Liberty Newspost Apr-11-10

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- 11/04/10

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Eugène Terre'Blanche 'tried to rape farm worker' (Top stories from Times Online)

Puna Moroko, told the newspaper.

He added that Mr Submitted at 4/11/2010 11:08:07 AM Terre'Blanche had tried to have South African police are sex "with one or both" of the investigating the possibility of a workers. sexual motive in the murder of Police have denied earlier Eugène Terre’Blanche after allegations that a condom was reports that he tried to sodomise found on the scene. “100% no, his killers. no no,” Captain Adéle Myburgh Lieutenant-General Jan Mabula told reporters. confirmed that police were The two suspects, Chris taking the allegations seriously. Mahlangu, 27, and a 15-yearHe said: "We are looking at this. old, face a number of charges, We are looking at everything including crimen injuria– a that is being alleged. We have crime under South African also confiscated the clothing of common law, defined to be the the two accused." act of "unlawfully, intentionally The Sunday Times newspaper and seriously impairing the in South Africa carried a report dignity of another" – for pulling saying that the two black farm down Mr Terre’Blanche’s pants workers accused of murdering and exposing his private parts Mr Terre’Blanche, leader of the after they had crushed his skull far-right Afrikaner Resistance with an iron bar and chopped Movement (AWB), would argue him with a machete. in their defence that they were The Afrikaans-language weekly protecting themselves from newspaper Rapport reported homosexual advances. claims that Mr Terre’Blanche "My instructions from my client had mistreated white and black are that there was some sodomy workers on his farm and that a going on and it sparked the teenage boy, who was a member murder of Mr Terre'Blanche," of the AWB, regularly visited one of the workers' lawyers, M r T e r r e ’ B l a n c h e , w h o

sexually abused him.

Mr Terre’Blanche’s wife, Martie, was not at the farm the night of the murder, but at their other home in the nearby town of Ventersdorp.

Steyn van Ronge, who succeeded Mr Terre'Blanche as leader of the AWB, has dismissed the allegations as smears. “He [Terre’Blanche] felt sorry for him [the boy] because his parents were divorced.”

The AWB issued a strongly worded statement today, denying several allegations that had sprung up after Mr Terre’Blanche’s brutal murder on his remote farm in the northwest of the country.

André Visagie, secretarygeneral of the AWB, said that Mr Terre’Blanche, 69, had not had the energy to rape someone as he had not taken his heart medication on the day of his death.

Jacob Zuma, the South African President, moved to calm racial tensions yesterday as the murder of Mr Terre’Blanche continued to expose deep racial

tensions ahead of this summer's World Cup, which the Government hopes will showcase a new South Africa.

Mr Zuma ordered Julius Malema, 28, leader of the African National Congress (ANC) youth league, to curb his inflammatory comments. Mr Malema has started singing at rallies an old liberation struggle song which includes the words “kill the Boer”. Mr Terre’Blanche was probably the most famous Boer (Dutch word for farmer) in the country.

About 48 hours before the killing, Mr Malema had praised Robert Mugabe’s land grabs from white farmers in Zimbabwe and called for the nationalisation of South Africa’s mines.

Mr Zuma described Mr Malema’s conduct as alien to the culture of their party. “The ANC youth league is not an independent body. It exists within the umbrella policy and discipline of the ANC,” he said.

He added a warning to all the ANC’s leaders to “think before they speak, as their utterances

have wider implications for the country”.

Mr Terre'Blanche, 69, was the latest victim of a wave of murders that have claimed the lives of more than 3,000 farmers in 15 years. At his funeral on Friday there was talk of retaliation against Mr Malema.

Members of the AWB, many clad in khaki uniforms with swastika-like insignia, waved the now banned flag of apartheid South Africa and sang the former national anthem, Die Stem. They accused Mr Malema of responsibility for their leader’s murder.

“Malema is a racist pig and will pay for this,” an AWB supporter said. “We believe his agenda to nationalise white-owned farms would lead to civil war and famine.”

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Polish president's body flown home after crash (Latest news, breaking news, current news, UK news, world news, celebrity news, politics news)

adding to speculation that pilot error was to blame The president's aircraft crashed as it approached Smolensk airport in western Russia on Submitted at 4/11/2010 10:22:18 AM

By Matthew Day in Warsaw Saturday morning.

Published: 3:22PM BST 11 Apr Eyewitnesses said that Tupolev 2010 Tu-154 of the presidential flight His twin brother Jaroslaw knelt slammed into the ground and on the ground and pressed his exploded after clipping some head against the flag-draped trees as it came into land. coffin before rising and crossing A clearly shocked Donald himself.

Tusk, the Polish prime minister, Obit: Lech Kaczynski described the event as the The 60-year-old president had "most tragic event in Poland's been travelling to Russia to take post-war history". part in o f f i c i a l "I want to express my commemorations to mark the condolences to the family of 70th anniversary of a massacre President Kaczynski, his of thousands of Polish officers d a u g h t e r , h i s m o t h e r , by the Soviet Union. granddaughter, brother, and all The coffen was escorted by 10 the families who lost their soldiers from the back of the lives in Smolensk. I pass on the plane as sombre music played. condolences of all Poles," he Warsaw Archbishop Kazimierz continued, adding that he would Nycz was among seven priests travel to Smolensk to go to the and military chaplains who led crash site. prayers at the airport and Lech Walesa, for long a sprinked holy water on the political adversary of the late coffin. president, made clear his sense Marta Kacyznski, the only child of shock. of the president and his wife, "The Soviets killed Polish elites Maria, was also present. in Katyn 70 years ago. Today, Thousands of people stood the Polish elite died there silent in the streets to mourn Mr while getting ready to pay Kaczynski and the dozens of homage to the Poles killed political, military and religious there," he said. leaders killed in a Russian In a statement Gordon Brown plane crash that ravaged the top said he "was shocked and levels of Poland's elite. saddened by the news", adding Russian investigators have that Poland's president "would ruled out technical faults as a be mourned across the world cause of the plane crash, a n d remembered as a

passionate patriot and democrat." President Obama was also quick to express his sadness over the death of a man who had been a steadfast supporter of US foreign policy.

Speaking in a television address, Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, put aside his country's fraught relationship with Poland. "In the name of the Russian people, I offer my deepest, truest condolences to the Polish people, feelings of compassion and support for the relatives and loved ones of those killed," he said.

Under the Polish constitution Bronislaw Komorowski, the speaker of parliament, has become acting head of state.

Along with the president, the crash claimed the lives of the head of the Polish armed forces, the head of the Polish national bank, the deputy foreign minister and a number of army's most senior commanders.

The death of President Kaczynski blows a massive hole in Poland's political landscape.

The president, a dominant force in Polish politics over the past ten years, was due to contest a presidential election in October.

But now, under the dictates of the constitution, acting President Komorowski has 14 days to declare a new date for elections that must be held in the next 74 days.

The question as to who from President Kaczynski's Law and Justice party will contest the election has been made harder to answer owing to the crash also claiming the lives of several of the party's senior members.

President Kaczynski's identical twin brother Jaroslaw, a former prime minister, could run for office, but political experts have speculated that he might prefer to stay out of the political limelight given his brother's death.

But for most Poles last night, elections were at the back their minds as they struggled to come to terms with an accident that has erased all political barriers and united the nation in grief.

In an act of spontaneous mourning, thousands upon thousands gathered outside the presidential palace in central Warsaw to lay flowers, light candles and pray for the victims. Flags were lowered to half mast, and across the country people put out the red and white national flag, draped in black ribbon.

Television presenters struggled to control their emotions as they read through the list of dead.

As news of the crash broke at the Katyn memorial in Russia, where the president had been due to lead the commemorations, many Poles broke down in tears. People were also demanding to know

just what caused the crash.

Russian authorities cited eyewitness that said the president's plane had hit trees as it tried to land on the third attempt at a foggy Smolensk airport.

"As it was preparing for landing, the Polish president's aircraft did not make it to the landing strip," Smolensk regional governor Sergei Antufiev told Russian TV. "According to preliminary reports, it got caught up in the tops of trees, fell to the ground and broke up into pieces."

Graphic television footage of the crash site, showing the shattered and burning remains of the aircraft, bore testament to the ferocity of the impact.

A Russian mission control official who was present during conversations with the pilot said he had ignored advice.

"The pilot was advised to fly to Moscow or Minsk because of heavy fog, but he still decided to land. No one should have been landing in that fog," he told Reuters, on condition his name was not published.

One investigator speculated that pilot error may have caused the crash, but authorities stressed that only after examination of the aircraft black boxes, both of which have been recovered, could they make any statement as to the cause.

POLISH page 3

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Italians 'confess' to murder plot in Afghanistan (Top stories from Times Online)

flown to Lashkar Gar in an attempt to see the accused Italians.

Submitted at 4/11/2010 11:19:53 AM Afghan police and intelligence Three Italian aid workers seized agents stormed the hospital –

by Afghan police in Helmand which specialises in providing have confessed to their part in a a c c i d e n t a n d e m e r g e n c y plot to assassinate the provincial treatment to war victims – on governor, Afghan officials Saturday afternoon. claimed today.

“All nine people detained have The men were among nine confessed,” the governor’s people arrested yesterday when spokesman, Daoud Ahmadi, Afghan security forces stormed said. “They were accused of a hospital in Lashkar Gah, the l i n k s w i t h a l - Q a e d a a n d capital of Helmand province. terrorists. During the raid we The hospital has a reputation found explosives, including for treating Taleban wounded. hand grenades, suicide vests The policy has made the Italian and some weapons, concealed in charity Emergency, which runs medicine boxes. the hospital, unpopular with “ T h e s e e x p l o s i v e s w e r e local officials. It is one of three s m u g g l e d i n t o H e l m a n d hospitals run by Emergency – disguised as medical supplies. the others are in Kabul and the They have accepted their crime.

Panjshir Valley, which is home They have confessed. They said to the one of the key anti- there was a plan to carry out Taleban Northern Alliance suicide attacks on crowded groups. bazaars, the governor’s A statement on the charity's compound, and they wanted to website said that the accusation kill the governor.” “sounds simply groundless”.

Gulab Mangal, the Governor – “We still have not been able to who enjoys a relatively good reach them by phone,” the relationship with the British statement said. “The only headquarters in Lashkar Gah – contact we have been able to told reporters he was "the No 1 make has been through one of target” of the plot. the employee’s cell phones Military officials insisted that answered by someone who Nato forces were not involved in identified himself as a British the raid. Britain’s Special military official. This person F o r c e s a n d t h e S e c r e t notified us that the Italians were Intelligence Service based in well, but unavailable to speak at Helmand are not part of the the time.”

Nato mission but they work The Italian ambassador has alongside Afghan forces in

Helmand.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior in Kabul, Zamerai Bashery, said: "Right now we're trying to find out how the equipment got into the hospital, why and who is responsible."

Mr Ahmadi claimed that the detainees had links with the Taleban’s Quetta Shura, the exiled leadership council named after its new base in Baluchistan province, Pakistan. He said they had been paid $500,000 (£325,000) to carry out the attack.

The Italians were named as Matteo Dell'Aira, the Milanbased charity’s medical director, Marco Garatti, a surgeon, and Matteo Pagani, its logistics chief.

Mr Ahmadi said that intelligence agents had been monitoring the hospital for more than a month. He said the detainees had planned to launch a series of suicide attacks in the town’s bazaars and then wait for the Governor to visit the wounded in hospital.

“There are no weapons allowed in the hospital, so it’s the Governor’s habit to come in without his bodyguards,” Mr Ahmadi said. “The plan was to launch a second attack inside the hospital, to kill [Govenor Mangal].”

After the raid a British Army bomb disposal teams was called in “because of the IED vests and the grenades, to make sure

the hospital was safe", a British spokesman said. “The hospital is now safe,” he added.

The hospital, close to the Helmand river, is in an upmarket part of Lashkar Gah city, just a few hundred yards from the Governor’s heavily guarded compound.

“Five other employees, including four Italians and one Indian, are currently at the international staff house, and in constant phone contact with our staff in Milan,” the Emergency statement added.

“No Afghan authorities or representatives from the international coalition have contacted us to explain the reasons for this detention.”

Eyewitnesses said that 200 protesters marched through the city today, some chanting, “Death to the Emergency hospital.”

The charity’s Italian staff quit Afghanistan en masse after the head of the Lashkar Gah hospital was arrested in 2007.

Police seized Rahamatullah Hanafi in connection with the death of an Afghan driver who was killed when the Italian journalist he was working for was kidnapped.

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POLISH continued from page 2

Questions were also being asked in Poland as to why so many important people were on one flight, and why the Polish state had failed to replace the aging Tu-154, which was often grounded for repairs, with a more modern aircraft.

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So, a virus walks into a bar...

(Holy Kaw!) Submitted at 4/10/2010 3:33:00 PM

“An infectious disease walks into a bar. The bartender says, ‘We don’t serve infectious diseases here,’ and the infectious disease says, ‘Well, you’re not a very good host.’”

Ba-dum-chi. If you enjoyed that joke and fancy yourself a fellow science geek, you’ll love this funny video by science comedian (yes, you read that correctly) Brian Malow.

More on science.

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Nineteen dead as Thailand's Red Shirt protesters clash with troops (Latest news, breaking news, current news, UK news, world news, celebrity news, politics news)

Saturday the Oxford-educated Mr Abhisit went on television to express his regret over the deaths of five soldiers and 13 civilians - including a Japanese Submitted at 4/11/2010 10:36:33 AM

By Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok Thomson Reuters cameraman Published: 3:36PM BST 11 Apr but showed no sign of bowing 2010 to the protesters' demands he Troops who had clashed with s t e p d o w n a n d d i s s o l v e the demonstrators late on p a r l i a m e n t .

Saturday were withdrawn and By daylight the “red shirts” the “red shirts” flooded back to remained in control of the area the historic area of Bangkok that the troops tried to clear. But it the soldiers had sought to was littered with patches of clear with teargas and repeated blood, rocks, shell casings and baton charges. discarded riot shields. The But a government spokesman protesters displayed captured said the Thai prime minister weapons, including heavyAbhisit Vejjajiva had defiantly gauge machine-gun rounds. instructed security forces' chiefs The mainly rural poor “red to ensure the demonstrators shirts” - so-called because of loyal to ousted prime minister their garb - have rallied in the Thaksin Shinawatra could not capital in their tens of thousands stage a repeat of Saturday's for a month pressing their mayhem. demand that Mr Abhisit quit on One “red shirt” leader Jatuporn the grounds he is illegitimate as Prompan said that Mr Thaksin, he was elected after two in self-imposed exile to avoid Thaksin loyalist governments a two-year jail term, was so were ejected by the courts. traumatized by the violence that The demonstrations were left 825 injured he had urged the largely peaceful though the protesters to use their own prime minister declared a state discretion on whether to press of emergency in Bangkok on with the month-long rallies. giving the military sweeping J u s t b e f o r e m i d n i g h t o n powers after the “red shirts”

invaded the grounds of parliament forcing MPs to flee.

Arrest warrants were issued for 27 “red shirt” leaders.

The blood-shed on Saturday evening erupted after the army and riot police moved in to clear one of the two “red shirt” strongholds . Explosions from teargas shells rang around the city as the protesters replied with Molotov cocktails.

But the violence quickly grew in intensity after the troops opened fire. A number of the “red shirt” protesters were seen firing M-16 assault rifles in response.

In the shooting Tokyo-based cameraman, Hiro Muramoto, 43, who had worked for Reuters for 15 years, was killed after being shot in the chest while filming the violent clashes.

The turmoil was focused the area around Democracy Monument, where four dozen people were killed when troops opened fire on protesters in 1992. But in Saturday's running battles the violence spread to the Khaosan Road district, a favoured haunt of foreign backpackers.

During the violence five soldiers were captured by the protesters and television showed pictures of them being paraded on the make-shift stage erected on a bridge at one of their rally points near government house. It was not clear today (SUN) if the soldiers had been released.

However, despite the calm there little sign the crisis would end soon after “red shirt” leader Mr Jatuporn said they would not negotiate with the government to resolve the standoff.

“There in no more negotiation,” he told the protesters. “Red shirts will never negotiate with murderers. Although the road is rough and full of obstacles it's our duty to honour the dead by bringing democracy to this country.” Mr Abhisit, meanwhile, called a meeting of coalition leaders to decide what should be done if the situation deteriorates.

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R.I.P. Dixie Carter [And Now She's Dead] Maureen O'Connor (Gawker)

Designing Women actress Dixie Carter has died. She was

70. More »

Why Economists Are So Glum About the Recovery Joseph Lazzaro (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 4/10/2010 3:40:00 PM

Filed under: Forecasts, Recession New York Times business columnist Floyd Norris, a veteran and astute evaluator of business conditions, asks -- not unreasonably -- why so many commentators, economists, and public officials are so glum on the U.S. economic recovery?

According to Norris' analysis, the U.S. economy appears to be gaining strength, with companies starting to hire and consumer spending on an upward arc.

Continue reading Why Economists Are So Glum About the Recovery Why Economists Are So Glum About the Recovery originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Labour attacked over mailshot to cancer patients

Thai Army Opens Fire On Protesters, Protesters Hurl Grenades, Caught On Video

(Top stories from Times Online)

Cards addressed to sufferers by name warn that a Labour guarantee that patients will see Submitted at 4/11/2010 9:12:09 AM a cancer specialist within two T h e C o n s e r v a t i v e s h a v e weeks would be scrapped by attacked the Labour Party for the Tories. Labour also claims sending "alarmist" literature to that the Conservatives would cancer patients. end the right to be treated The row erupted after Labour within 18 weeks. sent cancer patients mailshots Labour reacted furiously to the saying that their lives may be at attack. Mr Burnham said: "It is risk under a Conservative categorically incorrect to imply government. that we targeted cancer sufferers Andrew Lansley, the Shadow and we regret if any offence or Health Secretary, said: “It is anxiety was given to people who shameful that the Labour Party, have suffered cancer. knowing that we are the only “But we make no apology for party that is going to increase highlighting the difference investment in the NHS, have b e t w e e n L a b o u r a n d t h e decided to deliberately scare Conservatives on cancer care. patients and misrepresent what U n d e r L a b o u r , a n y o n e we have said. suspected of having cancer will “I’m actually rather shocked see a specialist within two that they are trying to target weeks. Under the Conservatives breast cancer patients and alarm you don't. The choice is them by making up stories about simple." what the Conservative Party Cancer patients who received would do. the personalised cards, sent with "I think Andy Burnham, the a message from a breast cancer Health Secretary, should write survivor praising her treatment to every woman Labour sent under Labour, said they were these cards to apologise and disgusted and shocked, and withdraw these claims.” feared that the party may have

had access to confidential health data.

Labour sources deny that the party has used any confidential information. However, the sources admit that, in line with other political parties, it uses socio-demographic research that is commercially and publicly available.

The postal campaign started last month before the general election was called. This is the first election in which parties have been able to use internet databases and digital printing to personalise their mailshots.

Labour has sent out 250,000 “cancer” postcards, each addressed to an individual, asking: “Are the Tories a change you can afford?”

Many of those receiving the cards have undergone cancer scans or treatment within the past five years.

The cards are being distributed

by Ravensworth, part of Tangent Communications, which has won accounts sending out mail for the Department of Health and Cancer Research UK.

Tangent claims that it specialises in “highly targeted marketing”.

The cancer cards are part of a wider postal campaign targeting various groups. Others are aimed at parents whose children attend Sure Start centres, pensioners and the owners of small businesses.

Labour has so far sent out 600,000 cards. It plans to distribute 4.5 million during the election campaign.

Experian, the data management company, confirmed that both Labour and the Conservatives use its Mosaic database, which divides voters into 67 groups.

The databases can use anonymised hospital statistics, including postcodes and the diagnoses of patients, to identify the likely addresses of those with particular illnesses.

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Vincent Fernando, CFA (The Money Game) Submitted at 4/11/2010 12:27:00 AM

Things exploded into violence yesterday in Thailand with 18 reported deaths so far and casualties well over 500. Many accuse protesters of being bribed to attend, protesting just to collect money and free food.

Yet for the protesters shown in this video, it's hard to believe given their intensity, captured by one brave person on the ground who somehow manages to maintain a sense of humor.

The clash begins at the 3:00 mark. Warning: This is graphic at the end. (See the original video here with additional commentary) Join the conversation about this story »

Shiller: "Don't Bet The Farm On A Housing Recovery" Calculated Risk (The Money Game) Submitted at 4/11/2010 8:37:43 AM

From Robert Shiller in the NY Times: Don’t Bet the Farm on the Housing Recovery

MUCH hope has been pinned on the recovery in home prices that began about a year ago. A long-lasting housing recovery might provide a balm to households, mortgage lenders and the entire United States

economy. But will the recovery

be sustained?

Keep reading at Calculated Alas, the evidence is equivocal Risk > at best.

Join the conversation about this The most obvious reason for story » hope is that, unlike stock prices, home prices tend to show a great deal of momentum.

6

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Poland mourns as President Lech Kaczynski's body arrives home (Top stories from Times Online)

political and military elite.

Russian investigators said this afternoon that they had ruled out Submitted at 4/11/2010 2:45:14 AM technical faults as a cause of the The body of President Lech p l a n e c r a s h , a d d i n g t o Kaczynski arrived home in speculation that pilot error was Poland from Russia today as to blame. investigators began to analyse “The recordings that we have the black-box flight recordings confirm that there were no of the moments before the technical problems with the plane in which they were p l a n e , ” s a i d A l e x a n d e r travelling crashed.

Bastrykin, Russia’s chief President Kaczynski's identical investigator, in a televised twin brother was among the meeting with Vladimir Putin, mourners who gathered at the Russian Prime Minister.

Warsaw airport to witness his Recordings of the plane’s coffin being ceremonially communications with air traffic unloaded by a military honour control revealed the pilot had guard. been warned that thick fog over Relatives of many of the other the airport created precarious 95 victims were meanwhile landing conditions, but landed arriving in Moscow to begin the anyway, Mr Bastrykin said. grim task of identifying their Earlier Mr Putin was present in loved ones and arranging their Smolensk for a service to repatriation to Poland. Those commemorate the victims and who died in yesterday’s disaster to attend a formal ceremony in Smolensk, western Russia, marking the departure of the included many of Poland’s President’s body for Poland.

The ceremony took place at the same airport where President Kaczynski’s Tu-154 plane was attempting to land when it crashed.

Mr Putin has taken charge of a commission that is investigating the crash.

Sirens wailed across Poland this morning as a two-minute silence was held to mourn President Kaczynski and the other crash victims.

Motorists in Warsaw stopped their cars in the streets and got out of their vehicles to stand in solemn attention at the stroke of noon.

Donald Tusk, the Polish Prime Minister, called for the national demonstration of grief and respect, hours after the crash.

The country has entered seven days of national mourning.

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Submitted at 4/10/2010 10:57:27 PM

The Stanford Cool Product Expo is an annual conference meant to give Bay Area inventors a chance to showcase

(Latest news, breaking news, current news, UK news, world news, celebrity news, politics news) Submitted at 4/11/2010 10:27:47 AM

By Martin Evans Published: 3:27PM BST 11 Apr 2010 The former civil servant is a non-executive director and minor shareholder of North British Windpower, which successfully overturned Ministry of Defence (MoD) objections to a scheme proposing the building of 48 turbines in the Lammermuir Hills near Edinburgh.

Critics have claimed Sir John, who is in charge of the inquiry investigating the conduct of military and political leaders in the run up to the war in Iraq, should have declared his business links with the company when he took up his post.

But the managing director of North British Windpower, Andrew Shaw, has said any suggestions Sir John used his position to lobby MoD officials some of the innovative projects Photo by James Martin/CNET for a favourable outcome was they have been working on. This Caption by James Martin year's event, held on April 7, Five Filters featured article: nonsense. f e a t u r e d p o r t a b l e b a t t e r y Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: Mr Shaw said Sir John had only chargers, an iPhone adapter for PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, attended one meeting with MoD officials and that it took place a microscope, and even a few Term Extraction. months before the Iraq inquiry mind-control devices.

Innovation on display at the Stanford Cool Product Expo (photos) (CNET News.com)

Sir John Chilcot facing questions over business links was announced.

The proposed development, which could generate around £30 million a year in income, would see the 410ft turbines erected on a grouse moor belonging to the Duke of Roxburghe.

The original planning application was rejected after the MoD lodged objections claiming the towers could interfere with vital radar signals in the area.

But following several meetings between military officials and executives from the firm the MoD withdrew its objections.

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office, which overseas the Iraq inquiry said: "When appointed, panel members were required to disclose any conflict of interest with their appointment to the cabinet secretary. No such conflicts were reported."

A public inquiry into the development will open tomorrow in Duns in the Scottish borders.

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Man killed himself after being suspended over non-PC joke

Twitter Acquires Tweetie, Loren Brichter

(Latest news, breaking news, current news, UK news, world news, celebrity news, politics news)

Tom Johansmeyer (BloggingStocks)

pending an investigation.

The black man involved was a long-term friend of Mr Amor’s and joined other close colleagues at his funeral.

Submitted at 4/11/2010 8:57:13 AM Published: 1:57PM BST 11 Apr Close friends have said Mr 2010 Amor, a member of Bolton Rifle Roy Amor, 61, committed and Pistol Club, committed suicide five days into his suicide shortly after receiving an suspension by Opcare, a email about the ongoing private company that provides i n v e s t i g a t i o n . prosthetic and orthotic services A neighbour alerted police to the NHS. within moments of seeing him It is understood that he left collapsed on the ground three notes in which he spoke of outside his home in Horwich, his increasing despair at being near Bolton. His wife, Ann, was under investigation. not at home at the time.

Mr Amor’s torment began Last night, six weeks after the when he noticed immigration tragedy, she was too upset to officers outside Withington speak of her loss.

C o m m u n i t y H o s p i t a l , However, a friend said: “Roy Manchester, and joked that his made a joke along the lines that colleague had “better hide”. his friend had better hide in Although his remark caused no case the officers found him. It offence to his “victim”, it was was nothing more than a good overheard by someone else -humoured joke but apparently w h o l o d g e d a n o f f i c i a l someone overheard it and made complaint with his superiors. As an official complaint because a result he was suspended they thought it was racist.

“Roy was devastated when he was suspended and was worried he might lose his job.

“His colleague has known both Roy and Ann for years and is a family friend.

He went to Roy’s funeral and is as shattered by what happened as is everyone else. He has told Ann that he didn’t make the complaint.”

No one from Opcare was available for comment.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said details of Mr Amor’s death had been passed to the local coroner. A full inquest is due to be held in August.

“There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death,” the spokesman added.

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Submitted at 4/10/2010 2:40:00 PM

Filed under: Deals, Internet, Apple Inc (AAPL), Technology Last year, Twitter said it had two goals for 2010: generate revenue and make acquisitions.

At the time, the company was still sitting on a significant portion of its last round of capital, and given the $20 million annual burn rate revealed late last year -- plus the revenue it's generating -- it's unlikely that Twitter has had to deplete its coffers. So, Twitter has cash to put to work, and now we're seeing what that means.

On its blog, Twitter announced Friday that it has entered into an agreement with Atebits (aka Loren Brichter) to acquire Tweetie, which is one of the top Twitter clients for the Apple (

AAPL) iPhone. In addition to acquiring the application, Twitter is also picking up talent.

Brichter's efforts were good for a 2009 Apple Design Award, and he'll be part of future efforts to get Twitter for the iPad off the ground.

Continue reading Twitter Acquires Tweetie, Loren Brichter Twitter Acquires Tweetie, Loren Brichter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

10 tips for great website usability (Holy Kaw!) Submitted at 4/10/2010 7:47:00 PM

A successful website design consists of more than just a pretty home page. Clean navigation and easy usability is

key. To ensure your site is living up to its full potential, check out Smashing Magazine’s ten tips for great usability. See a preview below: • White space improves comprehension.

• Informative product pages

help you stand out.

• Users focus on faces, so if you have an image of a person near your text, have the person in the image looking in the direction on your content.

Check out all ten must-read tips at Smashing Magazine.

More on web design.

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So, How Are Stock Prices Now That We're Back At DOW 11,000? They're 30% Overvalued Henry Blodget (The Money Game) Submitted at 4/10/2010 7:27:59 PM

So, how do stock values look now that the DOW is back to 11,000?

Not outrageous. But certainly not cheap.

Measured using our favorite valuation technique, Professor Shiller's cyclically adjusted PE analysis, the S&P 500 has a PE of 22X. The long-term average (1880-2010) is about 16X. The current level is actually close to the big bull market peaks of the past--with the exception of the gigantic one that peaked in 2000.

Check out the chart below, from Professor Shiller's web site. The blue line is the cyclically adjusted PE ratio for the last 130 years. (The cyclically adjusted PE mutes the impact of the business cycle by averaging 10 years worth of earnings. This reduces the misleadingly low PEs you get at peak profit margins, like the ones in 2007, and the misleadingly high ones at trough profit margins, such as the ones we had last year).

Note a few things: • The long-term average for the cyclically adjusted PE is about 16X.

• Stocks have spent vast periods above the average and vast periods below it, usually in multi-decade cycles • We've just descended from the longest period of extreme overvaluation in history, suggesting (to us, anyway) that the next multi-decade cycle is likely to be below average • At today's level, 1200 on the S&P, stocks are trading at a 22X CAPE, about 30% above the long-term average

Now, you can also unfortunately see from the chart that valuation doesn't tell you anything about what will happen next. As the blue line shows, stocks can get a great deal MORE overvalued than they are today. And they can stay even more overvalued for a decade or more.

But what the apparent overvaluation does tell you--or, at least, has told you in the past-is that your future long-term returns will likely be below

average. There's a strong correlation between starting valuations and ending returns (high valuations lead to low returns and low valuations lead to high returns). And today's valuations can now be described as "high." (Not extreme, but high.)

Yes, you can argue that "it's different this time." You can argue that, since stocks have traded at an average CAPE of more than 20X for the past two decades, we're in a new normal.

And you might be right. But they don't call "it's different this time" the "four most expensive words in the English language" for nothing.

You can also argue that "interest rates are low, so P/Es should be high." That argument is in vogue right now, because there's been an inverse correlation between P/Es and interest rates for the last couple of decades.

But take a look at the RED line in Professor Shiller's chart. The red line is interest rates. As you can see, if you go back more than a couple of decades, there's not much correlation. (In fact, as the great UK economist Andrew Smithers has observed, there's none.)

Again, Prof. Shiller's chart doesn't tell us what stocks are going to do in the near term. As owners of index funds, what we'd like stocks to do is what they have been doing, which is keep going up. We're not expecting we're going to get excellent long-term returns from this level, though. And we're really worried about that housing double-dip.

Join the conversation about this story »

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Oil, Not China, Is The Real Destroyer Of America's Trade Balance

Four Implications of the Leaked Twitter Redesign

Vincent Fernando, CFA (The Money Game)

Tom Johansmeyer (BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 4/11/2010 10:30:00 AM

Submitted at 4/11/2010 10:40:00 AM

UBS's head of Asia-Pacific economics argues that the real global trade imbalance isn't U.S. -China, it is U.S.-oil. As shown below, current account surpluses from fuel exporting-nations have been a far larger driver of total global trade imbalances coming from emerging markets.

China's current account surplus (in blue) has been large in recent years, as a percentage of the global economy, but it has been dwarfed by fuel exporters (in green): Jonathan Anderson of UBS, via Caixin: Looking at the movements from the late 1990s through 2006, when the overall U.S. deficit worsened from 2 percent of GDP to nearly 7 percent of GDP at the trough, a full three percentage points of that adjustment came from other advanced economies and from fuel imports; only two

percentage points came from China and other non-fuel emerging markets. And the recent drop in the U.S. deficit had almost nothing to do with China; again, it was oil prices and developed trade that explains the entire swing over the past 18 months.

Thus the U.S. could use a little less finger-pointing at China... and a lot less foreign oil usage... if it really wants to correct its

Filed under: Consumer Experience, Internet, Competitive Strategy, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Technology Twitter's new look won't be limited to the redesigned Twitter home page. Doug Bowman, creative director at the social media company, posted a screen shot of a refreshed design for Twitter Thursday, according to SocialTimes. Of course, the whole screen isn't even shown global trade imbalance. because, as Bowman wrote in a This is a huge argument against comment, "Working on what U.S. trade protectionism since m a y e n d u p a s i g n i f i c a n t protectionism would miss the redesign. Not final yet. What we largest cause of America's trade can show without giving away deficit while only hurting U.S. the farm." export prospects by pissing off It looks like quite a bit is going trade partners. to change, and as usual, even the Join the conversation about this story »

smallest of updates could carry a significant revenue implication for Twitter. Here are four implications of a screen redesign for Twitter (and, more important, its investors): Continue reading Four Implications of the Leaked Twitter Redesign Four Implications of the Leaked Twitter Redesign originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Apple Goes Where The Portals Failed: It's The Hardware, Stupid Fred Vogelstein (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 4/10/2010 5:02:00 PM

Six months ago an Apple analyst told me he thought the company’s long-term goal was to become the internet’s cable

TV company. I didn’t get it then. I really get it now. Most think of Apple as a computer or consumer electronics company.

I think that’s becoming a means to a much bigger end: becoming a giant news, entertainment and communications network with

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Googillian ambitions.

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Kyrgyzstan 'will honour US deal' (BBC News | Americas | World Edition)

but opposition leaders had hinted before they came to power that the current lease Submitted at 4/11/2010 2:07:48 AM Sheldon Liber could be shortened.

(BloggingStocks) The US says Kyrgyzstan's Thousands of coalition troops Submitted at 4/10/2010 1:40:00 PM interim leader has promised to pass through the base each honour key security agreements, m o n t h o n t h e i r w a y t o Filed under: International days after she came to power A f g h a n i s t a n .

Markets, Rants and Raves, following a bloody uprising.

Russia also has an airbase in Politics, Headline News, U S o f f i c i a l s s a i d R o z a Kyrgyzstan, and the presence of Financial Crisis Otunbayeva had vowed not to both has been the focus of Germany, the European Union interrupt operations from a debate in recent months. the EU ship can only sail in one member with the largest and military base the US uses to US state department official direction at a time and that half strongest economy, should get supply troops and supplies to P h i l i p C r o w l e y s a i d M s a ship will not sail at all. off their high horse and support Afghanistan.

Otunbayeva had spoke to Greece, not the International Continue reading Germany T h e U S s t o p p e d t r o o p Secretary of State Hillary Must Help Greece Without IMF Monetary Fund (IMF) -- which movements from the base, near Clinton over the telephone to to a large extent is the United Germany Must Help Greece the capital Bishkek, last week reassure her.

Without IMF originally States. during an anti-government "Ms Otunbayeva confirmed that Greece is on the brink of appeared on BloggingStocks on revolt. the Kyrgyz administration will Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:40:00 EST. disaster and for some reason the P r o t e s t e r s o v e r t h r e w t h e honour previous agreements Please see our terms for use of German government, following president last week but dozens regarding the Manas transit the sentiments of the man on the feeds. Permalink| Email this| died in the uprising. centre," he said.

Comments street, is willing to let the chips Weeks of discontent Ms Otunbayeva, a former fall where they may. They do The base, in Manas, is leased foreign minister, earlier told the not seem to be able to grasp that from the Krygyz government, BBC's Kyrgyz service that her

interim government would keep to its international commitments.

"We'll work in the same regime, the same manner which the work has been done," she said.

The violence was the culmination of weeks of discontent over rising prices and allegations of corruption in Kyrgyzstan.

Clashes in Bishkek and other towns left at least 78 dead and more than 1,600 injured.

Ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is believed to be in hiding in the south of the country.

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Brazil election race takes shape (BBC News | Americas | World Edition)

opposition parties voiced their support at an event in Brasilia.

Mr Serra, who was defeated by Submitted at 4/11/2010 9:46:26 AM President Luiz Inacio Lula da The race to be Brazil's next Silva in 2002, promised more president is taking shape after efficient government. former Sao Paulo state governor His main rival will be Dilma J o s e S e r r a l a u n c h e d h i s Rousseff of Lula's Workers candidacy for October's poll. Party (PT).

Mr Serra's party, the Brazilian Mr Serra's nomination still S o c i a l D e m o c r a c y P a r t y needs to be formally ratified by (PSDB), as well as two other the centrist PSDB in June but

the declaration of support from his party, as well as from the Democrats and the Popular Socialist Party (PPS), marked his entry into what is known as the "pre-campaign."

Using the slogan "Brazil can do better", Mr Serra told his supporters on Saturday that the country under him would have a more efficient government that would allow for lower taxes but

more investment.

Brazil badly needed investment in infrastructure, he said. The country also needed to pursue new markets for its exports.

Recent opinion polls put Mr Serra ahead of Ms Rousseff, Lula's former chief of staff. She was endorsed as candidate by the PT in February and if successful would be Brazil's first female president.

Neither candidate is likely to diverge much from the policies of President Lula that have brought economic stability over recent years.

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Worries about Calif. priest came early in career (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 4/11/2010 5:46:46 AM

OAKLAND, Calif. – Even in his seminary days in the early 1970s, there were questions about California priest Stephen Kiesle: Colleagues said he had trouble relating to adults, lacked spirituality and didn't seem committed to anything but youth ministry.

Those colleagues, who helped make the case to the Vatican in 1981 seeking to let him leave the priesthood, said they were concerned before Kiesle was ordained, and more so after revelations Kiesle had molested children in his parish.

"He was not grown up. He spent more time with kids than with people his own age. You get suspicious of that. There's something wrong there," said John Cummins, former bishop in the Diocese of Oakland, now retired.

Still, future Pope Benedict XVI resisted pleas from the diocese to act on the case, according to a 1985 letter in Latin obtained by The Associated Press that bore his signature as then- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

It would take another two years before the Vatican doctrine watchdog office headed by Ratzinger would approve Kiesle's own request to leave the priesthood in 1987.

Vatican attorney Jeffrey Lena said the matter proceeded

"expeditiously, not by modern standards, but by those standards at the time."

Kiesle pleaded no contest in 1978 to lewd conduct for tying up and molesting two boys and was sentenced to three years probation. He took a leave of absence from his parish position, and in 1981 returned and asked the Oakland bishop to be laicized, or removed from the priesthood.

In building a case to laicize Kiesle, the Rev. George Mockel of the Oakland Diocese asked priests who had worked with Kiesle to share their opinions of his time in seminary and work in the priesthood after being ordained in 1972.

One colleague was the Rev. Louis Dabovich, of the Church of the Good Shepherd, where Kiesle served as a deacon in the early 1970s.

"Stephen Kiesle was a very intelligent, personable and industrious young man, and yet he lacked maturity and responsibility and spirituality," Dabovich wrote. He said teenagers and children liked him; "Yet he acted as one of them: played ball with them; took them to outings and shows and spent time in their homes."

Dabovich said he was somewhat concerned about Kiesle's relationship with the youths, but never heard complaints. Only years after Kiesle left the parish did

Dabovich say he learned of "some improprieties."

Dabovich also said he had spoken with then-Oakland bishop Floyd Begin about concerns he had regarding Kiesle, including the books he was reading and his general lack of maturity and spirituality.

"To me these were signs of some internal turmoil and the need to satisfy his nature, the need to share his life with someone," Dabovich wrote.

"However he was ordained and most probably my observations were not taken seriously."

Dabovich said it could be detrimental if he were to remain in active ministry.

Mockel replied that there "has been a general 'tightening up' in Rome regarding these petitions.

I am sure, however, that your cogent observations will be most helpful."

Another colleague, the Rev. George Crespin, the diocese chancellor, worked with Kiesle at Our Lady of the Rosary parish in Union City. He described Kiesle as talented, creative and bright, but also disorganized, unmotivated and highly undisciplined. Crespin wondered why Kiesle joined the priesthood.

"It was almost impossible to get him to take an interest in the sick, in counseling individuals or families, in offering himself for activities in the parish that were unrelated to youth," he

wrote.

California church officials wrote to Ratzinger at least three times to check on the status of Kiesle's case and Cummins discussed the case with officials during a Vatican visit, according to correspondence obtained by AP. At one point, a Vatican official wrote to say the file may have been lost and suggested resubmitting materials.

As Kiesle's fate was being weighed in Rome, the priest returned to suburban Pinole to volunteer as a youth minister at St. Joseph Church. He was eventually defrocked in 1987.

Kiesle, who married after leaving the priesthood, was arrested and charged in 2002 with 13 counts of child molestation from the 1970s. All but two were thrown out after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a California law extending the statute of limitations.

He pleaded no contest in 2004 to a felony for molesting a young girl in his Truckee home in 1995 and was sentenced to six years in state prison.

Now 63 and a registered sex offender, Kiesle lives in a Walnut Creek gated community, according to his address listed on the Megan's Law sex registry. An AP reporter was turned away when attempting to reach him. William Gagen, an attorney who represented Kiesle in 2002, has not returned repeated calls seeking comment.

More than a half-dozen victims reached a settlement in 2005 with the Oakland diocese alleging Kiesle had molested them as young children.

Bishop Cummins said Friday he never had a good feeling about Kiesle. In his 1981 letter to the Vatican, Cummins said it seemed clear, with hindsight, that Kiesle should never have been ordained.

Cummins said the years of back -and-forth with the Vatican tested the diocese's patience but it was typical of the time.

"These things were slow and their idea of thoroughness was a little more than ours. We were in a situation that was hands on, with personal reaction," he said.

Only the Vatican can approve removing someone from the priesthood, whether it is requested by the priest or his superiors. At the time of Kiesle's petition, a variety of Vatican offices handled them. In 2001, Ratzinger required all cases involving abuse claims to go through his office, streamlining the process.

Cummins said he believed Ratzinger was following what was the practice of the time, and "that the Pope John Paul was slowing these things down."

In the November 1985 letter, Ratzinger says the arguments for removing Kiesle were of "grave significance" but such WORRIES page 15

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Grieving begins, but life goes on at W.Va. mines (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 4/11/2010 2:55:23 AM

COMFORT, W.Va. – Time stopped five days ago for the families of 29 coal miners killed in the devastating explosion at Upper Big Branch mine.

As thousands waited, hoping for any word someone might have survived Monday's blast, life in coal country chugged on, men trudging underground day and night to fill the trucks and trains that haul away coal around the clock.

Mining is a way of life here. So is death.

Just miles from where families gathered to wait for news, a peddler of mining gear did brisk business and tired miners covered in coal dust picked up pizzas at the end of their shifts.

In the quiet, humble neighborhoods that hug the Big Coal River, the work never stopped.

"When the World Trade Center was bombed, the world didn't shut down," said James Lipford, 38, a miner from Seth who was driving to the V-Mart convenience store early Saturday when he heard the last four bodies had been found deep inside Massey Energy Co.'s mine in Montcoal.

He knew three of those killed and worried all week, but never thought about quitting. After all, he says, coal company shareholders still expect profits.

Homeowners expect to be able to turn on their lights with electricity generated by coal.

His family expects him to bring home a paycheck so they can buy groceries.

"We go with a heavy heart," he said, "but you have to go."

It was the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970, when an explosion killed 38 in Hyden, Ky. Seven bodies were pulled from Upper Big Branch immediately after Monday's blast, but dangerous gases forced rescue crews out and it took days for them to get back in. They hoped four miners they had not accounted for might somehow have made it to a refuge chamber stocked with food, water and oxygen, but word came early Saturday that all had been found dead.

Crews realized late Friday they had walked past the four bodies that first day, but could not see them because the air was so smoky and dusty. The massive blast left the inside of the mine a mess of twisted tracks, boulders and debris. Two other miners were injured and one remains hospitalized.

Twenty-eight of those killed worked for Virginia-based Massey and one was a contract worker for the company, which has been under scrutiny since the explosion for a string of safety violations at the mine.

CEO Don Blankenship, who

was with the families when they learned the miners were dead, has strongly defended the company's record and disputed accusations from miners that he puts coal profits ahead of safety.

Officials have not said what caused the blast, though they believe high levels of methane gas may have played a role.

Massey has been repeatedly cited and fined for problems with the system that vents methane and for allowing combustible dust to build up.

President Barack Obama said Saturday that steps must be taken to make sure such an explosion does not happen again.

"We cannot bring back the men we lost," he said in a statement.

"What we can do, in their memory, is thoroughly investigate this tragedy and demand accountability."

A team of federal investigators will arrive Monday, but for now the focus is on burying the dead and removing the remaining bodies, a grim process that started Saturday.

A complete list of victims has not been released, but most of the names are public knowledge.

In the hollows studded with blooming redbuds, everybody knows everybody, and word spreads fast.

Four funerals were held Friday, with more scheduled for the weekend. Nearly two dozen will follow in the weeks ahead.

At Jarrell's General Merchandise in Dry Creek, clerk Lavon Collins thought about her friends and neighbors and the three dead men she knew, all from the small communities along Clear Fork Road.

"You'll never, ever forget, but you have to go on," Collins said.

Rock Creek barber Mark Aliff came into Jarrell's to buy spray paint and nails so he could add to the hundreds of handmade signs supporting the miners that dot yards, porches and fences across the valley. He knew some of the victims, too, young men whose hair he has cut for nearly 25 years.

"I watched them grow into the coal miners they were today," said Aliff, who woke to blaring ambulance sirens around midnight Friday and nudged his wife awake.

"They got somebody out alive and they were getting him an ambulance is what I was hoping," he said, his voice trailing off.

Aliff hauled the red paint to his shop to write a message aimed at not just the miners' families, but the larger family of the coalfields.

"It's going to say 'God Bless Our Coal Miners and Families' to include everybody else that's not a coal miner but has a friend or somebody that's in the mines," he said. "I want to include everyone."

Here, mining and logging are

the most reliable and lucrative ways to earn a living. Coal mining pays well and the work is relatively stable, an attractive option for young men not interested in college.

"A lot of people look at mining as a job for the uneducated, for the impoverished," said Jonathan Word, 21, whose great -grandfather died in a mining explosion decades ago. "But it's just a job, and they've got to support themselves."

Rob Lemon, who works at a mine up the road from Upper Big Branch, thinks about the risks every day. This week has made him think about his wife and daughters, and how it would be for them to live through a disaster like this, waiting a week to learn whether he had lived or died.

"It reminds you of how dangerous it is and it can be," Lemon said. "But we still all have a job to do."

In Whitesville, there is only one restaurant amid the boarded-up stores. And two funeral homes.

Just about everyone in town has a story about a miner who narrowly escaped death underground.

Sticking to the semblance of a routine helps them cope with the latest tragedy.

"If you don't have tunnel vision, if you don't have the day-to-day, you will totally lose it," said GRIEVING page 14

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Texas Stadium imploded by 1-plus ton of dynamite (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News)

basket case about it. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend."

IRVING, Texas – More than Jerry Jones bought the 20,000 people gathered at Cowboys and the stadium lease tailgate parties and other spots for $160 million in 1989. The Sunday to watch fireworks go night he agreed to the deal, he off one last time over Texas went to the stadium, laid on the S t a d i u m b e f o r e a t o n o f 50-yard-line and looked up dynamite lit up the Dallas through the roof. Driving by Cowboys' longtime home and before dawn Sunday, he said he brought it to the ground. got a lump in his throat. The The building known for the blast itself turned out to be giant hole in its roof — "so God emotional, "more so than I can watch his team," according thought it would be." to local lore — was demolished His daughter and granddaughter in a planned implosion set off both cried. by the 11-year-old winner of an Hundreds of people arrived essay contest.

Saturday and stayed up all night T h e C o w b o y s p l a y e d 3 8 for "final tailgate" parties before seasons in Texas Stadium, the implosion scheduled for 7 winning five Super Bowls a.m. Along with the more than during that time. The local 20,000 assembled at official landmark also was home for the locations, people watched from world famous Dallas Cowboys hotels and office buildings as far Cheerleaders. as 10 miles away in downtown "It was much more emotional Dallas. Many former Cowboys than I expected," said Pam Seal, players were among those a cheerleader in 1975. She taking a last look. decided only Saturday to drive The event was surrounded by from the suburb of North hoopla befitting the glitzy image Mesquite to watch. "I'm so glad of a club that bills itself as " that I had my family out there to A m e r i c a ' s T e a m . " L o c a l hold my hand through it. I didn't television stations carried the think I would be that much of a implosion live, and ESPN's Submitted at 4/11/2010 9:57:16 AM

Chris Berman served as the master of ceremonies.

When Casey Rogers pushed the button, white light flashed in the stadium's interior and there was a rumbling that sounded like a drumbeat. Then the ground shook and a cloud of smoke went up as the building dropped within seconds.

"Awesome!" said Casey, who was still wearing his blue construction helmet a few minutes later. "It was better than I thought it would be."

The only glitch created a cool image: Three buttressing pillars leaned but didn't fall.

"Now we've got Stonehenge," joked Irving mayor Herbert Gears.

The Cowboys moved to the new $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium in nearby Arlington after the 2008 season. With the new stadium and others in the area — including the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, where the Cowboys played from 1960 to October 1971 — Irving officials decided they needed the land more than the building and opted to demolish the stadium.

The state already has a 10-year lease to use the property as a

staging area for a highway construction project.

Over 38 seasons, the Cowboys won 213 of the 313 regularseason and postseason games they played at Texas Stadium.

Many Americans can't remember a Thanksgiving that didn't include watching the Cowboys play there.

Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman played there, and Emmitt Smith established himself as the NFL's career rushing leader. Coach Tom Landry set such a high standard a statue of him was erected outside the building.

The stadium also played a role in popular culture.

It was the setting for "Mean" Joe Greene's memorable commercial in which he throws his Pittsburgh Steelers jersey to a fan who gives him a Coke ("Hey kid, catch") and the movie " Any Given Sunday."

Billy Graham opened the place with a 10-day Crusade, and country music star Garth Brooks held three nights of sold-out shows during which he flew over the crowd. There also were wrestling events, monster truck shows and motocross races.

Build a Gutterless Rain Barrel [DIY] Whitson Gordon (Lifehacker) Submitted at 4/11/2010 8:00:00 AM

If you are stuck without rain

gutters on your house, dealing with all that water runoff can be a pain—DIY web site Instructables has a guide to

so you can put that water to use.

More » creating a gutter-free rain barrel

The Cowboys and their stadium also led changes in the business side of sports, introducing personal seat licenses and making luxury suites popular. In the 1990s, Jones exploited an NFL revenue-sharing loophole by signing sponsorships for the stadium instead of the team.

Still, the enduring image of Texas Stadium will be an overhead image of a Cowboys game, shot through the hole in the roof and showing the men in the shiny silver helmets with the blue star cheered on by beautiful cheerleaders.

"Texas Stadium will never become tarnished, neglected or dishonored, but always remembered, revered and respected, a memory that will be cherished, a place forever honored by all of us who were there," said Alicia Landry, the coach's widow, at a Friday farewell event. "It was a special time and a special place, for the team and for the fans, to be part of our memories forever."

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Astronauts take 2nd spacewalk, overcome stiff bolt (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 4/11/2010 9:11:35 AM

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Spacewalking astronauts had to pull out a hammer and pry bar while attaching a big, new tank full of ammonia coolant to the International Space Station on Sunday, successfully driving in a stiff bolt after two frustrating hours.

The 215-mile-high action unfolded on the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 13.

Making their second spacewalk in three days, Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson banged and pulled and shoved, with no success, on the stuck bolt. They undid the good bolts and jostled the 1,700-pound, refrigeratorsize tank in case it was misaligned. Finally, the troublesome bolt slid into its slot.

"You got to be kidding me!" shouted Anderson.

"Did it go in?" astronaut Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger asked from inside.

"Yes, yes. You got to be kidding me," Anderson replied. "It is in there." Then he paused for

effect. "Now what do we do?"

As he turned the bolt a dozen times, Anderson urged, "Come on, baby. Get on there. Yeah, get 'er done."

The astronauts inside kept urging the spacewalkers to take a break and rest their hands. But they insisted they weren't too tired. Nevertheless, Mission Control put off the fluid line hookups for the tank and a few other chores, saying they could be completed in the third and final spacewalk Tuesday.

Even with that, the spacewalk ran long at 7 1/2 hours. By then, the two were beat.

Shuttle Discovery's commander, Alan Poindexter, urged his two crewmen to "take it slow and easy" as they headed back inside. And MetcalfLindenburger promised them a good dinner. Anderson, a Nebraskan, got a hankering for corn — and steak — after Metcalf-Lindenburger complimented him with a baseball term.

"Clay makes turning bolts look like a can of corn," she said, referring to an easily caught fly ball. "That was a long, long day, and you did a really good job."

The slot for the fresh tank was emptied earlier in the spacewalk, when Mastracchio and Anderson popped out a spent ammonia tank that had been on the space station for eight years. The ammonia is circulated through radiators to cool space station electronics.

Removing the old tank also proved difficult.

One side of the boxy container got hung up on a mechanism, and Anderson had to tug it loose. Then as the spacewalkers were moving the old tank toward the robot arm for capture, Anderson got caught on a pit pin and lanyard. "Jiminy Christmas," he grumbled, freeing himself.

With the spacewalkers serving as lookouts, the robot arm placed the old tank on a space station rail cart for storage. The tank was moved to another temporary location a few hours later, after the spacewalkers attached another handle on it.

During Tuesday's spacewalk, the empty tank will be placed into the docked shuttle for return to Earth. NASA plans to refill the ammonia tank and fly it back to the space station this

summer as a spare. That will be the next-to-last shuttle flight.

As Mastracchio and Anderson worked outside Sunday morning, their colleagues unloaded more supplies out of the cargo carrier delivered by Discovery last week and stuffed it with old equipment and trash.

The new ammonia tank also flew up on the shuttle.

Discovery will remain at the space station until Saturday.

Landing is scheduled for April 19.

Apollo 13's three-man crew blasted off April 11, 1970. An oxygen tank ruptured two days later as the astronauts made their way to the moon. The rescue became one of the most dramatic ever seen by the world and remains one of NASA's shining moments. ___ On the Net: N A S A : http://www.nasa.gov/mission_p ages/shuttle/main/index.html Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Heyward continues to impress in Braves' win Associated Press (ESPN.com)

10:05 PM ET, April 10, 2010 Five Filters featured article: Term Extraction.

AT&T Park, San Francisco, Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: California PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS,

GRIEVING continued from page 12

Patty Ann Manios, a Whitesville councilwoman who lost her grandfather in a mining explosion decades ago. She wept early Saturday as she watched Gov. Joe Manchin announce that no one had been found alive in the mine. "This whole river is a community and the only way to get through it is to work. Because if you sit home, you'll lose your mind."

Tammy Powers is trying to shatter a worrying pattern, too: Her 54-year-old husband Fred died of a heart attack five years ago while on the job as a crane operator at a nearby mine. Now she is begging her 21-year-old coal miner son to quit.

She knows he won't.

"We have no choice but to accept death," she said. "And when it happens to other families, my heart just drops."

So the work goes on.

Sarah James' husband, a surface miner, went back to his job the day after the deadly explosion.

"At first, I thought this town would never be the same," the 23-year-old mother said. "But in a year's time it might be back to normal. Everyone will be back to work. We'll do what we do best."

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WORRIES continued from page 11

actions required very careful review and more time. Lena, the Vatican attorney, said Ratzinger's instruction to offer Kiesle "paternal care" was a way of telling the bishop he was responsible for keeping Kiesle out of trouble. Lena said Kiesle was not accused of any child abuse in the 5 1/2 years it took for the Vatican to act on the laicization.

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said the letter showed no attempt at a coverup.

"The then-Cardinal Ratzinger didn't cover up the case, but as the letter clearly shows, made clear the need to study the case with more attention, taking into account the good of all

involved," he said.

A woman who has alleged in a lawsuit that Kiesle sexually abused her as a child reacted angrily on Saturday to the Ratzinger letter. She said it seemed the Vatican was more concerned with scandal than protecting children.

The woman identified herself by her first name only, Anne, during a news conference in San Diego with her attorney. The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual abuse, however, Anne has chosen to speak publicly about her experience.

She pleaded to the pope: "Do the right thing, for once. Please.

The whole world is watching.

I'm watching. And if you want

any chance at saving the Catholic Church you need to do something and you need to do it now." ___ Flaccus reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Eric Gorski in Denver, John Mone in San Diego, Raquel Maria Dillon in Los Angeles and Victor L. Simpson in Rome contributed to this report.

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Building with Legos at Bricks by the Bay (audio slideshow) (CNET News.com) Submitted at 4/10/2010 7:01:12 PM

From serious builders to the casually creative, Lego enthusiasts are getting together for Bricks by the Bay, the inaugural Northern California Lego convention where thousand of tiny bricks are being sorted into piles for a three-day convention on all things Lego.

I visited the convention in Fremont, Calif., on Friday, just in time to catch some of the setup and preparation happening.

Blast hits US consulate in Mexico (BBC News | Americas | World Edition)

in the state of Tamaulipas have seen a flare-up in drug violence.

In March, three people linked to Submitted at 4/11/2010 2:06:57 AM the US consulate in Ciudad An explosive device has been Juarez in the state of Chihuahua thrown at the US consulate in were shot dead. the Mexican city of Nuevo The motives for those killings Laredo, US officials say. remain unclear, but drug gangs The blast caused some damage are suspected. but no injuries. The consulate The US consulate in Nuevo w i l l r e m a i n c l o s e d a s Laredo said a device was thrown i n v e s t i g a t i o n s c o n t i n u e . over the wall into the compound There was no indication of a late on Friday night, damaging motive but Nuevo Laredo, near some windows. the US border, and other cities Nuevo Laredo, located just over

the border from Laredo in Texas, and other parts of the Tamaulipas state have seen an increase in violence in recent weeks.

This is blamed on a split between the Gulf cartel and their former allies, Los Zetas who are battling for control of smuggling routes into the US. Drug-related violence has left some 18,000 people dead in Mexico since 2006.

During a visit to Mexico in March, US Secretary of State

15

Hillary Clinton pledged increased support for Mexico in the fight against drug gangs.

She said more would be done to cut US demand for drugs and the flow of profits and guns into Mexico.

Print Sponsor Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Friday and Saturday were for the pros only--a time to build, exchange ideas, and trade designs before opening the floor up to the public on Sunday, April 11. From Star Wars to Obama, and towering skyscrapers to robotics, these aren't just bricks. Together, they're a fantastic world of art and design.

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With Tweetie Acquisition, Twitter Locks On Mobile John C Abell (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 4/10/2010 5:14:00 PM

Twitter has acquired atebits, the company that makes popular Tweetie applications for the iPhone and Mac OS X, and in so doingfortifies itself as a mobile communications service — that happens to have a web site you can also use.

16

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Obama demands mine blast action (BBC News | Americas | World Edition)

mine.

Mr Obama called for federal mine safety investigators to look Submitted at 4/10/2010 8:11:15 PM into the cause of the accident.

US President Barack Obama "We cannot bring back the men has called for an investigation we lost," he said in a statement. into a mining disaster in West "What we can do, in their Virginia that killed 29 people. m e m o r y , i s t h o r o u g h l y Mr Obama said the cause of the investigate this tragedy and blast at the Upper Big Branch demand accountability." mine should be determined, to Rescue workers are recovering prevent similar accidents from the last bodies from the mine occurring. and funerals of the victims have The bodies of four missing begun to take place. workers were found on It is the worst coal mine Saturday, ending hopes that any disaster in the US since 38 missing miners had survived. people were killed in a The disaster was the deadliest K e n t u c k y m i n e i n 1 9 7 0 . (Holy Kaw!) US coal mining accident in 40 Print Sponsor Submitted at 4/10/2010 2:58:00 PM years.

Five Filters featured article: The cause of the blast has not Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: Receiving an invitation to speak yet been confirmed but officials PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, at an industry trade show or believe it could be related to Term Extraction. event is a great way to elevate high levels of methane in the your professional profile, confirm you know your stuff, share your ideas, meet great contacts, and—of course—get your moment in the spotlight.

But how does one go about landing a speaking gig, exactly?

Well, luckily Open Forum has

Top 10 scary but beautiful abandoned places (Holy Kaw!) Submitted at 4/10/2010 7:36:00 PM

12 ways to land a speaking gig outlined twelve ways. See three of them below: • Suggest to the event organizer how you fit in to the program.

• Have some social cred. If you don’t show up on Google, that’s bad.

• Create a speaking package.

See all twelve at Open Forum.

Hone those speaking skills.

Photo credit: Fotolia Permalink| Leave a comment »

Abandoned buildings can be beautiful, or downright scary.

But as curious humans we feel the urge to explore them anyway. Here are the top ten creepy but stunning abandoned ruins. See a few below: Abandoned submarine base, Ukraine The ruins of Detroit by Marchand and Meffre See and learn more about all ten at The Coolist.

More on architecture.

Permalink| Leave a comment »

Make Your Own Multi-Touch Surface [Weekend Project] Whitson Gordon (Lifehacker) Submitted at 4/10/2010 4:00:00 PM

Like the rest of the world, we've been drooling over multitouch here at Lifehacker, but now DIY web site Instructables

has a guide to combining that with our other favorite hobby: building stuff. More »

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5 Ways Facebook Changed Dating (For The Worse) Samuel Axon (Mashable!)

Submitted at 4/10/2010 10:09:27 PM

Facebook can mess up your life in a whole bunch of ways. It can get you fired or evicted, plunge you into debt with its addictive games, and even (yeah, right) infect you with syphilis. We wouldn’t look at all of those as serious threats, but we all know from experience that one threat is real: Facebook makes dating far more complicated than it used to be.

You can cleverly use Facebook’s privacy settings to mitigate the pains, and you can even make an impossible-tomaintain rule that you won’t accept friend requests from people you’re dating, but it’s almost guaranteed that Facebook will somehow catch up to your budding relationship and challenge it with some confusion eventually.

The site can be a boon for dating in some ways too, of course, but for now we’re talking about how it makes things complicated. Here are five ways that Facebook’s erosion of personal boundaries and privacy has made finding security in love and sex more difficult. 1. Overanalyzing Will Drive You Crazy He posted on your wall four times today — does that mean he’s too into you? She keeps posting status updates about the cute guys in her office — should

you be worried that you’ll be outdone? You’ve hardly seen any updates on his profile since you had a fight — is he hiding the updates from you, is he so depressed that he’s not engaging, or is it just a coincidence? Why does she keep untagging herself from photos with you in them?

If you’re already feeling insecure or suspicious, your partner’s Facebook feed will do more than fuel the fire — it’ll pour about ten gallons of gasoline right on top of it.

It’s obviously best not to indulge any obsessive or stalking behaviors, but love (and lust) drive people to do silly things. Sometimes you just can’t help but wonder what this or that update means for your relationship. Chances are it means nothing, but that won’t stop those nagging insecurities.

2. You See All the Action Your Ex Is Getting That guy just posted on her wall thanking her for the wonderful time they had last night, but she just broke up with you last week. Man, that smarts.

Most of the items on this list have something to do with privacy. In this case, it’s not your privacy, it’s hers. It’s tough to get over someone you’ve just lost, but it’s even harder when you know she’s having a smashing time without you.

Facebook makes sure of that.

Maybe it’s important for

only challenge. When a relationship ends, how soon is it okay to switch back to single?

Doing so right away seems callous, but holding on for too long makes you look fixated.

And God forbid that somebody break the news that she’s dumping her partner by publicly Facebook users to carefully switching her status over to watch their feeds to make sure “Single.” But we’ve all heard that nothing comes up that will stories of that happening. cause any hurt to any exes, or We’ve also heard stories of maybe their exes are responsible people seeing their dates switch for clicking “hide” in the news to “In a Relationship” with feed until they’re over it. If at someone else. That can’t feel least one of those things doesn’t good. 4. It’s a Record of Every happen, it can get painful for Relationship Mistake You’ve o n e p e r s o n , m i n i m u m . 3 . Made Relationships and Breakups Are If he can’t help but snoop, he Public can look back and see all those Dramatized in the above scene consolation posts from friends from the CBS sitcom The Big about your last breakup. Maybe Bang Theory, it’s the most he’ll see your previous partner’s c l a s s i c F a c e b o o k d a t i n g angry wall posts after you let dilemma: Who pulls the trigger him know that you wouldn’t be to make a relationship official seeing him again. Maybe this on Facebook first? It would be new friend of yours will see embarrassing if you declare your immature responses. Worst yourself to be in a relationship of all, he might see just how a n d y o u r ( y o u t h o u g h t ) much of a loser your last man s i g n i f i c a n t o t h e r d o e s n ’ t was and decide you’re playing reciprocate. in different leagues.

C h a n g i n g F a c e b o o k Facebook serves up a record of relationship status has, for better everything you’ve done since or worse, joined first date, first you created your profile. It’s k i s s , f i r s t n i g h t t o g e t h e r , best to carefully curate all that exclusivity talk, and first “I love information to make sure none you” on the list of important of it comes back to haunt you relationship milestones. It’s one later, but that takes a lot of of the most awkward milestones work, and some things are because it’s public by necessity. bound to slip through the cracks.

That first status change isn’t the To make things even more

frustrating, you can’t modify the privacy settings for things you’ve already posted. You might have hidden that incriminating status update from your last boyfriend, but since your new one just friended you today, you’ll have to remember to go back and delete it if you’re afraid he’ll be browsing. 5.

Other People’s Comments Will Make Your Date Jealous This has caused many a breakup. Some people tend towards jealousy, and as with item #1 on this list, the flame of insecurity will get doused in gasoline.

Let’s say some girl has a bunch of innocuous guy friends who are innocently posting flirtatious messages on her wall. Most folks are okay with flirting, but some can’t handle it, and something about seeing it written out on Facebook makes it worse. That girl’s boyfriend will either become passive aggressive or burst out in jealous rage, setting the stage for the end of an otherwise positive relationship.

This one illustrates the same point as all the others: Facebook brings us too close to people too quickly. Dating is as much about maintaining healthy and safe boundaries as it is about intimacy — at least at first — and social networking makes that harder than ever. It’s not WAYS page 21

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HOW TO: Create Free Music Playlists Online Amy-Mae Elliott (Mashable!)

Submitted at 4/11/2010 12:44:28 AM

Sharing music can be as much fun as listening to it. There are a large number of legal services online that allow you to share songs with friends, but some require paid accounts and software downloads, while others suffer from restricted geographic availability.

So, in the spirit of mixtapes from years gone by here we’ve hand-picked and tested three personalized streaming music services that will let you easily create a playlist online and, better still, share it with friends, wherever in the world they might be.

Try out the services we’ve listed below and let us know which you like the most. Oh, and be sure to link to the playlists you create in the comments so we can have a listen. 1. Mixtape.me Creating a Playlist Mixtape.me is really easy both to get started with and get using.

Signing up requires creating a username, entering an email address and password and once you’ve deciphered a Captcha, you’re good to go.

Finding content for your list is likewise just as easy. Simply enter a term — song name or artist — in the search box.

MixTape.me’s songs are added by users, as well as generated from the millions of songs

indexed by MP3 search engine SeeqPod and SkreemR. When the list of results comes up you can either hit up the song to start it playing, or drag and drop into a playlist which you can create by clicking the “+” sign next to playlists on the left hand side of the screen. To add more songs you just need to carry out more searches.

While your list is auto-saved as you go along, it can just as easily be edited. Once you’ve created your list you get the option to add a picture as well as the ability to add a description, should you feel it needs it.

Sharing Options There are a few options for you here. You can share with “Friends” on Mixtape.me, you can auto-generate an email with a link to the list, you can get a shortened URL (for example in t h i s i n s t a n c e “http://mixtape.me/p/14398) and you can tweet the list which creates the following message on Twitter: “Have a listen to my mashlist playlist on M i x T a p e . m e : http://mixtape.me/p/14398.”

In addition, you can embed the playlist using HTML. Here’s one we made earlier: 2. 8tracks Creating a Playlist Like the now closed down (and due to reopen as a band resource) Muxtape service, 8tracks lets you upload your own music to the site, which

Here’s our effort: 3. Grooveshark Creating a Playlist To use Grooveshark you have to sign up for an account which is another simple username, password, etc, type affair, after which you can start makin’ music. you can then save as a streaming Search works via a keyword playlist to share with others. basis via a search box. If you Signing up is simple, and c l i c k t o p l a y a s o n g , allows you to chose your own Grooveshark brings up a neat personalized URL. To create row of thumbnails showing the your playlist, simply select at song’s title, the artist and album least eight tracks, no more than art at the bottom of the screen two of which are from the same and, although you can drag and artist or album, making sure you drop to create a playlist the meet the conditions of 8track’s more usual way, you can also licensing agreement. turn your little selection of Getting MPS and AAC tracks recently listened to thumbnail on the site works on a simple songs into a playlist too, which browse to upload basis (which is quite a nice touch. took a little time, but certainly While we were seriously not off-putting) after which you impressed with the music we can name your playlist, enhance found to be available through the auto generated description Grooveshark, if you can’t find a and add up to five tags, as well track you want, or want to add as illustrate it nicely with a pic. your own home-made music, Sharing Options you can upload music files from While the playlist’s URL can your computer to your account b e d i r e c t l y s h a r e d on the site, although this can (http://8tracks.com/amymaeellio take up to 24 hours. tt/amymaeelliott-s-april-2010- Sharing Options mix), a simple “share” button Grooveshark generates a direct offers a short cut to tweet the list URL for your list, which w i t h a s h o r t e n e d U R L appears as follows for our (http://8tracks.com/mixes/10501 c r e a t i o n : 8) as well as post it to Facebook http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/ and StumbleUpon. playlist/Mashlist/27397447 and Finally, there’s also the option also offers the option to email it to embed the playlist by copy out from within the site. and pasting some HTML code. More advanced options include

the ability to export the playlist to a Grooveshark widget, with the choice to mirror the changes in the online playlist. Rather than being stuck with whatever design the site offers for its widget, there are vast customization options.

As well as scroll through a list of designs to chose from, you can change the color scheme, the size (great option, Grooveshark guys!) all of which is previewed live so you can see your changes. Here’s our customized widget: For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More tech resources from Mashable: - 10 Must-See Google Street View Sightings - 5 Must-See Google Easter Eggs - 10 Fantastic Websites for Spotify Fans - 5 Free Ways to Identify that Song Stuck in Your Head - Top 10 Modern Gadgets with Retro Styling [PICS] Image courtesy of iStockphoto, eAlisa Reviews: 8tracks, Facebook, Grooveshark, StumbleUpon, Twitter, iStockphoto Tags: 8tracks, grooveshark, how to, List, Lists, mixtape.me, music, playlists

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Curriculum teaches digital literacy and citizenship (CNET News.com)

fully understanding possible consequences. Today's kids may be tech savvy, but they still need Video from new curriculum g u i d a n c e f r o m a d u l t s t o teaches students about their understand how to use this digital footprint(Credit: media in ways that are C o m m o n S e n s e M e d i a ) responsible and enriching as commentary In my more than well as safe.

15 years in the Internet safety That's why I'm excited about a field, I've seen a lot of programs new curriculum being developed designed to teach children how by Common Sense Media, a San to use the Internet safely, but Francisco-based nonprofit that's many have missed the mark best known for its reviews of because they too often focus on movies, games, TV, and books children as victims or at least designed to help parents select passive consumers rather than as media appropriate for their participants in our digital children. culture. But in this Web 2.0 The goal of Common Sense w o r l d , k i d s a r e n ' t j u s t Media's Digital Literacy and c o n s u m i n g m e d i a , t h e y ' r e Citizenship Initiative is to creating it and they have provide curriculum to help collectively embraced social middle school teachers, parents, media as a part of their lives. and kids themselves "raise a They don't go online; they are generation of responsible, smart, online--whether on a PC, a and safe digital citizens." m o b i l e d e v i c e , a g a m i n g Kids, this is not your older console, or whatever comes sibling's Internet safety class. next.

It's a whole new approach that's What's more, as the Berkman based not only on an accurate C e n t e r ' s I n t e r n e t S a f e t y understanding of risk and youth Technical Task Force confirmed culture, but on a foundation of last year, the greatest risk to kids respect for young people. From --aside from being denied access what I've seen of the curriculum, to technology and social media-- it doesn't lecture and it doesn't is what they do to themselves try to scare kids. It respects and their peers. Whether it's y o u n g p e o p l e a s a c t i v e bullying, sexting, or just posting p a r t i c i p a n t s information they might regret The curriculum is based on the later on, kids sometimes venture d i g i t a l e t h i c s f r a m e w o r k forth in the digital world without developed by the GoodPlay

• Privacy and digital footprints: How to manage privacy online.

• Connected culture: How to build respectful one-on-one, group, and community relationships online and protect against cyberbullying.

• Self-expression and reputation: Who we are in various online contexts and how to protect your reputation in the process.

• Respecting creative work: How to get credit for original creations and respect others' creative property.

Submitted at 4/10/2010 9:25:58 PM

Project, led by Harvard School of Education professor Howard Gardner. Gardner and his colleagues have done pioneering work recognizing that youth are not "passive consumers" of new media but "actively contributing to and defining the new media landscape." Still, according to a report, " Meeting of Minds: Cross-Generational Dialogue on the Ethics of Digital Life" (PDF), the project issued in

October of 2009, "adults need to help youth think about online life in moral and ethical ways-and to act as moral and ethical digital citizens."

To that end, the Common Sense curriculum is built around these five units: • Digital life:"How the anytimeanywhere-everywhere nature of digital media requires responsible choices."

Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer The curriculum has been tested in pilot programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, Omaha, and New York and will be rolled out nationwide in the fall.

To learn more about this curriculum, I spoke by phone with Common Sense Media's CEO Jim Steyer. You can hear the entire 13-minute interview by clicking here: Listen now: Download today's podcast Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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Apple Vs Adobe: Steve Jobs Responds Pete Cashmore (Mashable!)

Submitted at 4/10/2010 7:55:04 PM

Steve Jobs has weighed in on Apple’s new rule that iPhone and iPad applications must be “originally written” in C/C++/Objective-C — a mandate that’s being seen as another sleight against Adobe Flash. The response comes after an Adobe employee wrote a post telling Apple to “ go screw yourself“.

Developer Greg Slepak claims to have emailed the Apple CEO about the situation, and posted the following thread. Given that Steve does randomly reply to emails (with characteristically curt responses), we’re going to assume this is legit: GREG: Hi Steve, Lots of people are pissed off at Apple’s mandate that applications be “originally written” in C/C++/Objective-C. If you go, for example, to the Hacker News homepage right now: http://news.ycombinator.com/ You’ll see that most of the front

page stories about this new restriction, with #1 being: “Steve Jobs Has Just Gone Mad” with (currently) 243 upvotes. The top 5 stories are all negative reactions to the TOS, and there are several others below them as well. Not a single positive reaction, even from John Gruber, your biggest fan.

I love your product, but your SDK TOS are growing on it like an invisible cancer.

Sincerely, Greg STEVE: We think John Gruber’s post is very insightful and not negative:

to that article stated: “So what Apple does not want is for some other company to establish a de facto standard software platform on top of Cocoa Touch. Not Adobe’s Flash. Not .NET (through MonoTouch). If that were to happen, there’s no lock-in advantage.” http://daringfireball.net/2010/04/ And that makes Apple evil. At why_apple_changed_section_33 least, it does in the sense that Google uses the term in “don’t 1 be evil” – I believe pg translated Steve “evil” as something along the GREG: Sorry. I didn’t catch that post, lines of “trying to compete by means other than making the but I finished it just now.

I still think it undermines best product and marketing it Apple. You didn’t need this honestly”. clause to get to where you are From a developer’s point of now with the iPhone’s market view, you’re limiting creativity share, adding it just makes itself. Gruber is wrong, there are people lose respect for you and plenty of [applications] written run for the hills, as a commenter u s i n g c r o s s - p l a t f o r m

frameworks that are amazing, that he himself has praised.

Mozilla’s Firefox just being one of them.

I don’t think Apple has much to gain with 3.3.1, quite the opposite actually.

Sincerely, Greg STEVE: We’ve been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces substandard apps and hinders the progress of the platform.

The fact that Jobs has defended Apple’s position is no surprise: He’s almost certainly the originator of the idea. But his response will almost certainly up the ante in this battle of the software titans.

What do you think of Steve’s reply? Does he make a legitimate point or not?

Reviews: Firefox, Google, Hacker News Tags: adobe, apple, jobs, steve jobs, trending

Quantum Dots Could Make Dark, Grainy Cellphone Party Pics Obsolete [Quantum Dots] Jack Loftus (Gizmodo) Submitted at 4/11/2010 10:00:00 AM

I've all but accepted my iPhone will never take Matt Buchananesque photos in low light. Hell, even in good light the results are oftentimes dull and grainy.

Luckily an enhancement, like all things from the fantastic future, is almost here. More »

Learn to Grow Plants and Food With Beginner Garden Projects [Garden] Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) Submitted at 4/10/2010 5:30:00 PM

Maybe you've tried to "garden"

before, but the results were brown, wilted, and demotivating. This spring, don't give up and settle for plastic

flowers. Use these great

resources to grow flowers, herbs, and vegetables, whether in your yard or in your window.

More »

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Steve Jobs responds on iPhone SDK's new Section 3.3.1 Megan Lavey (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

as more and more apps are written for Apple's touch platforms; meanwhile, we've Submitted at 4/11/2010 2:00:00 AM also heard a somewhat plausible Filed under: iPhone, SDK The technical explanation-slashrelease of the iPhone 4.0 SDK to rationalization for the move. developers included, in the After Slepak read the piece, he a c c o m p a n y i n g a g r e e m e n t , responded in turn: "I still think it Apple's new mandate that apps undermines Apple. You didn't m u s t b e w r i t t e n i n need this clause to get to where C/C++/Objective-C. This seems you are now with the iPhone's to block the use of alternative market share, adding it just development environments for makes people lose respect for i P h o n e a p p s , s u c h a s t h e you and run for the hills.... From upcoming Flash CS5. a developer's point of view, As criticism of this condition you're limiting creativity itself. has mounted, we now have Gruber is wrong, there are Steve Jobs responding to an e- plenty of [applications] written mail from Tao Effect's Greg u s i n g c r o s s - p l a t f o r m Slepak on the topic, sparking a frameworks that are amazing, discussion between the two on that he himself has praised. the change.

Mozilla's Firefox just being one Jobs pointed out John Gruber's of them." recent analysis of the change, Jobs wrote back, "We've been calling it "insightful and not there before, and intermediate negative" as compared to the layers between the platform and knee-jerk reaction in the first t h e d e v e l o p e r u l t i m a t e l y f e w h o u r s a f t e r t h e S D K produces [sic] sub-standard apps agreement surfaced. The revised and hinders the progress of the viewpoint suggests that the real platform." Slepak replied again reasons behind the move are to to clarify his position, and maintain innovation and quality there's no further word from

game development that would simply not be taking place otherwise on the iPhone." Right now it's not clear whether Unity is on the good or the bad side of Apple's new rules, but if the philosophical argument against third-party tools holds water, there are lots of apps already on the store that may be in trouble.

Assuming that users 'wouldn't like' apps made with those thirdparty tools, and that Apple is therefore justified in protecting the platform from crappy apps, strikes us as more than a bit paternalistic -- especially after the onslaught of fart apps and the recent Bikinigate, it's hard to accept "Apple knows best!" with a completely straight face.

[Via MacRumors] TUAW Steve Jobs responds on iPhone SDK's new Section 3.3.1 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Steve -- yet.

This from Jobs, and the echoing statement that's in Gruber's article, both largely ignore the fact that plenty (most?) of the 85 million users buying and running applications on the Touch OS (whether on iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad) don't care

how those apps are created as long as the app experience is compelling -- they wouldn't know an IDE from an SDK, or be able to tell Xcode from Flash on a bet.

As fellow TUAW staffer Mike Rose points out, in the case of Unity, "that platform is enabling

Mashable: - HOW TO: Keep Your Facebook Updates Private - HOW TO: Clean Up Your Facebook Profile - HOW TO: Block FarmVille on Facebook - 4 Easy Ways to Engage Your

Facebook Fans social networking - 10 Musts for Marketing to Women on Facebook Image courtesy of iStockphoto, A1Stock Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, iStockphoto Tags: dating, facebook, Feature, features, Lists, social media,

WAYS continued from page 17

dissimilar to dating someone who works in your office; you can’t control the exposure you’ll have, and that can be a recipe for disaster.

Have you had any awkward dating situations thanks to Facebook? Share your funny (or

tragic) stories in the comments; we’d love to compile a list of the best ones.

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More Facebook resources from

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Why every math wiz should challenge red light cameras (CNET News.com) Submitted at 4/10/2010 10:12:19 PM

Mathematicians do have their uses.

No, not necessarily in helping men decide which woman is, as romantic comedies would have it, the one. Nor, perhaps, in suggesting the precise percentage that a woman should be smarter than a man in order for their relationship to survive the diminution of lust.

But every individual who crunches a number without breaking it can now help us all save money.

Would you please join me in saluting Mike Mogil, a math tutor from Collier County, Fla.?

Mogil is clearly that rare man who puts his math where his mouth is. And, indeed, where his wife is.

According to NBC2, when his wife received a ticket, Mogil listened carefully to her explanation that she felt the yellow light was too short. A rare husband, Mogil respected his wife's feelings. In fact, such was his respect that he took a stopwatch to the intersection in question. The speed limit was 45 mph, which meant that, according to the guidelines set

by the county, the yellow light ought to be illuminated for 4.5 seconds. how many are not on long enough?(Credit: CC Silverline/Flickr) There has been some nationwide consternation as to whether the dark pressures of finance have been brought to bear upon counties to such a degree that light durations have been sneakily curtailed. So Mogil tested this light 15 times in order to achieve statistically significant proof of the potential cause of his wife's anguish.

What he found was that the

Transportation Department whether there were other lights that might have been errantly shortened. "I doubt it very seriously, but I will be looking into it," promised the Department's Gene Calvert.

Sadly, he doesn't appear to have taken account of the fact that when a mathematician smells illogic, he will not rest with one mere triumph. Mogil took his stopwatch, his fine eyes, and his spirit of Don Quixote and tested another 65 intersections. Only 7 of those yellow lights were of the appropriate length.

I have the irrationally human idea that the court listened yellow lights, on average, were favorably to Mogil's evidence on for a mere 3.8 seconds. Some precisely because he is a math math tutors might have decided wiz. So might I appeal to all the proof was enough. But not those around the world whose Mogil. He went to court, where mathematical skills have been a special magistrate picked up certified. Please go forth to your his wife's ticket, ripped it into local intersections, clutching many pieces and tossed it out of y o u r w a t c h e s a n d y o u r t h e c o u r t r o o m w i n d o w - - objectivity. This might generate metaphorically speaking, that is. almost as much money as we, With admirable logic, Mogil the people, gave up to save told NBC2: "If the county, they those dear, speedy bankers on are not going to follow their Wall Street. own rules, then why should we Five Filters featured article: be required to follow the rules?" Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: We haven't, however, reached PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, the amusing part. NBC2 asked Term Extraction. the Collier County

Flip Slide HD caught outside the box, still looks weird Paul Miller (Engadget) Submitted at 4/11/2010 1:02:00 AM

Maybe it's just the odd angle of this newly submitted out-of-box photograph, or maybe we just aren't smart enough for Cisco, but we still we can't quite figure out what exactly is going on here. We suppose the flip-up screen performs as a sort of poor man's photo frame? At risk of being rude, we're pretty sure we'd just like a thinner video camera, but when it comes to selling millions dirt cheap, dirt simple video cameras to the masses, the makers of the seemingly imminent Flip Slide HD are of course the experts.

[Thanks, anonymous] Flip Slide HD caught outside the box, still looks weird originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| Comments

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Tweetie 2 For Mac is Coming Pete Cashmore (Mashable!)

Submitted at 4/10/2010 11:21:58 PM

If you’re concerned that Twitter’s acquisition of the popular iPhone app Tweetie will halt development on Tweetie for Mac, don’t be.

Amid concerns from Mac users, Tweetie developer Atebits responded on the MacHeist forums today: Chris Rawson (The Unofficial MC372LL/A $1999.99 The current line of MacBook Hey all – first of all I apologize Apple Weblog (TUAW)) These prices seem to indicate Pros hasn't seen significant for any confusion, things have updated 15" and 17" MacBook updates since June of 2009, so Submitted at 4/10/2010 9:30:00 PM been a bit crazy! I just want to Pros, presumably updated with many potential buyers have says I’m blasting through the Filed under: Macbook Pro the latest i5 and i7 Intel been eagerly awaiting an update todo list to get a beta put We've received an anonymous processors. MacRumors says to the line for several months. together as fast as I can, the Mac t i p f r o m a M i c r o c e n t e r they have received independent Given this latest information UI stuff I’ve been prototyping is employee in the form of a confirmation of this info from from Microcenter, it looks as just too cool to have anything screenshot of Microcenter's M i c r o c e n t e r . T h i s l a t e s t though the long wait may be else happen to it. Sorry for i n v e n t o r y s y s t e m . T h e indication of a MacBook Pro over very soon. screenshot appears to show that update comes less than a week TUAW Inventory screenshot a MacBook Pro update is after an earlier leak from a f r o m M i c r o c e n t e r s h o w s i m m i n e n t . M i c r o c e n t e r ' s Taiwanese newspaper which imminent MacBook Pro updates inventory system shows four claimed MacBook Pro updates originally appeared on The different SKUs for upcoming are coming later this month. U n o f f i c i a l A p p l e W e b l o g Macs, as outlined below: There doesn't appear to be any (TUAW) on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 Apple System Good-USA i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e 1 3 " 21:30:00 EST. Please see our Jack Loftus (Gizmodo) MC371LL/A $1799.99 MacBook; it's unclear whether terms for use of feeds.

Submitted at 4/11/2010 9:35:00 AM Mac system #1 Best-USA that means updates for that Read| Permalink| Email this| MC373LL/A $2199.99 Ignore the story of how this product are coming later on or Comments Mac system #2 Best-USA product information has yet to leak came to be this morning MC024LL/A $2299.99 and focus instead on the boxy hit Microcenter's inventory Mac system Better- USA system. handset. It's allegedly a brand spanking new Motorblur slider

Inventory screenshot from Microcenter shows imminent MacBook Pro updates

keeping it short, gotta get back to coding!

Never fear – Tweetie 2 for Mac will be here … soon. Reviews: tweetie Tags: apple, mac, tweetie, twitter

Dubious Leak Story Comes with Very Real Motoblur Handset Running Android 2.1 [Motorola]

phone running Android 2.1.

Also, it's a square. More »

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Adobe admits Apple's no-Flash policy could hurt business Michael Grothaus (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)) Submitted at 4/10/2010 7:00:00 PM

Filed under: Apple Corporate Adobe has filed its latest quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) report, just one day after Apple previewed iPhone OS 4.0. In the document, Adobe outlines the risk that Apple's prohibition on Flash brings to the company. In the"Risk Factors" section of the filing, Adobe stated that exclusion of Flash on devices "such as the Apple iPhone or iPad, make it more difficult for our products to perform, and [if] our customers are persuaded to use alternative technologies, our business could be harmed."

Apple does not compete with Adobe over technologies like Flash. Apple's decision to leave Flash off its multi-touch devices is based on (according to Apple) the instability of Flash and the power drain Flash causes on portable devices.

The lack of Flash on the iPhone has been a realm of contention between Adobe and Apple since the iPhone launched in 2007.

Now things have heated up

again, since Apple's justreleased beta version of the iPhone OS 4 SDK license bans ported Flash, Java, and Mono apps. A primary feature of Adobe's forthcoming Flash Professional CS5 is the ability to export Flash content into the native iPhone format. While Adobe has officially so far remained mum on this, their platform evangelist (who apparently had to be reined in by corporate, after his initial

post did not include adequate disclaimers) has told Apple to"Go screw yourself."

TUAW Adobe admits Apple's no-Flash policy could hurt business originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

It's Romney By A Hair contributors@theatlantic.com (D.B. Grady) (Politics :: The Atlantic)

piggy banks and shaking hands.

"I was astonished by how much warmth we felt from people," says Evangelicals for Romney Submitted at 4/10/2010 8:47:48 PM Formerly "nominal Republican representative Nancy French. frontrunner" Mitt Romney can In the end, Romneycare was not drop nominal from the title. an issue delegates at the At a gathering headlined by conference worried about.

GOP superstars Sarah Palin, French attributes this to the Ron Paul, and Newt Gingrich, it manner in which Romney was Romney who took the implemented the health care crown jewel of the Southern p l a n a s g o v e r n o r o f R e p u b l i c a n L e a d e r s h i p Massachusetts. "It's not perfect, Conference, and he didn't even but one thing he did that bother showing up. He took the President Obama did not is victory by single vote over Ron balance the budget first."

Paul, 439 to 438. Paul had a Romney can enjoy this feather s t r o n g p r e s e n c e o f v o c a l in his cap and the fundraisers activists at the conference, but it that follow, and the Republican was clear from the voting rank- Party can rest easy that Ron and-file that his stances of Paul didn't take another straw nonintervention and opposition p o l l . T h e i d e a o f t w o to free-trade agreements were consecutive victories in a row -not in line with the party as a Paul won at CPAC earlier this whole. year -- led some in the GOP Some Ron Paul supporters were e s t a b l i s h m e n t t o c o n s i d e r not going to take the narrow loss a b o l i s h i n g t h e t r a d i t i o n lying down, threatening to sue altogether. Third place Sarah o v e r u n s p e c i f i e d v o t i n g Palin, meanwhile, can take some i r r e g u l a r i t i e s . ( L a w y e r s solace in the results. In 2006, shouldn't bother clearing their John McCain came in third. schedules.) Though Romney --- D.B. Grady is the author of was too busy for the conference, Red Planet Noir. his acolytes, Evangelicals for Mitt, worked the crowds this weekend, handing out plastic

Uneasy peace returns to Bangkok streets (Financial Times - US homepage)

By Tim Johnston in Bangkok Published: April 11 2010 08:48 | Last updated: April 11 2010

08:48 PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Five Filters featured article: Term Extraction.

Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:

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Poll: Will you be upgrading your iPhone hardware to take advantage of multitasking?

Steele, Stoic At SRLC Michael Grothaus (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

contributors@theatlantic.com (D.B. Grady) (Politics :: The Atlantic)

Submitted at 4/11/2010 10:15:00 AM

Filed under: iPhone Multitasking is the number one requested feature since the iPhone launched almost three years ago. With the introduction of iPhone OS 4 SDK, Apple has finally brought multitasking to the iPhone and iPod touch.

The catch is that you need to have a 3rd gen iPod touch (released in 32 and 64GB versions last fall) or an iPhone 3GS. Any iPhone or iPod touch before those versions do not possess the hardware capable of supporting multitasking. At least, that's Apple's position; jailbreak users have been multitasking for a long time on that gear.

What we want to know is how

many of you are going to be updating your iPhone OS devices to take advantage of the multitasking features? Vote in the poll and leave us your thoughts in the comments!

View Poll TUAW Poll: Will you be upgrading your iPhone hardware to take advantage of

change without clarifying. And having seen the changes in action, "America says no way.

No how." He added, "When Submitted at 4/10/2010 6:51:18 PM At the Southern Republican America says no, they'd better Leadership Conference today, listen. Just ask Mark Stupak."

Michael Steele, embattled He earned his second standing chairman of the Republican ovation answering his own National Committee, took to the rhetorical question: "How do we s t a g e a m i d s t b r o a d get our country back? Fire d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h h i s Nancy Pelosi." stewardship of the party's image It was difficult this weekend to and finances. Steele received a find members of the GOP rankm u l t i t a s k i n g ? o r i g i n a l l y standing ovation by a ballroom and-file eager to defend Steele, appeared on The Unofficial lightly attended by standards set though after 31 Republican Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, by speakers Sarah Palin and Ron chairmen signed a letter of support, talk of his possible 11 Apr 2010 10:15:00 EST. Paul.

He opened with a reference to ouster faded. In his speech, he Please see our terms for use of recent troubles, saying, "In life said, "I'm the first person here to feeds.

Read| Permalink| Email this| you realize you can't please admit I've made mistakes. And everyone. But you can certainly its incumbent on me to shoulder Comments make them all mad at you at the those burdens and move on." He same time." closed his address by saying, "If In a sober, soft-spoken speech you don't leave this conference largely focused on American with anything else, take this: it's g r e a t n e s s a n d R e p u b l i c a n never too late in America." Nor, principles, he fired shots across apparently, in the GOP. the White House's bow. He said --- D.B. Grady is the author of that President Obama inspired Red Planet Noir.

America last year, but did so in moderators in iPhone OS 4. the wrong way. That he offered That's good news. More » hope without a roadmap, and

iPhone OS 4 Has Video Chat, Group Chat Code [Iphone Video Chat] Jason Chen (Gizmodo) Submitted at 4/10/2010 10:54:06 PM

9to5Mac dug up references to video conferencing—hosted on

Apple's own servers—as well as group chat rooms and chat

26

Politics/ Tech News/ Economy/

Santorum Confronted contributors@theatlantic.com (D.B. Grady) (Politics :: The Atlantic) Submitted at 4/10/2010 3:10:11 PM

When your house is not in order -- when you're still smothering the flames of a scandal involving, of all things, a topless bondage club (complete with simulated lesbian sex acts!) -who better to open the last day of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference than David Vitter?

Google auto-complete really does the legwork here. The first six results: David Vitter senator David Vitter who dat David Vitter email David Vitter who dat shirt David Vitter letter to NFL David Vitter diaper (One of these is not like the other.)

So who better than David Vitter --patron of ladies of ill repute-to introduce culture warrior and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum? (Warning: Do NOT Google Rick Santorum at work.) Santorum praised Vitter for his "principled conservative leadership." And judging from RNC's expense reports, Vitter's leadership has indeed been taken to heart.

Rick Santorum spoke for fifteen minutes on his vision of a Judeo -Christian nation and took aim at the president for leading the

E-reader News Edition

Top 10 YouTube Videos About The Web Deane Rimerman (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 4/10/2010 4:00:00 PM

Our selection of the 10 most popular YouTube videos about United States in a direction of Supreme Court vacancies at the the Web is of course based on secularism. "Barack Obama time, saying that the GOP would page views. But we also filtered wants to change who we want to need moderate Republicans to the results for videos that are be. He wants to change the get pro-life members on the most true to explaining the bigvision of America that our court. "We got a commitment picture version of what the Web Founders and generations before out of Arlen Specter that no is. The selection includes some have ingrained in all of us." matter who George W. Bush of the most creative ways the Continuing Sarah Palin's n o m i n a t e d , h e ' d h a v e h i s growth of the Web has ever embrace of The Party of No, he support. And now we have been explained. continued, "No, we are going to Justice Roberts and Justice The fast paced growth of the Web too often keeps us focused fight for America. We are going Alito." to fight for Judeo-Christian Santorum deserves credit for on the latest and greatest, to the ethics. We are going to fight for continuing the session as the point were we lose perspective our founding documents." questions intensified from for how the Web has changed The most dramatic moment of disaffected Republicans and Tea over time. So let's take a step Santorum's presentation came Party activists. Unexpectedly, back and get a more culturallyduring an impromptu question- many of Santorum's answers oriented overview of the Web. and-answer session, when a were interrupted by the first From a 1969 film about an speaker confronted him over his jeers of the conference. Perhaps internet that didn't have a name, 2004 endorsement of Arlen it is RNC chairman Michael to the most recent video on the Specter over Pat Toomey. "We Steele's looming presence that Future of Publishing- as both won't give the RNC money has rightfully brought out the nostalgia and analysis, we offer anymore," she said, "because we disenchanted of the party. It you these videos to help you want to choose our candidates." remains to be seen whether reflect.

Her question received a standing Steele can calm the unrest, or Sponsor ovation. Santorum responded, "I whether the GOP remains a prayed about it a lot. I thought party in bondage. about the consequences of my D.B. Grady is the author of Red Barry Ritholtz (The Big actions. We all make mistakes. Planet Noir.

Picture) We all fail. We all fall."

He explained the endorsement Submitted at 4/11/2010 10:30:00 AM by pointing to two looming The Conception of Wine – Infographic from Tiago Cabaco

• Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us 10,892,454 views• Internet People!

3,316,195 views• History of the Internet 1,944,479 views• Social Media Revolution 1,734,985 views• Internet Party: When Google's parents leave town...

841,295 views• 1981 primitive Internet report on KRON 643,333 views• The Internet in 1969 567,941 views• Web 2.0 544,862 views• The Internet Stars Are Viral 434,424 views• The Future of Publishing 431,759 views Discuss

The Conception of Wine on Vimeo.

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ReadWriteWeb Events Guide, 10 April 2010 Admin (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 4/10/2010 2:45:00 PM

There are seven new events on the calendar this week: Head over to Stanford University to learn whether the real-time Web is an imperative or insanity.

Check out the Net Prophet conference in Cape Town, South Africa. There's also the Digital Sport Summit in Melbourne, Australia. And don't forget to register for ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit 2010!

How do you like your events guide? You can import individual events into Google Calendar using the link beside each entry, or download the entire thing as an iCal (and Google Calendar-importable) file, or even view it as a world map. Know of something cool taking place that should appear here? Let us know in the comments below or contact us.

Sponsor 13 – 15 April 2010: Dallas, Texas PubCon South PubCon, the premier search and social media conference, features the industry's biggest names and key players shaping the future of the Web. PubCon South will include cutting-edge panel sessions exploring tracks dedicated to search, social media and affiliate marketing, an intensive professional search and social media training program, and some of the

world's top keynote speakers.

PubCon South at Dallas will also hold a one-day, two-track slate of intensive educational training programs led by some of the industry's most respected search professionals. The event takes place at the Richardson Conference and Civic Center.

Register here.

16 April 2010: Mountain View, California Under the Radar: Cloud Under the Radar: Cloud is must -attend event for dealmakers and heads of IT from large enterprises, SMBs, service providers, carriers and media companies who are responsible for helping their companies leverage new technology and innovation in the fast-evolving IT ecosystem. Join us for the 15th Under the Radar conference, featuring a handpicked selection of the world's most innovative cloud startups among 350 top tech, media, telcom and finance executives.

For ticket and more information, v i s i t http://undertheradarblog.com.

16 – 17 April 2010: Royal Oak, Michigan FutureMidwest FutureMidwest is the region's largest technology and knowledge conference. Founded

by Adrian Pittman, Jordan Wolfe and Zach Lipson, FutureMidwest is the fusion of two successful conferences held in Michigan in 2009 - the

Ayah Bdeir (artist and programmer), Jeff Hammerbacher (Accel Ventures/ Facebook), David Karp (founder of Tumblr), Andrew Kortina (of Bitly/ Venmo), Hilary Mason (of betaworks), Matt Mullenweg (founder of Wordpress), and Joshua Schachter (currently at Google, formerly at Yahoo, and founder of delicious), and on the M o d u l e M i d w e s t D i g i t a l art side, Tauba Auerbach, Conference and TechNow. Cao Fei, Aaron Koblin, Monica Both conferences highlighted Narula, Marc Andre Robinson, how technology and digital tools Evan Roth and Ryan Trecartin. have dramatically changed the Conference attendance includes way we do business and the a half-day session where the effect this transition has had on seven teams will unveil their companies. FutureMidwest ideas, followed by a cocktail kicks things up a notch with reception in the New Museum presentations, group breakout Skyroom. Find registration sessions, relationship-building information here. opportunities and influencers April 19, 2010: St. Louis w h o a r e t a k i n g a c t i o n t o Missouri redefine business in the digital Social Fresh St. Louis age. Register here.

The social media conference for 17 April 2010: New York City marketers, Social Fresh is not Seven on Seven about concept, but focused Seven on Seven will pair seven purely on case studies from the leading artists with seven game- front lines. Learn what social changing technologists in teams media can really do for business of two, and challenge them to bottom lines. Over the course of develop something new - be it the day you'll hear from 35 an application, social media, speakers from companies like artwork, product, or whatever Ford, Best Buy, Scottrade, they imagine - over the course Hardees, CMT and many more. of a single day. The seven teams Register now and use coupon will unveil their ideas at a one- code RWW15 for 15% off. day event at the New Museum 19 – 21 April 2010: San on April 17.

Francisco, California Seven on Seven Participants DrupalCon include, on the technology side, DrupalCon is the premier

conference focused on Drupal, the award-winning open source content management framework that is galvanizing social publishing and web development today. For a registration fee of $195, attendees get three full days of sessions led by the best and brightest Drupal experts.

Drupal has been downloaded over 2 million times since its inception, and project growth has doubled annually for several years. Drupal is used to deliver a wide variety of application types including blogs, wikis, community networks, digital media portals, and web content publishing and management.

20 April 2010: Palo Alto, California The Real Time Web: Imperative or Insanity?

The cost of creating, sharing and distributing data in real-time has become essentially zero, leading to an explosion of user generated content. Currently, every minute: • 500,000 pieces of content are shared on Facebook, • 25,000 messages are created on Twitter, and • 20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube.

Over the last decades, the amount of data created by individuals has doubled every READWRITEWEB page 28

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two years. How do we effectively use that data to make decisions that drive value for consumers and businesses? How much data is too much to handle? And what's the opportunity for entrepreneurs?

In this event, VLAB engages with entrepreneurs, investors, and established players to separate reality from hype while examining key business opportunities.

26 April 2010: San Francisco, California Future of Money and Technology Summit The Future of Money & Technology Summit will bring together the best and brightest thinkers around money, including visionaries, entrepreneurial business people, developers, press, investors, authors, solution/service providers, and organizations who work where cash and commerce collide. We meet to discuss the evolving ecosystem around money in a proactive, conducive to dealmaking environment. Featured speakers include Jolie O'Dell, formerly of ReadWriteWeb, as well as representatives from Wells Fargo Bank, Kiva, SharesPost, Jambool, Founders Fund, Outright.com, SoftTech VC, and many more.

Use discount code "rww" to get 10% off registration.

3 – 6 May 2010: San Francisco, California

Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco brings together the designers, developers, entrepreneurs, VCs, marketing professionals, product managers, and business strategists - from startups to enterprises - that are building the next-generation Web. Along with a vibrant Expo Hall and plenty of networking opportunities, four main conference tracks cover a spectrum of Web 2.0 topics from business strategy to Web design, user experience, developer hacks, community building, real-time, mobile, cloud computing, user-generated content, and more. Featured speakers include Chris Anderson, Ben Huh, Charlene Li, Kevin Lynch, Hilary Mason, and Brad Stone. Register today.

7 May 2010: Mountain View, California ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit 2010 The ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit 2010 will be an exploration of the latest Mobile development trends - both the technology and the emerging business applications. Get ready to explore, think and create the future of Mobile with the brightest in the industry, your peers! As in our last Summit, The Real-Time Web, the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit is an unconference.

An unconference is a participant driven conference

where the agenda is created on the day, in real-time and discussions are lead by conference participants. Read about the history of unconferences.

We will have two main tracks at this Summit - Development and Business - so the Summit will be of interest to managers, marketers, developers, innovators, entrepreneurs and thought leaders alike. Here's a sample of some of the topics we'll explore in both of these tracks.

shape the conference.

11 May 2010: San Francisco, California FinovateSpring FinovateSpring 2010 will again showcase the most cutting-edge financial and banking technology innovations to Silicon Valley and the world.

With Finovate's signature mix of short, fast-paced onstage demos (no slides are allowed) from handpicked companies and intimate networking time with their executives, this conference packs a ton of unique value into a single day.

• Geo-location services- what Come see the cutting edge of can you do using location as a b a n k i n g a n d f i n a n c i a l platform? technology and network with • Commerce & Marketing- as h u n d r e d s o f t h e l e a d i n g more and more consumers use financial executives, venture s m a r t p h o n e s , h o w c a n capitalists, press, industry businesses utilize this channel? analysts, bloggers and fintech • Content, Publishing & entrepreneurs. Early bird R e c o m m e n d a t i o n s - t h e registration rates are available. technologies and best practices. 13 May 2010: Cape Town, • Mobile Social Networking- South Africa how to tap into communities on Net Prophet 2010 Conference mobile devices.

Taking place on 13 May, 2010 • Internet of Things- the at the Old Mutual Business emerging opportunities from School in Pinelands, Cape sensor and RFID data.

Town, this is the second annual • Augmented Reality- the Net Prophet conference to be technology and business h o s t e d b y t h e R A M P applications of AR. Foundation, a non-profit entity • Native App vs. Browser created by the RAMP Group as B a s e d - I n c l u d i n g i P h o n e , a means for social investment Android, RIM, Palm, Windows within the local Internet based Mobile and Symbian. economy.

After a very successful conference last year, Click here to register now, or to where over 400 attendees tapped become a sponsor, or to help the minds of leading Internet

experts and successful entrepreneurs, Net Prophet 2010 will build on the same format and anticipates on reaching many more people.

May 17 2010: San Francisco, California SF MusicTech Summit The SF MusicTech Summit will bring together 700-plus visionaries in the music/technology space - the best and brightest entrepreneurs, developers, investors, service providers, journalists, musicians and organizations who work with them at the convergence of culture and commerce. We meet to discuss the evolving music, business and technology ecosystem in a proactive, conducive-to-dealmaking environment. Enter the discount code "rww" to get 10% off.

18 May 2010: Silicon Valley, California Founder Showcase On Tuesday, May 18th, 10 companies elected by over 13,500 registered CEO Members of TheFunded.com will present to an audience of 200 investors, founders, and members of the press. A panel of experts will critique the pitches, and voting from those in attendance will determine the grand prize winner, who will receive $2,500 on the spot and a host of other prizes.

Founder Showcase guests will READWRITEWEB page 29

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be treated to food and drinks, as well as informative talks by two leading Silicon Valley CEOs. There is also a networking and Pitch Table area for startups, service providers, and investors to convene. Previous investors that have attended include Charles River Ventures, JAFCO, Leapfrog, Polaris, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, First Round, Blue Run, and various angels. Over $250,000 has been raised by presenting companies that met investors at previous Founder Showcase events.

Use discount code "RWW" to get a 10% discount.

18 – 19 May 2010: Santa Clara, California Social Media Strategies Social Media Strategies is a conference on social business, social marketing, advertising and optimization. Social media technologies are fundamentally changing the sales, marketing and operations process.

Business are leveraging social technologies to acquire, market, and communicate with customers. This conference features cutting edge topics, keynotes, workshops and discussions that provided strategic knowledge, insights and real world examples on how to successfully plan, implement and manage your organizations social media efforts to achieve your business goals.

Use the code "readwriteweb" when you register and get $100

off.

19 – 21 May 2010: San Francisco, California eCommAmerica Emerging Communications Conference & Awards(eComm) is focused on what's "Next in Telecom, Mobile & Internet Communications". It's designed to accelerate communications technology and business model innovation. Participants attend to be exposed to the latest technologies, research, companies, trends and opportunities.

Day three this year is being dedicated to augmented reality.

AR may prove to be as significant as the introduction of the Internet itself, moving computers off desks and out of their separate modality into our lives. Use discount code 'ReadWriteWeb' for 10% discount.

25 – 27 May 2010: Denver, Colorado Glue Glue is the only conference devoted solely to exploring the problem-sets facing architects, developers and IT professionals in a "post-cloud" world. Glue focuses on the APIs and protocols (Twitter, Facebook, Websockets, PubSubHubBub, XMPP), formats and standards (RDF/Linked Data, JSON, Microformats, HTML5), platforms and providers (Amazon, Rackspace, Google App Engine, Salesforce.com,

Eucalyptus), Identity Protocols (OAuth/WRAP, SAML, OpenID, SPML) emerging NoSQL data models (Cassandra, CouchDB, MongoDB, Riak, HBase), and other mechanisms that are building the post-cloud world.

ReadWriteCloud will be blogging live from Gluecon and C l o u d C a m p , a n d ReadWriteWeb's Alex Williams will be moderating the "Managing Complexity in the Cloud" session. Please join us May 25-27 in Denver, Colorado.

ReadWriteWeb readers can receive 10% off of registration by using the code "RWW12".

27 – 28 May 2010: Beijing, China Global Mobile Internet Conference The Global Mobile Internet Conference is designed specifically for entrepreneurs, executives and influencers to understand and capitalize on the growing opportunities in mobile internet. Though focused on opportunities in Asia, much of the conference dialogue is intended to compare and trade best practices across borders, especially between the East and West. Around 1000 industry leaders from Asia, Europe and North America are expected to attend. The conference will be in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

28 May 2010: Beijing, China Global Mobile Internet

Conference - Innovation Show & Startup Competition The Global Mobile Internet Conference Innovation Show intends to be a launch pad for innovative mobile internet startups from around the world.

Innovation Show finalists will have the opportunity to present their company to an expected 1,000 investors, industry leaders, and press. Finalists will be judged by and receive feedback from a team of respected venture capitalists and angel investors. The judges will choose one company as the GMIC Innovation Show Winner. Startups must apply by April 4.

15 – 16 June 2010: New York City Corporate Social Media Summit The Corporate Social Media Summit is a two day conference focused exclusively on how big businesses can take advantage of social media to enhance their marketing/comms strategy.

Featuring: • Practical and relevant insights from peers who have already used social media successfully • 20-plus corporate speakers(including PepsiCo, Whole Foods, Dell, McDonald's, General Motors, Citi, Johnson & Johnson),• Best practice, benchmarks and practical next steps you can use to take advantage of social media in your business

• A tightly-focused agenda with 14 in-depth, practical workshops giving you knowledge on only the most critical business issues surrounding corporate use of social media Save $400 if you quote RWW400 when booking. Book here.

22 – 24 June 2010: Santa Clara, California Velocity Now in its third year, Velocitythe Web Performance and Operations Conference from O'Reilly Media - is dedicated to helping people build a better Internet that is Fast by Default.

Join hundreds of web developers and experts under one roof from June 22-24, 2010 in Santa Clara, CA Velocity packs a wealth of big ideas, know-how, and connections into three concentrated days. You'll be able to apply what you've learned immediately for high impact results and you'll come away prepared for what's ahead.

O'Reilly Velocity 2010 is the premier conference dedicated to building industrial strength sites, at internet speed.

Velocity">Register Now and save 25% with discount code "vel10rww".

29 – 30 June 2010: London Cloud Computing World Forum The 2nd annual Cloud READWRITEWEB page 31

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Tech News/ Gadgets/

E-reader News Edition

This Week's Top Downloads [Download Roundup] (Lifehacker)

• D-Fend Reloaded Brings Your Favorite DOS Games to Windows(Wndows) Although some versions of Windows have • CloudApp Instantly Shares a DOS emulation mode, they Any File, Is My New Favorite leave much to be desired in Timesaver(Mac) Drag and drop regard to game support. D-Fend any file to free menu bar utility Reloaded gives great DOS CloudApp, and it uploads the games their proper treatment in file to the internet and instantly Windows. Here's how to install inserts a link to the file in your it and play free games. clipboard. Quickly sharing a file • File Blender Converts Files just became a one-step process. w i t h D r a g a n d D r o p • A n t e n n a B r i n g s Y o u Ease(Windows) File Blender is Streaming Radio from Around a free and portable interface for the World(Windows/Mac/Linux more than a half-dozen tools.

[Adobe AIR]) Streaming radio Drag and drop everything from stations abound, but finding pictures to music to File Blender them is one thing and enjoying and convert it to something new. thousands of them with a • Miro Video Converter Easily polished interface and all in one C o n v e r t s V i d e o f o r Y o u r place is another. Antenna is a A n d r o i d , P S P , o r A p p l e sleek Adobe Air-based radio Device(Windows/Mac) Miro tool that makes streaming radio Video Converter quickly and fun. easily converts video on-the-fly • Partition Wizard Manages and for popular devices, with presets Fixes Your Hard Drive for for your PSP, Android phone, or F r e e ( W i n d o w s ) P a r t i t i o n Apple device.

Wizard does everything you'd • Windows 7 Start Button probably need a partition tool to Changer Swaps Start Button do, and does it on 32 and 64-bit Icon(Windows) If you enjoy systems. That alone puts it tweaking your OS right down to ahead of some other Windows- the little things like the start based partition tools. The button icon, Windows 7 Start b o o t a b l e C D a n d s i m p l e Button Changer makes it simple controls are a nice bonus. to swap the stock icon set for a Submitted at 4/10/2010 5:00:00 PM

new one.

• Process Explorer Updates, Adds More Great Features to the Killer Task Manager(Windows) Superior Task Manager replacement Process Explorer continues to improve on an already impressive set of features, this time with more informative tooltips, .NET process information, and other fixes.

• Split Screen Slices Your Chrome Window into Two Panes(Chrome) Split Screen takes advantage of the expansive view offered by widescreen monitors and splits the viewing pane into two separate panels for side-by-side browsing.

• Firefox Lorentz Beta Isolates Plug-in Crashes for Uninterrupted Browsing(Firefox [Windows/Linux]) Mozilla has released a beta version of Firefox Lorentz, an update to Firefox they announced earlier this year. Lorentz brings a Chrome-like process isolation to Firefox, containing messy plugin crashes.

More »

MacBook Pro updates almost upon us? Screenshot of new model numbers offers hope Paul Miller (Engadget)

number and price for the new MacBook. Mac Rumors claims to have been able to receive It seems silly to give up all independent confirmation on the expectation for a MacBook Pro numbers, so we might really refresh. After all, isn't a spec have something here. Now, as bump for Apple's flagship for a specific launch date, the laptops a total inevitability? best we have so far is that April Still, the arduous wait has begun 13th rumor, but with a tips box shake our faith, and we're happy buzzing with rumors, we're to see even this sliver of starting almost feel confident in evidence to snap us from our seeing a new MacBook Pro this stupor. An internal Microcenter century. system is listing four new [Thanks, Ross W.] laptops with new part numbers, MacBook Pro updates almost which, if legitimate, almost upon us? Screenshot of new certainly harbor new Core i5 model numbers offers hope and Core i7 processors (maybe originally appeared on Engadget even those NVIDIA Optimus on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:40:00 g r a p h i c s i f w e ' r e l u c k y ) . EST. Please see our terms for According to the Microcenter use of feeds. Permalink| Mac employee who sent this out, a Rumors, Reddit| Email this| similar thing happened in Comments November with a correct model Submitted at 4/10/2010 9:40:00 PM

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READWRITEWEB continued from page 29

Computing World Forum is the perfect event to learn and discuss the development, integration, adoption and future of cloud computing and SaaS. Building on the success of the 2009 show, this two day conference and free-to-attend exhibition will provide a focused platform for the global cloud and SaaS industry. Show highlights include: • Co-located with CloudCamp London • Co-located with Green IT conference • Free-to-attend exhibition with seminar and scenario theatre • Free-to-attend evening awards presentation • Hear from leading case studies on how they have integrated cloud computing and SaaS into their working practices • Learn from the key players offering cloud and SaaS services • Evening networking party for all attendees

Australia Digital Sport Summit Digital Sport Summit is Australia's premier sport and digital media event. Hear from social media pioneers who are changing the face of Australian sport. Learn how social media and mobile technology is taking fan engagement to a whole new level.

Speakers on the day will cover a variety of topics including: • iPhone application development for sport • Convincing management of the case for social media • How to monetize social media • Fantasy sports • Social media from an athlete's perspective

FinovateFall FinovateFall will return to Manhattan on Tuesday, October 5 to showcase dozens of the biggest and most innovative new ideas in financial and banking technology from established leaders and hot young companies. The Fall event is the original and largest Finovate and features a single day packed with our special blend of short, fast-paced onstage demos (no slides are allowed) and intimate networking time with top executives from the innovative demoing companies.

FinovateFall is a unique chance to see the future of finance and banking before your competition and find the edge you need in With speakers representing today's market. Early bird Essendon Football Club, Cricket registration rates are available.

Victoria, Herald Sun, Football Download this entire events Federation Australia and more. calendar in iCal format. Discuss Digital Sport Summit will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

5 October 2010: New York 7 July 2010: Melbourne, City

Are Passwords a Waste of Time?

[Passwords] Jack Loftus (Gizmodo) Submitted at 4/11/2010 11:00:00 AM

Simple answer? No, of course

not. Complicated answer? Good

question, self, because complicated is part of the problem. More »

Numerous new iChat clues found iPhone OS 4 Paul Miller (Engadget) Submitted at 4/11/2010 9:41:00 AM

We don't really know why Apple wouldn't have mentioned iChat at its"tentpole"-filled keynote if it was all ready to go on it, but the eternal optimists within us would like to believe that the merest glimpse of the app would instantly reveal a front facing camera on whatever new iPhone hardware is in the works, therefore relegating the app to secrecy. Still, the evidence does indeed seem to be mounting for the software's inclusion in the OS. Outside of the iChatAgent process that was spotted last week, 9 to 5 Mac has pulled the covers off references within the SDK to

moderators, chat rooms, encrypted video conferences, and more. They even uncovered the same notification noises that the desktop iChat application uses. Sure, this could all be one big misunderstanding, but hopefully these breadcrumbs actually do point to a longoverdue, well-integrated IM experience on the device, video or no.

[Thanks, Maj0] Numerous new iChat clues found iPhone OS 4 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 09:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| 9 to 5 Mac| Email this| Comments

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Apple's Game Center: More Opportunities for Social Games Developers Audrey Watters (ReadWriteWeb)

console gaming, Apple's Game Center will allow friend invitations and multiplayer Submitted at 4/10/2010 7:00:00 PM game-play and will include Most of the initial buzz matchmaking and high-score s u r r o u n d i n g A p p l e ' s tracking. announcement on Thursday of Sponsor its new operating system, The Game Center may be iPhone OS 4, centered on the Apple's attempt to compete with support for multitasking. While Facebook's dominance over the this feature has been long hugely popular and incredibly a n t i c i p a t e d b y u s e r s a n d lucrative area of social gaming. d e v e l o p e r s a l i k e , a n o t h e r A report released this week important but less discussed suggested that the gaming aspect of the update involves company Zynga, maker of six of Apple's Game Center - a social the seven most popular social gaming network to be launched games, is worth over $5 billion. for iPhone and iPod Touch later Unlike Facebook, Apple does this summer. Similar to the not currently have a social networks already prevalent in n e t w o r k u p o n w h i c h t o

automatically connect players and friends, although implementation of the Game Center may well bring this about. Details about the Game Center were not explicit in

can build apps that take advantage of the social gaming network capabilities.

Echoing the popularity of gaming on the iPhone, initial analytics since the iPad release point to the continued domination of the App Store by gaming and entertainment applications. The updates to the iPhone OS could provide an opportunity for mobile and social game developers and for entrepreneurs in the gaming T h u r s d a y ' s a n n o u n c e m e n t , industry. although the beta release of the Discuss operating system will include a developer preview of Game Center and contain a set of APIs so that mobile game developers

Changes: PC enthusiasts to make up less of PC gaming market Nicholas Deleon (CrunchGear)

people who read all those hardware sites with meticulous benchmarks and who have no Submitted at 4/10/2010 2:00:27 PM problem dropping $300 on a Powerful and all, but total motherboard or graphics card. I overkill for the average person g u e s s t h a t m a k e s m e a n The changes in PC gaming e n t h u s i a s t . m e a n t h a t , b y 2 0 1 3 , “ P C The decline can be attributed to, enthusiasts” will only account in part, the increase in power in for 30 percent of the dollars hardware. Do you really need to spent in the field. Right now, spend $700 on an ATI Radeon “PC enthusiasts” account for 5970 in order to play World of nearly half of every dollar spent, Warcraft or Napoleon: Total or 46 percent. Enthusiasts are W a r o r B a t t l e f i e l d : B a d

Company 2? Of course not.

(You may have to spend that kind of money to play Metro 2033 at the highest settings,

though.) A non-enthusiast can head over to Newegg, find himself an OK ~$200 card, and go home happy. He’s still a PC

gamer, but he doesn’t have to spend 900 hours researching the difference between memory brands, or spend $2,000 to play Modern Warfare 2.

All of this comes from a recent Jon Peddie Research study.

I guess the overall message is that PC gaming isn’t dead, if only because it’s becoming far more accessible to the average person. That’s a good thing.

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Kobo's $149 eReader gets reviewed Paul Miller (Engadget) Submitted at 4/11/2010 6:14:00 AM

So, how much e-book reader can $149 get you? Well, Kobo's eReader might not be heavy on the feature set, but based on the general impressions from Electronista's review, we'd say quite a bit. In exchange for dropping the 3G, WiFi, color screen and audio playback frills of the Kindle and Nook, Kobo's barebones device puts a pretty and intuitive face on simple book reading for a pretty lovable price. The biggest complaint hinges around some slow

performance when closing and opening books, but with 100 pre -loaded titles and a fairly budget friendly online library, it seems like the device has you covered when it comes to actually reading things. We also covered Kobo in our iPad book and comics roundup, if more hardware isn't your thing.

Kobo's $149 eReader gets reviewed originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 06:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink| Electronista| Email this| Comments

“I lather you.” “I know.” Han Solo soap even Greedo would love Devin Coldewey (CrunchGear)

anyone who comes over will know you’re an incurable fanboy/fangirl, but you know Submitted at 4/10/2010 3:42:27 PM what? I don’t care and neither He may have been a scoundrel, should you. Han Solo is my but he wouldn’t have been able h e r o , a l o n g w i t h C a p t a i n to seduce a princess if he America, Hannibal Barca, and smelled like Wookiee. Take a Hector. Take me as I am! cue from the galaxy’s favorite Okay, I’ve returned to my rogue and keep it clean with this senses. Sorry for that little Carbonite hand soap. Sure, outburst, I get worked up

sometimes. The soap isn’t a joke, though, you can buy it (for $6.50 a bar) at Luxury Lane.

“Made with pure olive oil, shea butter and aloe vera.” But with “matte and metallic pigments.”

Wait, in the soap?! [via GeekLeeTist and The Awesomer]

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'Fringe' Theories - Where Do We Go 'Designing Women,' 'Desperate Housewives' Star From Here?

Jane Boursaw (TV Squad)

Dixie Carter Dead at 70

Submitted at 4/11/2010 10:40:00 AM

Bob Sassone (TV Squad)

after realizing that their family unit (Peter, Walter and Olivia) was more important than Peter Now that we're firmly into the knowing the truth. Then Walter second half -- and heading decided that HE should be the towards the end -- of season two one to tell Peter, painful as it of'Fringe,' let's talk about what's might be. Walter knows there's a happened so far, and what we good chance that he could lose think might happen. Some of his son ... again. One other these speculations will mirror question is this: Walter visited those I made last September, Peter's grave in season one. If because not all of those that grave is in this universe, questions have been answered why on earth would they use his yet. In fact, we may have more real name on the gravestone? questions now than we did back What if Peter stumbled across then. it?

Still, with the episode titled Continue reading'Fringe' 'Peter,' we finally started to get Theories - Where Do We Go into the nitty-gritty about Walter From Here? stealing Peter from the alternate his origins? Yes, I believe so, Filed under: OpEd, Realityuniverse. Of course, we all knew but the question is who will be Free, Fringe this, but when will Peter find the one to tell him? In last Permalink| Email this| | out, and who will tell him? That week's episode, 'Olivia. In the C o m m e n t s and lots of other questions Lab. With a Revolver,' Olivia was determined to tell Peter the spring to mind.

Will Peter learn the truth about truth, but then decided against it

Jersey Shore's Terry Richardson Photo Shoot Is Here to Kill Irony [Pic Of The Day] Maureen O'Connor (Gawker) Submitted at 4/10/2010 7:41:55 PM

The perfect storm that is the Jersey Shore boys' Terry Richardson Interview

photoshoot is finally out. In the

intervening weeks, Richardson's sex scandals made the Jersey Shore pairing more appropriate—and Bar Rafaeli's sandwich fellatio a little grosser.

More Âť

Submitted at 4/11/2010 7:52:00 AM

Just last night I was watching a TV commercial featuring Dixie Carter, talking to the camera about a terrible disease whose name escapes me at the moment. And tonight comes the news that Carter has passed away at the age of 70. No further details have been released yet.

Carter is probably best known for her role as feisty, outspoken (well, all of the women were pretty feisty and outspoken on that show, weren't they?) Julia Sugarbaker on'Designing Women,' which ran on CBS for eight years. But younger TV watchers might know her from her role on'Desperate Housewives' as Gloria, the evil ex-wife of Orson (she was nominated for an Emmy for the role). But she actually starred in several other TV shows over the years, including 'Family Law,' 'Ladies Man,' 'Filthy Rich,' 'Out of the Blue,' and 'On Our Own,'

not to mention numerous guest roles on many other shows. Her first TV role was in the soap 'The Doctors.'

Continue reading'Designing Women,' 'Desperate Housewives' Star Dixie Carter Dead at 70 Filed under: Desperate Housewives, Video, Celebrities, Obituaries, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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35

Six Stars That Should Have TV Shows Again Bob Sassone (TV Squad) Submitted at 4/10/2010 2:00:00 PM

'Stargate Universe' - 'Divided' Recap Mike Moody (TV Squad) Submitted at 4/10/2010 3:40:00 PM

(S01E12) The tide is turning.'Stargate Universe' is quickly becoming a must-watch sci-fi drama. So far, season one's second half has delivered two of the best episodes of the series. The writers, cast and crew are really starting to get the hang of that dark, tense and atmospheric thing they've been trying to do since the show premiered last October.

"Divided" grabbed me from the opening moments with Chloe walking through the empty ship and that brooding Brand New song creeping up in the background. The nightmare sequence ended on a chilling note with Chloe trapped in the water tank trying to make contact with her mother. Things got extra spooky when that Blue Meanie showed up; those guys are really starting to give me the creeps.

This episode centered on Wray

and Rush's attempt to seize command of the ship from the military personnel. Like I wrote last week, I really wasn't looking forward to watching Wray stroke her ego by leading a mutiny, but this ep had a lot more to offer than that.

Continue reading'Stargate Universe' - 'Divided' Recap Filed under: Stargate, Episode Reviews, Episode Recaps Permalink| Email this| | Comments

There are so many channels now, and so many celebrities. It seems like everyone will get a TV show at some point. But there are still some TV stars that no longer have TV shows but really should. For example, someone like Tom Selleck should have a weekly series again, and luckily he is going to return to TV in a new show on CBS. If not for that recent announcement, Selleck would have been number one on the list that follows after the jump: five stars I'd like to see on a regular TV series again.

1. Nick Mancuso. Mancuso starred in one of my favorite TV shows,'Stingray,' and he has had a rather interesting career since then. He's been in a couple of TV shows and a slew of movies

(including the 'Under Seige' films), but these days it seems like he's very content focusing on his artwork, his writing (check out his blog), and doing the occasional role in a movie.

Continue reading Six Stars That Should Have TV Shows Again Filed under: Celebrities, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

FanHouse TV: Previewing the Final Round FanHouse TV (FanHouse Main) Submitted at 4/10/2010 8:52:00 PM

Filed under: Masters You couldn't have drawn up a better scenario for a Sunday at The Masters. There's Tiger, and there's Phil, and don't forget

leader Lee Westwood looking to win his first major championship. FanHouse TV's Jay Mariotti and David Whitley look at why Westwood won't win, why K.J. Choi might, and what it would be like if Tiger actually did.

Click below to watch:

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Entertainment/ Sports/ Economy/

E-reader News Edition

Justin and Cameron: Falling Back in Love?

[Gossip Roundup]

Ryan Newman Wins First Cup Race in More Than Two Years

Maureen O'Connor (Gawker)

Submitted at 4/10/2010 7:59:00 PM

Submitted at 4/11/2010 10:18:28 AM

Filed under: Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Sprint Cup AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) -Ryan Newman broke a 77-race Sprint Cup winless streak Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway, taking the lead after a late caution and holding off Jeff Gordon in a two -lap shootout.

Kyle Busch was cruising to what would have given him a weekend sweep when a caution flag came out with three laps remaining. When the lead-lap cars pitted, Busch took four tires and came out eighth-behind six cars that took only two tires and Jimmie Johnson, who also took

They're "laughing and flirting" now—when will they start canoodling? Suri Cruise hits the bottle to mask depression. Jon Sunday's gossip roundup is Gosselin entertains another TV highly suspicious. More » show. Tiger Woods mistress#15.

Catherine Zeta-Jones' bones.

No One Likes Sarah Palin Anyway [Numbers] Ravi Somaiya (Gawker) Submitted at 4/11/2010 10:30:03 AM

We've just run across this intriguing CBS poll which shows that the Palin is viewed favorably by just 24 per cent of people, and unfavorably by 38 per cent. Admittedly, the numbers get better among

FanHouse Newswire (FanHouse Main)

and took the lead, and held on for his first victory since the 2008 Daytona 500.

"It's been a long time coming for me to get to Victory Lane," Newman said. "I'm gracious to be here. This is the most emotional victory I've ever had in my entire career just because it's been so long."

Newman, driving the No. 39 Chevrolet owned by Tony Stewart, had led only two laps four and was seventh. before the final two. That lead Gordon beat everybody out of came during the first caution the pits, but spun his tires on the only 21 laps into what became a restart in a green-white-checker 378-lap race-instead of the finish. scheduled 375, already 63 more "All of a sudden he shot than last spring-on the oddly forward. I was like, `Oh man, shaped mile track.

I'm in trouble here,' " Gordon said.

Newman then charged inside

Poland in mourning for president Republicans. But still. 2012? [ CBS] More »

(Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 4/11/2010 8:23:12 AM

Russian and Polish investigators began on Sunday to examine the evidence stored on the black boxes of the flight that disastrously crashed in Russia and killed the Polish

president and dozens of the country’s political elite.

Poland was in mourning on Sunday with many attending church services for the dead that included Lech Kaczynski, 60, and his wife, Maria, the central bank governor, Jerzy Szmajdzinski, the presidential candidate of the left-wing

Democratic Left Alliance, as well as the senior commanders of Poland's ground, air, naval and special forces, bishops, and other dignitaries Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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Masters Third-Round Diary (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix) Submitted at 4/10/2010 2:53:09 PM

Reuters Lee Westwood, celebrating a 10th-hole birdie, leads Phil Mickelson by one stroke after three rounds.

The Journal provides analysis of today’s Masters third round.

Journal staffer John Paul Newport is at Augusta National Golf Club to offer commentary on the round. Click here for more Masters coverage.

2:53 pm Y.E. Yang, the first of the two South Koreans near the Masters lead, teed off at 2:15 this afternoon and predictably put the ball in the fairway. Thus far at Augusta, he's hit roughly twothirds of the fairways and twothirds of the greens in regulation.

Yang and K. J. Choi, both of whom live in Texas while playing the PGA Tour, are dark -horse contenders to steal the thunder from the higher-profile players near the lead.

Yang did just that last year at the PGA Championship, becoming the first player to come from behind to beat Tiger Woods in a major. Today, he's playing with Phil Mickelson, with whom he played both weekend rounds at the Shell Houston Open last week -- and beat him.

Mickelson outdrove Yang by 30 yards off the first tee, but both hit the green and both two-

putted for pars. That's the way Yang will beat you: the rope-adope.

Choi teed off with Woods at 2:35, after being paired with Woods for the first two rounds.

So there's not likely to be much of Woods's celebrated Superstar -intimidation effect at work on Choi. In yesterday's round of 71, Choi had three birdies and two bogies. ''When you play with Tiger there's a certain aura or atmosphere that's very different as opposed to when you play with other players,'' Choi said earlier in the week. ''But I actually like playing with big crowds, so I think I'm going to be playing a little bit more aggressive and I'm looking forward to it.''

Nine Asians were in the Masters field this year, including past champion Vijay Singh of Fiji, but only Yang, Choi and Yuta Ikeda of Japan made the cut. The 18-year-old Japanese sensation, Ryo Ishikawa, bogeyed the last hole to miss out in his second Masters. Singh, with a troublesome back, shot 76-78 to miss by six strokes.

The two 18-year-old South Korean amateurs, Byeong-Hun An (the reigning U.S. Amateur champion) and Chang-Won Han (who got his invitation for winning the inaugural Asian Amateur, co-sponsored by Augusta National), missed the cut by seven shots.

3:34 pm Based on the early going, it

looks like the players might go low today. The weather is perfect, the wind is light and the pin locations are mostly benign.

Already 17 of the 48 players in the field are under par, lead by Jerry Kelly at minus-five through 17 and Steve Marino at minus-four through 12.

Most enticingly, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have charged out of the gates. Both are two-under through five and two holes, respectively.

I Â just chatted near the media center with Dan Jenkins, the living-legend sports writer who is attending something like his 53rd Masters. (Dan and I went to the same high school, R.L. Paschal in Fort Worth, I am proud to say.)

He said he has no idea what's

going to happen, which is an improvement on many past Masters, when at about this time it seems like only Woods and maybe one or two other players have a chance.

But Jenkins seems partial to Ian Poulter. âHe's a fighter. At lot of players are afraid to win out here, but he's not,â he said. Poulter first impressed him in the 2008 Ryder Cup. Westwood, Jenkins thinks, sometimes flakes out.

But most people seem to think Mickelson or Woods will be there at the end, Jenkins said, adding âI've got no argument with that.â 4:23 pm Two observations: MASTERS page 40

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The Masters: Phil Mickelson threatens Lee Westwood; Tiger Woods falls back ESPN.com news services (ESPN.com)

Westwood made only one bogey and finished with a tough par for a 4-under 68 to take a one-shot Submitted at 4/11/2010 2:31:12 AM lead over Mickelson into the final round of a Masters that • Email keeps getting better.

• Print "I think I'm ready," Westwood • Comments said.

• Share By the look of the names • behind him, he better be.

Westwood, No. 4 in the world ESPN.com news services and among the best without a A U G U S T A , G a . - - L e e major, was at 12-under 204. He Westwood kept his cool even as will be in the final group with Augusta National thundered Mickelson, No. 3 in the world with too many cheers to count. and the sentimental favorite at P h i l M i c k e l s o n m a d e Augusta given his turbulent year consecutive eagles with three at home with his wife and shots. Fred Couples chipped in mother battling breast cancer. for eagle ahead of him. Ricky Right in front of them will be Barnes chipped in for a birdie Woods, No. 1 in the world and behind him. Tiger Woods got playing as though five months into the act with three straight of a humiliating sex scandal birdies to keep his name high on never happened. He finished a star-studded leaderboard. with a 3-foot birdie on the last S a t u r d a y a t t h e M a s t e r s hole for a 2-under 70, putting sounded an awful lot like him at 8-under 208 along with Sunday.

K.J. Choi, who also had a 70.

"You couldn't figure out who "I think that's what everybody was doing what because there wants to see," Westwood said. w e r e r o a r s h a p p e n i n g "Everybody has missed Tiger on simultaneously throughout the the golf course the last five or course," Mickelson said. "I six months, and he's up there. thought that it was really a fun Phil is up there. You've got 4, 3 day to see the leaderboard and 1 in the world. It's a good change." leaderboard, I think."

Westwood made sure there was The Masters hasn't seen a no change at the top. leaderboard this strong for the With his best chance ever to final round since Woods and w i n t h a t e l u s i v e m a j o r , Mickelson -- Nos. 1 and 2 in the

world -- were in the final group in 2001.

Just as exciting as the names were the endless cheers from all corners of the course, for just about everyone but Westwood.

Over the final hour, his only birdie was a two-putt from 25 feet on the 15th. Ho-hum.

"The only thing I can control is what I do, where I hit it," Westwood said. "The guys up on the leaderboard there are great players. They are going to do something. You have to expect the unexpected at times."

It got so crazy at one point that in the time it took Westwood to play the 11th hole with a hardearned par, Mickelson made up four shots.

It started at the par-5 13th, where Mickelson reached the green in two shots, then rolled in an 8-foot putt for eagle.

The Masters Leaderboard 1. Westwood (-12) 2. Mickelson (-11) T-3. Woods (-8) T-3. Choi (-8) 5. Couples (-7) • Complete scores The next hole was really extraordinary. From 139 yards away, in the middle of the fairway, he struck a 9-iron that plopped down left of the flag and spun back into the cup for a 2. He joined Dan Pohl(1982) and Dustin Johnson(2009) as the

only players to make consecutive eagles at the Masters.

"You don't plan on balls going into the hole like at 14," Mickelson said.

Barnes knocked in his birdie from behind the 13th green, and even more impressive was his 60-foot birdie putt across the 14th green.

The thrills never stopped.

"It was probably one of those great days in golf at a major championship," Westwood said.

"I obviously wasn't privy to the things you have seen, but I was well aware somebody was making a charge, and I figured it was Phil. That's what major championships are about.

They're tough ones to win because great players do great things."

Mickelson hasn't looked great all year, the first time since 2003 he has come to Augusta without a victory. Now, he goes after a third green jacket by playing in the final group at a major for the first time since his meltdown at Winged Foot in the 2006 U.S. Open.

His spirits have been lifted in part by having his family -- wife Amy and the three kids -- with him for the first time since The Players Championship nearly a year ago, right before she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Amy Mickelson has not been to the golf course.

"It's fun having them, just being together," he said. "It's been a fun week."

Fun doesn't even begin to describe Saturday.

The course was not meant to yield so many fireworks -- not one shot better than 67 -- yet the quality of the play was superb.

Westwood did his work on the front nine, rolling in a bending birdie putt at the first, hitting a 4 -iron just over the bunker to 10 feet on the fourth and slowly starting to pull away.

Then came the cheers and the chaos.

Couples was walking off the 14th tee when he motioned at Mickelson across the 13th fairway to get it going. Lefty obliged with a 7-iron to 8 feet, followed by his eagle from the 14th fairway that produced such volume that Westwood backed off his putt on the 11th.

"It was pretty funny because we were texting a little bit about how low I was going to have to go to catch him and maybe play with him tomorrow," said Couples, who was in the final group when Mickelson won his last Masters in 2006. "For a time, we were both playing pretty well. But then he went MASTERS: page 42

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Ryan Newman makes late charge to win at Phoenix Associated Press (ESPN.com) Submitted at 4/11/2010 1:57:54 AM

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Associated Press AVONDALE, Ariz. -- One of the first people to greet Ryan Newman in Victory Lane was Tony Stewart.

"He's so proud of me," Newman said after breaking a 77-race Sprint Cup winless streak. "He told me he loved me and I told him I loved him back because it's his name, I'm representing him and a lot of people behind us."

Newman took the lead after a late caution at Phoenix International Raceway and held off Jeff Gordon in a two-lap shootout Saturday night to get his first victory since the 2008 Daytona 500, and first since joining Stewart's new team last season.

Kyle Busch was cruising to what would have given him a weekend sweep when a caution flag came out with three laps remaining. When the lead-lap cars pitted, Busch took four tires and came out eighth -- behind six cars that took only two tires and Jimmie Johnson, who also took four and was seventh out of

the pits.

Gordon beat everybody out of the pits, but spun his tires on the restart in a green-whitecheckered finish. Newman then charged inside and took the lead, and held on for the win.

"All of a sudden he shot forward. I was like, `Oh man, I'm in trouble here,' " Gordon said.

"It's been a long time coming for me to get to Victory Lane," Newman said. "I'm gracious to be here. This is the most emotional victory I've ever had in my entire career just because it's been so long."

Newman, driving the No. 39 Chevrolet owned by Stewart, had led only two laps before the final two. That lead came during the first caution only 21 laps into what became a 378-lap race -- instead of the scheduled 375, already 63 more than last spring -- on the oddly shaped mile track.

"I couldn't believe it. I saw the white flag and I was like I don't have that far to go," Newman said. "Every restart, I had been on the inside and I couldn't get going. ... I held my line and got a good shot off Turn 2. That's all we needed."

Subway Fresh Fit 600 Results Ryan Newman broke a 77-race Sprint Cup winless streak, taking the lead after a late caution and holding off Jeff Gordon in a two-lap shootout.

Complete results

It was Newman's 14th career victory in 303 starts, but the first time a No. 39 car has been to Victory Lane (286 races).

Johnson, who had won four of the previous five races at Phoenix, finished third and increased his series points lead - from 14 to 36 over Matt Kenseth. Greg Biffle had been second in points before finishing 22nd Saturday night, the first time this season he wasn't in the top 10.

"I made the call for four [tires] and made the most of it," Johnson said. "Not a bad night at all. I'm excited to see us stretch out the points a little bit."

Denny Hamlin, racing only 10 days after surgery to repair the torn ACL in his left knee, drove the entire race and finished 30th, two laps off the pace. He had moved up to 13th before an extended pit stop to repair damage from being hit and to address an electrical problem.

Newman snapped Hendrick Motorsports' string of six consecutive victories at Phoenix, and gave Chevrolet its 10th straight win at the track.

Chevy drivers had the top five spots, with Mark Martin fourth and Juan Pablo Montoya fifth.

Matt Kenseth was sixth and Carl Edwards seventh in Fords, while Busch finished eighth in his No. 18 Toyota.

Busch had taken the lead from Johnson on a restart on lap 263, then stayed in front and was

seemingly on way to his first Cup victory of the season. But the caution came out when Scott Riggs blew a right front tire -while running just ahead of Busch -- and ran into the wall.

Blount: Newman pulls a fast one Kyle Busch had the Subway Fresh Fit 600 in the bag. Then why was Ryan Newman celebrating in Victory Lane at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday night? Story Busch won the Nationwide race Friday night at Phoenix in dramatic fashion when he benefited from a late caution.

In the Nationwide victory, Busch took four tires on the final stop and was 10th on the restart with eight laps left. It took him only three laps to dart through the field and take over the lead.

Busch had lost his lead on a disputed restart that led to a red flag and was penalized on the ensuing restart to drop to 19th place and 20 seconds behind. If not for that last caution, during which he collided with his teammate on pit road, he would have never been able to win that race.

"I thought Kyle stole one last night," Newman said. "So it's even."

The late caution cost Busch on Saturday night.

Busch's crew chief, Dave Rogers, said the decision had been made before the race to

change all four tires if there was a late stop, a decision based largely on what happened in the Nationwide race. Busch left without commenting.

Before Busch took the lead on a restart, Johnson had led 66 consecutive laps and had built a 1½-second lead over Montoya until David Ruetimann's accident brought out the seventh of nine cautions.

On that restart, Busch went ahead while Johnson and Montoya were bumping each other behind him.

The race that featured 20 lead changes among 13 drivers was slowed by 59 caution laps.

Newman won with an average speed of 99.372 mph by a margin of .130 seconds.

Busch and Johnson both led 113 laps, and Montoya led 104.

A.J. Allmendinger, a first-time polesitter in the Richard Pettyowned No. 43 Ford, led the first 17 laps until the first caution, and never led again. He finished 15th.

Scott Speed, who essentially replaced Allmendinger on the Red Bull team, started second but had slipped to 31st by lap 77. He got back on the lead lap during a caution 122 laps later and wound up 21st.

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My friend Damon Hack of Sports Illustrated has tweeted that Tiger Woods was just heckled for the first time that anyone in the media center knows about. No details on what was said, but the timing of the heckle corelates roughly with Woodsâs quick swings and bogeys on the last two holes.

Westwood's pull into the trees on number seven is the same shot that did him in in the final round of the Honda Classic last month, when he was contending. He made a nearmiraculous recovery through the pine boughs onto the green, but not sure it was the smart play.

Something like Phil Mickelson's unwise (failed) attempt to do the same on the 18th at Winged Foot in the 2006 U.S. Open. The pulled tee shot could be a sign of nerves.

5:18 pm Apparently majors are more mentally exhausting than people who haven't played in one can imagine. Bobby Jones, the founder of Augusta National, said he retired from competitive golf at age 28 primarily because he couldn't take the pressure any more.

Typically he spent hours on the eve of tournament rounds soaking in a hot tub while drinking cocktails trying to relax. But still he lost ten pounds or more during major tournament weeks from what he

called ânervous exhaustion.â I mention by way of suggestiong that maybe mental exhaustion is behind Tiger Woods's rash of bogeys today.

He's out of sync and appears to be losing patience. Plus he's venting profanities again, despite his promise at his news conference Monday to show more ârespectâ for the game.

It was a mentally trying week for Woods even before play began Thursday. Normally golf tournaments only require four consecutive days of total focus.

Westwood and Mickelson seem fresh, however.

5:27 pm This is what makes Phil Mickelson -- and the course at Augusta National -- so much fun to watch. Mickelson goofs up as much as any top golfer, but he makes up for it with explosive runs like his back-to-back eagles at 13 and 14.

Now he has a chance to make it three in a row at 15, which would be a Masters first. No way Mickelson is not going for it, unless his view of the green is totally blocked out.

5:36 pm The full-out roar at 14, after Mickelson's hole-out, lasted at least minute and maybe two. We could hear it all the way up here at the media center. âThat's the longest roar I've heard at Augusta, ever,â said veteran Augusta Chronicle golf writer

Scott Michaux.

And now Fred Couples has eagled 15! Tiger Woods is going to have to walk across the pond at 16 to get noticed around here now.

6:17 pm When Tiger Woods stood over his 228-yard five-iron shot into the 15th green, I was thinking of Gene Sarazen's famous doubleeagle on the hole in 1935. His three-wood hole-out became known as âthe shot heard round the worldâ and put the nascent Masters Tournament on the map.

If Woods had holed his shot, it would have certified the last 30 minutes as the best stretch in Masters history.

When the ball bounced over the green, Nick Faldo on CBS began to explain that that's what happens when you've been out of competitive golf for five months, your distance control isn't as precise. (I know that's where Faldo was going because he told me the same thing on Monday, when I asked what to watch out for in Woods's rounds.)

But David Feherty jumped in to correct him. Apparently, the wind came up unexpectedly, preventing the ball from holding the green.

Woods managed to get up-anddown to birdie, and remains tied with his pairings-mate, K.J. Choi, tied for third with Fred

Couples four shots behind Westwood and Mickelson.

Don't write Choi out of this championship. He's quiet -â too quiet.

Finally, for your pleasure, a Dan Jenkins tweet: âLike I've always said, the Masters begins on the back nine on Saturday.â 6:48 pm A debonair, nearly-flawless Lee Westwood round: five birdies, one bogey for 68 (assuming he pars 18).

A vintage, never-boring Phil Mickelson round: two eagles, four birdies, three bogeys for 67.

An agonized, tightrope-walk Tiger Woods round: seven birdies, five bogeys for 70.

A solid, imperturable K.J. Choi round: Four birdies, two bogeys for 70.

A suave, trouble-free Fred Couples round: one eagle, four birdies, two bogeys for 68.

8:27 pm It was the most-fun Saturday round ever at the Masters, at least that I can recall. That 30minute stretch on the back nine, when Phil Mickelson's two eagles followed by a birdie made up five strokes on leader Lee Westwood in three holes -that was Masters golf like none other.

Mickelson's 67 tied for the best round of the day with Jerry Kelly, and his aw-shucks Jerry Mathers-as-the-Beaver smile in

the press room just now was really fun to catch. You couldn't help but smile. âI was trying to make a third [eagle in a row, at fifteen],â he said. âI thought it was possible that someone had two eagles in a row here but I didn't think anybody had three in a row.â His wedge from 87 yards into the 15th green missed going in by inches.

Lee Westwood's greenside chat after his round was sadly sober.

He had a 68 but only served up platitudes. About the yells when Mickelson holed out for his eagle, he said it had no effect on him. âWhat Phil is doing up ahead has no relevance to my game whatsoever,â he said.

Right.

Woods was also a bit grim in his post-round remarks. âI was fighting it all day,â he said. Did it feel like back-to-normal out there today? âThree-putting three times is not normal,â Woods replied.

It's hard to believe that Woods and K. J. Choi shot the same score today: 70. It was all Sturm -und-Drang for Woods, but a day at the office for Choi.

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Could Sunday at Augusta Possibly Top Saturday?

(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)

Mickelson at 11-under will share the pole position for Sundays round. It’s No. 4 in the The Augusta National course world (Westwood) versus No. 3 played almost two strokes easier (Mickelson). Westwood has Saturday than it did on Friday. If been perhaps the worlds most you believe Phil Mickelson, it consistent player over the last will play even easier Sunday. year, and Mickelson has always “The pin (locations) that are left, been one of the most explosive.

I think, are birdie pins. I think How do you pick between we are going to have some t h e m ? I t h i n k y o u f a v o r excitement tomorrow, a real Mickelson, because hes won shootout,” he said Saturday after here twice already (Westwood his stellar round of 67. Getty has no majors on his resume) Images Phil Mickelson nearly and he seems unusually happy managed three straight eagles … and relaxed this week. and he thinks Sunday might be A big part of that is the easier. presence of his ailing wife and Heaven help us. If Sundays family here in Georgia. He back nine is more exciting that wasnt sure earlier this week they Saturdays, there will no need to would be able to make the trip. stage any future tournaments “This is the first week they have here. travelled in 11 months. It’s During a 30-minute stretch really fun having them here. It starting about 5 p.m., Mickelson takes a lot of the heartache made back-to-back eagles on 13 away. It’s been great,” he said. and 14 and just barely missed a You could tell he was having t h i r d o n 1 5 , l e a d e r L e e fun on the course Saturday, as Westwood dropped a shot on 12 well. After the second eagle at and Fred Couples chipped in for 14, he was consciously gunning eagle on 15. The hollering that for the third. “I thought it was spread across the dales of lower possible that someone had two Augusta National was as loud eagles in a row here but I didnt and prolonged as any of the think anybody had three in a veteran tournament-goers I row,” he said. His wedge from talked to can remember.

87 yards at 15 missed diving Westwood at 12-under and into the hole by inches.

Submitted at 4/11/2010 12:21:02 AM

RYAN continued from page 39

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K.J. Choi and four shots behind Westwood, looked even grimmer than Westwood after his round. He talked to the media only briefly near the 18th green “I was fighting it all day,” he said and headed for the range.

H e w a s a l s o h a v i n g f u n There he hit his driver hard for scanning the scoreboard. “I at least 20 minutes, working up think it’s fun to look at it,” he a sweat under the stern eye of said. “You hear the roars and his swing coach, Hank Haney. you try to figure out who did After a similar length session what, and the leaderboard tells with a mid-iron, he and his you.” cortege filed toward the putting Contrast that attitude to green like a funeral procession, W e s t w o o d ’ s . I n t e r v i e w e d followed by a multitiude of coming off the 18th green, he security agents looking like said only the most sports- pallbearers. Woods’s face psychologist-approved types of seemed stricken. things, such as “What Phil is I will give him this, however. doing up ahead has no relevance After the putting session, he to my game whatsoever.” spent 10 minutes signing In his longer media center autographs in the dark for the interview 10 minutes later, he kids who were still there. repeated that concept a half Woods could make a charge d o z e n t i m e s , i n v a r i o u s Sunday. He often does best i t e r a t i o n s . “ W h a t P h i l when he’s at his most intense.

Mickelson does is really out of But my guess is he’s too m y c o n t r o l , ” h e s a i d . H e mentally exhausted from this protesteth too much, it seems to strange, challenging week to me. I predict a tight, focused, pull out a win. unspectacular round from If both Westwood and W e s t w o o d S u n d a y , w h i c h Mickelson come back to the probably won’t be good enough field, my choice for dark horse to win. winner is Choi.

Tiger Woods, tied for third with Woods and Choi will be

playing together Sunday for the fourth consecutive day.

Yesterday they both shot 70, but the rounds could not have been more different. Woods’s agonized tally included seven birdies and five bogeys: a man on the ropes fighting for his life.

Choi’s round included four birdies and two bogeys: a man in control.

Emotionally, Choi has to have a lot more gas left in the tank than Woods does. He’s hardly made a mistake all week. The only player who has hit more greens in regulation than Choi, who has 42, is Westwood, who has 43.

Can Fred Couples make a run at the green jacket, starting five strokes behind Westwood?

If he does, it would be the loudest Masters back nine on Sunday ever. I’m for it.

Couples is a blast to watch with his sneakers and lazy swing. He will be playing with red-hot Hunter Mahan in the third-tolast group (they both shot 68 Saturday). The pairing will be good for both. They’ll come out shooting from the hip with nothing to lose.

Buckle up.

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eagle-eagle-birdie, and that's a pretty big jump to get going.

"Once again, I just love this place."

For Woods, it was more of a love-hate relationship for most of the round.

He quickly pulled within one shot of the lead with two tough birdies, from 18 feet on the first hole and a curling 35-footer on the third. Few could have guessed it would be the putter that put him behind.

It started with a bad swing and an outburst -- "Tiger, you suck!"

-- from a guy who pledged to keep his temper in check. From the bottom shelf of the green, Woods ran his putt 15 feet by the hole and missed that for his first three-putt bogey of the Masters. He missed a 5-foot par on the seventh hole, then threeputted on the 10th from about 18 feet.

That's all it took for Woods to tumble seven shots out of the lead. And while he tried to peck away with birdies, Mickelson ahead of him was hammering

away at eagles.

Woods two-putted the 13th, hit his approach to 3 feet on the 14th for birdie, then made an 8foot birdie on the 15th. He was so wild at times that he played the 17th hole from the 15th fairway and almost got away with it until missing a 6-footer for par.

"After struggling just to fight back ... the guys were running away from me there," Woods said. "At one point, I was seven back. So to kind of claw my way back in there where I'm only four back right now, I'm in good shape."

He has never won a major from behind. He had never lost one from in front until Y.E. Yang rallied to beat him in the PGA Championship last summer at Hazeltine.

Asked about his outburst on the sixth hole, Woods said he wasn't aware: "If I did, then I'm sorry."

From the spontaneous cheer he received for the opening tee shot on Thursday, the cheers have become louder throughout the

week for Woods. Only on this day, they weren't all for him.

"Those roars are Augusta roars," said 60-year-old Tom Watson, who had a 73 to fall 10 shots behind. "I'm glad they're back."

Ian Poulter, tied for the 36-hole lead with Westwood, shot a 74 and fell six shots behind with Barnes (72) and Hunter Mahan(68). That would seem to be too far behind at any other major.

But at Augusta National?

"We have seen some strange things happen over the years," Mickelson said. "I think tomorrow is going to be another exciting day."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Video: The Magic That Is the Sedin Twins Adam Gretz (FanHouse Main) Submitted at 4/11/2010 5:57:00 AM

Filed under: Canucks, Flames, NHL Videos Coming into this season we knew Henrik and Daniel Sedin, when teamed up, where one of the top duos in the NHL. We just didn't know what they could do when separated, seeing as how neither one of them ever misses a game.

When Daniel went down with an injury earlier in the season, forcing him to miss 19 games, Henrik proved that he can be just as dangerous without his twin brother. He's going to finish the season with a franchise record 112 points, and enters Sunday leading Alex Ovechkin by three points in the race for the Art Ross Trophy.

Daniel has also very quietly put up a career year when on the

CC's no-hit bid snapped in 8th; Yanks roll Rays Associated Press (ESPN.com) Submitted at 4/10/2010 9:39:38 PM

Fast Facts • CC Sabathia took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning before losing it on a Kelly Shoppach single with two outs. It was the

second time in Sabathia's career he went at least 7 2/3 innings and allowed one hit.

• It was the fifth time a Yankees starter has taken a no-hitter into the eighth since David Cone's perfect game in 1999.

• Mark Teixeira was 0 for 17 to start the season, the longest

hitless drought to start a season in his career, but he had three hits in as many at-bats Saturday.

• Alex Rodriguez went over 1,000 career hits with the Yankees. The only player to reach the 1,000-hit milestone for the Yankees after collecting at least 1,000 hits for another team

or teams is Dave Winfield.

Rodriguez had 966 with the Mariners.

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ice, finishing with a personal high of 85 points ... in just 63 games(their point-per-game numbers are almost identical: 1.35 for Daniel, 1.37 for Henrik).

When the two are together, magic seems to happen, like during the third period of Saturday's 7-3 win against Calgary in their regular season finale.

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Stamkos Scores 50th; Rocket Richard Race Heads Into Season Finale Adam Gretz (FanHouse Main)

on Saturday night during Tampa Bay's 4-3 shootout win against Florida, the 20-year-old F i l e d u n d e r : C a p i t a l s , Stamkos became the third L i g h t n i n g , N H L A w a r d s youngest player in NHL history Remember last year when to reach the 50-goal mark, former Tampa Bay Lightning trailing only Wayne Gretzky Richard Mitchell (Joystiq) head coach Barry Melrose was and Jimmy Carson. Impressive, talking about how Steven yes, but he has a chance to do Submitted at 4/10/2010 7:00:00 PM Stamkos wasn't quite ready for s o m e t h i n g e v e n m o r e Xbox Live Arcade was once the NHL? Man, we've come a i m p r e s s i v e o n S u n d a y . thought to be a bastion of long way since then. independent game development, Thanks to his two-goal effort destined to help independent studios get there projects to the game-playing masses. While that's still true to a certain extent -- Ska Studios and Polytron say Barry Ritholtz (The Big Vimeo. hi -- there's no denying that an Picture) Five Filters featured article: increasingly large number of Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: XBLA games are being created Submitted at 4/11/2010 8:32:23 AM PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, b y m a j o r p u b l i s h e r s a n d Bet Against the American Term Extraction. development houses. And now it Dream from Alexander Hotz on seems as if Xbox Live Indie Submitted at 4/10/2010 6:50:00 PM

Video: Bet Against the American Dream

Gameloft treads on XBL Indie games with Tank Battles Games -- quite literally a bastion of independent game development -- might suffer the same fate.

Unstoppable mobile game publisher Gameloft(a subsidiary of Ubisoft) is officially entering the Indie Games space with Tank Battles. As the title implies, the game features tanks doing battle from a third-person perspective. If the title sounds familiar, it's because the game was already released on PSN last year as Battle Tanks. The game offers up to 4-players (locally or online) to duke it out

and, truth be told, it looks pretty fun. Check out a trailer after the break.

[Via GamerBytes] Continue reading Gameloft treads on XBL Indie games with Tank Battles Gameloft treads on XBL Indie games with Tank Battles originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is brought to you in stunning 3D Griffin McElroy (Joystiq)

special peripheral to read our seven favorite gaming-centric webcomics from this past week, You guys have got your special which we've posted in no glasses, right? Come on, we particular order below. Check know we told you this week's them out and vote for your Wrapup would be presented favorite in the poll after the with groundbreaking new 3D jump! technology. You knew you were Hell(xkcd) supposed to come prepared. He's There To Help(Of Noobs Don't get mad at us because you and Men) can't see all the awesome special Bizarro Paradise(Nerf Now) effects that are flying out of the No Pokemon Allowed in My logo above! Oh no, a dragon is P o k e m o n G a m e ( A w k w a r d flying at you! And he's throwing Z o m b i e ) ninja stars!

Nintendo 3D Redux(Another Fortunately, you need no Video Game Webcomic) Submitted at 4/10/2010 11:30:00 PM

Snifit Salesman(Brawl in the Family) Calm Your Storm(2P Start) Continue reading Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is brought to you in stunning 3D Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is brought to you in stunning 3D originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard announces a handful of WoW: Cataclysm class changes Griffin McElroy (Joystiq)

changes really mean, we suggest checking out our loot-obsessed sister site, WoW.com, for a Blizzard recently announced a detailed analysis of these cadre of class-specific additions changes. For instance, we just coming to its upcoming ruinous learned that the Rogue's new expansion pack, World of "Smoke Bomb" ability will Warcraft: Cataclysm. If you're change them from merchants of c u r r e n t l y r o l l i n g t h r o u g h death into invisible merchants of Azeroth, owning fools while death. How fun! playing as a Death Knight, Blizzard announces a handful Hunter, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, of WoW: Cataclysm class Warlock or Warrior, you can get changes originally appeared on an early glimpse at some of the Joystiq on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 new powers and revamped 20:30:00 EST. Please see our mechanics the expansion will terms for use of feeds. bring your way.

Read| Permalink| Email this| If you're having a hard time Comments understanding what all these Submitted at 4/10/2010 8:30:00 PM

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The Magnetar Trade Barry Ritholtz (The Big Picture)

NCAA Football 11 not touching down on PSP Ben Gilbert (Joystiq)

the last two years. IGN confirmed the lack of a PSP version release with EA, who For the dozens of you interested subsequently confirmed an in the NCAA Football franchise iPhone App Store release. So returning to PSP in 2010, there's something, right? Right? today's news of the 2011 Hey guys, where are you iteration of the game not going? heading to Sony's handheld is [Via Kotaku] likely a pretty major bummer.

NCAA Football 11 not On one hand, you were probably t o u c h i n g d o w n o n P S P expecting it when yesterday's originally appeared on Joystiq announcement of Tim Tebow as on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 22:00:00 the cover athlete didn't include EST. Please see our terms for the PSP on its list of consoles use of feeds. (also absent was the Nintendo Read| Permalink| Email this| Wii), but on the other hand, Comments there's been a PSP release for Submitted at 4/10/2010 10:00:00 PM

corner of Wall Street.

According to bankers and others involved, the Magnetar Submitted at 4/11/2010 9:30:02 AM Trade worked this way: The Former WSJ reporter Jesse hedge fund bought the riskiest Eisinger teamed up with author portion of a kind of securities and reporter Jake Bernstein at known as collateralized debt ProPublica.org. They spent 7 obligations — CDOs. If housing months investigating a series of prices kept rising, this would hedge fund trades made against provide a solid return for many subprime mortgages, CDS, etc. years. But that’s not what hedge The result is this thorough funds are after. They want detailed analysis of how this outsized gains, the sooner the took place: The Magnetar better, and Magnetar set itself Trade: How One Hedge Fund up for a huge win: It placed bets Helped Keep the Bubble that portions of its own deals Going(It is available at TBP would fail.

Mirror) Along the way, it did something Here’s an excerpt: to enhance the chances of that “How Magnetar pulled this off happening, according to several is one of the untold stories of the people with direct knowledge of meltdown. Only a small group the deals. They say Magnetar of Wall Street insiders was privy pressed to include riskier assets to what became known as the in their CDOs that would make Magnetar Trade. Nearly all of the investments more vulnerable those approached by ProPublica to failure. The hedge fund declined to talk on the record, acknowledges it bet against its fearing their careers would be own deals but says the majority hurt if they spoke publicly. But of its short positions, as they are interviews with participants, e- known on Wall Street, involved mails, thousands of pages of similar CDOs that it did not documents and details about the own. Magnetar says it never securities that until now have selected the assets that went into not been publicly disclosed shed its CDOs” light on an arcane, secretive The full piece is fascinating,

and well worth your Sunday morning.

Also noteworthy: This is now how investigative journalism gets done in America. Its no0w about private funding of nonprofit news organizations. They are insulated from ratings, news stand sales, and focus group reports.

Thank goodness ProPublica exists. They are the silver lining in the collapse of American journalism . . . > Source: The Magnetar Trade: How One Hedge Fund Helped Keep the Bubble Going

by Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein ProPublica – April 9, 2010 http://www.propublica.org/featu re/the-magnetar-trade-how-onehedge-fund-helped-keep-thehousing-bubble-going Mirror The Big Picture, April 11, 2010 Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Soros warns Europe on brink of disintegration (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 4/11/2010 10:23:03 AM

The Euro-zone area and wider

European Union is now “on the brink” of disintegration unless Germany steps up and provides loans at below-market rates to Greece, George Soros, the

hedge fund manager, has warned.

However, Mr Soros added that he still hoped that Germany and others would be willing to forge

a last-minute solution, since the PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, consequence of a break-up Term Extraction. would be so dangerous.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:

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The Magnetar Trade: How One Hedge Fund Helped Keep the Bubble Going Guest Author (The Big Picture) Submitted at 4/11/2010 9:00:36 AM

Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein, ProPublica – April 9, 2010 1:00 pm EDT ~~~ In late 2005, the booming U.S. housing market seemed to be slowing. The Federal Reserve had begun raising interest rates.

Subprime mortgage company shares were falling. Investors began to balk at buying complex mortgage securities. The housing bubble, which had propelled a historic growth in home prices, seemed poised to deflate. And if it had, the great financial crisis of 2008, which produced the Great Recession of 2008-09, might have come sooner and been less severe.

At just that moment, a few savvy financial engineers at a suburban Chicago hedge fund helped revive the Wall Street money machine, spawning billions of dollars of securities ultimately backed by home mortgages.

When the crash came, nearly all of these securities became worthless, a loss of an estimated $40 billion paid by investors, the investment banks who helped bring them into the world, and, eventually, American taxpayers.

Yet the hedge fund, named Magnetar for the super-magnetic field created by the last moments of a dying star, earned outsized returns in the year the financial crisis began.

How Magnetar pulled this off is one of the untold stories of the meltdown. Only a small group of Wall Street insiders was privy to what became known as the Magnetar Trade. Nearly all of those approached by ProPublica declined to talk on the record, fearing their careers would be hurt if they spoke publicly. But interviews with participants, emails, thousands of pages of documents and details about the securities that until now have not been publicly disclosed shed light on an arcane, secretive corner of Wall Street.

According to bankers and others involved, the Magnetar Trade worked this way: The hedge fund bought the riskiest portion of a kind of securities known as collateralized debt obligations — CDOs. If housing prices kept rising, this would provide a solid return for many years. But that’s not what hedge funds are after. They want outsized gains, the sooner the better, and Magnetar set itself up for a huge win: It placed bets that portions of its own deals would fail.

Along the way, it did something

to enhance the chances of that happening, according to several people with direct knowledge of the deals. They say Magnetar pressed to include riskier assets in their CDOs that would make the investments more vulnerable to failure. The hedge fund acknowledges it bet against its own deals but says the majority of its short positions, as they are known on Wall Street, involved similar CDOs that it did not own. Magnetar says it never selected the assets that went into its CDOs. Magnetar says it was “market neutral,” meaning it would make money whether housing rose or fell. ( Read their full statement.)

Dozens of Wall Street professionals, including many who had direct dealings with Magnetar, are skeptical of that assertion. They understood the Magnetar Trade as a bet against the subprime mortgage securities market. Why else, they ask, would a hedge fund sponsor tens of billions of dollars of new CDOs at a time of rising uncertainty about housing?

Key details of the Magnetar Trade remain shrouded in secrecy and the fund declined to respond to most of our questions. Magnetar invested in 30 CDOs from the spring of 2006 to the summer of 2007,

though it declined to name them. ProPublica has identified 26.

An independent analysis commissioned by ProPublica shows that these deals defaulted faster and at a higher rate compared to other similar CDOs. According to the analysis, 96 percent of the Magnetar deals were in default by the end of 2008, compared with 68 percent for comparable CDOs. The study was conducted by PF2 Securities Evaluations, a CDO valuation firm. (Magnetar says defaults don’t necessarily indicate the quality of the underlying CDO assets.)

From what we’ve learned, there was nothing illegal in what Magnetar did; it was playing by the rules in place at the time.

And the hedge fund didn’t cause the housing bubble or the financial crisis. But the Magnetar Trade does illustrate the perverse incentives and reckless behavior that characterized the last days of the boom.

At least nine banks helped Magnetar hatch deals. Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and UBS all did multiple deals with Magnetar. JPMorgan Chase, often lauded for having avoided the worst of the CDO craze, actually ended up doing one of

the riskiest deals with Magnetar, in May 2007, nearly a year after housing prices started to decline.

According to marketing material and prospectuses, the banks didn’t disclose to CDO investors the role Magnetar played.

Many of the bankers who worked on these deals personally benefited, earning millions in annual bonuses. The banks booked profits at the outset. But those gains were fleeting. As it turned out, the banks that assembled and marketed the Magnetar CDOs had trouble selling them. And when the crash came, they were among the biggest losers.

Some bankers involved in the Magnetar Trade now regret what they did. We showed one of the many people fired as a result of the CDO collapse a list of unusually risky mortgage bonds included in a Magnetar deal he had worked on. The deal was a disaster. He shook his head at being reminded of the details and said: “After looking at this, I deserved to lose my job.”

Magnetar wasn’t the only market player to come up with clever ways to bet against housing. Many articles and books, including a bestseller by MAGNETAR page 47

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Michael Lewis, have recounted how a few investors saw trouble coming and bet big.

Such short bets can be helpful; they can serve as a counterweight to manias and keep bubbles from expanding.

Magnetar’s approach had the opposite effect — by helping create investments it also bet against, the hedge fund was actually fueling the market.

Magnetar wasn’t alone in that: A few other hedge funds also created CDOs they bet against.

And, as the New York Times has reported, Goldman Sachs did too. But Magnetar industrialized the process, creating more and bigger CDOs. Several journalists have alluded to the Magnetar Trade in recent years, but until now none has assembled a full narrative. Yves Smith, a prominent financial blogger who has reported on aspects of the Magnetar Trade, writes in her new book, “Econned,” that “Magnetar went into the business of creating subprime CDOs on an unheard of scale. If the world had been spared their cunning, the insanity of 2006-2007 would have been less extreme and the unwinding milder.”

The guiding force behind Magnetar was Alec Litowitz, a triathlete, astronomy buff and rising star in the investing world. In 2003, Litowitz retired from a Chicago-based hedge

fund, Citadel, one of the most successful in the world, where he had spent most of his career and became a top executive. He promised to stay out of the business for two years.

As he waited for his noncompete agreement to expire, Litowitz and his wife traveled through Europe collecting antiques to stock a big house they were building on the shores of Lake Michigan.

By spring 2005, Litowitz’s wait was over. Then 38 years old, Litowitz quickly raised money to start his own hedge fund. The fund, Magnetar, attracted $1.7 billion from investors and opened in April.

Litowitz, who declined to be interviewed, had an approach to investing that emphasized scale and simplicity. He told those he hired: “Figure out a way to make money and figure out how to repeat it and do it over and over again,” according to a former employee. The firm handed out T-shirts emblazoned with a confident slogan: “Very Bright, Very Magnetic.”

Employees privately joked about working for a fund named after something like a black hole.

Litowitz brought on board David Snyderman. A New Yorker with a serious mien, Snyderman, in his mid-30s, began hunting for investment opportunities in Wall Street’s burgeoning market in mortgage-

backed securities.

It didn’t take them long to find something promising.

Snyderman and Magnetar focused on Wall Street’s mortgage assembly line, which had been super-charged during Litowitz’s time away from the business. Banks bundled pools of mortgages into large bonds, which they combined to create even larger investments. These were the now-infamous collateralized debt obligations.

Each month, homeowners paid their mortgages. Each month, payments flowed to investors.

(Here is an excellent video explaining CDOs.) Large investors across the globe snapped up the CDOs, which took the hottest investment around — the U.S. housing market — and transformed it into something that supposedly had little or no risk. Wall Street preached that the risk had been diluted because it was spread out over such large collections of mortgage bonds. (CDOs can also be based on side bets that rise and fall with the value of other mortgage bonds. These are known as “synthetic” CDOs. Magnetar’s deals were largely synthetic.)

Just as they did with mortgagebacked securities, investment banks divided CDOs into different layers, called tranches.

As the mortgages were paid, money flowed to investors holding the top tranche. Since

they were the first to get paid, and thus took the least amount of risk, they earned low interest rates. Next came the middle levels — the so-called mezzanine tranches.

Last in line for money were investors in what’s known as the equity. In return for being at the bottom, equity investors got the highest returns, sometimes 20 percent interest — money they would receive only as long as the vast majority of mortgage holders made their payments.

Even back then, Wall Street insiders called the equity “toxic waste,” and as anxiety built in late 2005 that the housing boom was over, investment banks struggled to find takers.

To Magnetar, the toxic waste was an opportunity.

At a time when fewer investors were stepping up to buy equity, the little-known hedge fund put out the word that it wanted lots and lots of it. Magnetar concentrated in a particularly risky corner of the CDO world: deals that were made up of the middle, or mezzanine, slice of subprime mortgage-backed bonds. Magnetar CDOs were big, averaging $1.5 billion, about three times the size of earlier deals built on subprime mortgages.

Magnetar’s purchases solved a crucial problem for the banks.

Since the equity was so risky and thus difficult to sell, banks didn’t like to create new CDOs

unless someone committed to buy them. Indeed, such buyers were so crucial that Wall Street referred to them as the CDOs’ “sponsors.”

Without sponsors, Wall Street’s mortgage bond assembly line could grind to a halt, and with it bank profits and banker bonuses. A top CDO banker could earn $3 million to $4 million annually on the CDOs he created and sold.

Usually, investment banks had to go out and find buyers of the equity. With Magnetar, the buyer came right to the bank’s doorstep. Wall Street was overjoyed.

“It seemed like a miracle,” says one mortgage market investment banker, because “no one” had been buying equity.

“By the end of 2005, the general sense was that the CDO market would slow down. These trades continued to fuel the fire,” says Bill Tomljanovic, who worked for a firm that helped build a Magnetar CDO. Magnetar was “a driving force in the market.”

According to JPMorgan data, Magnetar’s deals amounted to somewhere between a third and half the total volume in the particularly risky corner of the subprime market on which the fund focused.

Outsiders thought Magnetar was piling in at exactly the wrong time. A March 2007 MAGNETAR page 48

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Business Week article titled “Who Will Get Shredded?” would later put Magnetar near the top of its list. The hedge fund, said the magazine, “showed bad timing.”

How could Magnetar hope to make money on such risky stuff? It had a second bet that was known only to insiders.

At the same time it was investing in the equity, the fund placed bets that many of the same CDOs it had helped create would actually blow up. It did that using one of the most opaque corners of the investment world: credit default swaps, which function as a kind of insurance on CDOs and other types of bonds.

Credit default swaps work roughly like an insurance policy: You pay a small premium regularly, on any bond you want — whether you own it or not — and if it goes bust, you get paid off in full.

Nobody but Magnetar knows the full extent of its bets. Hedge funds are private and they don’t disclose the details of their trades. Also, credit default swaps are mostly unregulated and not publicly disclosed.

Magnetar says it didn’t bet only against its own CDOs. The majority of its credit default swaps, says Magnetar, were on other CDOs. ( Update April, 9: We have added additional detail from Magnetar’s response in which the hedge fund says it

was “net long” on its own CDOs, an assertion on which the fund has declined to elaborate.)

Since it was the sponsor, Magnetar had privileges.

Placing the risky equity was so important to banks that they typically gave those who bought it a say in how the deal was structured. Like all investors, equity buyers had to weigh risk and reward, the goal being to maximize returns while minimizing the chances that your investment will blow up.

But people involved in Magnetar’s deals say the hedge fund took a different tack, pushing for riskier bonds to go inside its CDOs. Doing that would make it more likely that Magnetar’s bets against the CDO would pay off.

The equity bought by Magnetar represented just a tiny fraction of the overall CDO. If it costs, say, $50 million, an entire CDO could be 20 times that, $1 billion. And if the CDO begins to go south and you’re smart enough to have taken out enough insurance, you can make hundreds of millions of dollars.

That, of course, would take a bit of the sting out of losing your original $50 million investment in the equity.

Magnetar Does Its First Deal As Magnetar set up its CDO shop, the hedge fund hired Jim Prusko, a smart and affable

investor who had worked previously at the Boston money -manager Putnam Investments.

He would shoulder much of the work of courting Wall Street bankers and managers who worked with the hedge fund. He operated out of Magnetar’s office in midtown Manhattan around the corner from Saks Fifth Avenue. In an office of 20somethings, Prusko, then 40 years old, stood out as the “old man.”

Prusko and his boss at Magnetar, Snyderman, began approaching investment banks, offering to buy the riskiest, highest-yielding portion of CDOs. They always wanted a middleman, known as a CDO manager, on their deals. Many CDOs are operated day to day by such independent firms, who are often brought in by investment banks.

The managers also played a vital role in creating deals.

When an investment bank created a CDO, it would often give what amounted to blueprints to the managers, who would then go out and find the exact bundles of bonds to fill the CDO. The managers had a fiduciary duty to represent the CDO fairly to all investors, ensuring investors got accurate and equal information.

Magnetar’s deals were numerous and big, and just like for investment banks, the bigger the deal, the larger the

fee for managers.

“Prusko’s job was to butter up the CDO managers and the bankers,” said one banker who dealt with him.

By relying on a manager rather than managing the deal itself, Magnetar had no legal obligations to the CDO or others who bought it.

Magnetar completed its first deal in May 2006. In what became a habit, it named the CDO after a constellation, in this case, “Orion,” known for the trio of stars that form the mythological Greek hunter’s belt. For its maiden CDO, Magnetar enlisted a partner to buy risky equity alongside it, an internal investment fund within Deutsche Bank.

Deutsche and Magnetar didn’t reach for a Wall Street powerhouse to put the deal together. Instead the investors worked with Alex Rekeda, a young Ukrainian immigrant who was then working for Calyon, the investment banking arm of the French bank Crédit Agricole.

Magnetar and Deutsche were deeply involved in creating Orion. “We want to make sure we control the deal,” a banker who worked on it recalls them emphasizing.

One person involved in Orion recalls Deutsche’s point person, Michael Henriques, and Magnetar’s Prusko pressuring the CDO manager, a division of

the Dutch bank NIBC, to include specific lists of bonds in the deal.

Prusko and Henriques told this person that the investors “needed more spread in the portfolio.” More “spread” means more return and more risk.

This person recalled Magnetar asking, “Would you consider these bonds?”

Their suggestions were invariably for riskier bonds. “Let’s just say we didn’t think their suggestions made a lot of sense,” the person said.

He said the CDO manager refused Magnetar’s requests to put riskier bonds in the deal.

Still, it was an eye-opening experience. “I began to realize there were things you had to defend yourself against,” he said.

Magnetar and Deutsche declined to comment on Orion specifically. Magnetar says it made suggestions about the general outlines of the CDOs. But, the hedge fund says, it “did not select the underlying assets of the CDO at any time prior to or subsequent to transaction issuance.”

Other buyers of the CDO could have figured out they were getting relatively risky bonds, but they would have had to look hard at the minutiae of the deal.

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the ratings had less and less meaning. Two sets of bonds rated AA could have very different levels of risk. Most investors chose not to dig too deeply.

One investor in Orion was a fund affiliated with IKB, a small German bank. Eventually, it invested in at least four more Magnetar deals. In mid-2007, because of the disastrous investments in subprime securities, the German government was forced to bail out IKB. The failure of the bank was an early warning sign of the global financial crisis.

Deutsche’s Henriques would later quit the bank and join Magnetar.

Orion lost value but never defaulted. That was better than every subsequent CDO that Magnetar helped create, according to ProPublica’s research.

Magnetar’s (Nearly) Perpetual Money Machine By buying the risky bottom slices of CDOs, Magnetar didn’t just help create more CDOs it could bet against. Since it owned a small slice of the CDO, Magnetar also received regular payments as its investments threw off income.

With this, Magnetar solved a conundrum of those who bet against the market. An investor might be confident that things are heading south, but not know when. While the investor waits,

it costs money to keep the bet going. Many a short seller has run out of cash at the gates of a big payday.

Magnetar could keep money flowing — via its small investments in CDOs — and could use that money to pay for its bets against CDOs. Similar, commonly traded, assets appeared in multiple Magnetar CDOs. Experts say the benefit of that overlap to Magnetar was that when the hedge fund bet against nonMagnetar CDOs, the CDOs still had similar characteristics to the ones Magnetar had invested in.

Soon enough, bankers and CDO managers had a sense of how it worked. “Everyone knew,” said one person who managed Magnetar CDOs. “They used the equity to fund the shorts.”

Magnetar further increased its odds by insisting that the CDOs it helped create had an unusual construction. Typically, cash flowing to the last-in-line equity buyers is cut off at the first signs of trouble — such as a rise in mortgage delinquencies. Those at the top of the CDO — who accepted lower returns for less risk — received that cash, leaving none for the high-risk holders.

Magnetar wanted its deals to be “triggerless,” meaning lacking these cash-flow dams. When the market turned shaky and

homeowners began to default, money kept flowing down to the risky slices that Magnetar owned.

Even today, bankers and managers speak with awe at the elegance of the Magnetar Trade. Others have become famous for betting big against the housing market. But they had taken enormous risks.

Meanwhile, Magnetar had created a largely self-funding bet against the market.

E-mails Give Glimpse of How Magnetar Worked By the fall of 2006, housing prices had already peaked and Magnetar’s assembly line started producing, helping to create CDOs it would bet against. The hedge fund’s appetite seemed insatiable. The deals were the talk of CDO desks across Wall Street.

Between the end of September and the middle of December 2006, Magnetar had a hand in spawning at least 15 CDOs, worth an estimated $23 billion.

Among the banks involved with those deals were Citigroup, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch.

E-mails obtained by ProPublica from that time suggest Magnetar’s clout. The firm was involved at the start of deals and pushed for riskier bonds to be included.

After Magnetar expressed interest in buying the equity, the French bank Société Générale

began to build the CDO, and selected a New York-based manager, Ischus Capital Management, which would choose the exact bonds to go into the CDO. Magnetar wanted to name the CDO after a small constellation in the southern sky called Hydrus, which means “male water snake.” But by late September, Magnetar and Ischus began sparring over the composition of the deal.

Magnetar pressed Ischus to buy lower-quality assets for the deal, according to three people familiar with Hydrus. In an email to bankers at Société Générale and Ischus executives, Magnetar’s CDO specialist, Jim Prusko, wrote on Sept. 29, 2006, “The original portfolio target spreadsheet that I have… had a strangely low spread target. That of course would not at all be beneficial to us. I have attached the target portfolio that I would like for this deal with target spreads.”

The portfolio Magnetar outlined didn’t list specific bonds, but executives at the CDO manager Ischus felt that they understood what Prusko wanted. A request for higherspreading assets means more risk in the deal.

Andrew Shook, an Ischus executive, answered forcefully on Oct. 3, “We will not assemble a portfolio we are not proud of and feel strongly about

in the name of a spread target.”

Prusko dialed down the pressure, responding within an hour. “Of course, the actual security selection is totally your purview,” he wrote. “I just wanted to make sure the overall portfolio characteristics worked for our strategy.”

Shook declined to comment on the e-mail exchange. Magnetar says that the deal as originally conceived wouldn’t have been profitable and that it was merely trying to get a higher return — a higher “spread” — to balance out the risk it was taking in owning the bottomrated slice of the CDO. The two sides subsequently drifted apart, partly over Ischus’s unease with Magnetar’s pressure, and the deal was never completed.

Concerns About ‘Reputational Risks’ As part of the big business Magnetar was doing in the fall of 2006, the hedge fund put together a CDO with Lehman Brothers named for the constellation Libra. John Mawe, a banker who worked on Libra, remembers that “there was a back-and-forth fight” about the assets between the bank’s CDO manager and Magnetar, with the hedge fund pushing for riskier assets.

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handled the deal, never put assets into Libra that it thought were bad investments.

Among the other banks that Magnetar approached during that time was Deutsche Bank, with whom it had teamed up to do its first deal months earlier.

Deutsche Bank was anxious for business in order to maintain its standing as one of the top CDO banks, according to one of its bankers.

Deutsche recommended CDO manager State Street Global Advisors.

The State Street managers were “highly skeptical” of doing a deal with Magnetar, according to one participant. “State Street wanted their deals to do well,” said the participant, and with Magnetar, there was “a lot of reputational risk to be concerned about.”

Hoping to close the deal, Magnetar’s master salesman Jim Prusko drove up from his home in the New York suburbs to State Street’s headquarters in Boston, to mollify executives in the management team. After the meeting, the deal went forward.

As one banker explained, “there were other managers who were dying to do this deal” and get the millions in fees.

After subprime losses, State Street closed the business that managed its CDOs in late 2007.

Frank Gianatasio, who worked in State Street’s CDO business says, “We were comfortable with every transaction we put

into our CDOs.” Deutsche, Magnetar and State Street called the $1.6 billion CDO they created Carina, a constellation whose name in Latin means a ship’s keel. In November 2007, Carina had the distinction of being the first subprime CDO of its kind to be forced into liquidation.

State Street and Magnetar declined to comment on their negotiations over Carina.

A Lawsuit Suggests Merrill Lynch’s Role By early 2007, the mortgage market was falling apart.

Lenders were reporting big losses, delinquencies were mounting— and Magnetar’s business was booming.

Between late February and April, banks rolled out five Magnetar-sponsored deals, with a value of about $7.2 billion.

Among them was a $1.5 billion CDO named Norma. Following Magnetar’s branding convention, Norma is a constellation in the Southern Hemisphere named for the Latin word for “normal.” This CDO was anything but.

Details about Norma, which was created by Merrill Lynch, have emerged through an ongoing lawsuit between Merrill and Dutch bank Cooperatieve Centrale RaiffeisenBoerenleenbank, known commonly on Wall Street as Rabobank. (The Wall Street Journal had the first detailed

report of Norma, in late 2007.)

The dispute involves a side transaction that Rabobank made with Merrill involving Norma.

Magnetar is not a party to the litigation. Yet the allegations are scathing in their depiction of how the CDO was developed.

“Merrill Lynch teamed up with one of its most prized hedge fund clients — an infamous short seller that had helped Merrill Lynch create four other CDOs — to create Norma as a tailor-made way to bet against the mortgage-backed securities market,” the complaint reads.

(Emphasis in the original.) “[T]o facilitate the selection of assets that would allow Norma to operate as a hedging instrument rather than an investment vehicle, Merrill Lynch hand-picked a beholden collateral manager that was willing to ignore its fiduciary duties to Norma’s investors.”

The manager for Norma was a small shop out of Long Island, N.Y., called NIR Capital Management. Run by Corey Ribotsky, the firm’s primary line of business before entering CDOs was speculating in penny stocks.

NIR brought in a team of experienced bankers to run its CDO business. The firm also had a variety of other ventures.

At one point, they put money into a documentary called “American Cannibal,” that profiled the aborted launch of a

reality television show in which contestant were stranded on an island and goaded into cannibalism. (The New York Times found it “absorbing.”)

Ribotsky is now under investigation by federal authorities for misleading clients about its investment returns.

NIR and Merrill Lynch declined to comment on dealings with Magnetar; Merrill Lynch denies liability in the litigation.

Magnetar declined to comment.

Norma began to suffer setbacks even before the deal closed in March 2007. According to the lawsuit, by the time Norma was completed, its value had already declined by more than 20 percent.

JPMorgan Gets Into the Game — And Loses Despite the bad news in the mortgage market, Magnetar continued to find a few willing bankers to do CDOs, including a new one: JPMorgan Chase.

JPMorgan had avoided many of the complex financial transactions that decimated the banking industry. As the market grew frothier, JPMorgan pulled back from the CDO business. In 2005, the men who ran JPMorgan’s CDO unit told their bosses that they couldn’t see how to complete a CDO without sticking the bank with the large top tier, which would not appeal to investors because of its low returns. Other banks dealt with this problem by

retaining these CDO layers on their books.

But by mid-2006, JPMorgan joined the herd. It hired bankers to expand its CDO team and got to work.

A few months later — in early 2007 — Magnetar and JPMorgan banged out a deal.

Unlike the earlier CDOs it helped create, Magnetar didn’t name this one after a constellation. Opting for a more literal name, they called the deal “Squared,” after the term for a CDO that was made up of other CDOs. Squared was filled in part with other CDOs Magnetar had helped create.

According to a person familiar with how the deal came together, Magnetar committed to purchase $10 million worth of Squared’s equity. Magnetar’s purchase allowed JPMorgan to create and sell a $1.1 billion CDO. As it had on previous deals, Magnetar pushed the bankers to select riskier bonds.

“They really cared about it,” said the person involved in the deal. “They wouldn’t pull punches. It was always going to be crappier.”

The hedge fund requested that Squared have slices from many Magnetar CDOs, including Auriga, Carina, Libra, Pyxis and Virgo. They all went into the deal. Magnetar also successfully pushed for Squared to include MAGNETAR page 51

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slices from one of the Abacus deals, a group of CDOs that, as the New York Times later reported, Goldman Sachs had created and bet against.

JPMorgan earned $20 million in creating Squared, according to the person involved in the deal.

JPMorgan’s sales force fanned out across the globe. It sold parts of the CDO to 17 institutional investors, according to a person familiar with the transaction. The deal closed in May 2007, nearly a year after housing prices had peaked.

Within eight months, Squared dropped to a fraction of its initial value.

Just about everybody lost out, including Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a Minnesota-based not-for-profit fraternal organization, whose $10 million investment was wiped out. Thrivent declined to comment.

Small pieces of Squared, as well as Magnetar’s CDO Norma, also ended up in mutual funds run by Morgan Keegan, a regional investment bank based in Memphis, Tenn.

The funds, advertised as conservative investments, cratered after betting on various exotic assets. Morgan Keegan was sued by individual investors who claimed that they were misled about the risks.

Among the investors was former Chicago Bulls player

Horace Grant, who was awarded $1.4 million in arbitration. This week, the SEC accused two Morgan Keegan employees of misleading fund investors about the value of its holdings in CDOs. Morgan Keegan called the charges “factually inaccurate” and promised to defend itself “vigorously.”

Morgan Keegan did not respond to a request for comment on the specifics of the two Magnetar CDOs. The biggest loser was JPMorgan Chase itself, which had kept the large, supposedly safe top slices of Squared on its books, without hedging itself.

The bank lost about $880 million on the CDO. JPMorgan declined to comment on the details of the transaction.

Magnetar came out a winner.

The fund earned about $290 million on its bet against Squared, according to a person familiar with the deal.

Magnetar declined to comment.

Magnetar’s Exit: A Deal so Bad Even a Credit-rating Agency Balked Prusko was buoyant as Magnetar’s trades began to make money as its short bets rose in value. One friend recalls Prusko ribbing him: “What are you going to do after this blows up?” (Magnetar declined to comment on the exchange.)

In the spring of 2007, Magnetar began to have a problem: The hedge fund was sitting on

hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of CDO equity and other low-rated portions of its deals.

With the decline of housing prices accelerating, off-loading these pieces would be very hard.

Magnetar needed a buyer and some deft financial engineering.

It found the answer through its former partner, Alex Rekeda, who had been the banker on Magnetar’s first CDO. Rekeda now worked at Mizuho, one of Japan’s biggest banks. Mizuho was eager to get into the CDO world. It hired Rekeda in part because he could bring Magnetar’s business, according to one CDO manager who worked with him.

Rekeda and Magnetar came up with a remarkable CDO. They took their risky portions of 18 CDOs they had helped created — and repackaged them to sell them to others. Bundling up the dregs of a CDO was rare, if not unprecedented.

This deal, Tigris, which closed in March 2007, tied together $902 million of Magnetar’s risky assets. Rekeda convinced two rating agencies, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, to rate it. Fitch designated $259 million of it as triple A, the highest rating. S&P rated nearly $501 million as triple A. (When contacted for this article, S&P said it was comfortable rating Tigris; Fitch didn’t respond to questions about the deal.)

In a highly unusual move, the

third major rating agency, Moody’s, refused to rate Tigris.

Rekeda lobbied Moody’s for a rating, according to a person familiar with the deal. But Moody’s then-head of CDOs, Eric Kolchinsky, wouldn’t budge.

Magnetar got $450 million from Mizuho, which in return received income from assets in Tigris, according to several people familiar with the transaction. It was what’s known as a non-recourse loan: If things went wrong, Mizuho could only lay claim to what was in Tigris.

In response to ProPublica’s questions about this deal, Magnetar said the fund “as a matter of general practice, and as do most hedge funds, enters into non-recourse financing on specific assets in its portfolio.”

By September, just six months after Tigris had been created, Fitch downgraded most of the CDO’s slices. By the end of January 2008, the CDO had gone into default. The Japanese ended up with the paper, which was worthless. Mizuho eventually wrote Tigris off, as part of about $7 billion in total losses from its subprime missteps. Mizuho declined to comment, as did Magnetar.

Just as with a refi gone bad, when Tigris was wiped out, the hedge fund walked away from the house — in this case its collateral. A person who

worked on Tigris boasted about how innovative the deal was. If it hadn’t blown up, he says, it would have been “deal of the year.” For Magnetar, it may have been.

Records it shared with investors show Magnetar had a spectacular 2007. Founder Alec Litowitz pulled down $280 million, according to Alpha Magazine. That spring, a trade journal awarded Prusko and Snyderman “Investor of the Year” honors. The Magnetar Constellation Fund, the firm’s fund that had the most exposure to the CDO trades, was up 76 percent in 2007, according to a presentation Magnetar gave to investors in early 2009. The main fund, the Magnetar Capital Fund, was up 26 percent that year. By the end of 2007, Magnetar had $7.6 billion under management, up from the $1.7 billion it began with two years earlier. Magnetar declined to comment on its performance.

ProPublica has learned that the SEC has been looking into how the Magnetar deals were created, but it’s not clear how much progress the investigation has been made or who might be the target. In a statement yesterday, Magnetar said: Our understanding is that for some time, the SEC staff has been looking broadly at the sales, marketing, and structuring MAGNETAR page 52

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of CDOs. In connection with that inquiry, the SEC staff has from time to time requested information from Magnetar and other market participants, and Magnetar has been cooperating and responding to the requests.

We are not aware that this inquiry is focused on any particular person or firm.

Write to Jesse Eisinger at Jesse.Eisinger@propublica.org .

Write to Jake Bernstein at Jake.Bernstein@propublica.org.

Want to know more? Follow ProPublica on Facebook and Twitter, and get ProPublica headlines delivered by e-mail every day . ~~~ Copyright 2010 Pro Publica

Inc. Unless otherwise noted, you can republish Pro Publica articles and graphics (but not Pro Publica photographs or blog) for free. You just have to credit us and link to us, and you can’t edit our material or sell it separately. (We’re licensed under Creative Commons, which provides the legal details.)

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Rajasthan, Land of the Kings Zack Sheppard (Flickr Blog) Submitted at 4/11/2010 5:34:56 AM

• About Flickr Flickr is a revolution in photo storage, sharing and organization, making photo management an easy, natural

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US and China continue dance over currency policy (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 4/11/2010 5:37:32 AM

China and the US continued their delicate diplomatic dance over the weekend about a possible revaluation of the Chinese currency, with both sides maintaining a cordial front at a high-profile Asian economic forum.

Senior officials from both countries held meetings at Bo’ao Forum for Asia on the

southern Chinese island of Hainan. Billed as China’s “Davos”, the annual forum came on the heels of Thursday’s trip to Beijing by Tim Geither, US Treasury secretary. The unscheduled visit fuelled speculation that China would soon change its currency policy Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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Electronics Show (CES), at which time it was tipped as being suitable for tablet PCs as Submitted at 4/11/2010 7:04:36 AM well as e-readers. Now, this Qualcomm's reflective, power- display is set for volume saving color display technology p r o d u c t i o n d u r i n g 2 0 1 0 , will enter volume production according to DigiTimes author this year in a version suitable for Susie Pan, who adds that tablet PCs and e-readers, says "Qualcomm is expected to the Taiwanese publication launch more Miralsol panels for D i g i T i m e s . T h e 5 . 7 - i n c h different applications in the Mirasol displays will offer XGA second half of 2010."

(1024 x 768 pixel) resolution, Like the monochrome video at up to 30 frames per e l e c t r o p h o r e t i c d i s p l a y s second, and extremely low produced by E Ink and found in p o w e r c o n s u m p t i o n , s a y s devices such as Amazon's Qualcomm.

Kindle, Mirasol displays are Last year, Qualcomm's MEMS touted as using little or no ( m i c r o - e l e c t r o - m e c h a n i c a l power when a static image is systems) division announced a being shown. For example, the collaboration with Foxlink 1/4-inch version mentioned (Cheng Uei Precision Industry above is said to use under one Co. Ltd.), though which the milliwatt in such instances. latter would devote a facility to But compared to E Ink, the m a n u f a c t u r i n g " M i r a s o l " sunlight-readable, reflective displays on "generation 4.5" Mirasol displays also offer glass. The Longtan, Taiwan- color, according to Qualcomm based plant opened on June 15, MEMS. Not only that, they can since when Mirasol offerings also display video at up to 30 h a v e i n c l u d e d a 1 . 2 - i n c h frames per second, the company monochrome display with 128 x adds.

96 pixels (aimed at pagers, Qualcomm says the Mirasol simple phones, and the like) and d i s p l a y s w o r k b y u s i n g a 1.4-inch color display (for interferometric modulation phones, MP3 players, and ( I M O D ) , t h e n a t u r a l simple GPS systems) with 176 x manipulation of light that is also 144 pixels. found in butterfly wings, sea Qualcomm's 5.7-inch XGA shells, and peacock feathers. screen Each IMOD element in a (Click to enlarge) display is built using two A 5.7-inch version (above) with conductive plates: One is a thin XGA resolution was announced film stack on a glass substrate, a t J a n u a r y ' s C o n s u m e r while the other is a reflective

membrane.

Qualcomm's Mirasol technology (Click to enlarge) When no voltage is applied, light hitting the substrate is reflected back, resulting in an element -- one per pixel, presumably -- that looks (more or less) white. When a small voltage is applied, the plates are pulled together by electrostatic attraction and the light is absorbed, turning the element black. At the same time, Qualcomm adds, color can be produced by manipulating voltages so as to vary the size of each gap, reflecting different wavelengths to the viewer's eye.

An alternative that's already in production With their color capabilities, video/web browsing compatibility, and high resolution, Mirasol's XGA displays will compete with LCDs now being produced by Pixel Qi, a spinoff from OLPC (One Laptop Per Child). Pixel Qi founder Mary Lou Jepsen is said to have invented the XO-1 laptop's sunlight-readable display technology while at OLPC. Pixel Qi says its first product, a 10.1-inch for netbooks and similar devices, is now available to manufacturers, though no products using the technology have yet shipped. A blog entry last month by Jepsen stated that kits will be available during the

second quarter allowing users to install Pixel Qi screens in their existing laptops in "a five minute operation."

Unlike displays from Qualcomm or Mirasol, Pixel Qi's screens use conventional LCD technology, and require at least some power whenever they're on. Akin to the screen offered back in 2002 by NEC's pioneering Versa DayLite E120 notebook, however, the Pixel Q1 displays come with a switch that can change them from standard, color transmissive mode to a monochrome reflective mode. In the latter mode, the screen picks up all its illumination from ambient lighting, making e-books easier to read and slashing power consumption by up to 75 percent, Pixel Qi claims.

A video of the 5.7-inch Mirasol display Source: Qualcomm (click to play) A demonstration of Qualcomm's 5.7-inch tablet prototype Source: TweakTown (click to play) Further information More information on Mirasol displays may be found on the Qualcomm MEMS website, here. The DigiTimes item about production of XGA versions may be found here.

Pixel Qi founder Mary Lou Jepsen's blog, including information about a recently

announced cross-licensing deal with OLPC, may be found here.

Related stories: • Cortex-A8 SoC gets integrated E Ink controller • Windows CE-ready SoC supports E Ink displays • ARM SoCs to get integrated E Ink controllers • 8.5 x 11-inch e-reader runs Windows CE • Marvell expands range of ARM SoCs • Windows e-reader replacing Detroit "paper boys" • Windows e-reader has color display • Windows e-reader sports color display • E-reader boasts 6-inch EPD display, Windows CE • Windows CE-based e-reader has 9.7-inch display • Roll-up e-reader runs Windows CE • E-paper terminals run Windows CE 5.0 • Windows CE powers handheld, multi-format e-book reader • Electronic paper maintains images without power • Transflective netbook displays make Computex debut Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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Tax-Saving Secrets (Kiplinger Personal Finance)

• Forget everything you thought you knew about filing your taxes. With so many changes to tax rules for 2009 resulting from last year's massive economicstimulus package, you may be able to claim some new tax breaks, particularly if you bought a house or a car, sent a kid to college, made energyefficient home improvements, or collected unemployment benefits.

And even if none of those special situations applies to you, you'll still save on your taxes if your 2009 income was about the same as it was the year before -thanks to new, inflation-adjusted income-tax brackets and higher amounts for the standard deduction (which 70% of taxpayers claim) and the personal-exemption amount, which every taxpayer can claim for each member of his or her household.

The standard deduction is $5,700 for individuals (up $250 from 2008); $8,350 for single heads of household (up $350); and $11,400 for married couples filing jointly (up $500). In addition, the $3,650-per-person personal exemption is up $150 from 2008. Tax brackets are wider, too. For a married couple filing a joint return, for example, the taxable-income threshold separating the 15% bracket from

the 25% bracket is $67,900, up from $65,100 in 2008. And there's an added benefit for taxpayers in the 10% and 15% tax brackets: They pay zero capital-gains taxes on profits from investments they sold in 2009 (as long as they owned them for more than a year).

Plus, most workers are eligible for the new Making Work Pay credit, worth up to $400 for individuals and $800 for married couples, depending on income. Although you probably received the money in the form of reduced tax withholding from your paycheck throughout the year -- rather than a bigger refund now -- you still have to claim the credit on your tax return to ensure that it is counted against your 2009 tax liability (see Tax Forms: Cracking the Code). If you don't, it could boost your tax bill or reduce your refund.

At times, filling out your 2009 return may feel as if you're taking a multiple-choice quiz, guessing at the best option to maximize your tax savings. If you're not already using taxpreparation software or working with a professional tax preparer, it may be time to seek help (see Tax Prep: Most Can File for Free).

Education breaks With a sizable, six-figure income, Timothy and Kathy Cormier of Fairfax, Va., never expected to qualify for a tax

credit to ease the pain of paying college expenses for two of their three children. But this year is different.

The new American Opportunity credit is worth up to $2,500 per student each year during the first four years of college. For most students this break replaces the Hope credit, which was good only for the first two years of college. The American Opportunity credit covers 100% of the first $2,000 of expenses, including tuition, fees and books, and 25% of the next $2,000. You can claim the full $2,500 credit if you are single and your income is $80,000 or less ($160,000 if you're married filing jointly). You get a partial credit if you are single with income up to $90,000 ($180,000 for joint filers). The Cormiers can multiply that tax break by two, saving them up to $5,000 on their 2009 tax bill.

But here's where it gets confusing. Taxpayers with similarly generous incomes (up to $80,000 for single or $160,000 for married filers) can claim a $2,000 tax deduction for higher-education costs even if they don't itemize -- but you can't claim both the credit and the deduction. So which should you choose? Take the credit if you can. A credit reduces your tax liability dollar for dollar, whereas a deduction merely reduces the amount of income that is taxed. In the 25%

bracket, for example, a $2,000 deduction reduces your taxes by just $500, while a $2,000 credit reduces your taxes by the full $2,000.

Simple choice, right? Not so fast. The American Opportunity credit applies only to the first four years of college, so anyone paying bills for graduate school would want to choose the deduction -- that is, unless they qualify for the even more valuable Lifetime Learning credit, which has lower incomeeligibility caps than the deduction. The credit is available for 20% of the expense of any posthigh school classes up to a maximum $2,000 credit per tax return. For the full credit, your income can't top $50,000 if you're single or $100,000 if you're married filing jointly. A partial credit is available to those with income up to $60,000 ($120,000 if married).

And the choices don't end there.

Parents with students attending college in one of the ten midwestern states that were declared disaster areas after the 2008 floods should compare their choices of credits to determine which saves them the most money, says John Roth, a senior tax analyst with CCH, a provider of tax information. The Hope and Lifetime Learning credits for the midwestern disaster area are twice the usual amounts and have been

expanded to include room and board as qualifying expenses (but the credits are subject to the same income-eligibility limits).

The maximum Hope credit for freshmen and sophomores is $3,600 per student. But if you claim a Hope credit for a student in the midwestern disaster area, you cannot claim an American Opportunity credit for any student in the same year. The maximum Lifetime Learning credit for any posthigh school courses taken in the disaster area is $4,000 per tax return. (Parents of students attending colleges in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin are eligible.)

Home-buyer credit New-home shoppers celebrated when the popular $8,000 firsttime home buyer's credit was extended to contracts signed through April 30, 2010. But you might have missed some of the nuances. For example, incomeeligibility limits for this credit differ depending on the date of purchase; and current homeowners who buy a new home now qualify for a tax credit, too.

If you bought your first home between January 1 and November 6, 2009, you are eligible for a maximum credit of $8,000 as long as your income doesn't exceed $75,000 if you're TAX-SAVING page 56

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High Yields From Foreign Stocks (Kiplinger Personal Finance)

• There’s a lot to like about stocks that disburse high and rising cash dividends. Dividend growth helps you stay ahead of inflation. And because corporate earnings are more than twice as volatile as dividends, prices of cash-paying stocks are less jumpy than those of nonpayers.

In its May 2010 issue, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance described 15 blue-chip U.S. stocks with special appeal to dividend fans. But that’s just half the story. High-dividendgrowth strategies work globally, too. “Studies done all over the world show that dividends have been a strong clue over time to superior returns,” says Thomas Shrager, who co-manages several funds for Tweedy, Browne, including its Worldwide High Dividend Yield Value fund.

Though there’s been more emphasis on dividends lately in the U.S., domestic stocks on the whole still offer some of the lowest yields in the world.

Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index yields 1.9%, while the MSCI EAFE index -- a widely followed measure of stocks in developed foreign markets.-offers 2.9%. And when foreign companies have extra cash, they’re less likely to buy back their stock in lieu of paying cash dividends. “Once you invest

globally, you’re in a much better environment for dividend strategies,” says Cliff Remily, co-manager of Thornburg Investment Income Builder Fund, which invests around the globe. The five foreign companies below yield from 3% to 6% and have the ability to raise dividends regularly and substantially. Each trades on the U.S. market in the form of American depositary receipts (prices and other data are as of the close on April 1).

British American Tobacco (symbol BTI), $70.14. Most of the economic growth in the world today is emanating from developing nations. So let’s start our hunt for attractive dividends there. We particularly like the theme of tapping into rising consumer spending through multinational corporations.

As incomes rise, people eat, drink and smoke more. They also seek the quality and cachet of brand-name products. A classic example of a company that benefits from this trend is BAT, the world’s second-largest cigarette maker, after Philip Morris International. Rajiv Jain, manager of Virtus Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund, estimates that BAT generates 65% of its profits from developing countries. It reigns in big ones, such as Brazil, India and Malaysia.

Tobacco is an ugly product, but the economics of the business is

a thing of beauty. Producers have minimal capital-spending requirements, they enjoy pricing power, their returns on capital are towering, and they generate copious cash flow. That enables the companies to pay generous dividends. BAT’s dividend has compounded by 19% annualized over the past five years. The stock yields 5.1% and sells for 14 times estimated 2010 earnings.

Unilever ( UN), $31.29. Like BAT, Anglo-Dutch Unilever has been selling stuff to consumers in the developing world for more than a century. The food-, household- and personalproducts giant generates half of its $57 billion in annual sales from emerging markets, up from one-third as recently as 2004.

Unilever’s brands include Lipton tea, Flora margarine, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Dove soap and Axe deodorant.

Unilever already serves hundreds of millions of customers a day. But the company is far from exhausting its opportunities. China, India and Indonesia, where Unilever has planted deep roots, have a combined population of 2.7 billion -- almost nine times that of the U.S. But Americans spend ten times as much per capita on ice cream, shampoo, detergent and skin-care products, all big Unilever businesses. Unilever is the global leader in ice cream and

skin products, along with tea, deodorant and salad dressing.

The second part of the Unilever story is its restructuring. The company lags competitors such as Procter & Gamble and Nestlé by several measures of efficiency and profitability. So Tweedy, Browne’s Shrager thinks Paul Polman, the recently installed chief executive officer, is just the man to weed out inefficiency. Polman was formerly head of P&G Europe and chief financial officer of Nestlé. “I can see a huge ship starting to turn in the right direction,” says Shrager.

Unilever yields 3.4% and sells for 14 times 2010 projected earnings.

BP ( BP), $57.74. Europe is the place to look for high income from oil stocks. It doesn’t matter whether it’s France’s Total, Italy’s Eni, Royal Dutch Shell or BP -- an enticing yield of about 6% is on offer from all these major, integrated oil-andgas companies. Compare that with ExxonMobil’s miserly 2.5% yield.

Thornburg’s Remily favors BP for its continued success at adding new oil reserves. Unlike many oil majors, the British company has long replaced more than 100% of the oil it produces with new discoveries.

BP produced the equivalent of four million barrels of oil a day in 2009 in locations as varied as Russia, Alaska and Angola. It

expects to expand output by 1% to 2% a year until 2015 -- solid volume growth by industry standards. BP shares yield 5.8%.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. ( TSM), $11.

Technically, Taiwan is considered an emerging market, but TSMC provides compelling evidence that it’s time for the keepers of such indexes to declare Taiwan a developed country. TSMC is by far the world’s largest semiconductor foundry -- and its largest competitor, United Microelectronics, is a neighbor in the science park where TSMC is located, in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

TSMC’s main business, generating 70% of its revenues, is the manufacture of semiconductors for chip designers, such as Broadcom, Nvidia and Marvell, that lack wafer-fabrication facilities, which are hugely expensive.

The rest of TSMC’s sales are to chip makers that are short of capacity, such as Advanced Micro Devices. Simon Hallett, chief investment officer of Harding Loevner, a global investment-management company, says TSMC is the technological leader and lowestcost producer, with “financial strength that is shining through.”

Financial might is key in an industry that requires billions of dollars of investment in new HIGH page 58

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single or $150,000 if you're married filing jointly. You're considered a first-time buyer if you didn't own a principal residence during the three years prior to closing on the new home.

But the rules changed for purchases after November 6.

Income-eligibility limits were increased to $125,000 for the full credit for single filers, phasing out at $145,000, and to $225,000 for joint filers, phasing out at $245,000.

Homeowners who have lived in the same principal residence for at least five out of the past eight years also became eligible for a 10% credit of up to $6,500 on the purchase of a new home after November 6. To claim the credit, buyers must enter a binding contract by April 30 and must close on the sale before July 1. Members of the military who are serving overseas have an extra year of eligibility (see A Roster of Tax Breaks for Military Families).

To claim the credit, you must file Form 5405, "First-Time Homebuyer Credit," and attach a copy of your settlement statement or a copy of the certificate of occupancy for newly constructed homes.

Homeowners must provide proof of five consecutive years of ownership, such as mortgageinterest statements, property-tax records or homeowners insurance.

Because of the new documentation requirements, you can't file your tax return electronically if you claim the home-buyer credit. Print it out and mail it with supporting documents to the IRS. Be prepared to wait. Refunds for paper returns normally take from four to eight weeks, compared with about ten days for e-filed returns. You can file for the credit on your 2009 return even if you close after April 15 by filing an extension or amending your return.

Home-energy credit So maybe you didn't buy a new house last year, but you did make some energy-efficient home improvements. You may claim a credit for 30% of the cost of eligible home improvements on your principal residence, up to a maximum of $1,500. The credit applies to insulation and to energyefficient exterior windows and doors, heat pumps, furnaces, central air conditioners, and water heaters. The new rule is in effect for both 2009 and 2010, so if you claim the full $1,500 credit on your 2009 return, you are not eligible for additional credits in 2010.

Another residential tax credit, designed to spur investment in alternative-energy equipment such as solar hot-water heaters, geothermal heat pumps and wind turbines for new and existing homes, is worth 30% of

the cost of such items, including installation, with no cap on the amount.

New-vehicle deduction If you sank some money into new wheels last year, whether it was a car, a motorcycle, a light truck or a motor home, there's a tax break for that, too. As long as you purchased the new vehicle anytime after February 16, 2009, you may be able to deduct the state or local sales tax or excise tax. The deduction is limited to the tax you paid on up to $49,500 of the purchase price, but there is no limit on the number of eligible vehicles.

To qualify for the full deduction, your income can't top $125,000 if you're single or $250,000 if you're married filing jointly. A partial deduction is available for individuals with income between $125,000 and $135,000 and for joint filers with income between $250,000 and $260,000.

Taxpayers can claim the newvehicle sales-tax break whether or not they itemize their deductions. But some itemizers who bought a new car last year can snag a double tax savings by deducting both their state income taxes, as part of their itemized deductions on Schedule A, and claiming the special sales-tax deduction on the same form.

Itemizers may even be able to claim a tax break on the sales tax they paid on new vehicles

purchased before the February 17 start date or even the sales taxes they paid on used or leased vehicles acquired in 2009. But it makes sense only under certain circumstances. To do so, you must choose to deduct state sales taxes rather than state income taxes on Schedule A. In most cases, income taxes will represent the bigger deduction and are the smarter choice. But those with little taxable income, such as retirees, or residents of states with no income tax, such as Florida or Texas, get a better deal with the sales-tax deduction. You can base the write-off on actual receipts or use IRS tables keyed to household income, size and state. Plus, if you use the tables, you can add sales taxes paid on big-ticket items, such as cars, boats, RVs and building materials. Of course, itemizing makes sense only if it gives you a bigger write-off than the standard deduction.

Break for unemployed With the highest jobless rate in decades, many Americans are receiving unemployment benefits for the first time. The first $2,400 of benefits collected in 2009 is exempt from federal income tax, but the exclusion isn't automatic. You must subtract $2,400 from the amount of total unemployment compensation shown on Form 1099-G to determine the taxable

amount to report on your Form 1040 (or 1040A or 1040EZ). If both spouses received benefits, each can exclude $2,400 from taxable income.

A lower income in 2009 may make it easier to deduct jobhunting expenses, such as rĂŠsumĂŠ printing, postage, career counseling and travel costs for out-of-town interviews. You can deduct these and other miscellaneous expenses, such as tax-preparation costs, only to the extent that they exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income.

Give some back?

Despite all of these tax breaks, some taxpayers will receive smaller refunds than usual and others may end up owing money. Blame it on the Making Work Pay credit. Employers adjusted tax-withholding schedules during the year so that you could receive an immediate benefit from the 6.2% tax credit worth up to $400 for individuals and $800 for married couples, subject to income limits. But some employees, such as teens with part-time jobs, aren't eligible for the credit if they can be claimed as dependents on someone else's tax return.

Others may have received more credit than they were due because they worked more than one job or because both spouses worked and their combined income topped eligibility limits.

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TAX-SAVING

Online Privacy Wars Heating Up (Kiplinger Personal Finance)

industry to police its own marketing strategies. They • include provisions calling on Odds favor stronger federal m a r k e t e r s t o b e m o r e c o n s u m e r o n l i n e p r i v a c y transparent by giving consumers protections on two fronts. more information and a measure In one battle, companies such of control over how data are as Google, AOL and eBay are being used. But the current making a strong case for beefing default privacy setting on most up the E l e c t r o n i c Web sites allows businesses to Communications Privacy Act to r e t a i n u s e r d a t a u n l e s s s a f e g u a r d p r i v a t e d i g i t a l consumers opt out, and privacy information from government advocates want consumers to access. The goal? Require the h a v e t o o p t i n t o a l l o w government to obtain a search marketers to keep such data. warrant before it can obtain But while stricter controls on a a c c e s s t o p e r s o n a l o n l i n e business' ability to access communications and documents, sensitive data, such as financial or before it can track the and medical information are a locations of specific cell phones good bet -- either through a n d t h e p e o p l e b e i n g legislation likely to be communicated with. introduced this summer or In the other, online privacy through a new FTC regulation -advocates are pushing Congress Washington is likely to turn to reinforce Federal Trade thumbs-down on an opt-in Commission guidelines -- put provision. out just over a year ago -- with Online marketers worry that more teeth to police so-called few consumers would choose to behavioral advertising, targeted receive targeted pitches, ruining to particular computer users an effective way for them to based on their online surfing make money. “If we changed patterns. the online ad model, you would “Given changes in technology have to pay to use Web sites. and the ability to collect, Consumers would change their manipulate, and transfer huge mind about sharing some of amounts of data -- often behind their data if that were the case,” the scenes -- we may need to says Chris Merida, director of think about new approaches to congressional and public affairs privacy models,” says Peder a t t h e U . S . C h a m b e r o f Magee, a senior staff attorney in C o m m e r c e . the FTC’s Division of Privacy Merida says that the chamber and Identity Protection. supports industry self-policing, FTC guidelines require the noting that online businesses

have proved themselves up to the task. Among businesses that have altered their online behavior: Netflix, which, in response to a legal challenge, canceled a $1-million contest to come up with an algorithm that could best predict a consumer’s taste in movies based on previous selections. Google, which made revisions to its privacy options after the launch of its social networking tool, Buzz, caused an uproar among normally receptive Gmail users.

And Facebook, which often blogs about the frequent changes it makes to its privacy policy to keep users up to date.

However, Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), a vocal proponent of legislatively curbing the use of behavioral advertising, says he has little intention of shaking the foundation of the industry to its core. Note his comments before a congressional hearing on behavioral advertising: “I am a supporter and beneficiary of targeted advertising. I would much prefer to receive Internet advertisements that are relevant to my interests. ... “…Online advertising supports much of the commercial content, applications and services that are available to Internet users without charge, and I have no intention of disrupting this business model.

“At the same time, I believe consumers are entitled to some

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baseline protections in the online space.”

The protections referenced by Boucher would include making opting out of online business pitches simpler for consumers by making the opt-out option more visible and accessible. He also favors having easy-to-find information available on Web sites, telling consumers how their data are being used, how long the information is being retained and whether it is sold to third parties.

One possible compromise between online marketers and privacy watchdogs: A limit on how long consumer data captured via the Web can be retained, says Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, a nonprofit group focused on consumer education and research. Dixon notes that consumer data are typically most useful for companies within the first 24 hours of contact -- when ads can be directed most effectively based on fairly recent online surfing by the consumer -- yet they’re often retained forever.

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The credit is reduced for individuals whose income is between $75,000 and $95,000 and for married couples with joint income between $150,000 and $190,000; it's eliminated for taxpayers with income higher than those levels.

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Catch-22 on Credit-Card Payments (Kiplinger Personal Finance)

• I know that the new credit-card law changed the rules about when the bills are due. What happens if my due date falls on a weekend?

Your payment will now be due on the same day every month, which makes it easy to keep track of the deadline. The law also specifies that if the due date falls on a day that the card company does not process payments, you have until 5 p.m. the following business day for the issuer to post your payment without it being considered late.

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capacity and research and development each year. TSMC, which should produce net earnings of at least $3.5 billion on $12 billion of revenues in 2010, sets the industry standard.

The company has virtually no debt and $6 billion in cash, and it plans to invest nearly $5 billion in 2010. The stock yields 4.3%, unusually high for a technology company, and sells for 13 times earnings. Given that analysts expect earnings to grow at an annual rate of 15% over the next three to five years, the stock appears inexpensive.

Bank of Montreal ( BMO), $61.51. For the last pick, let’s travel to our sober neighbor to the north, Canada. While U.S. financial institutions were torpedoing the economy, Canada’s better-regulated, better -capitalized banks prudently stuck to basic commercial, consumer and mortgage lending.

Bank of Montreal, founded in 1817, remained solidly profitable through the recession (which wasn’t nearly as nasty in Canada as in most countries).

Bank of Montreal is not as local as its name suggests. It is, in

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Some card companies are accepting payments on weekends. For example, Capital One processes payments Monday through Saturday. So if the due date falls on a Saturday, the payment must be received by 5 p.m. that day. Sunday payments are processed on Mondays. Bank of America and Chase process payments on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

But here's the problem: Some banks allow you to schedule online payments only for weekdays. So even if your payment isn't due until Saturday or Sunday, you need to schedule it for Friday to avoid a late fee.

To be safe, call the card company and your online bill

payer to ask about their procedures. For example, Bank of America lets you make a payment online or by phone on the due date for no extra charge.

Better yet, schedule your online payments so they arrive before the due date.

For more information about the new credit-card law, see FAQs on the new Credit-Card Law, More Credit-Card Fees Coming and Close a Credit-Card Account to Avoid Fees.

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fact, one of a handful of nationwide powerhouses in Canada. It also has a large mutual fund and investmentadvisory business. Bank of Montreal has compounded dividends by 11% annualized over the past four years. The stock yields 4.3% and trades at 13 times this year’s earnings.

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