Liberty Newspost Apr-16-10 by Liberty Newspost

E-reader News Edition

15/04/10 - 16/04/10

http://www.LibertyNewspost.com

Tea Party Express names its election-year ‘heroes,’ ‘targets’ Thomas Ferraro (Front Row Washington) Submitted at 4/15/2010 6:24:02 PM

U.S. Representative Joe Wilson — the South Carolina Republican who last year screamed at President Barack Obama, “You lie!” — is on its list of “heroes.” So is Republican Senator Jim DeMint, also of South Carolina, who’s leading a charge to repeal Obama’s landmark overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system. The Tea Party Express, one of the most prominent groups in the conservative Tea Party movement, on Thursday wrapped up a 20-day nationwide tour with an event in Washington, D.C., where it formally announced its 14 “heroes” as well as 13 “targets.” Amid homemade signs reading, “Hope doesn’t create jobs,” and “Congress, you’re fired!” — Tea Party activists vowed to help their “heroes” win in the November election and to work

to defeat their “targets.” The Tea Party Express is dedicated to opposing what it sees as the Democrats’ liberal tax-and-spend policies and to ridding the Republican Party of those it does not consider to be conservative enough. A Tea Party Express spokesman, asked how Joe Wilson made the list of heroes, cited the congressman’s conservative voting record and

made no mention of his yelling at Obama at a nationally televised address on healthcare last year. While the Tea Party Express has made life difficult for lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle, all but one of its “heroes” — conservative, firstterm Democratic Representative Walt Minnick of Idaho — is a Republican. And all of its “targets,” including Senate

Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, are Democrat. The Tea Party Express anointed one of Reid’s Republican challengers, former Nevada Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, a “hero” and endorsed her candidacy. “At a time when politicians of both parties have betrayed the people’s trust, Sharron Angle is a rare gem,” said Bryan Shroyer, the Tea Party Express’ political director. “Her impeccable record in office is consistent with the values of the tea party movement, and her conservative activism since leaving office has earned her the respect and admiration of Nevada Republicans,” Shroyer said. For more Reuters political news, click here Photo credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton (Tea Party activist in New York)

Spending, Not Tax Cuts, Is the Real Driver of the Fiscal Mess (AEI.Org: Articles) Submitted at 4/15/2010 7:00:00 PM

Sorry, readability was unable to parse this page for content. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Famous Hacker Calls Windows More Secure than Mac [Operating Systems] Adam Pash (Lifehacker) Submitted at 4/16/2010 7:55:00 AM

Tech site CNET's posted a great interview with teen-hackerturned-paid-security-expert Marc Maiffret about his history hacking and the state of security in the current OS ecosystem. Apart from lauding Microsoft for making huge strides in security. More »

Headline/

E-reader News Edition

Lawmakers question U.S. Postal Service money saving priorities Donna Smith (Front Row Washington) Submitted at 4/15/2010 5:41:39 PM

U.S. Postmaster General John Potter says the nation’s mail system faces a “dire” financial future as more people and businesses switch from snail mail to email and electronic funds transfers. He is asking Congress to give him authority to drop Saturday

delivery service and close some post offices. Those are a couple of money saving possibilities outlined by the Postmaster General at a congressional hearing on Thursday. But the suggested cutback on services did not sit well with a number of members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Representative Carolyn

Maloney said cutting out Saturday service could hurt the economy and Representative Gerry Connolly wondered if companies like Netflix will be able to maintain its customer base if folks can’t get movies delivered on Saturday. Connolly suggested the Postal Service look at other ways to save money including replacing its gasoline powered fleet with electric vehicles. It not only

would save money by not buying gasoline but also make money by selling back to the power company any left over battery juice at the end of day, he said. Representative Darrel Issa suggested the postal service has not been aggressive in reducing its work force as the number of pieces of mail delivered each day dropped. He cited Kodak as an example of how to deal with

a business that is being destroyed by technological advancements. “Film was going away faster than any projected retirement rates. Now today they produce state of the art inkjet printers, they are first in digital they are making a comeback by reinventing itself,” Issa said. Potter said the Postal Service is LAWMAKERS page 3

Headline/ Technology/ Business/

E-reader News Edition

U.S. value-added tax still a pretty toxic idea Donna Smith (Front Row Washington) Submitted at 4/15/2010 6:55:48 PM

White House Economic Economic Advisor Paul Volcker stirred up debate over the United States possibly adopting a European-style value added tax to help bring federal deficits under control, saying recently that it “was not as toxic an idea” as it has been in the past. Well the idea is still pretty toxic in the U.S. Senate. The Senate on Thursday voted 85-13 to adopt an antivalue-added tax resolution sponsored by Arizona Republican John McCain as part of its consideration of legislation that would restore lapsed jobless benefits. The resolution has no force of law, but it gives a pretty clear sense that senators don’t like the idea of a value-added tax. “It is the sense of the Senate that the value added tax is a massive

tax increase that will cripple families on fixed income and only further push back America’s economic recovery,” the resolution stated. A value-added tax would be added at each stage of production and as such would not be directly seen by the consumer the same way a sales

deficits and curb America’s insatiable appetite for imported goods. It also could help U.S. manufacturers compete in the global economy. Some argue U.S. exports are less competitive because the European Union does not apply the value-added tax to its exports but does apply it to imports from the United States. The debate over the valueadded tax is not likely to end any time soon. Tax cuts enacted into law under President George W. Bush expire at the end of the year and lawmakers are likely to take a hard look at the U.S. tax code as they search for ways to tax is added to the total at the generate revenue to cut huge register. But it would be felt by deficits and make good on consumers through higher President Barack Obama’s priced goods and services. promise to preserve tax breaks Critics say it is a regressive tax for middle-income taxpayers. that hits hit fixed-income and Photo credit: REUTERS/Larry poor people particularly hard. Downing (Volcker testifies But some economists argue a before a U.S. House committee) consumption tax is needed to help bring down budget

LAWMAKERS continued from page 2

facing $238 billion in losses over the next 10 years if no changes are made. He acknowledged that was a worst case number and said the Postal Service currently has enough authority to close that gap by $123 billion. Congress needs to act to provide authority to

achieve the rest of the savings, ADVERTISEMENT: he said. (BloggingStocks) Photo Credit: Reuters/Carlos Submitted at 4/16/2010 10:30:00 AM Barria. (An empty mailbox in Florida)

Microsoft's Zune HD 64 starts sliding out, unboxing proves the bump in capacity Darren Murph (Engadget) Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:03:00 PM

Microsoft's extra capacious Zune HD just went on sale last week, and already orders are hitting the doorsteps of eager music lovers. A tipster with a commendable level of kindness dropped us a gallery's worth of unboxing photos, and as you'd expect, nary a thing has changed on the outside. On the inside, however, things are downright zany. Zany, we say! Have a look below if you're curious, and be sure to let us know in comments if / when your own Zune HD 64 arrives. [Thanks, Jp3009] Gallery: Microsoft Zune HD 64 unboxing Microsoft's Zune HD 64 starts sliding out, unboxing proves the bump in capacity originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| Comments

Headline/ Technology/

Nobel award to Obama required lengthy U.S. Constitution check Jeremy Pelofsky (Front Row Washington) Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:29:33 PM

When President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize last October it caught most by surprise and sent his lawyers scurrying to quietly make sure that the president could receive the prestigious award without running afoul with the U.S. Constitution or federal law. A provision in the Constitution, known as the Emoluments Clause, bars the receipt of any present, emolument, office or title of any kind from a “King, Prince or foreign State”. When the Nobel prize was established more than a century ago, Alfred Nobel’s will specified that the recipient of the peace award was to be chosen by a committee of five people elected by the Norwegian parliament known as the Storting. However, Justice Department lawyers told the White House in

answer — and the level of involvement by the Norwegian government in the selection process. The lawyers determined that the Storting had “no meaningful role” in selecting the prize recipients or funding the $1.4 million award. Plus, the Justice Department lawyers added to their reasoning past precedent — noting that two previous sitting presidents (Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson) had won the Peace Prize as well as a sitting vice president, Secretary of State, and a U.S. Senator. a 13-page legal memorandum— It applied similar reasoning to sent to the White House counsel determine that Obama could last December and released late accept the award under a federal Thursday — that the U.S. law that limited circumstances Constitution and federal law did under which he could receive not bar Obama from receiving certain gifts and decorations. Always good to check. the prize. Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin The memo went through Lamarque (Obama shows the various legal arguments, such as Nobel medal and award after whether congressional approval accepting the Peace Prize in was needed — no was the December.)

E-reader News Edition

Grou.ps And Grouply Welcome Ning Refugees Leena Rao (TechCrunch) Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:05:38 AM

With yesterday’s news of Ning’s move to eliminate free social networks on its platform, competitors are rushing to emphasize their free offerings for building a social network. Today, Grouply, a startup that’s built around creating and managing online groups from Google and Yahoo Groups, is going to try to make it easy for Ning users to port their groups to Grouply’s platform. And fellow competitor Grou.ps is also welcoming Ning refugees to its free social network platform as well. Grouply will shortly announce a more comprehensive ‘Ning to Grouply’ migration tool that will enable a Ning network owner to easily import other important content from their network, says Mark Robins, CEO and co-founder of Grouply. Of course, there are slight differences between the functionality on the two sites but groups on Grouply provide many of the same core social features as Ning does, including a customizable community website, event management, discussion forums, an activity

feed, and an app store with addon applications. Grou.ps also provides a similar platform to Ning. The startup’s networks are attractive to users because it lets you run all of your group’s collaboration tools from one GROU.PS domain using a single login. The system supports wikis, photos, links, blogs, calendars, chat, forums, maps, profiles, and subgroups – each of which is available as a plug-and-play module for your community. These modules also allow users to pull in their data from other third party services (flickr, Digg, blogs, etc). But its important to note that Ning’s traffic and userbase is still much greater than both of these competitors. For example, Grou.ps has 2.8 million users, whereas Ning has at least 37 million users as of last November. And the number of Ning networks that migrate may not be too significant; 75% of Ning’s traffic already comes from premium accounts. CrunchBase Information Grouply Information provided by CrunchBase

Headline/ Technology/

E-reader News Edition

Holbrooke hits the airwaves in new push

Guy uses iPad to pop the question

Sue Pleming (Front Row Washington)

Michael Grothaus (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

Submitted at 4/15/2010 6:44:25 PM

Submitted at 4/16/2010 8:00:00 AM

When President Barack Obama snuck into Afghanistan unannounced last month, a notable omission on Air Force One was his special representative for the region, veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke. Leaving out the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan on Obama’s very first trip to Kabul as president raised a few eyebrows. Was Holbrooke’s star fading? Were frictions between his office at the State Department and the White House coming to a head? Would tensions with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has made a string of antiWestern comments over recent weeks, cause further problems for the Obama administration as it seeks to turn around the 8year war? But several U.S. officials say it is premature to write off Holbrooke’s fortunes. In fact, the veteran diplomat’s profile has been raised in recent days, including his own trip to Kabul last weekend with U.S.

Filed under: iPad We've seen other geeky marriage proposals in the past, but it's always nice to be the first before the schtick gets old. TechCrunch reader Zach used his iPad to ask his girlfriend to marry him. Zach sat his girlfriend down on a bench, where he had asked her out two and a half years earlier, and whipped out his iPad. He told her to put the earbuds on, and then he played a slideshow with General David Petraeus when answering questions on a live music and photos of the two of they met up with Karzai. w e b c a s t o n t h e S t a t e them together. There was H o l b r o o k e a p p e a r e d o n Department’s diplomatic blog laughter, there were tears; then M S N B C o n W e d n e s d a y , http://blogs.state.gov/. Later on there was the last slide. Does declaring that tensions with the Monday, he is scheduled to anyone have a guess as to what Afghan leader were over and a p p e a r o n a p a n e l a t t h e it said? That's right! "Will you marry me?" that reports of friction were N a t i o n a l P r e s s C l u b . overblown. That’s a lot of public time for From the photo, you can see In the coming days, Holbrooke someone left off Air Force One what the answer was. For those of you keeping track, will appear on several other …. news outlets. On Friday night, Photo credit: Reuters/Jim we've seen: Holbrooke is giving an hour- Young (Obama steps off Air • A proposal outside an Apple long interview with broadcaster Force One in Afghanistan), Store Charlie Rose on whose show he R e u t e r s / p o o l ( H o l b r o o k e , • An iPod proposal has appeared at least three times Karzai, Petraeus in Kabul) • An Apple Store wedding over the past year. On Monday he will be

• and even a girl marrying her MacBook Pro So, there are still entire Apple product lines that have yet to be used for this purpose! Get proposing! TUAW Guy uses iPad to pop the question originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Top News/ Culture/

E-reader News Edition

Army Corps finds new WWI chemical site in DC yard (AP) (Yahoo! News: Most Viewed)

"It's a much larger disposal area than we predicted," Noble said. "The nature of debris is so WASHINGTON – The U.S. different, perhaps it's a different Army Corps of Engineers has disposal area." uncovered what could be a It's too soon to know for sure, fourth major disposal area for Noble said. World War I-era munitions and During World War I, the Army c h e m i c a l w e a p o n s i n t h e used the university as an nation's capital. experiment station to develop Digging was suspended April 8 and test chemical weapons. as a precaution at the site in the Previously, there were three p r i c e y S p r i n g V a l l e y known sites where weapons and neighborhood near American chemicals were buried. University after workers pulled Glassware, chemicals, smoking glassware from the pit, contaminated soil and munitions project manager Dan Noble said have been found since January Thursday. in the front yard of a home next Preliminary tests show the door to the university president's glassware was contaminated house, the Army Corps has with the toxic chemical arsenic revealed. About 30 intact items trichloride. Officials will review were sent to an Army lab in safety procedures before digging Edgewood, Md., for testing, continues. Noble said. Workers also discovered a jar American University about three-quarters full of a spokeswoman Camille Lepre dark liquid that turned out to be said there were no plans to the chemical agent mustard. It move or cancel any campus was used during World War I as e v e n t s s c h e d u l e d a t t h e a weapon that caused blisters, p r e s i d e n t ' s h o u s e . b r e a t h i n g p r o b l e m s a n d About 350 pounds of glassware vomiting. and debris had been removed Submitted at 4/16/2010 7:22:22 AM

Street Chic: New York ELLE.com (ELLE Fashion Blogs) Submitted at 4/16/2010 7:00:00 AM

An understated tee offsets

harem pants (on model Josie Maran). Photo: Kelly Stuart Think you are Street Chic? Email us your photo and you

ABERCROMBIE continued from page 8

Fitch has some serious explaining to do to shareholders. Also, Jeffries needs to explain from the site, along with about surprise to residents who worry why he didn't do the right thing 676 barrels of soil, according to the Army Corps is trying to end and just pass on that lump-sum a campus memo Wednesday by its cleanup before all munitions p a y m e n t . O f c o u r s e , Abercrombie's core teen u n i v e r s i t y p r e s i d e n t N e i l are uncovered. Kerwin. "I'm concerned there's a rush to consumer doesn't care less about This is the first discovery of the make the decision to get out," the company's pay packages. smoking chemical arsenic said Nan Wells, a neighborhood They just want to look good. trichloride in the cleanup commissioner who represents "Whether or not the CEO project. It can be used to area residents. "Things have receives a $4 million payment develop the blistering agent been downplayed. That doesn't doesn't impact sales," says lewisite, Noble said. An Army mean that I don't think the Army Edward Yruma, retail analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Corps spokeswoman said the can handle this successfully." chemical was contained and was This is the fourth major dig for "Stale fashions and high prices not exposed to the outside air. munitions and toxic agents over impact sales. And Abercrombie Several munitions also were the past 16 years since the burial is working to fix that." The discovered in recent months, pits were discovered in the retailer's turnaround had better including a 75 mm shell that neighborhood of multimillion- come fast. If not, Jeffries' jet was half full with a tear gas dollar homes. The current should get grounded for good. See which businesses are agent, Noble said. A few excavation began in 2007 at the bucking the recession. munitions also have been house, which is owned by the uncovered in the yards of homes federal government and located View this article on Time.com that fall within a firing range next to the South Korean Related articles on Time.com: • Abercrombie and Fitch: The near the campus, he said. ambassador's residence. The Army Corps is preparing to The cleanup project is one of W o r l d ' s W o r s t R e c e s s i o n destroy some munitions at a the only places in a major city B r a n d ? secured facility nearby as soon classified by the Army Corps as • Abercrombie & Fitch Faces as Friday. a "Formerly Used Defense Site." Lawsuit Over Muslim Headscarf Last year, the Army Corps Five Filters featured article: • Can Abercrombie & Fitch Not believed it had cleared the Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: Hire A Muslim Woman Because disposal area known as "Pit 3" PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, She Wears a Hea... but continued to dig test pits. Term Extraction. Five Filters featured article: The latest discoveries came as a Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. Street Chic Daily. Follow ELLE on Twitter. Become our Facebook fan! could appear in ELLE.com's

Technology/ News Wire/

E-reader News Edition

EUROPE

TRAVEL

continued from page 6

continued from page 7

religion. The headscarves debate "shows we still aren't able to accept the fact that the headscarves are part of our society," says Mirza, the editor of the "We're Staying Here" Web site. "In the UK, they even made special police uniforms for women with headscarves. That shows willingness from the government and improves participation in society of these groups." Isabelle Praile, vice president of the Belgian Muslims Executive says while a burqa ban targets very few women "it speaks to a fear of the other who is Muslim.

This is Islamophobia." To Muslims in Europe, she said, "the economy, the cost of living and decent housing" are more pressing issues that worrying about a burqa ban. ___ Associated Press writers Elaine Ganley in Paris and Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed to this report. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

ministers meeting in Madrid. Iceland, a nation of 320,000 people, sits on a large volcanic hot spot in the Atlantic's midoceanic ridge, and has a history of devastating eruptions. One of the worst was the 1783 eruption of the Laki volcano, which spewed a toxic cloud over Europe with devastating consequences. ___ Associated Press Writers Jill Lawless in London, Karl Ritter and Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm, Melissa Eddy and Verena Schmitt-Roschmann in

Berlin, Ciaran Giles in Madrid, Bradley Klapper and Frank Jordans in Geneva and Ian MacDougall in Oslo contributed to this report. (This version corrects that Merkel was diverted to Portugal.) Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Travel chaos from volcanic ash cloud worst since 9/11 (Reuters: Top News) Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:42:42 PM

LONDON(Reuters) - A huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano spread out across Europe on Friday causing air travel chaos on a scale not seen since the September 11 attacks and costing airlines hundreds of millions of dollars. World| Green Business Significant disruption of European air traffic was TRAVEL page 11

The Modigliani Test: The Semantic Web's Tipping Point Richard MacManus (ReadWriteWeb)

begin to use that data? The tipping point for the longawaited Semantic Web may be Submitted at 4/16/2010 4:06:00 AM when you can query a set of data In our recent posts about about someone not too famous, S t r u c t u r e d D a t a , w e ' v e and get a long list of structured emphasized that most of the results in return. I've decided to current initiatives have been term this 'The Modigliani Test.' around uploading new data to Sponsor the Web - whatever the format. Amedeo Modigliani is one of The U.S. and U.K. governments my favorite artists. He was have led the way with their moderately famous during the 'open data' websites, but much early 20th century and has of that data isn't 'linked' yet. In something of a cult following other words, it's online - but nowadays. But he's not Da Vinci siloed. So how do we get to the or Picasso famous. What I'd like next stage of the Semantic Web, to do in a Semantic Web is type linking disparate data sets the following query into a together so that people can search engine and get back a

large list of results: tell me the locations of all the original paintings of Modigliani. As of today, there's no place to type that query in and get a list of structured data. The closest I

can find to doing that is the Artcyclopedia entry for Modigliani, which has a list of locations for Modigliani artworks. It's great that they have the location data listed on one web page. However it's not structured data, so we can't query it. There's also not much order to the data, we have no idea if this is a comprehensive list, it's not verified data, and so on. In summary, there's a lot of data on the Web about the location of original art works - but much of it is in traditional 'document' web pages. What we're after is a giant database of art works,

which anybody can query and re -use. Here's an early, overly geeky view at what a Linked Data of painting locations would look like (hat-tip@dakoller): The above is a far from comprehensive list of art works by Hieronymus Bosch (a search for Modigliani, by the way, brought up zero results). Plus of course we need a much more intuitive UI, so that non-geeks can use it too. What do you think, when will The Modigliani Test be passed on the Web? Discuss

Culture/

E-reader News Edition

TRAVEL continued from page 10

expected on Saturday because of the dangers posed by volcanic ash drifting from Iceland, aviation officials said. Airports in much of Britain, France and Germany remained closed and flights were set to be grounded in Hungary and parts of Romania. "I would think Europe was probably experiencing its greatest disruption to air travel since 9/11," a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority, Britain's aviation regulator, said. "In terms of closure of airspace, this is worse than after 9/11. The disruption is probably larger than anything we've probably seen." Following the September 11, 2001 attacks on Washington and New York, U.S. airspace was closed for three days and European airlines were forced to halt all transatlantic services. Disruption from the volcanic ash eruption in Iceland is costing airlines more than $200 million a day, the air industry body IATA said. "At current levels of disruption, IATA's initial and conservative estimate of the financial impact on airlines is in excess of $200

million per day in lost revenues," the International Air Transport Association said in a statement. Vulcanologists say the ash could cause problems to air traffic for up to six months if the eruption continues, but even if it short-lived the financial impact on airlines could be significant. The fallout hit airline shares on Friday with Lufthansa, British Airways, Air Berlin, Air FranceKLM, Iberia and Ryanair down between 1.4 and 3.0 percent. David Castelveter, a spokesman with the Air Transport Association of America trade group, said U.S. airlines had canceled at least 170 flights to and from Europe. MOUNTING COSTS The flight cancellations would cost carriers such as British Airways and Lufthansa about 10 million pounds ($16 million) a day, transport analyst Douglas McNeill said. "To lose that sum of money isn't a very pleasant experience but it's of limited commercial significance as well," he told BBC TV. "A couple of days like this won't

matter too much. If it goes on for weeks, that's a different story." In France, state-controlled airports operator Aeroports de Paris faced losses of 5 million euros a day or more, analysts said. Joe Sultana, head of network operations at European air control agency Eurocontrol, said the situation was unprecedented. "We understand the economic impact, both to the airlines and the general European economy, but safety comes first," he said. The volcano began erupting on Wednesday for the second time in a month from below the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, hurling a plume of ash 6 to 11 km (4 to 7 miles) into the atmosphere. Officials said it was still spewing magma and although the eruption could abate in the coming days, ash would continue drifting into the skies of Europe. Volcanic ash contains tiny particles of glass and pulverized rock that can damage engines and airframes. In addition to travel problems, health officials warned that the volcanic ash could also prove

harmful to those with breathing difficulties. In 1982, a British Airways jumbo jet lost power in all its engines when it flew into an ash cloud over Indonesia, gliding toward the ground before it was able to restart its engines. The incident prompted the aviation industry to rethink the way it prepared for ash clouds. PLUME DRIFTING In Brussels, European aviation control officials told a news conference that some 12,000 to 13,000 flights were likely to operate in European airspace on Friday, compared with about 29,500 normally. The ash was expected to spread further south and east. An official at the World Meteorological Organization said it was impossible to say when flights would resume. "We can only predict the time that flights will resume after the eruption has stopped, but for as long as the eruption is still going on and still leading to a significant eruption, we cannot say," said Scylla Sillayo, a senior official in the WMO's aeronautical meteorology unit. Polish officials said Sunday's

funeral for President Lech Kaczynski and his wife who were killed in a plane crash last Saturday looked set to go ahead as planned. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, returning from a trip to the United States, was diverted to Portugal and was expected to spend the night in Lisbon. The air problems have proved a boon for other transport firms. All 58 Eurostar trains between Britain and Europe were operating full, carrying some 46,500 passengers, and a spokeswoman said they would consider adding more services. London taxi firm Addison Lee said it had taken requests for journeys to Paris, Milan, Zurich and Salzburg in Austria. (Reporting by London, Geneva, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Reykjavik and Berlin newsrooms; Editing by Michael Roddy) Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Grab the New Wallpapers from Ubuntu 10.04 [Wallpaper] Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)

dark and light, for its upcoming 10.04 release, and a whole new set of accompanying wallpapers. t o Ubuntu's got two all-new looks, You don't need a Linux desktop

Submitted at 4/16/2010 7:00:00 AM

enjoy

the

stunning

photography or ambient renderingsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;just this download. More Âť

News Wire/ Culture/

E-reader News Edition

Thai PM gives army chief extended powers amid crisis (Reuters: Top News)

be patient and sometimes we have to accept the impact of security operations." BANGKOK(Reuters) - Thai The move comes after a failed Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva attempt, ordered by Suthep, to on Friday made his army chief arrest red shirt leaders on the head of national security in a Friday, another embarrassing bid to involve the military as setback for the authorities after anti-government protesters last week's failure to clear a massed in the streets calling for protest site in the old part of the his downfall. city. World| Thailand But it appears to be more about Army chief General Anupong getting the army in, rather than Paochinda will replace Deputy shunting Suthep out. P r i m e M i n i s t e r S u t h e p "The main message is the Thaugsuban, Abhisit said, government is going to keep admitting that efforts to rein in going while trying to make this the protests had failed six days into a security problem rather after violent clashes killed 24 than a pure political problem," people. s a i d S o m b a t "Brothers and sisters, I want to Thamrongthanyawong of the insist the government is going N a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t e o f forward to solve the problem Development Administration. that we know brings sorrow to " A n d h e ( A b h i s i t ) i s Thai people," Abhisit said in a emphasizing that it is the army's televised address delayed from problem as much as it is the early afternoon. government's." "Many operations have failed Abhisit promised to crack down b e c a u s e t h e r e h a s b e e n a on "terrorism," which the congregation of many people g o v e r n m e n t b l a m e s f o r which presents obstacles and Saturday's killings, as well as limitations to work of security enforce the state of emergency forces ... Sometimes we have to announced on April 7. Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:57:14 AM

Ramkhamhaeng University political scientist Boonyakiat Karavekphan said the appointment would prevent Anupong being aloof. "It should help tackle the problem that the government calls terrorists, some of whom are in the army." Red shirt protesters have gathered at a hotel and shopping center in the middle of the city, now the main protest encampment which they have occupied for a month. Abhisit has been absent from the public eye since Monday. At least 24 people were killed and more than 800 wounded in Saturday's clashes, Thailand's worst political violence since 1992, which only appears to have hardened the four-year political impasse and raised the possibility of more bloodshed. STOCKS FALL The risk of further instability sent Thai stocks down 3.25 percent. The market has now lost almost all its gains this year. "Under the current uncertain situation, we recommend investors to stay along the

sidelines at the moment as we could see a possibility of another 5 percent drop in the near term," Julius Baer Research said in a note to clients on Friday. The $33 million LionGlobal Thailand Fund said it was "positive on the long-term outlook for the Thai market, overweighting the banking sector which is expected to benefit from the domestic economic recovery through higher loan growth and lower loan provisions." Tourism has taken a hit, with occupancy rates less than a third of normal levels in Bangkok, according to a tour operator body. Morgan Stanley said in a report that losses to tourism, which accounts for 6 percent of gross domestic product, could clip 0.2 percentage point from economic growth this year. The government says Thailand's economy could grow 4.5 percent this year, but Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij warned that forecast could prove optimistic.

Thailand's five-year credit default swaps (CDS), often used as a measure of political risk, were trading at 111/116.85 against 105/111 bps on Monday, the last trading day prior to a three-day holiday. The red shirts back Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, and want Abhisit to step down immediately and call early elections. The government has offered December -- possibly October -- as poll dates. The powerful military chief this week also suggested early polls to resolve the crisis. Korn told Reuters on Thursday Abhisit would not resign as it would "be very negative for the country." (Additional reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Jeremy Laurence) Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Folx is a Feature-Rich Download and Torrent Manager for Mac [Downloads] Whitson Gordon (Lifehacker) Submitted at 4/16/2010 8:30:00 AM

Mac only: When it's time to

download something via BitTorrent, most Mac users manage their torrents with the popular client, Transmission. F o l x o f f e r s a l m o s t a l l o f

Transmission's features, but adds quick torrent adding and a download manager for your browser. More Âť

News Wire/ Culture/

E-reader News Edition

BofA profit beats expectations, revenue lower (Reuters: Top News)

conference call with analysts. "The worst of the credit cycle is clearly behind us," he said. C H A R L O T T E , N o r t h But he also cautioned that until Carolina(Reuters) - Bank of there is more certainty about the America Corp posted its first economy, Bank of America is quarterly profit since summer likely to keep its reserves for 2009 as it generated outsized bad loans fairly close to where bond trading revenue and set they are now. aside less money to cover bad Moynihan just finished his first loans. quarter at the helm of the bank, The results weren't entirely after predecessor Kenneth Lewis positive -- fee income plunged generated two quarters of losses m o r e t h a n 2 0 p e r c e n t a s in the second half of 2009 and mortgage lending slowed, and stirred tremendous controversy the bank's shares fell. But big with his acquisitions. trading profits show the Merrill Bank of America said firstLynch acquisition is paying off. quarter net income rose to $2.83 T h e b a n k ' s l o w e r c r e d i t billion, or 28 cents per share, provision signals that borrower from $2.81 billion, or 44 cents defaults may be stabilizing as per share, a year earlier. the economy improves. Analysts on average had "Across the board, they have forecast a profit of 9 cents per benefited in this change in the share, according Thomson weather," said Michael Holland, Reuters I/B/E/S. chairman of Holland & Co in The decrease in the bank's New York. "They were hit by a credit provision more than offset significant hurricane a year ago a decline in overall revenue. and now, if anything, they have Revenue fell 11 percent to $32.3 a strong wind behind their billion as fee income tumbled backs." nearly 22 percent to $18.2 C h i e f E x e c u t i v e B r i a n billion. M o y n i h a n h a s r e s h u f f l e d Five of the bank's six major management and is expanding business units were profitable Merrill Lynch's commercial and during the quarter. investment banking business in Bank of America shares fell 49 a bid to keep boosting the bank's cents, or 2.5 percent, to $18.99 profits. in morning trading. Moynihan sounded optimistic "Clearly, the market priced in about the bank's outlook on a some terrific earnings ... The Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:11:05 AM

only explanation for the selloff that we're witnessing now ... is profit-taking and a more realistic valuation that gets the stock in line with actual earnings," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey. MERRILL LYNCH BOOST Earnings were driven by arguably Lewis's most controversial deal in his nearly decade-long run as CEO -- the Merrill Lynch purchase, which closed in early 2009 and was announced around the same time Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc was filing for bankruptcy. Bank of America's global banking and markets division generated $3.2 billion of profit in the quarter, the best results of the six major business units. Record sales and trading revenue, particularly in fixed income, currencies and commodities, drove that profit. "The credit situation seems to be getting a little better but the capital markets business is helping a lot," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York. The strong investment banking results mirror those of key Bank of America rival JPMorgan Chase & Co, which beat earnings expectations on

Wednesday with a $3.3 billion profit. As that business surged, Bank of America's provision for credit losses decreased by $3.6 billion, to $9.8 billion. "With each day that passes, the 2010 story appears to be one of continuing credit recovery, and our results reflect a gradually improving economy," Moynihan said in the earnings announcement. Bank of America's first-quarter per-share earnings were lower because of an increase in shares outstanding. The bank sold shares in the 2009 fourth quarter to raise funds to repay a government bailout. The bank ended the quarter with $2.3 trillion in assets and $976 billion in loans and leases, little changed from a year earlier. At Thursday's close, the bank's shares had risen 29 percent this year, compared with a 34 percent rise in the KBW Bank Index. (Reporting by Joe Rauch; Additional reporting by Steve Eder, Dan Wilchins, Edward Krudy, and Elinor Comlay; Editing by John Wallace) Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

FixWin One-Click Repairs Over Fifty Windows Annoyances [Downloads] Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker) Submitted at 4/16/2010 8:00:00 AM

Windows: When something goes wrong in Windows, especially something maddening like the recycle bin vanishing or thumbnails failing to build properly, it's extremely frustrating. FixWin is a portable application that puts one-click repairs at your finger tips. More Âť

Goldman Sachs charged with fraud by SEC (Reuters: Top News) Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:52:04 PM

NEW YORK(Reuters) Goldman Sachs Group Inc was charged with fraud on Friday by U.S. securities regulators in the structuring and marketing of a debt product tied to subprime GOLDMAN page 14

Technology/

E-reader News Edition

GOLDMAN continued from page 13

mortgages. U.S. The Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit alleges that Paulson & Co, a major hedge fund run by the billionaire John Paulson, worked with Goldman in creating the collateralized debt obligation, and stood to benefit as its value fell, costing investors more than $1 billion. Fabrice Tourre, a Goldman vice president who the SEC said was principally responsible for creating the product, was also charged with fraud. Paulson has not been charged. "Goldman made the representations here to the investors, Paulson did not," SEC enforcement chief Robert Khuzami said on a conference call. Spokesmen for Goldman and Paulson had no immediate comment. Tourre could not immediately be reached. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, marks a dramatic expansion of regulatory efforts to hold people and companies responsible for activity that contributed to the nation's financial crises. It also comes as lawmakers in Washington debate sweeping reform of

financial industry regulation. "This is big," said Walter Todd, a portfolio manager at Greenwood Capital Associates LLC. "Reputationally, obviously, it is damaging. I'm still kind of in shock." In morning trading, Goldman shares sank $22.30, or 12.1 percent, to $161.97 on the New York Stock Exchange. Other bank stock also fell. GOLDMAN HID INFORMATION, SEC SAYS In its lawsuit, the SEC alleged that Goldman structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation, ABACUS, that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities. It alleged that Goldman did not tell investors "vital information" about ABACUS, including that Paulson & Co was involved in choosing which securities would be part of the portfolio. It also alleged that Paulson took a short position against the CDO in a bet that its value would fall. According to the SEC, the marketing materials for the CDO showed that a third party, ACA Management LLC, chose the securities underlying the

CDO. Paulson & Co paid Goldman $15 million to structure and market the CDO, which closed on April 26, 2007, the SEC said. Little more than nine months later, 99 percent of the portfolio had been downgraded, the agency said. "In sum," the complaint said, "Goldman Sachs arranged a transaction at Paulson's request in which Paulson heavily influenced the selection of the portfolio to suit its economic interests, but failed to disclose to investors ... Paulson's role in the portfolio selection process or its adverse economic interests." (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, Maria Aspan, Clare Baldwin, Elinor Comlay, Steve Eder, Matt Goldstein, Jeremy Pelofsky, Aaron Pressman, Dan Wilchins, Karey Wutkowski and Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Robert MacMillan and John Wallace) Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Reminder: Apple 2nd quarter results due next week Michael Grothaus (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)) Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:00:00 AM

Filed under: Apple Financial Apple has released a media alert announcing its FY10 second quarter results conference call -which we already knew was on 4/20, but it's nice that they've made it official, again. The conference call will take place on Tuesday at 2 pm PDT/5 pm EDT. Those interested can listen to the call starting at 2 pm by tuning into the webcast of the event. The quarterly results themselves will be announced shortly after the markets close in the US at 4 pm EDT. Apple had issued guidance of $2.06-$2.18 profit per share on $11-$11.4 billion of revenue. As usual, this is well below the$2.43 per share most analysts expect Apple to report. For those hoping to hear iPad numbers, don't hold your breath.

Though the iPad was announced in January, it did not ship until April 3rd, which means its sales numbers will not factor into Apple's Q2 earnings. TUAW will have analysis of the earnings during the call in our regular quarterly earnings liveblog. TUAW Reminder: Apple 2nd quarter results due next week originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Technology/

E-reader News Edition

Glympse: Real-Time, Private Location-Tracking May be the Winning Formula Sarah Perez (ReadWriteWeb)

networking services (think Brightkite, Loopt, Gowalla, Foursquare, etc.), Glympse isn't A Redmond-based startup is designed to find nearby friends, introducing a location-based share tips about local businesses social sharing service called or collect rewards for check-ins. G l y m p s e . W i t h a m o b i l e It employs no game mechanics application that works on to encourage participation - that iPhone, Android and Windows is, you aren't given badges or Mobile devices, users share their points the more you use it. You location (aka a "Glympse"), don't get to become the "mayor" allowing their friends to see that of a place by checking in there location on another phone or on t h e m o s t , l i k e y o u d o i n any other Internet-connected Foursquare. In fact, Glympse device. Senders can customize can hardly be called a "mobile who gets to see the Glympse social network" at all. they post, whether the recipient Glympse is more like a utility, is just one person, a group, or and that may what ensures its even everyone they've added as success long after everyone tires a friend on a social network like of "checking in" just because Facebook or Twitter. they can. The interesting twist to this There are a number of scenarios service isn't the location-sharing where Glympse may prove aspect, of course - there are useful. Their PR team says dozens of companies that allow they've seen its earliest users for that today - it's the service's sharing locations related to cross r e a l - t i m e n a t u r e a n d t h e -country road trips, marathons, thoughtfully included privacy p a r a g l i d i n g f l i g h t s a n d features. Using a patent-pending a f t e r n o o n s o f s k i i n g . timer option, Glympse users Although those standout specify how long their location occasions may give Glympse a is visible to which select group "wow" factor, it's in answering of friends, with a maximum the everyday"where are you?" time of four hours before the type questions where Glympse location data expires. could prove be the most useful. Sponsor In the"What is Glympse?" Location is Not a Game, It's a introductory video, the company Utility says sending a Glympse is easier Unlike the current crop of than making a call or sending a l o c a t i o n - b a s e d s o c i a l text. That's not necessarily true, Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:14:22 AM

though. Calls and texts are sent with the push of a button where Glympse requires a multi-step process that begins with installing the application on your mobile device, if supported. But as mentioned later in the video, many states have banned texting or making phone calls while driving. That's where Glympse comes in. Before you leave work, school or your home, you could send out a Glympse. For the time you specify, those permitted to see your location can track where you are at any given moment in

real-time courtesy of your phone's GPS capabilities. Live Updating Maps and Privacy Features That's right - Glympse doesn't "check you in," it tracks you. Much like those pricey "family locator" cell phone add-on plans do, but for free. The service also addresses the privacy issues surrounding location-sharing, even going so far as to work with a safety group called ConnectSafely.org when designing the service. In Glympse, adding friends isn't an "all or nothing" endeavor. That is, you don't choose whether to just accept or reject friends. You accept friends, then group them accordingly ("family," "friends," "work," etc.). Later, when you're ready to share your location, you choose which group or groups should see it. Only want the spouse and kids to tune in? Share a Glympse with family. At a large conference where you want to meet up with colleagues? Send a Glympse to your "work" group. And so on. Facebook Integration: A Plus, Not the Selling the Point Much of the news coverage related to Glympse's launch has to do with its Facebook integration. That's an interesting option to be sure, especially since Facebook plans to announce their own location-

sharing service later this month, according to reports. But whether or not Facebook users actually care to see the locations of their friends is another matter entirely. Many Facebook users simply use the network to catch up with friends and family they don't get to see every day by posting on their wall, chatting via Facebook's IM service and by browsing their shared photos, videos and links. Whether or not a friend is on their way to a meeting right now may be completely irrelevant information to these users. Like the intrusions from other apps and games, Glympse's Facebook updates - which come via a large, embedded map placed in the News Feed - could very well end up being hidden from view by Facebook users who simply aren't interested in seeing that sort of data. In other words, it's arguable that Glympse's Facebook (and Twitter) sharing features aren't necessarily the key selling points of its service. Real-time live data, the utility aspect of the tool itself and its built-in privacy features, however, are. Hopefully, mainstream users will understand that before mistakenly dismissing it as just another Facebook app clogging GLYMPSE: page 17

Technology/

E-reader News Edition

The next, big thing for Intel: Sandy Bridge (CNET News.com)

which together supply virtually all of the standalone "discrete," i.e., non-Intel, GPUs used in Executive Vice President David • More efficient: the central PCs today. Perlmutter shows a Sandy p r o c e s s i n g u n i t , o r C P U , Nathan Brookwood, principal Bridge wafer for the first time in d e l i v e r s a " s i g n i f i c a n t analyst at Insight64, points out Beijing this week.(Credit: Intel) improvement in instructions per that both the CPU and GPU in Sandy Bridge is arguably Intel's clock," according to Perlmutter, Sandy Bridge will be built on m o s t i m p o r t a n t f u t u r e meaning that it is more efficient Intel's latest 32-nanometer technology. So, what is it at executing tasks. technology, also a first. "This exactly? • Faster on-chip should help graphics Intel has been careful to reveal communication: different parts performance," Brookwood said, o n l y s n i p p e t s a b o u t t h e of the chip will talk to each adding that today Intel GPUs lag technology over the last 12 other faster--what Perlmutter the CPUs by a generation. Both months or so. But enough is out called "improved inter-buses." Boost--which speeds up (i.e., "Intel mobile stuff used to be the CPU and GPU will share onthere now to understand how the • Shared memory: on-chip "overclocks") or slows down just a dressed down desktop chip memory resources, too, technology moves Intel forward. memory called cache is shared i n d i v i d u a l c o r e s t o m e e t processor. But that's changed," also a first. In a nutshell, Sandy Bridge is between the CPU and graphics processing or power efficiency said Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Put more simply, Sandy Bridge Intel's next microarchitecture, or processing unit, or GPU. needs. i n v e s t m e n t b a n k C o l l i n s is an extension of Moore's Lawredesign, of its processors. A • GPU now part of CPU: Intel Stewart, who said the chipmaker -packing more transistors onto a chip revamp is the single biggest combines the CPU and GPU on Intel isn't being coy about is now challenged to strike a chip. These days Intel is calling undertaking for Intel. And it the same piece of silicon. where Sandy Bridge will play a d e l i c a t e b a l a n c e b e t w e e n this "integrate." Take what was happens every two years. The According to an unofficial photo big role: laptops--which will be traditional, raw mobile PC once off-chip--such as the GPUcurrent design, Nehalem, was of the Sandy Bridge chip from more power-efficient while performance and how many -and put it on-chip. introduced in November of 2008 Japanese Web site PC Watch, crunching video and audio data additional features it can cram The goal of integration is to not and it pervades all Core i3, i5, the GPU takes up roughly 25 faster than the newest Core i7- onto one piece of silicon. just to build the fastest chip, but and i7 processors (the latter two percent of the processor's real based laptops today. And one of those additional to build a more balanced chip. finally made it into Apple estate. Simplified Sandy Bridge chip features is a graphics processing "The question is where do you l a p t o p s o n T u e s d a y ) . I t s • New instructions: Sandy layout: Note the CPU and GPU unit, or GPU. For a mainstream compromise with the real estate successor, Sandy Bridge, is Bridge will be the first chip to share resources.(Credit: Intel) PC processor, Sandy Bridge will that's available, as opposed to scheduled to go into production support Intel's Advanced Vector To drive this point home, in be the first time that Intel puts a just making the fastest solution," in the fourth quarter. E x t e n s i o n ( I n t e l A V X ) Beijing Perlmutter showed a GPU on the same piece of said Kumar. Key points instructions. AVX accelerates a Sandy Bridge-based laptop silicon as the CPU. In other Five Filters featured article: While Intel Executive Vice h o s t o f m u l t i m e d i a t a s k s , doing highly complex medical words, Intel's definition of a Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: President David Perlmutter said including video and audio imaging, an application that CPU now subsumes the GPU. PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, he would "not do a deep dive" processing. would typically be done on a Not a minor detail in the eyes of Term Extraction. on Sandy Bridge in his Intel • More intelligent overclocking: desktop PC. Analysts say this competitors such as Nvidia and D e v e l o p e r F o r u m B e i j i n g a n d , f i n a l l y , P e r l m u t t e r will set Sandy Bridge apart. A d v a n c e d M i c r o D e v i c e s , keynote this week, he did reveal mentioned improved Turbo Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:56:39 PM

some key points about the architecture.

Technology/ Culture/

E-reader News Edition

Week in review: Of Twitter and taxes (CNET News.com)

Twitter to developers: Make those apps better Bing rolls out real-time Twitter Twitter and the tax man have at feed least one thing in common: Google launches Twitter bold, new ideas for making timeline search more money off the Internet. Google helps sleuth out This week, microblogging site Twitter accounts unveiled a search ad program More headlines that will put brands' messages Turning Web retailers into tax into users' Twitter streams. The tattlers Tax collectors want to e s s e n c e o f T w i t t e r ' s n e w force Amazon.com and other eb u s i n e s s m o d e l i s g i v i n g tailers to disclose how much you businesses the opportunity to owe in unpaid sales taxes. And push their Twitter accounts that could come back to haunt further into the site's massive you. audience. Anti-fraud tips and tools for The company insists that tax season "promoted tweets" aren't ads, Microsoft launches Kin phones but tweets, which in one sense is Software maker teams up with just Silicon Valley futurist- Verizon on a pair of feature speak. But in another sense, the phones dubbed the Kin One and company is right: in choosing to Kin Two, with a Zune music tiepromote a tweet in search, a in. company selects keywords and Microsoft's Kin: What it is-then chooses the existing tweets and isn't from its account that it wants to The 411 on Microsoft's Kin promote. Users can reply to (FAQ) them, retweet them, and add Drilling down on the Kin them as favorites. And there will Kin sometimes out of the loop be real-time analytics attached. Feds raise questions about big Twitter execs: Come fly away media's piracy claims Piracy with us! appears to be a drain on industry Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:45:12 PM

GLYMPSE: continued from page 15

up their News Feed with noise. Discuss

and tax revenue, but GAO says the data is unreliable. Report raises questions about film, music sectors' piracy claims. GAO piracy report: A deeper look Google backs Yahoo in privacy fight with DOJ In court fight against Justice Department, Yahoo finds ally in Google and privacy groups, who say police need warrant to read private email. PC shipments back on track in first quarter Desktops and commercial customers are helping PC makers bounce back earlier in 2010 than previously expected. Intel first quarter profit jumps 400-plus percent Google earnings show continued ad growth Apple refreshes its MacBook Pro notebooks A new set of MacBook Pros feature Intel's i5 and i7 processors, as well as faster Nvidia graphics. Apple delays global rollout of iPad Faced with more demand than supply, Apple is pushing back the international debut of the iPad from the end of April to

the end of May. Israel says U.S. iPads not welcome for now Microsoft sending inspectors to Chinese contractor Auditors head to a facility that makes mice and other Microsoft hardware and that's accused of requiring teenage workers to toil long hours in bad conditions. Report: Microsoft gear made under harsh conditions Kids on YouTube: How much is too much? From a manic cooking show hosted by a 3year-old to tykes parodying a "Scarface" scene, online videos of kids toe a fine line between adorable and digital-age stage parenting. Also of note Hitting the road with Bill Gates Meet Russian President Medvedev, Internet geek Newspaper gambles on online gambling Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

How to Back Up and Play Your Wii Games from an External Hard Drive [How To] Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker) Submitted at 4/16/2010 9:00:00 AM

Connecting an external hard drive to your Wii to backup and play your games is a simple way to keep expensive discs out of harms way, decrease game load times, and organize your collection with swanky cover art. Here's how it works. More Âť

Technology/

E-reader News Edition

Bit.ly’s Borthwick: Twitter, Thanks For The Ride Erick Schonfeld (TechCrunch) Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:10:30 AM

On Wednesday at Twitter’s Chirp conference, CEO Evan Williams released another bomb during the wrap-up Q&A session: Twitter is working on creating it’s own link shortener for Twitter.com. Once again, in the space of a week, Twitter declared it was moving into an area previously occupied by another company in the Twitter eco-system, in this case bit.ly, which grew on the back of Twitter when it became the default link shortener on the service in May, 2009. I was able to speak with bit.ly and betaworks CEO John Borthwick yesterday about Twitter’s unwinding of their relationship. The impact on bit.ly may be negligible, at least in the short run. It turns out that Twitter stopped using bit.ly as it’s default shortener on Twitter.com back in early December, except for one specific use-case. And even before then, Twitter.com accounted for only about 5 percent of link encodes. Now it is less than 1 percent. Yet bit.ly encoded 3.4 billion links last

month and continues to have record days. That is because it is used by many Twitter clients, including Tweetdeck (a betaworks portfolio company). Borthwick says bit.ly went into the relationship knowing it could be temporary and is happy bit.ly was able to help Twitter during the crucial period last year when it was working through its scaling issues. He reiterates that point in a blog

post today: bit.ly knew this would be a short term agreement — it was done to help Twitter scale and without a doubt it helped bit.ly scale. It is odd, however, that Twitter stripped out bit.ly before it’s own link shortener is ready. It is even odder that hardly anybody noticed since December. Maybe that is because the power users who would notice don’t use

Twitter.com that often. Nevertheless, Borthwick thanks Twitter for the ride and “for the kick start it gave bit.ly.” He also assures users and observers that “bit.ly is short, sweet and out of control.” No business should be dependent on any one platform, he maintain, and bit.ly isn’t. But he also offers some advice for “platforms” (like Twitter), with a hint of a reprimand:

As these platforms mature its important for there to be clear boundaries between what the platform provider does and doesn’t do. Granted these boundaries shift over time — but the boundaries have to be sustained for long enough for the platform provider to achieve scale and trust and to get a critical mass of applications running on it. They also have to [be] sustained long enough for businesses to be built on the platform, not just tweaks, real businesses. Borthwick voices the concern of all Twitter developers. They want to know they can build real businesses on top of Twitter without Twitter arbitrarily tuning off the spigot. But he suspects these boundaries will now become much clearer. Once a platform company decides on its business model, it is easier to define those boundaries, he writes. With Twitter finally deciding how it will make money with Promoted Tweets and commercial accounts, those boundaries are being set. CrunchBase Information bit.ly Twitter Information provided by CrunchBase

Technology/

E-reader News Edition

Pro-Actively Engage Lingering Visitors with Live Chat, Just Don't Be "Clippy" Chris Cameron (ReadWriteWeb)

finding the support discussions were turning into sales opportunities. Submitted at 4/16/2010 1:00:00 PM "With the introduction of live Earlier in the week, we profiled chat, several customers started Concept Feedback, a using SnapABug as a sales tool, community that helps site and their feedback was designers and developers get extremely positive," the quick constructive criticism on users linger on a single page for company says. "The pro-active their various projects, and in the a few minutes. If the user c h a t f e a t u r e a d d s a k e y a r t i c l e w e s t r e s s e d t h e decides to chat, the support functionality for them to be even i m p o r t a n c e f o r y o u n g agent is then connected and more successful in closing c o m p a n i e s t o c o l l e c t a n d takes control of the previously sales." analyze user feedback. Another automated message. On the other hand, this type of part of this type of site analysis For support agents, they can use tool could be seen by customers is tracking bugs, and TechStars any instant messaging client as intrusive and an annoyance, graduate SnapABug provides an they choose, even mobile clients so it is smart that the chat only innovative way to do this via on smartphones, to provide pops up after a couple minutes live instant message sessions. instant customer service on bugs of inactivity. It would behoove Early next week, however, and potentially drive sales. They businesses to not over use this SnapABug will take this feature can view a screenshot of the feature or to set a quicker time one step further by adding a pro- page the viewer is on as well as limit on the pro-active chat, lest active chat feature which will c o n t e x t u a l i n f o r m a t i o n their handy new chat tool be allow companies to both help including where the visitor is compared to Microsoft Office's wayward visitors and capitalize browsing from. The details of "Clippy." So before you go on possible sales opportunities. the customer's bug report can poking into your visitor's Sponsor also be synced with existing browsers, make sure you don't SnapABug is a service that CRMs and bug trackers, such as over use the service and annoy companies can embed on their Z e n D e s k , S a l e s f o r c e a n d customers. website that allows customers to F o g B u g z . If businesses can find a balance s u b m i t a f o r m r e p o r t i n g I can see this being a useful tool between helpful and intrusive, problems or bugs with the site. for a company in the early this could be a useful tool for Customers could also choose to development stages to squash guiding site visitors toward sign speak with a support agent after bugs as they appear to visitors, ups or sales, and for finding and submitting their comment, but but part of the reason SnapABug addressing bugs in real time. with the service's forthcoming is rolling out the pro-active chat Discuss new features, a chat session is feature is that companies were automatically created when

360iDev: Hands-on with Freeverse's Warpgate HD and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Mike Schramm (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)) Submitted at 4/16/2010 9:00:00 AM

Filed under: iPad We got to play two of Freeverse's current and future offerings this past week at 360iDev. Warpgate HD was the first -- it's out now on the App Store, and is due out for the iPhone and iPod touch. It was originally designed for the iPhone, but it ended up being a good fit for the larger device, so they readied it for a launch release. It's a fun title, although it doesn't quite take full advantage of the bigger hardware yet; as you play the space trading simulation, you get the feeling that there could probably be a little more to it on the iPad. It's still a fun title, though.

We also got to play their upcoming Pride and Prejudice and Zombies iPhone game adaptation, and being that we've been buddies with Freeverse ever since they were developing games for the Mac, we talked a little bit with them about their heritage and how their recent merger with Ngmoco has affected their outlook. Read on for more. TUAW 360iDev: Hands-on with Freeverse's Warpgate HD and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Technology/

E-reader News Edition

Google moving closer to Chrome OS printing (CNET News.com) Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:53:01 AM

How does one print from a cloud-based OS like Google's Chrome when you can't install a local printer driver? Google is getting closer toward the answer. The company is in the midst of developing a Google Cloud Print system that would allow Chrome OS users to send documents from any device to their own local printers or to other shared printers. Rather than depend on local print drivers, Cloud Print would receive and manage print jobs on Google's end and send them back to a printer. Now it's making some resources available to developers. In a Chromium Blog post Thursday, Google Group Product Manager Mike Jazayeri said: Google Cloud Print is still under development, but today we are making code and documentation public as part of the open-source Chromium and Chromium OS projects. While we are still in the early days of this project, we want to be as transparent as possible about all

aspects of our design and engage the community in identifying the right set of open standards to make cloud-based printing ubiquitous. "Our goal is to build a printing experience that enables any app (Web, desktop, or mobile) on any device to print to any printer anywhere in the world," the company states on the Google Cloud Print page. Conventional installed operating systems like Windows, Mac OS, and Linux require drivers to manage and print documents. But Chrome

OS needs to take a different approach. "Developing and maintaining print subsystems for every combination of hardware and operating system--from desktops to netbooks to mobile devices--simply isn't feasible," Jazayeri said. The project is still in development mode, so final details have yet to be worked out. Google's Cloud Print page explains that the ideal solution would be to use cloud-aware printers that don't need a PC to communicate. But since there

are no such devices as of yet, Google has been working on a way to use legacy, PCdependent printers. In this scenario, a piece of software called a proxy would be installed as part of Chrome OS. The proxy would register your printer with Cloud Print, handle the print jobs, and then alert you on the status of each job. Of course, this means you would need to be online in order to print from a PC, tablet, or smartphone running Chrome OS. But that is the nature of working in the cloud.

Announced late last year, Chrome OS is to due to debut on Netbooks by year's end. How Google would handle printing from Chrome OS. Once the print job is in the cloud, it goes through a PC or router to print. A cloud-based printer option is not yet a reality.(Credit: Google) Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Technology/ Sports/

E-reader News Edition

Luongo Quiets His Doubters With Clutch Save in Game 1 Win Monte Stewart (FanHouse Main) Submitted at 4/15/2010 10:54:00 PM

Microsoft adds repair shop to Windows (CNET News.com) Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:38:44 PM

Microsoft's Fix it Center, now in beta, consists of both an online service and downloadable software. It's designed to bring some of the diagnostic capabilities built into Windows 7 to older PCs. Microsoft is testing a new "Fix it Center"--an online and PCbased tool for helping users solve their Windows technical problems. While a fair amount of diagnostics are built into Windows 7, the free Fix it Center aims to expand on these and also bring similar capabilities to Windows XP and Windows Vista.

The service, which went into beta on Thursday, consists of both a Windows download and an online service. "Fix it Center finds and fixes many common PC and device problems automatically," Microsoft said on its Web site. "It also helps prevent new problems by proactively checking for known issues and installing updates. Fix it Center helps to consolidate the many steps of diagnosing and repairing a problem into an automated tool that does the work for you." While the service has around 300 fixes built-in, Microsoft said it can also be useful even if it can't solve an issue on its own. "If Fix it Center cannot solve a

specific issue, customers can still access phone, email or chat support with a Microsoft Support professional who can access their Fix it Center account and get details about the hardware, the problem, and the solutions they have already tried, to ensure faster problem resolution," Microsoft said. The service works with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, although for XP it requires customers to be using at least Service Pack 3 (or Service Pack 2 of the 64-bit version of Windows XP Professional). It also works with Windows Server 2003 (with Service Pack 2) and Windows Server 2008. Microsoft is also aiming to

make it attractive for small businesses, by allowing a single account to be used for multiple PCs. The service builds on the "Fix it" brand that Microsoft established as a means for automating Windows problemsolving tasks. Starting in December 2008, Microsoft launched an option on some of its help desk articles that allowed a user to click on a button and have a series of problem-solving steps taken automatically. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Filed under: Canucks, Kings, NHL Playoffs Roberto Luongo silenced his critics Thursday night. The Canucks goalie made 25 saves as Vancouver posted a 3-2 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Kings in the first game of their Western Conference quarterfinal series. Doubts about the veteran goaltender's psyche following late regular-season struggles were abated - at least temporarily - as he pulled the puck off the goal line in overtime before Mikael Samuelsson's second goal of the game gave the Canucks the win at 8:52 of the extra session. Canucks lead series, 1-0 Canucks 3, Kings 2 (OT): Recap| Box Score| Series Page

Technology/

E-reader News Edition

Millennial Media: Android Ad Impressions Rise 72 Percent From February To March Leena Rao (TechCrunch) Submitted at 4/16/2010 10:00:15 AM

Mobile ad network Millennial Media, which released an iPad specific SDK a few weeks ago, is reporting that Android ad impressions increased by 72% from February to March, globally on the network. Millennial, which claims that its mobile advertising network reaches 83 percent of 72 million mobile web users in the U.S., reports that Android’s OS was in the top three in the ranking of smartphone impressions in March. Android OS impressions share in the U.S. increased 3 percent in March alone to bring the Google-developed mobile platform to a total of 6 percent of U.S. smartphone impressions for the month. Mobile connected devices like the iPad and Sony PSP displayed more than 20 percent of the ad networks’ total ad impressions in March. In terms of type of device, the majority of ad impressions took

Millennial’s network, with four devices in the Top 20. Millennial has been seeing strong growth and is now one of the largest mobile ad networks in the space. The Baltimorebased startup is growing; in February Millennial Media acquired mobile metrics and place on smart phones (45%), analytics firm TapMetrics. with Feature Phones seeing 34% Additionally, the ad network o f a d i m p r e s s i o n s , a n d raised $16 million in Series C Connected Devices, like the funding last November. i P a d , s e e i n g 2 1 % o f But like many of its fellow impressions. Unsurprisingly, mobile ad networks, Millennial Apple’s OS remains the leading finds itself in a perplexing OS on Millennial’s network situation in the space. It’s with 70 percent share of u n c l e a r h o w G o o g l e ’ s Smartphone impressions. While acquisition of AdMob will Apple represented 40% of shake out (although this may be overall network impressions in derailed). Most importantly, March (top slot for the 6th Apple’s newly launched iAd c o n s e c u t i v e m o n t h ) ; platform may throw a wrench in m a n u f a c t u r e r s s u p p o r t i n g mobile ad networks’ growth as a Android enabled devices c o m p e t i n g p l a t f o r m . represented over 50% of the Top C r u n c h B a s e I n f o r m a t i o n 15 Manufacturers. Samsung was Millennial Media Information firmly embedded as the second provided by CrunchBase largest manufacturer on

Dell's 7-inch and 10inch Streak tablets leaked! Darren Murph (Engadget)

joined by the Streak 5 (yeah, that's the Mini 5 we've had for months now) for those who W e ' d h e a r d t h r o u g h t h e prefer a more capable mobile. grapevine that the engineers at As for the 7-inch Streak? Look Round Rock were working on a for it to launch (presumably number of slates to fill the with or without AT&T support) Streak lineup, but man, we late in 2010, while a 10-inch didn't see this coming... at least flavor follows in "early 2011." not yet. A couple of images Is Sidetalkin' really about to along with an internal Dell return? We're ready -- so ready. announcement landed on our Gallery: Dell's 7-inch and 10v i r t u a l d o o r s t e p t h i s f i n e inch Streak tablets leaked! morning, and lo and behold, it Dell's 7-inch and 10-inch looks as if a 7-inch and 10-inch Streak tablets leaked! originally Streak tablet is on the horizon. appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 But that's not all -- we learned Apr 2010 12:46:00 EST. Please that the " coming soon" we see our terms for use of feeds. heard earlier regarding the Permalink| | Email this| Aero's release date on AT&T Comments really means "June." Later this "summer," said phone will be Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:46:00 PM

Technology/

E-reader News Edition

App of the Day: Subatomic for iPhone and iPad Mike Schramm (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)) Submitted at 4/16/2010 10:00:00 AM

Filed under: Gaming App of the Day is TUAW's new App Store spotlight. One great app, every single day. Subatomic is a game that's available for the iPhone and the iPad. The premise is that you push molecules of different colors around a field with gravity. Portals sit on the gamefield full of molecules, and as they slowly fade away, it's your job to pull more in and match them up. By touching near a molecule, you can push it in a certain direction with a gravity vortex (the game has a cool blurred graphical feature whenever you touch the screen). The game ramps up pretty quickly; eventually you're trying to push molecules toward multiple portals while trying to keep different-colored

molecules from reaching the wrong portals. Unfortunately, the difficulty curve can be a little high. It's sometimes hard to control the incoming molecules, and when you accidentally touch a little too close, you'll find yourself flinging molecules off into the distance instead of getting them

where they want to go. At a basic level, though, it's an interesting control scheme that I haven't seen before. The game contains a full tutorial as part of its 31 levels, and the music and backgrounds (some of which contain actual electron microscope imagery from reallife scientists) add to the experience. The social features of the game are managed by OpenFeint. Subatomic is US$1.99 on the App Store, and a free version (with seven levels to try) is available as well. TUAW App of the Day: Subatomic for iPhone and iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Google Suggest Becomes More Local Erick Schonfeld (TechCrunch)

Leena searches for the same keyword in Chicago, the second Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:19:12 PM suggestion is “central time,” Google is going after local which shows up as No. 5 on my search in a big way, especially autosuggest list. with mobile and enhanced place Google also improved its listings. Now it is pushing more spelling correction for people’s local searches through its auto- names by taking into account suggest feature on Google.com. descriptive words in the search When you start typing in a that provide clues as to what the keyword, the suggestions that person does or who they are. you see are now geared to your F o r i n s t a n c e , i f y o u a d d location. Previously these were “baseball player” or “author” it already specific to a country, but narrows down the choices. now they are by city. Finally, auto-suggest is now For example, when I enter the available in 31 languages. word “central” in New York, the CrunchBase Information Google top suggestion is “central park,” I n f o r m a t i o n p r o v i d e d b y followed by “central park zoo” C r u n c h B a s e and “central hudson.” When

Technology/

E-reader News Edition

Doing Good Works: works, but not so good Keith McDuffee (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)) Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:00:00 PM

Filed under: iPhone, App Review Of the thousands of iPhone apps available, we all know there are varying levels of usefulness, interactivity and quality. Of course, that's why you come to sites like TUAW, to help sort through the good and the bad and hopefully make an informed decision before hitting that "Buy" button. The problem comes when we consider an app like Doing Good Works. It has a few really good things going for it: it's free, it's free of ads, and it's informative. What it lacks comes under the areas I mentioned at the start: usefulness, interactivity and quality. Doing Good Works( Think Big Press) has a very simple purpose, and that's to tell you

how to have a positive outlook on life and the world around you; to try to make a difference -- in helping yourself and others -- one step at a time. Sounds good so far, right? Well, where this app falls short immediately is in its delivery. Essentially, DGW is a 144-page book in app form; nothing more.

Oh, we've seen plenty of book apps before, but how it is executed here is neither revolutionary nor practical. Selecting from the nine chapters is done via a basic scrolling list, though actually selecting the chapter you want can actually be a bit confusing. Instead of simply selecting the chapter from the list and having it appear, you have to touch a difficult-to-read image of text above the list once your selection is made. TUAW Doing Good Works: works, but not so good originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

HP Mini 5102 review Joanna Stern (Engadget) Submitted at 4/16/2010 10:50:00 AM

There are netbooks and then there's the HP Mini 5102. Or at least that's always been our impression of the 10-inch business and education targeted laptop, since it isn't every day that you see what's supposed to be a secondary system with a 7,200rpm hard drive, durable aluminum chassis, spill resistant keyboard and capactive touchscreen options. Or you know, a $415 starting price. The Mini 5102 doesn't fall into the same class as those $299

netbooks -- considering our review unit rings up at $668 and all -- but does the extra dough really pay off in a noticeably better shrunken computing experience? We've been on a mission to find out just that over the last few days, so hit the break for our full review. Gallery: HP MIni 5102 review Continue reading HP Mini 5102 review HP Mini 5102 review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| Comments

Technology/

E-reader News Edition

Google Introduces Localized Google Announcing Marshall Suggest and Smarter AutoKirkpatrick as CoCorrections Editor, ReadWriteWeb Frederic Lardinois (ReadWriteWeb)

Richard MacManus (ReadWriteWeb)

Submitted at 4/16/2010 1:26:20 PM

Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:00:00 PM

About a year ago, Google launched real-time search suggestions that were tailored towards users in different countries. Today, Google is taking this one step further and is l aunching an improved version of Google Suggest that also takes larger metro areas into account. Now, Google Suggest will offer different suggestions for users in New York City and Portland, OR, for example. For the time being, this feature is only available in the U.S. Sponsor Smarter Spelling Correction for Names In addition, Google is also rolling out smarter corrected spellings for names. As Google notes, people often search for names, but don't know the exact spelling. Now, whenever you add a person's profession, affiliation or other related

I'm pleased to announce that long-time ReadWriteWeb blogger Marshall Kirkpatrick is officially now our Co-Editor, sharing editor duties with yours truly Richard MacManus. When I founded this site almost 7 years to the day, I was the lone blogger. Today ReadWriteWeb has a team of around 20; and in particular our writing team has keywords to an approximation For uncommon misspellings, grown a lot over the past year. of this person's name, Google Google will still give you a link Given this expansion, we've will offer better suggestions and to the corrected search results decided to split the Editor role more useful spelling corrections. behind a link that says " Did you into two: Marshall will lead our daily news team, while I will This feature, too, is currently mean: ReadWriteWeb." only available in the U.S., W h e n e v e r G o o g l e f e e l s continue to lead the feature and though Google plans to roll it c o n f i d e n t s t h a t t h e a u t o - channel writers. out in other parts of the world corrected version is what you Sponsor within the next few months. were really looking for, the Marshall also continues in his A u t o - C o r r e c t i o n f o r 3 1 search engine bypasses the link other role of VP Content Additional Language and just drops you off on a Google is also rolling out auto- search results page that is based corrected spellings for 31 on the correct spelling. Discuss additional languages. These auto -corrections kick in whenever a user misspells a common word.

Development here at ReadWriteWeb, which is closely aligned with our editorial program. You can see our entire team on our About page and you can also follow us all on Twitter. Discuss

Technology/

E-reader News Edition

Engadget giveaway: Show us your crappy gaming setup and win a custom PS3 Slim from Rockstar Games! Laura June (Engadget)

Lexus pearl white, an LEDbacklit skyline and logo on the unit, a custom power panel with That's right folks, the crew at laser etched back lit power and Rockstar Games is celebrating eject buttons) along with a color the launch of Grand Theft Auto: -matched controller. Episodes From Liberty City, and So you want this, right? If so, they've offered up a custom we need to see your current Grand Theft Auto PS3 Slim to gaming setup -- the crappier, the give away. We have just one of better. To be eligible to win, these to give away, and the you'll need to drop a link in p a c k a g e w i l l c o n t a i n t h e comments of a photo of your following: a custom decorated gear (if you don't include a 120GB PS3 Slim (with a two photo, you can't win). The tone paint job in black and deadline to to get your pics in is Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:30:00 PM

Friday, April 23rd, 2010, at 12:30pm ET. After we get all the contributions, we'll go through every single one to find

the worst of the worst -- and that person will win this very special PS3 Slim. The full rules are after the break -- so get

commenting and good luck! Continue reading Engadget giveaway: Show us your crappy gaming setup and win a custom PS3 Slim from Rockstar Games! Engadget giveaway: Show us your crappy gaming setup and win a custom PS3 Slim from Rockstar Games! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| Comments

It’s 4SQ Day, But Foursquare Has (Almost) Nothing To Do With It Erick Schonfeld (TechCrunch)

Foursquare at all. An independent group of users led by Tampa Bay optometrist Nata It’s the day after tax filings are Bonilla-Warford organized the due, and that means one thing: event and it sort of grew on its 4SQ Day! Actually, the timing own. Local businesses are of 4SQ Day has nothing to do getting in on the self-described with a post-tax-filing “social media holiday” by celebration. The date (4/16) is adding special promotions to be four squared. Swarms of part of the one-day event. Foursquare users are planning to Crowley compares it to some of meet in Boston, Chicago, the early Tweetups or other selfDetroit, Miami, and even organizing activities of Twitter London. About 150 businesses new badge. Even McDonald’s badges) to check in everywhere. users when it was at a similar But Foursquare has almost size. When the users take over, and counting across the country is getting involved. a n d a f e w i n E u r o p e a r e Sounds like another quirky nothing to do with 4SQ Day that is a good thing. CrunchBase c e l e b r a t i n g b y g i v i n g marketing stunt by Foursquare, other than making the badge. I n f o r m a t i o n F o u r s q u a r e Foursquare users special one- the geo-social startup that gives CEO Dennis Crowley tells me I n f o r m a t i o n p r o v i d e d b y day deals and there is even a you points and prestige (okay, that it wasn’t organized by C r u n c h B a s e Submitted at 4/16/2010 10:01:55 AM

Viliv S10 delayed until May, eyes well up everywhere Darren Murph (Engadget) Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:34:00 AM

Remember when Best Buy decided to start hawking Viliv wares back in March? Notice how the S10 Blade wasn't one of VILIV page 27

TV/

E-reader News Edition

VILIV continued from page 26

them? Guess we know why. According to an email sent from Dynamism to a tipster who ordered an S10, the device has actually been "delayed by the factory." It was slated to ship out on April 22nd, but now, the crew of S10 variants will be shipping between late April and mid-May. We know, you're broken hearted, but look on the bright side -- Opera Mini is taking over the world! Cheer-up video just past the break. [Thanks, fernandez]

Continue reading Viliv S10 delayed until May, eyes well up everywhere Viliv S10 delayed until May, eyes well up everywhere originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| Comments

Oswalt Out of 'Beach Lane' Pilot Already Brad Trechak (TV Squad) Submitted at 4/16/2010 9:00:00 AM

That was fast. Apparently Patton Oswalt has already been dismissed from the 'Beach Lane' pilot he was just scheduled for a few days ago. Talk about a sudden change of heart. No reason was given for the dismissal. Perhaps the producers decided they didn't need his

role? Perhaps they were afraid he would overshadow co-star Matthew Broderick? He was offered another role in the same

show, but no word on whether he accepted (it seems unlikely). I'm reminded of when I saw 'The Producers' on Broadway. Broderick was okay in his role as Leo Bloom but Nathan Lane easily stole the show as Max Bialystock. Oswalt strikes me as a "Lane" type that could easily become the center of the OSWALT page 28

What's On Tonight: 'Smallville,' 'Dateline,' 'Stargate Universe,' 'Suite Life' Rich Keller (TV Squad)

Nickelodeon:'Big Time Rush' and'The Troop' 9:00 to 10:00 Here's tonight's TV lineup (all ABC:'Jamie Oliver's Food times Eastern). All shows listed Revolution' are new, unless otherwise noted. Animal Planet:'I Shouldn't Be Once again the schedule is light Alive' on the original. It may be time Cartoon Network:'Star Wars: to clean out your DVR. The Clone Wars' 7:30 CMT:'Gator 911' and'Danger Cartoon Network:'Batman: 'The Coast' Brave and the Bold'-- Fan of the HBO:'The Ricky Gervais Show' show and'The Life & Times of Tim' 8:00 to 9:00 National Geographic:'Dog The CW:'Smallville' Whisperer' ABC:'20/20' Beverly Hills' NBC:'Secrets of the Mountain'- SyFy:'Stargate Universe' CBS:'Miami Medical' HBO:'Real Time with Bill - New made-for-TV movie Teen Nick:'Degrassi: The Next NBC:'Dateline NBC' Maher'-- Jesse Ventura Disney Channel:'The Suite Life Generation' E!:'The Soup' and'Forbes: Showtime:'Spartacus: Blood o n D e c k ' a n d ' W i z a r d s o f TLC:'The What Not to Wear Heiresses Gone Wild' and Sand' Waverly Place'-- 'Wizards' guest Awards' Food Network:'Private Chefs of SyFy:'Merlin' -stars Shakira 10:00 to 11:00 Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:30:00 PM

11:00 to Midnight Comedy Central:'Comedy Central Presents' -- Bret Ernst and Iliza Shlesinger Check your local TV listings for more information. After the jump, the late night talk shows. Continue reading What's On Tonight: 'Smallville,' 'Dateline,' 'Stargate Universe,' 'Suite Life' Filed under: Programming, Smallville, Stargate, Celebrities, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

TV/

E-reader News Edition

Animal Planet Orders 'Bear Whisperer'

Discovery Orders More 'Cash Cab'

Brad Trechak (TV Squad)

Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:00:00 AM

Submitted at 4/16/2010 10:02:00 AM

In a move that is reminiscent of Werner Herzog's documentary and its tragic ending, Animal Planet has ordered a new series called 'The Bear Whisperer.' The series follows a bearwrangler named Steve Searles as he attempts to control the bear population of Mammoth Lakes, California. While the title is reminiscent of 'The Horse Whisperer,' this isn't horses. A horse is not likely to attack and eat you if you piss them off. Perhaps that's what the Discovery Channel is hoping for in order to boost its ratings. At this point the show is more of a mini-series as Animal Planet has only ordered four episodes in total. If it works out ratings-wise, more will likely be on the way.

For those of you seeking to vacation in New York City, in the event that you hail a cab while in town you may get a chance to win a couple of thousand dollars and have Ben Bailey at your driver.'Cash Cab' has been renewed for a sixth season. Admittedly I'm a bit biased On the other hand, they'll be about this news as I was once a getting some advertising dollars contestant on the show before from'Cash Cab,' which has been coming to TV Squad. In the renewed for a sixth season. event that you do get on the Perhaps they could merge the show next season, please leave two concepts and have Ben Ben Bailey a nice tip when the Bailey kill and eat anybody who ride is done as I forgot to. doesn't win the video challenge. Hopefully the producers will F i l e d u n d e r : I n d u s t r y , give a little variety to the show, Programming, OpEd, Pickups such as when they did 'Cash Cab and Renewals Permalink| Email this| | Comments

at Night.' One recommendation would be to use other cities as locations for the show rather than New York City, and I say this as someone who loves New York. Other cities have clubs and restaurants that would love to sponsor the concept. Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Casting, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

OSWALT continued from page 27

become the center of the program (if not for the strong character of Kevin James, he could easily have done the same in 'The King of Queens'). Of course, if this means he's now available to perform again as Baxter Sarno on'Caprica,' then 'Beach Lane's' loss is SyFy's gain. Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Celebrities, Casting, RealityFree Permalink| Email this| | Comments

Don't Laugh at Conan's Move to TBS... It's the Future Rich Keller (TV Squad)

the new program and not having to fight for affiliates to air the program instead of 'Seinfeld' or A few days ago, Joel gave four 'The Simpsons.' reasons why Conan O'Brien A fifth reason can also be made the right move to TBS. He a d d e d . A b r o a d e r r e a s o n mentioned, among other things, encompassing not just Conan's the control Conan will have over show, but the current talk shows Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:50:00 AM

You see, cable is the future of late night talk shows. I see you rolling your eyes and chuckling! However, I would hold off in calling me various versions of 'idiot' until you hear me out. that populate the cable horizon. Continue reading Don't Laugh at Conan's Move to TBS... It's

the Future Filed under: Late Night, Industry, Programming, OpEd, Talk Show, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

Policy/

E-reader News Edition

AEI People and Programs, April 16, 2010 (AEI.Org: Articles) Submitted at 4/15/2010 7:00:00 PM

Can "Geoengineering" Cool the Earth? Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day on April 22, 1970, to raise awareness about perceived threats to the environment. Forty years later, in the midst of environmental concerns centered on climate change, AEI's Geoengineering Project, directed by resident fellows Lee Lane and Samuel Thernstrom, is committed to raising awareness about all options available for mitigating the negative effects of climate change and to calling attention to the need for greater research of geoengineering, sometimes called climate engineering. Its newly launched W e b p a g e , www.aei.org/geoengineering, aggregates recent work from AEI on the subject. The project's first phase focuses on efforts to offset the warming effects of greenhouse gases by slightly increasing the amount of sunlight that the Earth's atmosphere reflects back into space. Common strategies include using stratospheric aerosol particles to deflect sunlight and spraying seawater into low-level marine clouds to increase their longevity and

reflectivity. Thernstrom says that "geoengineering has a potentially crucial role in forming effective climate policy --but it will never have that opportunity if it is seen as an alternative to emissions reductions." Instead, geoengineering technologies could be used in concert with a menu of other options. "Rather than setting these techniques [emissions reduction, adaptation, and geoengineering] opposite each other, we should seek to craft climate policies that pursue all three in a complementary fashion." A geoengineering option may enable a more versatile response to climate change. Lane says, "In any case, a mix of climate policies is better than placing too much stress on any one response." The project is commissioning leading scholars to research some of the central issues of political economy that geoengineering raises. They will present each of their papers at separate conferences or workshops. These events will aim to bring the project's research to the attention of key representatives of government, academia, the media, industry, and nongovernmental organizations. The new Web

page for AEI's Geoengineering Project also provides links to resources that briefly outline some of the science behind and history of geoengineering. Click here to visit www.aei.org/geoengineering, the new Web page of the AEI Geoengineering Project People and Programs AEI Scholar Honored for Asia Research. AEI resident fellow Dan Blumenthal has been selected as a research associate with the National Asia Research Program (NARP), a national research and conference program run by the National Bureau of Asian Research and the Woodrow Wilson Center. NARP is designed to highlight the work of scholars who have made exceptional contributions to the study and understanding of Asia. "I am honored to have been chosen to participate in such a prestigious program and strongly believe in its mission of promoting policy-relevant Asia research," Blumenthal said. Are Your Taxes Too High? The dreaded April 15 deadline to file tax returns has come and gone. A new AEI Public Opinion Study looks in depth at attitudes toward taxes, examining views about the tax burden, tax fairness, progressivity, taxes and deficits, and the president's ratings on the issue. This self-

proclaimed "most comprehensive collection of polls ever compiled on the subject of taxes" brings together seventy years of polling responses about taxes. Among the nuggets in this survey of surveys: in a new Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll, the Internal Revenue Service has a higher favorability rating than either the Democratic or Republican Party. Is the Economic Recovery Real? AEI visiting scholar Mark J. Perry appeared on The Kudlow Report, where he said, "We are in a very strong Vshaped economic recovery." Host Larry Kudlow agreed with Perry. He centered the segment on Perry's recent post on the Enterprise Blog about ten reasons the economic recovery is real. About the Enterprise Blog, Kudlow said, "If there is a better blog in the entire webblogosphere-Internet, I don't know it." A Moderate President? In a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, AEI resident fellow Norman J. Ornstein challenges some of President Barack Obama's critics for portraying the president as a radical. Ornstein believes the president has taken up some policies championed by conservatives and says, "This president is a

mainstream, pragmatic moderate, operating in the center of American politics; center-left, perhaps, but not left of center." Since its publication, over one thousand readers have commented on the article. On the Enterprise Blog, AEI president Arthur C. Brooks calls Ornstein's op-ed a display of AEI's "celebration of diverse views." Hot Off the Enterprise Blog "Senator Chris Dodd's 1,300page regulatory expansion bill seems to be missing the single most important idea for addressing the bubble and the crisis: strategies to create countercyclical elements to moderate the swings. Cycles in economics and finance are inevitable. The dream of macroeconomic 'fine tuning' to prevent them was given up long ago. . . . Countercyclical strategies, could we design and implement them, would represent true reform and fundamental improvement." [ Read the full post by AEI's Alex J. Pollock] Photos: iStockphoto/Jan Rysavy, iStockphoto/Kemie, and AEI Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Policy/

E-reader News Edition

Hastings Case Tests Religious Freedom on Campus (AEI.Org: Articles)

culture. Nevertheless, it is not substantively different from asking NAACP members to Americans like to think of their eschew racism. c o l l e g e c a m p u s e s a s Hastings sponsors some 70 marketplaces of ideas where student organizations--from the students have the opportunity to A r m e n i a n L a w S t u d e n t s freely browse a host of Association to the Usual competing beliefs, attitudes and Suspects Criminal Justice Film philosophies. Unfortunately, Club--so one might think there'd today's academic marketplace is be room for people of faith. more like a company store. A But administrators told the CLS single, humanistic, decidedly it would have to broaden leftist worldview is sold in too membership requirements to many classrooms . . . and the allow for voting members and customer refuses delivery at his even officers who don't hold or her own risk. Christian principles. That is, A case to be heard by the leadership and voting privileges Supreme Court on Monday must be extended to agnostics illustrates the deep intellectual and avowed atheists. and religious prejudices of In other words, the students America's academic elite and were free to have a Christian has the potential to strike a club, Hastings assured them, as ferocious blow for--or against-- long as it wasn't led only by religious liberty on university Christians. campuses. The Christian Legal Society In 2004, administrators at the m e m b e r s r i g h t l y s a w t h e University of California's administration's position as Hastings College of Law were deeply biased against people of outraged to learn that the faith and sued the school for c a m p u s ' s C h r i s t i a n L e g a l violating their rights protected S o c i e t y c h a p t e r r e q u i r e d by the First Amendment. members to sign a statement The law school contends that its affirming their Christian beliefs policy is designed to ensure and committing to live by them. equality on campus--every Admittedly, this is not an student must be eligible for u n u s u a l e x p e c t a t i o n f o r every club. And as part of a Christians who are increasingly public university, it says, all surrounded by a secular-socialist authorized student organizations Submitted at 4/15/2010 7:00:00 PM

should be held to the policy mandates of public institutions even where it conflicts with religious tenets. The school also argues that the organizations really should be open to everybody because so much of the funding that underwrites campus organizations comes from student activity fees. Simply put, it doesn't wash. Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit supported the Hastings position in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez; in 2006, the 7th Circuit, in a nearly identical case at Southern Illinois University ( Christian Legal Society v. Walker), did not. The split between those decisions brings the Martinez case to the Supreme Court. In the past, the high court has repeatedly asserted that a university, by letting a club use its facilities, is not subsidizing that club or putting the government's legal stamp of approval on its activities. Nor, the court has said, does using student fees to underwrite a broad spectrum of student organizations and activities necessitate that every club has to meet with every student's approval. This is why the outcome of this case is so crucial. With

Martinez, the high court has an opportunity to either protect or roll back the equal-access freedoms and defenses of religious liberty it has affirmed in recent years through landmark decisions in cases such as Good News Club v. Milford Central School. It's a measure of how much is at stake that 22 friend-of-the-court briefs from a wide variety of groups have been filed in support of CLS, including one from 14 state attorneys general. At the outset of the dispute and well into the initial stages of litigation, Hastings said that CLS had violated the university's bans on religious and "sexual orientation" discrimination. After CLS noted that the law school allowed other groups to organize around nonreligious ideas, Hastings suddenly asserted that no group could exclude anybody for any reason. So the Young Democrats, for example, are apparently required to accept Republicans as members and allow them to be elected to leadership positions in their club. That's simply absurd. Moreover, it's a ploy contorted to camouflage the double standard being applied to CLS simply because it is a Christian organization. Hastings officials

hope to hide the fact that on their campus, as at countless other colleges and universities nationwide, people of faith are being deliberately marginalized and excluded not for any real misdemeanors but for having the temerity to suggest that there's an authority higher than school administrators, a truth more compelling than the latest government-dictated cultural doctrine, and a God more worthy of worship than the idols of the left. A lot of leftists--in the offices of government and in the halls of academia--seem to find those ideas laughable. And yet, watch their faces in the courtrooms and classrooms. They're not laughing. When it comes to eroding freedom to shore up their own politically correct agenda, they are deadly serious. Newt Gingrich is a senior fellow at AEI. Jim Garlow is the chairman of Renewing American Leadership. P h o t o C r e d i t : iStockphoto/kledge Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Policy/ Sports/ Gaming/

E-reader News Edition

What Tea Party Backers Want (AEI.Org: Articles) Submitted at 4/15/2010 7:00:00 PM

This survey confirms two things about the Tea Partiers, and offers a few minor surprises. First, the Tea Partiers are overwhelmingly concerned with economic rather than social issues. This populist movement is not your father's culture war; in fact, 57 percent (question 67) favor gay marriage or civil unions, 65 percent favor access to abortion; an equal number (question 70) support some gun restrictions. Surprisingly, the survey reveals Tea Partiers to be slightly more economically secure than the general population. Combine those findings with the fact that Tea Partiers are a well-educated cohort, and the narrative that the Tea Partiers are a bunch of pitchfork populist rubes becomes harder to maintain. Second, the poll offers only scant evidence that racism or racial animosity is a dominant factor of the Tea Partiers,

though there is some evidence of polarization that is a problem for the Tea Party as a movement. An equal number of Tea Partiers (19 percent versus 20 percent of the general public) say President Obama's personal likability is his best feature, though twice as many Tea Partiers than the general public say they dislike Obama personally. Some questions reveal a gap between Tea Party perceptions of racial preference behind Obama's policies, but one wonders whether a survey would find a similar gap if Bill Clinton were the object of inquiry; this is likely an aspect of party politics today. There is not much more support among the Tea Partiers than the general public for the nonsense about whether Obama is a "native-born American." Repeatedly the survey's questions about government spending and an out-of-touch federal government generate off

-the-chart numbers. The fact that so many Tea Partiers are new to political participation suggests that, like the Perot voters of 1992 who were said to represent the "angry middle," a plurality of Tea Partiers are moderates who are simply shocked by Obama's great leap forward in the size of government. The difference between 1992 and today is that the person-Perot--came first, and a weak movement followed for a time. This time the Tea Party came first, and it is unclear if it will coalesce into a clear movement or unite behind a political figure. (The survey's finding of skepticism about Sarah Palin offers another data point about the relative populism of the Tea Partiers.) I think the most interesting question about the Tea Partiers is one that is difficult to gauge in a survey: While government spending and a low regard for Washington are the overwhelming focus of Tea

Party energy, the centrality of the Constitution, and general references to meaningful constitutional limits on government power, are a recurring feature of some Tea Party rhetoric. Not since the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s has populist political discourse focused on the Constitution as much as the Tea Partiers are today, though a specific program has not yet taken shape. The real promise of the Tea Party movement is that it may lead to a reinvigoration of the idea of constitutional limits on government--an idea liberals may find quaint if not hopelessly obsolete. Steven F. Hayward is the F. K. Weyerhaeuser Fellow at AEI. Photo Credit: Flickr user ajagendorf25/Creative Commons Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Sorry Soriano May Take Piniella Down With Him Greg Couch (FanHouse Main) Submitted at 4/15/2010 8:10:00 PM

Filed under: Cubs CHICAGO -- Priority No. 1 for Lou Piniella when he became Cubs manager 3 1/2 years ago was to get Alfonso Soriano. The lowly Cubs were actually going

to fight the baseball gods and go for it. Piniella's hiring was the proof. Soriano would be the proof, too. They would come to Wrigley Field as a package. Piniella was THE big-dollar manager available. Soriano was THE big-dollar free agent.

outfield stronger and more accurately than just about anyone. But what Piniella and the Cubs didn't realize was this: Alfonso Soriano can't play baseball. Soriano could hit for power, steal bases, throw from the

Rock Band Weekly: Coheed and Cambria, Siouxsie, Supergrass, Violent Femmes Alexander Sliwinski (Joystiq) Submitted at 4/16/2010 10:57:00 AM

Vocalists, get out your water bottles and start warming up now because a Coheed and Cambria track pack is the highlight of next week's Rock Band DLC. Also, for the first time, The Violent Femmes are available on Rock Band with "American Music." Check out next week's full DLC release list after the break. Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: Coheed and Cambria, Siouxsie, Supergrass, Violent Femmes Rock Band Weekly: Coheed and Cambria, Siouxsie, Supergrass, Violent Femmes originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Economy/

E-reader News Edition

Flash in the pan (The Economist: Daily news and views) Submitted at 4/16/2010 3:00:46 AM

Tech.view As Apple flexes its mobile muscles, it is changing the appearance of video on the web Apr 16th 2010 | From The Economist online GIVE Steve Jobs his due. Apple’s charismatic boss is, without question, the most strategic thinker in the business. He appreciates better than anyone that computing is in transition. As it evolves from being predominantly a stationary activity to becoming increasingly (exclusively?) a mobile one, the roles of the industry’s leading participants are changing fast. When Microsoft ruled the realm of personal computers, Apple was little more than a niche player. But in mobile phones, Microsoft is the one left scrambling for a piece of the action. And although Google may own 65% of the search business on the desktop, the 85m wireless devices Apple has sold (iPhones, iPods and now iPads) account for 64% of America’s mobile browsing, Mr Jobs said this month. The success of Apple’s mobile devices gives the firm an opportunity to capture a goodly chunk of the emerging mobileadvertising market. Indeed, that is the reason why Apple recently

acquired Quattro Wireless, a mobile advertising agency. Becoming an advertising powerhouse is certainly attractive. But Mr Jobs has far bigger fish to fry. The biggest of them all is turning Apple into the Microsoft of mobility. But first there is a little matter of locking as many software developers as possible into the Apple ecosystem. If the applications are there, so the argument goes, users will follow in droves. It has been done before. What gave Microsoft the keys to the kingdom was partly the way it embraced an open platform based on the Intel processor plus slots for other manufacturers’ components to plug into. Even more important, though, was the vast number of applications written by independent programmers that worked exclusively with Microsoft’s operating systems. Mr Jobs has no intention of ever opening Apple’s hardware for others to mess with. But software that meets a minimum standard is a different matter. At the last count, the App Store (Apple’s online outlet for iPhone software) listed 185,000 applications for users to choose from. So far, some 4 billion software utilities, games, maps and music tracks have been downloaded by owners of iPhones, iPods and lately iPads—all of which share the

same operating system and can therefore use many of the same applications. The App Store offers Mr Jobs his best chance yet of creating a global franchise on a par with Microsoft’s Windows. From Apple’s perspective, the last thing it should therefore do is allow that unique source of customer satisfaction to be threatened in any way. No surprise, then, that Mr Jobs has banned programmers from writing iPhone apps using crossplatform programming tools like Adobe’s Flash and Microsoft’s .NET, which make it easy to write an app for many different devices and operating systems at once. Flash plug-ins, running inside web browsers, can be found in Macintosh computers, but in none of Apple’s mobile toys. Were Flash ever to find its way in through the back door to the iPhone operating system, Apple’s armlock on its customers would be severely weakened. If most apps are built to run on Android and BlackBerry phones, as well as iPhones, then Apple would lose the advantage of being able to offer the widest choice of apps. With all smart phones able to do similar tricks these days, there would be less compulsion to buy an iPhone in the first place. But there is a big problem with banning Flash: without it, people cannot play most of the

videos, animation and games encoded on websites using the industry’s most popular tool. Adobe’s Flash software powers the vast majority of multimedia clips seen on the web—from YouTube videos to the simplest animated chart or advertisement. Apple’s devices include software that can play YouTube videos when needed. But apart from that they are incompatible with content built in Flash. (Bad luck, Farmville fans.) Still, Mr Jobs remains adamant. In his view, Flash is a rat’s nest of buggy software that hogs processor cycles, drains battery life and causes needless crashes. That is why he has just blocked an end-run Adobe was planning around his ban on mobile Flash. Henceforth, developers creating applications for the iPhone and its ilk will have to sign a revised agreement that forbids them from using any programming tools other than Apple’s approved set. The move was prompted by the arrival of Adobe’s latest programming aid, Flash Pro CS 5. This threatened to turn Flash applications of the kind seen on the web into stand-alone iPhone apps capable of slipping onto the App Store undetected. Adobe even boasted—rather rashly, as it turned out—that over 100 such programs had already done just that. Does Apple’s latest clamp down on Flash mean that people

who have bought iPhones, iPods and iPads are now stuck with a crippled version of the web? For the time being, yes—though there are partial workarounds that might yet help. Eventually, though, a technology known as HTML5, which has been in the works for the past six years, promises to render Flash largely irrelevant. Among other things, the attraction of HTML5 is that it is designed to handle audio and video internally, without the need for browser plug-ins such as Adobe’s Flash (or others like Microsoft’s Silverlight and Oracle’s JavaFX). Unfortunately, HTML5 remains a work in progress. Where, today, Flash can seamlessly handle a variety of “codecs” for compressing and decompressing the video’s data stream between the web server and the viewer, HTML5 is experimenting with two distinctly different codecs for video playback: one, called H.264, is used in Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s forthcoming IE9 browsers, while the other, known as Ogg Theora, has been adopted by the Firefox and Opera browsers; Google’s Chrome has embraced both. Experts agree that the H.264 algorithm produces a superior picture, but it is a proprietary technology—though free to license, at least for the time being. For internet purists, Ogg FLASH page 33

Economy/

E-reader News Edition

FLASH

Ash-flow problems (The Economist: Daily news and views)

Britain’s authorities said that most of the country’s airspace would be closed for a second Submitted at 4/16/2010 5:23:20 AM day and at least until at least Iceland's volcanic eruption A 1am on Saturday. By Friday volcano in Iceland grounds Charles De Gaulle in Paris, and flights and threatens Europe's many smaller French airports; fragile airlines most of Germany’s big airports, Apr 16th 2010 | From The including Frankfurt, the base for Economist online Germany’s Lufthansa; Schiphol DRAMATIC sunsets, aflame i n A m s t e r d a m ; a n d m a n y with red and gold, across smaller hubs in Belgium, Ireland northern Europe will have and Scandinavia had closed for offered little compensation to business. As the cloud drifted airline passengers suffering the east towards Russia the Polish consequences of the extensive authorities started to close cloud of ash belching from an airspace there too. Eurocontrol, Icelandic volcano. Terminals which oversees air traffic in e m p t y o f p a s s e n g e r s a n d Europe, expects around 11,000 grounded aircraft attested to the flights to take off in the region power of nature to disrupt the today where usually there would travel plans of millions as many be some 28,000. Around a third of Europe’s busiest airports of the morning flights on were forced to close for business transatlantic routes into Europe, on Thursday April 16th. one the world’s busiest, arrived The travel chaos is set to at their destinations. continue for several days, even Even if the Icelandic volcano’s if the volcano stops erupting or eruption stopped tomorrow, the wind changes direction and thousands of flights in and out blows the cloud away from of Europe and millions of Europe’s crowded air space. The passengers will be disrupted. risk to planes comes from tiny And it may take many days to particles of silicate that reduce get schedules back to normal, as visibility for pilots and, worse, grounded planes and crew are could knock out a jet engine. In redirected to the right parts of recent years several instances the world. The Centre for Asia have been reported of engines Pacific Aviation, an Australian cutting out after flying through airline consultancy, reckons that v o l c a n i c c l o u d s , t h o u g h around 6m passengers will be thankfully pilots have then been affected if, as seems possible, able to restart them at lower the disruption goes on for a third a l t i t u d e s a w a y f r o m t h e day. hazardous ash. The fear not just for Europe’s

continued from page 32

airlines but for the continent as a whole is that the effects could last for days or even weeks. Europe’s airlines have struggled through a nasty recession that led to deep losses but until Eyjafjallajökull intervened things seemed to be improving. In February passenger numbers for European airlines were 4.3% up over the year before according to IATA, the airline’s industry body. And in March IATA halved its forecast for airlines losses for the year to $2.8 billion. Yet recovery in the vital transatlantic business market and shrinking short-haul travel continues to put a strain on airline finances. For all the signs of recovery the situation has worrying echo of the damage wrought to America’s struggling airlines in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001. The suspension of all flights in American airspace for several days in the wake of the terror attacks forced a $15 billion government bail-out for domestic carriers. Even with this help US Airways and United Airlines were forced to file for bankruptcy in 2002. A prolonged disruption of flights in and out of northern Europe could threaten the tentative economic recovery in the region if business travellers and tourists stop arriving. Another more immediate worry for northern Europe is the health

risk that volcanic ash might bring. While the ash cloud floats miles above the earth it poses only a risk to jet engines. But reports suggest that it may have started to settle on the ground in Scotland. More could follow further south. The World Health Organisation recommends staying inside if ash starts raining down from the sky. The agency admits that the exact health worries are unclear but reckons that inhaled particles might cause respiratory problems. Moreover volcanoes spewing ash into the atmosphere can have effects on the climate too. A far larger eruption in Iceland in 1783 threw sulphur dioxide and other gases and dust into the air creating a persistent haze that blocked out sunlight. Airlines have weathered the effects of recessions, terror attacks, wars and diseases such as SARS in the past and most will eventually get over a few days lost to volcanic activity. But a prolonged eruption could have more unpleasant effects not just for air travellers but for everyone in the region. Readers' comments The Economist welcomes your views. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Theora’s attraction is that it is open source. A religious war has broken out between the two camps over which codec to standardise on. The good news is that a solution may yet be in sight. By all accounts, Google is poised to open-source its highly regarded VP8 video codec. The search giant has hinted as much ever since acquiring the codec’s maker, On2 Technologies, earlier this year. Insiders reckon VP8 uses only half the bandwidth of H.264 while delivering an even better picture. Mozilla, the opensource organisation behind Firefox, would welcome VP8 into the fold. But would Apple, after having backed H.264 so enthusiastically? If it promised a quick and certain death for Flash, Mr Jobs would doubtless be delighted to go along. For deprived iPhone users, the crippled web might then be a thing of the past. Readers' comments The Economist welcomes your views. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Economy/ Culture/

E-reader News Edition

Pakistani murder mystery (The Economist: Daily news and views)

assassination,” it says, “could have been prevented if adequate security measures had been Submitted at 4/16/2010 7:00:41 AM taken.” Benazir Bhutto's assassination Worse for Mr Musharraf and A UN report on the killing of the army, the 65-page report Benazir Bhutto makes awkward accuses his government and its reading for Pakistan’s army agents of a “deliberate” effort to Apr 16th 2010 | DELHI | From cover up the circumstances of The Economist online Ms Bhutto’s murder—including A FEW days after the murder hosing down the crime scene of Benazir Bhutto in December less than two hours after the 2 0 0 7 , a t w o - t i m e f o r m e r attack and ensuring no post Pakistani prime minister, the mortem was carried out on Ms country’s president, Pervez Bhutto’s body. It also finds that M u s h a r r a f , h e l d a p r e s s Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, conference in high spirits. including the main armyCracking jokes about his controlled Inter-Services country’s famed unruliness, the Intelligence (ISI), “severely then dictator dismissed concerns hampered” investigations into about a hapless police effort to the crime. secure evidence and investigate The report accuses Saud Aziz, the killing. He suggested Ms police chief of Rawalpindi, the Bhutto was partly to blame for garrison city where Ms Bhutto having disregarded security was killed, of deliberately warnings. But on Thursday preventing investigators from April 15th a high-powered UN reaching the crime scene for report into Ms Bhutto’s death nearly two days. He also took a more critical view of ordered the hosing of the crime these events. For Mr Musharraf, scene—after receiving a call, the now living in exile in London, report says, from Pakistan’s and the Pakistani military army headquarters. The report establishment he once led, its calls an official enquiry into this c o n c l u s i o n s s h o u l d b e damning event a “whitewash”. devastating. “Hosing down the crime scene T h e r e p o r t f i n d s M r so soon after the blast goes Musharraf’s government guilty beyond mere incompetence,” of an “inexcusable” failure to the report says. “It is up to the provide proper security to Ms relevant authorities to determine Bhutto, who was campaigning w h e t h e r t h i s a m o u n t s t o for elections at the time of her c r i m i n a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . ” m u r d e r . “ M s B h u t t o ’ s Dispelling a popular Pakistani

conspiracy theory,one of the report’s authors, Heraldo Muñoz Valenzuela, a Chilean diplomat, said there is no evidence to suggest Ms Bhutto’s widower, President Asif Zardari, was involved in her killing, Yet the report offered encouragement to other conspiracy theories: “While [Ms Bhutto] died when a fifteen-and-a-half-year-old suicide bomber detonated his explosives near her vehicle, no one believes that this boy acted alone.” The report casts doubt on the official Pakistani conclusion—supported by American and British spies and detectives—that Baitullah Mehsud, then head of Pakistan’s Taliban militants, was behind the killing. “It remains the responsibility of the Pakistani authorities to carry out a serious, credible criminal investigation that determines who conceived, ordered and executed this heinous crime of historic proportions.” To be fair to Mr Musharraf, some of the bungling described in the report is unremarkable in Pakistan. For example, it notes that police deployed on rooftops around the site of Ms Bhutto’s last rally were supposed to have binoculars, but did not. To some extent, the unhelpful role of the country’s intelligence agencies might also be less sinister than it appears. In a country with a history of army intrigue and

interventions, civilian officials are often paralysed by uncertainty over their generals’ wishes. This might explain some of the shoddy policing—with officials reluctant to investigate Ms Bhutto's killing in case the ISI had a hand in it. At best, then, the report highlights the debilitating effect on Pakistan’s institutions of its periodic spells of military rule. It also suggests the contempt the country’s uniformed leaders display towards their civilian counterparts. Yet this is clearly not all. The report, which was kept under wraps for two weeks at the timorous request of Mr Zardari’s government, raises serious questions about the role in the killing played by Mr Musharraf’s regime, which included Pakistan’s current army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, who led the ISI until shortly before Ms Bhutto’s murder. Whether these mysteries will be cleared up is another matter—in a country where political murders are rarely solved. Readers' comments The Economist welcomes your views. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Great Geek Debates: The Zombie Velocity Test Curtis Silver (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 4/16/2010 10:15:00 AM

If there is one thing that we have learned from television and movies it’s that the Zombipocalypse is inevitable. There will soon come a day that we will be holding up in a mall, fighting off the incoming horde of brain-seeking zombies. With modern entertainment, zombies went from a niche sci-fi creation to a pop culture phenomenon. Zombies have quickly become a staple of modern horror. They scare us with their faces of gore and detached limbs, they make us laugh with their clumsy shuffling and simplistic one-task -oriented view of the world they have been re-animated into. Originating in ancient voodoo rituals in Haiti and Africa, zombies worked their way into the American culture through film as early as 1932 with White Zombie starring Bela Lugosi. From there, zombies showed up in Plan 9 From Outer Space in GREAT page 35

E-reader News Edition

GREAT continued from page 34

the form of a shuffling Tor Johnson then finally in George A. Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead. This film changed the landscape of zombie-centric movie making, though it wouldn’t be until the 2004 remake of his 1978 classic Dawn of the Dead that zombies really sky rocketed into the pop culture mentality, not to mention stopped shuffling and started running. That same year brought us Shawn of the Dead and then, zombies got funny. But this isn’t a post about the history of zombies in movies. This is about the the only major disparity in zombie portrayal in movies and videogames. Some shuffle while others run at a clip that couldn’t be maintained by most marathon runners. So which is it? Which one instills a greater sense of fear deep in the cockles of your heart? The shuffling zombie or the hyperspeed zombie? Dragging Their Feet for Brains The inherent fear that the shuffling, slow zombie brings to the discussion is that you have longer to fear for your life. There is nothing quick about the slow-moving zombie that drags one foot across the ground as it makes its way toward you. This, in relation to movies and videogames, gives the viewer more time to focus on the zombie and notice all the sick little details. The disfigured face, the rotting flesh bits

hanging off exposed bone and of course the wide open maw, dripping with blood and other disturbing fluids like pus and Crystal Pepsi. Take the videogame Dead Rising for example. In it, the zombies are what I call “classic zombies.” They move slow. This gives your character time to participate in the highly entertaining activity of killing zombies in creative ways. This translates well into real life, as if you had to fight off an incoming horde of zombies, you’d like to have as much time to reload your gun as humanly possible. With a slow-moving classic zombie, this is possible. Zombies moving with no haste create a particular tension and suspense, something that was captured perfectly in those old George A. Romero films. Not to mention that when they do get you, they tear apart your skull and munch on your brains as if enjoying a vintage glass of brandy, in zombie terms. The downside to a slow-moving zombie is the pack mentality that exists with zombies. They all want brains, and they all want it from you. At the same time. They are more patient and will hang around and scratch at the door long after you’ve run out of bullets. This will give more time for additional zombies to gather and scratch at the door. Eventually, you’ve run out of ammo, there are a

thousand zombies outside and you’ve nowhere to run. Another point that must be brought up is the decay of the flesh, and at what point does it render a zombie incapable of movement? I’ve always wondered about this, and no movie that I’ve seen ever seems to address it. Clearly there is something supernatural at work that enables the zombies to rise from the dead, or like in 28 Days Later a virus, but either way, the flesh is in a constant state of decay. Based on the loss of limbs and chunks of meat falling off of them at random intervals, one would have to assume that decay continues after the zombie has risen. Therefore, slow zombies might very well decay to nothing but bones by the time they get to you. I can’t see insects not feeding on and laying their eggs in zombies. Unless they have a living-dead immune system too. To sum up, slow zombies will eventually get you — it’ll just take them longer. At least we’ll have highway warnings. Super Human Strength, Maggots for a Jaw With the 2004 release of Dawn of the Dead zombies got a serious upgrade. Instead of the slow-moving living dead, they became super fast and super strong. Which created a whole new depth of fear and terror. At least, that’s what they were supposed to do. Suddenly, when

a zombie was after you, you only had moments to react. Sadly for many, screaming was the only reaction. The fast zombie, as we’ll refer to them, also possessed strange superhuman strength. They are able to smash through doors and windows, and could take quite a beating before going down. The zombies in all the Romero films that followed Dawn of the Dead in the last six years or so all were super-fast zombies. The zombies we encounter in the awesome Left 4 Dead videogame series are resilient and strong (albeit, weird as well.) These fast zombies made it easier to create a quick jump from the audience, as you were less likely to see them coming. There were more jump-out-ofyour-seat moments, more surprises. Translating into real life, for when the Zombiepocalypse comes, these aren’t the zombies you want to be dealing with. They are just raw, feral creatures out for blood. They are violent and will not stand outside the barn clawing away at the boarded up windows, they will hurl themselves at the boards until they break through. There is a stronger sense of urgency to deal with them, but less time to do so. The tendency will be to empty a clip in a hurried fashion, as their speed quickly takes them from downrange to in your face faster

than a Prius. The rate of decay has to be taken into consideration with the fast zombies as well. Since they are moving quicker, they will most likely achieve their goal before decay makes it impossible. However, with the excess movement such as bashing in plate glass windows with their foreheads, they might accelerate the rate of just plain falling apart. Except they don’t seem to. Which is very puzzling when it comes to the walking dead. The fast ones seem to be nearly indestructible when it comes to self harm. With that holding true, that makes the fast zombies that much more dangerous. To sum up, fast zombies will be on you quicker than you can put a round in the chamber, tearing you apart like a pack of wolverines on a bunny rabbit. So Which is it? Slow or Fast? While fast zombies are just as entertaining to watch as their foot-dragging counterparts, if I was going up against a horde of zombies I would rather be facing the slow ones. That doesn’t mean that they are better in the way of entertainment, I’d have to give that win to the fast zombies. Much more engaging and suspenseful to watch in movies than the slow ones. So the tie breaker would have to be which ones I’d rather fight in a GREAT page 39

Culture/

E-reader News Edition

Alt Text: Embrace Suicide Cuisine With New Fast-Food Delicacies Lore Sj&amp;#246;berg (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 4/15/2010 8:05:00 PM

With the introduction of KFC’s Double Down sandwich monstrosity, we can take solace in one thing: America’s mad scientists are getting work. The Double Down— which consists of two boneless chicken filets that enclose two pieces of bacon, two melted slices of cheese and a mysterious substance known as Colonel’s Sauce — was clearly concocted in a laboratory manned by maniacs. The whole idea of replacing bread with chicken — fried chicken— is so brilliantly horrible that I’m surprised Leviticus has nothing to say on the subject. Surely, while God was prohibiting fortunetelling and bestiality he could have mentioned something about misuses of fried-chicken slabs. Still, you can’t put the genie back in the grease-stained bottle, so I say let’s go for it. Anything goes from here on out, and I for one don’t intend to be left behind by the salty tides of suicide cuisine. Here are some suggestions for future fatty fun foods: BaconWrapped Bacon Balls We have to start this list with bacon, and what goes better

with bacon than more damn bacon? We take some bacon, wad it into a rough sphere, dip it in batter and deep-fry it in 100 percent sugar-free vegetable oil. Then we take that deep-fried bacon and wrap it in more bacon. Ten minutes in the oven, 10 more minutes under the heat lamp, and it’s yours to enjoy. Dipping sauce selections include Sweet Onion Chipotle, Honey

Ginger Ranch and BBQ Mayo. All-Chicken “Garden” Salad Everyone knows salad is good for you, so why not have the tastiest salad you can get? We take “lettuce” made from chicken shavings, and top it with julienned chicken “carrots,” sliced chicken “cucumbers” and hand-scooped, all-breast-meat chicken “cherry tomatoes.” Eating salad was

never this fun! And for just 99 cents more, you can order your “salad” with a crispy chicken topper. Energy Biscuits When you’re just getting started in the morning, the last thing you want is a heavy, fatty meal that’s just going to slow you down. That’s why we’re turning all our heavy, fatty breakfast foods into caffeine-powered energy sandwiches! A caffeine-

infused biscuit holds two slabs of coffee-glazed ham, a slice of caffeine-enriched American cheese and an egg from an incredibly edgy chicken. When you start to feel the Achievement Tremors, you’ll know you’re ready to punch your day in the nose! Chicken Skins ALT page 39

Culture/

E-reader News Edition

Hit Girl's Revenge: The Kick-Ass Kids Are All Right Lewis Wallace (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 4/16/2010 10:25:00 AM

Chloe Moretz is witty, not menacing -- unless she's in Hit Girl mode. P h o t o : J i m Merithew/Wired.com The movie may be called KickAss, but you’ll walk out of the theater thinking “Hit Girl!” The preteen killing machine, decked out in mask, kilt and purple wig, is expertly portrayed by 13-year-old Chloe Grace Moretz. Chloe Moretz kicks plenty of ass as Hit Girl. Photo: Dan Smith Swerving on a dime from sweet alter ego Mindy Macready to trashtalking Hit Girl, the actress single-handedly kicks the highly entertaining Kick-Ass into controversial overdrive. “It was crazy, ’cause every time I was on the set in that costume, I became Hit Girl,” Moretz told Wired.com during an interview at a San Francisco hotel. “And every time I had the bangs on and the little pigtails, I became Mindy…. It was a lot of fun to show the difference between Mindy and Hit Girl for me, ’cause it’s almost like an alternate personality.” Throughout director Matthew Vaughn’s roller coaster ride of a movie, Hit Girl gets all the good lines, capping every Tarantinoscale bloodletting with a foul-

mouthed joke. Moretz’s spirited delivery of those potty-mouth punch lines, and the glee and ease with which Hit Girl slices and dices bad guys, have stirred up a storm even as they’ve dazzled fanboys and moviegoers. A tiny terror, Hit Girl runs, jumps, flips, whirls, shoots and stabs, leaving corpses and body parts in her wake. To prepare for the frenetic fight scenes, Moretz trained for

months. She practiced gunhandling and learned how to use the swords and butterfly knives wielded with utter authority onscreen. Still, shooting the action sequences proved grueling, she said. “You had no music, you had no slow motion — you only had, you know, about five seconds’ worth of one little bitty shot, and then you did it probably 10 times and then you move on,” she said.

“It was really hard, ’cause I would have to stay as Hit Girl, and I’d have to keep my face tough, and I’d have to be in the moment, you know, getting revenge— and then I’d have to think in my head, ‘OK, left foot, right foot, 1-2-3, jump!’” Aaron Johnson, left, plays Kick -Ass and Christopher MintzPlasse plays Red Mist in the movie Kick-Ass. P h o t o : J i m Merithew/Wired.com

The Kids of Kick-Ass Hit Girl isn’t the only costumed crime-fighter in director Matthew Vaughn’s hyperviolent movie. Like Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s comic book upon which it’s based, Kick-Ass revolves around Dave Lizewski, a likeably dorky superhero wannabe who dons a wetsuit and takes a stand against criminals. HIT page 39

Culture/

E-reader News Edition

April 16, 1943: Setting the Stage for World's First Acid Trip Tony Long (Wired Top Stories)

Source: Various Photo: Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, discoverer of the mind-altering drug LSD. Reto Gisin/AP, Keystone An earlier version of this article appeared on Wired.com April 16, 2007. See Also:

Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:00:00 AM

1943: Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the psychedelic properties of LSD. Hofmann, a Swiss chemist, was researching the synthesis of a lysergic acid compound, LSD25, when he inadvertently absorbed a bit through his fingertips. Intrigued by the stimulating effects on his perception, Hofmann decided further exploration was warranted. Three days later he ingested 250 micrograms of LSD, embarking on the first full -fledged acid trip. In his autobiography, LSD, My Problem Child, Hofmann remembered his discovery this way: I was forced to interrupt my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and proceed home, being affected by a remarkable restlessness, combined with a slight dizziness. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state, with eyes

closed (I found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours this condition faded away. The experience led Hofmann to begin experimenting with other hallucinogens, and he became an advocate of their use, in the arenas of both psychoanalysis

and personal growth. He was critical of LSD’s casual use by the counterculture during the ’60s. He referred to the drug as “medicine for the soul” and accused rank amateurs of hijacking it without understanding either its positive or negative effects. Hofmann was equally critical of what he considered society’s knee-jerk rejection of a drug that he believed is mostly beneficial

• April 13, 1953: CIA OKs MK -ULTRA Mind-Control Tests • New Site Details Chemical Warfare, LSD Tests • LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? • April 16, 1813: Specifying the Interchangeability Standard • April 16, 1947: Ship Explosion Ignites 3-Day Rain of Fire and Death • Jan. 5, 1943: George and deserving of continued Washington Carver Bites the research. “I think that in human Dust He Enriched evolution it has never been as • Jan. 14, 1943: Space Cowgirl necessary to have this substance, • June 10, 1943: Biro Brothers LSD,” he said at a symposium Patent Ballpoint Pen in 2006 marking the centennial • July 5, 1943: Defeat at Kursk of his birth. “It is just a tool to Heralds Twilight of the Panzers turn us into what we are • Oct. 19, 1943: A Wonderful Discovery, and a Helluva Row supposed to be.” Hofmann died of a heart attack a t h i s h o m e n e a r B a s e l , Five Filters featured article: Switzerland, in 2008. He was Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, 102. Term Extraction.

E-reader News Edition

ALT

HIT

continued from page 36

When a box of wings is too much work, and a box of boneless wings is too much like health food, why not try a light snack of our crunchy fried chicken skins? We take pure, natural chicken skin, cover it with original or extra-spicy flavor coatings, then deep-fry it and drench it in the sauce of your choice: smoky Texan, tangy Thai, creamy Hawaiian or salty Iowan. The crunchiest nonvegetarian snack you can buy! Butter Buddies Children are always disappointed when they get a Kids’ Meal and not everything in it is edible. That’s why we created Butter Buddies, the toy made of 100 percent real butter (plus preservatives and stabilizers). The first line of Butter Buddies will be in this summer’s Iron Man 2 Kids’ Meals, with deliciously fun Iron Man and War Machine action/digestion figures

continued from page 37

included. And hey, we don’t even have to include different toys for toddlers! Chew on it all ya like, droolers! Chicken Shakes Meat shakes are already popular with body builders and Rottweilers with jaw injuries, but we’re the only ones to offer “A Whole Chicken in Every Shake.” That means that each shake weighs about 4 pounds — but who orders a small anything these days? Be sure to stop by around St. Patrick’s Day for our Paddy O’Poultry Mint N’ Chicken Shake. Spoon Dippers What’s the best part about any food that comes with a dipping sauce? Why, the dipping sauce, of course! That’s why we’ve created the ultimate snack for dipping sauce fans. Instead of chicken nuggets or onion rings, we provide you with nothing but a plastic spoon and a doublesize sauce tublet. It’s dipping like you’ve never dipped before!

(Except you probably have, but we’re making it seem like a legitimate option.) Come on down and try our new menu today! Consult your doctor before ordering. --Born helpless, nude and unable to provide for himself, Lore Sjöberg eventually overcame these handicaps to become a gorger, a gobbler and a guzzler. See Also:

Kick-Ass and Red Mist cruise in the Mist Mobile. Photo: Dan Smith Portayed by 19-year old British actor Aaron Johnson, Dave, dressed as KickAss, goes out on misguided adventures that land him in the hospital with life-threatening injuries. After a bystander films him squaring off against some street thugs, he becomes a media sensation “Dave’s a sensitive guy,” said Johnson. “He’s lost his mother • Alt Text: A Molecular and he’s a nobody in school and Gastronomy FAQK he creates Kick-Ass as this • Alt Text: Manic Marketers whole different persona.” Teach Old Snacks Crazy New In contrast to the in-control Hit Tricks Girl, Kick-Ass blunders his way through every encounter. His Five Filters featured article: “superpower” draws from postChilcot Inquiry. Available tools: beating nerve damage that PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, enables him to absorb an Term Extraction. abnormal amount of body blows. But Kick-Ass has his heart in

analysis. Agree? Don’t agree? Think the zombie threat isn’t real? Leave it in the comments! Follow us on Twitter@cebsilver and@wiredgeekdad Image Credit: Flickr User Eric Ingrum/Used under Creative

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

GREAT continued from page 35

videogame, and that would be the inverse of the ones I’d rather fight in real life. The fast ones are much more thrilling and violently exciting to go up against in videogames. Otherwise, it’s just a crap shoot with the slow pokes. So there you have it. Zombie speed

the right place. “He’s a kid who’s got balls to go out there and fucking do something different,” said Johnson, who spoke with Wired.com during the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, following Kick-Ass‘ raucous premiere. Also in Austin was Christopher Mintz-Plasse, 20, who plays the mysterious Red Mist. “We don’t have any of the action in the movie,” he said. “It’s all Hit Girl.” Pages: 1 2 View All Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Culture/ Politics/

E-reader News Edition

Alexa Chung and Henry Holland Celebrate LOFT’s Fall Collection ELLE.com (ELLE Fashion Blogs)

the ladylike-with-an-edge mashup of new pieces. For fall, LOFT collaborated with stylists Submitted at 4/15/2010 3:00:00 PM Tina Chai, Kate Young, Alia The rooftop of the Bowery Ahmed-Yahia, and Joanna Hotel provided a chic backdrop Blades to create a covetable for the presentation of LOFT's collection based on 10 essentials fall collection last night. While (I can’t wait to wear the the always eclectically put s l e e v e l e s s t r e n c h d r e s s ) . together Alexa Chung DJ'd in Holland, who is in town filming the corner (wearing socks with Frock Me, a new fashionher sky-high platforms), guests focused TV show with Chung, interviewing everyone from (including Maggie Gyllenhaal, said his spring 2011 collection is Karen Elson in Nashville to M e n a S u v a r i , a n d H e n r y starting to come into focus. The Taylor Momsen in New York Holland) milled about, admiring duo has been all over the world,

about their personal style (the show will air in the UK on April 25). While in New York, Holland stays with close friend Agyness Deyn. Of her new, short crop, Holland said, "Pixie [Geldof] filmed the haircut on her flip cam. I love it." Click here to shop LOFT's spring collection. —Violet Moon Gayn or Photo: Kelly Stuart Photo: Kelly Stuart

The TNR EXCHANGE: Trust Fall Yossi Klein Halevi, James Risen (The New Republic - All Feed) Submitted at 4/15/2010 6:08:36 PM

James Risen, a Washingtonbased writer, and Yossi Klein Halevi, a Jerusalem-based writer, have been friends since they both crashed the Nazi Party headquarters in Chicago as student reporters 30 years ago. TNR page 41

Bishop Williamson Convicted of Holocaust Denial (Newsmax - Inside Cover) Submitted at 4/16/2010 6:14:13 AM

A German court has convicted ultraconservative British Bishop Richard Williamson of incitement for denying the Holocaust in a television interview. A court in the Bavarian city of Regensburg on Friday found Williamson guilty of incitement for saying in an interview with Swedish television that he did not believe Jews were killed in gas chambers during World War II. The court ordered Williamson to pay a fine of euro10,000

($13,544). The Roman Catholic bishop was barred by his order from attending Friday's proceedings. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. BERLIN (AP) — Ultraconservative British Bishop Richard Williamson went on trial Friday on charges of denying the Holocaust for saying in a TV interview that he did not believe Jews were killed in gas chambers during World War II. The Roman Catholic bishop was barred by his order from

attending the proceedings in a court in the Bavarian city of Regensburg. The ultraconservative Society of St. Pius X also forbade him from making statements to the media. The court had issued Williamson a fine of euro12,000 (about $16,200) for incitement in connection with his statements last year, but the bishop refused to accept the punishment, forcing his case to be tried publicly. Williamson's lawyer, Matthias Lossmann, told the German news agency DAPD his client had expressly requested that the interview, given to Swedish

television in November 2008, not be shown in Germany. But it was broadcast over the Internet and cited in German media. Denying the Holocaust is a criminal offense in Germany. The interview was conducted near Regensburg and was granted shortly before Williamson's excommunication was lifted by Pope Benedict XVI, along with that of three other bishops from the antimodernization movement of the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. The lifting of Williamson's excommunication sparked outrage among Jewish groups

and in Israel. The Vatican's handling of the affair prompted criticism from German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A verdict was expected later Friday. © Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

E-reader News Edition

TNR continued from page 40

They have been joking and arguing about news and politics ever since, especially when it comes to Israel and the Middle East. This e-mail exchange began in the shadow of the dispute between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government. It became obvious that Washington and Jerusalem were experiencing a failure to communicate, and so Risen and Halevi thought it might be valuable to lay out what Americans and Israelis are saying about each other—but not to each other. Dear Yossi, Early in the Bush administration, I attended a lunch meeting with the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, and was quite struck by the confident tone of his presentation. Without resorting to much diplomatic nuance, he made it clear that Israel, at least for the moment, had lost interest in engagement and negotiations with the Palestinians. Israel, he signaled, was ready to pull up the drawbridge. That wasn't too surprising, given the series of Intifadas that Israel had recently suffered. What I did find intriguing was that the ambassador seemed to know something I didn't yet, which was that the Bush administration was ready and eager to go along with this new

hard line Israeli position. What the ambassador was really telegraphing to a room full of American reporters was that George W. Bush—whose father had been tough on Israel—had quietly but radically altered the dynamics of the WashingtonJerusalem relationship in a way that the Israel government very much liked. The Bush approach to Israel became publicly apparent soon thereafter, and for the next eight years, Israel was the recipient of a hands-off approach from Washington, one that placed virtually no demands on the country. George Bush and Dick Cheney viewed Israel as a full partner in their war on terror, and in the neoconservative drive to spread democracy throughout the Middle East. They were loathe to strain that partnership by trying to force Israel to restart serious negotiations. So November 2008 must have come as something of a shock to the Israeli system. With the election of President Barack Obama, Israel could no longer count on coddling from Washington. Obama was serious about restarting the peace process, and so was his new Secretary of State, whose husband had pushed for peace until it hurt the last time around. George W. Bush was back in Dallas, buying a new house. Support for Israel is deeply bipartisan in the United States,

but Bush had fundamentally altered the political calculus on the issue, and so now, by demanding a real peace process, the Democrats must have suddenly all looked like Noam Chomsky to Israelis. But there was something deeper going on in the United States than simply a new administration. Bush had exhausted the American people. Two bloody and costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that had dragged on for most of the decade had left many Americans with a serious case of Middle East fatigue. With about five thousand American soldiers dead in the two wars, more and more Americans were eager for withdrawal from the region. What's more, the Great Recession had left millions of Americans jobless or even homeless, and fewer were willing to support trillion-dollar wars of choice. When they did think about the Middle East, Americans thought about Iraq, Afghanistan, and their boys on the front lines; they didn't think about Israel and Israel's problems. They debated whether we had achieved victory in Iraq, whether sending more troops to Afghanistan would really damage al Qaeda, and what to do about Pakistan and the terrorist havens in its frontier regions. Anything in the Middle

East that got in the way of American objectives in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan became an irritant. Then there was the issue of Iran, and U.S. and Israeli attitudes here once again diverged. Iran appeared to be working on a nuclear weapons program, but more immediately, it was also playing a major role in Iraq, and if it so chose, could play havoc on American troops ready and eager to withdraw. Israelis looked at Iran and saw only the shadow of nuclear war; Americans looked at Iran and saw a regional player that had to be contained, especially in Iraq. Certainly Washington is concerned about a nuclear Iran, but most officials do not see it as an existential threat. The bottom line—it is no longer September 12, 2001 in Washington. And that makes all the difference. Best, Jim Dear Jim, The Obama administration’s decision to provoke a crisis with Israel is based on a profound misreading of the last decade in Middle East peacemaking efforts. Israeli disillusionment toward the peace process wasn’t, as you write, only a result of Palestinian violence. It was because the Second Intifada occurred after Israel accepted a Palestinian state. When Israel endorsed the Clinton Proposals

of December 2000 and received in return the worst wave of terrorism in its history, most Israelis despaired of a negotiated settlement. One result was the near-total collapse of the Israeli left which, tragically, had won the domestic argument over the untenability of the occupation, only to lose the argument over the viability of a peace agreement. For all the skepticism, though, Israeli attempts to end the occupation continued through the Bush years. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon uprooted Gaza’s settlements, and the result was that Palestinian rocket attacks shifted from those settlements to Israeli communities within the 1967 borders. Sharon’s successor, Ehud Olmert, offered the Palestinians the equivalent of one hundred percent of the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as their capital. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Olmert says, never even responded. If the administration wants to make progress on peace talks, it should focus on the real obstacle—Palestinian refusal to confine the return of the descendants of the refugees of 1948 to a Palestinian state. That’s the reason why Palestinian leaders have rejected Israel’s offers for statehood. No Israeli government will agree to absorb descendants of TNR page 42

E-reader News Edition

TNR continued from page 41

Palestinian refugees into Israel proper. That would lead not to a two-state solution but to a binational state. Yet the administration seems convinced that, with enough pressure on Israel, a peace agreement is within reach. That wishful thinking also ignores the rise of Hamas. Even if, by some miracle, Fatah conceded on the right of return, Israel is in effect being asked to cede the West Bank and East Jerusalem to half the Palestinian people, while remaining at war with the other half. Tragically for Israelis as well as Palestinians, a two-state solution is hardly imminent. That doesn’t mean that negotiations are futile. There is much that needs to be done in the interim—increasing security cooperation between Israei and Palestinian forces, removing more Israeli roadblocks, encouraging Palestinian economic growth. But by focusing on the unrealistic goal of ending the conflict, Obama is blocking the possibility of achieving accessible goals. Jim, you’re misreading Israeli attitudes toward Obama. Israelis aren’t astonished at the president for being serious about the peace process, as you put it, but because his efforts seem dangerously naïve. In demanding a cessation of building in long-standing Jewish neighborhoods in East

Jerusalem, Obama created a precondition for negotiations which even the Palestinian leadership hadn’t previously insisted on. The absurd result was that Palestinian leaders refused to sit with the first Israeli government that had actually suspended building in the West Bank, even though that had negotiated with previous Israeli governments that had built in the territories. Israelis aren’t looking for unconditional support from Washington, but they do expect friendship. There was widespread acceptance here of Obama’s demand for a West Bank settlement freeze, as a way of testing the administration’s premise that such a move might result in gestures of normalization from Arab countries. But even after building was suspended, no reciprocal gestures came. Where is the administration’s anger against Arab intransigence? Frankly, Israelis are wondering whether America under Obama can be trusted any more as an ally. As for Middle East fatigue, Jim, believe me, I empathize. But if the administration persists in one-sided blame against Israel, its Middle East policy will implode. Israelis will not be bullied, even by friends. Best, Yossi Dear Yossi,

Reading your response, I was struck that you seemed to miss the central theme of what I wrote. To repeat—the Obama administration and the American public now view Israel through the lens of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The great irony of George W. Bush's global war on terror is that it has enmeshed the United States so deeply in the Middle East and the wider Islamic world that the nation has developed a myriad of new interests in the region, and they range far beyond those of the Israelis and the Palestinians, of the West Bank and Gaza. Like the British in the 19th century, America now has a series of interlocking agendas from the Levant to Central Asia. Israel is now just one piece in a strategic jigsaw puzzle, and, while no one would acknowledge this, its unique political status in Washington has been eroded. This has happened because Israel is now, in effect, asking Americans to choose between what is best for Israel and what is best for American troops fighting throughout the Muslim world. Maybe Israelis didn't notice, but reports that General David Petraeus had warned of the threat to the American military from Israel's failure to reach a settlement with the Palestinians had a devastating political impact in Washington. He has objected to that characterization of his

comments; the New York Times pointed out this week that Petraeus had actually told Congress that a lack of progress in the Middle East created a hostile environment for the United States. But despite Petraeus’s demurrals, President Obama just this week made it clear that yes, indeed, his administration does see a clear linkage between the Arab-Israeli conflict and American military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the Times reported, the president said that resolving the dispute was a “vital national security interest of the United States” that could end up “costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure.” If that sort of linkage—between the lives of American boys to peace on the West Bank and Gaza—gains wider currency in the United States, the entire political dynamic between Washington and Jerusalem will be radically altered. For a president who is surging troops into Afghanistan and struggling to deal with a corrupt Afghan president, a president who is sweating out Iraqi elections that could trigger another round of sectarian violence in Baghdad, and a president who is struggling to win over full-throated Pakistani cooperation for a campaign against al Qaeda, Israeli intransigence on housing units

in East Jerusalem is a headache and a distraction. The biggest change from George Bush in the way President Obama is trying to run the war on terror is that he is serious about winning hearts and minds in the Muslim world. I guess the real question is this—does that put Washington and Jerusalem on a collision course? Best, Jim Dear Jim, You’re right: Israelis haven’t internalized the new America that has emerged from the Iraqi and Afghan wars. Maybe that’s because it’s too frightening for us to realize that Obama’s America appears to be adopting a foreign policy similar to Europe’s, which means relentless public rebuke of Israel without faulting the Palestinians for their repeated rejection of a two-state solution, and blaming settlements, rather than Palestinian refusal to accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state within any border, for the absence of peace. As for Israel endangering the lives of Americans: Jihadists are attacking American soldiers not because Israel is building apartment building in Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem but because those soldiers are occupying Iraq and Afghanistan. (For what it’s TNR page 43

E-reader News Edition

TNR continued from page 42

worth, General Petraeus has denied saying that Israel endangers American soldiers.) Of course a solution to the Palestinian problem would ease tensions in the Middle East. That is as much in my interest as yours: The Palestinian problem threatens Israeli boys far more than American boys. I am ready to make almost any concession that would end this pathological conflict, provided I sensed that Israel would receive security and legitimacy in return. And that of course is the problem. Most Israelis are convinced that, under current conditions, a Palestinian state would only result in greater terrorism and instability. American pressure will not likely force us to take risks we perceive as existential. The Netanyahu coalition is the first Israeli government to suspend settlement building. Yet instead of demanding reciprocal Arab gestures of goodwill—or even that Palestinian leaders return to the negotiating table—the administration has intensified the pressure on Israel, with an unprecedented ultimatum over Jerusalem. If the administration were to pressure the Palestinians and their Arab allies as it is pressuring and humiliating Israel, many Israelis might consider a temporary building suspension even in Jerusalem. But not this way, Jim; not as a one-way American diktat.

The more besieged Israel becomes, the more its enemies in the Arab world and Iran will be tempted to attack us. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that, as the American-Israeli crisis deepened, we’ve experienced a renewal of rocket attacks from Gaza and even a mini-intifada in Jerusalem. That was a warning of how the jihadists are reading America’s policy shift. If anyone is endangering lives with an ill-conceived policy, it’s the administration which is endangering Israeli—and Palestinian—lives with its disproportionate pressure on Israel. Best, Yossi Dear Yossi, You fear America is becoming like Europe. (There's a strange Tea Party echo there, but I digress.) Perhaps the U.S. reaction is inevitable, however, given the stasis in Israel. In fact, to an outside observer, it seems as if Israel has been caught in amber. While you weren't looking, the rest of the world has changed. What troubles Americans today is that Israelis don't seem to get the fact that the United States has fought two wars and fundamentally altered the dynamics of the Middle East. Yet when it comes to Israel, it might as well still be 1980, not 2010. And so increasingly, the Israeli-

Palestinian conflict looks to American eyes like Northern Ireland, an endless conflict fought over land and ethnicity and religion and half-forgotten blood feuds, with a strange immunity to influences from the outside world. The United States has always supported Israel, even as Europe has grown more distant. But will Americans continue to do so if they don't see progress? If it looks—as it does today—like Israeli leaders are ignoring the larger context? I saw a cartoon a year or two ago that made me laugh, but also wince. It showed headlines from the future. 2020: "Man returns to Moon, Israeli tanks storm into Gaza." 2050: "Man lands on Mars, Israeli tanks storm into Gaza." 2100: "Man lands on Jupiter, Israeli tanks storm into Gaza." What is perhaps most ominous for Israel is that slowly but surely, Americans are coming to understand the complexities and nuances of the Middle East. For a time after 9/11, ten-foot tall Arabs replaced ten-foot tall Russians in the American imagination. But that is fading. More and more, Arabs, and Muslims generally, are appearing more human, less monstrous, less dangerous. Nearly a decade of involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan—and nearly a decade without a catastrophic terrorist attack on

U.S. soil—will do that to a country and its people. Arabs are also becoming more integrated and assimilated into American society, and now they are neighbors, too. I thought about that when I met a Palestinian woman who told me her family's story a few months ago. Her parents had owned a small farm on land that became part of Israel, and in 1948 the farm was seized by Israelis and her family was forced to move. She grew up in Beirut, and as a young woman met and fell in love with a young college student originally from Gaza. She eventually realized that her boyfriend was not just an ordinary college student, but was also in Fatah. They married, and she stayed in Beirut while he traveled the world for Fatah. After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, they moved to Tunis along with the organization's leadership. On a trip to Paris, her husband was killed, almost certainly assassinated by Israeli agents. She eventually found her way to the United States and started over with her small children. Today, she lives a comfortable life in America, and her two sons are now soccer stars at different colleges in the United States. Her sons are completely Americanized. I think that story underscores America's greatest strength – and Israel's greatest weakness.

America is a nation built by immigrants, who come here to seek opportunity or to escape discrimination or oppression in other lands. The greatness of the United States is that it is open to immigrants from all lands (a policy constantly under political threat, but that's another story) and the country is bulldozed and remade by each new wave from Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico, China, Japan, Vietnam, Cuba, Haiti, and yes, Palestine. They are Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists. The Census Bureau now projects that by 2050, a majority of Americans will be members of groups now considered minorities. Certainly, illegal immigration is always a hot political issue, but there is general support for legal immigration, because Americans realize that immigrants bring strength, skills, talent, brainpower, ideas. The great American idea was transparency. The great American political battles have always been about fighting nativist fears, fighting discrimination, and forcing the country to live up to its ideal of a society open to all. Israel, on the other hand, seems to be a democracy that has taken counsel of its fears. It seems to hate a changing world, and is a country that wants to pick a TNR page 44

E-reader News Edition

TNR continued from page 43

fight with the demographer. Israel wants to be both a democracy and a Jewish state. But will the United States keep providing support when and if those two goals seem increasingly at odds, as Israel has to keep building more walls? So I guess the question is not whether the Obama Administration will apply a little pressure here and there on the margins, just enough to piss off Jerusalem, but not enough to accomplish much. The real question for the longer term is, when will an American president begin to force Israel to confront its future, and open itself up to the Middle East of the 21st century? Best, Jim Dear Jim, You say that Israel has been caught in amber, even as the rest of the world has changed. Not so: Israel has changed beyond recognition. We're no longer an ideological, pioneering state but a high-tech society that desperately wants to be part of the globalizing world. And Israelis are willing to pay the territorial price for that admission—provided we can be reassured that a Palestinian state wouldn't turn into an even worse nightmare than the one we're caught in now. In urging Israelis to face reality and accept Palestinian

statehood, you're pushing against an open door. That argument was resolved, at least in theory, 20 years ago, during the first intifada, when a majority of Israelis concluded that the occupation would devastate Israel from within and turn us into a pariah from without. A majority of Israelis agree that ending the occupation is an existential need—to spare us from growing isolation, from the moral attrition of occupation, from the untenable choice between Israel as a Jewish state and a democratic state. But that's only half the equation. You ignore the other half: that a Palestinian state could turn into an existential threat to Israel. Most Israelis are convinced that, given the current state of the Palestinian national movement, an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank would lead to missile attacks against the Israeli heartland, including greater Tel Aviv and Ben-Gurion Airport. All it takes is a few "primitive rockets" to be launched every day against Israeli neighborhoods—and for the international community to tie our hands when we try to defend ourselves—for normal life in this country to become impossible. In order to make your case against Israel, you have to ignore the fact that Israel tried—three times in the last

decade—to create a Palestinian state. Palestinian leaders rejected the equivalent of one hundred percent of the West Bank and Gaza, because that deal would have required them to restrict refugee return to a Palestinian state. The Palestinian pre-condition for an Israeli withdrawal is that Israel commit suicide. As a veteran Peace Now activist said to me recently: The Palestinians won't let us end the occupation. We've tried negotiations and got suicide bombings; we tried unilateral withdrawal without negotiations and got rocket attacks. What would you have us do next? What's so depressing about your position, Jim, is that it offers proof that Arab intransigence is winning, that with enough time, the combination of terrorism and denial of Israel's legitimacy will wear down even friends of Israel like you. And then the Middle East conflict seems to turn into an endless blood feud. Or that stupid journalistic phrase, a cycle of violence. And then what you once knew about the conflict—that at crucial moments Israel has accepted compromise and the Palestinians have rejected it—gets lost in the general weariness. Yes, Israeli tanks will almost certainly "storm into Gaza" again. But that cartoon you cite omits these crucial words:

"Palestinians shell Israeli towns and then Israeli tanks storm into Gaza." But hey, that's just a detail in the endless blood feud. So is the fact that we pulled out of Gaza. And that most of us would pull out of the West Bank if we didn't think it would turn into Gaza. There's a curious obtuseness running through your position—and in this you are by no means alone among our colleagues in the media. Israel, you write, has a "strange immunity to influences from the outside world." In fact Netanyahu has given in to the Obama administration on two crucial issues. First, he accepted a two-state solution—for the first time placing the Likud within the national consensus in support of a Palestinian state. And he suspended housing starts across the West Bank, including in settlement blocs near the border slated to be part of Israel according to every peace plan. No Israeli leader ever went as far. Yet Netanyahu is treated virtually as a war monger. Why, Israelis wonder, should we give in to the next Obama demand on Jerusalem when we've gotten zero credit for giving in to his other demands—while the Palestinians, who refuse to even show up at the table, are treated with kid gloves? Finally, you raise the question of Israel as a Jewish state versus a democratic state. For me,

erasing either identity would do fatal damage to Israel's soul. An Israel that has cut itself off from Jewish responsibility would not have rescued tens of thousands of Jews in Ethiopia. And that's an Israel I would not want to live in. Israel is fated to be both a Jewish state that is responsible for Jews around the world and for Jewish history, and a democratic state that makes room in its national identity for its non-Jewish citizens. How to reconcile those two nonnegotiable needs is the most important domestic issue facing Israel. I would hope that Americans would appreciate the complexity of our dilemmas, tell us when we're wrong and back us against the international campaign to deny Israel's legitimacy. That, at least, is what I expect from a friend. Best, Yossi Yossi Klein Halevi is a contributing editor to The New Republic and a fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. James Risen is the author of State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration.

Politics/

E-reader News Edition

Democrats Defend Liberal Court Nominee Liu (Newsmax - Inside Cover)

replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, the Liu nomination debate could serve A Senate hearing for federal as a template for the partisan appeals court nominee Goodwin fight likely to follow over the Liu quickly erupted into partisan next Supreme Court nominee. bickering Friday, in a likely test T h e C o n s t i t u t i o n g i v e s of President Barack Obama's p r e s i d e n t s t h e r i g h t a n d ability to win confirmation for a responsibility to select men and liberal court pick. women for the federal judiciary, Liu, a University of California, and gives senators the right and B e r k e l e y l a w p r o f e s s o r , the authority to approve or reject p r o m i s e d t h e J u d i c i a r y them. Committee he would keep an Committee Chairman Patrick open mind if confirmed to a San Leahy. D-Vt., on Friday accused Francisco-based appeals court, Republicans of applying a despite his liberal views. double standard in Liu's case. That didn't satisfy Sen. Jeff He said that in the past he had Sessions, R-Ala., who drew a s u p p o r t e d G O P - s e l e c t e d sharp contrast between Liu — conservative, activist court with no judicial experience — nominees after they pledged and two Supreme Court justices they would be impartial on the whose nominations Liu had bench. criticized: Chief Justice John "I hope they will give the same Roberts and Samuel Alito. credence to professor Liu's "Have you argued any case assurances that he understands before the Supreme Court or the the proper role of a judge," court of appeals?" Session Leahy said. demanded. "I hope they will keep the same Liu said he never argued before open mind kept by Democratic the Supreme Court and argued senators. ... I hope they will not once before a federal appeals apply a double-standard to this court. extraordinary nominee," he Depending on Obama's pick to added. Submitted at 4/16/2010 8:37:21 AM

Liu kept assuring senators his own views would not govern his opinions if confirmed, and would recuse himself from any conflicts of interest. Asked by Sessions about his criticism of Alito's views on the death penalty, Liu said, "I would have no difficulty or objection of any sort to enforcing the law as written in enforcing the death penalty." Sessions said before the hearing that Liu's nomination "takes on even greater significance in light of the impending Supreme Court vacancy." "Senators who say they want judges who are bound to the Constitution will have those statements put to the test. I hope this nomination is not a window into what kind of criteria the president plans to use for the Supreme Court," Sessions said. Republicans have accumulated numerous Liu quotes in writings and speeches that, they contend, makes him an activist. One of them cited: "The question ... is not how the Constitution would have been applied at the founding, but rather how it should be applied today ... in

light of changing needs, conditions and understandings of our society." Liu would bring added diversity to the appellate courts. There are no Asian-Americans actively serving, although Obama also has nominated U.S. District Judge Denny Chin for the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Liu would serve on the 9th Circuit. The liberal Alliance for Justice said there are 25 judges on that court who were chosen by Democratic presidents, and 22 chosen by Republican presidents. The 9th Circuit hears appeals from lower courts in California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Hawaii, and Montana. © Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

DNC to Pour $50 Million Into Fall Races (Newsmax - Inside Cover) Submitted at 4/16/2010 8:27:00 AM

The Democratic National Committee says it will spend more than $50 million in cash and other resources on the November elections, as the party struggles to limit expected losses in congressional races and possibly gubernatorial contests too. The planned expenditure, worked out by top White House and congressional Democrats, would mark a significant investment in a non-presidential election. Democratic officials confirmed the plans, which Politico reported first, but said they had yet to decide how much of the contribution would be in cash versus noncash resources, such as campaign workers. Candidates cherish cash because it allows them to pay for polls and TV or radio ads. At the end of February, the DNC had $10.7 million in cash and $3.7 million in debts. A Democratic official said much of the effort will be based on direct field support from staff and volunteers that Organizing for America has in the states. Organizing for America, an arm DNC page 46

Politics/

E-reader News Edition

CORRESPONDENCE: A Gross Mischaracterization Kent Conrad (The New Republic - All Feed)

a model in considering the creation of similar entities around the country. Submitted at 4/15/2010 5:16:04 PM Given how badly the exemption Kevin Carey’s characterization provision was misrepresented by of my position on the education c r i t i c s a n d t h e m e d i a , I provisions in this year’s health supported its removal from the and education reconciliation final reconciliation legislation. It l e g i s l a t i o n i s c o m p l e t e l y was not worth jeopardizing inaccurate. Education funding support for the overall package, has always been one of my top which included so many other priorities. And I supported important health care and student loan reform. education measures. But the The exemption I had negotiated provision was well-intentioned for the Bank of North Dakota and I was right to fight for its was entirely appropriate given inclusion. its unique status as the only state I was also right to insist on -owned bank in the country. following the standard practice Unlike other lenders, the Bank of using the most up-to-date of North Dakota is overseen by Congressional Budget Office senior state officials, including e s t i m a t e s i n s c o r i n g t h e the Governor, and has a mission education provisions. As much to support the state’s citizenry. as I might have liked to use T h e B a n k h a s d o n e a n more favorable older estimates, exceptional job supporting this would have been ridiculed North Dakota’s students and by critics as an underhanded other states have looked to it as effort to cook the books.

The case for the 2008 Farm Bill, where an older score was used, was different, because the House and Senate had both already passed versions of the Farm Bill based on the older estimates. In such cases, it is the standard convention to use the older figures—figures that were up-to-date when both bodies had acted. In the case of the reconciliation legislation, the Senate was considering the education components for the first time, so we were obligated to use the most up-to-date education scores available. Mr. Carey has a right to make his case for further education investments. I share many of his goals. But he is wrong to mischaracterize my actions and motives on this critical issue. Kent Conrad is Chairman of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee.

DNC continued from page 45

of the DNC, evolved from President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. The official would speak only on background because the DNC has not formally announced the spending plans. The meeting of White House and party officials occurred Thursday night, while Obama was raising about $2.5 million

for the DNC at two Miami events. At one of the fundraisers, DNC Chairman Tim Kaine delivered a sobering assessment of the party's chances in November, noting that the party in power traditionally sustains losses in the midterm elections. "There are a lot of prognosticators who are saying

this is going to be a very tough year for the Democrats," Kaine said. "We sort of have to assume that we're running into a headwind," Kaine said, but he contended Democrats were accustomed to being underdogs. The Democratic Party, like the DNC page 47

Democrat Minnick Receives Tea Party Endorsement (Newsmax - Inside Cover)

appreciate that they recognize Walt's firm stance on fiscal accountability." Most tea party activists call Winnick spoke to a Tea Party themselves Republican, but one Express meeting in August. Democratic congressman has "They invited all four members n o w r e c e i v e d a t e a p a r t y of Idaho's delegation, and Walt endorsement. shocked everybody by being the The Tea Party Express on only one who showed up in Thursday announced its support person,” Foster said. for Rep. Walt Minnick, D- "He got a lot of support for his Idaho, making him the first fiscal stance. But very little Democrat in Congress to gain support for what he said about tea party backing. the president [for whom he Winnick didn’t expect the reiterated his support]. By the move. end, they gave him a standing "It was a complete surprise," his ovation." spokesman John Foster told The To be sure, tea partyers skew Huffington Post. overwhelmingly Republican. He expressed ambivalent A New York Times/CBS poll a p p r e c i a t i o n f o r t h e showed that 54 percent of tea endorsement. party members have a favorable Asked if the congressman view of Republicans, compared would accept it, Foster said, to 43 percent unfavorable. A "Um, sure. Walt is not in the whopping 92 percent have an habit of turning down support." unfavorable view of Democrats. But Foster then made clear the © N e w s m a x . A l l r i g h t s acceptance is tepid. reserved. "Being on a list with [strong Five Filters featured article: conservative Reps.] Joe Wilson Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: and Michele Bachmann is not PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, something we are embracing," Term Extraction. Foster said. "But we do Submitted at 4/16/2010 6:52:27 AM

Business/

E-reader News Edition

DNC

Could Volcanic Ash Make Airlines Go up in Smoke?

continued from page 46

GOP, has campaign committees that work only on House, Senate and gubernatorial races. These committees do much of the fundraising, spending, and candidate recruitment. © Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not

be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Mark Fightmaster (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:00:00 AM

Analyst Calls: CF, DELL, EXC, MA, MSFT, RGC, RVBD, TSCO, WHR, XOM ... Eric Buscemi (BloggingStocks)

buy from neutral, citing box office momentum and improving potential for a Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:30:00 AM dividend increase. The firm Filed under: Analyst Reports, raised its target for shares to A n a l y s t U p g r a d e s a n d $20.50 from $16. D o w n g r a d e s , M i c r o s o f t • Thomas Weisel upgraded CF (MSFT), Dell (DELL), Exxon Industries ( CF) to overweight M o b i l ( X O M ) , A n a l y s t from market weight as it sees Initiations reduced financing risk following Analyst Upgrades the equity offering and • Baird upgraded Dell ( DELL) v a l u a t i o n . to outperform from neutral, • GameStop ( GME) was citing valuation and improving upgraded to buy from hold at IT hardware trends. The firm BB&T. raised its target to $21 from $17. • Exxon Mobil ( XOM) was • Janney Montgomery upgraded upgraded to outperform from Regal Entertainment ( RGC) to market perform at Raymond

James. • Cameron ( CAM) was raised to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital. Continue reading Analyst Calls: CF, DELL, EXC, MA, MSFT, RGC, RVBD, TSCO, WHR, XOM ... Analyst Calls: CF, DELL, EXC, MA, MSFT, RGC, RVBD, TSCO, WHR, XOM ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

Filed under: Bad News, Industry, Technical Analysis Air travel continues in a state of flux thanks to a "huge cloud of ash" emanating from an Iceland volcanic eruption. In fact, this cloud of ash has covered half of Europe and caused the "largest disruption of air travel since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks." After 6,000 flights were grounded yesterday, 17,000 are expected to remain on the tarmac today. What is the problem? Volcanic ash can block engines and cause them to fail. The problem isn't only in Europe, it has forced the cancellation of half of all transAtlantic flights. With thousands of air travelers stranded across

the globe and no end in sight, is this another black eye for air carriers? Continue reading Could Volcanic Ash Make Airlines Go up in Smoke? Could Volcanic Ash Make Airlines Go up in Smoke? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

Business/ Products/

E-reader News Edition

Strong Rebound for Housing Starts and Building Permits

Walmart Price Rollbacks Are Hard to Swallow

Connie Madon (BloggingStocks)

Gary E. Sattler (BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:30:00 PM

Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:00:00 PM

Filed under: Market Matters, Economic Data, Housing After a harsh winter, new home construction is on the rise. These numbers are particularly encouraging: New home construction rose 20% in March over a year ago. Permits were up 34% over a year ago. The Commerce Department reported that housing starts rose to an annual rate of 626,000 last month, up from February's revised 616,000. There is a push on to complete some of these houses before the first-time home buyer credit expires in June.

Filed under: Consumer Experience, Wal-Mart (WMT), Marketing and Advertising, Recession Question: When is a price C o n t i n u e r e a d i n g S t r o n g rollback not necessarily a good Rebound for Housing Starts and thing at Walmart? Building Permits Answer: When I can't eat it. Strong Rebound for Housing I like a good bargain as much Starts and Building Permits as the next guy. Save me twenty o r i g i n a l l y a p p e a r e d o n bucks on a circular saw when I BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Apr need one and I'll be forever 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see grateful. However, when it our terms for use of feeds. comes to bargains and price P e r m a l i n k | E m a i l t h i s | reductions, there is one Comments fundamental rule that should always be kept in mind: You

Navigation system routes frustration in Suzuki SX4 can't eat a deeply discounted blow dryer. Continue reading Walmart Price Rollbacks Are Hard to Swallow Walmart Price Rollbacks Are Hard to Swallow originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Consumer Reports Shopping Blog (Consumer Reports) Submitted at 4/16/2010 7:08:52 AM

Navigation system routes frustration in Suzuki SX4 Built-in navigation in a sub$20,000 car sounds like a great idea. Fitting a portable navigation device (PND) from GPS-leader Garmin into a hidden dash-top bin sounds even better. That’s just what you can NAVIGATION page 49

Q&A: Difficulty swallowing pills? rss@consumerreports.org (Consumer Reports)

problem is limited to medications. Some people have an unexplained inability to Submitted at 4/16/2010 7:17:04 AM swallow pills or tablets, but no Q&A: Difficulty swallowing problems swallowing anything pills? else. If that’s the case, you I’ve recently become unable to might talk with your doctor swallow pills of any size. What about switching to chewable, could cause that? — V.K., dissolvable, or liquid versions of can stem from several causes, Toronto your medications. It depends on whether the Trouble swallowing in general including acid reflux or a

narrowing of the esophagus from something as benign as a stuck piece of food or as serious as a cancerous tumor. If trouble swallowing occurs regularly or is accompanied by choking, pain, vomiting, or weight loss, see your doctor to determine the cause. Find out how to avoid medication errors and learn

more about drug safety on our blog. Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences

Products/

E-reader News Edition

NAVIGATION continued from page 48

get now with Suzuki’s SX4 Crossover with the Technology package, as we recently tested. (See our original SX4 GPS preview.) The advantages of this approach are numerous: You can easily upgrade maps from Garmin directly over a USB connection from your computer; the device is removable for security or to borrow for your other car (assuming you buy a separate mounting kit); and Garmin’s interface is simpler to use than many built-in systems. In addition, PND development moves much more rapidly than with traditional factory systems, making it cost-effective for Suzuki to provide newer units as they become available for future model years, and owners could theoretically make their own hardware upgrades down the road. Our testers reported some drawbacks, too. Mainly, the Garmin is mounted too far away to reach easily while seated behind the wheel. To get the Garmin navigator, you must upgrade from the base model to the Technology trim. The step up costs about $1,900, which is a relatively expensive upgrade on a small, budget-priced car. For that money, you get a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, and cruise

control, as well as the Garmin. (A comparable portable device could be bought for less than $300.) Being a gadget enthusiast, I was eager to try the SX4 Crossover to see how well the system worked, and how well Suzuki had done integrating the Garmin system. I thought I had found the killer app when I discovered that I could connect my phone via Bluetooth directly to the Garmin, rather than to the car. No more digging through the Suzuki owner’s manual looking for the obscure set of voice commands to pair the phone. I could just sync it up using the simple menu commands on the screen of the Nuvi. With the nav system already connected to the car’s stereo, both the directions from the nav system and any phone call I got would be audible through the car’s stereo speakers. Brilliant! Unfortunately, it turned out not to be so simple. Once you input a destination and start driving with the radio on, you may find the system mutes the radio every time it wants to give instructions --and that’s often. It took one of our GPS test engineers to find that this can be adjusted through the navigation menus, though the solution may not be obvious to all drivers.

In case you’re having this problem, here’s what to do: From the volume settings page, select the “mixer” and set “navigation” to 0 percent. Unfortunately, that’s not as easy as using the mute setting on the Garmin. But you don’t want to do that, as it also mutes all cell phone conversations; they can hear you, but you can’t hear them, at least until you remember to unmute the navigation system. An odd quirk we noticed is that if you want to listen to media, such as an audio book, stored on the nuvi, you can play it using the Nuvi’s media player through the AUX setting on the radio. However, if the navigation mixer volume is not set to 0 percent as mentioned above, every time a navigation instruction is given it returns to the AM/FM tuner selection on the radio. This means you have to manually select AUX after every nav instruction to return to your audio selection--or else be content with not hearing any nav instructions. Unlike most portable navigators, this Nuvi will not accept new addresses while the vehicle is in motion. A good safety feature intended to encourage driver’s to plan ahead and keep their hands on the wheel, it can be frustrating if a

passenger wants to make a change. Many devices offer this feature as an option. These are manageable, minor frustrations, especially if you own the car and are familiar with them. The general concept of placing a portable device in a closing compartment is smart. In this case, however, the nav placement, quirks, and price premium for the required trimlevel upgrade limit its appeal over a traditional portable navigator.— Eric Evarts Next Steps • GPS Buying Advice: • Types of GPSs| • GPS Features| • GPS Brands All GPS Ratings Subscribers can view and compare all GPS Ratings. Recommended GPSs Look at the ones that we chose as the best of the best. Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences

Satellite, Cable 3D broadcasts won't be “Full HD” James Willcox (Consumer Reports) Submitted at 4/16/2010 6:59:59 AM

Satellite, Cable 3D broadcasts won't be “Full HD” When the specifications for 3D Blu-ray players were developed, one key element was the ability to offer 3D movies in “full HD resolution,” which requires the player to send a TV two 1080p video streams, one for each eye. That was possible because the devices were new, and they would include new HDMI 1.4 connectors, which provided support for dual 1080p 3D streams. But 3D broadcasts will also be part of the equation, and at least initially, they’ll be sent over existing cable and satellite infrastructure, including current cable/satellite settop boxes, which the companies promise to upgrade. However, while these upgrades will enable some SATELLITE, page 50

Sports/ Products/

E-reader News Edition

SATELLITE, continued from page 49

current cable and satellite boxes to live in the 3D world, they will have one drawback: at least initially, they won’t support 3D in the same full 1080p resolution offered by new 3D Blu-ray players That’s because these new “frame-compatible” 3D broadcasts—where the separate left- and right-eye signals are combined and sent like a standard 2D HDTV video frame—require broadcasters to use spatial compression that reduces the image’s resolution so that the left- and right-eye views can be squeezed into a single frame. There are several ways to do this. DirecTV—which will be updating the firmware in its receivers in June to accommodate three new 3D channels, plus the ESPN 3D channel—will use a technique called “side-by-side” 3D, where t h e h o r i z o n t a l resolution—1080i/60Hz (1920 x

1080) of the image is compressed by half (960 x 1080) so two images can be placed next to each other within a single frame. Other companies may use “top/bottom” 3D, where the vertical resolution—either 1080p/24Hz (1920 x 1080) or 720p/60Hz (1280 x 720)—is compressed by half to allow left - and right-eye images to be placed on top of each other in a single frame. In both cases, the TV then takes these lower-resolution frames and expands them into a fullsize image based on the TV’s native resolution. The big question, of course, is how these 3D broadcasts will look compared to what we're now seeing with 3D Blu-ray titles. Broadcasters are hoping the answer is “good enough,” as it will be some time before they can transition to full 1080p 3D programs. In addition to DirecTV, several cable

companies, including Cablevision, Comcast, and Cox, have also announced plans to offer some 3D broadcasts to subscribers. While these will undoubtedly be in lower resolution than the 3D images coming off a Blu-ray disc, some argue that loss of resolution won't be readily apparent given the screen size of most TVs. But others says movies on Blu-ray will look decidedly better than their broadcast counterparts. Obviously, this is something we're looking forward to testing in our labs. Also, since I've been a DirecTV subscriber for several years, I've already warned the test-lab engineers that I'll be borrowing a new 3D TV for a few days when DirecTV launches its 3D programming to see for myself how the broadcasts fare. While this is certainly fertile fodder for a blog, I have to admit there's another agenda—I'm hoping that actually having a 3D TV in

the house will soften my wife's staunch stance against getting a new 3D TV for the family. I'll let you know how that works out for me. —James K. Willcox Next Steps • TV Buying Advice: • Types of TVs| • TV Features| • TV Brands All TV Ratings Subscribers can view and compare all TV Ratings. Recommended TVs Look at the ones that we chose as the best of the best. Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences

Daily electronics deals Paul Eng (Consumer Reports) Submitted at 4/16/2010 6:52:37 AM

Daily electronics deals Today's electronics deals, courtesy of The Consumerist: • Newegg: Sansa Clip 2GB MP3 Player (Recertified) for $19.99 w/ Free Shipping • Newegg: Western Digital 2TB External Hard Drive for $139.99 w/ Free Shipping • Newegg: Polaroid 10MP Digital Camera Plum Color (Refurbished) for $45.99 + $2.99 Shipping • ThinkGeek: Free Screwz-All Keychain Tool + $10 Off $40 Purchase [w/ Coupon SCREWZPLUSTEN] • Walmart: Acer Aspire Intel DAILY page 51

Brodeur: Boucher Belongs, Comparison Angle Is Over Christopher Botta (FanHouse Main)

Brodeur vs. Brian Boucher has carried the press coverage leading up to Friday's Game 2 Submitted at 4/16/2010 8:00:00 AM between the New Jersey Devils Filed under: Devils, Flyers, and the Philadelphia Flyers in NHL Playoffs NEWARK -- their best-of-seven first round Martin Brodeur understands the series. In the latest installment, storyline. He just thinks it's the Devils put the blame on enough pucks to the net or getting old. themselves for not getting

traffic around Boucher, who won his first playoff game in a decade, 2-1, in Game 1 on Wednesday. New Jersey gave very little credit to Philadelphia's goalie for stopping 23 of their 24 shots, at least a half-dozen of them from point blank range.

And so it goes, and probably will until this series between New Jersey Turnpike rivals is settled. Brodeur believes it should be a tale told one and done. Devils vs. Flyers: Series Page| Full NHL Playoff Coverage

Products/ Gaming/

E-reader News Edition

DAILY continued from page 50

Core i5-430m 2.26GHz DualCore 15.6in Laptop (4GB/500GB/Win 7) $598 • TigerDirect: Samsung P2570HD 25in LCD Monitor w/ HDTV Tuner $299.99 Free Shipping • Newegg: Western Digital Elements 2TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive $139.99 Free Shipping • Dell: AQUOS LC52E77U 52" LCD HDTV for $1299 • Dell: 23-inch Dell ST2310 Monitor with Stereo Soundbar for $187 • Lenovo: Employee Pricing Sale - 15% off IdeaPad laptops & 10% off IdeaCentre Desktops + free shipping [w/ coupon USPIDEAYPWWP] • SuperBiiz: 10-inch Acer Aspire One AOD250-1579 $259.99 + free shipping Entertainment • Dell: Activision Band Hero Xbox 360 Kit for $79.99 w/

Free Shipping • Dell: Xbox Live Gold 1-Year Subscription for $29.99 w/ Free Shipping • Game Stop: 15% Off New Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii Game Titles. [w/ Coupon 15NEW] • Dell: Two free games with purchase of Xbox 360 Elite Bundle for $299 • Walmart: Walmart Video Game Bundles: Two Xbox 360 games for $20 + $5 s&h, more • iTunes Music Store: App Store Freebies: iWeather Lookup, Castle Crunch, Deep, Card Tower, more Neither Consumer Reports nor The Consumerist receive anything in exchange for featuring these deals; the posts are intended to be purely informational. These deals are often fleeting, with prices changing or products becoming unavailable as the day progresses.

These posts are not an endorsement of the featured products or the Web sites that sell them—though some of the sites may be included, and recommended, in our Ratings of retailers for computers and other major electronics(both available to subscribers). Price shouldn't be your only criterion. Be wary of lower-priced deals that seem too good to be true, and check return policies for restocking fees and other gotchas. For general buying advice for many of the products on sale above, check out our free Buying Guides. Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences

By the Numbers: Home-improvement spending projected to grow by end of 2010, says Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies Consumer Reports Shopping Blog (Consumer Reports)

year could produce the first annual spending increase for the industry since 2006." Submitted at 4/16/2010 7:30:38 AM The latest quarterly LIRA index By the Numbers: Home- follows some recent news about i m p r o v e m e n t s p e n d i n g the gains in home-improvement projected to grow by end of s p e n d i n g , i n c l u d i n g " 2010, says Harvard's Joint R e n o v a t i o n s M a k e a Center for Housing Studies Comeback" ( The New York $121.5 billion Times) and " Remodeling Projected annual U.S. spending A c t i v i t y I s O n T h e R i s e , on home improvement by the Architects Say" ( The Wall fourth quarter of 2010, a 4.9 Street Journal). percent increase from a year — Daniel DiClerico earlier, according to the latest Essential information: If you're L e a d i n g I n d i c a t o r o f planning a remodel, check out Remodeling Activity index from o u r H o m e R e m o d e l i n g & Harvard University's Joint I m p r o v e m e n t G u i d e a n d Center for Housing Studies. Kitchen-Planning Guide. Get This projected increase is the more remodeling news by first year-over-year gain since f o l l o w i n g us at the second quarter of 2007, Twitter.com/CRHomegarden. when remodeling spending was Subscribe now! at $146.2 billion. S u b s c r i b e t o "The gradual recovery in the ConsumerReports.org for expert b r o a d e r e c o n o m y s h o u l d Ratings, buying advice and encourage more remodeling reliability on hundreds of spending by homeowners," said products. Update your feed JCHS Director Nicolas P. preferences Retsinas in a news release. "This

Beam saber savings: No More Heroes 2 for $35 JC Fletcher (Joystiq) Submitted at 4/16/2010 12:30:00 PM

If you couldn't find room in your budget for No More Heroes 2 amid the first quarter's overloaded lineup, perhaps Amazon's latest deal will

encourage you to spend a little of that tax refund on the temporarily discounted sequel. Earth's Biggest Bookstore (remember when Amazon called itself a bookstore?) has marked down Travis Touchdown's revenge story to $35. It's the Deal of the Day, so when

supplies run out or the clock strikes midnight Pacific Time, there will be no more cheap No More Heroes 2. If you have yet to experience the delightfully bizarre original, the Xbox 360 and PS3 ports were released in Japan this

week. Beam saber savings: No More Heroes 2 for $35 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Sports/

E-reader News Edition

Jackie Robinson Day, West Coast Style Tom Krasovic (FanHouse Main)

Tomas Plekenec and Alex Ovechkin a Study in Game 1 Contrast

Submitted at 4/15/2010 8:50:00 PM

A.J. Perez (FanHouse Main)

Filed under: Dodgers, Padres LOS ANGELES -- Don Newcombe choked up with emotion on Thursday as he recalled friend Jackie Robinson and the bigotry that he and other African-Americans endured. Touching his bare wrist an hour before Jackie Robinson Night ceremonies at Dodger Stadium, the Hall of Fame pitcher, 83, asked why a different skin color unleashed so much hate in others. Newcombe said Robinson, his longtime friend and Dodgers teammate, would be "happy but not contented" with racial progress within Major League Baseball and the United States since his death in 1972. Players throughout the majors wore No. 42 on Thursday, marking Robinson's breaking of the majors' color barrier 63 years ago with the Brooklyn

Submitted at 4/15/2010 8:02:00 PM

Dodgers. Newcombe, who began his career in the Negro Leagues, smiled and pointed to Dodgers and Diamondbacks players, all wearing 42. "Where have you seen that before for another baseball player?" he said. "Have you seen it for Babe Ruth? Have you seen it for Mickey Mantle or Ted Williams? Thank god for Bud Selig and for the baseball owners and their attitudes of making things happen. Because they know it was the right thing to do."

Filed under: Canadiens, Capitals, NHL Playoffs WASHINGTON -- The mullet wasn't flowing and he wasn't wearing No. 68, but the cheers for Jaromir Jagr ran out from the Montreal Canadiens nonetheless Thursday night. The target, Tomas Plekanec, wasn't complaining about the taunts, not after he netted the game-winner in overtime to nudge the Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of the firstround series at Verizon Center. "I've heard it a couple of times already," Plekanec said. "I'll hear it tomorrow, too. That's what happens." The references to fellow Czech Jagr started after Plekanec told

French-language Montreal newspaper La Presse that "it's not as though we are facing ( Martin) Brodeur or ( Ryan) Miller." Caps goalie Jose Theodore retorted, "Tomas who? Jagr? Oh, Plekanec, OK. I thought you meant Jagr." Canadiens lead series, 1-0 Canadiens 3, Capitals 2 (OT): Recap| Box Score| Series Page

Gaming/

E-reader News Edition

Enormous Uncharted 2 artbook is a costly relic Griffin McElroy (Joystiq)

"special edition" which costs $129.99, and a $300 Limited Folio Edition, which is bound in While some special edition suede leather, embossed in gold, artbooks could be politely placed within another suede identified as "pamphlets," leather-bound presentation case, Naughty Dog has taken a and includes a certificate of different approach with its authenticity signed by the illustration-filled tome based on game's designers. Only 200 Uncharted 2. The studio (with ostentatiously rich Nate Drake help from Ballistic Publishing) enthusiasts will get their hands is releasing a 272-page book o n t h i s l i m i t e d p r i n t , s o featuring the game's "concept art interested parties should hop off . . . c h a r a c t e r s t u d i e s , their money-chairs and preenvironment art, character order now. modeling, game art, cinematics, [Via Press The Buttons] motion-capture, animation, and Enormous Uncharted 2 artbook effects." However, all these half is a costly relic originally -tucked works of art exact a appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 fairly high price from those who Apr 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please wish to acquire them. see our terms for use of feeds. There are three versions of the Read| Permalink| Email this| art book: a softcover print which Comments costs $59.99, a leather-bound Submitted at 4/16/2010 1:00:00 PM

Gunblade NY & LA Machineguns Wii pack rated by ESRB Richard Mitchell (Joystiq)

games will be combined in a single package, as the ESRB has rated"Gunblade NY & LA According to the ESRB, Sega is Machineguns Arcade Hits Pack" preparing to rekindle its love for Wii. affair with light gun game ports If you missed out on either for the Wii. Having already game in the arcades of yore, released House of the Dead 2 & both involved flying around 3 Return and Ghost Squad on cityscapes and hosing down Nintendo's console, it looks like enemies with machine gun fire. Sega is adding both Gunblade Of course -- barring the release NY and LA Machineguns to the of a massive Wiimote peripheral collection of rehashes (in -- the Wii version probably a d d i t i o n t o t h e e x c e l l e n t , won't share the arcade version's original title House of the Dead: fierce force feedback. The Overkill). It appears that both revelation of continued light gun Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:28:00 AM

game ports also raises a very important question: What's a gamer gotta do to get some Virtua Cop? Make it happen, Sega. Gunblade NY & LA Machineguns Wii pack rated by ESRB originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Gaming/

Demon's Souls hack-'nslashing through Europe in June David Hinkle (Joystiq)

debut in Japan under the Sony label. The game was codeveloped by From Software Namco Bandai will unleash and SCE Japan Studio. Demon's Souls upon European If you're a would-be demon territories on June 25, ending slayer anxious to learn more t h e r e g i o n ' s d e a r t h o f about what's in store should you pleasurable pain, the publisher embark on this difficult quest, has announced. The PlayStation might we point you to our 3 exclusive will be released as a review? l i m i t e d " B l a c k P h a n t o m Demon's Souls hack-'n-slashing Edition" retail package, through Europe in June featuring the game, a soundtrack originally appeared on Joystiq CD, an artbook and a strategy on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:58:00 guide (trust us, Europe, you'll EST. Please see our terms for need it!). Atlus, as you may use of feeds. recall, published the game in Read| Permalink| Email this| North America, following its Comments Submitted at 4/16/2010 11:58:00 AM

E-reader News Edition