Liberty Newspost Feb-19-10 by Liberty Newspost

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Dalai to Washington special syntax brings by Andrew Quinn (Front Row Washington)

it doesn’t matter.” Hundreds of Tibetan wellwishers gathered outside the Submitted at 2/18/2010 2:21:46 PM hotel, waving Tibetan flags and The Dalai Lama, fresh from his prayer banners and chanting controversial meeting with slogans including “Long Live the President Barack Obama, greeted Dalai Lama” and “Thank You the U.S. press corps during a Obama!” blustery press conference on China, meanwhile, expressed T h u r s d a y o u t s i d e h i s “strong dissatisfaction” and Washington hotel, and delivered “resolute opposition” to the his pearls of wisdom with a Dalai Lama-Obama meeting. brand of syntax that sometimes The Dalai Lama said he was leaves listeners scratching their h a p p y w i t h t h e O b a m a heads. administration’s open support for “Important is truth,” the grinning his efforts, although he noted Dalai Lama told reporters, when that “time will tell” whether it asked if he ever got discouraged will have any impact. a b o u t C h i n a ’ s i m p l a c a b l e He also appeared satisfied with resistance to his cause. his relations with Obama (”quite “This is not question of justice young, energetic, tall”), noting how soon achieved. Something that since exiled Tibetans began worthwhile, make attempt. Then, electing leaders in 2001, the U.S. whether materialize this goal president had something to teach within one’s own lifetime or not, him.

People’s Republic for its own economic interests, it should also be allowed to maintain its own unique cultural heritage. Beijing “childish” policies, including censorship, had left the world’s most populous nation with some unrealistic expectations, he said, adding that China was taking the wrong model — the Soviet Union — in its drive to become a superpower. “Open society. Democratic. Independent judiciary. That superpower brings more trust, “In political field he is my boss. more comfort,” the Dalai Lama In spiritual field, I am his boss. I s a i d . “ S o C h i n a s h o u l d mentioned this to the president eventually be such a superpower and to the secretary of state,” the w h i c h b r i n g s h a p p i n e s s , Dalai Lama said, before letting s a t i s f a c t i o n , c a l m , e a s e . ” loose one of his trademark Photo Credit: Reuters/Yuri giggles. Gripas (The Dalai Lama greets He had sterner words for China, supporters outside Washington however, saying that while Tibet D.C. hotel) should remain a part of the

Disney's Own Superheroes (Fast Company) Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:25:54 AM

Disney's purchase of Marvel Entertainment was perhaps its boldest act this year. From the creators of "Lost" to the wizards at Pixar, we've given a full Marvel treatment to those who have helped put Disney on our Most Innovative Companies list this year.

ADVERTISEMENT: (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:30:00 PM

Hollywood is 100 years old: a history of Tinseltown in pictures (Latest news, breaking news, current news, UK news, world news, celebrity news, politics news) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:15:33 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. The Hollywood film industry is 100 years old this year. In early

1910, director DW Griffith was sent by the Biograph Company to the west coast to take advantage of the Californian sunshine. Pictured here is a still from The Birth of a Nation, the

first ever feature-length film, which was directed by DW Griffith in 1914. Actors costumed in the full regalia of the Ku Klux Klan chase down a white actor in blackface

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Texas Pilot Offered Little Hint of Intentions Before Attack (FOXNews.com)

In the note, signed "Joe Stack (1956-2010)" and dated Thursday, he said he slowly Message from fivefilters.org: If came to the conclusion that you can, please donate to the full "violence not only is the answer, -text RSS service so we can it is the only answer." continue developing it. Law enforcement officials, A software engineer with an s p e a k i n g o n c o n d i t i o n o f apparent grudge against the a n o n y m i t y b e c a u s e t h e government crashed his small investigation was still going on, plane into an office building with said the 53-year-old Stack nearly 200 Internal Revenue apparently set fire to his house Service employees inside, killing and posted the screed. himself and at least one worker. Stack's wife, Sheryl, planned to The National Transportation address the news media on S a f e t y B o a r d ( N T S B ) h a s Friday, the Red Cross said. t r a n s f e r r e d c o n t r o l o f t h e Some who knew Stack said he investigation to offered little hint of his anger t h e F e d e r a l B u r e a u o f before the attack. Investigation. "He didn't rant about anything," LIVESHOTS: Victim in Austin said Pam Parker, an Austin Plane Crash Identified attorney whose husband played An IRS worker, Vernon Hunter, in a band with Stack. "He wasn't 67, was killed in the crash. obsessed with the government or Vernon was a Revenue Office any of that. ... Not a loner, not M a n a g e r r e s p o n s i b l e f o r off in a corner. He had friends collections. His wife Valerie also and conversation and ordinary works for the IRS and was in the stuff." building when the plane struck. But in the self-described "rant," Before flying his single engine the author fumed about the IRS Piper PA-28 into the hulking and wrote, "Nothing changes black-glass office building unless there is a body count." Thursday morning, A. Joseph Click to read the "manifesto" Stack III apparently posted a published on Stack's Web site. rambling screed on a Web site in "I have had all I can stand," he which he railed against "big wrote, adding: "I choose not to brother," the Catholic Church, keep looking over my shoulder the "unthinkable atrocities" at `big brother' while he strips committed by big business and my carcass." the governments bailouts that Stack took off from Georgetown followed. Municipal Airport, about 30 SLIDESHOW: Small Plane miles from Austin, at 9: 40 a.m. Crashes Into Austin Office ET and flew low over the Austin Building skyline before plowing into the Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:02:01 AM

side of the Echelon 1 office building just before 10 a.m ET. Flames shot from the building, windows exploded and terrified workers rushed to get out. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford said Stack didn't file a flight plan. The Pentagon scrambled two F16 fighter jets to patrol the skies over the burning building before it became clear it was the act of a lone pilot, and President Barack Obama was briefed. "It felt like a bomb blew off," said Peggy Walker, an IRS revenue officer who was sitting at her desk. "The ceiling caved in and windows blew in. We got up and ran." Click for chilling eyewitness accounts of Texas plane crash. The outside of the second floor was gone on the side of the building where the plane hit. Support beams were bent inward. Venetian blinds dangled from blown-out windows, and large sections of the exterior were blackened with soot. It was not immediately clear if tax records were destroyed. Crime scene tape surrounded the building Friday as Homeland Security, police and fire crews continued their investigation. Emergency crews originally said people were missing inside the building, but later recovered two bodies. Austin Fire Department Battalion Chief Palmer Buck declined to discuss the identities of those found, but said authorities had now "accounted

for everybody." Thirteen people were injured — two critically — authorities said. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said "heroic actions" by federal employees may explain why the death toll was so low. Andrew Jacobson, an IRS revenue officer who was on the second floor when the plane hit with a "big whoomp" and then a second explosion, said about six people couldn't use the stairwell because of smoke and debris. He found a metal bar to break a window so the group could crawl out onto a concrete ledge, where they were rescued by firefighters. His bloody hands were bandaged. IRS Agent William Winnie said he was on the third floor of the building when he saw a lightcolored, single engine plane coming toward the building, TheStatesman.com reported. “It looked like it was coming right in my window,” Winnie said, according to the Web site. He said the plane veered down and smashed into the lower floors. “I didn’t lose my footing, but it was enough to knock people who were sitting to the floor,” he said. Patrick Beach, who once played in a band with Stack, described him as a mild-mannered guy who was a stereotypical software guy. "I talked to a lot of people who knew him better than I did, and no one saw anything like this coming," Beach told Fox News.

The toughest part about this, Beach said, was how this guy, who loved his wife and stepchild, could be the same person who wanted to "commit mass murder." The FBI launched an investigation and Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican from Austin on the Homeland Security Committee, said the panel will take up the issue of how to better protect buildings from attacks with planes. The tirade posted Thursday on a Web site registered in Stack's name began: "If you're reading this, you're no doubt asking yourself, `Why did this have to happen?"' He recounted his financial reverses, his difficulty finding work in Austin, and at least two clashes with the IRS, one of them after he filed no return because, he said, he had no income, the other after he failed to report his wife's income. According to California state records, Stack had a troubled business history, twice starting software companies in California that ultimately were suspended by the state's tax board, one in 2000, the other in 2004. Also, his first wife filed for bankruptcy in 1999, listing a debt to the IRS of nearly $126,000. Stack's father-in-law, Jack Cook, told The New York Times that he knew Stack had a "hangTEXAS page 25

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Texas man angry with IRS crashes plane into office (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News)

media on Friday although it was unclear when or how, the Red Cross said. One law enforcement Message from fivefilters.org: If official said investigators were you can, please donate to the full trying to find out if a marital -text RSS service so we can dispute precipitated Stack's continue developing it. angry suicide mission. All AUSTIN, Texas â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A software officials spoke on condition of engineer who crashed his plane a n o n y m i t y b e c a u s e t h e into an office building with investigation was ongoing. nearly 200 Internal Revenue In his self-described "rant," Service employees inside left S t a c k r a i l e d a g a i n s t " b i g b e h i n d a r a m b l i n g a n t i - brother," the Catholic Church, g o v e r n m e n t m a n i f e s t o b u t the "unthinkable atrocities" otherwise offered little indication committed by big business and that he was planning such an the governments bailouts that attack. followed. A. Joseph Stack III posted his In the note, signed "Joe Stack angry screed on a Web site ( 1 9 5 6 - 2 0 1 0 ) " a n d d a t e d registered to him before he flew Thursday, he said he slowly a single engine plane into the came to the conclusion that hulking black-glass Echelon 1 "violence not only is the answer, building on Thursday, killing it is the only answer." himself and at least one worker. Law enforcement officials, Stack, 53, apparently targeted the s p e a k i n g o n c o n d i t i o n o f building's lower floors, which a n o n y m i t y b e c a u s e t h e housed the IRS offices. investigation was still going on, On Friday, police and fire said Stack apparently posted the investigators picked through the screed and set fire to his house wreckage at the office building before leaving for the airport. and at Stack's red brick home Some who knew Stack said he about six miles away â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which offered little hint of his anger. Stack apparently set fire to "He didn't rant about anything," before taking off in his plane. said Pam Parker, an Austin The home's roof had caved in attorney whose husband played and its windows had blown out. in a band with Stack. "He wasn't U.S. law enforcement officials obsessed with the government or also said they were trying to any of that. ... Not a loner, not determine if Stack put anything off in a corner. He had friends in the plane to worsen the and conversation and ordinary damage caused by the impact stuff." and fire. But in his posting, Stack fumed His wife, Sheryl Stack, was a b o u t t h e I R S a n d w r o t e , expected to address the news "Nothing changes unless there is Submitted at 2/19/2010 8:45:48 AM

a body count." "I have had all I can stand," he wrote, adding: "I choose not to keep looking over my shoulder at `big brother' while he strips my carcass." Stack took off from an airport in Georgetown, about 30 miles from Austin, and flew low over the Austin skyline before plowing into the side of the building just before 10 a.m. Flames shot from the building, windows exploded and terrified workers rushed to get out. The Pentagon scrambled two F16 fighter jets to patrol the skies over the burning building before it became clear it was the act of a lone pilot, and President Barack Obama was briefed. "It felt like a bomb blew off," said Peggy Walker, an IRS revenue officer who was sitting at her desk. "The ceiling caved in and windows blew in. We got up and ran." The outside of the second floor was gone on the side of the building where the plane hit. Support beams were bent inward. Venetian blinds dangled from blown-out windows, and large sections of the exterior were blackened with soot. It was not immediately clear if tax records were destroyed. Emergency crews originally said people were missing inside the building, but later recovered two bodies. Austin Fire Department Battalion Chief Palmer Buck declined to discuss the identities of those found, but said

authorities had now "accounted for everybody." Thirteen people were injured, authorities said. One man remained hospitalized Friday at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio with burns and was in stable condition, the hospital said. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said "heroic actions" by federal employees may explain why the death toll was so low. Andrew Jacobson, an IRS revenue officer who was on the second floor when the plane hit with a "big whoomp" and then a second explosion, said about six people couldn't use the stairwell because of smoke and debris. He found a metal bar to break a window so the group could crawl out onto a concrete ledge, where they were rescued by firefighters. His bloody hands were bandaged. The FBI launched an investigation and Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican from Austin on the Homeland Security Committee, said the panel will take up the issue of how to better protect buildings from attacks with planes. Stack's Web tirade begins: "If you're reading this, you're no doubt asking yourself, `Why did this have to happen?'" He recounts his financial reverses, his difficulty finding work in Austin, and at least two clashes with the IRS, one of them after he filed no return because, he said, he had no

income, the other after he failed to report his wife's income. According to California state records, Stack had a troubled business history, twice starting software companies in California that ultimately were suspended by the state's tax board, one in 2000, the other in 2004. Also, his first wife filed for bankruptcy in 1999, listing a debt to the IRS of nearly $126,000. Stack's father-in-law, Jack Cook, told The New York Times that he knew Stack had a "hangup" with the IRS and his marriage had been strained. His wife had taken her daughter to a hotel to get away from Stack on Wednesday night, the newspaper said. The blaze at Stack's home, a red -brick house on a tree-lined street in a middle-class neighborhood six miles from the crash site, caved in the roof and blew out the windows. Arson crews were at the home Friday investigating. Elbert Hutchins, who lives one house away, said the house caught fire about 9:15 a.m. He said a woman and her daughter drove up to the house before firefighters arrived. "They both were very, very distraught," said Hutchins, a retiree who said he didn't know the family well. "'That's our house!' they cried. `That's our house!'" Thursday was not the first time a TEXAS page 22

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Law Enforcement: Radical Anti-tax Groups Growing Threat (FOXNews.com) Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:39:24 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Joseph Stack, the 53-year-old software engineer who crashed his small plane into a seven-story office building in Austin, Texas, was part of a growing, violent anti-tax and anti-government movement that has become increasingly alarming to law enforcement agencies. Stack, who torched his home Thursday morning before setting out on his suicide flight, was fueled by his hatred of the Internal Revenue Service, which had offices and employed nearly 200 workers in the building. SLIDESHOW: Small Plane Crashes Into Austin Office Building In his wake he left a rambling and lengthy online manifesto in which he railed against big government, bank bailouts and the IRS and revealed his decades -long involvement in the anti-tax movement and the evolution of his beliefs. Click to read the "manifesto" published on Stack's Web site. Experts are pointing to the incident as further evidence of what they say is a proliferation of anti-government militia groups. "There is a real rage out there, and this terrible attack may be a reflection of that," Mark Potok,

the director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, said in a statement to FOXNews.com. The SPLC has been studying the resurgence in anti-government militias and groups, which it attributes to a perfect storm of economic, political and social factors. "There's been an explosive growth of anti-government militias and so-called Patriot groups over the past year, and the central idea of many of them is that taxes are completely illegitimate," Potok said. There was an immediate response to Stack's violent act on anti-government and anti-tax blogs, and on Facebook, where multiple fan pages attracted hundreds of followers within hours of the plane crash. "Half of them are making this guy into a hero, that's scary stuff. The other half is saying that this guy's a victim," said J.J. MacNab, a Maryland-based insurance analyst who has testified before Congress on the anti-tax movement and is writing a book on the subject. She said anti-tax, antigovernment protesters did not condone Stack setting his house on fire, "but the tax protest movement is not condemning him." Tax protesters have a history of violence against the IRS, MacNab said. But she said Stack's method of attack - a suicide mission - was unusual.

The anti-tax protester's favorite weapon, she said, is a bomb. "He is not your typical tax protester, but he got angry like the rest of them," MacNab told FOXNews.com. "He's had lots and lots of tax problems, spanning back to the mid1980s." According to the SPLC, there were five domestic terrorist plots against the IRS between 1995 and 2009; an IRS building in Austin was the target of a plot 15 years ago. "In the 1990s, the combustible mix of rising antigovernment anger and the growth in militias was a recipe for disaster that ultimately resulted in the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building by Timothy McVeigh, who was motivated by antigovernment hatred," read a blog post on SPLC's Web site after Stack's attack. Stack's manifesto offers insight into his personal journey as a tax protester - and into the large and growing movement that attracted him. Passages of Stack's manifesto suggest that he was involved in a notorious home church scheme that was popular in the part of California where he lived before he moved to Texas, MacNab said. Stack wrote that he was part of a group who held tax code readings and "zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful 'exemptions' that make institutions like the vulgar,

corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy." He said they had "the best highpaid experienced tax lawyers in the business." MacNab said Stack likely was referring to a notorious scheme run by lawyers William Drexler and Jerome Daly. It was based on the idea that citizens could establish themselves as a church and gain the same tax exemptions afforded to religious institutions. The scheme didn't work, and Drexler and Daly were disbarred and imprisoned. If this was the operation Stack was referring to, it may have been a turning point in his life. He wrote: "That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie." This inspired him to take action, write to politicians and meet with likeminded anti-tax protesters. He wrote: "I spent countless hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this atrocity." His anti-tax and antigovernment beliefs may also have been fueled by Section 1706, an obscure and relatively unknown change in the tax code that focused on his industry and

went into effect in 1986. Section 1706 essentially removed technical workers like software engineers from a safe haven classification of "self-employed consultant," making it easier for the IRS to challenge how Information Technology companies classified their employers. An association of IT companies and industry professionals, now called TechServe Alliance, was created to protest the changes in tax law that it says singled out the industry. "It made the whole business riskier for people using independent contractors because it favored the so-called employment business model," Mark Roberts, TechServe CEO, told FoxNews.com. "It created havoc on a number of folks." Roberts was quick to condemned Stack's behavior as "an act of a very, very sick individual." "I don't see a long-term lasting effect, just a troubled wayward person acting in response to a legitimate issue. But I don't think that actually impacts the issue," Roberts said. Noting that Section 1706 was passed years ago, he added: "We still resent the fact that it singles out the industry, but folks have basically learned to adapt. It's kind of been awhile since this was a burning issue in the LAW page 23

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Repentant Woods sorry for affairs (BBC News | Americas | World Edition) Submitted at 2/19/2010 8:13:33 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Tiger Woods news conference in full Tearful Tiger Woods has made a full and frank apology for cheating on his wife. The world number one golfer was talking publicly for the first time since the scandal surrounding his private life erupted in late November last year. "I was unfaithful, I had affairs and I cheated. What I did was unacceptable," said the 14-time major winner. The 34-year-old added: "I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife's family, my friends, my foundation and kids all around the world who admired me." Friday's media event at the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse in Florida was tightly controlled, with only a few journalists allowed access. Woods spoke for more than 13 minutes, addressing about 40 people in the room, including his mother, friends, colleagues and close associates. His wife, Elin, was not present. Addressing his personal issues, Woods said: "I am the only person to blame. I stopped living by the core values I was taught to

believe in. "I knew my actions were wrong but I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply. I never thought about who I was hurting, instead I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries a married couple should live by. "I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled, thanks to money and fame. I didn't have to go far to find them. "I was wrong and I was foolish." Woods claimed therapy had helped him start to deal with his problems and vowed there would be no repeat of his infidelities.

"I've had a lot of time to think about what I've done," he continued. "My failures have made me look at myself in a way I've never wanted to before. It's now up to me to make amends. And that starts by never repeating the mistakes I've made. "It's up to me to start living a life of integrity. It's hard to admit that I need help but I do. "For 45 days from the end of December to early February I was in in-patient therapy receiving guidance for the issues I'm facing. I have a long way to go. I have taken my first steps in the right direction." Woods said he did not rule out returning to golf this year but indicated he did not as yet have a

date, adding he would be returning for further therapy for his problems on Saturday. "I do plan to return to golf one day," he said. "I just don't know when that day will be. "I don't rule out that it will be this year. When I do return I need to make my behaviour more respectful to the game." Woods said he and his wife were attempting to work through their problems and made an appeal for privacy. "I know people want to find out how I could be so selfish and so foolish," he continued. "People want to know how I could have done these things to my wife, Elin, and to my children. And, while I have always tried to be a private

person, there are some things I want to say. "Elin and I have started the process of discussing the damage caused by my behaviour. We have a lot to discuss and what we say to each other will remain between the two of us." Woods also vehemently denied allegations his car crash was caused after Elin attempted to attack him with a golf club following revelations about his affairs. "I have a lot to atone for but there's one issue I really want to discuss," he said. "Some people have speculated that Elin somehow hurt or attacked me on Thanksgiving night. "It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that. Elin never hit me that night or any other night. There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage. "Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout this ordeal. Elin deserves praise not blame." Woods also expressed gratitude for the messages of support he and his wife have received. "In recent weeks I have received many thousands of emails, letters and phone calls from people expressing good wishes," he said. "To everyone who has reached out to me and my family, thank you. Your encouragement means the world to Elin and me. REPENTANT page 26

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TEXAS

Falklands drilling 'to go ahead' (BBC News | Americas | World Edition)

also co-operate. The rig, the Ocean Guardian, has been travelling from Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:03:04 AM Invergordon in the Cromarty Message from fivefilters.org: If Firth since November. you can, please donate to the full Owner Desire Petroleum said its -text RSS service so we can rig "has not gone anywhere near continue developing it. Argentine waters", and it had Drilling off the coast of the therefore not sought permission Falkland Islands will begin next from the Argentine government. week despite strong opposition Argentina has threatened to take f r o m A r g e n t i n a , t h e U K "adequate measures" to stop territory's government has B r i t i s h o i l e x p l o r a t i o n i n insisted. contested waters around the Argentina has said it will widen islands. restrictions on ships heading to But in a statement, the assembly the islands to cover all of South said it had "every right" to America. develop "legitimate business" in The Falklands Legislative hydrocarbons. Assembly said that the Describing the controls restrictions were "no surprise" introduced by Argentina, it but promised that exploration added: "This is a move by would "commence as planned". Argentina to try and disrupt the An oil rig from the UK has oil drilling due to start early next arrived in the Falklands' waters. week. 'Legitimate business' "It is no surprise to anyone that The Argentine government said they are behaving in this way, it was in talks with its b u t i t i s n o n e t h e l e s s neighbours to try to tighten a disappointing when they do." shipping blockade around the The statement said that "all the Falkland Islands. supplies the industry needs are Earlier this week, Argentina located here in the islands" and announced that all ships heading drilling would begin as planned to the Falklands from its ports next week, "weather permitting". would require special permits. The Ocean Guardian will be But spokesman Ruperto Godoy tethered about 60 miles off the said he was confident that islands over the weekend before neighbouring countries would drilling begins on Sunday.

The company added that it had not put any additional security measures in place above what was normal for a "routine" operation. Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said all UK oil exploration in the area was "completely in accordance with international law". On Thursday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the government had "made all the preparations that are necessary to make sure the Falkland islanders are properly protected." A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the government was "fully committed" to the Falklands, adding: "A deterrence force is maintained on the islands." After Argentina's invasion of the Falklands in 1982, a UK taskforce seized back control in a short war that claimed the lives of 649 Argentine and 255 British service personnel. Buenos Aires claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, which it calls Islas Malvinas. It has previously threatened that any company exploring for oil and gas in the waters around the territory will not be allowed to operate in Argentina. On Tuesday, Argentine

continued from page 19

President Cristina Fernandez signed a decree requiring all vessels travelling between Argentina and the islands, or those wanting to cross what Argentina says are its territorial waters en route to the Falklands, to seek prior permission. Last week, a ship carrying drilling equipment was detained by Argentine officials. Geologists say the ocean bed surrounding the Falklands could contain rich energy reserves. Last year, Argentina submitted a claim to the United Nations for a vast expanse of ocean, based on research into the extent of the continental shelf, stretching to the Antarctic and including the island chains governed by the UK. It is due to raise the issue at the UN next week. The waters surrounding the disputed islands are considered by the UK to be part of the British Overseas Territories. But Buenos Aires believes the UK is illegally occupying the Falklands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Print Sponsor Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

tax protester went after an Austin IRS building. In 1995, Charles Ray Polk plotted to bomb the IRS Austin Service Center. He was released from prison in October of last year. The tax protest movement has a long history in the U.S. and was a strong component of antigovernment sentiments that surged during the 1990s. That wave culminated in the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people. Several domestic extremists were later convicted in the plot. ___ Associated Press writers April Castro and Jim Vertuno in Austin; Michelle Roberts in Georgetown; Linda Stewart Ball, Danny Robbins, Jeff Carlton and John McFarland in Dallas; Devlin Barrett, Lolita C. Baldor, Eileen Sullivan and Joan Lowy in Washington; and Melanie Coffee and Barbara Rodriguez in Chicago contributed to this report, along with the AP News Research Center. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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REPENTANT continued from page 21

"I want to thank the PGA Tour, commissioner (Tim) Finchem and the players for their patience and understanding while I work on my private life. I look forward to seeing my fellow players on the course. "Finally, there are many people in this room and there are many people at home who believed in me. I want to ask for your help. I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again." Woods then embraced his mother after leaving the stage. Woods had not talked in public since his traffic accident on 27 November triggered shocking revelations about his infidelity. He was injured when he crashed his car into a fire hydrant and a tree near his Florida home.

Two days later, he released a statement in which he said the issue involved was "private ... and I want to keep it that way". After missing his own tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, he released a statement following persistent allegations over extra-marital affairs. At the time a statement to his website read: "I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart." Amid continued allegations of affairs, several high-profile sponsors announced they were ending their links with Woods. A further statement in which he admitted his "infidelity" followed but this month speculation of his return to golf

heightened ahead of the WGCAccenture Match Play Championship in Arizona. On Tuesday, it was announced Woods would make a statement on Friday but the timing - during a tournament backed by one of his former sponsors - was criticised by several leading figures in the game, among them Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia. Print Sponsor Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Tiger Woods Only on Brief Hiatus from Rehab (ETonline - Breaking News)

there was very little flexibility in the date for the announcement." The golfer will speak during a Following his anticipated press golf tournament sponsored by conference that is to take place Accenture, the first company to on Friday morning, Tiger Woods drop Woods. Finchem's letter, has plans to report back to rehab. according to the AP, said that the PGA Tour commissioner Tim PGA Tour spoke to Accenture Finchem wrote a letter Thursday about the scheduling of the press explaining the timing of events conference and "they understand to take place in the days to come. that the PGA Tour was not According to the Associated involved in determining the Press, the note reads in part: "As timing of the statement." He also we understand it, Tiger's therapy pointed out that Woods' presser called for a week's break at this would conclude prior to the time during which he has spent a television broadcast of the few days with his children and tournament. then will make his statement before returning. Accordingly, Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:07:00 AM

7 tips for effective marketing on Twitter (Holy Kaw!)

out a press release, or any other form of one-way communication. If you’re not Since its inception, advertisers willing to interact with your and marketers have been vying c u s t o m e r s and be to get in on the Twitter action, transparent—you’re going to and while many have succeeded, fail. To help get you in the many more have flopped. Why? appropriate (and necessary) Because to be an effective mindset, here are seven tips for marketer on Twitter, you must marketing with Twitter. completely shed your traditional Connect person-to-person. advertising routine. Think of People don’t talk to brands, they company is. On Twitter, people want to connect to a person. Twitter as a room full of talk to people. conversations. You can’t send It doesn’t matter how large your They are not interested in talking Submitted at 2/19/2010 8:34:00 AM

to your ‘brand’. Make your updates personable and human, not scrubbed and polished like news columns. It’s fine to be a little rough around the edges. Tracking conversations. Listen and learn. By using the @reply feature, it’s easy to discover people talking about your brand. The Twitter search function also allows you to search by your company or product name. Use these tools to discover the things being said

about you in real-time. Stay on top of what’s being said about you by frequently checking your @replies; you might be surprised by what you find. See all seven tips at Twitip. All the latest Twitter tips and tricks. Photo credit: Fotolia Permalink| Leave a comment »

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How to take perfect photos using scene modes (Holy Kaw!) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:37:19 AM

When you buy a point-andshoot or simple SLR camera, you expect its automatic settings to take a close to perfect picture every time. The reality, though, is that it doesn’t. We’ve all experienced the wash-out effect of an automatic flash, or the loss of details in an action shot. But the good news is, you don’t need to be a camera expert to start taking excellent photos. You just need to utilize your camera’s scene modes.• Portrait mode. If you’re shooting well-lit people

or animals, this setting if for you. The icon is usually a person. This option will give you those soft, natural skin tones you desire along with a sharp focus on the subject’s face.

• Sports mode. This icon is typically a person running. This setting is ideal for kids who don’t sit still, animals, or any fast -moving subject. In this setting, the camera snaps the shot with a

short exposure time, enabling you to take speedy consecutive shots. • Landscape mode. The icon here is usually a mountain. This setting allows you to capture detailed landscapes and streetscapes. It’ll keep your background and foreground focuses equally sharp. Lean more about scene modes at USA Today. More great USA Today content. Photo credit: Fotolia Permalink| Leave a comment »

Iceland’s mammalian penis museum (Holy Kaw!) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:10:00 AM

Riddle me this: where can you go to learn a little something while surrounded by penises? Nope, not a calculus class taught by Chippendales. Stumped? How about Iceland’s Phallological Museum, the world’s only museum dedicated to the collection and study of the

mammalian penis? Ding, ding, ding! The Phallological Museum boasts a pretty impressive (and I mean impressive) array of 272 phallic specimens, including the giant three-feet-long willie of a Blue Whale. Not only can you see dozens of penises, but you can expand your knowledge of posses the largest penis in the all things wiener. For example, world relative to body size with a did you know that barnacles penis that can grow up to 40x its

body length? Pull that fun fact out at your next cocktail party. Full story at Environmental Graffiti. Taking a trip to the Phallological Museum? Learn more about Iceland. Permalink| Leave a comment »

ET To Stream Tiger Woods Announcement (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 2/19/2010 6:29:00 AM

At 8 a.m. PST, Tiger Woods will speak out for the first time since his headline-making car accident last November -- and ETonline will be streaming from the PGA headquarters where he will make his announcement. Check back then to see today's big news event happening LIVE.

AdWords Collections Attempt By Google Mutates Into Antitrust Lawsuit by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 2/19/2010 4:35:03 AM

Last year, we wrote about an odd antitrust lawsuit against Google by a company named TradeComet. The lawsuit was a joke. Basically, the company ADWORDS page 29

Portable fuel cell to recharge your cell? Sure, why not by Mike Butcher (CrunchGear) Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:19:18 AM

One of the more interesting objects on display at Mobile World Congress this year was a

portable power pack / charger produced by a Swedish company. But no, this was not a car battery or an electrical generator on a bicycle. This was a small portable fuel cell. Think about it. Mobile base

stations can often now reach far

into the countryside, even in some previously remote places in Africa. But actually keeping the phone charged is an issue. myFC is a small hydrogen fuel cell power source which will still work under extreme

environmental conditions. The exterior plastic housing appears to be be very durable and it has no moving parts.

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Hulu Could be Coming to the iPad… For a Price [RUMOR] by Christina Warren (Mashable!)

backers like: Turning Hulu from a ‘one screen’ service — one you’re only supposed to watch Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:00:53 AM on your computer — to a “three When the iPad was announced a screen” offering, by adding few weeks ago, the lack of support for TVs and mobile s u p p o r t f o r A d o b e F l a s h devices. prompted outcries from would- ‘Just three screens alone is pretty be users — largely because of enticing,’ for consumers, says an what impact that would have on executive at one of Hulu’s parent streaming video services. Today, companies.” AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka is Hulu has gone to great lengths reporting that Hulu for the iPad to position itself as a “computeris indeed likely, but you might only” service (even when it have to pay for it. offers programs like Hulu Last year, the web went into Desktop that are clearly designed hysterics when a representative for use with a remote control from Fox (one of Hulu’s three from a sofa or chair), trying to owners — alongside Disney and prevent services like Boxee from N B C U n i v e r s a l / C o m c a s t ) making it easy to view the web announced that he wanted to start content on a larger screen. charging for Hulu. Whether that Whether or not this strategy would be part of some sort of would include teaming up with subscription service for more hardware partners a la Netflix, is premium content or include still unclear. The Definition of a access to other types of devices Mobile Device hasn’t been formally discussed, AllThingsD and Gizmodo both but according to AllThingsD, the touched on what is probably the iPad would be part of this biggest hurdle for Hulu and the strategy. iPad: the definition of device Right now it sounds like Hulu’s type. One of the reasons that management is trying to figure Hulu has not come to mobile out how to keep the main site phones is because there are free, while charging for other additional rights involved with access options. getting shows licensed to view AllThingsD describes this: on a mobile phone. Hulu doesn’t “One idea the company and its own those rights. And while it’s

proven, Hulu is not afraid to try to block requests from certain browser types (which is why Boxee uses a user agent string that matches Mozilla in almost every way). Blocking access coming from devices that identify themselves as an iPad wouldn’t take any effort. I’m not likely it could get them, that saying Hulu would do this — but process won’t be fast (and it the technical fact is, it wouldn’t almost certainly won’t be a free be difficult to do. option — especially for newer If the big issue is how to charge shows that have mobile royalty and how to categorize the device, rates written into the contracts of and not how to serve the content the creatives and talent). — having Flash or not having How the iPad’s device-type will Flash is really beside the point. be defined is still unknown — it It’s a nice issue for users and could be argued that when used developers and pundits to hang via Wi-Fi, the device is not their hats on and debate, but mobile, but when used over 3G, really, if what is being reported it is. Still, this seems to be a is accurate, the issue seems to larger logistical hurdle than just have very little to do with what creating an application wrapper wrapper the video content uses. to service the Hulu video Assuming Hulu does come to content. Flash Wouldn’t Erase the iPad — as part of some sort This Problem of subscription service — would Although having Flash support you pay? How much would be would prevent Hulu from having fair? Would you also want access to write either an iPad-optimized to other devices like a TV or website (or separate application) mobile phone? to serve content, it wouldn’t Let us know your thoughts in solve the dilemmas over what the comments! constitutes a mobile device and Tags: hulu, ipad, tv on what types of screens Hulu wants to serve content. As the Boxee kerfuffle has

Enjoy a Healthy Snack in This Week's Open Thread [Open Thread] by Adam Pash (Lifehacker) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:30:00 AM

Close that Olympics-watching browser for a minute, grab your gabbing beverage of choice, and join us inside; this week's open thread starts now. Photo by Lisa Hoover. Same drill as always, openthreaders: You can chat and ask questions with your fellow readers all week long at the#openthread hashtag page, but our weekly open thread post is your opportunity to reach the most readers. Ask questions, offer advice, discuss productivity tips, or just chat about whatever's on your mind. You'll need a commenter account to participate, then you're ready to roll. Happy Friday!

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ADWORDS continued from page 27

was an arbitrage player that tried to create spam-like pages that people would find on Google searches, and would make money by then getting people to click on pay-per-click ad links to get where they really wanted to go. Google properly classifies sites like this as spam, and its ranking methodology punished the site accordingly. It had nothing to do with being "anticompetitive," it was just Google making sure its search results were better for users. That lawsuit is basically in a holding pattern right now, as the judge considers Google's motion to dismiss. However, a similar lawsuit has popped up, and it's a bit strange. Eric Goldman has all the murky details, of how a shopping search engine named myTriggers apparently got a line of credit from Google and used it to buy a bunch of AdWords search ads to drive traffic to its site (and then raised money based on the resulting traffic). Once again, Google rejiggered its algorithm, and suddenly the ads for myTriggers were a lot more expensive (by one to two orders

of magnitude). The company couldn't pay its bill to Google, so Google hired a local lawyer (in Ohio) and went to court to try to get myTriggers to pay the $335,000 it owed. Simple enough. Except that myTriggers returned fire by claiming antitrust violations by Google, and even went out and hired three separate lawfirms, including (conspiracy theory time) the same law firm that represented TradeComet and which is closely connected to Microsoft. As Goldman notes: I am struggling to make sense of myTriggers' litigation choices. Assuming myTriggers even has the money, writing a $335k check to Google (and I bet Google would have taken less!) is almost assuredly cheaper than paying three law firms to mount an antitrust assault on a $20B/year behemoth. Assuming that myTriggers wants to maximize profits, then either (1) myTriggers thinks its odds are good enough that it will win AND make enough money to pay the 7 lawyers on the counterclaim's signature page plus their teams, or (2) the law

firms struck an unbelievably sweet deal on fees. Goldman also notes that Google probably wishes it hadn't filed a claim in a local Ohio state court, as the antitrust battle might now need to be fought there, rather than in a friendlier federal court closer to home: Whatever the case, I suspect the antitrust claims caught Google flat-footed. A simple and low-stakes collections matter has blown up into a potentially significant lawsuit in an undesirable forum. Google chose Ohio state court for the collections matter despite its AdWords contract, so now it will have a tough time extricating itself from that court. But I suspect it would rather have an antitrust case in federal court, not state court--often (but not always) federal judges are more sophisticated than state judges and less susceptible to hometown bias. And I'm sure Google would rather fight antitrust claims on one of the coasts than in the Rust Belt, especially if myTriggers argues that Google창s evilness cost Ohioans jobs. Google probably didn창t mean to offer battle in this

venue, but someone did a really good job of seizing the opportunity and forcing Google to fight the battle in a suboptimal setting. As with the TradeComet case, the antitrust claim from myTriggers sounds incredibly weak, and it probably should be thrown out, but given the uncertainties of it being filed in the local court, Google may have to take it a bit more seriously. And, of course, the possibility of a secret Microsoft connection makes this even more interesting. Still, I can't see this getting that far in the long run. I hope that the judge recognizes the basic weaknesses of the case: here's a company that relied entirely on a single supplier who had every right to change its policies if it felt it didn't deliver a good customer experience, and it did so. myTriggers now seems to be suing as some sort of sour grapes for its own business failings. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

News Haiku (Beta) [News Haiku] by behrle (Gawker) Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:35:29 PM

Oh, right: news haiku. Jim Behrle's started you off. Now

less talk, more poetry! And apologies for not getting yesterday's winner posted yesterday. The lucky victor is unclevanya and you can read his

the jump.

tribute to James Cameron after

LG Arena officially lands on AT&T for $199 by Nilay Patel (Engadget) Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:53:00 AM

No surprise the LG Arena has finally arrived on AT&T after we saw those spyshots earlier this year -- although it is packing AT&T Mobile TV, so that's a nice touch. Everything else is as predicted: 3-inch WVGA screen, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, GPS, and WiFi. Of course, you will be spending $199 on a two-year contract for a poorly-reviewed year-old featurephone when this hits on February 26, so that's probably a mistake, but at least the gratuitous spinny-cube effects of LG's S-Class UI will keep you distracted as you wander aimlessly through the wreckage of our once-proud civilization. There is also a web browser. LG Arena officially lands on AT&T for $199 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| PRNewswire| Email this| Comments

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Book Publishers Circulating 'Talking Points' To Counter Arguments That Ebook Prices Need To Go Lower by Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

wholesale price. The talking points also included one about how publishers' deals with Apple For a while now, we've been might actually price books lower discussing how the pricing on anyways -- and it seems like that ebooks doesn't make much particular talking point has been sense, and almost certainly needs "anonymously" pushed into a to fall. Like many industries, the NY Times article already. book business could learn a lot The list goes on in this nature, from other businesses that have but it's worrisome that publishers realized that drastically lowering are thinking this way. Just as we the price on digital goods can Times article about consumers' economics, and we've already infinite ones. were recently discussing, they're massively increase sales, and potential revolt, that encourages seen it playing out in music. Among the other talking points acting like the recording industry better maximize profits. But, publishers to get out there and W h y w o u l d n ' t t h e s a m e is the claim that people who buy ten years ago: hunkering down instead, book publishers seem to f i g h t b a c k a g a i n s t s u c h economics play in the ebook ebook readers for hundreds of for a "war" of words, rather than dollars shouldn't bitch about a c t u a l l y f o c u s i n g o n n e w be pushing in the opposite perceptions. The email contains space as well? a list of "myths and potential The talking points also tries to ebook prices, because they're business models or figuring out direction, and trying to push the price of digital books up. We talking points." Some of which attack the claim that Amazon is obviously rich enough to afford what consumers actually want. recently wrote about a NY Times are amusing. It starts out by losing money on every ebook whatever publishers think the Instead, they're trying to dictate article that suggested consumers saying $9.99 doesn't need to be sold by not actually responding books should be priced at (again, what consumers want and hoping might revolt if the publishers the price for ebooks, which is to that (mostly accurate) claim, ignoring basic economics). Also for some sort of magic bullet in keep moving in this direction, true, but they don't even seem to but instead directing your there's a claim that publishers are the form of ebook readers. This which is actually supported by consider the notion that the price attention elsewhere, by pointing really lowering the prices on i s a d a n g e r o u s m o v e b y reports of how consumers are could be less (or even free), out that Amazon has a $50 ebooks even as consumers see publishers that can only come reacting to publishers' anti- focusing only on examples of billion market cap and can sell higher prices. While this is back to haunt them. Instead of consumer activities with regards people paying more for ebooks. products like ebooks at a loss technically true in cases like focusing on "countering" what It then suggests that publishers and still make massive profits. Macmillan, where the company consumers are saying, why not to ebooks. Given all that, I was amused start blaming the ebook device Yes, this is true. And it's true is lowering its wholesale price in actually listen to them, and look when a friend "in the business" makers for "the implicit, false because Amazon seems to order to get Amazon to raise its for ways to provide what they forwarded me an email message promise" that ebooks can be understand the basic economics retail price, it misses the fact that want? sent to a mailing list of book cheap. That's ridiculous. The of where the money is made: this doesn't matter to consumers. Permalink| Comments| Email publishers in response to that NY idea isn't "false," it's just basic which is in scarce goods, not in Consumers don't care about the This Story Submitted at 2/19/2010 8:48:00 AM

Goth Is Dead [The End] by Hamilton Nolan (Gawker)

Topic, including a "black shackle bracelet for $10." So much for that.[WSJ]

Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:19:06 PM

Disney is marketing Alice in Wonderland to Goths with a soundtrack featuring The Cure

and "an extensive line of clothing and accessories" at Hot

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Has Apple banned sexual content from App Store? (CNET News.com) Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:22:00 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Apple may be in the process of removing "overtly sexual" content from its App Store, according to a TechCrunch report. Apple's message that apps aren't available.(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET) The developer behind "Wobble iBoobs," an adult-themed application, told TechCrunch that his application has been taken down. Apple reportedly told the developer in a letter that the decision to remove the app is part of a larger plan to remove sexual content from the store. "Your application, Wobble iBoobs (Premium Uncensored), contains content that we had originally believed to be suitable for distribution," Apple's letter to the developer read, according to TechCrunch. "However, we have recently received numerous complaints from our customers

about this type of content, and have changed our guidelines appropriately. We have decided to remove any overtly sexual content from the App Store, which includes your application." The app is currently not available in the App Store. The removal of the app doesn't seem to be an isolated incident. On Friday morning, I searched the App Store for several adultthemed applications to see whether they were still available. In the vast majority of cases, they were not. The most notable removals include applications from Grindhouse Mobile, the developer behind the first "porn star apps" in the App Store. The applications, which were approved in September and did not show any nudity, are still

responded to my query on the issue by stating that customer complaints play a role when Apple decides to remove an application. "Whenever we receive customer complaints about objectionable content we review them," the listed as available in Apple's App Apple representative wrote to me Store on the Grindhouse Web in an e-mail. "If we find these site. But after clicking their apps contain inappropriate direct links, a message generated material we remove them and by the App Store reads that the request the developer make any applications are no longer necessary changes in order to be distributed by Apple." available. Grindhouse Mobile confirmed But that doesn't answer the the app's removal with me on question. Is Apple banning Friday and said it will comment sexual content from the App Store? Judging by its response more later in the day. Although several applications and the company's history of have seemingly been removed, staying tight-lipped on App Store it's worth noting that a slew of regulations, we may never sexually charged apps still exactly know for sure. remain in the App Store-- Updated at 7:40 a.m. PST with including the e-reader app that comment from Grindhouse. Apple originally rejected because Five Filters featured article: it provided access to the Kama Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Sutra. For its part, Apple is staying Term Extraction. tight-lipped. The company wouldn't tell me that it has changed its App Store policy. Instead, a representative

Melo, Nuggets stop Cavaliers' win streak at 13 by Associated Press (ESPN.com) Submitted at 2/19/2010 5:14:11 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If

you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Top Performers Denver: C. Anthony 40 Pts, 6

Reb, 7 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Cleveland: L. James 43 Pts, 13 Term Extraction. Reb, 15 Ast, 2 Stl, 4 Blk Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools:

Evan Lysacek Makes Olympic History with Gold Medal Win (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:05:00 AM

The United States added to their medal count Thursday night at the Olympics. In pursuit of the gold rush, Evan Lysacek moved to Los Angeles from his hometown of Naperville, Illinois and gold is what he got up in Vancouver. America's newest golden boy made Olympic history, becoming the first male from the U.S. to win gold since Brian Boitano in 1988. Since then, Russia has held on to a winning streak and this year was another epic battle between men from those two countries. Still in utter jubilation over his lifelong dream coming to fruition, the reigning World champion said, "Worlds rejuvenated my love for skating, but it also confirmed to me that the most important thing about figure skating is the daily training that goes on at home. This year I've worked harder than I ever have before to prepare for this competition. The whole season has been building toward this and waiting for that clean skate the whole season, and to get it in most important moment is pretty special."

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Foxconn: Apple supplier in China roughs up reporter by Michael Grothaus (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

walking off. That's when one guard pursued and kicked the reporter in the leg. The other guard threatened to hit him again Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:30:00 PM if he moved. Within a few Filed under: Apple Corporate"A minutes a Foxconn security car Reuters employee who was showed up but the reporter investigating Apple's legendary refused to get in. That's when the secrecy visited Foxconn's walled reporter called the police. city-like facility in Guanlan, The police arrived, the guards China, and was reportedly apologized, and the reporter left roughed up by security." without filing charges. Then the The reporter took a taxi to the policeman told the reporter, facility and left the taxi to take "You're free to do what you photographs of the front gate and want, but this is Foxconn and security checkpoint. When a they have a special status here. guard shouted, the reporter Please understand." hopped back in the taxi. The In June 2006, Foxconn came guard then blocked the taxi from under fire for its labor practices leaving. at an iPod facility. As a worker This is where it gets hairy. The reported: reported stepped out of the gab "We have to work too hard and I and insisted that he was within am always tired. It's like being in his rights to take photographs the army. They make us stand because he was standing on a still for hours. If we move, we main road. The guard grabbed are punished by being made to his arm as a second guard arrived stand still for longer...We have to and both attempted to drag the work overtime if we are told to reporter into the facility. The and can only go back to the reporter asked to be released and dormitories when our boss gives when the guards refused the us permission...If they ask for reporter jerked free and began overtime we must do it. After

mean tens of millions of dollars for a company. In 2008, TechCrunch reported that Foxconn was producing as much as 800,000 iPhones per week. It's unfortunately not surprising that the fear of losing an Apple contract over leaked information can lead to some abusive security measures. While its quite evident that Apple would never suggest illegal ways of maintaining that security, it seems like Foxconn working 15 hours until 11:30pm, will do what it deems necessary we feel so tired." In response to to ensure it doesn't incur the the media outrage, Apple audited wrath of one of its largest clients the facility a month later. But - especially when Foxconn is that wasn't the end of the investing $1 billion in a new Foxconn woes. In July of 2009, factory in China that could be 25-year-old Sun Danyong, a u s e d t o p r o d u c e t h e n e x t Foxconn employee, reportedly generation of Apple products. committed suicide following the TUAW Foxconn: Apple disappearance of an iPhone supplier in China roughs up prototype. After losing the reporter originally appeared on prototype, Danyong supposedly The Unofficial Apple Weblog had his apartment illegally (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 searched, and he was reportedly 12:30:00 EST. Please see our treated roughly by Foxconn terms for use of feeds. security personnel. Read| Permalink| Email this| A contract from Apple for a part Comments in or assembly of one of its iPhones, iPods, or Macs can

Celtics drop Lakers to first loss without Kobe by Associated Press (ESPN.com) Submitted at 2/19/2010 6:16:52 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full

-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Top Performers Boston: R. Rondo 14 Pts, 5 Reb, 11 Ast, 5 Stl, 1 Blk Los Angeles: P. Gasol 22 Pts, 7

Reb, 1 Ast, 3 Blk Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

NBA Trade Deadline: From Antawn to Zydrunas by Chris Tomasson (FanHouse Main) Submitted at 2/18/2010 3:43:00 PM

Filed under: NBA Transactions There's a new answer to an NBA trivia question: Who's the active player to have been around the longest while never being traded? It's not Kobe Bryant, who was drafted in 1996 but was dealt that night from the Charlotte Hornets to Lakers. It was Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who was drafted in 1996 by Cleveland and never traded until this week. Now, it's Tim Duncan, who never has been traded since being drafted by San Antonio in 1997 and never will be. He'll probably retire never having his name even mentioned in a trade rumor. But, in a salute to Ilgauskas finally being traded, we offer here an A to Z look at what transpired leading up to Thursday's NBA trade deadline. In reality, Big Z, who went to Washington for Antawn Jamison but might have his contract bought out, provided a Z.

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Apple banning sexual content in the App Store?

CBS Might Sell iTunes TV Shows for $0.99

by Michael Grothaus (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

by Jennifer Van Grove (Mashable!)

Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:00:00 AM

Filed under: Apple Corporate, App Store Jon Atherton, the developer behind Wobble iBoobs, has just told TechCrunch that he received an email from Apple stating his application was being removed from the App Store because of a new policy change: "We [Apple] have decided to remove any overtly sexual content from the App Store." The full email: The App Store continues to evolve, and as such, we are constantly refining our guidelines. Your application, Wobble iBoobs (Premium Uncensored), contains content that we had originally believed to be suitable for distribution. However, we have recently received numerous complaints from our customers about this type of content, and have changed our guidelines appropriately. We have decided to remove any

overtly sexual content from the App Store, which includes your application. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. If you believe you can make the necessary changes so that Wobble iBoobs (Premium Uncensored) complies with our recent changes, we encourage you to do so and resubmit for review. Sincerely, iPhone App Review At this time it's unclear if Apple is removing all apps with the "over the age of 17" warning that contain sexual content, or just specific apps whose sexual content is deemed " overt" by Apple. While iBoobs

has been removed, I was still able to download an app called " Sexy Screen Wash Lite" at the time of this writing. TechCrunch has also been able to download other "sexy" apps, which makes Apple's working definition of "overtly sexual content" unclear. This isn't the first time iBoobs has been removed from the App Store. In 2008, Apple rejected it on the grounds of "objectionable content." The app was later allowed back in the App Store. I wish Apple would either remove these apps, or file them all under a special "sexy" section in the App Store that remains hidden unless enabled. Of course a free T&A app is going to be a popular download, but when I'm searching for cool new free apps, it's annoying when the top list is populated by "sexy" junk apps. TUAW Apple banning sexual content in the App Store? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:46:05 AM

It’s been widely reported that Apple is lobbying television networks to reduce the cost of TV episodes from $1.99 to $0.99, and it appears as if it has one big network ready to make a deal: CBS. In a company earnings call, CBS CEO Les Moonves is quoted as saying, “There are certain shows that will be sold on Apple for 99 cents.” It’s not uncommon for networks to offer older shows at the discounted price, but Peter Kafka at All Things D writes that the context of the quote indicated that Moonves “is planning on changing his pricing structure on more than a one-off basis.” Moonves’s statement taken at face value — although he may have spoken too soon per an update to the original report — has major implications for the entertainment industry and consumers alike. If one network reduces its prices, the likelihood

that the others will follow suit is much greater. And if Apple can get TV shows down to $0.99, consumers will be much more likely to purchase the content. The price point is also more approachable to future iPad owners looking to consume their favorite shows regardless of their locations. The details of CBS’s arrangement with Apple are sparse, but other reports speculate that the companies have been in recent communication (surrounding the rumored Apple TV subscription plan), so it’s probably safe to assume that we’ll hear more about the Apple-CBS relationship in the coming months. Tags: apple, cbs, itunes, tv

Street Chic: New York Fashion Week by ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 2/19/2010 4:00:00 AM

Who: Eileen Hayes

What: Chocolate-hued tights add a sweet touch to a daytime dress. Wear: Miu Miu bag, Stella McCartney coat, Isabel Marant

dress

Photo: Anne Ziegler Click here for our complete fall 2010 Fashion Week coverage Think you are Street Chic? Email us your photo and you

could appear in ELLE.com's Street Chic Daily. Follow ELLE on Twitter. Become our Facebook fan!

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Does 'Radiohead Journalism' Make Sense? by Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

Radiohead's famed "name your own price" experiment. Then, with little direct publicity Wired has a story written by -- beyond mentioning it on journalist Paige Williams about Facebook and Twitter -- the story her experience putting up a long got a bit of attention. Not a ton, form feature story about the mind you, but a few thousand pseudonymously named Dolly views, which resulted in about Freed, who had written a rather 160 people donating a bit over successful book as a teenager $1,500. Combined with the kill called Possum Living: How to fee from the NY Times for Live Well Without A Job and backing out on publishing the ( A l m o s t ) N o M o n e y - - b u t feature, her expenses were following the publication, Dolly covered. decided to effectively disappear. There are some interesting Williams tracked her down and things here, but I'm afraid that wrote a feature article about her, the catchy name "Radiohead but couldn't find anyone willing journalism" is not really accurate to publish it. The NY Times was or a very good way of thinking going to, but backed out when about this particular experiment. Williams refused to reveal Radiohead had a variety of other Freed's real name. So, instead, income streams, and from the she put the article on her own v e r y b e g i n n i n g , t h e b a n d site and put up a Paypal donation admitted that the "name your button, hoping to recover her own price" offering for digital expenses. S h e c a l l s i t files was part of a way to get "Radiohead journalism" after more attention for the fancy Submitted at 2/19/2010 1:54:43 AM

"discbox" tangible version of the album. In other words, Radiohead always had an additional reason to buy, which Williams didn't really have. Her model was more of a "give it away and pray" for donations, which can work in some cases, but isn't really sustainable. Still, it does show that there are some creative ways (and this is but one of many) to fund longer form journalism -- and, contrary to the opinion of some, if there's real demand for such things, business models will begin to develop. Williams, for her part, seems interested in further experimenting and improving on the model, and I'm hopeful that she'll look at some more involved business models that go beyond a straight donation model. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

IOC Threatens Ski Gear Company For Mentioning That Gold Medal Winner Wears Its Stuff by Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

with a sneer "your site can't use an Olympian's name even if they The International Olympics use your gear." Committee's abuse of intellectual "No pictures, no video, no blog property law continues to go to posts can be used..." ridiculous lengths. Slashdot Even if they are old? "No!", she points out that apparently enthused. UVEX, makers of popular skiing While Olympians chase gold the gear such as goggles and helmets IOC pursues green. (I own a pair of their goggles, Cough up millions, or your logo actually) had happily mentioned cannot be seen. I can't see how somewhere that gold medal such a claim could stand up in winner Lindsey Vonn had worn court. Accurately reporting that some of their gear on their an Olympian wore your gear website... and the IOC sent them seems like it would fall under a s o m e s o r t o f n a s t y g r a m . perfectly legitimate fair use Amusingly, UVEX responded in claim. But who has time to verse, with a blog post entitled battle the IOC? In the meantime, Blonde we like wins Downhill did you know that Lindsey Vonn ( L a s t n a m e r h y m e s w i t h wore UVEX gear even though "Bonn"). Here's a snippet: There (*gasp*!) UVEX didn't sponsor once was a lawyer from the IOC, the Olympics? who called us to protect Permalink| Comments| Email "intellectual property." This Story "During the Olympics", she said Submitted at 2/19/2010 6:05:54 AM

Mozilla patches critical flaws (CNET News.com) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:22:00 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Mozilla has released fixes for five security holes in older versions of Firefox, while a

security company has warned of a zero-day flaw in the latest version of the popular browser. Mozilla issued patches Wednesday for versions 3.5.8 and 3.0.18 of the browser, sending out fixes for the latter even though it had said it would stop supporting Firefox 3.0 in January. In its security bulletin,

the company said the vulnerabilities had previously been resolved in Firefox 3.6, which was launched on January 21. The five flaws addressed by Mozilla included three the company rated "critical." Those three flaws involve an error in handling out-of-memory conditions; stability errors in the

Gecko rendering engine; and a bug in the way Mozilla's implementation of Web Worker handles posted messages. Separately, Secunia reported Thursday an unpatched bug in Firefox 3.6, the most recent version of the browser. The security firm warned that the software contains a bug that

could be used to execute malicious code on a user's system. Read more of " Firefox suffers critical bugs" at ZDNet UK. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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Apple: What iPad freight records? by Michael Grothaus (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)) Submitted at 2/19/2010 10:00:00 AM

Filed under: iPad Philip Elmer-DeWitt over at Apple 2.0 is reporting that Apple has taken steps to hide ocean shipping data for its iPad. Several business intelligence companies exist that collect, analyze, and resell data of a company's shipping records. This data is sold to the company's competitors in hope that they can glean information on how well a certain product is doing by extrapolating potential sales data from the shipping records. Companies like Trade Privacy also exist to protect trade data. Trade Privacy has stated that in

anticipation of the March iPad launch, Apple has blocked its bills of lading and other import records from public access. "Apple is the only major electronics company so far to have protected their import data," Trade Privacy CEO Andrew Park told DeWitt.

"Similar companies like Microsoft, Sony and Google continue to import with their product data exposed to the public." It's unclear whether Apple is a Trade Privacy client or if Trade Privacy just has knowledge of Apple's steps to retain its iPad

shipping privacy. Apple was reportedly alarmed two years ago by media reports that predicted the arrival of the iPhone 3G before it had been announced based on data from Import Genius- a firm that collects business intelligence data on a company's shipping

records and resells that data to competitors. "Apple was caught off guard and took swift action to protect their trade-secrets from competitors," Park told DeWitt. Given Apple's history of cloak and dagger tactics, safeguarding its shipping data for the much-hyped iPad should surprise few. TUAW Apple: What iPad freight records? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

App Store rules changed to allow sweepstakes and contests by Michael Rose (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

Joel Comm, the originator of iFart Mobile; the particular adjustment is in section 3.3.17 of the agreement: Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:30:00 AM 3.3.17 Your Application may Filed under: iPhone, App Store include promotional sweepstake The prospect of an always-on, or contest functionality provided portable and discreet e-lottery that You are the sole sponsor of ticket in your pocket may thrill the promotion and that You and some and horrify others, but as Your Application comply with far as Apple is concerned it looks any applicable laws. This opens like it's A-OK for the App Store. the door to all sorts of games, We were first tipped to a change prizes and payoffs -- not to of chance and contests are i n t h e i P h o n e d e v e l o p e r mention the possibility of subject to all sorts of differing agreement this past Monday by intriguing legal battles, as games rules in different jurisdictions.

Comm's company's latest app, KaChing Button, will be offering users the chance to win cash prizes in a monthlong sweepstakes that kicks off next Monday. He predicts -- and I concur -- that a massive wave of payoff apps is just over the horizon. I hope all those iPhone developers have excellent lawyers. [H/T to RegHardware, AppFreak] http://www.flickr.com/photos/liz

// CC BY-SA 2.0 TUAW App Store rules changed to allow sweepstakes and contests originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Macworld 2010: Hangman RSS from Fingerarts by Dave Caolo (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

Winning Essay In High School Ethics Writing Competition Argues That File Sharing Isn't Wrong by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:28:00 AM

Well, this is interesting. Despite the various biased, onesided,"education programs" designed by the entertainment industry for schools, it seems that plenty of students are smart enough to make ethical decisions in a more nuanced and understanding fashion. Michael Geist points us to the rather surprising news that the winner of a high school ethics essay contest wrote his essay explaining why file sharing may

be illegal, but it's not ethically wrong. He argues that there are a variety of reasons why kids still engage in unauthorized file trading, but one of them is that they just don't think copyright laws are morally justified. Instead, they see the benefit and the opportunities presented in easier sharing and distribution of works, allowing more people to hear and discover new artists, while opening up lots of new potential business models. All good stuff. But what's most surprising is

that this essay actually won the contest. While there are plenty of us who understand the views expressed in the paper, you would think that most folks who haven't thought too much about these issues will quickly resort to the "but.. but... infringement is bad!" arguments, and refuse to even consider an essay arguing that copyright infringement can be morally justified. So, kudos to the judges for at least having an open mind on this one. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

a key word out. It's your job to guess that word. If it's too difficult, you can get a hint in the Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:00:00 PM form of the article's abstract. If F i l e d u n d e r : M a c w o r l d , you win, you get to read the full Gaming, Software, iPhone, App article. Store, iPod touch It was surprisingly fun and We met many developers and looked great. Watch the video t r i e d m a n y a p p s w h i l e a t above for a demo and our Macworld Expo last week. conversation with Luigi. Then Among the more entertaining c h e c k o u t t h e g a m e i n w a s H a n g m a n R S S f r o m iTunes(there's a free version as Fingerarts. well). Developer Luigi, a selfTUAW Macworld 2010: professed "news junkie," visited Hangman RSS from Fingerarts the booth to tell us about his originally appeared on The company's latest app. It starts U n o f f i c i a l A p p l e W e b l o g w i t h t h e c l a s s i c g a m e o f (TUAW) on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 hangman that we all played as 12:00:00 EST. Please see our kids. Here's the twist: Instead of terms for use of feeds. presenting the user with a Read| Permalink| Email this| random word to guess, it pulls a Comments timely news headline and leaves

Mashable’s New iPhone App: Download Today! by Pete Cashmore (Mashable!) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:14:54 AM

iPhone users, we’ve got a free gift for you! Mashable’s new iPhone app[iTunes link] is live in the App Store, offering an

entirely new interface and a bunch of new features. These include: 1. Browse by channel, category, tag or author 2. Share stories via email, Twitter and Facebook read offline 3. Read later: save stories to

4. Drag to refresh: tap and pull down to refresh story listings 5. In-App Browser : Visit external links without leaving the app 6. Price: FREE! We hope you’ll download the app in the App Store and give us

your feedback! Note that this is an entirely new app – if you’re using previous versions, please download this new one. Tags: iphone, iphone app, mashable

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Google Buzz Contest: Final Day to Win a Google Nexus One by Pete Cashmore (Mashable!) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:37:13 AM

Today is the final day to enter Mashable’s Google Buzz contest and win one of two Google Nexus One phones. Since the product’s launch last week, we’re been using our Google Buzz account to discuss the social media topics of the day. Your comments have been smart, useful and sometimes hilarious. To reward high quality comments, the most intelligent and constructive comments posted to our Google Buzz account by midnight tonight will win one of two Google Nexus One phones. To enter: 1. Follow the official Mashable account on Google Buzz 2. Look out for the questions we post to Buzz and offer your most

Tiger Woods Press Conference Draws 683,000 Views on Ustream by Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)

Fall 2010 Fashion Week All Access: Phillip Lim by ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog)

Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:20:01 AM

The web took a collective 15 minute pause this morning as Tiger Woods made his first public statement since becoming engulfed in scandal back in November. Ustream is the first in with numbers from the event, insightful replies as they tell us that their live 3. The two most insightful stream drew 683,000 views. c o m m e n t s p o s t e d b e f o r e We thought the event might be midnight PT on Friday, February huge given the interest in the 19 will win a Google Nexus One Woods scandal and the fact the That’s it! The contest is open event took place during the US internationally and we’ll pay work day, and the numbers from shipping worldwide. In order to U s t r e a m i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e make the contest international, statement was likely watched the Nexus One phones are online by millions in total. unlocked without contract. Livestream, Hulu, and YouTube W i n n e r s n a m e s w i l l b e all streamed the event live, with announced on our Google Buzz the latter promoting it on its account on or before February homepage and widely followed 22. Twitter account. The event was Tags: Google, google buzz also carried on all of the major

Submitted at 2/18/2010 6:48:41 PM

TV networks, further contributing to the buzz across social media sites. Ustream added that its social stream integration – which lets users post messages to Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace while watching live video – contributed 3,300 updates to the chatter. In total, Trendrr tells us there were 93,000 tweets about the press conference in the first hour. Tags: live video, tiger woods, ustream

We joined Phillip Lim backstage, enjoyed his rehearsal and were enamored by his fall ready-to-wear collection. All Photos: Kelly Stuart Click here for our complete fall 2010 Fashion Week coverage

Tea Party Speaker Calls for a Lynching (Little Green Footballs) Submitted at 2/18/2010 6:52:34 PM

At a tea party demonstration in Washington state last week, one of the speakers called for Democratic Senator Patty Murray to be hanged. (AP) SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -

A speaker at an eastern Washington “tea party” gathering called for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., to be hanged, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd. The unidentified woman, captured by a local television crew while speaking from the

podium Saturday, told the crowd in Clarkston that Murray should suffer the same fate as the character Jake in the western “Lonesome Dove.” “What happened to Jake when he ran with the wrong crowd?” the woman asked. “He got hung. And that’s what I want to do

with Patty Murray.” The crowd erupted in laughter at the comment. Organizers estimated that approximately 500 people attended the weekend meeting of the Lewis & Clark Tea Party Patriots, held at the Asotin County Fairgrounds. UPDATE at 2/18/10 7:41:57

pm: And that wasn’t all. At the same event there was a sign calling for President Obama to be castrated.[Video]

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Disaster Relief by Stanley B. Greenberg (The New Republic - All Feed)

close attention to the lessons of that year--lessons about presidential leadership, the Submitted at 2/18/2010 9:00:00 PM consequences of congressional Message from fivefilters.org: If melodrama, the need for an you can, please donate to the full economic narrative and for a -text RSS service so we can defining choice in the election-continue developing it. the worst can be avoided. When I studied the results of my At about this stage in the national surveys of public electoral cycle, in midwinter, we opinion one week before the were feeling pretty satisfied with Massachusetts special election, I ourselves. The State of the Union felt a wave of panic--a strangely address on January 25 hailed the familiar feeling. The results previous year’s passage of the showed that the public’s hope Clinton economic plan, nafta, had given way t o and the Brady Bill. Health care disillusionment; that Democrats reform was still supported by had come to embody political half the country. Clinton’s gridlock and big spending; that approval rating stood at 58 conservatives were energized percent. and Democrats demoralized; that Then, it all went tragically and the country was in revolt against almost comically downhill. The elites. It was beginning to look State of the Union glow was like, gulp, 1994 all over again. blotted out by a media frenzy During that last electoral when a special prosecutor debacle, I was conducting s u b p o e n a e d W h i t e H o u s e surveys for President Bill officials to testify before a grand Clinton, asking some of the same jury on the Whitewater land deal questions and getting the same --and the president was forced to answers. After one survey in defend his wife’s honor at a May 1994, I wrote President prime time press conference. The Clinton, “The administration, the p r e s i d e n t ’ s j o b a p p r o v a l Democrats in Congress and the plummeted eight points--and p a r t y f a c e a d i s a s t e r i n support for health care dropped November unless we move ten. Paula Jones kicked off May urgently to change the mood of with her sexual harassment suit. the country.” Even then, I And, by the June publication of couldn’t imagine that Democrats Bob Woodward’s The Agenda-would exacerbate the disaster, and his characterization of the e n d i n g t h e i r d e c a d e s o f Clinton White House in a word, hegemony in the House. “chaos”--the president’s President Obama and the a p p r o v a l h a d f a l l e n t o 4 5 Democratic Party need to percent. urgently revisit 1994. By paying The Democrats had depended on

being viewed more favorably than the Republicans--and that had been true in every election since 1962, as well as when President Clinton took office. But, during Clinton’s first term, congressional Republicans came to understand that opposing the president bolstered their own numbers. The battle over the president’s economic plan left the parties at near parity. During the spring of 1994, Republicans alarmingly began rating higher than us. By mid-June, I was so distressed about the diverging graph lines depicting the Republican and Democratic numbers that I convened a meeting of prominent political scientists to get their reactions. The political scientists were bemused by my worries about disaster and predicted a loss of 15 to 18 seats, if the president’s approval held at 50 percent--where it stood at the time. Alas, nobody anticipated the next act. There was the inglorious defeat of the president’s crime bill by his own divided party in the House. With the Congressional Black Caucus rebelling against the bill’s deathpenalty provisions and the conservative Democrats standing against its assault-weapons ban, the popular measure was defeated just before the August recess--only three months before the election. Reporters battled to capture their own astonishment. USA Today called it a

“shocking” loss that “plunged” the White House to what could be “its worst political defeat.” In a hoarse voice, the president gathered reporters and upbraided his congressional opponents and vowed to “fight and fight and fight until we win.” After a frantic ten days of campaigning against Congress, followed by high-wire negotiations, he finally won the vote on a Sunday night. Clinton’s approval fell to 39 percent after this fiasco--which voters interpreted as further evidence of Democratic incompetence and fractiousness. Congress’s approval plunged, and voters warmed to the Republicans, who had moved to about a four-point advantage in party sentiment. Six weeks before the election, on September 26, Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell announced that Congress would no longer try to pass Clinton’s signature health care reform initiative. A stubborn 41 percent of Americans still supported the plan, but the president never provided his interpretation of the battle or any hope for future progress. On Election Day, Democrats lost 54 seats in the House and eight in the Senate; they lost eleven governorships and 16 state legislative chambers. Republicans took control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1952; they controlled a plurality of state legislatures for the first time in 40 years. I

recall the pained meeting in the cabinet room of the West Wing-with the president seething, upset about the many friends who were defeated, and angry with his team and himself. When I saw my pre-Massachusetts poll, you can be sure I relived that meeting. Will this election be that ghastly? For all the problems of this last year, President Obama’s approval rating is at 48 percent-and has been stable since November. Assuming that the economy makes gains over the next eight months and Congress does not make a spectacle of itself, Obama’s approval could easily be ten points higher than Clinton’s was. That would pull us back from a landslide, at least in the theoretical models of the political scientists. To be sure, the six-month battle in the House and Senate for the passage of health care reform has shattered the Democrats’ image and taken their popularity to just above that of the Republicans (and, more important, taken the Democratic Congress’s to just below). While serious reform has been tantalizingly close, the public views the process as rife with Democratic division, incompetence, big spending, and taxed health care benefits. But, through it all, the Republicans have remained amazingly unredeemed. Unlike DISASTER page 41

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Crist, McCain Challengers Woo Conservatives (Newsmax - Politics)

denounce McCain for writing a law to limit how campaigns are financed — an effort that was set Message from fivefilters.org: If back last month when the you can, please donate to the full S u p r e m e C o u r t r u l e d t h a t -text RSS service so we can corporations and unions can continue developing it. spend unlimited amounts on Marco Rubio and J.D. Hayworth s u p p o r t i n g o r o p p o s i n g have different styles and c a n d i d a t e s . different backgrounds and Rubio has gained national they're from opposite sides of the attention by erasing Crist's country. But both are hoping to enormous lead in early polls with win Senate seats by tapping into a message about conservative the energy of conservatives to p r i n c i p l e s a n d r e p e a t e d l y defeat big-name, establishment- r e m i n d i n g p e o p l e t h a t t h e backed Republicans. governor literally embraced Rubio is well on his way in his President Barack Obama while effort against Florida Gov. campaigning for passage of the Charlie Crist and easily made $787 billion federal stimulus more out of his visit Thursday to package. the Conservative Political Action A smooth, polished speaker, Conference. He was clearly the Rubio was a hit at the gathering. star, delivering the opening He was tailed by the news media speech of the event to more than and stopped often by excited 3,000 people. supporters. He posed for scores Hayworth, who this month of pictures. There was a lot of entered the Republican primary enthusiasm for the candidate that against Arizona Sen. John many scoffed at last May when McCain, had a less prominent he decided to challenge Crist. role, speaking on a panel about He's clearly enjoying himself First Amendment rights. But he, here. too, got rousing applause from a "It's fun, but it's even more fun smaller crowd of about 200 because of what it's about," said when he was introduced as a t h e f o r m e r F l o r i d a H o u s e candidate challenging McCain, speaker, the son of Cuban the GOP's presidential nominee immigrants. "It's not me, it's the in 2008. message, and I'm just blessed to He used his brief time to be a messenger for a much Submitted at 2/18/2010 11:07:10 PM

bigger thing than any of us individually. To me it's just fun to be a part of what I think is this national movement that is going to help this country re-embrace the things that made it great." Crist is backed by top Washington Republicans, including Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who chairs the committee that helps elect Republicans to the Senate. Last summer, the Republican establishment tried forcing Rubio out of the race. At the time, Rubio was far behind Crist in the polls, struggling to raise money and losing staff. Since then, he's been talked up by conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Karl Rove, who was former President George W. Bush's top political adviser. Crist was once raising nearly $13 for every $1 given to Rubio. The last fundraising quarter, Crist raised $2 million and Rubio nearly matched it with $1.75 million. At one time trailing Crist by 46 percentage points in a Quinnipiac University poll, Rubio moved ahead in that poll last month, with support from 47 percent of Republican voters to Crist's 44 percent. "When I endorsed him ... , the

Washington establishment laughed him off. Well they're not laughing now," DeMint told the CPAC crowd. Hayworth, a former congressman who gave up a conservative radio talk show to challenge McCain, is hoping to capture that energy. Unlike Rubio, who didn't directly mention Crist during his speech, Hayworth repeatedly and directly attacked McCain for working with Democrats on issues like immigration and campaign finance reform. "If you want to see how politicians undergo campaignyear conversions, you've got my friend," Hayworth said before pausing. "I hate using that term, because he uses it all the time — you have my senior senator, John McCain." Hayworth is more brash than Rubio, but he also believes that there is a national movement against party establishment candidates. "What we're seeing across the country is not anger as much as it is frustration and the feeling that there's a disconnection among the current crop of elected leaders," Hayworth said. "In much the same way that Governor Crist embraced Barack Obama, so, too, my opponent,

our senior senator, has enabled President Obama to make some very unwise decisions." Hayworth cited McCain's support for closing the prison for terrorist suspects at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and his opposition to harsh interrogation techniques that are widely considered torture. And just as Crist is constantly criticizing Rubio as someone who is not the true conservative he says he is, Hayworth questions why McCain brags about launching a "scorched earth" campaign against him. "Arizona voters are coming up to me and saying 'Where was this against Obama in the presidential race?'" Hayworth said. "John is saving his scorn and his vitriol for a conservative. I don't think that helps him." © 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.

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N.Y. Dems Seek to Avoid Massachusetts Debacle (Newsmax - Politics)

point in time," said Fordham University political scientist Bruce Berg. "They are clearly Message from fivefilters.org: If their own worst enemy ... (and) you can, please donate to the full are doing a very good job of -text RSS service so we can hanging themselves." continue developing it. Paterson, the state's first black NEW YORK - In a year in leader, is seen as particularly which Republicans look likely to vulnerable. The New York m a k e s w e e p i n g g a i n s i n Times reported that President congressional and governors' Barack Obama asked him to step elections, New York Democrats aside in favor of a stronger are more concerned with fighting candidate because he could not each other. win. The national party has already Paterson refused and plans to suffered a stunning loss of the officially launch his campaign on late Ted Kennedy's U.S. Senate Saturday. But he has only raised seat in Massachusetts and a $3 million, which pales beside string of prominent retirements. the $16 million banked by New But many Democrats in New York Attorney General Andrew York believe that one of their Cuomo, his likely Democratic s i t t i n g s e n a t o r s a n d t h e challenger. Cuomo also leads incumbent governor are too Paterson in polls even though he weak to survive. has not yet declared his Governor David Paterson and c a n d i d a c y . Senator Kirsten Gillibrand both Gillibrand's likely rival in the face voters in the traditionally Democratic primary is Harold liberal state for the first time in F o r d , a f o r m e r U . S . their current jobs. Paterson Representative transplanted from became governor in 2008 after Memphis, Tennessee, who while E l i o t S p i t z e r q u i t a m i d a still officially considering a run p r o s t i t u t i o n s c a n d a l a n d is traveling around the state Gillibrand was named in to holding events. replace Hillary Clinton who Some Democrats see Paterson became U.S. Secretary of State and Gillibrand as weak and want last year. to replace them in September's "The state Democratic Party, to p r i m a r i e s to avoid the extent that one exists, is in embarrassment in November. such a state of disarray at this Among Republicans, former Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:17:28 AM

U.S. congressman Rick Lazio, has launched a bid for governor, while several potential candidate are eyeing Gillibrand's job. Political commentators said competitive primaries could position Democrats better for November. "Cuomo appears to be the most commanding Democratic candidate, and I do not think his prospects in the general election would be hurt if he and the current Governor Paterson went at it head to head," said Robert Shapiro, a Columbia University political scientist. "OWN WORST ENEMY" Long derided as one of the nation's most dysfunctional state governments, New York has plumbed new depths recently. "New Yorkers should not be proud of how their system operates," said David King of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Since Spitzer resigned, a former senate Republican leader has been convicted for corruption, a Democrat convicted of domestic violence and a Democratic leadership brawl sparked a five week Senate impasse. The effect has been to weaken Paterson, King said. "Governor Paterson has lost influence in Albany. People have been chatting behind his back for a

very long time." Paterson chose Gillibrand to replace Clinton but the former congresswoman has failed to solidify her position. Some analysts said a tough primary against Ford could help establish her with voters and she could emerge stronger. Ester Fuchs, who teaches public affairs and political science at Columbia University, called the Democratic defeat in Massachusetts a wake-up call that proved that weak candidates lost elections. As a result, many Democrats were now unwilling to stick with Paterson and risk losing the governorship in November. "People are not willing to stand by and support him (Paterson) if it's going to bring them down," she said. ÂŠ 2010 Reuters. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Rock Band Weekly: HIM, Marilyn Manson, The Police by Griffin McElroy (Joystiq) Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:30:00 AM

Last week, the Rock Band Store got a few healthy slices of Americana with tracks from Otis Redding and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. This week's offerings are much more foreign-- there's a three-pack from Finnish rock band HIM, a song from Britain's One Night Only, a track from The Police, and a song from Marilyn Manson, whom we all know actually descends from an extinct alien race whose name our human tongues could never hope to pronounce. Click past the jump for the full list of new additions! Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: HIM, Marilyn Manson, The Police Rock Band Weekly: HIM, Marilyn Manson, The Police originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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DISASTER continued from page 38

the party of Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole, which gained standing with each battle with Bill Clinton, today’s Republican Party looks like a cult. During the 2008 campaign, the Republican Party fell to its lowest level in the history of our thermometers measuring the party’s popularity, and it has not improved its standing since Election Day. The Republicans’ widely held conviction that Obama has a hidden “socialist” agenda, and the ascendancy of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck as ideological spokespeople, indelibly defines the party. At the same time, Tea Party candidates are contesting mainstream Republicans in primaries--dividing their base. If I were writing a memo to the Democratic leaders, this is where I would begin. Put aside the rancor and gridlock and show a very different face. Take Paul Krugman’s advice and quickly pass a version of the Senate health care bill. That will raise presidential and congressional approval ratings, just as Clinton bucked up Democrats by passing nafta and tax increases for deficit reduction--neither of which were popular at the time. They must put the Republicans on the defensive. Make them an

offer they can’t refuse on bipartisan legislation they dare not oppose--jobs measures that help small businesses and energy -independence legislation. Then, force Republicans to cast tough and defining votes--on Wall Street bonuses and bailouts and limiting corporate spending on elections. The president must, for extended periods, turn the spotlight away from Congress and show he is making progress. He must use the space to deliver his economic narrative. Unemployment is the inescapable subject of this election. The president has to offer a framework that explains the grave difficulties people are experiencing, how they happened, and his plan for fixing them. Even if the economy improves, voters will not credit him, unless he presses his case. Swing voters have resisted his assertions in the State of the Union that “[the Recovery Act] has helped save jobs,” and, “after two years of recession, the economy is growing again.” The voters we studied turned their dial meters sharply down upon hearing them. Unless voters palpably feel such improvements in their own lives, these types of assertions will turn them off.

Most importantly, Democrats must explain this election’s stakes and frame the choice that voters face. This is something we failed to get right in 1994. In the summer before the election, we began to see some power in a populist narrative--“[A] president trying to make a better life for ordinary people against Republicans who favor the wealthy and hurt the middle class.” But we could not define this choice in a way that similarly helped congressional Democrats. That changed when Newt Gingrich announced his Contract with America. I wrote to the president in October that my research showed the Contract to be “a gift that should now form the centerpiece of Democratic communication.” Our choice became: “The Democrats want to go forward and address the problems of ordinary people. The Republicans in Congress want to go back to the Reagan policies of tax cuts for the wealthy, exploding deficits, and cuts in Medicare.” We could have tarred the Republicans as avatars of the status quo, if we had reminded voters of the “Reagan policies” that Republicans wanted to continue. Unfortunately, we could not

convince the president of this. Unknown to us at the time, he was taking advice from Dick Morris, who told him that Reagan and the Contract were popular. The president insisted on educating voters on our shared accomplishments, which made the election a referendum on the Congress, not a choice. Fortunately, this election we are blessed with better timing. Democrats have already lived through their legislative nightmare. We have already had the benefit of Massachusetts to concentrate the mind. And, just as valuable, we have the lessons of history to guide our course. Stanley B. Greenberg was a polling adviser to President Clinton and the author of Dispatches from the War Room: In the Trenches with Five Extraordinary Leaders. For more TNR, become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Fashion Week Fall 2010 Runway Visions: The Blonds by ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 2/18/2010 12:05:07 PM

Spikes, gorillas, metallics, oh my! The energy of New York Fashion Week soars at The Blonds’ presentation. All Photos: Kelly Stuart Click here for our complete fall 2010 Fashion Week coverage

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Conservatives Woo Hispanics (Newsmax - Politics) Submitted at 2/19/2010 1:19:46 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. A conservative group has begun a new initiative to bring Hispanics into their movement by emphasizing traditional social issues, but the fight over immigration may prove this to be a futile effort. The American Principles Project announced this week its Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, a new initiative that will promote conservative values in the Hispanic community and attempt to persuade conservatives on immigration reform, opening doors to a possible untapped mass of support in the nation's growing Hispanic community. "We believe that it is time that the conservative movement proactively and intelligently reach out to Latinos, because we believe strongly that Latinos are conservative, that Latino values are conservative values," said Alfonso Aguilar, a spokesman for the partnership.

Clarissa Martinez De Castro, the director of immigration and national campaigns at the National Council of La Raza, agreed that Hispanics are traditionally socially conservative and pro-family. But she said the immigration issue is so important to Hispanic voters that conservatives, who generally oppose paths to citizenship and favor tighter border security, would have to clearly change their stances to have many more Hispanics vote for them. Many Republicans "have used the issue in a way that has demonized the Latino community," Ms. Martinez De Castro said. Statistics appear to support Ms. Martinez De Castro's statement that immigration is the biggest factor in Hispanic political sidings. A 2009 study by America's Voice, an immigration reform organization, found that 82 percent of Hispanics said the immigration issue is "very important" or "somewhat important" to them and their families. Additionally, 69 percent said they personally know an undocumented

immigrant. But educating Hispanics on conservative political views is only half of the struggle, according to the Latino Partnership, which supports comprehensive immigration reform that legalizes undocumented immigrants, with a penalty for entering the country illegally. The group said its initiative also would focus on educating conservatives about Hispanic values and immigration reform to achieve its goal, saying that people are angry with big government policies and the Hispanic vote is needed to see the conservative movement expand. Mr. Aguilar was optimistic about conservative acceptance of immigration reform. He acknowledged that many conservatives may not come out in support of reform immediately but that as the Hispanic vote continues to increase, they will see the demographic necessity to back reform. The U.S. Census Bureau in 2009 reported that the number of Hispanic voters increased by 2 million in the 2008 presidential

-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. An animated short that reimagines Los Angeles as a city made up of nothing but corporate branding, populates it entirely

with corporate logos and mascots, and then sets Ronald McDonald loose on a profane and by all accounts enormous bloody rampage of gun violence. Five Filters featured article:

Logorama by Barry Ritholtz (The Big Picture) Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:00:50 AM

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election compared to the 2004 election, while the number of non-Hispanic white voters was not statistically different from 2004. Although President George W. Bush's plan for immigration reform was not highly regarded among Democrats or Republicans in 2007, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and a member of the Latino Partnership's board of advisers, said President Obama has yet to produce immigration reform legislation. "We now have a Democratic president, an overwhelmingly Democratic Senate, an overwhelmingly Democratic House, and they've done nothing in the last year," he said. "It was Republicans like [President] Reagan, that began, and Bush, which we said, that started to get a handle on coming up with a reasonable immigration policy that benefits the country." © Copyright 2010 The Washington Times, LLC Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Still Deflating by Barry Ritholtz (The Big Picture) Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:39:02 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Some of the recent data points are still pointing towards Deflation — not Inflation. Consumer prices rose less than expected in January while prices excluding food and energy actually fell — something that hasn’t happened in more than a quarter-century. If we look at he numbers that Wal-Mart, the nation’s biggest retailer, posted earlier this week, they tell the tale of a Deflation. Yes, deflation is moderating — but we see no real sign of inflation yet. > Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. Term Extraction.

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Report: Democratic Rep. Ellsworth Seeks Bayh Seat (Newsmax - Politics) Submitted at 2/19/2010 4:11:50 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth said Friday he will seek Evan Bayh's Indiana Senate seat, a newspaper reported. The Evansville Courier & Press said the 51-year-old Ellsworth made his announcement Friday in his hometown Evansville. A Democratic Party official told The Associated Press that Ellsworth would ask state party officials to place him on the November ballot. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because an announcement had not yet been made. The two-term congressman emerged as a leading possible choice for Democrats after Bayh's unexpected announcement Monday that he wouldn't seek a third Senate term. Ellsworth is considered an

attractive candidate because he won by big margins in both his campaigns his largely rural congressional district in southwestern Indiana after eight years as sheriff of the district's largest county. Liz Farrar, a spokeswoman for Ellsworth, wasn't immediately available for comment. A political ally of Ellsworth's on Friday morning filed for the May primary in his congressional district. When state Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon, was asked whether his filing for the congressional seat indicated Ellsworth's Senate decision, he said: "I am confident I will not be running against my friend Brad Ellsworth." Ellsworth is regarded as a moderate Democrat like Bayh, having positioned himself as a fiscal conservative and an abortion opponent. But even before his decision, national Republicans began criticizing his votes in favor of the banking system bailout and last year's stimulus package backed by

President Barack Obama. Other candidates could be considered by the state Democratic Party's 32-member central committee, which will pick the nominee since no one met this week's filing deadline for the May 4 primary. Rep. Baron Hill has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the Senate nomination and Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. has said he is interested. Former Sen. Dan Coats, who left office in 1998, is being backed by national Republicans in what is a crowded field in the primary for the GOP nomination. Other candidates include former Rep. John Hostettler — whom Ellsworth unseated in 2006 — and state Sen. Marlin Stutzman. Hostettler said after filing his candidacy on Wednesday that he'd welcome another race against Ellsworth. "Someone that ran as someone that was not very liberal in 2006 has a very different record that he gets to run on this time," Hostettler said.

Ellsworth unseated the six-term Hostettler in 2006 with 61 percent of the vote and won reelection with a nearly 65 percent support in 2008. He's also been a successful campaign fundraiser — an important attribute going into his first statewide race with the November election little more than eight months away. He ended 2009 with more than $500,000 in his campaign fund and raised nearly $1.6 million for his 2008 campaign. —— Associated Press writers Ken Kusmer and Tom Davies in Indianapolis contributed to this report. © 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.

Nato takes heavy casualties in Marjah (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 2/19/2010 8:30:24 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Six Nato troops have been killed in Afghanistan in the worst single-day loss for international forces since the launch of a big offensive to drive Taliban insurgents from the town of Marjah. The deaths on Thursday, followed by the loss of another soldier on Friday, underscore the risks US, UK and Afghan troops face as they seek to clear what commanders describe as pockets of resistance by fighters digging in to resist one of the biggest operations launched by Nato in Afghanistan since 2001. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Embattled Toyota chief agrees to testify (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 2/18/2010 6:11:15 PM

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-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s embattled chief executive, agreed on Thursday to appear before a US congressional

committee investigating his company as lawmakers stepped up their scrutiny of the Japanese carmaker with a subpoena for documents held by one of its former attorneys.

Mr Toyoda accepted a formal Five Filters featured article: r e q u e s t , i s s u e d b y t h e Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: Democratic chairman of the PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, House oversight committee, Term Extraction. Edolphus Towns, to appear at a hearing next Wednesday.

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Re: 'Settled Science' (Little Green Footballs)

The Wall Street Journal editorial, it will come as no surprise, is the most egregious of Here’s a really good post at The the two when it comes to Island of Doubt about a talking m i s r e p r e s e n t i n g m a t t e r s point that’s suddenly everywhere climatological. Citing Jonathan in the denial-o-sphere: What is Leake of London’s Sunday this ‘settled science’ of which Times demonstrates just how you speak? little respect the WSJ editorialist In the past couple of days a has for responsible journalism. pernicious little meme has But Wente does more or less the appeared in two leading North same thing; she just doesn’t American newspapers. I refer to bother to source her statements the notion that there is such a b a c k t o t h e d i s c r e d i t e d thing as “settled science.” First, journalists who first came up on a column about climatology w i t h s o m e o f t h e m o r e Monday the Globe and Mail’s o u t l a n d i s h a l l e g a t i o n s . Margaret Wente asked not-so- More troubling, though, is the rhetorically “So much for the fact that both writers just don’t science being settled. Now seem to get the nature of the what?” The following day the scientific process. Science is Wall Street Journal’s editorial never completely “settled.” Of page weighed in with a review of course, much our understanding “what used to be called the of the way the universe works ‘settled science’ of global has long been nailed down to the warming.” point where there’s little to no Both offerings betrayed a solid controversy among scientists. lack of understanding, not only B u t e v e n o n t h e m o s t of recent events involving recent fundamental matters generally allegations of errors in IPCC t a u g h t t o s t u d e n t s a s a n reports, but also of how science established fact, there are always works, further reinforcing the scientists poking around the thesis that journalists who write edges, looking for flaws in the about science really should take ointment. Nothing is ever settled. a few courses in the subject first. Indeed, almost every scientist Submitted at 2/18/2010 6:02:53 PM

Arthur Cashin Trader’s Edge by Barry Ritholtz (The Big Picture) Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:15:13 AM

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-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. A look ahead of today’s market action, with Arthur Cashin, UBS Financial Services director, floor operations.

makes his or her living challenging what others have already agreed. Read through the archives of magazines like New Scientist, for example, and you’ll find plenty of features investigating such things as modified Newtonian dynamics (maybe F doesn’t always equal ma), or theories that suggest the speed of light might actually change over time, or that Darwinian natural selection might be in need of some rethinking. Papers are being written every day that remind us that our understanding of nature is an evolving and neverending process. We’re forever refining and reforming our model of reality. Anyone who suggests that the science is “settled” is missing the point. So if ever there was a straw man in climatology circles, it would be that the science of anthropogenic global warming is “settled.” It isn’t and never will be. And on a related topic, Tim Lambert has been all over the unreported story of Leakegate, a sordid tale of scientific illiteracy and journalistic malfeasance.

SC Republican Wants to Ban Money (Little Green Footballs) Submitted at 2/18/2010 3:21:45 PM

South Carolina State Rep. Mike Pitts wants to ban money. South Carolina will no longer recognize U.S. currency as legal tender, if State Rep. Mike Pitts has his way. Pitts, a fourth-term Republican from Laurens, introduced legislation earlier this month that would ban what he calls “the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin” in South Carolina. If the bill were to become law, South Carolina would no longer accept or use anything other than silver and gold coins as a form of payment for any debt, meaning paper money would be out in the Palmetto State. Pitts said the intent of the bill is to give South Carolina the ability to “function through gold and

silver coinage” and give the state a “base of currency” in the event of a complete implosion of the U.S. economic system. “I’m not one to cry ‘chicken little,’ but if our federal government keeps spending at the rate we’re spending I don’t see any other outcome than the collapse of the economic system,” Pitts said. … “To me, something I can hold tangible in my hand I can put more value in, especially under the current rate of inflation,” Pitts said. “In the case of total economic collapse, a barter tool is going to be worth a whole lot more value than paper with ink on it.” But one legal expert told The Palmetto Scoop that, even if it were passed, Pitts’ bill would quickly be ruled unconstitutional. (Hat tip: KT.)

Wall Street shrugs off Fed move (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:24:23 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full Airtime: Fri. Feb. 19 2010 | 8:50 -text RSS service so we can AM ET continue developing it. Five Filters featured article: By Jamie Chisholm, Global Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Markets Commentator Published: February 19 2010 08:29 | Last updated: February 19 2010 17:24 Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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Just In: 2011 Hyundai Sonata by Consumer Reports Shopping Blog (Consumer Reports)

dealers are probably wheelingand-dealing right now; there isn’t much margin or incentives on the brand-spankin’-new Sonata.) Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:59:59 AM Right now, the only engine J u s t I n : 2 0 1 1 H y u n d a i offered on the Sonata is a 2.4Sonata="" class="blog-video- liter direct-injection fourright"> cylinder. Our car has 198One of the automakers most horsepower and a six-speed poised to benefit from Toyota automatic. Gone is the optional shoppers now looking around is V6. This has turned off some V6 H y u n d a i . I n a f o r t u n a t e -owning customers, according to coincidence for Hyundai, the the salesman who sold me our new 2011 Sonata midsized sedan car. They should definitely just went on sale at a time when reconsider--this drivetrain is Camry intenders may be tempted pleasant, with ample power and a to shop other brands. Not that the smooth-shifting transmission. old Sonata was a bad car. On the H y b r i d a n d t u r b o c h a r g e d contrary, it was quite competent. versions are coming, but we’re It had a well-trimmed interior not really sure who would bother and impressive fuel economy paying more for the turbo. from its four-cylinder. Plus, it Handling is improved from the was a great value. However, it current Sonata, with more has never been rewarding to responsiveness and betterdrive and its styling is quite weighted steering. A more tiedhumdrum. down suspension yields Hyundai aimed higher with the improvements in composure, redesigned Sonata. Its styling getting rid of the previouspicks up cues from previous generation’s float on highway Lexus ES’s and the Volkswagen undulations. Still, this isn’t a CC. Size-wise, the new Sonata sports sedan and it doesn’t quite grew to rival the big-for-its-class match sporty-handling family Honda Accord; it makes the sedans like the Ford Fusion, Hyundai Azera redundant. Honda Accord, and Mazda6. We just purchased a 2011 Noise levels are fairly low and Sonata GLS for testing at our although it’s evident this is a Connecticut test track. Our car four-cylinder, the engine is has the $750 “popular equipment relatively civilized. Inside, the package,” which was worth it for Sonata puts its larger dimensions the power driver’s seat alone. At to good use. The cabin is airy $21,800, it undercuts a similarly- with generous space for the equipped Camry LE by about driver, and there is plenty of leg $1,000. (Then again, Toyota and head room under the domed

2011 Sonata has it standard as well. What’s more, with the redesign, the Sonata has received the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award for getting the highest rating in the Institute's front, side, rear, and rollover tests. That’s a solid improvement roof. The console’s shape over the previous Sonata which slightly impairs knee room was rated good for front and rear though. The rear seat is one of protection, acceptable for side the roomiest in the class. impact, and marginal for rollover Interior fit and finish is solid, protection. with a semi soft-touch dash top Our initial impression is that the and ample contrasting trim. new Sonata addresses most of There are also lots of fit lines the current car’s shortcomings though. Controls are fairly while building on Hyundai brand simple. Without the optional strengths. It is a very pleasant navigation system, our car has sedan and has the potential to the easier-to-use radio; the touch give the class’s best a run for -screen navigation system lacks a their money. radio tune knob or preset hard — Tom Mutchler and Gabe keys. Shenhar Next Steps A s f a m i l y s e d a n s g e t • Sedan Buying Advice: redesigned, there has been a • Types of Sedans| trend of reducing driver visibility • Sedan Features| for swoopier styling. The Sonata • Sedan Brands is no exception. Compared to the upright old car, this 2011 version All Sedan Ratings Subscribers took something of a step back, can view and compare all Sedan with shorter side windows and a Ratings. Recommended Sedans high rear deck. But despite the Look at the ones that we chose as Sonata’s coupe-like styling, the best of the best. Subscribe visibility remains decent, with now! moderate-sized pillars and S u b s c r i b e t o reasonable glass area all around. ConsumerReports.org for expert (In other words, this is no Passat Ratings, buying advice and CC.) reliability on hundreds of The previous Sonata was a products. Update your feed trendsetter in the family sedan preferences class by having standard stability control. Not surprisingly, the

Schlumberger on verge of Smith takeover (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 2/19/2010 5:04:31 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Schlumberger, the world’s largest oil services group, is close to an agreed takeover of the US company Smith International, in a deal that could be worth about $9bn. The acquisition would extend Schlumberger’s lead over its competitors in the international oil services business. Valued at $79bn, it is already more than twice the size of Halliburton of the US, its closest rival. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Health-Care reform: What will happen to premiums without it? by rss@consumerreports.org (Consumer Reports) Submitted at 2/19/2010 8:52:34 AM

Health-Care reform: What will happen to premiums without it? Wondering what will happen to your premiums if health reform HEALTH-CARE page 46

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HEALTH-CARE continued from page 45

efforts fail? Just look to California. Anthem Blue Cross, a subsidiary of the national insurance giant, Wellpoint, is planning to raise its premiums for individual insurance up to 39 percent. The company already raised rates for some plans nearly that much a year ago, and also put consumers on warning that it might do it more often in the future, according to the Los Angeles Times. And yesterday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a report saying that insurance companies in at least six other states are also looking for big premium hikes: up to 24 percent in Connecticut; 23 percent in Maine; 56 percent in Michigan; 20 percent in Oregon; 16 percent in Rhode Island; and 40 percent in Washington. The agency expects such increases to continue in the absence of reform. So does the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). “You're going to see rate increases of 20, 25, 30 percent” for individual health policies in the near term, said Sandy Praeger, Kansas’ insurance commissioner and a committee chairwoman for the NAIC, according to the Associated Press. The HHS said that the ten

largest insurance companies increased their profits 250 percent over the last decade – ten times faster than inflation. And the latest increases are 5 to 10 times the growth rate of national health expenditures. Wellpoint says that the lagging economy has caused Californians to drop their insurance, leaving a smaller risk pool with sicker people who cost more. But two Congressmen investigating the California increase said the data the company submitted actually shows a 7 percent increase in membership, rather than a drop, according to a Wall Street Journal report. They’ve asked the company to clarify the discrepancy. It appears that insurance companies will continue to raise premiums or reduce coverage either to increase profits or to keep up with health expenses. The reform proposals deal with both causes of premium hikes, but first consider what will happen without reform. The HHS report states that 94 percent of most markets are “highly concentrated.” That means that you likely have very little choice of insurance plans where you live. And if you or a family member have a preexisting condition, you are probably going to be stuck with

your existing plan – rate increase after rate increase – whether you like it or not. If you get your coverage through your job, you’re not immune from premium hikes, either. One estimate found that the cost of a typical employersponsored family health plan is likely to triple in ten years, from about $12,500 today to about $30,000. Expect to see the bulk of that come out of your paycheck, while you pay more health costs out of pocket. How do the health reform proposals help?

dissatisfied with the one you have. • Nearly all Americans would be insured, which would eliminate the problem of healthy people leaving the risk pool, which Anthem claims is behind its rate increases. More healthy people in the risk pool helps to lower the costs for all.

US Economic Cycle Research Institute (LEIs) by Barry Ritholtz (The Big Picture) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:05:59 AM

• Finally the proposals address the some of the underlying Message from fivefilters.org: If causes of rising health care costs, you can, please donate to the full which will help slow premium -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. • You’ll buy your individual increases. Time to look at he LEIs again: plan from a health insurance > ECRI leading indicator starting exchange where all plans will to decline rapidly have to meet minimum standards Chart courtesy of Société for coverage and spend about 80 —Kevin McCarthy, associate Générale to 85 percent of premiums on editor health care on their customers, For more, see our consumer Five Filters featured article: instead of on overhead, profits, guide to health care reform. Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, and executive perks. Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o Term Extraction. ConsumerReports.org for expert • If your insurer wants to raise Ratings, buying advice and premiums, it will have to justify r e l i a b i l i t y o n h u n d r e d s o f it. If it tries to gouge consumers, products. Update your feed it can be kicked out of the preferences marketplace. • Even if you have a pre-existing condition, you can easily switch to a new plan if you become

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A few bumps on the road to better health by rss@consumerreports.org (Consumer Reports)

Free condom distribution has been shown to cut the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:50:28 AM (STDs) including HIV/AIDS and A few bumps on the road to unwanted teen pregnancies in better health While gulping many countries. down my coffee and finishing Needle exchange programs have my whole-wheat muffin, I heard been ongoing in the United on National Public Radio about a Kingdom for more than 20 years. new invention that might be encephalopathy, problems not Such programs have also been making the round of London uncommon among hard-core e s t a b l i s h e d i n m a n y l a r g e pubs in the near future. It was all a l c o h o l i c s . M e n t h o l a t e d metropolitan areas worldwide. about beer mugs lined with a cigarettes might pass for another Distribution of sterile needles clear plastic film so that when example, but I’m not sure if the and syringes to heroin addicts is two drunks clobbered each other menthol was meant to be a value a c o s t - e f f e c t i v e w a y o f and the glasses broke, the sharp -added marketing gimmick or to decreasing the incidence of chards would be encased and actually improve the taste. The h e p a t i t i s , H I V / A I D S , a n d prevent serious injury. I almost actuality is that millions of endocarditis among intravenous choked on that last gulp and people have become addicted not d r u g u s e r s . A b i t m o r e thought how typically British to only to the nicotin e but to the controversial, but a measure that try and prevent the harmful m e n t h o l a s w e l l . I n d e e d , s h o u l d b e c o n s i d e r e d , i s o u t c o m e , w h i l e s e e m i n g l y smoking cessation is much more mandatory health inspections for paying little attention to primary d i f f i c u l t f o r s m o k e r s o f prostitutes. Such inspections, and prevention by stopping the fight m e n t h o l a t e d c i g a r e t t e s . subsequent treatments for between the two drunks and, And whoever invented silencers infections, would likely lower even more basic to the situation, f o r p i s t o l s ? W a s i t s o m e the transmission rate of STDs. by deterring the excessive considerate person who wanted Whether that would involve consumption of alcohol that to shield neighbors from loud legalization of the world’s oldest caused the belligerent behavior noises while he shot targets in occupation is unknown. his basement? More likely — M a r v i n L i p m a n , M . D . , in the first place. Such reasoning is not at all silencers have been used through Consumer Reports chief medical unheard of in this country as the years for reasons more adviser Subscribe now! well. Some well-meaning person, ominous, as seen in myriad S u b s c r i b e t o I’m sure, years ago came up with Grade B gangster movies. But ConsumerReports.org for expert the idea of infusing alcohol with just as there are examples of Ratings, buying advice and vitamins, especially of the B laughable or ludicrous reasoning r e l i a b i l i t y o n h u n d r e d s o f complex persuasion, in hopes of behind certain actions, so too are products. Update your feed banishing vitamin deficiency there instances of improving preferences states such as Beriberi heart health by encouraging what d i s e a s e a n d W e r n i c k e ’ s seems to be unhealthy behavior.

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Social networking is a perfect environment for phishing by Donna Tapellini (Consumer Reports)

downloaded onto the victim's computer that lets a hacker track their every move–and get an upSubmitted at 2/19/2010 8:41:16 AM close look at banking Social networking is a perfect information and other personal environment for phishing data. Social engineering, when See for yourself how it works so cybercriminals trick you into you can be better armed against clicking on a harmful link, is yet another Internet threat. And n o t h i n g n e w . B u t s o c i a l take a look at our Guide to networking sites like Facebook Online Security for more tips on and LinkedIn are the perfect staying safe online. environment for such trickery. (We think this is a useful video, " P e o p l e f e e l l i k e t h e y ' r e and though we don't endorse surrounded by their friends and Norton, we did include it in our it's easy to fool them," said most recent test of security Kevin Haley, director of product suites. To see how it performed, m a n a g e m e n t f o r s e c u r i t y check our Ratings of security software firm Symantec. s o f t w a r e , a v a i l a b l e t o This video(embedded after the s u b s c r i b e r s . ) jump) by Norton from Symantec –Donna Tapellini Subscribe graphically shows what havoc now! can result when cybercriminals S u b s c r i b e t o hijack your friends' social ConsumerReports.org for expert networking accounts. The e-mail Ratings, buying advice and looks like it came from a friend, r e l i a b i l i t y o n h u n d r e d s o f but when the victim clicks on the products. Update your feed l i n k d i r e c t i n g t h e m t o a preferences "hilarious video," malware is

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Babies & kids health news roundup: #Spon, #Paid and MMR and autism, childhood obesity, #Samp: New Tags for more Shilling on Twitter by Artemis Dibenedetto (Consumer Reports)

watched less than two hours of TV on weekdays, slept at least 10.5 hours a night, and ate Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:00:43 AM family meals more than five Babies & kids health news times a week. Learn more in the roundup: MMR and autism, full Health blog post. childhood obesity, more Is packaged salad clean? You Lies, autism, and fear of the might think that "pre-washed" MMR vaccine. This month the and "triple-washed" salad greens Lancet retracted a twelve-yearsold in plastic clamshells or bags old study proposing a link are squeaky clean. But our recent between autism and the Measles, tests found room for Mumps and Rubella (MMR) improvement. In our samples, we vaccine, following an official did find bacteria that are repudiation of its ethical and common indicators of poor scientific standards by the British to get medical help. Researchers s a n i t a t i o n a n d f e c a l General Medical Council, which have come up with a checklist of contamination—in some cases, found that the researchers behind “red flag” symptoms, and they’re at rather high levels. Whether the the study had brought “the the factors most likely to indicate greens came in a clamshell or m e d i c a l p r o f e s s i o n i n t o a dangerous infection. Learn bag, included "baby" greens, or disrepute.” Harsh words that more in the full Health blog post. were organic made no difference. come a little late in the day given 3 household habits can offset Learn more in the full article the staggering public health childhood obesity. A new study from the March 2010 issue of consequences the study helped has found that a trio of basic Consumer Reports magazine. foment. Learn more in the full household routines—having Subscribe now! dinner as a family, limiting TV Health blog post. S u b s c r i b e t o Does your child need the ER? time, and making sure kids get ConsumerReports.org for expert Mild infections are common enough sleep—may substantially Ratings, buying advice and during childhood. But parents lower the risk of obesity for r e l i a b i l i t y o n h u n d r e d s o f often face a difficult decision if young children. The researchers products. Update your feed they suspect a more serious found that kids were much less preferences illness, about whether they need likely to be obese if they

by Mike Melanson (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:56:00 AM

Quick - you have 140 characters to say something witty, include a link and disclose the fact that the company you're tweeting about happened to give you a free sample of the product so you could give it a whirl. What do you do? The Word of Mouth Marketing Association says you should use #samp, one of three new hashtags it has adopted specifically for this purpose, which tells everyone you received a sample of what you're tweeting about. Sponsor The WOMMA released a set of guidelines this month in response to last months Federal Trade Commission adoption of a guide on endorsements and testimonials in advertising. According to WOMMA's Social Media Marketing Disclosure Guide(.pdf), the FTC requires a disclosure of all "material connections". It defines these connections as any connection that could "affect the credibility consumers give to that blogger's statements." The three hashtags that WOMMA is proposing are

#spon for sponsored tweets, #paid for paid tweets and #samp for when the blogger received a sample. Depending on how you approach this, you can either use it as an AdBlock opportunity and make sure none of these sorts of tweets get through to you, you can go out and seek them, or you just be aware of what you're clicking on and why it was suggested. We're not sure we'd necessarily recommend filtering out these tweets, though. A quick search for #spon on Twitter revealed some great links. Remember, these are not necessarily just terrible ads, like you might be force fed on some website, they're just tweets where the tweeter is disclosing the full background. As more and more people are getting paid to tweet, we hope these tags will make that more clear. With companies like McDonalds, Michelin, Dell and Porter Novelli using WOMMA guidelines, we're willing to bet you're about to start seeing these tags more and more. Discuss

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Set Up a Fully Automated Media Center [Automation] by Alex Ward (Lifehacker) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:00:00 AM

Ed. note: We love a good media center almost as much as we love automation, so self-confessed media geek Alex Ward's fully automated media center caught our eye. It's all the benefits of an awesome media center without all the hassle. A few weeks ago I wrote a post about how to use EventGhost to begin to automate your PC. Now we are going to take things a step forward and use EventGhost alongside a few other free programs to set up an amazing and fully automated Home Theatre PC. If you have not read my previous EventGhost article I advise you go and read it now as I am going to skip past the basics here. Step One: Getting all the applications To truly get this working properly you are going to need a few programs, they are all free and fairly straightforward to use (but I'm going to show you how anyway), so get to work on the list below and let me know when you have it all downloaded and installed. • XBMC– The excellent free to use media centre application • Torrent Episode Downloader– This does a similar thing to uTorrent's RSS downloader but I personally feel it does a better job and is easier to use. • uTorrent– You can actually use any torrent application

provided it has the ability to move files to a separate location when finished. • EventGhost– Of course you already have this as you have hopefully gone through the previous tutorial. • The Renamer– A superb and easily automated tool for finding and renaming your TV shows, it can also be made to work with movies but there is a better tool for that. • Ember Media Manager– Automatically finds and download information for your movies.

Firstly create the following folders: TV Shows, Music, Photos, Movies, Unsorted Media There are some things that XBMC does not scrape all that well or simply things you would like to be able to access in XBMC but don't really want it to be categorised as a TV show or movie, in this instance you should also create a folder for that (E.g., Documentaries, Children's TV shows, etc…) Prepare your movies The Movies folder should not directly contain any files; each movie should be in a folder Step Two: Getting ready for which has the movies name and XBMC year as its title. The movie file The biggest difficulty a lot of itself should be the movie's title, people seem to face when they if it is a HD movie then you can first set XBMC up is getting the also add that information to the library mode to work; this is file name: because XBMC needs to have a E.g. /Movies/The Shawshank specific file structure in order to R e d e m p t i o n scrape (download information [1994]/The.Shawshank.Redempt about) your media files. ion.720p.BluRay.mkv Setting up Note: I'm going to work on the your TV Shows folder assumption that you have a hard The TV Shows folder follows a drive set up just for your media, similar format, each show should if you do not then create a folder have a folder with its name and on one of your drives and do all year as the title and each series this in the root of that folder. of a show should go inside a

‘series x' folder. The name of each file should be the name of the show followed by the series number and episode number, if you wish you can also add the title of the episode: E.g. /TV Shows/Life on Mars [2008]/Series 1/Life on Mars – s01e01 – The Crash.avi Make sure you format the series and episode numbers using the above example, this method always works for the main scrapers. The year is not essential for movies or TV shows, it just makes it simpler for the scraper to make sure its downloading the information for the correct title. Setting up your music folder The music folder should contain a folder for the artist and then a folder for each album inside it.: E.g. /Music/Fleetwood Mac/Rumours/ The year should not be needed for albums as it's rare that an artist will use the same album name more than once. Setting up the other folders Photos are simple to categorise as they do not get scraped therefore you can put any pictures you like in there without

worrying about file structure. The unsorted media folder should be empty. Copying your media At this stage you are ready to copy your media to the folders. If you have thumbnail or fanart files already you don't need to copy them over (unless you know the scraper will have trouble finding them) as this will be taken care of later. Step Three: Using Ember Media Manager to pre-scrape your movies XBMC has a great scraping tool; however it is quite slow and if you re-install your media centre for any reason you will have to re-scrape all your files again from scratch. Ember Media Manager is faster and even better, it downloads all the needed files to the movies folder, so if you do need to reinstall no re-scrape is required (plus it downloads trailers – which is just awesome). To set it up, go to ‘edit > settings', click ‘Files and Sources' then ‘add source' and browse to the root of your movies folder. (This can be done during setup as well so you may not need to do it now). I won't tell you which boxes need ticking as it is all about personal preference really. Once that's done, return to the main menu click ‘update library' (although I think this happens SET page 50

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automatically the first time anyway). Once your list appears select ‘Scrape Media > New Movies > Automatic > All items' and watch it find everything for you (Note: If you did not add the year to the folder names then you may get odd results on some movies using ‘automatic', use ‘ask' instead). If you use the ‘automatic' mode then this should be the last time you ever see this screen as we will automate it in a later step. Step Four: Using Torrent Episode Downloader (TED) to find and download your TV shows. Before we start this please make sure you have your torrent program set up to send all completed downloads to your ‘unsorted media' folder. (Note: You can use your existing downloads folder if you wish, just make sure that its only updated when the download has completed) TED is a simple Java application which automatically finds your favourite TV shows and starts downloading them. It's fairly simple to set up but here is a little tutorial anyway. Once the program is installed, click on ‘add show'. You will then be presented with the ‘Add show' window. Simply select the show you want to download, choose the episode you want to download from (this doesn't work that well for older episodes). Once this is done, select the episode and click ‘Edit

show'. The default settings are ok for the most part, however I find that I get better results if I make a few tweaks. Firstly in ‘Feeds' click on ‘+' and add IsoHunt, select ‘yes' when the dialog box pops up and then click on ‘filters', change the top number to 300mb and the maximum size to 1200mb (this means you won't get low quality files and you might get the odd HD one (if you don't want HD then set the max to about 750mb). Don't bother with ‘download in HD quality' as it's not perfect and usually results in no torrents being found for a lot of shows. Once you have done that just rinse and repeat until you've added all the shows you want. Note: If you do not want TED to automatically open your torrent application (like if you download on a schedule) then you can change the options in Extra > Preferences. Step Five: Use The Renamer to automatically sort and move your TV shows. Sadly many files on BitTorrent have not been named with media centres in mind and most scrapers are rubbish unless the file names and folders follow their rules. Thankfully a fantastic application called ‘The Renamer' exists to solve this problem. This program is very easy to set up and even easier to use, firstly, click on ‘settings' then change your fetch folder to your ‘unsorted media' folder and the TV shows archive to your ‘TV

Shows' folder. Make sure the following boxes are ticked • s1e01 • add "0" for Season (only the first time it appears) • include sub folders • Auto move after renaming, • Showname • Season • Episode titles • To TV Show Folder • To Season folder

Plugin to look in your ‘unsorted media' folder and the second to look in your ‘Movies' folder. Then create a new macro called ‘move new shows' Inside this macro set it to automatically launch the renamer (System > Start Application), in the command line box type ‘–fetch' and set the window options to ‘minimised' (this never seems to work for me but you may have more luck. Then – still inside the same macro – add And that's it! another action below it, ‘Update Ed. note: If you routinely Video Library' from the XBMC download subtitles for your folder. television shows or movies, Now create a new macro called make sure to grab the subtitles ‘scrape new movies', set it to before renaming. Subtitles open ember media manager and p a c k a g e s a r e t i m i n g - in the command line box enter based—down to the millisecond ‘–newauto –all' (remember this specific!—and one subtitle is only foolproof if you add years package for a TV show is not the to your movie directories). Then same as any other package. Step – still inside the same macro – Six – Tie it all together with add another action below it, EventGhost ‘Update Video Library' from the Ok so far we've managed to get XBMC folder. a series of systems together to Finally add an event called download and catalogue our TV ‘DirectoryWatcher.Updated' to Shows and organise our movies the top of the first macro and one to be imported into XBMC. Now c a l l e d it's time to make it automatic ‘DirectoryWatcher2.Updated' to using EventGhost. the top of the second and save Firstly we need to install two your configuration. p l u g i n s t o E v e n t G h o s t . The last step to make sure ‘ D i r e c t o r y W a t c h e r ' a n d everything is automated is to ‘XBMC', you can find these in create shortcuts to uTorrent and the ‘Plugins' menu (see the small TED in your Windows start-up image to the left). To ensure that folder. Final Step – Set up y o u r m o v i e s a r e s c r a p e d XBMC automatically as well, install two Note: This step assumes you are copies of ‘Directory Watcher' using at least version 9.11 of Set the first Directory Watcher XBMC and are using the default

skin Firstly let's add our media files. Go to ‘video's and select Add Source, browse to your ‘Movies' folder and press enter, the source should automatically be called ‘movies'. Then click on ‘Set content', under ‘This directory contains', select ‘movies' and set the scraper to the one of your choosing (the default themoviedb.org is pretty good as it is), under scanning options only select ‘use folder names for lookups' Under ‘settings' you are presented with a number of options, these are completely up to you, for the most part Ember Media Manager will have taken care of them anyway. Once this is done, do the same things again for TV shows, obviously this time select ‘TV shows' instead of ‘Movies'. I recommend thetvdb.org as your scraper. Don't tick any of the boxes and once again the options in the ‘settings' panel are up to you (although I find ‘use DVD' order to be more chronological than the ‘Absolute order' setting). Note: If you created directories for video media you do not want to be catalogued, add them in the same way but under ‘this directory contains' set it to ‘none'. Adding sources to the music and pictures menus is a similar procedure however you do not SET page 52

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Why No Love for the Universal Inbox? by Sarah Perez (ReadWriteWeb)

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. And yet, none of the "universal inbox" applications have ever Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:50:10 AM really taken off. A couple of years ago, the new We've seen some worthy launch from Webwalks, a contenders though. Fuser, u n i v e r s a l i n b o x , n e w s NutshellMail and Inbox2, for aggregator, password manager example, all merge messages and kitchen sink-type application from multiple platforms into one would have caught my eye. I'd unified service. The more clever rush out to try it, merging my of these programs provide a way multiple accounts under its one to make Facebook the interface roof then wait to see how well you use to check your mail my life improved, how much instead of forcing you into some time I saved. But today, I'm more new web service. However, even ambivalent about these sorts of that option hasn't attracted a applications. The concept of a large following. universal inbox for tracking Inbox2's Facebook app " everything under the sun now emailstream" only has 245 active leaves me cold. users. NutshellMail's does a little That's not to say that merging of better with just over 5400 users. social networks with the inbox in But when you think of the and of itself is a bad idea - h u n d r e d s o f m i l l i o n s o f G o o g l e B u z z , X o b n i , a n d registered users on Facebook Outlook's new social connector (400 million at the last count), all offer innovative ways to these numbers aren't even a drop augment the inbox experience. in a bucket - they're more like a But there's a key difference grain of sand on a long stretch of between these apps and those beach. promising a "universal inbox" - The sites' web destinations do a they come to you, in the inbox little better, but only a service you already know and love. called OtherInbox is doing well, Sponsor with 67,000+ visitors last month. The Sad State of the Universal N u t s h e l l M a i l s e e m s t o b e Inbox hanging in there, too - even The idea of a universal inbox is growing its traffic a bit lately smart. On paper, that is. In our and yet it attracted just under " i n f o r m a t i o n o v e r l o a d e d " 24,000 uniques last month modern age, messages come at (according to Compete- not us left and right from multiple always the best source of e m a i l a c c o u n t s , i n s t a n t statistics but good enough for messaging programs, SMS on this quick glance). An article on our mobile phones and from Digg's homepage often get more social networking sites like hits than that! And it's an

forwarded, replied to, or turned into tasks and calendar appointments. The exception here seems to be OtherInboxthey offer a real inbox complete with calendar tie-ins, stars for saving messages, spam filters and other typical email features. Not surprisingly, they're the one doing the best out of all the other inbox applications listed here. However, they're not really a "universal" inbox. They don't claim to merge all your messaging services into one they simply help you better sort and organize your mail. So, really, they don't count. Socializing as an Inbox Layer A better solution to the merging of messaging and social is, interestingly enough, exactly what Google has just launched with Buzz. Sure, that service has gotten off to a rough start with bugs, missing features and of course, the privacy issues, but understatement to say these company's vision of the best the concept is solid. In Buzz, numbers fall short of the millions messaging experience. The social networking becomes an who routinely log into online applications are feature-rich with additional layer to your inbox email accounts from Gmail, advanced options like POP3 and one click and the display changes Hotmail and the like. IMAP support, forwarding, to a stream of social activity; So what's wrong? Why aren't filters, labels, auto-replies, click again and you're back to these services more popular? vacation responders, spam filters your email. Important "social" People Want to Use Their Own and more. messages (those you created, Inbox, Not Some 3rd-Party Third-party aggregation-type commented on or liked in Buzz) Service applications don't always have grab your attention by reThe answer to that question has the same feature set. Plus, they appearing in your inbox proper. its roots in what people expect typically have their own very un- Other companies have similar from an email application. Email e m a i l l i k e i n t e r f a c e - t h e ideas about socializing email. services from Yahoo, Microsoft, applications tend to treat your Xobni, for example, offers a Google and yes, even AOL, email like activity streams on a among others are designed from social network, not critical WHY page 52 the ground-up to provide that messages that need to be filed,

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need to specify any settings. Now we need to tweak some settings to make sure everything works ok, so from the home screen go to ‘System', in the system menu select ‘Video' and check all the options under ‘Library' then do exactly the same for ‘Music'. Then go back to the main ‘System' page and select ‘Skin' under the ‘home window options' menu, the top four options should be checked and the rest are optional, just make sure to deselect the ‘hide movies' and ‘hide tv show' options. Once this is done, restart XBMC it and watch all your media pour in. Your TV shows will now automatically download as soon as they are released and they will be automatically catalogued and added to your media centre. All downloaded movies will remain in your ‘Unsorted Media' Folder but as soon as you move them to ‘Movies' they will be found and

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plugin for Outlook that extracts social information about your contacts (among many other things). Microsoft, too, is just now launching its social layer for Outlook - the Social Connector which optionally lets you integrate LinkedIn and soon Facebook and MySpace into your inbox. These programs all have a better shot at unifying the inbox to

catalogued by Ember and XBMC, You can use the ‘recently' added box on XBMC to see what new media you have to watch. CAVEATS You knew that nothing this amazing was going to come without problems didn't you. The main issue this method has is that its terrible for seeding torrents. So far the only foolproof method around this I have found is that instead of setting your torrent program to move downloaded torrents to the ‘unsorted media' folder, its better to copy them there instead, that way you can keep your ratios up without having to wait for the torrent to reach 1:1 before watching your media. Obviously this removes some of the automation and you have copies of files on your hard drive until you delete the seeded copy so its not perfect. The other issue is that whilst TED is brilliant, its not without

its flaws, sometimes it cannot find some episodes for shows, so far the only way around this is to tell TED to skip to the next episode and download it manually, fiddling with the filters can sometimes work but often its a problem with the program and you'll have to wait for an update to fix it. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments. The Fully Automated Media Centre (Windows Only)[Clockwork City] Alex Ward is a Yorkshire based web developer and selfconfessed 'media geek'; he has an obsession with automation and home cinema systems and when he isn't messing around with computer, he enjoys cooking for his friends.

Google Gets the Right to Buy and Sell Energy by Frederic Lardinois (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:28:17 AM

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission(FERC) just gave Google the clearance to buy and sell energy in bulk. While it's interesting to speculate if Google wants to sell energy to consumers, the company has already declared that it has no plans to sell energy to consumers or to speculate in energy markets. Instead, Google says that it wanted this authorization from FERC in order to manage its own energy supplies better. Sponsor Google's Energy Needs Google puts a strong emphasis on making its data centers a s energy efficient as possible. Google doesn't release any data about its energy consumption, but according to some estimates, Google's data center in The Dalles, OR could require as create a truly universal email and desktop programs that much as 103 megawatts of application. They provide you people use today instead of power to run once it is at full with your "real" inbox and all its trying to convince people to start capacity - enough to power the features while layering it with a checking their email elsewhere. city of Oakland, CA for four social element. You don't have to Discuss months. Getting FERC's migrate to a new service entirely. approval means that Google now Meanwhile the standalone has the ability to negotiate universal inbox applications directly with energy producers, available today probably won't which will likely help the last. They would be better off company to reduce it's massive developing their service into a plugin or add-on for the webmail

energy bills. Earlier this month, Google granted $5.7 million to 12 university projects in the U.S. to fund research that will look into ways to reduce the energy consumption of large data centers. Even though Google isn't likely to start selling energy to consumers anytime soon, the company does offer one energyrelated product to consumers: PowerMeter. This is a gadget the company offers for consumers whose power companies have already installed smart-meter technology. Google is also using solar panels to power it's Mountain View, CA headquarters and has invested in a number of green energy projects and companies, including eSolar, a company that plans to develop numerous large solar energy projects around the world. Discuss

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Classmates.com Wants to Resurrect Your Pimply Past by Mike Melanson (ReadWriteWeb)

going to get all of these yearbooks. Will schools have a collection and willingly hand Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:27:09 AM them over to the site for use? Or Do you remember that terrible from the previous year. Goldston will the have to pay some sort of yearbook picture of you, with the said the company plans to offer royalty? Even more importantly, feathered hair, two-inch thick free thumbnail views of the will they be scanning in clean, Coke bottle glasses and braces? yearbooks, but will charge for u n a d u l t e r a t e d c o p i e s o f (Don't even mention the giant full-size views as well as DVD yearbooks or are we going to be forehead zit.) That one? It might and hard copies. able to see all the silly, dirty and I n a d d i t i o n t o y e a r b o o k downright mean things we all be coming back to haunt you. TechFlash reported this week scanning, the company plans on wrote when we were in high that Classmates.com has an d e v e l o p i n g a p p s f o r b o t h school? "ambitious plan" to digitize high- Facebook and the iPhone, as well We know that when many of us school yearbooks and offer them as getting in on the business of graduated high school, we class reunions. on the site. weren't yet aware of the fact that Goldston told TechFlash that the everything we said and did could Sponsor A c c o r d i n g t o T e c h F l a s h , company is looking at a "major end up permanently enshrined on Classmates.com CEO Mark reunions initiative that will allow the Internet. Goldston laid out plans to us to be more involved in the Perhaps our saving grace here is digitize yearbooks, among other planning and selling of tickets, the fact that Classmates gets only i n i t i a t i v e s , a s a w a y t o travel-related revenues, and the a fraction of the traffic of differentiate itself from other creation of reunion-specific Facebook or Myspace and is social networking sites. The products and services that we can largely kept behind a pay wall. i n i t i a t i v e c o m e s a f t e r t h e sell to our users." Discuss company reported a nearly 20% We found ourselves wondering profit loss in the fourth-quarter where exactly Classmates.com is

Super(little)men by Josh Nguyen (Flickr Blog) Submitted at 2/18/2010 3:44:04 PM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it.• About Flickr Flickr is a revolution in photo storage, sharing and organization, making photo

management an easy, natural and collaborative process. Get comments, notes, and tags on your photos, post to any blog, share and more! Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

MEETorDIE Helps You Estimate How Much Money Your Meetings Are Wasting [Meetings] by Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker)

the number of the people in the meeting, and the type of employee they are. Submitted at 2/19/2010 8:00:00 AM Obviously it's just an estimate MEETorDIE takes a humorous but it's a great way to get people a p p r o a c h t o a s e r i o u s thinking about whether or not a issue—how much money is meeting is "worth it" and you wasted by large staff meetings. might even be able to use it as an It's safe to argue that many interesting talking point with times meetings aren't the most your boss about cutting back on efficient way to spend the meetings that pull your team time—and the payroll!—of the away from more productive people involved but unless you work. have access to HR records you Have a neat tool for visualizing have no way to even estimate data? Let's hear about it in the just how much payroll is being comments. MEETorDIE[via wasted. MEETorDIE calculates Mashable] the amount of payroll wasted based on industry wide averages,

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Google Goggles, Metaio, Bing AR: Today's Top Stories in Augmented Reality by Marshall Kirkpatrick (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 2/19/2010 8:42:41 AM

Your phone can translate foreign language text just by looking at it through Google Goggles. A South Korean telecom has released a product similar to Google Goggles. The social content Augmented Reality mobile browser junaio will have a new version released at SXSW next month and there's now an 8 minute video from TED available detailing Microsoft's plans for Bing, including Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality (AR), the practice of displaying data on top of our view of the world around us, is hot stuff. Below are the top stories on AR from around the web over the past 24 hours, selected with help from OneSpot. Watch this space: ReadWriteWeb will be releasing a research report on the use of

AR for marketing very soon. Sponsor Google Demos New Translation Functionality For Google Goggles Geek Sugar "We've been able to translate languages with the help of Google Translate for a while now, but this new function within Google Goggles (which I'm already a big fan of) kind of blows my mind." metaio @ SXSW 2010 Augmented Reality Blog Metaio will present a whole new version of its social content mobile AR browser junaio at SXSW this year. The company's

Unifeye Mobile SDK is also among the finalists of the "Accelerator" competition. A New Augmented Reality (AR) Application in Korea : Ovjet GIS + AR (Augmented Reality) "Korean mobile network provider SK Telecom has revealed a new augmented reality application called Ovjet for Android-platform mobile phones. It seems like quite similar to the concept of Google Goggles. " OllieBray.com: Microsoft Bing Maps augmented reality demo at the TED 2010 Short 8 minute TED Talk from Microsoft's Blaise Aguera y Arcas on the company's latest evolution of Bing Maps. Included an Augmented Reality demo. Here's the video. Discuss

I guess I should have sent my story to Giz... [From Comments] by frigg (Gizmodo)

realized the only way to sell magical and revolutionary consumer electronics at I guess I should have sent my unbelievable prices was to be story to Giz as well since it even more ruthless. If Apple is reminds me of what this tipster going to have any kind of future, had to say. I happened to be in we need slave labor and we need an elevator with Steve Jobs who it now. Obviously, we also need appeared to be eating a small t o o c c a s i o n a l l y e a t s m a l l child, blood smeared across his children, kittens, and the like. face and spilling down his Are you gonna man up or do I turtleneck in evanescent streaks. need to fire you before the At first I acted like nothing was elevator reaches your floor?" I off – you know, we all try and liked my job at the time, all act natural around el Jobso – but things considered, so I "manned as he gnawed through a bone, up" and shared his lunch. But in which made this unsettling retrospect, something about that crackling sound, I couldn’t help exchange always struck me as… myself. "The hell you doing I don’t know, not quite right, and Steve?" I asked. He stopped I fear a harbinger for what Apple chewing and gave me this look may have become. I mean, why like I was the dumbest person on couldn’t we just be Visigoths? Earth. But then, much to my Isn’t that enough? Anyways, surprise, he explained himself: of course I no longer work at "At first I figured Apple would Apple and have since moved on be the Visigoths of Silicon to developing apps that make Valley, as we all did. But when I body parts wobble. But I just found out they were defeated at wanted to share my story. the Battle of Gaudalete for being Thank you for allowing me to pussies and refusing to employ share. slave labor on the front line, I Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:57:09 AM

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Make Perfectly Cooked Sous Vide Steaks On the Cheap [Food Hacks] by Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:00:00 AM

Tech-savvy chefs pull off amazing dishes with sous vide, or cooking vacuum-sealed food in temperature-controlled water tanks. If you've got an instantread thermometer and a vacuum sealer, you can produce similarly paradigm-shifting steaks with a DIY sous vide setup. The Savvy Housekeeping blog suggests that all you really need are those two main components—and there's a good chance you could just borrow your parents' or neighbors' vacuum sealer for a set of steaks, if you can't find one on Craigslist or eBay—to pull off a sous vide technique that doesn't require a $400-plus piece of equiment. There's a few other items required to keep the steaks in the water, but it's stuff you probably have. Their post-bath searing also calls for only salt, pepper, and olive oil, but you can feel free to get nuts with your uncle's

secret seasoning or whatnot. It's not a set-and-forget method, though—you'll need to really watch your sealed-off steaks in their immersion bath: We wanted to keep the meat between 134-135 degrees. To do this, we set the stovetop on the lowest temperature and the alarm on the thermometer at 136 degrees. When the temperature got that high, the alarm went off and we added 1 cup cold water to

the pot. This brought the temperature down to 134 degrees. It took the water 10 minutes to raise the two degrees again, the alarm went off at 136 degrees, and we added another cup of cold water. We did this every ten minutes and it kept the steaks right around 135 degrees. After your steak gets to that perfect temperature, you give them a little sear on the pan, and, well, the photograph results

speak for themselves. You've cooked a steak to a healthy temperature at a slow pace, without oxidizing your meat, and without succumbing to your oven's inconsistency. Pulled off your own submersion cooking stunts before? Do tell, and link or post pictures, in the comments! DIY Sous Vide[Savvy Housekeeping via Serious Eats]

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The Secret World of Private BitTorrent Trackers [Piracy] by Adam Frucci (Gizmodo) Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:20:00 PM

Somewhere on the web is the ultimate music site. It has virtually every album, EP and single ever released in a variety of high-quality formats with insanely fast download speeds. You're probably not allowed in. The Pirate Bay is dead. So is TorrentSpy, MiniNova, Suprnova and many other public BitTorrent trackers. But the most savvy and obsessive file hoarders don't care about that stuff; they wouldn't be caught dead using public trackers. People serious about downloading pirated music, movies, TV shows, software and other media aren't interested in getting a letter from their ISP or the RIAA/IFPI/MPAA/CRIA. They're also not interested in getting viruses or fake files, often seeded on public trackers by copyright enforcers looking to make piracy annoying. So they've built up hundreds of private sites that only trusted users can access. A private BitTorrent tracker is a site that you can only gain access to via an invite from a current user. Some of them are very basic, featuring merely a searchable list of torrents people have uploaded. Many feature forums with the trackers for people to announce and discuss files that are available. The most sophisticated feature gigantic databases that organize the files

like the greatest online downloading store ever built, but with no checkout. There are huge private trackers that, like The Pirate Bay, offer up everything and anything that you could want. But there are many more smaller, more specialized trackers. There are sites for music, for movies, for HD Blu-ray movie rips, for both Mac and PC software, for porn, for comic books, for console games, for anime, for TV shows, for E-books and for sporting events. If you know where to look, you can find a site that specializes in exactly what you care about downloading the most. But downloading media isn't the

only thing going on at these sites. At some, they're software development communities, with large numbers of developers donating time to building the site together into something more than just a place to grab files and leave. And it's just this sort of development that gives these sites the ability to reappear in different forms if they get shut down. Because, when you're in the illegal file-swapping business, getting busted is a fact of life. The RIAA told me that while both public and private trackers are "enormously damaging," they've handed the reigns over to the IFPI(International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) to

anything you could ever imagine, it was there, and it was there in the format you wanted. If OiNK cost anything, I would certainly have paid, but there isn't the equivalent of that in the retail space right now. OiNK was so well loved because, as Reznor said, it was amazing. If there was an album you were searching for, it was a couple of clicks away. And thanks to infamously strict bitrate requirements, it was available in a number of formats, all higher-quality than what iTunes was offering at the time. Furthermore, OiNK had very strict ratio requirements, meaning that if you didn't upload as well as download, you'd be kicked off the site. This ensured that files were seeded for a long go after these sites. This is time and were continually probably because many of these available. sites are hosted overseas. The Last month, after a two-year IFPI told me that "it focuses legal ordeal, OiNK founder resources on the top of the illegal Allen Ellis was found not guilty supply chain of music, regardless and released in the UK. But of whether that is a public immediately upon OiNK's tracker, private tracker or other demise, multiple other trackers source." popped up to replace it, built by OiNK was probably the biggest former members of the OiNK private music tracker on the web community and following the when it was shut down in 2007 same ratio and quality guidelines by the IFPI. It was huge and well that made OiNK so popular. And loved. Even Trent Reznor those replacements offer even admitted he had an account: more functionality than OiNK I'll admit I had an account there did, continuing to grow and and frequented it quite often. At improve in the years since it was the end of the day, what made shut down. OiNK a great place was that it was like the world's greatest SECRET page 57 record store. Pretty much

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SECRET continued from page 56

One of them, let's call it Site X, has surpassed OiNK in terms of content and functionality. It's run like a business, with multiple staffers putting in many hours a week to code it, manage it and work on new features. I talked to the founder and lead SysOp of Site X, who said when the site first started he put in a full-time job's worth of hours. "Nowadays, a conservative estimate would be 15 hours," which is still no small amount. And he is one of three SysOps. There are also two administrators, one developer and 17 moderators on the Site X staff. That's a lot of manpower for something nobody is getting paid for. And according to this head SysOp, all money made from user donations goes to maintaining the servers and not into any wallets. "I'd be too scared to touch it, even if I could dampen my sense of morality enough to reach my hand into the piggybank." (One of the main charges levied against OiNK founder Alan Ellis was that he made "hundred of thousands of pounds" from user donations.) Site X's main feature is its huge database of torrents. All are organized by artist, so you can find everything someone has released in one place. Many releases are available in multiple file formats, ranging from lossless FLAC to various bitrates of MP3 to AAC to Ogg, for weirdos that really want their music to all be in Ogg. And for

major releases with multiple versions available, you'll find every version, from the original to the vinyl to rereleases, available separately. Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, for example, has 20 different versions available on Site X spread across 60 different download options (click the image to the left to see the entire crazy list). Sure, most people will go for the basic V0 MP3 of the standard issue recording, but if you really want to find the 1981 Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab master digitized from vinyl as FLACs, or the 1983 Japanese Black Triangle Pressing in 320 AAC, they're here. It's a completists' paradise. But what about discovering new music? Site X has two features that help with that: collages and similar artist maps. Collages are basically user-made lists of albums. They can be something like Pitchfork's 100 Best Albums of the 70's or AllMusic 5 Star Albums or just one guy's favorite 90's ska records. At the bottom of every album page it lists what collages that album is a part of so you can explore other music that somehow relates to it. Similar artist maps are visual guides that appear at the bottom of each artist page. Anyone can add an artist they feel is similar to an artist's page, and as those suggestions get voted up and down, they appear in various sizes in the visual guide at the bottom. Like a band? Simply

check out other bands in the map to try something similar. All of this is built on a system that's rooted in a community. There's an extensive forum here, as well as a Wiki full of information on everything from site rules to how to digitize a vinyl perfectly. And the community helps build the site, coding features that are added to the system and creating hundreds of custom CSS skins to change the appearance. But what if Site X gets shut down like OiNK was? It has over 116,000 users as of this writing, a number far too large for it to escape the notice of the same people that shut down OiNK. The head SysOp admits that they've already gained some unwanted attention: "We've gotten multiple letters from the CRIA, but none in the past year and a half. It's been very quiet lately. They've either realized they can't do anything, or are busy launching an amazing assault." Won't all the work put into this system be for nothing if the latter is true? Nope. Because the entire site was built as an open-source piece of software called Gazelle, one that's continually tweaked and updated. Gazelle runs the whole structure of the site, and they're currently working on writing an entirely original tracker from scratch for it. And so far, there are over 50 other private trackers running Gazelle. If one dies, another will pop up to replace it.

So does the existence of such a large network of meticulouslybuilt private BitTorrent sites mean the IFPI and other trade organizations are losing the piracy battle? No, actually. These sites are very difficult to get into and just as difficult to stay in once you're there. They are most definitely not for laypeople, and they're also not at "the top of the supply chain." The days of Napster and Kazaa making piracy easy enough for your mom to do it are gone. It's actually harder to pirate media now than it was a few years ago thanks to the efforts of copyright holders. Yes, these sites exist that are far, far better than any option has ever been before. But even a site as large and sophisticated as Site X has only 116,000 members. That's nothing compared to the millions of people who populated the large peer-to-peer file-sharing programs a few years ago. So yes, piracy is indeed alive and well, more sophisticated than ever before. But it's been pushed to places that most people can't get to, and though that's an unlikely victory for the recording industry, I doubt they'd ever claim it as theirs.

Laptop-Spying School District Superintendent Covers Ass By Claiming Security Feature [Privacy] by Jesus Diaz (Gizmodo) Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:47:03 AM

Dr. Christopher W. McGinley, Superintendent of the Lower Merion School District—the district accused of invading students' privacy by accessing their laptop's webcams remotely—has sent an email to parents and guardians explaining why. Kind of: ————— Forwarded message ————— From: Date: Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 9:33 PM Subject: Email from Lower Merion School District Dear LMSD Parents/Guardians, Our history has been to go to great lengths to protect the privacy of our students; whether it comes to student health, academic or other records. In fact, many of you may remember the heated debate over whether to have security cameras monitor some of our food vending LAPTOP-SPYING page 59

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Review: Kempler & Strauss W Phone Watch by John Biggs (CrunchGear) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:00:53 AM

Short Version: The Kempler & Strauss W Phone watch is a great idea. It’s a compact, unlocked GSM phone that makes a great conversation piece and is fun – if a bit maddening – to use. Can it ever be your “first phone?” Absolutely not, but at $199 unlocked you can’t get a GSM phone – at least one stuffed inside a watch – for much cheaper. Features: • Unlocked GSM phone – in a watch! • Touchscreen with limited handwriting recognition • Camera • Full MMS/GPRS support • MSRP of $199.99 Pros: • Great conversation starter • Cheap for an unlocked GSM phone • Bluetooth headset included Cons: • Screen is too small • Battery lasts about a day • Lot’s of accessories to lose

good venison dish would make an old shoe a gourmet’s delight. To be fair, this is truly one of the funnest phones you will ever own. However, like a tough Review: In using the Kempler & Strauss piece of venison, all of the W Phone Watch I was reminded accessories included in the phone of a quote from the Steinbeck make you consistently ask the book Travels With Charley. In it question “Why don’t I just get a he describes a venison dish, real phone and a Bluetooth headset and call it a day?” noting that: The W Watch Phone is The recipes, the herbs, the wine, the preparation that goes into a surprisingly small and light. It

weighs about 2.5 ounces and is 57mm long, about as big as a standard watch. The screen is about an inch on each side and there is a small speaker in the band. A microphone hides on the side. On the top of the watch is an odd little VGA camera that can take JPEGs at 640×480 and video at 128×104 (!!). It also plays back MPEG4s and most audio files. These watch phones are not

new. A quick perusal on the Interwebs will produce a list of a number of Shenzhen-based watchphone manufacturers who are selling their wares for as low as $99. What Kempler & Strauss has done is add on a bit of design and some quality assurance to a product that’s been available on Shenzhen streets for months, if not years. I used the phone a few times over the past few weeks and

found it to be fun at parties and useful on a limited scale. There are multiple input methods, from tapping the little icons with your finger to using the point of the included Bluetooth headset to pick or scribble out letters and numbers. All of these methods, while sound and approachable with practice, are very frustrating at first. REVIEW: page 61

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LAPTOP-SPYING continued from page 57

machines. Privacy is a basic right in our society and a matter we take very seriously. We believe that a good job can always be done better. Recent publicity regarding the District's one-to-one high school laptop initiative, and questions about the security of student laptops prompted our administration to revisit security procedures. Laptops are a frequent target for theft in schools and off school property. District laptops do contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops. The security feature, which was disabled today, was installed to help locate a laptop in the event it was reported lost, missing or stolen so that the laptop could be returned to the student. Upon a report of a suspected lost, stolen or missing laptop, the feature was activated by the District's security and technology departments. The security feature's capabilities were limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator's screen. This feature was only used for the narrow purpose of

locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop. The District never activated the security feature for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever. As a result of our preliminary review of security procedures today, I directed the following actions: • Immediate disabling of the security-tracking program. • A thorough review of the existing policies for student laptop use. • A review of security procedures to help safeguard the protection of privacy; including a review of the instances in which the security software was activated. We want to ensure that any affected students and families are made aware of the outcome of laptop recovery investigations. • A review of any other technology areas in which the intersection of privacy and security may come into play. We are proud of the fact that we are a leader in providing laptops to every high school student as part of our instructional program. But we need to be equally as proud of the safeguards we have

in place to protect the privacy of the users, as well as to safeguard district-owned property while being used by students. We regret if this situation has caused any concern or inconvenience among our students and families. If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at info@lmsd.org. Additional information has been posted on our website, www.lmsd.org. Thank you for your time and attention. Sincerely, Dr. Christopher W. McGinley Superintendent of Schools Lower Merion School District Do Not Reply. This is not a reply e-mail address. It's good to see that they have turned the spying software off. It's not so good—but understandable, given the legal situation—that he's not recognizing any wrongdoing, and instead trying to dress the whole thing as a "security feature." He doesn't talk about the classaction suit, or the fact that students have been asking about this for as long as a year. Talking

to Gizmodo, some Lower Merion High School students claimed that, when asked about the random activation of their MacBook's webcams, tech support explained that it was all a technical glitch. These two explanations don't match up. A technical glitch, which admits that it's happened, but accidentally, and the Superintendent's "never activated...any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever" contradict each other. Which is it? It has taken a class-action suit and massive media coverage to actually acknowledge than the technical glitch was actually security software, installed on purpose to "track lost, stolen and missing laptops." It's just too bad that, according to the students, they were using that software to randomly spy on them at their own homes. [ Gizmodo]

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iTunes, Executive Tongueslips and the Mythical 99-Cent TV Show [Apple] by matt buchanan (Gizmodo) Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:59:39 AM

Apple's had ambitious TV plans. Standing in the way, industry execs. Apple supposedly wants to offer subscriptions to packages for $30 a month, and to sell shows for a buck. Funny then, what CBS's CEO said during an earnings call. The relevant Q&A from CBS's most recent earnings call, via Seeking Alpha's full transcript, with my emphasis added: Doug Mitchelson – Deutsche Bank And the secondary is just online distribution of your TV shows, I don't want to belabor it because we have talked a lot about over the last year, year or two, but there is a story out there that Apple wants to try to get prices down $0.99 per episode on the sales side and we are all still wondering if this is a right ad load on the free streaming shows. I mean any thoughts on your comfort level with the business models that are out there online? Leslie Moonves Yes, I mean the interesting thing about online ads and once again the reason we are happy we are controlling our own content is the advertising thing it's sort of a trial in process. And we are experimenting with different ad loads and as you know

authentication TV everywhere would involve the same load that is on the network with similar pricing. So in all these, once again, they are all short-term deals and it is a moving target. There are a certain shows that will be sold on Apple for $0.99, I don't know yet which will be – and we will talk to them about it. But look the great news for us is are we are up in every single demographic category, at the same time we are increasing our revenue from online and other

sources. So it all looks good for the future. The catch, as it were, is that Moonves might not have meant what he said quite so specifically. That is, Peter Kafka's sources tell him that what he meant is that CBS is "open to talks with Apple," but there aren't any specific plans to cut TV shows prices. Leading up to this, the Financial Times has reported on two separate occasions that Apple's pushing for 99-cent shows, and

greater volume. At best, we could see certain shows sell for cheaper, like Moonves but they'll likely be shows that have less "value." In other words, not Lost. It's the same reason the book guys don't like the idea behind Amazon's flat $9.99 rate for ebooks, or really anybody who produces any kind of content seems to be acting like such a paranoid, entrenched asshat to the average person who just wants to buy digital content cheaply and easily—they don't want you to think the stuff they make is worth less than it already is. (Though in the case of TV guys, it's not just losing value they're worried about, it's making more money to cover the expensive production costs of quality, hence their hot-on-theballs desire to turn Hulu into something you pay for, since the that they'll happen, possibly in ad revenue's not quite cutting it time for the iPad launch in April. yet). Oh, and cable guys, like And then there's the WSJ's Time Warner, really aren't persistent report that Apple's thrilled with an iTunes that sells p u r s u i n g $ 3 0 m o n t h l y subscriptions to TV packages, subscriptions for packages of TV which is, you know, the same shows. Which sound nice. business they're in. Desirable, even, to the point that Point being, if this revitalized Apple would sell way more TV TV segment of iTunes happens, it's going to take a lot of coaxing, shows. But TV execs thus far—aside leveraging and browbeating to from Moonves' slip here—aren't h a p p e n . I f i t d o e s . [ exactly bubbling about selling MediaMemo, Seeking Alpha, their stuff for cheaper, even Mucho props to Peter Kafka] given the possibility of pushing a

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Dell Mini 5 prototype impressions by Richard Lai (Engadget) Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:16:00 PM

Dell's puzzled the world for quite some time with its outlandish Mini 5-- at first glance it's just another Androidbased MID, but a quick fiddle with it reveals the full-fledged 3G phone inside. So will it fit in a pocket? Can we carry it around like a normal phone? Is this the future form factor that will bring the ultimate balance between portability and practicality? With such heavy dose of curiosity, we eventually traveled all the way to Shenzhen literally just to grab this prototype. Now, before you read on, do bear in mind that some of its features -- especially the OS-- may not make it to the final design when it comes out

later this year, nor do we know what stage this prototype was at. We good? OK. Let's start with the basics: the main specs on our unit include Android 1.6 (which will definitely be obsolete for the final product), five-inch 800 x 480 capacitive touchscreen, Snapdragon QSD8250 chipset (with CPU clocked at 1GHz), Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS and WCDMA radio. Sadly, we have no info on whether the Mini 5 will have other cellular radio options, but it wouldn't hurt to send Dell a petition regarding this matter. For those who want the dimensions and weight in numbers, it's about 152mm x 78mm x 10mm at 8 ounces (including the battery, which lasts for almost a day for normal

usage on 3G). Memory-wise there's 405MB RAM and 1.63GB of internal storage -- a slight let-down for the latter, so let's hope the retail unit will be given a more generous dose of silicon. You can add a microSD

card next to the battery on the back, but it appears that the mysterious second card slot we saw in the earlier teardown only gave us false hope -- we couldn't find a way to get to it without prying open the housing.

in front of a phone watch right now is a testament to the slow but inexorable ascent of mankind’s prowess as a toolmaker. These are, verily, the days of miracles and wonder and the “Ho-hum” feeling I get when I handle the W Phone Watch is a bit odd. After all, a few short years ago our phones could barely fit in our pockets let alone around our wrists. What Kempler & Strauss – and the OEMs that work for them – have done is laudable and fascinating. Bottom Line The W Phone Watch is a cool

gadget. If you want to be “that dude” who wears a phone watch, you probably won’t find a better one on the market. If you’re traveling this thing could become a boon companion as it is unobtrusive and works well enough to warrant a second look. Product Page: Kempler & Strauss W Phone Watch

REVIEW: continued from page 58

The handwriting recognition, for example, works as well as it did on the Palm V or the Fossil Palm watch of yesteryear. It appears when you’re entering numbers so don’t expect to be able to write out the Magna Carta on this thing. The watch can send MMS messages, as well, using photos taken with the piteous camera. The less we say about the camera the better. Below is an actual image: Other features include “games” – actually just one game that involves catching fruit in a

basket – and background sounds that simulate various scenarios, allowing you to blame the phone’s poor reception on your surroundings. “Pub,” for example, makes it sound like you’re calling from a noisy pub, while “sidewalk” simulates a sidewalk. Making and taking calls with a Bluetooth headset is simplicity itself and the sound quality is fine. Making calls by talking into your wrist and listening to responses from the built-in speaker can lead to madness. The simple fact that I’m sitting

Connection to your computer relies on a proprietary port -similar but slightly larger than the iPod's -- to USB cable, which may suggest that we will see some more peripherals made for the Mini 5 and its future siblings. Gallery: Dell Mini 5 prototype impressions Continue reading Dell Mini 5 prototype impressions Dell Mini 5 prototype impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| Comments

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Sony’s mysterious universal video game controller patent portends PS3 Virtual Console (or maybe it doesn’t, who knows?) by Nicholas Deleon (CrunchGear) Submitted at 2/19/2010 8:00:29 AM

This is more interesting than I had originally thought. Sony filed a patent last year(it was only unearthed today or yesterday) describing a universal video game controller. You know how there’s universal remote controls (like this one I used), smart devices that can control a TV, cable box, DVD player, etc.? It’s the same principle here: a single device that’s about to function as a video game controller for all sorts of consoles. A universal game console controller that has an LCD presenting, depending on what type of game console a user has

input, a controller key layout for a first type of game console or a controller key layout for a second type of game console. The picture does a pretty decent job of describing the controller. You’d have a “controller” in your hand, and on that controller would be a touch-sensitive LCD. Various controller layouts would be placed on the LCD. So, you’d have a GameCube button layout when in GameCube mode, a Dual Shock layout when in PS1 mode, and a DreamCast layout when in DreamCast mode. Depending on how responsive the LCD is, and how comfortable the actual plastic is in your hands, it could be a nifty little thing. But, why should Sony want to create such a controller? Is there

really such a demand for universal video game controllers that it was worth it to Sony to A) come up with the idea in the first place, B) draw up schematics,

and C) file all the paper work with the U.S. Patent Office? It’s not like all of that can be done in some guy’s lunch break. Let’s say there’s not a demand. Why do I need a device that can emulate the “look and feel” (well, kinda) of an SNES controller? PS3 Virtual Console! Now, there’s zero proof to that effect, but it would certainly make sense in the “why bother with such a controller” department. That said, a PS3 Virtual Console would be legitimately neat, I think. via Kotaku

Texas Instruments and Liquavista partnership yields color screen eReader demo by Tablet (BestTabletReview.com) Submitted at 2/19/2010 6:02:33 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Last month Liquavista announced their new color “LCD 2.0 screen shortly before CES. Word came shortly after that they had partnered with Texas Instruments to produce a few products based on their displays. Now the fruition of that partnership is being shown. This new eBook reader demo unit from Texas Instruments shows the LiquavistaColor screen encased in a QWERTY case. Pay no attention to the design of the thing, or the huge TEXAS page 63

Microsoft confirms rootkit caused Windows XP blue screens by Tim Stevens (Engadget)

there's a little bit of malicious code sitting at the root of it all. A rootkit, to be specific, one called When malware writers fail to Alureon that compromises the generate clean, reliable code, just atapi.sys file and others. This who can you trust? On the heels rootkit makes a system call via of many Windows XP 32-bit an address that, after the update, users facing blue screen of death no longer corresponds to the errors and unwanted reboots, particular call Alureon is trying cause of the BSODs, not the Microsoft is now confirming that to make. This is apparently the update itself, and so those Submitted at 2/19/2010 10:46:00 AM

suffering from similar issues can resolve them by simply replacing corrupted system files via the recovery console. It won't be as much fun as using Microsoft's more popular console, but should at least cure what ails you. Microsoft confirms rootkit caused Windows XP blue screens originally appeared on

Engadget on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Slashdot| Microsoft Malware Protection Center| Email this| Comments

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TEXAS continued from page 62

Fonera SIMPL aims to ease 3G overload, give smartphones a better way to upload by Darren Murph (Engadget)

a faster CPU than the Fonera 2.0 and a shiny white shell, we're Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:29:00 AM told that an order has already If you've never heard of Fon, its been placed by an undisclosed mission is pretty simple: to equip customer for 400,000 of 'em, the world with Fonera routers, though it's unclear when these and thus blanket the planet in will be be made available to the WiFi that no one is scared to general public and for how share. Over at Mobile World much. Hop on past the break for C o n g r e s s t h i s w e e k , t h e a five minute showcase video. company unveiled a new device Continue reading Fonera SIMPL that exploits the impending aims to ease 3G overload, give bandwidth crisis that operators smartphones a better way to all over the globe are attempting upload to deal with. The all-new SIMPL Fonera SIMPL aims to ease 3G is a palm-sized router that has overload, give smartphones a just two Ethernet ports and could better way to upload originally be doled out by carriers in order appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 to provide a city-wide WiFi Feb 2010 11:29:00 EST. Please network that can be accessed by see our terms for use of feeds. any WiFi-enabled phone, thereby Permalink| ARM Devices| Email easing the demand on its 3G this| Comments network. Equipped with 802.11n,

bezel surrounding the screen. This is meant to only be demonstration unit and its unclear if TI will even be producing an actual eReader. The screen works off TI’s OMAP platform which is an open application platform of microprocessors made for portable media. It also looks like they’ve adopted a Zinio application to display the magazine on the screen (VIV is a Zinio owned and produced digital magazine). According to E-Ink-Info, LiquaVista is also working with Freescale on a prototype using the iMX5x platform ( video waving a hand in front of it), here). Both Freescale and TI will while describing the design and be issuing a developer’s kits for execution as "truly beautiful." the screen soon. This is very Picture quality is no worse, mind good news as we had first heard y o u , a n d e p i t h e t s l i k e that the LiquavistaColor screen "extraordinary" and "fantastic" didn’t have much of a chance in were used to describe the making it to market until the experience of watching HD very end of the year. At least content on this panel. The same now its well on its way. words can also be applied to the Source: E-Ink-Info via Teleread $18,700 MSRP, but at least the Five Filters featured article: review is free and can be found Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, at the source link below. Bang and Olufsen's 55-inch Term Extraction. BeoVision 7 collects a review, much love originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Flatpanels HD| Email this| Comments

Bang and Olufsen's 55inch BeoVision 7 collects a review, much love by Vladislav Savov (Engadget) Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:05:00 AM

55.5 inches of 1080p goodness would draw attention in any case, but when they're supplemented with local dimming of an LED-backlit display, 6ms response time, a stonking 4,000:1 static contrast ratio, and an integrated Blu-ray player... well, our cup runneth over with interest. The BeoVision 7-55 is just such a monstrous, no-compromise display, and it's recently undergone a review over at Flatpanels HD. The reviewers were giddy with the versatile motorized stand and the Blu-ray player (which opens by you

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Nostalgia week continues with Apple ][, Pascal, and old-fashioned newsletters! by Scott Merrill (CrunchGear)

computer in ways that you simply don’t see any more. Next up is a blast from the past on H o t o n t h e h e e l s o f o u r Slashdot with a wonderful scan celebration of the BBS, here’s a of a computing newsletter from pair of retro stories to ease your the 1980s. transition into the weekend. First The first link above is up is “ Pascal Spoken Here“, by interesting in a several contexts. Ian Bogost about the subtle shift The notion that learning to over the years in how we view program is a fundamental aspect computers. Back in 1977 the of using a computer is long dead. advertising clearly identified the Today, a computer is simply a programmed utility applications connection between using, tool. Maybe it’s because there t o d a y t h a t s i m p l y w e r e n ’ t e x p l o r i n g , a n d l e a r n i n g a e x i s t s a w e a l t h o f p r e - available when the computer first Submitted at 2/19/2010 8:30:32 AM

became personal. Maybe it’s the natural evolution of any new technology, as the early adopters trailblaze the thing into commodity. Maybe we all missed a very important opportunity. What do you think? Feel free to share your nostalgia in the comments. Bonus points will be given to links to historical artifacts like those in the links above.

The Mastone Prowave tablet features Freescale chipset and Android OS by Tablet (BestTabletReview.com) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:28:57 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. The Mastone Prowave Android tablet Slashgear uncovered an Android tablet at Freescale’s booth at MWC made by Chinese company Mastone that runs off a Freescale i.MX515 processor. The Mastone Prowave tablet

features a resistive touchscreen (which looks to be between 5 to 7-inches judging by the pictures) and runs off a customized Android interface that includes

SIM, audio in/out, external speaker, SD card slot and webcam, the Prowave has WiFi and 3G capability. While there’s no word on price, Freescale did let it leak that their reference design for items like this were around $200. It’s not unrealistic to expect around that same price point from Mastone. apps and widgets. The reviewer Source: Slashgear found the build quality to be very Five Filters featured article: high and the body stylish rather Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: slick. The buttons were solid and PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, responsive. In addition to a USB, Term Extraction.

Modular, Multi-Tab Power Strip Makes Competition Look Antiquated [Design] by Mark Wilson (Gizmodo) Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:39:40 AM

There's no special tech inside this power strip concept that could prevent it from coming to market tomorrow. Instead, simple, clever design makes an everyday product even better. Let me explain. The Multi-Tab strip, by designer Soon Mo Kang, does three things that most power strips don't: 1. Modular construction means you can expand it at will 2. Each plug accommodates a sticker label so you know what it's powering 3. Components can be turned on/off individually, as marked with an LED Now, whether or not the tabs would make for the best way to toggle power behind my home theater system (where cords are piled high, easily weighing down on exposed controls), is a tad uncertain. But everything else about this design is superior to what I'm using at the moment. MODULAR, page 65

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MODULAR, continued from page 64

Apple Moves to Quash “Overtly Sexual” iPhone Apps

You know the drill, manufacturers. License the design or rip it off—just do something that we didn't in 1993. by Darrell Etherington [ Yanko Design via DVICE] (TheAppleBlog)

overtly sexual content from the App Store, which includes your Submitted at 2/19/2010 8:35:42 AM application. Thank you for your Due to repeated and numerous understanding in this matter. If customer complaints, and despite you believe you can make the the fact that they seem to pretty n e c e s s a r y c h a n g e s s o t h a t CAN regularly make their way into the W o b b l e i B o o b s ( P r e m i u m continued from page 65 top 25 and 50 lists of both free was the standard on the iTunes and paid apps, Apple decided Uncensored) complies with our Store, I knew that I didn’t need this week to begin removing recent changes, we encourage to buy physical CD’s any more. software from the App Store it you to do so and resubmit for review. All I was doing was ripping my deems “overtly sexual.” While a few other similarlymusic to 256kbps AAC or MP3 News of the policy change themed apps have been removed anyways, so why not just buy comes via a letter sent to the them that way? And album developer of “Wobble iBoobs,” f r o m t h e A p p S t o r e , t o o , prices on iTunes were the same which informed them that under apparently in keeping with the or lower than brick-and-mortar the new guidelines the app was new policy changes, some others prices on CD’s. Take Amazon determined to be inappropriate remain, raising the question of MP3 into account, and it was an and would be removed. In the what exactly Apple categorizes easy decision to switch to digital letter, Apple explained that the as “overtly sexual.” The top 25 purchases. Why I Have Not Been App Store policies are subject to and 50 lists appear to have been scrubbed pretty much clean, but Buying Movies from iTunes change, and that it is “constantly some apps in the Entertainment Basically, it comes down to the refining” its definition of what’s stereo sound. I can’t stand the deemed appropriate, based at category still seem pretty sexual idea of not using my surround least in part on user feedback. to me. Hard to mistake the intent s o u n d s e t u p a n d m a s s i v e TechCrunch received a copy of of the official “Playboy” app as subwoofer (it literally shakes my the email notifying Wobble anything but, for instance. whole house…I love it). With iBoobs developers about the Though my gut reaction is to lower picture quality and lame policy change and resulting decry Apple for censoring stereo sound, I was not tempted removal of their app. Apple does s o m e t h i n g a s r e l a t i v e l y at all to get movies from iTunes. note in the following excerpt that innocuous as sexually suggestive material (caveat: I’m a Canadian; I did try a few 99 cent rentals the ban is reversible: and found that to be just fine, but We have decided to remove any we’re pretty okay with nudity my $9 Netflix membership gives me access to tons of streaming movies at the same quality. Now that HD movies sport surround sound, I was anxious to CAN page 66

and sex in general), I actually can’t help but be really pleased with the move as a regular App Store customer. As far as I’m concerned, the kind of novelty sexual app that Wobble iBoobs represents wasn’t doing much more than taking up valuable real estate in the App Store’s top downloads list, blocking spots that might otherwise be occupied by something useful I’d actually consider downloading. Apparently, the apps were somewhat popular, since they managed to appear on those top lists with fair frequency, and Wobble iBoobs was downloaded more than 970,000 times during its App Store career. But if you feel the need to get your jollies on the iPhone (and I really can’t imagine why you would, for screen size issues alone), then take to the web and leave my App Store out of it. Mobile Safari’s right there, and I guarantee you’ll be much better served going that route anyway. Does anyone else see this as a change for the better, or am I alone here?

Can iTunes HD Replace Blu-ray? by Weldon Dodd (TheAppleBlog) Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:17:33 AM

I clearly remember the moment I knew I would never buy another physical CD and would buy all my music online. Since then, I’ve been waiting for the moment when I would know that I could buy all my movies online. In November, Apple announced that it was adding Disney movies in high definition to the iTunes Store. I’ve spent the last few months debating with myself if this heralded the end of buying physical media for movies. In a word: No In two words: Not Yet Why I Buy Music from iTunes (and Amazon MP3) For music, once iTunes Plus CAN page 65

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CAN continued from page 65

compare some familiar titles where I could spot the difference in picture quality and audio. Disney/Pixar Makes Great HD Material I have kids at home and we are therefore obligated to pay our annual Disney tax to stock our home with family-friendly, candy-coated entertainment from our media overlords in Burbank, CA. Some of the Pixar movies make great reference material to show off your home theater and I focused on these titles to compare the difference between iTunes SD & HD, DVD, Handbrake encodes, and Blu-ray. Picture Quality Let me say up front that the difference in picture quality between the various formats is clearly visible on a big screen. Blu-ray has the best picture quality and was correctly identified by all the members of my family in a simple visual test. The surprise for me is how close iTunes HD is to Blu-ray. I watched several scenes in WallE over and over again looking at the differences between the iTunes HD file and the Blu-ray Disc (BRD), particularly the first 10 minutes and the interior shots of the ship. The iTunes HD file was quite a bit better than what I expected and makes a serious case for choosing to buy content on iTunes.

For SD content, I watched Monsters, Inc. and compared the iTunes file (what Disney calls a Digital Copy) with a Handbrake 0.9.3 rip I made using the Apple TV preset (0.9.4, the current version, should produce similar quality output). The quality is almost identical although the Handbrake rip was slightly brighter. The quality is slightly below DVD, but so close that most people probably won’t notice. For my money, the image quality is close enough on the iTunes HD files that I could be tempted to just buy them on iTunes. If you’re watching on a 42 screen or smaller, the quality is probably indistinguishable. Audio Quality My Blu-ray player is configured to decode all the lossless audio formats and send 7.1 analog sound to my receiver. It works great. I was really concerned about the audio here because I would not buy anything with only a stereo track. The audio on the iTunes HD movies is good enough to consider buying them. The difference between Dolby Digital and the lossless audio tracks is noticeable, but 5.1 surround sound is enough to get me over the bulk of my previous objections. Convenience Convenience is a big deal for

me. I actually prefer having movies on my Apple TV because I don’t have to endure any forced advertising or trailers. I can just start the movie. I also like that my kids don’t have to handle the discs, avoiding the possibility of scratching them. Combined with the amazing Apple Remote iPhone app, the Apple TV is a great movie jukebox — even better than the 301 slot DVD changer I used to have. Now that Extras are available with iTunes HD files, I think iTunes movies actually win on convenience, with one big caveat — you really need an Apple TV or a Mac mini media center connected to your big screen TV to appreciate them. A 27 iMac would get pretty close on its own though. Why Movies are Different than Music I was a weekend musician for a large part of the 80’s and 90’s and I love music. I owned a SACD player because I loved hearing the subtle details in Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and the sound of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s fingers sliding across the strings in Texas Flood. But I only really enjoyed the difference when I was sitting in the “sweet spot” of my twochannel system with perfect stereo imaging. I couldn’t really appreciate the difference in the quality of the recordings between

SACD and CD when I had music on in the background as I was working around the house. Music downloads are successful for the simple reason that convenience and quality are sufficient. The difference in quality does not bother people because you typically are not giving your full attention to the sound quality while jogging, working, eating, etc. and the convenience is king because no one is willing to get up and change a CD anymore. Movies are different because you are planted in front of the screen for about two hours and typically devote your full attention to the film while watching it. This makes all the difference in comparing incremental differences in the quality of Blu-ray and iTunes HD. If I’m going to give my full attention to something for two hours, I want the best quality. I would be tempted by the convenience of iTunes downloads, but at the same price point, I just want the best quality. What Would It Take for Me to Buy iTunes Movies? Lower prices. The quality is fine for the movies that I watched. But at the same price point, I’ll take the Blu-ray and deal with putting the disc in the changer and the possibility that my kids might scratch them. If I really

want the movie to be easy to get to for my kids, I’ll make my own encode and put it on my Apple TV anyways. I would say 1080p or higher bitrate to bring the video quality closer to Blu-ray, but 10GB (or higher) downloads seem unrealistic at this point. Maybe someday that comment will seem shortsighted when we all have fiber to the home, but for now I think the best compromise is to get $5 and $10 movies from iTunes and $15-25 discs in the store. What about you? Is iTunes HD enough for you in terms of quality/convenience? If not, what would it take? Equipment Used: I compared the files using an Apple TV (3.0) and a Pioneer BDP-51FD connected to a calibrated 57 Sony KP-57HW40 with a Denon surround receiver with 5.1 speakers (Infinity L+R powered full-range towers, 3-way center, bookshelf surrounds + SVS 2039PC subwoofer). Related GigaOM Pro Research: Who Wins When Movies Are Available Everywhere?

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Apple Doubles iPhone’s Cellular Network Download Limit by Darrell Etherington (TheAppleBlog) Submitted at 2/18/2010 1:16:20 PM

I’ve cursed the 10MB over-theair cell data download limit on Apple’s iPhone many a time, especially when trying to grab a podcast or game for use on the train while traveling. Things got slightly better in that regard today, since Apple doubled the download limit for apps, games and iTunes content over 3G and Edge data connections. Of course, I noticed the bump in download capacity when I absentmindedly tried to download a podcast that exceeded both the old and new limits, so it’s hard to say as of yet how much of an improvement in user experience this actually represents. Likewise, so far every other article I’ve seen regarding the change has found out about it by trying to download something that’s far larger than 20MB. So why the change? Well, presumably there actually are some apps, video or podcasts out there that are between 10 and 20MB in size, so there is that. Maybe it indicates that a milestone has been reached by AT&T in terms of its ability to handle greater bandwidth usage,

interesting take on why Apple upped the limit. According to them, many iPhone developers were tailoring their games and apps to fit just under the 10MB cap, so that it would be easier for customers to purchase the software on the go from anywhere. An impulse buy, after all, isn’t nearly as likely to be made when you’re at home in the comfort of your Wi-Fi network, where you have so many other diversions vying for your attention. Accordingly, a cap increase should result in a corresponding increase in the level of App Store but somehow I doubt that, too. I software releases. As Pocket can’t help but think that the real Gamer’s Spanner Spencer puts reason has to do with the it: Double the available app size upcoming iPad. Since half of the iPad models for remote users should therefore will sport 3G connectivity, it m a k e f o r s o m e d o u b l y makes sense to expect users to impressive products. In all want to be able to access more likelyhood this is in preparation content using that connection, for the inherently larger size of especially given that they won’t iPad games and apps. be using the cellular connection Let’s hope this analysis proves for making calls or doing correct, because it should mean anything phone-related. I’m just promising things are on the speculating, but I think it’s also horizon for iPhone and iPad possible that the sweet spot for users alike. Apple’s visually rich e-book and Related GigaOM Pro Research: e-magazine content will fall How AT&T Will Deal with iPad somewhere in that 10 to 20MB Data Traffic range. Pocket Gamer has another

What's On Tonight: 'Smallville,' 'Real Time with Bill Maher,' 'Spartacus' by Bob Sassone (TV Squad) Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:07:00 PM

Here's tonight's TV lineup (all times Eastern). • At 8, NBC has The Olympics. • The CW has a new'Smallville' at 8. • PBS has a new'Washington Week' at 8, followed by new episodes of'NOW' and'Bill Moyers Journal.' • Sundance has a new'Shameless' at 8. • At 9, HBO has the series premiere of'The RIcky Gervais Show,' then the season premiere of'The Life and Times of Tim' and the season premiere of'Real Time with Bill Maher' at 10, with Seth McFarlane, Wanda Sykes, Eliot Spitzer, Norah O'Donnell, and Elizabeth Warren. • Syfy has a new'Caprica' at 9. • At 10, ABC has a new'20/20.' • STARZ has a new'Spartacus: Blood & Sand' at 10. • Food Network has a new"Best

Thing I Ever Ate' at 10. • E! has two new episodes of'The Soup' at 10. • Travel Channel has a new'Most Haunted' at 10. • Also at 10: Discovery has a new'American Loggers.' Check your local TV listings for more. After the jump, the late night talk shows. Continue reading What's On Tonight: 'Smallville,' 'Real Time with Bill Maher,' 'Spartacus' Filed under: Late Night, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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Does it matter who you get news from? (Scripting News) Submitted at 2/19/2010 7:44:13 AM

We had an interesting meetup at NYU last night, the first in what may become a series of Thursday night meetups patterened after the meetups we had at Berkman in 2003 and on. The meeting was supposed to follow the BloggerCon rules of moderation, but most people don't know about these, so it takes a while before it feels normal. I had that experience trying to boot up BloggerConstyle meetings in Nashville and Palo Alto. If the people don't know how it works, it just doesn't work. So about half-way through the meeting I stopped moderating and let the discussion go where it would naturally go. And I learned something from this. I guess that's not surprising. In Silicon Valley, if you let a discussion wander, it ends up centered on the point of view of the technology industry. You have users and they generate content. Everything revolves around that model. It's pretty inhuman, because the people who do the generating are sometimes "experts" who invest their whole lives in understanding stuff, and then want to share it with others

because that's what humans like to do, even if they aren't being paid. Of course the tech companies are all about being paid, for doing what they do. The users are like hamsters on a treadmill. Do you ever think about paying hamsters? I don't think so! Okay, everyone says NY is where the future is. I'm afraid this might become hype just like the story you hear about Silicon Valley. It's a way of saying the rest of the world doesn't count. Of course people like to think that they live in the one place that makes a difference, it's simpler that way. The world is so complex, who wouldn't want it to be simpler. But who would be happy if they thought the center of the world was somewhere else? So the battle is constant. And for a while people believed the center was in Silicon Valley. I think the worst thing in the world is to live in the center. There's no where to go but down from there. Upside is better. So I choose to think where I live is somewhere off-center. It's also more interesting. So when the New York conversation drifts, it doesn't end up where the Silicon Valley conversation ends. I guess this is no surprise, right? Where it ends up is with the (forgive me I don't

know the terminology) the guy writing the story that informs everyone else. Who is everyone else? It's the hamsters again! This time the hamsters, instead of generating content, are generating revenue! They're clicking on the tip jar, causing micropayments to flow to the author (and his or her editors) so they can earn a living while informing all the other hamsters who are happily paying for all this good stuff. But what happens if the knowledge that everyone wants isn't in the reporters' heads but rather resides with the hamsters? What then? In the past there was a simple answer. No sale. The information just doesn't get there. But that answer is no longer good enough. Two cases in point. One, the prototype -- This American Life did a special called Giant Pool of Money-- which should win a Pulitzer for explaining the financial crisis of 2008 in terms anyone with a mind could understand. Everyone who heard it probably remembers exactly where they were when they did. I was walking on Marin Ave in Berkeley. It was great. Before I heard it I had no clue what the financial crisis was about. After hearing it, I got it. And everyone agrees -- we need more of this.

But, I found out last night, much to my chagrin, that it took months to produce this episode. And there's the rub, and why the people who are invested in the NY-based system are so enamored of this example, because it proves that You Need Us. Without heavily and expensively produced content, they say, you won't be informed. So I provide a counter-example. One that fits my model, which I proudly think of as being neither Silicon Valley-centered or New York-centered. I (of course) think my model is realitycentered. (Yes, I am arrogant, I cop to it.) The counter-example is this. A fantastic FreshAir episode, one hour in duration, recorded live, with almost no production, that completely explained the options for universal health care in the US just as the debate was beginning. It was timely, complete, wonderful and superinexpensive. Why? Because an individual did all the work. It was paid for by a publisher of course, and he is a professional writer, so while it was expensive, it's part of a reservoir of value that thinkers on both coasts tend to ignore, and in doing so, I think -- miss where the answer is going to come from. The question is -- how will we satisfy

the enormous thirst people have for information when the economics of information no longer support vast budgets, or vast amounts of time, to produce expensive wonderful programming like Pool of Money. The answer: From the sources. The people who know what's up. Sure, This American Life produced something sexier, with great production value, and FreshAir is a talk show. But it was still riveting. I remember where I was when I listened to it (driving from Santa Cruz between Los Gatos and Fremont). I found, last night, when explaining it, I could name each of the models the author described, and it's been six months since the program aired. It obviously made as much of an impression as Pool of Money did. So the moral of the story is that neither coast has the answer, but the answer is out there all the same. Let's not gravitate to an assumption that the cursor has moved 3000 miles to the east and bring all our sloppy thinking habits with us. We have minds, let's use them, and our minds have information, and let's distribute it, to whoever wants it, no matter where it comes from.

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Why Was the Tiger Woods One of the 'Idol' 24 Has Speech Treated Like a Been Ousted for Lying Presidential Address? by Kona Gallagher (TV Squad)

by Joel Keller (TV Squad)

Submitted at 2/19/2010 10:11:00 AM

Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:41:00 PM

If you're looking for analysis of the Great Tiger Woods Apology of 2010, you've come to the wrong place. Our friends at TMZ, PopEater, and Fanhouse will have it all broken down from a personality, gossip, and sports perspective. No, what I'm here to talk about is the TV aspect of the coverage, and all I have to say about it is... it's troubling. Why? Think about what happened this morning: all four networks interrupted their regular programming to show the speech. There was pre- and postspeech analysis from sports reporters as well as the news folks. There was a podium and a blue curtain. If you didn't know that Tiger Woods was about to speak, you might have thought that President Obama was about to step out and address the

Some of you may have noticed that there was a little bit of a change in the Top 24 during the Wednesday episode of'American Idol.' Chris Golightly, who originally auditioned in Los Angeles, made it to the Top 24, nation. Instead, we got Tiger and was shown in a group shot talking over and over about how toward the end of the episode, he's failed himself, his wife, his but when we had individual shots of the 24 semi-finalists at friends and his family. I'm not sure what made me feel the very end, he was missing. So dirtier: the fact that the networks what's the story? Turns out, made it seem like a presidential Golightly was less than honest address, or that I was actually with 'Idol' producers. watching it. Video and more After nine seasons, viewers and contestants alike have (or should after the jump. Continue reading Why Was the have) learned one thing: be Tiger Woods Speech Treated upfront with 'Idol' producers. Like a Presidential Address? Season One contestant Nikki Filed under: News, Celebrities, McKibbin was upfront about her stripper past, and was allowed to Reality-Free P e r m a l i n k | E m a i l t h i s | | stay on the show. Frenchie Davis, however, failed to Comments disclose that she posed topless on the web, and was ousted. Golightly's infraction was that he

failed to tell producers that he had a record contract. Continue reading One of the 'Idol' 24 Has Been Ousted for Lying Filed under: American Idol, Watercooler Talk, Contestants, News and Gossip Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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Simon Cowell Disses Howard Stern as 'Idol' Candidate

Big Name Stars Coming to 'In Plain Sight'

by Bob Sassone (TV Squad)

Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:01:00 AM

by Allison Waldman (TV Squad)

Last night during'Burn Notice,' there were promos for'In Plain I don't believe that Howard Sight' and it got my heart Stern has been asked to replace pumped just to hear Mary Simon Cowell when Cowell McCormack's voice again. leaves'American Idol,' nor do I Hooray, Mary's back. And so is think that Stern really wants the 'In Plain Sight,' one of the most job, even if he keeps talking improved series on cable in its about it on his SIRIUS show. "spot a star." sophomore run last season. The 'Idol' fans would hate him being Now I'll say what everyone is new season kicks off on March on it (can't imagine that 'Idol' going to say about Cowell's 31 on USA Network, and'In fans and Stern fans overlap too comments: what about Ellen and Plain Sight's' lined up some big much), and Stern's fans will hate her lack of music industry stars as guests. it too and accuse him of selling experience? It seems that Cowell The top of the list is Allison out and being lame. According to is talking about the only type of Janney. They're not saying if it's The Live Feed, Cowell doesn't person who could replace him, more than a single episode -think Stern has been asked not who could replace any of the here's hoping -- but Allison will either, but if he has, he doesn't other judges. be a playing a "newly appointed Filed under: American Idol, U.S. Marshal who clashes with think he's a good choice. Cowell says that the show needs Celebrities, Judges Permalink| Email this| | someone with music industry experience, someone who can C o m m e n t s

Fox News: Protecting Your Children from the College Menace [Speak Up College]

Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:33:00 AM

Mary." If you remember Janney and McCormack in the last couple of seasons of'The West Wing,' this should be a great reunion. Continue reading Big Name Stars Coming to 'In Plain Sight' Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Celebrities, Casting, Emmys, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

by Richard Lawson (Gawker) Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:47:32 PM

Happy Friday, here is a Dumb Thing on Fox News post. Yesterday the squawking heads were discussing how bad college is. Why is it bad? Because it makes you liberal. But it doesn't make you smarter. Some Troubling New Study was trotted out yesterday (we're late, we know) as proof of horrible h i g h e r l e a r n i n g FOX page 71

It's a dim Friday for Guitar Hero Black Sabbath DLC by JC Fletcher (Joystiq)

Before the scheduled Thursday release of three tracks from Black Sabbath's Master of Were you looking forward to R e a l i t y a l b u m , A c t i v i s i o n playing some Black Sabbath announced on its Guitar Hero songs in Guitar Hero 5 this Facebook page that the DLC weekend? Of course you were -- wouldn't make its appointed that sounds awesome. Anyway, release date, and added, "We it's not going to happen. (And, h o p e t o h a v e t h e c o n t e n t it's certainly not happening for available for download at a later you either, Band Heroes-- date, so stay tuned!" whoever you are.) We were going to say, maybe

It's a dim Friday for Guitar Hero Black Sabbath DLC originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Submitted at 2/19/2010 12:28:00 PM

the DLC was turned into steel in a great magnetic field, but, unfortunately, Iron Man isn't one of the songs in the pack.

(Although, it would appear we just said it anyway.) We're checking in with Activision to find out what happened.

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FOX continued from page 70

INDOCTRINATION. Terrible liberal indoctrination. Some Vulcan-browed guest host (Kilmeade... dead?) on Fox & Friends, a show whose mother is the former governor of Alaska, wonders if there's anything that can be done to stop this. Master educational theorist Lionel Trilling Tucker Carlson was on hand to tell you that there are certain advantages in sending your little Emile to college, but that you really need to be careful. There aren't enough conservative professors at big schools, not nearly enough!, and that is cause for concern. According to the study a lot of college graduates are also complete idiots, so thus Liberalism = Idiocy in Fox's sound deductive reasoning. Basically the message is this,

dear Fox viewers: Probably you shouldn't send your kid to college, because their young impressionable minds will be filled with horrible things like hope for the future and an active interest in genuinely fostering open-minded civic discourse (plus: beer and sometimes vagina, though not in Tucker's case), but if you do have to make them into evil, fancy, elitist collegeboys, somewhere like Liberty University is probably your best bet. Because the best education is the one in which your parents' worldview is grafted onto your own.

Are Figure Skating’s Judges Still Biased? (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)

competition, and their names are made public. But their scores are not. Tonight, judges in Vancouver That system arguably puts the will rate the worlds best male focus on the skaters, rather than figure skaters. But who will rate the judges. But it still has its the judges? critics, including Dartmouth L o n g o n e o f t h e m o s t Economics Prof. Eric Zitzewitz. controversial aspects of the He argues in a paper released last Winter Olympics, the judging in week that the reforms have been figure skating has come a long ineffective — and possibly made way since the 2002 Games, when things worse. Running through it was rocked by a scandal in scores, he found that with the which French judges conspired new anonymous system skaters to fix the outcome. In Thursdays have benefited even more from WSJ we tabulated the historical having a compatriot from their figures from the Olympics, and nation on the judging panel. showed that even beyond that Away from scrutiny, the homescandal, there were identifiable judge advantage under the new patterns in how judges from system is 20% higher than in the certain countries would rule. o l d d a y s . O f c o u r s e , t h e In 2004, the International annonymization of scores today Skating Union, or ISU, changed prevents anybody but the ISU its judging system to force f r o m t r a c k i n g s c o r e s , b u t judges to give marks on a range Zitzewitz says he still found a o f s p e c i f i c a s p e c t s o f a way to measure its impact in performance. Theres no more 6.0 aggregate. max. Ted Barton, a consultant to the But it also made the judging ISU who helped develop the new anonymous. In Vancouver, nine judging system says it has j u d g e s a r e d r a w n b e f o r e “hugely reduced the ability of Submitted at 2/18/2010 6:17:36 PM

any one individual to make a difference in a final score.” The judges are chosen randomly, and the highest and lowest of their scores are automatically dropped. After the competition, the ISU also reviews judges performance to look for any unusual patterns. If a judge is found to be in violation, he or she could lose judging privileges. That has happened, such as to one judge before the 2006 Games. The scores from the mens short program on Tuesday proved that the system is working beautifully, said Barton. The athletes have the ability to strategize,” such whether to win their points from doing a complicated jumps or from other moves. We asked former U.S. Olympian Michelle Kwan what she thought of the new judging system. She said the problem isnt in the system - it is in a few bad eggs among the judges. See a clip of that interview.

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Lysacek Keeps Quad in Holster in Gold-Medal Performance (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)

that makes sports exciting,” Park writes. “Athletes at this level live on the edge of control and chaos, It was difficult to remember and it’s the collective ‘wow’ of during his commanding moments when they butt performance on Thursday night themselves up against that line that American figure skater Evan that take our breath away and Lysacek ostensibly was an keep bringing us back to watch underdog in Vancouver. Lysacek The stricter scrutiny that the entered the night in what was system places on the execution essentially a dead heat with of elements is biasing skaters to R u s s i a n f a v o r i t e E v g e n i play it safe and skate programs Plushenko and Japanese skater that are constructed — move for Daisuke Takahashi, and ended it move, from fingertip to toe point as a gold medalist. The vaunted — with an almost passionless “quad” leap, which had been precision.” discussed as a sort of spangly, Even leaving aside the hardfrozen version of the nuclear fought figure-skating final, option, never came into play — Thursday at the Winter Olympics Plushenko landed his as the was full of surprises big and highlight of a somewhat ragged small. Australian Torah Bright program and Lysacek never claimed snowboarding gold a t t e m p t e d o n e , b u t t h e ahead of Americans Hannah A m e r i c a n ’ s m o r e p o l i s h e d Teter and Kelly Clark. Which performance wound up carrying wasn’t in itself a surprise, really the day. Getty Images Evan — Bright was expected to be a Lysacek shows off the best kind medal contender. The surprise, o f s p a r k l y f i g u r e - s k a t i n g Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reports, was accessory. for Bright herself, when she “The quad undoubtedly remains discovered that her parents had a p o w e r f u l w e a p o n , ” secretly made the 24-hour trip Newsweek’s Mark Starr writes. f r o m A u s t r a l i a ’ s S n o w y “But sometimes a quad is just a Mountains to watch her compete. quad. And all by itself, absent Evan Lysacek delivers an upset s u s t a i n e d t e c h n i q u e o r in men’s figure skating, siblings compelling artistry, it should dance the tango, and Brendan never be enough.” Shanahan previews the weekend In Time, Alice Park applauds hockey tournament in today’s the performances, but wonders if V a n c o u v e r 2 0 1 0 W i n t e r increasingly technical scoring O l y m p i c s u p d a t e . deprived the event of its wow- Despite Bright’s rep, it was factor somewhat. “One casualty somewhat jarring to see a of raising the technical precision h a l f p i p e e v e n t w i t h o u t a n of the sport is the spontaneity American winner. In Sports Submitted at 2/19/2010 8:59:45 AM

“Someday, someone is going to explain to me why it is that journalists so frequently speak about Canadians as though we are all about 2 feet tall and 7 years old,” Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick writes. “Look! Look at all those funny little Canadians Illustrated, Austin Murphy traces in their funny little hats, trying to the U.S.’s rise to dominance in be good at sports! The subtext: When Canadians care about snowboarding. A much bigger surprise came on winning just as much as the rest the ice, where a dinged-up of the world, can there be any Slovakian team pulled off an more warmth and goodness left unexpected 2-1 upset of Russia in the universe?” in hockey. At the Sporting News, In the Montreal Gazette, Cleve Craig Custance writes that Dheensaw lashes back at a sports R u s s i a ’ s l o s s a n d s o m e pundit corps that has seemingly underwhelming efforts from taken offense at Canada’s other favorites have thrown the decision to go for the gold. men’s hockey competition into Of course, the meta-kerfuffle over whether or not Canada can surprising flux. Might that open the door for a or can’t get no respect obscures medal run for the Americans? the fact that this is a generally It’s not likely, but the Journal’s good-natured nation we’re Ian Johnson points out that this talking about. And so, elsewhere year’s U.S. squad resembles in Slate, Seth Stevenson felt 1980’s “Miracle On Ice” team in o b l i g e d t o g o o f o n t h e Vancouver Games’ cheerleading certain ways. Be sure to follow all the “Get To Know Manitoba” info Olympic action here.* * * tents, before delivering an Canada is taking its role as amusing and apparently heartfelt Winter Olympics hosts seriously, appreciation of the Games.* * * Before his personal life but that doesn’t mean Canadians are taking the events themselves e x p l o d e d i n t o e v e r y o n e ’ s over lightly. Canada’s nine-figure c o n s c i o u s n e s s “Own the Podium” project Thanksgiving weekend, before stands as proof that, when it he was anointed one of the most comes to the winter games, these infamous turbo-cads of his guys aren’t playing. So why is it generation, before he somehow so difficult for the American m a n a g e d t h e s e e m i n g l y media to take the dead-serious impossible feat of making golf look seamy, Tiger Woods was Canadians seriously? known both for being one of the

best players in the history of his sport and for being one of the most relentlessly brand-managed public figures in American public life. So it’s fitting that when Woods made his first public appearance since his fall from grace on Friday morning, it was in an almost absurdly stagemanaged setting at PGA Tour headquarters. In protest of the onerous ground rules laid down by Team Tiger, the Golf Writers Association of America has decided to boycott the event. The Journal’s Darren Everson and Suzanne Vranica reported from the press conference in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., where Woods spoke for 13 and a half minutes and took no questions. “I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior,” Woods said, adding, “I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did was not acceptable.” Before the press conference, several writers criticized the proceedings. At Golf.com, Michael Bamberger derided the press conference as both highhanded and tone-deaf. “He’s getting off on the weakest of notes, with this non-press conference in a ridiculous palace that pays homage to all the excessiveness Tiger’s gaudy Phase I brought,” Bamberger wrote. “On his first step back, he’s showing that he has all the LYSACEK page 77

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Evan Lysacek upsets Evgeni Plushenko to capture figure skating gold medal by Associated Press (ESPN.com)

led Evan Lysacek to a gold medal. But the win didn't settle any debates with Evgeni Submitted at 2/19/2010 5:05:31 AM Plushenko, Message from fivefilters.org: If Jim Caple writes. Story you can, please donate to the full Coach Frank Carroll finally -text RSS service so we can earned his elusive gold medal, continue developing it. NyQuil and most everyone in figure Winter Games Recap: Day 7 skating couldn't help but be NyQuil Winter Games Recap: happy for the debonair 71-yearDay 7 old, Bonnie Ford writes. Story V A N C O U V E R , B r i t i s h The last to skate, Plushenko Columbia -- Evan Lysacek stood held up both index fingers when atop the podium, looking dazed he finished, as if to say, "Was as the first notes of the "The Star there ever any question?" As it -Spangled Banner" floated turned out, yes. through the arena. And it wasn't really that close. No wonder. When Plushenko's scores were When the guy standing next to posted, someone in the arena him is skating, the medals screamed, "Evan Lysacek has ceremony usually has a different won the gold!" Backstage, soundtrack. surrounded by longtime coach Lysacek became the first U.S. Frank Carroll and pairs gold man to win the Olympic gold medalists Shen Xue and Zhao medal since Brian Boitano in Hongbo, Lysacek threw back his 1988, shocking everyone -- head in disbelief and utter including himself -- by upsetting elation. defending champion Evgeni "I said to him, 'My compliments, Plushenko on Thursday night. you are the Olympic champion,' Plushenko, retired the past three " Carroll said. years, returned with the sole An American man hadn't won a purpose of making a little history gold since the last time the of his own with a second straight games were in Canada -- the epic gold medal. "Battle of the Brians." There was "I saw that American flag go no catchy title this time, but the up," Lysacek said, "and I contest was no less riveting. couldn't believe it was for me." Lysacek, the reigning world Someone else was thinking the champion, finished with a careersame thing. best 257.67, 1.31 ahead of the More from ESPN.com Russian. Daisuke Takahashi won It was style and substance that the bronze, the first Japanese

connecting the elements, as well as his other component scores -think of the old artistic marks. But those didn't cost him the gold. American Lineage Evan Lysacek became the first man to win a figure skating U.S. man to win the Olympic medal at the Olympic Games. gold medal in figure skating Johnny Weir was sixth and U.S. since 1988. The others: champ Jeremy Abbott rallied to • Brian Boitano, Calgary, 1988 finish ninth. • Scott Hamilton, Sarajevo, 1984 "I could have stood up there for • David Jenkins, Squaw Valley, hours and thought about every 1960 moment of training that I was • Hayes Jenkins, Cortina, 1956 thinking, 'God, what if one day?" • Dick Button, Oslo, 1952 Lysacek said. "And it kept me • Dick Button, St. Moritz, 1948 going and it pushed me." Lysacek edged Plushenko on the Someone handed Lysacek a mark for their technical elements U.S. flag to take on his victory -- jumps, spins and footwork. lap as he left the medals podium, That's the score where the threeand he waved it a few times time Olympic medalist and three before twirling it above his head -time world champion has pretty like a lasso. As he skated around much made his trademark. the arena, he held a bouquet aloft "Plushenko was brilliant in the in his right hand and clutched his jumping. He did some brilliant, gold medal in the left. No way very difficult things," Carroll anyone was going to take this said. "But if you think of his away from him. skating, he was very brilliant, Especially not Plushenko. then down. And very brilliant, "I was positive that I won. But I then down. It was going in suppose Evan needs a medal waves. Evan just sort of stayed more than I do," Plushenko said in a straight line and kept going through a translator. "Maybe it's at a certain level from the start to because I already have one. But I the finish." have to share with you, two Even more surprising? Lysacek silver and one Olympic gold won without doing that so-called medal is not too bad." all-important quadruple jump. M u c h h a d b e e n m a d e o f "If the Olympic champion Plushenko's transition scores, the doesn't know how to jump a m a r k g i v e n f o r t h e s t e p s quad, I don't know," Plushenko

said. "Now it's not men's figure skating, now it's dancing." But Lysacek makes no apologies for what he does -- and doesn't -do. He's done the quad before, but it puts a lot of stress on the left foot that he broke last year. He originally planned to do the quad here, but after feeling pain in the foot again after last month's U.S. championships, he decided it wasn't worth the risk of getting hurt and having to miss the games. "If it was a jumping competition, they'd give you 10 seconds to go do your best jump. But it's about 4 minutes and 40 seconds of skating and performing from start to finish," Lysacek said. "That was my challenge tonight, and I feel like I did quite well." The first of the big guns to skate in the last group, Lysacek seemed more workmanlike than usual for the first three minutes of the program. Everything he did was technically perfect. His jumps had the control and dependability of a fine Swiss timepiece, and his spins were so well-centered you could see the tight little circle of his tracings clear across the ice. He didn't have all his usual flair and charisma, looking more focused on the tasks at hand. But when he landed his last jump, a EVAN page 76

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Tiger Woods apologizes for 'selfish' behavior by ESPN.com news services (ESPN.com) Submitted at 2/19/2010 9:31:13 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Tiger Woods Full Statement Tiger Woods Full Statement VIDEO PLAYLIST • Tiger Woods Full Statement Tiger Woods Full Statement • Tirico, Rinaldi: Tiger Apologizes Tirico, Rinaldi: Tiger Apologizes • Andy North, Rick Reilly Discuss Tiger Andy North, Rick Reilly Discuss Tiger PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- A watery-eyed and contrite Tiger Woods apologized Friday for cheating on his wife and says he is unsure when he will return to competitive golf. The Herd with Colin Cowherd Scott Van Pelt joins Colin Cowherd to react to Tiger Woods' statement. They examine this year's PGA schedule and wonder when Tiger will return to golf. How will fans react to him? More Podcasts » "Many of you in this room are my friends. Many of you in this room know me. Many of you have cheered for me or you've worked with me or you've supported me," Woods said, speaking in front of his mother, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, friends and selected media from the TPC Sawgrass,

home of the PGA Tour. "Now every one of you has good reason to be critical of me. I want to say to each of you, simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in," he said. "I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did was unacceptable and I am the only person to blame." His wife, Elin, was not with him. There were about 40 people in the room. As for coming back to the PGA Tour, the world's No. 1 player said "I do plan to return to golf one day. I just don't know when that day will be. I don't rule out it will be this year. Woods talks "I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior." "[My wife] Elin and I have started the process of discussing the damage done by my behavior. My real apology will not come in words. It will come in my behavior over time." "I have made you question who I am. ... I am embarrassed that I have put you in this position. ... For all that I have done, I am so sorry." "I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did was unacceptable and I am the only person to blame." "I thought I could get away with anything I wanted to. ... I thought I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far

to find it." "Elin never hit me that night or any other night ... Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout this ordeal. Elin deserves praise not blame." "Some people have made up things that have never happened. They said I used performanceenhancing drugs. This is completely false..." "I do plan to return to golf someday. I just don't know when that will be. I don't rule out that it will be this year. When I do return, I need to make my behavior more respectful of the game." "Today, I want to ask for your help. I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again." • Full transcript of statement "When I do return, I need to make my behavior more respectful of the game." Woods had not talked in public since his traffic accident Nov. 27 outside his Florida home triggered shocking revelations about Woods' serial infidelity. Friday's event was tightly controlled. ESPN and dozens of broadcast networks, cable news outlets and online streams carried his prepared statement live, allowing a global audience to see Woods speak. Only a few journalists were allowed to report from the room. Woods, wearing a blue blazer and button-down shirt, spoke for 13 minutes. He hugged his mother when he finished

speaking, and she whispered in his ear. "I said, 'I'm so proud of you. Never think you stand alone. Mom will always be there for you and I love you,' " Kultida Woods said. Tiger Woods said he was in therapy for a 45-day period from mid-December until early February "to receive guidance for the issues I am facing." Woods said he will continue treatment "starting tomorrow" to resolve his personal problems. "I have a long way to go," he said. Woods also addressed two matters in particular that clearly have angered him. On the night of Nov. 27 when he crashed his SUV outside his home, Woods said he and his wife did not fight prior to the accident, that she did not try to hurt him when she smashed one of the vehicle's windows with a golf club, and that there have been no instances of domestic violence at any point in their relationship. "Elin never hit me that night or any other night," he said. "There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage, ever. Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout this ordeal. Elin deserves praise, not blame." Woods also said speculation that he has used performanceenhancing substances in the past "is completely and utterly false." As he continues to confront his

personal problems, Woods said he's reminded himself of the positive impact Buddhism had on him at a young age. "People probably don't realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years," he said. "Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously I lost track of what I was taught." The timing of Woods' statement paralleled the current WGCAccenture Match Play Championship taking place in Arizona. Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, said earlier that there was no intention to upstage Accenture's sponsorship of the event, according to Golfweek. An Accenture spokesman confirmed to ESPN.com that Steinberg gave the company a heads-up. Two-time major champion Ernie Els, though, called the timing of Woods' statement "selfish." After a six-year sponsorship contract with Woods, Accenture became the first company to cut ties with him in December. Other sponsors, such as Nike and Gatorade, have remained loyal to him. At about the time of Woods' car accident, a National Enquirer TIGER page 75

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Swiss Just Miss Miracle on ‘Eis’ (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)

Federation, Rene Fasel, recalled that in decades past, ordinary Submitted at 2/18/2010 8:40:11 PM Canadian clubs would pummel Canada survived a potentially Swiss national teams. “It took devastating scare Thursday decades, but we drew par with night, defeating a tough and the Canadians,” he said, referring feisty Swiss team to set up a to the 2006 victory. “But I’m not must-win clash with the U.S. on predicting the same result.” S u n d a y . G e t t y I m a g e s That it almost happened again Goalkeeper Martin Brodeur of was largely due to Hiller, who Canada makes a save. along with captain Mark Streit, a T h a t t h e h i g h l y f a v o r e d power-play specialist with the Canadians needed a shootout to New York Islanders, is one of win can be attributed to many only two National Hockey f a c t o r s — t h e S w i s s p l a y League players on the Swiss regularly as a team while the team. Like Streit, Hiller came to Canadians are a collection of all- the NHL relatively late, at age stars thrown together and only 25, but has won a starting job just now figuring each other out. with Anaheim, causing them to Also, it reflects a truism in trade their star goaltender. hockey that almost any team can For long stretches, it seemed be beaten once by a hot goalie — that the game was being played and Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller between Hiller and Canada’s was white-hot. But mostly, it goal scoring whiz, Dany Heatley. showed how the Swiss ice Never mind that Canada is hockey program has gradually loaded with stars; Heatley was developed into at least the mid fast and dangerous and the two ranks of world hockey. fought a dazzling game of “It’s pretty impressive,” said chances and saves. Heatley Canadian goalie Martin Brodeur, swooped in time and again, who lost to Switzerland once sometimes bulling through the before, at the 2006 Olympics. smaller Swiss defense, but Hiller “We saw them in ‘06 but this is a was there, perfectly positioned, better team. They are fast and to make the save. disciplined.” Heatley figured in both of At a press conference Thursday Canada’s goals, scoring once and afternoon, the Swiss head of the assisting on a marker by his I n t e r n a t i o n a l I c e H o c k e y teammate on the San Jose

once before in the first round of shooters but missed. Coach Mike Babcock said he decided Crosby, the top Canadian in NHL shootouts, deserved another chance. As Hiller went down, Crosby drilled a hard wrist shot above Hiller’s shoulder. When Sharks, Patrick Marleau. But Brodeur easily snagged Swiss afterwards, he seemed to sit forward Marin Pluss’s harmless shot, the game was over. back. That was bad news for Canada, According to International Ice which was only up by two Hockey Federation rules, that halfway through he game. Their gave the Swiss one point–losers own goalie, Brodeur, was sharp in regulation get zero points but but unlucky. The first Swiss goal in overtime or a shootout they by Ivo Ruthemann, handcuffed get one point. Canada, however, Brodeur and pinged in off the far got only two of a possible three post. The second goal, credited points in the victory giving it to Patrick von Gunten, was a five after an opening victory centering pass that went in off Tuesday over Norway. The young but rugged U.S. team has Marleau’s skate. That brought the game to won both its games, also against sudden-death overtime. With the Norway and Switzerland, giving Canadian fans screaming and it six points. ringing cowbells, the heavily The point advantage, however, favored squad seemed to play won’t matter too much Sunday. most of the extra five minutes in An overtime or shootout win by the Swiss end, but Hiller was up Canada would also be enough to give Canada a bye. Although that to the task. The shootout, however, exposed would leave Canada and the U.S. Hiller’s one weakness: going tied in points, the first tie breaker down early. He and Brodeur is who won the head-to-head turned aside the first set of three competition, which would then shooters, setting up a sudden- go to Canada. death round. Canada’s biggest star, Sidney Crosby, had shot

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story alleged he had been seeing a New York nightclub hostess. Following the crash, a stream of women came forward to claim they had romantic relationships with him. One woman provided Us Weekly magazine with a voice mail she said Woods left her three days before the crash, asking her to take his number off her phone. Woods first admitted to infidelity in a statement on his Web site in mid-December and has been on an indefinite break from golf ever since. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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Woods’s Upcoming Statement Gives Opportunity to Reassess Him (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix) Submitted at 2/18/2010 4:31:54 PM

Tiger Woods’s announcement that he will make a statement Friday gives us, his formerly loyal subjects, a two-day pause to ponder where we stand on him. Mr. Woods, through his people, has not hinted what he will say, but whatever it is, will no doubt ring the bell for another long, feverish bout of speculation, hyper-analysis and finger-pointing. Reuters Tiger Woods, shown in a tournament last August, will break his public silence Friday. What do we want from Mr. Woods? More than anything, most of us would like some honesty and candor, preferably face-to-face with a proxy or proxies of the general public. Mr. Woods has every right to reveal as much or as little about his private life as he chooses, but we want to see him answer questions, respond to follow-ups, talk to us as a human being. We want to get a reading on the man. That is, apparently, not what

we’ll be seeing Friday. According to his people (the same bunch he employed before news of his philandering and other deceptions broke exactly 12 weeks ago), Mr. Woods will read a statement apologizing for past actions and commenting on his future plans. This will occur in front of a small group of friends and colleagues and, at last count, six hand-selected members of the golf media. The reporters, effectively, will be issued muzzles at the door. No questions will be allowed. Those conditions do not portend well. Neither does the Friday timing of the announcement. Unless necessary for some soonto-be-revealed reason, the timing is offensively distracting from the ongoing World Golf Championships match-play event near Tucson, sponsored by Mr. Woods’s former corporate sponsor, Accenture. Nothing about the setup for Friday suggests that Mr. Woods is crafting his emergence from hiding with much care for the nuances of public opinion.

challenge the king as legitimate competition to establish dominance. We took the time to think more about Ernie Els’s return to form, and to expend our imagination on what might actually be possible should David Duval continue playing But maybe we will be surprised. well. Even the long undervalued As for the content of Mr. LPGA Tour seemed ripe to Woods’s statement on Friday, attract more attention, with its most of the guessing involves charismatic new commissioner, some kind of ongoing effort to Michael Whan, and Michelle salvage his marriage to wife Elin Wie finally living up to her and an imminent return to golf. potential. Neither of these scenarios is Yet should Tiger return to golf guaranteed, but I was surprised in the next few weeks or months, by how unexcited I feel by the and contend as he inevitably should in the Masters, the U.S. prospect of the latter. The fact is, golf has been kind Open at Pebble Beach and the of nice so far this year without British Open at St. Andrews, Tiger hogging so much of the we’ll be stuck in the same-old, oxygen. The professional game same-old story lines. s e e m e d t o h a v e f o u n d a n But once again, maybe not. ecological balance. Absent the Maybe others will experience a towering sequoia, there was similar gut reaction to mine, more nourishment for other when Tiger returns. Maybe, no storylines to prosper. With Tiger matter how well Mr. Woods out of mind, the superb play of performs on the course, the young stars like Dustin Johnson magic won’t return. and Ryo Ishikawa didn’t seem so much like hopeless efforts to

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double axel, Lysacek let loose. His face was so expressive that budding actors should have taken note, and he fixed the judges with a majestic glare during his circular steps. By the time he finished his final spin, fans were roaring their approval. “ I knew I would accept any outcome. After this defeat, I'm not going to put my hands down and stop.”-- Evgeni Plushenko The last note of his music was still fading when Lysacek pumped his fists and screamed, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" He clapped his hands and skated to center ice, throwing his arms out wide to the crowd and blowing kisses. As he waited for his marks, he put an arm around Carroll, who had yet to coach a gold medalist despite a list of past and present skaters that reads like a Who's Who on Ice. "This is just frosting on the cake for me," said Carroll, who coached Linda Fratianne and Michelle Kwan to silver medals and Timothy Goebel to a bronze. "It's not something I coveted after a while. It was something I thought maybe would never happen." It might not have, had Plushenko been a little better. He skated with his usual flair and dramatics, drawing laughs from the crowd with his saucy, seductive tango. No one loves the limelight quite like the EVAN page 77

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cards, and you and I and all the people who like golf and are fascinated by what he’s done in the game, well, we have none. Don’t blame [Agent Mark] Steinberg for this move and don’t blame the high-priced polo shirts at the PGA Tour. This move has Tiger Woods written all over it.” At BusinessWeek, John Helyar and Burt Helm argued that Woods’s meticulously managed event will further damage both his credibility and his tarnished brand. In the Journal, John Paul Newport disdained the choreography, and didn’t come off terribly eager for Tiger’s return. “The fact is, golf has been kind of nice so far this year without Tiger hogging so much of the oxygen,” Newport wrote. “Maybe, no matter how well Mr. Woods performs on the course, the magic wont return.”* * * It takes some guts to make player predictions for the Major League Baseball season during the dark, snowy days of February. But it really takes guts to make predictions for each team in each division based on those predictions in February. So at the very least, Daily Fix

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favorite Joe Posnanski deserves credit for his good-humored midFebruary prognostications at Sports Illustrated. He also deserves credit for a nice riff on the lyrics of “Meet The Mets.”* ** Given George Foreman’s extraordinary heavyweight career — and equally impressive career as a home-grill pitchman — it’s unlikely that Yuri Foreman will be remembered as the greatest boxer with that particular surname. But it’s a testament to Yuri Foreman’s life story that he may be the most interesting fighter named Foreman. “It’s a story that includes an Israeli national title won while training in an Arab gym, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a death threat from a masked gunman, and a marriage to a Hungarian model,” Kevin Baxter writes in the Los Angeles Times. “Those are just the highlights.” Thos highlights also make it that much more ironic that Foreman’s next fight — a June 5 bout at Yankee Stadium against Miguel Cotto — is running into a scheduling conflict with a bar mitzvah scheduled for the stadium on the same night. Yes,

you read that right. Ken Belson has the story in the New York Times.* * * Shaquille O’Neal is proud of inventing his own nicknames, but “The Big Curator” was probably not high on his list before he was approached by New York’s Flag Art Foundation about curating an art show at the foundation’s gallery in Chelsea. The show, entitled “Size DOES Matter,” opens on Friday, and features work from such big (sorry) art names as Ron Mueck and Andreas Gursky. In New York Magazine, Linda Yablonsky talks art and curation with the artist formerly known as Shaq-Fu. — Tip of the Fix cap to reader Fred Sternburg and fellow Fixer Garey Ris. Found a good column from the world of sports? Don’t keep it to yourself — write to us at dailyfix@wsj.com and we’ll consider your find for inclusion in the Daily Fix. You can email David at droth11@gmail.com.

Russian, and he was in his element. He preened, posed and skated as if certain another gold medal was his. But Plushenko, who can do jumps in his sleep, was noticeably off. He was crooked in the air on many of his jumps, and had to be part cat to manage to come down on one foot and hold it long enough for it to count. But the funky finishes cost him the bonus points that are the difference between silver and gold. His spins weren't quite as good as Lysacek's, either, and he got fewer points for one of his footwork sections. "I am happy with my performance today," said Plushenko, who took off his silver medal as soon as he left the ice. "After 3½ years [off] you can win the silver, it's not bad." We likely haven't seen the last of him, either. "I knew I would accept any outcome," he said through a translator. "After this defeat, I'm not going to put my hands down and stop." For Takahashi, third was as good as first or second.

"To be the first Japanese man to win an Olympic medal, I am really proud," he said. Takahashi is wonderfully expressive, from the bottom of his blades to the tips of his spiky, mop-topped hair. His edge quality is as fine as a master carver's and his blades are like little lightning strikes, allowing him to change directions and turn without losing a millisecond of speed. It makes for a fast, energetic and very entertaining program, and he infused it with a healthy dose of sass. He played to the judges and the crowd, taking them along for the ride. His only flaw was a fall on his opening quadruple toe loop -- a jump he hadn't landed all week. Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Sports/

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An Unscientific Look at the Quad (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)

Nobunari Oda, Stephane Lambiel and Johnny Weir, only Lysacek plans to compete Figure-skating blog readers, quadless. we’ve been talking a lot about Update: For those still awake the quad recently: Is it worth it or and keeping score at home, not? Associated Press Jeremy here’s the toll the quad took on Abbott performs his free Jeremy Abbott, Brian Jourbert program. and Javier Fernandez — the The quadruple toe loop, to give three skaters mentioned above the move its proper name, is who tried and failed to execute considered the toughest jump in the move. men’s figures skating. Skaters All three were docked 4.8 points leap and spin four times in the out of a base 9.8 points for their air. The risk of falling — and falls, leaving them with a score losing points - -is high. The of 5 points for the quad. In reward for success can be even contrast, Samuel Contesti, the higher. fourth skater mentioned, who So here, at half-time, are d i s c o u r a g i n g . A b b o t t didn’t attempt a quad, started his unscientific, inexpert results for downgraded the planned triple program with an (admittedly the latest group of four to skate, flip right after his flubbed quad shaky) triple axel. That still a group that included skating to a double, which also hit his netted him 5.4 points — more powerhouses Jeremy Abbott of score. than his bolder rivals got for the U.S. and Brian Joubert of Just how much did these four their jumps. France. suffer? We’ll update later, when Of the skaters in the top-ranked Of those four, three tried the the judges scores come out. group, Nobunari Oda and Johnny quad. All of them fell. So much But one more factoid to ponder: Weir ended up not doing the for risk versus reward. Of the six top contenders tonight quad in competition after all. What’s more, a fall early on, — Evgeni Plushenko, Evan which is where the difficult jump Lysacek, Daisuke Takahashi, is invariably placed, can be Submitted at 2/18/2010 8:01:01 PM

Playing It Safe for Olympic Gold by Kevin Blackistone (FanHouse Main) Submitted at 2/18/2010 7:51:00 PM

Filed under: Figure Skating VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Shortly after Evan Lysacek regaled the media about how he'd just upset Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko on Thursday night to win the men's free skate, Plushenko sauntered into the bowels of the Pacific Coliseum and all but denounced his American vanquisher as an unworthy Olympic champion. "We need to change the scoring system," Plushenko snorted, "if the Olympic champion can't jump [a] quad." A quad is launching oneself off the ice and spinning four times before landing, and not falling

while doing so. That is a 1,440degree spin. Plushenko, who was attempting to be the first man to win consecutive Olympic figure skating gold medals in 60 years, did it and lost. Lysacek didn't attempt one and won. The people who know and follow the convoluted sport of figure skating explained afterward that Plushenko wound up with silver and Lysacek with gold because Plushenko did most of his jumps - quads or not - in the first half of his routine and Lysacek did the bulk of his in the second half of his performance. For a long time, figure skaters were rewarded more for jumps they pulled off early rather than late. The script was flipped coming into Vancouver.

Sports/ Game/

E-reader News Edition

Tiger Woods: 'I Am Deeply Sorry' by Michael David Smith (FanHouse Main) Submitted at 2/19/2010 3:15:00 AM

Filed under: PGA In his longawaited first public statement since a car accident led to revelations of his infidelities, Tiger Woods offered a series of apologies to his friends and family, while defending his wife, Elin, against accusations that she caused the accident by attacking him. But Woods did not say when he will play golf again, other than to mention at the end of the statement that it could be this year. "Every one of you has good reason to be critical of me," Woods said to the gathering of his personal friends -- but few reporters -- in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. "I want to say to each of you, simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in. I know

people want to find out how I could be so selfish and so foolish. People want to know how I could have done these things to my wife, Elin, and to my children. And while I have always tried to be a private person, there are some things I want to say. "Elin and I have started the process of discussing the damage caused by my behavior. As Elin

pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words. It will come from my behavior over time. We have a lot to discuss. However, what we say to each other will remain between the two of us." Woods mentioned his educational foundation and suggested that it is his highest priority other than his family, although he may have come across as too corporate when he directed part of his apology to the "staff, board of directors and sponsors." Woods gave few details about the Thanksgiving weekend car crash on his property, but he did insist that it was not caused by by Griffin McElroy (Joystiq) his wife abusing him. "Elin never hit me that night or Submitted at 2/19/2010 10:26:00 AM any night," Woods said. "There has never been an incident of Though we're pretty eager to d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e i n o u r explore the back stories of Heavy Rain's quartet of protagonists and marriage. Ever." even take control of the nimble fingers of the Origami Killer, it seems those of us in North America will have to wait an extra week to get started on the prologuing. GameStop, which, among other retailers, is offering a code for the first Heavy Rain Chronicles DLC episode as a pre -order bonus with the game, recently updated the title's listing on its site, stating, "due to a delay by the publisher, this content will not be available for

GameStop says Heavy Rain pre-order DLC delayed download until Thursday, March 4, 2010." SCEE confirmed to VG247 that the delay wouldn't affect the DLC's European availability on " day one," so it would appear that the delay is particular to North America. We've contacted Sony America to find out what we can about it -- we just can't wait to find out why Madison is such an exhibitionist. GameStop says Heavy Rain preorder DLC delayed originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Ubisoft explains Assassin's Creed 2 PC DRM restrictions by Ben Gilbert (Joystiq) Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:03:00 AM

Earlier this week, PC Gamer got its hands on a retail copy of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed 2 for PC, only to discover that its digital rights management was a bit ... shall we say, " restrictive?" Aside from the initial online registration procedure, the game allegedly requires a persistent connection to the online game server in order to continue stabbing fools. In practice, this means if you were to lose the connection during play, you'd lose your progress and, if and

when the connection was reestablished, you'd be kicked backed to the last checkpoint -not exactly diggable management, right? Ars Technica followed up with Ubisoft on the DRM issue (that also affects The Settlers 7), which said, "As long as you do not quit the game, the game will continue to try to reconnect for an unlimited time ... once the game is able to reconnect, you will immediately be returned to your game ... AC2 reconnects you at the last checkpoint ... There are many checkpoints so you're back to the point where

you got time." Ubisoft required speed is

affected," an Ubisoft representative told Ars. That said, it seems that gamers lacking an online connection (or, say, those on a plane or in the armed forces, as Ars points out) may be out of luck if they're hoping to play Assassin's Creed 2 on PC. Ubisoft explains Assassin's Creed 2 PC DRM restrictions originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:03:00 EST. disconnected in no "Our online services platform Please see our terms for use of will require a maximum of feeds. also assured that the 50kbps of available bandwidth, Read| Permalink| Email this| internet connection s o e v e n w i t h t h e s l o w e s t Comments supposedly minimal. connection, gameplay won't be

Dragon Age Awakening videos: meet Sigrun, ogle B-roll by Christopher Grant (Joystiq) Submitted at 2/19/2010 11:58:00 AM

By way of G4 and IGN comes this handful of Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening videos, found after the break. In the first, meet dwarven legionnaire Sigrun, tasked with returning to the old fortress of Kal'hirol. There's talking Darkspawn, those

merry band of adventurers known as the "Legion of the Dead," and even a cameo from our old friend Oghren. The additional two videos are simply B-roll, but that means gameplay footage. You'll get a look at some of the new characters in action and even some vistas of the new environments. We get it, it's not

much, but you've got less than a month until this old-school expansion pack (remember

those?) slays its way to retailers. Continue reading Dragon Age Awakening videos: meet Sigrun,

ogle B-roll Dragon Age Awakening videos: meet Sigrun, ogle B-roll originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Fall 2010 Model Hot Seat: Lisanne de Jong by ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 2/18/2010 3:19:31 PM

Spotted at: Oscar de la Renta Birthplace: Holland Age: 19 Average Amount of Sleep per Night:“I actually get a pretty good amount of sleep. I think maybe six or seven hours a night—it’s not that bad. I don’t need much sleep.” Fresh-Faced Secret:“Every night before I go to sleep, I just make sure to get all my makeup off. I use Bioderma Créaline—a lot of makeup artists use it because it’s water-based. I have dry skin, so I need a gentle makeup remover. I also use a cream moisturizer by Dior.”

Hairstyle off the Runway:“I don’t really do anything. I shower in the morning, and that’s how my hair looks for the rest of the day. I just let it airdry. A lot of times, I don’t even brush it!” Hair Saver:“I don’t really use any one particular brand of shampoo or conditioner, but right now I’m using Garnier Fructis products.” Post-Fashion-Week Plans:“I’m going to go home to Holland and just relax and do nothing.” —Emily Hebert, ELLE.com Associate Beauty Editor Follow ELLE on Twitter Become our Facebook fan

Brooklyn Decker on Marchesa’s Works of Art, Minimalism, and Wedding Gowns by ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 2/18/2010 7:45:05 PM

Sports illustrated cover girl Brooklyn Decker arrived in New York on Wednesday to catch the tail end of fashion week. Her first stop was the Marchesa presentation yesterday evening, and her next and last destination will be the Calvin Klein party tonight. “I know, opposite ends of the spectrum", she admitted. “At Marchesa, each look is an ethereal piece of art, and I just love Francisco’s minimalism at Calvin Klein.” As the topic of conversation switched from favorite fall 2010 Marchesa dresses to wedding gowns, Decker revealed that she gave Vera Wang “free rein to make what she thought I’d look best in” for her wedding to Andy

Roddick, adding, “you don’t argue with Vera.” —Violet Moon Gayn or Click here for our complete fall 2010 Fashion Week coverage Follow ELLE on Twitter. Become our Facebook fan!

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Angela Merkel, would not—or could not—endorse anything more than a political declaration that the euro zone is throwing its weight behind Greece. This offer of “solidarity” was made in exchange for Greek pledges to cut its budget deficit by 4% a year, until 2012, by enforcing harsher austerity measures than expected. Officials briefed on the leaders’ talks said that Mrs Merkel talked of constitutional hurdles that made it hard for Germany to offer Greece bilateral aid. She also expressed scepticism about Mr Papandreou’s deficitreduction plans and led calls for Greece to submit to unprecedented monthly monitoring of its public finances by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund. There was a strong whiff of politics in the air. German voters THIS page 82

This week's top stories [19 February 2010] (The Economist: News analysis) Submitted at 2/19/2010 6:07:33 AM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. EU summit on Greece Vague European promises of “solidarity” with Greece may not be enough

Feb 11th 2010 | BRUSSELS | From The Economist online “PRETTY catastrophic”. That was the verdict of a depressedlooking diplomat, at the end of a Brussels summit on Thursday February 11th that saw European Union leaders issue a ringing, but alarmingly vague, pledge of “determined and co-ordinated action” to preserve the euro zone from the risk of a Greek

sovereign default. The vagueness of the bail-out promise was no mystery. After years of footing the bills for successive Euro-crises, Germany is in a truculent mood. Of the 16 countries that share the single currency, most came to Brussels ready to spell out, in some detail, how they might come to the aid of Greece, without breaching “no bail-out” rules that prevent the

EU from assuming the debts of countries in the euro zone. Leaders had originally been summoned to Brussels for an “informal” summit about ways to make Europe more dynamic. But they knew the markets would react badly if they met without offering a strong signal of support for Greece, in the eye of a storm since the incoming government of George

Papandreou admitted that the country’s budget deficit had been massively understated, and in fact is nearly 13% of GDP. There had been talk of bilateral loans from rich countries, accelerated payments of EU structural funds or special loans guaranteed by the EU. But the German chancellor, THIS page 81

Economy/

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Tackling the US deficit: A modest proposal (The Economist: News analysis)

Clinton, Erskine Bowles. The rest of the panel will include four more appointees from Mr Obama Submitted at 2/18/2010 10:42:13 PM (one must be a non-Democrat), Message from fivefilters.org: If a n d t h r e e e a c h f o r t h e you can, please donate to the full Republican and Democratic -text RSS service so we can leaders of both the House and the continue developing it. Senate. It can thus have no more Tackling the US deficit A than ten Democrats, and has to presidential commission may approve its recommendations by provide a start on cutting 14 votes, making bipartisanship America's deficit, but not much a must. It is scheduled to report more by December 1st this year, Feb 19th 2010 | NEW YORK shortly after the mid-term AND WASHINGTON, DC | congressional elections. From The Economist online The best reason for optimism for AMERICA is spending beyond the panel is that its remit is rather its means, both parties and the modest: to bring the budget president (not to mention pundits deficit to balance (excluding and protesters) have recognised. interest payments) by 2015. This But cutting budgets is tough sounds like a long way to go, politics, which is why special with the deficit projected to commissions are at times called reach 10.6% of GDP this year. in to make recommendations But the president’s current away from the legislative hurly- budget already envisions deficits burly. On Thursday Feburary falling to 3.9% of GDP by 2015, 18th Barack Obama announced though they will subsequently that he was forming such as s t a r t t o r i s e a g a i n . T h e commission, by executive order, commission could probably do to seek ways to tackle the deficit. its work without touching any Will it work? big entitlement programmes, The commission will be co- such as Social Security or chaired by a long-time former Medicare. For the longer term, R e p u b l i c a n s e n a t o r , A l a n the commission must only offer Simpson, and a Democratic “meaningful improvement”. former chief of staff to Bill Yet there are reasons to be more

pessimistic. The commission will merely offer advice. An earlier effort to create a panel that could make recommendations which Congress would be forced to vote on (without amendment) failed in the Senate in January. Only 53 of 100 senators voted in favour, not enough to clear a 60vote procedural threshold. Many Democrats (fearing entitlement cuts), and most Republicans (who would not countenance any tax increases), voted against. None of these political forces has changed with the creation of Mr Obama’s panel. Many think it is intended to recommend America’s first federal valueadded tax. Some supply-side Republicans such as Grover Norquist, of Americans for Tax Reform, as well as Stephen Moore, of the Wall Street Journal, are already calling it the “VAT commission”, and are demonising not Mr Bowles but the Republican, Mr Simpson, whom they say is no tax-cutter (and thus, by their definition, no real conservative). But some other conservatives, more deficit -hawkish and less tax-focused, see a VAT as one of the less unpalatable of a menu of bad options. This group includes

Greg Mankiw, a former top economic adviser to George Bush. Mr Obama, for his part, promised in 2008 not to raise taxes on the middle class; a VAT would impose taxes on everybody. But in announcing his commission, Mr Obama said that “everything is on the table”. A final saving grace of the deficit commission might be that 12 of its members must be sitting members of Congress, in tune with political realities. If they do manage to make recommendations, this will represent more real bipartisanship than has been on offer lately. But this does not change the fact that they will make recommendations that may not ever be voted on—and if they are, may be amended to death first. Americans (not just “tea partiers”) are learning to fear deficits, but most still seem to hate tax rises and spending cuts even more. Readers' comments The Economist welcomes your views. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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have been paying more than their fair share for European construction for years. Germany’s big fear when it abandoned the deutschmark, just over a decade ago, was that it would end up rescuing more profligate countries in the euro zone. Now those fears are coming true. Politicians from Mrs Merkel’s junior coalition partner, the probusiness Free Democratic Party (FDP), have expressed scepticism that what Greece needs is more money from the EU, after wasting billions from Brussels on a bloated public sector, corruption and uncompetitive enterprises. Speaking in parliament in Berlin on the summit eve, Frank Schaeffler, a deputy FDP finance spokesman, said an alcoholic is not helped “by being given another bottle of schnapps.” Yet money will almost certainly be found for Greece, if it is needed. German and French banks hold tens of billions of euros in Greek debt, and a default could spread contagion among other vulnerable economies in the euro zone, including much larger countries such as Spain. For the moment, EU leaders appear to be gambling that a political statement of support will be enough to make markets back off. In a joint press conference with THIS page 83

E-reader News/

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Mrs Merkel, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy. said euro-zone countries were offering “solidarity” in exchange for Greek promises of “rigour and transparency”. This would give Greece’s promises vital “credibility”, he said. Challenged on the lack of detail in the summit declaration, Mr Sarkozy said “speculators should understand” that Europe had agreed a strategy for defending the euro zone, and “we will come up with tactics as needed.” That swipe at speculators probably offers a hint about the political tactics that Mrs Merkel and other leaders may employ to sell any Greek bail-out to voters. Already, politicians including José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish prime minister, have portrayed market pressure on their countries as part of a broader plot by murky market forces that want to destroy the euro and fight off tougher

financial regulation within the EU. Expect to hear more about European political solidarity versus the speculators. Sceptical commentators in places such as America and Britain have long underestimated the political will within the euro zone to defend the single currency, which was always as much a political as an economic project. Both Mr Sarkozy and Mrs Merkel said at the Brussels summit that the current economic crisis had generated support across the EU for much closer co-ordination of economic policies. Both talked about moving towards an “economic government” for Europe. But those words are empty: they mean one thing to Germany and other governments wedded to budget discipline and strict independence for the ECB and something very different to more interventionist countries like France.

EU leaders may have underestimated the political risks they are running by taking on direct responsibility for rescuing Greece in exchange for tough austerity measures, with IMF officials playing only a technical role as advisers. The EU has been popular in Greece up to now, where it is often more trusted than the national government. The IMF is used to being hated in countries where its technocrats step in to rescue bankrupt governments. The EU may soon learn what that feels like. Readers' comments The Economist welcomes your views. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

take a content feed from newspapers that’s highly templated and automated. Publishers Need a Bigger Cut and More Control Fidler said newspapers get 30% revenue from having their content on the Kindle. “That is likely to change before long,” he said. “Amazon’s ability to set prices for e-reader editions and control the publisher’s share of revenue is coming to an end.”

He added that publishers have some leverage because e-reader vendors must have content in order to succeed. “As newspapers have more ability to do rich presentations on magazine-size devices, you’ll see more,” he said. “Content will evolve. There’s a lot of opportunity.” However, the Kindle won’t get

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Association. “Within 10 years, I believe the majority of subscribers to newspapers and magazines will be reading digital editions delivered to mobile reading devices,” Fidler said. He said that as of February 10th, there were 99 newspapers from around the world available on the Kindle. The newspaper content is subscription-based without advertising. He said e-readers

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Can E-readers and Tablets Save the News? (Mashable) (Yahoo! News Search Results for e-readers) Submitted at 2/18/2010 2:01:39 PM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Sales are robust for e-readers and there is no shortage of tablets yet to launch, including the new Apple iPad. But will strong sales translate into a boost for the media industry? If media organizations do it right, the potential could be there for e-readers and tablets to become a viable revenue source. However, it may take a dramatic shift in the way publishers view digital content and their online business models. Here’s a look at what media companies will likely need to do to make that happen. The Potential of E-readers and Tablets “Right now, the e-reader and tablet are the most promising new potential source of revenue for newspapers,” said Roger Fidler, program director for Digital Publishing at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri. While a Freedom Foundation Fellow at Columbia University from 1991 to 1992, Fidler

created a conceptual electronic newspaper prototype with about 12 hyperlinked pages. In 1994, he adapted that prototype for the Tablet Newspaper video he and others produced at the KnightRidder Information Design Lab. Fidler also coordinates the Digital Publishing Alliance, which includes news companies such as The New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post, and is focused on issues such as standards for content and ads on e-readers and tablets. He told me that when he wrote Mediamorphosis: Understanding New Media in 1997, he predicted e-readers would become commonplace in 2010. Not only have they arrived, but sales of ereaders are picking up. Sales of e-readers are projected to be 5 million units this year, up from 2.2 million in 2009, according to the Consumer Electronics CAN page 83

Gallup Poll/

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people reading newspapers unless it offers features similar to that of smartphones, such as color display, touchscreens, and photos, according to a news release about a study by the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Survey respondents are residents of Athens, Georgia, a city that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution dropped from its circulation, the release said. UGA advertising professor Dean Krugman said in a statement that “as a stand-alone attribute, the newspaper feature is likely not strong enough to sell the e-reader.” He conducted the study for six months last year with advertising professor Tom Reichert and Barry Hollander, an associate journalism professor. Fidler said there’s evidence to support that Amazon will come out with a full-color device with a touchscreen before the end of 2010. Now that more vendors are introducing e-readers and thin, lightweight tablets such as the Apple iPad, publishers are pushing for delivery and presentation standards, and for agent relationships with e-book stores that let them set prices, incorporate advertising, and capture data about their subscribers, according to Fidler. “The main competitors in this market will continue to be Amazon and Apple,” he said. Rich Media iPad News Apps are

in the Works Wired Magazine plans to launch an iPad edition this summer that includes rich media content. Wired’s Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson showcased a demo of the Wired Reader app at TED. Wired’s publisher Conde Nast also plans to launch iPad versions of GQ and Vanity Fair, Macworld reported. Fidler said that people who purchase e-reader subscriptions are still looking for the experience they get in print, and those who want to do more will gravitate toward the iPad. He said the world seems to be divided over a print-centric view and a web-centric view of media content. “I don’t think the iPad will be an e-reader killer,” he said. “They will coexist. They will serve different audiences.” New Content Presentations for a New Medium Alan Mutter, an independent media analyst who authors the Reflections of a Newsosaur blog, said that media companies cannot simply re-purpose their content for e-readers and tablets. Content needs to be richer, offer more user control and interaction, and has to let the user manipulate it in a way that it becomes highly individualized. Sport Illustrated’s iPad demo prototype really leverages the capability of the interaction, according to Mutter. “I think news content sites

demand new approaches to content,” he said. “I’m far from convinced that publishers are looking to make changes as radical as they should be looking to make.” He said that if they adapt, he has reasons to be encouraged. But the heavy, upfront task of launching new content displays for these devices might be too much at this point. Fidler said publishers are reluctant to make major investments in new platforms until they see some proof that they can generate significant revenue and ultimately be profitable. What’s a measure of success? He said that when the number of e-reader subscribers hits 100,000, media companies will consider them successful because that’s what they believe it will take to get advertisers on board. Exploring Multiple Revenue Streams Fidler said paid subscriptions and advertising will allow ereaders and tablets to generate revenue for media companies. He said the hope is that an ereader edition or an iPad app will be able to generate better revenue than the web has in the past. He stressed that e-reader and tablet editions must include advertising to be profitable. Mutter said multiple revenue streams such as ads, subscriptions, and potentially syndication from other sites should be pursued. “Advertising

is part of the picture, but so is charging for the service,” he said. Mutter said, for example, The New York Times puts content on the iPhone but gives it away for free, while CNN created an iPhone app and charged $3. However, Gawker’s Valleywag reported that The New York Times circulation department wants to charge $20 to $30 a month for its forthcoming iPad app, and the newspaper’s digital department wants to charge $10 per month. “The idea of having content optimized for the platform — I think people will pay for that,” Mutter said. More journalism resources from Mashable: - 5 Essential Tools for the Mobile Journalist - The Future Journalist: Thoughts from Two Generations - 8 Things to Avoid When Building a Community - Mashable’s Social Media Guide for Journalists - 7 Ways News Media are Becoming More Collaborative - 8 Must-Have Traits of Tomorrow’s Journalist Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

In U.S., Canada Places First in Image Contest; Iran Last (All Gallup Headlines) Submitted at 2/18/2010 7:00:00 PM

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full -text RSS service so we can continue developing it. PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans' perceptions of 20 nations that figure prominently in the news or U.S. foreign policy held quite steady in the first year of the Obama administration. Canada retained its top position in Gallup's annual country ratings, with 90% of Americans viewing it favorably, unchanged from 2009. Iran continues to rank last, with 10% this year. Eight of the countries rated in this year's World Affairs survey are viewed favorably by a majority of Americans. Great Britain nearly matches Canada in favorability, while smaller majorities hold positive views of Germany, Japan, Israel, India, France, and Egypt. Mexico and U.S., page 85

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Russia are both about as likely to be viewed unfavorably as favorably, while 10 countries are generally viewed unfavorably."Although the twopercentage-point decline in Mexico's overall favorable rating between 2009 and today is not significant, the result is that, for the first time since 1993, fewer than half of Americans have a favorable view of the United States' southern neighbor." Yemen was included on the list for the first time this year, amid news that the Christmas Day underwear bomber had ties to a Yemen-based al Qaeda terrorist group. Its 21% favorable rating is among the lowest in the Feb. 1 -3 poll, although about one in four Americans have no opinion of that country. Only Iraq saw a statistically significant, albeit small, drop in favorability over the past year on the basis of the combined percentages viewing each "very favorably" or "mostly favorably." Most countries' ratings are essentially unchanged, while favorability toward Russia and the Palestinian Authority is up slightly. Partial Rebound in Views of Russia After dipping to 40% in 2009 -most likely in response to

Russia's 2008 military crackdown on Georgian separatists -- favorability toward Russia has recovered somewhat to 47%; however, this remains lower than where it stood for much of the past decade. The historical high point for positive U.S. feelings toward Russia was 66%, first reached in 1991 and repeated in 2002. However, favorability toward Russia plummeted to 41% in March 2003, after that country sharply opposed the United States' launching of the Iraq war. (U.S. public opinion of France and Germany, two other countries opposed to the war, also turned more negative in 2003.) By February 2004, Russia's favorability score was back to 59%, and it remained above 50% until 2008. Palestinian Authority Sees Slight Improvement Americans' views of the official governing body of the Palestinian people -- the Palestinian Authority -- have been decidedly negative over the years. However, there was a slight improvement in views over the past year, from 15% viewing the Palestinian Authority favorably in 2009 (and just 11% after the Hamas group won the Palestinian elections in 2006) to 20% today.

Favorability toward the Palestinian Authority was quite low for most of the Bush administration, except for February 2005, when the two sides had just announced an informal truce during Mideast peace talks. Favorability Toward Mexico Still Dampened Although the two-percentagepoint decline in Mexico's overall favorable rating between 2009 and today is not significant, the result is that, for the first time since 1993, fewer than half of Americans have a favorable view of the United States' southern neighbor. Mexico's image in the U.S. has generally been in decline since 2005. Heightened U.S. attention to illegal immigration from Mexico, as well as to intensifying violence in the Mexican drug war, could explain the deterioration of Mexico's U.S. image in recent years. Notable Differences Most of the countries rated this year are viewed more favorably by young adults (aged 18 to 34) than by those 55 and older. Additionally, some are viewed differently by Republicans and Democrats. • • •

A handful of countries -Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Afghanistan -- receive similar ratings from the broad age and partisan groups. Survey Methods Results are based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,025 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Feb. 1-3, 2010. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points. Interviews are conducted with respondents on land-line telephones (for respondents with a land-line telephone) and cellular phones (for respondents who are cell-phone only). In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.