels from coal.
If NASA can develop this some
more, it could prove a very nice
alternative to recycling our
plastic bags to make carbon
nanotubes -- "upcycling"
requires a high amount of metal
catalyst that the space recipe
apparently doesn't need.
[ NASA]
IBM and Johnson Controls Team Up:
Bad News for Building Start-Ups?
by info@greentechmedia.com
(Greentech Media: Headlines)
Submitted at 2/22/2010 2:49:59 PM
Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can
continue developing it.
It's one step closer to the merger
of building systems and IT
systems. But it could be scary for
start-ups and others promoting
building management software.
IBM and Johnson Controls are
going to work together on smart
building technologies. IBM, of
course, is an expert on
networking, hardware, computer
simulations and all things IT.
Johnson Controls, meanwhile,
remains one of the largest names
in building management. To
date, however, building
management networks and IT
networks have been separate and
managed by separate divisions
within companies. Technology,
along with the need to cut energy
costs, is prompting large
companies to seek out ways to
merge the two networks so that
air conditioners and lights can be
more easily and dynamically
controlled. An IT-aware building
management system, for
instance, could contain hooks
into weather forecasts: if a heat
wave was expected, the building
could be pre-cooled in
anticipation.
Corporate managers could also
more easily cross-check power
consumption data across
different departments or
functions. Potentially, making
building management systems
more IT-like will also cut their
costs. The alliance is an
outgrowth of an earlier alliance
between the two on energy
efficient data centers.
In fact, you could argue it's good
news all around, except for
companies such as Adura
Technologies, BuildingIQ,
Lumenergi and others who have
created systems for controlling
power consumption in
commercial real estate. It's not a
death knell. Only around 1
percent of lights in commercial
buildings in California are
Energy/ 87
networked. Building operations
consume 39 percent of the
energy in America and 76
percent of the total electricity:
the market opportunity is huge.
IBM also isn't know for offering
bargain basement prices for its
technology or consulting
services. Both IBM and Johnson
will also likely enlist start-ups to
help on various projects. (The
three comapnies listed above, for
instance, have all said they don't
want to replace traditional
building management systems.
Far from it: they want to ride on
top of applications from Johnson
and Honeywell. Intel also wants
to get into building automation
and has a long history of seeking
partners.
Still, having two trusted large
names like IBM and Johnson
band together will likely make
everyone re-examine their status
in the market.
Five Filters featured article:
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Term Extraction.
88 Energy/ E-reader News Edition
$1.37B in Loan
Utility R&D: EPRI’s Technology Innovation Guarantees for
BrightSource Solar
Program Project
by info@greentechmedia.com • Strategic Programs are more footprint, according to Kamath. One research thread being by info@greentechmedia.com
(Greentech Media: Headlines) focused and directed towards a One of the things that EPRI is followed by EPRI is in isolating (Greentech Media: Headlines)
Submitted at 2/23/2010 4:28:44 AM
specific goal. doing is working on ND testing plant genes and bacteria with Submitted at 2/22/2010 2:50:48 PM
• The Breakthrough for wind turbines, as well as superior Boron tolerance to be
Message from fivefilters.org: If Technologies group are projects looking at advanced PV and used in water and wetland Message from fivefilters.org: If
you can, please donate to the full that move a little further ahead trying to develop a strategy remediation you can, please donate to the full
-text RSS service so we can and get significant funding from focused on penetration of • Nondestructive evaluation -text RSS service so we can
continue developing it. EPRI. These are technologies renewables into the utility mix. NDE -- for assessing the state of continue developing it.
We've spent a lot of time with that EPRI believes can jump • High efficiency PV -- EPRI is wind turbines and nuclear plant How does a growing solar
the Electric Power Research significantly with an investment focused on third generation structures company bridge the chasm from
Institute (EPRI) in Palo Alto, CA of a few million dollars, and that technologies; looking for low- • Energy Storage - "Storage is a demonstration facility to utility-
and reported on them in the represent the best funding cost, high-efficiency PV great idea except for the cost," in scale energy production plant in
following articles: opportunity. • Biotechnology the words of Kamath. According a weak economy and a troubled
EPRI on Nuclear • Water to this EPRI spokesman, the project finance environment?
EPRI on Energy Efficiency They currently have 11 strategic technologies that are most likely BrightSource Energy, the VC-
EPRI on Compressed Air programs: And here's a sampling of their to reach commercialization in the funded solar thermal hopeful is
Energy Storage • Health and Environment projects: near term are Lithium-ion doing it with $1.37 billion in
E P R I o n E n e r g y S t o r a g e • Materials for fossil and nuclear • Zero Emission Coal -- flue gas batteries and Compressed Air loan guarantees from the U.S.
Technology -- materials degradation is a huge cleaning, reducing mercury and Energy Storage (CAES). In the Department of Energy.
E P R I o n S i n g l e W e l l issue across the power industry reducing coal emsisions to the longer term, EPRI is looking at The startup received conditional
Geothermal a n d E P R I i s l o o k i n g i n t o level of natural gas. technologies that will bring the approval today for their Ivanpah
EPRI on Hydro Power nanoscale characterization to • CCS -- electricity generation cost of storage even further project which would be the first
EPRI's Smart Grid Vision assess crack initiation and accounts for 40% of total CO2 d o w n . K a m a t h m e n t i o n e d new solar thermal plant built in
EPRI is funded largely by propagation in Light Water emissions in the U.S., with more Amprius' battery technology and California in almost twenty
u t i l i t i e s , p r i m a r i l y t o d o Reactor (LWR) components and than 80% of those emissions ReVolt's Zinc-Air batteries. years. The project is notable as
development in the short term wind turbines coming directly from coal-fired EPRI is working with both of one of the world's largest solar
(less than 5 year timeframe), but • Nondestructive Evaluation plants. Near-term carbon capture these firms. Kamath expects the projects at hundreds of
their Technology Innovation (TI) • CO2 Capture technology will raise the cost of cost of large-format Lithium-ion megawatts of power -- capable of
program works on longer-term • Near Zero Emissions electricity and reduce plant (for electric vehicles and utility- electrifying more than 100,000
opportunities (5 to 20 years). • Electrinet (that's EPRI-speak efficiency, so EPRI is looking at scale storage) to drop to $250 per homes while providing hundreds
Haresh Kamath, the Strategic for the smart grid) more efficient carbon capture k i l o w a t t - h o u r ( b y m o s t of jobs and hundreds of millions
P r o g r a m M a n a g e r f o r t h e • Materials for energy delivery technology for the longer term. measures, small cell lithium ion in tax revenues over its 30 year
Technology Innovation Group, and end use, e.g., nanodialectrics • Biotechnology -- non-intuitive is already at $250 per kilowatt- lifetime.
spoke last week on his group's for underground cables but relevant to the utility hour). It's a milestone for BrightSource
activities. • Sensors, e.g., sensors for wind industry; algal biofixation to and answers a lot of questions
The Technology Innovation turbines, transmission line capture CO2 As pat of the Five Filters featured article: about the fate of that firm, the
Group has three sections: inspection and monitoring, biotechnology group EPRI is Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: future of solar in the U.S., and
• The Polaris initiative funds any robotics for data collection in looking ar Boron reduction -- PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, the viability of VC-funded solar.
type of research that has an high-voltage environments Boron is produced by fossil fuel Term Extraction. The loan guarantee was through
opportunity -- wireless power • Renewables -- utilities are plants but there is no cost-
transfer, for example. $1.37B page 90
m o s t i n t e r e s t e d i n c a r b o n effective treatment technology.
E-reader News Edition Energy/ 89

Hewlett-Packard Selling Off Fuel Cell Patents

by info@greentechmedia.com development at WavePoint. design of a fuel cell stack. patents. The company got started
(Greentech Media: Headlines) Bloom Energy, which came out This last lot, potentially, could with an exclusive license on
Submitted at 2/22/2010 2:26:34 PM
of stealth on 60 Minutes last be the most interesting because it patents owned by Stanford.)
night, makes solid oxide fuel deals with material science, In fact, some of the more
Message from fivefilters.org: If c e l l s . H P ' s p a t e n t s a l s o which could be exploited in other innovative ideas in green tech
you can, please donate to the full potentially pertain to the design products or types of fuel cells. have come out of the intellectual
-text RSS service so we can o f p o r t a b l e f u e l c e l l s , a U.S. patent number 6620542, for property industry. TerraPower, a
continue developing it. technology the military has example, describes a porous start-up that wants to make
Who knew that Hewlett-Packard examined for years as a way to metal that effectively eliminates modular nuclear reactors that
was into fuel cells? provide troops in the field easier the need for microchannels or don't need to be refueled for 30
Back in the earlier part of the access to electricity. Fuel cells micro-plumbing to allowoxygen years, emerged out of Intellectual
decade, HP filed and obtained a can also be viewed as energy and/or fuel to move around Ventures, an intellectual property
number of patents for fuel cells, storage devices. If there is a tank inside a fuel cell. firm co-founded by ex-Microsoft
particularly proton exchange of the appropriate hydrocarbon At the beginning of the decade, chief scientist Nathan Myhrvold.
membrane fuel cells powered by handy, you can make electricity start-ups and large outfits like IBM, meanwhile, has found that
hydrogen. Toshiba and other on demand. IBM and Microsoft began to try a material it originally created
consumer electronics companies The first lot consists of 27 to extract more value from their for immersion lithography could
were doing the same then too. patents and revolves around intellectual property portfolios be used to reduce the cost and
The company, however, never hydrogen generation, fuel flow through auctions and/or energy required to desalinate
pursued commercialization. But control and increasing fuel cell licensing. Some feared that it seawater. HP, meanwhile, has
instead of just sitting on the efficiency. Patent 6790416, for would lead to an explosion of devised some novel transistor
intellectual property, it has instance, discusses a way to litigation with so-called patent patents that it has tried to license.
decided to sell them off. The generate hydrogen from water trolls wielding patents as a way Interested parties should contact
t h r e e p a t e n t l o t s - w h i c h with sodium borohydride and to extract legal settlements from WavePoint before the end of the
collectively contain 86 patents-- electricity. It is similar to the low innocent bystanders. month.
are being sold by WavePoint and -energy approach contemplated Although a few trolls emerged, Five Filters featured article:
the minimum purchase price is by SignaChem and Alumifuel. the reality has been far more Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:
$500,000 per lot. Patent lot number 2 consists of prosaic. Patent auctions actually PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,
Although the patents revolve 17 patents revolving around fuel occur relatively infrequently and Term Extraction.
around hydrogen fuel cell, the cell cartridges (think of print the U.S. economy has not been
patents also relate to solid oxide c a r t r i d g e s c r o s s - b r e d w i t h brought to its knees by patent
fuel cells, according to Paul batteries) and the final lot of 42 disputes. (And don't ever listen if
Cannata, director of business patents revolves around the Google starts whining about
90
$1.37B
continued from page 88
the Department of Energy’s Title
XVII loan guarantee program,
which was started in 2005 under
the Energy Policy Act to support
commercially proven
technology.
In a mild refutation of the
rooftops versus deserts debate,
the Brightsource project is solar
on a massive scale. The project,
in southeastern California, is
approximately 400 megawatts of
solar power from three separate
solar thermal power plants.
The power generated from these
solar plants will be sold under
contracts with Pacific Gas and
Electric (PG&E) and Southern
California Edison (SCE). PG&E
will purchase about two-thirds of
the power generated at Ivanpah
and SCE will purchase
approximately one-third.
BrightSource’s contracts with
PG&E and SCE total 2.6
gigawatts.
Bechtel,will serve as the
engineering, procurement and
construction (EPC) contractor for
the Ivanpah Solar Electricity
Generating System. Bechtel
Enterprises, Bechtel's project
development and financing arm,
is also an equity investor in the
Ivanpah solar power plants.
When you hear the name
Bechtel in the same breath as a
solar startup, it's proof that solar
has entered the realm of big
money, big projects and utility-
scale reality. Last year, Bechtel
signed a project labor agreement
with the State Building and
Construction Trades Council of
California to ensure that
California’s local workforce
benefits from the project.
There's another debate about
solar that pits environmentalists
and politicians against more
environmentalists and more
politicians.
BrightSource recently bowed
out of a project in the Eastern
Mojave in an area that may
receive the national monument
designation. BrightSource had
been set on developing a 500-
megawatt solar thermal power
plant on part of Broadwell Dry
Lake but decided to stop the
project a few months ago. The
decision came after U.S. Sen.
Dianne Feinstein said she would
push for legislation to turn the
lake area into a national
monument, a designation that
would prevent any alternative
energy development.
BrightSource seems to be
picking its battles carefully and
playing the political aspect of
large-scale project development
with some finesse.
The Ivanpah project is
scheduled to begin construction
in the second half of 2010
following permitting by the
California Energy Commission
and the U.S. Department of the
Interior’s Bureau of Land
Management.
The Ivanpah Facility uses
BrightSource Energy’s Luz
Power Tower technology.
Electricity is generated the same
way as in traditional power
plants -- high temperature steam
turns a turbine. Thousands of
mirrors are focused on a boiler
filled with water that sits atop a
tower. When sunlight hits the
boiler, the water inside is heated
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and creates high temperature
steam. The steam is then piped
to a conventional turbine which
generates electricity.
Technology development is
important in renewable energy.
Solar has to work and work at
the right price. But political will
and financing tools have to be in
place to make big solar work and
today's announcent is a positive
step in that direction.
Doug Buchanan, the VP of
Project Development at
BrightSource will be speaking at
the Greentech Media Solar
Summit next month, along with
scores of other solar luminaries.
More details here:
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