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Mukasey Pressures Congress to
Renew FISA
By Mark Impomeni (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 2:00:00 AM
Filed under: Bush Administration,
Democrats, Republicans,
TerrorAttorney General Michael
Mukasey became the latest Bush
Administration official to pressure
Congress for an extension of the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,
or FISA, Friday, saying that
Congress's failure to pass the
bipartisan extension makes it harder
"by the day" to track terrorists.
Mukasey made his comments as
Congress prepares to return to
Washington from its President's Day
recess. The issue will be high on the
list of priorities in the coming week.
The Senate, after much debate,
passed an extension of FISA in the
first week of February, leaving the
House one week before a temporary
extension of the law expired. But
Democratic leaders in the House
refused to allow the Senate bill to
come up for a vote before the
deadline, causing the law to lapse on
February 16th. The Senate bill is
supported by a majority of House
members on a bipartisan basis, and
would surely pass if it were allowed
to come to the floor.
The sticking point holding up the
legislation is the issue of immunity
from lawsuits for telecommunications
companies. In the aftermath of the
September 11th attacks, the
government turned to the major
telephone and communications
companies and requested their
assistance in setting up the
controversial terrorist surveillance
program. The companies agreed to
help the government track phone calls
moving through the United States
between suspected terrorists and
persons both inside and outside the
Huckabee's New Goal: Deadlock
By Dave (Political Machine)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 12:51:00 PM
Filed under: John McCain, Mike
Huckabee, 2008 President
Well it may not be very sexy, but the
new strategy does have the singular
advantage of being a semi-plausible
reason to stay in the campaign.
In an interview with 1200 WOAI
news during his swing through Texas,
longshot Republican presidential
candidate Mike Huckabee outlined a
strategy which has him not winning
the GOP nomination outright, but
pushing the nomination to the
22/02/08 - 24/02/08
country without warrants under the
previous version of FISA. When
word of the program was leaked to
the press, some felt that the phone
companies should be liable for their
actions. The Administration insists
that the terrorist surveillance program
is legal and that the
telecommunications companies did
nothing wrong in helping the
government track potential terrorists.
It insists on the immunity provision in
any FISA extension to protect those
companies from frivolous lawsuits.
The Protect America Act, the
temporary extension of FISA that
expired last week, contained an
immunity provision. The Senate
rejected an effort to strip the
immunity language from its version
of the extension, and the final bill
passed with 68 Senators voting in
favor. The House version of the
extension does not contain immunity.
House Republicans, along with a
September Republican National
Convention, which he says will turn
to him as the most 'conservative
alternative.'
The 'brokered convention' plan is in
stark contrast to Huckabee's previous
sunny predictions of a sweep to
victory in the primaries and caucuses
on the shoulders of adoring family
values conservatives.
Another advantage is that it gives
disillusioned conservatives (like me)
a reason to vote for Huckabee even
though he might not be their first
second or even third choice. A vote
for anyone else is a vote to deny
LibertyNewsprint.
group of over 30 Democrats from
more conservative home districts,
maneuvered before the recess to
prevent the House from taking up
another temporary extension of FISA.
That left House leaders with a choice,
bring the Senate bill up for a vote, or
let the law expire.
House and Senate negotiators have
been meeting to try and iron out the
differences between the two bills
even as the two parties trade barbs
over the House's failure to pass an
extension before the deadline. House
Republicans have been charging that
majority Democrats have left the
country at the mercy of terrorists and
other plotters for the sake of scoring
political points with trial lawyers, a
valued component of the Democratic
Party's base. Democrats counter by
insisting that the government has all
the authority it needs under the
previous version of FISA; and that
Republicans are only seeking to
protect their friends in big business.
Meanwhile, the Administration
continues to prod Congress to get a
final bill passed. The debate will
likely take up a good portion of next
week, as Congress returns and the
Administration turns its attention
back to domestic affairs after the
president's recent Africa trip.
In the end, it appears likely that an
extension of the law will get done,
with the immunity provision
included. Democrats know that in
order to hold on to control of
Congress, they must protect those 30
or more seats they hold in
traditionally more conservative
districts.
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McCain the delegates to a majority
status.. The hope then would be for a
reset at the national convention. This
is a long shot, but it's the only hope
for those (again, like me) that
Huckabee is a disaster in the making.
Huckabee, or someone on his staff, is
smart enough to see the line of
thinking and capitalize on it.
It's still a long shot. A brokered
convention would tilt the playing
field toward party bigwigs and
Huckabee isn't exactly in good with
that crowd, they would be more likely
to give it back to Romney or to find a
consensus establishment candidate.
Superdelegates
Move Away
From Clinton
By Christopher Weber (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 8:46:00 AM
Filed under: Democrats, Primaries,
2008 PresidentThe recent
conventional wisdom has been that
Hillary still has a fighting chance if
she can pull off big wins in Texas and
Ohio while also keeping many of the
superdelegates in her camp.
Superdelegates, which make up about
a fifth of the overall delegates, had
been leaning Clinton's way, but a new
AP survey finds that trend may be
switching. With Obama on a roll,
many superdelegates nationwide
seem to be siding with the voters.
Clinton still leads among
superdelegates-241 to 181, according
to the AP survey. But her total is
down two in the past two weeks,
while his is up 25. Since the primaries
started, at least three Clinton
superdelegates have switched to
Obama, including Rep. David Scott
of Georgia, who changed his
endorsement after Obama won 80
percent of the primary vote in Scott's
district. At least two other Clinton
backers have switched to
undecided.Since the Republican race
is decided, Democrats might be
thinking that the sooner the primaries
are over the better chance they have
of mounting a fight against McCain.
The last thing they want is a drawn
out fight and a contentious
Democratic convention.
If the whole superdelegate process
makes your head spin like mine (why
does democracy have to be so
confusing?), here's a primer.
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Even if Huckabee wins this strategy,
he would end up losing.
The more likely scenario is that even
if Huckabee reaches the goal of
denying McCain a majority, already
pledged candidates to Romney and
others are likely to vote for McCain
on the first ballot. The buildup will be
exciting but it would be over very
quickly.
Still, it's a reason to stay in the race,
and that's enough for Huckabee right
now.
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2 Politics *
Turkish Troops Cross into Northern
Iraq
By Mark Impomeni (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 12:45:00 PM
Filed under: Bush Administration,
Iraq, TerrorThe Turkish Army
crossed into Iraq in strength today in
pursuit of Kurdish separatist rebels
believed to be hiding out in the
ethnically Kurdish stronghold of
northern Iraq. Unconfirmed Turkish
media reports claim that as many as
10,000 troops crossed the border to
hunt down militants belonging to the
Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. In
a statement, the Turkish Army said
that the incursion would be short-
lived and stressed that the crossing
had a specific purpose.
"The Turkish Armed Forces, which
values Iraq's territorial integrity and
its stability, will return as soon as
planned goals are achieved. The
executed operation will prevent the
region from being a permanent and
safe base for the terrorists and will
contribute to Iraq's stability and
internal peace."
The operation is the continuation of a
series of actions by the Turkish
military in the past year. Today's
incursion represents the first ground
operation of significant size. The
other actions have mainly been air
strikes against suspected PKK
training camps or safe houses. While
the Turkish Army has crossed the
border in smaller numbers and for
very short durations, this movement
is intended to last for a time and
involves a relatively large number of
troops. Turkey has been fighting a
Pentagon Climate Change Report
Alarming
By Jay Allbritton (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 8:38:00 AM
Filed under: Bush Administration,
EnvironmentUK newspaper The
Observerobtained a secret report by
the Pentagon that projects a horrific
future for the planet due to the
influence of global climate change.
According to the report, As early as
2020 major European cities will be
lost beneath the sea and the climate of
the UK will resemble the current
climate of Siberia.
Pentagon adviser Andrew Marshall
commissioned The report, which
paints an apocalyptic future
consisting of anarchy, nuclear threats,
dwindling food and water, limited
access to energy--a collective threat
that dwarfs terrorism. "Disruption and
conflict will be endemic features of
Hillary Unhinged
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 9:44:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton,
DemocratsThis is a disturbing
performance piece born of
desperation.
low-grade civil war against ethnic
Kurds in its southeast for decades.
The military's various actions inside
Iraq are meant to keep Kurdish
separatists from using that area as a
refuge.
Turkey protested Iraq's and the
United States' inability to prevent
cross-border attacks by the PKK to
the White House last year and
threatened to send ground troops into
Iraq in the wake of a Congressional
resolution declaring the World War I
era killings of Armenians by the
Ottoman Empire to be genocide. The
Bush Administration was able to head
off a confrontation with the NATO
life," the report says. "Once again,
warfare would define human life."
The report also recommends that
climate change "be elevated beyond a
scientific debate to a US national
security concern."
Chief World Bank scientist Bob
Watson asks the question, "Can Bush
ignore the Pentagon?"
He answers himself:
It's going be hard to blow off this sort
of document. It's hugely
embarrassing. After all, Bush's single
Really? Shame on you, Barack
Obama? The same Obama who
Hillary said she was "proud to sit next
to" during Thursday's debate. Never
mind that a version of the mailer in
Your Click and Print Newspaper
ally by pledging to assist Turkey with
intelligence in the region and
extracting promises of stepped up
action on the part of the Kurdish
regional government that controls
northern Iraq. Turkey is fearful that
the Kurdish area of Iraq will
eventually decalre itself independent
of Baghdad, stirring nationalistic
aspiration amongst Turkey's ethnic
Kurds.
The move by Turkey, however well
intentioned and minimal it may be,
cannot be received with good feelings
by the Bush Administration. Just as
the American public is warming to
the fact that Iraq may have turned a
corner in its four-year battle with an
insurgency and terrorist fomented
instability, the news of masses of
Turkish troops crossing the border
into Iraq feeds the perception that the
U.S. effort there is ultimately doomed
to failure. The U.S. military and their
Iraqi counterparts have worked hard
over the past year to brig a semblance
of order to Iraq, pointing the way
toward a light at the end of the tunnel.
But Turkey has placed another
obstacle in the path of a tidy
resolution in Iraq for the United
States. The Bush Administration must
now convince a skeptical Turkish
government that it can produce an
outcome in Iraq that is good for Iraqis
and Turks alike.
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highest priority is national defense.
The Pentagon is no wacko, liberal
group, generally speaking it is
conservative. If climate change is a
threat to national security and the
economy, then he has to act. There
are two groups the Bush
Administration tend to listen to, the
oil lobby and the Pentagon.Global
warming, or, more accurately, global
climate change, still has detractors.
GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz calls it
a "crock of shit."Think Progress has a
clip of pundit Mary Matalin on CNN
calling all this climate change
business a hoax. In a measured,
elegant response, blogger Dr.
Monkey von Monkerstein of Monkey
Mucktakes Matalin to task on the
issue.
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question has already been used by
Obama in other states. Now it's an
OUTRAGE!
And poor Ted Strickland. Nod a little
harder Ted, and try to keep a straight
face. While Obama's campaign says
that every single one of the claims in
Flowers
Has Advice
for Iseman
By Denise Williams (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 9:30:00 AM
Filed under: Scandal, Media
Like any good attention hound*,
Gennifer Flowers (Ex FOB and
cabaret singer) has used Hillary
Clinton's presidential bid to re-
awaken those of us who'd forgotten
about her. I had mentioned Ms.
Flowers' previous attempt to jump on
a Clinton (bandwagon) here.
This time Gennifer is in the news
with some advice for lobbyist Vicki
Iseman who now stands accused of
having a romantic liason with Senator
John McCain. I guess being one of
the groundbreakers in modern
political sexual scandal is good for an
interview or two (or a post or two on
PM).
Sayeth Ms. Flowers to Extra! on
Thursday. (via HuffPo)
When asked about her opinion
regarding the recent reports of
McCain's rumored affair, she
responds, "I'm not going to make
judgment on John McCain or the
lady...Yet...If she has nothing to hide,
I think she should come forward and
clear it up." Flowers does offer advice
to the other "other" woman.
"Surround herself with excellent
advisors before she makes any
statements...If she has nothing to
hide, I think she should come forward
and clear it up," Flowers suggests.
Whether Ms. Iseman takes Gennifer's
advice remains to be seen. But if she
does maybe Flowers can hook her up
with a Vegas gig after "disgraced
former lobbyist" doesn't cut it on her
resumé. Hmmm. I wonder what
Donna Rice is doing?
*not my first choice of word.
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the materials is true, Hillary claims
Rovian dirty -tricks. Of course, she
would never stoop to such tactics. Oh,
wait, she already has. Read here.
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Your Click and Print Newspaper
Sunday's Talk Line-up!
By Greg McNeilly (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 4:04:00 AM
Filed under: 2008 PresidentThe
Sunday talking heads schedule, it
appears to the Governor's edition!
ABC - This Week (George
Stephanopoulos): with U.S. Senator
Joe Biden (D-DE).
CBS - Face the Nation (Bob
Schieffer): with Governors Jennifer
Granholm (D-MI) and Janet
Napolitano (D-AZ) and McCain
adviser Charlie Black.
CNN - Late Edition (Wolf Blitzer):
Left Hooks - Oscars Edition
By Denise Williams (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 9:00:00 AM
Filed under: Humor, Media
Answering burning questions.
Presidential movie preference
including a rumor that Nixon liked a
little porn. - Variety
Celebrity endorsements with a liberal
use of v-jay-jay! - bodog Nation
My heart is broken. Jimmy Carter
The Hillary Clinton Sobriety Test
By Tommy Christopher
(Political Machine)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 9:12:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Humor,
Viral Video, LOLectionI was going
to save this for Videos of the Week,
but I can't. It's too good. The headline
says it all. Will this be the end of
Hillarites breaking into song?
Earnings highlights: Wal-mart,
Crocs, Garmin, Safeway, Newmont
and others
By Trey Thoelcke
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 1:40:00 AM
Filed under: Earnings reports, Wal-
Mart (WMT), Safeway Inc (SWY),
Newmont Mining (NEM), Crocs Inc
(CROX), Garmin Ltd (GRMN)
Here are a few highlights from this
past week's earnings coverage from
BloggingStocks:
• Amkor Technology Inc.
(NASDAQ: AMKR) easily beat
estimates and raised its guidance.
• Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX)
posted solid fourth-quarter results on
strong overseas sales.
• DealerTrack Holdings (NASDAQ:
TRAK) fourth-quarter revenue rose,
but the credit crunch hurt results.
• Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN)
fourth-quarter earnings soared on
with Governors Ed Rendell (D-PA),
Kathleen Sibelius (D-KS), Tim
Pawlenty (R-MN) and U.S. Senator
Chuck Hagel R-NE).
Fox - News Sunday (Chris
Wallace):with Governors Tim
Pawlenty (R-MN), Rick Sanford (R-
SC), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Joe
Corzine (D-NJ). and McCain
campaign manager Rick Davis.
NBC - Meet the Press (Tim Russert)
with consumer advocate Ralph
Nader.
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Man From Plains was not nominated
this year. - LATimes
Ok, this is a stretch, but Oscar Brand
sings Presidential Campaign Songs!
Includes Keep Cool with Coolidge
and Get on a Raft with Taft. - AOL
Music
FACE OFF!
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By the way, if this isn't your cup of
tea, Brandon Barker has been
tracking the more palatable entries
into this ouvre within his LOLection
series.
View Poll
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strong holiday sales.
• Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.
(NASDAQ: GILT) posted strong
quarterly and full-year results.
• HJ Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) raised
its guidance productivity gains and
favorable exchange rates.
• JAKKS Pacific Inc. (NASDAQ:
JAKK) posted solid results, lifted by
Hannah Montana and Disney toys.
• Marvel Entertaiment Inc. (NYSE:
MVL) earnings doubled despite
investment in films not yet released.
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:
NEM) swung to a fourth-quarter loss
despite rising gold prices.
• Safeway Stores Inc. (NYSE: SWY)
met fourth-quarter earnings estimates,
ending its best year since 2001.
• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:
WMT) posted its first $100 billion
quarter but lowered its forecast.
Politics * Business *
Earnings highlights: HP,
General Mills, Whole Foods,
OfficeMax and others
By Trey Thoelcke
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 7:40:00 AM
Filed under: Earnings reports,
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Penney
(J.C.) (JCP), Whole Foods Market
(WFMI), Darden Restaurants (DRI),
General Mills (GIS), OfficeMax Inc
(OMX), Intuit Inc (INTU)
Here are a few highlights from this
past week's earnings coverage from
BloggingStocks:
• CEC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:
CEC) reported a profit loss and flat
revenue for the fourth quarter.
• Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE:
DRI) raised its third-quarter and full-
year earnings forecasts.
• Forward Air Corp. (NASDAQ:
FWRD) beat earnings estimates and
offered guidance.
• General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS)
raised its 2008 and 2010 earnings
forecasts on strong sales.
• Hewlett-Packard Co. (NASDAQ:
HPQ) reported better-than-expected
earnings and offered bullish
guidance.
• Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU)
second-quarter profits fell and it
offered meager guidance.
• JC Penney Inc. (NYSE: JCP)
reported a smaller-than-expected
Also, Jim Cramer sees Hewlett-
Packard as a market bellwether, and
Ted Allrich looks at some other
bellwether stocks. Sheldon Liber gets
a sense of deja vu from Exxon
Mobil's (NYSE: XOM) big profits
and its tussle with Chavez.
Upcoming results to watch for
include Nordstom Inc. (NYSE:
JWN), Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M),
Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO),
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), Sprint-
Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S), and Sears
Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD).
Visit AOL Money & Finance for
more earnings coverage.Permalink |
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3
profit decline for the fourth quarter.
• Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) third
-quarter profit and revenue beat
analysts' expectations.
• OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX)
easily beat fourth-quarter earnings
expectations on lower costs.
• TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX)
fourth-quarter profit beat estimates
and helped raise the retail outlook.
• Whole Foods Market Inc.
(NASDAQ: WFMI) earnings were
dragged down by the Wild Oats
acquistion.
Also, Douglas McIntyre examines
how a slowdown in orders is likely to
affect the earnings of Airbus and
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), and Brian
White looks at how HP might "do
better" for the rest of this year.
Upcoming results to watch for
include Lowes Companies Inc.
(NYSE: LOW), Office Depot Inc.
(NYSE: ODP), Home Depot Inc.
(NYSE: HD), AutoZone Inc. (NYSE:
AZO), Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA),
and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE).
Visit AOL Money & Finance for
more earnings coverage.Permalink |
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EU wants
sovereign funds
to set limits
By Douglas McIntyre
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 9:10:00 AM
Filed under: Deals, Law, Politics
The European Union has decided to
get serious about having sovereign
funds from Asia and the Middle East
pledge that their investment in the
region are "financial" and not
"strategic."
According to the Financial Times,
"Peter Mandelson, the European trade
commissioner, said the code would
set out basic standards of governance
and transparency for the funds."
Sovereign funds have made large
investment in banks and brokerage
houses in Europe and the United
States and the regulatory authorities
do not want these dollars to become a
way for the funds to push their nation
interests.
The request is a bit two-faced. Funds
and corporation from the West have
been putting money into Asia and the
Middle East for years. Big U.S.
companies are not required to sign
documents disclosing their intentions
when they make investments
overseas. Plans by Congress and the
EU to push legislation to regulate
capital from abroad may back-fire.
When U.S. and Europe banks need
more cash, sovereign funds may
simply elect to invest elsewhere.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at
247wallst.com.Permalink | Email this
| Comments
4 Business * Tech Gadgets *
Comfort Zone Why Hillary's
Investing: Watch these presidential hopes are
bellwether stocks fading
By Ted Allrich (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 2:30:00 AM
Filed under: Cisco Systems (CSCO),
General Electric (GE), Exxon Mobil
(XOM), Citigroup Inc. (C), Bank of
America (BAC), Wachovia Corp
(WB), Comfort Zone Investing
Ted Allrich is the founder of The
Online Investor and author of:
Comfort Zone Investing: Build
Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In
this weekly column, he'll offer advice
to investors who are just getting
started.
Bellwether stocks are industry
leaders, the biggest and usually, but
not always, the best. Investors watch
them to get a sense of where that
particular industry, or in some cases,
the economy is going. Some
bellwethers are portfolio anchors
while others are good indicators but
not necessarily the best stocks to
own. Here are some to know.
For a broad economic indicator,
watch General Electric Company
(NYSE: GE). This company is so
large and involved in almost every
aspect of the economy that it gives a
good reading on how the economy is
doing. It finances houses, builds jet
engines, sells light bulbs, owns NBC
Universal, manufactures major
household appliances and consumer
Internal Microsoft
memo may calm
Yahoo!
By Douglas McIntyre
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 5:40:00 AM
Filed under: Deals, Competitive
strategy, Google (GOOG), Microsoft
(MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO)
A memo by a senior Microsoft
(NASDAQ: MSFT) executive sets
out some of the reasons for the
company's bid for Yahoo!
(NASDAQ: YHOO). According to
The Wall Street Journal (subscription
required), "Kevin Johnson, president
of Microsoft's Platforms and Services
Division, reiterated the Redmond,
Wash., software maker's reasons
behind its unsolicited offer, writing
that a combination would provide a
compelling alternative in search and
online advertising." The note goes
further to indicate that Microsoft
values both the Yahoo! brands and
the technical skills of its engineers.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on to hit $49.99?
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 3:48:00 AM
Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home
Entertainment
Truthfully, we reckon this moment is
inevitable. With HD DVD hung out
electronics, has electrical distribution,
generates energy from coal, oil,
natural gas, nuclear energy, water and
wind technologies, supplies railroad
locomotives and management
technologies, offers security systems,
has water treatment and wastewater
treatment, provides healthcare with
medical technologies and services
such as medical imaging. There isn't
much GE doesn't touch in our daily
lives. While GE's stock has been in a
rather tight trading range (it did break
up to $42 a share late last year, but
then retreated), it's worth watching as
an indicator for the pulse of the U.S.
economy. The stock's price has been
decidedly down for the last six
months.
Continue reading Comfort Zone
Investing: Watch these bellwether
stocksRead | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
Yahoo! should not take the memo
seriously. It would be hard to name a
company that Microsoft has
purchased that still maintains its own
brands and independent operations.
Bill Gates has said that the software
company will put its full engineering
skill behind an effort to build better
search technology than Google
(NASDAQ: GOOG) has. It may be
an audacious and arrogant approach
to catching the industry leader, but
Microsoft has never looked for
outside help to solve its most urgent
problems.
All Yahoo! shareholders can look for
in the generous Microsoft buy-out
offer is a good payday. The world's
largest software company looks at
Yahoo! as a step in advancing its own
agenda and nothing more.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at
247wallst.com. Permalink | Email this
| Comments
to dry by everyone and their long lost
cousin, it's simply a matter of time
before players are being traded for
rides on the carousel. Nevertheless,
reports are already circulating that
Microsoft's Xbox 360 add-on drive
could sink to $49.99 in the not-too-
distant future, which may actually
Your Click and Print Newspaper
By Peter Cohan
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 8:44:00 AM
Filed under: Politics, Presidential
elections
The New York Times reports that
Hillary Clinton is giving off signals
that her campaign for President could
be nearing an end. It's hard to know if
this veil of tears is just Hillary using
the crying gambit -- as she did in
New Hampshire -- in the pages of her
hometown newspaper. But as she
acknowledges in the article, running
for President is a marathon from
which the fittest political athlete
emerges victorious.
The Times article helps highlight a
critical difference between Clinton
and Obama which may explain why
Obama is proving himself to be the
fitter of the two Democratic
candidates. With Clinton, it appears
Do companies taken
public by private equity
mess up the incentives?
By Zac Bissonnette
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 6:40:00 AM
Filed under: Management, Insiders
One of the first things you learn in
economics is that incentives matter --
and that if you get the incentives
wrong, the results can be, well,
interesting. Exhibit A: the subprime
mess.
In an interesting column in this
weekend's Wall Street Journal, Herb
Greenberg writes (subscription
required) about Lululemon
(NASDAQ: LULU), where the terms
surrounding options grants put top
executives in a position to serve the
private equity backers rather than
other minority shareholders who
bought the shares during or after the
IPO -- at a much higher price.
In the case of Lululemon, CEO
Robert Meers saw some of his
make it worth grabbing for the very
that the voter's job is to help her to
realize her ambitions by giving her
money or votes. By contrast, Obama
presents himself as the vessel for
achieving voter's hopes. In short, with
Hillary it's about what voters can do
for her. And for Obama, it's about
what he can do for voters.
The effect of these different
approaches is that Clinton appears
tired as she struggles to break an 11
state losing streak in the upcoming
March 4th primaries. It's as though
she needs the voters to give her the
strength to keep going and that
evidence of insufficient support saps
her strength. By contrast, Obama
looks like he hasn't really broken a
sweat as he goes from victory to
victory.
Continue reading Why Hillary's
presidential hopes are
fadingPermalink | Email this |
Comments
options vest based on when the
private equity backers cashed out.
According to Greenberg, "The vested
amount would immediately leap to as
much as 40% if private-equity
investors sold; the actual amount was
based on a sliding scale tied to how
much they actually made."
Options that vest based on some sort
of performance are great. But I'm
skeptical of options that vest based on
when private equity backers who paid
a tiny fraction of what other investors
paid for their stake in the company
cash out.
I'm wary of companies taken public
by private equity firms in general.
The buyout shops are masters of the
art of "buy cheap and sell dear," and
"buying dear" tends to be a great way
to lose money in the stock
market.Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
respectable library of HD DVD titles
already out there. Whatever you do,
don't pay full price for this thing.
[Thanks, Steve]
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
Your Click and Print Newspaper
The Wal-Mart Weekly: Will prices at the pump
International performance actually decline?
ramping up fast
By Brian White
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 4:40:00 AM
Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT),
Columns
Welcome to the 50th installment of
The Wal-Mart Weekly, a column
dedicated to bringing you insight, wit,
facts, results, opinions, and just a bit
of everything else when it comes
down to a very hot topic these days:
Wal-Mart.
In this week's Wal-Mart Weekly, I'll
take a look at the burgeoning efforts
of Wal-Mart in the international
markets it serves. In 2006, the world's
largest retailer hung its head in shame
as it exited the Germany and South
Korean markets. From all accounts,
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT)
just didn't realize the local flair that
made existing retailers in those
markets successful. You can't bring a
'big box' store to every country and
expect immediate success, in other
words.
But all of a sudden, 2007 saw Wal-
Mart join up with China's Trust-Mart
and India's Bharti to take advantage
of the two largest international retail
This Bear's hibernation is
about to end Warner's $400 mil payoff
By Joseph Lazzaro
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 3:40:00 AM
Filed under: Bear Stearns Cos (BSC),
Stocks to Buy
Readers of this space know that the
investment thesis offered here favors
large-cap companies with
demonstrated business models and
that have a competitive advantage in
established markets, preferably with a
favorable global trend as a support.
Still, every once in awhile an
exception is made, in this case to get-
ahead-of the-curve regarding a
sector's recovery, and with the
aforementioned in mind, Bear Stearns
is worth an evaluation.
Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) is a
leading investment banking,
securities, and derivatives trading,
clearance, and brokerage firm serving
corporations governments,
institutional, and individual investors
worldwide.
Analysts expect Bear's prime
Movies on a flash drive not apt to boom anytime soon
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 10:07:00 AM
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Earlier this month, we disagreed that
HD movie downloads would trump
HD DVD / Blu-ray disc purchases in
the not-too-distant future, and now
we've got yet another clever
alternative on deck that just doesn't
opportunities. It also pumped up
efforts at its UK-based Asda chain,
but then saw dismal failure within its
interest in Japan's Seiyu chain. But
having just released figures on
international performance, Wal-Mart
has charged ahead again with some
recent excellent performance. Can it
continue?
Continue reading The Wal-Mart
Weekly: International performance
ramping up fastPermalink | Email this
| Comments
brokerage and asset management
businesses to continue to grow, along
with adequate-to-good results from its
trading division.
Further, there's a sense now among
analysts that BSC's mortgage
securities and leveraged loan
commitments on its balance sheet
have been sufficiently written down.
That's not to say that there won't be
more write-downs or an additional
financial bump or two, but the worst
appears to be over, at least for Bear.
Continue reading This Bear's
hibernation is about to endPermalink |
Email this | Comments
have the makings of a winner. While
it seems that consumers still prefer
something tangible when purchasing
movies, we can't help but agree that
flicks on flash drives just wouldn't
work. Aside from the prohibitive cost
to pop out a standard DVD on a flash
chip versus a disc, the idea of having
customers flock to some sort of
movie download kiosk to refill
memory cards with new releases just
Business * Tech Gadgets *
By Aaron Katsman
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 10:10:00 AM
Filed under: Consumer experience,
China, Oil
With fuel prices reaching their
highest levels since last June, many
consumers are worried that by the end
of the summer driving season we may
actually see $4.00 a gallon. With
crude oil moving over $100 a barrel,
and with a market driven by
speculators and not fundamentals,
crude prices moving up are a self-
fulfilling prophecy.
But is it possible that the opposite
may happen? That prices drivers pay
at the pump make actually decrease?
The answer may very well be yes.
Why? Inventories. The fact is that we
have gas supplies that have quietly
grown to their highest level in 14
years. With such a big supply, prices
may drop. This isn't China, where
rumor rides again
By Ben Drawbaugh (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 5:07:00 AM
Filed under: HDTV, Home
Entertainment
Some rumors never die, and this one
we heard even before the official
Warner press release was issued.
Now that the format war is officially
over, newspapers and magazines
everywhere are looking back on the
events preceding Toshiba's
announcement. While no one really
knows why each studio made its
decision, The Globe and Mail cites
"analysts" who think the payoff was a
factor. Well, we asked Warner point
blank about the payoff rumor and
Kevin Tsujihara, president, Warner
seems absurd. Sure, we understand
how this could sound marginally
appealing from the sidelines, but we
5
everything is government controlled,
and we have seen shortages on all
kinds of consumer staples. In the
U.S., the market more or less (except
when lawmakers butt in and add taxes
on gasoline) sets the price.
Continue reading Will prices at the
pump actually decline?Read |
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Bros. Home Entertainment Group
said that it "was not a bidding war"
and that it really came down to Q4
sales. This answer leaves us with the
impression that while some money
probably changed hands, the real
reason why Warner went Blu was
because during all of 2007 the Blu-
ray versions of Warner's titles always
outsold the HD DVD. The bottom
line is that regardless of any single
payoff, since Warner owns most of
the home media market, it had the
most to lose if it waited too long to
chose a format. [Disclosure:
Engadget's parent company's parent
company is Time Warner]
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
just can't imagine all those DVD
cases at your favorite big box retailer
getting swapped out with movie-filled
SDHC cards anytime soon.
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
6 Tech Gadgets * TV * Your Click and Print Newspaper

Green Freedom turns the air's

CO2 into auto-powering fuel Mitsumi haptic input device
By Joshua Topolsky
(Engadget)
juice out of the typically non-partying
carbon dioxide, yet has a low
environmental impact with a small
could enable one-handed mobile
Submitted at 2/23/2008 1:52:00 AM

Tired of the air not doing enough for

you? Well, a new project called
Green Freedom -- headed up by
researchers at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory -- seeks to
improve air's contribution to our
planet. The new technology would
provide a method of extracting CO2
from the air and then converting the
gas into fuel for cars or airplanes --
thus creating a renewable energy
source. The process uses a form of
electrochemical separation to siphon
waste-stream output. The plan calls
for the use of existing plants, which
will stem the need to build new
facilities, enabling the environmental
footprint to remain relatively small.
Clearly, it's not being put into general
practice yet, but it's a hopeful taste of
things to come.
[Via Inhabitat]
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
operation
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 8:44:00 AM
Filed under: Cellphones, Displays,
Handhelds
If you're frustrated with how difficult
it is to control your touchscreen-
based mobile with just one hand,
Mitsumi clearly feels your pain. At a
recent presentation, the outfit
highlighted a new haptic input device
that would ideally be situated on the
rear of a handset / PMP and enable
users to activate applications without
having to use another hand to do so.
The device consists of "a sheet with
small protrusions, a resistance
sensitive touch pad and switches,"
and while the prototype was a tad
unsightly, the firm is hoping to
reduce the thickness before taking it
commercial. Yeah, we're patiently
waiting for mind control, but we
suppose this would do in the
meantime.
[Via FarEastGizmos]
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments

Leica's CEO removed from power

By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 7:20:00 AM

Filed under: Digital CamerasWithout

Japan launches Kizuna satellite,
hopes it will deliver high-speed
any definitive rhyme nor reason, it
appears that Leica's CEO, Steven K.
Lee, has been "removed from power
by the company's supervisory board."
Reportedly, Mr. Lee has been
replaced by the firm's owner and
board chairman Andreas Kaufman,
who will run the company jointly
with board financial controller and
treasurer, Andreas Lobejäger, until
later this month. Interestingly, we're [Via 1001 Noisy Cameras]
not told who will pick up the reins
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
permanently after that -- nor exactly
why the decision was made -- but we
suppose it's only a matter of hours
before we find out.

internet New showrunner for Moonlight

By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 6:28:00 AM
Filed under: Networking
Granted, most of us here in America
would turn our noses up at receiving
in-home broadband via satellite --
after all, cable and DSL seem to be
treating most of us quite alright -- but
Japan is hoping to provide access to
more regions in Asia-Pacific with its
recently launched Kizuna. The
experimental satellite is not yet
intended for commercial use, but if
all goes well, it will enable data
transmissions "of up to 1.2 gigabytes
per second" at a low cost across Japan
and 19 other locales in Southeast
Asia. Unfortunately, we've no idea
when it will escape the bondage of
testing and actually be put to good
use, but at least Japan's well on its
way to actually establishing that
wireless island, eh?
[Via CNN, thanks to everyone who
sent this in]
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
By Brad Trechak (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 2:02:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, MoonlightThe
CBS freshman drama Moonlight has
had its share of difficulties. Add to it
one more as the showrunner and
executive producer Chip Johannessen
has decided to depart the series.
The show's writing team and
executive producer Joel Silver will
collectively run the show until a Continue reading New showrunner
replacement for Mr. Johannessen has for Moonlight
been found. Four additional episodes
of the show have been ordered for Permalink | Email this | | Comments
this season.
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Your next Sony LCD TV may
actually be a Sharp
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 5:38:00 AM
Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home
Entertainment
If you'll recall, Samsung announced
plans last November to expand an 8G
LCD plant sans Sony -- now, Reuters
is reporting that Sony is aiming to
start procuring LCD TV panels from
Sharp, possibly within the next
business year. Apparently, the deal
with Sharp would allow it to "secure
enough panels to meet fast-growing
LCD TV demand without heavy
Deadlines extended on two HDTV contests, go enter!
By Ryan Block (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 5:27:00 AM
Filed under: Announcements, HDTV
You know, this last week we closed
up two contests where you'd have the
chance to win an HDTV (among
Cloudo: The Pretty WebOS Formerly Known As
Xindesk
By Duncan Riley (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 4:02:54 AM
Cloudo is the new Xindesk and looks
like shaping up to be a good looking
WebOS, if and when it launches.
Cloudo was previously part of
Xindesk, a company that was
promising a WebOS and Widget
platform that we’ve mentioned in
passing previously. The widget
platform is now known as “Widget
Plus” with the WebOS taking the
Cloudo name.
Cloudo offers standard fare in terms
of a WebOS, including file hosting,
virtual desktop widgets, applications,
capital investments," and considering
that Sharp is already planning to
construct the world's largest LCD
factory by 2010, we'd say this works
out quite nicely for it, too. Needless
to say, the global demand for all
things LCD seems to be going
nowhere but up, but here's to hoping
those prices continue to head in the
opposite direction for the consumers'
sake.
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
other things), but we were feeling a
little magnanimous and decided to
leave them open through this
weekend. Just remember, you can
enter both contests one time, but you
can't enter either contest more than
once. Check out all the details and
rules below:
email and contact management and
eventually a full suite of programs
you’d expect from a regular desktop
Operating System. Where it excels is
in appearance; offerings like
AjaxWindows have a touch of ugly
about them, Jooce and EyeOS try to
be original. Cloudo gets the visuals
right first time around, with a high
quality visually appealing standard
layout. Better still, if you don’t like it,
Cloudo comes complete with a big
range of themes, including other
operating systems including various
flavors of Windows, Mac and Linux
so users can make themselves feel
right at home.
Tech Gadgets * Technology *
Palm emulated on the iPhone:
finally we can leave that IIIc at
home
By Paul Miller (Engadget)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 11:36:00 AM
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
StyleTap, the folks behind the
CrossPlatform Palm emulator for
Windows Mobile have built a proof
of concept version of the software for
the iPhone / iPod touch. They're not
committing to releasing any such
product, and aren't releasing the
software as a beta or anything like
that at the moment, but the video
demo of the software in action is
Read - Win a Philips 42PFL5603D 42
I remember the first time I saw
Cloudo when it was Xindesk and I
was impressed then, but here in lies
the problem. There was mention of
Xindesk soon launching in the
comments on this post in February
2007. When I first was pitched
Xindesk in the middle of last year I
was told it would be ready by the end
of 2007, early 2008. Cloudo’s current
status: they’re inviting more people
into the alpha this week and its
current release schedule has it being
7
certainly promising. All the apps are
rather responsive, the device
benchmarks a good bit faster than the
Tungsten | T, and Apple's keyboard is
even integrated into the proceedings
quite nicely. Video is after the break.
[Via TUAW]
Continue reading Palm emulated on
the iPhone: finally we can leave that
IIIc at home
Read | Permalink | Email this |
Comments
-inch 1080p HDTV
Read - Win an LCD HDTV, Xbox
360, and plenty of Old Spice
Permalink | Email this | Comments
ready to open its doors in the last
quarter of 2008. This is a product
with potential that if it gets off the
ground could well convert people to
the cloud, however we might all get
significantly older waiting for the
launch, and Cloudo could be passed
function wise and aesthetically by
more nimble competitors while we
are waiting.
C r u n c h B a s e
InformationCloudoXindeskJooceeye
OSInformation provided by
CrunchBase
C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
CrunchBoardbecause it’s time for you
to find a new Job2.0
8 Technology *
Microsoft Email To Employees: Really, The
Yahoo Deal is Perfect For Us
By Michael Arrington
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 1:37:00 PM
Kevin Johnson, President of
Microsoft’s Platforms & Services
Division, sent an email out to his
employees at 12:48 PST today. The
topic - Why the Yahoo/Microsoft
merger is a good thing.
The email was clearly written to be
leaked. Key messages are “The
industry needs a more compelling
alternative in search and online
advertising,” and “we will dedicate
significant rewards and compensation
to Yahoo! and Microsoft employees”
to retain key staff.
From: Kevin Johnson
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008
12:48 PM
To: Platforms & Services Division
Subject: Update on Yahoo! Proposal
I want to provide all employees in the
Platforms & Services Division with
an update on our February 1 proposal
to combine with Yahoo!, and answer
a few common questions that have
been asked.
As we’ve discussed, the online
advertising industry is growing
rapidly and is expected to be an $80B
industry by 2010. We believe our
proposal is a compelling one and that
the combination of Yahoo! and
Microsoft creates a more credible
alternative to an increasingly
dominant player in the advertising
industry. We are committed to
building great services for consumers
while delivering great value to
advertisers and publishers. We have
been very thoughtful about this
combination, and are excited about
what our two companies can do
together to collectively target growth
opportunities in online services,
search, and advertising.
It is important to remember that,
while we have made what we believe
to be a very compelling proposal for
Yahoo! shareholders and employees,
we do not have an agreement in place
with Yahoo! at this time. While
Yahoo!’s Board and management
consider our proposal, let me share a
perspective on the process going
forward:
While Yahoo! has issued a press
release rejecting our proposal, we
continue to believe we have a full and
fair proposal on the table. We look
forward to a constructive dialogue
with Yahoo!’s Board, management,
shareholders, and employees on the
value of this combination and its
strategic and financial merits.
If and when Yahoo! agrees to proceed
with the proposed transaction, we will
go through the process to receive
regulatory approval, and expect that
this transaction will close in the 2nd
half of calendar year 2008. Until this
proposal is accepted and receives
regulatory approval, we must
continue to operate our business as
we do today and compete in this
rapidly changing online services and
advertising marketplace.
It is important to note that once
Yahoo! and Microsoft agree on a
transaction, we can begin the
integration planning process in
parallel with the regulatory review.
We can create the integration plan but
we cannot begin to implement it until
we have formal regulatory approval
and have closed the transaction.
Because the integration process will
be critical to our success as a
combined company, we are taking
this very seriously. We have recent –
and successful - experience in this
arena, including our integration
planning with aQuantive and Tellme,
both of which led to successful
combinations of talent, assets, and
infrastructure.
Our proposal includes a thoughtful
integration planning process for a
Microsoft-Yahoo! combination. It is
important to me that this process
includes leaders from Yahoo! and
Microsoft and is done in a way that
enables us, together, to make
decisions in a collaborative way.
Importantly, this will be an inclusive
process with Yahoo! employees as
they are a key part of our success as a
combined company.
With the above process and timeline
in mind, I want our teams to stay
focused on existing commitments and
goals. We should continue to make
progress against our plans for online
services.
There has been a lot written about
various aspects of our proposal. And
there are compelling opportunities
and tough challenges ahead. While
it’s hard to predict the future, I want
to convey my sense of where things
are by responding to a set of common
questions that have come up from
employees.
Q: What are the benefits of a
Microsoft-Yahoo! combination?
A: First, the industry needs a more
compelling alternative in search and
online advertising. I have personally
met with top executives of the major
media companies, and I know there is
a desire for more competition in
search and online advertising.
Without this, there’s less innovation,
less competition, and less value being
generated for consumers, advertisers,
and publishers. Together, Microsoft
and Yahoo! would have an
opportunity to change and evolve the
experiences and value we deliver to
all of these groups.
For consumers and developers, our
expanded R&D capacity would allow
us to drive innovation in emerging
user experiences in areas such as
search, video, mobile, commerce, and
social media. Already, our
collaborative work with Yahoo! on
interoperability between our instant
messaging services has benefitted
consumers and made it easier for
them to stay connected with friends
and family.
For advertisers and publishers, scale
economics would allow us to deliver
more value to this customer base. By
combining search and non-search
advertising inventory on a single ad
platform, yield is also improved. The
other benefits and opportunities may
include improving return on
investment and decreasing the cost
and complexity of running multiple
campaigns. We also believe in an
extensible ad platform. From my
discussions with top advertising
agency executives, they share this
belief and want to play a key role in
extending this ad platform for
Your Click and Print Newspaper
incremental value to advertisers.
For shareholders, a successful
combination would provide superior
value and an opportunity to
participate in the upside of the
combined company. There are
expected operating efficiencies driven
by synergies from eliminating
redundant operating expenses,
redundant capital expenses, and
ensuring appropriate headcount
allocation by function.
The focus of our combined company
will be to build great experiences and
platforms for our joint consumers,
advertisers, and publishers. I am
confident in the collective
engineering & business talent we
have at Microsoft and Yahoo! to
drive towards this vision.
Q: What impact would this
combination have on staffing? Would
there be any reductions?
A: People are the single most
important asset in this combination.
We want the very best talent at the
combined company, and we will
demonstrate this to Yahoo! and
Microsoft employees at each step of
the deal. There’s no question we will
dedicate significant rewards and
compensation to Yahoo! and
Microsoft employees.
While some overlap is expected in
any combination of this size, we
should remember that Microsoft is a
growth company that has hired over
20,000 people since 2005, and we
would look to place talented
employees throughout the company
as a whole. We have no shortage of
business and technical opportunities,
and we need great people to focus on
them.
Q: How should we view the two
cultures at Microsoft and Yahoo!?
How would we bring the two cultures
together?
A: Both companies share a passion
for great engineering, creativity, and
development of services and
technologies that truly can change the
world. Respect for both the creative
and analytical aspects of advertising
is core to both companies, along with
recognition that advertising is an
industry that represents opportunity
and growth. We would have an
opportunity to bring together the best
of both companies – Microsoft’s
culture of innovation, and long-term
commitment to tough R&D problems,
with Yahoo!’s blend of Web-centric
DNA and innovative engineering,
21st century media expertise, and
advertising talent. Some aspects of
the two cultures will naturally merge
quickly and some will remain unique
in the near-term and merge more
slowly over time. At Microsoft today,
we have a corporate culture, but
individual teams develop, nurture,
and retain a culture of their own as
well. The culture of the combined
entity will be shaped by individuals
and teams from both Yahoo! and
Microsoft.
Q: How would we address the
multiple brands and technologies
within Live, MSN, and Yahoo!?
Which brand would we keep?
A: Both Microsoft and Yahoo! have
great brands and technologies.
Yahoo! has a very strong consumer
brand and we are committed to build
on the Yahoo! brand as a major part
of the combined products and
services we deliver to customers. The
Yahoo! brand is one of the reasons
the combination of the two
companies would create so much
value. It is premature to say which
aspects of the brands and
technologies we would use in our
combined offerings. As part of the
integration planning effort, it is
important that we enable a joint team
of leaders from Microsoft and Yahoo!
to make thoughtful decisions about
brands and technologies. How we
integrate Microsoft and Yahoo!’s
brands, products, and services are the
types of decisions that would be made
during this integration planning
process—by leaders from both
companies—and implemented over
time after the transaction closes.
Q: If we move forward with a
combination, what’s our plan for
addressing Yahoo!’s technology
infrastructure, since it’s non-
Windows based?
A: Services we’ve acquired over the
years have been based on both
Windows and open source
technologies. Although Windows is
our strategic platform and in some
cases the teams ultimately migrated
their products to Windows for a
variety of reasons, in other cases we
have prioritized continuity and have
used open interoperability
mechanisms to achieve effective
systems integration. Yahoo! has made
significant investments in both its
skills and technologies, so we would
work closely with Yahoo! engineers
to make pragmatic platform and
integration methodology decisions as
appropriate, prioritizing above all
how those decisions would impact
customers.
Q: Would we maintain locations in
both Silicon Valley and Redmond?
A: Absolutely. Silicon Valley is one
of Microsoft’s largest presences
outside our Redmond headquarters,
with nearly 1,800 employees in a
variety of key engineering and
business roles. Yahoo!’s campus
houses over 10,000 employees and
plays a key part in their innovative
culture. In bringing the companies
together, we would be committed to
maintaining Yahoo!’s significant
presence in Silicon Valley, and we
anticipate that there would be
exciting opportunities for a combined
Microsoft and Yahoo! talent base in
Silicon Valley, Redmond, and many
other cities worldwide.
Q: How should we interact with
Yahoo! employees?
A: It’s important that Microsoft
employees not speculate with Yahoo!
employees about the proposal or
about what a deal would mean for the
combined company. Prior to close of
MICROSOFT page 9
Your Click and Print Newspaper
More On The UADA—Funny
Money For a “Virtual” Facebook
App Roll-Up Company
By Erick Schonfeld
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 2:45:31 PM
There is a lot of funny money on
Facebook, but it is getting really bad.
Startups are trying to raise money
based on virtual valuations. Earlier
this week, I wrote about a fishy
Facebook organization in the making
called the UADA. It is listed on
Facebook-stat site Adonomics as the
biggest Facebook app company, even
though it doesn’t seem to exist yet.
Altura Ventures, a Facebook-focused
VC firm which owns and operates
Adonomics, is also behind the UADA
and is conveniently using Adonomics
to promote the mystery company
before its launch on February 29.
But the UADA isn’t even funded yet.
It turns out that Altura is trying to
raise a seed round of $250,000 for the
UADA, and another $250,000 for
Adonomics, which will be spun off
from its parent company, KallOut.
(Stay with me, Altura and KallOut
are two entities that are joined at the
hip). From a letter to prospective
investors (which I’ve printed in full in
comments), the UADA is described
as a “virtual roll-up of the facebook
developers’ ad real estate that will
likely represent 200 to 400 million
installs, 40 to 50 million unique and 6
to 10 million daily active users.”
Notice the term “virtual roll-up.” A
real roll-up would be a company
aiming to buy up the best Facebook
apps. That would actually make sense
since there are more than 16,000
Facebook apps and consolidation is
inevitable. But the UADA is not
actually buying anything. Instead, it
is trying to sign up Facebook app
developers to its “cooperative” which
will cross-promote their applications
and run advertising across the
network of apps. The reason this is
MICROSOFT
continued from page 8
the transaction, no Microsoft
employee should reach out to Yahoo!
employees for the purpose of
integration planning unless
specifically instructed to do so by the
integration team and its LCA
advisors.
Prior to the close, we must continue
to compete with Yahoo! as before. At
the same time, there are areas where
we partner with Yahoo!. If you have
questions about what is permissible,
please contact your team’s LCA
leader.
Q: How does this impact our
relationship with customers and
partners?
A: Our commitment to customers and
partners remains paramount. While
this proposed combination is exciting,
Microsoft and Yahoo! remain
separate companies and will continue
to compete in the marketplace.
Q: What can I expect going forward?
A: It’s business as usual and, as such,
your commitments remain
unchanged. Please stay focused on
only a”virtual” roll-up is because the
UADA will only collect 20 percent of
any revenues generated across the
network. So it is really just a
marketing agreement.
Lee Lorenzen, the CEO of Altura
Ventures and interim CEO of the
UADA, has bigger dreams. And they
are dreams. The guy has not even
raised his $250,000 seed round yet,
and he is already counting on closing
a $3 to $6 million series A round by
May 24. Not only that, he’s also got
his IPO all planned out, at which
point all the developers who sign up
for the UADA will miraculously
agree to reverse the revenue split
80/20 in the UADA’s favor in return
for cash and stock. Sounds good,
except that the letter to potential
investors makes clear that no
“definitive agreements with
TheUADA members” have even been
signed.
Here’s the part I love. Lorenzen is
apparently clairvoyant:
This company will be profitable from
day one based on its 20% share of ad
revenue on 1 to 5 billion page views
per month under management. . . .
Upon IPO, this company will have
$30+ million in revenue and $20+
million in earnings and long term
rights to all the ad real estate of the
majority of top apps on Facebook.
From this platform, TheUADA will
buy or build a suite of category killer
apps (e.g., dating, gifting, shopping,
your key priorities, whether it’s a
technical product roadmap, serving
our advertiser or publisher customers,
or connecting with users of our
services. It’s important that we stay
focused on our business commitments
and let the process for the transaction
take its course.
At the appropriate times, we will
update you further on progress and
news regarding this proposed
transaction.
Thanks again for your continued
focus on our business and customers
during this period.
Regards,
Kevin Johnson, President
Microsoft Platforms & Services
D i v i s i o n C r u n c h B a s e
I n f o r m a t i o n K e v i n
JohnsonInformation provided by
CrunchBase
C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
MobileCrunchMobile Gadgets and
Applications, Delivered Daily.
calendar, etc.) for the mainstream
social operating system (this is
equivalent to the position the
Microsoft Office Suite enjoys on
Windows).
This is the next Microsoft, folks! And
you can own one percent of it now for
only $25,000!
Oh, and did I forget to mention that
the $500,000 Lorenzen is hoping to
raise for both the UADA and
Adonomics will go towards
“transferring some of KallOut’s IP
into these businesses to fund
KallOut’s operations.” That’s right,
KallOut’s operations, not the
UADA’s or Adonomics. So how will
the UADA function? Lorenzen and
KallOut employees will provide
“engineering and management
services” to both the UADA and
Adonomics for a mere $100,000 a
month (this is on top of the
$500,000). Talk about cashing out the
shareholders before you’ve actually
done anything.
If you receive this invitation in your
Facebook inbox to invest in the
UADA, my advice to you is to just
delete it and unfriend whoever sent it
to you.
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Technology * 9
Facebook Targets
FriendFeed; Opening
Up The News Feed
By Michael Arrington
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 5:29:45 PM
Facebook is planning on allowing
users to add activities from third party
social networking site directly into
their Facebook news feed, we’ve
confirmed. The goal is to centralize
all that activity in one place.
Third parties can already integrate
directly today via the Facebook API,
Beacon and the Facebook Platform,
but adoption from these companies,
which are indirectly also competing
with Facebook, has been slow. Now,
users can add the content stream
directly. Users simply tell Facebook
what third party services they use the
most, along with their credentials or
public feed for the site. The content
stream is then pulled into your
Facebook News Feed.
What this means: in your friends
news feed, you may start to see more
content from Flickr, Twitter, Digg
and other third party services. This
competes directly with what a
number of startups are doing - namely
FriendFeed, Plaxo Pulse and the more
recently launched Iminta.
This is certainly an opening up of
Facebook. And given that so many
tens of millions of users spend so
much time on the site already, it
could remove the wind from the
FriendFeed/Plaxo sails.
But don’t expect to see a RSS feed or
widgets showing what you or your
friends are up to any time soon. The
data feeds that Facebook opened up
last year do not extend to the News
Feed. And from what we hear,
Facebook hasn’t made a decision to
open it up yet. Until they do, there is
still plenty of breathing room for
competitors.CrunchBase
InformationFacebookFriendFeedInfor
mation provided by CrunchBase
C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
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to find a new Job2.0
10 Technology * Social Net *
Raptr Gaming Network
Opens For Private Beta
By Michael Arrington
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 12:53:12 PM
Yesterday I wrote briefly about new
gaming startup Raptr, formerly called
GXL, Inc. Founder (and celebrity
gamer) Dennis Fong has now demo’d
the product on stage at GDC, and I’ve
had the chance to see the product
myself.
Approximately 100 people are
currently in the beta, all friends and
family to the Raptr team. Today the
company is taking signups for new
beta users on their home page, and
will be letting a couple of thousand
new users in shortly. A full launch is
expected in a couple of months.
As I mentioned yesterday, Raptr has
two components. A Windows based
software download that keeps games
up to date automatically, and a
website social network that pulls
game data in from the client as well.
The product is similar to Valve-only
Yahoo Sued Again Over Microsoft
Rebuff
By Duncan Riley (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 4:44:39 PM
Yahoo is being sued by the Detroit
Police and Fire retirement system and
general retirement system, as well as
“all other similarly situated public
shareholders,” over its rebuff of
Microsoft.
The new lawsuit follows a similar
lawsuit filed February 13 by the
Wayne County Employee’s
Retirement System of Michigan.
The lawsuit claims that Yahoo’s
board is pursuing value-destructive
third-party deals in an effort to fight
off Microsoft. The suit asks the court
to block the Yahoo board from
completing any such transaction with
Steam, although it has a lot more to
offer users and is developer agnostic.
Today, Raptr supports 1,000 titles,
including World of Warcraft - Steam
has a hundred or so.
The website is a game-centric social
network. Users add friends and can
see what games they are playing,
installing, updating, uninstalling, etc.
You can also see what games your
friends are playing right now.
Raptr looks at the games you play,
and how much time you spend, and
compares that data to other players to
recommend other games to you that
you might like.
More Screen shots below:
CrunchBase InformationRaptrDennis
FongInformation provided by
CrunchBase
C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
MobileCrunchMobile Gadgets and
Applications, Delivered Daily.
third parties and to force it to
reconsider Microsoft’s offer. It also
asks the court to block Yahoo from
implementing defensive measures
“that would render the company
unattractive to potential buyers.”
“Yahoo’s directors cannot ‘just say
no’ indefinitely to legitimate
acquisition offers….Likewise,
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Click Fraud Keeps
Rising, Up 15 percent in
2007
By Erick Schonfeld
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 8:52:32 AM
Click Forensics has some data out on
click fraud (clicks on Internet ads that
are not real) in the fourth quarter of
2007 and for the full year. The
industry-wide average click fraud rate
for the entire year went up 15 percent,
ending the year with 16.6 percent of
all clicks on Web ads being
fraudulent. The click fraud rate for
search engine ad networks alone,
including Google AdSense and
Yahoo Publisher Network, grew even
more. That was up 47 percent in the
fourth quarter, ending the year with a
28.3 percent click fraud rate.
According to this data, nearly one out
of every three clicks on a Google or
Yahoo ad is fraudulent.
While the year-over-year growth is
cause for concern, the click fraud
Yahoo’s directors cannot pursue
transactions that do not require
shareholder approval for the primary
purpose of making Yahoo
unattractive to Microsoft.”
“Regardless of their emotional ties to
Yahoo and their desire to retain their
positions as directors at the company,
the Yahoo directors owe fiduciary
duties to Yahoo and its shareholders.”
It was not clear when the case may be
heard by the Delaware Chancery
Court.
(via AP)
C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
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to find a new Job2.0
rates remained pretty steady
compared to the third quarter of 2007,
when the overall click fraud rate was
16.2 percent and the search-engine
click fraud rate was 28.1 percent (see
charts above). One quarter does not
make a trend, but could the click
fraud rate be leveling off? One can
hope. If Google can ever get that rate
to actually go down, maybe its stock
will shoot up again.
Click Forensics also published the
handy heat map below showing the
countries where the most click fraud
is originating. (Red is bad, green is
benign). The biggest sources of click
fraud are India (4.3 percent),
Germany (3.9 percent), and South
Korea (3.7 percent). Mexico is also in
the red.
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hardware.
6 Firefox Tools
That Monitor
Your Time Online
By Sean P. Aune (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 12:24:27 PM
Do you know exactly how you spend
your time while surfing the web? Do
you spend too much time on a given
site, and you think you should cut
back (Excluding Mashable, of
course?) Well, the wonderful world
of Firefox extensions can help you
monitor your usage and better plan
your web browsing, some will even
help you control yourself by placing
blocks on which sites you visit, and
how long you can visit them. So, find
one you like, get it installed, and start
earning back some time in your life!
(more…)
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Your Click and Print Newspaper
Facebook Fatigue? Visitors
Level Off In the U.S.
By Erick Schonfeld
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 10:17:20 AM
The number of people who visit
Facebook has been leveling off over
the past few months in the U.S., and
even dipped by about 800,000
individuals in January. According to
the latest stats from comScore,
Facebook attracted 33.9 million
unique visitors in January, 2008,
down 2 percent from 34.7 million in
December, 2007. Maybe all that
friend spam has something to do with
the decline. Will the Facebook fatigue
get worse, or is this just a temporary
dip?
Worldwide, Facebook is still doing
DataPortability Turns That Frown
Upside Down
By Michael Arrington
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 6:36:45 PM
DataPortability cofounder Chris Saad,
in the face of a nasty cease and desist
letter over their logo, took our (and
others’) advice - don’t waste time
fighting it. Treat this as a press
opportunity and hold a new logo
contest instead.
That’s exactly what they’re doing.
Third parties are lining up to donate
prizes, and an iPhone is already on
the list. We’ll throw in a sponsorship
spot on TechCrunch for a week for
free, too, and point to the winner’s
website. Whoever wins will have the
thanks of a grateful community, and
Comedian Lewis Black Drops into Drop.io
By Pete Cashmore (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 12:05:46 AM
(click to enlarge)
An unlikely guest at Drop.io’s launch
party in New York on Friday night:
Comedy Central personality, film
star, writer and stand-up comic Lewis
Black (seen here with Pete Cashmore
and Michael Gruen). Black wasn’t
there for private web-based
filesharing, alas: he knew the DJ, he
told me, and a web 2.0 launch party is
preferable to “drinking alone in a
bar”.
The file sharing site, originally
covered on Mashable by Kristen
Nicole after its $1.25M funding
round, is all about private hosting of
fine. It grew 3 percent in January over
December, attracting 100.7 million
unique visitors. (MySpace had 109.3
million visitors worldwide, up 2
percent month-over-month. And in
the U.S., it was slightly down as well
from 68.9 million visitors in
December, 2007 to 68.6 million in
January, 2008. Despite its larger size,
though, MySpace lost fewer visitors
in the U.S. than Facebook did).
C r u n c h B a s e
InformationFacebookMySpaceInform
ation provided by CrunchBase
C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
CrunchBoardbecause it’s time for you
to find a new Job2.0
likely a lot of new business coming
their way.
C r u n c h N e t w o r k :
MobileCrunchMobile Gadgets and
Applications, Delivered Daily.
files. The “io” stands for “in/out”,
with Drop.io allowing you to post
photos, voice and text via email, your
phone, the web, embeddable widgets
and more. Outputs include email
alerts and RSS. The team see Box.net
as competitive, although they claim
Technology * Social Net *
Yahoo Buzz Launching Soon
By Michael Arrington
(TechCrunch)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 6:05:57 PM
Half of the country’s tech bloggers
and journalists, it seems, are under
embargo around next week’s launch
of Yahoo Buzz. Word has still leaked,
likely from recently layed off Yahoo
employees. We’re under embargo,
too, so I can’t say much. But the
posters up all over Yahoo give a taste
of what is.
“We’re re-launching Yahoo! Buzz as
admiration for the file-sharing
service. Twitter and Pownce also
seem to be rivals, although Drop.io
doesn’t see them as such. Drop.io’s
functionality was demoed upstairs,
with a 7ft high screen displaying
photos, text and other media uploaded
11
a destination site where users
determine the best stories & videos” -
sounds a lot like Digg to me. The
URL given in the poster -
alpha.buzz.yahoo.com - can only be
accessed by Yahoo employees. The
launch URL will be buzz.yahoo.com.
If you happen to be online, check out
TechCrunch at 9 pm on Monday.
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live by attendees.
Drop.io shines when it comes to live
blogging of events. SXSW in March
could therefore be a make or break
moment: with enough signage
encouraging mobile users to post
media to the service, they could have
their “Twitter moment” (Twitter
famously took off after Austin’s
South by Southwest event last year) .
That said, the addition of native
multimedia support to Twitter could
be a serious blow that knocks Drop.io
out for the count.
The Drop.io page for the launch party
can be found at drop.io/launchparty
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12 Social Net *
Popularo. Can You Beat Digg by
Getting Rid of Comments?
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 6:17:53 PM
Here at Mashable we see a lot of
Digg clones, some are looking to
compete directly with Digg (often in
other countries) and some are looking
to just incorporate more of a Digg-
like voting system within their
existing networks. But today we
received a word from an upcoming
site called Popularo, which has just
come right out and said it. They want
to be a true, blue alternative to Digg.
Spurned from ex-Digg users that have
been fed up with the direction in
which Digg has been headed this past
year or so (the trouble with getting
too mainstream!), The folks behind
Popularo have seen first hand what
goes on within the Digg community.
Most of you Mashable readers are
familiar with some of these same
problems, the largest of which
revolve around the voting system,
which can often turn into a popularity
contest, and the bandwagon
mentality, which becomes especially
rampant in the commenting system.
Some Digg users have even
considered Digg’s move towards
becoming a social network to be a
major cause of such rampant
behavior, which could veer away
from the core competencies of Digg’s
community. How many Digg revolts
have we had?
While Digg is furiously working to
fix both these fronts, having tweaked
its voting algorithm as well as its
comments system, the changes
weren’t enough for the Popularo
Virgin America Ticket Raffle - 2 Free Roundtrip
Tickets
By Adam Hirsch (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 10:21:04 AM
Thanks to Virgin America, we will
have 2 round trip tickets to give away
to you, our readers! Virgin America
serves the major tech hubs of the
United States including San
Francisco, New York, Washington
DC, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle
and Las Vegas! On a personal note, I
flew on Virgin America recently and
it was not only comfortable, but the
TV and Movie options are amazing.
Plus, I got to play Doom!
Here’s how the raffle will be
conducted:
1. One lucky recipient will be drawn
from the ticket purchasers for the
Postponed MashMeet NYC REMIX
2. The other ticket is open to anyone
reading Mashable, leave a comment
with some love for Mashable and/or
Virgin America
3. In your comment, be sure to leave
a number from 1 to 270 next to your
comment
4. The lucky comment winner will be
team. Taking more drastic measures,
Popularo addresses each of these
major concerns, and looks to fix them
head on.
So let’s just start from the beginning.
Heading over to Popularo’s home
page, you’ll see one item that’s
available for voting (hot or not style),
and the top items as determined by
the community. Yep. Just one item to
vote on. You can love it, hate it, or
skip it. What you won’t find on this
page, however, is the name of the
person who submitted the item, what
the original source is, or even what
time it was submitted. Users that
submit content can’t even share links
or badges to get others to vote for the
submission.
All of this data is considered
erroneous by Popularo, and is tossed
aside, encouraging users to focus on
the central task at hand: looking at the
content for what it’s worth, and
removing all possible variables that
may sway your decision. Of course,
you can click on the story title to see
the original content, but that’s all the
additional context you’re going to
get. What’s more, the items found on
the front page will be exempt from
voting, as they’ve already “won the
prize.”
This makes way for more content to
get some face time, and also removes
the aura of Popularo actually being
anything that could remotely be
considered a popularity contest.
Lastly, Popularo has no comments
system. This drastically diminishes
decided on Monday, 9 am PST,
drawn at random
5. The # left in the comment will be
tied to our list of ticket purchasers,
thus selecting the ticket winner
*Virgin America Ticket Raffle Terms
and Conditions
The Prize: Free Roundtrip Tickets on
Virgin America valid for travel
through May 31, 2008. Winners will
get a promo code that will deduct
100% of the ticket base fare.
Full Terms and Conditions: the
promo code will deduct 100% of the
Your Click and Print Newspaper
the interactive capabilities of
Popularo, but that’s the point.
While I like some of Popularo’s
considerations for “fixing” Digg,
there are a few ways in which I feel
Popularo is missing the mark. In
randomizing and limiting the content
that’s available for voting purposes,
you’re already giving way to severe
Rumor: iPhone SDK
limiting structures that almost Will Be Late
penalize the users of the community.
Yes, it’s kind of fun to click through By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)
all the submissions like a hot or not Submitted at 2/23/2008 4:02:44 AM
game, but is it really giving everyone
and every story the equal opportunity BusinessWeek has a source which
claims that iPhone SDK, due next
that Digg doesn’t?
Another aspect of Popularo that I find week, is going to be late. However,
the delay should not be too great:
to be somewhat questionable is the
lacking of a comment system. I rumor has it that the SDK should be
ready by mid-March.
understand that negative comments
on Digg often get buried, and the Apple is, of course, silent on this one,
but I’m wondering if this could have
comments can actually become a
hindrance to the overall discussion of anything to do with George Hotz soft-
cracking the latest iPhone firmware -
the content at hand, but that’s a direct
result of community interaction (i.e. 1.1.3 - so easily.
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if that’s what the majority of the
community members want to do, then
that’s exactly what they will do).
I feel in making Popularo so bare-
bones that it’s almost too naked to be
a true Digg alternative to the majority
of people. I completely respect
Popularo’s attempt to rid the social
news world of the confirmation trap,
and with continued tweaks to the
system here and there, I think
Popularo could in fact be a useful
alternative for some hornery Digg
users out there.
ShareThis
ticket base fare. Promo code can only schedules are subject to change
be used towards newly-booked travel without notice. This offer is not
and cannot be applied to prior redeemable for cash. Free tickets are
bookings. All travel must be non-refundable and non-transferable.
completed by May 31, 2008. If travel The guest must pay Passenger
is changed to a date after May 31, Facility Charges of up to $9 each
2008, the promo code discount will way, September 11th Security Fees of
become inapplicable and the guest up to $5 each way and a Federal
will be responsible for the full air Segment Tax of $3.40 per domestic
fare, including any increase. Please segment. A segment is a takeoff and
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availability and may not be available ShareThis
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Your Click and Print Newspaper
Yahoo Gets Sued for Not Selling to
Microsoft?
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 5:07:47 PM
As if Yahoo weren’t dealing with
enough. There’s the Microsoft bid,
the stories of Yahoo working with
Google, then with Fox for a MySpace
swap, all sorts of rumors gunking up
the news waves, and jealousy and
snideness ripping around the world,
from Ali Baba to Google’s own Sergy
Brin.
Now, we’ve got two Detroit pension
funds that are suing Yahoo and its
board of directors for acting
irresponsibly towards the Microsoft
bid. That is–the pension funds are
alleging that Yahoo’s board of
directors have “breached their duties
to shareholders in trying to thwart a
takeover by Microsoft” reports the
Associated Press.
Filed in Delware Chancery Court
Pakistan Blocks
YouTube
By Sean P. Aune (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 6:59:54 AM
The cartoons of the Prophet
Mohammed that appeared in a Danish
newspaper last year have found their
way on to YouTube, and this has
caused the country of Pakistan to
decide to block access to the popular
site.
Islamic religious law says that no one
may make a visual representation of
Mohammaed, and when cartoons
appeared in a Danish newspaper a
year ago that showed his turban
replaced by a bomb, Muslims rioted
in offense. With a year having passed,
newspapers decided to run the
cartoons again to discuss what
happened, setting off a whole new
round of problems. According to the
Thaindian News, the offending
cartoons have now found their way
on to YouTube, prompting Pakistan’s
government to call for all ISPs to
block access to the site due to ”the
ratio of non-Islamic objectionable
videos has increased on it”.
YouTube is not the only site of late to
run into problems with depictions of
earlier this week, the lawyers
representing Detroit’s police and fire
retirement system and general
retirement system, as well as other
similarly situated public shareholders,
the case being brought against Yahoo
obviously wants Yahoo to quit
dwiddling around, take the money,
and run. 62 percent premium offers
will do that to you. Every time. So
what about Yahoo’s negotiating
tactics? Those don’t seem to be good
enough for the shareholders in
Detroit. I can’t blame them. If I lived
in Detroit and worked for a public
sector entity, I’d want to take the
money and run, too. Run to
somewhere warm and beautiful.
But that’s beside the point. It seems it
could potentially be even more
debilitating to Yahoo’s potential
negotiations for a buyout if it’s got
people on its own side looking to start
Mohammed. Wikipedia has received
over 180,000 complaints in regards to
two images on their site that clearly
show the Prophet’s face. Barring full
removal of the images, complainants
have requested that the two images at
least be altered to blur his face. Thus
far Wikipedia has stood firm that they
will not alter the images as they are a
neutral source of information, and
some factions of Islam do not have a
problem with the Prophet’s face
being shown.
Blocking YouTube has become a bit
of a sport, with an increasing number
of countries participating. Check out
our coverage of countries and regions
which blocked YouTube in one way
or another; not a year has passed, and
the map is in need of some updating.
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fights. Maybe Microsoft put the
Detroit folks up to it?! Maybe (not
really, though). The report goes on to
say that Microsoft has hired a proxy
solicitation group to essentially get
rid of Yahoo’s board members. Such
a proxy will pretty much spur legal
action in regards to resolve the issue.
It may be important to note that all of
the Yahoo board members are up for
re-election this year, but what all this
legal action boils down to is a bunch
of people saying that the Yahoo board
members are being emotional, and
not objectively handling the situation
in the best interest of the
shareholders. Will internal and
external spats bring the ongoing issue
of the takeover of Yahoo come to an
end?
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Podcast: A Conversation
with Wizzard’s Rob Walch
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 6:53:53 PM
Ever since I’ve been involved in
podcasting, one of the pillars of the
community has been Rob Walch,
probably best known from his show
Podcast 411, a sort of Insider the
Actor’s Studio for podcasting. Last
year, though, he was hired on at
Wizzard Media to be the Vice
President of Podcaster Relations, a
position in which he acts as a liason
between the technical and sales folks
at Wizzard to the media producers
that use the network.
He had a chance to stop by Mashable
Conversations this week to discuss
podcasting in general. Aside from the
long series of landmark headline
Social Net * TV * 13
Did you get
Amne$ia?
By Isabelle Carreau (TV
Squad)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 7:38:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, TV Squad Polls,
Game ShowYet another game show
premiered last night. This time, it was
NBC's Amne$ia hosted by Dennis
Miller. This show has a similar
premise than FOX's The Moment of
Truth: contestants reveal secrets and
facts about themselves in order to win
money. The main difference between
the two: Amne$ia does it tastefully
while Moment goes for the ugliest
and dirtiest secrets and somewhat
doesn't care that your relationships go
awry after the airings.
Continue reading Did you get
Amne$ia?
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
grabbers Wizzard Media has achieved
over the last year, we covered where
podcasting has been, where it’s
headed, and where it is with a clarity
that can only come from being
perched atop one of the most
successful firms in the podcasting
business.
The embed is available below, or you
can download the MP3 file directly
here.
Get the Mashable Conversations
podcast here.
Add directly to iTunes here (or give
us a rating).
Add directly to your Zune here.
You can check out Wizzard Media
here.
ShareThis
14 Social Net * TV *
Lookery Adds More
Zeroes to its Seed Round
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 4:04:47 PM
Lookery has just added another
couple hundred thousand dollars to its
seed round, thanks to some
contributions from additional
participants, including Marc Benioff,
Tom Cole, Reid Hoffman, TAG (a
seed fund), Jonathan Miller, and
Allen Morgan. Those are some pretty
big names that Lookery has signed on
for additional funding in its seed
round, adding to its existing amount
of funding that the company just
announced earlier this week. As part
of this seed round, Jonathan Miller
will be joining the board because of
his affiliation with LaunchBox
Digital, which is run by Julius
Genachowski and others.
Still no disclosure on the total amount
raised so far, but Lookery has
Tonight: Flash MashMeet in
NYC!
By Adam Hirsch (Mashable!)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 10:22:40 AM
If you’re in the New York City area
tonight (Saturday, Feb. 23rd) and
want to meet up with much of the
Mashable team (Pete Cashmore,
Adam Ostrow, Adam Hirsch, and
Tamar Weinberg) and other members
of the NY web community, we will
be holding an informal “Flash
MashMeet” from 8:00 - 10:00 pm at
Dewey’s Flatiron (only several blocks
away from For Your Imagination’s
studios). No tickets or RSVP required
indicated that it would be looking to
raise a round of venture capital
funding in just another two months or
so. Lookery has made a few updates
to its ad network for social network
applications, the most recent being
guaranteed ad payouts, in an effort to
ramp up its number of participants on
both ends of the marketing spectrum
just in time for its trek to raise
institutional funding. Given the
expanding nature of platforms
designed for open networking use,
we’re not so shocked to see the never
-ending nature of Lookery’s seed
funding.
ShareThis
- just bring yourself, your wallet, and
perhaps some business cards
Location: Dewey’s Flatiron, 210 5th
Avenue, New York, NY (Google
Map)
Date and Time: Saturday, February
23rd, 8:00 - 10:00 pm
Reason: Meet Pete Cashmore, Adam
Hirsch, Adam Ostrow and Tamar
Weinberg
RSVP?: Just come, 21+ only
We hope to see you there!
ShareThis
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Tom Cruise visits Trek set
By Allison Waldman (TV
Squad)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 8:39:00 AM
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen,
CelebritiesDon't you just love the
web? News traveling so fast, ideas
extrapolated and speculated upon
based on the simplest of facts. That
said, here's a sweet little tidbit that I
found amusing. Tom Cruise was
spotted on the Los Angeles set of the
new Star Trek feature film. He
reportedly was visiting writer/director
JJ Abrams. The two men, you'll
recall, collaborated on Mission
Impossible 3.
This exclusive, courtesy of
JFXOnline, revealed that Tom stuck
around the set for a couple of hours. cheated on his Kobyashi Maru
Prior to this sighting, there had also simulation test), as well as the first
been talk last fall that Abrams had time Kirk met the half-Vulcan, half-
wanted to enlist the superstar to make human Mr. Spock.
a brief cameo appearance in the
revamped Star Trek opus, telling the Continue reading Tom Cruise visits
story of how creator Gene Trek set
Roddenberry's original characters
came to be. How Captain Kirk made Permalink | Email this | | Comments
it out of the Star Fleet Academy (in
The Wrath of Khan he said he
What's On Tonight: iCarly,
Paula's Party, Living Hell
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 8:00:00 AM
Filed under: Programming, What To
Watch Tonight
• At 8, FOX has two new episodes of
Cops, then a new America's Most
Wanted.
• Nickelodeon has a new iCarly at 8,
followed by a new Naked Brothers
Band.
• At 9, CNBC has a new Suze Orman
Show.
• TLC has a new Trading Spaces at
9.
• Food Network has a new Paula's
Party at 9.
• Cartoon Network has two new • At midnight, FOX has a new Talk
episodes of Naruto at 9, followed by a Show with Spike Feresten.
new One Piece.
• Also at 9: Sci-Fi has the new movie
Living Hell. Check your local TV listings for
• At 10, Food Network has two new more.
episodes of Throwdown with Bobby
Flay. Permalink | Email this | | Comments
• At 11:30, NBC has the return of
Saturday Night Live, with guests Tina
Fey and Carrie Underwood.
Even celebrities aren't safe
from Hepatitis A
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 7:20:00 AM
Filed under: Celebrities
This is not an episode of Punk'd.
Health officials in New York City are
suggesting that everyone who was at
the Socialista Bar on February 7th
(and also on the 8th and the 11th)
should get vaccinated for Hepatitis A
just in case. A bartender who was
working on those days has tested
positive for the disease, which is
caused by contact with fecal matter
and creates an inflammation of the
liver.
Why is this story on a TV blog? Well,
it just so happens that Demi Moore
EVEN page 15
Your Click and Print Newspaper TV * 15

Big Brother 9: Live feeds report What's On Tonight: The Price Is

- Feb. 22 Right, Amnesia, Stargate Atlantis
By Jackie Schnoop (TV Squad) By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 8:04:00 AM
Submitted at 2/22/2008 1:29:00 PM

Filed under: OpEd, Big Brother Filed under: Programming, What To

(US)As I watch the hamsters in the
Big Brother 9 house, I can't help but
wonder when one will sudden jolt
upright and yell, "Where am I? And
why am I in this handbasket?"
But then I have to stop and think
about this particular group of
houseguests. Maybe it's the young
age, maybe it's the sort of person who
actually wants to be on a show like
this. I don't know. I do know that if I
were in the house, I'd get out of that
handbasket any way I could.
We're still two days away from the
next show, but a lot has been going
on in the house. Nominations? Done.
New brouhahas? Of course. Power of
Veto? Won. There are no spoilers in
the image gallery below, but there
will be show spoilers beyond the
jump!
%Gallery-16734%
Continue reading Big Brother 9: Live
feeds report - Feb. 22
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
Watch Tonight
• At 8, CBS has a new Price is Right
Million Dollar Spectacular.
• NBC has a new 1 vs. 100 at 8, then
the series premiere of Amnesia and a
new Dateline.
• PBS has a new NOW at 8, followed
by new episodes of Washington
Week and Bill Moyers Journal.
• There's a new Smackdown! on The
CW at 8.
• At 9, USA has the season finale of with Bill Maher.
Monk.
• At 9:30, HBO has a new In
Treatment. Check your local TV listings for
• At 10, Comedy Central has a new more.
Comedy Central Presents.
• Sci-Fi has a new Stargate Atlantis Permalink | Email this | | Comments
at 10.
• At 11, HBO has a new Real Time

Talk Talk: Bill O'Reilly, Diddy,

Fred Willard
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/22/2008 9:06:00 AM

Filed under: Late Night, TV Royalty,

Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show
Here's who's on the late night shows
tonight.
• Charlie Rose: a discussion about
the Oscars
• The Late Show with David
Letterman: Diddy and Al Lubel
• Jay Leno: Bill O'Reilly, Patricia
Arquette, and Herbie Hancock
• Jimmy Kimmel Live: Damon
Wayans, Sam Champion, and Colbie
Calliat
• Tavis Smiley: Jacob Weisberg and
Jamia Simone Nash
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien:
Nathan Lane, Michel Gondry, and
Secondhand Serenade
Lowe's yanks ads from Big
Brother
By Allison Waldman (TV
Squad)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 3:03:00 AM
Filed under: Industry, Big Brother
(US)Earlier this week we told you
about the Big Brothercontroversy,
when a contestant, Adam, referred to
autistic individuals as "retards," and
how John Gilmore of advocacy group
Autism United, had demanded an
apology from the network. Now
comes word that his group's influence
has resulted in a major advertiser,
Lowe's, pulling its commercials from
Big Brother.
Lowe's Karen Cobb explained to
Adweek, "Once it was brought to our
attention, we decided not to advertise
[on Big Brother] further." During the
• The Late, Late Show with Craig
Ferguson:Fred Willard, Rachel
Bilson, and Steve Mazan
• Last Call with Carson Daly: Ivana
Milicevic, John Popper, Jon Spencer,
and Shooter Jennings
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
February 13 episode, a Lowe's
commercial did air, but according to
Ms. Cobb, Lowe's does not routinely
advertise on this reality show and will
not in the future.
Continue reading Lowe's yanks ads
from Big Brother
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
Stargate Atlantis: The Kindred,
Part 1
By Richard Keller (TV Squad)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 3:22:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, Stargate, Episode
Reviews
(S04E18) Michael, Michael, Michael.
If there is anyone out in the Pegasus
galaxy that needs a hug and some
serious medication it's him. He's
angry at the Wraith for finding him
an unclean representative of the race,
and he isn't too fond of humans,
either. So, what does he decide to do,
then? He goes ahead and starts
EVEN
continued from page 14
threw a party for husband Ashton
Kutcher on February 7, and guests at
the party included Bruce Willis,
Grey's Anatomy star Eric Dane,
Madonna, Ali Larter, Gwyneth
Paltrow, Lucy Liu, Kate Hudson,
Lake Bell, Ivanka Trump, and other
celebrities. (Side note: doesn't it just
make you all warm and gooey inside
poisoning various human populations
so the Wraith will be feeding on
spoiled goods rather than fresh meat.
But that's just the start of his plan. His
main goal is to gather an army that
will destroy his race and make him
the strongest being in the Pegasus
galaxy.
Like I said, man needs a hug.
%Gallery-16753%
Continue reading Stargate Atlantis:
The Kindred, Part 1
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
that Demi and Ashton get along so
well with Demi's ex Bruce Willis?)
I wonder if this is what critics mean
when they say that Hollywood is
infecting America?
Permalink | Email this | | Comments
16 Movies
Fanboy Bites: 'Wolverine,'
'Cloverfield 2' and Wondercon!
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 3:40:00 AM
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi &
Fantasy, RumorMonger, Fandom,
DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand,
Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes
and Sequels
\ what. Either way, chalk up the casting
Above: New Iron Man poster from
Wondercon, courtesy of ScreenRant.
We're at Wondercon in spirit ...
Our friends over at Film School
Rejects claim they know who's been
cast as The Blob in next summer's X-
Men Origins: Wolverine. I'm sorry,
but how many friggin' characters will
there be in this film? There's just too
many. Now it sort of feels like an
episode of A Different World -- ya
know, you have Denise from The
Cosby Show, but everyone around
her is different; almost to a point
where it takes away from having that
familiar character because there's so
Live From the Indie Spirit Awards!
By Patrick Walsh (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 7:32:00 AM
Filed under: Independent, Awards
Cinematical is live at the 2008
Independent Spirit Awards! Our own
Patrick Walsh will report back
throughout the afternoon.
I'm coming to you live from the
Independent Spirit Awards on the
beach in Santa Monica, California.
It's been raining here in the Los
Angeles area for days, but the sun is
out this afternoon, and so are the
stars! The awards don't start for a few
hours, but I just saw the hilarious
Whitest Kids U Know gang, who
have a sketch show on the
Independent Film Channel you
should really be watching. Jason
Reitman -- a nominee for Juno,
though I just overheard him say he
thinks the award will go to Julian
many new characters to get to know.
But anyway, FSR says Kevin Durand
was "live-scanned" for the part of
Blob, and will shoot his scenes in
Canada. Since the actual film is
shooting on the other side of the
world, we're not sure if Durand will
be shooting his scenes via satellite or
of another character in X-Men
Origins: Wolverine.
ReelzChannel recently caught up with
J.J. Abrams and managed to ask him
a bit about Cloverfield 2, as well as
his upcoming Star Trek flick. We've
included the video interview after the
jump, but essentially Abrams said
they have an idea for a Cloverfield
sequel that they're currently tossing
around, but are not sure what's going
to happen. (As if Abrams would ever
be truthful about anything -- dude
probably hides his real name from us
as well.) Good news: Abrams admits
the shaky cam that annoyed
Schnabel -- is making the handshake
rounds. And one of my favorite
comedy characters, Jiminy Glick
(Martin Short), just brutally mocked
me.
Mr. Glick told me that were this 28
years ago, my jacket would have been
very fashionable. He told me
"blogging" is contributing to the
decline of culture and I should be
ashamed of myself. He told me I
Your Click and Print Newspaper
practically everyone who watched the
first Cloverfield might not make it
into the sequel. (Video after the
jump.)
Finally, Wondercon 2008 is in full
swing over in San Francisco this
weekend. Cinematical is not there this
year, but several other websites are --
so we'll let them do all the work.
You've already seen the new IronMan
poster above, and AICN also has up a
pretty long report from yesterday's
Wanted and Forgetting Sarah
Marshall panels, including a rundown
on the scenes screened, as well as
what the cast in attendance had to say
about the film(s). Not the most
exciting stuff you've ever read, but if
you're itching for anything
Wondercon-related, head over there
to check it out.
Continue reading Fanboy Bites:
'Wolverine,' 'Cloverfield 2' and
Wondercon!Permalink | Email this |
Comments
looked like all of the character actors
from the old Preston Sturges movies
rolled into one. And I loved every
minute of it. Being insulted by Jiminy
Glick is something everyone should
experience. He's currently
interviewing the head of content at
Netflix and is asking him if you can
get pornography on the site. Jiminy's
favorite films? Something Liquid
This Way Comes and Bang the Bum
Slowly. I'll be hanging here just off
the red carpet, doing some snooping
and snapping some photos. More to
come...
Check out the gallery below for our
pics from the Netflix tent. More
coming ...
Gallery: Jiminy Glick Does the 2008
Indie Spirit AwardsPermalink | Email
this | Comments
Interview: 'No End
in Sight' Director
Charles Ferguson
By Kim Voynar (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 7:32:00 AM
Filed under: Documentary, Awards,
Politics, Interviews, Oscar Watch,
Cinematical Indie
When No End in Sight premiered at
the Sundance Film Fesitval in 2007, it
quickly became one of the most
buzzed about films of the fest. The
film continued to play well and to
generate discussion, culminating in
the film's nomination for Best
Documentary at this year's Academy
Awards. Cinematical talked to
director Charles Ferguson by phone
recently about the film, the United
States government's policies in Iraq,
his thoughts on what the next
Adminstration needs to do, and
whether we'll ever see an end to the
US occupation in Iraq.
Cinematical: Let's start with what
inspired you to make No End in
Sight.
Charles Ferguson: The idea for the
film came from my background in
Political Science and policy analysis,
and from talking to a number of
people who were studying the Iraq
war and writing books -- books like
Losing Iraq, Squandered Victory, and
The Assassin's Gate. In a sense I was
stealing from them in that I was doing
something similar to what they were
doing in terms of wanting to make a
film about the decisions that had been
made about the war and their
consequences.
I found it a little strange -- and
frankly still do find it strange -- that
no other film like that had been made.
There were other films about Iraq but
they were about very specific things -
- one group of GIs, or one family, or
one institution. And some of them
were excellent films, but I find it
really astonishing that no one else had
made a film asking,"How did this
happen?"
Continue reading Interview: 'No End
in Sight' Director Charles
FergusonPermalink | Email this |
Comments
Your Click and Print Newspaper
Trailer Park: Comic Book
Connections
By Matt Bradshaw
(Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 3:02:00 AM
Filed under: Animation, Comedy,
T r a i l e r T r a s h ,
Comic/Superhero/Geek, Trailers and
Clips
When they work they can be
awesome (X-Men or Sin City
anyone?), but when things dont go so
well (League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen comes to mind) comic
fans everywhere will hang their heads
in shame. Today's trailers aren't
necessarily for comic book movies,
but there's a connection for each one
of them. Let's have a look, shall we?
Coraline
The idea of Henry Selick, director of
The Nightmare Before Christmas
joining forces with fantasy novelist
Buscemi and More at the Indie Spirit Awards
By Patrick Walsh (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 8:32:00 AM
Filed under: Awards, Cinematical
Indie
Cinematical is live at the 2008
Independent Spirit Awards! Our own
Patrick Walsh will report back
throughout the afternoon.
Just saw Forest Whitaker and his
gorgeous wife, Jason Bateman and
his gorgeous hair, and Julian
Schnabel in what appeared to be
pajamas. Now Illeana Douglas is
telling Jiminy Glick how she "blew
Lew Wasserman at age thirteen" to
make it in the business. It's that kind
and comic book scribe Neil Gaiman
strikes me as a whole lot of awesome.
Gaiman has written some great
comics in his day. I would say that
his Sandman series for DC is one of
the best ongoing series in the history
of American comics. I haven't read
the novel Coraline, but I have no
reason to believe it's not up to his
usual standards. Unfortunately this
teaser trailer does nothing to reinforce
my expectations. The movie is shot in
stop-motion animation, will be
presented in 3-D and is based on a
Gaiman novel, and that's all you can
really tell. To be honest, though, I
don't need to be told anymore to
know this is something I won't want
to miss.
Star Wars: Clone Wars
Star Wars didn't start out as a comic
book, but the first several issues of
Marvel's adaptation of the original
of day. The crowd is screaming at a
limo, it might be Angelina Jolie time,
unless they're smuggling her in by
underground tunnel. Oh snap, Steve
Buscemi is here. That dude is one of
my all time favorites, I'm going to go
grab a photo or two.
Alright, now Glick is telling Mr. Pink
how he'd "like to mount" Sienna
Miller, a nominee today for
Buscemi's Interview. Buscemi is
talking about his heroes ("Robert
Altman and John Cassavetes") and a
production company he's starting
with Stanley Tucci so they can make
movies with their friends. He's been
film were on the stands before I had a
chance to catch the flick back in
1977, so I've always thought of it as
kind of a comic book film. This
trailer is for an all CGI theatrical
feature releasing on August 15 which
will serve as a lead in to a TV series
that will launch in the fall on Cartoon
Network and TNT. This maneuver
reminds me of the decision to
theatrically release the pilot episode
of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. I
still can't believe I paid to see that.
The sensory overload of Revenge of
the Sithhas soured me on the idea of
returning to George Lucas's galaxy
far far away, but I have two nephews
who will go ape over this, so I
suspect younger Star Wars fans will
flock to this.
Continue reading Trailer Park: Comic
Book ConnectionsPermalink | Email
this | Comments
interrupted by the crowd chanting
"Meg! Meg! Meg!" Yes, it's Meg
Ryan. Not sure how she's involved
with independent film, but always
nice to see familiar face-lifts. Sorry,
Jiminy's rubbing off on me. It's
Movies 17
2008 Independent
Spirit Awards
Winners!
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 9:02:00 AM
Filed under: Independent, Awards,
Cinematical Indie
The winners of the 2008 Independent
Spirit Awards are below, updated in
real time and highlighted in bold.
For more photos and coverage, head
on over to Moviefone.
Best Feature
'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'
'I'm Not There'
'Juno'
'A Mighty Heart'
'Paranoid Park'
Best Director
Todd Haynes, 'I'm Not There'
Tamara Jenkins, 'The Savages'
Jason Reitman, 'Juno'
Julian Schnabel, 'The Diving Bell and
the Butterfly'
Gus Van Sant, 'Paranoid Park'
Best Male Lead
Pedro Castaneda, 'August Evening'
Don Cheadle, 'Talk to Me'
Philip Seymour Hoffman, 'The
Savages'
Tony Leung, 'Lust, Caution'
Frank Langella, 'Starting Out in the
Evening'
Best Female Lead
Angelina Jolie, 'A Mighty Heart'
Sienna Miller, 'Interview'
Ellen Page, 'Juno'
Parker Posey, 'Broken English'
Tang Wei, 'Lust, Caution'
Continue reading 2008 Independent
Spirit Awards Winners!Permalink |
Email this | Comments
getting cold, and the skies remain
foreboding. The Santa Monica pier
amusement park rises bold and stark.
Kids are huddled on the beach in the
mist. I want to die with you Wendy
on the street tonight in an everlasting
kiss...
For more photos and coverage, head
on over to Moviefone.
Gallery: 2008 Indie Spirit Awards
Arrivals
Gallery: Jiminy Glick Does the 2008
Indie Spirit AwardsPermalink | Email
this | Comments
18 Movies
More Glick at the Indie Want to Buy a
Spirit Awards Christian Horror Movie
By Patrick Walsh (Cinematical)
Script on eBay?
Submitted at 2/23/2008 8:07:00 AM
Filed under: Independent, Awards
Cinematical is live at the 2008
Independent Spirit Awards! Our own
Patrick Walsh will report back
throughout the afternoon.
Jiminy Glick just wrapped up a
graphic conversation with indie
legend John Waters and now he is
asking Maria Bello what it's like to
show her "down there hair" on
camera. Oh wow, now he's humping
her. Now he's asking Allison Janney
if Juno is a film about people who
won't tolerate Jews. "Jew? No!" The
man is insane. He's interviewing The
Office's Rainn Wilson now, who's
looking mighty unkempt and
unshaven considering he's hosting the
show. And now the two are engaged
in a huge pillow fight. There's Dennis
Hopper! What does Jiminy ask a
legend like this? "Why do men have
nipples if they're not supposed to
breast feed their pets?" Of course.
He just told Matt Dillon he was
excellent as Lieutenant Dan in Forrest
Gump, and followed that up with a
rave about his work in Saving Private
Rain and Rainn at the
Indie Spirit Awards
By Patrick Walsh (Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 8:53:00 AM
Filed under: Awards, Angelina Jolie,
Brad Pitt
Cinematical is live at the 2008
Independent Spirit Awards! Our own
Patrick Walsh will report back
throughout the afternoon.
It is officially raining, and the big-
time stars are rolling out. Javier
Bardem is looking very dapper, I'm
pretty sure I just saw indie favorite
The Rock (?), and crowd just
collectively spazzed out over Brad
Pitt and Angelina Jolie. I was just
interviewed (insulted) by Jiminy
Glick on Good Morning America so
watch for that, though I'm not sure
how much of it they'll be able to use.
The discussion culminated with him
dumping a barrel of popcorn on
himself. Some quality journalism
there! Seriously, I can't quite convey
how funny Martin Short has been
here today. Favorite line -- "I have
lost weight, I'm doing Atkins. Not the
diet, his widow."
Raining has given way to pouring,
and the red carpet is looking soggy
and bare. It's ten minutes to showtime
Ryan. Dillon was in neither film. The
red carpet is heating up, I just saw
Kate Beckinsale, Tom Wilkinson, and
now Aaron Eckhart -- who is
discussing Mormonism with Jiminy.
And now the skies have turned an
unsettling gray, the winds are picking
up, and I have a feeling a lot of
expensive dresses are about to get
destroyed. I'm gonna take shelter, but
I'll be back.
For more photos and coverage, head
on over to Moviefone.
Gallery: 2008 Indie Spirit Awards
Arrivals
Gallery: Jiminy Glick Does the 2008
Indie Spirit AwardsPermalink | Email
this | Comments
and I'm about to head under the big
tent for the show. I'll do my best to
update you on the winners as they
happen, and if you get the
Independent Film Channel you can
join in the Rainn Wilson-hosted fun
live. My thanks to Netflix for setting
up this sweet little blogging suite for
me, and as an active subscriber, I
don't even have to feel like a
shameless whore saying that. Sorry
for the rambling nature of these posts,
but it's been pretty hectic...
For more photos and coverage, head
on over to Moviefone.
Gallery: 2008 Indie Spirit Awards
Arrivals
Gallery: Jiminy Glick Does the 2008
Indie Spirit AwardsPermalink | Email
this | Comments
Your Click and Print Newspaper
By Richard von Busack
(Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 5:02:00 AM
Filed under: Horror, Deals, Religious
Ordinary movie producers get to shag
top-drawer hotties, shine their shoes
with tongues of fans, and get
shopping carts loads of honorary
awards when they're too old to be
players anymore. But Christian movie
producers get all of the above, plus a
free pass to heaven when they croak.
Thanks to Richard Mavers for the tip
on the news that the writers of Turn
Me On Deadman are auctioning the
DVDverdict.com about this earlier
rights to their script on eBay. The effort, but a less glowing review is
hope is that someone will buy it and
here at moviecynics.com. We get a
produce it. Writer Nathyn Brendan lot of mainstream Christian horror in
Masters notes: "While this wouldn't
The Reaping and The Exorcism of
take a huge amount of money to Emily Rose (here's an interview with
produce there would be a bit more
Emily Rose's director Scott
involved to do it as well as we would Derrickson, claiming that horror is
like. If you or someone you know has the perfect venue for the Christian
been looking for this type of project evangelical.) Not only is this the first
then please feel free to place a bid."
time we've seen a script-bidding
Bidding starts at a measly dollar. We auction on eBay, it's the first time
learn that the story is of haunted
we've heard that there's a direct
backward-masking on a popular CD, horror market for religious
which destroys the life of a student viewers.Permalink | Email this |
who tampered with the occult. The
talents involved previously did the
evil Ouija board flick The Wages of
Comments
Sin (above). "Decent!" raves
Mysterious 'Ghostbusters'
Announcement at
ComicCon?
By Elisabeth Rappe
(Cinematical)
Submitted at 2/23/2008 6:10:00 AM
Filed under: Classics, Sci-Fi &
Fantasy, RumorMonger, Fandom,
Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes
and Sequels, ComicCon,
WonderConYou might remember that
just this week, our intrepid reporter
Ryan Stewart spoke to Sigourney
Weaver, who insisted that a third
Ghostbusters film would never be
made.
there. With all of the beloved 80's
franchises being dusted off and little
And yet, there's something strange in left sacred, it would not be a surprise
the neighborhood. Slashfilm is out at
that we're in for another installment.
WonderCon, and has photographic
proof that a Ghostbusters
CHUD's Devin Faraci is praying to
announcement will be made at Gozor that we aren't getting a third
ComicCon 2008.
film. I might join him, except that my
prayers were so futile when it came to
What kind of announcement? Is it bringing back Indiana Jones. So why
that animated Ghostbusters 3 that
not sound off below with your
Dan Aykroyd mentioned a year ago? theories, hopes or cries of despair.
Is it a DVD re-release? Or is there
actually going to be a third live action
film? ComicCon announcements are Permalink | Email this | Comments
almost always BIG, and so any
speculation can rarely be too out