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Study: American Voters Dumb as Ever!
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/24/2008 2:20:00 AM
Filed under: Democrats, Republicans,
Featured Stories, Humor Back in 1960,
four University of Michigan professors
published a landmark study that, to the
nation's utter shock, found that Americans
are nothing but lemmings when it comes to
our most sacred Democratic rite, voting.
Titled " The American Voter," the study
revealed that, by and large, Democrats and
Republicans voted for their respective
parties for no better reason than that was
what their parents had done before them.
Independents, the study claimed, were
even less informed than their partisan
neighbors. In fact, if anything, they were
less interested and involved in politics than
the donkeys or the elephants.
Over the ensuing 48 years, a lot has
changed in our country. We've seen great
leaders assassinated, fought a disastrous
war in Vietnam, seen a president resign in
disgrace, helped dismantle the Soviet
Union, learned interesting uses for Altoids,
and invaded Iraq based on faulty
intelligence. In short, we've been given
every reason to start paying attention to the
issues that face our country so that we can
make an informed decision about who we
elect to governmental office. What's that
Cross Jindal Off McCain VP List
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 3:04:00 PM
Filed under: Republicans, John McCain,
Breaking News, Veepstakes Via CNN,
GOP rising star Bobby Jindal puts the
breaks on all the vice-presidential
speculation:
old saying? Something about learning from
the mistakes of the past so that we're not
doomed to repeat them in the present?
Well, consider us doomed. That's the gist
of an update to "The American Voter,"
aptly titled, " The American Voter
Revisited."
Once again, four smart people have
gotten together to look down from their
ivory tower across the landscape populated
with frighteningly unthoughtful voters.
"I'm not going to be the vice presidential
nominee or vice president," Jindal said.
"I'm going to help Senator McCain get
elected, as governor of Louisiana."
"Let me be clear: I have said in every
private and public conversation, I've go the
job I want," Jindal also said.
One thing Jindal might do is deliver the
keynote address at the Republican
09/07/08 - 24/07/08
And, once again, we're learning about what
we already knew. From The Washington
Post:
"The American Voter Revisited" is chock
-full of depressing conclusions, couched in
academic understatement. In-depth
interviews conducted with 1,500 people
during the two most recent presidential
elections revealed that the "majority of
people don't have many issues in mind"
when they discuss voting, (study co-author
Convention. Baring a McCain win in
November, look for him to warm to the
LibertyNewsprint.com U.S.
Michael) Lewis-Beck says. Sometimes
they say they're attracted to a candidate
because "I just don't think we should
change parties right now." They tend to
inherit their party allegiance from their
parents, and those beliefs tend to stay fixed
throughout their lives, he says.
Just as in 1960, American voters aren't
really paying attention. Despite the 24-
hour campaign coverage on the teevee and
the internets, for the most part, the
electorate seems to be set on auto-pilot, as
Lewis-Black, detailed in an interview with
the University of Michigan Press:
...do socio-economic conditions and,
especially, party identification, still largely
determine how Americans vote? Are
voters still mostly inattentive to politics,
with a rather low level of interest in
politics, and very little under standing of
the liberal-conservative debate raging at
the elite level? The answer to these
questions, perhaps surprisingly, is "yes." In
other words, the typical American voter
follows pretty much the same cues as he or
she did fifty years ago.
Yes, the Times They Are a Changin', and
the more they change, the more they stay
the same.
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idea of being vice president (hey, maybe
even president) in 2012.
Question: Did Mitt Romney's hopes just
get that much brighter? How about
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty?
And did Robert Novak run over that
person in the crosswalk today because he
was still fuming about potentially being
duped by McCain's senior advisers over
Can We Call a
Gaffe Ceasefire,
Please?
By Dave (Political Machine)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 2:35:00 PM
Filed under: 2008 President, Gaffes
Righty blogs highlight this:
Lefty blogs highlight stuff like this:
Can we stipulate, just for the sake of
argument, that both candidates, heck all
candidates in all of history occasionally
misspeak themselves? I mean fine, one can
probably make a point that McCain at his
age is probably not as quick thinking as he
once was, one could also make a point that
Obama isn't nearly as good off the cuff as
he is brilliant with a prepared speech.
And so what? Do we really think it
means anything about the judgements and
the decisions they will make as president?
Our president does not appear before the
congress like the British Prime Minister
where a quick thinking wit is a decided
advantage. (click here, for a good typical
exchange)
Sound off in the comments; Keep up on
the gaffe coverage, or save it for the
extreme and/or hilarious ones?
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when John would announce his VP choice?
Or does Novak simply have a thing against
pedestrians in general? So many questions.
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2 Politico* Tech Tips* Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper

Unsafe at Any Feed: Dinner With Nader Columnist Bob Novak

By Tommy Christopher (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/24/2008 3:05:00 AM
Filed under: Democrats, 2008 President,
Ralph Nader It was either that, or "Fasten
Your Seatbelts! It's Dinner with Nader!"
I'm open to suggestions.
Barack Obama is offering "All-Access"
laminates to lucky donors, John McCain is
offering lucky winners a ride on the
"Straight Talk Express," and Ron Paul
supporters can even buy their own blimps,
but Ralph Nader will not be outdone: (via
Tom Abrahams of ABC in Houston) The
person who brings in the most e-mail sign-
ups by August 7 at midnight to
votenader.org wins...
During the course of the contest, you can
keep track of how you are doing on our
"Win Dinner With Ralph E-mail Contest
Leaderboard."
It's sort of like kicking back on a Sunday
afternoon and watching the PGA
leaderboard.
Except that this isn't golf. It's democracy.
I have some questions, but first, doesn't the
name of his website sound like a futuristic
cyborg, sent from the future to dimple
chads?
More than that, though, I think people
will wonder:
Do they get dinner with the young, hip-to
-be-square Nader in the accompanying
photo?
Is this a "dutch treat" type of deal?
Why Jailbreaking Your iPhone is Still Worth It [IPhone]
By Gina Trapani (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 4:45:00 AM
If something spoils the dinner, does the
winner get to blame Ralph, and insist that
he never participate in future dinners?
Does Ralph "put out?"
Does Ralph expect the winner to "put
out?"
Even if you don't win the grand prize,
Nader has lots of other goodies in store for
you. Second prize is dinner with Ralph's
VP running mate Matt Gonzalez.( He
Our brothers in gadgetry over at Gizmodo
make the case for why jailbreaking your
iPhone is worth it even with the App Store
might ask you to buy him a drink because
he "forgot his I.D.")
Third prize is an invitation to our
election night party in Washington,
D.C.(Glow stix and ecstasy not included)
Then the next seventeen people get an
autographed copy of Unsafe at Any Speed
and an autographed copy of the DVD An
Unreasonable Man.( At this time, there's
no substituting for an autographed
butterfly ballot or a DVD of "An
Inconvenient Truth" inscribed, "Don't
blame me, loser! Xoxo Ralph")
Everyone who brings in at least 25 email
sign-ups will receive a copy of the
Declaration of Independence.(This is
similar to McCain's consolation prize,
except he gives you a copy of the
Constitution and a paper shredder.) I think
this contest could be pretty major,
especially if Ralph can pick up the
overflow from ersatz McCain VP
candidate Bobby Jindal's "The Power of
Christ Compels You...to Vote
McCain/Jindal" exorcism contest.
So head on over to votenader.org to get
in on the fun, and while you're there, check
out Nader's platform. Despite Ralph's
extremely ill-advised statements earlier in
this campaign, he points out a lot of what
needs fixing in our swing, to borrow his
golf metaphor.
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open. Here's why we still need the iPhone
app black market.
Involved in Hit and Run
By Denise Williams (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 11:39:00 AM
Filed under: Breaking News, Gaffes,
Humor, Media
Longest-running syndicated columnist
EVER, Bob Novak, was cited today by DC
police after hitting a pedestrian with his
black Corvette and driving off. This is
different than his normal hit and run jobs -
this time a person was physically injured.
There is no early indication that a) the
person was a Democrat or b) it was road-
rage induced by finding out that he had
been duped, yet again for political
purposes, by the McCain campaign.
As luck would have it, a Politico reporter
and film crew were nearby (thank
goodness, I'd hate to have to wait 3 years
for a grand jury and Patrick Fitzgerald to
find out what happened) to record the
goings-on.
As reported by Politico (via HuffPo): stopped him and said, "You hit someone."
A Politico reporter saw Novak in the He said he was cited for failing to yield the
front of a police car with a citation in his right of way.
hand; a WJLA-TV crew and reporter saw [snip]
Novak as well. The pedestrian, a 66-year- As he traveled east on K Street, crossing
old male, was hospitalized at George 18th, (bicyclist and witness) Bono said a
Washington University Hospital with "black Corvette convertible with top closed
minor injuries, according to DC Fire and plowed into the guy. The guy is sort of
EMS. Novak was later released by police splayed onto the windshield."
and drove away from the scene. Plenty more here and every other blog
"I didn't know I hit him. I feel terrible," a and new website.
shaken Novak told reporters from Politico I think I have an idea what happened.
and WJLA as he was returning to his Why is a 77 year-old crochety old dude
driving a 'vette?
car."He's not dead, that's the main thing."
Novak said he was a block away from 18th Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
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and K streets Northwest, where the
accident happened, when a bicyclist

McCain Redefines 'The Surge'

By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/24/2008 2:35:00 AM
Filed under: Republicans, John McCain,
Featured Stories Yesterday, Sen. John
McCain took pains to redefine the meaning
of what he means when he says "The
Surge." In effect, McCain had made a silly
gaffe when he declared that our infusion of
troops into Iraq back in early 2007
facilitated the Sunni Awakening, which, as
many were quick to point out, actually
happened months before. As Political
Machine's Dave reported earlier,
candidates make mistakes on the campaign
trail. But rather than correct the record and
wipe the egg off his face, McCain decided
to take another approach. Since historical
revisionism could be easily exposed by
even the most novice fact-checker, McCain
decided to go after the English language
itself.
In order to make it seem like he never
made a gaffe in the first place, McCain
employed some Clintonian linguistic
deconstruction. You see, McCain didn't
misspeak, it just depends on what the
meaning of the word "surge" is. I have my
problems with Keith Olbermann and his
overly-dramatic impersonation of Edward
R. Murrow, but on this story, he pretty
much nailed why McCain's re-explanation
of the surge is going to get him into much
more trouble than if he'd simply admitted
an error.
Of course, "the Surge" is the best card in
McCain's hand, so he knows he can't
afford to watch it be buried. Why on earth,
then, does he insist on tossing more dirt
upon it? Pretty soon, his chances of
winning this election will be dead and
buried.
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Obama Measures the
Drapes
By Dave (Political Machine)
Submitted at 7/24/2008 7:03:00 AM
Filed under: Barack Obama, 2008
President My first reaction: Isn't this a little
premature? Doesn't he have to win an
election first?
Marc Ambinder:
With less than six months to go before he
would be sworn in as the nation's 44th
president, Sen. Barack Obama has directed
his aides to begin planning for the
transition.
"Barack is well aware of the complexity
and the organizational challenge involved
in the transition process and he has tasked
s small group to begin thinking through the
process," a senior campaign adviser said.
"Barack has made his expectations clear
about what he wants from such a process,
how he wants it to move forward, and the
establishment and execution of his timeline
is proceeding apace."
...
An aide confirms that Podesta will
probably be asked to head the transition
team, which would take over from the
campaign if Obama wins in November,
and would be tasked with ensuring a
smooth handover of power.
After thinking about it though, I will
Obama Wows Berlin
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/24/2008 6:59:00 AM
Filed under: Barack Obama, John
McCain, Breaking News Barack Obama
just finished delivering his speech in
Berlin. Read the full text here. The
Cheesy Campaign Images
By Denise Williams (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/24/2008 5:57:00 AM
Filed under: Ads, John McCain,
LOLection
From pedestrian to pompous.
From an unscheduled trip to a
admit that it's probably a good idea to have
a plan in place in either eventuality. The
dumb here is not having a plan, it's in
talking about a plan, especially when
you're battling against a perception of
arrogance. Well, maybe battling is not the
right word, maybe it's more like
underscoring.
At the end of the article, the McCain
team said they wouldn't discuss their plans,
which seems more appropriate at this
point.
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takeaway image? A huge crowd of a few
hundred thousand Berliners, a great many
of them waving American flags.
As Chuck Todd noted on MSNBC, there
was nothing in the text of the speech--
which was neither here nor there, to my
mind--that John McCain would necessarily
disagree with. Still, it's hard to imagine
Pennsylvania supermarket and discussing
counterinsurgency strategy (at least
Foreign Service Workers
Banned from Speech
By Denise Williams (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 7/24/2008 7:38:00 AM
Filed under: Barack Obama, Foreign
Policy
100,000 200,000+ attended today's
speech by Barack Obama in Berlin. But
US foreign service workers and diplomats
were not among them.
The LA Times reported a little after noon
eastern time today:
On orders from the State Department, the
rally has been declared off-limits to
Foreign Service personnel because it is a
"partisan political activity." Under the
Hatch Act, civil servants in the United
States are allowed to attend such rallies as
long as they do not make political
contributions to work for candidates.
But State Department Undersecretary for
Management Patrick Kennedy told the
Washington Post's Karen DeYoung that
the administration wanted to draw a line in
McCain being able to deliver the same
speech as convincingly as Obama just did.
delights is not spelled de-lites):
And this one reminds me of a funeral
Mass card:
Can this campaign hire some media-
savvy people?
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the sand when it came to partisan stuff
abroad. "We always maintain that no U.S.
government Foreign Service person
overseas should be seen to be advocating
one side or the other," he said.
The diplomats' union, the American
Foreign Service Assn., is appealing the
ruling as "an unnecessarily narrow
interpretation" of the rules.
Unnecessary, indeed. Is the Bush
administration that worried about John
McCain's prospects this fall???
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Meanwhile, McCain ate sausage at a
German restaurant someplace in Ohio.
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Politico* Business* 3
Wal-Mart stages marketing
appearance to promote
locally-grown produce
By Brian White (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 10:25:00 AM
Filed under: Products and services, Wal-
Mart (WMT) Not too long ago, I wrote
about Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.(NYSE:
WMT) and the entrance of the world's
largest retailer more heavily into locally-
grown fresh produce. As a way of
differentiating itself, Wal-Mart is really on
the right track here. Partnering with local
merchants near each community it serves
could help repair the rift between small-
town merchants and the retailing behemoth
that has steadily grown for the last two
decades.
The retailer may finally be heeding the
advice of many critics. That is, when it
does good, it needs to actively market and
promote that effort as much as possible.
Last week, one of the retailer's locations in
Manteca, California along with local
growers, put the positive word out about
how Wal-Mart is joining with the local
merchants to ensure customers can buy
produce with confidence. This is great --
but Wal-Mart needs these "workshops" at
every location where it has a significant
and growing relationship with local food
suppliers.
Tiffany Moffatt, Wal-Mart's corporate
affairs director for the western U.S. region,
stated that "In the (West Sacramento,
Calif.) store, we carry more than 120
locally grown products .. our partnerships
with local farmers have grown by 50%
over the last two years." This is great PR,
and Wal-Mart needs even more of it
moving forward. When you have local
food suppliers describing Wal-Mart as a "
a demanding but loyal customer," then one
has to guess that Wal-Mart is indeed
sowing the seeds to forming new
relationships with communities outside its
rather boring big-box store presence.
Alerting the buying public is the next
phase in Wal-Mart's efforts -- and it can't
happen soon enough. Read| Permalink|
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4 Business*
Vocus (VOCS) reports
record results, raises
guidance
By Tom Taulli (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 9:33:00 AM
Filed under: Earnings reports Vocus,
Inc.(NASDAQ: VOCS) is one of the top
on-demand companies in the world -- and
one of the most profitable. Its technology
helps PR folks with media campaigns,
targeting, press releases and the like.
With a tough economy, it would seem
that Vocus would hit some headwinds. But
so far, there are no signs of trouble.
Just look at the company's Q2 report.
Revenues spiked 36% to $19.09 million
(with a 7% sequential increase). It's the
36th consecutive quarter of revenue
growth.
Net income was $5.66 million, or $0.30
per share. Moreover, cash flow from
operations was $6.52 million.
Why the success? A key is that the
company's products sell at competitive
price points. In fact, in Q2 Vocus snagged
Amazon.com blows away expecations, yet its stock falls
By Jonathan Berr (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 10:46:00 AM
Filed under: Earnings reports, Products
and services, Competitive strategy,
Amazon.com (AMZN) Disproving reports
that its growth days are behind it,
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)
today reported quarterly results that far
exceeded Wall Street estimates.
Net income at the No.1 e-tailer more
265 net new subscription customers (the
total is 2,911).
It also helps that Vocus' product offering
fits the needs of small business as well as
large ones. For example, some of the Q2
customers included CITGO Petroleum,
Deli Management, Easter Seals Chicago,
OfficeMax(NYSE: OMX) and United
States Olympic Committee;
Vocus has raised its guidance. The
forecast for full-year revenues is $77.3
million to $77.8 million, with earnings of
$0.73 to $0.75 per share.
All in all, it's good stuff. And, on news of
the earnings report, shares of Vocus are up
almost 4% to $33.84.
Tom Taulli is the author of various
books, including The Complete M&A
Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to
Decoding Financial Statements. He also
operates MergerBook.com. Permalink|
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than doubled to $158 million, or 37 cents a
share, up from $78 million or 19 cents per
share. Revenue jumped 41% to $4.06
billion. The New York Times noted that
analysts had expected a 26 cent profit on
sales of $3.96 billion. The results, though,
were not good enough for Wall Street, and
investors sent Amazon's shares tumbling in
after-hours trading.
One reason for the thumbs down may be
that the company's gross margins -- always
Apple shares rise on report Closing Bell:
Steve Jobs is free of cancer Earnings keep
By Jonathan Berr (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 9:44:00 AM
Filed under: Management, Competitive
strategy, Apple Inc (AAPL) Shares of
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) have
jumped after the New York Times reported
that Chief Executive Steve Jobs has told
associates that he is cancer free.
Concern about Jobs' health have kept
Apple's shares depressed even as it faces
soaring demand for the just released
iPhone 3G. The company's reluctance to
discuss the CEO's health during the recent
earnings conference call only added to the
speculation.
That's why the Times' report saying "in
recent weeks, Mr. Jobs has reassured
several people that he is doing well and
that four years after a successful operation
to treat a rare form of pancreatic cancer, he
is cancer free" is so curious. Why didn't the
company just say that when it released
earnings? The question was bound to come
up given how awful Jobs has looked
during recent public appearances.
Of course, Apple's paranoia is legendary.
It guards its secrets even more zealously
than the CIA. Jobs decided that his health
is no one's business even though as a CEO
of a public company it is of material
interest to shareholders. But the matter is
still not closed entirely.
"People who are close to Mr. Jobs say
that he had a surgical procedure this year
a concern with investors -- contracted
slightly. The company also maintained its
revenue forecast for the current period.
Maybe investors were expecting the
company to boost earnings guidance as it
benefits from shoppers bypassing malls
and spending on gasoline in favor of
shopping at home.
Skeptics, including me, have
underestimated the company. Soleil
Securities analyst Scott Tilghman told
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
to address a problem that was contributing
to a loss of weight," the paper said, not
offering any specifics. Investors concern is
understandable since according to a patient
group, 75% of all pancreatic cancer
patients die within the first year of
diagnosis.
Jobs has defied the odds. Let's hope that
actor Patrick Swayze does as well. Read|
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Bloomberg News that "There's a
misperception out there that e-commerce is
much more mature than it actually is. They
(Amazon) offer one-stop shopping and
often better prices than bricks-and-mortar
stores, which should offset any slowdown
in consumer spending."
Looks like he may have a point.
Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments
gains coming
By Jon Ogg (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 9:21:00 AM
Filed under: After the bell, Sirius Satellite
Radio (SIRI), Market matters, AT and T
(T), Bank of America (BAC), Costco
Wholesale (COST) Today we saw another
market gain, but several key stocks gave
back some recent gains. The oil inventories
report as well as reports Hurricane Dolly
only took down a max of 8% of Gulf of
Mexico and nearby production, helped
lower oil prices over $3.00 to under
$125.00 per barrel. Today was rather light
on the economic front so the market was
led higher mostly thanks to earnings from
DJIA components. Longer-term rates rose
on Fed comments today calling for rates to
rise sooner rather than later, although that
was independent and slightly different than
the actual Beige Book comments.
Here are today's unofficial closing bell
levels:
DJIA 11632.70 (+30.30)
S&P500 1282.05 (+5.05)
NASDAQ 2325.88 (+21.92))
10YR T-Note 4.148 (+0.05%)
TOP ANALYST UPGRADES
TOP ANALYST DOWNGRADES
52-WEEK LOWS
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was the winner of
DJIA components after reporting earnings
this morning, particularly since it has lost
nearly one-third of its value. Shares were
up 4% at $33.11 in today's final minutes.
Continue reading Closing Bell: Earnings
keep gains coming Permalink| Email this|
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Will foreclosures lead to more Zynga scores $29 million in
suicides? venture capital
By Peter Cohan (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 9:11:00 AM
Filed under: Bad news, Consumer
experience, Economic data, Housing,
Recession
WHDH, the Boston NBC affiliate,
reports that a woman committed suicide
because she thought that her mortgage
lender was on the verge of foreclosing on
her house. There are questions about
whether she knew the mortgage company
had granted her an extension. But those
questions were not resolved before she
took her life.
The Patriot Ledger reported that she
faxed a suicide note to her mortgage
lender. It excerpted her fax: "By the time
you foreclose on my house I'll be dead." It
also indicated that a suicide note found
next to the body urged the woman's
husband and son to "take the insurance
money and pay for the house."
The woman and the mortgage company
did not communicate clearly. The Patriot
Ledger noted that the woman had asked
Donald Trump's son 'plans' $1
billion India fund
By Zac Bissonnette
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 11:06:00 AM
Filed under: India, Housing Donald
Trump Jr, the rather uncharismatic son of
reality television personality Donald
Trump, is looking to set up his own fund to
invest in India's until recently red hot real
estate market.
The younger Trump told Bloomberg that
"The fund will be for acquisitions of real
estate in the high end, and across the
spectrum. The market place is beginning to
understand and appreciate luxury, so there
is a great opening for us there, as well as in
resorts.''
He's looking to raise $1 billion, but given
how cheap investors have become of late,
the mortgage company for an extension
and been granted one. Yet interested
buyers showed up at the property
expecting an auction while her body was
still inside. It also interviewed a neighbor
who said that her husband, a plumber, had
replaced the backyard deck on the couple's
home so he must have had some money.
Continue reading Will foreclosures lead
to more suicides? Permalink| Email this|
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I'm skeptical. What exactly are his
credentials? He's 30-years-old, works for
daddy, was a judge on his father's reality
show, and -- the icing on the cake -- he
was ousted from the board of the condo
association where he lives.
If this guy can raise a billion bucks, then
the economy is considerably stronger than
we're giving it credit for ... or investors are
considerably dumber.
But for now, these are just "plans" to
raise "up to" $1 billion. I wouldn't hold my
breath waiting for the money to role in,
and frankly, this looks like a publicity ploy
designed to create the impression that
Trump Jr. is someone to be taken
seriously. Read| Permalink| Email this|
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By Tom Taulli (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 9:57:00 AM
Filed under: Electronic Arts (ERTS),
Small business The smart money continues
to pour into social networking deals. The
latest comes from a tier-one VC: Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Today, the firm announced a $29 million
round for Zynga Game Network.
Essentially, the company combines two hot
categories - social networking and casual
games.
No doubt, this deal is a big validator.
After all, Kleiner only cares about
companies that have the potential of being
game-changers.
So, what makes Zynga different? Well,
for the most part, the company has devised
innovative techniques to create highly
addictive games (some say the process is
Fannie and Freddie and
executive pay, oh my
By Victoria Erhart (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 10:10:00 AM
Filed under: Federal Natl Mtge (FNM),
Economic data, Housing Both Republican
and Democratic members of Congress
agree that Fannie Mae(NYSE: FNM) and
Freddie Mac(NYSE: FRE) may need a
taxpayer-funded bailout. Amounts of the
bailout have ranged as high as $25 billion.
While this is a whopping big bucket of
money, it pales in comparison to the $217
billion worth of non-agency securities that
have fallen in value and the$1.5 trillion in
debt downgrades in 2Q alone. In order to
mitigate objections from taxpayers
opposed to using public monies to bail out
a quasi-private industry, those bulwarks of
scientific). Plus, there are opportunities to
expand onto mobile platforms and to even
create virtual worlds.
Keep in mind that Kleiner has invested in
a variety of break-out gaming companies
in the past, such as Electronic Arts
Inc.(NASDAQ: ERTS). In fact, a Kleiner
partner, William "Bing" Gordon - the
former CEO of EA - will come on the
board of Zynga.
Tom Taulli is the author of various
books, including The Complete M&A
Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to
Decoding Financial Statements. He also
operates MergerBook.com. Permalink|
Email this| Comments
fiscal responsibility in Congress are
beginning to draw up plans to curb
executive compensation for those who will
help Fannie and Freddie crawl out of the
hole.
In 2007, Fannie Mae President Daniel
Mudd earned a $2.2 million bonus on top
of his $10 million salary. Members of
Congress want to know why the executives
who ran the ship aground were rewarded
handsomely for doing so. Some members
of Congress have suggested that previous
executive bonuses should be given back to
the companies. I bet some taxpayers might
want to apply this same reasoning to
Congressional salaries and perks.
Permalink| Email this| Comments
Business* 5
Earnings
preview for Ford
By Michael Fowlkes
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 11:25:00 AM
Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts,
Competitive strategy, Ford Motor (F), Oil
Before the market opens tomorrow
morning, American auto maker Ford
Motor(NYSE: F) will be reporting its
second quarter numbers. Wall Street is not
looking for a great quarter from the
company.
Analysts on average expect the
struggling auto maker to post a loss for the
quarter of 25 cents per share, and revenues
totaling$34.6 billion. The last time that the
company reported earnings was back on
April 24 when it shocked Wall Street with
a 5 cents a share profit versus consensus
estimate for a loss of 16 cents for its first
quarter.
This quarter has proven to be tough for
the company, which recently posted pretty
bad June sales figures. In fact, sales for
June declined by a devastating 28%
compared to the same period last year.
Continue reading Earnings preview for
Ford Permalink| Email this| Comments
6 Biz Buzz Tech Tips*
Drug Money
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/22/2008 2:00:00 PM
T revor Foltz was six months old last fall,
fresh off a visit to Disney World in
Orlando, when the spasms first began.
Healthy until that point in his life, he
began thrusting backward in his car seat,
repeatedly and forcefully, as he rode with
his parents north toward home in Rhode
Island. "I thought it was temper tantrums,"
says his mother, Danielle. The next day, at
home, Trevor was hit with a series of 40
convulsions and rushed to the hospital,
where he was diagnosed with infantile
spasms, a rare form of epilepsy. Treatment
would cost $1,600 per vial of steroid drug
H.P. Acthar Gel, and Trevor would need
three of them.
As if the idea of a $4,800 tab wasn't bad
enough, when the Foltzes submitted their
claim, they found out the company that
made the drug, Questcor Pharmaceuticals,
had just recently jacked up the price—to
$23,000 per vial, or $69,000 for a three-
vial treatment—and the insurance
company wasn't going to pay. And all the
while, unbeknownst to anyone at that time,
an alternative, for $15, existed.
On Thursday, the Joint Economic
Committee will open hearings in Congress
on dramatic price hikes for drugs used to
treat children, with a focus on companies
such as Questcor and Ovation
Pharmaceuticals, which in 2006 bought
rights to a drug that treats heart problems
in premature infants, and increased the
price 1,800 percent to $1,875 per three-vial
treatment.
"We need answers to why a company
would increase the price of a drug 18-fold
when costs related to marketing, physician
education, and research appear stable,"
says hearing chair Amy Klobuchar, a
Democratic senator from Minnesota.
Politicians say they are not opposed to
drug companies earning strong returns on
the costs of researching innovative drugs,
and understand the high prices of many
medications. But they are investigating
Double Driver Backs Up Your System's Drivers [Featured Windows Download]
By Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 1:30:00 AM
Windows only: Backup utility Double
whether some companies are price-
gouging, concerned more about executive
stock options than about running
innovative companies.
Some of those drugs, like Questcor's, are
decades-old drugs that were bought on the
cheap and redesignated under the federal
government's Orphan Drug Act, which
marks its 25th anniversary this year. Not
infrequently, the drugs' new owners pass
on big price hikes to consumers.
At Questcor, the increase is explained as
the cost of doing business with an orphan
drug.
"The company was heading toward
bankruptcy," says Steve Cartt, executive
vice president for business development at
Questcor, which is based in Union City,
California, an industrial enclave on the San
Francisco Bay.
"The whole rationale for the price
increase was to ensure availability of the
product," says Cartt. "We talked to
physicians. They wanted the drug to be
available. The choice was risk of
availability or a price increase."
Originally approved for multiple
sclerosis in 1952, Acthar Gel had been
owned by pharma giant Aventis, which
was losing money on it, when the 11-year-
old Questcor acquired it in 2001. Questcor
too failed to gain traction with M.S.
patients, so it sought a new track.
Now the gears at Questcor began to turn
more quickly. It won orphan designation
for Acthar Gel in 2003, and proceeded to
the next step: getting F.D.A. approval to
market the drug explicitly for infantile
spasms, which under the orphan act would
also include a seven-year monopoly for
Questcor. The company prepared for a
marketing blitz and doubled its sales force
early last year. But when the F.D.A.
rejected Questcor's application in May
2007, the company quickly slashed its staff
and jacked up the price.
Cartt says the price was set "within the
range of other orphan drugs," noting that
many others go from $50,000 to $500,000
a year or higher. For instance, BioMarin,
Driver lists all the hardware drivers
installed on your system and creates
backups of both the actual drivers and lists
of the driver names. While handy with any
an orphan-drug specialty company,
charges $70,000 a year for Kuvan, a drug
to treat phenylketonuria, a genetic enzyme
disorder that can cause mental retardation
and brain seizures. But unlike BioMarin,
which spends 64 percent of sales on
research and development, Questcor
spends very little; in 2007, Questcor's
research and development accounted for
9.5% of sales revenue.
What other considerations played into
the price Cartt would not say. Sales for
2007, when the price hike took effect, were
$49.7 million, and net income was $37.5
million—a net profit margin of 75 percent.
It was significant not only for its size, but
also because it was the first profit since the
company was formed, as Cypros
Pharmaceuticals, in 1990.
Investors were pleased, driving up
Questcor's share price from 40 cents to
over $6 after the August 2007 price hike.
But executives at the company started
selling their shares in December, seven
months after the former C.E.O., James
Fares, stepped down and around the time
Questcor executive Don Bailey took his
place. Since December, Cartt himself has
sold shares based on grants and options
totaling $1.68 million; many of those
options were granted at 46 cents a share.
He holds nearly a million more options on
Questcor stock.
D octors were unhappy with the price
hikes.
"Most of us in the child-neurology
community were outraged at the extent of
the price hike, unusual even for orphan
drugs," says Eric Kossoff, a pediatric
neurologist and infantile spasms expert at
Johns Hopkins Children's Center. "Most of
us had no choice, unfortunately. At the
time it was felt to be the best drug out
there, and they're the only company that
makes it. This is an incredibly serious form
of epilepsy with devastating implications if
not treated."
Curiously, though, he found that the
price hike "was one of the best things that
could have happened." Why? "Because we
computer, Double Driver really shines if
you have a computer that came with pre-
installed drivers that are hard if not
impossible to come by. With a few clicks
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
found something better and cheaper." Far
cheaper, it turns out. "We spent a few days
going through all the medical literature,
looking for what works, what doesn't."
The team turned up a study from the
United Kingdom that gave infants high
doses of prednisolone, a well-known,
generic steroid. Prednisolone had been
dismissed as relatively ineffective for
infantile spasms-based research that used
low doses. The high doses made all the
difference: The U.K. study found efficacy
rates reached 70 percent and more. Johns
Hopkins began using high-dose
prednisolone and found it worked in about
70 percent of cases, on par with the
hospital's experience with Acthar Gel. And
the price was $15 per
injection—essentially free—compared
with the three-injection $69,000 treatment
from Questcor. "It was like in times of
war, you get focused, and amazing things
come out," Kossoff says. "We don't use
[Acthar Gel] at Hopkins anymore for
infantile spasms because the oral steroids
[high-dose prednisolone] work just as
well."
It's unclear, though, how many other
doctors and hospitals in the U.S. will
switch from the $69,000 drug to the $15
drug.
"I don't understand what's behind the
price increase," says Finbar O'Callaghan, a
pediatric neurologist at the Bristol Royal
Hospital for Children and coauthor of the
United Kingdom Infantile Spasms Study,
or UKISS. The study showed that high-
dose prednisolone and a synthetic form of
ACTH, the active hormone in Acthar Gel,
were equally effective. He cautioned that
the purpose of the study was not to
compare the two, but to compare steroid
treatment with another drug called
vigabatrin. "Having said that, you couldn't
get a piece of paper between the results of
the prednisolone and the results of the
ACTH."
Costs aside, Hopkins is achieving the
same results against Acthar Gel. "There is
no reason to favor one over the other,
you'll have those archaic laptop drivers
backed up and ready to put back to work
after a fresh install. Double Driver is a free
download for Windows only. Double
unless there is a financial reason for doing
so. That's been a big issue in the U.S.,"
says O'Callaghan. Comparing $15 against
$69,000 "puts a different perspective on
it," he says.
"Historically, and unfortunately," he
adds, "doctors in general are very
traditional and tend to use what's worked
before."
Asked about the $15 price on
prednisolone, Cartt said studies from the
1990s show low efficacy rates for the drug.
When informed that those studies looked at
low doses, not high doses, Cartt said no
one knows the long-term implications of
high-dose prednisolone, and said the
company's higher profits will help it find
out. "We can afford to study the long-term
effects" of Acthar Gel and the alternatives,
he said.
What the Congressional hearing may
find is that Questcor had a business
problem: While its drug had a potential
market of 300,000 multiple sclerosis
patients, not enough of them were buying.
But among a smaller market, just 2,000
babies per year, Acthar Gel was extremely
effective in fighting infantile spasms.
Questcor's astronomical rates may simply
be a matter of hard business realities in a
small potential market.
For the Foltzes, Questcor's high prices
proved irrelevant, after much struggle.
When at first Danielle's insurance
company, WorldWide Insurance, rejected
the claim, the doctor faxed in a letter
stating that there was a good chance
Trevor would end up mentally retarded for
life without treatment; the insurer relented.
But on Thursday, his mother will join
those who testify against companies like
Questcor. She says, "I feel they're going to
soak every penny if they can get it."
Related Links
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Driver[via gHacks]
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Games of Chance
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/22/2008 9:00:00 PM
Lowell Taub and Sanya Richards, she of
four-by-400-meters gold medal fame in
Athens, were driving to Hershey,
Pennsylvania, to meet with one of her
sponsors when they had "that
conversation," the one about doping.
"We had a heart-to-heart," Taub, a sports
agent with Creative Artists Agency, said of
the way he broached the topic with his
client. "I told her, 'If you dope and you win
and go home at night, what's the point of
doping?' We probably spoke about it for
half an hour."
Taub wasn't worried about Richards, 23,
a woman he calls the face of her sport, "a
beacon" for others to emulate. He'd done
his homework when he recruited her. But
talking about the 800-pound gorilla that
lurks around every sports story is an
obligation he feels compelled to put out
there as part of his job, especially as
glittering stars such as Marion Jones came
crashing down in steroid scandals.
"Sanya has carried the placard of being
the athlete who's doing it right, doing it the
right way," he said of the native of
Jamaica, in 2004 the youngest woman to
break the 49-second barrier in the 400
meters. She coaches track at Baylor
University and carries a leading role in
U.S.A. Track & Field's Be a Champ
Foundation.
Vetting Olympic athletes—from veterans
to hopefuls—is a full-time job for the
companies that sponsor them and the
agents who represent them, a job made
even more complicated by the breadth of
One Spammer Sentenced To 4 Years In Jail As
Another Escapes From Prison
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/22/2008 11:10:00 PM
Last week, we asked you how you would
sentence a convicted spammer, and you
came up with all sorts of colorful solutions.
I doubt it influenced the judge much, but
she's now sentenced the spammer in
question to almost four years in jail, noting
that she hopes it will serve as a warning to
exposure today's electronic world flaunts.
The transparency of internet resources
poses the greatest challenge: newspaper
articles, MySpace, YouTube, incidents
where the athlete didn't act appropriately
and caused controversy. "There's not a lot
of room to hide," a sports marketer notes.
"Politics sometimes can be a slippery
slope. But most athletes are being very
careful. They want to win," Sue Rodin,
president of Women in Sports & Events,
observes.
Bottom line: Reputation is everything.
Character rules.
"You can do all the background checks in
the world, but you've got to be comfortable
with their character, their behavior," Chris
Console, managing director at Steiner
Sports in New Rochelle, New York, says.
"In some cases, you have to go with your
gut."
For athletes, nothing carries the weight
of doping, which can include jail time to
go with the embarrassment.
"If you make a fallible mistake and
apologize, our society is willing to
forgive," Taub notes. "You will stomach a
crazy parent or an unfortunate MySpace
shot if the person is of strong character.
People can recover from a heck of a lot. I
don't know anyone who's recovered from
doping."
For sponsors, an athlete with a strong
hometown presence in a key market is
critical. Personal stories are their best
marketing tool, Goode notes.
An ideal is Howard Bach, a San
Franciscan sponsored by Bank of America
competing in badminton (China's No. 1
sport). Bach is competing for his father, a
other spammers, especially unrepentant
ones like Robert Soloway:"This individual
has refused to stop his criminal conduct,
notwithstanding two separate civil
judgments and an injunction by a U.S.
federal court judge. I suggest to you the
only effective way to stop Soloway is a
long prison sentence during which he'll be
incapable of continuing this criminal
activity." Of course, on the very same day
top badminton player from Vietnam who
never had the chance to compete on an
Olympic team.
"The Olympics is the only sporting event
where the entire nation gets behind one
particular team," Goode says.
The bank's selection process is intense:
four qualifying heats over a two-year span
before the games, each one digging deeper
into the character of a pool of 300 to 400
potential spokespeople that will be
winnowed down to 12 who are supported
with tens of millions of dollars.
Bank of America leverages its
relationships with agencies like Octagon,
IMG, SportsMark, and Ketchum Sports
Network to determine the hot sports and
athletes, and talks to its partners at some of
the sport governing bodies and the
International Olympic Committee.
Contract clauses covering morality issues
are standard and serve to protect both the
sponsor and the athlete, Console observes.
"There has to be equal protection on both
sides. If a company is caught fudging
investor numbers, that could cause
financial disgrace."
At the end of the day, athletes need to be
smarter, Taub says, and more guarded.
"Two generations ago, we didn't have the
media coverage we have today. Media
people are not your friends. You have to be
shrewder about your communications and
how you cover yourselves."
Related Links
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Is Bank of America Rethinking
Countrywide's Value?
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the sentence was handed down, another
spammer escaped from the minimum
security prison where he was serving a 21-
month sentence. Federal Marshals and the
FBI are apparently now searching for him.
Perhaps Soloway will have a bit more
security.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Yaho-hum
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/22/2008 5:30:00 PM
It's come to this: We expect so little from
Yahoo that when the news is bad but not
terrible, it's a feel-good moment.
Yahoo's second-quarter profit of 10 cents
a share was 2 cents below what Wall Street
was expecting. It's the company's smallest
profit in five quarters, and yet the stock
was up 2.5 percent in after-hours trading
Tuesday.
This was neither the blowout quarter that
Yahoo needed nor the train wreck some
had feared. Yahoo also didn't alter its
already conservative estimates for full-year
earnings.
"Normally, this would be a poor
performance," said Jeffrey Lindsay, an
analyst at Sanford Bernstein. "The market
is saying mediocre is good enough. It's as
if a patient had been flatlining, and the
doctors get the heart going again. He's
certainly not healthy, but it could be
worse."
Yahoo posted gross revenue of $1.8
billion in the quarter through June 30, up 6
percent from the same quarter a year
earlier. Net revenue, excluding marketing
commissions and fees, grew 8 percent year
on year to $1.35 billion but was the lowest
figure in three quarters. It was also slightly
below the consensus estimate of $1.37
billion in net revenue.
Any way you slice it, that's dramatically
slower revenue growth than archrival
Google is seeing. Last week, Google said
revenue grew 39 percent in the quarter.
And so Yahoo exits the second quarter
short of financial ammunition to fight off
shareholder agitation from Icahn and the
new board members who are likely to side
with him. Any further weakness in its
stock during the coming months could also
reignite a flame in its spurned suitor,
Microsoft.
"The distractions aren't going away," said
Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst at Global
Crown Capital. "If people think Microsoft
is gone for good, that Icahn is going to be
quiet, and that it's going to be business as
usual, they might think again."
Yahoo C.F.O. Blake Jorgensen said
operating profit was hurt by $22 million in
fees for outside advisers in its takeover
battle with Microsoft, proxy fight with
Biz Buzz Tech* 7
Carl Icahn, and shareholder lawsuits that
have been filed.
As a result, Yahoo only made $101
million in the quarter at the operating level,
down 45 percent year on year and even
well below the guidance of between $135
million and $155 million. That gave it an
operating margin of 7.5 percent, half of
what it was a year ago. Factoring out the
$22 million in fees, however, the operating
margin is still a historically low 9.2
percent.
Meanwhile, Yahoo needs to grapple with
a slowing market for online ads.
Executives said in a conference call that
it's seeing weakness among advertisers in
the finance and travel sectors, although
spending from technology and
entertainment industries remains strong.
"We are seeing some pricing pressure
similar to what other companies have
described," notably in premium display
ads, said Yahoo president Sue Decker.
Abroad, Yahoo is seeing stronger
growth: Net revenues outside the U.S.
grew 14 percent in the quarter, versus 6
percent growth at home. Still, overseas
revenue makes up a little more than a
quarter of Yahoo's revenue, while it's more
than half of Google's.
Yahoo is maintaining its forecast for the
full year. The midpoint of its estimated
range of gross revenue is $7.6 billion,
unchanged from its previous guidance.
That would mean a 9 percent growth rate
for all of 2008.
Pyykkonen pointed out a dilemma Yahoo
investors are facing. As an independent
company, Yahoo should be valued around
$17 a share, he said. But expectations that
Microsoft may still come back and pay up
to $30 a share is keeping the stock
hovering in the low $20s.
It's as if there are two stocks sharing the
same YHOO ticker. One of them is an
underperforming stand-alone. The other is
a future Microsoft subsidiary. Only one of
them is real. But these days, neither one is
looking particularly promising.
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8 Biz Buzz Tech*
Bush the Bartender
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 9:00:00 AM
"Wall Street got drunk," President Bush
told a group of Republicans last week,
unaware that his comments were being
recorded. "It got drunk, and now it's got a
hangover. The question is, how long will it
sober up and not try to do all these fancy
financial instruments?" (See the video
here.)
He's right about Wall Street. Speaking
candidly, Bush pointed the finger at the
now struggling financial giants that fueled
the mortgage crisis with risky products that
generated huge profits.
But Bush neglected to add that he was
behind the bar, pouring the tequila shots
for most of the night, and refusing to cut
off the drunks before they'd reached their
limits.
And this morning, Bush offered up a
hangover cure for the capital markets by
throwing his support behind a federal
housing package that would prop up
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the
expense of taxpayers.
A good bartender knows just what to do
to make his customers belly up again.
Profitable innovation on Wall Street can
only be fostered in just the right climate,
and that's precisely what the administration
created for it. Desperate to rebound from
9/11 and the technology bubble, economic
policymakers lowered interest rates and
kept them low. They wanted consumers to
be able to borrow and banks to have easy
access to credit.
Moreover, President Bush made
homeownership a top priority from his first
Apple Seeing Red For iPhone Holiday Sales
By Calley Nye (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 4:39:41 PM
Rumors have been propagating through
several popular Mac blogs that Apple will
be releasing a red iPhone 3G model for the
holiday season. The release will be well-
timed, considering the initial iPhone hype
will start to slow, and people will be
day in office. Can't afford a down
payment? We'll pass legislation so you
don't have to! Got bad credit? No worries!
It sounds like an ad from a predatory
lender. It came in the form of the names
like American Dream Down Payment
Initiative, the Minority Homeownership
Initiative, and Zero Down Payment
Initiative.
It takes financial ingenuity to make sure
everyone can own their own homes. Wall
Street executed his plan for him with its
"fancy financial instruments."
And Bush applauded it. The economy
was strong, interest rates were low, and
more people owned homes. And guess
who took the credit? Here, a few choice
excerpts as a reminder of just how much
the administration enjoyed the tequila-
drenched party:
October 2002, announcing the Minority
Homeownership Initiative:
"Low interest rates, low inflation are very
important foundations for economic
growth. The idea of encouraging new
homeownership and the money that will be
circulated as a result of people purchasing
homes will mean people are more likely to
find a job in America. This project not
only is good for the soul of the country, it's
good for the pocketbook of the country, as
well.
I'm also going to encourage the lending
industry to develop a mortgage market so
that this script, these vouchers, can
regularly be used as a source of payment to
provide more capital to lenders, who can
then help more families move from rental
housing into houses of their own."
State of the Union 2004:
opening up their wallets more for the
holiday season. (Photo via MacBlogz)
The red iPhone will presumably be sold
as part of the(PRODUCT) RED campaign,
a charitable organization that donates
money to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in
Africa. Apple has released several products
for this campaign previously, including
(PRODUCT) RED iTunes gift cards, a red
"The pace of economic growth in the
third quarter of 2003 was the fastest in
nearly 20 years; new home construction,
the highest in almost 20 years;
homeownership rates, the highest ever.
Manufacturing activity is increasing.
Inflation is low. Interest rates are low.
Exports are growing. Productivity is high,
and jobs are on the rise."
(A month later, President Bush passed the
Zero Down Payment Initiative. "To build
an ownership society, we'll help even more
Americans to buy homes," Bush told a
group of homebuilders in 2004. "Some
families are more than able to pay a
mortgage but just don't have the savings to
put money down." By the end of 2005, the
National Association of Realtors said that
more than four out of every 10 first-time
homebuyers put no money down.)
An August 2007 speech in New York:
"One area that has shown particular strain
is the mortgage market, especially what's
known as the subprime sector of the
mortgage market. This market has seen
tremendous innovation in recent years, as
new lending products make credit
available to more people. For the most
part, this has been a positive development,
and the reason why is millions of families
have taken out mortgages to buy their
homes, and American homeownership is at
a near all-time high."
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8GB iPod Nano, and a red 1GB iPod
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Apple's Bite
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/21/2008 5:30:00 PM
The good news: Apple has big plans to
maintain its impressive growth. The bad
news: Those plans are going to weigh on
margins for at least a quarter.
Even worse news for investors is that
Apple won't release any specifics about
those plans, leaving investors with little
but uncertainty at a time when that’s all
they’ve been seeing in the market.
As a result, Apple's stock tumbled a few
hours after it announced its earnings for
the quarter ended June 30--even though the
company handily beat its own and Wall
Street's forecasts for revenue and profit.
Apple's earnings for the quarter came in
at $1.19 a share, above the company's own
guidance of $1 a share and the Wall Street
consensus of $1.08 a share. Revenue came
in at $7.46 billion, compared with the
Street's number of $7.37 billion.
So much for the good news. Looking
ahead, Apple gave guidance that was
conservative by even its own standards: It's
once again expecting $1.00 a share in
profit. It sees revenue at $7.8 billion.
Analysts were thinking more like $1.24 a
share in profit and $8.3 billion in revenue.
Then there's the matter of falling
margins. Gross profit this quarter was 34.8
percent of revenue—again, higher than
most expectations but much lower than the
36.9 percent a year earlier. Apple C.F.O.
Peter Oppenheimer said they would fall to
31.5 percent in the current quarter and hold
around the 30 percent level for next year.
Some of the pressure on margins, Apple
executives told analysts, is a "future
product transition" that Apple executives
refused to give details on despite repeated
attempts by analysts to pry loose a hint.
This mysterious new initiative could cost
Apple profit through increased spending to
Read more about (PRODUCT) RED and
the iPhone 3G at CrunchGear, including an
extensive review of the iPhone 3G .
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
develop a new product or by offering a
price that is competitive to rival products.
"One of the investments we make is in
new products that initially cost more
because they deliver an entirely new value
to the customer," Oppenheimer said on a
call discussing the earnings. "We have
some types of investments like that in front
of us that I can't discuss today."
Already, the mystery product is leading
to online speculation of what it could be.
Oppenheimer also addressed another
matter of speculation, that over the health
of C.E.O. Steve Jobs, that was reignited by
a story in the New York Post citing some
investor concerns. One analyst broached
the question, prefacing it with multiple
apologies.
"Steve loves Apple. He serves as CEO at
the pleasure of Apple's board and has no
plans to leave," Oppenheimer said.
"Steve's health is a private matter."
The cloudy outlook surrounding Apple
may not only dent Apple's stock, but other
tech shares, as earnings for tech companies
so far have been mixed. IBM and Intel
proved surprisingly strong, while
Microsoft and Google underwhelmed with
soft guidance. The market had been
looking for Apple to set a more decisive
direction.
Instead, Apple, as shy as ever about
tipping its hand to competitors, is
essentially asking investors to maintain
faith in its ability to deliver blockbuster
consumer devices. Apple hasn't done
anything to make us doubt it. It's just that
the stock market is running a little short on
faith these days.
Related Links
Last Bytes: Yahoo/Icahn, Apple, XM,
Twitter
Yay, Apple
Apple's Usual Tricks
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Yahoo Falls Short
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/22/2008 4:30:00 AM
Yahoo has disappointed with its second-
quarter earnings, results that will only
further fuel the debate over the internet
company's future.
The results come just a day after Yahoo
reached a settlement with activist investor
Carl Icahn, who backed down from a
proxy fight in exchange for seats on the
board.
The company earned $131 million, or 9
cents per share, in the quarter, down 18
percent from $161 million, or 11 cents per
share in the quarter a year earlier. Sales,
when fees that are passed on to partner
sites are excluded, rose to $1.35 billion.
Both the profit and revenue numbers were
below analysts' estimates.
Jerry Yang, the chief executive of
Yahoo, was bullish in the company's
earnings release.
"Yahoo is executing against its strategy,
and we believe it's well positioned for long
-term growth and maximizing stockholder
value," he said.
But few others are as confident.
Yahoo has yet to find a plan to unite its
balkanized properties into a coherent
whole and generate steady profit growth.
At the same time it is still facing
distractions from a frustratingly ambivalent
suitor in Microsoft and Icahn himself. And
talented employees have been elbowing
each other to get out the door.
In the face of all this, Yahoo is clearly
vulnerable to a slowdown in online ad
spending. Investors were also disappointed
by Google's earnings last Thursday. And
Rich From the Fall, Richer From the Rise
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 4:30:00 AM
Will the man who perhaps made the most
money from the credit crisis make even
more on its rebound?
He's certainly going to try.
The hedge fund manager John Paulson is
planning to raise a new fund to provide
capital to financial firms that have been
hurt by bad investments, according to
unnamed sources speaking to Bloomberg.
Google is better positioned than Yahoo: In
tough times, advertisers favor search ads
over display ads—they are more likely to
reach an interested consumer—and Yahoo
has long relied more on display ads.
Ahead of today's earnings, Cowen & Co.
cut its 2009 estimates for Yahoo's earnings
per share by 2 cents, to 70 cents. Analyst
Jim Friedland cited "near-term softness in
the display market" and the likelihood that
Yahoo's share of the search market will
keep shrinking.
Youssef Squali at Jeffries, noting weak
spending by financial and consumer
advertisers, said the ambitious three-year
plans for earnings growth Yahoo unveiled
with such fanfare earlier this year could be
"virtually unattainable."
So if Yahoo was ever going to deliver
blowout earnings, the time to do so would
have been now.
No dice.
With the latest disappointment, Icahn
will be quietly, shrewdly biding his time,
letting the rope spool out for chief
executive Jerry Yang to hang himself with.
If things go right, he's only a few moves
away from a checkmate.
Shares of Yahoo fell in after-hours
trading. If they continue to fall this week to
below the $19-a-share price that prompted
Microsoft's takeover offer in February, that
would give Icahn leverage to agitate for a
new C.E.O.—say, Jonathan Miller, the
former AOL chief who is getting one of
the new board seats.
At that point, Icahn would have much
greater control over Yahoo. If he can't
broker a deal with Microsoft, there are
assets he can sell off: Stakes in Asian
Paulson put his name on the map by
betting heavily against subprime debt last
year. His Credit Opportunities Fund
returned 590 percent for 2007, helping him
earn a $3.7 billion paycheck for the year.
Now, Paulson & Co. reportedly wants to
cash in on the way up. Bloomberg has few
details on the fund, except that Paulson
plans to raise it by the end of this year.
Plenty of private equity funds and hedge
funds have recently raised piles of money
to invest in distressed assets in order to
entities like Yahoo Japan and
Alibaba.com, valued at more than $10
billion, would just be a start.
"The nomination by Icahn of Miller is
significant in that he positions him as
potentially the next Yahoo C.E.O. in case a
deal with Microsoft is not reached and
Yahoo fails to execute against its
aggressive growth plans," Squali said.
"This is an insurance policy for Icahn as
Miller would get aggressive about
extracting shareholder value through
business dealings and assets spinoff."
Such a plan isn't without risk. It skirts the
question of how Yahoo can regain some of
its former glory. So employees may
continue to bolt for the doors, while
potential business partners and major
advertisers may grow jittery, preferring to
work with a company with less uncertain
prospects. A company like Google.
But none of this matters to a corporate
raider like Icahn. He may not get the
complexities of Yahoo's business, but right
now he doesn't need to. He just needs a
way to sell off his shares at a profit.
For Yahoo, Yang, and his defenders, a
happy outcome seems much more remote.
It rests on a strong earnings performance.
Without that, Icahn may yet have his
way without the bloody coup he once
threatened.
Related Links
Still Looking for the Google Killer
Dangerous Liaison
Yahoo Takes the Offensive in Microsoft
Battle
take advantage of opportunities in this
weak economy.
But it appears that Paulson is taking a
different tact, by raising a fund that looks
more like a sovereign wealth fund than a
distressed debt fund. Sovereign funds from
China and the Middle East pumped billions
of new capital into many big financial
firms early in the crisis.
But in recent months, they've been
conspicuously absent from the capital
raises from firms like Merrill Lynch and
Reading, 'Riting, and
Retailing
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/22/2008 11:00:00 AM
Retailers are struggling through summer
sales doldrums, but the back-to-school
shopping season is expected to provide
relief, according to one survey.
The National Retail Federation says that
parents will spend some $20 billion
shopping for the start of the school year,
up 5.5 percent over last year.
Consumers have pegged electronics
purchases as the big gainer, expecting
those to rise 18 percent, to an average of
$151.49 per household.
The N.R.F.'s survey also suggests that
relief might not be far away; respondents
plan to begin their buying earlier than last
year, with 64 percent of shoppers hitting
the stores at least three weeks in advance
of classes resuming.
Retailers need all the help they can get.
In June sales rose a less-than-expected 0.1
percent, as the impact of the 130 million
rebate checks that were mailed out as part
of an economic stimulus package dimmed.
In the face of a persistently sluggish
spending environment and tight credit
markets, retailers are shuttering doors at an
alarming pace. The Sharper Image, Linens
'n Things, and, most recently, Steve &
Barry's have declared bankruptcy, while
Home Depot and Starbucks are closing
stores. Discount department store
Mervyns, owned by private equity firm
Cerberus, is reported to be weighing a
bankruptcy filing.
Unfortunately, even if N.R.F.'s rosy
Lehman Brothers. The funds have either
become reluctant because of the losses on
those previous investments or they've
remained on the sidelines due to political
backlash against them.
It's certainly likely that big banks will
continue to need new capital long after the
end of this year as the losses from the
credit crisis reach as much as $1.3 trillion,
as Paulson predicts.
But can he get so lucky twice in a row?
It's certainly happened before. And
Biz Buzz 9
projections hold true, the report isn't all
good news. While school shopping for the
K-12 set is forecast to increase from last
year, things are just the opposite for back-
to-college shoppers. That demographic
expects to cut spending by 7 percent this
year as they return to classes.
"College students are learning a hard
lesson that when economic times are
tough, fun purchases take a backseat," said
Tracy Mullin, the president and chief
executive of the federation. "While
students will still be buying school
supplies, they will scale back spending on
clothing,
electronics, and dorm furnishings."
And a new survey out from Deloitte is
far more pessimistic about the back-to-
school season as a whole, reporting that 71
percent of participants said they plan to
spend less this year.
But Deloitte's survey is in its first year,
so the lack of historical data makes it
difficult to evaluate how the results would
compare to back-to-school seasons past.
Flaws in self-reporting, too, can color the
results: It's tempting to say you plan to
spend less, but with an imprecise memory
of how much you spent last year and a
hearty dose of wishful thinking, there's
often a wide gulf between forecasts and
reality.
Related Links
Shop Til the Deals Drop
Holiday Cheer or Jeer on Black Friday?
Dubious Statistics Watch: Thanksgiving
Retail Sales
Paulson is already bucking the trend for
this year. While many hedge fund
managers are struggling to produce returns
in this dismal market, Paulson is reportedly
already up 20 percent for the year.
Related Links
Hedge Fund Managers Not Earning
Their Keep
The Million Dollar Active vs Passive
Wager
Hedge Funds: The Legal Risks
10 Biz Buzz Tech*
The New Model of Celebrity Athlete
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/22/2008 4:30:00 AM
Perhaps this explains those late-night
consultations with Madonna?
New York Yankees slugger Alex
Rodriguez has signed with the Hollywood
talent agency William Morris, Matthew
Futterman of the Wall Street Journal
reports.
The deal, the terms of which were not
disclosed, underscores how sports stars
have become celebrities as big as—if not
bigger than—Hollywood and TV stars.
And athletes are doing more than product
endorsements.
Of course, that has been obvious for
several decades, ever since Michael Jordan
revolutionized the idea of an athlete as a
brand and made 23 a nearly sacred
number.
A-Rod clearly has room to do better on
the nonbaseball-income front. He has a 10-
year contract with the Yankees worth $275
Whoa, Wachovia!
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 7/22/2008 5:30:00 AM
Robert Steel has gone from putting out
fires as Treasury undersecretary to facing a
three-alarm blaze on his own block.
Steel was recently named chief executive
of Wachovia, which has now reported a
loss of nearly $9 billion for its second
quarter and cut its dividend to nearly zero.
Wachovia has been roiled by the collapse
in the mortgage market. Nearly half of its
mortgage lending has been in California
and Florida, two states with some of the
highest foreclosure rates in the nation. Its
overexposure came as a result of the
acquisition of Golden West, a California
lender bought at the height of the housing
boom.
The architect of that deal, Ken
Thompson, was ousted as C.E.O. last
month, and Wachovia turned to Steel, who
was vice chairman of Goldman Sachs
million. But Sports Illustrated estimates
that he will receive just $6 million in
endorsements this year.
"A-Rod needs a steady hand to manage
all aspects of how he is positioned within
and beyond baseball," David Carter,
executive director of the Sports Business
Institute at the University of Southern
California, told Bloomberg News.
"William Morris delivers that steadiness,
as well as a deep set of relationships with
corporate America."
Scott Boras, whom Rodriguez did an end
run on when the agent announced during
the World Series last fall that his client
would opt out of his Yankees contract, will
continue to handle A-Rod's baseball
matters.
The star potential of the Yankees' third
baseman is huge. Destined for the Hall of
Fame, he is well on his way toward
eventually overtaking Barry Bonds as
baseball's all-time slugger. He is a
handsome man who is always pleasant in
before joining Hank Paulson at the
Treasury Department.
Wachovia's dismal results will add to the
gloom over the financial sector, gloom that
was briefly lifted by better-than-
expected—or perhaps more accurately, not
-as-bad-as-expected—results from
Citigroup and Bank of America. On
Monday, American Express reported an
unexpected 38 percent decline in earnings.
Wachovia lost $8.66 billion, or $4.20 per
share, compared with a profit of $2.34
billion, or $1.22 per share. Revenue fell 14
percent, to $7.5 billion. The bank added
$5.6 billion to its loan-loss reserve to cover
net charge-offs and increase the reserve by
$4.2 billion.
"These bottom-line results are
disappointing and unacceptable," said
Lanty Smith, Wachovia's chairman, who
served as interim chief executive officer
beginning June 1. "While to some degree
they reflect industry headwinds and
public.
But there are also negative factors for
any marketer. His wife is divorcing him
amid tabloid stories about a relationship
with Madonna. And perversely, despite all
his attributes and his extraordinary record,
A-Rod is not universally loved by baseball
fans.
Even many Yankee fans see A-Rod as a
cold, aloof star compared with the clutch
team captain Derek Jeter. How do you
translate that into marketing prowess?
That is the challenge for William Morris,
which has an expanding sports roster that
includes Michelle Wie, Serena Williams,
and Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics.
Related Links
Claim: A-Rod's Dollars Make Sense for
Yankees
Boras-ARod to Meet Yankee Brass With
Opt-Out Deadline Closer
Alex Rodriguez Issues Statement, Wants
to Meet Yankees Without Agent Boras
weaker macroeconomic conditions, they
also reflect performance for which we at
Wachovia accept responsibility."
Wachovia is cutting its dividend a
second time this year, to 5 cents, from 37.5
cents. The bank estimates the move will
save $700 million of capital every quarter.
It is also exiting its wholesale mortgage
business and plans to fire more than 6,300
employees.
This is a bank that is moving
aggressively to slash and burn so that it
might have a chance to start growing
again. Steel, who has no commercial
banking experience, will need to be a quick
study if Wachovia is to remain
independent.
Related Links
Good Morning on Wall Street
Parsing Wachovia: Oh My God, They
Killed Kenny
Why Wachovia Needs That $7 Billion
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Rogers Looks For New
Ways To Annoy Customers,
Hijacks Failed DNS Lookups
By Blaise Alleyne (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 1:20:00 PM
Rogers -- a Canadian telco -- has been
attracting a lot of negative attention lately
between deliberately disabling
notifications for cellular roaming charges,
setting ridiculous iPhone pricing plans and
injecting its own content into Google's
home page. As if that wasn't enough,
Rogers has started hijacking failed DNS
lookups. This means that when a user types
in a web address that doesn't exist, instead
of getting a "page not found" error, the
user is redirected to a search page filled
with banner ads and sponsored links.
Michael Geist notes that there's an "opt-
out" feature, but it doesn't take long to see
that it's pretty pathetic. The "opt-out" sends
a cookie which just redirects the user to a
different Rogers page instead -- a fake
"Internet Explorer" error page hosted on
the same server. It does essentially the
exact same thing, only pretending(poorly,
for non-IE users) to revert back to
expected behavior. And the option is reset
whenever the browser's cookies are
cleared. The comments on Geist's post are
evidence that many Rogers customers are
not pleased (myself included).
This isn't just annoying, it's also a
security threat. It breaks how the internet
was designed to work; a lot of software is
written with the expectation that a DNS
lookup for a non-existent domain name
will return an error. For example, Kevin
Dean notes in the comments on Geist's
post how this has caused problems for him
accessing his VPN. At first, he thought his
computer had been compromised, since
Rogers' new "feature" ends up resembling
a hostile attempt to redirect traffic to an
unknown server.
Some American ISPs already do this,
such as Earthlink (which was used to
demonstrate the security risk), though it
seems to have a slightly better opt-out
process, instructing users to configure
alternate DNS servers instead of setting a
browser cookie. VeriSign had originally
tried to do something similar with
SiteFinder back in 2003 (though not at the
ISP level), but it didn't exactly go over too
well. VeriSign reluctantly backed off,
though it just recently obtained a patent on
the concept. Rogers is the first Canadian
ISP to implement the practice and it seems
to think it won't meet much resistance. In
another comment on Geist's post, Ian
relates a telling quote from the FAQs page
for Paxfire (the American company
handling this for Rogers): "What feedback
you do receive typically will come from a
small group of highly technical users. Even
that feedback tends to fall away after just a
few weeks -- as they get used to the new
behavior."
Rogers thinks it can just brush off
complaints from its users, especially since
there really isn't a lot of choice in the
Canadian ISP market. However, Rogers
should be careful in treading so brazenly
into what some consider "net neutrality"
territory. Bell Canada (one of Rogers' few
competitors) has landed itself in front of a
national regulatory body over its throttling
practices. Rogers wants to have complete
control over its network, but by continually
pushing the line they only spur on the
debate about net neutrality and government
regulation. We haven't heard the last of
this.
Blaise Alleyne is an expert at the
Techdirt Insight Community. To get
insight and analysis from Blaise Alleyne
and other experts on challenges your
company faces, click here.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper Tech* 11

Liveblogging the Facebook Developer Conference

By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 1:23:59 PM

The TechCrunch team is on site at the

Facebook Developer conference, and we’ll
be live blogging the news. Mark
Zuckerberg’s Keynote starts at 1:30 pm
PST.
Facebook’s press release is here.
Live Coverage
In a press briefing after the keynote,
Zuckerberg stated “I wish I knew” when
asked when the anticipated payments
system would launch. He also hinted that
Facebook is working on launching
improved search, but they aren’t close to
launching it yet.
2:49 PM: That’s it. The show is over.
2:48 PM: Great Apps can integrate with
users just like native Facebook apps, and
they get early access to features. The Great
Apps program is in alpha stage and the
first two partners are iLike and Causes.
There will be a strong enforcement system
with all apps, and they will disable apps
that are a problem. Over the last year
they’ve disabled apps for violation of
privacy or other policies. They take this
very seriously, he says.
2:47 PM: The second announcement is
the Facebook Great Apps Program (Top
Tier program). They embody all ten of the
guiding principles, and they advance the
mission of Facebook.
2:46 PM: They’re announcing two new
programs: a verification program is first -
this is the lower tier of the two programs.
Starting in September they will invite apps
that are secure, respectful and transparent
to apply to be verified. Trusted apps get a
special badge in the directory and app
page. (we posted on this earlier, here)
2:44 PM: They have partnerships with
partners to help developer (Microsoft),
host and scale. They are launching a new
developer website that gives all the
information needed for a quick start. He
says 1000 apps have been submitted to the
Facebook fund. They are revealing the
names of fbFund’s recipients to date: vote on finalists who will each get 250k. programs to help app developers. Get making organizational changes that let attention and time. Don’t make users invite
Challenge, ConnectedWeddings, Podclass, 2:43 PM: He says they must keep the Started Quickly tools like adding easy developers incorporate feedback during the 20 friends before you use the app, or spam
MyListo, Trazzler, Zimride, LuckyCal, ecosystem safe for users and fair for FBML tags. dev process, and they’re creating full time friends without them knowing. Apps must
Coursefeed, Hotberry, and J2Play. developers. A year ago equal distribution 2:42 PM: He says that they’ve learned a community management organization be very transparent. Users should get what
They are announcing a new competition became overwhelming to users, then they lot in the last year, as they’ve had lots of 2:40 PM: “Security is a big part of it, they expect when they click, not an
today. $2M will be given out over the next made restrictive changes that hurt apps. challenges. Facebook is listening to the apps can’t share information with other interstitial ad. Design is also important -
two months. Facebook will select 25 Going forward they will have different community. They’re trying to partner more users unless they obey privacy settings.
finalists who will each get 25k. Users will rules. They are announcing several closely with developers. He says they are Apps must also be respectful of the users
LIVEBLOGGING page 13
12 Tech*
Facebook Launches Preferred App Program, Translation Services
By Jason Kincaid (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 1:20:51 PM
Facebook just issued the press release for
today’s F8 conference. The release is
below, with the most important points
bolded.:
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Facebook f8
Conference, July 23, 2008 – Facebook
today introduced the latest advancements
to Facebook Platform during its annual f8
developer conference, calling on its more
than 400,000 developers to connect their
Websites with Facebook through Facebook
Connect, extend their applications to
dozens of languages worldwide, and make
use of new developer resources to help
them succeed.
“We opened Facebook Platform with a
belief that community innovation can give
people the tools, and the power, to share
and communicate in ways that Facebook
can’t build on its own. We’re humbled by
what our developer community has
accomplished,” said Mark Zuckerberg,
founder and CEO of Facebook. “We’re
confident that the changes we’re
presenting today help developers build
more meaningful social applications that
enable users to share more information.”
Facebook earlier this week released its
new site design for users to preview and
test, which is being gradually rolled out to
Facebook’s more than 90 million active
users over the coming weeks. The changes
announced today, along with those
launched earlier this week, leverage
Facebook’s powerful feed system to give
developers a new way to gain visibility and
help users share and discover more
information.
Leveraging the Power of Feeds
“Across the Web, content creation has
become easier and more immediate,
resulting in a continuous stream of
information through what we call ‘feeds’,”
said Zuckerberg. “The power of feeds on
Facebook is their ability to move you into
a world where you receive relevant
information in a social context wherever
you are on the Web.”
The new site design emphasizes dynamic
content and surfaces the most recent and
relevant information and activity through
feeds, both on News Feed and the Wall.
For developers, the new site design enables
even deeper integration within the profile
for their applications. By taking advantage
of the improvements with feeds on
Facebook and the other new features,
developers can more efficiently distribute
their applications and gain more ways to
engage meaningfully with users.
“We’re confident that the new profile and
integration points will give entrepreneurs
and developers even greater opportunities
to build their businesses and deliver on the
promise of Facebook Platform,” said Ben
Ling, director of platform program
management, Facebook. “One goal of the
new site design is to align Facebook
Platform with users’ interests who will see
a new class of applications emerge that
provide deeper engagement and a better
experience.”
Making the Web More Social with
Facebook Connect
Facebook announced that 24 Web sites
and applications have joined its efforts to
make the Web more open and connected
through Facebook Connect. A developer
‘sandbox’ is now available so developers
worldwide can start working with
Facebook Connect.
Facebook believes that enabling users to
take their identity and friends with them
around the Web, while trusting that their
privacy is protected, makes the Web more
open and connected. Facebook Connect
allows users to bring their Facebook
account information, friends and privacy to
any third party website, desktop
application or device.
Digg, Six Apart, and Citysearch were
featured live during Zuckerberg’s keynote
today demonstrating their planned
implementations of Facebook Connect.
Facebook Connect will be generally
available to users in the fall.
“Digg surfaces the best content on the
Web as voted on by its community of 26
million,” said Kevin Rose, founder of
Digg. “Facebook Connect will help us
promote more conversations on Digg by
giving Facebook’s 90 million users an
opportunity to sign-in to Digg with their
Facebook accounts and become part of the
active Digg community. This allows both
Facebook and Digg users to more easily
share the content they care about with the
people they care about.”
With Facebook Connect, users benefit
from the following features:
• Trusted Authentication – easily
authenticate into partner sites using their
Facebook account
• Real Identity – leverage their real
identity across the Web in a trusted
environment
• Friend Linking – take their friends with
them wherever they go, enabling trusted
social context anywhere on the Web
• Dynamic Privacy – assurance that the
same privacy settings users have set up on
Facebook will follow them wherever they
decide to login throughout the Web
• Social Distribution – share actions on
partner sites with their friends back on
Facebook through feeds Additional
planned participants at launch include:
Amiando, CBS.com, CNET,
CollegeHumor, Disney-ABC Television
Group, Evite, Flock, Hulu, Kongregate,
Loopt, Plaxo, Radar, Red Bull, Seesmic,
Socialthing!, StumbleUpon, The Insider,
Twitter, Uber, Vimeo and Xobni.
Expanding Facebook Platform
Internationally
As a result of the worldwide success of
Facebook’s translation system, the
company has opened up the Translation
Application to any developer using
Facebook Platform. Beginning today, any
Facebook developer can make their
application available in any of the 20
languages that are currently available on
Facebook, with 69 more coming soon.
Developers can now access the
Translation Application to either translate
their applications themselves, or open up
translation of their application to Facebook
users around the world, who will work
together to define it in their native
languages.
This innovative approach combines the
passion of Facebook users with
technologies that are systematic and
manageable. The Translation Application
enables developers to get high-quality,
fully-translated applications in front of
users, no matter where they live or what
language they speak – much faster than
ever before, and without ever having to
pick up a dictionary.
“Through Facebook’s international
platform, the possibilities are endless for
both developers and users,” said Chamath
Palihapitiya, vice president of growth,
Facebook. “With no language barriers to
break through, developers can take the
stage with an even larger audience of users
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
from all over the world, and users will
have access to even more great
applications than ever before built by the
world’s best developers.”
Helping Developers Succeed
When Facebook Platform launched in
2007, it gave developers the opportunity to
create applications that are deeply social
and meaningful to users. More than
400,000 developers and entrepreneurs
from 160 countries have signed up and
developed applications. For the next phase
of Platform, Facebook has focused on
ensuring that developers have the
resources and incentives they need to build
applications that deliver on the vision of
Facebook Platform.
Facebook launched four new and
expanded developer programs and
resources:
1) Great Apps Program Facebook’s
Great Apps program rewards applications
that deliver value to users and advance the
Facebook Platform vision. Great Apps
embody Facebook’s guiding principles for
social applications through their
meaningful, trustworthy and well-designed
user experiences. Great Apps will gain
greater visibility on Facebook, earlier
access to new features and more feedback
from Facebook. Facebook will open the
Great Apps selection process to developers
in September.
Facebook is excited to announce iLike
and Causes as the inaugural Great Apps.
“Facebook Platform provided iLike with
an unprecedented opportunity to become
one of the world’s leading online music
services in just over a year,” said Ali
Partovi, CEO of iLike. “I’m delighted that
Facebook is committed to recognizing the
apps that are most appreciated by users.
We expect the Great Apps program to have
a very positive impact on the entire
Facebook Platform ecosystem.”
“The Causes application enables socially-
conscious Facebook users to unlock the
power of their social network in order to
raise money and awareness for the causes
they care about,” said Sean Parker,
chairman and co-founder of Causes. “With
more than 100,000 causes created by 12
million Facebook users, we’ve had
remarkable success building user trust and
value on Facebook and we’re excited to
join the Great Apps program.”
2) Application Verification Facebook is
introducing the Application Verification
program which is designed to offer extra
assurances to help users identify
applications they can trust — applications
that are secure, respectful and transparent,
and have demonstrated commitment to
compliance with Platform policies.
Verified applications will benefit from
added visibility on Facebook. The program
is a complement to Facebook’s ongoing
policy enforcement to keep the Platform
ecosystem robust, and will be open to
developers in September.
3) Expanded fbFund Competition In an
effort to grow the Facebook ecosystem,
fbFund was introduced last year to provide
resources to developers, by eliminating
some of the challenges of starting a
company. As part of a new competition,
Facebook will award nearly $10 million in
non-recourse grants to the top 25
applications. In addition to the Facebook
judging committee, this year users will test
applications and vote on their favorites
after the first round deadline of August 29,
2008.
Winners from the first fbFund
competition were announced today and
include: ConnectedWeddings, CourseFeed
by Classtop, GoalCamp, HotBerry, J2Play,
LuckyCal, MyListo, Podclass, Trazzler,
and Zimride Carpool App.
4) New Developer Website Facebook is
introducing a new website for Facebook
Platform. Improvements include better
navigation and cleaner access to the blog,
wiki and forum to encourage community
involvement. Facebook will also start
highlighting social, meaningful and
trustworthy application case studies.
For additional information on the
announcements made today at f8, please
visit the f8 Press Page at:
www.facebook.com/f808Press.
About Facebook Founded in February
2004, Facebook’s mission is to give people
the power to share and make the world
more open and connected. Anyone can
sign up for Facebook and interact with the
people they know in a trusted environment.
Facebook is a privately-held company and
is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
LIVEBLOGGING
continued from page 11
clean design is a must. And apps must be
fast loading and responsive. As the apps
get faster, users use them more. Apps need
to focus on being robust and scaling
properly as they grow.”
2:39 PM: “Building trustworthy
applications is important because we live
in an ecosystem with network effects. If
users leave, everyone suffers. Apps must
be safe and trusted.”
2:37 PM: He says apps must be useful.
The carpool app is great example, which
lets users find carpool buddies. “Apps
must also be expressive”- The graffiti app
that lets users draw on friends profiles, is a
good example. Finally, meaningful apps
must be engaging. He says Playfish makes
games that are highly engaging. Facebook
users have played over 900 million
minutes of Playfish games. That’s about
1800 years.
2:35 PM: Benjamin is announcing
“guiding principles for great applications”
which are based on dialog with
community. It’s based on three pillars:
meaningful, trustworthy and well designed.
The best apps make use of the social
graph. Applications must be social. A good
example is the Lil Green Patch app, which
helps users fight global warming by
interacting with other users.
2:33 PM: Benjamin Ling, Director of
Platform Program Management is now on
stage talking about the “State of Platform.”
He says that over $200m has been invested
in Facebook apps, $34m this week alone.
Additionally, 13 different ad networks
have launched that pay out tens of millions
of dollars to app developers. He says,
“venture capital, ad networks, developers
and academics are the ecosystem that
makes Facebook platform a success.”
2:32 PM: Mark wraps things up, that
appears to be the end of the
announcements.
2:31 PM: Zuckerberg asked all Facebook
employees who work on platform to stand
up, then asked all app developers to stand
up.
2:29 PM: “Give people the power to
share and make the world more open and
Make Google Reader Widescreen-Friendly [Featured Greasemonkey User Script]
By Gina Trapani (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 12:51:01 AM
Firefox with Greasemonkey: The Google
connected.” - Facebook’s mission
statement
2:28 PM: To recap, he’s talked about
new profiles and the highlighting of the
news feed, the second item is Facebook
Connect. The new profile launched
Monday, he says. Facebook Connect will
launch developer keys starting today -
there will be a beta period.
2:26 PM: That’s it for launch partners.
Mark is back on stage.
2:25 PM: A new site will have a “my
friends” tab that shows reviews by friends
in various cities.
2:23 PM: Mike Philips from Citysearch
is taking the stage. He says they are
launching a new site, where sharing
information is a big piece. They are
integrating with Facebook Connect. When
a user looks for a hotel, restaurant, etc.,
Citysearch already has lots of reviews and
data, but not a way to link up reviews from
friends.
2:22 PM: When you login to comment,
users can sign in via Movable Type or
Facebook. If you sign in with Facebook, it
will display changes - light blue boxes
outline your friend’s comments.
2:20 PM: David Recordon from Six
Apart just took the stage. They are
releasing a plugin for Movable Type that
allows people to comment using their
Facebook profiles. Users can decide to
profiles or keep them private.
2:17 PM: Digg is now allowing people to
sign into Digg via Facebook or OpenID.
There is no requirement to sign up for a
Digg account.
2:15 PM: Launch partners are now
coming on stage. First up is Digg by Joe
Stump.
2:13 PM: Facebook Connect can show
you which of your Facebook friends are
also on the outside service, so you can link
up with them there too. They are also
allowing people to leave comments and
requests on third party sites.
2:12 PM: Facebook Connect will let
applications share data with Facebook.
Users can bring Facebook friends with
them to outside sites.
Reader for Wider Screens Greasemonkey
script uses all the horizontal space
available in GReader for better viewing on
wide monitors. Install the script to take
2:11 PM: Mark is now talking about
Facebook Connect.
2:10 PM: He says he wants Facebook to
be the platform and tools provider, but let
apps do anything social they want.
2:08 PM: Mark says we are going to see
the decentralization of social networking
into apps on the web. Things will
decentralize further, apps can run
anywhere on the web, not just on social
network platforms. They will all work
together, just be decentralized.
2:05 PM: People (including us) are
writing wall posts for Mark since he has
his profile live on stage, but it looks like
he’s actually using a fake profile, it shows
just 8 friends.
2:03 PM: Mark is now showing a live
demo of the new home page.
2:02 PM: Mark says they haven’t
completely gotten rid of app boxes, they’re
added a tab for them. Some apps really
need them. Users can also add tabs for
individual apps.
1:59 PM: He says the apps that leverage
the news feed the best will be the ones that
succeed.
1:58 PM: “The most important part of
the profile is the wall and the news feed,
which have now been merged. They also
give developers an incentive to build apps
that let users share a lot of information.
This is a lot better than an application box,
which people don’t interact with as much.”
1:56 PM: Mark is now talking about the
new profile pages and how it fits in with
their current goals.
1:54 PM: Mark says that over the last
year Facebook hasn’t done enough to
reward applications that provide a lot of
long term value, and they haven’t punished
the ones abusing the system.
1:53 PM: Mark is talking about lessons
Facebook has learned. He says that they
released the platform as quickly as
possible, it wasn’t fully baked yet, and
they didn’t anticipate the huge adoption.
1:52 PM: Mark says the most powerful
tool on Facebook today is the News Feed.
Traffic went up by 50% when they first
launched news feed in late 2006.
advantage of a wide browser window and
scroll up and down less than you have to.
The Google Reader for wider screens user
script is a free download for Firefox with
1:51 PM: Mark is now talking about the
social graph, a concept he introduced at the
first f8 conference.
1:49 PM: LivingSocial just announced
they received $5M in Funding, Flixster
received $6M from Allen and Company,
and Zynga got $29M from Kleiner Perkins
Caufield & Byers. Zuckerberg says,
“There has been more than $200 million
invested in the ecosystem.”
1:47 PM: David Glazer(Director of
Engineering, Friend Connect) is here in the
audience (which is about 1500 people), it
looks like he will announce something.
Perhaps they are announcing some kind of
agreement.
1:45 PM: “We’re opening up the
translation tool to allow apps to be
translated as well…We now have more
than 400k developers building on top of
the platform. The developer community is
spread around the world. More than half
are outside of the US.
1:43 PM: Mark is now talking about
opening up Facebook for translations made
by users. They started with Spanish and
French, and now the site is available in
over 60 languages.
1:41 PM: Mark is looking back over the
last year and says it’s been pretty crazy.
Over 24 million people were using
Facebook a year ago - today they are at 90
million people.
1:38 PM: Mark says its time to take the
Facebook platform to the next level. On a
recent vacation he realized (1) they want to
build a product that really lets you connect
with people, and (2) they want to extend
the concept of presence, have more open
connections and share more. They want to
make the world a more open place
“The most important information is only
available if people share it, and have the
power and the tools to do so”
1:35 PM: Mark takes the stage and
welcomes the crowd.
1:30 PM: Still waiting for Mark
Zuckerberg to take the stage.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
the Greasemonkey extension installed.
Thanks, Andy! Google Reader for wider
screens[Userscripts.org]
Tech* Tech Tips* 13
FCC's Adelstein
Drags Out XM-Sirius
Review Even More
By Timothy Lee (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 6:47:00 AM
As we predicted last month, the FCC's
approval process for the XM-Sirius merger
continues to drag on. This is becoming
absurd. The merger was announced almost
18 months ago, which should have been
more than enough time for the FCC to
reach a decision, or at least come up with
its merger conditions for the companies to
consider. Yet it was only last month that
Chairman Martin came up with his initial
proposed conditions, and now
Commissioner Adelstein is proposing even
more restrictions as a condition of
approving the deal. As I've pointed out
before, the way antitrust law is enforced is
problematic because of the unbridled
decision it gives to government
bureaucrats.
Adelstein's laundry list of merger
conditions appears to have no particular
connection to preventing the abuse of
monopoly power, the supposed purpose of
antitrust law. For example, he would
require a 6-year freeze on price increases.
If he believes the merged company would
have too much market power, then he
should vote to deny the merger. If, on the
other hand, the merged company would
not have too much market power, then a
price freeze isn't necessary because
competition will be sufficient to keep
prices down. But the idea that they have
too much monopoly power today, but
won't in 6 years, doesn't make a lot of
sense. His other major requirement, more
minority-owned and non-profit channels,
has even less connection to limiting the
firm's market power. More minority-
owned radio stations may or may not be
good policy, but it has nothing to do with
antitrust law, and it seems problematic for
the FCC to impose those sorts of
requirements as part of the merger review
process.
Timothy Lee is an expert at the Techdirt
Insight Community. To get insight and
analysis from Timothy Lee and other
experts on challenges your company faces,
click here.
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14 Tech*
Mass Reorg at Microsoft Platforms &
Services Division
By Nik Cubrilovic (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 4:40:30 PM
Microsoft has just announced a major
reorganization of its Platforms & Services
Division. It will now be split into two
groups (Windows/Windows Live and
Online Services) which will both report to
Steve Ballmer. That’s right. Steve Ballmer
will now personally be running Windows.
Kevin Johnson, who used to head the
Platforms & Services Division, will soon
be leaving the company to become the
CEO of Juniper Networks. Steven
Sinofsky, Jon DeVaan and Bill Veghte will
be in charge of the newly created
Windows/Windows Live group. Microsoft
has not yet chosen a leader for the Online
Services group.
The full press release is below.
Microsoft Announces Reorganization of
Windows and Online Services Business
Platforms & Services Division to Split
Into Two Groups and Report to CEO Steve
Ballmer.
REDMOND, Wash. — July 23, 2008 —
Microsoft Corp. today announced that the
Platforms & Services Division (PSD) will
be split into two groups:
Windows/Windows Live and Online
Services, with both groups reporting
directly to CEO Steve Ballmer. Microsoft
also announced that PSD President Kevin
Johnson will be leaving the company.
Johnson will work to ensure a smooth
transition.
“Kevin has built a supremely talented
organization and laid the foundation for the
Advocacy Group Claims Google Maps Is A Tool Of Child Predators
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 5:11:00 AM
We've been talking about the popularity
of"technopanics," where the press (often
spurred on by "advocacy" groups) push out
a "but think of the children" campaign to
worry about how child predators are using
this or that kind of technology -- when the
reality is that there is often little to no
evidence that this is actually happening or
a serious threat. Studies eventually show
future success of Windows and our Online
Services Business. This new structure will
give us more agility and focus in two very
competitive arenas,” Ballmer said. “It has
been a pleasure to work with Kevin, and
we wish him well in the future.”
Effective immediately, senior vice
presidents Steven Sinofsky, Jon DeVaan
and Bill Veghte will report directly to
Ballmer to lead Windows/Windows Live.
The Windows organization recently
announced strong annual sales, with more
than 180 million copies of Windows Vista
sold globally, and it has driven more than
100 million installs of its Windows Live
suite. The organization’s innovation
pipeline includes a new version of
Windows Internet Explorer, the next
version of Windows and the next
generation of the Windows Live product
suite.
In the Online Services Business,
Microsoft will create a new senior lead
position and will conduct a search that will
span internal and external candidates. In
the meantime, Senior Vice President Satya
Nadella will continue to lead Microsoft’s
search, MSN and ad platform engineering
efforts. Microsoft recently announced a
strategy to redefine search through
innovations in the user experience and
business models. As an example, the
that the press blew the "threat" way out of
proportion, but by then it's too late. The
public already believes that there's a huge
threat. This isn't to say that there aren't
some folks who have used these sites to
prey on children -- or that people shouldn't
be aware that it's a risk. But most kids
seem to have no problem ignoring or
brushing off the extremely rare
solicitations they might get -- usually
because their parents or educators taught
them to be cautious around random
company’s cashback search program,
announced in May, is already generating
strong momentum among online shoppers
and advertisers.
In addition, Senior Vice President Brian
McAndrews will continue to lead the
Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group
(APS). APS has great momentum, having
signed more than 100 new publisher deals
in the past year. McAndrews will continue
to focus on the display advertising
opportunity for Microsoft, driving
execution and integration of advertising
assets, including recent acquisitions such
as Massive Inc., Navic Networks,
ScreenTonic SA and YaData Ltd.
“Our Windows business is firing on all
cylinders,” Ballmer said. “We see
tremendous opportunity in search and
advertising, and we have a clear strategy
for investing in success today and growth
in the future.”
“Microsoft is a special place and presents
opportunity to so many,” Johnson said. “I
have been so fortunate to have experienced
16 amazing years of building Microsoft’s
business, learning from great leaders in the
company and working with phenomenally
talented people.”
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help
people and businesses realize their full
potential.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because
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strangers.
So, with studies finally showing the lack
of a threat on social networks, it seems that
technopanic advocates have had to move
on to things like gaming consoles. The
latest is even more ridiculous. Apparently
an advocacy group is trying to warn people
about the supposed dangers of Google's
Street View technology. Apparently,
they're worried that child predators will
use the tech to scope out where children
live, because Google Street View might
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
DNS Flaw Is A Serious
Security Threat
By Timothy Lee (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 11:18:00 AM
Aaron Massey has a good write-up of the
DNS vulnerability that was discovered by
security researcher Dan Kaminsky and
leaked onto the Internet this week. In a
nutshell, a flaw in the design of the DNS
protocol (which translates domain names
like "techdirt.com" to IP addresses) will
make it possible for malicious individuals
to invisibly redirect web traffic from
legitimate sites to sites of the attacker's
choosing. This is a huge deal because a ton
of online applications and services depend
on reliable DNS for their security. You
might think you're visiting your bank's
website, but if your DNS server isn't
patched you could really be sending your
password to hackers in Russia. Kaminsky
tells Wired that fewer than half of the DNS
servers on the Internet were patched when
the details of the vulnerability leaked, so
it's a real problem. If your ISP hasn't
patched its DNS servers, you can protect
yourself by switching to OpenDNS until
they do so.
There's a long-running argument in
computer security circles about the best
way to release information about security
vulnerabilities, with a lot of security
professionals favoring immediate, public
disclosure of all vulnerabilities. Kaminsky
possibly maybe have caught kids playing
outside. Is there any evidence that this has
actually happened? Nope. Is there any
reason to think that this makes sense for a
child predator as compared to actually
getting in a car and driving around and
seeing what's happening out in broad
daylight? Nope. It's just fear, fear, fear!
Amusingly, I found this story from
Stephen Shankland at News.com, who
points out that the same day that advocacy
group put out its fearmongering press
chose not to go the public disclosure route
because he felt this bug was too serious to
take the risk of its being misused.
Kaminsky approached the major DNS
vendors in March, and managed to keep
the details secret long enough for them to
develop fixes for their products. Then, on
July 8, Kaminsky announced the
simultaneous release of these fixes, while
still keeping the details of the vulnerability
secret. (The fixes worked in a general
enough way that they didn't give away the
details of the vulnerability.) He had been
intending to keep it secret until August 8,
so that systems administrators would have
a full month to prepare their networks.
Unfortunately, the information leaked out
on Monday, leading to a scramble to patch
the remaining DNS servers before exploits
start showing up. Given the scope of the
patching effort (16 people from various
organizations were invited to the secret
March summit among DNS vendors), I
think it's pretty impressive that the details
didn't leak out earlier.
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release, another group was announcing
how you can use its new service, built on
Google Maps, to see if any registered sex
offenders live near you. So, while we have
one group warning about how Google
Maps can be used for evil, another group is
pointing out how it can be used to see if
there are any threats in the neighborhood.
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
A Xobni Executive Leaves Google Launches Knol,
The Red-Hot Startup. But The Monetizable
Why? Wikipedia
By Jason Kincaid (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 7:48:22 PM
Xobni, the Y Combinator email startup
that turned down an acquisition offer from
Microsoft earlier this year, has just lost its
VP Engineering and first employee, Gabor
Cselle. Cselle joined the company in
March 2007, sporting a seemingly perfect
resume that included work on the Gmail
team and a Master’s thesis on “Organizing
Email”.
The departure may not be abrupt (Cselle
won’t be leaving until the end of August),
but it is unexpected, and frankly, doesn’t
make much sense. Since launching at
TechCrunch40, Xobni has shown
impressive growth and received
widespread acclaim - Bill Gates demoed
the service at the Office Development
Conference earlier this year.
CEO Jeff Bonforte(who joined the
company only five months ago) says that
Cselle simply decided that he was no
longer happy at Xobni, and wanted to try
building his own startup. Bonforte says
that Cselle likely wants his own shot at
glory, and because of Xobni’s quick rise to
success, members of the team may believe
that launching a startup is far easier than it
really is.
Cselle’s blog post on his depature seems
to confirm this, at least in part:
“Ever since reading a biography of Bill
Gates when I was 14 years old, I’ve
wanted to be a founder of a company that
makes a difference. I’ve wanted to build a
workplace where people can be creative,
productive, and happy, and a product that
delights users and improves their lives. I
feel like the time is now.”
Cselle may be itching to try his own
luck, but Bonforte’s explanation still
doesn’t sit well with us. Microsoft just
threw $20 million at the company, which it
turned down, likely in hopes of a better
offer somewhere down the road. Why
wouldn’t Cselle wait for his payday and
then jump ship to start his own company?
We’ve heard that Cselle has been
unhappy at the company for months, but
we haven’t been able to reach him for any
further details (we’ll update the post as
soon as we do). In his blog post, he says
that after leaving Xobni in August, he’s
going to travel the world, raising money
along the way for a new email startup.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
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By Jason Kincaid (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 12:32:12 PM
Today Google has launched Knol, its
Wikipedia alternative that holds authors
accountable for the articles they write.
Each article is created by a team of authors
who receive attribution, and are allowed to
take part in a rev-share for AdSense ads on
their page. Other users can submit changes,
but they have to be approved by the
article’s original authors before they go
live on the site (it’s basically a moderated
Wikipedia).
Google says that it will allow multiple
people to create Knols on the same subject.
Knol allows users to rate and review
Knols, and will likely include ranking as
part of search results so we don’t have to
sift through countless articles on the same
topics. You can see an example article (a
Knol that tells you how to write Knols)
here.
The big news here is that by assigning
ownership and allowing authors to include
AdSense ads on their articles, Google is
effectively offering a monetary incentive
to create good content. In theory, the best
articles will get the most attention, and in
turn the most revenue.
Unfortunately, this plan may backfire on
Big Brother 10: Live feeds report - July 23
By Jackie Schnoop (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 11:46:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, Big Brother (US)
Someone will be leaving the Big Brother
10 house tonight. I think we may all have a
good idea who it will be. But what's been
going on in the house? Have the tides
changed?
One way to find out these things is to
buy a subscription to the 24/7 live feeds.
Or, much easier for you ... read the daily
live feeds reports right here on TV Squad!
Read on past the jump for possible show
Google. We’re going to start seeing a
flurry of articles on the most popular
content - expect to see dozens of
biographies on Barack Obama and John
McCain in the next few days. For these
popular subjects the system should work
well - a few lucky (and hopefully credible)
articles will rise to the top, and the rest will
fade away. But for less popular topics there
won’t be any incentive for anyone to write
anything.
Wikipedia works well because it’s
almost like a charitable organization.
Everyone contributes what they can in the
hopes of furthering the world’s knowledge.
Knol’s community will likely be far more
concerned with earning money than the
general welfare, which may hurt both its
credibility and the amount of participation
it sees from the community.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because
it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
spoilers.
Continue reading Big Brother 10: Live
feeds report - July 23
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Tech* TV* 15
How Congress Might
Accidentally Ban US
Companies From Doing
Business In The US
By Timothy Lee (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 2:15:00 AM
A couple of years ago, we wrote about a
proposal to restrict search engine
companies from doing business in foreign
countries whose Internet policies the
United States government deems
"repressive." In March, we noted that it
was back. Jonathan Zittrain has written up
an analysis of the latest version. It would
supposedly "prevent US companies from
aiding the censorship and surveillance
operations of repressive foreign
governments." It would target "Internet
Restricting Countries," which are countries
that are "directly or indirectly responsible
for a systematic pattern of substantial
restrictions on Internet freedom."
Now, I understand that the intent is to
target truly repressive regimes like China
and Cuba, but I have to wonder about how
this is being defined. After all, you could
argue that the United States's gambling ban
is a "substantial restriction on Internet
freedom." Ditto for the recent FISA bill,
which allows warrantless dragnet
surveillance of Americans' international
calls. Likewise, some European countries
restrict Internet freedom with regard to
Nazi memorabilia. And of course the
Australian government forces its ISPs to
censor online pornography. Will American
companies be prohibited from doing
business in the United States, France,
Germany, and Australia? Somehow I doubt
it. All of which is to say that putting the
US government in charge of drawing up a
list of countries with bad Internet policies
seems like a bad idea. The list will wind up
being a political football rather than an
objective assessment of countries' internet
policies, and in any event it will hurt
American businesses a lot more than it will
promote human rights abroad.
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16 Tech*
MySpace’s DeWolfe Says Is Google's Proprietary
New Music Joint Venture Tech Stack Destroying Its
to Launch in September Acquisitions?
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 12:11:34 PM
MySpace’s upcoming music joint venture
with 3 of the 4 major labels, first
announced in April, will launch in
September (EMI is still a holdout, but from
what we hear they may be ready to fold
soon). Chris DeWolfe, CEO of MySpace,
mentioned that date and gave other details
about the joint venture in an interview
today with Adam Lashinsky at the Fortune
Brainstorm conference in Half Moon Bay,
CA.
Afterward, he told TechCrunch Co-
Editor Erick Schonfeld, who is attending
the event, that MySpace Music will be a
combination music store/subscription
service, with unlimited playbacks of full
tracks, but for free. The revenue model
will be advertising and paid downloads.
Advertisers are already lining up, with
some eight-figure deals being negotiated.
This is the first time a launch date has
publicly been revealed. MySpace is
counting on the music store as a new
growth business - and bringing in the
major labels as equity partners helps
ensure their long term buy-in. The
seemingly successful Hulu business model
which brought in News Corp and other
content owners last year will set the
example.
Music almost certainly plays a part of
MySpace’s continued dominance of
European Intellectual Property Scholars: Copyright Extension Harms
Innovation
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 3:43:00 AM
Following the EU's misguided proposal to
extend performance copyrights on songs
from 50 years to 95 years, a group of
professors from intellectual property, legal
and innovation positions, have gotten
Facebook in the U.S. Market. Facebook
continues to rely on iLike for music -
MySpace, by contrast, has already had a
deep music offering and hosts pages for 5
million artists. MySpace says that 65% of
their users embed music on their MySpace
pages, and over 5 billion songs are
streamed on MySpace each month.
There are still a lot of details that need to
be explained about the MySpace music
venture, and we still eagerly await
announcement about the CEO of the new
venture.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
together to send a highly critical letter,
pointing out why such a copyright
extension is not necessary and, in fact, will
be quite harmful. Here's a snippet of the
letter: Unanimously, the European centres
for intellectual property research have
opposed the proposal. The empirical
evidence has been summarised succinctly
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 8:21:00 AM
While Google has bought plenty of small
startups, almost none of those deals have
amounted to very much. It almost seems
like most of the startups disappear into
Google forever. There are a few exceptions
such as YouTube and (maybe) Writely.
But the list of startups that have simply
languished or died is much longer.
TechCrunchIT is running an interesting
post that suggests one of the key reasons:
Google's proprietary tech stack. While
Google is a big open source supporter for
lower level infrastructure, once you get
above that -- it's very much a strong
believer in doing everything its own way.
I've heard from friends at Google about the
difficulty they've had learning to deal with
Google's tech stack -- and certainly have
heard how it's slowed down the progress of
some Google acquisitions while they learn
how to "transition."
In fact, some have pointed out that this is
in at least three studies: the Cambridge
Study for the UK Gowers Review of 2006;
a study conducted by the Amsterdam
Institute for Information Law for the
Commission itself (2006); and the
Bournemouth University statement signed
by 50 leading academics in June 2008.
The simple truth is that copyright
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
one of the side benefits to Google's
AppEngine offering. Since it exposes some
of Google's tech stack to folks for them to
develop and run their applications, it will
make it much easier to integrate them into
Google at a later date. So, for startups
whose strategy is to get acquired by
Google (and, I should note, if you start
with that strategy, you're probably going to
fail), it may make sense to develop on
AppEngine just because you're already
signaling to Google that the integration
costs are significantly lower.
Still, this highlights one of the major
downsides to Google's belief that it can do
everything much better than everyone else
by starting from scratch: in doing so, it
actually makes it much harder to capitalize
on synergies from many acquisition
targets. Yes, there are reasons to go against
the "standard" way of doing things, but
there are significant costs as well.
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extension benefits most those who already
hold rights. It benefits incumbent holders
of major back-catalogues, be they record
companies, ageing rock stars or,
increasingly, artists' estates. It does nothing
for innovation and creativity. The proposed
Term Extension Directive undermines the
credibility of the copyright system. It will
Facebook Connect
Coming To
iPhone This Fall
By Nik Cubrilovic (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 3:08:55 PM
Today at the f8 conference Benjamin
Ling revealed that Facebook will be
releasing a Cocoa framework for the
iPhone that will allow application
developers to integrate with Facebook
Connect. The framework is expected to be
released sometime in the fall, and will take
the form of an SDK that can be used by
developers of iPhone applications.
Facebook Connect allows applications to
integrate the facebook platform and the
identity of users into their own
applications.
Currently Facebook Connect is only
available for web applications, but the
announcement of an iPhone SDK is the
first sign that Facebook is considering both
mobile and desktop platforms as part of
their vision.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because
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further alienate a younger generation that,
justifiably, fails to see a principled basis.
Hopefully, European politicians will
actually pay attention to this condemnation
of the proposed extension.
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Trouble in Online Travel: How About Five Year
American Airlines Ditches Renewable Copyrights With
Kayak (Maybe Orbitz Too) A Use-It-Or-Lose-It Clause?
By Erick Schonfeld (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 12:56:54 PM
After years of ceding the upper hand in
online travel to booking sites like Kayak
and Orbitz, American Airlines is about to
fight back. According to the CEO of a
competing travel site, American Airlines is
about to pull its airline listings out of
Kayak and is considering doing the same
with Orbitz. If it does so, other airlines
such as Continental and Northwest may
follow suit.
Airlines don’t like the booking sites
because they have to pay them a referral
fee for every ticket they sell, as opposed to
capturing the full fare when travelers book
on their individual sites. Even though that
only amounts to a few dollars per ticket,
every dollar counts to the troubled
airlines—especially now with fuel prices
going sky-high and the consumer spending
going down.
American Airlines has a particular beef
with Kayak because it tends to show AA
flights through its partnership with Orbitz
instead of directly from American. That
means American has to pay a double tax,
300,000 UK Motorists Say GPS Lead Them Into Danger
-- But Not All Of Them Followed
By Michael Ho (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 9:48:00 AM
Drivers in the UK seem to really have a
problem with completely relying on GPS
navigation directions. But it's hard to
believe the headline that GPS devices
caused 300,000 crashes for motorists
across the pond. Based on a quick search,
the UK's Department for Transport
reported less than 500,000 traffic accidents
once to Kayak and once to Orbitz. (The
deal between Kayak and Orbitz, charges
the competing CEO, was meant to drive up
traffic numbers on Kayak as it was
potentially seeking an IPO prior to raising
$200 million instead last December).
The decision to sever ties with Kayak
supposedly has already been made. The
only question is whether Orbitz can
salvage its relationship with the airline.
This should strengthen competing travel
sites, especially newer ones that link
directly to the airlines like Mobissimo and
Yapta.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
in 2001 on all the roads in the UK. So
unless the number of traffic accidents has
skyrocketed over the last few years, it
would seem that GPS devices are to blame
for a significant number of vehicle
accidents. (It's not clear over what time
period those 300,000 GPS-caused
accidents occurred -- but presumably those
300,000 crashes didn't start happening in
the 1980's.)
However, the UK poll actually says that
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 12:48:00 AM
Over the years, we've seen numerous
ideas and recommendations for ways to fix
copyright, and a popular one is getting rid
of the automatic creation of copyright on
new works, requiring individuals to
actually register that work -- often
combined with a shorter time limit on
copyrights that would have a renewal
option. Larry Lessig has long supported
such a system. The thinking is that this still
lets those big companies who want to
hoard their copyrights forever do so, but
opens up plenty of other orphaned content
that is locked down just because Disney
doesn't want to lose the copyright on
Mickey Mouse. Benjamin Krueger points
us to Andrew Dubber's recent proposal of
switching to a five-year renewable
copyright plan, that also includes a use-it-
one in fifty UK drivers -- about 300,000
motorists -- blames GPS for causing or
nearly causing an accident -- which is
hardly the same thing as GPS devices
causing 300,000 accidents. But even so, if
the poll numbers are accurate, it also seems
amazing that there isn't a follow-up
headline regarding a class action lawsuit
against these "dangerous" GPS devices.
Clearly, there are a sizable number of
drivers who need more reminders that
or-lose it clause. Basically, copyright
holders who want to retain their copyright
can do so, but they have to renew the
registration once every five years. And,
during those five years, the content has to
be available commercially one way or
another. This way, if content is being
neglected, ignored, abandoned or
orphaned, it makes its way into the public
domain in short order, where perhaps
others can make it more useful. This would
seem to fit much more closely with the
original purpose of copyright law, though
(as per usual), I'm sure there will be many
complaints from copyright holders about
how such a system would destroy their
rights. When reading through those,
though, note that they never seem very
concerned with the rights of the public
either.
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automated directions are not 100%
reliable. Given the somewhat saturated
GPS device market, maybe more safety
features should become a differentiator --
instead of novelty Knight Rider voices and
navigators disguised as teddy bears.
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Tech* 17
Digg To (Finally)
Integrate OpenID, If This
Picture Is To Be Believed
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 6:39:29 PM
When Digg’s Lead Architect Joe Stump
took the stage at the Facebook Developer
Conference in San Francisco earlier today,
something in one of his screen shots
caught our attention. He was there to show
how users will soon be able to log in to
Digg without an account via their
Facebook credentials (the new Facebook
Connect product). But also included
prominently in the screen, but not
mentioned by Stump, was an option to log
in via OpenID.
Digg founder Kevin Rose promised
OpenID integration at a conference in early
2007, but the company has been silent on it
since then. Like many other companies,
they seemed to enjoy the positive press
that the announcement made but were
unwilling to schedule the development
time to actually implement it.
Facebook Connect isn’t slated to go live
until the Fall, and we assume they’ll push
OpenID at the same time. We asked
OpenID’s David Recordan what he knew -
he said he noticed the same thing we did
but doesn’t have any additional
information on when or if Digg would
finally implement the single sign-on
solution. We also have an email in to Digg
for comment.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because
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18 Gadgets* Tech Tips*
Nokia and Qualcomm bury the
patent hatchet, start making out
By Chris Ziegler (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 1:04:00 PM
Filed under: Cellphones One of the
longest-running -- and certainly most
fascinating -- soap operas in the entire
wireless world, the seemingly endless
patent drama between Nokia and
Qualcomm, has finally drawn to an
amicable (dare we say anti-climactic)
close. After just a single day of arbitration,
the two firms have basically agreed to a
patent swap, allowing Nokia to use all of
Qualcomm's patents and vice versa.
Furthermore, Nokia is just stone-cold
handing over a bunch of patents it holds
related to GSM, WCDMA, and OFDMA,
which presumably means companies that
are currently licensing those patents can
Qualcomm. What's more, Espoo's
$2,000 Giant Twist Freedom DX
get ready to start writing those checks to
dropping its anti-competition claims
electric bicycle gets pedaled on
against Qualcomm in Europe -- but beyond
that, specific terms (read: cash money)
Use Google Mobile for the iPhone for video
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Quick Local Lookups [Google]
By Adam Pash (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 9:00:00 AM
Over at the Google Mobile Blog I've put
together a step-by-step video detailing how
I use the previously mentioned Google
Mobile app on my iPhone to do quick local
look-ups. The concept is simple: Since the
Google Mobile app has a built-in local
option for searching nearby, I fire up
Google Mobile whenever I need to look up
an address or phone number, enter what
Really, really tweak your ride: the Unidrive has arrived
By Joshua Topolsky (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 9:22:00 AM
Filed under: Transportation
Not content with simply creating bizarre,
high-end sports cars, Spanish automaker
IFR Automotive has unveiled a steering
wheel-embedded computer that can
weren't disclosed beyond the typical PR
pleasantries that both sides are happy with
the outcome. If this means we finally have
to retire our Nokia-Qualcomm starburst
graphic, we're going to pout like little
children, so we can only hope these two
lovebirds find something else to squabble
over in the not-too-distant future. Read|
Permalink| Email this| Comments
I'm looking for, and launch up the local
search. You can do the exact same thing
through Google Maps on the iPhone, but
using Google Mobile cuts out a step and
gives you all the other Google Mobile
search options to boot. Jump through to the
Google Mobile post to see if the iPhone 3G
will blend (spoiler: it can).
Mobile Tricks with the Google Mobile
App[Google Mobile Blog]
electronically alter the way in which a car
performs. Dubbed the Unidrive, the
touchscreen-driven device (which appears
to have been in development for some
time) will provide instant access to
tweaking the valve timing, rev limit, ride
height, ABS, and a variety of other car-
nerd trivialities that only a true grease-
Submitted at 7/23/2008 11:00:00 AM
Filed under: Transportation
For those balking at the $2,000 price tag,
you should really take a look at the
competition before scrunching your nose
up and walking away. That being said, two
large is still a lot to drop on something that
could still require at least some bodily
exertion, but a recent video review over at
Popular Mechanics could help you
determine whether this particular bike is
worth you while. The Giant Twist
Freedom DX can roll up to 75 miles on a
mixture of battery and human-powered
monkey could really understand. The in-
car end of the system will interact directly
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
pedaling, and the motor touts three
different modes (Eco, Normal and Sport)
to satisfy your mood / riding requirements.
Nah, Ironman participants won't want
anything to do with this heap, but those
looking for a greener (and oftentimes
quicker) way to commute in the city may
find lots to love. The video, as promised, is
waiting in the read link.
[Via Digg]
Continue reading$2,000 Giant Twist
Freedom DX electric bicycle gets pedaled
on video Read| Permalink| Email this|
Comments
with chassis and engine functions, even
allowing for unique states that can be
tuned to individual driver's tastes.
Currently the technology is poised to be
employed in the company's forthcoming
£75,000 (about $150,000) Aspid car -- no
word on if this will make it into your next
Escort. [Warning: read link is a PDF, and
Texas Memory breaks
records, budgets with
blisteringly fast RamSan-
440 storage device
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 10:27:00 AM
Filed under: Storage
Texas Memory has been around longer
than most of you readers have been alive
(or so we're told by our resident omniscient
overlord), but it's been quite awhile since it
was talked about freely in the same breath
as WD, Fujitsu, Samsung, et al. Now,
however, the company is making the
rounds once more thanks to its "record
setting" RamSan-440, which provides
between 256GB and 512GB of RAM-
based SSD storage, 600,000 IOPS,
4,500MB/sec random sustained external
throughput and latency under 15-
microseconds. The entire rig arrives in a 90
-pound 4U rack-mount enclosure and
claims to be "the first SSD to use RAIDed
NAND flash memory modules for data
backup." Chances are, you were already
bracing to hear a pretty ludicrous figure
when it comes to pricing, but $150,000 for
the 256GB edition and $275,000 for the
512GB iteration? Please -- we'll take a
Lightning GT, thanks.
[Via DailyTech] Read| Permalink| Email
this| Comments
in Spanish]
[Via The Register] Read| Permalink|
Email this| Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Robot dragonfly gets outfitted
with camera, plans to record NAO humanoid robots gets a price tag,
uprising from every possible angle exhaustive overview
By Donald Melanson (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 12:43:00 PM
Filed under: Robots
The folks at the Technical University of
Delft have already done their part for the
robot cause by building a dragonfly-type
bot, dubbed the DelFly Micro, with a
wingspan of just four inches, but they've
now gone one step further and strapped a
tiny camera onto it. What's more, they've
also developed some image recognition
software that promises to let the bot
recognize objects, which could potentially
let it locate individuals in a disaster area,
Acrylic Cowboy cases artfully expose your components, are not childproof
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 3:41:00 PM
Filed under: Desktops
Here's the thing about PC cases -- they
spend a good bit of time showing off how
fantastic the outside of component-filled
boxes can look, but generally speaking, the
or sneak up behind you when you least
suspect it. Of course, the researchers aren't
satisifed with things just yet, and they're
promising to make an even smaller DelFly
Nano bot that'd have a two-inch wingspan
and weigh just a single gram. Until then,
you can check out the current model in
action in the video after the break.
[Via Protein Feed]
Continue reading Robot dragonfly gets
outfitted with camera, plans to record
uprising from every possible angle Read|
Permalink| Email this| Comments
innards are completely overlooked. Digital
Cowboy is out to dramatically reverse the
trend with its Acrylic Cowboy cases,
which -- by and large -- place your
hardware on the outside of the case. We
can't exactly see a rhyme or reason
(outside of the obvious cooling benefits) as
to why these were created, but so long as it
By Donald Melanson (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 11:46:00 AM
Filed under: Robots
We've been keeping an eye on
Aldebaran's NAO robot since before it
even took its first steps, and it now looks
like the little guy is finally set to try to
make it on its own in the wild world of the
commercial market. That word comes
courtesy of an exhaustive white paper
posted by Aldebaran on the arXiv website,
stays far, far away from sodas, children
and family pets, we'd say it's the perfect
which also includes the helpful little detail
that the bot will cost interested laboratories
about €10,000 (or roughly $15,600).
Unfortunately, there's no indication as to
exactly when the bot will be available, but
those in the market for one can at least tide
themselves a bit over by pouring over the
details available in the PDF at the link
below.
[Via Slashdot] Read| Permalink| Email
this| Comments
way to showcase what's really important in
your gaming rig.
[Via Engadget Deutschland] Read|
Permalink| Email this| Comments
Gadgets* 19
Western Digital intros
2.5-inch 10,000RPM
VelociRaptor HDD
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 1:59:00 PM
Filed under: Storage
Western Digital has been flaunting its
VelociRaptor for some time now, but the
drive you've been slamming into towers is
now available for low-power, high-
performance blade server applications. The
2.5-inch, 10,000RPM enterprise SATA
drive (WD3000BLFS) is specially
designed to fit snugly within 1U and 2U
rack servers, and aside from consuming
35% less power than the previous Raptor
drive, this one is available with up to
300GB of capacity. You'll also find 16MB
of cache and a 1.4 million mean time
before failure rating, though you won't be
able to procure one until later this month
for an undisclosed price. Read| Permalink|
Email this| Comments
20 Gadgets* Web 2.0
Windows iPhone 3G jailbreak tool
released
By Nilay Patel (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 5:16:00 PM
Filed under: Cellphones
Sure, it was already possible(if
complicated) to jailbreak a first-gen iPhone
running the 2.0 software under Windows,
but this is the one-click tool all you crazy
cats with those extra G's need if you don't
have a Mac -- too bad no one's come up
with a better name than "pwn" yet. Please,
Facebook’s Translation Application Now
Available to Developers
By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 1:49:59 PM
Kicking off Facebook’s F8 conference,
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that
the social network’s translation tool can
now be used by developers to translate
their applications into different languages.
The tool will work both ways –
developers in English-speaking countries
can translate their applications into the 15
languages that Facebook currently
supports, while developers in non-English
people. Let's do better.
PS.- As usual, you run the risk of totally
destroying your phone mucking around
with this stuff, so don't say we didn't warn
you.
Update: winpwn.com is down already,
mirrors in the comments!
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments
speaking countries can translate their
applications into English.
Zuckerberg notes that Facebook has now
been translated into nearly 70 different
languages, with the official launch of them
all coming soon. Overall, Facebook now
has 90 million active users, with 2/3rds of
them outside of the US.
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Facebook Launches in Spanish
Facebook Launches Community-Driven
Sony Reader pre-order
now live in the UK,
shipping in September
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 9:54:00 AM
Filed under: Displays
We Americans have had the opportunity
to pick up Sony's Reader for what seems
like eons, but you poor bookworms holed
up in the UK have been neglected unjustly.
No more, as Sony has just opened up the
phone lines for folks eager to claim their
spot in line the queue. No need in
rehashing the specifications you already
know -- it's still the same ole PRS-505, just
way more expensive in US dollars.
[Via MobileRead, thanks Alex] Read|
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Project to Add Foreign Language Support
Facebook Adds 55 More Languages to
Translations Application
Google’s AJAX Translation Apps Make
You Global, Fast.
Facebook JavaScript Now Live
More Details Emerge on Facebook’s
User-Driven Translations Application
What Facebook Didn’t Announce Today
at F8
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
The Cure for the NetFlix
10,000
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 8:51:06 PM
One of the biggest beefs most folks have
with NetFlix as an alternative to traditional
forms of livingroom-based entertainment is
that their on-demand selection is somewhat
limited in nature (actually, recent
Mashable commenter “Cody” remarked
that “the online/stream selection was just
plain miserable…”).
Miserable might be an overstatement, but
unfortunately dated and small is fairly
accurate. Their collection of on demand
movies and TV series is limited to 10,000
titles, many of them B-Rated movies or
flicks you’ve likely seen a few times
already. Still, the on-demand service
combined with the convenience of the
Roku box is something I’ve salivated over
quite a bit, both over the coolness factor
and the promise of what it could mean for
the future of online video.
NetFlix has their hands in other honey-
pots as well, though they seem to be in the
process of extricating themselves from
some of these side-ventures. One such
venture is Red Envelope Entertainment,
the documentary investment arm of
NetFlix responsible for such blockbusters
as Small Town Gay Bar, Maxed Out: Hard
Times, Easy Credit and the Era of
Predatory Lenders, and Running with
Arnold.
While those were the most absurd titles I
could find in the 100 film line-up of Red
Envelope, the documentary investment
arm of the company did surprisingly well,
with Piper Jaffrey analysts estimating
gross revenues around $10-30 million.
Chris Albrecht today says today over at
NewTeeVee that NetFlix was right to ditch
their attempt at running a studio. From a
business perspective, this may or may not
be true, but for the reasons he gives it just
doesn’t scan for me:
Netflix doesn’t need to be in the business
of finding little films that could. Yes, it
was great that it funded documentaries, but
the movie rental company has much bigger
fish to fry, and companies such as
Snagfilms are stepping up to distribute
documentaries.
Netflix’s biggest priority has to be
getting more content for its online
streaming services. Stacey’s predictions
about the dearth of “Watch Instantly”
content have come true, and after two
weeks with the Netflix-streaming Roku
box, I’m left to choose between watching
old episodes of Buck Rogers or 100
Sailing Mistakes.
Once it has that problem licked, Netflix
can then focus on its content delivery and
start streaming in HD.
Aside from the glaringly obvious fact
that “Watch Instantly” is far from dead,
isn’t finding and creating unique content
working to solve the problem of not having
enough unique and interesting content on
the service?
Sure, I’d love to have the online videos
in HD. Absolutely I’d love to have more
mainstream movies and TV on the on-
demand service quicker. Ending unique
production investment seems counter to
Chris’s arguments.
If I had my druthers, I’d encourage
NetFlix to invest in and forge relationships
even more alternative content providers.
The seeds have been sewn to take their on-
demand services and throw them to the
livingroom. Garner more compelling and
unique content by striking deals with
episodic content producers. It’ll create
incentive for Internet video producers to
keep producing, and it’ll turn the uber-
simple Roku device into the new cable-
box.
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Netflix Hack for DRM-Free Movie
Downloads
Netflix Streaming Doesn’t Work on
Macs. That’s Bad.
Amazon to Acquire Netflix?
Netflix To Lift Limits For Online
Viewing
TrustedOpinion Funded & Integrating
Netflix Direct Recommendations
Netflix is a Pain in the A** for the Post
Office
The Next Web Documentary
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
35+ Examples of Corporate Social Media in Action
By Aaron Uhrmacher (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 11:38:43 AM
We’ve discussed some tactics to get your
company better engaged with social media.
Lest you think there’s a limit to how you
can connect with business and customer
facing audiences, we’ve assembled this list
of more than 35 companies who are
experimenting with social media in a host
of different ways.
This list is by no means exhaustive, and
it represents a wide variety of businesses,
industries and social media tools. As you
can see, engagement takes many forms.
Some are likely to generate more
discussions with the company while others
might result better connections between
customers. Some will fade away over the
next 6-12 months while others will
continue to grow and evolve.
There are no rules to what form your
engagement has to take. Look at your
company, identify its strengths, what types
of conversations energize employees and
determine how you can best
grow/shape/build/join your own
community.
If you have other examples of corporate
social media engagement, please share
them in the comments.
Blendtec is famous for its bevy of
inexpensive “Will It Blend” videos posted
on YouTube and shared by millions.
Adobe maintains a list of interesting
company related websites and
conversations on the social bookmarking
site Delicious.
Best Western sponsors a blog,“On the
Go with Amy,” where the author travels
the country writing about her experiences.
Cadence recently relaunched its website
that now prominently promotes the
company’s community.
Cisco hosts 12 blogs addressing a variety
of audiences for their global business.
Coca-Cola Conversations is a blog
written by company historian Phil Mooney
Halite Does Super-Lightweight BitTorrent [Featured Windows Download]
By Adam Pash (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 4:00:00 AM
Windows only: Free, open-source
application Halite is a BitTorrent client
with a focus on a small memory footprint.
that focuses on Coke collectibles.
Dell leverages a variety of social media
platforms for customer engagement,
including an island in the virtual world of
Second Life.
Ford publishes news releases with lots
of multimedia content and employs a
social media news release format to
display them in their newsroom.
Fujifilm recently launched a social
network to build a community of photo
enthusiasts around its newest camera.
GM uses blogs to communicate directly
with its customers around topics ranging
from design to green tech.
H&R Block created a Facebook fan site
to aggregate its social media activities,
engage customers and offer tax
advice/resources.
HP used Twitter to power a scavenger
hunt at a recent conference.
HSBC built the HSBC Business Network
to connect entrepreneurs using blogs,
videos and forums.
IBM was the first large enterprise to
embrace employee blogging and now
boasts thousands of blogs related to every
facet of its business.
Intel has also developed many social
media touch points with its software
communities, which includes blogs,
Twitter and virtual worlds.
Intuit sponsors the Tax Almanac wiki,
where anyone can find and contribute to
this resource for tax information.
Jeep connects with customers via
a community page with links to photos on
Flickr, the company’s MySpace and
Facebook pages and a list enthusiast
groups.
JetBlue employs social media as part of
its training for JetBlue University, as this
video explains.
Johnson & Johnson uses this blog to
show another side of the company, with
frequent video posts and interviews.
Lenovo launched “Voices of the
Olympics Games” to aggregate posts from
With Halite running and actively
downloading on my system, I never saw
the memory usage crest 10MB of
RAM—which, as BitTorrent weblog
TorrentFreak points out, is about half the
memory consumption of the popular-for-its
the athletes competing in Beijing.
Marriott CEO Bill Marriott posts regular
updates and stories from his travels to
Marriott properties around the world to
fuel the content for this entertaining blog.
McDonalds maintains a blog to highlight
the company’s corporate social
responsibility efforts.
National Geographic uses Google’s new
virtual world, Lively, to bring people
together around its new show, LA Hard
Hats.
New York Times is beta testing a Firefox
add-on that allows users to share and
comment on stories through a
decentralized social network.
Nike started a social community on
Loopd to connect athletes interested in
surfing, BMX bike racing and similar
activities with the brand.
SAP sponsored a global survey of social
media professionals to learn more about
social media worldwide.
Sears partnered with MTV to create a
social network around Back to School
shopping.
Southwest Airlines employees share their
stories and communicate directly with
customers through the “Nuts About
Southwest” blog.
Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz’s blog is
the example most often cited for what the
CEO blog can be.
Starbucks started MyStarbucksIdea so
that customers can submit ideas for the
-small-footprint uTorrent. Granted, Halite
doesn't have near the advanced features of
uTorrent, but it does support most basic
features, like encryption and selective file
downloading. If all you want is a no-
nonsense BitTorrent client that can grab
company which are then voted on by other
users, the best of which will be
implemented by the company.
Toyota started its own virtual world to
promote its products in Japan (site is in
Japanese).
Visa launched The Visa Business
Network application on Facebook to
connect small business users and to help
them promote their businesses to a larger
community.
Wells-Fargo blogs target two audiences;
one examines the company’s history and
the other is for students interested in
getting their finances in order.
WWE has a Facebook application,
among other social networking tools and
widgets, to bring fans closer to the action.
Xerox blogs address several of the
company’s core B2B constituencies.
Zappos uses Twitter for employees to
communicate with Zappos customers about
their shared love of footwear.
[Disclosure: Aaron Uhrmacher works
with several Fortune 1000 companies,
some of which are included in this list.]
Aaron Uhrmacher is a social media
consultant at Text 100 Public Relations. In
addition to his posts for Mashable, he
blogs at: www.disruptology.com.
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
LinkedIn Launches Corporate Blog
Social Media Marketing FTW!
Save the Date for the New
Communications Forum 2008
Be a Digg Rockstar with Social Media
Firefox Extension
Communitelligence Executing Social
Media Conference in Los Angeles, May 21
-22
Ticket Giveaway to SMX Social Media
in Long Beach, CA
WWE Smackdown Gets a Social
Network
your downloads with the best of them,
Halite may be just what you need. Halite is
free, Windows only.
Halite[via TorrentFreak]
Web 2.0 Tech Tips* 21
Facebook Announces
Great Apps Program
and FBFund Winners
By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 2:17:54 PM
Facebook has announced the “ Great
Apps Program,” a developer offering that
gives certain applications “greater
visibility on Facebook, earlier access to
new features and more feedback from
Facebook.” The initial partners for Great
Apps are Causes and iLike. It will open to
everyone else in September.
For everyone else, Facebook is launching
the “ Application Verification Program” –
also available in September – that will
allow developers to receive official
certification from the social network and
gain added visibility. According to
Facebook, the program will “offer extra
assurances to help users identify
applications they can trust — applications
that are secure, respectful and transparent,
and have demonstrated commitment to
compliance with Platform policies.”
Additionally, Facebook has announced a
fresh $10 million that they will infuse into
a second round of the fbFund.
Simultaneously, they are announcing the
following winners of the first round of
funding for application developers:
CourseFeed by Classtop, GoalCamp,
HotBerry, J2Play, LuckyCal, MyListo,
Podclass, Trazzler, and Zimride Carpool
App. Facebook company profile provided
by TradeVibes
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Sun Partners with Joyent: Free Hosting
for OpenSocial Apps
What Facebook Didn’t Announce Today
at F8
Google Adsense Network Taking Over
Facebook Apps?
Last.fm Facebook App Launches
20 Great Music Applications For
Facebook
Ban
fbExchange Launches, Risks Facebook
Facebook Apps: iGoogle, LivePets,
Vuvox
22 Web 2.0
SummerMash Miami Unlike Any Other Tour Stop
By Karen Hartline (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 12:00:09 PM
Each stop on the U.S. Summer Tour is
proving to be unique and Miami won’t be
any different. We’re celebrating the launch
of DailyMe with an exclusive affair at The
Opium Garden and are offering limited
tickets to the event. Mashable’s Pete
Cashmore and Karen Hartline are looking
forward to meeting the local community
and hearing about the amazing things
happening in Miami tech. Dress to impress
and get ready for the classiest event on the
SummerMash tour yet!
Check out the other cities on the U.S.
Summer Tour:
Seattle| San Francisco| Los Angeles|
Austin| Boston| New York City
When: August 2nd, Saturday, 7:00 -
10:00 PM
Where: Opium Garden 136 Collins Ave,
Miami Beach, FL 33139
What Else?: DailyMe’s Launch Party at
the hottest night club in Miami, open bar,
appetizers, and the beach!
RSVP?: Tickets will be released through
Eventbrite, 21+ Only
Socialize: Facebook, MySpace, Meetup
and Upcoming
Press Passes: Please inquire through
events [at] mashable |dot| com for Press
Passes
Local Sponsor and Celebrating their
Launch Party:
‘ DailyMe, a media and technology start-
up, offers a user-centric news destination, a
platform for publishers to enhance their
sites, and tools to enrich users’ experience.
DailyMe aggregates content from top-tier
publishers and offers various news
editions, including personalized,
editorialized and most popular as well as
comprehensive delivery options.’
Prize Sponsor:
‘ The SXSW Interactive Festival features
five days of exciting panel content and
amazing parties. Attracting digital
creatives as well as visionary technology
entrepreneurs, the event celebrates the best
minds and the brightest personalities of
emerging technology.’
Local Media Partners:
“Bernardo’s List is an email newsletter
about upcoming events for entrepreneurs,
investors and tech execs in New York and
other cities nationwide. Signup is free at
http://www.bernardoslist.com!”
‘ Social Radius is an award-winning
social media marketing firm, specializing
in SEO/SMO, thought leadership
platforms/social media creation,
viral/syndication, outreach and strategy.’
‘ Refresh Miami is a social community
for web and technology enthusiasts in the
south florida area. Designers, developers,
marketers, consultants, entrepreneurs, and
students alike come together for a monthly
meetup to share ideas, discuss new trends,
and meet and greet other like minded
individuals.’
Tour Sponsors
The Sun(TM) Startup Essentials program
is designed to help startup businesses off
the ground by providing access to industry-
leading systems at deep discounts, free
world-class software and web-based
training, discounts on partner hosting
services, and more.
Yoono’s mission is to make the social
web accessible, easy and fun for everyone.
Its newly expanded service socializes your
browser, helps you manage your digital
life and brings the best of the web into one
single browser-based application. Today,
1.3 million users are leveraging Yoono.
Yoono is hosting Social Media Camp at
each tour stop which brings together the
top local names in Blogging, Podcasting,
Live Streaming, and New Media to
participate in an open workshop about the
power of social media.
MySites is a single place for all your
online needs. You can create and
customize a website, save and share any
media, decide who can view it, embed
anywhere, and use any device.
Touring Video Partner
Launched in February 2006, Stickam
emerged as the first and largest Web site
dedicated to live interactive video
streaming. Stickam’s cutting edge
technology delivers millions of streams
each day, reaching over two million
registered users. They are continuing on
the path of social interactive TV by adding
features that nurture its growing
community and tech-savvy broadcasters.
Whether you are famous for 15 or 150,000,
Stickam.com is where you will find your
friends and fans. See and be seen at
Stickam.com, The Live Community.
Exclusive Ticketing Partner
“ Eventbrite is the world’s largest self-
service online ticketing site. Eventbrite
makes it easy for anyone to sell-out an
event.”
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Tour Media Partner
“ Thrillist is a free daily email that sifts
through the crap to bring you the best of
what your city’s hiding. Each day, you’ll
get one quick email with info on the best
food, drinks, gear, services, and events.
Whatever it is, we promise it won’t suck.
Get on the list.”
Online Community Partner
‘ EventVue helps conference attendees
meet the people that matter to them before
they even arrive at an event.’
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Get Your Startup on Mashable (If You’re
in a SummerMash City)
Qik Mobile Live Streaming Straight to
Mashable Events Pages
U.S SummerMash Tour Opens In Seattle
- Live Video Feed
SummerMash San Francisco Streaming
Live [SummerMash Tour 2008]
Social Networking Conferece Miami:
Ticket Raffle and Discount
Streaming Live from SummerMash LA
[video]
Thank You Seattle! SummerMash
Rocked
Live: F8 Keynote
with Mark
Zuckerberg
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 1:48:35 PM
Here at San Francisco Design Center, the
F8 ‘08 event is being held all day. The
keynote with Mark Zuckerberg is the
expected highlight of today’s event, a year
after the launch of the Facebook Platform.
Most are expecting Zuckerberg to
announce initial partners with Facebook
Connect, which would come a day after
MySpace had its announcement of Data
Availability.
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
The Daily Poll: Who’s to Blame for the
SXSW Keynote Fiasco?
Zuckerberg to Keynote SXSW
Conference
Zuckerberg Saves SXSW with Open
Q&A
When an Interview with Zuckerberg
turns into a Revolt
Mark Zuckerberg Sells Stock, Makes
Some Nice Pocket Change
Dinner Keynote at Web 2.0 Summit:
Rupert Murdoch and Chris DeWolfe
Mark Zuckerberg Spotted in Seattle
What Facebook
Didn’t Announce
Today at F8
By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 3:21:40 PM
Facebook made several important
announcements to kickoff its F8 developer
conference this afternoon: the launch of
Facebook Connect, the Great Apps
program for preferred applications, and the
ability for developers to translate their
applications into different languages.
However, a few things that developers and
onlookers thought Facebook might
announce didn’t come to pass. Here’s a
WHAT page 23
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
WHAT
continued from page 22
look at a few of them:
Payment System– There was a fair
amount of speculation that Facebook
would announce a payment system to
allow developers to monetize their
applications. Facebook made no mention
of this, and didn’t touch on monetization
throughout the keynote. Meanwhile, some
developers are already starting to integrate
their own payment options, including
Playfish, which I profiled this morning.
Advertising Program for Developers–
While Facebook has made it clear that no
advertising will be permitted outside of
application canvas pages in a new set of
platform policies issued earlier this week,
there was no announcement of plans for
Facebook to launch its own revenue share
program for developers to monetize their
apps. This is good news for the dozens of
advertising networks currently selling
inventory for developers.
Support for OpenID– Following
MySpace’s announcement yesterday that
Break’s Keith Richman Offers Video
Producers Advice (video)
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 7:15:55 PM
Back in April, we had Keith Richman on
Mashable Conversations to talk about the
formation of the ROI council. Keith is the
CEO of Break.com, and a genuinely
knowlegable person to talk to when it
comes to the broad topic of the business of
online video. That’s why I was thrilled
when he dropped us a line to let us know
about an innovative advertising campaign
being undertaken by Break Media in
conjunction with Samsung for their new
Instinct smartphones.
The campaign isn’t at all a pre-roll, post-
roll , overlay, or any other type of typical
video campaign - the campaign is the
video. They’re basically a series of
entertaining demostrations of the device in
play and usage (and you’ll be surprised
when you see the clarity with which it is
able to record, as a side note). More
they will support OpenID, it seemed
possible that Facebook may at least
become an identity provider, if not the first
big social network to actually let users
login using the standard. No such
announcement was made.
Finances– While Facebook shared a lot
of numbers, including announcing that it
has passed 90 million active users
worldwide, there was no mention of the
company’s overall financial performance.
However, they did note that more than
$200 million has been invested in
Facebook application developers - $34
million of which came this week with
venture capital investments in Zynga and
LivingSocial.
Clearly, the focus of this year’s F8 is on
the Facebook re-design, its implications for
developers, and moving the platform in the
direction of creating a better end user
experience. But short of Facebook
Connect, which everyone knew was
coming, there was certainly no “wow
importantly for our interests (since we’re
not a gadget blog), it’s a neat and
interesting new way to monetize your
video content and video brand.
While we had Keith on the line, we took
the time to pick his brain over some points
Steven Hodson brought up in his recent
editoral: Video Blogging is Not the
Frontier You Might Expect. In that piece,
Steven explored the trials and tribulations
of creating video content in today’s New
Media landscape, and we got some great
examples from Keith of video producers he
thinks are “doing it right.’
Watch the show for the scoop by
downloading the MP4, subscribing to the
feed, or playing the embed below.
factor” in today’s announcements of the
magnitude of last year’s platform launch.
What do you think? Pleased or
disappointed with the Facebook
announcements? Voice your opinions in
the comments.
---
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Social Networking Blog:
Fuser’s MySpace Killer Just Got Meaner
Box.net Upgrades Facebook App &
Opens Platform For Developers
Ballmer Says “Microsoft Wants 20
Companies Per Year.”
Friendster Fan Profiles - The
International Threat
Pick-a-Prof Hooks Up with Facebook
Talkster Offers Free Calls for Facebook
Users
The Daily Poll: Which Platform is the
Best Opportunity for Developers?
Never Miss an Episode!
Get the Mashable Conversations podcast
here(video feed).
Get the Mashable Conversations podcast
here(audio feed).
---
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Social Networking Blog:
Samsung Soon to Release YouTube
Phone in Europe
Break.com Launches Customizable
Video Players
Break.com Gets NBA Content Too.
Everybody’s Doin’ It.
Samsung Demos Bridge Between TV
And The Web
LG To Release YouTube Phone with
Direct Upload
Samsung’s Cross-Network Mobile App,
Competing With iPhone?
Break.com Launches New Video
Player–Looks More Like TV
Google Knol Launches;
More Like Squidoo than
Wikipedia
By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 11:21:50 AM
Google has just launched Knol to the
public, dubbed by many as the search
giant’s Wikipedia killer. My first reaction:
not so fast. While Knol offers a way for
anyone to create content about any subject,
there are a few big differences.
First and foremost, each “Knol” is
created by a single author, who can then
choose to either accept or reject edits made
by others in what Google is calling
“moderated collaboration.” Beyond that,
Knol authors can insert AdSense on their
Knols and earn revenue based on clicks. In
reality, this sounds a lot less like the
community collaborating on authoritative
articles (Wikipedia) and a lot more like a
potential land grab to create content for
lucrative keywords.
However, Google does offer some
options that should keep would-be
opportunists at bay. Each Knol offers the
ability for anyone to review or comment
on it, which in turn raises or lowers the
authority of the article. Google says that
they “expect that there will be multiple
knolls on the same subject, and we think
that is good.”
In giving a single author control over
each Knol and its edits, it’s hard to
imagine the service will be as authoritative
Fix a Scratched LCD Monitor [How To]
By Adam Pash (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 7:00:00 AM
DIY weblog Hackosis details how to fix
your scratched LCD monitor after a
scarring encounter with a sharp object. The
post offers two different methods for
addressing the LCD scratches, from a
temporary fix involving a little petroleum
jelly to a more difficult but permanent
solution that involves removing the scratch
Web 2.0 Tech Tips* 23
as Wikipedia (which, many would argue
has its own biases). It seems more like
Squidoo, where knowledgeable people can
create good content and be rewarded for it,
with the community at-large determining
how valuable it is and recognizing that
there may be some bias in the article.
Meanwhile, Knol could still be a huge
traffic generator for Google and steal
visitors from Wikipedia if it’s integrated in
search results– something Google has not
been shy about doing with other properties
like YouTube. Google company profile
provided by TradeVibes
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
The Daily Poll: Is Google Knol a
Wikipedia Killer?
16 More Years (at least) of Brin, Page,
and Schmidt at Google
The Daily Poll: Which of Google’s New
Products Will Be the Most Successful?
Google Knol - More Of The Same
The Daily Poll: Is Yahoo Shine
Competing with YPN Publishers?
The Daily Poll: What is Google?
Google Introduces the ‘Knol’
and re-lacquering your monitor. I've also
heard the pencil eraser method works for
simple scratches, though I haven't tried it.
If all this LCD talk has got you in the
mood for more LCD maintenance, check
out how to clean an LCD monitor, fix your
LCD's stuck or dead pixels, and remove
LCD image burn-in. Photo by liewcf.
DIY: How To Fix A Scratched LCD
Monitor[Hackosis]
24 Web 2.0 TV*
Facebook Connect Launches Dr. Horrible by the numbers
with 24 Partners Including
Digg and Six Apart
By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 2:02:05 PM
Facebook has announced the official
launch of its Facebook Connect offering,
which will allow users to port their profile
data to third-party Web sites. The company
is announcing 24 launch partners,
including Digg, Six Apart, and CitySearch,
who are demoing their implementations on
stage at F8 this afternoon.
Facebook describes the following
features of Facebook Connect:
- Trusted Authentication– easily
authenticate into partner sites using their
Facebook account
- Real Identity– leverage their real
identity across the Web in a trusted
environment
- Friend Linking– take their friends with
them wherever they go, enabling trusted
social context anywhere on the Web
- Dynamic Privacy– assurance that the
same privacy settings users have set up on
Facebook will follow them wherever they
decide to login throughout the Web
- Social Distribution– share actions on
partner sites with their friends back on
Facebook through feeds
The news follows yesterday’s launch of
MySpace Data Availability, the rival social
What's On Tonight: Big Brother, Click and Clack, Ghost Hunters
International
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 9:04:00 AM
Filed under: Programming, What To
Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• FOX has a new, two hour So You Think
You Can Dance at 8.
• PBS has a new Click & Clack's As The
Wrench Turns at 8, then a new Nova
scienceNOW.
• Versus has more coverage of the Tour
network’s product for porting profile data,
on Flixster and Eventful.
Facebook has announced that the
following partners will be participating in
Facebook Connect: Amiando, CBS.com,
CNET, CollegeHumor, Disney-ABC
Television Group, Evite, Flock, Hulu,
Kongregate, Loopt, Plaxo, Radar, Red
Bull, Seesmic, Socialthing!, StumbleUpon,
The Insider, Twitter, Uber, Vimeo and
Xobni.
None of the implementations are live yet,
but Zuckerberg said in his keynote that
developer keys will be available today so
applications can start being built that
leverage Facebook Connect.
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Facebook Blocks Google’s Friend
Connect. There Goes the Open Web.
Aussie Facebook Opens to Everyone
What Facebook Didn’t Announce Today
at F8
AlumWire - Facebook Meets LinkedIn
Facebook Creates A Market For
Developers And Those That Need Them
Jobster Launches Advanced Job Search
for Facebook
Live: F8 Keynote with Mark Zuckerberg
de France at 8.
• At 9, NBC has a new Baby Borrowers.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters
International at 9, followed by two new
episodes of Scare Tactics.
• A&E has a new Dog The Bounty
Hunter at 9, then a new Criss Angel
Mindfreak.
• History Channel has a new
MonsterQuest at 9.
• Also at 9: Bravo has a new Project
Runway, followed by a new Shear Genius.
By Brett Love (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 8:20:00 AM
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV
on DVD, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities,
Reality-Free
Now that we've all had a chance to take
in and digest the saga of Dr. Horrible, one
of the big questions is "Did it work?" It
certainly seemed to work for the viewers.
In our poll, an astounding 74.2% of you
gave it 5 out of 5. Another 22.5% went
with 4 out of 5. The bigger question
though, is did it work out for everybody on
the money end? And I ask that rather
selfishly. Sure, I'd like to see Whedon,
Fillion, Harris, Day, and the whole crew
make a few bucks. But really, I'm more
concerned with getting to see more of the
story. If the numbers worked out for all
involved, the chances of that happening
increase greatly.
Jeffrey McManus has made some
educated guesses at just how the numbers
shake out for those involved. The short
version of McManus' analysis: At a million
iTunes downloads he has the principle
actors bringing in something in the
neighborhood of $100,000 with Whedon
• At 9:30, HGTV has a new Design on a
Dime.
• At 10, ABC has a new Primetime:
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
coming in at around$4 million$2.6 million.
I'm not sure how feasible one million
iTunes downloads on iTunes is, but I do
know that at the moment Dr. Horrible
counts for 3 of the top 4 episodes and the
top season on the U.S. lists. Add in the
international markets and it's certainly not
an outlandish goal.
Continue reading Dr. Horrible by the
numbers
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Crime.
• TruTV has a new Black Gold at 10.
• TBS has two new episodes of Tyler
Perry's House of Payne at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new
Mind of Mencia.
Check your local TV listings for more.
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Who will die in
ER's final
season?
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 8:38:00 AM
Filed under: ER, Reality-Free
This originally was going to be yet
another post on how George Clooney
might come back to ER one last time in the
final season of the show (executive
producer John Wells says he hasn't asked
him yet). But we've been back and forth on
that so many times that we really don't
know what's going to happen. However,
TV critic Terry Morrow did ask Wells if
any characters on the show would be killed
off in the show's last season, and Wells
says that yes, at least one person on ER
will die before the show ends. He didn't,
however, say whether it's a current cast
member or if it's someone new that will be
introduced this season.
So assuming that it's a character we
already know, who do you think it should
be? After the jump, a poll. Should a
helicopter fall on Morris? How about
Neela getting shot by a patient? Maybe an
explosion in the emergency room can kill
everyone except Frank? Are they bringing
Noah Wyle back just to kill him with a Sno
-Cone machine?
Continue reading Who will die in ER's
final season?
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper TV* 25

Talk Talk: Paul Giamatti, John C. How I Met Your...bestseller? The

Reilly, Nas Bro Code and more Mother news
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad) By Allison Waldman (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 10:04:00 AM Submitted at 7/23/2008 9:24:00 AM

Filed under: Late Night, TV Royalty,
Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show,
Reality-Free
Here's who's on the late night shows
tonight.
• Charlie Rose: Bill Gates and Michael
Bloomberg; a discussion of the iPhone
(must have been postponed the other
night); and author Ken Pollack
• The Daily Show: T.J. English
• The Colbert Report: Nas
• The Late Show with David Letterman:
John C. Reilly, Jane Mayer, and Grizzly
Bear
• Jay Leno: Kevin Costner, D.L. Hughley,
and The Time
• Jimmy Kimmel Live: Paul Giamatti,
Mitch Rouse, and Los Lonely Boys
• Tavis Smiley: Henry Winkler and
Henry Zoglin (repeat)
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Liam
Neeson, BJ Novak, and The Duke Spirit
(repeat)
• The Late, Late Show with Craig
Ferguson: Val Kilmer
• Last Call with Carson Daly: Eddie
Izzard and Rick Ross (repeat)
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Filed under: How I Met Your Mother,
Reality-Free How awesome is this?
Barney's official list of how men should
interact with each other in pursuit of
conquest of the opposite sex, The Bro
Code, is going to be published for real.
Barney Stinson, the most awesome
womanizer on How I Met Your Mother, Let the SDCC swag
has referred to this compendium on the
show and now The Bro Code will be for begin! - Comic-Con
sale in bookstores in late November, just in
time for Christmas sales. rules, the rights and wrongs, in bagging the
Report
Neil Patrick Harris, the embodiment of
babes. By Keith McDuffee (TV Squad)
Barney, is not writing the book. That'll be Continue reading How I Met
done by co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Submitted at 7/23/2008 12:41:00 PM
Your...bestseller? The Bro Code and more
Thomas with Matthew Kuhn, the staff Mother news Filed under: Battlestar Galactica, Reality-
writer who is responsible for Barney's Free, Comic-Con
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
blog. Barney, as fans of the show know, is
nothing if not prolific and legen -- wait for
it -- dary when it comes to knowing the

America's Got Talent: Episode 3-06
By Isabelle Carreau (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 4:00:00 PM
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews,
America's Got Talent
(S03E06)
The normal audition process came to an
end this week as aspiring entertainers
performed in front of the three judges and
the crowd. The last auditions episode will
air next week when people who entered the
competition via MySpace will face off the
Big Brother 10: Eviction #2 and HOH #3
By Jackie Schnoop (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 6:10:00 PM
Filed under: OpEd, Big Brother (US),
Episode Reviews, Episode Recaps
(S10E06)"I've been on slop for two
weeks. I've lost 12 pounds." - Libra
As Julie Chen was quick to say, the ghost
of Brian lives on in the Big Brother 10
house. This week's nominees are Steven
and Dan. Both had allied with Brian right
dreaded Xs.
Sadly, I was not able to watch this
week's episode of America's Got Talent
from the start. We know what happened to
Brian. I think it was deserved as Brian
grew too cocky too soon. Steven ended up
because of a power outage (and because
I'm from Canada, I can't watch the episode
on the network's website). Therefore, this
week's review will not be as detailed as
usual. Thanks to the recaps at NBC.com, I
got an idea of what happened. So here we
go with my two cents about this week's
episode.
Continue reading America's Got Talent:
Episode 3-06
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
voting with the house while Dan stayed
loyal to Brian. Will that be the deciding
factor in tonight's eviction?
Read on past the jump for my full review
of the show.
Continue reading Big Brother 10:
Eviction #2 and HOH #3
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
The Dharma Initiative wants you -
VIDEO - Comic-Con Report
By Keith McDuffee (TV Squad)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 5:03:00 PM
Filed under: Lost, Video, Reality-Free,
Comic-Con We talked about the presence
of a Lost viral-esque booth appearing at
Comic-Con this year, and during preview
night it was already in full force. They had
a sign-up sheet for taking an "eligibility
test", where I believe you went into that
booth there in the picture to the right,
that picture. The sound isn't so important,
answered some questions and then got a
special "code" to apply on their website. so enjoy.
Apparently we'll learn more during the Continue reading The Dharma Initiative
Lost panel on Saturday. wants you - VIDEO - Comic-Con Report
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Meanwhile, I was able to snap a video of
what was running on the monitor above in
26 Movies*
LET
continued from page 25
I haven't even gone to get my badge yet,
where I hear from Cinematical that there's
lots of goodies to have, and lookee here --
Sci Fi stuff! The fine folks over at Sci Fi
Channel were nice enough to drop off a
ginormous purple bag full of loot, like the
Raider model above; t-shirts, breath mints,
temporary tattoos ...
Check the gallery for more, and check
out what they're giving to registrants over
at Cinematical.
Gallery: Sci Fi Channel swag - Comic-
Con 2008
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Fan Rant: Critics of 'The Asian Cinema Scene:
Dark Knight' Are Allowed 'Seven Samurai' Remade
to Hate for Pachinko
By Eric Kohn (Cinematical)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 2:32:00 PM
Filed under: Action, Drama, Casting,
New Releases, Celebrities and
Controversy, Fandom,
Comic/Superhero/Geek, Columns
Look, I thought The Dark Knight had a
lot of strong selling points: Combine a deft
pace with thoughtful characterizations and
a whopping IMAX design that turns the
entire experience into a plot-driven theme
park ride, and you've got one hefty dose of
Batman adrenaline.
Still, comparisons to The Godfather Part
II notwithstanding, The Dark Knight isn't
foolproof -- in fact, no single movie in
history is foolproof. The subjective
experience of movie watching ensures that
nothing can be universally liked by
everyone, and rules of civility insist that
humanity respect that truism. It's
acceptable to feel passionately about a
great work of art, and defend that
perspective with rigorous argumentation,
but much of the outrage over the minority
perspective that The Dark Knight isn't any
good has made such practical thinking
impossible.
Deemed the first critic to pan the movie,
New York's David Edelstein went out of
his way to list the allegations against him
sent along by various Batman fans. The
House Next Door editor Keith Uhlich,
meanwhile, fielded over a hundred rants in
the comments section following his astute
critique of director Christopher Nolan's
questionable portrayals of violence. What's
particularly shocking about this frightful
deluge of negative responses is that many
of these people began posting their
disapproval before they even saw the
movie.
Continue reading Fan Rant: Critics of
'The Dark Knight' Are Allowed to Hate
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
By Peter Martin (Cinematical)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 12:14:00 PM
Filed under: Action, Foreign Language,
Fandom, Remakes and Sequels
Prepare to roll your eyes in disbelief. The
remake of Akira Kurosawa's venerated
classic The Seven Samurai has been
completed. But it's not the one planned by
The Weinstein Co. And it's scored to The
Rolling Stones?!!
Let's clarify: Don Brown at ryugangi
says that Hiroyuki Nakano, director of the
excessively stylish Samurai Fiction and
Red Shadow, has been busy creating a new
version of Samurai for a pachinko
machine. (Yes, you read that right.) The
official site features a half-dozen clips. The
ones I've watched look surprisingly good
and faithful to the spirit of the original --
except, er, for Mick Jagger singing "Paint
It Black," "Jumping Jack Flash," and
"Satisfaction." Initially, I thought the article was either a
How could this happen? Kurosawa's son bad joke or a slam at Nakano's directing
Hisao has reportedly irked many by style. Surely this was an advance peek at
licensing his father's films and image for the Weinsteins' remake. But that project
everything from remakes to a canned won't start shooting until later this year and
coffee commercial. Seven Samurai itself the cast will feature American, European
was made into a video game in 2004 ( and Asian stars (per Variety), not just the
Seven Samurai 20XX) that was recently Japanese actors pictured. My eyes are still
named one of the worst movie games ever rolling.
by Wired.com. The same Japanese Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments
company that produced the video game
(Sammy) also makes pachinko games, so I
suppose this was inevitable.

Fox Signs On for a Live-Action 'Cowboy Bebop'

By Jessica Barnes (Cinematical)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 12:35:00 PM
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy,
Deals, 20th Century Fox,
Comic/Superhero/Geek For all the anime
fans who hoped that certain titles would
remain out of the grasp of Hollywood; I
have some bad news for you. According to
iFMagazine, Fox has given the green-light
for a live-action version of the classic
animated series, Cowboy Bebop. During
the Television Critics Association press
tour, producer Erwin Stoff let it slip that he
now has a deal in place with Fox studios to
bring the popular series to the big screen.
Stoff told journalists, "I'm developing
COWBOY BEBOP for Fox, but doing it as
a live-action film, so I'm working on that at
the moment, I'm really excited to be
working on it, and it's in the really early
stages. We just signed it the other day."
For the uninitiated; Cowboy Bebop was
the story of a group of bounty hunters and
their adventures aboard their ship, Bebop,
in the year 2071. The series was a huge
success in both Japan and in the US, and
even spawned an animated film back in
2002.
For fans who might be worried that
Cowboy could suffer the same fate as other
anime-inspired flicks, there is a silver
lining. Stoff promised that, "I have such an
enormous admiration for its creators, that
our first and foremost concern is going to
be a real degree of faithfulness to the tone
of the movie, to the mix of genres, and so
on and so forth," -- I don't want to sound
too cynical, but it's not like we haven't
heard that one before.
Now on to the more important question:
Who should take over for Jet Black and the
gang on the big screen? Sound off below...
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
'Zack and Miri' Gets the
Dreaded NC-17
By Peter Martin (Cinematical)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 1:02:00 PM
Filed under: Comedy, Celebrities and
Controversy, The Weinstein Co.,
ComicCon
What can you expect from the MPAA
when you make a movie with "some some
graphic sexuality"? Yup, the kiss of death.
Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a
Porno has been slapped with a rating of
NC-17 by the MPAA, according to a list
posted today by The Hollywood Reporter.
The rating was posted on the MPAA film
ratings site at least as early as last
Saturday, but News Askew noted that it
was marked as "pending appeal" and had
received the rating for "some graphic
sexuality." I just checked the MPAA's site,
and now the film doesn't show up at all.
What happened? Was the appeal lost? Will
cuts be made to secure the R rating? Who
made the "some some" typo -- the MPAA
or THR?
The ratings tussle is not entirely
unexpected. Seth Rogen complained about
the MPAA last month because of the film's
difficulty in securing an R rating, and
Smith took down a raunchy online-only
teaser until the MPAA approved it. I would
Mix Turtle Creates Online Music
Playlists [Music]
By Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 5:00:00 AM
Web-based music search tool Mix Turtle
creates playlists of songs you find online.
Working from an index of millions of
songs, Mix Turtle supplies suggestions to
your search terms as you enter them.
Covering a broad spectrum of time and
tastes, Mix Turtle returned impressive
results for diverse searches such as Miley
Cyrus, Robert Miles, and Miles Davis.
Once you find songs you would like to
listen to, you simply click on them to start
imagine that Smith is contractually
obligated to deliver an R-rated version, but
I wonder what nightmares he faces to
please the MPAA?
As it happens, Smith will appear at
Comic Con on Friday evening to talk about
his film, and I'm sure he'll have something
to say about the rating. Zack and Miri
Make a Porno is still due to hit theaters on
October 31.
Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments
playing or click on the plus symbol next to
the song to add it to your playlist. Create
an accoung and log in to save your
playlists, but a login is not required to use
the service. The playback applet has no
control for volume or jumping about
within the track that is playing, but
otherwise the playback is clean and the
quality of the tracks high. While not a
replacement for more robust service like
Pandora, song selection was easy and
playback enjoyable. Mix Turtle is free to
use. Mix Turtle[via Webware]
Live from SDCC: Preview
Night Gallery!
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 4:15:00 PM
Filed under: Festival Reports, Fandom,
Exhibition, Comic/Superhero/Geek,
Images, ComicCon
Cinematical fought through the massive
crowds tonight on the convention floor to
bring you tons and tons of photos from the
2008 San Diego Comic Con Preview
Night. While we didn't spot too many
people dressed in costume (except for a
group doing a Batman theme), there were
some very, very cool toys, games, statues,
posters and movie props. Among the larger
attractions was Nite Owl's ship from
Watchmen(pictured below -- see inside by
clicking through the gallery), a huge Iron
Monger statue (in gallery), James Bond's
hot set of wheels (in gallery), a ginormous
Star Wars exhibit, with Star Wars: The
Clone Wars statues alongside dudes in
Storm Trooper attire (pictured above), as
well as monitors displaying the new video
game, Star Wars: The Force
Unleashed(which looks hella cool).
Check out a few images from Preview
Night below, then definitely make sure to
head on over to the gallery to see what this
year's San Diego Con is all about.
P.S. Masters of the Web panel tomorrow
morning, 10am. Be there! Say hello! Make
it look like I have friends!
Nite Owl's ship from Watchmen (more
images from inside the thing down in the
gallery).
Our friends in Batman gear!
Cinematical's Official Comic Con Hub
Gallery: 2008 Comic Con Preview Night
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Movies* Tech Tips* 27
Live from
SDCC: Time to
Get Our Con On!
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 11:32:00 AM
Filed under: Festival Reports, Fandom,
Images, ComicCon
Cinematical has officially arrived in
beautiful, sunny San Diego! We somehow
found a way to get our press badge before
anyone else, and I'm here with our first
2008 San Diego Comic Con gallery --
featuring images of all the cool little
goodies they gave me when I picked up my
badge. Among the lot, there was an issue
of Mad Magazine that tackles
Botchmen(instead of Watchmen), trading
cards, stuff on the new Batman LEGO
video game and a massive events guide.
They'll be letting us into the convention in
just a few hours for preview night, so I'll
slide in there and see if I can't bring back
anything cool to show you. But before we
get to the gallery, let me just say this: If
you've never been to San Diego, get your
ass over here because this town is
gorgeous!
Last thing (and most importantly): Check
out Cinematical's official Comic Con hub
for all the latest and greatest from San
Diego, as well as Moviefone's awesome
Con hub. It just launched now and it's a
little empty (and lonely), but we'll be
filling her up soon enough.
Time to get our Con on fools! Be back
later ...
Gallery: Comic Con 2008 Arrival
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28 Movies* Tech Tips* Food*
Marguiles, Mortimer, and
Arkin Head to 'City Island'
By Monika Bartyzel (Cinematical)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 1:32:00 PM
Filed under: Comedy, Independent,
Casting, Cinematical Indie The whole idea
of secret children who come out of the
woodwork is challenging as it is. Should
the secret be revealed, or should it stay
hidden? How do you make up for lost
years? How do you integrate them into the
family? Now, imagine that you're part of
the law, and you find out that your secret
kid is in jail. That's the basic idea behind a
new indie comedy called City Island, and
The Hollywood Reporter has posted that
Julianna Margulies, Emily Mortimer, and
Alan Arkin have joined the cast.
Andy Garcia had previously signed on to
play Vince Rizzo, "a Bronx prison official
who realizes that an inmate ( Steven Strait)
is his secret love child. His efforts to
become his guardian lead to comic
complications." Marguiles is taking on the
role of Garcia's wife, and it seems that the
man is also looking to become an actor
because Arkin will play a teacher in the
acting class, and Mortimer will be a fellow
student he becomes friends with. Garcia's
Film Blog Group Hug: The 'Twilight' Edition
By Kim Voynar (Cinematical)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 11:07:00 AM
Filed under: Casting, Fandom,
Exhibition, Newsstand, Movie Marketing
Boy, you miss a few weeks work to
move 2,000 miles, and you fall behind on
all kinds of things going on in the world of
Twilight. All you Twilighters have, no
doubt, been keeping up to speed with
everything that's been going on out there --
you're making plans to attend Breaking
Dawn parties, planning what you're going
to wear, entering giveaway contests, and
Watermelon Salad with Feta or Cotija
By Elise
Submitted at 7/11/2008 12:00:56 AM
Call me unadventurous, but I had never
even heard of a watermelon feta salad
before versions of it started popping up on
real-life daughter Dominik Garcia-Lorido
will play his daughter, and Ezra Miller has
also nabbed an undisclosed part.
I really don't know how all of this acting
works into prison officials and long-lost
bad boy sons, but we should see soon
enough. The film went into production this
week in the Bronx.
Permalink| Email this| Comments
getting your Twilight-inspired costumes
put together (who knew there were so
many varieties of vampire fangs out
there?).
food blogs everywhere. Even then, the
very thought of it gave me pause.
Watermelon, with salty cheese? Yeah,
right. But watermelon sprinkled with salt is
how many people enjoy the fruit, so
perhaps it isn't too far of a stretch to
Guy Maddin Inspires British
Contest
By Monika Bartyzel (Cinematical)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 2:02:00 PM
Filed under: Comedy, Independent,
Fandom, Contests, Cinematical Indie One
of the greatest things about Guy Maddin is
that his accomplishments come out of
creativity and a spot-on eye, rather than
money and flashy technology. Give the
man an old camera, a few actors, and some
weird props, and he can make a film that's
not only engaging, but also visually
stunning. He knows how to make the least
become the most, and with the release of
My Winnipeg, he's now inspiring others to
do the same.
Jam! reports that UK filmmakers are
getting a change to get their Maddin on.
Both newbie and experienced filmmakers
are getting the chance to submit 3-minute
odes to their hometown, and Guy says
"anything's eligible." Considering the lap-
linked Winnipeg, it's not surprising that the
doors are wide open...
Anyhow, the online contest is going to
give out 1,500 pounds to the winner and a
roundtrip flight to ... dum dum dum ...
I know, you have it much more together
than I do on all the Twilight madness, but
hey, I've been on the road with four kids, a
dog and a cat all crammed into a 1998
Ford Windstar, moving back to Seattle, so
I'm just now getting around to catching up.
So here's a rundown of all-things Twilight
for you -- in case you, like me, have been
having a busy summer.
Continue reading Film Blog Group Hug:
The 'Twilight' Edition
Permalink| Email this| Comments
consider that it might be good with salty
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
WINNIPEG! Sure, they also get their film
screened and included on the UK's DVD
release of My Winnipeg. But who cares
when you can head to the snowy
wonderland? I'm hoping the winner at least
gets to choose the season.
If you want more information, head here.
Permalink| Email this| Comments
cheese? Last week my curiosity was finally
satisfied when I was served such a salad at
a dinner given by my friend Peg. I couldn't
wait to recreate it and experiment as well
with a more Southwest version with
cilantro and cumin. Both versions are
Orca Browser is Avant
for Firefox [Featured
Windows Download]
By Adam Pash (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 8:00:00 AM
Windows only: The free Orca Browser is
a web browser based on the Firefox 3 core
with the same speed and features of
Firefox in addition to a handful of extra
features. Those extra features include a
built-in ad blocker, flash blocker, auto
form-filler, and perhaps most useful, an
online storage account that syncs your
bookmarks, auto-form information, and
more with an online account. Orca is made
by the same folks who developed the
freeware Avant Browser, which is based
on Internet Explorer with an emphasis on
speed and improved features.
Orca has a consolidated chrome to
optimize screen real estate and comes
boxed with several different themes. The
biggest drawback I've noticed off the bat is
that it doesn't seem to support Firefox
extensions. (It appeared to be working
when I tried installing some extensions,
but still no luck after restarting.) If you're
attracted to Firefox because of its
extensibility, this is sort of a deal-breaker.
On the other hand, if you use Firefox for
the security and speed, don't want to install
extensions yourself, but want more
functionality, Orca may be worth a look.
The Orca Browser is a freeware, Windows
only. It's currently in alpha, but a more
official release is slated for August.
Orca Browser[via gHacks]
wonderfully refreshing and light, and
perfect for heat-wave days like we are
having now in California.
Continue reading "Watermelon Salad
with Feta or Cotija" »
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
SDCC Update: 'X-Men Origins:
Wolverine' Poster!
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 3:28:00 PM
Filed under: Action, Fandom,
DIY/Filmmaking, Movie Marketing,
Comic/Superhero/Geek, Images,
ComicCon, Posters
Walking around Preview Night here at
San Diego Comic Con and, well, we kinda
stumbled upon this poster (click image to
enlarge) for X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
The film wasn't supposed to have a major
presence here at Con, so it's nice to at least
see a poster for the flick, which hits
theaters on May 1, 2009. We'll have a
whole bunch of photos for you from
Preview Night here at Con in just a little
bit -- in the meantime, what do you think
about this poster? Does it get you excited
for the film? Starring Hugh Jackman, Liev
Schreiber and Danny Huston, X-Men
Origins: Wolverine will claw its way into
theaters next summer.
For complete coverage of the 2008 San
Diego International Comic Con, check out
the official Cinematical Comic Con Hub.
Permalink| Email this| Comments
Top 10 Printable Paper Productivity
Tools [Lifehacker Top 10]
By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 2:00:00 AM
There's a reason there's still so much
paper around in this hyper-connected,
everything-online age: the stuff is cheap,
portable, compatible with all your
applications, and everyone masters the
interface by the time they're out of the first
grade. Ingenious hackers and productivity
thinkers, however, have taken paper to the
next level in a huge variety of ways,
creating templates for pocket organizers,
super-handy calendars, thoughtful gifts,
and even makeshift tools. Fire up your
printer and let's take a stroll through some
of the best printable productivity tools out
there. Photo by Cirofono.
Note: Don't waste paper! Use recycled
paper whenever possible, and preview your
work before you hit print to reduce
mistakes and unnecessary tree deaths.
10. Print out in-a-pinch graph paper or
rulers. Sometimes it's just easier to write or
sketch out your thoughts when there's
guidelines on your paper, as you may
remember from grade school. If your
office or home office doesn't keep a stack
of it handy, there are many DIY solutions.
Printable Paper keeps a virtual Staples
aisle of graph and lined paper on hand,
while PrintFreeGraphPaper.com lets you
click to determine your sheet's parameters.
If you just need to know whether an object
or life-sized picture is 4.5 inches but you're
missing a ruler, try a collection of the
paper version.
9. Turn PDFs into a palm-held booklet. If
you've got reading to do on your commute,
or anywhere you're on the go, it's a lot
more convenient if it fits in your pocket.
Spare yourself staple-torn sheets and
awkward folding with BookletMaker,
which takes in PDFs and reprints them as
readable, multi-page booklet(s) you can
order and customize. Note that PocketMod
(you'll see it below) and Adobe itself have
a similar capability baked-in, but without
the multi-booklet convenience.
8. Print a custom CD case. As
replacements for busted jewel boxes or
containers for thoughtful gift mixes, a
paper CD case is an attractive, value-added
way to keep scratches and thumbs off your
loose tunes or programs. The link above
shows how to fold and decorate your paper
sheath; for a more straight-forward
artist/album/track listing, check out paper
CD case.
7. Fold a paper wallet. We're obviously
big fans (in gawking at, if not always
assembling) of DIY wallets of all types,
but the durable paper wallet detailed at
Instructables is truly cheap, conversation-
starting, and, if made out of Tyvek film,
durable and water-proof. It's also super-
thin, which your well-worn back pockets
will thank you for.
6. Fold a 3D, 12-sided desk calendar.
Admittedly, a dodecahedral, AD&D-style
calendar isn't as useful as your standard at-
a-glance models, but it sure outdoes your
fellow cubicle workers for ingenuity.
Generate your own print-and-fold PDF at
Ole Arntzen's site, and check out
illustrated assembly instructions at
simplehuman.
5. Plan with a "Candy Bar" calendar.
Add a timeline to your project notebook or
wallet for a computer-free date reference
with Dave Seah's Compact Calendar—an
Excel worksheet you download and mark
off important dates on ( original post). The
"candy bar of time" layout of continuous
days makes highlighting blocks of dates
easy. For those who want an at-a-glance
calendar at their desk, a monitor strip
calendar offers similar no-click
convenience.
4. Template your note-taking. Many
college graduates couldn't look back at
their notes from any lecture and make
much sense of them at this point—unless
they took them right the first time.
Whether you're in academia or just need
better notes from your meetings, the
Cornell Method of note-taking breaks
down raw sentences into workable
concepts and items. Once you've learned
the basics, you can pre-print Cornell-
formatted templates at Cornell-Notes to
force your hand, and your brain, to do the
Movies* Tech Tips* 29
right thing.
3. Print out a personal CEO with the
Printable CEO. When you don't have an
actual CEO making sure you're working on
the important things in the business of your
life, you can print one out. The Printable
CEO is a simple checklist that constantly
asks "When is something worth doing?"
Geared to those building sales-based
services, you can easily re-purpose the
Printable CEO for any goals or decisions,
as Lifehacker alumnus Keith Robinson
found out.
2. Print your own PocketMod mini-
organizer. PocketMod, a free webapp that
creates slick-looking printouts you fold a
few times into a mini-organizer, embraces
the very reason paper is still around in this
ultra-digital age—it's portable, it's cheap
and recyclable, and you don't need special
tricks to embed daily/weekly/monthly
planners, a calendar, RSS feeds, notes, or
anything else into it. The original design
will keep you busy for some time, but you
can also track your mileage and workout
schedule, keep the kids (hopefully)
entertained, and create walk-around maps.
The PocketMod is a truly extendable
system that anyone can use.
1. Configure your own planner with the
D*I*Y Planner 3.0. You can drop some
serious cash on expensive paper planners
at the fancy stationary store, but they
always have too many pages of this but
never enough of that. Instead, configure
and refill your planner with the wide range
of printable D*I*Y Planner templates, a
collection of more than 100 lists,
calendars, task management, thought trees,
and other helpers in all the standard paper
sizes. They've also added a Hipster PDA
edition(here's more on clever little hack),
stylish covers, and much more.
There are many, many cool uses for ink
on paper—or even just paper itself, in the
case of opening beer bottles—so let's hear
what bits of pulp make your day more
productive, more fun, or just come in
handy for you on a regular basis. Share
your links and ideas in the comments.
30 Tech Tips* Religion* Food*
Google Knol Opens Its Doors,
Challenges Wikipedia [Google
Knol]
By Adam Pash (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 7/23/2008 6:00:00 AM
Google's Wikipedia competitor, Google
Knol, officially opens its doors today. The
site is already populated with several knols
(definition: "an authoritative article about a
specific topic"), but anyone can create their
own knol as of today. The major difference
between Google Knol and Wikipedia—as
we pointed out in our original post—is that
knols aren't collaboratively written in the
same way Wikipedia articles are. Instead, a
single user creates and moderates a knol.
Any topic can have several knols written
on it, so the featured knol is based on your
Shrimp Ceviche
By Elise
Submitted at 7/22/2008 7:08:41 AM
From the recipe archive for the hot days
of summer.
With the warm days of summer upon us,
a great way to cool off is with ceviche.
Ceviche is typically made with red snapper
that is "cooked" by the acidity of lime and
lemon juice (see this ceviche recipe.) This
version is prepared with shrimp, which is
first lightly cooked, and then marinated in
the citrus juice. My father, who generally
doesn't really like shrimp that much, loved
this ceviche. (Gotta love it when they eat it
up and ask for more.)
Continue reading "Shrimp Ceviche" »
credentials and the authority of the article.
There's also no anonymous editing of
knols, so you'll need to sign in with your
Google account to get started. Currently
knols are limited (most of my search
results turned up empty), but take a look at
the lung cancer articles on Google Knol
and on Wikipedia for some comparison
browsing. Now that you can officially take
a look, let's hear if you think Google Knol
has the chops to overtake your Wikipedia
obsession in the comments.
Google Knol[via The Official Google
Blog]
Karadzic
was hiding
in plain sight
ByNeedless
tmatt to say, I received some
interestingKARADZIC
emails in the hours
page 31 after the
Wild Rice Salad
By Elise
Submitted at 7/18/2008 1:40:31 AM
Looking for a great summer picnic salad
to take to your next potluck? I recently
enjoyed this rice salad while visiting my
Jews, G-strings & free speech, oh my
By tmatt
Submitted at 7/22/2008 5:52:38 PM
The New York Times headed out West
the other day for a very interesting look at
a clash between traditional faith and
modern sensibilities, in a “Los Angeles
Journal” entry that ran under the lilting
headline, “At the Intersection of
Synagogue and Boardwalk, a Feud.”
It’s a great read, with only one real flaw
that I could find — a flaw that may have
something to do with the fact that this story
was covered by a newspaper on the East
Coast during an age of tight budgets and
high travel costs. More on that in a
moment.
The story focuses on life in the Pacific
Jewish Center(“Welcome to the Shul on
the Beach!), a small Orthodox synagogue
that is located on the famous boardwalk at
Venice Beach. This is not, needless to say,
your normal place to try to hang up a mile
or two of fishing line to create an“eruv”—
the symbolic, ritual zone that allows
Orthodox believers to perform certain
tasks on the Sabbath.
The synagogue also has an interesting
next-door neighbor, a shop called “Unruly”
that, as the Times gently puts it, is “a
purveyor of T-shirts, bathing suits and
undergarments.” That leads us to the key
section of this interesting tale from the,
well, nearly Naked Public Square.
Worshipers say workers in the shop blast
music on Saturday mornings,
overwhelming the religious service held
with the door open to the boardwalk. When
the worshipers ask for the music to be
lowered for an hour, they are met with
hostility, they say, some of it smacking of
anti-Semitism. Once in a while, the police
have been called.
Further, there have been occasions when
mannequins dressed in G-strings and other
clothes that are decidedly not part of the
customary wardrobe of Orthodox Jews
friend Chigiy who was hosting a summer
BBQ. "Enjoyed" is the polite way of
saying I ate a lot of it, and pretty much all
of the leftovers the next day. The recipe is
from Chigiy's friend Wendy (thank you
Wendy!) who has generously passed it on
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
have been placed on the synagogue’s
property line — as a matter of provocation,
some members suggest.
“We haven’t been judgmental about their
merchandise,” said Judd Magilnick, a
member. “It is a question of common
courtesy. Even the more Bohemian,
alternative-lifestyle types on the boardwalk
are aware of our requests and wait until
afternoon on Saturdays before they strike
up the band. We have friendly cooperation
from everyone else, even people you think
would be accountable to no one.”
Meanwhile, Ruly Papadopulos, whose
wife owns Unruly, insists that the
harassment is the other way around. The
Unruly owners utterly reject all claims that
they have done anything that suggests anti-
Semitism.
Nevertheless, now you have protesters
marching around outside the Unruly shop
— under the “Sexetera” neon sign — in
response to a verbal clash between the
to us. Made it here for my folks, and I still
Papadopulos and a non-religious Jewish
science writer, a classic he said vs. he said
situation that is related to the synagogue,
but not really. This, in turn, evolved into a
First Amendment case involving the rights
of the demonstrators, etc. etc.
All of this complicated material is
handled quite well, including the brief
mention that a very controversial Orthodox
Jew — film critic and talk-radio star
Michael Medved— was once a leader in
this Venice Beach congregation. The
editors even gave reporter Jennifer
Steinhauer enough room for some
historical background on why the
synagogue in located where it is. When it
comes to politics and media skills, this is
not your normal Orthodox synagogue on a
beach.
So what is the problem? For me, it is a
mater of reporting. Could the Times have
allowed Steinhauer to have more time to
spend a few Sabbaths with the
congregation — perhaps before making
contact with the Unruly crowd — to
confirm the reports about the loud music?
Does anyone have any photos of those
inappropriately located mannequins in G-
strings? What are the facts here?
In other words, I would like to know
more about who is telling the truth.
Reporters do this kind of work all the
time, although, in this case, we may need
to ask about the financial health of the
Times L.A. bureau. It may be harder to do
this kind of expensive, multi-day
background research on the West Coast if
the reporter is from the East Coast. It’s
easier to get some of the details right when
you have a chance to see and hear them for
yourself.
But it’s a good story. Check it out.
Photo: For an even better look at the
synagogue and the shop, see this Flickr
pic.
Bookmark to:
want to eat it all.
Don't know about you, but I love rice
salads. If you have a favorite one, please
let us know about it in the comments.
Continue reading "Wild Rice Salad" »
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
KARADZIC
continued from page 30
New York Times and the rest of the
world’s mainstream media started running
the following story. The words changed a
bit, but here is the key info from the
Times:
Radovan Karadzic, one of the world’s
most wanted war criminals for his part in
the massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslim men
and boys in Srebrenica in 1995, was
arrested Monday in a raid in Serbia that
ended a 13-year hunt.. . .
Mr. Karadzic, a nationalist hero among
Serbian radicals and one of the tribunal’s
most wanted criminals for more than a
decade, is said to have eluded arrest so
long by shaving his swoopy gray hair and
disguising himself as a Serbian Orthodox
priest. He reportedly hid out in caves in the
mountains of eastern Bosnia and in
monasteries.
What people wanted to know, of course,
was what I thought about the fact that “the
church” (or “your church”) was hiding one
of the world’s greatest monsters. Some
people were sure that I would not want to
see that angle covered. We’ll get to that in
a moment.
I did not the presence of troubling
language in these early reports, such as “is
said to have” and “he reportedly hid out.”
There did not seem to be any solid sources,
early on.
Meanwhile, the story did keep evolving
throughout the day. Let’s stick with what
was reported in the Times a few hours after
the story broke. Here is part of an update:
He grew long white hair and a flowing
white beard, and, as Dragan Dabic, the
former psychiatrist worked for years in a
clinic in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, as a
practitioner of alternative medicine. He
even lectured at local community centers..
..
All along, he was said to have eluded
arrest by disguising himself as a Serbian
Orthodox priest and by hiding out in caves
in the mountains of eastern Bosnia and in
monasteries. But details provided by
Serbian officials for the first time on
Tuesday showed that, at least for some of
those years, one of the accused architects
of Europe’s worst massacre since World
War II had been hiding in Serbia in plain
sight.
Once again, the church details were
delivered in passive voice, with no sources.
This report also added another note of
caution, saying that “at least for some of
those years” he was not in a church
somewhere. Who knows where else he had
been hiding. That’s a totally appropriate
statement, actually.
Finally, the second-day Times report —
with tons of additional reporting — began
with this lede that did much to clarify the
situation:
The infamous fugitive, long charged with
war crimes, was not in a distant monastery
or a dark cave when caught at last, but
living in Serbia’s capital.
Nor was Radovan Karadzic lurking
inconspicuously, but instead giving public
lectures on alternative medicine before
audiences of hundreds. He was hiding
behind an enormous beard, white
ponytailed hair topped with an odd black
tuft, and a new life so at odds with his
myth as to deflect suspicion.. . .
The fatigues-wearing leader of the
Bosnian Serbs was unrecognizable in a
guise that was part guru and part Santa
Claus. As Dragan Dabic, the former
psychiatrist worked for years in a clinic in
Belgrade, the Serbian capital, practicing
alternative medicine. He even lectured on
videotape at local community centers, in
an open and active life that would appear
to be an extraordinary risk for one of the
world’s most wanted men.
You can find additional details about this
amazing scam in another Times sidebar.
One key detail is that, according to people
who knew Karadzic, they would not have
recognized him by sight alone. You had to
know his voice to figure out who this was.
He was even hiding his Bosnian accent.
But back to the Serbian Orthodox angle.
Would I have been surprised if Karadzic
had been sheltered in a monastery or
church? Disappointed, yes, but surprised,
no. That is a complex and violent area and
the Orthodox Church has been battered and
chopped up, while some people — a lot of
people, in a lot of different flocks — keep
crossing the lines between faith and
ethnicity. It’s the Balkans and we have
talked about this before here at
GetReligion.
When reading these kinds of media
reports, it’s crucial to note the complexity
of the Orthodox leadership in that region.
Reports that say he hid in a monastery or
was helped by “the church” need to take
into account that the actions of a local
leader or priest are not the same thing as
the actions of the actual Serbian hierarchy.
I have no doubt, in a region in which
dozens of priceless monasteries are being
destroyed, that there are Orthodox leaders
who betray their church’s teachings to
strike back.
But here is the key: The role of religious
leaders in the wider region, leaders at the
top level, has actually been quite admirable
— Catholics, Orthodox, Muslims and
Jews, included. I wrote a Scripps Howard
column on that back in 1999 while the U.S.
bombs were falling. It began like this:
It’s tricky for anyone to sign a document
in Belgrade these days with the word
“peace” in the title.
But back on April 19th, while air-raid
sirens screamed overhead, an interfaith
quartet of shepherds released a gripping
statement to their Yugoslavian flocks and
to the world.
“Even as evil cannot be overcome by evil,
so peace and harmony cannot be attained
by war,” said the seven-paragraph “Appeal
for Peace,” released from the Serbian
Orthodox Patriarchate. “To be a
peacemaker is the greatest duty and most
noble obligation of every man. That is why
we are not afraid to be the first to extend
the hand of peace to one another. In the
name of our future and our common life
together, we pray to God and appeal to all
men of good will to endeavor with
maximum effort to end this war and
resolve the problems by peaceful means.”
The document was signed by Serbian
Patriarch Pavle, Catholic Archbishop
Franc Perko, Mufti Hamdija Jusufspahic
and Rabbi Isak Asiel, all of Belgrade.
Together, they called for all bombing and
fighting to cease and for the return of
refugees to their war-ravaged homes —
both the ethnic Albanians fleeing the
paramilitary units of Slobodan Milosevic
or Serbs fleeing the Kosovo Liberation
Army.
This cry for broader negotiations in the
Balkans followed a “Kosovo Peace and
Tolerance” declaration released on March
18 in Vienna. This longer, more detailed
document was signed by a quartet of
Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim and Jewish
leaders from Kosovo.
If you are interested in subjects related to
that, click here and here.
The goal is not to condone the sins of the
guilty. If church officials hid this monster,
part of a thug regime of cynics that also
jailed and battered faithful bishops, then
Food* 31
find the facts and air them out. At the same
time, the goal is to not to blame an entire
institution for the sins of a few. As noted
earlier, religious leaders actually did what
they could to promote nonviolence and as
much peace as could be managed.
Once again, you have to check the actual
actions of the patriarchs in their roles in the
interfaith efforts to stop the violence. Yes,
you did see bishops marching in
demonstrations on issues of Serbian
nationalism. It was clear that the Serbian
church opposed the loss of Kosovo and the
destruction of many of its priceless
monasteries. But the patriarchs also
opposed the ethnic cleansing and some
were jailed and beaten for opposing the
regime behind the violence.
Try to keep these two quotes balanced in
your mind. The first is from the late New
York Times editor A.M. Rosenthal, who
once won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting
in Eastern Europe:
“I do not get emotional about the history
of Kosovo. I am not a Serb. Serbs do.. . .
Serbs are as likely to give up Kosovo
Snickerdoodles
willingly because the Albanians want it as By Shuna Lydon
Israelis are to give up Jerusalem because Submitted at 7/23/2008 2:23:41 AM
the Arabs want it.”
The second quotation is from the Serbian Please welcome guest author and pastry
Orthodox bishops, who noted that the chef Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater, who
“way of non-violence and cooperation is shares with us her secrets for making
the only way blessed by God in agreement snickerdoodles. ~Elise
with human and divine moral law and While people argue about where the
experience.” name Snickerdoodle comes from, few
Then they added this prayer to the rites people who love them waste time with
for Holy Week and Pascha, as the bombs words. Here is a cookie with a following!
fell: Tender and crisp, plain and aromatic,
For all those who commit injustice sweet with a dash of salt, the
against their neighbors, whether by causing Snickerdoodle has made quite a place for
sorrow to orphans or spilling innocent itself in the canon of cookies. But as loyal
blood or by returning hatred for hatred, as its fans are, its not the easiest cookie to
that God will grant them repentance, find on bakery shelves.
enlighten their minds and hearts and A Snickerdoodle has two signature
illumine their souls with the light of love characteristics: an exterior of cinnamon
even towards their enemies, let us pray to sugar, cracked on top, and a perfect
the Lord. textural balance of crunchy and pliable.
“Lord have mercy. With other cookies born from the same
So keep reading. Look for solid, on-the- method-- creaming, getting just the right
record sources and don’t be surprised when texture can feel like an impossible journey
people sin. It’s the Balkans. You also have with way too many cookies to eat along the
to look for the brave believers who took way. Snickerdoodles, on the other hand,
dangerous stands for peace. have a built-in fail proof ingredient, saving
Photos: Radovan Karadzic in power them from the place where cookies that
years. Patriarch Pavle of Serbia. arent just right go. Cornstarch.
Bookmark to: Continue reading "Snickerdoodles" »
32 Religion*
Commenters, can’t live with ‘em . . .
By tmatt
Submitted at 7/21/2008 4:09:04 PM
When you talk to website editors these
days, it’s very easy to figure out that most
of them have a love-hate relationship with
the “comments pages” that are such a big
part of what the whole interactive Web 2.0
thing is supposed to be about.
What’s the big problem?
Simply stated, there is no way for a
computer to edit a comments board. And if
you leave your site’s comments pages
open, you are going to have to spend hours
and hours of time trying to monitor them.
It takes hours to do a bad job of keeping
comments threads civil and on target. I
have no idea how long it takes to do a good
job, since I have never managed to do that.
I do the best that I can do and so do MZ,
Daniel and Mark. We all have families and
jobs and lives, you know.
The key problem here at GetReligion is
that a high percentage of our readers want
to argue about the religious content of
religion-news events, rather than discuss
the mainstream media’s coverage of those
events (and trends and personalities, etc.).
I could cite thousands of examples, but
all you have to do is click here and look at
a few Mormon threads to see what I am
talking about.
It’s a simple Catch-22 thing. Let’s say
that a big newspaper says that evangelicals
are upset about a Mormon candidate for
the White House because of polygamy.
Tmatt then writes a post noting that, if you
check a few evangelical websites — the
Southern Baptist Convention is a good
place to start — it’s easy to see that the
real controversy centers on issues linked to
the very nature of God and the Trinity. It’s
hard to find a major evangelical politico
who doesn’t know what the modern
Mormon hierarchy teaches about
polygamy and Celestial Marriage. Thus,
reporters often miss the real story.
At that point — rather than discussing
MSM articles that get these topics right, or
spotlighting articles that get it wrong, or
leaving comments that disagree with my
analysis of the problem — online warfare
breaks out between critics and defends of
the Latter-day Saints. World without end.
Amen.
So how are journalists supposed to write
about that topic? How do we do the work
that we need to do? Here at GetReligion,
our goal, first and foremost, is to allow
journalists to discuss their work and to
share ideas and resources. And argue with
us, too, of course. But the goal is to focus
on journalism.
It also helps if people are willing to point
us toward real, live information to back
their cases — as opposed to digitally
screaming at us. Some people never use a
fly swatter when a baseball bat will do.
Others create straw men that they then
enjoy tearing apart, accusing various
GetReligionistas or saying things that we
did not write (often attempting to read our
minds in the process).
I could go on, but perhaps a recent
example will do.
If you want to know how not to write a
GetReligion comment, here is a nice
template. Note that this is a response to a
request for the reader to share some actual
information — perhaps a URL or two. The
topic was homosexuality and the church
and I had just pointed readers toward some
sources on the left and right that journalists
tend to trust. This led to some exchanges
with a reader whose email address is now
in our “moderation” queue. In one of his
final replies he wrote:
Good night, bigot. I will not visit with
data sources; it isn’t Do A Bigot’s
Homework Day.
I suggest that you get out a little more
instead of selectively relying on only the
poll data that supports your foregone
conclusions.
I’m content to wait until you die wrong.
This is the sort of comment, I imagine,
that led to a short Time essay by Lev
Grossman that I quite enjoyed, one that ran
with the headline “ Post Apocalypse.”
Here is a sample:
Web publishers have begun to offer
commenting on everything — posts,
videos, pictures, whatever — like it was a
kind of interactive condiment. Now
practically anything on the Web collects
comments the way a whale collects
barnacles. In theory, it’s a great thing.
We’re giving the people a voice! But the
reality is that commenting either attracts
loathsome people or somehow causes
ordinary people to express themselves in a
way that is loathsome.
A random example: on June 11, a user
called way21337 uploaded a video to
YouTube. It’s titled My new gerbil, and it
shows, in fact, a black-and-white gerbil
snuffling around cutely in somebody’s
hand. It is 11 seconds long. By press time,
it had acquired 102 comments. Let’s take a
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
look! They begin with NewTyhuss, who
writes, “sweet!” Things start going south
with comment No. 4: “id hit it.” (Good
one, ZRace67!) After a week, we’re down
to eldergod: “why dont u shove that gerbil
up yur ass and quit posting stupid videos.”
bwalhof writes, “kill yourself. fast.” And
so on.. . .
The horribleness of commenters isn’t
really a mystery: Internet anonymity is
disinhibiting, and people are basically
mean anyway. Nor is it a mystery why the
people who run websites put up with
commenters: the economic model for
Internet content is based on advertising,
which means it’s based on traffic volume,
and comments mean traffic. They’re part
of the things that make online publishing
work. TIME.com enables comments on its
blogs, including mine.) It’s just hard to tell
whether they’re ruining the Web faster
than they can save it.
I should stop now, before this turns into
an essay on the Total Depravity Of
Man(that would get us a wave of
comments from Grand Rapids). However,
note that what we are talking about —
viewed from one perspective — in the
future of online journalism. Let me repeat
the obvious: There is no way for a
computer to do the work of a good editor.
Meanwhile, GetReligion has legions of
wonderful, constructive regulars — left
and right — who contribute to our
comments pages from time to time. Many
others use our “submit a story” feature as a
way of telling us about the good and the
bad that they see in religion-news reports
that they see online or in their local media.
There is no way that we can read even half
of what we need to read. We appreciate the
help.
Good commenters, as a rule, comment
unto others as they would want others to
comment unto them, or something like
that. They argue that journalists should get
things right and also assume that the
overwhelming majority of journalists truly
want to get things right. Good commenters
cite real information that others can read
online. They don’t call people by ugly
names and try to read other people’s
minds. When they criticize a post they
quote the passage they they want to
criticize. They don’t assume false names
and try to hid behind ghost email
addresses.
Most of all, they focus on journalism
issues — because that is why GetReligion
is here in the first place. We are pro
journalism. We want to cheer more than
we jeer, whenever we open online news
sites to read about religion. And that’s the
end of this sermon. So there.
Bookmark to:
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
A bad story gets better
By Mollie
Submitted at 7/22/2008 3:00:08 PM
Many readers submitted a piece from the
Boston Globe this weekend about the
ordination of women claiming to be
Roman Catholic priests. Some said the
story was horrific. Others said it was
fantastic. Turns out there were two stories.
The first is not so good.
Reporter Michael Paulson’s piece was
headlined in the manner to which we’ve
become, sadly, accustomed with these
stories:
3 women to be ordained Catholic priests
in Boston
Excommunication automatic, church
warns
The subhead is fine and good. The main
headline has problems. Will these women
be ordained Catholic priests or does a
group claim that they will be ordained
Catholic priests? The lede compounds the
problem:
Three aspiring Catholic priests will be
anointed and prayed over this weekend in
an ordination liturgy that will resemble the
traditional in most ways but one: The three
being ordained are women.
It isn’t until the 9th paragraph that we’re
told that the ordinations are being done by
Roman Catholic Womenpriests. And the
article, while mentioning that actual
Roman Catholic officials oppose the
ordinations, doesn’t do a good job of
explaining that such ordinations are not
considered valid, licit, legal, etc. So, for
instance, we get one-sided perspective
such as this:
“We’re part of a prophetic tradition of
disobeying an unjust law,” said Gabriella
Velardi Ward, a 61-year-old Staten Island
architect with two children and five
grandchildren, who will be ordained along
with Gloria Carpeneto of Baltimore and
Mary Ann McCarthy Schoettly of Newton,
N.J.
Ward said she has wanted to be a priest
since age 5, and that she actively
considered becoming a nun before
deciding that the priesthood was her
calling because she wants to be able to
celebrate Catholic sacraments.
“Excommunication or not, I will still be a
validly ordained priest and still will be able
to serve the people of God,” she said.
The women are to be ordained by Dana
Reynolds, a California woman who was
consecrated as a bishop in Germany in
April.
It’s not that the Vatican perspective isn’t
included. It is — particularly at the end of
the article. It’s just that the information is
presented as if the ceremony will create
ordained female Catholic priests who will
then be excommunicated from the church.
In fact, the organization that ordains these
women is not recognized by the Roman
Catholic church and their ordinations are
essentially considered to be pretend.
To their credit, the Globe later ran a
clarification of the headline:
Paulson, the long-time religion reporter
who spent more than a few years on the
clergy sex abuse scandal story in Boston,
published some of the emails he got from
readers after the story. Some do a great job
of thoughtfully explaining why they think
he got the story wrong. Either way, he got
a ton of correspondence on the story.
And the discussion with readers seemed
to have an effect because the follow-up
story corrects some of the problems with
the initial account. Here’s the new and
improved headline:
Group claims to ordain women priests in
unsanctioned ceremony
By incorporating the competing claims,
the headline is pithier and more accurate.
Here’s the lede:
Paulson nicely framed the competing
arguments as just that — competing
arguments. One group says this, the other
group declares that. The separation
between Roman Catholic Womenpriests
and the Roman Catholic Church was
clearly explained. Here, for instance:
But the women who participated in the
event, along with the several hundred
people who spent nearly three hours in the
sweltering, non-air-conditioned Church of
the Covenant, said they rejected the
excommunications, and believed that the
Religion* Food* 33
women had been validly ordained. The
women were vested with white chasubles
and red stoles and greeted with a standing
ovation as they were declared to be priests;
they then helped preside over a service at
which they declared bread and wine to be
consecrated and offered what they said was
Communion to anyone who wished to
receive it.
The ceremony was organized by Roman
Catholic Womenpriests, an organization
that is not recognized by the Roman
Plum Sorbet
Catholic church. Catholic church officials By Garrett McCord
say the women are not Catholic, their Submitted at 7/21/2008 1:13:57 AM
ordinations are not real, and any
sacraments they attempt to celebrate, Please welcome guest author Garrett
including today’s Eucharist, are invalid. McCord of Vanilla Garlic who turned a
Paulson gives the Womenpriests’ few of our ripe plums into a "wow-that's-
argument about why the ordinations are good" sorbet. ~Elise
legitimate as well as some retorts from I developed this recipe out of necessity
Catholics in Boston. Take this colorful rather than noble ingenuity. Every summer
quote from C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Elise's mother loads me up with so many
Action League of Massachusetts — one of plums I can't eat them all in time, and
many that Paulson found for his followup: many begin to get a bit over ripe, their
“One must not only be a male to be a skins bursting at the slightest touch
Catholic priest, one must be a Catholic,” sending their juice down my arms and onto
Doyle said. “The performers in this theater my clothes and floor.
of propaganda are neither. These women Taking these plums and churning them
ought to have the intellectual honesty to into a magenta hued sorbet just seemed
admit that they left the Catholic Church like the most logical thing to do in this
some time ago. Whatever publicity value heat. Sweet, tart, and smooth it's a
today’s exercise has, it must be measured wonderful way to enjoy fresh plums at the
against both the manifest fraudulence and height of their season. This sorbet is just
the irredeemable hopelessness of their sweetened enough in my opinion, but taste
cause.” as you go and add more or less sugar
The followup is long, meaty and accordingly as some of the plums we used
interesting. Just the kind of story that’s were very tart. In addition, this recipe
nice to read on the religion beat. The could easily be adapted to overripe apricots
Associated Press’ Steve LeBlanc also had or pluots as well.
a fantastic report on the events in Boston. Continue reading "Plum Sorbet" »
The headline doesn’t take sides on the
ordination. Early on he notes that the
ordinations are not officially sanctioned.
He explains the process of
excommunication and puts it in context of
Roman Catholic doctrine on the
priesthood. My favorite part was the last
line, which explained what happens to
people who are excommunicated and how
the penalty can be lifted.
Bookmark to:
34 Religion* Food*
Focus on the job description
By Mollie
Submitted at 7/21/2008 3:03:17 PM
For someone who’s been on the
mainstream media’s radar for decades,
James Dobson sure has a rough time being
understood by journalists. Usually they call
the radio psychologist an ordained
minister. And they do it over and over
again. Sometimes they think the full-time
liberal bogeyman is calling for exorcisms
when he’s talking about people getting
“exercised” — as in worked up about —
sex scandals.
Now he’s not an exorcist . . . but an
evangelist! Yesterday the ABC News
home page, had a jump to a story about
how Dobson might endorse John McCain.
Headline:
Evangelist: Maybe McCain’s Not So Bad
Apparently to the ABC News copy desk,
if you’re a conservative Christian leader,
you’re an evangelist. The reader who
submitted the headline sent us a screen
shot, below, of the ABC News front page.
Thankfully the story itself is by Associated
Press religion reporter Eric Gorski, which
means it’s solid. Gorski, who used to
report for a Colorado Springs paper, gets
quite a few stories simply by staying on the
Focus on the Family beat. The headline to
the story itself is much better:
Dobson Shifts Positions, May Endorse
McCain
Evangelical Leader Dobson Shifts
Positions, May Endorse McCain Despite
Misgivings
On Saturday, I pointed out that the
mainstream media frenzy surrounding
Barack Obama’s alleged inroads to
evangelicals is, thus far, all hype. A Pew
survey, released last week, showed that
while white evangelicals are not jazzed
about McCain, they actually support
Obama slightly less than they supported
John Kerry at the same time four years
ago. It’s hard to find that out when
everyone has been running lengthy pieces
about how successfully the Democratic
Party is handling its religious outreach.
On this larger topic, I think there are
three stories: one that’s being handled
well, one that’s being misrepresented and
one that could use more skillful coverage.
The one that’s being handled well is about
the Democratic Party and Barack Obama’s
outreach efforts to white evangelicals and
Catholics. The one that’s being
misrepresented is that white evangelicals
don’t seem to be buying into it. The one
that’s begging for better coverage is about
white evangelicals’ reticence toward
McCain and the Republican Party and how
that might impact the election. Speaking of
reticence toward McCain, I have to link to
my favorite new site of the campaign:
GetDrunkandVote4McCain.
Anywho, Gorski’s piece answers some
questions about the last story through
Dobson’s potential shift in political
allegiance. Remember that he claimed he
wouldn’t vote for McCain even if he got
the nomination:
“I never thought I would hear myself
saying this,” Dobson said in a radio
broadcast to air Monday. “. . . While I am
not endorsing Senator John McCain, the
possibility is there that I might.”
Dobson and other evangelical leaders
unimpressed by McCain increasingly are
taking a lesser-of-two-evils approach to the
2008 race. Dobson and his guest, Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary president
Albert Mohler, spend most of the pretaped
Focus on the Family radio program
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
criticizing Democratic candidate Barack
Obama, getting to McCain at the very end.
In an advance copy provided to The
Associated Press, Dobson said that while
neither candidate is consistent with his
views, McCain’s positions are closer by a
wide margin.
“There’s nothing dishonorable in a person
rethinking his or her positions, especially
in a constantly changing political context,”
Dobson said in a statement to the AP.
“Barack Obama contradicts and threatens
Rosemary
everything I believe about the institution of
the family and what is best for the nation. Chicken Skewers
His radical positions on life, marriage and
national security force me to reevaluate the
candidacy of our only other choice, John
with Berry Sauce
McCain.” By Garrett McCord
Just a very straightforward and Submitted at 7/9/2008 2:54:39 PM
interesting story. Gorski also explains why
Dobson originally opposed McCain as well Please welcome guest author Garrett
as more about why he’s changing it. He McCord, who grilled these chicken
also provides some context about skewers with me the other day to rave
Dobson’s influence and listening audience. reviews from the 'rents. ~Elise
The only context that was missing was I've always been a fan of combining
something that Doug LeBlanc wrote about sweet fruits with savory spices, it sets up a
last October: certain flavor balance that just works so
2007 certainly doesn’t mark the first time well. Mango with chili pepper, peaches
Dobson has threatened to break from the and thyme, rhubarb and rosemary. They're
Republican Party over abortion and other all delicious, so can there be any question
social issues. that blackberries and rosemary would just
Yes, Dobson has threatened to leave be a match made in heaven?
before and come back. The media got very Elise and I found the inspiration for this
excited about his threatened departure recipe in a tattered old cookbook; it needed
a quite a bit of tweaking but we finally
during the Republican primary but they
should have remembered some of nailed it. The sweet sauce really makes the
rosemary pop on these summer time
Dobson’s past behavior.
More than that, though, the media need chicken skewers. Believe me, we were
sopping up this marinade with bits of
to understand why some evangelicals are
dissatisfied with the Republican Party and watermelon, lettuce, strawberries, anything
we could get our hands on.
John McCain. Without understanding why,
they misdiagnose where these Continue reading "Rosemary Chicken
Skewers with Berry Sauce" »
disenchanted evangelicals can go. If these
folks don’t think John McCain is strong
enough on defending traditional marriage
or opposing the destruction of embryos,
are they going to support Barack Obama?
Only in the mainstream media’s dreams.
Bookmark to:
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Pope coverage on balance
By Mark Stricherz
Submitted at 7/21/2008 8:47:35 PM
Like political conventions and track-and-
field meets, Papal visits deserve multiple
story lines. Focus on one angle and the
story is bound to be incomplete. Focus on
several angles and the reader will get a
broad view of reality.
In examining the coverage of Pope
Benedict XVI’s weekend appearance at
World Youth Day, I conclude that only one
story met this standard of success. The
article, by Tim Johnston of The New York
Times, began with the Pope’s speech:
In his final address to hundreds of
thousands of young Catholics gathered in
Australia, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday
sharply criticized the violence and
materialism of the modern age.
“A new generation of Christians is being
called to help build a world in which God’s
gift of life is welcomed, respected and
cherished—not rejected, feared as a threat
and destroyed,” the pope told a crowd,
estimated by the organizers at 400,000, at a
racecourse and nearby park.
Benedict urged young people to create “a
new age in which hope liberates us from
the shallowness, apathy and self-
absorption which deaden our souls and
poison our relationships.”
The story continued with a brief account
of the Pope’s response to the sex abuse
scandal in Australia:
On Saturday, he apologized for the
sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests
and brothers in Australia. “I am deeply
sorry for the pain and suffering the victims
have endured, and I assure them that, as
their pastor, I too share in their suffering,”
he said in a brief departure from his
prepared address.
Shortly before leaving on Monday
morning, the pope held a small private
Mass with a representative group of
victims, answering critics who had
condemned him for not meeting with the
victims directly.
The article ended with another brief
storyline, about local complaints about the
cost of the event and news about the next
World Youth Day.
The strength of Johnston’s story was its
balance and fairness. He gave the Pope his
say. He gave the activists their say. And he
gave local and Catholics theirs.
These three qualities are not ends in
themselves of course. If the Pope had
announced his resignation, Johnston would
have been foolish to write about the other
angles. But in a story of this type, with no
dominant narrative thread, Johnston made
the right call.
Or Johnston seemed to make the right
call. What was the extent of the priestly
sex abuse in Australia? Was the scandal a
cathartic issue as it was in the United
States? Maybe the sex-abuse scandal was a
major news story Down Under, but I
assume it was not considering that
Johnston and two other reporters failed to
give readers sufficient context.
The Los Angeles Times, for example,
wrote almost entirely about the sex-abuse
scandal. It story included this voice-of-God
line:
[A]s in his spring visit to the United
States, one theme loomed over Benedict’s
weeklong pilgrimage to Australia: the
sexual abuse of minors by clergy.
A careful reader will wonder who
determined that this theme loomed. Was it
the media, victims and alleged victims,
political activists ( as tmatt’s story
suggested), or mainstream Catholic
leaders? Without an answer, it’s difficult to
support the reporters’ thesis. Yes, reporters
Traci Wilkinson and Jennifer Bennett did
give readers a statistic about the number of
convicted priests, but the time line was
never mentioned.
The Associated Press, also, wrote almost
entirely about the sex-abuse scandal:
Pope Benedict XVI met privately on
Monday with Australians who were
sexually abused as children by priests, in a
gesture of contrition and concern over a
scandal that has rocked the Roman
Catholic church.
The pontiff held prayers and spoke with
four representatives of abuse victims —
two men and two women — in the last
hours of a nine-day visit to Australia for
the church’s global youth festival.
The abuse scandal was a sour undertone
to the trip. On Saturday, Benedict
delivered a forthright apology for the
scandal, saying he was “deeply sorry” for
the victims’ suffering.
The problem with the AP’s story was a
lack of balance and fairness. Although the
story does broach the Pope’s speech, it left
a lot out. As GR reader Leroy Huizenga
wrote,
While this article is better than some, it
doesn\’t mention Jesus or Christ or the
Holy Spirit, all of which Benedict spent a
lot of time on. . . In my view, this just
doesn’t deal with the meat of what
Benedict actually said.
Exactly. Which is why balance is so
necessary.
(Image of World Youth Day in Australia
by user Christopher Chan used under a
Creative Commons license.)
Bookmark to:
Religion* Food* 35
Chicken Pozole
By Elise
Submitted at 7/24/2008 1:27:43 AM
I've been begging my friend Arturo to
teach me how to make pozole for months
now. The problem is that it is sort of like
asking someone to make you "taco night".
Pozole is a big production, not in the
making of it, but in all of the wonderful
garnishes you can add to it. Pozole is a
traditional soup or stew of Mexico, from
pre-Columbian days. The name is derived
from the Nahuatl "potzolli" and the stew is
made with hominy and pork or chicken.
This particular version of Arturo's is made
with chicken, and is called "pozole blanco"
in his native state of Guerrero, Mexico,
where pozole is practically the state dish.
While in New Mexico posole is
traditionally served on Christmas eve, in
Guerrero it is served every Thursday and
Saturday, all year long. Light and
healthful, pozole is also a common
Mexican cure for a hangover, ironic in that
it is also traditionally enjoyed with mezcal.
Continue reading "Chicken Pozole" »
36 Religion* Food*
A haunted college story
By Mark Stricherz
Submitted at 7/22/2008 9:46:58 PM
Except for one small detail, Tamar Lewin
of The New York Times wrote a
memorable story about the debate over
rising tuition costs at American
universities. Lewin focused on Berea
College in Kentucky, a tiny school that
does not charge its students admission, and
contrasted it with other universities.
Lewin’s lede captured readers’ attention:
Berea College, founded 150 years ago to
educate freed slaves and “poor white
mountaineers,” accepts only applicants
from low-income families, and it charges
no tuition.
“You can literally come to Berea with
nothing but what you can carry, and
graduate debt free,” said Joseph P. Bagnoli
Jr., the associate provost for enrollment
management. “We call it the best
education money can’t buy.”
Lewin’s following paragraph helped
explain how Berea can afford to not charge
students tuition:
Actually, what buys that education is
Berea’s $1.1 billion endowment, which
puts the college among the nation’s
wealthiest. But unlike most well-endowed
colleges, Berea has no football team, coed
dorms, hot tubs or climbing walls. Instead,
it has a no-frills budget, with food from the
college farm, handmade furniture from the
college crafts workshops, and 10-hour-a-
week campus jobs for every student.
Lewin’s nut graph was interesting and
important:
Berea’s approach provides an unusual
perspective on the growing debate over
whether the wealthiest universities are
doing enough for the public good to
warrant their tax exemption, or simply
hoarding money to serve an elite few. As
many elite universities scramble to recruit
more low-income students, Berea’s no-
tuition model has attracted increasing
attention.
But as Mollie pointed out to me, this
story was haunted. What Lewin did not do
was broach a key fact about Berea College:
It is Christian. Indeed, the school’s mission
is explicitly so. The preamble to its
mission statement begins this way:
Berea College, founded by ardent
abolitionists and radical reformers,
continues today as an educational
institution still firmly rooted in its historic
purpose “to promote the cause of Christ.”
Adherence to the College’s scriptural
foundation, “God has made of one blood
all peoples of the earth,” shapes the
College’s culture and programs so that
students and staff alike can work toward
both personal goals and a vision of a world
shaped by Christian values, such as the
power of love over hate, human dignity
and equality, and peace with justice. This
environment frees persons to be active
learners, workers, and servers as members
of the academic community and as citizens
of the world. The Berea experience
nurtures intellectual, physical, aesthetic,
emotional, and spiritual potentials and with
those the power to make meaningful
commitments and translate them into
action.
Lewin’s failure to mention Berea’s
Christian character and identity amounts to
a journalistic sin of omission. Berea cannot
really be understood apart from its
Christian worldview. The closest that the
story comes to acknowledging this occurs
at the end when Lewin quotes from
Berea’s president:
“You see some of these selective liberal
arts colleges building new physical
education facilities with these huge sheets
of glass and these coffee and juice bars,
and charging students $40,000 a year, and
you have to ask, does this contribute to the
public good, or is it just a way for the
college to keep up with the Joneses?” Mr.
Shinn said. “We are a tax-exempt
institution, so I think the public has a right
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
to demand that our educational mission be
at the heart of all of our expenditures.”
The more I research this story, the more
it’s clear that Lewin’s story contains a
ghost of gargantuan size. For example,
Lewin writes about Amherst College, an
elite university that charges (high) tuition
fees. What Lewin does not point out are
the striking religious and socio-cultural
parallels between Amherst’s original
mission and that of Berea’s. (Of course,
Lewin also cites Harvard, Princeton, and
Yale, three schools with a Christian
founding.) This begs all sorts of questions
about secularization and religion. Paging
Robert Putnam. . .
Perhaps I digress; GR does not tell
reporters what they should pursue. But in
Lewin’s story, it’s fair to say that Berea’s
religion was more than relevant.
Bookmark to:
Ginger Chicken
with Almonds
By Elise
Submitted at 7/22/2008 6:40:35 AM
From the recipe archive.
My friend Steve-Anna recently sent me
this wonderful recipe for ginger chicken
and claimed that it was one of her all time
favorites. My father doesn't eat ginger if he
can avoid it, so when I made it I just
warned dad ahead of time that he might
have to settle for yesterday's leftovers if he
couldn't bring himself to touch it. Well,
everyone loved it, even dad. Strips of
boneless, skinless chicken breasts are
briefly marinated in ground coriander,
ground ginger, vinegar and oil, then they
are stir-fried with scallions and julienned
ginger. The are mixed with a little mango
chutney and sprinkled with toasted
almonds before serving.
The whole dish can be made in half an
hour, especially if you do a lot of the prep
while the chicken is marinating.
Continue reading "Ginger Chicken with
Almonds" »
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
In God’s debt
By Mark Stricherz
Submitted at 7/23/2008 10:15:03 PM
As noted before, some stories get religion
completely or almost. They show the
importance and impact of religion from
beginning to end. Take this Washington
Post story by reporter Ovetta Wiggins.
Wiggins wrote about Christian churches
that help their flocks to get and stay out of
financial debt. As a Catholic, I had never
heard of such a thing; our programs, such
as they are, tend to deal with prayer, social
activities, and various causes. So I think
that, as Mollie noted about an article on
high gas prices, this was a good story idea.
Wiggins’ lede certainly caught my
attention:
Following the advice of their pastor, the
men and women shuffled to the altar, cut
up their credit cards and placed them near
his feet.
“If we want to have victory, we have to
come out of financial bondage,” the Rev.
John K. Jenkins of First Baptist Church of
Glenarden shouted during a recent sermon.
Ordinarily Jenkins’s sermons are about
spiritual freedom and ridding one’s self of
sin. But his message has taken a different
turn lately — one that preaches the dangers
of overspending and debt.
Wiggins’ story was also fairly diverse.
Although she did not mention how
synagogues, mosques and other religious
institutions deal with debt, she included a
representative sampling in the Washington
region, including a response from a
Catholic parish:
Churches are going a step further by
providing financial counseling and
pointing people to local and state programs
that help with finances.
McLean Bible Church in Northern
Grilled Tomatoes
By Elise
Submitted at 7/15/2008 6:36:13 AM
Mid July is about the time of year when
tomatoes start coming full steam into
season. I have 5 tomato plants in my
garden that are now producing more
tomatoes than we can think up ways of
Virginia offers classes on how to handle
money according to Biblical principles.
And last month, St. Martin’s Catholic
Church in Gaithersburg hosted a
foreclosure prevention workshop to help
those in danger of losing their homes.
Wiggins’ story also cast her story in
wider relief. Not content to focus solely on
the broader economic or national picture,
she put her angle in theological context:
Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center
for Religion and American Public Life at
Boston College, said the problem for some
church members is that “Christianity has
using them. ( Gazpacho anyone?) One
quick and easy recipe that I played around
with this week is to simply grill the
tomatoes, cut side down, and season with
olive oil, salt, pepper, and sliced basil.
When you are working with garden fresh
tomatoes, sometimes doing less is more,
because the produce is so good to begin
always had a complicated relationship with
money.”
On the one hand, Wolfe said, believers
are told that the love of money is the root
of all evil. Then there are those who preach
a prosperity gospel, which promotes that
God wants believers to have an abundant
life with extraordinary financial blessings.
Bishop T.D. Jakes, one of the most
renowned preachers of the prosperity
gospel, has not tailored his messages to
address the changes in the economy or
how people should manage their money.
But his Dallas-based church, the Potter’s
with.
Do you have a garden that is full of
Religion* Food* 37
House, offers a program that provides tips
on financial literacy, budgeting and credit
restoration.
An arresting lede, a (fairly) diverse
sample of local denominations, and
theological context — any story with those
three elements is excellent. Wiggins’ story,
however, was not perfect. Read this
passage below, and see if it raises a
question in your mind:
The Rev. Jesse Jackson has encouraged Easy Tip for Getting
ministers to discuss the foreclosure crisis,
saying that religious leaders built their Corn Off the Cob
churches “on the middle-class bubble of By Elise
success.” If churches do not address the
foreclosure crisis, he said in a December Submitted at 7/15/2008 12:47:56 AM
visit to Prince George’s, parishioners will Lots of recipes ( creamed corn, corn
not only suffer, but “your churches will chowder, corn salad) require stripping the
suffer” as well. corn kernels away from the cob. In
That part about churches suffering struck practice, it's a bit tricky as the corn cob can
me as opaque. Did Jackson mean that slip from its position, and the kernels can
pastors should be concerned not only about go flying all over the place. I don't know
their flocks’ bottom line, but theirs too? where I first heard of this trick of using a
After all, if the people in the pews can’t bundt pan, but it's great for helping to
pay their bills, it stands to reason that they steady the corn cob and to catch the
will give less money to the church? (Given kernels as they come off the cob.
their decentralized nature, Protestant Continue reading "Easy Tip for Getting
churches would be more attuned to their Corn Off the Cob" »
congregationists’ financial woes.)
Wiggins’ attitude toward the churches in
this respect should have been more critical.
Yet her story ended on an appropriate
note. She quoted a woman giving herself,
or at least her finances, to the Lord:
“I could not lean to my own
understanding,” Clements said,
paraphrasing a scripture. “It wasn’t for me
to figure out, it was me turning it totally
over to God to figure out.”
That was a memorable ending for a
memorable story.
Bookmark to:
tomatoes? What are your ways of using up
the bounty? Please let us know in the
Lambeth on
a local level
comments.
Continue reading "Grilled Tomatoes" »
By dpulliam
Submitted at 7/23/2008 1:17:32 PM
During my 2003 summer internship at a
LAMBETH page 38
38 Religion*
LAMBETH
continued from page 37
medium-to-small size daily newspaper in
the middle of America, I was assigned to
report and write a local version of the latest
development of the local Anglican church.
The story was about how the local
congregations on both sides of the river
were facing a “crossroads over gay clergy,
teachings.” By the way, those quoted
words did not come from my story, but
from a headline in Monday’s Detroit Free
Press.
Yes, an intern was assigned to cover the
beginnings of The Great Anglican Schism,
who also happened to have been raised as a
Reformed Presbyterian, but was attending
a Lutheran church that summer and knew
little about the subject. Needless to say, my
questions were fairly basic, but I hope I did
a good job covering the story.
With a couple of minor complaints, Niraj
Warikoo of the Free Press did a solid job
covering the Anglican split from a local
angle. For starters, the story has an
accurate definition of Anglicanism(“the
largest Protestant body in the world”) and
even the headline makes clear that this
fight is not just about “gay clergy.” (I think
that was one of my first questions to one of
the local Anglican officials.)
The story is also nicely timed:
For years, worshippers at St. Andrew’s
Excellence in local religion reporting
By dpulliam
Submitted at 7/21/2008 12:40:52 PM
Much praise should be given to Amanda
Greene of The Star-News in Wilmington,
N.C., for turning what could have been a
few boring press release re-writes into an
interesting feature story. The key to the
story is that it gives readers a sense for
how religion has influenced the area’s
history.
How many reporters would get excited
about a local church’s sesquicentennial
celebration? What if there were four of
them? Greene took the time to find out that
this was anything but a coincidence:
The short answer: the Revival of 1858.
“The Panic of 1857 sent everyone into a
Episcopal Church in Livonia patiently put
up with their diocese as it adopted a series
of liberal changes that clashed with biblical
tradition. But the breaking point came in
2003, when the Episcopal Church — with
the approval of the local diocese —
consecrated an openly gay bishop in New
Hampshire.
After a testy meeting with Episcopal
leaders, about two-thirds of the 300-
member congregation bolted in 2006,
leaving a church many of them grew up in.
Two years later, they said they have no
regrets.
“It just wasn’t a Christian church
anymore,” explained Chris Darnell, 41, of
Northville.
Those words reflect a schism playing out
within the Anglican Communion — the
largest Protestant body in the world — as it
faces an identity crisis that threatens to
split its 77 million members. Four
congregations in Michigan have broken
away in recent years from the Episcopal
Church, the Anglican body in the United
States that has 87 churches in Michigan,
with about 24,000 members.
The article has an excellent list of
“fundamental questions” that includes
elements of the Tmatt Trio:
* Is Jesus the only means of salvation, or
tailspin of economic downturn and a
national depression, and everyone went
back to church,” said Walt Conser,
professor of philosophy and religion at the
University of North Carolina Wilmington.
He devoted part of a chapter in his book,
Coat of Many Colors, to the Revival. “By
1858, there was an economic upturn where
building churches was possible again,” he
said. (Churches weren’t the only major
structures being built in Wilmington in
1858. Thlian Hall is celebrating its 150th
anniversary this year as well.)
But the answer to the 1858 church
building boom also involved
socioeconomic and political pressures from
the impending racial divisions in the
country. And many times, churches split as
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
are there other legitimate paths?
* Is the Bible the literal word of God or
man’s word about God?
* Is premartial sex OK?
We would like to quibble with the
characterization of whether or not the
debate is over whether “the Bible is the
literal word of God or man’s word about
God.” While this is a genuine issue among
many, the debate within the Anglican
church has more to do with the sacraments
and doctrines that arise from centuries of
church tradition.
Overall though, other newspapers
interested in covering the Anglican divide
at a local level should look to this article as
something of a template. It’s hard to
imagine that local newspapers will be able
to ignore this week’s developments out of
the Lambeth Conference and how it could
impact the local Episcopal congregations. I
know my local newspaper hasn’t said a
word about it, but if you see anything in
your part of the universe, please let us
know.
Photo of the Detroit Skyline used under a
Wikimedia Commons license.
Bookmark to:
explained by events that occurred 150
years ago. However, most local news
stories have an angle that goes back at least
a generation. This can be particularly true
in religion. Part of the challenge in finding
these angles is that the reporter must know
who to talk to, which is the case here, or
the reporter is experienced enough in the
beat to simply have the institutional
knowledge.
Congratulations to Greene for
successfully educating the newspaper’s
readers on how history has influenced their
lives today.
a result of those conflicts, Conser said. Bookmark to:
In this era of the 30-minute news cycle
and instant world-wide communication, it
seems odd that local news could be