[Medianews] Apple's App Store Downloads Top Two Billion
Apple's App Store Downloads Top Two Billion More Than 85,000 Apps Now Available for iPhone iPod touch CUPERTINO, California-September 28, 2009-Apple today announced that more than two billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store, the largest applications store in the world. There are now more than 85,000 apps available to the more than 50 million iPhone and iPod touch customers worldwide and over 125,000 developers in Apple's iPhone Developer Program. ... http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/09/28appstore.html *** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
[Medianews] Dump depraved Dave now, CBS!
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/dump_depraved_dave_now_cbs_uBqwrz2 d0rBl6BRmAamE1M CBS has got to dump David Letterman. Right now. If the Tiffany Network continues to coddle the crotchety king of late night, it will rightly be known as the destination of choice for any girl who jiggles, giggles and puts out repeatedly for a man old enough to be her father. Dave must go. If not, CBS will have lost any remaining shred of credibility, not to mention common decency. By his own admission, the married Letterman has bedded any number of women working under His Highness. Problem is, he doesn't seem to know precisely how many. And brass has long looked the other way. Letterman's dream life came crashing to earth when an ex-boyfriend of one of his conquests allegedly attempted to extort him for $2 million to keep the affairs quiet. This development certainly makes Dave a victim -- a victim of his own recklessness. The very livelihoods of the young women who caught Dave's fancy depend on making Letterman happy. But Letterman, 62, certainly knew what he was doing. This is a full-grown adult who made a grown-up choice. And he chose to sleep with junior staffers rather than take the standard route and walk to the corner bar to conduct a sad, ordinary affair. Instead, he's working out some twisted Freudian issues on dewy-eyed underlings. Letterman is guilty of cheating on the woman he eventually married after a 20-year relationship and trashing the trust of their 6-year-old son, Harry. This was not one little slip-up, but a deviant pattern. And when Letterman got lazy, egotistical and sloppy, he became a ticking time bomb -- a walking, breathing, sexual-harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. The man who has been famously stalked in the past intentionally made himself into stalker-bait. Worse, he became the punch line in one of his own Monica Lewinsky jokes, which Dave told with such glee not so long ago. A former staffer at Late Show described to me a toxic atmosphere in the studio. She said women flirt mightily with the man. Sometimes, it works in their favor. Everyone inside the program knows what it takes to get ahead. In recent years, Dave's comedic chops have taken on a mean streak, as well. He has shown a wicked hatred of Republicans, which reached a climax when he joked about Sarah Palin's 14-year-old daughter, Willow, getting knocked up in the seventh inning of a Yankee game by Alex Rodriguez. CBS brass could have taken that gag as a sign that Letterman was slipping. Instead, bosses chose to ignore it. The network rescued Letterman from a future of obscurity in 1993, when NBC denied him his dream promotion as host of the Tonight show. CBS dusted off the Ed Sullivan Theater in Midtown for Dave and made him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But Letterman became the ratings champ of his 11:35 p.m. time slot this year only by default -- after NBC stupidly replaced Jay Leno with the dreadful Conan O'Brien. Who knows if Dave will remain a winner? Dave has repeatedly whined publicly about CBS's failure to bow down to him. Now, the network has a chance to strike back at this ungrateful wretch. Americans would not stand for this kind of behavior from a government official. Should a jock act in a like manner, his morals clause would likely kick in. Letterman's contract expires at the end of next year. I count on CBS to pull Letterman off the air, then kick him to the curb. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. *** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
[Medianews] City Zamboni drivers face danger head on
http://thespec.com/News/Local/article/647562 Scott Radley The Hamilton Spectator (Oct 5, 2009) If there's one thing most people think as they watch a Zamboni clean the ice, it's the massive danger the drivers face on every terrifying lap. Whipping around the ice at speeds as high as 15 kilometres an hour and subjecting themselves to brutal centrifugal forces, it's clear the risk of a significant head injury to these brave men and women is constantly looming. No? Well, somebody thinks so. Because if you wander into any Hamilton-run rink these days, you'll notice all ice maintenance workers -- most notably drivers -- are required to wear a hockey helmet when working. The city even provided new helmets for all the staff. C'mon now, stop snickering. We see the potential danger there, says Chris Herstek, the city's recreation manager. He says in recent years there have been some abrasions suffered by drivers throughout Ontario when they've leaned over the side of the machine while edging the rink and bumped their heads. And there's the possibility of someone slipping while getting on or off. For their part, a number of local drivers who've worked clearing ice for years -- who all say they thought it was a joke at first when they got the memo and even now laugh out loud at the new rule -- say they've never heard of a serious head injury occurring from driving. And Frank Zamboni, the executive vice-president of Zamboni Canada in Brantford and grandson of the inventor, isn't aware of any, either. In fact, it appears that in the 60 years or so since the machine entered popular culture, more people have died from cotton-swab, ear-cleaning-related accidents (one, in Montreal two years ago) than from head injuries resulting from this job. Yet Helmeton, er, Hamilton has joined a few other communities as the first to mandate headgear. Based on this decision, one might conclude that ice cleaning is more dangerous than, say, skateboarding. After all, just the other week there was a story in this paper about the opening of a new public skateboard park. Accompanying it was a photo of a dozen or so young boarders including one airborne above the hard track. None were in helmets because protective headgear isn't required for skateboarders on municipal property, even though a city memo issued when construction of the park was being discussed acknowledged that boarders are at significant risk of severe head injuries and even death. Just as it's not required for pleasure skaters on public rinks. Not even for first-timers who've never worn skates before. I wouldn't want to take that skating away from some kid who can't afford a helmet, Herstek says. Heck, helmets aren't even forced onto the heads of young figure skaters learning to do potentially dangerous spinning jumps. Or above-the-head lifts. That's because city staffers fall under different insurance and risk management categories than facility users. Essentially, the city is responsible for the safety of its employees while facility users are often covered by separate insurance purchased by the various program operators like Hockey Canada or figure skating groups. But if this is about protecting workers from potential injury, should other municipal employees be wondering when their helmets will arrive? Think about it. Garbage men jump on and off those trucks all the time and could slip on a patch of ice. There's big-time noggin' bumping potential there. Lifeguards are constantly walking on slippery pool decks. Maintenance folks mopping hallways could lose their footing on a damp spot. Librarians could have heavy hardbacks fall on them from above while reshelving books. Gardeners cutting public lawns could lean over the edge of their riding lawnmowers and bonk their head on a tree causing an abrasion. Surely, this doesn't mean the list of headgear-wearing municipal employees will grow, does it? The chief administrative officer of the Ontario Recreation Facilities Association pauses before answering, particularly at the part about the lifeguards. You raise an interesting point, John Milton says. It should be the same decision-making process. Hopefully, he's kidding. srad...@thespec.com 905-526-2440 *** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
[Medianews] Boeing, Air Force successfully test giant frickin laser
http://www.upi.com/Security_Industry/2009/09/03/Laser-weapon-goes-throug h-successful-test/UPI-97971251988265/ ALBUQUERQUE, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A potential new laser weapon fired from the air to a ground target went through a successful test over White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, Boeing said. A Boeing spokesman told United Press International the first flight of the Advanced Tactical Laser aircraft was designed primarily as a learning test bed and to demonstrate its feasibility. The test brings closer to reality fictional movie depictions of laser weapons incinerating or vaporizing targets, but no specifications of the target vehicle or the final outcome of the test were immediately available. Boeing organized the test jointly with the U.S. Air Force on Aug. 30, the company said. During the test flight of the ATL aircraft, a C-130H, the ground target was attacked from the air over the missile range. It was the first time that an ATL aircraft demonstrated the high-power laser engagement of a tactically representative target, Boeing said. The C-130H aircraft took off from Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico and fired the chemical laser through its beam control system while in flight. The beam control system on board homed in on the unoccupied stationary vehicle and guided the laser beam onto it as directed by ATL's battle management system. The laser beam's energy defeated the vehicle, Boeing said. It offered no description of what happened to the vehicle. The company called the test a milestone, adding deployment of a similar weapon could transform future battles and save lives. Greg Hyslop, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems, said ATL would give fighters a speed-of-light, ultra-precision engagement capability that could dramatically reduce collateral damage. The ATL flight follows a June 13 test in which a laser fired from the air for the first time hit a target board on the ground. Additional tests will now follow to further demonstrate the system's military utility, but Boeing says the demonstrations have shown that ATL works, and works very well. Research into laser applications in the defense industry has engaged major players and involved other key recent tests. Northrop Grumman also announced it successfully completed testing of its global positioning system-guided weapons technology at the White Sands Missile Range. The company's Viper Strike system is equipped with GPS laser guidance accuracy capabilities and is designed to be integrated into Northrop Grumman's Hunter unmanned aircraft system. In August, Boeing and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency announced they moved closer to developing an airborne high-energy laser weapon that will shoot down an upcoming offensive missile. In the first test over the California High Desert, a high-energy laser was fired from a modified 747-400F into a calorimeter, also on board, to measure the power of the beam. Once there and while still in flight the ABL Jumbo unleashed its laser striking the calorimeter, allowing experts to determine how much more power will be required to make the weapon effective in combat. Unlike stealth technology, which began as a passive countermeasure against increasingly advanced detection technology, airborne laser offers both pre-emptive and offensive paths of development, analysts said. *** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
[Medianews] Police chiefs endorse anti-terror community watch
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jjBtFzn5wwzu39fUZGs9Mf HJmyUgD9B3TH801 DENVER - A store clerk's curiosity about why Najibullah Zazi was buying large quantities of beauty supply products indicated that something about the transaction wasn't quite right - and it's an example of the kind of citizen vigilance that can combat terror, a police commander said Saturday. Los Angeles police Cmdr. Joan McNamara cited this summer's incident as police chiefs meeting in Denver adopted a model for a nationwide community watch program that teaches people what behavior is truly suspicious and encourages them to report it to police. Federal authorities allege Zazi, 24, tried to make a homemade explosive using ingredients from beauty supplies purchased at Denver-area stores. He has been jailed in New York on charges of conspiracy to detonate a weapon of mass destruction in a plot that may have targeted New York City. Zazi has denied the charges. Zazi reportedly told an inquisitive clerk he needed a large amount of cosmetic chemicals because he had lots of girlfriends. While his purchases weren't reported to authorities because suppliers often buy large quantities, the police chiefs hope a coordinated publicity effort will make people think differently about such encounters. Los Angeles police Chief William Bratton, who developed the iWatch program with McNamara, called it the 21st century version of Neighborhood Watch. The Major Cities Chiefs Association, headed by Bratton and composed of the chiefs of the 63 largest police departments in the U.S. and Canada, endorsed iWatch at the group's conference Saturday. iWatch would have provided an easy way for that Colorado store clerk and others to report suspicious activity so police could launch investigations earlier, McNamara said. That clerk had a gut instinct that something wasn't right, she said. Using brochures, public service announcements and meetings with community groups, iWatch is designed to deliver concrete advice on how the public can follow the oft-repeated post-Sept. 11 recommendation, If you see something, say something. Program materials list nine types of suspicious behavior that should compel people to call police, and 12 kinds of places to look for it. Among the indicators: _If you smell chemicals or other fumes. _If you see someone wearing clothes that are too big and too heavy for the season. _If you see strangers asking about building security. _If you see someone purchasing supplies or equipment that could be used to make bombs. The important places to watch include government buildings, mass gatherings, schools and public transportation. The program also is designed to ease reporting by providing a toll-free number and Web page the public can use to alert authorities. Los Angeles put up its Web site this weekend. It's really just commonsense types of things, Bratton said, adding that his department is providing technical assistance to other agencies that want to adopt the program. But American Civil Liberties Union policy counsel Mike German, a former FBI agent who worked on terrorism cases, said the indicators are all relatively common behaviors. He suspects people will fall back on personal biases and stereotypes of what a terrorist looks like when deciding to report someone to the police. That just plays into the negative elements of society and doesn't really help the situation, German said. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration proposed enlisting postal carriers, gas and electric company workers, telephone repairmen and other workers with access to private homes in a program to report suspicious behavior to the FBI. Privacy advocates condemned this as too intrusive, and the plan was dropped. Bratton and McNamara said privacy and civil liberties protections are built into this program. We're not asking people to spy on their neighbors, McNamara said. If someone reports something based on race or ethnicity, the police will not accept the report, and someone will explain to the caller why that is not an indicator of suspicious behavior, McNamara said. The iWatch program isn't the first to list possible indicators of suspicious behavior. Some cities, like Miami, have offered a public list of seven signs of possible terrorism. Federal agencies also have put out various lists. Other efforts encourage the public and law enforcement to report such signs through dozens of state-run fusion centers across the country. One such center, the Colorado Information Analysis Center, has a form on its Web site to report suspicious activity. Bratton hopes the iWatch program becomes as successful and as well known as the Smokey Bear campaign to prevent wildfires. There he is with his Smokey the Bear hat, similarly here, we hope that this program, even though it's in its birthing stages right now, in a few years will become that well known to the American public. Associated Press Writer Eileen Sullivan reported
[Medianews] Condé Nast to Close Gourmet, Cooki e and Modern Bride
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/conde-nast-to-close-gourmet-magazine/ Condé Nast plans to announce this morning that it will close Gourmet magazine, a magazine of almost biblical status in the food world; it has been published since December 1940. The magazine has sustained a severe decline in ad pages, but the cut still comes as a shock. There was speculation that Condé Nast would close one of its food titles - Gourmet or Bon Appétit - but most bets were on the latter. Gourmet has a richer history than Bon Appétit, and its editor, Ruth Reichl, is powerful in the food world. In addition to Gourmet, Condé Nast plans to announce it will also close Cookie, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride. Cookie is a relatively new introduction, started in 2005, while the bridal magazines were seen as offshoots of the bigger Brides magazine, which Condé Nast also owns. The cuts come at the conclusion of a three-month study by McKinsey Company, which conducted analysis of Condé Nast's costs, and told several magazines to cut about 25 percent from their budgets. These are the first closings announced by the company since the McKinsey study. The moves are significant for the publisher. It has never been quick to close titles, and in the last year or so has closed only newer titles, Condé Nast Portfolio and Domino, along with folding Men's Vogue into Vogue. Condé Nast tends to hold tight to its prestigious titles, making the Gourmet closing all the more startling. In an interview in February, even Paul Jowdy, publisher of the in-house rival Bon Appétit, said that such a closing was unlikely. (To be fair to Mr. Jowdy, the economy has plummeted, and Condé Nast has been hit particularly hard since then. Its magazines have lost more than 8,000 ad pages, excluding its bridal titles, so far this year.) They would never do that, Mr. Jowdy said in February. They're both very important magazines in the culinary world, and they're very different magazines, and they're both very healthy. So there's all these rumors that are just ridiculous. I try not to pay attention to them, but you have to know - if you think of two of the most prestigious, credible, trusted magazines in the industry, you're going to say Bon Appétit and Gourmet. *** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
[Medianews] CBS Removes David Letterman's Mea Culpa From YouTube
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/business/media/05letterman.html?_r=1 Article Tools Sponsored By By BRIAN STELTER Published: October 4, 2009 Keeping quiet about an apparent extortion attempt against David Letterman and The Late Show, CBS worked over the weekend to stamp out unauthorized copies of the late-night host's televised explanation. The network did not post official copies of the segment on CBS.com or on YouTube, proving that while media companies are now generally eager to distribute their material on the Web, there are still some TV moments they would rather not spread widely. In a remarkable 10-minute segment Thursday night, Mr. Letterman told viewers of a Connecticut man's suspected $2 million extortion attempt, predicated on evidence of Mr. Letterman's sexual relationships with female employees. The suspect, Robert Joel Halderman of CBS News, was arrested Thursday and released on bail Friday. Copies of the segment were uploaded almost immediately to YouTube by users, but many of them were flagged by CBS for removal, citing copyright claims. The network did not provide an official copy. It's incredibly odd to see CBS sitting on viral gold like that, especially when you consider how they spew out dozens of official clips a day, said David Burch, a marketing director at TubeMogul, which tracks online viewership of videos. CBS appears to be more lenient about archival Late Show clips of Mr. Letterman and Stephanie Birkitt, a former assistant who had a relationship with Mr. Letterman and who has appeared regularly on the show over the years. TubeMogul said those clips have been viewed 600,000 times on YouTube. CBS's decision to withhold the clips online was prompted by a request from producers at Mr. Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. Even without the clip of Thursday's show, the CBS channel on YouTube had a 25 percent jump in views over the last three days, Mr. Burch said. Among the top videos were a news segment about the extortion plot. CBS had no comment on the decision to withhold the clip. On Sunday, only one video on the CBS.com home page referred to the case: a segment from its morning show, raising the question, Why Do Men Risk It for Sex? Since the revelations, the story has unfolded on television and on gossip Web sites without further comment from the intensely private Mr. Letterman, who indicated on Thursday's program that I don't plan to say much more about this on this particular topic. He appeared on the CBS News program Sunday Morning for a joint interview with his sidekick Paul Shaffer, but because it was taped Tuesday and was timed to promote Mr. Shaffer's new book, it did not refer to what the tabloids were calling a sex scandal. Similarly, it did not come up on the Friday episode of The Late Show, which was taped on Thursday. But some viewers noticed a pointed comment about Mr. Letterman's personal life by his guest on Friday's show, Larry David, the star of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I've probably broken a record for the least amount of sex for a person who has their own television show, Mr. David said to Mr. Letterman, adding, I probably broke yours. Mr. Letterman laughed sheepishly as the audience clapped. I don't know, the host said. Oh, buddy. Bill Carter contributed reporting. *** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
[Medianews] France Telecom Suicides Spark Concern
France Telecom Suicides Spark Concern By Eleanor Beardsley National Public Radio Published September 30, 2009 4:35 PM http://www.wbur.org/news/npr/113352329 While the economic crisis is taking its toll on workers everywhere, it seems to have been particularly deadly for one French company: In the past year and a half there have been 24 suicides at France Telecom. And many of the employees who took their lives directly blamed the company in suicide notes. The latest death came on Monday when a 51-year-old man jumped from a highway bridge in the French Alps. The employee, who was married with two children, left a note blaming the work atmosphere for his decision to end his life. Eight suicides have taken place since the beginning of the summer alone. One young woman jumped from her office window. Another man hanged himself in his cubicle. Calls For CEO's Resignation Sad and angry workers gathered at France Telecom offices around the country this week, including its headquarters in Paris. Gauthier Rollin, 52, has been employed by the company for 20 years. He says the work environment has been unbearable since France Telecom was privatized a decade ago. France Telecom has spent its time breaking up teams and breaking down solidarity, Rollin says. They cultivate individualism and selfishness. So the support you might have found amongst colleagues in difficult times is not there. France Telecom manages its employees like cattle. A former state monopoly, France Telecom was privatized in 1998 and now competes on the world market. It has undergone several major reorganizations in recent years and cut 22,000 jobs in the past two years. But company officials say those were voluntary departures and that the firm is the only telecom giant not to have carried out mass layoffs France Telecom's chief executive, Didier Lombard, is facing calls to quit. There are also calls for an inquiry into working conditions blamed for pushing staff over the edge. Lombard was booed as he arrived at headquarters Tuesday. The pressure is necessary because we have to compete on the world market, Lombard told reporters. But there is a way to be more humane in doing so. France Telecom has suspended the company's Time to Move program, which forced managers to change posts every three years. It has also put in place a team of psychologists to help workers. Vicious Globalization Or Cynical Management? The suicides have become the talk of TV news shows and newspaper editorial pages. In a country where five weeks of vacation and the 35-hour workweek are supposed to cut down on work stress, there has been much fulminating over the cause of the suicides. Workplace lawyer Christophe Mesnooh says they may be linked to France Telecom's specific situation. Because of France Telecom's change in status from a public company to a private firm subject to free-market forces, the management had the heavy task of explaining this new world to its employees, Mesnooh says. And the irony is that the company has communicated much better with the market and its competitors than with its own employees. As the debate rages whether the suicides were provoked by vicious globalization, the company's cynical management, or mollycoddled state workers being made to face up to reality, France Telecom seems to be doing its utmost to avoid another one. One trade union has suggested the government levy a suicide tax on companies to make sure they maintain a decent work environment. -- George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu *** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
[Medianews] Publisher Condé Nast to Close Four M agazines
OCTOBER 5, 2009, 11:17 A.M. ET Condé Nast to Close Four Magazines By RUSSELL ADAMS Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125475373996964695.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTWhatsNews Condé Nast Publications Inc., struggling amid a widespread advertising slump, plans to cease publication of four magazines. The magazines to be closed are Gourmet, Cookie, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride, according to a memo to employees written by company Chief Executive Chuck Townsend. The cuts are designed to navigate the company through the economic downturn and to position us to take advantage of coming opportunities, Mr. Townsend said in the memo Monday. Condé Nast, publisher of The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, is a unit of Advance Publications. The closures are the product of a three-month review by McKinsey Co., which Condé Nast brought in to streamline the publishing house in preparation for what is expected to be a slow recovery in magazine advertising. -- George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu *** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
[Medianews] Wal-Mart Scales Back DVD Displays
OCTOBER 5, 2009 Wal-Mart Scales Back DVD Displays By NAT WORDEN Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125470337132563199.html A recent shift in merchandising strategy by the world's largest retailer spells more trouble for DVD sales and the entertainment industry that depends on them for profits. As part of a larger effort to clean up its aisles and appeal to higher-end shoppers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is doing away with display cases to promote the latest hot movie titles. The move comes as major film studios are reeling from declines in revenue from DVD sales as cash-strapped consumers turn to low-cost rental services and digital downloads for home movies. We think the new strategy implies Wal-Mart no longer sees DVDs and Blu-ray discs as traffic drivers, J.P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan said. Studio chiefs dispute that conclusion, noting the importance of DVDs as a sales category for Wal-Mart, but none would speak publicly for this story. Wal-Mart, which accounts for nearly a third of DVD retail sales in the U.S., didn't respond to inquiries for comment. The change to its DVD selling strategy is part of a larger merchandising overhaul the company calls Project Impact, in which it has been devoting more shelf space to top-selling products and cutting back on items that linger. The discount giant also is trying to spruce up its image and cut back on clutter in its aisles, like corrugated displays for DVDs, in hopes that it can attract a more upscale shopper. As for DVDs, the Digital Entertainment Group estimates that overall U.S. retail sales fell 13.5% to $5.4 billion during the first half of 2009. At the same time, DVD rentals rose by 8.3% to $3.4 billion. Digital sales and rentals from services like Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc.'s iTunes rose 21% to $968 million. Video on-demand revenue from pay-TV service providers, like Comcast Corp., is also rising. Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer Khoury says the company served 368 million total views on its VOD platform in July, up 11% from last year. Meanwhile, studios have cut deals with services like Netflix Inc., the mail-order DVD rental service. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart and other major retailers, along with several fast-food chains, have been adding low-cost DVD rental kiosks near store entrances provided by Redbox Automated Retail LLC, a division of Coinstar Inc. Redbox's prominent placement and its overnight rental price of $1 are viewed by film studio chiefs as a threat to sales. Three major studios -- News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox, Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Brothers and General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures -- are locked in a legal battle with the company and refuse to make their new titles available to Redbox until 28 days after their release. News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal. Starting with just 12 kiosks in 2004, Redbox is now expected to have 22,000 machines across the country by year-end. -- George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu *** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
[Medianews] FTC: Bloggers must disclose payments for reviews
FTC: Bloggers must disclose payments for reviews Associated Press Oct 5, 2009 10:23 AM (ET) http://apnews.myway.com//article/20091005/D9B502NG0.html PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Federal Trade Commission will require bloggers to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products. It is the first time since 1980 that the commission has revised its guidelines on endorsements and testimonials, and the first time the rules have covered bloggers. But the commission stopped short Monday of specifying how bloggers must disclose any conflicts of interest. The FTC said its commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the final guidelines, which had been expected. Penalties include up to $11,000 in fines per violation. The rules take effect Dec. 1. -- George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu *** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
[Medianews] Space tourism yet to fly, 5 years since 1st flight
Space tourism yet to fly, 5 years since 1st flight Oct 3, 2009 3:20 PM (ET) By JOHN ANTCZAK and ALICIA CHANG Associated Press http://apnews.myway.com//article/20091003/D9B3Q8301.html LOS ANGELES (AP) - When a private spaceship soared over California to claim a $10 million prize, daredevil venture capitalist Alan Walton was 68 and thought he'd soon be on a rocket ride of his own. Walton plunked down $200,000 to be among the first space tourists to make a suborbital thrill-ride high above the Earth aboard a Virgin Galactic spaceship. Now he intends to ask for his deposit back if there's no fixed launch date by his 74th birthday next April. This was going to be the highlight of my old age, he said. It has been five years since SpaceShipOne, the first privately financed manned spacecraft, captured the Ansari X Prize on Oct. 4, 2004, by demonstrating that a reusable rocket capable of carrying passengers could fly more than 62 miles high twice within two weeks - showing reliability and commercial viability. Enthusiasm over SpaceShipOne's feats was so high that year that even before the prize-winning flight, British mogul Richard Branson announced an agreement to use the technology in a second-generation design, SpaceShipTwo, to fly commercial passengers into space under the Virgin Galactic banner by 2007. It seemed that anyone who had the money would soon be experiencing what SpaceShipOne pilot Brian Binnie called literally a rush - you light that motor off and the world wakes up around you. And then the sensation of weightlessness and the sight of the world far below. Turning the dream into reality has taken longer than many expected in those days, and spaceflight remains the realm of government astronauts and a handful of extraordinarily wealthy people who have paid millions for rides on Russian rockets to the international space station. X Prize founder Peter Diamandis says, however, that things have not been at a standstill. More than $1 billion has been invested in the industry, regulatory roadblocks have been addressed and as many as three different passenger spaceships will emerge in the next 18 to 24 months and begin flying, he said. You'll get another large injection of excitement in public interest once those vehicles begin operating and the public starts getting flown, he said. Freight business owner Edwin Sahakian has seen signs of progress. He and four other Virgin Galactic customers got a peek at SpaceShipTwo this summer during a visit to the Scaled Composites plant at the Mojave Airport, where it is being built by maverick aviation designer Burt Rutan. At the time it was the color of carbon fiber - dark gray - and had not been painted. Its engine had not been assembled either, but Sahakian was impressed with one aspect: lots of big windows. This is not a grandiose mock-up. This is the real thing, said the 46-year-old Sahakian, who is a flight instructor in his spare time. During the campaign to win the X Prize, Rutan had stressed that a tourism spacecraft would have to have big windows to give passengers a view and it would have to be at least 100 times safer than any spacecraft ever flown. The project was dealt a setback two years ago when three technicians were killed in an explosion while testing SpaceShipTwo's propellant system. Scaled Composites, which was bought by Northrop Grumman Corp., was cited for five workplace violations and fined $28,870 in connection with the blast that also critically injured three men. Like SpaceShipOne, its successor will be carried aloft by a special jet aircraft dubbed the WhiteKnightTwo. The rocketship will be released at high altitude before the pilot ignites its motor. After reaching the top of its trajectory, it will fall back into the atmosphere and glide to a landing. Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn said testing of WhiteKnightTwo is in full swing, with flights above 52,000 feet. The completed SpaceShipTwo is expected to be unveiled in December in Mojave and first test flights will begin next year, with full-fledged space launches to its maximum altitude by or during 2011, Whitehorn said. But no timetable for the start of commercial operations is being released, he said. Whitehorn said Virgin Galactic continues to hold $40 million in deposits by 300 customers. X Prize Foundation President Robert K. Weiss acknowledged that things are a few years behind what was originally anticipated but said he is certain there will be commercial spaceflights within this decade and the interest of people will be reinvigorated. When the demand starts to ramp up, the price is going to come down and so it's not going to be a couple hundred thousand dollars, it's going to be the price of, let's say, an automobile, he said. The foundation, meanwhile, has branched out with its concept of spurring innovation through monetary incentives. Multimillion-dollar X Prizes are being offered in
[Medianews] Hacker leaks thousands of Hotmail passwords, says site
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9138945/Hacker_leaks_thousands_of _Hotmail_passwords_says_site Posts more than 10,000 passwords, claims Neowin.net; Microsoft reportedly investigating Computerworld - More than 10,000 usernames and passwords for Windows Live Hotmail accounts were leaked online late last week, according to a report by Neowin.net, which claimed that they were posted by an anonymous user on pastebin.com last Thursday. The post has since been taken down. Neowin reported that it had seen part of the list. Neowin has seen part of the list posted and can confirm the accounts are genuine and most appear to be based in Europe, said the site. The list details over 10,000 accounts starting from A through to B, suggesting there could be additional lists. Hotmail usernames and passwords are often used for more than logging into Microsoft's online e-mail service, however. Many people log onto a wide range of Microsoft's online properties -- including the trial version of the company's Web-based Office applications, the Connect beta test site and the Skydrive online storage service -- with their Hotmail passwords. It was unknown how the usernames and passwords were obtained, but Neowin speculated that they were the result of either a hack of Hotmail or a massive phishing attack that had tricked users into divulging their log-on information. Accounts with domains of @hotmail.com, @msn.com and @live.com were included in the list. Microsoft representatives in the U.S. were not immediately able to confirm Neowin's account, or answer questions, including how the usernames and passwords were acquired. The BBC, however, reported early Monday that Microsoft U.K. is aware of the report that account information had been available on the Web, and said it's actively investigating the situation and will take appropriate steps as rapidly as possible. If Neowin's account is accurate, the Hotmail hack or phishing attack would be one of the largest suffered by a Web-based e-mail service. Last year, a Tennessee college student was accused of breaking into former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's Yahoo Mail account in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election. Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee at the time, lost control of her personal account when someone identified only as rubico reset her password after guessing answers to several security questions. David Kernell was charged with a single count of accessing a computer without authorization by a federal grand jury last October. Kernell's case is ongoing. Shortly after the Palin account hijack, Computerworld confirmed that the automated password-reset mechanisms used by Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and Google's Gmail could be abused by anyone who knew an account's username and could answer a single security question. *** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
[Medianews] Missile Silo Fixer-Upper Now Swanky Bachelor Pad
[A very interesting photo essay with both current historical photos. This should appeal to the Inner Geek in everyone.] Missile Silo Fixer-Upper Now Swanky Bachelor Pad By Adam Hinterthuer Wired.com October 5, 2009 | 12:00 am http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2009/10/missile-base-2/ ABILENE, Texas — How does a former social worker from Chicago wind up living in an abandoned nuclear missile silo in Texas? The Johnny Carson show. Bruce Townsley was up late one night in the mid-’80s when he saw an unusual guest take a seat on Johnny’s set: a nuclear missile base real estate mogul named Ed Peden. Peden lives in an abandoned missile base in Kansas and was invited on the show to tell Johnny all about his underground lifestyle. Townsley was hooked. Using the pre-Google research librarians at the public library outside of Chicago where he then lived, Townsley tracked Peden down. And though it wasn’t until 1997 that Townsley secured his current property, the idea blossomed in his head over the years. After completing his fair share of conventional home remodels in the Chicago area, Townlsey wanted a challenge to keep him busy for the rest of his life. So far, his silo property has perfectly fit the bill. Read on to tour Townsley’s subterranean lair in our second installment of missile base homes. http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2009/10/missile-base-2/ See also a photo essay about Ed Peden's missile site make-over: Cold War Bunker Becomes Modern Mansion http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2009/04/gallery_missile_base_1 -- George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu *** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
[Medianews] Will Books Be Napsterized?
October 4, 2009 Will Books Be Napsterized? By RANDALL STROSS NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/business/04digi.html?ref=businesspagewanted=print YOU can buy “The Lost Symbol,” by Dan Brown, as an e-book for $9.99 at Amazon.com. Or you can don a pirate’s cap and snatch a free copy from another online user at RapidShare, Megaupload, Hotfile and other file-storage sites. Until now, few readers have preferred e-books to printed or audible versions, so the public availability of free-for-the-taking copies did not much matter. But e-books won’t stay on the periphery of book publishing much longer. E-book hardware is on the verge of going mainstream. More dedicated e-readers are coming, with ever larger screens. So, too, are computer tablets that can serve as giant e-readers, and hardware that will not be very hard at all: a thin display flexible enough to roll up into a tube. With the new devices in hand, will book buyers avert their eyes from the free copies only a few clicks away that have been uploaded without the copyright holder’s permission? Mindful of what happened to the music industry at a similar transitional juncture, book publishers are about to discover whether their industry is different enough to be spared a similarly dismal fate. The book industry has not received cheery news for a while. Publishers and authors alike have relied upon sales of general-interest hardcover books as the foundation of the business. The Association of American Publishers estimated that these hardcover sales in the United States declined 13 percent in 2008, versus the previous year. This year, these sales were down 15.5 percent through July, versus the same period of 2008. Total e-book sales, though up considerably this year, remained small, at $81.5 million, or 1.6 percent of total book sales through July. “We are seeing lots of online piracy activities across all kinds of books — pretty much every category is turning up,” said Ed McCoyd, an executive director at the association. “What happens when 20 to 30 percent of book readers use digital as the primary mode of reading books? Piracy’s a big concern.” Adam Rothberg, vice president for corporate communications at Simon Schuster, said: “Everybody in the industry considers piracy a significant issue, but it’s been difficult to quantify the magnitude of the problem. We know people post things but we don’t know how many people take them.” We do know that people have been helping themselves to digital music without paying. When the music industry was “Napsterized” by free file-sharing, it suffered a blow from which it hasn’t recovered. Since music sales peaked in 1999, the value of the industry’s inflation-adjusted sales in the United States, even including sales from Apple’s highly successful iTunes Music Store, has dropped by more than half, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. A report earlier this year by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, based on multiple studies in 16 countries covering three years, estimated that 95 percent of music downloads “are unauthorized, with no payment to artists and producers.” Free file-sharing of e-books will most likely come to be associated with RapidShare, a file-hosting company based in Switzerland. It says its customers have uploaded onto its servers more than 10 petabytes of files — that’s more than 10 million gigabytes — and can handle up to three million users simultaneously. Anyone can upload, and anyone can download; for light users, the service is free. RapidShare does not list the files — a user must know the impossible-to-guess U.R.L. in order to download one. But anyone who wants to make a file widely available simply publishes the U.R.L. and a description somewhere online, like a blog or a discussion forum, and Google and other search engines notice. No passwords protect the files. “As far as we can tell, RapidShare is the largest host site of pirated material,” Mr. McCoyd said. “Some publishers are saying half of all infringements are linked to it.” When I asked Katharina Scheid, a spokeswoman for RapidShare, if the company had a general sense of what kinds of material were most often placed on its servers — music? videos? other kinds of content? — she said she could not say because “for us, everything is just a file, no matter what.” At my request, Attributor, a company based in Redwood City, Calif., that offers publishers antipiracy services, did a search last week to see how many e-book copies of “The Lost Symbol” were available free on the Web. After verifying that each file claiming to be the book actually was, Attributor reported that 166 copies of the e-book were available on 11 sites. RapidShare accounted for 102. Ms. Scheid said her company complied with publishers’ take-down requests. But the request must refer to a particular file and use the specific U.R.L.; it’s left to the
