Liberty Newsprint Nov-16-09 by Liberty Newspost

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The First Draft: Palin for President?

Big Dog, now with more killing power

By David Morgan (Front Row Washington) Submitted at 11/16/2009 6:10:06 AM

Is she running for president? Seeking a coffee summit with Hillary Clinton? Or just selling her book? The only clear answer about Sarah Palin’s intentions is that the questions are drawing lots and lots of U.S. media attention. This week, the former Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor is on the cover of Newsweek magazine. She’s also going onair for separate interviews with TV’s Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters of ABC News. It’s all about promoting her new memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life,” which goes on sale Tuesday. But the notion that she also might be testing the waters for a 2012 presidential run is what’s drawing the serious attention. Supporters liken her to a populist 21st century Ronald

Do Not Drop (Little Green Footballs)

Reagan or Barry Goldwater. But not all the coverage is as she’d like it. Newsweek, which pictures her on its cover as an attractive young woman in running shorts, scoffs at the idea of a Palin 2012 presidential campaign. “Her brand of take-no-prisoners partisanship is not good for the

Republicans in the long run and not good for the country,” Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham told MSNBC. “When you have a kind of ‘death panel’ ideology, where you make pronouncements that are factually untenable and tend to inflame the conversation … that’s not good for governance.”

She got a warmer reception from another woman of the campaign trail, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, whom Palin thinks she might like to meet over coffee. “I absolutely would look forward to having coffee. I’ve never met her. And I think it would be, you know, very interesting to sit down and talk with her,” Clinton, now U.S. secretary of state, said over the weekend. But the last word is likely to be Palin’s. Her book promotion is expected to draw huge crowds across the country. And while a Washington Post/ABC News poll shows that 60 percent of Americans don’t think she’s qualified to be president, a similar percentage of Republicans say she is. Photo Credits: Reuters/Nathaniel Wilder (Palin); Reuters/Jason Reed (White House); Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Clinton)

By John Biggs (CrunchGear) Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:00:01 AM

So the dudes at Boston Dynamics have finally added weapons to the Big Dog, America’s favorite scary striding robot. What does this mean? More fun when you run naked and bleeding from your home, your left kidney stolen from you as you slept, as the robots rise up and begin preparing our organs for harvest! OK, so horns aren’t weapons, but they are pointy! How long before Big Dog starts looking like this scene from a recent school reunion gone wrong in Scranton, PA?

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Obama encourages unbridled Internet Clinton open to coffee in China with Palin By Caren Bohan (Front Row Washington)

By John Poirier (Front Row Washington)

Submitted at 11/16/2009 3:57:40 AM

Internet-savvy President Barack Obama told Chinese students that he is a big fan of the Web, though he doesn’t Twitter. At a town hall forum in Shanghai, a student who sent in a question by email pointed out that China has a huge online community with 350 million Internet users and 60 million bloggers. He asked what Obama thought of the Chinese government’s “firewall” that blocks objectionable Internet sites and if he thought the Chinese should be able to “Twitter freely.” “First of all, let me say that I have never used Twitter,” Obama replied. “I noticed that young people — they’re very busy with all these electronics. My thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone.” But he added, “I’ve always been a strong supporter of open Internet use. I’m a big supporter of non-censorship. This is part of the tradition of the United States.” Obama said a free Internet allows people around the world to think freely and hold their governments accountable. Obama’s election campaign was credited with using the Internet in innovative ways — Facebook

and texting — to raise money and rally a huge network of volunteers. Traveling in China as part of a nine-day Asia tour, Obama made a point of highlighting the Internet at the town hall. He took questions from the students in attendance at the event as well as questions submitted over the Internet. The question about the Chinese firewall was one of more than 1,000 submitted by email through the U.S. embassy. At the request of the White House, which did

not want to be in the awkward position of pre-selecting a question, Bloomberg reporter Ed Chen, the president of the White House Correspondents Association, chose the question randomly by picking a number and relaying it to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. Reuters photo by Jason Reed (a student poses a question to Obama at the town hall-style meeting at Shanghai’s Museum of Science and Technology, Nov. 16, 2009)

nomination to Barack Obama. Palin, a popular conservative firebrand who has been Submitted at 11/15/2009 5:38:46 PM communicating mostly via Secretary of State Hillary Facebook since quitting as Clinton is open to having coffee governor, opens a campaign-style with former Alaska Governor book tour on Tuesday that will Sarah Palin, whose new book hit a dozen states. about the 2008 presidential Is she laying the groundwork for campaign is stirring controversy. a 2012 presidential campaign, or “I absolutely would look forward simply selling her book, which to having coffee,” Clinton said c u r r e n t l y s i t s a t o p t h e from Singapore Sunday on Amazon.com Top 100 Books NBC’s “Meet the Press.” list? Clinton told ABC’s “This For the moment, all that she is Week” that she would look saying (on Facebook early forward to having a chance to Sunday) is that she’s looking actually get to meet Palin. forward to the tour. “I’m most Palin, the 2008 Republican vice looking forward to meeting many presidential candidate, gives a of you, shaking your hands, and nod to Clinton in her book, telling you, ‘Thanks for loving “Going Rogue: An American America,’” Palin says. Life.” Clinton lost the race for the Democratic presidential

Sunday Afternoon Music: Keith Jarrett, 'Part VII Salle Pleyel, Paris' (Little Green Footballs) Submitted at 11/15/2009 2:22:53 PM

Here’s a beautiful track from Keith Jarrett’s latest album, Paris / London: Testament, a two-CD set recorded live at the Salle

Pleyel in Paris, and the Royal Festival Hall in London. (Here it is at the iTunes Store.) This is Part VII of the Paris set.[Video]

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We should welcome Sacks's natalism | Mary Kenny By Mary Kenny (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:44:03 AM

A fertile society is an energetic one, and we must beware of being pessimistic about the problems of population The question: Are we too selfish to survive? I am instinctively pro-natalist: I am always pleased to hear that someone is having a baby, and always sad when told that someone has chosen not to do so. I also think big families are terrific – there is a richness of narrative and a contrast of character that is so beguiling with a big clan. I would not call this pro-natalist instinct simply religious: I would suggest that it is probably natural to human responses, and also enhanced by our agricultural past. Irish people are generally quite close to their agricultural past, being seldom more than two or three generations removed from the land and agricultural societies are nearly always pro-natalist. For the farmer, barrenness is failure, and the cycle of life revolves around reproduction. Big families formed a cooperative in farming work, and extended family alliances also

helped to anchor individuals within a certain network of security, or even power. Religion certainly took up pronatalism and the Bible's injunction to "go forth and multiply" became part of JudeoChristian values. The Roman Catholic church has been most publicly associated with opposition to birth control – because it has been most publicly opposed to that development – yet, there is almost nothing in Roman Catholic doctrine that was not also originally both Jewish and Anglican. Maimonides, the Jewish scholar and moral philosopher, laid it down that couples should have at least two children – that is, near enough to replacement level, before limiting fertility. Until the 1930s, at least, Anglicanism was also emphatically pro-natalist, and did not really fully approve of birth control until 1958. Religion, however, also has to move with the times and the circumstances of urban and suburban life today are not the same as they were either in predominantly agricultural societies or when infant mortality threatened the continuity of family life. Parents have to be responsible about the number of children they can support, and

few young parents today can raise large families. So we all understand that people do have to be practical about limiting their families sensibly. All the same, I'm glad that the Chief Rabbi has spoken up for the pro-natalist viewpoint, because it needs intelligent champions in a world sometimes over-pessimistic about population. What Lord Sacks has said should be heard: every civilisation which has not replaced itself, in terms of numbers, perishes. Even zero population maintenance requires an average of 2.1 children for every woman of child-bearing age, and Lord Sacks has pointed out that not one European country has anything like that rate today. He cites the figures for the UK: 1.74: the Netherlands, 1.73; Germany 1.37; Italy 1.33; Spain 1.32 and Greece 1.29. Actually, he has omitted one country which goes against this trend, but we will come to that. Although some pro-natalism may be associated agricultural heritage, the Chief Rabbi directly links fertility or population decline to faith practices. Wherever nations or cultures are religious, their populations hold up; wherever secularism spreads,

Aptera Founders Ousted in Boardroom Showdown By Darryl Siry (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 11/16/2009 5:23:00 AM

Aptera Motors has ousted founders Steve Fambro and Chris Anthony, sources told Wired, painting a picture of a boardroom

confrontation between the original founders and the auto industry veterans the company brought in last fall.

fertility declines. Europe's European population has declined in tandem with the growth of secularism. Populations also decline with depressions. A baby boom is always a vote of confidence in the future. I applaud Lord Sacks in calling on faith groups to encourage a positive attitude towards the creation of families, alongside the practice of faith. I would suggest other incentives too: women should be praised and admired as mothers, and for raising families, because parenting – and particularly motherhood – certainly does require sacrifices. The old Soviet Union wasn't entirely wrong to award mothers of large families with special heroic status, and the French – who have recently had an upturn in fertility – are not wrong to maintain children's allowances at a generous level, and to insist that familles nombreuses obtain special budgetary deals in cultural or recreational pursuits. And I am pleased and proud to say that Ireland is the one country that has bucked Lord Sacks' trend of declining fertility: in 2008, the Irish Republic's birth rate was over 17 infants per thousand of the population – and that is up

from 13.5 in 1995. The present birth rate is 2.1 babies per fertile Irishwoman, which makes Ireland the most fertile European nation. (And by the way, Ireland is one of the safest countries in the world in which to give birth.) Perhaps not coincidentally, church-going is still relatively high in Ireland. I hope that the economic downturn will not dent Irish fertility, because the one thing that any nation needs is a young and energetic population, not just to support the pensioners, but to provide the intellectual resources we need to solve the problems that face us. Faith, sense and cultural survival often work in synchronicity. • Religion • Judaism • Catholicism • Ireland • Ethics • Population Mary Kenny guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

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China and US poised to break new ground in green technology partnership By Jonathan Watts (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

unveil closer collaboration on "cleaner coal" technology and smart grids and establish a joint research centre. Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:51:45 AM Sources close to the preparations Barack Obama's trip to Beijing s a y a m e m o r a n d u m o f expected to yield cooperation on understanding will be signed in 'clean coal' and smart grids and the Great Hall of the People, rejuvenate stalling climate talks under which the US Trade Barack Obama said the US and Development Agency will fund China will break new ground in an office in Beijing to assist US their partnership on clean energy firms to secure government technology during a summit in f i n a n c i n g f o r n e w e n e r g y Beijing tomorrow that will also p r o j e c t s . seek to find a new way forward A group of companies led by for global climate talks. Peabody, one of the biggest US A day after backing a delay in coal firms, will receive seed the international negotiating money from the US government process towards a deal in m o n e y t o e s t a b l i s h a Copenhagen, the US president demonstration facility in China told a townhall meeting in that shows off its scrubbing, Shanghai that he and his Chinese washing and emission-reduction counterpart Hu Jintao would technology, the source says. The focus on ways to reduce their firm may also unveil a deepening carbon footprints. of its involvement in China's As the world's two biggest GreenGen project to pioneer emitters expand their economies cleaner and more efficient coal and populations, he said they burning technology. needed a way to minimise the General Electric will sign a deal impact of increased energy use. with Shenhua, China's biggest "Both countries have a great coal company, to use the former's interest in finding new strategies coal gasification technology for to combat climate change," he increased energy efficiency and said. carbon capture and storage. During the summit, the two But the message of cooperation nations will announce a new between the world's two biggest energy cooperation programme, emitters looks likely to be diluted

by the competitive instincts of businesses and politicians who are reluctant to share funding and technology with a rival. US sources say no public money will be channelled to Chinese firms or projects because the country is seen as a rival. At the start of his Asia tour, Obama highlighted this point by describing China as a "vital partner, as well as a competitor." The potential for friction has been evident in backroom negotiations over the funding of a joint clean energy research centre. China is thought to have asked the US to provide a larger share of the costs to reflect its greater wealth and historical responsibility for the carbon in the atmosphere. But the US wanted a 50-50 split. The final amount of its investment in the new centre, which is expected to be unveiled by energy secretary Steven Chu tomorrow, will be in the region of $18m, according to a source familiar with the deal. US officials have recently been trying to link China's Qinghua University, MIT in the US, and Cambridge in the UK. The two nations also talk a different language when it comes to the transfer of technology from west to east, a key concern for

Algae and Light Help Injured Mice Walk Again By Michael Chorost (Wired Top Stories)

Take a brain. Insert an algae gene. Flip a switch and watch a

paralyzed mouse (or human) move and walk again.

China. On Beijing's wishlist are salt-resistant materials for offshore windfarms, hi-tech components for large wind turbines, smart-grid control systems and more efficient pumps for nuclear reactors. But the US side prefers to talk in terms of "technology cooperation", suggesting more of a two-way street. Observers say far more could have been achieved with a smoother transition between the Bush and Obama administrations and a greater level of trust. "There are some areas where China is more advanced, but in key areas, it needs US technology," said Yang Fuqiang, head of climate solutions at the Worldwide Fund for Nature. "The difficulty is how to compensate the private sector and how to remove trade restrictions on items that the US does not want to give to China because of its fears a loss of competitive advantage." Claims that China needs US technology are disputed. "There is nothing out there that China does not have access to if it is willing to pay for it. This is more about money," said Charlie McElwee, a Shanghai-based American lawyer specialising in

environmental issues. "On carbon capture and storage, China is among the world leaders if not the leader." Business optimism about a potential low-carbon market worth $1 trillion in China has been tempered by concerns about trade tensions. US solar panel manufacturers have accused Chinese rivals, such as Suntech, of dumping underpriced photovoltaic panels in the US. Such concerns have slowed progress. But industry insiders say tomorrow's summit could smooth future collaboration. • Climate change • Coal • Carbon capture and storage (CCS) • Carbon emissions • Fossil fuels • China • United States • Barack Obama • Copenhagen climate change conference 2009 Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

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Obama takes on the China firewall | Isaac Mao By Isaac Mao (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

and the internet in Shanghai today came as little surprise to those of us who attended a briefing last week organised by Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:46:50 AM the US embassy. No traditional While authorities fixated on the journalists were present; instead a Tibet issue, Obama took on range of prominent bloggers internet censorship. Not all of us fresh from the fifth Chinese were surprised Blogger Conference in In the leadup to the eagerly Guangdong province and a mix awaited arrival of President of opinion leaders were invited to Obama in China, the government three consulates in China, linked has gone to some lengths to by a video conferencing system. avoid the Dalai Lama question The respected blogger Wen coming to the fore – including an Yunchao said many internet users attempt to point to a history of wanted Obama to urge Chinese slavery.(Last week, China's leaders to release the internet foreign ministry spokesman from heavy censorship. In implicitly warned Obama to response, Wang Zheng, from avoid embracing the Dalai Lama C h i n e s e M e d i a U n i v e r s i t y , by making reference to China's argued that mainstream public claimed liberation of Tibetan opinion was not bothered about slaves: "He is a black president, internet freedom – that they cared and he understands the slavery instead about financial freedom a b o l i t i o n m o v e m e n t a n d and freedom to travel. Bloggers Lincoln's major significance for in attendance swiftly tweeted t h a t m o v e m e n t . " ) B u t b y Wang's remarks, triggering a big focusing, to the point of paranoia, debate online. Within hours he on forestalling any dissident had been given a new moniker by upstaging, authorities may have t h e t w i t t e r s p h e r e : M r overlooked a strategic question of M a i n s t r e a m . greater immediate importance to And still Chinese authorities the Obama administration: the march to the same old beat. In Chinese blogosphere. recent days they have detained Obama's reference to censorship several dissidents and civic right

activists, including Zhao Lianhai, Yao Lifa, Zhang Mingxuan and Liu Zhengyou. It's the same mentality seen in the runup to the Olympic Games and after the Sichuan earthquake. The system is devoted to harmony in the short term, which leads to loss in the long term. But the booming internet cannot be controlled for much longer. It plays host to the panoply of opinions, collected in the form of a dynamic cloud, its shape constantly changing so that no one can map it. Followers of Mr Mainstream, upon hearing Obama's concerns about internet censorship, may respond by saying: "We are not censoring the internet, we are merely enforcing existing laws." Maybe, but the internet has been anything but silent as Obama's trip approached. Beyond the moderated discussion on the official Xinhua news agency website, thousands of voices have sprung up on Twitter, collected from the twittersphere in a tag called #obamacn, started by Rebecca Machinnon, a famous China Internet expert. In his session with students in Shanghai – the only public meeting scheduled for his visit –

A Sense of Scale (Little Green Footballs) Submitted at 11/15/2009 12:58:22 PM

The University of Utah’s Genetic Science Learning Center

has a very cool animated zooming thingie that graphically illustrates the differences in scale between common objects and microscopic objects like cells and

viruses, all the way down to a carbon atom: Cell Size and Scale.

Obama showed his shrewedness by sending a message about the internet and freedom of expression. One senses he knows something about the shape of clouds. It remains to be seen, however, whether the president will show the bandwidth in the next few days to make mention of the Chinese citizen and activist Feng Zhenghu, who has been barred from re-entering the country and remains stuck in Tokyo's Narita airport, the very same airport through which Barack Obama passed on his way to China. • Twitter • China • US foreign policy • Internet • Censorship • Barack Obama • Freedom of Speech • United States Isaac Mao guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

Bank on Regions Financial (RF) ... and DRIPs By Steven Halpern (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 11/16/2009 11:00:00 AM

Filed under: Newsletters, Regions Financial (RF), Stocks to Buy "Direct Investment Plans -- or DRIPs -- are a great way to investor regardless of the market environment; in fact, avoiding the emotional decisions usually made by the typical investor may be their greatest strength," observes DRIP specialist Vita Nelson. In her MoneyPaper's Direct Investing, she reviews the basics of DRIP investing and discusses her latest "Bargain Corner" stock pick -- Regions Financial ( RF). Vita Nelson explains, "This strategy involve the four Ds -dividend reinvestment, dollarcost averaging, diversification, and discipline. Continue reading Bank on Regions Financial (RF) ... and DRIPs Bank on Regions Financial (RF) ... and DRIPs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Sarkozy's £165m jet cleared for takeoff By Lizzy Davies (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

unnoticed by the French media. Despite attempts by the Socialist party to derail it, a package worth €185m (£165m) was given the Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:29:16 AM green light by MPs. To the horror French opposition protest as 'Air of the opposition, the money for Sarko One' fulfils president's t h e p u r c h a s e a n d l a v i s h ambition to fly world-statesman modernisation of the jet will class come out of the already strained For Nicolas Sarkozy – a 1.65m defence budget. (5ft 5in) head of state with a Reserved for use by Sarkozy and statuesque wife, a penchant for his entourage, the A330 has been cuban heels and an arch-enemy bought second-hand from the Air who refers to him as "the dwarf" Caraibes airline. It is currently – size most certainly matters. undergoing a multimillion-pound But the French president can renovation and is not expected to take comfort in the knowledge be in use before the end of 2010. that, in one area at least, his When finished it is expected to diminutive stature will no longer have a private wing for the head be a reason for ridicule: his of state, complete with office, ageing, relatively petite Airbus b e d r o o m a n d b a t h r o o m , a 319s will soon be replaced by an meeting room for his staff, and airliner with measurements better seats for 60 people. It will also suited to a leader of his lofty h a v e an encrypted aspirations. communications system to enable The budget for the new model, t h e p r e s i d e n t t o d i s c u s s an Airbus A330-200 which confidential matters with his opposition critics have dubbed advisers. "Air Sarko One", was approved Sarkozy, who has long nurtured earlier this month in a low-key the idea of flying around the v o t e w h i c h p a s s e d l a r g e l y world in his personal version of

the US president's Air Force One, will be delighted that his days of touching down in one of the traditional Elysée aircraft are numbered. At the G8 summit in 2007 the unfavourable comparison between his own plane and George Bush's Boeing 747-200 did nothing for France's then newly elected passenger-in-chief. And in March he and several ministers were forced to disembark on the tarmac when mechanical problems were detected with the A319 in which they were travelling to Africa. While still not quite on the scale of Air Force One, France's new "flying palace", as one commentator named it, will be among the biggest of planes at the disposal of Sarkozy's European counterparts. Almost 60 metres (190ft) long and 17 metres high, the A330 will also save him the embarrassment of having to make inconvenient fuel stops. On his way to China in 2007 the president had to make a stopover

in Siberia, while journalists on board a larger plane flew direct. The Elysée has insisted that the bigger jet will enable the head of state to carry out his functions more efficiently. It has also emphasised the amount of money saved by purchasing an 11-yearold Airbus instead of a new one. But critics have said it is an unnecessary whim of a president who cannot mask his extravagant tendencies. In amendments to the defence budget rejected by parliament, the opposition Socialists demanded that the €185m be "redeployed" for other purposes, including better equipment for the military. • Nicolas Sarkozy • France • Air transport

Borderlands DLC Zombie Island of Dr. Ned gets a video preview By Matt Burns (CrunchGear) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:02:28 AM

Everyone, I beat Borderlands on the PC over the weekend. It’s a fantastic game and I highly recommend it although the end boss was a joke against my highpowered sniper rifle. But it looks like I’m not done yet. IGN got some playtime on the $10 DLC expansion and it looks fantastic. Zombies! The DLC Zombie Island of Dr. Ned is coming out on November 24 for the 360 and PS3 with the PC version dropping shortly afterwards. Check out the 2 minute video after the jump.

Lizzy Davies guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

U.S.: A nation in search of a new, cheaper energy form By Joseph Lazzaro (BloggingStocks)

Gates and Warren Buffett, which will undoubtedly be re-broadcast on CNBC during the holiday Submitted at 11/16/2009 10:40:00 AM season. Amey Stone of Filed under: Forecasts, DailyFinance has a good Economic data, Oil, Recession s u m m a r y o f t h e e v e n t . For a quick "economic upper," One key takeaway: Gates, whose check out the recent Columbia company Microsoft ( MSFT) University forum on business and invented computer operating the U.S. economy featuring Bill s y s t e m s a n d s o f t w a r e t h a t

revolutionized the business world, is now forecasting that

alternative sources of energy will soon be discovered. These are not only cheaper than current energy forms, but also environmentally friendly. Continue reading U.S.: A nation in search of a new, cheaper energy form U.S.: A nation in search of a new, cheaper energy form

originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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MI6 chiefs to give evidence to Iraq inquiry (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

to then-prime minister Tony Blair. They were among 20 top advisers, diplomats and military Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:54:27 AM figures named as forthcoming Past and present heads of the witnesses by the Iraq inquiry, Secret Intelligence Service to be chaired by Sir John Chilcot. questioned by Sir John Chilcot's He said the first round of public investigation into war hearings would concentrate on Past and present chiefs of MI6 the build-up to the war, focusing a r e t o b e a m o n g t h e f i r s t on intelligence matters, relations witnesses to give evidence to the with the US and planning. official inquiry into the Iraq war, The first hearing will take place it was disclosed today. at London's Queen Elizabeth II Sir John Scarlett, who retired as Conference Centre, near the director general of the Secret Houses of Parliament, on 24 Intelligence Service (MI6) last November. month, will be questioned about Others to give evidence in the his chairmanship of the Joint period running up to Christmas Intelligence Committee (JIC). include: During that time, between 2001 • Sir Christopher Meyer, the and 2004, he oversaw the B r i t i s h a m b a s s a d o r t o government's dossier on Iraq's Washington until 2003, the year a l l e g e d w e a p o n s o f m a s s of the Iraq invasion. destruction. • Sir David Manning, foreign Sir John Sawers, who took over policy adviser to Blair until 2003. as "C" this month, will be called • Admiral Lord Boyce, the head to speak about his time as the of the armed forces until 2003. p r i v a t e s e c r e t a r y w i t h ª Sir Kevin Tebbit, the top civil responsibility for foreign affairs servant at the Ministry of

Defence between 1998 and 2005. • Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the UK's permanent representative at the United Nations between 1998 and 2003. • Sir Peter Ricketts, who was Scarlett's predecessor in charge of the JIC, which oversees the three intelligence and security agencies MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. Ministers and former ministers, including Blair, are to be summoned early in the new year. Chilcot said the initial hearings would be used to establish a "reliable account" of the UK's involvement in Iraq. "We will cover a wide range of topics during these hearings," he said. "Those topics will include UK government policy on Iraq between 2001 and 2003, transatlantic relations during this time, policy and intelligence on weapons of mass destruction, and planning by the military and other governmental bodies for the invasion and its immediate aftermath.

"We will also look at developments at the UN, including the negotiation of UN security council resolution 1441." This was the 2002 United Nations resolution stating that Iraq had breached its ceasefire and giving it a "final opportunity" to disarm. Chilcot added that the inquiry would not be looking at the legal basis for military action until January, which is when it will start calling ministers to give evidence. The inquiry is not expected to report until the end of 2010, or even 2011. • Politics and Iraq • Iraq • MI6 guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

VeriSign expects major security update by 2011 (CNET News.com) Submitted at 11/16/2009 5:45:00 AM

VeriSign, which runs the master database for such domains as .com and .net, says a significant Internet security vulnerability will be closed by 2011, after delays caused by technical aspects of the implementation. The problem is that DNS, the Domain Name System that translates Internet addresses into numerical values, can be seeded with false values and used to misdirect users. VeriSign told ZDNet on Friday that it will put in place DNSSEC, a protocol that will guarantee the origin and integrity of DNS data for the .com and .net domains, by the first quarter of 2011. Read more of " VeriSign: Major internet security update by 2011" at ZDNet UK. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

ReneSola turns in a third-quarter loss By Mark Fightmaster (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 11/16/2009 12:00:00 PM

Filed under: Earnings reports Perhaps a bit of the shine is wearing off of solar stocks. Solar panel company ReneSola ( SOL) turned in a third-quarter loss of $10.2 million, or seven cents per share, compared to earnings of

23 cents per share ($32.4 million) a year ago. Quarterly revenue fell to $141 million from $216 million a year ago. Expectations called for a loss of eight cents per share on revenue of $135.5 million. The company stated, "We witnessed a strong rebound in customer demand for our quality products in the third quarter of

2009 and reached a corporate landmark as ReneSola achieved

the highest quarterly shipments of solar products in its history." I'm not buying it. SOL saw earnings and revenue walk off a cliff when compared to a year ago ... so let's make sure that we talk about great customer demand. Of course, customer demand wasn't good enough to help you swing to a third-quarter profit.

Continue reading ReneSola turns in a third-quarter loss ReneSola turns in a third-quarter loss originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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General Motors announces $1.2bn loss but starts repaying debt to government By Andrew Clark (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

percentage points to 11.9%. At a press conference in Detroit, the chief executive, Fritz Henderson, said he had been Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:30:40 AM "encouraged" by GM's progress • Motor company able to start since a restructured version of the repaying bailout this year company emerged from 40 days • GM's $28bn revenue up by under bankruptcy protection in $4.9bn on previous quarter July. A m e r i c a ' s b i g g e s t c a r "We have significantly more manufacturer, General Motors, work to do, but today's results has revealed a $1.2bn loss provide evidence of the solid (£718m) but has seen its financial foundation we are building for position progress to a point the new GM," said Henderson, where it will begin paying back who took the top job when the billions of dollars in government US government ousted his aid by the end of this year. predecessor, Rick Wagoner, eight The deficit, for the period from months ago. 10 July to 30 September, was a GM's top brands include sharp improvement on previous Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and quarters. Car sales were aided by GMC. Following its government the US government's "cash-for- bailout, the firm is majorityclunkers" programme, which owned by the US treasury. subsidised purchases of new Earlier this month, GM opted to vehicles in the summer. stay in Europe by reversing a GM's revenue of $28bn was up decision to sell its Opel and by $4.9bn on the previous Vauxhall operations, which quarter, and the company's global include factories in Luton and market share edged up by 0.3 Ellesmere Port employing some

5,000 people. Henderson declined to give any guarantees about employment at the two British plants, saying he wanted to communicate plans with the workforce before going public. But GM has already indicated that as many as 10,000 jobs could go across Europe as it cuts costs by 30%. Discussions over jobs, Henderson said, began last week and are continuing this week. He said he hoped to finalise action by the end of the year: "This is a process that I view as measured in weeks." He accepted that uncertainty over the future of GM's European operations had caused discontent: "We do have a fair amount of work to do, especially in Germany, in mending fences." Signalling the difficulty of the decision over whether to keep or sell the business, Henderson said 30% to 40% of GM's board meeting time since the company emerged from bankruptcy had

been spent discussing the company's European operations. GM, which teetered on the brink of collapse until it was rescued by US taxpayers, said it intended to begin the long process of paying back $6.7bn of public loans with a $1.2bn repayment in December. This is several years ahead of schedule but the money used for the repayment comes out of unused government aid, rather than funds generated through vehicle sales. • General Motors • Automotive industry • Vauxhall • Job losses • United States Andrew Clark guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

Video Games Apparently Not "Recession-Proof" [Charts] By Mark Wilson (Gizmodo) Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:20:00 AM

There's been a lot of talk about video games being a "recessionproof" industry. But this year-toyear graph shows the steep drop in industry growth since 2007. Of course, many AAA games are still doing quite well. Just last week. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launched with the biggest entertainment opening of all time, selling about 5 million copies across platforms and pulling in about $310 million in a single day. [ Silicon Alley Insider via Kotaku]

Gold blasts to another record high of $1,133.07 per ounce By Connie Madon (BloggingStocks)

high. Spot gold in London traded at $1,133.07 per ounce. The December gold futures contract Submitted at 11/16/2009 10:00:00 AM traded at $1,133.50 per ounce. Filed under: Market matters, Again today, the dollar traded Commodities, Oil, Agriculture down, with the December dollar It's Monday morning. Looking at contract trading at 75.105, down the boards, the dollar is weaker 32(prices as of 8:39 EDT). The and gold climbs to another record other precious metals followed

gold higher. December silver traded at $17.815 per ounce up

43.5 cents. Platinum was at $1,428.90 per ounce, up $41.20. Palladium traded at $365.15, up $8.40 Continue reading Gold blasts to another record high of $1,133.07 per ounce Gold blasts to another record high of $1,133.07 per ounce

originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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I don't use Twitter, says Barack Obama, despite having 2.6m followers By Tania Branigan (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:53:31 AM

US president's comment in Shanghai causes dismay among subscribers who thought he was typing tweets himself He is the world's most famous Blackberry user, refusing to abandon the device when he entered the White House despite security concerns. But Barack Obama has suggested there are limits to his technophilia. Despite having 2.6m followers on his verified account, he told students in Shanghai that he has never used Twitter himself. "My thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone," he said. The admission from the man whose Twitter feed said "We just made history" after his election victory has prompted disillusioned followers to express their dismay on the network.

" Shocking, given that his account with 2.6m followers has even been 'verified' by Twitter headquarters," said Vicki Kolovou, a web developer from Athens, Greece. "I am sad," said Funuhu from Japan. Others, like the blogger Tech President, expressed surprise that anyone was surprised. But even the web savvy raised eyebrows at the idea that Obama had never tweeted. Meanwhile Obama's mention of the microblog – in a question on internet censorship – reportedly prompted a surge of "What's Twitter?" inquiries on Chinese search sites. Twitter was among services blocked in early June, just ahead of the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on proreform protests that began in Tiananmen Square. Domestic microblog services were subsequently taken offline. Some Chinese users still use Twitter through a variety of means. In July one blogger used

it to alert others to his detention, using his phone to send the message: "I have been arrested by Mawei police, SOS." It was re-tweeted numerous times and the blogger, known as Amoiist, later said he believed his release was the result of public pressure from internet users. US officials set up a Twitter account to update people on the Shanghai meeting as it happened – apparently prompting censors to unblock access to the site from Shanghai university campuses, though not elsewhere. • Barack Obama • Twitter • Social networking • US politics Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

Blowback: Pass Sentence on New Prisoner, Win DVD Set By Hugh Hart (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 11/16/2009 5:32:00 AM

We're giving away A&E Home Video's five-disc Blu-ray DVD collection of the original "The Prisoner" series, and to be

eligible to win all you have to do is tell us what you think of the new one.

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: DLTR, JCP, JWN, LEA, RIMM, S ... By Eric Buscemi (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 11/16/2009 11:40:00 AM

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Penney (J.C.) (JCP), Research in Motion (RIMM), Analyst initiations, Nordstrom, Inc (JWN) Analyst upgrades: • Credit Suisse upgraded Sprint Nextel ( S) to outperform from neutral and raised its target to $6 from $4. The firm believes Sprint Nextel's core business is turning and that valuation is attractive. Credit Suisse also added Sprint Nextel to its Focus List. • Goldman expects Nordstrom ( JWN) to benefit from a recovery in the high-end consumer. The firm upgraded shares to buy from neutral and raised its target to $41 from $39. • Deutsche Bank remains cautious on the Dry Bulk sector long-term but expects increased Q4 day rates. The firm upgraded

Genco ( GNK) to buy from hold and raised its target to $31 from $24; the firm also upgraded Eagle Bulk ( EGLE) to hold from sell. • Steelcase ( SCS) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T. • United Rentals ( URI) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer. • GLG Partners ( GLG) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette. • Ladish ( LDSH) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital. Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: DLTR, JCP, JWN, LEA, RIMM, S ... Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: DLTR, JCP, JWN, LEA, RIMM, S ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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BT and Google battle over the spoken word By Tom Johansmeyer (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 11/16/2009 11:20:00 AM

Filed under: Products and services, Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), eBay (EBAY), AT and T (T), iPhone, Technology BT Group, which virtually owns the UK telecommunications market, isn't waiting for Google ( GOOG) to launch a full attack. The company probably expects to be under assault from the search engine (and advertising and email) giant, so it's taking early action. Google Voice is still being tested, but words like "free" and "powerful" and "internet-based" are bound to inspire fear in even the most

established of companies. To protect itself from the eventual attack from Mountain View, BT picked up Ribbit Mobile, and testing is in progress. Ribbit's technology has some overlap with Google Voice and even beats it with a few capabilities, according to Bloomberg. Ribbit just launched its beta product this month. It allows either the user's current phone number or a new one from

Ribbit -- which is no different from Google's alternative. The product suite is generally the same, with phone- and webbased voicemail retrieval and automatic transcriptions that can be sent by text message or email. For an extra fee, BT's Ribbit does provide human transcription, though it is free during testing. And, calls can be taken directly from a computer, using a microphone and speakers. Continue reading BT and Google battle over the spoken word BT and Google battle over the spoken word originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

Apple Tries To Patent Annoying People With Intrusive Advertising That Requires Attention By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 11/16/2009 5:35:00 AM

The NY Times is discussing a patent application by Apple ( 20090265214) for putting really intrusive advertising into products that would require users to respond to prove that they're paying attention to the advertising. First, there's a fair amount of prior art on very similar ideas. Not all of the prior attempts were quite so draconian -- but that's not because they needed some special new invention or "spark of genius."

UK regulators will have the power to 'tear up' bank bonus contracts By Connie Madon (BloggingStocks)

according to a Bloomberg article. Regulators will be given "powers if necessary to tear up Submitted at 11/16/2009 10:20:00 AM contracts that would result in Filed under: Management, Law, payments being made that would Politics cause instability," according to We've got to congratulate the Sunday Telegraph. Not only Britain's prime minister, Gordon that, but the paper reports that Brown, for his tough stand on City Minister Paul Myners told bank bonuses. He plans to make Sky News that "if those contracts some bank bonuses illegal, are written, they will be voided

bank bonus contracts UK regulators will have the power to 'tear up' bank bonus contracts originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments under law." Continue reading UK regulators will have the power to 'tear up'

Instead, the reason why this hasn't been implemented fully is because most people realize it's stupid and would only serve to piss off customers. But it's hardly a new, unique or nonobvious idea. Hell, I remember discussing a nearly identical scheme around 1995 as a joke because it was so ridiculously stupid. Hopefully, the Patent Office realizes that this is an obvious concept and doesn't grant the patent. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

Plastic Boat: The Making of a HighTech, Eco-Stunt By Alexis Madrigal and McNair Evans (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 11/15/2009 9:00:00 PM

They'll sail 60 feet of recycled plastic bottles, reconfigured as a catamaran, across the Pacific.

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Gift Guide 2009: Netbooks By Doug Aamoth (CrunchGear) Submitted at 11/16/2009 9:00:19 AM

• • • • • • • • • •

Intro Sony Gateway ASUS Nokia Dell Samsung HP MSI Lenovo

Intro GRAND Flash Album Gallery Skins for GRAND FlAGallery developed by CodEasily.com - Flash Templates, WordPress Themes and WordPress plugins The Flash Player and a browser with Javascript support are needed.. The Year of the Netbook. That’s 2009. You can’t walk into a consumer electronics store without seeing netbooks everywhere. Actually you can’t really walk into a consumer electronics store, period, since they’re closing up faster than costume shops the day after Halloween. But that’s another story for another time. While traditional netbooks sales will almost certainly see a decline in 2010 as they make way for the new class of low-voltage ultraportables, there’s still plenty to choose from this holiday season. Here’s a handful of purchase-worthy netbooks – in

no particular order — for your perusal. The only real rule for this list (besides having to be a netbook) is that screen resolution must be greater than 1024×600. Those 1024×600 netbooks are so 2008. Sony >> Sony Sony VAIO W Series: Starting

at $499.99 ( SonyStyle.com) Although priced a bit higher than its competitors, Sony’s VAIO W line manages to stuff a full-resolution screen into a 10.1inch form factor while most of the other netbooks on this list are of the 11.6-inch variety. Features:

• Processor: Intel Atom N280 at 1.66GHz • Screen: 10.1 inches at 1366×768 resolution • RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM • Storage: 250GB hard drive (5400RPM SATA) • Networking: Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Ethernet, Bluetooth

• Operating System: Windows 7 Starter • Ports: 2 USB, VGA out • Battery Life: Up to 7 hours • Dimensions: 10.54” x 7.07” x 2.01” and 2.96 pounds GIFT page 12

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Product Page Gateway >> Gateway Gateway LT3118u:$379.99 ( Gateway.com) Looking to buck the trend of Intel-based netbooks, Gateway’s gone with an AMD Athlon processor and ATI Radeon X1270 graphics for a bit more pick-me-up than you’d find in competing offerings. You’ll miss out on the 6+ hour battery life that you’d enjoy with an Atomequipped machine, but you’ll get more power for light gaming and HD videos. Features: • Processor: AMD Athlon 64 L110 at 1.2GHz • Screen: 11.6 inches at 1366×768 resolution • RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM • Storage: 160GB hard drive (5400RPM SATA) • Networking: Wi-Fi (b/g), Ethernet • Operating System: Windows XP Home • Ports: 3 USB, VGA out • Battery Life: Up to 5 hours • Dimensions: 11.3” x 8” x 1” and 3.2 pounds Product Page ASUS >> ASUS ASUS Eee PC 1101HA (Seashell):$429.99 ( ASUS.com) Promising over 9 hours of battery life, a multitouch trackpad, and a spacious keyboard, the ASUS 1101HA – informally called the Seashell Series – attempts to meld daylong productivity with an inspired design. ASUS’ “Super

Hybrid Engine” technology can even squeeze 11 hours out of a slightly higher-capacity battery if you’re so inclined. Features: • Processor: Intel Atom Z520 at 1.2GHz • Screen: 11.6 inches at 1366×768 resolution • RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM • Storage: 160GB hard drive (5400RPM SATA) • Networking: Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Ethernet, optional Bluetooth • Operating System: Windows XP Home • Ports: 3 USB, VGA out • Battery Life: Up to 9.5 hours (11 hours with extended battery) • Dimensions: 11.25” x 7.7” x 1.43” and 3.04 pounds Product Page Nokia >> Nokia Nokia Booklet 3G:$599.99 or $299.99 with 2-year data contract ( Nokia.com) Available exclusively at Best Buy, the Nokia Booklet 3G is one of the newer netbooks to hit the market, differentiating itself with standard built-in 3G wireless, GPS, and unbelievable 12-hour battery life packed into a 2.75-pound frame. At $600, it’s not cheap, but you can get it for $300 if you sign up for a twoyear wireless data plan. Features: • Processor: Intel Atom Z530 at 1.6GHz • Screen: 10.1 inches at 1280×720 resolution • RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM • Storage: 120GB hard drive

(4200RPM SATA) • Networking: Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Ethernet, Bluetooth, 3G modem • Operating System: Windows 7 Starter • Ports: 3 USB, HDMI out • Battery Life: Up to 12 hours • Dimensions: 10.39” x 7.28” x 0.78” and 2.75 pounds

Samsung NC20: $549.99 ( Samsung.com) Like the Gateway LT3100 series, Samsung’s 12.1-inch NC20 also bucks the Intel Atom trend by going with a lowvoltage 1.3GHz VIA Nano processor. You also get a big 97% (of full size) keyboard, standard six-cell battery, and Product Page| CrunchGear standard Bluetooth connection. Review Features: Dell >> Dell • Processor: VIA Nano U2250 at Dell Mini 10: Starting at $499 ( 1.3GHz Dell.com) • Screen: 12.1 inches at Dell’s build-to-order business 1 2 8 0 × 8 0 0 r e s o l u t i o n model means that you can • RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM customize its 10.1-inch Mini 10 • Storage: 160GB hard drive series of netbooks with extras (5400RPM SATA) like an integrated GPS chip or • Networking: Wi-Fi (b/g), even a TV tuner. The Mini 10 Ethernet, Bluetooth n o w p a c k s a 1 3 6 6 × 7 6 8 - • Operating System: Windows resolution screen standard — not XP Home to be confused with the Mini 10v, • Ports: 3 USB, VGA out which comes with a 1024×600 • Battery Life: Up to 6 hours screen. • Dimensions: 11.5” x 8.5” x Features: 1.2” and 3.3 pounds • Processor: Intel Atom Z530 at 1.6GHz Product Page • S c r e e n : 1 0 . 1 i n c h e s a t HP >> HP 1366×768 resolution HP Mini 311: Starting at • RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM $399.99 ( HP.com) • Storage: 160GB hard drive With an almost irresistible list of (5400RPM SATA) features for the price, HP’s • Networking: Wi-Fi (b/g), newest netbook line has a lot Ethernet, optional Bluetooth going for it: both VGA and • Operating System: Windows HDMI outputs, standard six-cell XP Home battery, and HD-friendly • Ports: 2 USB, HDMI out NVIDIA ION LE graphics make • Battery Life: Up to 8 hours the 11.6-inch Mini 311 enticing, • Dimensions: 10.28” x 7.19” x to say the least. 1.1” and 2.9 pounds Features: • Processor: Intel Atom N270 at Product Page 1.6GHz + NVIDIA ION Grapics Samsung >> Samsung • Screen: 11.6 inches at

1366×768 resolution • RAM: 1GB DDR3 SDRAM • Storage: 160GB hard drive (5400RPM SATA) • Networking: Wi-Fi (b/g), Ethernet, Bluetooth optional • Operating System: Windows XP Home • Ports: 3 USB, VGA out, HDMI out • Battery Life: Up to 6.25 hours • Dimensions: 11.4” x 8.03” x 1.2” and 3.22 pounds Product Page MSI >> MSI MSI Wind U210:$479.99 ( MSIMobile.com) Another entrant in the no-AtomCPU field, MSI’s Wind U210 sports a nimble 1.6GHz AMD Athlon Neo processor, ATI Radeon X1250 graphics, and 2GB of RAM. What you’ll gain in power, you’ll lose in longevity, though, as the U210’s six-cell battery tops out at around four hours. And, sure, MSI apparently didn’t get the memo that we’re in a Windows 7 world now, but the Vista-based U210 includes a Windows 7 upgrade voucher in the box. Features: • Processor: AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 at 1.6GHz • Screen: 12.1 inches at 1366×768 resolution • RAM: 2GB DDR2 SDRAM • Storage: 250GB hard drive (5400RPM SATA) • Networking: Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Ethernet GIFT page 14

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Hitachi redesigns the SimpleDrive and ups the capacity to 2TB By Matt Burns (CrunchGear) Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:39:10 AM

Folks, 2TB external drives are now coming out from everyone. Isn’t it grand? Hitachi has revised the look of the SimpleDrive external hard drive and it’s now available in a 2TB option. In fact, the rest of the SimpleTech lineup can now be had with a 2TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 hard drive. The redesigned SimpleDrive now sports a rather modest and somewhat boring aluminum enclosure. But who cares about the design when you know it’s packing a 2TB drive. The new design is available in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities at a MSRP of $100, $130, and $250, respectively. Hitachi Debuts New 2TB SimpleDrive Third-Generation External Storage Solution is Loaded with 2TBs of Simple, Reliable Storage and Backup Options for Consumers and Business Users; 2TB Capacities Now Available Across Hitachi’s Entire Retail 3.5 -Inch Product Line SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today announced the availability of the newly designed SimpleDrive™ desktop external hard drive with capacities of up to two terabytes (2TB). In addition, the company announced that all of its 3.5-inch retail drives are now available in 2TB

capacities, featuring the Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000, the industry’s first 2TB 7,200 RPM hard drive that blends performance and high capacity with low power features. New, upgraded solutions include the Hitachi SimpleTech Pro Drive™; the two-drive, RAID 0/1 Duo Pro Drive™; and the Hitachi Internal Hard Drive Kit for the do-it-yourself (DIY) computer-upgrade market. All products are now available. “Hitachi continues to build its channel presence with an expanded portfolio of 2TB storage solutions for business users, consumers or virtually anyone who needs additional capacity to manage the growing number and size of their digital files,” said Azmat Ali, vice president of marketing, Branded Business, Hitachi GST. “Even though people are inundated with digital content daily, many are not taking the necessary precautions to safeguard their content. Our external drives, together with consistent backup practices, will help people keep their digital memories, entertainment and business documents safe.” New SimpleDrive USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive With a new design that clearly communicates a purpose – solid data protection – the SimpleDrive balances ruggedness and ease of use all in one streamlined package. The new Hitachi SimpleDrive sits vertically for a non-invasive footprint, which is

important for a small home or office environment. With up to 2TB capacity and a plug-andplay design, the SimpleDrive gives both Mac and PC users simplicity, reliability and enough capacity to store or backup 665,000 photos, 500,000 MP3s or 4,000 hours of standard video1. Delivering style and substance, it features an anodized aluminum enclosure to keep the SimpleDrive cool, and a reliable, high performance, low-power Hitachi hard drive inside to help protect your pics, flix, tunes and docs. Now available at OfficeMax stores nationwide, the Hitachi SimpleDrive comes in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities, with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $99.99, $129.99 and $249.99, respectively. Extended 2TB Hitachi Family To help relieve users of data overload and free up more working space, Hitachi now offers the following solutions in 2TB capacities: SimpleTech Pro Drive by Hitachi – With four interface

options (USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800, and 3Gb/sec eSATA) and two levels of backup protection, the Pro Drive is a smart investment that delivers virtually everything you need in a single storage and backup solution. Its compact design lets you stack multiple units or stand them upright to optimize desk space. A built-in security lock helps ensure that the drive remains where you left it. Capacities and MSRPs include 500GB ($119.99), 1TB ($169.99) and 2TB ($299.99). SimpleTech Duo Pro Drive by Hitachi – With two drives in one, the Duo Pro Drive gives you two ways to save your data: RAID 0 (speed) or RAID 1 (mirroring). RAID 0, or striping, leverages both hard drives inside to read/write files, making storing and accessing files significantly faster than using one disk alone. If using eSATA in RAID 0, you can receive six times the speed of USB 2.0, ideal for home video editing or working with graphicintensive files. For added data protection, RAID 1, or mirroring, makes an extra copy of stored files on the second internal hard drive, so you always have two separate copies of your important stuff. Interfaces include eSATA and USB 2.0. MSRP is $199.99 for 1TB, $299.99 for 2TB, and $499.99 for 4TB. Hitachi Internal Hard Drive Kits – Easily boost the capacity and performance of your Mac or PC desktop computer in minutes

with a Hitachi Internal Hard Drive Kit. Each premium kit features a proven and reliable high-performance drive, easy installation instructions, a SATA cable and mounting screws. Balancing low-power and performance, Hitachi hard drives come in 5400 RPM and 7200 RPM with up to a 32MB cache buffer. The MSRP of the 2TB, 7,200 RPM Hitachi Internal Hard Drive Kit is $249.99. Two Levels of Protection – Local Backup and Highly-Secure Online Backup All Hitachi SimpleTech desktop external hard drives ship with two levels of data backup to better protect and manage personal or professional content. Hitachi Local Backup offers simple wizards to guide users in setting up automatic backups on specific days or dates that is convenient for you. Automatic file selection provides easy identification of particular file types to back up—for example, photos, emails or documents— regardless of where they are stored on the computer’s drive. In addition to local backup software, Hitachi’s external drive family comes with 2GB of free online backup space from Hitachi Ultimate Backup. For only $4.95 per month, users can access unlimited capacity and back up all of their files and media collections offsite. Users set up Ultimate Backup once, and it HITACHI page 15

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Apple Beats Nokia In Profits, Apple Doesn't Beat Nokia in Profits, We Don't Really Have a Clue [Smartphones] By Jesus Diaz (Gizmodo) Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:09:13 AM

While Nokia still commands the worldwide market share, Apple has finally overtaken them in profits. At least, according to a report by Strategy Analytics. Things are not that clear, however. According to Strategy Analytics, Apple made a $1.6 billion profit in iPhone sales alone, while Nokia only made $1.1 billion on whatever they are trying to pass as smartphones these days. However, Betanews' Joe Wilcox was quick to point out that the $1.6 billion profit was for all Apple sales: the numbers don't add up to Apple's overall handset profitability exceeding Nokia's during third quarter, unless someone is making the bold assumption that all, or nearly all, Apple profits came from iPhone. They surely do not. What? Apple made only $700,000 on iPod, Macintosh, retail and software — $1.6 billion — on iPhone. No way. Sounds logical? Wrong! says John Gruber, grubbing in with one of his grubby-grubby arguments:

Perhaps if Wilcox had actually read more than just the first paragraph of Apple's press release announcing the company's earnings, he'd understand: "Adjusting GAAP sales and product costs to eliminate the impact of subscription accounting, the corresponding non-GAAP measures for the quarter are $12.25 billion of "Adjusted Sales" and $2.85 billion of "Adjusted Net Income."

That's where Gruber says the $1.6 iPhone profit comes from. If you use non-GAAP accounting—which spreads the quarter's income along the total projected life of the product—Apple wins hands down: ...it's pretty safe to say that the iPhone accounts for nearly all of the difference between Apple's GAAP and non-GAAP reported profit, which difference came to $1.18 billion for the quarter [...] take Strategy Analytics's estimate

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• Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium • Ports: 3 USB, VGA out • Battery Life: Up to 4 hours • Dimensions: 11.71” x 7.49” x 1.22” and 3.2 pounds

Product Page Lenovo >> Lenovo Lenovo IdeaPad S12: Starting at $429 ( Lenovo.com) For the ultimate in configuration options, look no further than the 12.1-inch Lenovo S12. It’s available with a VIA Nano processor and XP Home at $429 or opt for an Intel Atom/NVIDIA ION/Windows 7 Home Premium combo starting at $599. Features: • Processor: VIA Nano ULV 2250 at 1.3GHz • Screen: 12.1 inches at 1280×800 resolution • RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM • Storage: 160GB hard drive of $1.6 billion in profit, divide by (5400RPM SATA) 7.4 million iPhones, and you get • Networking: Wi-Fi (b/g), $216 in profit per iPhone, which, Ethernet, Bluetooth optional again, sounds like it's in the • Operating System: Windows XP Home ballpark. The fact, however, is that • Ports: 3 USB, VGA out nobody have a single clue about • Battery Life: Up to 4 hours what Apple's real numbers are: • Dimensions: 11.5” x 8.5” x Wilcox, Gruber, and Strategy 1.4” and 3.24 pounds Analytics are building their cases Product Page| CrunchGear over a lot of assumptions. So I'm going to pull a King Solomon Review here, smack all of them, and send them to the principal. [ Cnet, Betanews, and Daring Fireball]

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Microsoft's Pseudo Sudo Patent [Patents] By John Herrman (Gizmodo) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:34:31 AM

So, how exactly did Microsoft—those bastards!—end up patenting Sudo, a years-old Linux command line tool, without someone stepping in to stop them? Easy! They didn't. The story was the subject of much hyperventilation last week which revolved mostly around a few impassioned quotes: Here it is, patent number7617530. Thanks, USPTO, for giving Microsoft, which is already a monopoly, a monopoly on something that's been in use since 1980 and wasn't invented by Microsoft. Here's Wikipedia's description of sudo, which you can meaningfully compare to Microsoft's description of its "invention". This from Groklaw, a site that specializes in free and open source software legal affairs, i.e. exactly this kind of thing. But for whatever reason—zeal? clicks?—their reading of the patent, which we picked up, turn out to overblown. Says Sudo maintainer Todd Miller, via Ars: I've already received a number of questions about US patent 7,617,530 that some people seem to believe might cover sudo. I don't think that is the case," he wrote. "Sudo simply doesn't work this way. When a command

Windows 7 exploit (the first?) confirmed by Microsoft By Nicholas Deleon (CrunchGear) to access an SMB share to work properly, so I’m going to go Windows 7 users would be well- ahead and deny that port-open advised to block outgoing ports request.” 139 and 445. Microsoft has But that’s now how the real confirmed the existence of a world works. vulnerability that affects SMB in It comes down to this: block Windows 7 and Windows Server those two ports when you’re not 2008 RC2. Worst case scenario: a c t i v e l y u s i n g t h e m . N o you connect to a malicious server p r o b l e m s . I could make some sort of snide then it crashes your PC. The beauty here is that, in a remark about this being the first perfect world, these ports would of many (maybe!) Windows 7 be blocked by default, making exploits, but let’s face it: when the exploit much less troubling. you’re dealing with so many Let’s say you’re messing around lines of code, you’re bound to on your computer, and all of a find a few bugs in there. s u d d e n W i n d o w s ( o r y o u r Oh, and Microsoft hasn’t said firewall of choice) prompts you when it plans to patch the exploit. t o o p e n p o r t 4 4 5 f o r a Presumably it will do so with its connection. So you say to next big first Tuesday of the yourself, “Hmm, I’m pretty sure month patch day. my game of chess doesn’t need via Slashdot Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:02:26 AM

is run via sudo the user is actively running the command as a different user. What is described in the patent is a mechanism whereby an application or the operating system detects that an action needs to be run with increased privileges and automatically prompts the user with a list of potential users that have the appropriate privilege level to perform the task. So, if not this, then what does the Microsoft patent cover? Back to Ars: Specifically, it describes a user interface which displays accounts that have the necessary rights to

perform an action when the user is blocked from performing an action that requires higher access privileges. These are similar, but not patent similar. Turns out, though, that there is a Linux tool called PolicyKit just like what Microsoft patented, which prompts users to switch to a higher-level user account when they hit against a permissions barrier. It was created after the patent was filed. So, Microsoft, on all counts: not guilty. [ ArsTechnica]

HITACHI continued from page 13

automatically and regularly backs up content behind the scenes to a secure offsite location. All data is encrypted for security using 128bit SSL encryption while in transit, with an option for a private encryption key. Offsite 448-bit Blowfish encrypted servers are housed by a Fortune 500 company, helping to ensure

file protection, longevity, security and peace of mind. Hitachi SimpleTech products are Mac and PC compatible, and feature a three-year warranty.

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AT&T adds Samsung Go to netbook lineup, dumbs it down with Windows 7 Starter By Nilay Patel (Engadget) Submitted at 11/16/2009 11:53:00 AM

AT&T just added a pair of Windows 7 Starter netbooks to its stable, and while we've got nothing against the Samsung Go and the Acer Aspire One, we just can't help but feel preloading 7 Starter makes the alreadydubious subsidized netbook value proposition even worse. Let's break it down: both the Go and the Aspire One will set you back $199 upfront (well, after mail-in rebate), and then you're on the hook for two-year data contract, which will cost you either $35 a month for a 200MB cap or $60 a month for a 5GB cap. Now, $35 a month for 200MB of data is

basically worthless for a netbook -- that's what, a half-day of watching YouTube? -- so assuming you do what most people do and buy the $60 plan, you're out at least $1,639 over two years for last-gen netbook

hardware running a gimped OS that doesn't even let you change the desktop wallpaper. Not exactly a screaming deal. We'd say you're much better off finding a netbook with XP on sale and just getting a regular free

-on-contract USB data card, which you'll be able to use on multiple machines -- or, if you absolutely must have Windows 7, holding out for the coming flood of Pine Trail netbooks at CES, which we're hoping will come preloaded with 7 Home Premium. Filed under: Laptops AT&T adds Samsung Go to netbook lineup, dumbs it down with Windows 7 Starter originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Chromium on Linux Gets Bookmark Sync [Chromium] By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) Submitted at 11/16/2009 6:00:00 AM

If you're running on the cutting edge of Chrome with a Chromium daily build on Linux, you can now try out the Googlebased bookmark syncing that Windows users have had for a bit now. You'll have to add--enablesync to your launching command, but it should work fairly intuitively after that. Your bookmarks are synced to a folder in Google Docs, which you can access and edit if you've got an active account. [ Kabatology]

Say Hello to Your New Local Power Guy [Robots] By John Herrman (Gizmodo)

Tokyo company HiBot is developing a robot to transfer the Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:28:03 AM dangerous duties of high-voltage H e l m e t e d w o r k e r s i n wire inspection from meat-based cherrypickers, or precariously humans metal-based robots, in a tethered to a high voltage lines, move intended not just to are as much a part of our power decrease the likelihood of flashinfrastructure's aesthetic as frying technicians, but to make towers and transformers. In the the inspection process—vital, next few years, these iconic n o w t h a t m a n y c o u n t r i e s ' silhouettes will become a little electrical infrastructures have years old—more efficient. more... mechanical. components approaching 100 The HiBot Exliner, pictured

above and set to deploy in Japan, is the second such robot, and the most ambitious: while the LineScout, pictured at top and currently in trials in Canada, only inspects one line at a time, the Expliner will cover four. And unlike their human counterparts, Exliner and LineScout don't even care if the lines are left active while they're doing their respective things, because they

ain't got nothin' to lose, y'know? Also: because they're properly insulated. UPDATE: For anyone wondering why these robots are necessary (or depending on how you look at it, why they aren't) watch this video, starting at around 2:00.—Thanks, winshape![ IEEE via Make]

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Hardware battle looms for theoretical successors to Nintendo DS and Sony PSP

'Wink' USB flash drive: perfect for hockey moms, lipstick-laden pigs By Darren Murph (Engadget)

Little Diomede island (which you actually can see Russia from, Submitted at 11/16/2009 10:22:00 AM amazingly enough). It's available Active Media Products isn't one now to inspire and encourage t o s h y a w a y f r o m m i l d l y starting at $7.95 (2GB), though ludicrous USB flash drive that 16 gigger we mentioned By Tim Stevens (Engadget) to what the DS2 will be able to designs, but it may want to snag earlier will set you back $37.95. achieve but costing more, being a lawyer on retainer for this one. P.S. - We didn't Photoshop this Submitted at 11/16/2009 9:58:00 AM more difficult to develop for, and Granted, there's at least a sliver image, this is seriously Active It's a sorry state of affairs when a not shipping until sometime in of a chance that Sarah Palin was Media Products' pitch for this media player like the Zune HD 2011 -- potentially a year later actually notified that her image product. has more polygon-pushing power than the DS2. In other words it's would be used to market AMP's [Via jkOnTheRun] t h a n t h e l a t e s t h a n d h e l d standard operating procedure if new "Wink" USB flash drive, but Gallery:'Wink' USB flash drive: videogame consoles on the these rumors are to be believed, chances are she's being rudely perfect for hockey moms, lipstick market. If rumors are to be but even if there aren't any introduced to the sobering truth -laden pigs believed, Nintendo and Sony will surprises in this showdown we'll just as we are. Hailed as the Filed under: Storage set things straight with their next- be there in the front row with planet's smallest 16GB thumb 'Wink' USB flash drive: perfect generation portables -- at least for popcorn to watch the bloodshed. drive, this waterproof slab of for hockey moms, lipstick-laden memory is also available in a few pigs originally appeared on a little while. We've already [Via SlashGear] heard that the successor to Filed under: Gaming, Portable s m a l l e r s i z e s f o r t h o s e Engadget on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 u n c o n c e r n e d w i t h g a i n i n g 10:22:00 EST. Please see our Nintendo's DS will have Tegra Audio, Portable Video power, but the current Hardware battle looms for political clout. It measures in at terms for use of feeds. Read| speculation is that it'll be a Tegra t h e o r e t i c a l s u c c e s s o r s t o just 1.2- x 0.5- x 0.1-inches, or Permalink| Email this| Comments 2 chip, promising twice the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP just marginally smaller than power of the current iteration. On originally appeared on Engadget the Sony side the PSP2 is on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:58:00 apparently shaping up to use an EST. Please see our terms for offspring of the IMG PowerVR use of feeds. Read| Permalink| graphics found on the iPhone, Email this| Comments said to be theoretically superior

The Headtime Scalp Massager Relaxes You While Making You Look Like a Moron [Bad Ideas] By Adam Frucci (Gizmodo) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:00:00 AM

There's no real chance of retaining any dignity while wearing the Headtime scalp massager, a gadget that looks like an oversized bike helmet. And call me crazy, but the inside of this thing kind of scares me. I mean, I'm sure it does wonders to your scalp while functioning properly, but aren't you worried about your hair getting caught up in any of the moving parts in there? That would be very, very bad. And if you're running around frantically looking for help as this gigantic helmet slowly eats your head, you'll look even crazier. I'll continue to let my scalp exist un-massaged, thanks very much. [ Aving via Engadget]

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STMicroelectronics' 3-axis MEMS gyroscope gives a new level of control to your mobile By Darren Murph (Engadget) Submitted at 11/16/2009 9:32:00 AM

Man, talk about timely. We heard right around 11 months ago that MEMS gyroscopes would be hitting an array of handsets in 2009, and while it's looking like that estimate will be just a touch off, you won't catch up kvetching with "early 2010." STMicroelectronics has just announced its new 3-axis MEMS gyroscope, which promises 360 degree "angular-rate detection for high-precision 3D gesture and motion recognition in mobile phones, game controllers, personal navigation systems and other portable devices." The gyro is said to provide two separate outputs for each of the three axes at the same time: a 400dps fullscale value for slow motion, and a 1,600dps full-scale value to detect and measure speedy gestures and movements. We're

told that samples of the tech are available now with mass production scheduled for Q1 2010; and yeah PSP, it's totally cool if you keep sweating. NGage is about to be back... with a vengeance! [Via FarEastGizmos] Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals STMicroelectronics' 3-axis MEMS gyroscope gives a new level of control to your mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for By Vladislav Savov use of feeds. Read| Permalink| (Engadget) Email this| Comments

NASA fuels space shuttle Atlantis for liftoff (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News)

IAEA (Reuters) 9 seconds ago 2009-1116T08:57:51-08:00 Mike buzzed up: Secrecy raises This content has passed through fears of more Iran atom sites: fivefilters.org. Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:28:10 AM

Swarm robot project sounds ominous, uses open source Submitted at 11/16/2009 10:44:00 AM

Why would you want to build a 100-strong swarm of mini robots? Well, aside from having them as your minions, you might be able to learn about "artificial self-organization," and "control in large robotic groups," which should come in useful during the inevitable robot insurrection. The swarm robot project, undertaken by the Universities of Stuttgart

and Karlsruhe in Germany, aims to produce mini drones that can communicate with one another to avoid collisions, while keeping to a volume of less than three centimeters cubed. Built using open source software and hardware (full list of components is available under the GPL), the latest prototype, titled Jasmine III, achieves those goals while also being able to run "perpetually" thanks to a wireless charging platform. You can see it in close-up after the break, or hit

the read link for all the geeky details. [Via Hizook] Continue reading Swarm robot project sounds ominous, uses open source Filed under: Robots Swarm robot project sounds ominous, uses open source originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Atlantis at Dawn (Launch Live Feed) [Image Cache] By Jesus Diaz (Gizmodo) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:06:24 AM

Enjoy this beautiful image of the space shuttle Atlantis, ready for today's 2:26pm EST launch, because you are not going to see it many more times: Sadly, it is Atlantis' second to last launch. You can watch it live here: Click on the small playback button—and sit through the 30 second ad—to watch it in the page. This will be the last shuttle launch in 2009. Then we will only have five more launches:

• STS-130 Endeavour: ISS assembly flight 20A: Node 3 and Cupola. February 4, 2010 • STS-131 Discovery: ISS assembly flight Utility and Logistics Flight 4: Multi-Purpose

• STS-134 Endeavour: ISS assembly flight ULF6, ELC 4, ROEU, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. Final planned flight of Endeavour. July 29, 2010 • STS-133 Discovery: ISS assembly flight ULF5, MPLM Leonardo, (to be left pemanently attached), ELC 3. Final flight of Discovery. Final Shuttle flight of Logistics Module Leonardo. the program. September 16, 2010. March 18, 2010 • STS-132 Atlantis: ISS assembly All good (and bad) things have f l i g h t 1 9 A : M i n i - R e s e a r c h to end one day. [ NASA] Module 1. Final planned flight of Atlantis. May 14, 2010

Feds: Kuwaiti company conspired to defraud US (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:06:18 AM

Mike buzzed up: Secrecy raises fears of more Iran atom sites: IAEA (Reuters) 9 seconds ago 2009-1116T08:57:51-08:00 This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Acer Aspire Timeline 1820PT convertible hits Australia, gets specs By Joseph L. Flatley (Engadget) Submitted at 11/16/2009 11:29:00 AM

Acer's Aspire Timeline 1820PT lit up our radar today after going official in Italy and arriving unheralded on the company's Australian site. Yet another 11.6inch convertible notebook, this guy ships with Windows 7 Home

Premium and features both multitouch display and touchpad, up to 1366 x 768 display resolution, an Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 (1.2GHz) processor, GMA X4500MHD, up to 8GB RAM and 320GB storage, 3G, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. In addition to all that, this bad boy sports the usual ins 'n outs, reader, and boasts an eight hour including HDMI and a card battery life. Sounds like the

company's 1820P, eh? We thought so too. No word yet on price or stateside availability, but you can get a closer look in the gallery below, and be sure to peep the specs after the break. Gallery: Acer Aspire Timeline 1820PT [Via Netbooked] Continue reading Acer Aspire Timeline 1820PT convertible hits

Australia, gets specs Filed under: Laptops Acer Aspire Timeline 1820PT convertible hits Australia, gets specs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

post with a comment (using your real e-mail address) and also follow CG on Twitter and watch the Gift Guide for more special

things.

The second day of Peek-mas By John Biggs (CrunchGear) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:30:29 AM

We’re giving away five Peek

Protos this week, one a day, and we want you to ask us nicely for one so we can give you one. What I’m basically trying to say is that you should respond to this

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Free: TC Electronic M30 Reverb By Ivan Beres (CrunchGear) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:53:49 AM

Did you know the TC Electronic is the maker of stunning reverbs? Well now you can have the M30 reverb plugin for free. All you need to do is fill out a form and TC Electronic will send you the link to download the plugin free of charge. The M30 Studio Reverb is a simple to use, great sounding reverb that is powered by

AlgoFlex™ – a new high definition TC technology that enables hardware quality and predictability to be ported to

native software. TC Electronic has been at the forefront of effects development for decades, and our reverb algorithms can be found in the best recording and mixing environments in the world. With its great sound M30 is a unique addition to any VST- or AU compatible application. Click here for more about the M30.

Obama: I’m Too Clumsy for Twitter Kohjinsha PA series reviewed, found lacking

By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!) Submitted at 11/16/2009 4:53:47 AM

Speaking to a group of Chinese students in Shanghai, US President Barack Obama said By Vladislav Savov more of a chump than a champ. he’d never used Twitter because (Engadget) P o o r b u i l d q u a l i t y a n d he’s too clumsy to type on the substandard input controls phone. Submitted at 11/16/2009 11:06:00 AM dragged this contender down, in The question he was asked, It's well established by now that spite of its swiveling screen and however, was far more important the Kohjinsha PA series tablet is decent performance thanks to a than his typing skills. In China, one peculiar creature. It has the 32GB SSD. Ultimately, it's the many of the services we use internals and OS of a netbook, price that dooms the PA series to everyday – Twitter, Facebook, with a 1.33GHz Atom CPU and ignominy, and it seems like only MySpace – are either heavily Windows XP Home, the 4.8-inch a m i r a c l e - - o r a t i m e l y censored or completely blocked. display of a portable MID, and RilakKuma rebadge-- will make One of the Shanghai students the convertible capabilities of an it commercially successful. Hit asked Obama “Should we be able internet tablet, while its price ( the read link for the full story. to use Twitter freely?” around $770) seems to imply it Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops “Well, first of all, let me say that performs all three roles with Kohjinsha PA series reviewed, I have never used Twitter. My aplomb. The Pocketables crew found lacking originally appeared thumbs are too clumsy to type in have followed up their unboxing on Engadget on Mon, 16 Nov things on the phone,” Obama of the quirky little device with a 2009 11:06:00 EST. Please see replied. Fair enough, although as f u l l - o n r e v i e w , a n d t h e i r our terms for use of feeds. Read| conclusion has been that sadly it's Permalink| Email this| Comments

lot of critics in the United States who can say all kinds of things about me, I actually think that that makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don’t want to hear.” Speaking to an auditorium of an avid BlackBerry user, he hand-picked students, in a should be able to use Twitter country that also happens to be without problems; we reckon one of the world’s biggest lack of time is to blame rather markets and US trading partners, than typing problems. Obama was probably careful to He continued, however, with a criticize the Chinese government short lesson on the importance of too vehemently. But even this freedom of speech: cautious answer was clear “I should be honest, as president enough: Twitter is an important of the United States, there are communication channel, and times where I wish information censoring or blocking it is wrong. didn’t flow so freely because We wonder when the Chinese then I wouldn’t have to listen to government will realize the same. people criticizing me all the time. Reviews: Facebook, MySpace, But because in the United States, Twitter information is free, and I have a Tags: obama, twitter

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Psystar Loses Big To Apple By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 11/16/2009 1:10:59 AM

When Psystar first started selling PCs with Apple OS's installed on them, we knew there would be a lawsuit-- though it took a bit more time than we expected. Originally, Psystar tried to claim that Apple was violating antitrust law, which seemed like a wasted path for exploration -- and, indeed, a court rejected that claim. Then Psystar went back to more reasonable defenses... or so we thought. The court hearing the case didn't seem to think any of Psystar's main lines of defense had any validity at all and granted summary judgment to Apple on all of the major points, saying that a trial wasn't even necessary. The "fair use" claim was already weak, and the judge noted that Psystar didn't even try to discuss any of the four factors generally used in determining fair use. The two (I thought) stronger claims were that (a) the right of first sale The manufacturer says that, by a p p l i e d , a n d o n c e P s y s t a r projecting a light moving in purchased OSX legally, it could circles on your bedroom ceiling, resell it, provided it was only this magic egg will make you fall installed on that one computer, asleep. The Great Zamboni and (b) that Apple went too far in agrees. [ Techdigest] its EULA terms, which

LightSleeper Will Hypnotize You Until You Fall Sleepâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;or Give You a Headache [Gadgets] By Jesus Diaz (Gizmodo) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:40:16 AM

"A brand-new sleeping aid. No pills. No fuss. Just sleep," says the sales pitch. Oh really? And where is the fun in that, exactly?

demanded that OS X could only work on a Mac. Unfortunately, the judge didn't agree to either one, though I find the judge's reasoning perplexing and hardly convincing. On the issue of first sale, here's what the ruling said: The copies at issue here were not lawfully manufactured with the authorization of the copyright owner. As stated, Psystar made an unauthorized copy of Mac OS X from a Mac mini that was placed onto an "imaging station" and then used a "master copy" to make many more unauthorized copies that were installed on individual Psystar computers. The first-sale defense does not apply to those unauthorized copies. Perhaps I'm missing something here, because earlier reports had suggested that Psystar legally purchased each copy of OS X and then installed the legally purchased copy on the new machine (which it then included with the sold machine). But from the description above, it sounds like part of the problem is that a single "master copy" was used to make multiple installations. Of course, that raises a whole host of separate issues. If Psystar legally

Trial delayed for former nurse charged in killings (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:56:14 AM

AdamK buzzed up: GM reports $1.2B 3Q loss, says it shows progress

12 seconds ago 2009-1116T08:57:26-08:00 This content has passed through

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purchased a separate license for each one, but still used a single master copy, is that really infringing? After all, the code is identical, and it seems positively ridiculous to say that even though you bought, say, 20 licenses, you can't just use one master copy to install 20 times. It seems like this could use additional clarification. Because, the other way one could interpret this is that there is no right of first sale if the company says a copy is unauthorized -- which would have troubling implications. On the EULA front, the court again basically just takes Apple's position, and insists it did nothing wrong. I'm not surprised by the outcome at all, but I would have expected at least a more complete response to the First Sale doctrine rights issues. Even ignoring that a "copy" was being made -- with the physical copy, it really is a matter of first sale. The company is selling something it legally purchased. Psystar will likely appeal, though I still have little faith that will get anywhere. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

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At PDC, Microsoft's (r)evolution on display (CNET News.com) Submitted at 11/16/2009 4:00:00 AM

When Ray Ozzie first landed at Microsoft in 2005, he found a company with lots of good ideas. He also found things were getting in the way of innovation, everything from businesses that weren't thinking about the broader company strategy to the way Microsoft stationed each of its workers in their own office. As the new chief software architect set out to work on Microsoft's cloud-based strategy, he also started doing his part to shift that corporate culture. To house his team, Ozzie had Microsoft tear up its typical floor plan. Instead of tons of hallways and offices, Ozzie wanted lots of common space and whiteboards everywhere. Once a notable oddity at Microsoft, such work areas have become increasingly common in recent years. Ray Ozzie, chief software architect, Microsoft Ozzie also quickly set to work on changing Microsoft's product development, first detailing his plans publicly in a 2005 memo, titled the "Internet Services Disruption." In the missive, Ozzie talked about the emergence of advertising as a business model for software, new ways of delivering software, and the need to make things simpler in an era where users are inundated with technology choices. Ozzie and

company Chairman Bill Gates talked about a wave of "Live" software that would extend Microsoft's products with new Internet-based services. Ozzie challenged the company that it was faced with new challenges and aggressive competitors that threatened its cash cows, but was careful to only rock the boat so hard. "In assessing where we are and where we need to be, some new efforts will surely require incubation," Ozzie wrote in 2005. "But in many areas we have 80 percent of the product and technical infrastructure already built--we just need to close the 20 percent gap." The extent to which Ozzie has managed to reshape Microsoft's product and culture since then will be on display this week, as Microsoft hosts a major conference for its developers in Los Angeles. Azure, Office unveilings At the Professional Developer Conference, as the event is known, Microsoft is expected to announce the commercial launch of Windows Azure as well as a beta version of its Office 2010 software. Ozzie is set to speak on Tuesday, while office unit senior vice president Kurt DelBene will be part of Wednesday's keynote address. The arrival of those two products shows just how much has changed since Ozzie's memo. Shown for the first time at last year's PDC, Windows Azure is

the operating system re-imagined for the cloud computing era. Instead of controlling a local PC or server, Azure is designed as a platform where developers write programs that run from inside Microsoft's massive data centers. Microsoft and customers have been testing Azure since then as part of a free technology preview. Starting in February, though, Microsoft plans to start charging based on how much computing resources a customer is using. Office, while one of Microsoft's core products, is in the midst of a major shift. Amid competition from Web-based rivals such as Google Apps, the product is morphing into a number of different forms, everything from the traditional desktop suite, to a hosted Web service, to free browser-based applications. Showing off other wares Beyond Azure and Office, Microsoft will also be talking about other topics ranging from identity systems to developer tools. It will also be showing some new technology coming out of its labs--highlighting some closer ties between the company's research unit and its product

groups. Live Labs head Gary Flake is scheduled to show off"a new approach to exploring information on the Web." Meanwhile, Microsoft's Seadragon unit is showing off a couple new projects. Seadragon is known for a "deep zoom" technology that allows a user to dive into an image, going from a wide angle to the finest grain of detail. One of the group's new efforts-Snapdragon--is designed as a new concept approach to image search. "Snapdragon utilizes Flickr images to prototype what image search would be if, instead of searching, we allowed users to explore images and the relationships between them," Microsoft said on its Web site. The other is a collection of work by artist Chris Jordan. Jordan's work is particularly well suited to Snapdragon's deep zoom since it uses thousands of everyday objects to create a broader image. In one picture, for example, Jordan uses thousands of cigarette packs to recreate Van Gogh's smoking skull portrait. In another, Jordan uses soda cans to recreate a Seurat painting. But more than any one product or technology, PDC will serve as a chance to check back and see what impact Ozzie has made with that 2005 memo and in the years since. For some groups, Ozzie's memo was a codification of what they were already doing. Corporate

vice president Dave Thompson, who was running Microsoft's Exchange team at the time, said his group was already moving in that direction--having already bought FrontBridge and PlaceWare--acquisitions that became Live Meeting and Exchange Hosted Services. Plus, Microsoft had started its pilot program with Energizer to see what other sorts of services it might be able to take on for large businesses. "When Ray sent his memo, it was a broad call-to-action that was a great affirmation and a rallying point for the efforts already underway," Thompson said in an e-mail interview. But Ozzie acknowledged that the shift to services--and the transition from Bill Gates' style to his--was more jarring for others. "My engagement style is far different from Bill's," Ozzie said in a recently published interview with analysts from Gartner. "For a number of groups, that has worked out really well. With others, there are challenges. Some people have a different style or a different view of how they want to take it." Ozzie says that Gates was supportive of the places that his successor wanted to take the company, but also said that neither he nor Gates really knew how to get there. "In those days, I had PDC, page 24

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Should Google Rank Sites Based on Speed? By Pete Cashmore (Mashable!)

productive: Giving fast-loading sites a boost in the rankings improves the user experience for Submitted at 11/15/2009 8:30:51 PM those coming from Google.com. Google’s Matt Cutts hinted this You’ll know that if a site is near p a s t w e e k t h a t G o o g l e i s the top of the results, you won’t considering using a site’s speed be waiting an eternity after as part of the algorithm that ranks clicking. the order of pages in its search 2. User experience results. Fast sites might rank improvements on wider web: higher, while slower-loading sites with site owners incentivized to might suffer. It’s a proposal i m p r o v e s p e e d t o a p p e a s e that’s proving controversial. Google, the whole web might To quote from Cutts’ video speed up. That’s better for users. interview on WebProNews: 3. More revenue for everyone: “We’re starting to think more and Google ads are everywhere on more about should speed be a the web, so giving site owners an factor in Google’s rankings? incentive to address speed issues …A lot of people within Google increases pageviews, clicks and think that the web should be fast, revenue for both the publishers it should be a good experience; and Google itself. Reasons and so it’s sort of fair to say if Against Ranking Fast Sites you’re a fast site, maybe you Higher should get a little bit of a bonus. Some are none too pleased with Or maybe if you have a really the proposal, however. In awfully slow site, users don’t particular, blogger Douglas Karr want that as much.” Reasons for is up in arms about the idea that Ranking Fast Sites Higher Google would prioritize fast sites I can think of plenty of good and penalize slow ones. reasons why Google might His main argument against the pursue this strategy: a fast web is move: penalizing slow sites better for users, site owners, and would mean that the “little guy”, Google itself. For instance: running a successful site on his 1. Google searches are more GoDaddy hosting account, would

company is able to grow its stock price faster the more people get online and have a good web experience? Google, Google, Google. Publishers get an individual benefit, of course, but in aggregate the value is really greatest for Google itself. 3. The fastest site isn’t always be knocked out of the Google the best result: If I’m searching rankings by big companies that for a local business, I probably c o u l d a f f o r d “ l o a d s h a r i n g , want to find its website. But caching, web acceleration or local businesses rarely have sites cloud technologies”. There are optimized for speed; the big other strong reasons against too: business listings sites would 1. Favors big / powerful sites: almost certainly score higher on As Karr notes, big companies are the speed metric. The same rule best able to plow resources into a p p l i e s a c r o s s n u m e r o u s technical prowess. This could industries: speed and relevance disrupt Google’s egalitarian are not related. Should Google basis, and the whole idea of the Rank Sites Based on Speed? Admittedly, this is just a surface web as a meritocracy. 2. Greatest benefits go to look at an idea Google has not Google: Who benefits most from officially announced. But the Google.com results loading fast concept is nonetheless intriguing. for the user? Who gets the most What do you think: should benefit when millions of sites Google include site speed in its running AdSense suddenly have rankings? a lot more inventory (users click [Image courtesy of Tecfre] more on faster sites)? Who saves Reviews: Google masses of money on crawling the Tags: Google, speed web if web site owners optimize their pages for speed? Which

Apostrophe.me Explains When You Really Need Apostrophes [Writing] By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:05:00 AM

Apostrophes are both over- and under-utilized in the English language. A light-hearted but factual illustration at apostrophe.me makes flowchartstyle sense of when to bust out the vertically flipped comma. Update: Apologies for the duplicate post. From the cracked but clever mind of Matthew Inman and his site The Oatmeal, "How to Use an Apostrophe" is worth bookmarking, printing, or just remembering as a Google phrase (it currently ranks as the top result for, well, "How to use an apostrophe"). Next time you're wondering about how to write up a velociraptor known for its cute, playful nature, hit this site. How To Use An Apostrophe[The Oatmeal]

Google: Social Search Down Till Monday or Tuesday By Pete Cashmore (Mashable!) Submitted at 11/15/2009 3:23:35 PM

Sometimes there’s an advantage to calling something “experimental”.

Google Social Search, the much heralded new way to combine Google results with data from your social networks, went down today, we reported earlier. Now Google has responded to our inquiry, explaining that the

service will be inaccessible until Monday or Tuesday. No reason

has been given for the downtime. Monday or Tuesday Google wrote to Mashable via What could possibly befall the email: search experiment such that it The Google Social Search takes days to get it back online? experiment is temporarily down. Reviews: Google, Mashable We are working on it and expect Tags: Google, social search to restore access sometime

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Information Should Not Be Free... Says InfoWorld Columnist That You Can Read For Free By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

audiences (and even it is under greater and greater competitive threats). Unfortunately, his Doug sent over a link to an economic analysis is misguided: angry screed by columnist Bill News and Wi-Fi service are Snyder that bashes anyone who commodities, just like cars, thinks anything should be offered h o u s i n g , a n d f o o d a r e for free. Want to read it? Go commodities. Labor and raw ahead, because it's free at materials, as well as the capital to InfoWorld. buy them, are the essential And, of course, that's the ingredients of most any good or problem with Snyder's analysis. service we might care to own or It doesn't take into account the c o n s u m e . N o m o n e y , n o wider business model. The commodity -- that's a basic reason that Snyder's article is economic principle that the available for free is because digital revolution has done InfoWorld has decided that it has nothing to change. Sounds good, a better chance of monetizing but it's wrong. Very wrong. that content by offering it for free Yes, they're commodities, but the and selling advertising. It's other defining rule of a commodity is option would be to charge people that it is priced on the marginal d i r e c t l y t o r e a d S n y d e r ' s cost, not the fixed costs. And economically confused analysis - yet, Synder suddenly thinks that - but then no one might pay. So while that applies to cars, w h i c h m a k e s m o r e s e n s e ? housing and food... it goes away According to Snyder, the latter. in the digital world? The only Snyder also takes on the scourge person really claiming that the of free WiFi, that pretty quickly e c o n o m i c s h a s c h a n g e d i s showed that paid WiFi is a niche Snyder, in insisting that digital market, only working where you products do not adhere to the h a v e l i m i t e d a n d c a p t i v e same laws of supply and demand. Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:13:00 AM

Snyder seems positively confused that free is a part of a larger business model: I don't write for free, my editors don't edit for free, and I'll bet your IT hands don't run networks or produce code for free. And yet, your content is available for free. Funny how that works. Why does it work? Because it makes good business sense. But, to Snyder, when this is pointed out, he gets confused and thinks that it proves his point: I know, I know -- some of you are going to bring up open source. Sorry, that proves my point. Open source has grown in influence and quality in the last few years as business models in the community have evolved. Not too long ago, any open source company that dared post a paid or paid-support enterprise version of its software would be pilloried. But not any more. The recession has put many excellent technologists out of work, but there would be even fewer employed if open source companies were afraid to make a

profit, then plow it back into development projects and expanded infrastructure. Just ask the open source millionaires at MySQL if they think everything they produce should be free. Snyder figured out the wrong thing. Yes, getting paid is important, but the question is what you get paid for, and he's asking people to charge for the parts of a business that make the most sense being free -and doesn't explain why he gets to decide what should be free and what shouldn't. The answer, really, is that none of us decides: basic economics tells us. If you have a competitive product with no marginal cost, it's going to eventually get driven to free. Whether you like it or not. And then you shouldn't whine about the evils of "free." You should instead figure out ways to use that to your advantage. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

PDC, continued from page 22

conversations with Bill and he'd say, 'Well that's pretty dramatic or radical in terms of what you are trying to accomplish. It's the right thing to do and if you do it, that will be great,' " Ozzie recalled in the Gartner interview. "And I said, 'How?' And he'd say, 'I don't know. It starts with a memo, and I don't know what happens after that.'" Nonetheless, Ozzie says, Microsoft has gotten where he hoped the company would get. "When I look back and I read the memo, so many of the things that I had written have come to pass, not because I drove them to make it happen, but because the organization made it happen. It may have happened a little differently here or there, but it happened. So, I'm very pleased about that." Of course, CNET News will be on hand to see what else Ozzie and team have in store, so check back throughout the week to catch our live, ongoing coverage of the event. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Chinese quiz Obama on internet freedom (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 11/16/2009 3:11:04 AM

Beijing television ran a lengthy

item on Monday about US president Barack Obama’s declining domestic popularity. Simultaneously in Shanghai Mr Obama was doing his best to

boost America’s approval rating with the Chinese in a US-style “town hall” event. “I’m a big supporter of noncensorship,” Mr Obama said in

response to an online question about what he thought of the great Chinese internet “firewall”. “I think the more freely information flows, the stronger

society becomes.” Only a very small number of Chinese was able to hear his answer. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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John versus Joe: iPhone earnings smackdown edition By Chris Rawson (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

Apple is supposed to report; b) It made for a simpler analysis; c) Apple recognizes previously deferred revenue with the Submitted at 11/16/2009 9:00:00 AM quarterly results; d) According to Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple SEC filings, deferred Humor, Apple Financial, iPhone revenue is for more than just Apple naysayers are a dime a iPhone and Apple TV. The last dozen these days. I keep a few in two points are paramount. my garage just so I can laugh at In other words, a) It's the SEC's them when I wave my iPhone in subscription-based accounting fault, not mine; b) like Gruber their general direction and they for the iPhone spreads its said, I didn't bother reading past all cry in unison, "The Zune r e v e n u e s o u t o v e r s e v e r a l the first paragraph of the press phone is so totally going to be an quarters, which it expresses in release; c) I also didn't bother iPhone killer. You know, if and GAAP (Generally Accepted parsing through the reams of when it comes out. Just wait and Accounting Principles) earnings. financial tables that come with These are the earnings Wilcox every quarterly financial press see." Rarely do Apple naysayers come looked at and said, "Wait a release; d) Gruber is wrong and with more unintentional hilarity minute! Apple didn't make that Apple TV is totally selling like than Joe Wilcox from Betanews, much money at all! Murder most hotcakes. who, alone among reporters foul!" If you want a real idea of I showed Wilcox's post to the everywhere, uncovered a media what Apple actually made with Apple naysayers I keep chained conspiracy on a scale not seen in the iPhone over the quarter, you up in my garage, and they just recent memory. Namely, contrary have to look at the non-GAAP kind of turned away scratching to what literally everyone else earnings. This is something I their heads awkwardly. I don't has reported, Apple was in fact figured out back when I edited think that's a good sign for the NOT more profitable with the earnings press releases for PR supposed "misreporting" of iPhone compared to all of N e w s w i r e , a n d s o m e t h i n g Apple's iPhone profits that Nokia's cellphone business anyone who reports on financial Wilcox thinks he's uncovered. during the recent financial matters really ought to double- TUAW John versus Joe: iPhone check before protesting to one earnings smackdown edition quarter. John Gruber from Daring and all that something foul is originally appeared on The Fireball saw Joe's post, and with afoot. Unofficial Apple Weblog his response laid the smackdown Wilcox updated his post after (TUAW) on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 Gruber's response, but his 09:00:00 EST. Please see our on Joe's analysis. Gruber's post boils down to rationale is almost as funny as his terms for use of feeds. castigating Wilcox for ignoring initial post: Read| Permalink| Email this| Apple's statement of non-GAAP I chose to use the GAAP figures Comments earnings. Basically, Apple's because a) Again, that's what

Bush Administration Was Afraid It Would Have To Admit Telcos Helped With Warrantless Wiretaps To Get Immunity By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:32:00 AM

With the EFF finally successful in getting the federal gov't to hand over some lobbying documents involved in the process of granting telcos total immunity in lawsuits over warrantless wiretapping, the press is starting to go through the documents. Wired digs in and finds that the Bush administration was worried it would have to admit that the telcos had actually broken the law in order to get immunity -- but were able to route around that by having the Attorney General "submit a certification to the district court that the carrier defendant either did not provide the assistance as alleged, or did so in connection with a counter-terrorism program authorized by the president and pursuant to written assurances of legality." In other words, by doing a "this" OR "that," they could claim some sort of plausible deniability for the gullible. Of course, the whole thing is

silly. Why would the telcos need immunity if they hadn't broken the law? The only reason to push for immunity was because they obviously had broken the law. The entire push for immunity was never really about protecting the telcos, but about protecting the federal government from having to admit that it clearly broke the law as stated concerning oversight of wiretaps. The other interesting element in the Wired report is that the Bush administration was worried that future administrations would reverse the immunity -something it doesn't seem to have to worry about considering that the Obama administration has happily continued to hold the same position on warrantless wiretaps. However, the administration was unable to get anything put in the bill that would prevent future administrations from changing the immunity -- so, perhaps there's still some hope. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

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New Google Book Settlement Tries To Appease Worries

Droid Does: 250,000 Sales in First Week

By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)

This was mainly to address ridiculous concerns by some in Europe that this project -- to help Late (very late) Friday, Google make all books more accessible a n d g r o u p s r e p r e s e n t i n g - was somehow a threat to publishers and authors squeaked European culture. I was in in just under the deadline and put Europe on Friday (well, Saturday forth a revised Book Scanning there) when the announcement settlement agreement, designed was made, and it actually pissed to address at least some of the off the folks I talked to about it -concerns and complaints raised who felt that their politicians by people over the last one. If were doing serious harm to you want a good breakdown over European books by having them the changes, check out Danny excluded from such a useful Sullivan's analysis or James resource. Grimmelmann's. N o t Separately, a lot of the focus on surprisingly, the Open Book this new agreement, as with the Alliance is not happy, but seeing old agreement, is over how a s i t ' s a b u n c h o f G o o g l e Google treats orphan works. competitors, they were never Again, I have to admit that I going to be happy in the first think most people are making a place (and you know that press much bigger deal of this than it release was probably 95% written warrants. The orphan works before the actual new terms were stuff really covers a very small released). number of works. And giving In my mind, the biggest news is rightsholders ten years to claim the new restrictions on countries their rights seems more than from which it will scan books. adequate to me. I just don't see From now on, the book scanning what the big deal is here. The project will only scan books that real issue is that we have orphan have registered copyrights in the works at all. Under the old US, UK, Australia or Canada. (more sensible) copyright regime, Submitted at 11/16/2009 3:22:00 AM

you actually had to proactively declare your copyright interest. The only reason we have orphan works at all is that we got rid of such a system in the ongoing effort of copyright maximalists to wipe out the public domain. Anyway, I think this is all something of a sideshow. I still stand by my original feeling towards the settlement, which is that I'm upset anyone felt it was necessary at all. Google had a strong fair use claim that I would have liked to have seen taken all the way through the courts. And, of course, this settlement really has nothing at all to do with the main issue of the lawsuit (that fair use question) and is really a debate over a separate issue: how to take the books Google scans and trying to turn them into a "book store" rather than more of a "library." And, in doing so, the important fair use question gets completely buried -- which I find unfortunate. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

Stimulus spending boosts Japanese growth (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 11/15/2009 9:09:52 PM

Japan’s economy grew at a stronger-than-expected annualised rate of 4.8 per cent in

the third quarter, as fiscal stimulus supported consumer spending and net exports rose. The temporary process of rebuilding inventories was also a big contributor, however, and with stimulus programmes such

as subsidies to scrap cars due to expire, many economists are downbeat on growth in the first half of 2010. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:41:27 AM

Ads for the Motorola Droid by Verizon have been virtually unavoidable for the past month. Now that it’s out, the question everyone wants answered: “is it working?” So far, the results look promising. After selling a reported 100,000 phones over its launch weekend, a new estimate suggests that 250,000 Droids were sold in the first week. Although that’s considerably less than the 1.6 million iPhone 3GS devices that Apple was able to move in its June debut, the company behind the study– Flurry – believes there’s reason to think it’s a “strong result.” To get the numbers, Flurry looked at application usage across its network (which it says cover 2 out of every 3 iPhone and Android handsets) to grab handset data. The results, in Flurry’s words, make Droid “the fastest-selling Android phone to date.” Moreover, while some have called Droid’s early returns disappointing compared to iPhone, Flurry notes the often overlooked fact that “Apple

simultaneously launched its device across eight countries, while the Droid launched only in the U.S. Additionally, the iPhone commanded a strong installed base of over 25 million at the time the 3GS launched.” That’s not all though. Flurry says that there was a 94% jump in Android project starts during October – not a hard stat to believe when you consider the long line of Android-related announcements we’ve seen in recent weeks. The bottom line seems to be that Droid has legitimized Android as a platform, and early numbers suggest the Droid handset is likely a winner for Motorola and Verizon. Disclosure: Motorola is a sponsor of Mashable’s Open Web Awards. Reviews: Android Tags: android, droid, Google, Mobile 2.0, Motorola, verizon

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The convenient fiction that Microsoft Apple seeks game guru is evil for app development (CNET News.com)

to create the tool, we share responsibility as we did not catch it as part of our code review It's a convenient fiction that process. Microsoft is the source of all evil As conspiracies against open i n t h e t e c h n o l o g y w o r l d , source go, it sounds pretty particularly for a vocal minority harmless--because it probably is. within the open-source Open-source licensing is community. complex enough and the process For such people, Microsoft hate f o r a c q u i r i n g o p e n - s o u r c e is an excuse for a distinct lack of software is loose enough, that i n t r o s p e c t i o n , a n d c r e d i t s there is room for all sorts of M i c r o s o f t w i t h f a r b e t t e r error, both nefarious and benign. execution and strategy than it Guess what? People--and actually possesses. corporations filled with people-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer make mistakes. Even Microsoft. has a goofy laugh. I'm not sure If it was as evil as some suspect, it's an evil one. the devil himself would be out of I mention Microsoft because a job. some within the open-source As open-source adoption community quickly pounced on dramatically increases, we should t h e c o m p a n y ' s i n a d v e r t e n t expect to see errors of this kind violation of the GPL in its increase, and not out of any W i n d o w s 7 U S B / D V D sinister plan to pilfer open-source Download Tool. Microsoft's code. Errors are natural and are Peter Galli was quick to evidence that adoption is acknowledge it: spreading beyond the inner [The license violation] was not sanctum of open sourcerors. intentional on our part. While we We shouldn't expect open-source had contracted with a third party adoption to be flawless or Submitted at 11/16/2009 6:18:08 AM

painless. Consider Symbian. The foundation decided to aggressively embrace open source as a way to guide it to an optimistic future, but the process of open-sourcing its code is taking time. A lot of time. As Rich Sands suggests, Symbian may actually be taking too much time, frustrating its community and allowing Google Android to assume the leadership position in open-source mobile platforms. Who knew that giving away things for free could be so hard? It's tempting to think that open source should be an automatic reflex for companies and individuals alike. It's not. It takes time to learn how to do it properly, and even then mistakes are possible. Perhaps likely. In the case of its Windows 7 tool, Microsoft screwed up. It's not the first time, and it's not the last. But error is not evil. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:41:37 AM

US retail sales rebounded in October as demand for cars continued to climb even after the expiration of governmentsponsored incentives, official

Submitted at 11/16/2009 10:00:00 AM

Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, iPod touch While some say Apple never wanted the iPhone to be a gaming device, the company knows which way the wind is blowing and wants to get involved. Apple is looking to hire a game and media software engineer for its iPhone and iPod touch team, which could mean it wants to make games of its own. The job description doesn't say "games" specifically, focusing instead on "interactive multimedia experiences." However, the ad is looking for someone with "3-4 years of video game development experience," someone who has "shipped at least one AAA title," and someone who is a "passionate gamer." id Software co-founder John Carmack says higher-ups in Apple aren't overjoyed with the growing status of the iPhone and iPod touch as gaming devices. But there's big money in games. Research firm DFC Intelligence figures showed on Monday, at the fastest rate this year. sees profits for dedicated gamewhile business inventories fell to September retail sales, however, device makers like Sony and the lowest level in four years. faced a deep downward revision, Sales rose by 1.4 per cent to from a previously estimated 1.5 $ 3 4 7 . 5 b n , t h e c o m m e r c e per cent drop to a fall of 2.3 per d e p a r t m e n t s a i d , b e a t i n g cent. economistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; expectations. This This content has passed through marked a sharp turnaround from fivefilters.org. September when retail sales fell

US retail sales rise 1.4% in October (Financial Times - US homepage)

By Ken Ray (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

Nintendo shrinking 27% over the next five years, while expecting revenue from games for Apple's handhelds to rise from $46 million last year, to $2.8 billion dollars by 2014. That's a lot of money flowing through Apple, though most of that will go to developers. With over 100,000 apps available in the App Store, only four available today are made by Apple, and only one of those - Texas Hold'em ( iTunes link) is a game. [via Apple Insider] TUAW Apple seeks game guru for app development originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Why is Google Android beating Symbian? (CNET News.com) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:30:00 AM

In the battle of the open-source mobile platforms, developers have at least two choices: Google Android, which is open source but (relatively) closed development, or Symbian, which is open source...once it gets around to releasing the full source code. Guess which one is winning? You can't code me, but at least you can buy me.(Credit: Google) Gartner expects Android to become the second-most popular mobile platform within the next few years as it continues to gobble up Symbian's declining market share. But why? Symbian has been dismissive of Google Android, as well as smaller upstarts like the LiMo Foundation, arguing that the latter is overly focused on middleware for wireless operators and the former is fake open source with more hype than substance. All of which might be true, but the reality is that it seems to be working for Android. Google has

code in copious amounts, handset manufacturers are apparently getting their fill. More than this, though, Google gives them a safe, consumerfriendly brand. Symbian does not. This is the reason Google Android is winning. It's not about developers--at least, not yet. Neither Symbian nor Android really offers developers open b e e n s i g n i n g n e w h a n d s e t communities and open code. manufacturers at a frenetic pace, No, the difference today is while Symbian has been holding brand. Google has it. Symbian steady with Nokia...and that's does not, and that's despite decade-long dominance of the about it. Despite Symbian announcing mobile market. new handsets, Google is actually Symbian still has a ways to go. It shipping Android. There's a big has a weak user interface (UI) difference between marketing that is supposed to get better, but and reality. Google Android that describes much that is wrong with Symbian today. Everything offers the latter. For all the buzz that Android (source code, revamped UI, and gets from developers, its success r e s u m p t i o n o f m a r k e t o w e s m o r e t o h a n d s e t dominance) is always spoken of manufacturers than to open- in the future tense. source developers. Handset Meanwhile, Google Android manufacturers and wireless rolls on--not because it out openc a r r i e r s a r e h u n g r y f o r sources Symbian, but rather alternatives to surging Apple and because it out-executes it. declining Microsoft. And while This content has passed through others may not be seeing source fivefilters.org.

Cisco boosts bid for Tandberg to $3.41 billion (CNET News.com)

Norway, and New York City. Increasingly important to companies looking to cut travel Cisco Systems has bumped up c o s t s , t e l e c o n f e r e n c i n g i s its buyout offer to $3.41 billion considered a growth industry. for video conferencing company Cisco wants a bigger piece of that Tandberg. pie, and analysts didn't expect it The network giant's initial bid to give up on Tandberg too received a thumbs down from easily. most of Tandberg's shareholders, The new bid expires December who felt the initial $3 billion 1. Cisco said that if the bid isn't offer undervalued the company. accepted by that deadline, it will So far, more than 40 percent of withdraw the bid and look at Tandberg's stockholders, which other ways to expand its reach in i n c l u d e s i n v e s t m e n t f i r m the video conferencing market. O p p e n h e i m e r F u n d s a n d Cisco has been on a tear lately Norwegian government pension buying smaller niche companies, fund Folketrygdfondet, have pre- taking over a few firms earlier in accepted the new offer. the year and recently announcing Cisco announced on October 1 plans to gobble up security that it was pursuing a$3 billion software firm ScanSafe and cash takeover of Tandberg, a w i r e l e s s e q u i p m e n t m a k e r major global supplier of video S t a r e n t N e t w o r k s . conferencing equipment with This content has passed through dual headquarters in Oslo, fivefilters.org. Submitted at 11/16/2009 6:48:00 AM

Dollar relapse pushes gold to new peak (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:48:51 AM

16:45 GMT. The price of gold

hit another record on Monday as the dollar resumed its downward trend, helping global equities to fresh highs for 2009. Asian and European bourses

started the week in generally fine fettle and Wall Street joined the trend, with the S&P 500 claiming another peak for the year. Later it was up 1.6 per cent at 1,110.7.

The MSCI all-country World fivefilters.org. index jumped 1.6 per cent to its best level in 13 months, according to Reuters data. This content has passed through

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Take Note: Evernote Raises $10 Million

Finally, webOS Gets a Facebook App

By Jennifer Van Grove (Mashable!)

By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)

Submitted at 11/15/2009 10:11:16 PM

Evernote is the popular notetaking service that works across any platform: desktop, web, or mobile. On Monday morning, the always evolving service is announcing that they’ve raised $10 million in Series B funding, which follows their Series A round of $6 million. This round included participation from prior investors, but was led by Morgenthaler Ventures. This particular announcement is quite interesting for a number of reasons. Most notably is that

Evernote already has a solid business model, with premium subscribers who pay to use the service. When you also consider the fact that Evernote has been out of closed beta for just 17 months, and now has nearly two million users (up from one million earlier in the year), then it appears as if the startup is in a healthy position to keep growing.

Andrew Sinkov, VP of Marketing, tells us, “All of that money is going into the product. That’s always been Evernote’s approach. Our product is our marketing, so we’re using the funds to make Evernote better, more functional, and more accessible to new users. We’re also adding new platforms, new language support, and lots of other good stuff.” If the past few months have been any indication, we can expect new releases and product enhancements from the company in the very near future. Reviews: Evernote Tags: evernote, funding

Submitted at 11/16/2009 12:50:43 AM

If you ask an iPhone owner what he likes best about his device, you’ll often hear the following answer: well, it’s great for surfing, and it also has a fantastic Twitter and Facebook app… And yet, owners of Palm Pre (which is a direct competitor to the iPhone) didn’t have an (official) Facebook application – until now. The app requires webOS version 1.3.1, and will also work on the upcoming Palm Pixi, but unfortunately, the word is that the app doesn’t really have all the latest bells and whistles; in

fact, it’s very basic compared to the iPhone version. We don’t have a Pre handy, but if you do, and if you decide to try out the app, please let us know your thoughts in the comments. [Image courtesy of Engadget Mobile] Reviews: Facebook Tags: facebook, palm, webOS

Talkcast tonight: Inside the Psystar summary judgement By Michael Rose (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

We'll be live at 10 pm ET, so call on in. To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, Submitted at 11/15/2009 7:00:00 PM or you can try out the classic Filed under: TUAW Business, T a l k S h o e P r o J a v a c l i e n t ; Podcasts however, for maximum fun, you We're back tonight after an should call in. For the web UI, unexpected week off due to a just click the"TalkShoe Web" headcold, and we're diving into button on our profile page at 10 the Psystar summary judgment pm Sunday. To call in on regular with Lauren to sort out the phone or VoIP lines (take difference between a copyright, a a d v a n t a n g e o f y o u r f r e e EULA, and a bright shiny object. cellphone weekend minutes if

you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 - during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8.

basic instructions are here. Talk with you then! TUAW Talkcast tonight: Inside the Psystar summary judgement originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. If you've got a headset or Read| Permalink| Email this| microphone handy on your Mac, Comments you can connect via the free Gizmo or X-Lite SIP clients;

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Dear Barrister TUAW: Psystar, matters of fact, and appellate cases By Lauren Hirsch (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

By Pete Cashmore (Mashable!)

Submitted at 11/15/2009 6:00:00 PM

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Features, Leopard Dear Auntie Barrister TUAW, I've been following your coverage of the Psystar case and I'm a little confused by the discussion on your last post. I've always thought the original case to be one of fact and an appellate case one of law. This, to me, would mean that in the appellate process they would not argue the case again at all. It would all be based on if the legal decision in the original case was rendered improperly. So all the sturm and drang would be gone, No?

Atlantis Space Shuttle Launch will be Twittered Live Submitted at 11/15/2009 4:29:25 PM

NASA is getting even more social media savvy: the organization is sending 100 of its Twitter followers to Cape Canaveral for tomorrow’s launch of Atlantis; NASA awarded tickets to the Tweetup to the first With love & kisses, appeared on The Unofficial 100 people to register on its site. David Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, The move is an attempt to drive Read on for Barrister TUAW, 15 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. m o r e i n t e r e s t i n s p a c e esq's response Please see our terms for use of e x p l o r a t i o n . Continue reading Dear Barrister feeds. It’s not the first time NASA TUAW: Psystar, matters of fact, Read| Permalink| Email this| (@nasa on Twitter) has leveraged and appellate cases Comments the social media messaging TUAW Dear Barrister TUAW: service. The organization Psystar, matters of fact, and technically posted the first appellate cases originally Tweets from space this May, when user@Astro_Mike sent messages to the ground to be posted to his Twitter account by NASA staff. The addition of Jeff Williams (@Astro_jeff) and Nicole Stott (@Astro_Nicole)

expanded NASA’s team of tweeting astronauts. The launch, scheduled for 2.28pm EST, is taking astronauts to the International Space Station for an 11-day mission. [via Space.com] Reviews: Twitter

Climate Change Conference Leaders Lowering Expectations (Little Green Footballs) Submitted at 11/15/2009 5:13:59 PM

The leaders of an upcoming conference on global warming have met with President Obama in Singapore and decided to scale back their expectations: Leaders

Will Delay Deal on Climate Change. SINGAPORE — President Obama and other world leaders have decided to put off the difficult task of reaching a climate change agreement at a global climate conference

scheduled for next month, agreeing instead to make it the mission of the Copenhagen conference to reach a less specific “politically binding” agreement that would punt the most difficult issues into the future.

At a hastily arranged breakfast on the sidelines of the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting on Sunday morning, the leaders, including Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the prime minister of Denmark and the chairman of the climate

conference, agreed that in order to salvage Copenhagen they would have to push a fully binding legal agreement down the road, possibly to a second summit meeting in Mexico City later on.

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McCain Aides: Palin's Book is 'All Fiction' (Little Green Footballs)

forthcoming account of the campaign, “Going Rogue,” told Submitted at 11/16/2009 6:31:01 AM POLITICO Saturday that Palin’s Some of John McCain’s top charges about him were made up. campaign aides are not happy “It’s all fiction,” he said. about Sarah Palin’s book. With a laugh, the shaved-headed Top aides to Sen. John McCain’s political operative asked: “Why presidential campaign hit back at is the bald guy always the Sarah Palin Friday and Saturday, villain?” c a l l i n g t h e f o r m e r v i c e Schmidt, Palin writes, was “grim presidential nominee’s soon-to- -faced” and “cool,” and tried to be-released book “revisionist and pin the campaign’s troubles on self serving” “fiction.” what he claimed was Palin’s post C a m p a i g n m a n a g e r S t e v e -partum depression, and even Schmidt, who emerges as Palin’s went to so far as to try and dictate nemesis in the advance excerpts her diet. that have surfaced from her According to excerpts published

on the Huffington Post, Palin “took in his rotund physique and noted that he used nicotine to keep his own cognitive connections humming along.” “I’m a forty-four year old, healthy, athletic woman raising five kids and governing a large state, I thought as his words faded into a background buzz. Sir, I really don’t know you yet. But you’ve told me how to dress, what to say, who to talk to, a lot of people not to talk to, who my heroes are supposed to be and we’re still losing. Now you’re going to tell me what to eat?”

Nontroversy of the Weekend (Little Green Footballs)

before Barack Obama was elected President. Where’s this rule written down? I searched for On his first visit to Japan, one of quite a while during the last America’s most valued allies, stupid “Bowgate” nontroversy, President Obama greets Emperor and couldn’t find it anywhere. Akihito with a traditional bow Here’s the State Department’s and the right wing blogosphere Office of the Chief of Protocol completely loses it. web page; maybe you’ll have Some of this stuff is blatantly outraged ranting is that US better luck. I think it’s a right racist too. Presidents must never bow to a wing urban legend. A commenter at Hot Air gives foreign leader. Bloggers all over I have to wonder if Obama was his perspective: the country are utterly convinced deliberately yanking the right’s Someone needs to give this half of it, as if they learned this fine chain; he must have known white half wit a swift kick in his point of Presidential etiquette they’d freak out, after all of the boney black ass and remind him r i g h t a f t e r t h e P l e d g e o f silliness over his bow to Saudi that Americans, especially A l l e g i a n c e i n C i v i c s 1 0 1 . King Abdullah. Presidents of the United States, Oddly enough, I don’t recall bow to no man, woman or beast! ever hearing this universal truism A common theme among all this Submitted at 11/15/2009 10:50:57 AM

Make Better, Less Messy Bacon in a Waffle Iron [Clever Uses] By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)

the fat and meat shrink and cook at different rates, and over time Submitted at 11/16/2009 5:30:00 AM leave a troublesome amount of You love bacon, but cooking it grease in the pan that makes in a pan is tough to time and multiple batches challenging. The leaves you with scalding-hot waffle iron pulls away bacon g r e a s e t o d i s p o s e o f . T h e grease in its nooks and notches, microwave? Please. Food science and you can collect it to use in miracle worker Alton Brown another food, or leave a thin layer shows how a waffle iron makes of grease on for seriously homethe best bacon. style waffles. We've customized the above Got a better bacon technique? video embed to skip right to the Drop that hot science in the waffle iron goodness. Watch the comments. Good Eats - S13E8P2 whole clip, however, and Alton - Another Man Food Show explains not only what kind of Breakfast[YouTube via Serious bacon to buy at the grocery store, Eats] but why the waffle iron wins out as a cooking platform. In a pan,

GM to begin repaying government loans (Financial Times - US homepage)

Giving the first snapshot of its financial performance since emerging from a courtSubmitted at 11/16/2009 5:10:32 AM supervised restructuring on July General Motors said on Monday 10, the Detroit carmaker reported it had cash reserves of more than a $1.15bn after-tax loss for the 83 $42bn at the end of September, days to September 30. allowing it to start repaying loans This content has passed through t o t h e U S a n d C a n a d i a n fivefilters.org. governments next month.

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An Early Look at Chrome's Extensions System [Extensions]

Pats' late gamble backfires as Colts win stunner

By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)

By Associated Press (ESPN.com)

Submitted at 11/16/2009 4:30:00 AM

It's not officially released, but a gallery-like site for extensions has made itself known into the latest development builds of Google Chrome for Windows and Linux. Take a peek at what's coming, presumably very soon, in these development screenshots. The Download Squad blog was the first to notice the new new thing in Chrome窶馬amely, a jigsaw-like page corner in Chrome's new tab page, next to a message at the bottom that reads "New! Chrome now has bookmark sync and extensions!", with both the message and the corner piece linking to http://chrome.google.com/extensi ons I saw the same link appear in the chrome://extensions page on my copy of Chromium, from a nightly build Ubuntu repository. Clicking that link, however, redirects you to Google's home

Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:57:21 AM

More from ESPN.com Bill Belichick sent a message to his defense that will be hard to get past, Tedy Bruschi writes. Story You might not agree that Bill Belichick's decision was justified or even logical, but there was a reason he astonished us all Sunday night, Tim Graham writes. Blog The Patriots' "video-game play" backfired, allowing the Colts to page. But as many are guessing, toolbar, inside the address bar, of the same functionality that win a stunner, Paul Kuharsky Chrome/Chromium wouldn't and in the bottom-right status hardcore Mozilla users could writes. Blog push out a new link to leave bar, and that developers will also never imagine leaving behind. Bill Belichick's gamble will be sitting dead for too long, so we'll be allowed to customize items Top and bottom photos from debated in New England for a keep watching that page to see such as Chrome's new tab page. TechCrunch; new tab page image long time, Mike Riess writes. when a full-fledged gallery pops Right out of the gate, developers from Download Squad. Google Story up. are also indicating extensions preparing to launch Chrome The Patriots' defense is willing TechCrunch's MG Siegler dove from Google itself tied to its Extensions gallery?[Download to take its share of the blame, into Chromium's Code Reviews Maps, News, and a Gmail Squad] Chris Forsberg writes. Story section, and finds screenshots checker. A B i g G o o g l e C h r o m e This content has passed through and discussions indicating that Exciting stuff, and even more so Extensions Push Is Imminent fivefilters.org. Chrome's extensions will be able if many of Firefox's developers (Pictures)[TechCrunch] to add icons to Chrome's top take notice and bring over some

Barbra Streisand talks to The Doctors By Allison Waldman (TV Squad) Submitted at 11/16/2009 11:30:00 AM

There will be an interesting guest checking in with The Doctors today -- Barbra Streisand. No, the

singer/actress/director won't be talking about dry throat or stage fright or even tinnitus, an ailment she suffers from that causes an unending high-pitched ringing in the ears. Barbra Streisand is calling in to The Doctors to discuss heart

and even though I've never Continue reading Barbra watched The Doctors, I will Streisand talks to The Doctors today. I guess that's why and how Filed under: OpEd, Daytime, celebrity helps causes like this. It Celebrities, Reality-Free draws attention and, presumably, Permalink| Email this| | I'm going to get something of C o m m e n t s health awareness for women... value out of tuning in. I've already had my eyes opened.

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SyncToy 2.1 Update Speeds Up Windows File Syncing [Updates] By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:30:00 AM

Windows: Microsoft's SyncToy is a simple but effective tool for mirroring folders across hard drive locations, networks, or USB devices. With a 2.1 update, it's been retooled to run faster, back up configurations, and handle errors much better. We've previously featured SyncToy as a handy way to sync files between computers and share an iTunes library. It also ended up ranking among our readers' five favorite syncing tools. 2.1 isn't a huge update with new features, but it does utilize a new syncing framework, and a few annoyance fixes that will win over those who dig this "toy": 窶｢ Better Performance: The speed of file copy operations is significantly increased across the board. 窶｢ Improved Robustness: Much more resilient to transient

network and file system errors and better error reporting which pin-points which file the sync failed on in case there's a fatal error that stops the sync. 窶｢ Folder pair configuration backup: Folder pair configuration is automatically backed up under %localappdata%\microsoft\synct oy\2.0. User can replace SyncToyDirPairs.bin with the backup copy to resolve last saved

configuration.

There are also a few bug fixes窶馬otable among them is a By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) fix for NAS syncing failure. Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:00:00 AM SyncToy 2.1 is a free download for Windows systems, including Want to get writing without 7, only. SyncToy 2.1[Microsoft] having to worry about fonts, formatting, or anything else, really? SimpleText.ws signs you in using Google, offers revision history, and looks like a text editor from a classic black-andwhite Mac. SimpleText's developer calls his app "human-sized," and means it. It's not intended for hosting is now available via MRI's move, Geoscape will become a gigantic text files, or storing MEMRI system. The deal gives third-party processor of MRI sensitive information. It's just for MRI clients access Hispanicity, data, offering the data online via which is Geoscape's Hispanic t h e G e o s c a p e I n t e l l i g e n c e c o n s u m e r a c c u l t u r a t i o n System's BehaviorBase module. segmentation database, through This content has passed through IMS and Telmar. In a related fivefilters.org.

MediaDailyNews: MRI Links With Geoscape, Offers Hispanic Segmentation (MediaPost | Media News) Submitted at 11/16/2009 4:30:24 AM

Media researcher Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI) last week announced that Geoscape's Hispanicity database

SimpleText.Ws is an Open-Source Scratchpad Webapp [Text Editor] writing out something, saving it, and copying it out for use elsewhere, or printing, if you'd like. If you don't dig the idea of storing you text on Hog Bay Software's servers, you can download the source code and try it out yourself. If you're a fan of WriteRoom for iPhones, it's one of the applications already working with SimpleText's API. SimpleText is free to use, requires a Google account to sign in with. SimpleText.ws[via Download Squad]

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VHD Attach Adds Virtual Hard Drive Mounting to Your Right-Click Menu [Downloads] By Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker) Submitted at 11/16/2009 6:30:00 AM

Windows 7/Windows Server 2008: If you're a fan of the virtual hard drive system available in newer versions of Windows but you're not a fan digging in the control panel for clunky mounting and unmounting, check out VHD Attach.

The default method for mounting and unmounting a VHD is either to drill down through several layers of windows or bust out a command at the command prompt. VHD Attach simply adds a right-click "Attach" and "Detach" entry when you pull up the context menu on a VHD file. You can also use application itself to mount a VHDâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as seen in the

screenshot aboveâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;where you can see additional information about the drive once you mount

Twitter Definitely Ditching "Suggested Users List"

it. VHD Attach is freeware and works only on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2. Have a handy t o o l f o r v i r t u a l h a r d d i s k , By Sarah Perez machines, or other virtualization (ReadWriteWeb) tricks? Let's hear about it in the comments. VHD Attach[via Submitted at 11/16/2009 5:56:35 AM DownloadSquad] Last month, Twitter CEO and co TWITTER page 35

Obama: "I Have Never Used Twitter" By Marshall Kirkpatrick (ReadWriteWeb)

never used Twitter but I'm an advocate of technology and not restricting internet access." (via Submitted at 11/15/2009 10:36:09 PM Breaking News Online) Barack Obama spoke to a group He's never used Twitter! of Chinese students tonight at a Shocking, given that his account town hall in Shanghai. The with 2.6 million followers has meeting was streamed live, even been "verified" by Twitter worldwide on the Whitehouse headquarters! (Update: As a website and on the Whitehouse's reader points out in comments Facebook page. He was asked a below, the Twitter website says limited number of questions by that verification is given to the audience and one was about a c c o u n t s r e p r e s e n t i n g Twitter, which has been blocked organizations and public figures, in China since July. but doesn't verify who's actually Got that? The President went to Tweeting the Twittle.) China, was asked about Twitter Of course Obama needn't use and it was streamed live on his Twitter or Facebook at all, much Facebook page. How the world less effectively, so long as he has changed. hires people who are capable of Sponsor making effective use of cuttingObama was asked by a student, e d g e c o m m u n i c a t i o n "Do you know about the great t e c h n o l o g i e s i n h i s firewall and should we be able to Administration's name. Clearly, use Twitter?" His reply: "I have he can. It might not hurt to add

a staffer's initials to the messages that are not paraphrases of any official statement, though. That's what Britney Spears does with her Twitter account. Twitter is Important Did you believe that Barack Obama was personally using Twitter?( surveys)

Meanwhile, is this not a changed international communication landscape? In these frictionless self-publishing tools, with realtime worldwide message delivery and network effects in listening, distribution and learning - there is something so powerful that it's a matter of international diplomacy. Whitehouse Press Secretary Robert Gibbs scoffed at Twitter this summer and told CNN the site was blocked on Whitehouse computers, something that subsequent reports apparently disproved but interesting none the less. It's no laughing matter, though. The impact of Twitter-like services really is like, in type if clearly not intensity, the changes the world saw with the advent of the telephone and the railroad. CNN and live cable coverage of

Tiananmen square, Twittering (or not) from China: these fit into the same category of disruptive tools for international communication. Maybe you should try it sometime, Mr. Obama. And while you're at it, you should ask someone to brief you on the movement for distributed social networking standards. A speaking gig in China would have been a great opportunity to sing the praises of decentralized, standards-based, interoperable, free-market competition in communication technologies. That's the next part of the Twitter story. If you'd like to join the ReadWriteWeb team in discussing matters of global importance (or not) on Twitter, you can find us here. Discuss

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TWITTER continued from page 34

-founder Evan Williams stated that he "desperately" wanted to retire the company's suggested user list - the list of Twitter accounts shown to new users of the service to help them find interesting people to follow. At the time, he hinted that it might evolve into something more "Twittery and democratic." But now, what was a "maybe" before has turned into a "definitely." Speaking at a conference in Malaysia, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone told reporters that the suggested users list will be "going away" and "in its stead will be something that is more programmatically chosen, something that actually delivers more relevant suggestions." Sponsor According to an AP article released today, Stone explained that the new suggested users list would be more tailored to the users' interests, but he did not say how exactly the company would accomplish this task. He also would not confirm when the current list would be removed or replaced. The Suggested Users List, commonly abbreviated "SUL," has long been a source of

controversy for the company. Meant to offer a helpful introduction to Twitter novices about what sort of interesting people, companies, and services can be found on Twitter, the list has angered many who felt it was a way Twitter could show favoritism towards some accounts while ignoring others potentially more worthy of inclusion. Noted tech legend Dave Winer argued that Twitter was taking an editorial interest in their service, and one that rapidly inflated the follower counts of those blessed with Twitter's "gift." Meanwhile, Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis offered the company half a million dollars for three years on the list. (Twitter didn't take him up on the offer.) The benefits to getting on the list are great indeed. Users added to the SUL, gained on average of 53,000 new followers after being on the list for a week and 170,000 within the first month. Some users even gained as many as 370,000 in the first 30 days. For a service favored by marketers, businesses, and other self-promoters, placement on the SUL was a surefire ticket to

Twitter stardom. New followers meant more traffic to the websites linked in the Twitter updates and more traffic meant more money could be made through on-site advertising. It was almost as if Twitter itself was writing you a check. Thankfully, in this case, Twitter has listened to their community and is planning on a more egalitarian system. The only question now is how will they know which accounts to suggest? Of course, there is still the old stand-by method of importing your email address book to suggest users you already know who are on the service. But what Twitter plans on offering sounds a little more robust. Perhaps they will introduce an algorithm that takes into account a Twitter user's "authority?" If that's the case, Twitter may be jumping out of the proverbial frying pan and into the fire. This is because there isn't solid agreement as to how "authority" should be calculated. Late last year, Twitter app Seesmic creator's Loic Le Meur started a heated back-and-forth on the matter when he wrote a blog post which said that Twitter should

rank search results by the number of followers you have. More followers meant more authority, he said. Social media guru and blogger Robert Scoble quickly countered saying that the number of people you follow was actually a more important number as is the number of retweets, the number of favorited tweets, the number of inbound links to a tweet and the number of clickthroughs on an item in Twitter search. Soon, the entire tech blogosphere was engaged in the discussion with seemingly every blog weighing in with their opinion. And this was only a casual discussion among Twitter users based on one person's suggestion. Imagine what an official policy change by Twitter will lead to! Clearly, no matter what the company comes up with, it's bound to be heavily debated and discussed. In any event, it will definitely be worth the wait to find out what that is. Discuss

Chris Paul of New Orleans Hornets has ankle sprain, tests confirm By Associated Press (ESPN.com) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:44:06 AM

NEW ORLEANS -- Further tests on Chris Paul's ankle show nothing beyond a sprain, but there is no timetable for the star point guard's return to the New Orleans Hornets. The team says an MRI confirmed the initial diagnosis. Paul twisted his left ankle in the Hornets' loss Friday night to Portland. Team spokesman Dennis Rogers said Monday that Paul will be evaluated daily but remains out indefinitely. In 10 games this season, Paul has averaged 23.8 points and 9.2 assists. The Hornets are 3-8 and have lost three straight and five out of six. That span included the firing of coach Byron Scott and his replacement two games ago by general manager Jeff Bower. Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Going Toe-to-Toe With the Hammer By Christopher Botta (FanHouse) Submitted at 11/16/2009 9:00:00 AM

by Christopher Botta

Filed under: Flyers, FanHouse Exclusive FanHouse's Christopher Botta spoke with Flyers legend Dave Schultz before his induction

Monday night into the Flyers

Hall of Fame. Going Toe-to-Toe With the Hammer originally appeared on Fanhouse NHL Blog on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST . Please

see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments

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Droid Becomes Fastest-Selling Android Phone to Date? By Sarah Perez (ReadWriteWeb)

form some initial conclusions about the popularity of the latest mobile device to run Android, Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:07:11 AM Google's mobile operating The Motorola Droid is the s y s t e m . newest smartphone on the market By monitoring the new Android to compete for the iPhone's devices on Flurry's system, the crown. Released by Verizon company estimated the first-week Wireless on November 6th, the sales for the Droid handsets as Droid's advertising campaign has c o m p a r e d w i t h b o t h t h e been a full-frontal attack on the myTouch 3G and Apple's iPhone popular Apple smartphone with a 3GS. Although the iPhone still heavy focus on what the iPhone outsold the Droid within its first d o e s n ' t d o . " i D o n ' t r u n week, Flurry notes that the simultaneous apps, iDon't have a iPhone simultaneously launched real keyboard, iDon't take 5- in 8 countries worldwide while megapixel pictures," taunts the Droid only launched in the Verizon's Droid ad. U.S. But did the message get through What they didn't note, however, to potential phone buyers? It is that the iPhone 3GS was just appears that it did...at least the latest model of the iPhone to according to mobile analytics arrive on the market, it is not the firm Flurry. In their latest report, original device. Prior to the 3GS, the company found that the Droid the iPhone had two previous is now the fastest-selling Android versions, the second which phone to date, beating the sales finally allowed for 3G cellular of the myTouch 3G by more than access and GPS capabilities. This four times. update made the iPhone 3G a Sponsor hugely popular upgrade and the Droid Sales Look Good company sold 1 million or so Flurry's analytics service units on their opening weekend. monitors over 10,000 mobile Comparing the third generation applications on both the iPhone iPhone to the first version of the and Android, or approximately Droid isn't a true "apples to two out of every three iPhone apples" comparison we'd argue, and Android handsets on the but on the other hand, the market. While obviously this isn't comparison of the T-Mobile a look at the mobile ecosystem as myTouch 3G and the Droid is. a whole, it's a big enough slice to According to Flurry, Droid is

platforms, the Android OS's install base may eventually catch up to that of the iPhone's. In any event, that's what Google believes. In a recent earnings call, Google CEO Eric Schmidt proclaimed that "Android adoption is about to explode," citing 12 Android phones on 32 carriers in 26 countries. Research firm Gartner predicts that the Android OS may end up ranking second worldwide by 2012. However, if more of the Android dramatically outselling the l a u n c h e s p r o v e t o b e a s myTouch 3G based on first week successful as it appears the sales. That may say something Droid's may be, Android may about the quality of the Droid's move up the charts even faster hardware, the impact of a good than predicted. Of course, who marketing campaign or perhaps ends up on top all depends on even people's frustrations with A p p l e ' s n e x t m o v e . I f t h e the iPhone's limitations. Or company decides to launch their maybe a little of each. Then phone on more carriers, all bets again, Verizon has nearly triple are off. If that's the case, Apple's the number of subscribers as T- market share could double, says Mobile, so they already have a M o r g a n S t a n l e y ' s K a t h r y n head start. The Growing Power H u b e r t y . B u t t h a t d o e s n ' t necessarily mean that Android of Android In the end, while we can't take w o u l d b e l e f t f a r b e h i n d . any of these numbers to the bank, "Android is "backed by the what we can learn is that the p o w e r o f G o o g l e ' s s e a r c h Android OS is making serious engine," said Huberty. "Google's headway in the smartphone other up-and-coming consumer m a r k e t . A l t h o u g h n o o n e and enterprise products should Android phone on its own may make [Android] a dominant beat the iPhone, as more and platform." Discuss more "worthy competitors" launch on numerous hardware

Saturday Night Live w/ January Jones & Black Eyed Peas Scores 4.7 Household Rating By Bill Gorman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:32:37 AM

In late-night metered-market households Saturday night: â&#x20AC;˘ Saturday Night Live, hosted by January Jones and featuring musical guest Black Eyed Peas (4.7/12 in metered-market households) dominated its time period. â&#x20AC;˘ Saturday Night Live delivered the #1 rating of the night in the metered markets, topping all primetime telecasts on all major networks. In fact, SNL outscored every Saturday primetime nonsports telecast on every major network over the past five months (since June 6). This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Tim Berners-Lee in Africa: Web Foundation Announces 2 New Projects By Richard MacManus (ReadWriteWeb)

will visit Kenya, Nairobi and Uganda. There he will meet with government leaders, development Submitted at 11/16/2009 1:48:24 AM workers and educators to help Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator support local Web initiatives of the Web, has embarked on a such as improving local health trip through Africa on behalf of and education. the non-profit Web FoundationThe Web Foundation was which today announced two new founded in 2008 by Tim Bernersprojects. Lee, with the aim of studying the The Web Foundation exists to Web and expanding access to the bridge the 'digital divide' in billions of people worldwide who Internet usage. Only about 25% aren't currently online. Today, of the world population uses the the Web Foundation launched a Web today, however more than f u n d r a i s i n g c a m p a i g n a n d 70% of people have access to announced two partnerships. mobile or fixed communication On the former, Web Foundation devices capable of displaying CEO Steve Bratt hopes to raise Web content. According to the $10-20 million per year, much of W3C, "the gap in Web usage is which will be put towards partly attributable to the lack of programs that train people to use accessible or relatable content, the Web. and the lack of available training One of the partnerships is with on how to use the Web to its full the University Amsterdam in the potential." Netherlands, which aims to Sponsor expedite"re-greening" initiatives On his African trip, Berners-Lee throughout the African continent.

The other partnership is with the CDI(Center for Digital Inclusion), a social enterprise based in Brazil dedicated to educating disadvantaged youth about information technologies. The Web Foundation and CDI plan to develop training

programs to teach young people how to create accessible Web content. It's interesting to note that many of the Web Foundation initiatives have a big Mobile Web component. In the CDI partnership, Web-based

applications are being created that will be "mobile ready." Accessibility is also a key aspect of these projects. The CDI web apps will integrate voice and graphical elements. In a previous trip to Africa in September, Tim Berners-Lee visited Ghana to meet with officials and educators. He's currently at the 2009 Internet Governance Forum in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt - where he made today's announcements. Starting next week, Berners-Lee will travel to Kenya, Nairobi and Uganda. Below is a video of Berners-Lee in Ghana, courtesy of BBC's Digital Revolution program, talking with a Ghanaian about why he values the Web. You can see more of these videos here. Discuss

Chris Rock has a Merry Madagascar with the family By Nick Zaino (TV Squad) Submitted at 11/16/2009 10:02:00 AM

Chris Rock has the kind of status as a comedian that allows him to work on any project he wants. He produced the documentary Good Hair, he's writing a book, and he has been working on back-toback film shoots. Tuesday at 8 PM on NBC, you'll

hear his voice in Merry Madagascar, playing Marty the zebra for the third time, along with returning regulars Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith. He's confident it's not the last time he'll voice Marty, either, with Madagascar 3 in the works. So why does a guy who can do anything he wants spend time in

front of a microphone pretending to be a cartoon animal?

"Money," he says jokingly, speaking on a conference call on Wednesday. "No, no they're good. You realize as you get longer in this business, the only thing that keeps you working is doing good stuff. You know, I mean the box office is great, too, but if people don't like what you do the moment the box office isn't fair, they don't want to work

with you anymore." Continue reading Chris Rock has a Merry Madagascar with the family Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Animation, Interviews, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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Russian Cop Uses YouTube to Expose Police Corruption By Jolie O'Dell (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 11/15/2009 7:12:22 PM

In a breathtakingly risky move, a former Russian police officer has taken to the Internet in full uniform to detail the corruption, danger, and brutality of his line of work. In an open video address to Prime Minister Vladmir Putin, Alexei Dymovsky says, "Maybe you don't know about us, about simple cops, who live and work and love their work. I'm ready to tell you everything. I'm not scared of my own death." How much does Dymovsky have to fear? The answer might surprise those of us who are accustomed to the relative freedoms of selfexpression. Sponsor Over the past week, Dymovsky's videos have gotten more than a million views altogether and have created quite an uproar in Russia. In the videos, he speaks with an air of desperation, frustration, and resignation rarely seem on camera. He speaks of the ten years he spent serving and

about police taking bribes, and about pervasive corruption. "I am not afraid," he says, "I am telling my name... But I cannot stand detecting the nonexistent crimes, imprisoning people who are not guilty. I can't stand it anymore." Take a look one of the videos Dymovsky has posted so far: These videos bear significant protecting his country. political impact, but they also Dymovsky served in the Russian speak to the importance of the army from 1996 until 1998. After I n t e r n e t i n a c t i n g a s o u r that, he worked as a district g e n e r a t i o n ' s s o a p b o x . A n y commissioner of the city police wronged person has an almost in the Amur region. In 2004, he infinite capacity to express, was transferred to the city of p e r s u a d e , a n d c o n v i n c e . Novorossiysk police department, Currently, a source at the Russian where he eventually advanced to Interior Ministry's internal the post of senior security officer s e c u r i t y d e p a r t m e n t h a s and oversaw crimes related to c o n f i r m e d t o a t l e a s t o n e drug trafficking. publication that representatives "We are working as hard as we o f s e v e r a l h u m a n r i g h t s c a n w i t h a l l o u r s o u l s , " organization actively support D y m o v s k y s a y s . A f t e r Dymovsky. referencing losing two wives, The officers mentioned in who refused to put up with his Dymovsky's reports have filed w o r k , a n d p r o b l e m s w i t h libel suits against him, and the "relationships with the bosses," Russian interior minister has said Dymovsky says, "I want to talk his office is investigating the about it now." He speaks of being former police officer's claims. denied leave of absence or Discuss medical treatment for illness,

Official Google Chrome Extension Gallery Announced Early, Launching Soon By Marshall Kirkpatrick (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 11/16/2009 12:48:34 AM

Google's Chrome, the fastest major browser on the internet, appears set to launch an official gallery of browser extensions in the very near future. In the latest nightly build of the app an extension logo and a link to a gallery page appear when you open a new tab. Right now that link redirects to Google.com, but we assume the gallery's launch must be right around the corner. Chrome is deliciously fast compared to other browsers, but the very limited extension support and ecosystem are hard for Firefox-lovers to swallow. Firefox advocates always question Chrome converts about just how fast Chrome will be when it gets weighed down with extensions. It looks like we're about to find out. Sponsor Lee Mathews at Download Squad appears to have noticed this change first tonight among tech blogs. I've been struggling all night with an obnoxious Chrome extension that makes my page scroll much faster than is useful. Lee says extension support is expected in early December, but it's hard to

imagine a dead link sitting on a Google product like this for too long. We wrote about some of the first unofficial extensions to hit Chrome this Spring and then some code upgrades intended to shore up extension support this Fall. An unofficial directory of Chrome extensions can be found at ChromeExtensions.org. Install them with caution, it's not yet as simple as managing Firefox extensions is. What's your #1 request for a Chrome extension? I want Firefox Drag and Drop Zones or the GCal pop-up plug-in for Chrome. Greasemonkey would be nice too, though user scripts can be added manually to Chrome already. And I want it to sing with speed, just like Chrome does today! Discuss

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UN Officials Censoring Chinese Firewall Protest?

Maybe it's time for personal servers?

By Jolie O'Dell (ReadWriteWeb)

(Scripting News)

Submitted at 11/15/2009 6:09:34 PM

At a UN-sponsored event today in Egypt, UN officials demanded the removal of a poster that alluded to the issue of Internet restrictions in China. The poster was an advertisement for Access Controlled, an MIT publication about the so-called Great Firewall of China, one of the first national Internet filtering systems and a policy that has come under harsh international criticism. The poster was being displays at the fourth annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The purpose of the forum is to support UN mandates regarding the sustainability, robustness, security, stability, and development of the Internet. Sponsor Its mission makes the poster's removal all the more puzzling. The poster, displayed at an Open Net Initiative reception, was apparently removed because it contained a sentence that violated UN policy. The sentence in question reads as follows: The

first generation of Internet controls consisted largely of building firewalls at key Internet gateways; China's famous "Great Firewall of China" is one of the first national Internet filtering systems. The goal of the Open Net Initiative is to investigate, expose and analyze Internet filtering and surveillance. We remain unclear on the exact policies the poster violated; however, we must strongly question the act of its removal, which amounts to censorship of protest of censorship - a censorship

sandwich, if you will, which few of us can find appetizing. "It is ironic that while people are allowed to gather here to discuss freedom of expression online, censorship, and surveillance practices on the Internet, we are being restricted in expressing our views," said Al Alegre of the Foundation for Media Alternatives, a member of the ONI Network, to reporters today. We couldn't have said it better ourselves. In our previous coverage of Chinese censorship of Internet access, we alerted readers to the fact that every new computer sold after July 1, 2009 would be equipped with software "intended to block pornography and possibly filter politically disruptive material, all while quietly gathering private user data." This "Green Dam Youth Escort" software is closely related, both ideologically and politically, to the "Golden Shield Project," China's national firewall aimed at censorship and surveillance of user activity. Discuss

Submitted at 11/15/2009 7:58:40 AM

In the early part of this decade, after the first dotcom crash, a lot of us thought that we'd all have personal servers by now. We called them fractional horsepower servers because the issues were different. Ease of use mattered more than scalability. And communication between servers and authoring tools was also essential. Hence XML-RPC, OPML and RSS. Instead, user generated content emerged as a business model, and many people went with the free hosting offered by startups. I never have depended on it, I've been inside too many tech companies to be willing to trust my writing with them, esp not long-term. The UGC business model only seems good for the users -- as they say if the offer appears too good to be true, it probably is. If you read the user agreement, they have no longterm obligation to host it. They probably don't even have to give you a copy of your own stuff. People ask how I use River2 while I travel. Well, my ISP, AT&T, offers a plan where you get five static IP addresses. I'm pretty technical so I know how to

set it up, and I have an old laptop in my house that runs River2. I log into it even when I'm getting on from the house, but I can check what's new from an airplane at 35000 feet, where I am right now. I've not mentioned this before, but a couple of people asked me how I do it, and I told them, and neither thought I was crazy. That's a good sign. Not that Google Reader isn't an excellent product, it is. But it isn't what I like. It's okay, not everyone drinks the same beer or drives the same car. And with broadband becoming more popular, and computers cheaper, and old laptops lying around doing nothing, maybe for some people now's the time to start looking at having your own server running in your own house. It'll be interesting to see what kinds of comments this post gets. PS: There's a thread on this topic at YCombinator. Major misunderstanding, by personal server I mean one that you pay for or own, it doesn't have to be running in your house. If you pay for a server at Rackspace or EC2, that's fundamentally difference from the UGC model. That's the important difference.

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Apple’s New Job Posting May Hint at Early Tablet Strategy By Liam Cassidy (TheAppleBlog) Submitted at 11/16/2009 9:00:11 AM

There’s been talk lately that Apple’s execs are a little unhappy with the direction the iPhone and iPod touch have taken in regards to gaming. They didn’t anticipate such strong interest in gaming, it wasn’t really a key concern in their initial plans for the platform…and anyway, Stevey J’s not much of a gamer, and everyone knows to steer clear of Steve’s dislikes. But as the Philosopher Jagger so wisely put it, “You can’t always get what you want.” And, as someone else once quipped, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join, ‘em.” To that end, Apple is advertising a job opening for a “Game/Media Software Engineer.” Based at its Cupertino hive mind headquarters, it’s a full-time position, and it sounds like Apple is taking it really very seriously; The interactive media group is looking for a skilled software engineer who wants to work as part of a small highly motivated team to work on interactive multimedia experiences on the iPhone and iPod touch.

OK, sounds like gaming, right? I mean, sure, it could be the start of iLife for iPhone, but I doubt that. I suspect this is more likely the beginning of some homegrown games. It has done it before(it’s just, no one cared). The position on the team is to help design and implement interactive multimedia experiences on the iPhone and iPod touch. The position also requires a creative thinker who can contribute and comment on the design process as well as being flexible enough to aid in all aspects of production such as asset management and able to work to a deadline. Yeah, definitely sounds like gaming. What other medium is best described as “interactive multimedia?” (Don’t answer that, I know there are loads of genres, I’m just being glib, mmkay?) The posting adds that applicants must have strong C / C++ / Objective-C skills, while an iPhone development background “is preferred.” In addition, Apple requires its shiny new game interactive multimedia codemonkey to have at least three years of videogame development experience, which includes having shipped “…at least one

AAA title.” So the question now is…why now? It was pretty obvious in the months following the launch of the App Store that games were the hot favorite of pretty much every iPhone/iPod touch owner. (Well, Games and Fart Apps. I once sat in a room drinking beer with some nerdy buddies and one of them started showing off his fart apps. No more than ten minutes later we had purchased and installed half a dozen such apps each. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Yes, I’m ashamed.) Unlike Fart Apps, public demand for games has a habit of persisting. (Insert Fart-Apprelated “bad smell” joke here.) So, if Games are here to stay, might as well get in on it, right Apple? At the very least, there’s money to be made. More Than Just the Money Of course, there’s another possibility here. Much has been said of the rumored iTablet and the challenges of making iPhone OS applications “scalable” — that is, adapted to run on the tablet’s much larger, higherresolution screen. Assuming the

iTablet also takes advantage of a custom chip architecture (courtesy of Apple’s purchase of PA Semi) we have a unique hardware platform in the pipeline. And when Apple has something new to show-off, there’s a very strictly observed custom to keep in mind… When Microsoft shows off a new technology, it traditionally does so with the help of a hardware partner. On stage during a keynote, Ozzie will say something like “We’ve worked closely with HP for ten thousand years and here’s their President of Keynote Demos to show off the new widget…” So then some exec in a shirt and tie comes on stage and fumbles around on a PC for 15 minutes talking about “platform integration” and “lineof-business opportunity” or, whatever. When Apple shows off a new technology, it traditionally takes all the credit for it, from inception to execution and every step in between. After Steve wows us with a 50 foot tall, allgraphics slideshow, Scott Forstall introduces a jeans-and-tshirtwearing execu-dude, “We are so proud of this amazing brilliant incredible new widget… so we

gave it to EA’s developers to play with for only six seconds and they produced this new game they’re gonna demo now…” Showmanship differences aside, the point here is that Microsoft never tells us how it should be done. Apple, on the other hand, always does. So perhaps (in the context of taking advantage of the potential offered by an entirely new platform) this job posting makes perfect sense; whether it likes it or not, the iPhone/iPod touch have demonstrated that gaming is an important part of today’s mobile lifestyle. Making them work properly on the tablet will be a new challenge, and one Apple will be keen to demonstrate from day one. If it is going to stick to the Apple tradition of showing everyone “how it’s done,” it makes sense it will want to develop a demo inhouse. If you fancy applying, you can read the posting right here. I wonder if Joe Hewitt should consider applying, y’know, just for giggles?

The Erin Wasson-Inspired Day-to-Night Sweatpant By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 11/16/2009 5:40:00 AM

Back in 2008, Erin Wasson wore

a pair of sweatpants to Alexander Wang’s after-party and my love affair with the just-rolled-out-bed -yet-totally-sexy look began. The sweatpant-chic offerings on the

spring 2010 runways have only

intensified my desire for these Erin Wasson paired her sweats cozy day-and-night trousers. with a studded bustier Click here for a slouchy-chic Follow ELLE on Twitter. option for under $175. —Violet Moon Gaynor

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Opinion: Psystar Ruling Could Have Set Precedent for Upgrading Your Mac By Dave Greenbaum (TheAppleBlog)

Apple’s fickle and inconsistent App Store policies further complicate matters and virtually Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:55:35 AM beg people to jailbreak their This past Friday, your future iPhone. ability to upgrade your Mac may Unlike with the iPhone, we can have been significantly restricted. pretty much do want we want on Psystar, the company that tried to o u r M a c i n t o s h c o m p u t e r s . create “open” Macs by running Installation of hardware and OS X on non-Apple hardware, software is unrestricted and suffered a quick defeat in its Apple exercises no control over effort against Apple’s OS license how we use our Macs. We can restrictions. circumvent functions in the No question this was a long shot operating system and enhance it and Psystar was going for the without a problem. We are Hail Mary. Nonetheless, Apple’s v i r t u a l l y u n r e s t r i c t e d i n arguments and victory in the case upgrading or enhancing our could have a chilling effect on Macs. Manufacturers can write any modification of Apple kernel extensions to modify the hardware and software. Will your o p e r a t i n g s y s t e m s o t h e i r next Mac be as locked down as hardware can work. Don’t like the iPhone? the Apple monitor? No problem, We euphemistically call gaining go out and buy your own. Apple the ability to install any software charging too much for RAM? Go on a iPhone “jailbreaking.” This out and buy third-party RAM. allows you full administrative Want to add new functionality to access to your iPhone to modify your Mac? Buy and install thirdthe software as necessary for party software that enhances the your own use. You already operating system. purchased the iPhone hardware The Psystar ruling reminds us and a license for the Apple that we use our Macs only with software necessary to run your the consent of, and the pleasure iPhone–but are restricted in its of, Apple. Even though you use? Apple locks you out of “own” your Mac, your ability to making certain changes to your use it can be modified, restricted iPhone; every aspect of iPhone or revoked by Apple without usage is controlled by Apple, yet recourse. As Macs grow in

market share and more thirdparty developers come to the table, we’ll be presented with options for our Macs that Apple’s own team can hardly imagine. If Apple starts losing revenue due to such enhancements, Apple can simply disable it. Any attempt to circumvent Apple’s restrictions could be seen as a violation of the DMCA. For example, to increase sales on iTunes, could Hulu be disabled by a future Apple OS? Legally, yes. We are one Automatic Software Update away from an Apple Kill Switch for our Mac. Conspiracy Theory? Think Again Before you blow this off as a conspiracy theory, note that similar actions have happened other times in Mac history. The most memorable was back in March 2001, when Apple issued a firmware update that disabled most third-party RAM. Apple RAM worked just fine, but other RAM was suddenly considered “out of spec.” Historians will debate whether this was deliberate or accidental. Eventually it all worked out when manufacturers swapped out RAM and other users avoided the update. In 1999, Apple disabled

G4 upgrade cards in Blue and White G3s via another firmware updates. The original iMac had the ability to support a floppy drive, but later Apple purposefully disabled that function. Previous versions of iLife only worked with Applesupported optical media. Obviously, Apple is going to vehemently fight to prevent nonlicensed Apple clones, and while it may be in the right here, the arguments used could be applied to any modification to the Macintosh OS, especially those used to enable non-Apple hardware to work with OS X. While I agree that the odds are low of waking up one morning and finding your Mac unable to boot due to a “DMCA violation,” Apple consistently argues it is its right to do so and it has exercised that right in the past. How very Microsoft of Apple. Just ask XBox 360 owners. The iPhone is proof of its desire to lock the consumer out of any unapproved modifications. What’s stopping Apple from doing this with our Macs? Financial interest? Goodwill? You tell me.

Rumor: MW2 recalled in Russia due to 'No Russian' scene By Alexander Sliwinski (Joystiq) Submitted at 11/16/2009 12:04:00 PM

The console version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has allegedly been recalled in Russia due to the controversial"No Russian" scene. Hellforge's translation of a Russian report claims that a censored console version will be released later this month in the region, and that an official patch removing the scene from PC and Steam versions is en route. It would seem that the choice of killing innocent Russian civilians in the scene isn't one that the government would like to leave up to players. To make sure this report stays as " fair and balanced" as possible, we've contacted Activision and Infinity Ward for comment. Any Russia-based readers that can shed a little bit more light on the situation should feel free to contact us. [Via Edge] Rumor: MW2 recalled in Russia due to 'No Russian' scene originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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AdMob Could Have Gone to Apple, Big Bang Theory clone Sources Say coming to NBC By Darrell Etherington (TheAppleBlog) Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:46:22 AM

AdMob, the mobile advertising firm that recently made headlines thanks to a Google acquisition, might have become part of the Apple fold if things had worked out differently, according to a report by Bloomberg that appeared this weekend. Apple reportedly approached AdMob with interest before the Google deal went down. That’s according to “people familiar with the matter” speaking to Bloomberg. It isn’t clear which side of the deal the source was on, but he or she declined to go on record since the proposed talks were never made public. Apple is said to have contacted AdMob “a few weeks” before Google made its successful $750 million bid for the firm. If true, the rumors point to the increasingly fierce competition between two major players in the mobile phone game. Google’s Android is being adopted by more and more manufacturers and distributed on more devices everyday. To have a piece not

By Brad Trechak (TV Squad) Submitted at 11/16/2009 11:04:00 AM

Okay, maybe it's not a "clone" per se, but the premise reads like an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Coming to NBC: a group of small-town fanboys try to only of the revenue from the use so essentially Apple would just make continuing episodes of their of Android apps and devices, but be closing the loop and taking in favorite sci fi series after it is also from the advertising that additional revenue by promoting canceled. Larry Charles, who was appears on those phones, is a its own revenue-generating behind such fare as Seinfeld, huge boon for the search giant. software delivery method. Plus, it Curb Your Enthusiasm, Borat It’s unclear why Apple’s bid could probably use the company and Bruno, will be behind the didn’t succeed, if it was indeed to place hardware ads as well, production. made. It’s possible that Google p r o m o t i n g l e s s s u c c e s s f u l The new idea is also "semimade a better offer while Apple products through the massively scripted", which means it'll likely be heavily improvised much like was still in talks with AdMob, or popular iPhone. that the advertising firm used the If Apple is genuinely interested most of the series and movies Apple offer as a bargaining tool in getting into online advertising, that Charles has been involved in enticing Google. All of the i t c o u l d a t t e m p t a n o t h e r with. Warner Bros. TV is the companies involved in both deals acquisition, or it may start hiring company producing and they also declined to comment on the staff with the necessary skill sets. do The Big Bang Theory, so reports made by the anonymous I’d hazard a guess that if the they're in effect competing with source. computer maker did make a themselves. This is a good thing Acquiring a mobile ad firm failed bid for AdMob, it’ll be because they win either way. would have been a bit of a twice shy about getting into the Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing departure for Apple, which is still game now, since Google now this premise played out on an a hardware manufacturer first and controls an intimidating 30 episode of The Big Bang Theory. foremost, but it is a logical move percent to 40 percent of the for Cupertino to make. Many of mobile advertising market. It’d the ads AdMob displays in be hard to gain a solid foothold at mobile apps direct users back to this point. other programs in the App Store,

Sheldon gets the idea and, using his sly coercive techniques, makes everybody else play along. Since he knows no other females, he coerces Penny (who is an aspiring actress anyway) to play the token female in the series. Quick! Call Chuck Lorre! Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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Lopez Tonight Scores Big First Week Ratings By Bill Gorman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:34:24 AM

via press release: LOPEZ TONIGHT Scores Big First Week, Beating the Competition Among Young-Adult Viewers In its first week on TBS, the high-energy late-night series LOPEZ TONIGHT averaged more than 1.6 million viewers and outdelivered the competition among highly coveted young adults. The show has proven to be a big multicultural hit for the network, with Hispanic and African-American viewers making up a significant portion of the audience. “We couldn’t be more thrilled with how LOPEZ TONIGHT performed in its first week,” said Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks. “The show not only changed the face of late night television but also infused the 11 o’clock hour with an exciting new energy that won viewers in a big way.” A highlight reel of memorable moments from LOPEZ TONIGHT’s first week is a v a i l a b l e a t http://tinyurl.com/lopeztonight. Ratings for the first week of TBS’s LOPEZ TONIGHT: • For the week, LOPEZ TONIGHT on TBS averaged 1,611,000 viewers; 1,165,000 households; 597,000 adults 1834; and 1,027,000 adults 18-49.

• The series hit a high on TBS with Wednesday’s episode, scoring 2 million viewers and 1.2 million adults 18-49. • LOPEZ TONIGHT delivered outstanding growth for TBS in the 11 p.m. hour, with viewers up 53%, households up 41%, adults 18-34 up 61% and adults 18-49 up 58% when compared to the same time period for the prior four weeks. • Among both adults 18-34 and 18-49, LOPEZ TONIGHT outdelivered the season-to-date averages for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Last Call with Carson Daly. In addition, LOPEZ TONIGHT outdelivered the season-to-date average for Late Show with David Letterman and the series premiere of The Wanda Sykes Show among adults 18-34.

accounting for 33% of the audience, while AfricanAmerican viewers accounted for 24%. In addition, the series enjoyed a higher concentration of Hispanic viewers (33%), Hispanic adults 18-34 (40%) and Hispanic adults 18-49 (34%) than any late-night talk show on the broadcast networks.

• TBS’s Monday night premiere of LOPEZ TONIGHT was simulcast on TNT and truTV and • LOPEZ TONIGHT on TBS was sampled by a total of 3.2 averaged a viewer median age of million viewers over the three 33 last week, which is younger networks. By itself, TBS’s than all competing late-night talk premiere-night telecast delivered shows. 1.8 million viewers. On Tuesday, the show delivered 1.4 million viewers, followed by 2 • LOPEZ TONIGHT was a big million viewers on Wednesday hit on the multicultural front, and 1.3 million viewers on w i t h H i s p a n i c v i e w e r s Thursday.

LOPEZ TONIGHT airs on TBS Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. (ET/PT). This week, LOPEZ TONIGHT is scheduled to feature Charlie Sheen, Demi Lovato, Oscar de la Hoya, Ted Danson and Floyd Mayweather, as well as musical performances by Slash and Justin Bieber, to name a few. LOPEZ TONIGHT comes to TBS from 2.2 Productions, paraMedia Inc. and Telepictures Productions. Lopez is executive producing the show with Jim Paratore ( The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Bonnie Hunt Show) and Mike Gibbons ( The Late Late Show). For the 2009-10 season, Telepictures Productions, an industry-leading and Emmy®winning producer of syndicated programming (having garnered

59 Emmys in 13 years, including Outstanding Talk Show/Talk Show Host for 11 of the last 13 years), is producing eight nationally syndicated strips, including the seventh season of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the fifth season of The Tyra Banks Show and the 16 th season of Extra. TBS, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is television’s top-rated comedy network. It serves as home to such original comedy series as My Boys, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and Meet the Browns, as well as the upcoming Neighbors from Hell; late-night series like Lopez Tonight, starring George Lopez, and the upcoming The Very Funny Show, hosted by Tim Meadows; hot contemporary comedies like The Office, My Name is Earl, Family Guy and Seinfeld; specials like Funniest Commercials of the Year; special events, including star-studded comedy festivals in Chicago and Las Vegas; blockbuster movies; and hosted movie showcases. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world. NOTES: All data from Nielsen Media Research. LOPEZ page 45

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TV Ratings Sunday: Football Wins For NBC; Housewives, Three Rivers, Cold Case All Up By Bill Gorman (TVbytheNumbers)

strongly from last Sunday’s lows, with every show up double digits. America’s Funniest Home Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:48:12 AM Videos increased 20%+ to a 2.2 Due to the nature of live sports adults 18-49 rating. Extreme programming the ratings for Makeover: Home Edition was up NBC (Sunday Night Football) 20% to a 3.6 rating. Desperate and Fox (NFL Overrun) are Housewives was up 11% to a 49 approximate and subject to rating. And Brothers & Sisters significant revisions in the final was up 10% to a 3.2 rating. numbers. See below for more CBS’ weak late Sunday night i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e s e F a s t bounced up as well, from pitiful Affiliate Ratings. to simply weak as Three Rivers NBC didn’t need to go for it on was up 11% to a 2.1 rating, and 4th down, as the Patriots/Colts Cold Case was up 24% to a 2.1 Sunday Night Football matchup rating. Big increases, but still easily got them the nightly weak ratings. The Amazing Race ratings win. Boosted by a was down 9% to a 3.2 rating, and football overrun, Fox was a without a football overrun, 60 strong second place. Minutes fell way back to earth to More on the football game a typically weak 2.2 rating. numbers coming up ASAP. Fox can thank the early NFL You can see TV ratings from overrun for its great average from other recent Overnight ratings last night. Otherwise, its results reports here. were in line with recent results. Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2009 The The Simpsons were up 2% to a Nielsen Company. All Rights 4.2 adults 18-49 rating. The Reserved. Cleveland Show was up 0.1 Definitions: ratings point from its off-timed Fast Affiliate Ratings: These episode last Sunday to a 3.3 first national ratings, including rating. Family Guy was flat with demographics, are available at last week’s 4.1 rating, but that’s approximately 11 AM (ET) the well below its season average of day after telecast, and are a 4.6 rating. American Dad was released to subscribing customers down 6% from its last telecast on daily. These data, from the October 18 to a 2.9 rating. National People Meter sample, ABC’s lineup rebounded a r e s t r i c t l y t i m e - p e r i o d

area at a specific time. (See also, Rating, which represents tuning or viewing as a percent of the entire population being measured.) Time Shifted Viewing– Program ratings for national sources are produced in three streams of data – Live, Live+Same Day(Live+SD) and Live+7 Day. Time shifted figures account for incremental viewing that takes place with DVRs which are currently in approximately 24.4% of all U.S. TV households. Live+Same Day(Live+SD) include viewing during the same broadcast day as the original telecast, with a cut-off of information, based on the normal from 8-11PM on affiliates in the 3:00AM local time when meters broadcast network feed, and Pacific Time Zone, following the transmit daily viewing to Nielsen include all programming on the live football game, but not game for processing. Live+7 Day affiliated stations, sometimes coverage that begins at 5PM PT. ratings include incremental including network programming, The same would be true of viewing that takes place during sometimes not. The figures may Presidential debates as well as the 7 days following a telecast. include stations that did not air live award shows and breaking For more information see the entire network feed, as well news reports. Numbers 101 and Numbers 102.• as local news breaks or cutaways Rating: Estimated percentage of In metered-market households, for local coverage or other the universe of TV households football ruled the night, with programming. Fast Affiliate (or other specified group) tuned NBC’s 8-11 p.m. average 12.8/21 ratings are not as useful for live to a program in the average i n t h e m e t e r e d m a r k e t s programs and are likely to differ minute. Ratings are expressed as establishing a 19% margin of significantly from the final a percent. victory over CBS’s second-place results, because the data reflect Share (of Audience): The 10.8/17. normal broadcast feed patterns. p e r c e n t o f h o u s e h o l d s ( o r This content has passed through For example, with a World Series persons) using television who are fivefilters.org. game, Fast Affiliate Ratings tuned to a specific program, would include whatever aired station or network in a specific

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CNN’s Ratings Slide Threatens Ad Rates By Bill Gorman (TVbytheNumbers)

TLC is really pushing the Hayes family as the anti-Jon and Kate

Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:23:28 AM

By Joel Keller (TV Squad)

It was interesting to me that CNN still would retain some sort of ad rate premium based on “brand”. After losing its ratings lead and falling to last in primetime, the once-dominant CNN stands to lose the last piece of top-shelf value still attached to its business side: premium pricing. Time Warner-owned CNN, while getting beaten handily in the ratings race and having fallen to fourth place in rankings, still commands higher ad rates than rivals — in some cases double those of Fox News and MSNBC. But perhaps not for long. While advertisers have been willing to shell out more for CNN’s venerable brand, broad

Submitted at 11/16/2009 10:29:00 AM

audience reach and lessopinionated programming, media buyers said the network’s ratings slide is likely to bring down pricing. CNN’s long, steady ratings decline now has some Madison Avenue executives wondering how much longer it will command an advertising

LOPEZ

Right now, I'm watching the Hayes family of TLC's Table for 12 chat with Regis and Kelly. It's not the first time we've seen them lately; since the second season of their show premiered, they've been all over the talk landscape. We're definitely seeing them a lot more than when the show's premium — the last advantage it first season debuted; in fact, TLC seemed to premiere the story of holds over rivals. “They will maintain a premium, the Hayeses, who have two sets but will it stay this high?” asked of twins and a set of sextuplets, one ad buyer. “I think it will on the QT last March. The relatively soft launch was a bit of probably go down.” a mystery to me, given the via NY Post. This content has passed through network's love of multiples. I mean, these guys had Jon and fivefilters.org. Kate beat by a mile, right? But now that I look back at it, there were two things keeping TLC from really pushing the Hayes family back then: 1) Betty and Eric Hayes actually liked

each other (read: they're boringly happy) and 2) Jon and Kate were still a couple. Now that J&K have exploded into a toxic tabloid mess, TLC needed someone to promote, and the Hayes' relative happiness seemed to be the perfect antidote. Continue reading TLC is really pushing the Hayes family as the anti-Jon and Kate Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd Permalink| Email this| | Comments

How to Read (New York Times)

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TBS comparison to prior four weeks excludes Major League Baseball playoff coverage. Season-to-date data for latenight competition calculated from 9/21/09 – 11/09/09. As Nielsen defines AfricanAmerican and Hispanic, the two categories are not exclusive, nor

are their percentages additive. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

(Yahoo! News Search Results for e-readers) Submitted at 11/15/2009 7:55:39 AM

E-readers like Amazon’s Kindle have caught on with the small set willing to buy a device just for reading. But pretty soon, most of

us will read books — or at least parts of them — on our ubiquitous smartphones. For example, Shortcovers, a Torontobased company, has created free reading apps for the iPhone, BlackBerry and Palm Pre, as well as for Google’s Android phones.

There are many free books available. Newer best sellers cost $10. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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NBC Still Has 30% Of Vancouver Olympics Ad Time To Sell By Bill Gorman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 11/15/2009 3:00:57 PM

With fewer than 90 days to go before the Olympic torch arrives at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, NBC Universal still has a solid chunk of inventory left to sell. And while the ad marketplace has begun showing signs of life in the past few weeks, the Peacock faces an uphill climb if it is to hit its volume target. Per media agency estimates, NBCU must move between 30 percent and 35 percent of its 2010 Winter Games avails if it’s to be wrapped by the time the

first athlete points his skis down the jump at Whistler Olympic Park. That NBC is pacing behind precedent isn’t exactly an unexpected development, given

the recession. In late November 2006, the network was about 85 percent sold out for the Torino Games, well on its way to setting a record haul of $930 million. That same year saw the U.S. economy grow 2.7 percent. Four years ago, sponsors of NBC’s Winter Olympics telecast paid between $500,000 and $700,000 per :30, and an ad in the 2010 Games could fetch as much as $800,000. That said, media buyers suggested that NBC is now much more flexible on pricing. via MediaWeek. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

NintendoWare Weekly: WiiWare demos, Pokemon Rumble, Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures By David Hinkle (Joystiq)

games. Hit the break for the full list. Continue reading NintendoWare This week, we get our first taste W e e k l y : W i i W a r e d e m o s , of Nintendo's new WiiWare Pokemon Rumble, Indiana Jones' demos. Surprisingly, it didn't take Greatest Adventures Nintendo that long to flip the NintendoWare Weekly: switch for North America, W i i W a r e d e m o s , P o k e m o n c o n s i d e r i n g t h e c o m p a n y Rumble, Indiana Jones' Greatest revealed the long-overdue feature Adventures originally appeared -- and day-one annoyance-- only on Joystiq on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 earlier this month. And on top of 11:30:00 EST. Please see our the free trial versions of select terms for use of feeds. WiiWare titles (five total this Read| Permalink| Email this| week!), there are also two new Comments Virtual Console titles to enjoy, as well as three new DSiWare Submitted at 11/16/2009 11:30:00 AM

Review: Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Table Read By Jane Boursaw (TV Squad) Submitted at 11/16/2009 4:25:00 AM

(S07E09) "You don't loan Jason anything ... anything that can be inserted." - Jerry Seinfeld to Larry David, about the pen Larry loaned to Jason Alexander It's me, the Fill-In Girl! And thank you so much, Jonathan, for leaving me with the mammoth responsibility of writing a thoughtful review about the Seinfeld reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm. I'll do my best.

bringing in elements like Cheryl being Larry's real wife and are they together or not, and is she a real actress or not... Continue reading Review: Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Table Read Filed under: OpEd, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Episode Reviews, By Jane Boursaw (TV Squad) First of all, it was really great to read of a Seinfeld reunion show Reality-Free P e r m a l i n k | E m a i l t h i s | | Submitted at 11/16/2009 9:02:00 AM see the gang back together again. put together by Larry David and It's like they've never been apart, J e r r y S e i n f e l d w a s p r e t t y C o m m e n t s And so Jane After Dark has and the whole scenario of a b r i l l i a n t . come to the end of The Wire. I behind-the-scenes look at a table And yet, it fit right in with Curb, need to watch it again to catch more than the one-eighth I caught

Jane After Dark: The Wire, season five (part two)

JANE page 47

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the first time around. But after watching all five seasons, spanned over most of this year, the thing that keeps popping into my head is that the bureaucratic end of things is really no better than the drug dealer end of things. In some ways, the drug dealers have more ethics than the suits. At least when a druggie does something that wrongs others in the system, there's no messing around. They're shot. They know they have it coming, and they step up and take it, just like Snoop did, asking if her hair

looked ok before being gunned down. Just like Proposition Joe did when he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable bullet to the head. Continue reading Jane After Dark: The Wire, season five (part two) Filed under: Other Drama Shows, TV on DVD, OpEd, Reality-Free, Jane After Dark Permalink| Email this| | (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix) Comments

NFL Diary: Colts 35, Patriots 34 Submitted at 11/15/2009 2:00:37 PM

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Review: Californication Unexpected Gift Rejuvenates Tomlinson - The Apartment By Danny Gallagher (TV Squad) Submitted at 11/16/2009 4:45:00 AM

(S0308) "For someone who loves women so much, you sure don't understand them very well." Jackie to Hank Hank makes for an interesting character because there is never one single, solitary way of looking at him. Some people see this alcoholic horndog as a success while others look at his cavalier exterior and think of him as an utter failure. He's certainly one of the most complex characters on television for a guy who has one thing on his mind,

By Nancy Gay (FanHouse)

two depending on how much booze is in the house. So naturally all of his bad decisions and mistakes will come back to haunt him, and this week, he got hit with them all at once in a bizarre clusterf#$% of sheer craziness. It's as if a tornado of tail just leveled Hank's house and life in the process. Continue reading Review: Californication - The Apartment Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality -Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

Submitted at 11/15/2009 10:00:00 PM

by Nancy Gay Filed under: Broncos, Chargers, Eagles, AFC West SAN DIEGO -- LaDainian Tomlinson's blessings simply flowed on Sunday. Two hours before his San Diego Chargers claimed a share of first place in the AFC West with a 31-23 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL's No. 3 all-time touchdown king received a gift from his wife, LaTorsha. Tomlinson found it in front of his locker at Qualcomm Stadium, a decorative purple bag -- "TCU colors," he explained later -- tied with a bow. The attached note

implored "Please Open Immediately - LaTorsha." Inside was a box, and it contained was a pregnancy test. A positive test. "My wife is pregnant," an

emotional Tomlinson announced on a day when one of the NFL's greatest running backs reached two significant milestones: His season-high 96 yards on 24 carries pushed him past Thurman Thomas and Franco Harris for 12th place on the NFL's all-time rushing list with 12,145 yards. More From San Diego: Brian Westbrook Suffers Another Concussion Unexpected Gift Rejuvenates Tomlinson originally appeared on Fanhouse NFL Blog on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments

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Getty Images Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes, including two in the final 2 1/2 minutes, as the Colts rallied to win. The Journal provides minute-byminute analysis of the Indianapolis Coltsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 35-34 victory over the New England Patriots at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Guest blogger Nando Di Fino offers commentary on the game and the NBC telecast. 5:05 pm | Pregame | by Nando Di Fino The NFL's most exciting rivalry of the past decade takes center stage tonight, as the 8-0 Indianapolis Colts host the 6-2 New England Patriots. Although not as geographically understandable as, say, baseball's New York-Boston rivalry, or hockey's Chicago-Detroit tussle, the battles between these two teams, especially as of late, have given football fans a tremendous treat: two consistently good teams, backed by inarguable star power. Indianapolis has lost a bit of that wattage, with Marvin Harrison being released before the season, Tony Dungy retiring, and their emerging number-two receiver, Anthony Gonzalez, going down with an injury earlier this season. But this is still Peyton Manning's team, and as long as he is still commanding the offense and dramatically calling audibles at the line of scrimmage so announcers can fawn and say, "He saw something right there. That's why

he's such a great quarterback," they have a fighting chance against any team. The Patriots, meanwhile, are supposedly back to their winning ways, but people tend to forget that the team was 11-5 last year and only missed the playoffs because of a strange set of circumstances that allowed two teams with similar records and a team that was 8-8 to get in instead. Tom Brady is back, though, and it does seem like the Patriots have a bit of a swagger to them that they lacked in 2008. The player to watch here, if you can make it past the glare of Brady and Randy Moss, is Laurence Maroney, who is on a Cedric Benson-esque road to redemption himself. The former first-round pick was pushed aside for Fred Taylor before the season began, after playing just three games last year because of a shoulder injury. But he has proven he is capable of great things before, as he had two 100yard rushing games in the final three games of 2007, and carried that momentum into those playoffs with another two. Who will win? Does it really matter? Both teams are driving steamrollers into the playoffs, but we should enjoy this game for what it is: a solid rivalry matchup between two of the league's elite teams, in the middle of November. Sit back, relax, and enjoy it for what it is: a stellar game. 8:28 pm | Pregame | by Nando Di Fino

Before we even get started, let's just get the highlight of the day out of the way: Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew apologizing to his fantasy owners for taking a knee at the 1-yard-line when he could have had an easy touchdown. I've spoken to him a few times for columns, and this wasn't just some publicity ploy -he plays the game and understands what those points could have meant to the teams he is on. Also, you couldn't meet a nicer, smarter guy. 8:30 pm | Pregame | by Nando Di Fino Are we sure we need a clever song to intro every football game? I think Faith Hill's "Al and Cris havin' fun on TV!" lyrics might be just be the moment these intros jumped the shark. 8:33 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino And we are off! Peyton Manning (oh, and those ten other men surrounding him on the field) start on their own 23. 8:38 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino That was a quick three-and-out for the Colts. Followed by a quick three-and-out for Brady and the Patriots. We've played a solid three minutes and there have already been two possessions. 8:41 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino Randy Moss went to Marshall, but he claims he went to "Rand University" in the player intros. It's a reference to a 7-Eleven back in his hometown of Rand,

W.Va. 8:43 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino We have a first down! An open Dallas Clark takes a Peyton Manning pass from the 10-yard line to about their own 35. After an Addai run, Manning hits Pierre Garcon for a 10-yard gain to just about midfield. 8:46 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino Reggie Wayne just made what appears to be a stellar catch along the left sideline. Indianapolis tried to quick-snap it before New England could throw a challenge flag, but Belichick threw it down first, and we have a review underway... 8:48 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino Wayne got both feet in -- and, the booth points out, he may have gotten three inbounds -- and the ruling stands. First down on the New England 26 yard line. Manning then hits Dallas Clark again for another first down to the 14. 8:51 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino Manning hits Addai on a quasi dump-off pass as he was being pressured a little bit, and Addai just stumbles his way 15 yards into the end zone for a touchdown! 6-0 and Matt Stover hits the extra point to make it 7-0 Colts with 8:19 left in the quarter. And HOLY COW, the turf is on fire! Indoor fireworks must have hit a piece of the turf, and there's a mini-mini-fire that, seemingly, only the cameras and

booth have caught on to. Nobody seems to be paying it much attention. 8:56 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino The Pats return the kickoff to about the 27, and we have a player down. A commenter here just posted that a friend at the game told him Freeney went to the locker room -- I am sorry, TJ, but he's messing with you. The camera just zoomed in on him and Andrea Kremer has been silent from the sideline. 8:58 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino Brady lunges on third-and-1 for the first down. On the next play, he finds Randy Moss for a 55yard gain (Moss was cutting across the middle and ran down the right side), setting up firstand-goal at the 7-yard line. 9:00 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino Laurence Maroney (our "key to the game"!) punches it in for a New England touchdown after an initial run got them to about the 1. Stephen Gostkowski converts the extra point, and it is now 7-7, with 4:47 to go in the first quarter. 9:07 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino TJ, here is an actual injury update for you: Joseph Addai is in the locker room with some kind of hand or finger injury. Kremer says his index and middle finger are taped together over his glove. Donald Brown, NFL page 49

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who had been out the last couple games with a shoulder injury, is in at running back. Meanwhile, Reggie Wayne and Austin Collie have caught a couple balls that got the Colts to their 39, but they have to punt it away. New England has the ball on its own 29. 9:08 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino Kevin Faulk alllllmost goes down, then pops back up, spins, and runs 22 yards up the left side to Indy's 42. 9:12 pm | First quarter | by Nando Di Fino Third and 9, and Brady throws deep to Randy Moss to the 20. It's questionable that Moss was inbounds (replays show that he was), but New England wastes its first down going no-huddle in hopes of pre-empting a challenge flag that never came. After a holding penalty -- the game's first penalty -- the Patriots end the first quarter with a pass to Wes Welker. The game is tied at 7, and we'll start the second quarter with the Patriots in the red zone, third-and-4 on the Colts' 15. 9:17 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino Randy Moss got "shaken up" on a failed pass and sits out one play, but he's back on the field for third-and-goal from the 4. And Brady is sacked! Gostkowski kicks the 31-yard field goal to make it 10-7, Patriots, with 13:15 left in the half. 9:23 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino

This game looks like it's going to hold to today's form, as nine of the 12 games have been decided by ten points or less. Just your fun fact as Indianapolis takes over from its own 20. 9:26 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino New England's Leigh Bodden just missed an interception, forcing the Colts to punt. Bodden is actually the indirect star of one of the best football-related YouTube clips in existence, when Chad Johnson gave a quickly-aborted interview after suffering an obvious concussion in a game against the Browns. "How'd Bodden do?" was a reference to the defensive back. 9:29 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino Touchdown, New England! Randy Moss makes a great catch down the right side, and goes 63 yards, making the score 17-7 with 11:18 to go in the half. Moss has made two gamechanging catches early on, and seems to be scarily in sync with Brady so far. 9:37 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino Addai isn't looking like a good bet to come back into the game anytime soon, especially with Donald Brown proving to be so effective. It's been a busy day for running backs, actually: Miami's Ronnie Brown left the stadium on crutches, Seattle's Julius Jones broke a rib, Cincinnati's Cedric Benson suffered a hip flexor injury, LaDainian Tomlinson came back to life with two

touchdowns, and Arizona's Beanie Wells broke out in the second half with two scores of his own. 9:42 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino Indianapolis has already punted four times today, and New England has taken full advantage of it, marching down the field with apparent ease. They go five plays for 57 yards and score another touchdown! The Colts, for some reason, don't throw a challenge flag, as it looked like Julian Edelman bobbled the ball and it may have hit the ground on his 9-yard touchdown catch (the booth fails to recognize this), but the extra point is kicked -- and good -- to give the Patriots 24 unanswered points for a 24-7 lead, with 7:19 to go in the half. 9:47 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino Meet your new Indianapolis running back: Chad Simpson. With Addai's injury and Brown's shoulder problems, Simpson is taking some carries and just rumbling downhill with the ball. On the season, he has nine rushes for 46 yards and a touchdown. He just may match that tonight. It's second-and-10 from the New England 20 for the Colts, after Pierre Garcon leaves the game with an undisclosed injury. 9:49 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino And we have a Reggie Wayne touchdown! Just when it seemed the Colts were about to get stomped and deflated, Wayne makes a great catch in the back

of the end zone for a 20-yard score, Stover converts the extra point, and it's 24-14, Patriots with 4:17 left before halftime. 9:50 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino Lost in the Wayne touchdown was a quick Hank Baskett sighting. Baskett, of course, is the former Eagles wide receiver who may be more famous for being married to E! reality star Kendra Wilkinson. 9:51 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino New England has third-and-10 from its own 20. If Indianapolis holds the Patriots here, the momentum may have officially shifted. 9:53 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino And they get the three-and-out. Brady was pressured pretty effectively there, to the point where, during his scramble where he might have made it close to a first down if he ran, he actually turned around and looked like he was going to maybe run backwards. He eventually threw it away, New England punted, and the Colts could make this a three-point game with another effective drive. 9:55 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino Pierre Garcon drops a long pass from Manning, followed by a Brown run for five yards. There is another player down, making this game officially more like an Italian soccer match than any NFL game I have ever seen. 9:59 pm | Second quarter | by

Nando Di Fino Indianapolis spits in the face of "momentum," as Pierre Garcon singlehandedly kills it by dropping the pass and then pulling an illegal-motion penalty. Indy punts before NBC shows a somewhat-uncomfortable montage of Tom Brady magazine covers. On that note, yes, Sports Illustrated did eschew a Yankees cover in favor of one featuring Peyton Manning this week. 10:00 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino We have reached the two-minute warning, with New England kind of threatening (they're always threatening, though, to be fair), and leading the game, 24-14. 10:03 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino New England is going to punt on fourth-and-3 from its 43 with 1:45 left, and Indianapolis gets the ball on its 24 yard line. 10:04 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino The Chad Simpson fairytale is most likely over for the day, as NBC reports he is out of the game with a head injury. The best part of that update? It flashed across the bottom of the screen with the old-fashioned "ding-ding-ding" NBC xylophone chime. 10:07 pm | Second quarter | by Nando Di Fino The Colts have two timeouts left, but are stubbornly refusing to use them after Manning rat-atat-tats relatively short passes to NFL page 50

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his receivers. On third-and-7 from their 40 with 32 seconds left, Manning throws an incomplete pass to the sideline. 10:09 pm | Halftime | by Nando Di Fino The Patriots get the ball on their 9 yard line, and opt to take a knee. It's 24-14, New England leading, at the half. 10:15 pm | Halftime | by Nando Di Fino So what was the story of the first half? I think it's that momentum shifts, then shifts back, then shifts back again way too easily between these two teams. Think of it like a morning after a big night out. You feel like you might be sick. Then you feel fine and think you're in the clear, only to have that "I'm going to be sick" feeling creep back up. The Colts were being dominated, came back on a quick score, held the Pats to a third-and-out, then squandered a couple chances to really make things interesting. Momentum is up for grabs at any given minute in this game, and I expect that to continue in the second half. 10:26 pm | Third quarter | by Nando Di Fino And we're back. New England receives the kick, and will start the half from its 27 yard line. 10:28 pm | Third quarter | by Nando Di Fino Brady has already targeted Randy Moss twice -- once for a completion -- as Kevin Faulk runs past the 50 for another first down. Al Michaels has now mentioned twice in this broadcast

that Kevin Faulk has been "doing it for 11 seasons." 10:30 pm | Third quarter | by Nando Di Fino In the "bad day for a running back" post earlier, I left out Brian Westbrook, who sustained another concussion today. The Colts' situation is today-in-theNFL in a nutshell, really: three backs with various injuries, which may have been messing with their flow in the first half. 10:34 pm | Third quarter | by Nando Di Fino After a series of short passes, Brady chucks it downfield to Moss, and the pass is intercepted by Antoine Bethea in the end zone. He then ill-advisedly tries to run it out instead of taking the knee, and somehow manages to run the ball out to the 12. 10:35 pm | Third quarter | by Nando Di Fino After a 20-yard pass to Reggie Wayne, Manning throws his very own interception on a bomb to Garcon. Somewhere, Marvin Harrison chuckles to himself. After the play, New England gets an unsportsmanlike penalty, putting the Patriots on their own 13 to start the drive. 10:40 pm | Third quarter | by Nando Di Fino On third-and-3 from the 32, Brady hits Wes Welker for a first down. He now has five catches for 60 yards, which could possibly be the quietest yards of any receiver tonight. 10:41 pm | Third quarter | by Nando Di Fino Since the interception, Brady's

plan seems to be "throw a bunch of milquetoast passes for about 12 yards each." They are just nibbling away at the Colts' defense. 10:45 pm | Third quarter | by Nando Di Fino And we have another player down. And a second promo for the Today show tomorrow morning, and their interview with the woman who was mauled by a chimp. Not to make light of the interview, but are people watching football really the target audience for a Meredith Viera interview with a woman who came back into the public consciousness after an interview with Oprah? 10:49 pm | Third quarter | by Nando Di Fino It is now first-and-goal for the Pats from the 8-yard line. Faulk catches a pass for six yards, followed by a Laurence Maroney run into the end zone where...he fumbles! Before he crossed the goal line! And the Colts get a touchback with less than three minutes to go in the quarter. This is karma's way of getting the Patriots back for slowing the game down with the chip passes. 10:52 pm | Third quarter | by Nando Di Fino Addai is back in at running back. At this point, I have no idea how the Colts are going to work their RB rotation. Addai has hurt fingers and Brown is coming off a shoulder injury. On top of all that, every time Indianapolis has an incomplete pass, odds are 2-to -1 that the words "Garcon" and

"Bodden" will be uttered within 20 seconds of the ball hitting the turf. 10:56 pm | Third quarter | by Nando Di Fino On third-and-5, Addai just misses a great catch that would've given the Colts a first down. On the next play, the last of a relatively brisk third quarter, Wes Welker runs a punt back 68 yards to the Indianapolis 7. We'll start the fourth quarter with the Patriots looking to put this game just a bit more out of reach. Of course, with the way things are going tonight, Brady will most likely throw an interception, which will be returned to the New England 5, where it will be fumbled and returned to the Indianapolis 8. 10:58 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino On second and goal, Brady finds a wide-open Randy Moss in the front of the end zone for a 5-yard score. Gostkowski hits the extra point, and it is 31-14, Patriots, with 14:18 left in the game. 11:01 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino Good news for Chad Simpson fans: He's back in the game! He just handled the kickoff, running it to the Indianapolis 20. After NBC does a quick bit on how Dallas Clark has been underutilized so far this game, Manning finds him for a 19-yard catch. 11:07 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino Better news for Chad Simpson fans: He's back in the running-

back rotation. And the play after he runs for 11 yards, Manning finds Garcon for a 29-yard touchdown! Stover hits the extra point, and it is now 31-21 with 12:20 left. This is unbelievable how the teams just keep answering one another. It's like the Groucho and Harpo Marx"mirror" scene in Duck Soup. 11:10 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino On third-and-5 from their 37, Brady finds Moss across the middle for a first down. Moss is going to hit 200 yards today, overshadowing the 201-yard effort from Minnesota's Sidney Rice earlier. 11:15 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino After the Moss first down, New England fails to move the ball and punts to the Colts' 18. The Pats are up by 10 with just under eight minutes left. Can they capitalize on this elusive idea of momentum? Garcon had a couple solid catches in the last series (including the touchdown), and maybe that confidence will carry over. 11:17 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino Who are we kidding? Momentum? Manning throws an interception, and New England has the ball on the Colts' 31. 11:21 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino After Brady throws an incomplete pass on third-and-8, NFL page 52

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Does Pacquiao Deserve Mention in ‘Greatest Ever’ Debate? (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:50:29 AM

Boxing has an impossible-tomiss, face-smash appeal, but the better part of being a boxing fan has always been about speculation and conjecture — which era’s fighters were the best, who would beat whom, best -you-ever-saw, and so on. While Manny Pacquiao was surely in the conversation even before pounding the hard-hitting Miguel Cotto mercilessly over the second half of a 12-round TKO victory on Saturday, his name is starting to appear near the words “greatest ever” in articles, blog posts and fan debates. The gutsy win gave Pacquiao the WBO Welterweight title, his seventh belt at seven different weight classes. More to the point, though, it was a conversationchanging event. Associated Press Manny Pacquiao makes Miguel Cotto’s face smushy Saturday. “Fight after fight, Pacquiao just leaves your mouth agape, making you wonder if you’ll ever see the likes of this in the boxing ring again during your lifetime,” Tim Starks writes at the great boxing blog The Queensberry Rules. “And I don’t think I’m overstating the case here — there’s nobody in the sport’s history who has moved up so vastly in weight over his career and been this powerful, this fast, this great. He is without compare. We should be getting used to him doing this kind of thing, but I’m

still not.” In The Atlantic, Gary Andrew Poole describes the experience of watching Pacquiao in person. Pacquiao’s powerful showing changed the conversation in another way, as well — just about everyone who cares about boxing is now anticipating a Pacquiao showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr., the only other active fighter who is in the mix in greatest-ever conversations. “Together they could restore the kind of magic and drama that just a week ago nobody thought was possible,” the Newark StarLedger’s Jerry Izenberg writes. “They could be the twin genies of Ali and Frazier and the rivalry that will never fade into obscurity.” In the New York Times, Greg Bishop examines the possibility that the Mayweather-Pacquiao mega-bout could wind up at a suitably grandiose mega-venue — Yankee Stadium.* * * It wasn’t surprising that the best game on Sunday’s NFL slate was the last — the matchup between the red-hot New England Patriots and undefeated Indianapolis Colts was one fans had anticipated for some time. The surprising part was how the game ended. After Indianapolis battled back from three scores down to come within six points, Patriots coach Bill Belichick made odd use of his two remaining timeouts before making the stunning decision to go for it on fourth down deep in his own

territory. The attempt failed, the Colts scored the winning touchdown with relative ease and the NFL’s most-revered jerkgenius found himself on the receiving end of both criticism and bafflement after a 35-34 loss. “Who would have thought the Yoda of New England would lose his mind and his nerve like the rankest of rookie head coaches and crack under the strain of having Peyton Manning yapping at his heels all night,” the Boston Herald’s Ron Borges fumes. In the Journal, Jason Gay tries to find a reason for this seemingly unreasonable call. “When you win three Super Bowls, people stop questioning your choices,” Gay writes. “Ice cream with Cheetos? Fantastic. Jon Gosselin as your babysitter? Superb. Insanely risky fourth-down pass against an undefeated opponent on their home field? Uh, sure, Bill, sounds great.” In the Indianapolis Star, Bob Kravitz cheers the latest in a line of classic clashes between these two AFC powerhouses. While it didn’t offer the up-anddown excitement of Pats-Colts, Sunday’s showdown between the Bengals and Steelers might’ve

been just as significant. Cincy’s 18-12 road win boosted the longirrelevant Bengals’ record to 8-2 and sealed a regular-season sweep of the defending Super Bowl champs. “The Bengals came to Pittsburgh and Steeler-ed the Steelers,” the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Paul Daugherty writes. One of Cincy’s two losses came against the Denver Broncos in Week One, but the two teams have headed in different directions lately: Cincy is pulling away, while Denver is falling apart. After Sunday’s loss to the already-fallen-apart Washington Redskins — a team I boldly (and incorrectly) announced I “wouldn’t pick to win a splitsquad scrimmage” in Friday’s NFL Picks— the Broncos have plenty of problems, the Denver Post’s Jim Armstrong writes.* * * College football’s big three of Alabama, Florida and Texas still loom large in the Bowl Championship Series standings, but the continued strong play of undefeated non-BCS programs Boise State and Texas Christian has complicated the BCS championship conversation. The Horned Frogs dispatched Utah by a convincing 55-28 score Saturday and retained possession of the fourth spot in national polls. In the Los Angeles Times, Chris Dufresne marvels that TCU is one Texas loss away from a possible spot in the nationalchampionship game.

“TCU and Boise State, after having fought for years for their rights, are now fully accredited, card-carrying members of the silliest system ever concocted to determine a champion,” Dufresne writes. “The Bowl Championship Series might be dumb, but it doesn’t seem (anymore) to be discriminatory.” In the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, David Thomas recounts the spread of Frogs Fever at TCU and beyond. “TCU officials announced a stadium-record crowd of 50,307 for Saturday night’s game. It was the first sporting event I can remember where I thought they had undercounted the attendance,” Thomas writes. “There even were lines for men’s restrooms!”* * * Most golf fans can recite large swaths of Michelle Wie’s golf resume from memory — played in her first LPGA tournament at age 12, turned pro at 16, just missed the cut against the best men’s players in the world at the 2004 Sony Open, tabbed as the female Tiger Woods when most people her age are buying SAT prep books. Yet until Sunday, Wie’s resume was missing a vital element — a tournament victory. Wie got it when she cruised to a two-stroke victory at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. At ESPN, Jason Sobel argues that it’s past time Wie heard some cheers. “Wie never deserved her role as the world’s most scorned DOES page 54

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Gostkowski kicks a 36-yard field goal, making it 34-21, Patriots, with 4:12 remaining in the game. The Colts have all three timeouts and the two-minute warning left, though, so there is some hope for them to close the gap. 11:25 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino I am going to say this and risk the jinx: This game has been refreshingly light on the penalties. Fine, there have been a few turnovers slowing it down, but with so few penalties, the game really moves at a nice pace. 11:27 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino And, naturally, Austin Collie draws a pass-interference flag on a long pass from Manning. It's a 31-yard penalty, and the Colts have second-and-1 from the New England 5. This was a blink-andyou-missed-it drive. 11:28 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino Touchdown Colts! Addai runs it in to the end zone for a 4-yard score, and Manning used just 1:52 to march them down the field. It's now 34-28, Patriots, with 2:23 left in the game. Quick prediction: New England runs back the kickoff for a

touchdown. That's just the way this game has gone. 11:34 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino Indianapolis shows an onside kick, but the Colts boot it over everyone and the ball rolls out of the end zone for a touchback. The crowd is really getting into it now, even though Gregg Rosenthal pointed out a noise problem in the stadium in this great piece from earlier in the week. 11:38 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino Third and 2 with 2:11 left from the New England 28. And the pass to Welker is broken up! It's fourth and 2, and New England looks like they're going for it. And they are! This was not a ploy to pull the Colts offsides. Brady completes a short pass to Faulk, but he bobbles the ball, which doesn't get the forward progress on the spot. He is maybe half of a yard before the yellow line. Al Michaels makes a great point, noting that because it's not inside of the final two minutes, Bill Belichick can challenge the play (as opposed to the review decision being made by the

officials if it was on the other side of the warning.) 11:40 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino And there's no challenge because Belichick is out of timeouts! The NBC booth had actually mentioned that an earlier Brady timeout might come back to haunt them. Amazing. Indianapolis has the ball at New England's 29. 11:41 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino Manning connects with Reggie Wayne for 15 yards, then Addai rushes for 13. There are 30 seconds left, it's second and goal, and the Colts have one timeout left. 11:43 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino Touchdown Colts! Manning throws a bullet to Reggie Wayne! Stover hits the extra point for a 35-34 Indianapolis lead. There are 13 seconds left in the game. Wow. WOW. Wayne just made an unbelievable grab in the end zone for the 1-yard score. 11:44 pm | Fourth quarter | by Nando Di Fino The kickoff is taken to the 20. Nine seconds left on the clock. 11:45 pm | Final | by Nando Di

Fino Brady hits Welker down the middle, he makes the catch and is hit, so he fumbles the ball to keep it alive. A Pats player lands on it, and the clock drops from :02 to :01 to :00. Colts win, 35-34. No words in the English language do better justice for this game than "wow." 12:02 am | Postgame | by Nando Di Fino I'm not sure exactly what we just witnessed in the last five minutes of this game.Â It's like a clown car pulls up to you on the street, ten of them get out, spray you with some fizzy water, hit you with pies in the face, pull your pants down, make you a balloon dog, and then drive off.Â You have no idea what happened, but it was fun. Bill Belichick will be roasted, Reggie Wayne will be toasted, and fans will hope that these two meet in the AFC championship game. But for now, in short...wow.Â There may not be another five minutes this season that live up to the five that ended this game.

Street Chic: New York By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 11/16/2009 4:00:00 AM

Who: Laura Praet

What: Show your stripes in a bold asymmetrical top. Wear: Topshop jacket, H&M shirt and scarf Photo: Lee Satkowski

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mail us your photo and you could appear in ELLE.com's Street Chic Daily. Follow ELLE on Twitter. Become our Facebook fan!

Rumor: Toys R Us Black Friday deals leaked By JC Fletcher (Joystiq) Submitted at 11/16/2009 9:36:00 AM

Don't want to grow up or pay full price for video games? A list of purported Black Friday game deals for Toys R Us has shown up online, with a few temporary price drops that may justify a late night or early morning trip to TRU on November 27. Most of the great deals are "5AM Doorbusters," which means that if you have yet to pick up Halo 3: ODST, Need for Speed Shift, or Forza 3, they'll all be $34.99 ... at 5AM. Good luck! Also marked down at that obscenely early hour: Dead Space Extraction, which most of you have yet to pick up. It'll be just $24.99. Whether any of that is worth getting up at ridiculous o'clock to fight each other over is your call. See the full list of deals here. [Thanks, Pete!] Rumor: Toys R Us Black Friday deals leaked originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Golden State Warriors in serious talks with Charlotte Bobcats about dealing Stephen Jackson, sources say By Marc Stein (ESPN.com)

dismissed as a threat to acquire him. With its offense badly in need of The Golden State Warriors have a boost after failing to reach 80 banished disgruntled forward points in five of its nine games so Stephen Jackson to Charlotte. f a r , C h a r l o t t e h a s b e e n Jackson exchanging proposals with In a deal that NBA front-office Golden State for some time. But sources said came together the Bobcats were determined to q u i c k l y S u n d a y n i g h t a n d make the deal without parting received the needed league with playmaking big man Boris approval Monday morning, Diaw. Golden State sent Jackson and The Warriors, meanwhile, had guard Acie Law to the Bobcats in reached the point where they had exchange for veteran swingmen to move Jackson in the first R a j a B e l l a n d V l a d i m i r palatable trade offer they could Radmanovic. strike in the name of team health, The teams announced that they fearful that Jackson's discontent completed the deal, first reported and uncertain future would by ESPN.com, shortly after 11 continue to hang over a group of a.m. ET. promising youngsters headlined The Cleveland Cavaliers had by Stephen Curry and Anthony l o n g b e e n c o n s i d e r e d t h e Randolph. favorites to land the Warriors' So Golden State wound up former captain in the wake of settling for long-term payroll Jackson's trade demand late in relief in exchange for its former the summer, when the 31-year- captain and franchise cornerstone old announced that he hoped to as well as some short-term depth be dealt to the Cavaliers, New to get through the injury loss of York Knicks or one of the three Kelenna Azubuike over the Texas teams. weekend. But ESPN.com reported earlier Bell's $5.3 million contract this month that the Bobcats had expires at season's end, while quietly registered serious interest Radmanovic is earning $6.5 in Jackson and could not be million this season and due to Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:36:52 AM

earn $6.9 million next season. Jackson is earning $7.7 million this season before starting a three -year contract extension worth nearly $28 million. Yet it remains to be seen how Jackson will respond to the trade, given that one of his motivations for asking out was the chance to play for a contender. His original wish list of teams included Cleveland, New York and the three Texas teams. "He's happy about the trade, delighted about the trade," Jackson's agent, Mark Stevens, told ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan. "This is what he wanted, a new start, and this gives him a chance to compete. Plus, he's a huge fan of that team's president, Michael Jordan." Stevens also said Jackson was expected to be in uniform for the Bobcats Monday night against Orlando. ESPN.com reported earlier Monday that one scenario Cleveland and Golden State discussed would have involved the signing-and-trading of exCavaliers forward Wally Szczerbiak-- most likely packaged with troubled guard Delonte West-- in a deal for Jackson.

Szczerbiak is a free agent after the Cavs elected not to re-sign him and recently underwent minor knee surgery. But the 32year-old has not ruled out trying to make a comeback this season and would appear to be fully eligible to be plugged into a deal by the Cavs in a manner similar to Dallas' signing-and-trading of Keith Van Horn in February 2008 in the Mavericks' complicated trade to re-acquire Jason Kidd. But the Cavaliers ultimately decided that they were not ready to go forward with a deal for Jackson so early in the season. Golden State, meanwhile, had only intensified its efforts to find a trade partner in the midst of a 3 -6 start and after Jackson's agent, Mark Stevens, harshly criticized Warriors coach Don Nelson in an interview with ESPN.com last week. Marc Stein is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher contributed to this report. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Two Worlds II pushed into spring of 2010 By Justin McElroy (Joystiq) Submitted at 11/16/2009 10:30:00 AM

After oodles of 2009 delays, this is one that really hurts. We're talking about a "getting bit on the finger by Charlie" level of pain here. Are you braced? OK. Two Worlds II-- which is not Two Worlds: The Temptation-- has been delayed by SouthPeak until the spring of 2010, according to GameSpot. The bigger question, of course, is, "What joke are we going to make about Two Worlds II being delayed?" We've gone back and forth, because we're worried about being too mean. We soon realized though that if you picked the joke, we wouldn't have to feel so guilty. Do our dirty work right after the break. Continue reading Two Worlds II pushed into spring of 2010 Two Worlds II pushed into spring of 2010 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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'Monday Night Football' analyst Jon Gruden agrees to multiyear contract extension with ESPN

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professional athlete, but it happened anyway,” Sobel writes. “Now that she’s finally found the winner’s circle, it’s time to strip her of such shackles, allowing her to once again be that talented By ESPN.com news services winningest coach in Bucs history receivers coach. After three phenom we first witnessed so (ESPN.com) (60-57 in seven seasons) and led seasons in Green Bay, Gruden many years ago.”* * * Tampa Bay to victory in Super m o v e d o n t o b e c o m e t h e Your Fixer is still sort of Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:19:38 AM Bowl XXXVII. He also has Philadelphia Eagles' offensive working his way into being a ESPN "Monday Night Football" coached the Oakland Raiders. coordinator under head coach s o c c e r f a n . M y p r o v i n c i a l analyst and former longtime NFL "Jon has truly reinvented himself, Ray Rhodes. In 1998, Gruden American-ness makes me want to coach Jon Gruden has agreed to a from a Super Bowl-winning head was chosen by Oakland owner smirk at the very words “New multiyear extension with the coach to one of the foremost and general manager Al Davis to Zealand exultant after Kiwis network. NFL analysts in the business, and be the Raiders' new head coach at defeat Bahrain 1-0.” How could Gruden, who joined ESPN in t h e r e a c t i o n h a s b e e n age 34. those two small nations think September to replace Tony overwhelmingly positive," said A native of Sandusky, Ohio, such a game is important, what Kornheiser in the MNF booth, N o r b y W i l l i a m s o n , E S P N Gruden grew up in a football with the Cincinnati Bengals will also appear on ESPN's Super executive vice president of family. His father, Jim, served as playing so well? But a pair of Bowl week and NFL Draft production. "We are thrilled with an assistant at Notre Dame in the articles on New Zealand’s All coverage, will call the 2010 NFL his commitment to ESPN, which late 1970s and later with the Whites soccer squad provides a Pro Bowl and will serve as an ensures that Jon will continue on Buccaneers. Gruden graduated reminder of the stakes and analyst for ESPN Radio's 2010 Monday Night Football with from the University of Dayton, passion of international soccer. Rose Bowl and BCS title game Mike and Jaws, and he will have w h e r e h e w a s a b a c k u p That Saturday win ensured New broadcasts, where he will again the opportunity to do even more quarterback. After graduation, he Zealand’s first World Cup berth team with MNF play-by-play with ESPN." started his career as a graduate since 1982 and caps a resurgence caller Mike Tirico. Gruden began his NFL coaching assistant at Tennessee in 1986. in soccer’s popularity in the "Working with Mike, [Ron career in 1990 when Mike H e a l s o s e r v e d a s t h e rugby-mad nation. “Rugby Jaworski] and our entire Monday H o l m g r e n , t h e n o f f e n s i v e quarterbacks coach at Southeast doesn’t do this, the sharing of the Night Football team is the most coordinator of the San Francisco Missouri State (1987-88) and the fun I have had in years, and I am 49ers, hired him as an assistant in wide receivers coach at both fired up to make this long-term charge of quality control. Gruden Pacific (1989) and Pittsburgh commitment to ESPN," Gruden quickly ascended through the (1991) in the college ranks. said in a statement. "Monday ranks by learning the famed West Information from The Night Football is special and I Coast offense pioneered by Associated Press was used in this look forward to remaining a part longtime 49ers coach Bill Walsh. report. of it and continuing to call these When Holmgren left the 49ers to This content has passed through great games." become head coach of the Green fivefilters.org. Gruden, fired by the Tampa Bay Bay Packers in 1992, he named Buccaneers on Jan. 16, was the G r u d e n t h e P a c k e r s ' w i d e

pain and the delight. This was 90 minutes of madness, of edge-ofthe-seat tension,” the New Zealand Herald’s David Leggat writes. “The night was about a collective will and national embracing of a remarkable achievement.” In the Journal, Gabriele Marcotti explains how FIFA’s decision to re-jigger the Asia-Oceania division — and a playerdevelopment assist from NCAA soccer — have turned New Zealand into a (relative) regional juggernaut. — Tip of the Fix cap to 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.

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Lack of upsets keeps BCS' top eight in place

Spygate to Stupidgate: Belichick Blunders

By Associated Press (ESPN.com)

By Jay Mariotti (FanHouse)

goals coach Gary Patterson has on display for his team. "If we win two games, we have Submitted at 11/15/2009 8:53:46 PM an opportunity to color in a box BCS Standings Remain The higher than we've ever colored in Same BCS Standings Remain in this program, to go to a BCS," The Same he said Sunday. "That's about as NEW YORK -- TCU's big far as I take it." victory wasn't enough for the Unless Alabama, Florida or Horned Frogs to make a move up Texas slip up, that's about as far the BCS standings. as TCU will be able to take it. TCU (10-0) on Sunday remained Florida has been in first since the behind Florida, Alabama and standings were initially released Texas in the race to the national last month. Alabama is second title game. and Texas is third. The Horned Frogs defeated Utah The Gators and Crimson Tide 55-28 on Saturday night in what meet in the SEC championship figured to be the most difficult game on Dec. 5. If they can both game left on their schedule. But reach that game undefeated, a they remained stuck in fourth spot in the BCS title game on place in Bowl Championship Jan. 7 would be guaranteed to the Series standings. winner. TCU, from the Mountain West If Texas can win its remaining Conference, last week became two regular-season games and the the first team from a league Big 12 championship game, it's a without an automatic BCS bid to virtual lock to play for the break into the top five of the national championship at the standings this late in a season. Rose Bowl. If the Horned Frogs can beat Undefeated Cincinnati is in fifth Wyoming and New Mexico to place and unbeaten Boise State is finish a perfect regular season, sixth in the latest BCS standings. they will earn their first BCS bid Like the Horned Frogs, the a n d c r o s s o f f a n o t h e r Bearcats and Broncos need help achievement on the pyramid of from the teams in front of them

in order to make a national title game appearance. At least the Bearcats control their fate when it comes to getting into one of the other four big-money bowl games. If Cincinnati can beat Pittsburgh in the regular-season finale, it will earn the Big East's automatic BCS berth for the second straight year. Boise State from the Western Athletic Conference is in danger of being left out of the BCS after a perfect regular season for the second consecutive year. Only one team from the conferences without automatic bids can earn an automatic bid by finishing in the top 12 of the final standings, and TCU is in line to earn that invite. The Broncos are in position to be eligible for an at-large bid but no team from outside the six automatic-qualifying leagues has ever been an at-large selection. Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Submitted at 11/16/2009 2:30:00 AM

by Jay Mariotti Filed under: NFL INDIANAPOLIS -- He was wearing a dark blue hoodie, stylish with a shirt collar, and my thought right now is that Bill Belichick should go back to the old tattered version. Because on Sunday night, in one of the most inexplicably arrogant brain cramps in the history of football and any other sport known to humankind, the coach who gave us Spygate introduced Stupidgate to the American lexicon. There were the New England Patriots, three-time champions of the Super Bowl and Team of the Decade, facing 4th-and-2 at their own 28-yard line. They owned a 34-28 lead over the Indianapolis Colts. Two minutes and eight seconds remained. Armed with a capable punter and adept special teams, the Patriots could have pinned back the Colts and forced Peyton Manning, great as he is, to drive his offense about 70 yards. The Patriots' defense already had forced him into two interceptions. Two of the Colts'

young wide receivers, Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie, were dropping the ball. This was the most obvious decision a coach could make on any level, NFL to Pee Wee. Punt the friggin' ball. Spygate to Stupidgate: Belichick Blunders originally appeared on Fanhouse - Jay Mariotti on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments

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Cowboys Lay an Egg at Bengals Batter, Bloody Lambeau Stunned Steelers By Dan Graziano (FanHouse)

By Greg Couch (FanHouse)

Submitted at 11/15/2009 9:45:00 PM

Submitted at 11/15/2009 8:45:00 PM

Green Bay," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "But it was unimpressive the way we didn't by Dan Graziano execute, especially early, when Filed under: Cowboys, Packers, we still had a chance to get the N F L Q u a r t e r b a c k s , N F L game going the way we wanted it Analysis GREEN BAY, Wis. -- to go." You could smell this game as far But the most disappointing part away as Madison, and the part of for the Cowboys was that, by it that stunk the worst was the losing this game, they blew a Dallas Cowboys offense. On an very real chance to get the season afternoon in which everybody -- going the way they wanted it to the officials, the head coaches, go. More: Check Box Score| the offensive lines... everybody-- Cards Get Big Win| Chiefs seemed to be conspiring to set the Outlast Raiders game of football back 40 years, it Cowboys Lay an Egg at was the Cowboys who came up Lambeau originally appeared on the smallest, committing 10 Fanhouse NFL Blog on Sun, 15 penalties and converting just 3 of Nov 2009 21:45:00 EST . Please 12 third downs in a 17-7 loss to see our terms for use of feeds. the Packers at Lambeau Field. Permalink| Email this| Linking "This was an impressive win for Blogs| Comments

by Greg Couch Filed under: Bengals, Steelers, NFL Analysis PITTSBURGH -When you go to a Pittsburgh Steelers game, you absorb the vibe. You live it. You expect a day of face-stomping, mouthsmashing and butt-kicking, and you walk away with the satisfying feeling that you've just beaten someone up. It's all about identity. So it was a little disturbing to see 65,000 people leave Heinz Field Sunday all limping, hunched over, bleeding and holding their arms to their sides. The Steelers are supposed to be the team providing the stomping, smashing and kicking, not the face, the mouth and the butt. And the last team you would expect to be pummeling the defending Super Bowl champs? Not just beating them, but pounding them? The Cincinnati

Bengals. More: Polamalu Reinjures Left Knee| Updated Standings Bengals Batter, Bloody Stunned Steelers originally appeared on Fanhouse NFL Blog on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments

'The Hammer' Enters Flyers' Hall of Fame By Christopher Botta (FanHouse) Submitted at 11/16/2009 9:00:00 AM

by Christopher Botta Filed under: Flyers, FanHouse Exclusive Dave Schultz will be 'THE page 57

Dyack predicts more publisher consolidation By Justin McElroy (Joystiq) Submitted at 11/16/2009 9:00:00 AM

Publishers have been disappearing faster than Ludwig's snickerdoodles at Joystiq's MidAutumn Tea Social lately, both through bankruptcy or (for the

lucky ones) being purchased. Designer and industry soothsayer Denis Dyack told Gaming Union he expects that to continue, comparing the shift to that of Hollywood which went from hundreds of individual studios to today. Dyack expects the role of the six major houses we know

publishers to change as well, though he's less specific on exactly what that means. Boy, one console and now fewer publishers? Sounds like Denis has been listening to too much They Might Be Giants. Dyack predicts more publisher

consolidation originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Warriors Trade Stephen Jackson to Bobcats for Bell, Radmanovic By Matt Steinmetz (FanHouse) Submitted at 11/16/2009 12:00:00 PM

by Matt Steinmetz Filed under: Bobcats, Warriors, NBA Transactions The Golden State Warriors no longer have a Stephen Jackson problem. He's Larry Brown's issue now. The Warriors and Bobcats reached agreement Monday morning on a trade that will send Jackson and Acie Law to Charlotte for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic. Jackson had made it clear late in the summer that he "was looking to leave" the Warriors and hadn't relented on that theme through the early regular season. The Bobcats weren't on Jackson's original "wish list" of teams, however, his agent, Mark Stevens had said about a week ago that his client would be willing to play for any team if it meant getting out of Golden

'THE continued from page 56

inducted into the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame on Monday night. Looking back more than 30 years later, it's hard to believe Schultz was only a Flyer for four seasons. "That's my only regret," said the man forever known as "The Hammer." Just four years. Ask any hockey fan to list the men associated with the great and notorious Philadelphia hockey teams of the 1970s and you will hear Bobby Clarke's name first, followed maybe by Bernie Parent and possibly the coach, Fred Shero. But in that next group -- along with everyone from Bill Barber

and Rick MacLeish to Gary Dornhoefer and Reggie Leach and the Watson brothers -- comes The Hammer. More Coverage: Going Toe-toToe With "The Hammer" 'The Hammer' Enters Flyers' Hall of Fame originally appeared on Fanhouse NHL Blog on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments

Chanel's J12 Fantasy State. Warriors Trade Stephen Jackson to Bobcats for Bell, Radmanovic originally appeared on Fanhouse NBA Blog on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments

By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:09:19 AM

Feast your eyes, because this may be the only time you see this Chanel J12 watch. Only a few of these pieces, encrusted from front to back in emerald-cut diamonds and rubies, were created. But rubies and diamonds are no jewels on the face and was set on stranger to the J12. A few years a black watch band. back, a similar one was created, Though only a tiny, tiny few of but the earlier model had only these super-bejeweled time-

tellers were made, Chanel assures us, should a customer truly desire the watch there would be absolutely no problem in conjuring up another. The price? Think in the ballpark of mid-six figures. Oh, and that's pounds we're talking about. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Rebecca Suhrawardi Austin Follow ELLE on Twitter. Become our Facebook fan!

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Achtung! Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies infests iPhone By Christopher Grant (Joystiq)

App Store description. Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies supports up to four No doubt strategically timed players over Wi-Fi, and two between last week's Call of Duty: players over a local Bluetooth Modern Warfare 2 launch and connection. You can use the this week's Left 4 Dead 2 launch, iPhone's tilt sensors, or the Activision just announced Call of always enjoyable virtual analog Duty: World at War: Zombies, a thumbsticks, to control the game. $9.99 iPhone game based on the With Apple remaining hands-off zombie-themed multiplayer in the space, the game supports antics of the series' console " A c h i e v e m e n t s " a n d a counterpart. Since the only thing "Leaderboard," but they're the publishers sent us by way of presumably isolated from other details was an 8GB iPod Touch games. The description also and iTunes code for the game ( promises that the game will Joyswag, ahoy!) we'll turn to the " f u l l y s u p p o r t f u t u r e Submitted at 11/16/2009 11:00:00 AM

Downloadable Content, ensuring that the classic survival experience will live on with new maps." Thanks, in-game purchasing!

the presumably outdated name of Vivendi Games' mobile gaming arm, taken over during the 2007 merger. We've put a line into Activision. Call of Duty: World at War: ZombiesAchtung! Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies infests iPhone originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for What's less clear is who is use of feeds. behind the development of Call Permalink| Email this| of Duty: World at War: Zombies. C o m m e n t s The iTunes Store lists the game under "Vivendi Games Mobile,"

Modern Warfare 2 makes a killing, bundled games rally in UK sales chart By Griffin McElroy (Joystiq) Submitted at 11/16/2009 10:08:00 AM

Much like a dude-seeking missile dropped from an overhead predator drone, Modern Warfare 2 sales plummeted in the UK after the game's first day of availability. As you already know, the game moved 1.23 million copies on its launch day - however, according to Chart Track's calculations, it finished off the week with a paltry 1.78

million units (for ÂŁ67.4 million) sold. With pathetic figures like that, you know Activision's got to be feeling disappointed. Other UK chart staples ( Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports Resort, FIFA 10) all maintained their top 10 ranking this week -- though the list had two unfamiliar visitors who vaulted to the top of the charts on the back of a new 360 bundle: Lego Batman(which jumped from 14th place to 7th) and Pure(which sprung from

23rd place to 9th). That's quite a bundled with copies of Modern comeback for these two titles, Warfare 2 instead. though perhaps they would have Source-- Modern Warfare 2 fared even better had they been Smashes All Records [Chart

Track] Source-- All formats chart [Chart Track] Modern Warfare 2 makes a killing, bundled games rally in UK sales chart originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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General Motors Reports $1.2B 3Q Loss (FOXNews.com)

Henderson said in a statement. The company cautioned that the earnings numbers mean little DETROIT General Motors Co. because they don't comply with says it lost $1.2 billion from the U.S. accounting standards and time it left bankruptcy protection cover only the part of the quarter through Sept. 30, far better than a f t e r G M l e f t C h a p t e r 1 1 it has reported in previous bankruptcy protection on July 10. quarters and a sign that the auto Even more unusual is the $79.4 giant is starting to turn around its b i l l i o n p r o f i t t h e t r o u b l e d business. automaker is reporting for the The company also says it will first nine days of the third begin repaying $6.7 billion in quarter, when it remained under U.S. government loans with a bankruptcy court protection but $ 1 . 2 b i l l i o n p a y m e n t i n was able to scrap colossal December. It could pay off the amounts of debt and other full amount by 2011, four years obligations from its balance ahead of schedule, but the money sheet. will come from funds loaned by "Direct comparisons are not the government. necessarily applicable," said G M s a i d i t s i m p r o v e d Chief Financial Officer Ray performance was fueled by new Young. "You can make some products including the Chevrolet judgments in terms of trends," Camaro muscle car, and the Young said. Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Nonetheless, GM maintains the Terrain midsize crossover numbers show a company vehicles. The company's top m a k i n g p r o g r e s s , r i d i n g sellers through October were the dramatically reduced structural Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck costs to a far better performance and Impala full-size car. than the $6 billion loss GM Also, GM's global presence reported in the first quarter, the helped the company, particularly last full quarter for which its in China, where its sales of n u m b e r s m e t a c c o u n t i n g 478,000 in the third quarter s t a n d a r d s . increased 6 percent over the GM took in $3.3 billion more second quarter. cash than it spent for the third "We have significantly more quarter, far better than the $10 work to do, but today's results billion the company burned provide evidence of the solid through during the first quarter. foundation we are building for Its third-quarter revenue totaled the new GM," CEO Fritz $ 2 6 . 4 b i l l i o n , a l s o a n Submitted at 11/16/2009 6:15:51 AM

improvement over the first quarter when it saw revenue drop nearly 50 percent from the same period in 2008 to $22.4 billion. Revenue was aided by sales boosts in July and August from the U.S. government's Cash for Clunkers rebates. GM said its global market share was 11.9 percent in the third quarter, up three percentage points from the first half of the year. The U.S. share stayed flat for the quarter at 19.5 percent. Many customers stayed away from GM showrooms in the first and second quarters as it headed into bankruptcy protection, fearing the company wouldn't be around to honor warranties and service their vehicles. Young said GM accountants are in the process of cleaning up the new company's books, revaluing assets and liabilities and changes to pension and health care costs that came from bankruptcy and a new contract with the United Auto Workers union. GM expects to meet accounting standards when it reports fullyear results for fiscal 2009, but those figures probably won't be released until March as accountants go through the complex process of figuring out just how much the company is now worth. But Young said the third-quarter results still are useful to management in spotting trends

and measuring whether the company is making progress. GM lost $78 billion from 2006 through the first quarter of this year. The gargantuan losses and debt eventually choked the company to the point where it could no longer operate without government help. GM entered bankruptcy protection with roughly $94.7 billion in debt. It emerged with $17 billion, including the $6.7 billion owed to the U.S. government. The government has given GM a total of $52 billion, including $45.3 billion in exchange for a 61 percent equity stake in the company. The automaker also says it will begin repaying $1.4 billion it owes to the Canadian and Ontario governments in December. The loan repayments will come from escrow accounts set up for the company by the U.S. Treasury Department and Canadian governments. GM also has paid $700 million on a $1.3 billion loan from the German government to keep GM's Opel division in operation. The balance will be repaid this month, GM said. Henderson said a "reasonably large" part of the Opel repayment came from GM's U.S.-generated funds, while some came from Opel funds, but Henderson said GM is a global company and needs to have flexibility to use

the money to run global operations. The CEO disagreed with a report by the General Accounting Office saying that it was doubtful the U.S. government would recoup all of the money given to GM. He said full repayment is a function of stock value, and he intends to make the stock valuable by managing the company well. "It is my mission to disprove the GAO," Henderson said. GM said it paid $250 million in interest for the third quarter, far lower than in previous quarters when the company was weighed down by its huge debt. Although the company reported positive cash flow for the third quarter, it does not expect that to continue into the fourth quarter because of the government loan repayments and a $2.8 billion payment to help Delphi Corp., its former parts division, out of bankruptcy protection. GM has said it plans to sell stock to the public late next year so taxpayers can recoup at least part of their remaining investment, though GM Chairman Ed Whitacre said last week the timing of any GM IPO remains uncertain and depends on when the company returns to profitability. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Obama presses China over rights (BBC News | Americas | World Edition) Submitted at 11/16/2009 5:09:45 AM

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. President Barack Obama was speaking to students in Shanghai US President Barack Obama has told China that individual rights and freedoms should be available to all. He told an audience of Chinese students that certain freedoms were universal - and not just limited to Americans. Speaking at a question-andanswer session in Shanghai, Mr Obama added that China and the US were not destined to be adversaries. Later, he met Chinese President Hu Jintao for dinner in Beijing ahead of a summit on Tuesday. Mr Obama's visit has received minimal coverage in the Chinese media, with his arrival in Beijing mentioned in a report 25 minutes into state TV's evening news programme. The Shanghai meeting was not mentioned in the bulletin, although it was carried live on local Shanghai TV and streamed on two national internet portals. Freedom of expression In his speech at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, the US president praised China's efforts in lifting millions of people out of poverty, saying it was "unparalleled" in human history. The president was cautious and

careful in his town hall meeting. He praised his hosts but, using the language of diplomacy, he also talked about rights and freedom. The US ambassador to China read out an internet user's question about freedom of expression on the internet. The president's response? The US and China have "different traditions". On the streets of the city we found many who were happy he was here. "His visit shows that China's influence is increasing," one woman told me. "The distance between our countries is getting shortened." But the BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing says Mr Obama also made comments that his hosts would have been less pleased to

hear. "We do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation, but we also don't believe that the principles we stand for are unique to our nation," he said. "These freedoms of expression and worship, of access to information and political participation - we believe are universal rights." China is an authoritarian country in which there are no elections for the country's national leaders. Media outlets and the internet are heavily censored, and those who speak out against the government are often imprisoned. Mr Obama added: "They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious

minorities, whether they are in the United States, China or any nation." After his main speech, he addressed the issue again in a question and answer session with Chinese students - many of whom spoke English. Mr Obama said freedom of information - including open access to the internet - was important. "That makes our democracy stronger because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear - it forces me to examine what I'm doing," he said. He said the internet was a powerful tool to mobilise people and had helped him win the presidency last year. Nobel prize

The US president said there was no reason that the United States and China - a "majestic" country - should not co-operate. "We have known setbacks and challenges over the last 30 years. Our relationship has not been without disagreement and difficulty. But the notion that we must be adversaries is not predestined," he said. The United States does not want to constrain China's rise, the US president added. He made a similar comment a few days ago in Japan. Mr Obama's question-andanswer session included queries about Taiwan, the Nobel Peace Prize and cultural diversity. The president then flew to Beijing to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao for dinner. The two are expected to hold talks on Tuesday on issues such as trade imbalances, the nuclear programmes of Iran and North Korea, and the effort to tackle climate change. Mr Obama is on his first trip to Asia as US president. He has visited Japan and Singapore, and is scheduled to fly to South Korea after leaving China. Are you in China? Were you in the audience? What do you think of President Obama's comments? Send us your comments using the form below. A selection of your comments may be published, displaying OBAMA page 64

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Police now searching for body of missing NC girl (AP)

Atlantis shuttle set to blast off

(Yahoo! News: U.S. News)

(BBC News | Americas | World Edition)

Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:57:26 AM

SANFORD, N.C. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Authorities searched along a highway Monday for the body of a missing 5-year-old girl but said they still hoped they might find her alive. Shaniya Davis has been missing since last Tuesday. Her mother, who reported her gone, is accused of offering her for prostitution, according to court documents and police. About 200 searchers fanned across several miles southeast of Sanford on Monday based on "reliable information" that her body may have been dumped there, said Fayetteville Police spokeswoman Theresa Chance. Some walked along roads, ravines and fields while others drove on four-wheelers and a helicopter roamed above. "The information we received was that her body was dumped, so at that point she would not be alive, she would be dead," Chance said. Still, she said, investigators were not giving up on the possibility they might find Shaniya safe.

They searched elsewhere and chased leads called in from as far away as Oregon. "We're hoping that she's alive," Chance said. Sanford resident Randall Fore, 40, joined the search as a volunteer Sunday, using his fourwheeler to traverse roads and woods. He continued helping Monday and said crews had only covered "a fraction" of the ground they would like to search. "I've got a 4-year-old daughter," Fore said. "Any concerned parent would do the same. I'm doing everything I can." Police were also chasing an unconfirmed tip that Shaniya was seen with a man driving a blue or smoky gray 1995 Toyota. State troopers were asked to be on the lookout, said Sgt. Jeff Gordon of the Highway Patrol. Shaniya's mother, Antoinette Davis, 25, has been charged with human trafficking and felony child abuse, police said. Police also filed kidnapping charges against 29-year old Mario Andrette McNeill, who was seen in surveillance footage carrying Shaniya at a Sanford hotel. Authorities have said McNeill

admitted taking the girl, though his attorney said he will plead not guilty to the charge. Police have not said if McNeill and Davis knew each other. Davis was scheduled to make a first appearance in court Monday afternoon and police said she did not yet have an attorney. Shaniya's father, Bradley Lockhart, said he raised his daughter for several years but last month decided to let her stay with her mother. He has pleaded for her safe return. "I should've never let her go over there," he told The Associated Press on Saturday. He said on CBS's " The Early Show" Monday that he remained hopeful someone would bring his daughter somewhere safe, such as a police station or hospital. "They can drop her off at Walmart, I don't care," he said. ___ Associated Press Writer Mike Baker in Raleigh contributed to this report. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

modules, gas tanks, two control moment gyroscopes and component for the space station's Submitted at 11/15/2009 2:26:36 PM robotic arm. The US space shuttle Atlantis is But the astronauts will also help scheduled to blast off from prepare the way for the next Florida on a mission to deliver shuttle mission, during which the spare parts to the International last US space station module will Space Station (ISS). be delivered: the Tranquility Lift-off is planned for 1928 node with its attached cupola. GMT (1428 EST) on Monday The cupola is a window module from the Kennedy Space Center to provide crew members with a near Cape Canaveral. direct view of operations outside There are just five more shuttle t h e s p a c e s t a t i o n a n d a n launches scheduled before the observation point for watching planned retirement of the fleet in the Earth. 2010. Captained by Charlie Hobaugh, The mission is set to include a colonel in the US marines, the t h r e e s p a c e w a l k s t o s t o r e all-male crew of Atlantis arrived hardware on the outside of the on Thursday at Kennedy Space orbiting outpost. Center from Houston, Texas, "Atlantis is ready to go, in really where they have been training for great shape," said shuttle launch the mission. manager Mike Moses at a news The six astronauts will spend the conference. US Thanksgiving holiday in The weather is also looking orbit. They will return to Earth good for Monday's launch; with a seventh crew member, meteorologist Kathy Winters said Nicole Stott, who's been living at there was just a 10% chance of the space station for nearly three weather prohibiting the launch. months This mission is dedicated to The 11-day space outing will be b u i l d i n g u p t h e s t o r e o f the fifth and last shuttle mission replacement parts on the space for 2009. station, which is nearing the Print Sponsor completion of its construction This content has passed through phase. fivefilters.org. These spares include pump

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New Greenpeace head attacks Obama (BBC News | Americas | World Edition)

the appointment of Mr Naidoo marks a continuing shift in focus from whaling and nuclear testing Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:13:22 AM to climate change. The new head of environmental 'Disappointed' group Greenpeace, South African Mr Naidoo said human existence Kumi Naidoo, says he will on the planet was "fundamentally prioritise the impact of climate under threat" by climate change. change on the world's poor. "We are seeing every year now, A BBC reporter in Johannesburg 300,000 more people dying from says it reflects his background as what can be described as climatea anti-poverty and anti-apartheid related impacts," he told the campaigner. BBC. In a BBC interview, he also "We're talking about climate criticised the US president for refugees and so on, connecting failing to make the fate of the all of those existing focus on the earth a priority. environment with human He said Barack Obama no longer concerns, is both the right thing reflected the urgency about the to do." planet he had during his election He said Mr Obama had lost his campaign. urgency on the issue. Mr Naidoo is the first African to "During his election campaign... head Greenpeace since it was every single speech that he gave, founded in 1971. he talked about a planet in peril, The group has perfected the art referring to climate change," Mr of using high-profile media Naidoo said. "We all understood events to exert pressure on that he 'got' it." politicians and big business. On Sunday, Mr Obama and The BBC's Jonah Fisher in other world leaders meeting in South Africa say for Greenpeace Singapore said it would not be

possible to reach a climate change deal ahead of next month's UN conference in Copenhagen. Mr Naidoo said he was "quite disappointed" that Mr Obama had not yet announced clearly his intention to attend the summit. At the two-day Asia-Pacific summit, world leaders dropped a target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which was outlined in an earlier draft. "Anything short of a binding treaty in Copenhagen must be read as a failure of leadership on the part of the political class," AP news agency quoted him as saying on Monday. "We can't change the science. The science is clear. We have to change the politics. If we can't change the politics, then we have to put our energies into changing the politicians." Print Sponsor This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Report: Chicago Board of Ed. President Shot Himself (FOXNews.com) Submitted at 11/16/2009 8:14:21 AM

CHICAGO The president of the Chicago Board of Education reportedly shot himself in the head along the Chicago River Monday morning, MyFoxChicago.com reported. Police found what was believed to be the body of Michael Scott floating in the river hours later, the Web site reported. Sources say a gun was recovered by the body. They also said that cops used Scott's cell phone to locate the body and blue Cadillac, the Chicago Tribune reported. "My wife and I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of Michael Scott," Cook County Board President Todd H. Stroger said in an e-mail statement released Monday. Stroger called his friend of nearly 25 years a negotiator held in high esteem, MyFoxChicago.com reported. "Mr. Scott was a strong advocate for education," Stroger said in the e-mail. "His contributions to the minority communities of Cook County will be sorely missed. In particular, his love for the

upward mobility of residents from Chicago's West Side where he spent his life." The Rev. Jesse Jackson arrived on the scene at about 7:30 a.m. local time Monday morning. "Everything is just so wrong," Jackson said, according to MyFoxChicago.com. Jackson said he spoke to Scott last week, as the former Chicago Public School Board president continued to deal with the brutal death of a Chicago student. Jackson said Scott did not display any signs of emotional trouble recently, MyFoxChicago.com reported. Scott reportedly disappeared from his Chicago home Sunday. Emergency responders pulled the body out of the river at 4:30 a.m. local time Monday, after receiving a tip, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Joe R o c c a s a l v a t o l d MyFoxChicago.com. Chicago Public Schools could not be reached for comment, MyFoxChicago.com reported. Click here for more from MyFoxChicago.com. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Sexually spread diseases up, better testing cited (AP)

Report: Imam Says He Didn't Pressure Hasan

(Yahoo! News: U.S. News)

(FOXNews.com)

Unlike chlamydia, health officials think syphilis cases actually are increasing. Syphilis ATLANTA â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sexually spread rates are up among both gay men diseases continue to rise, with and heterosexuals, said Douglas, reported chlamydia cases setting director of the CDC's Division of yet another record in 2008, STD Prevention. government health officials said Syphilis can kill if untreated, but Monday. chlamydia is not life-threatening. Last year there were 1.2 million Neither is gonorrhea, which new cases of chlamydia, a seams to have plateaued in recent sometimes symptomless infection years. Gonorrhea cases dropped that can lead to infertility in to about 337,000 cases in 2008, women. It was the most ever down from about 356,000 cases. reported, up from the old record Girls, ages 15 through 19, had of 1.1 million cases in 2007. the largest reported number of Better screening is the most chlamydia and gonorrhea cases, likely reason, said Dr. John M. accounting for more than one in Douglas Jr. of the U.S. Centers four of those cases. But they're f o r D i s e a s e C o n t r o l a n d often screened more than other Prevention. people, since 1993 federal Syphilis, on the verge of being recommendations that emphasize eliminated in the United States testing for sexually active women about 10 years ago, also has been age 25 and under. increasing lately. About 13,500 The government estimates there cases of the most contagious are roughly 19 million new cases form of the disease were reported of sexually transmitted disease in 2008, up from about 11,500 annually. Experts say the most the year before. common is HPV, human Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:23:58 AM

papillomavirus, which can cause genital warts, cervical cancer and other cancers. The government doesn't ask doctors to report every HPV case, but estimates the virus causes 6.2 million new cases each year. That is an old estimate, based on data from 2000, before a vaccine against some types of HPV came on the market in 2006. The CDC estimates there are 1.6 million new cases of genital herpes each year, but that too is an old estimate for a nonreportable disease. The agency also estimates there about 56,000 new cases of HIV each year. ___ On the Net: The CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/ This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

"So Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa," said the Yemeni reporter, WASHINGTON The radical Abdulelah Hider Shaea. Muslim imam w h o Hasan, 39, was charged last communicated with the Fort Thursday with the Nov. 5 Hood shooting suspect said he shooting spree at Fort Hood, in did not pressure Maj. Nidal which 13 people were killed. Malik Hasan to harm Americans, The imam told Shaea that the The Washington Post reported Fort Hood attack was acceptable Monday. under Islam. "America was the In an interview with a Yemeni one who first brought the battle journalist who was contracted by to Muslim countries," al-Awlaki the Post, imam Anwar al-Awlaki said. said Hasan first e-mailed him in Al-Awlaki also denounced December 2008. Eventually, al- Muslims who condemned the Awlaki said, Hasan came to view attack. "They say American him as a confidant. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan Al-Awlaki showed the journalist should be killed," the imam his correspondence with Hasan argued, "so how can they say the but would not provide it to the American soldier should not be Post. He said Hasan questioned killed at the moment they are the U.S. wars in Iraq and going to Iraq and Afghanistan?" Afghanistan, and said the Army This content has passed through psychiatrist cited Islamic law that fivefilters.org. demanded "that what America was doing should be confronted." Submitted at 11/15/2009 10:31:22 PM

N.C. Police Search Along Highway for Missing Girl's Body (FOXNews.com) Submitted at 11/16/2009 7:42:39 AM

SANFORD, N.C. Authorities in North Carolina say they are searching along a highway for the body of a 5-year-old girl

missing for a week. Fayetteville Police spokeswoman Theresa Chance said Monday officers are searching based on "reliable information" that indicates the body of Shaniya Davis may have

been dumped there. Police had previously said they hoped they would find Shaniya alive. Her mother reported her missing last Tuesday. About 200 searchers fanned across several miles southeast of

Sanford on Monday. Shaniya's mother, 25-year-old Antoinette Davis, has been charged with human trafficking and felony child abuse and is accused of offering Shaniya for prostitution. Police have also

charged 29-year old Mario Andrette McNeill, who was seen in surveillance footage carrying Shaniya into a hotel. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.